#Carlos Lopez Estrada

[randomrichards]

LIL NAS X: LONG LIVE MONTERO

Star’s cross country tour

Journey to embrace true self

For his nephew’s sake

[thequeereview]

Exclusive Interview: Lil Nas X - Long Live Montero filmmakers Carlos López Estrada & Zac Manuel "he speaks powerfully to Black youth, to queer youth & to anyone who feels othered or like an outsider"

As the groundbreaking, Grammy-winning rapper, singer, and songwriter Lil Nas X was about to embark upon his first tour last year, Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel were brought on board to document it. The co-directors were present to capture both the dazzling show itself—and the fans’ poignant reaction to it—as well as intimate footage of the artist offstage,…

[bob-belcher]

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) dir. Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada

[synergysilhouette]

Is Disney Animation in it's "Lost Identity" era?

For a few years, Disney has seemed strangely off for the most part with their creative output. I wanted to open the floor for this discussion, opining that after the HUGE success they achieved in the early to mid-2010s, if executive interference and other factors started to encroach upon creative freedom with their storytelling. I was gonna start with "Raya and the Last Dragon," but I opted to start with "Frozen 2" due to the eye-opening documentary on it. This post will include both information about the production of some of Disney's recent films as well as my own theories.

Frozen 2--The sequel to the highest-grossing Disney film ever (not adjusted for inflation), "Frozen 2" was an even bigger phenomenon than it's predecessor. That said, it didn't have as much staying power, with criticism towards the clunky and confusing story. It was revealed during the documentary "Into the Unknown: The Making of Frozen 2" that while wanting to write a more mature, darker story, screenwriter Jennifer Lee was thrown a curve ball when an early screening of the film included families with kids of as young as four years old. She commented that they wouldn't understand what they were seeing, and this proved to be somewhat true, as the kids left feedback for more Olaf. Lee then rewrote the script to be simplified, and included more of Olaf. There was also shown to be a bit of disarray in their studio; other creatives at Disney mentioned the film's confusing nature, and even those in charge of the story were still trying to figure out the kinks. Scrapped concepts (though I'm not sure if they were related to the early screenings) include an alternate prologue with more detail into Agnarr and Iduna's pasts, a scene where Anna and Elsa uncover Iduna's secret room with books and notes on magic, a scene where Iduna and Agnarr discuss telling Anna about Elsa's powers, and a deleted song where Kristoff struggles to propose to Anna (though IDK if this is just for the scene or if it carries on like in the final product). Overall, the desire to come up with something epic as well as Disney's feedback seems to have made this film trip over it's own feet.

Raya and the Last Dragon--First reported in 2018, RATLD is Disney's forray into a fantasy story inspired by Southeast Asian culture. While the diversity was praised, the way it was implemented was not, with East Asians voicing many of the characters, and the film coming off as an amalgam of the region rather than a specific SEA country/countries. While there aren't really notes that suggest too much exec influence, the film did have it's own unique production experience. For one, the film underwent heavy changes seven months before the film was released, including Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins being replaced as directors by Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada, with the former two becoming co-directors, though John Ripa later replaced Wellins as co-director, Qui Nguyen joined Adele Lim as a co-writer, Peter Del Veccho joining Osnat Shurer as co-producer, and Cassie Steele was replaced by with Kelly Marie Tran as Raya (due to changing Raya from a loner to giving her more swagger). That's...a LOT of changes in the crew less than a year before the film is supposed to be released. I do also want to note that their opt to NOT make the film a musical because it took away from the seriousness of the film, yet the film features a good amount of comedy means that there's some kind of dissonance here. It also sounds surprising that Disney wasn't interested in doing another musical given the success their musicals have had throughout their tenure, especially at the time RATLD was set to come out. And the directors even told "Empire" when the film was close to release that there was a cut of the film with broken bones. While they might have been joking (at least the source I saw thought they may have been joking), it wouldn't be surprising if the film came off as too violent to Disney or their test audiences, and they had the story softened. Another thing I find odd is the ending; it's been commented that Namaari's redemption arc isn't really solid, and the message of trusting others ends up being muddled. A personal theory of mine is that the story had better execution of the message originally, or perhaps Namaari was never planned to be redeemed, but Disney wanted a happier ending and either pressed for Namaari to be redeemable or wanted her to be fully forgiven by the end of the film. If that was the case, it may have been a last-minute choice, given that she doesn't really show this in the final product.

