Tag Archives: movies

June 24, 2026 · 05:30

Just an idea

It was an idea I had last night. The setting of Paramount taking over WB (at least parts of it) opened an idea that could give the UAE, in particular Abu Dhabi a lot more tourism. You see, the Star Trek Universe has somewhere between 100 and 300 million fans and no one has seen a complete theme event on Star Trek? I am hesitant to call that place a ‘park’ but it comes close to it. A place where you can see and optionally walk on the bridges of the original Enterprise (TOS), the Galaxy class version (TNG), Voyager, and the Titan class (Picard) then there is the stage of the sets of the Defiant, parts of Deep Space 9 (Terok Nor) perhaps a section to show part of a Borg ship, millions if fans would love to see that and as I see it, the United States are done for, for at least a decade and likely there won’t be a United States after that, so Paramount needs to bet its hedges and look beyond that space. The UAE has a theme park riddled Abu Dhabi, so it makes sense to have it there. There is also the correlation (indicated but unproven) that those who love Star Trek also love Harry Potter, as such there is a pressure to consider them. I don’t think that they should be in the same location, because of the dangers of congestion at that point, also I am in doubt whether Yas Island would be the bet place, but Abu Dhabi is so much larger and has plenty of options. I think that this is a stage where Miral should have serious talks with Paramount on this setting. Perhaps a combination with a wax museum showing all the characters of Star Trek and its connected series. All things that are currently not existing. The Deep Space 9 setting with shops and a Quarcks (under new Ferengi management) could be considered. I wonder how many millions will sip at least a glass of of Canard and optionally take a bottle home as a keepsake. This setting might bring billions into the coffers of Miral. I wonder if anyone considered combining all the ships and show the bridges in one place. And display technology has evolved over the last few years alone, so seeing a part of the Borg ship with a large gap into space is now easily arranged with the display technology out there. A wax museum showing the casts of the two enterprises, Voyager, Deep Space 9 and optionally the Star Trek Movies too, could stir the hearts of millions of Star Trek Fans and as an addition to the already large theme park settings might be the one boost they get to do this (and soak up the sun and the UAE beaches) as I said, it is merely an idea, but as the UAE already has several settings and with Disney coming to Abu Dhabi as well, the UAE could become the preferred location for millions of additional tourists. That setting optionally enhanced with all the selfie moments, but perhaps even a place to have a film camp, a setting every Sci fi lover dreams of at some point. To make your own Sci-fi film, all ideas that feed the blender of creation. What remains can bear the scrutiny of many accountants at Miral (I a guessing that they have a fleet of them looking at all the venues and results). The setting that is out in the open, it always was, but the merger between WB and Paramount is driving this to the surface. The question becomes, does Miral think it is worth considering? 

As I said, it was just an idea and anything to take my eyes of the BS that is called USA-Iran negotiations. I like the headline from the Times the best at present ‘Trump, Iran and the Denial of Defeat’ it kinda sums up the entire fiasco, so whilst some are trying to spin this into some form of victory, the reality is that soon Iran will have to be dealt with, I have no idea who or how, but I do not believe that the United States will be the one doing it. They wasted (according to there own numbers) “The U.S.-Iran war cost the Pentagon an estimated $29 billion to $40 billion in direct operational expenses, but total economic and long-term costs could range between $600 billion and $1 trillion” I have not been sitting with an abacus, so I do not know, but consider the wasted money and the lack of results. It would have been something if all the refineries were hit as well as a few other tactical places, but that was not the case, so Iran can still buy hardware from whomever is willing to sell to them. As such I believe it to be important that the UAE gets whatever mens they can to increase their economic foothold on the Middle East, they have don’t quite well and they still have a few more options to that effect, but I merely gave the tourist idea, because it is something I would like to see and the idea that I get a two week vacation in Abu Dhabi where every day is filled with fun and adventure (yes, a visit to the Yas Mall could be both fun and adventure) would be an excellent idea. I believe that millions have that same feeling, because at present the United States is not that inviting, add to this the YouTube videos on their Epic Universe with several rides allegedly breaking down does not instill any thoughts that Orlando will be the place to go. With the economic foothold that is diminishing in Florida, we see one side saying it is good, but we also see “The U.S. travel sector is projected to lose between $12.5 billion and $29 billion in international visitor spending.”, with the added “Foreign arrivals have dropped by roughly 5%, with major month-over-month contractions from Asia (down 7.5%) and Europe (down 5.2%)” as well as “Canada, historically the largest source of inbound U.S. tourism, has driven a massive portion of this decline, with Canadian travel to the U.S. dropping by roughly 22%” the numbers do not add up, with this decline we still see “Florida boasts the fourth-largest economy in the United States, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of roughly $1.76 trillion. If it were an independent nation, the state would rank as the 15th largest economy globally.” In addition to this, the negative YouTube videos keep on swarming around Epic Universe. I cannot say if they are real or if they are Epic Universe haters, that option remains a reality, but as I see it, the numbers do not add up and I reckon that the next president when they make their numbers openly known, we will see what an alleged curse President Trump has become to the United States. As such places like paramount needs to find new ventures to survive and it is my personal opinion that the UAE is such a space. And in light of what WB already has set up, the numbers might give satisfaction to the board members of Paramount. So, the question becomes is Miral ending that solution a good option to consider. 

