Tag Archives: Dances with Wolves

January 11, 2024 · 23:45

Clutter

It sometimes happens to any of us. Our brains get cluttered in all kind of ways and I am no different. For me it all started yesterday when Final Draft gave me a free update to version 13. It felt like that very late Christmas present you never expected, but when that email arrives you are more than double happy and I really felt the happiest I have felt that entire year (relax it was only day 10 of that year) but there you are. It was that happy surprise.

So, as I am continuing that stride with the first script, this one meant for Al Saudiya, I see that I have a lot of work ahead of me. There is a mini series, a three season TV series and another series which has no defined size yet and all of them have parts all over my blog, as such I have plenty to do.

It was that point when I saw ‘Amazon to Lay Off ‘Several Hundred’ Across Prime Video, Amazon MGM Studios, 500 Cut at Twitch’, it wasn’t the Variety version I saw first, but it was the first that turned up now (at https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/amazon-lay-offs-prime-video-mgm-studios-1235867454/) there we are given “Additionally, 500 employees — or 35% of the workforce — are being let go at Amazon-owned livestream platform Twitch” this is not trim ming the fat. Even as Amazon has broken expectations all over the board. This is about tax year 2024 and this is about meeting the shareholder expectations, or at least that is what it comes over at for me. Mike Hopkins gives its staff members “It is hard to say goodbye to talented Amazonians who’ve made meaningful contributions on behalf of our customers, team and business. Thank you for your dedication and work. To help with the transition, we are providing packages that include a separation payment, transitional benefits as applicable by country, and external job placement support.” The fact that this is not some hard time point makes it a lot harder for some.

But for good measure here is the music by Emil Stigler (at https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/185/093).

You might think I am making fun of the situation, but I am not. This one piece of music is now part of the Library of Congress. I don’t think that the composer imagined that when he wrote this in 1866. His music would outlive him by some length. Did we have any idea how timeless some movies would become half a century later? There was Jaws, Alien (not the short movie), Close Encounters of the third kind and Star Wars.

All 4 movies relatively close together, these 4 and one in particular on the mind of movie watchers three generations later. To be honest, I never cared about Twitch, its not my bag of tea, but it has a following. Twitch streamers optionally earn money from sponsorships, affiliate links, some advertising, and a variety of other methods. Now, what comes next is largely speculative. Never cared ab out Twitch, but that service has 140 million Monthly Active Users as of 2024. The total number of active Twitch streamers is around 7.5 million. This number was 7.1 million In July 2023. That is a population that matters, this is not about trimming fat. I reckon that Twitch is up for offering but when it is offered it needs to become a clean package and now the 35% staff reduction starts to make sense. Amazon is gearing up for something, what for? I have no idea and this is largely speculative. I have no idea what is up and perhaps Amazon fears the competition it faces from Apple, Disney and Netflix. It might see what I expected would happen. People are unable to afford all four and in that race Amazon is the first cut from consideration. I honestly don’t know if Apple or Amazon is better, but Apple is making presented strides, as far as I can tell Amazon at present is not.

So what gives?
March of the Amazons (1866) shows us that some gems are kept and in movies that matters. To have any of the previous 4 still on the mind of watchers matters because streaming is graded on what is watched and for how long and those 4 really broke the mould. The important part is that we cannot tell that at present with the new series, this process takes time and board members of any modern age are not a patient lot, they need to see overwhelming results or they cut things. I personally think it is a setting when the merely expect searing steak, all whilst the slow cooker presents its own kind of deliciousness. One is not the other and I personally think that the old metrics and approach do not work on streaming systems. That being said, Amazon seemingly dropped my IP not realising what 50,000,000 subscriptions in the first phase alone will get them. It is a cluster they never had and others never had either. Yet when we see this we see an optional speculation on what they are missing and speculation is where it is at. I have no clue why they are trimming the fat. I am guessing it is the 2024 results, to meet them head on and people are dropped because of that. However, I could be wrong.

I honestly wonder what possessed makers like Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and George Lucas to make what they did. Not the normal setting, but what drove them from the inside and did they know or realise that they created cinema greatness? I never doubt that they wanted to make the best they could, but were they aware just how good it ended up being half a century later? Consider that movies in those days were made for a year, perhaps 2-5. We see movies like Coma, Chinatown and Deliverance and we all agree that they were great, but these 4 outlasted them all. Time works different when it comes to books, movies and music. So how to prevent to cut the people who could be making the next whatever. It was at this point that I realised that something had gone wrong. At some point someone thought that it could always be redone, the movie greats of the 70’s are largely gone. Perhaps monumental movies like Dances with Wolves are bound to happen, but when you consider the 4 from the 70’s, what is left? Dances with Wolves? Titanic? You tell me, but I personally fear that as Hollywood started to snag the process, they lost something and there is a chance that Amazon at present it digging its own grave, even thought they cannot see it yet. Even as they are (as speculated) trimming the fat. But there is one consideration. With that job loyalty is bound to go out the window as well. They might not care, but what happens when the next Herman Melville? You might not remember the man, but you do remember Mobi Dick, the book he created in 1851. That book is on some minds almost 175 years later. The slow cooker needs a different process, any chef can tell you that. I wonder how long it takes for the streamers realise that their process is set to different elements, to different seasoning. Just a question, but they appeared as I was dealing with the clutter in my brain. And as for the march of the Amazons? Consider that The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy is an average song, but when the speed is increased 17% it becomes a whole different story, yet this is the consequence of re-arranged music. As such I doubt that Emil Stigler is that, but I never looked at that part (I am not a musician), did you? We are unlikely to see another Darth Vader march by John Williams, I doubt that even he saw that his song would be so iconic 44 years later. That song calls for an image with billions, not something I would have imagined when I first heard it. I knew it was stellar, we all did, but this iconic? Streamers have a like minded setting to some music, different metrics are in play (still speaking speculatively) does Amazon realises that?

