Tag Archives: Amazon Prime

August 20, 2026 · 10:11

The outstanding question

That is where I man at present. And there is little evidence at present. Trump sycophants are hiding the truth from all of us. And we need to be careful, not for their sake, but for ours. When this comes to blow and it will, whatever we put in place now is going to be elementary in our survival ad I am not making some grand gesture or some empty veiled threat. This is due on us all. To set out survival in better terms The Commonwealth nations need to stand with Canada, it is a first setting and this might already be happening, but it is not an outspoken setting. The people need to know that we all stand with Canada. To set this in some reality you might understand. Some professor in Chicago stated “The United States is heading towards the greatest political defeat in Iran in history” he compared the setting in Iran towards the setting that Lyndon Johnson faced in Vietnam. The ramifications will be on all of us. But there is a way out. You see, when the Commonwealth nations, the EU and the gulf states combine forces we are decently isolated from the implosion that will come to the United States. I have said this before several time over the last decade. But this is not enough, there is a question that both the Commonwealth and the EU must entertain. A the EU is likely having to deal with Russian elements and Canada with the United States, we need extra insulation and it is my believe that China will be a strong insulator. Their technology and innovation will find its way (and to some degree already is to the Gulf States) but to ad the EU and the Commonwealth is a primary setting. So whilst the United States, Russia and Iran fight out what their best chances are, they can get to each others throats. I reckon that in this state Russia might now attack the United States as it needs a victory to hold over its people and the apple of the United States will be the sweetest victory, it is totally hollow but that is what it might take. 

So whilst the United States is burdened with $40,000,000,000,000 debt and an annual interest of over a trillion dollars, the United States will end up having less and less year after year and when the money is gone and when the social services it did have are depleted we will see a civil war erupt na dit will not be photographed by Kirsten Dunst. I reckon that the billionaires in the United States will evade towards Monaco and the UAE, but that is a mere presumption in this. These original captains of industry will walk away and optionally set their new headquarters in both the EU and the UAE. They all sever ties with the United States and will offer jobs in these two locations to the chosen few. At that point it will become a open shooting range Americans in Mexico and that wall was meant to keep people out, not in, so it will be a decent folly to see how that wall will matter. In the north, Canada will see an incursion of all kind of Americans and some will be granted access, but they will be few, the rest will end up fending for itself in the US of A. America was always heading for this, but as I see it President Trump escalated this by a lot. So, soon we will see the media taking a break from click baiting and giving us the real deal, but as I see it, it is already too late. So whilst Saudi Arabia and the UAE will see their media empires grown into the EU and Commonwealth more revenue will be lost to the USA. So whilst some give that there is a twinkle of hope, I actually do not see it. The American media was all about streaming membership and whilst some might have considered that, 2027 is when this ends and whilst these people would now thrown whatever it had to physical media (Disney, Amazon prime and to a lesser degree Netflix) there is a larger audience reacting that setting and there is an opening for the Streaming gulf states. This is a mere fraction, but the entire bill that is the United States is set towards fractions and whilst by themselves they seem small these fractions have intersections pulling others into this mess and overall it becomes a massive bill no longer being received from any of them. I used to say “Clusters are nice until they unite though other means”, it is a set of data and market research settings that only seemingly makes sense to people in that quarter. And we are about to see how that equates to real life (as I personally see it). So whilst I had an idea of what President Trump was aiming for when I sort of quoted “In confusion there is profit”, the opposing setting is that outspoken alliances are the way to stop this and as a Commonwealthian I say stand with Canada now, and outspoken so. Just as we took the voice to support Greenland. So as we show that we deny the United States anything they have no business in owning, we also reject the Russian grounds we see evolve and stand by the Ukraine in all this. With the Gulf States we are over 50% of the population and it stand to reason (for several reasons) to stand shoulder to shoulder with China, but that is a personal view I reckon that the Commonwealth and the EU needs to see where they go. Yet as I see it, China offers insulation for the USA and Russia all at the same time. So whilst the USA is getting chummy with North Korea, they will seen see that North Korea only cares for North Korea, as such the United States is likely to become a target for the newly grouped Russian puppets, but that is merely my view and I could be wrong. 

But overall, I have been right a whole lot more than I was wrong and I have over 4100 articles in this blog stating these views, I have corroborating evidence. 

So the outstanding question becomes where do you stand? I get that you might stand with the United States, just be clear on what that future has in mind and whilst more and more see that the ‘Golden age of AI’ is not coming any day soon, no matter what they say. You need to see where you might want to consider your path to personal happiness takes you, because that is still the number one setting we all adhere to. You see, that golden age comes with costs “The economic costs of artificial intelligence encompass massive infrastructure investments, soaring energy demands, and complex labor market shifts where running specialized AI agents can rival or exceed the cost of human work” and as I see it, the United States can no longer afford to foot that bill. So whilst we see “Microsoft projects global enterprise deployment figures to scale toward 1.3 billion agents” and now the small realistic setting, What happens when the power issues erupt? Because that is merely a year away and these agents cannot work without power and a person can mildly survive without a fan and a fridge. Did anyone consider that? So how many servers does it take to ‘fuel’ 1,300,000,000 AI agents? So when the brownout comes where does that revenue end? So as we see that localized power disruptions and blackouts affect tens of millions of Americans annually. What happens then? So, as the U.S. Census Bureau show that roughly 1 in 4 households gets a brownout every 12 months. What happens when your power requirements aren’t met? Wouldn’t a salesperson or a customer care person have been a better way? All these clustered settings and they meet in several ways and now the drop in revenue come very real and still, every year the over 1 trillion in interest payments are due. 

So you tell me, why didn’t the media give you this? Because there are plenty of people more clever than me, so why didn’t they inform you? I know of a few people who did, but I got there earlier. So, what stopped them? Have a great day all. I am on route to kill me a few Uruk Hai culprits this morning.

