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The alternative way

I was contemplating the issues of Data privacy and particular the issues around US customs and their intrusion on your data issues. I had a few issues with that and as America is now the least reliable side of the matter I decided on a few techniques that might allow evasion of this. This morning I decided to look a few things up and I paused at Wired (at https://www.wired.com/2017/02/guide-getting-past-customs-digital-privacy-intact/) and I got to ‘How to Enter the US With Your Digital Privacy Intact’ where my suspicions were greeted with the ideas that had not been thought of. You see I am a great fan of ‘non-repudiation’ and that gave me the idea. What if you had the greatest of data insights? What if part of this locking and unlocking the data is for example your library card? This gave me two settings. The first is the magnetic strip, you see, you never think of this and it is what YOU make of it. The first setting is that a bank card has three tracks on a magnetic strip and they are for the most employed by banks when they need it (like ATM), but that setting could be altered for YOUR needs. The second part is what the card looks like. We can use these two elements to take a new page out of a book. 

So this leaves us the corporate way and the personal way. 

As a first, we get to copy the details you need (like a contact list, app list and personal lists). The second part becomes copying hat you need to a corporate server, encrypted data that is merely there, like a backup. So how is that dat secure? Well we get to the next stage, we take one or two cards you have on you. One with a magnetic strip, one as a card (could be business card, could be staff access card, or even your library card). You will keep it on you at all time. And third a personal access number (up to 12 digits) This gives you the setting of non-repudiation.

Now we travel to a ‘no one cares where’ place in America and you pass through customs, without phones or laptops. Just a regular joey. And in the American office you go to the security office and download the essentials. Now this merely makes sense for the people who needs this. So it is not for everyone in the first stage.

You pass the credits to a scanner and there is your data, your essential data that is. Kept safe from peeking eyes, and there is a growing concern that this is becoming more and more essential. We seemingly are ‘held’ to the dangers of YOUR data, but I reckon that America is now gaining an essential need of Digital IP that they can ‘embrace’ for their broke settings soon enough. Only for you to lose the fact that your IP was hijacked and no one knows who or where. But that is the setting that I am seeing now. They need IP to survive the next year and why should they be allowed your data? At present we see nearly everyone giving us “Chinese theft of American IP currently costs between $225 billion and $600 billion annually.” But I am not so sure. We get the ‘victims’ that Nokia and other brands, all whilst Huawei is far beyond what players like Nokia and others can produce. Is there IP theft? Yes, I know there is but from fashion brands like Gucci (it might be IP brands) but the markets are making a killing on $15000 Gucci bags, now for sale in the markets at $179 dollars. As I see it, the new settings allows for America to steal what they need to avoid having to not pay their interest bills. Now this is allegedly, I have no evidence. But the setting as I see it is quite real, as such I devised a way to avoid becoming a victim. The best option is to avoid America all together. Possible for me, but not for everyone and should I get that decently paying technical support job, then I will end up working for a US firm (hopefully avoiding the US altogether) but I am not holding my breath on that. 

As such I came up with this, a first in this task. There are two settings. The first is the data and the second is the hardware. The data I describes and I am a firm believer in non-repudiation. The hardware is different. You se, the movies have this nice clean crisp solution, but we are barely there. There was Ultraviolet (2006) where we see a foam phone printed and folded. We are already at that stage where we can do that. The printed foam cover is possible, there is still the setting of the battery, but that could be overcome. We merely set the LCD print board to include the display, you won’t have a camera setting, but that wouldn’t be needed. We get the setting that the devices go back to their original platform. So you have (if needed) a camera, a battery, and whatever more you need. The printed phone will interact with it all if needed. And wouldn’t it be nice if Huawei gives you all that? American stupidity forces China to give us the next need to innovate. That is irony the size of the Titanic (in action). 

You get one republican idiot forcing the world to turn to its life long enemy (President Nixon doesn’t agree with this statement), but that is for tomorrow. There is of course the real setting. Do we still need America? They are so in denial about what is real that the current tourism news is given to you by YouTube (optionally TikTok too). 