Encanto--Given that this film was a critical and commercially successful film (at least for COVID) with staying power, there isn't much for me to note/theorize on the film, since it doesn't seem to suffer from the same issues the prior two films do. After Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Lin-Manuel Miranda discussed having extended families, they opted to focus on a musical surrounding one. Disney resisted the idea of focusing on 12 characters at first (and Miranda wasn't surprised since they removed Moana's 8 brothers, reasoning that she had other priorities to focus on), and like many films, went through variations. Co-director and Co-writer Jared Bush mentioned that it was difficult to contend with, and seeing how condensed Luisa, Isabela, and Dolores' storylines were in the film, I do wonder if Disney continued to pressure them to remove characters and/or shorten the storylines. Given that the Madrigal family was originally much larger and there was a deleted fistfight between Isabela and Mirabel, I wouldn't be surprised.

Strange World--Okay, for this one, I REALLY don't have much to say. The film comes off as very generic, and the concept art and deleted scenes (that I've seen, anyway) don't seem to suggest why Disney greenlit this film, though the generational themes does seem right up their alley, and the environmentalism message is timely. I'd blame it on the massive change done with Raya, as Hall and Nguyen were brought onto that team, and then once that was done, only had about a year left to work on "Strange World," which...well, as "Moana 2" will tell you, having only a year to do things--even with a cool idea--is not going to amount to much success.

Wish--It's all been said before, and there's no defense for why this shouldn't have been spectacular besides exec influence for whatever reason. Deleted concepts here include Amaya as the sole villain, an Amaya/Magnifico villain couple, a removed member of The Teens, Star having a human form and being Asha's soulmate (though what that means is anyone's guess; we were all hoping it was romantic), and Star actually having a model, meaning him being removed was probably a last-minute thing. Add on to the fact that character designs changed, personalities were simplified, and Julia Michaels said that she and Benjamin Rice were only given a storyboard to go off of each time they did the songs, despite meeting with execs every Tuesday. Seeing how bland "Wish" was, exec interference shouldn't be ruled out. Such a shame that Disney did this for their anniversary film.

Moana 2--Originally planned as a TV show announced in 2020, it was revealed on February of this year that it was planned to be reworked into a film, with the crew behind the show only being alerted of this in January. They literally had ten months to refit the series into a film, and I'm sure they still had to deal with pushback. The only reason they were able to do this is because animation usually happens roughly a year before the film is released. As such, they had to deal with technically being behind schedule with their animation, leaving little--if anything--to rewrite and fix.

Overall, it seemed the past half-decade has been turmoil for Disney struggling to give their creatives time and room to breath when storytelling, more concerned with their brand than long-lasting success. Really hope "Zootopia 2," "Frozen 3," and their 2026 original film don't suffer from these issues. Kinda hopeful since Z2 test screenings went well and F3 was pushed from 2026 to 2027.

(Oh, and some shameless promotion for my account: check out how I'd rewrite the revival era, as well as individual posts that go into the specifics on my guide page: https://www.tumblr.com/synergysilhouette/741045631364235264/my-alternate-takes-on-disney-films?source=share)

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Jennifer Lee, CCO of Walt Disney Animation Studios, via an interview for Fandango... On FROZEN III and IV being made back to back...

“We’re working in a room where this half is FROZEN III, this half is FROZEN IV, we’re standing in the middle going back & forth”

For many observers, this is recalling the grueling production of ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE and how Sony made it seem - up until last year's strikes and that story on alleged animator crunch - that BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE would debut less than a year later. ACROSS debuted June 2, 2023, and BEYOND was meant for March 29, 2024...

And yet, they were nowhere near getting that picture off the ground, and it remains date-less. Which is good, but it should've never been given the 3/29/2024 date to begin with if it was nowhere near leaving the station... And I've said before that these dates are really just announced to whet the appetites of investors and shareholders, but... Here's the thing...

After guesting on a podcast recently and talking about all the eras of Disney Feature Animation, I've come to suspect something about Jennifer Lee's tenure as WDAS leader...

And I think it all goes back to her feature directorial debut, the original FROZEN...

FROZEN was changed dramatically within a year of its release. Like as late as June 2013, when its teaser was out... The movie was released in November 2013...

Now, luckily for everyone involved, the film was a critical hit, an Oscar winner, and a financial explosion. Me? I think the film has always been something of a mess, seemingly hastily thrown together and it was evident to me that stuff was being worked on at last minute... But I'm not the rest of the world, who went gaga for the movie. There are parts of it that really work on their own, but I feel it needed another year in the works to really come together as a grand slam.