Have a great day, it is 5:30  now and only 7 degrees, I am freezing. So there is another appeal to be smitten by the 39 degree non-freezing weather that Abu Dhabi could offer my poor old shivering bones.

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June 14, 2026 · 12:53

A mindset racing

That is the setting I had last night. I saw the ‘news’ from the BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjwgled9jxwo) where we see that ‘Warner Bros $111bn sale to Paramount approved by US justice department’ and as we see “The pending sale has been filled with contention, from Paramount’s battle with Netflix over the company to scrutiny over industry consolidation and worries about politics. David Ellison, the leader of Paramount, is the son of Larry Ellison, a major donor to President Donald Trump. But it’s not a done deal yet, as states like California are reviewing the sale and could sue to block it. In a statement on its decision, the justice department said it had conducted a “rigorous” investigation of the proposed deal and found it was “not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers.”” You see, it doesn’t matter whether X donates to Y and is the child of Z, it does not matter that there is no ‘harm’ to the competition. As I see it, the wrong questions are asked here. As I see it, the issue is consolidation. When company A is taking over company B, the result is a larger A. This reflects on the products that they have been putting out. So, consider the new company, lets call it AA, now it has two products namely products 1 And 2, but that company can take the setting of these 2 titles and in some cases there is enough traction to let both go through, but what when that is not the case?

What happens if we have 4 cooking shows first in two companies, now all part of the same company, as such the lowest scoring two (optionally 3) can now be scrapped. That is what I expect to see, because Hollywood needs to consolidate and they need to stretch whatever ver they have and Paramount could ‘state’ that they now have 111,000,000,000 reasons to consolidate whatever they can. Scripts, writers, directors, figs crew, studio places and a whole lot more. All up for consolidation and I wonder if anyone had taken the settings of a place like Mountain (MNTN) who has been working numbers of all kind and optionally Warner Brothers and Paramount too. They live by the ‘rule’ “Performance TV, Perfected by MNTN”, so did anyone look into that batch of data? Because quality consolidation requires data, verifiable and validated data. Not the ‘sense’ of some blogger (me) or any critic that claims to know the data (media) but actually data, because when you play around with $111 billion, which is more than the GDP of Oman (and several other countries) you need the data to make sense of it all and consolidate what you can. 

Like an accountant squeezing a ten dollar bill, until it gives 11 single dollar coins, preferable you want to hire the accountant that can get 1-2 additional dollars out of that bill, but that is up to Paramount (if they had not already done that), but to get all that requires data and it needs to be clear metrics, because there is a lot riding on that. And the story off MNTN is “MNTN is the Hardest Working Software in Television™, bringing unrivaled performance and simplicity to Connected TV advertising. Our self-serve technology makes running TV ads as easy as search and social and helps brands drive measurable conversions, revenue, site visits, and more. MNTN was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and Next Big Things in Tech and was recently featured on the cover of INC’s Best in Business Issue.” I only know of MNTN, so there are likely a few others in that field, but if you need unbiased, you get the player that is not connected to WB of Paramount for that matter and you do it behind walls. I can only imagine that this was done, but then, I am an incurable optimist. Still we are ‘given’ “Paramount acquired Warner Bros. Discovery to create a consolidated entertainment powerhouse capable of competing with tech-backed streaming giants like Apple, Amazon, and Netflix.” Which I personally believe is only part of the truth, not the whole truth. I could say that there are 110 billion reasons, but that is merely the directive. If Paramount want to survive it needs to distinguish from the other three and consolidation of what there is now is profoundly needed to rack up credit points to look after the waves that are now in the hands of Apple, Amazon and Netflix. They need to ‘attack’ the setting that Apple has with Severance, Pluribus, Slow Horses and Silo. The stage that Amazon has Fleabag, The mighty nein, The legend of Vox Machina and Bosch: Legacy and Netflix with their The chestnut man, Dark winds, Arcane: league of legends and Blood Of Zeus. That is not directly done, not until you free up cash and they just handed 111 billion to the outside of their treasure chest. So they can get creative, and they have to free up what is bound into lesser settings and that is the stage they are in now and it requires data to get that sorted. They still need massive creativity though, but they know what they need. I’ll hand them some ideas at the end of the story.

But that is where they are and when they are done ‘convincing’ the current audience and they have set their pawns in place the striking of the lesser series can begin and that will be a harsh setting because if they do not have the data in order, they will be brought to any altar to be slaughtered. I have sen this happen in the past and they better get their goats in order, knowing that David Ellison is involved, the chance of their data being top notch is a decently given one. He learned the basics fro his daddy (who optionally taught him how to sail too). 

So whilst we are also given, some will recognise that the larger setting is not covered but we are given “By taking over Warner Bros, Paramount will become one of the most powerful forces in Hollywood, adding news network CNN, TV networks HBO, TBS, TNT, TCM, as well as studios DC Studios and New Line Cinema to its current stable of assets. Those include Paramount Pictures, CBS, Showtime and Nickelodeon. Paramount’s control of CBS News and its 60 Minutes programme has come under intense scrutiny for programming decisions that critics say favour of the Trump administration, including new leadership firing long-time staff and well-known journalists. Warner Bros put itself up for sale last year and came to an initial deal with Netflix to buy some of its assets, in a deal worth roughly $82bn (£61bn) including debt.” It seems that the BBC is focussing on the political stage, whilst that is the one that has the least impact, but I leave that up to you to judge.