As such my mind went wandering into the data safety setting and as the article is giving you, others have preceded me. But for now, corporations will need to adapt that same policy before they lose the data they have and personal data is currency, one that America shouldn’t possess. As such I wonder at what point these firms will avoid America altogether, setting offices up in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. And now that it seems that India is turning to Russia and China for their oil, they are likely the first to change venue towards their BRICS partners. The EU and the Commonwealth are next. As such Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom will result into making these jumps, to what extent is impossible to predict. I reckon that it depends on how they are depending of America as such. It will be a fluctuating field. But what is true is that more and more people are seeing the hardships that American corporations faces. GM has shed nearly 20,000 staff from 2018 onwards. ‘Tesla to cut 14,000 jobs as Elon Musk aims to make carmaker ‘lean and hungry’’ and that is merely in the last year. In the last 2 months we were told that Microsoft is shedding 9000 jobs. That’s over 40,000 people in merely three corporations and when we seek harder answers. Only Yesterday did Fortune give us ‘Ray Dalio says ‘most people are silent’ because they’re afraid to talk about what’s really happening with the U.S. economy’, I saw this setting months ago and the media is avoiding the issues as they are allegedly being held hostage by advertisement revenues. We aren’t given the real deals and I am not sure where the real deal stands. According to the media the setting is ‘US economy has likely stalled, with 50% risk of recession in 2 years, says Barclays’ in the meantime we are also given ‘US Economy: Jobless Claims Rise, Trade Gap Widens’ and ‘Stagflation & Recession Risks Loom Large Over US Economy’ with sources like UBS (allegedly relying on hard data), UBS gives us a 93% recession risk. If this is true, how does the Barclay setting make sense? I get it, talking about issues in two years time doesn’t mean that the risk is low in the next few months (it could be 100% by November). UBS gave three red flags, so there are all indicators. And the setting of Stagflation becomes the ‘norm’ Which gives us that growth is slowing, but the prices are rising. I am merely voicing what others are saying as I am not an economist. I reckon this is the second bullet that Canada is seemingly dodging as they elected Mark Carney (formerly Marky Mark of the British Bank). I’ll take his word over President Trump’s claims any day of the week. Moody’s speaker Mark Zandi gives us “we aren’t in a recession, but on the precipice of this recession”, OK, I am willing to go along with that, but merely as it seems sincere and I have no economic degree (Mark Zandi apparently has a stack of them). The problem is that these two sources highlight a rather large issue and the media is skating around them, they are avoiding the issue to get their alleged hands on advertisement revenue. It becomes an issue to see the real data and that is where you want to pass your IP through the borders? Not in my lifetime. I am likely to get a nice bonus if I just hand my IP to China, which sounds a lot more promising than trusting that America will do right by me. According to Zandi a third of America is already in recession or close to it and when we add the Tourism numbers I am seeing a grim picture, one that makes me plan my next vacation (whenever I can afford that one) on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE and not in America (ever). The Bank of America is blaming this on Tariffs (what a surprise). As such you might wander what one thing has to do with the other. The principle we are currently seeing at the America borders is the identification of HVT’s (High Value Targets), the second setting is IP. America needs trillions and one way to get these is by hijacking IP (making America the sole distributor of YOUR IP) Is that rally the way to go? Why don’t we ask the EU, Commonwealth and China on that issue? I think this is the one case where these three sides will speak (agree) in unison and I saw the setting coming over a decade ago and it is all over my blog. So why wasn’t the media this informative? I will let you decide.

But believe me that your IP and your personal DATA require protection and in a non-repudiating way. As such my mind went tinkering to what is possible and securing and keeping your data online was a first stop. I call it alternative way and that has a way of becoming the only or main way soon enough. 

Have a great day, I’m now a mere 90 minutes from breakfast.

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The one we overlooked

That is at times the setting. I am watching a golden oldie. The movie is Outland (1981), a gem with Sean Connery. It has always been one of my all time favorites. So it was time to rewatch it. This movie is a gem made by Peter Hyams. And I think that after 44 years it might be time to make a newer version. It could be bolstered with additional settings. You see, at present the world has not fixated itself on Klaventium yet. It can only be found on Jupiter. It is a layer 8 element and those elements cannot be only be found in places where temperature and pressures tend to non-Human kind and Klaventium is apparently essential for cold fusion (it is at least 20 times more powerful than plutonium) as such we can embellish the storyline above what Peter Hyams originally wrote. His premise was good and should not really be messed with, but the setting that he gave us could not be set in a 3 hour movie, but with additional elements on Jupiter, the original was 112 minutes and it is a good setting, add the Jupiter factor and the special effects we have now, we can improve on the movie. Although, I really like the look the old space station had, but for Jupiter more is needed and that is now possible. The second problem is the actor. Sean Connery set a next level marker on ding that movie. I reckon that not many can equal this. As I see it, the only actors that could equal Sean Connery in this role are Tom Hardy or John Krasinsky. I reckon that the director should figure it out and perhaps Peter Hyams could take another shot at his work on the other hand this could be a nice challenge for his son John Hyams. And this could be another great idea for a global stream release. 

So to set the additional premise there are two ways (as I see it). In the first is the reconnaissance on space stations and additional medical settings could be added. The setting of the additional field (on Jupiter) is a new stage of technology and in that there is the setting of Jupiter station where the hitman come from so you get two additional settings. The space station around Jupiter, the drill site in Jupiter (it is all space shuttles that connect to the drill devices) and the space station. In addition to this is the operational settings on IO station and as such that is basically all my mind can thinks off as the original is still good after 44 years. The shuttle could use some details, but more about the embarking/debarking settings then anything else. 

A stage where we see corporate greed and drugs is good, but the additional settings could be industrial espionage. If you are willing to do one, the next step is really easy. So as the people see the Big bad wolf (greedy corporate shark) the industrial espionage becomes easy. Although that is not a given. I always had reservations about the deputy as he comes in at the final moment. He could be the industrial espionage plant as I see it, a two level setting where the corporate dodo (played by Peter Boyle) is not the Industrial spy, but Sergeant Ballard (played by Clarke Peters) is, He brings his own hit team to muddy the waters and to take out both players (the sheriff and the hit team), The sheriff has to take both out and in that mean time find out what the Jupiter mission was all about. We get two rings of disco era and whilst they are intertwined only the last segment gives us that there were two stages to it all. 

