#watching stuff on dvd is so much different than digital

[tanadrin]

the other thing that the low marginal cost of digital distribution does is it makes the ability to *profit* off piracy much smaller. and modern media piracy is in that sense very different from media piracy even a few decades ago: you cannot make much money selling bootleg dvds to people who have access to torrent trackers and streaming sites. you can run an illegal streaming service infested with skeezy ads, but this only works if it’s free to the end user.

but even in this environment people will still pay money for streaming services that make it easy to find the stuff they want to watch. the demise of good streaming services is mostly down to traditional publishers trying to enforce their monopolies over content distribution and to try to take their own cut of the pie—taking their stuff off Netflix so they can start their own service for instance. this sucks for the consumer! and it’s not great for the creator either, when stuff is getting withdrawn from streaming services whose marginal costs for distribution are low for obscure tax or royalty agreement reasons.

We should think of copyright as a tool for protecting publishers and shaping the market to suit them rather than a tool for protecting authors/creators. It’s not useless to authors, but it’s more useful to authors who are already mega-successful (the Metallicas of the world) and who have enough clout to set favorable terms with publishers. There may be a copyright regime which is more favorable to authors and is less functionally protection for publishers, but I’m not sure what that would look like.

[adultswim2021]

Childrens Hospital #1: “A Hospital Isn't a Place for Lazy People/What Is Love?” (aka: "A Hospital Isn't a Place") | July 11, 2010 - 10:30PM | S01E01

We love our cartoons, don’t we folks? We HATE when live-action takes up our valuable cartoon time and replaces all of our beautiful cartoon guys. 

From the Twisted mind of Rob Corrdry comes Childrens Hospital, a web-series-come-real-series-but-just-barely that serves up wacky spoof jokes and a bit of a thumb in the eye of shows like Grey’s Anatomy, in that both are soapy medical dramas where attractive doctors fuck and suck their way through America’s healthcare system. All of the characters on the show are constantly making out, except unlike Grey’s Anatomy this is a children’s hospital so there’s kids around.

The show draws inspiration from other shows, like M*A*S*H (Michael Cera as the off-screen announcer on the hospital’s loud-speaker system is clearly a nod, replete with direct references to the show), E.R. (a later episode [possibly others] is a direct parody of their live-episode stunt) and St. Elsewhere (certain episodes of this show resemble St. Elsewhere’s famous format-breaking episodes).

I’ve mined TV from my youth/pre-birth-non-existence and will occasionally connect certain dots to bits of this show, but I’ll try to point them out when we get to those episodes. Or, I’m lying about that, and won’t have anything to show for myself. Remains to be seen. My point is, I’m pretty deficient in knowing about more recent medical dramas, so feel free to yell at me in the comments when I miss stuff. 

The show’s origin was as a web series, originally found on The WB’s website. The webseries episodes were shorter than your normal Adult Swim show, so they combined two episodes of the web series to make a single Adult Swim episode. Each one of these two segments originally had closing credits, and a different-looking title screen.

The DVD opted to include the original web series versions instead of the updated Adult Swim ones. Also, they had to add a little extra content to make time, so they added a fake commercial between the two segments as well as an outro where Rob Corddry “Thanks for Watching!”s us. This first episode features a fake ad for NTSF:SD:SUV::, which would eventually become it’s own show. Very sneaky. I think for a time there existed digital versions that followed this format EXCEPT they cut out the fake commercial in the middle for some reason. All I know is whatever versions I have on my plex server seem to include everything as-aired on Adult Swim.

I had my chance to be an early adopter to Childrens Hospital after hearing Rob Corrdry talk about the program on various podcasts. I turned my nose up at it, because watching TV on internet just seemed too scary to me back then. So the first time I actually watched was at this years’ San Diego Comic-Con, I think? They screened the first episode of season two, which followed season one after a very short break (I think it was a one week hiatus, actually). It played pretty well in a room full of people waiting for the Fables panel to start. I remember liking it, and laughing! 