So whilst we see that certain settings there were two ideas that floated in my mind. You see, instead of focussing on what some call Reality TV, why not make it a certainty. Matt Damon (you know the illegal immigrant on Mars) has something called Artists Equity (together with Ben Affleck) based on a business model where instead of taking massive upfront paychecks, the studio incentivizes cast and crew by offering them participation in the film’s profits. And setting this now TV, the setting becomes a visible setting to televise it all and get paid from that too. It also gives these people a decent first introduction to the global audience and it gives scriptwriters an additional foothold in the industry, all being it through Paramount, there is a decent setting to give all this a stage to screen and the stories that are evolving would enable Paramount to select the group that makes the most visibility and leave the other to fend with other TV houses. A sort of Reese Witherspoon approach to quality scripts. 

The second Idea came to me in a weirder way (leaving that to the left for now). You see, I have been a fan of walkthrough videos (YouTube) and it started during the first COVID lockdown. But what happens when you get 2 hours a week (on the slower timeframes) to show these YouTubers and their videos visibility. Hand selected videos from these people on places like Monaco, Toronto, New York, Amsterdam, Stockholm. You name it, it will be there and it should be relatively easy to select a pick. For these YouTubers it is a way to gain traction via other means and it might create a wave of YouTubers. It still requires selecting so that you don’t get conspiracy theorists and wacko’s give their version of the truth. And I believe that walkthroughs are a great way to see places like Harrods, or Hollywood boulevard or even the Coolsingel in Rotterdam, Gamlastan in Stockholm or wherever you want to be and it might be the next stage of visibility for YouTubers to gain traction in different ways. All stages that could be evolving in the new Paramount. 

So get ready to show your places and let Paramount do the dialing to a new audience. Have a great day today.

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May 12, 2026 · 23:56

Who’s watching who

It was initially the BBC who alerted me to this (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c072dvv1rmro) where we see ‘Texas accuses Netflix of spying on users, including children’ and I got curious, because it is not a issue with the United States, it isn’t even global, it is just Texas. The story kicks off with “Netflix has been sued in Texas over claims it collects data belonging to children and adults in the US state without their consent, and uses “addictive” design to keep them hooked. accused the streaming giant of “spying” on citizens saying it “records and monetizes billions” of pieces of information about how users behave on the platform, despite suggesting otherwise.” It gave me a few questions (just a few) and it starts of here with the questions “How does one record and monetise billions?”, as well as “What exactly is “addictive” design?” You see, to the best off my knowledge you sign up and you get Netflix (that is how we do that in Australia) and perhaps there are better ways to do this, but that is what it is and it is still better then Disney+ (in regards to able the watchers). I have never seen the Mandalorian of BlueRay, or several other Disney+ hits. I get that they want to get a lead but Season 1 and 2 cannot be bought in Australia, why not? This is not about Disney+ but Netflix offers several seasons most TV shows on BlueRay, as such it is neither monetizing or creating an addictive design (as I personally see it), but perhaps Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could clearly elaborate? The story goes into (or towards) “the company also began “leveraging the mountains of data it quietly extracted from the children and families it kept fixated on their screen” – sharing this with commercial data brokers to help raise billions of dollars in revenue.” This leads to another question, “How does one keep others fixated on their screen?”, You pay one amount for monthly subscription, regardless of the time. There is a cheaper option with advertisements. But it beckons the question, how do you keep people fixated? As such the prices are:

  • Standard with Ads: AU$9.99/month
  • Standard: AU$20.99/month


So, the customer has an option to pay $11 more, how is this monetizing? And don’t forget that advertising was added to make it cheaper for some. And then the fixation on the screen? How is that done exactly? 

So then we get to Politico who (at https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/11/netflix-sued-by-texas-ag-for-alleged-surveillance-addictive-features-00915029) gives us ‘Netflix sued by Texas AG for alleged surveillance, addictive features’ where we see “It adds that the company tracks and logs viewing habits, location and virtually every interaction on the platform — keyword searches, pausing or fast-forwarding and more — which it then uses to build consumer profiles that earn the company billions.” So, as I see it, a person (me) searches for a title or an actor or actress. Seems pretty common in Netflix settings. I search for Olivia Wilde and see what they have with her in it, same that I look for Dwayne Johnson and see what movies with him are on Netflix. How exactly is this odd, or non trackable? If 275,000 people seek either, there is a chance that Netflix sees what they can add to their stable. This is a movie channel. Perhaps Ken Paxton took offense to the 132 searches for Melania Trump and Netflix sees a reason why not to spend money on it? Although you can watch it on Amazon and it is rated 1.6/10 (over 68000 votes). These two articles are making me wonder what this suit is all about, because as far as I can tell this case has no merit. Perhaps Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton needs the limelight for something, is it election year in Texas? As far as I can see (optionally not a correct view) is that Paxton announced in April 2025 that he would run for the United States Senate in the 2026 election, challenging incumbent senator John Cornyn in the Republican primary and in the runoff. So is he gaining free ‘advertisement’ through Netflix? It is merely a speculation from my side, but the timeline seems to fit. As such we need to see what Ken Paxton does next and if he gives us any clarity on his claims. There is also the fact that it is the subscriber that gives the connection to a household and the subscribers to Netflix must be at least 18 years old. So how does one see what the age of the watcher is in that household? Perhaps he has a setting for profiling? Like only women and oldest daughters watch ‘Sex in the city’? Only children watch Ponyo? Your guess is as good as mine and I am here clueless. But perhaps there are journalists who will ask the hard questions. Have a great day.