That is all I have for now, but I reckon that Peter Hyams can talk to Junior (that’s funny) and get it all sorted. So, another idea by yours truly. For now I am taking a rest, then I will focus on another IP setting (if I get the upper had over DARPA with 9 field goals I’ll be happy).

Have a great day (still yesterday in Vancouver and Los Angeles)

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Simpsons epic vacation

Yes that happens, we all have vacation, but this one has a difference. The vacation is already sold out, a year in advance. And in comes a hero shaped like Bart Simpson (aka Tom Holland) and he is accompanied by grandpa Simpson (aka Matt Damon) there is a princess involved played by Zendaya, it might be a coincidence, but Tom Holland is her +1. Bruce Wayne is involved (Robert Pattison) So as the story goes about grandpa getting home to son and wife we get to see a abundance of types and people. OK, this is as much damage as I can get away with (and stay alive) against the setting of the journey home of Matt Damon. As such this is the book about the journey home after they sacked (also destroyed) Troy, which can be seen in the 2004 movie Troy. 

So why am I talking about this?
A few months ago I saw the announcement that tickets are already being sold a year in advance for the IMAX version of the movie. I desperately want to see it, but I have to save my coins to afford that ticket and there will be a showing in Sydney (one in Australia and I reckon Sydney gets it) there are also more codes according the CBC (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/christopher-nolan-1.7597788) these are 16 in the U.S., six in Canada, two in the U.K., one in Australia and one in the Czech Republic, according to the source that gives us ‘Sellouts for Nolan’s The Odyssey shows audiences’ hunger for movies projected via film’, I want to go as Nolan’s movies are awesome. The last time I went to the IMAX was a decade ago to see the 3D version of Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity. That movie was so amazing that it still caresses the retina’s a decade later. I also got the Blu-ray of that movie and I love it, but it can never compete to the 3D IMAX experience. As such it is time to see that youthful young sprout shine on IMAX (I did mean Christopher Nolan). 

So why?
I reckon that most people have the same setting. To see the works of Christoper Nolan on IMAX is pretty much a must and to see what Christoper Nolan makes of this classic work is stimulating the ‘must see’ vibe in my blood. In addition to see what can be made from a 1400 year old story is one you just have to see and the crowds are set on seeing it to, at least the thousands that will go to see it in the 26 IMAX theaters. 

One might think that it will make Homer rich, but as his bones have turned to dust, it is un likely that he will see a penny of this. There is a side of the CBC article that I tend to reject. It is “The rush could be interpreted as a rejection of near-ubiquitous digital screenings in favor of the analog appeal of celluloid.” I don’t think the writer is wrong, the writer is merely incorrect. Apart from the IMAX experience, there is the setting that we have been bashed to near death with Marvel and DC movies. Don’t get me wrong, I like these movies too, but when did you last see an epic movie? For me it was the Avatar movies and they do have their own appeal. Then we get Gravity, Kingdom of Heaven and Apocalypto. These movies are rare to say the least and to get the advance tickets of a movie like that (optionally a week before anyone else sees it has appeal), massive appeal. 

The reason for my attention to this is the fact that the movie is already sold out a year in advance and the fact that it comes to IMAX, and the fact that it is the latest Christopher Nolan experience. The fact that this movie is nothing less than star studded is merely icing on the cake. And it is a bonus for all the actors (actresses too) that are involved. Christoper Nolan expects excellence and the fact that an actor is involved shows us that these are real stars (if that expression is allowed), so I will try to get a ticket in a few months, but in the end I might have to wait until the movie is released. The article has a lot more than I looked at, it is a nice trivia of IMAX to behold yourself. As such there is a risk that you might want to get a ticket yourself and it will be money wisely spend.

Have a great day today.

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Forgotten greats

That is where I saw myself. Thinking of a near forgotten great. It was 1935 and a relatively unknown director (in those days) it was his second movie for a new firm and that movie, the setting have been burned into my memory for over half a century. It takes a lot for something to happen to anyone. I am talking about the 39 steps. Even in 1935 the dangers of industrial espionage were seen as monumental and today this is worse. So as I see it. Based on the book by John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir the movie by many that matter is seen as an absolute masterpiece (one of them is Orson Welles). As such I see a setting where someone can sort of rewrite the story to be more contemporary. The indication quote given in the movie is “The 39 Steps is an organization of spies collecting information on behalf of the foreign office of…” and we never heard the end because mr Memory was shot at that point in during the public performance. The act out of clear fear is a setting that should not be underestimated. Now, I would love to have a bite at that, but I already have three more running originals, one is a miniseries, one is a story in three seasons and one is an open endeavor spanning 3-4 seasons for now. As such my hands are full and the first work hasn’t even been sold yet. That one is a movie meant for Arabic streaming channels. As such, I need to hand it over to someone who feels frisky to go up against a great like Alfred Hitchcock. Trying to equal this masterpiece is already a herculean task, surpassing it will be close to impossible, but do try, I challenge you.