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September 30, 2024 · 11:48

Co inky dink

Yup, my previous article on comic films preceded a BBC article. Or perhaps better stated I saw the article after I wrote my article. As coincidences, go a nice one. The BBC article (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj6er83ene6o) gives us ‘Hollywood’s big boom has gone bust’, I have some issues here. The first is seen with “the good times ground to a halt in May 2023, when Hollywood’s writers went on strike” I resent the implied status that this was up to the writers going on strike. And as we are given both “The actor and aerial cinematographer turned his hobby of flying drones into a profitable business in 2012 just as the streaming wars were taking off. For a decade, he was flying high above film sets, creating sleek aerial shots for movies and TV shows on Netflix, Amazon and Disney” and “But rather than roaring back, in the one year since the strikes ended, production has fizzled.” This story isn’t giving us the goods. You see there are a few elements. One is saturation of business. First there was Netflix, and not we have in addition Disney plus, Hulu, Paramount, YouTube TV, Sling, Fubo and Amazon prime. Several more to follow but these are the better ones. What was one is now eight and it doesn’t end there, there are all kinds of digital boxes who keep tabs on it all. The problem is that income levels are still the same as they were in December 2019, pretty much in synch with the first Covid setting. In 5 years most incomes are either the same or ridiculously close to that and in the meantime the cost of living has gone through the roof. Housing has been raised in many places by as much as 50%, that is hundreds of dollars a week. Food has risen by about 5% per year. There is the larger set that most people can at best afford 1 digital channel (if at all), as such all eight channels competed for the same customer at the same time. As such it isn’t merely that production fizzled, or that projects were cancelled. There is a dwindling population that cannot even afford one channel. And to relate that to the present, Disney projected it would spend between $8 billion-$9 billion on content for its premiere streaming service. Now see that investment all whilst less people could afford that TV channel. This isn’t merely America, this is a global problem. Hollywood has relied on the old Roman principle “Give the people bread and games” and now the people cannot afford the games and more and more of them are falling short for buying bread and this is happening all over the world. So whilst we get “Projects have been cancelled and production was cut across the city as jobs have dried up, with layoffs at many studios – most recently at Paramount. It had a second round of layoffs this week, as the storied movie company moves to cut 15% of its workforce ahead of a merger with the production company Skydance.” We see that there is a lull in the setting of projects and the attainment that people are in the mindset of “things will go better soon” but that is not the case. America and Europe wasted at least two years on their ego all whilst the ‘customers’ who had the cash have vacated to China. I saw this happen two years ago, which is why I created a script that could entertain the Muslim population. And I was right that SBA (Saudi Broadcasting Authority) and Dubai media are growing like crazy, all whilst the American players are merging and buying each other out. I saw the same happen in the IT in the early 90’s with a Dutch company called Infotheek. On the edge of bankruptcy, they bought the smaller players and take that revenue as your own. It didn’t work then, I doubt it will work now. And in that light America has a second problem. Many players will divert to Canada as it could be an option. Many actors and actresses are Canadian, so that works for some. Vancouver is a new powerhouse in this and the more the capture the smaller the American pie becomes. As such the article is right, Hollywood big boom has gone bust, as could be the case for Hollywood fairly soon. And there lies the problem, an over bubbled industry, A premise of channels that ned to invest billions, all whilst there is doubt that the revenue in 2026 could have diminished by 20% (at least), as such who gets the money? Then in the past 300% on investment was achievable, soon it will merely be between break even and perhaps 50%, so how many investors will leap the fence to optionally Arabic channels? I made it clear in 2020 that you cannot bite the hand that feeds you, but did the American defense industry listen? Nope and now the Chinese defense industry reports a growth of 25% year-on-year. That is money that is not going to America and now the streaming channels are optionally seeing a similar move towards Arabic nations and India. So how long until the boom turns into a gap that implodes implodes? 

All things that have been out in the open, but the BBC overlooked it. It is a good story and it gives some of the goods, but it overlooked the attached factors and these are a lot more disastrous. Well, that’s it for now. It is almost lunch time for me, have a great morning wherever you are.

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January 4, 2024 · 18:57

Wanna go fat?

That is the weird but very apt question. Of course I could ask Laura Vandervoort implying if she wants me (my delusional side in action). Yet this is not about women, this is about gaming. It is 2024 and internet congestion is starting to become a much bigger issue. As such, if Amazon with its Luna wants to stand out and equal if not surpass Tencent with its handheld, it needs to reformulate some settings. I truly believe that Gaming as a Service (GaaS) has the future, but the brains behind this are too much about the monthly fee and when congestion hits that monthly fee becomes a problem. Tencent with its handheld has a solution, now Amazon needs to find a roadmap to set itself apart. They cannot rely on player like Ubisoft to figure things out, it will be too late for them.

Now consider an upgraded and remastered version of some of the Commodore 64 greats. Fort Apocalypse, Wizard, Jumpman, Wizard of Wor and so on. You might find that amusing, but you only have to face one wall of congestion and it suddenly doesn’t feel that weird anymore. Now each of these games was less than 354Kb in total. Now with upgraded graphics (and much better sounds) it will easily fit a 2Mb marker. Consider the controller now with an SD card slot and a 64GB card is less than $15. Now consider that the controller is the fat client. It will use the servers, but in some cases it can download a partial frame and a whole host of games can be played from the controller. Not Ubisoft games and not many ‘new’ high tech games (or whatever they would call them) but others could be downloaded and other games could be downloaded whilst you play. It is a larger station to consider. In the age of congestion, the one that allows you to play is the winner and Amazon needs a real win. Microsoft is spinning the fact that they are losing. They made arrangements with Ubisoft. So what happens when Microsoft desperately wants more? Amazon better get ready because if they are not, it all goes to Tencent and they are at present in a stage where they could get millions of gamers, all because some were asleep (OK, Google walked away from this). 