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April 7, 2026 · 18:48

Skins

That was the thought that was invading my mind and for the biggest part it came from an app known as WinAmp. The current generation might not know what I am referring to, but their mommies and daddies know exactly what I mean.

You see, the world has forgotten the medium of long term marketing. And it saddens the brain. Creativity starts by shedding this to all the brains it can entice. And we seemingly have forgotten that. Consider that the TV goes on and the same settings are given to everyone. But there Is nothing stopping you from adding that to your TV or digital medium player. Have library that could be added to your TV or even PS5, a skin where we see the addition to your Netflix, Disney+ or Hulu app that gives it a little spice. A setting where the creative person turns the Netflix logo into a Cauldron and we see the books appear, where the books are movies and soundtracks. The Disney+ logo where the image of the Mandalorian comes alive and we see items that are movies, but refer to items seen in that series (never saw the Mandalorian) and the idea is not even merely  being scratched. You name it and it is likely to have a fanbase of millions. 

We can go into any venture from that and the brands themselves might shed ways into that setting. Whether it is Sony, Coca Cola, Steam Deck, Disney, Harry Potter or any other brand that speaks to the mind of others. 

Now consider that you are a brand bitch (like me) and you see your Sony environment, but when you also have your PS5, you might wonder why everything is so clearly cut and whilst the PS5 invites creativity, so does the Nintendo and I see a flaw here. They might have their own boundaries, but there is nothing stopping from a Switch (or PlayStation) to invade the borders of the TV and make over what people do there. As I see it, I would my Switch to take over the TV and set its boundaries there, so whilst we see Pikmins all over the screen of my TV, others might realise that some PikMins have familiar titles and as such, we might see games on that screen, games that we currently and almost forever have been playing. It might be the icon of a game box, the con of a hero (like Luigi) or the dreaded Bowser on his kart. All images we and others relate to the game we love to play. And on top we see the icons that relate to our needed setting like a D+ logo that gives us the Disney look and from there the iconic series that they have invade the screen. The better part is that the kids will relate to this instantly and it gives them an edge in creativity. The same could be said for the PS4/PS5, Netflix, or Hulu groups. Something got lost over the last 15 years and it saddens me, because for amount I thought it made sense and that I the sad part. We are so drawn to making achievements in games that we are forgetting the image to play. Someone once said that the more complex the end becomes the more enticing the image of play gets to be. And they were seemingly right. 

A setting is getting lost in the wiring and it should sadden us all. And the Australian Financial Review is giving us ‘Jamie Dimon is counting the straws that will break the market’s back’ which comes with “JPMorgan’s chief executive can see a long string of growing risks, from geopolitics to private credit. Will that be enough to burst the market’s optimism?” And he came to me last night in a dream handing me 4 billion for my IP (it was a lovely dream) but here he is right on his turf but it is also the setting of a larger play. He sees a “a long string of growing risks”, yet I see a string of losing strings of creativity that will hold us down, because those who turn away from creativity are lost forever to a sea of demands and the turmoil of loss and that deeply saddens me. Simply because if we become pawns of the populist voices, we are actually doomed to make mistake after mistake and we need to see now that there are more ways. This all adds up to President Trump saying (according to the Guardian) “Donald Trump said he was “not at all” concerned about committing possible war crimes as he again threatened to destroy Iran’s bridges and power plants”, but in this setting he defies his real fears, the first time is the use of ‘possible’ and the second setting was that he said it at all. He is really scared that he will be put in the Hague in the accusers box facing the consequence of his illegal war. I reckon he is counting on the world being to broke when America folds its finances and he would be wrong. There are dozens of people who are actually innocent and used the Black letter law to the extent they could and President Trump is the one who stopped the game from continuing. I reckon that the one place where President Trump might be save is as a new inmate of Lefortovo Prison or Lubyanka Prison. Anywhere else he is likely to be toast. So there is no easy escape to the Bahama’s or Monaco for him. Too many people there will blame him for their easy escape and they will hold him to account. And there isn’t enough ammunition to keep him safe in the United States. 

So that is where I am and the people who needs distractions are being withheld a simple setting where their creativity is fed, not their frustrations and rage. And my mind is grabbing back to the simple setting of Winamp controls or the theme settings that Microsoft opened in 1995. Who did not have a whole range of themes to brighten up their Windows experience? That is seemingly lost now in a sea of patches and Knowledge Base (KB) numbers. So who gave the world the outlets of creativity? Adobe?

So have a great day and consider where we might be when our need for creativity is fed in all sorts of ways. Time for dinner now.