But: DO I LIKE IT NOW? I guess. It’s okay. I mean, it’s another one of those joke-machine style shows, but it has that stink of “people are having A LITTLE TOO MUCH FUN making this”. You know what I mean? Like, you can tell everyone who worked on this show was smiling all day and it sorta ruins the comedy in a weird way. I’m not sure. For what it’s worth, I purchased this on DVD back when I was trying to be a completest for Adult Swim on DVD. I still technically own it, I think, but it’s stowed away in a box of other DVDs I pruned from my collection with the intention of trying to sell them. I don’t know where they are, so as such I won’t be covering things like deleted scenes or outtakes on a per-episode basis. I think those DVDs had some extras on them?

The plot of this episode is mostly focused on the two pretty girls breaking up with their boyfriends; one simply doing it in solidarity with the other. They are roommates and it becomes clear that there’s a hot girl-on-girl crush going on. Webisode one ends with the two chicks about to kiss, but it’s comically ruined by a sneeze.

I owe this DISGUSTING, SLEAZY, GIRL-ALMOST-ON-GIRL action mostly to the guiding hand of David Wain, who was involved with the show. If the man has a trademark, it’s having hot women on your show, and writing numerous scenes with them making out with various people, and then eventually, as if it’s just a foregone conclusion, having them make out with each other. I really do think he launders his sense of humor into productions where attractive people can make out like it's high school again. I think this might be why I offered the “too much fun” theory of comedy acting being on display.

David Wain strikes me as a guy who didn’t get laid when he was young so he became a creative and now he just tries to figure out the least-creepy way to surround himself with beautiful women. To be a little revealing, I’m more-or-less made of the exact same stuff as Wain. I’m not even condemning him. I might just be writing these things from a place of jealousy, honestly. He might even be my hero!!!!

Other stuff happened, but it wasn’t too significant; I think they were setting up something with Rob Huebel’s character being a former cop or something. Him and Nick “bacon and eggs” Offerman have an over-serious conversation about it, in which they invoke 9/11 as having happened “seven years ago”, a joke I had to pause to think about because it’s drilled in my head right now that I’m watching 2010 Adult Swim, but this is 2008 Webisode stuff. I thought they were about to make a joke about John Ritter dying on September 11, 2003, but alas this show wasn’t written by me and my friends. 

Another joke I feel like picking apart is one where one of the girls tells the other that she has a booger by describing it as a “Stalagmite”. SIGH… the word she was looking for was stalagTITE. The way you can remember this is: A stalagTITE hangs TIGHT to the ceiling, while a stalagMITE MIGHT one day reach the ceiling. Sorry, I was literally a tour guide for a cavern for a summer, and this is literally the only thing I remember from any of it. 

Okay, pedantic stuff about episode titles: I did a mild amount of research and found that for some reason there seems to be two sets of episode titles depending on which source you look at. These episodes (both web versions and Adult Swim versions) don't seem to be on the Library of Congress web searcher. I-tunes versions and other for-purchase digital platforms use very long titles, which seem to be two titles corresponding to each webisode. When I encounter these titles, they are separated by a comma and not a forward slash, which is the usual standard for episode titles where the show is made up of shorter segments. I alone have decided to override the comma and insert a forward slash. It just comforts me to do it that way.

So, I'm airing on the side of using the elongated per-segment titles as the "episode title of record". These titles, by the way, I could not find being used in conjunction with the actual webisodes. Weird! Like, I went and looked at the old WB website that originally housed the short webisode versions and they didn't seem to have titles there, just "Episode 1", etc.

Oh, wait, I forgot to say how one of the guys on here has clown make-up on. One of the guys on here has clown make-up on.