Just a question, enjoy your day, my Friday starts in 30 minutes.

Via pellegrino

Today at 13:45 I decided to go to the cinema. My budget doesn’t really allow for it, but I haven’t seen any cinema movies since Dr. Strange 2. At times we need to treat ourselves (and pay for it afterwards). I loved the first one, so I was really into seeing number 2. The critics are all over the field. A large cluster hates it, a large cluster loves it and I am in team 2. James Cameron was brilliant, not merely for the cinematography, but the story. The way it shapes is also magnificent. The early years of exploitation in whaling. The early years of exploitation by colonists in America. Not unlike the feelings you harbour for the Sioux in Dances with wolves, we all tend to side with the Na’vi on everything. The humans (sky people) are portrayed as exploitative conquistadors, not caring about balance, merely the bottom dollar. A little part of the brain is worth $80,000,000. The rest is garbage and it sets us up for anger and hatred. What was a beautiful looking planet is soon seen as destroyed soil, and that happens from the very beginning. So we do not seem to mind every human who is killed and we see to bleed for every Na’vi that gets wounded. It is a spectacle and it is a rollercoaster ride, but one we cherish every minute of the 192 minutes we see. I saw it in 3D and it was worth it, like the first, yet now in different ways we see that the 3D is not for the main course. It is most often the stage AROUND it and it makes for a magnificent vibe. There is of course more, yet the stage is not what we see, but it is the story and it is a story really well told, the images are icing on the cake and what a piece of icing!

In the end you have to make up your own mind and consider with every 1 star rating why it was given, I and hopefully you will side with the large group of 5 star views, the movie is well worth it. The movie actually started something else as well. You see, when I arrived and there was no one behind me, I ordered tickets for the movie ‘Via Pellegrino’, the poor cashier could not find the movie, but when she learned it meant ‘The way of water’ she caught on. You think it is lame, and perhaps it was. But at times these people deserve a little entertainment too. The thought however was still in the back of my mind throughout the film. You see I have been thinking on season 3 of Kenos Diastima. And this got me there. To see a little tip of the blanket lifted we need to consider the stage of the cold war. No matter how it started in 1947, at some point you will stop at the Truman Doctrine. You can see it how it is presented “support for democracies against authoritarian threats”, yet for me, the storyteller it becomes more and more about the military advisors versus the academic advisors and that is merely one side. For me it matters that I can wield that part in a larger stage and that would be the premise of season 3. It was the images that moved in the direction of the Conquistadors that started the view and that also enhanced the image of the VoC. You see, it was allegedly disbanded in 31 December 1799, but was it really? In our society we talk about the Gnomes of Zurich (banks), The network (technology) and the Discordian society (anti government), but we all forgot about the academics calling the shots. How did that happen? They have a lot of pull all over the place and they are trivialised. Up front now I am stating that I am not against academics, I have no ill will or negativity towards Dr Fauci. But our lives have been taken over in so many way by academics, it beckons the thought why we aren’t looking there? It is in part because the Truman doctrine is about something else, and there I found the idea to propel my views for season 3. I was just amazed that no one else had made that leap of faith. And there remains not one but two hidden banking players with global pull. The first is the Rothschild banking group, the second one is the VoC, the group that was made defunct on December 31st 1799, at that time the richest cartel based institution on the planet. Did you think that those billions evaporated? And yes, it was into billions, a lot more than the Rothschild had. And that doctrine also gets us to the Bilderberg meetings. A meeting of political leaders, experts, captains of industry, finance, and academia. The group we forgot, the academia. So yes, I think I have a fair idea now how to shape season 3 of that story.

Sometimes we get the idea from the corner we never saw in the first place. So the movie got me a little more, hip hip hurrah! Also today is the day that I produce my 100th story in succession within a limit of 24 hours. I already wrote over 2625 stories, but this is the first time I get 100 within a daily limit of 24 hours. A nice achievement. I might take it easy this weekend.