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February 24, 2026 · 11:18

The toy force is with you

There is a chance that I will be writing about prostitution tomorrow. I just thought of certain settings and as I see it, I expect to see a certain development within the next 24 hours and about that more tomorrow. Today was about something that I noticed yesterday on Twitter (still not calling it X). It its a corny advertisement of the late 70’s about Star Wars merchandise and I thought to myself the usual ‘What if’ questions and my mind went into reengineering mode. You see, there is the expected Tie Fighter and X wing fights that buddies might have, but today that setting needs to be developed and it is bracingly easy to do that. First the tie fighter could have a ‘mug handle’ that could be pushed into the tie fighter, it comes with optionally two buttons. The first one is to fire the lasers the second is a button to take pictures/start movie on your mobile. We get a slid in the top back that can be pushed down. You can place your mobile there. You now have a tie fighter that is showing the top part of your mobile and it’s lens. Now you can make a Star Wars Movie with you as the pilot of your Tie Fighter, or X wing. And as you are filming you can press the button that fires the lasers. Now consider that a laser pointer is as little as $2 and the Tie fighter has two laser units (making it $4) and considering that this might be a little more (with the 2 button solution), as such the 70’s solution could be reengineered again making Disney now millions of additional dollars. Consider the amount of Star Wars fans out there, and that setting might be ‘exploited’ to give the ‘fighter’ a few more additional quirks like intermittent shooting lasers and that is the setting that I am seeing (I have no idea if Disney has this at present) But the force will be howling in every homestead with eager kids (and fathers) playing and making movies as such. It came to me all due to what consider a lame advertisement from the 70’s. And that was just for starters. So as the ‘fleet’ of Star Wars ships might have expanded already, there is a setting that could make every adult a child again and there is plenty of evidence out there indicating that this might work. I am merely puzzled that no one thought of this before. And I am having this thought as I have not seen anything out there and considering that there might be a summer and upcoming winter need it might remain a puzzling thought. Still, the thought is out there , so as I see it: ‘Disney do your thing’ and right quick. There might even be a setting to make this an exclusive to the Disney parks and optionally their websites. In this day of age of everyone trying to find ‘revenue’ I am handing this to Disney (as they seemingly own the Star Wars IP and patents) so lets see how serious they are looking at this, or perhaps it might become some Temu gadget in a galaxy quite near to us in the nearby future.

Such is life. So you all have a great day and my hat off to Connor Hellebuyck who successfully protected the American goal for over 44 times which got them gold this Olympic. Funny that he’s the goaltender for the Winnipeg Jets, come to think of it, Their captain is a Toronto Maple Leafs captain too, so the irony hits hard, still America won this year, no hostile actions by me. It was a well deserved win, they fought for it hard enough.

Ah well, time for something cold as it is 29 degrees here now and it is supposed to get to 31 degrees, so I’m told.

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February 18, 2026 · 23:31

The idea that was 

There is a setting that we at times tend to forget. Disney paved the way and some will like that path and some will not. But it isn’t up to Disney and others can follow that path. Particularly a path that was set out by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The name of that movie was Titan AE. The setting was one that I see as a movie that was released in a bad time setting. 2000-2001 was not a great time setting for a lot of people and it was competing with MI2, Gladiator, The Perfect Storm and X-men. A non-Disney animation doesn’t really hold up a candle to that. But in this age of special effects and graphic Machine learning design (calling it AI sounds like a mass) this setting could well work in the age of Netflix/Paramount/Disney plus all competing for a larger slice of the pie. I reckon that Don Bluth has a lot more materials and that setting might help him. So what happens when this 95 minute setting becomes a mini series of 4 episodes each an hour long? I reckon that there are reasons why some of the cast members would love to get involved and when you see the average scripts that these studios accept, the complete rewrite of a decent script might hold water with these streamers. A setting where we get the good, the bad and the energetic and it all comes to blow starting in episode 3 with episode 4 as the finale. You see, some are thinking the other way round, but I reckon that Titan AE has what it takes to get into a real action movie. The stage was properly presented by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. As such whilst some go for the ‘the movie was a failure’ some could see the open sided win that is right there for the taking and it might make for a decent mini series. As I see it, the streamers see the benefit of that equation. That being said, there is no reason why the original designers couldn’t offer this to the SBA or a player like Dubai One. The options is not seeing it, but seeing where it could hold water too and the second option might require more rewrite (making it more Arabic set) but the story doesn’t change and the makers had a decent setting to begin with. So whilst everyone is redoing the same thing (example: Harry Potter and Percy Jackson) others might seek a wider spread of a setting that was in the past a little too constricting. As such is there a setting where the new could be derived from the old, whilst not relying on a remaster?  I don’t think from animation to real life action is a remaster, but that is merely me. And when the stage is placed on the new borders, some might create an entirely new frontier. That is something worth considering (at least that is what I think).

And when you have considered that as a solution, what will some do about those not ‘in league’ with Zeus, but what happens when a simple girl enters The Eleusis Ploutonion? Did anyone consider being original and brave? The setting that someone is pushing the boundaries of the past into the future by using the known parts and throw them upside down. Because the facts that were were often whispered by the victor. So what happens when someone found tablets that were set in hidden scriptures. Hidden because the victors would never allow them to be released or to survive. But what happens when someone with the powers of a god could foresee that happening and they would have had ways to plant the fruits of their achievements in other ways?

