The Morning Watch: ‘Detective Pikachu’ Scene Breakdown, Why ‘Men in Black’ Is Great & More

detective pikachu behind the scenes

The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.

In this edition, watch a scene from Detective Pikachu broken down by director Rob Letterman. Plus, a video essay examines what makes the original Men in Black movie so great, and director Terry Gilliam digs around in the Criterion Collection movie closet to make some picks of his favorite titles in the acclaimed film library.

First up, director Rob Letterman talks to The New York Times about conveying a lot about Pokémon and how people understand them in this scene from Detective Pikachu. He also explains how Justice Smith jumped around on set, having to react to tennis balls, stuntmen and sometimes nothing at all as stand-ins for the digital Pokémon that were added to the shot in post-production.

Next up, the latest video essay by Patrick (H) Willems dives into why Men in Black is one of the best blockbuster action comedies in recent film history, and it’s largely because it somehow does an incredible job of doing what Ghostbusters did before it. Did you know that the screenwriter Ed Solomon also wrote Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and the sequel?

Finally, with his passion project The Man Who Killed Don Quixote finally getting released, director Terry Gilliam was treated to a visit to the Criterion Collection closet where he picked up and talked about The Complete Jacques Tati, Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema, Rififi, Federico Fellini’s 8½, and Paths of Glory.

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