EPHEMERA CORNER:

MAIL BAG:

Kon, being a HUGE BITCH about my previous post, writes:

Isn't it e?????????? No it's not

Kon, I'm sorry that guy called you a huge bitch before and I don't condone that kind of name-calling. But I have a humorless explanation that involves the video not uploading correctly, and me needing to close the tab on my write-up in progress and opening the last auto-saved draft, which apparently happened while I was in the middle of typing the word "enriching" or whatever I was writing. Please forgive me for that, and the swearing

Some tidbits I remember about this Frankenhole: I remember Dino or someone talking about how some black members of the animation staff walked off the show because they felt it was racist (all the famous black men advising Jefferson to treat women like shit) and that they last-minute added the bit where Obama and Wilt Chamberlain disapprove of the song to make it seem less bad. Tidbit #2: I liked that Jefferson's voice was inexplicably a Don Adams impression

LOL, I don't think they were wrong to feel that way! That song was probably the bit that worked the least for me, but it was bouncy enough to keep me smiling. Also I am racist :(

I worked on the shooting of the Dino's Dungeon segments and he freaks everyone out at wrap when he hopped back into the coffin and said "im going to bed everyone" which got a good laugh but he proceed to shift his body so hard in there that he knocked the coffin off it's stand and shattered it into a thousand pieces. He was badly cut up after that and I never worked with him again. Hope he's doing well though.

I think he likes getting hurt so he probably had fun doing that. Did you notice a stiffy

Yah i gotta agree with you on the Frakenhole visuals. Not very good. Looks like paper craft. Not real.

It bothers me more often than not, but I guess I like that they did something unique. The main guy looks kinda good. I don't like the creases, they drive me bananas

I know Looney Tunes doesn't have too much of a purchase on it's blog because it's not original content but with Bugs Bunny 85th anniversary coming up have you considered doing anything special for it? Like maybe an Ephemera Corner or a brief shoutout to the guy who practically invented irreverence in cartoons? Am I off base here?

I do actually believe that it's almost TOO harmonious that early Adult Swim sorta feeds directly from all the early stuff that happened to be in the Turner cartoon library at the time it started (Looney Tunes, Tex Avery MGM stuff, Popeye, Hanna Barbera etc.). Even the 15-minute timeslot is hearkening back to the original one-reel format of those toons. Three cheers for Bugs Bundy and his famous cartoons!

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Hi! I’d like a fandom ship/matchup type thing if you still do those:) someone from tcm, preferably from the first or second movie since those are the ones I’ve watched

Appearance: 5ft 2inches, chubby genderfluid guy. Short blond hair, blue/gray eyes and freckles and crooked teeth. I’m punk and wear a lot of band tees and stuff like that, I mostly dress masc but can dabble in feminine clothing for fun.

Personality: Id say im a pretty funny guy! I really can’t have a conversation without cracking a joke every other sentence (it is a blessing and a curse). I love being social but definitely need time to recharge after social events. I care a lot about other people and tend to go out of my way to help and comfort people.

Hobbies: I love drawing! I do both digital and traditional art, and I can also paint and sew and crochet. Mostly I draw people, that is my strong suit.

I also love cooking! It’s so much fun but I don’t like following recipes because I disagree with them.

I love horror media. Art, books, movies, you name it. I have an ongoing collection of horror movie dvds.

I listen to a lot of music. I like a lot of different genres, but I especially like punk and metal music. My favorite bands are Ghost, Against Me!, Dog Park Dissidents and Hozier

That’s about it I think. Please don’t feel stressed about doing this, take as much time as you need and also have a nice day:)

♥️♥️♥️ we love people who realize authors have lives beyond completing requests 

Your Texas Chainsaw Massacre ship: Chop-Top Sawyer!!!!