It is just a thought, but we are always ‘pushed’ to accept the writings of the old, but what happens when there are older writings still? Where could they be hidden and how could they be ‘resurrected’? It just a thought to have, because the bulk of movies and series never go into that equation. Just like seemingly no one considered that Titan AE might become an excellent movie.

Just food for thought. Have a great day.

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February 11, 2026 · 00:31

Out of the blue

So there I was meeting up with my half brother Insomnia. When that rascal comes calling you can pretty much kiss sleep goodbye and it is my turn to be all over the field again. But then out of the blue an idea hit me. You see I have gotten into the habit of looking at (and listening to) Ambience videos. It started around Christmas with Hogwarts Legacy movies. But as I saw more movies my mind started to think. You see most of them are basically graphic DML applications. Don’t get me wrong, there are a fair view of them made by artists who go all in on 3D sculpting, but as I got to think a few things through, I saw a gap where optionally Google Dropped the ball (yet again) and as all Sony TVs have google TV, the idea started to form. 

You see DML can be awesome and in this case it is. And here is the setting:

You start with the setting, giving you space, a house, a spaceship, a space station. From there we get the specifics like Themed (think a game, TV series or a setting like Cyberpunk, Interior, weather and whether this is a light of a dark setting from there we get to the music like music style, rhythm, ambience music and volume. From there we can go back to stage one, or we can select sample so we see the low resolution sample. From there we get the final product and that is the one we safe/Download so we can watch this without using bandwidth. The stage needs optionally one addition to the Sony TV’s and that is a memory slot, optionally we can serve it via the DVD/4K player which has a memory card or your console. This setting is already with the bulk of the people, as such it is a mere adjustment. Google will be able to sell a whole lot of subscriptions (which allows for the download of 4K files, or people can optionally do this in the office (to the bosses I say, I never told your employees this and you aren’t reading this) ;-P

And it goes further, the people who actually design these settings can offer interiors that the people can buy for a few dollars and the good ones will make a decent bundle, some makers like View Escape are already putting them on YouTube, so you can just download those. A setting that allows Google to enrich their options and give more to the people (at a price) and this can be set to a much bigger stage, but the basic is already here and I reckon that the millions of big TV’s are out there (not just Sony) and soon there will be a setting where the TV is not just a screen, it will be art on display and that is something that Google could enable. 

Perhaps the idea is silly, but I do believe that there is a market for this and seeing the amount of Ambiance Video’s already on YouTube, I feel certain that this is a bigger market than anyone is considering. Have a great day, it’s Wednesday now for me.

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February 3, 2026 · 06:05

There is a problem

These are words you are unlikely to hear from tourist boards and they don’t like to give out that kind of information, because when you go on vacation, the numbers are always good. That has been the setting for almost 2 months, but today the Financial Times (at https://www.ft.com/content/5230100f-dfbd-428a-a554-f671e46ba3db) gives its readers ‘Disney warns of hit to US theme parks as foreign tourist numbers fall’, I saw the writing on that wall the moment we saw YouTube videos on how deserted the Epic Universe was. We saw the ‘negative’ views on rides and many other settings, the kind which puzzled me because that should have been addressed at the staging times and the makers of Epic Universe should have known better, but now we see “Disney said there would only be modest growth in its experiences business in the current quarter. The guidance comes after a 6 per cent drop in foreign visitors to the US last year, according to industry body the World Travel & Tourism Council, amid tensions between the Trump administration and other countries, including Mexico and Canada.” I personally believe that the damage is greater, but that might be a pure subjective thought process. There are a few thoughts that “Some investors, analysts and former company executives see D’Amaro, who is expanding the cruise fleet to 13 and overseeing the construction of a new theme park in Abu Dhabi, as the likeliest internal candidate to succeed Iger. “Investors are expecting it to be Josh D’Amaro,” said Rich Greenfield, veteran media analyst at LightShed Partners. “I don’t think anyone owns Disney [stock] for any reason other than the theme parks now.” Revenue from Disney’s streaming business, led by Walden, rose 11 per cent in the quarter. The company’s film studios had a number of hits in the holiday season, including Avatar: Fire and Ash and Zootopia 2. But marketing costs for the new releases offset the higher theatrical revenue in the quarter” evoke, but that too is subjective. As I see it, Disney lucked out by setting the Abu Dhabi stage, but there is seemingly more. We see this from “marketing costs for the new releases offset the higher theatrical revenue in the quarter” it hands the setting that I have been seeing over the last two years. It isn’t the marketing cost, it has been the turnaround from awareness to booking the outing (or vacation) and it is based on numbers and thoughts that are the foundations of a relic. You see, it comes back to the old Direct Marketing setting of the 90’s. People thought that throwing more money at it gets you the numbers, but in this instance there are two hindrances. The first is the Trump administration and the negativity that ‘America’ now brings. Add to that issues with rides and costs. A new kind of marketing is required and tourism isn’t ready for that, just like the Direct Marketeers had in the 90’s. In the marketing industry is was the step that augmented ‘engagement’, that is now the number one setting, not blatant advertising. And it comes with a hindsight issue. The numbers they are collecting now no longer suffices, but that is a lesson they will learn soon enough. So even if the negativity is dealt with, there is still the catering to engagement. I gave a few ideas in the past (in my blog) and there are further needs. As places like Disney is catering to children, that needs to come across as essential. Weirdly enough Supermarkets are doing it to engage with the children thought Disney and Harry Potter collections, I saw that as key to engagement, by catering to that side and one example I had given was to create placemats that could be used as ‘stages’ in this with the characters in this. Like Disney or Harry Potter characters that were handed out. The stage was to set the background of the event you catered to and as younger ones now had access to mobiles to create their own movies, these elements could be used to create an imaginary repartee. Get influencers to create settings that these younger targets could use to boost creativity because that is pure engagement. The job for Disney and like minded places need to create optional software (a mere example) that gives these people that creativity, and the nice part is that these solutions have no ‘use by’ data and they could be expanded through every event a year has. By tapping into that creativity you will be creating yearning and desire to be part of that story. And you know when a younger player wants it bad enough, it tends to happen, no matter that it costs the parents $209-$229 per person (less for kids 3-9 years old) and that is merely the beginning. You see food and snacks will set you back around $100 per adult per day for a mix of snacks and meals. So at $700 you are out of pocket for two adults and additional cost for the child and in this economy you need a more than mere awareness. That is the setting that Abu Dhabi seems to be avoiding, but it comes at other prices. And engagement can solve a lot of these issues right of the bat. As such operators like Miral have a steep path to go, but the fun pat is that they can use the approach of all their parks and that implies to some degree that one solution serves all, a pretty nice setting to have. But that is merely the first step, to get the younger players on board, get the right influencers to head the engagement setting all using the nearly same solution to cater to all.