Consider the settings we have now. NIP (Near Intelligent Parsing), ‘AI’ advertisements by Facebook (or Meta) and that is merely the start. We have woke ‘idiots’ and we have religious nuts, take in measure the settings of a political administration that shoots itself in the foot, the disability of acting out against Russia and everyone is considering the yellow peril (aka China) setting the new frontier. All elements that can make a massive impact in a storyline. 

So as we consider the IP that is starting to make waves (Hyper-loop, AI (aka NIP)) and that is intertwining in western, eastern and Arabic settings. If that doesn’t make for a compelling story, it is out of my hands. Oh, and before you think it is merely governments. Consider the settings that Google, Microsoft, Meta, TikTok and Huawei take on the global stage. And they all want the same thing whilst aiming for similar goals. 

I think there is enough space for a rewrite of the 39 steps, the politics, business and technology are setting the stage that all want to ‘enable’ empowering that setting. And even as the 1935 original was merely implying that setting. Consider that we were given this month “Chinese theft of American IP currently costs between $225 billion and $600 billion annually.” Yet that is a two way stream. As I see it, the west has close to nothing to counter the innovations of Huawei and there is more. So what happens when a ‘dedicated’ corporation merely sets the goals towards profits and become the axial of all this? A sort of SMERSH in real life (like Bond faced in the 60’s) but there is no need for Mr. Memory. So what happens when data sets are given to OpenAI (or ChatGPT) and that system links (falsely or not) the parts that matter? So what happens to the overseers of such a system? I am merely opening doors for someone to pick up the quill and parchment (a laptop is so passé) but the idea comes across I hope. And considering last week, news with the alleged hacks by Violet Typhoon, this movie plot could thicken.

So what happens when that is the setting towards the conclusion, the middle is the start and during the movie you get start to middle in segments and that goes towards the conclusion of someone getting to the end of the story. My idea is that this could make a magnificent movie with a woman in the lead. Perhaps Florence Pugh, Jenna Ortega, Sydney Sweeney, Anya Taylor-Joy, Saoirse Ronan, or Elle Fanning could be cast. You see, this needs to be a ‘younger’ actress. As I see it under 30. A side story would be that she is into climbing, a loner that is driven to succeed in her IT/Consultancy job. Oh and these are merely characters I know off, there are plenty of actresses that could apply. I am merely thinking of the type, not the exact character and I think that this is meant for the one taking up the baton. Would be great if a Canadian or Nordic picks up that challenge. And I got a few more ideas. It could be set against actual political events of 2025. As I see it, this movie makes a massive impact if the movie starts with:

This movie is entirely fictional, any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental

As a wink to the 1932 claim against MGM is entertaining enough, but when you base this on 2025 events it will gain traction by millions of conspiracy theorists who will drive the movie along making a lot more interested in seeing this work.

A simple setting that should make Alfred Hitchcock wink at the writer and director, in equal measure Orson Welles would applaud the setting as it is a wink towards The Night That Panicked America and the October 30 1938 broadcast it was based upon. It was one hell of a peekaboo. 

I reckon this can be done again and nicely on the bog screen. So if you reckon to be a script writer, here is your chance.

Have a great day. Another fine idea released before Monday morning.

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That old song

That happens, we are at times driven to an old song. Something we sang before, or a song we heard others sing and it is a catchy song. That happened to me mere hours ago when Hacked OFF (https://www.hackedoff.org/) gave me ‘20 years after 7/7, victims of terror are still not protected’ (in an email) and as Paul Dadge states “Victims of press abuse feel let down and betrayed, and victims of terror are still not protected from being hacked and intruded on by the press.” I saw this years ago and I had a proper response (the other idea to shoot them in the head was instantly rejected by myself). You see, the media needs money and as the media is becoming ever pressured by peer pressures, they have to keep on adding the pressures. At first I thought that there was no real solution, but I got to thinking (I do that at times) and as I saw the desperate movement to digital dollars and revenue I saw a solution. You see, what is possible that judges can set the media, towards a new profit driven revenue and as such these people lose there tax exempt setting. Those ‘media’ dodo’s relying on 0% VAT now become fully VAT responsible. A month for every transgression. As such they will face a new adversary, not that pussy organisation called IPSO, but the MP of the victim and a group of three judges, one from the district the victim is in and two additional judges. They decide the fate of the transgressor and when found guilty that Media outlet will face the 20% VAT on the revenue they have that month. So these publications, like magazines, and newspapers will face the brunt of the VAT from 0% (I think it is 20% in the UK at present) and there is no hiding behind the people have a right to know. When you transgress on the privacy of people you get to pay the price. There might be a few snags in my way of thinking, but the publications that this is bound to happen we get to see all these media people crying like little bitches, just like they did at the time of judge Sir Brian Henry Leveson.