Explanation: starting off of the appearance, I think he would be extremely attracted to you. He loves that you’re shorter than him and I think that he would love your kind of punkish style since he likes anything music related and the fact that you have an alternative music related style just makes you practically his soulmate to him and I feel like he’d think you’re a pretty cool person from the get-go. he loves that you can switch between masculine and feminine and our gender fluid enough to just kind of look good in both and that’s something that he really likes about you and I think he would even start experimenting with more gender fluidness himself I picture him is more kind of a masculine/androgynous but I feel like he would also sometimes go a little feminine just for fun. He really loves your joking, personality and I think it’s part of the reason that he was so attracted to you besides how you look from the get-go as I just think that he was super struck by your humor and probably laughs like insanely loud and laughs for the longest out of everyone. I feel like he’s the type of guy that would continue laughing at a joke like five minutes after it was made. I also feel like he really appreciate your caring stuff because he’s not really used to a lot of people genuinely caring about him. He even feels like his own family doesn’t care about him most the time save for nubbins. Having you is just kind of like a refreshing thing for him and he’s pretty grateful to have you in his life as for socialist I don’t think he cares that much about whether he’s talking to someone or not to be honest I don’t think he’s an introvert or an extrovert. I just think he’s kind of in his own world, but he doesn’t mind that you’re an extrovert and would absolutely, let you recharge after large events, but you have to recharge with him. That’s the only catch. I hope you’re not expecting to get any more alone time because once you’re with this man, he is clingy as shit and you are not going to have any more social recharge unless you literally run away. (In which he will follow 💀) he loves your artistic personality, and I feel like he would annoy you a little bit bit because he’s the type of guy to stand by you while you’re trying to draw create something and be constantly asking you if it’s done yet or just random questions and I feel like you at some point I have to be like OK but I’m doing my art. You have to stand over there and not talk to me. And for the cooking thing, let me just say there’s a reason why Drayton is the cook of the household and no one else he would make the most monstrous and disastrous things in the kitchen and probably end up blowing something up. He’s like a toddler in the kitchen. You have to watch him because he would think it’s a funny idea to just throw water at an outlet or something like that. Just chaos. Absolutely, but I think if you made a meal for him, he’d be super grateful and would definitely eat it in like two seconds because we know this man is a fast eater. He also loves horror stuff for like obvious reasons and would totally watch horror movies with you or read books or whatever kind of horror media you like consuming.

I feel like he would like it too, and you guys can talk about it afterwards, and he would probably point out how certain things are unrealistic because he is like that he would be like “victims don’t actually react that way when you chase them” and things like that. As for music, I think this is again one of the very very very main reasons he would be attracted to you because he is a huge music guy. I don’t think he really likes Poppy stuff as much and I think he would find your alternative taste to be just amazing because he has kind of an alternative and wacky taste of music as well well, it’s not as much I’m sure would love if you introduced him and you guys could share tastes and I feel like you would be a little cute date to go on. I’m just listening to music talking and also I feel like he would ask for fashion advice like 24 seven from you and want to try some of your punk clothing out.

[starstruckpurpledragon]

So after much thought I've decided that I'm gonna cancel Netflix. I don't watch it as much as I used to, I've got plenty of other stuff to watch, and the company has lost sight of its original mandate in order to chase profits.

I'm gonna let my membership renew one last month and watch a few things I'd been putting off and then at the end of February I'll be canceling. I'm not really sure when the new anti-password rules go into effect but a month gives me time to rewatch Sandman and finish TMNT and finally watch Wednesday.

And then if there's anything left on there I want to watch but haven't yet by the time the end of Feb rolls around? It won't be enough to keep me around.

And if I get asked why I'm canceling, I'm going to tell them their policies are classist. That the new anti-password sharing protocols are going to gut something that once brought families together over distance and turn it into something that creates an undo burden on families that, for whatever reason, can't live together in a single 'household'. They're making their service more restrictive, harder to use, and prohibitively expensive. And I will specifically tell them that since I'm dropping Netflix, I will be considering joining a different streaming service that I would not have subscribed to had I continued to subscribe to Netflix.

I want them to know that not only are they driving me away from their service, but they're driving me towards their competitors.

In chasing profit from new subscribers like it can only ever grow bigger, Netflix is killing itself. If the company wants new revenue, you know what would help? Selling dvds/bluerays/digital copies of its movies and tv shows. Exclusivity of it's newer stuff is great and all, but why not some of it's older originals? Someone who buys the first season of a show that's already complete on Netflix might just sign up for the service rather than wait for the rest of the seasons to come out. And for others it might not be enough to lure them to the platform, but they might just buy up the rest of the series over time as the rest of the seasons come available. That's still money in the company pockets. (Not to forget people who'd keep the streaming service but still buy personal copies of the media.)

But that kind of policy would actually make sense.

[javida]

Want to add on about some (but not all) of the color correction discourse about the lotr 4K color correction.

Fellowship of the ring had analogue color correction—the kind where the entire frame had to be corrected all together or else someone had to go in and hand paint frame by frame. And nobody did that because it was crazy expensive.