Every once in a while, an animated movie is taken apart and put back together way too close to release date. Infamously, Pixar's TOY STORY 2 was dramatically overhauled within a year of release, and few feel that that film is anything less than great. But that's a sort-of an "okay, phew, we made it, but NEVER again" thing. TOY STORY 2 is a rare instance where they worked way too hard under such immense pressure, and delivered something really good.

And it should've never happened on FROZEN. I know that the studios "have" to meet these release dates and not miss those scheduled promotional tie-ins (see MINIONS 2 merchandise and early MARIO MOVIE Happy Meal toys, for starters), but this isn't it... Especially when you're seemingly doing it again and again and again.

Before I go on, yes, John Lasseter also did similar stuff. FROZEN was a movie he oversaw after all. ZOOTOPIA saw a protagonist swap and a massive overhaul about a year and a few months away from its release date. One character was rewritten and redesigned for MOANA, with another one's presence dialed down significantly... But only after some merchandise was made. It wasn't as common under Lasseter as it is now, though. Lasseter tended to break stuff apart and boot directors off of movies well before they came out. The issue with Lasseter was that he wanted directors to make the movie HE wanted to make, but he usually got the dirty work out of the way earlier. Not... Less than 5 months away from release!

I get the sense that FROZEN director-writer Lee - upon becoming the CCO of Disney Animation following Lasseter's prolonged exit - thinks you can just do that with any animation production willy-nilly and it'll turn out just fine in the end.

FROZEN II had a whole Disney+ documentary admitting to this, RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON had a massive director change about a year away from release, STRANGE WORLD and WISH felt similarly thrown together. MOANA 2 was a Disney+ show first, and became a movie... Seemingly not too long ago. Many directors left under Lee, much like they did under Lasseter. Don Hall left, as did Carlos Lopez Estrada. It seems like no progress has been made on whatever it is Suzi Yoonessi and Josie Trinidad are/were working on.

From my outside perspective, Lee's WDAS doesn't lock a picture a year in advance, making tiny revisions along the way, and hoping for the best when the thing is completed. To me, it seems like they needlessly change and rearrange huge vital chunks of their movies so close to completion, no doubt a strain on the crews and no doubt a reason why some - myself included, as I try to be fair - are a little underwhelmed with their recent work. And then they take too much advice from focus groups, or one of the crew's kids, and then go and re-do whole things because of that... Like, what's going on over there? And it's equally wrong that at Sony Animation, Phil Lord seemed to have kept changing things on ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE to the point where at least more than one version was rolling in theaters...

You just gotta lock the damn thing a year away from release. Novel concept, I guess. If it really isn't working, then delay it. That's what Pixar did with GOOD DINOSAUR and ELIO. Disney Animation did that with THE LION KING... But I guess that's a lot to ask for.

Also, there's your answer as to why WDAS will likely not make any 2D movies anytime soon. Sorry y'all, but Donald Duck's appearance on HOT ONES isn't the sign of a full-on mainstream 2D feature comeback. The studio heads and clout-loaded producers can micromanage these CG films a lot easier, without all that pesky stuff with lead animators and the whole 2D process/pipeline getting in their way, in their attempts to get the "story" right whilst keeping the assembly line going.

And ya wonder why an animation strike is currently underway...

[shambelle97]

#BARS Mixtape Musical Medley Vol. 1

#BARS is a Rap for Musical Theater workshop in NYC. The BARS MEDLEY is a final project of our first 6-session series, and this is Volume 1.

Some of our students are professional actors, some are performing for the very first time. Visit BARSworkshopNYC.com for more information.

#BARS Created by Rafael Casal & Daveed Diggs.

Film Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada.

VOL 1 CAST (in order of appearance) Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs, Sarah Kay, Virginia Cavaliere, Jared Dixon, Perry Young, Sofia Snow, Danny Bevins, Dhyvia Arumugham, Ashley August, Lindsay Meck, Jeremy Sartin, Jon Viktor Corpuz, Nate Lombardi.

COMPOSED BY Samora Pinderhughes Erica Telisnor.

ADDITIONAL ACCOMPANIMENT BASS – Rashaan Carter.

PERCUSSION - Kush Abadey.