Greed and the movies

As I contemplated the year 2013, several thoughts came to mind. I have spoken about it in several blogs, however, in most cases it was mostly about the banks when I looked at greed. Is that however a limitation?

From my point of view greed has drenched itself into so many parts of our lives that we must wonder if there is any way to avoid getting tainted by it in some form. The thought that hit me was how we are now seeing greed into the cycles of cinematography. This is the one field where greed was least likely to take hold, or so I thought!

Let me illuminate it with two examples.

The first one is the Hunger Games trilogy. Now, in all honesty I had not read the books, so when the Hunger games trailer hit me, I was seeing it with the air of ‘Yea, whatever!‘ I admit a stance I would regret. When the movie was on TV, I ended up being blown away. This as a movie buff should be regarded as somewhat of a loss. Most movie buffs will agree with me that a good movie has to be seen on the big screen. So, seeing it on TV, without ever seeing it on the big screen felt a little diminished. So, when Catching Fire came out, I had to see it on the big screen. I regarded that act as an error of sizeable proportions. The movie was a disappointment to me!

Do not get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with it, but the stars (like Donald Sutherland) seemed to be playing below their expected stardom quality. None of it was their fault. The script was lacking in my view. The movie was not bad, but it was all about ‘the set-up’.

What set-up? You might ask.

Well, as I see it, Catching fire is the introduction towards Mockingjay. After Hunger Games, Catching fire is cleaning the palette and in that final movie it will truly come to blows. This is what I expect. Is that true? I do not know, but what does worry me is that Mockingjay is presently going to be a two part title, which means that the Hunger Game franchise is getting stretched for the better part of a year so that the money people (producers and such) can cash in as much as they can. Again, I state that I never read the books, which might be cause for a valid disagreement by you the reader.

That view does not apply to the Hobbit. You see I have been a Tolkien fan since before I was able to parachute out of a plane (driving cars is so trivial and I was too young for that too). I even have an original 7 book hardcover edition of the Lord of the Rings. So, when that was presented to me in three movies it made perfect sense to me. Unlike some of the die-hard fans, I am pretty happy with the result. The only thing I did miss there was the taking of the Shire in the last movie. For me that made perfect sense. It was the moment that Merry and Pippin realised what those around them had gone through, when they saw the devastation to their own home. But apart from that, I have truly enjoyed that movie. The issue I have is with the Hobbit! Like the Hunger Games, I avoided the first movie in the cinema (which I slightly regret) and I still have not seen the second one. You see, when you stretch a 300-page book (I also have a 261 page edition with a smaller font), into 3 movies, each stretching well over 2 hours, it is time to ask a few questions. If it was in two parts, like Mockingjay seems to be it would have made a little more sense to me, but no, there will be a third movie! Is this greed gone wild?

Now, if the story warrants it and the movies are released within 18-12 weeks, then it might not be a big thing, but having to wait a year between parts is stretching my tolerance for the ‘branding’ too thin for comfort. If the movie is really good, would it matter? Well, there is the kicker of course. Yet, the question becomes whether we should have to wait for a year to get to see a complete story. I am not talking about a story that is part of a whole in several movies like the Millennium story (the girl with the Dragon Tattoo). No, this is specific towards the Hobbit and Mockingjay. Consider that the movie ‘Dances with wolves’ would have been presented in two parts (the 4 hour edition), would it still have been such a success? This is directly linked to the 2 movies I mentioned. Why are we accepting this annual approach to a movie that should be open into almost one timeslot? An example of that is the movie Novecento (1900), which was released in the mid 70’s. The interesting part is that this movie was also in 2 parts as the movie was 5 1/2 hours, but what you might not know is that they opened BOTH parts in the same week. So either you saw two movies in one go (which is not realistic in many minds) or you watched them in two parts either a day or a week apart. That would be fine with me, so why this greed driven stretch?

Well, there is a valid partial defence. The movie we see released nowadays have so many special effects that it take a while to get it all ready for the audience, but in the end, delaying part 1 by a month or two, so that we can enjoy a complete result within a month or two feels preferable to me than being forced to wait a year.

I will actually make a prediction. I reckon that this approach will be the main reason why illegal downloads of movies is likely to increase dramatically over the next year. It seems to me that this current milking approach will cost the movie makers and not just because times had been hard on some.

The revenue numbers are currently not in support of my view. At present 2013 is another lucrative year for the movies, but I am talking about 2014. Will it remain this way? Movie will always be downloaded by some and the illegal movie selling will continue. The question becomes how people will react to the multi-part movies? The only partial evidence I would offer is in the numbers as seen with Breaking Dawn (Twilight Saga). In this set we see New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn part 2 all around $300 million, whilst Breaking Dawn part 1 is slightly more than 6% lower. Is this enough to be regarded as evidence? The multi-part movies are still too new to be allowed any level of certainty (or reliability). I reckon that 2014 will give us a little more certainty in that regard.

In all honesty, if you had to wait a year to see the complete story, would you go to the cinema to see part one?

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Greed and the movies

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