Two Towers and Return of the King were color corrected digitally (post production went full digital basically as fast as possible mostly because it made non destructive editing possible). Digital correction and grading as a leg up because it’s possible to say “I want to adjust the values for greens specifically” and make the green forest look like autumn without turning your cast into pumpkins. Also, as I said, non destructive to the tape.

Now, a lot of the color correction discourse specifically in regards to the 4K stuff is usually when you’re looking at befores and afters of Fellowship. These befores are usually from a notorious HD Blu-ray rerelease where they went in and tried to recolor Fellowship to better match the grading of the latter two films. The issue is, they very clearly were using an incorrectly calibrated monitor that must have had a magenta shift because most of that recolor came out extremely green overall. This green tint was not present in previous releases, it is not present in the DVD that released beside that Bluray. So the most recent 4k release is actually more accurate to the original in color than some of the befores.

Now, the over sharpening I agree with. Fun fact: many big budget things you watch now are still shot with “old glass” lenses (because many of the “greats” from ye olden times were made of specific sand that got used up) that tend to give that nice haze. Another trick is to rub Vaseline on a filter or to turn on a straight up fog machine for like 10 seconds. AND many times, even if it was shot digital, a “retrograde” film grain effect has likely been added because everyone agrees that if it’s too crisp, it feels too uncanny.

EDIT: I also want to add that with any of these upscaled films from tape, a certain amount of CC is required. They are not simply using an AI or whatever to make things crispier. They are redigitizing the tape masters. Analogue does not have pixels, the raster size of its digitization has to do with the size of the sensor on their capture deck. Anything shot analogue can pretty happily be captured in like 16K or more without losing (technical) image quality. Now, the thing about sensors is that they tend to have their own color skews. A LUT can be applied and fix most of that, but someone still needs to go through and make sure that nothing else weird is going on and fix any errors that occurred during capture. Color in 1080 420 vs 4K 444 is VERY different. There's LOTS more information (the files can easily be 6-8x bigger) and a MUCH bigger dynamic range. Something HAS to be done to the image, while trying to be faithful to the original. It's a really tough tight rope to walk.

Also, this kind of upscaling will be impossible to achieve with anything shot digital. Digital DOES have pixels, even if it's printed on tape. So any attempt to make the image bigger will just make bigger flesh colored squares.

They should have added a clarity reduction filter to hide some of the VFX that gets revealed in the 4k also.

I am in love w the way pre 2000s films have that hazy feel to them. hd honestly kills the vibe

[tazzykiki]

Whoever makes the menus for dvds, and like puts what’s basically a music video and some cool ass graphics for the options, may the universe bless you.

[emptymasks]

Hello. I wanted to ask you whether you know if the Mozart l'Opera Rock 3D (2011) is available anywhere without Korean subtitles? I would love to find or buy a clean version but I can't seem to find it anywhere. ;-;

Sorry it took a while to get to this, had a lot of other stuff to deal with on this blog, but okay getting to it now.

I do love the 2011 over the 2009/10 production simply because of Salieri's ponytail, alright also because I think everyone's acting improved by the later production.

Sadly, you cannot purchase the 2011 production anywhere as it was never released for purchase. You can see it's listed on IMDB and Letterboxd, but that's because it was filmed professionally and streamed in cinemas, but never then released onto DVD or as a digital download. You can purchase the DVD of the original 2009/10 production, I got my copy of Ebay.

I don't know of any that have no subtitles, like the Korean ones that are on the copy on Youtube that also has English subtitles as well. If anyone knows of any copies of the 2011 proshot, whether that's to stream of if you want to trade for it, please shoot me a dm!!

Actually as I'm getting this together I just noticed the copy of the 2011 video that was on Youtube which was the only copy with English subtitles isn't there anymore.

^ This version now shows as 'video unavailable'. The 2010 still is, but not the 2011 (well it is with Russian subs but not the English ones). There is a different copy now that has huge English subtitles on it, I don't know if they're the same subs but they take up much more of the screen than the old ones. You guys are lucky I save everything. I have the video and I also extracted the subtitles from the Youtube video so, I'm going to do what I just did with the copy of Mozart das musical with English subs that got taken off Youtube, and I'm going to put the 2011 with the English subtitles up on archive . org where it should hopefully stay archived. My account on archive is WennLi3b3.