[dunilefra]

Facts of Nicaragua's Constitution

Preamble (Part of it)

WE,

Representatives of the People of Nicaragua, united in the Constituent National Assembly,

INVOKING

The struggles of our indigenous ancestors;

The spirit of Central American unity and the combative tradition of our people who, inspired by the example of General JOSE DOLORES ESTRADA, ANDRES CASTRO and EMMANUEL MONGALO, destroyed the dominion of the foreign adventurers and defeated the North-American intervention in the National War;

The protagonist of the cultural independence of the Nation, the Universal Poet RUBEN DARIO;

The anti-interventionist actions of BENJAMIN ZELEDON;

The General of Free People, AUGUSTO C. SANDINO, Father of the Popular and Anti- imperialist Revolution;

The heroic action of RIGOBERTO LOPEZ PEREZ, initiator of the beginning of the end of the dictatorship;

The example of CARLOS FONSECA, the greatest perpetuator of Sandino’s legacy, founder of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and Leader of the Revolution;

The martyr of public liberties, Doctor PEDRO JOAQUIN CHAMORRO CARDENAL;

The Cardinal of Peace and Reconciliation, Cardinal MIGUEL OBAND Y BRAVO;

The generations of Heroes and Martyrs who forged and carried forward the liberation struggle for national independence.

WE PROMULGATE THE FOLLOWING POLITICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF NICARAGUA

Article 2

National sovereignty resides in the people who exercise it by means of democratic procedures, deciding and participating freely in the establishment and improvement of the nation’s economic, political, cultural and social system. The people exercise sovereign power through their representatives freely elected by universal, equal, direct, and secret suffrage, barring any other individual or group of individuals from usurping such representation. They may also exercise it directly by means of a referendum or plebiscite or other mechanisms established by the present Constitution and the laws. Similarly, it could exercise it by other means of direct democracy, like participatory budgets, citizens’ initiatives, territorial councils, territorial and municipal assemblies of the indigenous peoples and those of African descent, sectorial councils and other means established by this Constitution and the laws.

Article 4

The State recognizes the individual, the family, and the community as the origin and the end of its activity, and is organized to achieve the common good, assuming the task of promoting the human development of each and every Nicaraguan, inspired by Christian values, socialist ideals, practices based on solidarity, democracy and humanism, as universal and general values, as well as the values and ideals of Nicaraguan culture and identity.

Article 5

Liberty, justice, respect for the dignity of the human person, political and social pluralism, the recognition of the distinct identity of the indigenous peoples and those of African descent within the framework of a unitary and indivisible state, the recognition of different forms of property, free international cooperation and respect for the free self-determination of peoples, Christian values, socialist ideals, and practices based on solidarity, and the values and ideals of the Nicaraguan culture and identity, are the principles of the Nicaraguan nation.

Christian values ensure brotherly love, the reconciliation between the members of the Nicaraguan family, the respect for individual diversity without any discrimination, the respect for and equal rights of persons with disabilities, and the preference for the poor.

The State recognizes the existence of the indigenous peoples and those of African descent who enjoy the rights, duties and guarantees designated in the Constitution, and especially those which allow them to maintain and develop their identity and culture, to have their own forms of social organization and administer their local affairs, as well as to preserve the communal forms of land property and their exploitation, use, and enjoyment, all in accordance with the law. For the communities of the Caribbean Coast, an autonomous regime is established in the present Constitution.

Nicaragua encourages regional integration and advocates the reconstruction of the Grand Central American Homeland.

Article 47

All Nicaraguans who have reached 16 years of age are citizens.

Only citizens enjoy the political rights set forth in the Constitution and in the laws, without further limitations other than those established for reasons of age.

Rights of citizens shall be suspended by imposition of serious corporal or specific related punishments and by final judgment of civil injunction.

Article 181

The State shall organize by means of a law the regime of autonomy for the indigenous peoples and ethnic communities of the Atlantic Coast, which shall have to contain, among other rules: the functions of their government organs, their relation with the Executive and Legislative Power and with the municipalities, and the exercise of their rights. This law shall require for its approval and reform the majority established for the amendment of constitutional laws.

The concessions and contracts of rational exploitation of the natural resources granted by the State in the Autonomous Regions of the Atlantic Coast must have the approval of the corresponding Regional Autonomous Council.