Is this a figment?

That is the right question, but when we consider player like Cristiano Ronaldo (with 670,000,000 followers) we get ‘smaller’ influencers like Selena Gomez, Lionel Messi, MrBeast, but we aren’t vying to them, you see getting the people behind Bluey, PAW Patrol, Gabby’s Dollhouse, Numberblocks, and Sesame Street, can be much more effective and they can be found in any country and seeing where your people are coming from is a first to set up that requirement and other countries have other favourite but the same solution applies. Get these people to drive engagement and you get a new engine of engagement, because the TV is already vying for engagement, as such why invent the wheel two times over? Use that solution to create engagement. 

And as we see the stage of engagement, we can wonder what solutions will be invoked by Disney, Universal and Warner Brothers and as such places like Miral can head them all off by heading that way before the others have figured out what they need to do. A seemingly simple setting, but it comes with the hidden traps that need to be avoided, a stage all trendsetters face.

Have a great day.

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January 29, 2026 · 23:52

The sales-price is considered

Yes, that is at times a simple setting, and sometimes it is more like watching for clarity in a bowl of pea soup. Something that simply isn’t ever happening. As such I tend to stay away from these things. Here I took a dabble for the reason that this most certainly will impact Hogwarts Legacy 2 and that is a troublesome setting. There was a second setting that AOL (via the LA Times) alerted me to. It is ‘Paramount outlines plans for Warner Bros. Cuts’ which we see (at https://www.aol.com/articles/paramount-outlines-plans-warner-bros-172016776.html) I have seen several cut articles pas by my eyes and as such we are given “Many in Hollywood fear Warner Bros. Discovery’s sale will trigger steep job losses — at a time when the industry already has been ravaged by dramatic downsizing and the flight of productions from Los Angeles.” I feel I disagree, but it is a disagreement done via a lack of American business sense and the ‘insight’ that there are too many captains and too many ships. It is like the length of a project has 5 stages, each stage with its own captain, quartermaster and boatswain, whilst these ships require to be moored 5 times which comes with additional costs. It is the perception I see and perhaps I am wrong, but that is the setting that is almost never seen in Canada, the UAE, Saudi Arabia. Not sure about Australia and the United Kingdom, as such the others get a much larger slice of their revenue, hence they can focus on quality, not quantity. 

I’ll admit it is a non-professional view as I am not in that business, me writing a few scripts don’t make me in any way a professional view here. So as we are given and we see “David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is seeking to allay some of those concerns by detailing its plans to save $6 billion, including job cuts, should Paramount succeed in its bid to buy the larger Warner Bros. Discovery.” Will it work? I honestly don’t know, but this setting is weirding me out especially as we see “Paramount previously disclosed that it would target $6 billion in synergies. And it has stressed the proposed merger would make Hollywood stronger — not weaker. The firm, however, recently acknowledged that it would shave about 10% from program spending should it succeed in combining Paramount and Warner Bros.” We see ‘cutting’, ‘a merger’, ‘shaving’ and that makes Hollywood stronger? I don’t know, but I feel a string sense of doubt. Not merely because of that, but the UK, UAE and Saudi Arabia are fine tuning their own streaming services, their production facilities and distribution channels and I haven’t even considered India in all this. The time for people who want to succeed in Hollywood is over. Hollywood has to content for resources with the UK, Canada, UAE and Saudi Arabia and several of these channels have resources, as such the pond where Hollywood is fishing is a lot smaller and whilst people are ‘cut’ from the business they had, they will look towards the other ponds to see if they can make a living there. The shine of Hollywood stopped shining about 10 years ago and people aren’t catching on. And whilst we see “Paramount said that it would become Hollywood’s biggest spender — shelling out about $30 billion a year on programming.” This setting comes with a counter setting. You see if they don’t make at least $100,000,000,000 from that, the money spenders walk away and that is where the cogs start to hamper work. And at present Paramount had 2 movies in the top 10. Primate which made $23,890,679 and the SpongeBob movie which made $23,410,013. You think this is good? It is an actual question because these two movies made 0.47% of the required revenue. Still think this is a healthy setting? I know there is a lot more, TV series and all kinds of streaming solutions and they do bring in the cash but will it be enough? There is now a lot more than Hollywood and those players are also vying for the same revenue and the people have less to spend. For me it is simple I was only able to afford 4 cinema movies and for now my 2026 budget is limited to The Odyssey and the third dune move at present. And I am not in as bad a setting as many others are and I don’t think that Hollywood is realising this (or they are hiding that ignorance), but the Analysts have another view “Some analysts have wondered whether Paramount would sell one of its most valuable assets — the historic Melrose Avenue movie lot — to raise money to pay down debt that a Warner acquisition would bring.” I have no idea, the moment I hear Melrose, my mind changes settings to Melrose place and that sitcom with Heather Locklear (I was young once) and I have no idea about Hollywood, but the idea that this is an option and still they believe that Hollywood would not become stronger, merely more diverse and that does not translate to strength, it translates to revenue moving into more and smaller buckets. I remain driven into offering my scrips to Dubai except for the NSA heart attack script, I am now working on, which is meant for Canada and optionally Matt Damon’s Artists Equity. Still working on this, but I will finish it within the next few months (two months ahead of schedule, because a rewrite will become essential). 