The larger setting that we see (at https://www.androidauthority.com/amazon-luna-1170676/) is only part of it. They are set on relying on monthly prices and that is good. The moment that players and families will have to consider $12 for Netflix or $10 for Amazon Prime, Amazon will lose members. The controller is either $70, or $83. So what happens when people get the one time additional $10 for the fat client version, they need to buy their own SD card, but it comes with a free setting of these ‘download’ games and as that list improves the people will select the Amazon equation. You can all go into denial that this will never happen, but a setting where bills are strangling you, that $10 can given you dozens of games and a gaming setting that families can afford. Yes, when they cannot afford one, they cannot afford the other either. But there will be a large group of people who can only afford one. And that will escalate. Now take congestion in the mix and people are paying for something that cannot be delivered for whatever excuse the telco gives us and in Australia Optus has had its share of excuses, so much so that there is a senate hearing on Optus. And it is the first one at present. I reckon that soon enough others will have their congestion and outage issues, this might be the year it comes to blows all because too many were sitting on their hands and it is not merely Australia. EU and US will have their own issues soon enough. In addition to that Germany and France have massive rural area’s where the minimum bandwidth is seemingly an issue. That issue is seemingly and there is no real open data. Those who have the issue are (as I personally suspect) hiding this. As such a fat client solution could decrease bandwidth pressures and allow people to game there, at least those lacking a console or PC. 

As I personally see it, going fat is not the best way, but it is an option into the future, so how about it Laura ;-)?

Now consider the Amazon solution with dozens of awesome remastered games added to the mixture? As I see it it is better than what is now, the Microsoft spin only holds water for so long and whilst too many are following that Microsoft cult, Tencent with its handheld is about to gain real gamers globally and that was what I always predicted. They question becomes which of the two is gaining the additional 50,000,000 gamers the quickest in phase one? When that part becomes reality Microsoft will have lost another battle, all set to meaningless banter like ‘We have the most powerful console in the world’ which is not a lie, but Nintendo with its weakest console surpassed them with great ease and now Tencent is about to become the next favourite taste of gamers. Amazon has options but it is not clear for how long. They are establishing themselves, yet outside issues like congestion will halt them for some time and this is the kind of game that standing still get you to lose the race. 

Enjoy this Thursday, the first weekend of the year is only a day away.

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November 20, 2023 · 13:43

Ratatouille

Yes, that was the thought entering my mind. It is not about the cartoon, it is about the dish. I first had it in 1981 in Lourdes. It was also the year I met members from the Legion Etrangere and their kepi blanc. A lot happened that year but it is not set the a singular event. You see, there is a larger stage that my mind is working out and it is one of a few. 

Douse the Mouse
The second stage towards all this is Ronald McDonald DeSantis where we (in no particular order) are given (at https://www.politico.com/newsletters/florida-playbook/2023/11/17/florida-starts-turning-on-desantis-00127753) with ‘DeSantis’ popularity drops in Florida’ where we are given “But DeSantis’ support from Independent voters in Florida has taken a nosedive, the poll shows, with almost 60 percent saying they disapprove of the job he is doing as governor — a nearly 14-point increase from July” so in 3 months his approval rate is down by 14% and I believe it is more than that. The person who wanted to ‘Douse the Mouse’ (source: @Brittlestar) is now trying to avoid whatever he can. So we get to the second link (at https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/disney-says-it-has-40-billion-economic-impact-in-florida-as-it-battles-desantis-in-court/) with ‘Disney says it has $40 billion economic impact in Florida as it battles DeSantis in court’ where we are given “Disney officials in the past year have said the company plans to invest an additional $17 billion over the next decade in central Florida, including potentially adding another 13,000 jobs. However, the company has shown a willingness to pull back investing in the Sunshine State. Earlier this year, Disney scrapped plans to relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development, an investment estimated at $1 billion”, so not only does Disney account for 40 billion, it was about to increase the economic footprint of Florida by 2.5% money that the state desperately needs. Now we see that DeSantis is trying to spin several settings and the people have had enough. The deep painted republicans are running away (alas in the direction of Donald Trump), the rest has had enough of the republicans. Now we get to the story (at https://www.npr.org/2023/11/16/1213355557/desantis-florida-president-candidate-voters-trump) where we see ‘Once Florida’s favourite son, Floridians turn on DeSantis in his bid for president’ a stage that gives us “Trump currently has more than a 30 point lead over DeSantis in his own state. That lead hasn’t changed significantly since the governor jumped into the race for president”, as well as “Republican state Rep. Randy Fine has been one of DeSantis’ most vocal supporters in the Florida Legislature. But recently he announced he’s backing Trump in the GOP primary”. This is a setting I expected to some degree, but not to this degree. You see when you screw with the economy of your own state for simple shallow egotistical reasons. This is the event you can see coming a mile away. 

This all matters to another stage with all kind of jagged edges. You see, All this was going through my mind when I was contemplating two issues. 

The first one Was Abu Dhabi. I saw the Warner Brothers hotel (and theme park) and I wondered why the UAE isn’t more outspoken in adding a decent amount. The first one is a sidestep from the  normal theme park, I am not sure how Islam regards Harry Potter and I don’t think it is a good idea to have a third one, but some kind of fairy tale forest, based on Scheherazade and the One Thousand and One Nights in the style of the Dutch Efteling, could work. Too stand out matters and this could be a setting. As the stage increases (see below).

The idea is not an expansion based on rides, but on walks and watching the stories of 1001 Arabian nights and other myths. You see, when I was confronted with the Jinn, the idea erupted to create the script for ‘How to Assassinate a politician’, the idea still works for a number of stages. And adding these stories to any theme park would be a win for the theme park. You see, as we get closer and closer to 2030, the tourism groups will alter. The UAE should expand and create a haven for tourists, non-Arabic tourists. Tourism from Bangladesh and Indonesia will grow to a decent degree, and in all this the Europeans who can afford to go there, they will go there. America is rapidly losing appeal and the European tourist as well as the asian one wants to see new borders. With Saudi Arabia growing Neom and the Line they will get more and more tourists. So offering these people an additional choice (like the train Riyadh-Dubai-Abu Dhabi) will get its own appeal on all this and there is time for the UAE to add to their arsenal and after the storms they need more in more places. You see, I will not give word here, but there is a chance that Dubai (if what I saw was real) will have more issues coming. 