EDIT: I've now uploaded the 2011 English subs that have been deleted/taken down off Youtube onto archive . org. You can stream it with the subtitles and also download it and the subtitles and I've put instructions in the description on how to play the subtitles if you download them.

So, after realising that I'm turning this ask into a masterlist of all Mozart L'Opéra Rock videos (productions of the musical, concert versions, and solo and group concerts that the cast have done) that are online to stream/download:

(Slight problem, Tumblr won't let me post this if the links are clickable, so you'll have to copy and paste the links, apologies if you're on mobile)

*All concerts listed are concert productions of MOR unless stated otherwise (e.g. 'Beijing Concert' is a concert of MOR, 'Florent Mothe Beijin Concert' is a solo concert by Florent Mothe)

2004 French dub of the Phantom of the Opera movie adaption of the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical (Erik: Laurent Ban, Christine: Cecilia Cara, Raoul: Fabian Richard) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ks411N74z

2007 Mikelanglo Loconte Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ut411q7wD https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1gs411173T

2009.10.15 Original Paris Production https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Jv41157uv?p=1 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMPGrRiz3i4DSrtjFv60APOl4Um-uNzWN

2009.12.13 Promo TV interview/gameshow?, Russian subtitles https://vk.com/video-15750382_170660914

2010 Original Paris Production Proshot/DVD rip, English subtitles (that you can turn off) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfdnnheqQcw

2010 Original Paris Production Proshot, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Kb411P7XV https://vk.com/video295457148_456239116 https://vk.com/video295457148_456239111 https://vk.com/video-76279204_456239030

2010 Original Paris Production Proshot, Russian subtitles https://vk.com/video260926392_456239343 https://vk.com/video-18597103_456241367

2010 Original Paris Production Proshot, Chinese + French Subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12t411W739

2010 Original Paris Production Proshot, Chinese + French Subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12t411W739

2010 Original Paris Production Proshot, Chinese + French Subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1At411a7yM

2010 Original Paris Production Proshot, Chinese + French Subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV14i4y177JG

2010 Original Paris Production Behind the Scenes, English subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br2uelclS0A

2010.03.01 Original Paris Production, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1xv41147dD https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Xs41167mi

201.12.02 Original Paris Production, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1cZ4y1c76w?p=1 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMPGrRiz3i4CsHS8M7Z4GUvwGC-a7TLv6

2010/11 Behind the Scenes, non subtitles https://vk.com/video-16675597_157143094

2011 Paris Production Proshot with English subtitles (options), and Korean subtitles https://archive.org/details/mozart-lopera-rock-2011

2011 Paris Production Proshot (Incorrectly labeled as 2010) with English subtitles posted half-covering the Korean subtitles (also to me it looks like the audio is slightly out of sync?) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8gpKfSVWAA https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1S64y1C7Bo

2011 Paris Production Proshot, Korean + Russian subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCjhKPZoL_A https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1mX4y1P7SF

2011 Paris Production Proshot, Korean Subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV11t411Z7xo https://vk.com/video-23729576_456240825 (HD)

2011.01.09 Paris Production, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ls411Q7nF

2011.05.06 Paris Production, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1WW411E7GG

2011.07.08 Paris Production, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1wq4y1J7Sz https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6Agtk5S5JzvWqz3V7lAYpTMVFceysnNx

2011.09.07 Paris Production, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1KQ4y197HT https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMPGrRiz3i4BxNOz3AKbv1JtNvrqBBZ4l

2011.10.07 Paris Production, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1YV411y7YJ https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMPGrRiz3i4A2vwmDl7Zs7oGwkmsowgy7

2013 Cast Interview https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1hx411H7Ye? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCMuloz3BlA

2013 Florent Mother Moscow Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV16s411r7eK?p=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzjNuWKbNNI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXOZJGWhKHk

2013.02.18 Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1qy4y1n7VV https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMPGrRiz3i4D-NRBvaB5fXdaxRZXBxpkN

