Nobody Cares about TV and Film

[Khamon]

Second trailer released for Dune Part 2 (such an awkward title...).

"You young pup!"

Saw the last half-hour of the first film a few weeks ago staying in a hotel that had HBO IIRC. It was...slow...but this installment looks a bit more exciting, and more adherent to the books, than the Lynch film. I did like the Sci-fi series because they were visually engaging and McAvoy and All Hail Susan Sarandon.

 

[WolfEyes]

Saw the last half-hour of the first film a few weeks ago staying in a hotel that had HBO IIRC. It was...slow...but this installment looks a bit more exciting, and more adherent to the books, than the Lynch film. I did like the Sci-fi series because they were visually engaging and McAvoy and All Hail Susan Sarandon.

I've seen Part 1. SciFi (now SyFy) did it way better.

 

[Free]

I did like the Sci-fi series because they were visually engaging and McAvoy and All Hail Susan Sarandon.

I still have a soft spot in my heart for Syfy's Children of Dune, mainly because of McAvoy's and Jessica Brooks' performances as Leto II and Ghanima. They even allow me to forgive the college-level of the show's staging and production. (I still laugh when I watch Susan Sarandon walking down the landing ramp of a ship, and you can see her doing everything in her power not fall and roll down this creaky, abbreviated platform.)

 

[Noodles]

The death knell for broadcast television?

TV Industry Shock: Main Publisher of Daily Ratings Shutting Down as Networks Refuse to Share Numbers or Give Transparency - Showbiz411

For the last few years, two guy snamed Mitch -- Salem and Metcalfe -- have been republishing the TV ratings for broadcast and cable on a daily basis. His

www.showbiz411.com

Having worked in TV, Broadcast and currently Cable, the numbers have always felt incredibly shady. Especially in smaller markets. At the TV station, we basically gave away ads furing the day and overnight. Like on the level of, if you or I wanted to run an ad at 3AM, it would probably cost less than eating lunch out.

The station primarily made money during Superbowl (every 3 years because it rotates), Foodball, American Idol, and prime time, in that order. Superbowl year was always "upgrades year."

The one that always got me, we were giving away ipods one year in prime time. Someone put the wrong spot in the system, instead of running an ad promoting the contest, they just, ran the contest spot, at like 10 AM. Legally, we had just run a contest to win an ipod, all someone had to do was call. No one called.

This happened over 15 years ago when streaming wasn't even huge.

 

[Essence Lumin]

There are pretty much only two reasons I turn on the tv, music videos and the criterion channel. If you haven't heard of the latter, they show classic movies for $11 a month or $100 a year. Everyone has to get on the AI bandwagon. So, they have 15 or 20 movies with that theme. One is an all time favorite of mine, Dark Star. It is a super low budget movie where they use upside down cupcake tins as a control panel and have a beach ball going crazy in the elevator shaft. Their hippy mission is to travel the universe blowing up unstable planets. As far as the AI goes they have to teach one of the bombs about phenomenology, how if the bomb can observe himself thinking he must exist. Very funny.

They have new movies and themes each month. In July they are having British Noir, Isabella and Roberto Rossellini films, 50s Kubrick and a bunch more.

A large number of their films are subtitled so if you don't like that maybe never mind. I thought I would post about the criterion channel for those who might be interested and haven't heard of it. Here is their page about their July lineup.

The Criterion Channel’s July 2023 Lineup

Our latest slate of programs dives into one of science fiction’s favorite themes, the film career of one of rock and roll’s greatest icons, and midcentury pulp from across the Atlantic.

www.criterion.com

 

[Veritable Quandry]

One is an all time favorite of mine, Dark Star.

The Criterion Channel’s July 2023 Lineup

Our latest slate of programs dives into one of science fiction’s favorite themes, the film career of one of rock and roll’s greatest icons, and midcentury pulp from across the Atlantic.

www.criterion.com

Dark Star is fucking amazing. It is clearly a film school project. But the student who directed it was John Carpenter. His co-writer was Dan O'Bannon (who did scripts for Alien, Return of the Living Dead, Total Recall, and Heavy Metal}. The computer displays for Star Wars that are still the template for their visual design were O'Bannon's work.

 

[Noodles]

This show, The Good Witch, has a decided lack of fireballs and potion brewing in it. And zero broom flying.

 

[Caete]

 

[Free]

David Zaslav Article Taken Down By GQ After Warner Bros. Discovery Raises Objections

GQ has removed a profile of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav from its website after the company raised objections to the article.

deadline.com

GQ magazine has removed an article about Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav from its website after the company objected to the article.

The unflattering piece by freelance film critic Jason Bailey appeared Monday. It catalogued a number of moves by Zaslav — particularly decisions at Warner Bros, Max and TCM — which have made him “the most hated man in Hollywood.” Bailey wrote that Zaslav is “only good at breaking things,” comparing him with the businessman played by Richard Gere in Pretty Woman.

The article then went through a round of edits before being fully removed from the site without explanation after the company complained and Bailey asked for his byline to be removed.

Here's the GQ article: https://archive.ph/2023.07.03-160323/https://www.gq.com/story/david-zaslav-warner-bros-discovery-ceo-tcm-max

 

[Free]

SCIENCE!

 

[Beebo Brink]

About 20 minutes into Annihilation, I stopped to read some reviews because I was waffling on whether to stay with it or just bail. Several of the reviews were gushing about it being "too intellectual" for the mainstream theater audience, which -- they asserted -- was why this film ended up released on Netflix instead. That sounded suspect to me, but I decided to give the reviewers the benefit of the doubt so, god help me, I watched to the end.