So as the expansions 1,2 and 3 are added the larger addition is a magic carpet ride (like the Efteling ‘de droomvlucht’) but over the three expansions showing the people a new ride and the biggest one ever created showing them the expansions as well as additional layers (read: floors) showing them another collection of stories, Abu Dhabi will become an increasing source for tourists, both local and international. 

All this is also linked to a setting of Residuam Vitam (a story in development), I had some idea of how to set the spin towards the conclusion, but now I addd a few sides and that is where the jagged edge came into play. That is all linked to the stories and the past. You see there was one part that Socrates gave me and the other part I know the story, but not the writer and that combination resulted in something more. That part is still evolving but the interactions are defining me. Parts I did not consider before are now getting in motion. It was linked to ‘How to Assassinate a politician’ because it was an idea I had for Arab TV. Yet the setting is not about Arabs, Islam or the middle east, it was about seeing new frontiers and optionally making groundbreaking efforts. Whilst players like Amazon Prime, Disney and Netflix are focussing on Europe and America. The reality is that in 3-4 years that is the most likely to implode, all whilst the areas I am looking at are growth areas and they will have needs too, as such the evolving ideas others are avoiding. You can say it is its own kind of Ratatouille. And whilst players like Ron DeSantis are so egotistical that they will destroy their own state’s economy by Dousing the Mouse. Other players are more realistic in their approach and that is where both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates can capture a decent slice of that tourism gap. You see, we are seeing (for months) the stage of “Travel to all areas of Florida should be done with extreme caution” there will be an impact for both Disney and Warner Brothers and the people going somewhere else, need someplace to go. That is simple abacus logic, but it holds up. You see, most will try to go to EuroDisney or Japan, but like any theme park there is a limit and these two places haven’t been expanding enough. In addition to that there are a decent amount of complaints to the catering of Warner Brothers Japan (all third party complaints, nothing I can vouch for) but these elements add up and now the middle east has one additional track for extended revenue, all because some people considered and placed ego before common sense. I wonder what happens when these players start the blame game, like ‘Republicans blame skewed advertising for Ohio abortion rights victory’, it is merely one small part in a larger stage of failures and that list keeps on growing. So much could have been avoided, but that is on them.

Enjoy the day, Monday is 56% through for me.

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June 26, 2023 · 13:05

Is it the real issue?

As I was writing the previous story, the story (at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65997926) arrived to my desk. As we see ‘Can we stop being tricked into subscriptions?’ My mind went back to a similar story I wrote in 2022, when someone accused Amazon of porn site approaches and we see here “‘I spent £6.99 for 18 months’ A huge range of firms now offer subscriptions ranging from food delivery to contact lenses and it is a growing market. Many offer a free trial, or discounts in exchange for people signing up. However, people the BBC has spoken to say they feel they have been locked in unintentionally because they have forgotten to cancel their subscription when their free trial period has ended.” Consider, when you forget a monthly responsibility, is that the service offerer or is it the schmuck who close that deal? And in this case Schmuck is the right word. When you have a deduction on your bank statements for 18 months, that person was not on the ball, missing the point. So when we are given “John, for example, told the BBC he had signed up to Amazon Prime video for a 30-day free period and forgot to cancel it when he had to start paying for it.” As such is that on Amazon, or on the dumbo forgetting he SIGNED for a responsibility? 

As such consider WHY are you taking a subscription? Was the reason valid, or was it a short term need? None of this is on Amazon, none of this is on the subscription offerer. That is the very first thing you need to realise. Just like those Gyms offering subscriptions by letting them be offered by ladies looking really good in D cups (or larger). It was the simple stage of sex sells, there was no sex involved, but the ego of the man never figured that out until he had been there for 2 plus years. 

Yet there is a side I cannot disagree with. It is given with “But Citizens Advice says it should go further, calling for auto-renewals to be banned altogether and making firms ask people to opt in, rather than opt out of subscriptions after a free trial.” It is not what these people want, but there is a clear stage that any offer should be by monthly, quarterly or annual opt in is fair on the consumer. As such some change is required. It is not on Amazon, but Amazon will be affected as well. As such, I can get behind ““The government has to acknowledge the pressure on consumers’ pockets. This has to be the start of reforms, not the end,” says Matthew Upton, executive director of policy and advocacy.” Matthew makes a decent case, even as people like that John might be too stupid to figure it out. There is indeed a need for reform. I cannot state that Amazon needs it, but plenty do. Netflix too has a decent cancellation option. Yet which do not? I cannot tell and as such I find the opt in continuation a decent solution. But the real issue is not the actual issue. It is a person like that John is so stupid that he paid 18 months because he forgot and the BBC picked it up as news. The headline should have stated ‘Should we adjust to the need of stupid people?’ That is merely my personal view on the matter.

Enjoy the day.