The members of the Regional Autonomous Councils of the Atlantic Coast can lose their condition for the reasons and procedures established by law.

by Dunilefra, working for World Order

[journalistorian]

For HuffPost, spoke with filmmakers Carlos Lopez Estrada and Zac Manuel on their creative process, touring with the Grammy-winning performer, and becoming an official selection at Toronto International Film Festival ahead of its cable debut [Published Jan. 30, 2024].

[mirandamckenni1]

Meg Myers - Jealous Sea [Official Music Video] Watch the Official Video for "Jealous Sea" by Meg Myers New Album "Take Me To The Disco" Available Now: https://ift.tt/BSwepmW Connect with Meg Myers: Site: http://megmyers.com Follow: http://twitter.com/megmyers Like: https://ift.tt/BZh1e9J Follow: https://ift.tt/PXUZ546 Listen: https://ift.tt/0UtJacL Store: Store: https://ift.tt/imNtK23 Subscribe: https://ift.tt/5xhO17L Stream: https://ift.tt/O7qVwm1 Follow: https://ift.tt/0cErDuU -- Credits: Director: Clara Aranovich Production Company: Little Ugly Executive Producers: Kimberly Stuckwisch, Neil Garvey, Carlos Lopez Estrada Director's Reps: Doug Klinger, Leah Younesi @ Reprobates Producer: Melissa Kyle Production Manager: Nich Peltz 1st AD: Ian McClellan Cinematographer: Patrick Jones Gaffer: Jihan (Jay) Casquejo Key Grip: Joanna Nguyen Production Designer: Brian Mayfield Wardrobe Supervisor: Elise Velasco Hair / Make-Up: Lauren Burt SFX Hair / Make-Up: Erica "Bunny" Armendariz VFX: Tim Hendrix and Julian Juarez Stunts: Matt Simons #megmyers #jealoussea #takemetothedisco via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5iBlwXp4lk

[chorusfm]

Blink-182 Share Two New Songs

Blink-182 have released a video for “One More Time.” They’ve also dropped “More Than You Know.” After a whirlwind week of announcements and trailers that has kept fans on their toes and in tears, blink-182 treat fans to their album title track and new single “ONE MORE TIME” alongside an official video - watch HERE. Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, the video finds the group’s iconic lineup back together for the first time in 12 years with setups, moments and milestones from the band's storied career.   In true blink-182 style, the group has surprised fans with another new track, “MORE THAN YOU KNOW” – listen to the bundle HERE. Out on October 20 via Columbia Records, ONE MORE TIME… marks the first album to feature the group’s iconic lineup, Mark Hoppus [bass, vocals], Tom DeLonge [guitar, vocals], and Travis Barker [drums], since 2011.   Launching the album news earlier this week, the band shared a sentimental trailer for ONE MORE TIME… - watch HERE. Featuring strikingly candid interview footage pulled from the band’s forthcoming extensive interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe as well as current and archival clips, the trailer finds Mark, Tom and Travis baring it all as they discuss topics they have never shared before. The full Zane Lowe interview will be available to watch exclusively on Apple Music soon.   The trio recorded ONE MORE TIME... in the midst of their blockbuster reunion tour, which sold out arenas, amphitheaters, and stadiums across the world. The album, produced by Travis Barker, features 17 new songs that capture the band at the top of their game, layering in themes of tragedy, triumph, and most importantly, brotherhood.   The brand-new album comes both digitally and physically on CD, standard black vinyl, and multiple limited edition physical vinyl variants including purple ooze D2C exclusive LP, red and clear marble colored D2C exclusive LP, and egg splatter colored D2C exclusive LP. Additional offerings on vinyl include the coke bottle clear colored indie exclusive LP, opaque white colored Amazon exclusive LP and electric smoke colored Spotify Fans First exclusive LP. The artist store will have a limited-edition cassette available.    blink-182 jump started this season back in April with a surprise last-minute headline set at Coachella. You could say a blink-aissance of sorts has ensued since then! Variety raved, “blink-182 brings rock back to Coachella in a big way.” Meanwhile, the 2022 reunion single “EDGING” has amassed over 70 million Spotify streams and counting. --- Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/news/blink-182-share-two-new-songs/

[shahananasrin-blog]