Even if it doesn’t come to pass, we can TikTok and Youtube the hell out of these media alleged transgressors and if we learned something in this last two years than it is that they are feeble and money hungry, suddenly lose 20% a month at a time and they might consider being a little more ethically acceptable towards the mess they made themselves.

Just my take on the matter and I reckon even if Nathan Sparkes, Hugh Tomlinson KC, Dr Rosa Malley, Emma Jones, George Eustice, Hugh Grant, Jacqui Hames, Mandy Garner, Professor Paul Wragg, Professor Steve Barnett, Terrence Tehranian don’t think it is achievable or practical, they will go into the weekend with a giggle and a big smile. Isn’t that worth reading this article? 

It also serves as deterrent as the masses of the world are looking for larger solutions to keep the media in an ethical place. Just my 0.0284 cents on the matter (2 cents adjusted for inflation).

Have a great day today.

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The dangers of a wannabe

Yes, that is the setting. I got rather annoyed by some guy named mr. Dom Riley. He writes (at https://winteriscoming.net/hbo-s-harry-potter-reboot-shows-the-limited-potential-of-the-franchise) the simple title ‘HBO’s Harry Potter reboot shows the limited potential of the franchise’, it is one of the most flawed settings. Not as bit as the stupid girl, who gave Hogwarts Legacy a 1/10 rating, but it is getting close. With the quote “HBO’s decision to remake Harry Potter rather than take the franchise in a new, original direction shows the limitations inherent to the Wizarding World.” It is not that simple, the larger setting that HBO is limited by greed is another thing. Why take chances on what could be (like Ubisoft milking the Assassins Creed franchise with Black Flag) we are given more of the same in a new jacket with cheaper actors (who reveal at the chance to be immortalised by the Wizarding World setting). This is nothing against these actors, if I were a mere 10 years old, I would jump at that chance. The setting is that it is not on the Wizarding World, it is on HBO. There is (of course) a setting that each seasons is a year and as such we are likely to get a lot more, but what if that is below par? I am not telling you, I am merely asking you. You see, the movies are great. The art of the movies were great and the setting is one that almost defies logic and it makes the entire setting re-watchable. Likely as JK intended it to be. It is my believe that she intended to create books that grew as the child grew, so it is a series that entices from 10-18 all in one go. 

So when I see “The Harry Potter book series is less than 30 years old, so it’s not exactly ancient. It’s been almost 25 years since the first movie, and just 14 since the movie series was brought to an end with Deathly Hallows Part 2, so it seems a little early for what is essentially a remake (or re-adaptation), especially as it comes from the same studio. Why not do something different? Is it possible that there’s only so much potential in the franchise?” My first question for Mr. Riley would be “When did you last have your sanity checked?” At what point did you ask what HBO was thinking? At what point did you wonder where the IP of JK was allowed to be? She wrote the books, HBO and others are merely fleecing their greed of a well set IP franchise. The only real original IP comes from Avalanche Software called Hogwarts Legacy and was published by Portkey games. It is an astounding game that has drive, originality (I wrote about it a few times) and an amazing story, so much so that I had to replay it 3 times to cover all the four houses. The game is that good. In addition, I wrote ‘It starts with options’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/11/27/it-starts-with-options/) offering an additional setting to Hogwarts Legacy 2 and giving the player an additional ‘stage’ for the game. Don’t try to buy it as it is at present the property of JK Rowling.

I am just saying that there were additional settings that HBO could employ, but as far as Mr. Riley tells us, they didn’t do that and he is merely (most likely stupid) and flawed as I created original new IP as did Avalanche software. As such winter might be coming, but it should be seen in the brain of the writer, not in the IP that surrounds the Wizarding World as that is up to scratch and amazing in many ways. 

I don’t go about slamming people, as they are entitled to their views, but this was one straw to many (camel is broken) and that is merely the start of it as I wrote at least one more article preceding that (which is also owned by JK Rowling) and it took me less than 4 hours to write both articles. (I reckon less than three, but that would be too close to the mark), so in 4 hours I dug a hole for HBO and Dom Riley to hide the caskets of their non-originality. 

In part I wrote it to remain creative (and I did) and should JK hand over that IP to Avalanche to add to the thrill of Hogwarts Legacy 2, it would be up to her.

And here I get the next setting where keeping a blog gives the reader the evidence that others ‘hide’ behind ‘I told you so, don’t you remember?’ The blog has a nice temporal setting and I have ben adding to that since 2011. There is no need to go on for 14 years of reminding people, it is set to the internet. And as such I feel that the larger setting is that if it isn’t written down it doesn’t exist. 

Have a great day

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The line of a story

That is at times the premise we attend to. This is not bad, not wrong. It merely is, as such we get to The Union. I only saw it last night, no biggie. I just had other things on my mind and after 35 minutes I had worked out part of the plot. Don’t get me wrong this is not a bad thing, or me dissing a movie, which I almost never ever do. The cast Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, JK Simmons, Mike Colter and Jackie Earle Haley all play marvelous, a setting worthy of watching (and rewatching). The movie has its set of special effects, but they do not overwhelm, or seemingly steal the show. Yet the final member of this crew should also be mentioned. It is David Guggenheim who wrote the script and it is was turned into a great movie. 