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January 20, 2023 · 19:52

Betrayal by greed

That was what I was considering today (and part of yesterday). You see I watch a stream sometimes, but not all the time. I am old school (really old in one way). You see I like (actually love) my physical formats. Games and movies. I started my collection a long time ago with CD’s and VHS cassettes (ask your grandfather if you do not know what those are). Over time some VHS were updated to DVD and some to Blue-ray. That I where I am now, but over time the game changed and that was not what I was ready for. Studios to some extent betraying their fans, I saw some of it earlier on and I considered it a dick move. How could any studio betray their fans? Now there are two settings, the first is outright betrayal for whatever reason. Consider that in most places Stargate Universe was never available on Blue-Ray. Consider the Expanse an amazing series, but as the series is now in season 6, yet the fans can only get the first 3 seasons. Why is that? Then is a second setting. The TV series Lucifer. Now they have a rather nasty experience. They needed a new way to continue and they found one and it ended with season 6, only now can they get seasons 4, 5 and 6, however only on DVD. Only the first three seasons are on
Blue-Ray. There is some understand here because Netflix acquired the series. But why short change your fans? I understand that Netflix does get a time exclusive, they acquired that right and I do not begrudge them anything. Yet after this time, who not release them now? It has been long enough. For that Disney has another setting, I am not sure how to react there. They have their series, they have also acquired Marvel (to some degree) and even as the movies can be bought, the series on Disney plus (Mandolorian, Wandavision et al) cannot. I never saw any of them , so I feel uncertain how to respond. Those fans might have their own feelings on this. But when you make the inventory on what is there and more important what is missing, we get a very different picture, one where corporate stages are set on greed. Now this is not new or some kind of revelation, but in movies it is somewhat unusual, especially towards their fans. So what happened to American Horror Story 1984? I get that season 10 is not out yer, but the last episode was in October 2021, so that is well over a year ago. For me? Well, I do believe that within the next two years, when 5G is not yet out everywhere there will be congestion and it will hit much harder than you think, the streamers will be hit as well and as businesses are now set to exploiting the benefits of 5G, these limitations will grow larger and larger, as such congestion will have a much more relentless impact. Should it not be an idea to avoid pressures as much as possible? Now, that does not mean that the studios should bank on losses, but The expanse ended season 6 a year ago, is it not time to release those seasons? What does the maker want to avoid? I reckon that those who do not have Amazon Prime might not get it anyway, so why make revenue the obstacle? I cannot tell how many buy them, but I feel certain I am not the only one, as for some releasing them only on DVD, all whilst previous seasons were on Blue-Ray? Shame on you!

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December 10, 2021 · 20:55

What was old, could be new

I have been thinking of a movie, it wasn’t a great movie, it was not something Spielberg made, but for some reason it comes back every now and then. It had an impact and the fact that Jon Cryer was in it makes it an almost instant classic. The movie is called Hiding Out and was made in 1987 by Bob Giraldi. Nowadays with the digital era, new acts that allow organised crime to do almost anything, the cryptocurrency that is all over (and the dozens of alternatives), including OneCoin by Ruja Ignatova. These settings allows for a remake and the main character could still be a banker, the setting is almost timeless. I do hope that if this comes out that the makers will consider hiring Jon Cryer as the federal team leader trying to keep everyone safe. 

It is not often that a script that is not the greatest, turns out to be the timeless setting that can traverse technologies and generations, yet I believe that Bob Giraldi did just that with Hiding Out. There are more pieces like this and there is no need to look at them now, but the age of Netflix, DisneyPlus, AmazonPrime, HBO and Google Movies makes these options a lot more important. Apart from the fact that the script is already there, it could save these channels a lot by looking at hat could be great and there are plenty of movies that have a timeless character. There is also a weird situation here. These timeless works will never make the top 100. It is not distinct enough, yet in that These movies will be one time originals and that is fine. Yet movies like Miracle on 34th Street, the Mummy, A star is born and now optionally Hiding out are not the greatest movies, but they were fun to watch and they can be fun again. In the list given there are still two distinct elements. The Mummy was a great remake because technology and special effects allowed for so much more. A star is born is because the stage can be altered to fit a whole number of people and I reckon that (if we are till around) we will see a new version of A star is born in 2050. And I personally believe that 2023 might be the year to give us a remade version of Bob Giraldi’s Hiding out with all the financial bells, whistles and organised crime’s hardware to make it a success.

I believe that movies can be good, great or timeless and it is that third group that the streamers need. Those IP rights are either not there, they are no longer valid or can be gotten a lot cheaper than a complete new work of IP and that is what they will seek, as costs bite, as the competition becomes more fierce, they will all fight over the golden script, but one movie is not enough, they optionally need up to 50 each year and that is where a movie like Hiding out could find itself a second wind. Optionally with an altered Jon Cryer. And this is not limited to Hollywood, pretty much every movie making nation had a group of movies made between 1975-1990 that could easily fit the bill. I look at new IP and create new IP because I am a storyteller, but the stage is larger than me and I recognise that there is more and as such my mind went back to a movie I saw decades ago. I believe there is a setting now that this movie could surpass the previous version in greatness, in suspense and in appeal all elements the streamers desperately want. 

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November 28, 2021 · 20:37

Historic detours

We all do them, I do them a lot. On any course from A to B, I tend to take detours every day. For one, I walk a lot and I like the scenery to change, it might not make much sense if you are the avid automobile fan, yet when you walk it makes a lot of sense. It can be that one route has a cinema and I want to see what is coming. That thought makes less sense nowadays, but in the past there were windows with photo’s of movies coming and movies playing. Then thee are the detours the mind makes. Those tend to make a lot less sense, even to the wielder of that brain. The Brain wants to let you know something and it tells you in its own way. Through the dream state when you are asleep, through a day dream or even through a small jump away from what you were thinking. We all have them, we pay attention (at times), we will it away or we ignore, we tend to take different strides with any mind jump. 

This happened to me today when I was doing something meaninglessly simple, mind-numbing and the brain just took over. I was at a school, not sure which one, or where. The kids spoke English, but I did not connect to the location and I have no kids, so I am at a loss on that part. The kids were eating food and a I saw a ‘pretend it is Mexican day’ sign. The sign was troublesome in a few ways but that does not matter. It was then that I noticed the food. I thought they were all enjoying enchiladas. The rolled or is that wrapped food in a thick tortilla, it was then that I took notice of the smell, the sweetness, the stuffing and then things started to make sense. The kids all had rolled up pancakes, rolled like a tortilla and the stuffing was not that of an enchilada. It was filled with fruits. Then I saw others with some kind of chili, but it was I think cranberry mash with berries, bananas and stuff, the enchiladas had some kind of jam, dried fruits, tangerine parts and I think apricot slices. They were all having fruit dishes all shaped and imaged after Mexican food, the sign made more sense now. And it makes sense, the detours allowed me to design the 5G solution I created, this is not the same, but set to a similar premise. The mind can fill voids, but it can also label and identify things it is aware of. So what if kids see the same shape as a bowl of chili, as a enchilada yet not the same. What if the apple served can no longer hold the attention it once had? What if the premise needs change? It is not unheard of, it is not even that weird. The detour can serve as a journey marker and that is how we get to the actual stirrer of the trouble I saw. 