[ad_1] TorontoThe premiere of the documentary "Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero" was delayed after a bomb threat was called in at the Toronto International Film Festival.Saturday night premiere of film at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall was delayed by about 20 minutesThe Associated Press · Posted: Sep 10, 2023 4:53 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 hours agoDirectors Carlos Lopez Estrada, left, and Zac Manuel, right, stand with Lil Nas X as they arrive on the red carpet ahead of the premiere of "Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero" at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday. (The Canadian Press/Cole Burston)The premiere of the documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero was delayed after a bomb threat was called in at the Toronto International Film Festival. The Saturday night premiere of the film at Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall was delayed by about 20 minutes while authorities verified that the threat wasn't credible. Lil Nas X was kept off the red carpet during that time. Judy Lung, vice-president of public affairs and communications for TIFF, said in a statement that Toronto police investigated the vicinity of the red carpet ahead of the screening. "Our standard security measures remained in place during this time and the screening commenced with a slight delay," Lung said. "To our knowledge, this was a general threat and not directed at the film or the artist."Long Live Montero, directed by Carlos López Estrada and Zac Manuel, documents the pop superstar's eight-month tour beginning in September 2022 for his full-length debut album Montero. Corrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|Report error [ad_2]

[creativejamie]

"Ray and the Last Dragon" / Raya and the Last Dragon Explained: What’s Up With the Ending?

Raya and the Last Dragon Genre cartoon Directed by Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada Cast: Kelly Mary Tran (Raya), Aquafina (Sisu Dragon), Gemma Chan (Namaari), Daniel Dae Kim (Benja), Benedict Wong (Tong), Sandra Oh (Virana), Alan Tudyk (Tuk Tuk) and others. Студии Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures Release year 2021 Site IMDb Raya and the Last Dragon is unique not only for its…

[twins2994]

Giants Edge Twins 4-3.

Giants 4 Twins 3 W-Cobb (4-1) L-Lopez (1-2) SV-Doval (13)

The Minnesota Twins haven’t been hitting consistenly in the month of May. They have either scored ten runs or three or less and have been in a slump lately. The bats were hot early as Donovan Solano lined a one-out single to right to ignite a rally in the first. Later in the inning, Byron Buxton drilled an Alex Cobb splitter out to left for a two-run home run. The Twins had a two-run lead after an inning of play. Michael Taylor added a run in the fifth when he belted an Alex Cobb splitter out to left for a solo shot. Minnesota had a three-run lead and Sonny Gray ran with it through five shutout innings. He ran into some trouble in the sixth as JD Davis walked and Michael Conforto doubled. Mitch Haniger walked to load the bases and Gray was out of the game. Jovani Moran got the first two outs fine then Patrick Bailey and Brett Wisley drew bases load walks. This pulled the Giants within a run after six frames. San Francisco got back to work in the seventh as Thairo Estrada led-off with a double to center. Two batters later, Michael Conforto knocked a Jorge Lopez curveball out to left for a two-run homer. The Giants had a 4-3 lead and Alex Cobb finished off seven solid innings. Scott Alexander had a 1-2-3 eighth and Camilo Doval struck out the side in the ninth as the Giants took the series from the Twins tonight. 

-Final Thoughts- Sonny Gray pitched a good game, but left with a bad taste. He had thrown five shutout innings and couldn’t get an out in the sixth. He gave up two runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Jovani Moran got two big outs and Brock Stewart got out of the sixth. Jorge Lopez gave up the game-winning homer to Michael Conforto. Griffin Jax had his second straight good outing when he struck out the side in the eighth. Emilio Pagan had a 1-2-3 ninth. Byron Buxton led the team with two hits on the night. The team hit 0-for-1 with runners in scoring position and left four men on base. Carlos Correa was a late scratch with a heal injury. Tomorrow, Joe Ryan faces his childhood team against Anthony DeSclafani in the series finale. 

-Chris Kreibich-

[haysianrose]

Carlos López Estrada & Kelly Marie Tran Posing for the E! Glambot at the 94th Academy Awards Los Angeles, California | March 27, 2022

[where-starsland]

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) directed by Don Hall & Carlos Lopez Estrada

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

"You gonna talk some more?"

Yeah, some addendums and such, re: Jennifer Lee steps down, Jared Bush takes over as WDAS Chief Creative Officer...

So, she is still at the studio, which tells me that there wasn't any major rift here. That she's still going to direct the next two FROZEN movies and maybe help out on other projects, seems like it was a smooth step-down. I still think having trouble as CCO, STRANGE WORLD and WISH flopping, and filmmakers leaving played a part, but it's not just on her...