So whilst I am in no way savvy in the workings of Hollywood, I am well versed in Business Intelligence and the settings I am seeing do not add up (to me at least). It is not entirely without doubt that this might be a setting that these studios are setting themselves up for a non-administration time and therefor much more abled to be hiding certain matters. Because stronger and the diminishing parts we see don’t add up. It only makes sense if certain players aren’t making the numbers they are supposed to be making. But perhaps I am the eternal sarcasm driven entity in this. 

And beyond what we see now with “Paramount also has filed proxy materials to ask Warner shareholders to reject the Netflix deal at an upcoming stockholder meeting. Earlier this month, Netflix amended its bid, converting its $27.75-a-share offer to all-cash to defuse some of Paramount’s arguments that it had a stronger bid. Should Paramount win Warner Bros., it would need to line up $94.65 billion in debt and equity.” The numbers might be adding up, but I have some doubts here, but it is Hollywood, who do I know about that place (answer: zilch)

Have a great day you all, its almost Thursday now, merely 300 seconds remaining.

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December 21, 2025 · 02:58

The faltering critique

There was a story I saw a few days ago and I have an issue with it. The story (at https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20251212-10-biggest-film-flops-of-2025) gives us ‘Snow White to The Smashing Machine: 10 of the biggest film flops of 2025’ I wondered about that and while I was not a great fan of this Snow White (I am still drawn to the 1937 version, it was the most beautiful trip any youngling could make in his preteens), it wasn’t bad, it just wan’t my cup of tea. So the story comes with a line “From a controversial recreation of a Disney cartoon to an awards-tipped sports biopic starring The Rock, why did so many high-profile Hollywood films fail at the box office this year?” This is the real reason behind this. The economy. Consider that a ticket is roughly $15, popcorn $8 and a soda $5, so that puts you back $28 and that is merely for one person. At this point I reserve my cinema money for the really good experiences (like the Odyssey and Dune 3) and consider that $28 will get you Netflix for 2 months, the equation is simple. Thunderbolts, Mickey17 and M3GAN 2.0. All movies you can watch on the TV and some will require the purchase of a BlueRay $30, and you can watch it whenever you want again and again. These movies should not be seen as flops, they are merely the victims of a horrendous economy. 

That is not on them or on us, it merely is and you can tell me how awesome the Dwayne Johnson movie is, but I am not in to fight games and that might be on me, but at present I can only afford to see 2-3 movies a year, so I have to be massively selective in new movies. Hence the two movies I have (at present) preselected. So as we are given “There were plenty of hit films this year, but there was a raft of high-profile releases that fared far worse than expected. So where did they all go wrong? Below are 10 of the most infamous of 2025’s box-office duds – and they all help to explain in different ways why Hollywood is struggling to get people out of their homes and into cinemas.” At no point does the BBC raise the issue of the economy, I am in a bad place, but not as much as some others, I reckon that if they can afford merely 1 movie, they would be in a stellar mood and that is before you see the equation when it is 2 or more people. The BBC leaves this on the floor and blames the movie, but the world is a little more complex than that and Whilst I wasn’t a Snow White fan, I did get the Blu-ray of Mickey 17 and I loved it. The trailer was awesome and that is why I got it, it wasn’t the great trip I hoped for, but it was a nice ride and as such I am happy I got the Blu-ray. 

So whilst some people at the BBC want to say how the movie was depressing and and no one goes to see a film starring The Rock because they want to be depressed. No, it is a setting that people cannot afford to go to the cinema and that is why no one turns up to these events. I am already saving up to see the Odyssey and by march I should have enough to get the ticket for the IMAX. A simple setting that the BBC is massively overlooking and I wonder why. The economy is less than flat, it is turning onto itself and hiding that fact away isn’t helping anyone. 

Have a great day today and consider what movies you want to see, because the big screen is still magical, it is merely out of reach for many people. 

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