Two headlines needs to be shown. Once gives us ‘Amazon is ‘nearing a deal’ with EA to produce a Mass Effect show’, the second one is ‘Ex-Bioware Writer Explains His Concerns About a Mass Effect or Dragon Age TV Series’. They matter, but not the way you think. There is one clear truth that I never steered clear of. The Mass Effect series (1-3) is one of the 10 best stories to ever grace the ENTIRE video game industry. In 2007 they started something that had not ever been shown before and the universe of gamers took notice. It was a few years later that we were treated to a sequel which was nothing less than one of the best games that would ever launch on a console. Yes, Mass Effect was big and even as there were rumblings on episode three, I never joined them, the story as a whole was amazing and that story can still compete with almost anything today. They screwed it up with Andromeda, but the original was and will remain a legendary achievement. 

Soon on console and TV

So whilst I do not know if there will be concerns, if there will be issues, if there will be larger ‘fears’. Consider the first game, when we go beyond the game, the setting that we forget is that the Citadel is well over 4 times the size of Manhattan, optionally a bit bigger and that implies that there are 3-4 seasons ready to be made. 

Consider Doctor Michel, getting extorted, running supplies to a merchant in the Lower Wards in order to avoid a “secret” of hers getting out. A 5 minute mission, easily converted to a full episode, or as a sideline in larger storylines over two episodes. Now consider that the first game alone has over 60 side quests, all optional stories in their own rights. We might not care about some of them, but the truth is we were never given to goods so that we would care and that matters. Just consider that we remember the stars of a show, yet how many can give us the sidekicks in Buffy? The sidekicks in Bones? The sidekicks in Battlestar Galactics? Dexter? Now consider that Spike (from Buffy) was supposed to get killed off in the beginning. Yet he stayed around for 7 seasons. The writers had something to work with and they were handed time to show value in a character. That could happen to Mass Effect as well. The benefit (for Amazon) is that they get handed something with a proper foundation, a story that can go places. And in this we see a larger stage evolving, the games are starting to set the need for TV and movies. We knew about movies, we all saw Jolie (aka Mrs Smith) in Tombraider, but the stage is now altering, games are making a larger headway into TV and the solver screen. I wonder if this is to the well of creativity drying up, or is it that games bring optional a million plus fans to the TV screen and that startup is interesting to producers. I am not sure what the answer is, because I never really considered that setting before. Yet if that is true, then the settings for Bethesda will alter a lot over the next few years. And that too matters for gamers, because the franchise that grows tends to evolve and gamers love a game that truly evolves (not iterates like Ubisoft). In this there is no telling what Ubisoft can do with their AC franchise. 

Yet in all this, I wonder what we will be treated to next. I am not siding with the worry population, I will see and judge when it hits the TV or big screen. I have seen enough on both sides to worry up front, and we all saw our fill of ‘failed’ series. Yet plenty of those ended up being true gems (Dollhouse 2009, Firefly 2002, Rome 2005, Star Trek 1966) and it is interesting that Star Trek ended up with 9 spin offs and 10 movies. So taking the word of the critics is debatable from the start. 

I hope that Mass Effect will get the proper audience and get the right stage for people to care about a good story, because the story is everything, especially in TV. 

So why this detour?
You see, what we see and what we perceive is not the same. What we see is what we are offered to see and what we perceive tends to be based on the presentation of others and the ‘critics’ as well as ‘critics’ who have other venues to promote are the fake news bringers, especially in this day and age. Some of these ‘critics’ know that people have one purse, they can only spend money ONCE, so they are getting more and more careful on what they spend money on and Amazon Prime knows that (its a Netflix issue), so they need to get the larger population on board sooner, and some ‘critics’ have friends at Netflix and other places too, so they are eager to promote one and push down the other for whatever reason they hand us and they have a larger digital market to push their view, their need and the need of their friends. That is the stakeholder game and it is hitting TV series as well, yet only now will the push be more pronounced then ever before. But that is merely my view on the matter. 

Will Mass Effect succeed? I cannot tell, I will not give my answer one way or the other, but take notice. It comes from one of the truly great stories in gaming and that matters. I reckon we will see something real in 2023-2024. 

Have a great Sunday.

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November 3, 2020 · 23:31

A streaming war

Yup, this is about to come to larger blows, you see, there is Netflix (of course), Apple, Amazon Prime, Canal Plus/Foxtel and Disney Plus. There are a few more, but in many cases HBO is added to the film channels of Foxtel, and so on. Yet these players never took a serious look at the treasure of the east, Japan particularly. Yes they all look at the manga, yet there is a lot more. The Zatoichi series, which was followed by an amazing movie with Takeshi Kitano. There are a lot more, and even as there are some really good movies around that are done in
Japan (Earthquake bird with Alicia Vikander), Japan has a lot of original non manga material to offer. In the horror section there is the Audition and Oldboy, the second one is also seen as a remade English version, but it is nowhere near as good as the original, perhaps it was the atmosphere. There is of course the setting of Ju-On and that video that kills within 7 days, but those are the visible ones that made the press. A lot of people got interested in Japan as a provider of entertainment after Kill Bill part 1, that is fair enough, we all have our moments. For me it was the 1980 TV-series Shōgun with Richard Chamberlain, based on the novel by James Clavell with the same name. A series where we see giants like Toshiro Mifune, Yoko Shimada, Frankie Sakai, and Hideo Takamatsu (and many more). Not just that, even the Middle-Earth trusted Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) was already amazing 40 years ago. I reckon it might be time for a remake, if only the 1980 version was not so darn perfect. Yet there is more in Japan than just remakes. To see that we merely have to look at the Playstation 4 and the almost perfect Ghost of Tsushima. Until the game was there, I know nothing of this place and the setting it had. And I know I am not alone. We might want to travel back to 2006 when Clint Eastwood release the second part, Letters from Iwo Jima. As Flags of our fathers showed us the American side, Clint took a gander and showed us the other side as well. What we ended up with is a near complete view of a war no-one really wanted, but we were all forced to fight it, because there was no other way. 