2013.05.21 Merwan Rim Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1k7411c78x?p=1

2013.07.13 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1zW411W7bo https://www.youtube.com/user/Cedmusiclover/videos

2013.10.07 Mikelangelo Loconte Interview, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1nf4y1173b https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv52wpptTXE

2013.10.14 Odessa Concert, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Dx411W71Z

2013.10.16 Kiev Concert, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Kx411s7Hh

2013.11.09 Mikelangelo Loconte Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV17W411H7Aj https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV19s411y7GU?p=1

2014 Mikelangelo Loconte & Florent Mothe Fan Meeting + Performing MOR songs https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1KW411q744

2014.08.16 Concert au Festival de Carthage https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMPGrRiz3i4AHHG--xdndK71wNUoa4UJx https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1d5411P7KE

2014.09.28 Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ni4y1c7Pu https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMPGrRiz3i4AiXA3Ja4E7piFBl5dH7H1h

2015.09.05 Mikelangelo Loconte Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1gs41117AR

2015.11.07 Fort Boyard ft. Florent Mothe (the most random on this list, but Fort Boyard is a reality competition show, think like Ninja Warrior or Survivor or Wipe-Out type shows and Florent ws a contestant on this episode) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV19s411i7P9

2016 Dancing With The Stars Season 7, France, Florent Mothe clips https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1vs41147F9?p=1

2016.04.07 Asian Tour https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Tx411i7Sg?

2016.07.23 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1hs411173i?

2016.11.30 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1gW41147uz https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLuspyNrQ57MOzPhZqPktx6SrR1wPXkIg https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15s411e7p7? (audio only)

2017 Gala of various French musicals, including performances from Roméo et Juliette, Notre-Dame de Paris, Mozart l'Opéra Rock, Starmania. Featuring Damien Sargue, Robert Marien, Laurent Ban, Mikelangelo Loconte, Hiba Tawaji(I'm currently dying from seeing Damien Sargue perform Belle from Notre-Dame de Paris) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1mW411E78Y?

2017 Radio Interview with Florent Mothe, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ux411y7Lq

2017.02.15 RRM Music Live, French music concert featuring Florent Mothe https://www.facebook.com/31395019055/videos/10155788074034056 https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Yx41127sk

2017.03.13 Moscow Concert, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Zx411C7tL https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1mx411r7M2

2017.03.15 Saint-Petersburg Concert, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Kx411i7pM https://www.youtube.com/c/SanzouHoshiSama/videos

2017.07.02 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1gx411B7De https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVrE9zz-1mZiAmP4TvvI2Y7X1O-I9FkP6

2017.07.14 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Kx411i7Mk?p=1

2017.11.24 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1sW411778Q?p=1 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVrE9zz-1mZiAMca86nNT1iM2KGEKc6HH

2017 Mikelangelo Loconte & Florent Mothe Fan Q&A in Beijing, both are speaking in English, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1hx411b7si

2018 Mikelangelo Loconte & Florent Mothe Concert, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1FW411C78g

2018.03.11 Mikelangelo Loconte & Florent Mothe Concert, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1YW411s7fu https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1tW411s7sp https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1HW411s7yW https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1pW411s7HU

2018.04.30 Mikelangelo Loconte & Florent Mothe Concert, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1QW411372f

2018.05.01 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1YW41137qF

2018.05.10 Mikelangelo Loconte & Florent Mothe Interview, in English with Chinese subtitles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zglev8CcP7k https://www.bilibili.com/video/av23245495

2018.05.24 Laurant Ban Interview, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV16p411o7av

2018.07.14 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1qU4y1G7xS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dg3if0YS5U

2018.08.11 Laurent Ban Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Zs411K72e

2018.08.12 Laurent Ban Concert+ Fan Meet in Taiwan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqUM861EfmE

2018.08.18 Mikelangelo Loconte & Florent Mothe Beijing Concert, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1sW411k7Eq

2018.08.19 Mikelangelo Loconte & Florent Mothe Fan Meet Q&A & concert, no subtitles, they are both speaking English https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV17t411W7AX (fan meet) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1rt411p7Sp (concert)