As I see it, it is the most fun I have had watching a movie this year. There is a reason this is a great movie and as such we need to watch these kind of movies a lot more as I see it and Netflix, always ready to cater to the needs of their audience, is building a production site in New Jersey. So, as we were given a week ago that ‘Breaking Ground on Netflix Studios Fort Monmouth, Our State-of-the-Art Production Facility in New Jersey’ we can expect a lot more in 2027 and 2028. As I see it, the loss of the coming franchise of True Lies (with Arnold Schwarzenegger), will surely be missed. Yet at this point the Union might be a worthy replacement and team Berry-Wahlberg is likely to be a sure attention grabber for Netflix customers and wannabe Netflix customers. 

The weird thing is that this might be the first setting where Streaming would have had the upper hand over big screen releases, even though this was a worthy big screen release. Yet another mention of Mike Colter. He plays an absolute prick in this movie and soon there is likely another path for him in the movies. He might be remembered for the stern Luke Cage, and not everyone was a fan, but this role here, he nailed it with a hammer to the top of the Chrysler building. You will love to hate him and with that fashion sense he showed, he absolutely should be 😛

There are too many little details in the movie to give you a rundown (and I don’t want to spoil the fun), yet as I see it, even though Rotten Tomatoes gave it a mere 38%, I get the idea that some people miss the point. It is called Action/Thriller, I think there is too much comedy in it, to merely see it as such and the few times we see the Australian Jessica De Gouw run around seemingly British (her accent is nearly impeccable) the truth of the matter is that they all played their roles really well and there is enough tongue in cheek settings to merely sit down and enjoy the fun on your screen with a nice snack on the side. As I see it Netflix owns a very new and nice IP that is good for at least a few more movies. 

So feel free to check it out and make sure the snacks are at your hand to eat whilst you enjoy this work of art. Have a great time watching this movie (if possible).

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The end of defense

That is the setting that SBS (at https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australias-big-question-in-donald-trumps-movie-tariff-threat/apjiwwsr0) invites us to consider. You see, in the eyes of the ‘true blue’ democrats, the message becomes You cannot set the stage to an orange overtly bully baboon and perhaps they actually had the right notion. At some point it is pointless to merely play the defensive stage. In Pencak Silat I learned decades ago that defense without offense if pointless and offense without defense is useless. So it is time to up the game. No matter how stupid the actions of President Trump are seen, the game needs a boost and he gave us the perfect reason. And as ‘their’ presentations give us, California is at present the richest area. As such the link gives us ‘Australia’s $767 million question in Donald Trump’s movie tariff threat’ there is an upside and a downside. You see, the Commonwealth might see this as an opportunity, consider the Australian acting community (Hugh Jackman, Chris Hemsworth, Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne and many more), the Canadian (Ryan Reynolds, Nathan Fillion, Sandra Oh, Sarah Polley) and many more and last but not least the United Kingdom (Tom Hardy, Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton, Kate Winslet, Emma Thomson) and many many more, Agree that they will no longer work in American productions. They will seed the field for each others areas. So how long until the investors back away from America and Hollywood? How long until DC, Marvel and other franchises build their own studios (likely in Canada) outside of the US? 

It isn’t fair on these people, my view is that they made with one film more than most people will ever make in their life. (I should know as I hoped that Matt Damon would pay me $3,000,000 post taxation for one of my scripts and I have always prided myself of being a fair return on investment). Still it is not really fair on them, but it is an offensive move and it is one I just came up with. I reckon that Canada and Australia have the ability to mirror the English setting and create two distinct area of expertise. If America gets desperate they could always fund the Nigerian movie industry who is almost dying to expand. 

At this time (if enough people agree) America will get the White House under control with their desperate tariff settings. Consider that this President has shown to be a dictionary of two words (golf and tariff), as such I believe the time has come to start becoming proactive, this defensive actions to knee jerk reactions from Washington is upsetting the balance of established settings. The world is in too much trouble. At times this seems to be set to a old  premise that a comedian gave us (I forgot his name). “Lets put all the extremists in one room, the extreme right and the extreme left and let them expire each other”, it is slightly radical but in this day and age it might just work. 

So consider “This week, Trump announced he would be pursuing a 100 per cent tariff on all movies “produced in foreign lands”” next, consider that the bulk of the American movies get over 50%, sometimes as much as 70% from foreign lands. So should that be lessened by these tariffs? It is easy to think that it is all America, but that isn’t true. When all these non-American movie theaters pull their American settings, California becomes less in income than most other states and they still have the producing costs coming their way. In that time Canada and Australia grow their business and grow with aid from the UK. Then consider all the movies based on non-American scripts and novels. The setting enhances against America. A setting I saw within 600 seconds, so why aren’t the game play makers in politics? 