Yet as we see the roll call of movies in Japan, we see the western view of it and some of it is really good, there is the Forest with Natalie Dorner who is pretty amazing (for those who merely know here from her ways to excite Henry VIII, or be the sweet dear in GoT), this is the movie to watch her in). We need to acknowledge that a movie about Japanese in Japan can only be made by the Japanese. We do not deny that Lost in Translation is a gem, yet who knows of 100 Yen Love, and before you think that this is mere love movie, think again, in this particular case it is Billion dollar baby on steroids. A slob turning her life around and it is that underdog fight that for some reason is a lot better when it is done in Japan. There is another example, The Ramen Girl, underestimated and a little shallow, but it shows us a side of Japan we rarely see, their strife for excellence, a spiritual side perhaps, perhaps not. But there is a multitude of sides to Japan we always seem to ignore. The technologists look at Japan, because what we see there now will hit our borders in about 5 years. Yet in all that, we seem to forget that Japan has a soul and even if we do not understand it, some wall parts are shown in their movies and TV-series. With the world wanting more and wanting something different, there is every chance that Japanese entertainment goods will b e fought over by the streaming giants. And if these parts do not convince you, take a look at Gokusen (2002) and I can tell you right now, the plot twist that hits you at the end of season one, is one you we’re never ready for. 

You could say: Only in Japan!

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November 25, 2019 · 13:50

We’ve seen it all before

That was the thought I got stuck with when I was looking at The Disappointments Room, a movie with Kate Beckinsale, shortly after I stopped watching it. Now, this was not the fault of anyone, not her (watching her is as pleasing to the eye as watching a Rembrandt), not the director, the lighting, the camera work, it was all high end good, yet the issue for me remains, I have seen at least 15,000 movies, so there is an issue with me watching more movies. Lately I have been taking notice of that, and with Kate who made her debut in Much Ado about Nothing (1993), a small part I had actually forgotten about, I remember the movie well. Implies that there is a sliding scale ahead for me and I am not happy.

There are still happy moments too, I loved Earthquake bird and was amazed that Alicia Vikander was so great at Japanese pronunciation, apart from that (and the fact that Lara married a Ubisoft character, LOL) made it an interesting ride, that is all before that the movie is one hell of a psychological drama, that includes some level of triangle relationship is pretty awesome, the fact that it plays in Japan is merely a plus for many (including me). That entire movie was an interesting one, we had all seen it before, but as we experience the setting, we see a movie, one that is for the most totally new, and there is a point where I wonder how the makers Wash Westmoreland and Susanna Jones pulled it off.

Was it all about Japan, was it Alicia in Japanese surrounding, or was it that for the most the movie was not laced in a sexual setting, there are 1-2 screens, but they seem to make sense as this was the relationship between two people. Yet in all that, the entire Japanese setting is overwhelming and we look around as we notice more and more differences, but what set it off? I believe that the script was a big part of it, but all movies have to face that, so what made this movie different, why did I not have the ‘We’ve seen it all before‘ feeling? I think it is important, as we are all running to the next Marvel movie, a remake of Charlie’s Angels or a Ford v Ferrari movie, I wonder what we will get next year, because it is becoming slim pickings for anyone who grew up being a movie fan. There are movie makers who are a given, people like Ridley Scott, who seem to be answering questions in the movies as they make the movies, a lot has been done before and some movie makers seem to distinguish themselves in that way, but the scary question for me remains, what comes next? Oh, I believe that we will see plenty of fine productions, but the overwhelming feeling that I have is that the ‘We’ve seen it all before‘ will return and that saddens me a little because it will not be the fault of the maker, or the actors or the actresses. It resides in me and all the movies I have already seen, that is the part that saddens me and it is laced in another part as well.

When we watched a movie (in a far distant past in this galaxy), my grandmother would comment on ‘How she had already seen that movie‘ whilst I was in the frame of mind that the movie was new, yet she was proven right again and again as these were remakes, it is nice to be in the first viewing of a remake, but I got old enough to have seen the original of whatever movie was re-released in the last 5 years so it is a little less fun for me now.

For me this is like watching the Female Ghostbusters, or the real live Aladdin, both movies have one setback, the original was pretty darn good, in the original Ghostbusters, we got to see special effects that until a few years ago no one surpassed, in addition to it all it was a great fun film to see, so the female version had a different ghost to fend off, and they were unable to, we kept comparing to the original, Will Smith faced that and worse in Aladdin, he had to fight of the ghost of Robin Williams, in addition Disney had taken the voice section to the next level and we all still remember Gilbert Gottfried as Iago, it is hard to fight off those ghosts, especially when the current generation still remembers them so well. It was different for Oceans 8, yes it was all female, yes it was linked to Danny Ocean (George Clooney) but that was it and the theft of a $150,000,000 necklace was truly next level shit (to coin a phrase) and I am avoiding all kinds of twists that the movie has, you have to see them for yourself, and James Corden was not a twist, the man really can act ;), and the ladies in the movie set out to plan a great heist.

To think back, I really have no idea who at Disney was stupid enough to invest and to allow the entire real live version of Aladdin to proceed decades too early. Although that is merely my thought on the matter, the movie did become a billion dollar plus movie, so there is that too. For me next year, I am worried about the Grudge, an amazing original Ju-On (2002) yet the remake 2 years later was still good, there were two reasons for that, the first is Sarah Michel Gellar, we had just admired her in Buffy for 7 years and seeing her in a different movie was well appreciated, the second and not the least important one was that it was from the original maker Takashi Shimizu, so seeing another remake next year will not be on my list to watch. I have a few reservations on Fantasy Island, yet we have seen Michael Peña in several good movies and there is every indication (from the trailer) that they are taking the sweet caramelized smell of the original TV series with Ricardo Montalban (Mr Roarke) and Herve Villechaize as his assistant Tattoo in a new direction, that I want to see because the trailer is indicating that the caramelized part is gone, it will be a liquorice cured salmon, the first time is the most powerful one because most people have never had it, it is also an acquired taste, so you’ll love it or hate it, but it will be new and that is the part that matters to me.

