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trinityvixenIt has been an exceedingly busy day at work, and I've got about twenty minutes of downtime to share a few things. You will not be surprised to learn they are mostly about movies.
1. Bucky Barnes has a promo still from Captain America. You may be forgiven if you don't spot him right away. (You are also forgiven if you have no idea who he is.) He's not at the center of the still. (Chris Evans, playing the Cap, is.) He's definitely not wearing his, ahem, old uniform. In fact, the only way to tell he's of any more significance than the other dudes standing around in WWII costume who are not the Cap is that he is facing the camera. I think that article title--"Nobody Cares About Bucky"--probably extends to the person choosing stills to release to the press.
2. Unlike most theories about the state of contemporary cinema, this one may be correct. Although I still take issue with the hyperbolic use of the words "death spiral" to describe things, it stands to reason that there's a supply and demand issue with movies. The demand for movies has not ebbed, it has shifted past what the suppliers are able to, financially, provide in the manner to which they had become accustomed. I'm not entirely sure how the studios will handle this shift, either, because there's no way Netflix is going away. Hell, Netflix could double its subscription fees, and I guarantee their business would be fine. (Pretend you didn't hear that, PLZ, Netflix!) People have found a solution that works for them that is legal, and they'll be loath to part from it easily. The 28-day release window that Netflix has hasn't hurt them at all. If they made it a 45-day window, I bet no one would notice. My queue is so long, they could make it a 5-year window, and I bet I wouldn't notice.
This is all relevant to my interests as someone who is not only not on trend, as far as seeing movies is concerned, but who is actively bucking it by making the effort to give Hollywood all of my money. I will continue to go see movies in the theater. I may be slightly less inclined to part with my money after I complete this zany screening schedule for a year, but I'll still always like the theater experience. It's a shame that it's turned off so many others. But I do understand their point. It's the studios' move.
3. The only coherent thing I can say about Egypt is this: It is not about you. That goes for Americans, that goes for Europeans, that goes for the various groups all holding their breath to see who will come out on top. Coverage has been mostly atrocious on this side of the pond, though I do think that Rachel Maddow's coverage has been more thoughtful than most. Her tack has been to not pigeonhole the demonstrators so much as to understand the long game of a revolution as one happens. I appreciate that.
1. Bucky Barnes has a promo still from Captain America. You may be forgiven if you don't spot him right away. (You are also forgiven if you have no idea who he is.) He's not at the center of the still. (Chris Evans, playing the Cap, is.) He's definitely not wearing his, ahem, old uniform. In fact, the only way to tell he's of any more significance than the other dudes standing around in WWII costume who are not the Cap is that he is facing the camera. I think that article title--"Nobody Cares About Bucky"--probably extends to the person choosing stills to release to the press.
2. Unlike most theories about the state of contemporary cinema, this one may be correct. Although I still take issue with the hyperbolic use of the words "death spiral" to describe things, it stands to reason that there's a supply and demand issue with movies. The demand for movies has not ebbed, it has shifted past what the suppliers are able to, financially, provide in the manner to which they had become accustomed. I'm not entirely sure how the studios will handle this shift, either, because there's no way Netflix is going away. Hell, Netflix could double its subscription fees, and I guarantee their business would be fine. (Pretend you didn't hear that, PLZ, Netflix!) People have found a solution that works for them that is legal, and they'll be loath to part from it easily. The 28-day release window that Netflix has hasn't hurt them at all. If they made it a 45-day window, I bet no one would notice. My queue is so long, they could make it a 5-year window, and I bet I wouldn't notice.
This is all relevant to my interests as someone who is not only not on trend, as far as seeing movies is concerned, but who is actively bucking it by making the effort to give Hollywood all of my money. I will continue to go see movies in the theater. I may be slightly less inclined to part with my money after I complete this zany screening schedule for a year, but I'll still always like the theater experience. It's a shame that it's turned off so many others. But I do understand their point. It's the studios' move.
3. The only coherent thing I can say about Egypt is this: It is not about you. That goes for Americans, that goes for Europeans, that goes for the various groups all holding their breath to see who will come out on top. Coverage has been mostly atrocious on this side of the pond, though I do think that Rachel Maddow's coverage has been more thoughtful than most. Her tack has been to not pigeonhole the demonstrators so much as to understand the long game of a revolution as one happens. I appreciate that.
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-04 09:46 pm (UTC)The two bits I found most interesting from today's news:
- Iraqi refugees are fleeing back to Iraq. On Al Jazeera, they also interviewed people in Baghdad, who were watching coverage intently, as their own people's uprising in 1991 led to them being gunned down. One man said democracy is better when it comes from the people. And boy, doesn't that carry a wealth of bitterness and regret.
- At Friday prayers today, Coptic Christians formed a human wall around Muslims praying in Tahrir Square. Same thing happened in Alexandria. Given that just a month ago a Coptic church was bombed in Alexandria, this is just overwhelming for me. Today's events have made me feel, perhaps unjustifiably, a little more hopeful about Egypt's future.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-04 09:54 pm (UTC)As I understood it, the Egyptians were generally aghast at the bombing of the church. There's at least some respect there for the antiquity of the thing even if the religion is not as welcome. When the bombing happened, Muslims in the area were very supportive of their Coptic Christian neighbors. It's nice to see that that generosity is being returned in kind.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-04 09:49 pm (UTC)The thing is I don't watch news on a regular basis, but Al Jazeera has far and away had the best coverage of this. And if I actually do want to see what's happening, I'm not going to watch any of America's cable companies.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-04 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-04 11:01 pm (UTC)I started seeing Netflix movies that are rental-only; they have the movie but no bonus features. I think that's a totally acceptable compromise. I don't mind losing deleted scenes and bonus features from my Netflix rentals if it means I might get movies sooner. It gives some kind of reason to buy the physical object instead of renting anyway. I could see people who love both extra features and rentals being annoyed though.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-05 04:34 pm (UTC)The cost of making movies has ballooned, yes, but a lot of that is because of the unions. Don't get me wrong, I'm pro-union, but these unions are operating in a town where so much money is being tossed around and each one definitely demands its slice of the pie. Actors are pricey, it's true, but even they can't account for the ballooning costs.
I started seeing Netflix movies that are rental-only; they have the movie but no bonus features. I think that's a totally acceptable compromise. I don't mind losing deleted scenes and bonus features from my Netflix rentals if it means I might get movies sooner. It gives some kind of reason to buy the physical object instead of renting anyway. I could see people who love both extra features and rentals being annoyed though.
I am not someone who watches special features and I find "rental-only" copies OBNOXIOUS. It's funny. I just watched the first season of Being Human downloaded--so no special features--and I was fine. The second I took out the DVD for the second season, I was annoyed to find it was a rental only copy. I get why Netflix would do it--as they've risen in power, they've had to make compromises to keep their DVDs coming in. But this won't make me buy something I don't want to. It just annoys me with the studio that insisted on the stripped-down DVD more.