Is my plan flawless? Never a lessened truth was that obvious, there are flaws which starts with the national movie industry, but it might be a first step in getting President Trump of all our backs and that is never a bad thing.

So as we seemingly embrace ““The movie industry in America is dying a very fast death. Other countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform over the weekend.” Is that our fault, or is that the fault of free driven wannabe’s in Movieland? I seemingly might be one of them with my script (and 3 more on the road to completion, which is a story for another day). Consider that at present is set to “The number of movie scripts registered annually varies, but a rough estimate is around 50,000 screenplays registered with the Writer’s Guild of America each year.” All whilst a mere 350 make it to the screen. So is this a numbers game, or is it a quality game? 50,000 scripts implies 136 scripts a day are pushed to some producer pool and they are tired, going for amounts, not for quality. All hoping for a next dime, but there is always a snag hitting up and they wonder why America’s movie industry is dying? I reckon that Netflix, Disney plus, and others aided in that impeding death.

It is time to up the ante and nationalizing our acting guilds, movie producing guild and studio guild might be the way to go go about this (might is the operative word) but the tariff game is over, apart from the small fact that America might be already too broke to consider another matter. Oh, and I never took the Korean or Japanese market in consideration, so the problem is worse for America. As I see it, the offensive game might become the way to go, even if it is the only way to consider that whomever gets into the White House has a much larger vocabulary and ‘tariff’ is not one of them words. 

So feel free to disagree, but consider the setting the UK market has had for decades, Canada and Australia has shown to grow it in the last few decades and consider the stars you revere, are they all American? 

Have a nice day, a great one if possible and reconsider the setting you are confronted with, what is the actual solution? I am not sure what is.

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And now for a momentous occasion

Yes, it was a momentous occasion yesterday. For the people of my generation (that would be the generation that is old and decrepit), Yesterday it was the 50th anniversary of Monty Python. I got told this by the BBC (at https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250407-how-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-became-a-comedy-legend). I completely forgot that it had been so long. I was there, in front of my TV when the birth of Monty Python was shown to us on a 4:3 screen and I saw it on a black and white TV. Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle and Michael Palin with additions from Terry Gilliam showed us a totally new concept in Television. They called it comedy and it was magnificent. 

OK, I have to make a slight adjustment. It was 50 years since their masterpiece Monty Python and the holy grail came out. The TV series are older. Still, we forget the larger picture. The movie made them globally funny, the TV was (in those days) often limited to Europe (mainly UK, Netherlands, Belgium) but the movie made them a global household name. These younger pups think that comedy comes from some guy named Steve Carell, what do they know? Apparently a marketeer from Dutch Barn disagrees, but I have no idea what that is about. And now that idea might never have worked, there is word that the youthful young Jim Halpert played by John Krasinsky was taken to a quiet place by his wife, so that’s that. And what do those people know? Monty Python was here first and it was magnificent. I remember those days. I was one year too young for the movie (14 years and older) but I became a knight who said ‘ni’ as well. I saw it a year later and it was magnificent. Of course I already knew Monty Python from TV and as such The TV characters were known to me but yesterday’s article brought it all back to the surface. Read it, it is a really good article. For one, I never knew that funding was a bit of a problem and the legendary band Led Zeppelin brought the bread to the table. We get from Michael Palin: “I say to people, ‘Led Zeppelin gave us £50,000 – and look where they are now.’” Apparently Pink Floyd also aided in the support of the movie. And it was money well spend. I still have the movie on DVD (I had the VHS tape as well) and it was the beginning of a great comedy movie franchise. And the setting of “the film’s budget was less than £300,000 ($393,000). This wasn’t much for a sweeping fantasy set in medieval Britain, so the team had to be inventive.” The realisation that that little money got a movie made that is still a character a timeless humor is to be revered. A movie that is hopefully still bringing in the pounds, shillings and dimes and it would have been doing that for 50 years. Today the average comedy like Evan Almighty is almost forgotten after 20 years, I enjoyed that movie and several other from him, he is a good actor, but the setting of 50 years is something completely different. It matters, and it brought a nice dish to the table. In the end the actor who played the Rabbit of Caerbannog was later served as Rabbit au vin and he was completely forgotten 2 days later, except for the eater, who caught indigestion for at least a week. Things happen.

Still, this milestone brings feelings to the surface, happy feelings and it was brought about by 7 youthful young individuals that went on shaping the stage of comedy. Later Terry Gilliam would blow my socks away with Time Bandits, Brazil, and later “12 monkeys” with Bruce Willis. 

Happy are feelings of those who bring is joy and the Monty Python team brought us a lot, including the thought that every sperm is sacred, so ladies don’t forget. 

Have a great day and if you haven’t seen Monty Python and the holy grail, try to see it this week, it will be the best thing you will have done all week.