There is another wave coming, but not made as re-release or remake, it will be a sequel of Candyman, with Tony Todd as the murdered son of a slave, for me it means that there is every indication that I can finally replace that movie as a Blu-ray and it made me realise that it was released 25 years ago, wow, when I was half my age (extremely approximately), I remember the movie, meeting Clive Barker and a whole range of other events around it, seeing it sequel will (hopefully) be an awesome experience.

Yet overall I see that there is more behind me than in front of me and for a lot of us, when we have budgets to keep to we need to select the movies we see on the big screen, I went from a movie every week to a life where I saw no more than 6 of them on the big screen last year and that is a big difference, nowadays I see the movies that are in the libraries, and with Netflix, Disneyplus and other streaming media, on one side I wonder how much is left for the silver screen. Yet on the other side, as far as I can tell, no one ever took Ryū Murakami 1999 masterpiece Audition to the western world, now that is a movie you want to invite Harvey Weinstein to. I won’t give away anything, but if you want to see horror with a difference, that is one movie to watch, there is a whole range of movies where we seem to forget that there is a whole planet outside of Hollywood that makes good movies, and even if we want to see a re-master, or a re-launch, personally I am still hoping for Claude Leloch’s Les Uns et let Autres to make it to Blu-ray, let alone to get it re-launched (if that was even possible). The Netherlands (who got caught up in WW2) has its own views on the resistance and occupation and it resulted to amazing works, like Black Book (2006) and Riphagen (2016), most people will remember the decorated movie the Assault (1986), yet very few of the non-Dutch will have any idea about a movie called Undercover Kitty (2001), whilst the person behind this (Annie MG Schmidt) is in Dutch circles on a level that equals Walt Disney, or perhaps a little more correct the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren, who created Pippi Longstocking. Yet how many remember or even know of the Swede Gunnel Linde? He wrote over 40 books and in 1973 the White Stone (Den Vita Stenen) became a TV series. I wonder how many options a place like Disneyplus would have when we see how large the collection of children’s series would be, the same when we look at Netflix in light of Audition (not really a kids movie), yet more revealing, will this become the age of ‘We’ve seen it all before‘, or will we see that like the new Fantasy Island, we end up with movies that show a surprising twist, one we never saw coming, to be honest, not unlike some movies, we will have seen it before, even if we would accept the new special effects, there is a chance that we get to see another Thing (1982) which makes for an interesting version from its original 3 decades before, yet nowadays, we are more likely to see another Insomnia (2002) which was its own perfect remake, yet when it comes to remakes, it is a wild card, because no matter how we love the Departed (2006), there is a chance that you saw the original Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs (2002), at which point the timeline is too close together. I was lucky enough to have seen the original and yet Scorsese makes a magnificent movie, yet the original was made in such a way that it was brilliant in its own right and in this my mind would love to give Andrew Lau and Alan Mak the credit they deserve, yet in opposition, there are plenty of other movies that a lot might not have seen and seeing some of those works (again), in a new light is still worthy of watching. Sweden has jewels like Lilja 4 Ever (2002), we might have seen the Norwegian movie Trollhunter (2010) in a different form, yet when you see this movie, you wonder which one is the original (the other movie was released a decade before this), so there is not much call on that, yet the stories are unique, original and the stages we see are also a question ‘We’ve seen it all before‘, yet have we?

In 2015 Norway produced the Wave, like other movies we want to say ‘We’ve seen it all before‘ yet that too would be wrong, we have seen something similar, but never in this setting, that is where the feeling gets in the way, The Wave is an intelligent piece of work that takes Norwegian customs and leaves us wondering whether we choose the right place to live for the right reason yet can we avoid choices? (I am really trying hard not to give anything away here), the world is filled with movies that seem to look like a movie we had seen before, but we had not and this group of films is now going to be a central part in places like Netflix and DisneyPlus (as well as AppleTV) to set their markers for gaining a following. Sometimes remakes work really well Zatoichi (2003) is a nice example. Yet even more overwhelming are the works of fiction, the books that were released in other nations that no one thought of translating. Even known works like Swedish Sjowall and Wahloo resulted in amazing movies a decade ago when the world got to see Beck; in this Peter Haber made an amazing Beck, finally replacing the image that Sweden had through Gosta Elckman. Germany is another nation where there is an abundance of great art. We all seem to remember Das Boot, Downfall and Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex, yet how many have seen a version of Das Leben der Anderen, where we see the impact of Stasi (the East German secret police)? Perhaps you might not know it by Die Welle was based on the true story of a high school teacher in California who designed an experiment to teach his students about Nazism, when you see that in real life, you wonder what you know. We seem to believe that modern day fascism is impossible, yet the movie casts doubt on that and this was all before social media, so there is room for new versions and altered (read: different) versions.

It is hard to see the light in so many seemingly remakes and re-launches of past greats, but there is light and there is room for plenty more, as such I wonder whether it was just me when I thought ‘We’ve seen it all before‘ or was it the maker who was not aware of other versions of great stories?

I wonder about this not because of Christmas, you might think that we will get re-runs of other versions, I know that this is not the case as Netflix gave out Let it Snow (2019) which is actually a decent movie to watch, which was a nice surprise for me. As I feared that plenty of repetitions seem to be the case when it comes to Christmas, I merely chase that one side in movies, the one I had not seen before and as we get from stage to stage, that risk is increasing, yet the cameraman as he uses his instructed skills to show something different will be able to thwart that danger for all of us (one might hope).

We are about to get 6 times the releases that we have ever had before, because the large screen and Blu-ray line is gone, there is now a large screen, Netflix, Disneyplus, Stan, Amazon Prime and Foxtel release plan, even as they all end up on Blu-ray, we need to pick what we can optionally watch and they are all slamming whatever they can lay their hands on, so there is 6 times the likelihood that they hunt a similar story. Yet there in the end we get to see the issue at hand ‘We’ve seen it all before‘ and as out budgets are now a lot more defined, we all end up being in a place where we rather avoided that part of the equation.

 

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