Entertainment Forum General Chat Thread [ARCHIVED] • Page 404

I think there is a difference. Marvel and Star Wars movies make billions of dollars, game shows and soap operas aren't comparable. Disney is intentionally attempting to monopolize the movie/entertainment world, as much as they can. It's when they're the majority of what you can go see in a theater that people who otherwise aren't invested in superheroes or Star Wars don't have as much of a choice as they would have from the 30s to the 90s

 

Most of this stuff will be on Disney+ though so won't really affect the cinema although that has its own issue atm. I see the worry about Disney taking over everything but I think they'll struggle to actually take over everything with just Marvel and Star Wars, like I said, most people will always want more. I think I'd worry more if there hadn't been so much amazing stuff coming out over the last 10 years. Maybe I'm too optimistic in thinking it'll eventually work itself out.

 

Disney doesn't just own Marvel and Star Wars though. They bought Fox. They'll buy everything they can. It's their strategy going back to Snow White: take pre-existing stories, run them through a sanitary filter that makes people feel good, and make a shit ton of money and inspire brand loyalty by doing so. Star Wars and Marvel are the same thing, pre-existing properties that now run through a Disney filter and came with a legion of dedicated fans already. Disney knows if they give those fans what they want, which isn't necessarily quality art, just something that makes them feel good and want to keep coming back to Disney, it's a sustainable model. It is their model. As they (and Amazon, whose strategy is slightly different in implementation but similar in overall goal) continue to grow and potentially start to own the theaters showcasing movies, it all heads to a very, very bad place overall. There was a time when mainstream American cinema was largely (not completely, but largely) original and while still driven by monetary goals, at least made investments in the artists themselves, not the intellectual property.

I'm aware my outlook is cynical, but I do think there's reason to not be complacent and let a day literally called "Disney Investor Day" or whatever be a purely feel-good spectacle where people uncritically get stoked over a smorgasbord of content that will largely almost assuredly be exclusively middling, safe content that truly does take resources away from more worthwhile projects in the medium. This is the company that bought out theaters to make sure they'd show Star Wars: The Force Awakens, even in my local art theater when I lived in Chicago, which pushes out smaller films that need the exposure more. Disney didn't need Star Wars to be shown in my Chicago art theater, people can see it anywhere else. But for the independent or mid-budget movie, those screens are vital to their survival. I know, I know my outlook is negative. But I don't think it's unjustified.

 

I thought a lot about these.

 

Mikey Palmice is definitely a choice

 

The one announcement I was most excited for from Lucasfilm was that they were branching out from Star Wars with a film based on the book Children of Blood and Bone. I've never read it, but at least they're going to be creating something relatively new.

Honestly, even as a big Star Wars fan, most of what was announced didn't leave me very excited. I was initially very excited about an expansive SW universe. Star Wars, of all these popular fictional universes, is one that is ripe with storytelling potential and can serve as a playground for creators with a wide imagination. But the announcements, for the most part, deal with what's already familiar to the audience. Though I would be lying if I said I wasn't going to watch most of it to some degree (and yes, I understand it's hypocritical to be lamenting about the low effort storytelling being presented while also perpetuating it by watching).

I do think that one day people will grow exhausted of the shared universe concept, but I think Disney would have to be broken up for that to be a possibility any time soon.

 

The Sopranos was the hardest. I was trying to avoid main characters but also bit players who no one would remember. I was going to do Janice's boyfriend who is always falling asleep.

 

You'd be Melfi's son

 

He was a finalist!

 

Most members of the site

 

When I was in high school I wore a bunch of these little plastic bracelets from Claire's. It must have been over 50. They would have stretched out if you took them off and on so I never took them off. I had to wear long sleeves around the house so my dad would not find out, and this is Florida.

 

When I was in middle school it was all about the silicone wristbands akin to the Livestrong bands

 

I had a phase in middle school where I always wore wristbands, but usually, it was the thick DC Shoe type wristbands you'd see in pop-punk and emo music videos.

 

bold of whoever that top one is to just admit they're the worst

 

It is him lol

 

It seemed like it but I'd never assume someone is admitting to be Mikey haha

 

A lot of people are criticizing my Mikey Palmice pick but I challenge you to do the experiment before judging.

 

done. Mikey was a punk chode.

 

I would be your friend in real life.

 

This is a copout because you avoided the show full of murderers. Also I have no idea what the non-Bojack shows are.

 

He’s paulie

 

how is that a copout. the parameters weren't "what murderers are you like"

 

Absolutely.

 

if I had to pick a Sopranos character I'd probably be AJ.