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To box office, or not to box office

That is the question and the question is valid as the movies opened up in 2018 with a revenue of $2.6m, seems little but in the few years that passed, annual revenue went up to a quarter of a billion, as such screen daily kept an eye on the Saudi market (at https://www.screendaily.com/features/is-saudi-arabias-box-office-boom-over-or-set-to-rise-again/5199910.article) in that same setting I created the script ‘How to assassinate a politician’ about the assassination of Islamophobe Geert Wilders (the current prime minister of the Netherlands) the alternative title was ‘Essay’ (I came up with that later). I aimed it for the Arabic (Saudi Arabia/UAE) market. I contacted 2-3 player, but I never heard back from them. I thought that through streaming they could also get to the Egyptian market (as well as the Indonesian markets) The ‘bad vibe’ feelings in Indonesian markets might be well received. A Dutch politician getting the Sukarno treatment might keep Indonesian people on their couch watching the demise of the Prime Minister five times over. Anyway, those were my thoughts and it seems that they didn’t agree with me. Still the setting remains. As we get “At least one of the major exhibitor groups operating in Saudi is said to be exploring a possible sale amid high debt levels incurred during its rapid expansion. Last year, AMC Entertainment Holdings, the world’s biggest cinema chain, exited the Saudi market in the face of intense competition, selling to Saudi Entertainment Ventures (Seven), which is operated by the government’s Public Investment Fund.” The intense competition was why I tried the streamers as a possible interested party. We can think box office all we want, but in the end, the people need to be entertained at home. The last time I went to the cinema, it was $19 for the movie and popcorn and a soda set me back another tenner. That’s three months of Netflix. I reckon we need to consider the home office and for a lot of Saudi’s (as well as Indonesians, Egyptians and people in the UAE) the same setting is looming. It is not that streaming is better, it is merely more affordable. Now that Apple is getting more into Saudi Arabia, it will be soon that Apple TV is coming too (or already there). And with the setting of “Bidding wars for titles from major US sellers were common, but less so now. Minimum guarantees have dropped as a result, reflecting the reality of a market that has levelled out. “When Saudi opened up, almost any film would work. But now audiences are a lot more selective,” says the executive.” Makes me feel that there is still a chance of my script making it to the screens of people. The movie plays part in the Netherlands and part in Dammam (no real reason why I chose it) and one scene in Iran. The setting of a movie that deals with islamophobia was appealing to me, because it is something nearly any Islamic person is exposed to (especially in Europe) and as such I created an idea with my copy of Final Draft (given to me for that reason) and a stronger view is given with “One bright spot is the market for Arabic-language content, particularly from Egypt. The figures underline the executive’s point: the top five box-office films of the year so far include two Egyptian titles (action drama Sons Of Rizk 3 and romantic comedy Gawaza Toxic) and one Saudi comedy (Shabab El-Bomb). According to Comscore, Egyptian titles now account for an impressive 25% of the Saudi market, while local Saudi features have a 7% share. US films, by comparison, take 53% of box office in the country.” My movie is not in Arabic, but it was designed with the stage of an Arabic version in mind. I merely lack the language skills to make it directly in Arabic. Now I see that this setting is given with “Egyptian titles now account for an impressive 25%” gives me hope that my final curtain call is not here yet. Yes, it is hope because I had never written a script before this and as I look at the tally where beside ‘How to assassinate a politician’ I am working on ‘Kenos Diastima’ (a TV series in the making), ‘Engonos’ (TV series in the making) and ‘Residuam Vitam’ (mini series in the making). I created these series partly to keep my writing skills up and it wasn’t until ‘How to assassinate a politician’ had formed more completely in my mind that I decided to make it in a script (in Final Draft) and when I started pushing that title did I start to set the blackboard for ‘Residuam Vitam’ which is still forming. 

And as we see this we also need to take notice of Adon Quinn, CEO of Saudi exhibitor Muvi Cinemas, believes that Arabic content can help drive future growth. I am willing to agree, but that is really in my favour. You see it is nice that things go to cinema (happy to help), but I reckon that the streamers in the UAE (Dubai Media) and Saudi Arabia (Aloula) will make the larger difference. The need for Egypt and Indonesia seem clear and Indonesia with a population of 277 million potential viewers should not be underestimated. As Quinn tells us “He points out the wider Saudi box-office slowdown echoes what has happened in markets around the world this year. Its main cause, he says, is the depleted supply of content caused by Covid and last year’s Holly­wood actors and writers strikes. “The strikes had a big impact on the first half of 2024,” he observes. “We’ve seen when the right content is there, the audience is there.”” But he also exposes a problem. The depleted supply is seemingly due to Hollywood. Still tapping the Canadian, Swedish and western European markets might not be a bad idea. Especially as California is about to get a few additional issues and they are not yet polarised into tinseltown (Hollywood). 

There are definitely options for the Arabic market, but I reckon that the streamers will have a much better time they do not need a movie distribution system and they can get a lot of traction roping in a potential viewing group of well over 400,000,000 people. You can fish in a barrel, but the same barrel holding either 400 million or a mere 35 million, that is the setting as I see it and as I have noticed Dubai Media is ready to get on board with that setting (I saw it was ‘proclaimed’ by certain individuals on LinkedIn). 

The market is where you cater to it and I thought it was a good idea to cater to the Arabic markets. Have a great day.

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