Which is why I'm curious about Bush taking the reins. Does anything change? ZOOTOPIA 2, which releases after MOANA 2, is already deep in production and he's writing-directing that. I think we truly get a taste of what Bush's WDAS is with that yet-to-be-revealed original 2026 movie. Lee at least confirmed that for us at D23 last month, before the presentation quickly shifted to FROZEN III, which hits theaters after that. So that one's two years away, and anything can change on its story/character stuff between now and when it enters full production. But when those changes come, they'll be under Bush. If this film, whatever it's called and whatever it's about, isn't nearly completely redone 5 months from release (at the behest of whomever, be it Bush or those focus groups), then we'll know. I think. At least in that regard... And Bush was present for both her and Lasseter's ways of doing things, maybe he watched and learned the don'ts from both leaders' respective tenures...

I think it also has to be emphasized what Lee tried to do in her brief 6-year run... After finishing FROZEN II, the first movie she would truly oversee was RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON. And right before she heads into that one... COVID-19 happens, and is a national emergency by the first third of RAYA's intended release year - the hell year that was 2020. Meanwhile, the larger Disney company is fired up about their newly-launched Disney+ and tasks WDAS to make "content" (shudder) for the service. So, I gotta give it to Lee there, she did jump head-first into that while working on the big-time movies. While the majority of the stuff was based on previously-released movies, it was still cool! BAYMAX! was fun, and because it wasn't a big budget feature, they got some nice rep into that one (though not w/o the usual fuckfaces making noise about it), and I liked the format of ZOOTOPIA+. And hey, she was willing to partner up with a Nigerian upstart whose founders said they wanted to take Disney on... Savvy move on her part! IWAJU was an okay show to me, but it was neat to see a WDAS collaboration like that. Maybe it opens the door to more. And of course, MOANA 2 began life as a MOANA series, and TIANA's still happening in some way or another. That they chose THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, a movie that otherwise "disappointed" Disney bean counters back when it came out, to do a sequel series to all those years later... Again, gotta give it to Lee for that.

It's worth noting that WISH seems to be the only released film she greenlit, as development is traced back to 2018. Lasseter couldn't have okayed it that year, given the weird protracted way Disney Co. chose to slowly oust him. STRANGE WORLD, released fall 2022, was in development as far back as early 2017. That was after director Don Hall finished up his work as co-director on MOANA, working with his BIG HERO 6 partner Chris Williams underneath Ron & John. RAYA was conceived by Dean Wellins around 2015, who was supposed to direct it, until Lee removed him and replaced him with Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada (taking the latter off of an original project of his own). ENCANTO was on the boards as far back as 2016, after Byron Howard and Bush finished up on ZOOTOPIA... So that leaves not only WISH, but MOANA 2/The Series greenlit in 2020, ZOOTOPIA 2, and FROZENs 3 & 4. In late 2019, Lee said that directors Suzi Yoonessi, Carlos Lopez Estrada, Marc Smith, and Josie Trinidad were at work on original movies... Estrada left WDAS after RAYA came out, Smith's on the FROZEN sequels, it is not known if Suzi and Josie's movies ever made it past the announcement stage. (Suzi's Insta bio still says "Director Disney Animation", so it still seems to be a go?) All those years ago, no less...

If Bush greenlights something by the end of the year, I wouldn't expect that film to show up until 2028 at the earliest. So for now, Bush is working with Lee greenlights. Just like Lee did with what Lasseter left her... And funnily enough, about half of Lasseter's run is stuff leftover from the final Eisner years when David Stainton was in charge: A DAY WITH WILBUR ROBINSON, AMERICAN DOG, RAPUNZEL UNBRAIDED, JOE JUMP... You can probably guess what those all became, haha.

So for now, it's gonna be a bit of a long ride. MOANA 2, more than anything, will hold us over, no matter how it turns out. Maybe Lee approached this one differently from WISH and STRANGE WORLD, maybe not. Maybe those two in a row flopping - *especially* WISH given how STRANGE WORLD was straight up abandoned - gave her a real jolt and she went about this movie differently. It's also very possible that Lee was looking to exit some time ago, as some rumblings suggest, and that maybe Lee and Bush lead together and shared duties throughout the year before an official announcement. Who knows!

I myself haven't been blown away by a WDAS movie in a while, and I think the last one I found to be really good was MOANA, ENCANTO did come pretty close in parts, RAYA had its strengths too. I'd love to really love a movie from this studio again, and hey, maybe the return of Moana and pals will be just that? We'll see!