Apparently, I don't have the mental prowess to appreciate the deeper meanings of... whatever. The show wasn't a complete waste of my time because there were a few stunning unworldly visuals towards the end that I would have missed otherwise. The rest was pretty derivative of every other Emotionally Dysfunctional Team Goes Into the Alien Unknown story that is ubiquitous in the genre.

 

[Free]

About 20 minutes into Annihilation, I stopped to read some reviews because I was waffling on whether to stay with it or just bail. Several of the reviews were gushing about it being "too intellectual" for the mainstream theater audience, which -- they asserted -- was why this film ended up released on Netflix instead. That sounded suspect to me, but I decided to give the reviewers the benefit of the doubt so, god help me, I watched to the end.

Apparently, I don't have the mental prowess to appreciate the deeper meanings of... whatever. The show wasn't a complete waste of my time because there were a few stunning unworldly visuals towards the end that I would have missed otherwise. The rest was pretty derivative of every other Emotionally Dysfunctional Team Goes Into the Alien Unknown story that is ubiquitous in the genre.

I liked it, despite the laboriousness of what you have to put into it. I just don't have an interest in ever watching it again.

 

[Noodles]

Ok, maybe this movie was a victim of COVID, but I swore I had seen trailers for this going to theaters a while ago. That or there is a really similar movie out there.

Before watching the trailer though I was thinking, "Wasn't that the one with Portman going into that alien dome thing?"

Edit: It was, I think I just misread what you were saying about it, I was thinking you were saying it was released recently as a Netflix movie.

 

[Free]

Ok, maybe this movie was a victim of COVID, but I swore I had seen trailers for this going to theaters a while ago. That or there is a really similar movie out there.

Before watching the trailer though I was thinking, "Wasn't that the one with Portman going into that alien dome thing?"

It was released in 2018. Based on a novel by Jeff VanderMeer.

 

[Isabeau]

I really liked the movie…

I only really liked the first book of the trilogy. I thought it was mostly an exercise in setting ambiance that didn’t go anywhere.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Edit: It was, I think I just misread what you were saying about it, I was thinking you were saying it was released recently as a Netflix movie.

Annihilation was in the Features display in Netflix, but I have no idea if those selections are universal or tailored to a specific user account based on viewing history. Either way, the movie bubbled up to where I noticed it.

One unexpected pitfall of retirement is that I'm burning through entertainment options at a prodigious rate. I went on an annual subscription binge earlier this year, while I could still afford it, so I'm working my way through the catalogs of Amazon, Netflix, Paramount+, Max, Acorn, BritBox and PBS. The plan is to drop most of those rather than renew.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

It was released in 2018. Based on a novel by Jeff VanderMeer.

I remember it clearly and rather liked the truely alien-ness of the invasive... 'thing/stuff'.

I was kind of surprised to see it as a new release considering I watched it via netflix back in 2019. Then I remembered it was probably one of the last discs I got from them before their catalog got massacred to the point of being useless.

 

[WolfEyes]

Annihilation was in the Features display in Netflix, but I have no idea if those selections are universal or tailored to a specific user account based on viewing history. Either way, the movie bubbled up to where I noticed it.

One unexpected pitfall of retirement is that I'm burning through entertainment options at a prodigious rate. I went on an annual subscription binge earlier this year, while I could still afford it, so I'm working my way through the catalogs of Amazon, Netflix, Paramount+, Max, Acorn, BritBox and PBS. The plan is to drop most of those rather than renew.

The featured movies and shows are universal, not tailored to specific user accounts or even specific users within the account. None of the streaming services that offer separate usernames within an account tailor the featured to a specific user. If they did, they wouldn't keep showing me things I have absolutely no interest in watching and very little of what I do like to watch.

There is usually a section where they have recommendations specifically for that user, but you have to scroll down to find it and, like all the other programming out there, it's usually skewed towards the genre you most recently watched so it's not all that helpful.

 

[Noodles]

One unexpected pitfall of retirement is that I'm burning through entertainment options at a prodigious rate. I went on an annual subscription binge earlier this year, while I could still afford it, so I'm working my way through the catalogs of Amazon, Netflix, Paramount+, Max, Acorn, BritBox and PBS. The plan is to drop most of those rather than renew.

I just want to say, that reminds me a bit of my parents. I have always discussed this and that for TV or movies with my mom but lately (since both my parents retired a few years ago) she has been way more on overdrive and I just can't keep up.

This isn't helped by me having a TV going all day at work in the background as part of work, I still watch stuff, but I can barely handle more than 2 hours max a night anymore and sometimes its none.

 

[Lexxi]

I used to like recommending things to my parents. There's a million and one things I know they would like, might be interested in, or the like (like I know they'd at least be interested in trying that Steve Martin, Martin Short murder mystery show, but it's on streaming). Somewhere along the line, I just stopped talking television shows with them except in very specific stituations. Why?

They only have cable. And no method of watching something like a DVD/Blu-Ray/etc. Occasionally they look into adding streaming (technically, they do have one streaming services, since they have Amazon Prime, but they have never used the streaming service), but the fact that their cable and their internet service is through two different companies defeats them.

I'm just rambling. Like I saw on the news that President Biden hugged the King of England (or whatever he did) and one of the people commenting mentioned how old the King is now (well, how both finally got what they were trying to get at a rather old age). They mentioned the birth date of the king. My parents are older than the king.