2018.08.21 Mikelangelo Loconte & Noémie Garcia Fan Meet in Taiwan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg53iMkVTd4

2018.10.23 Fan Meet & Songs https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1gt411d7AN?p=1

2018.10.25 Fan Meet (Mikelangelo Loconte, Laurent Ban, Noémie Garcia), speaking in English and French, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1gt41167RC

2018.10.27 Fan meet (Mikelangelo Loconte, Laurent Ban, Noémie Garcia), speaking in English and French, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1cb411w7rA

2019 Takarazuka Japanese Production, Chinese subtitles https://vk.com/video-20241239_456240740 https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15z4y1X7Yo

2019 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV16J411s7Vz

2019 Florent Mothe Concert (major audio warning, the microphone of the camera/phone is right next to the speaker and the audio is very loud and clipping) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1XJ411r7KD

2019 Mikelangelo Loconte Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1zt411A7HQ

2019.01.19 Asian Tour https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Kt411h7mD

2019.03.01 Asian Tour (audio only) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1S4411H7r4

2019.06.29 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ax41197RM https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ht411A7NL

2019.07.06 Laurent Bán Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1j4411F7cE https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV174411w77V https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1tJ411A7fj

2019.07.07 Laurent Bán Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1T4411F7vJ

2019.07.08 Merwan Rim China Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1it411378T

2019.07.09 Laurent Ban & Merwan Rim Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Ht411576B?p=1

2019.07.13 Laurent Ban Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1pt411V7Xe?

2019.07.18 Mikelangelo Loconte Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Kt411n79C

2019.07.19 Mikelangelo Loconte Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1zt411E7mw https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1vt411n7h6? https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1bt411n7YL https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1tt411M789

2019.07.23 Mikelangelo Loconte Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Nt411j7BH? https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1St411L7fT (audio warning for screaming at the beginning)

2019.07.26 Mikelangelo Loconte Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ut411P7LX

2019.12.14 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1CJ411Y7Pp https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1TJ41147GF

2019.12.15 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1TJ411r7ni

2019.12.17 Florent Mothe Beijing Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV16J411t7RX

2019.12.19 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1WJ411t7CZ

2019.12.20 Florent Mothe Concert https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1cJ41147Sc

2019.12.24 Florent Mothe Concert (audio only) https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ZV411o7VY

2020.05.17 Mikelangelo Loconte Interview, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1bK411W7qs

2021.01.30 Mikelangelo Loconte Livestream Concert, no subtitles https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Kf4y1r7bH?

My playlist of odd small clips, interviews and other videos from Mozart L’Opéra Rock: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLBkeZOvj5B_YlWWASK-FMpsjsyN1kmFa

[nancydrew428]

Game 34

As of yet, there’s no proof that there’s going to be a 34th game. Her Interactive has answered a few fans and said that they were working on a game, but who knows what that really means? To get a semblance of an idea, let’s do a deep dive.

Starting with the past couple of weeks, HeR is selling all of the physical copies of their games, as well as some other products (like their physical puzzles). I watched a YouTube video that said that while this may seem like a bad sign, it might not be. For starters, many of the physical games have been sold out for literal years because they only make a set amount of physical copies. When they run out, that’s it. So this isn’t a completely new thing. However, they are doing a mass sale. On the one hand, it could be a last ditch effort to get whatever money they can before calling it quits. But on the other, it could mean that they are trying to make the best financial decision that they can think of. Story Retold (LJ), on YouTube, works for Her Interactive and commented on that video in early April.

The most accurate explanation is that we at HeR Interactive wanted to celebrate the month of April as Nancy Drew’s anniversary. 💜 We made it themed as collectibles but yes, once the physical units sell out, we don’t make anymore. :(

I personally don’t believe that that is the only reason. It makes sense that they want to honor Nancy Drew’s anniversary (the first book came out in April 1930), so maybe that’s why they chose this month? But I feel like that can’t be the only reason.

I agree with Nancy Drew Walkthroughs on YouTube that Her Interactive probably has to pay for storage to keep physical items, so by selling the games, they won’t have to pay for the storage. They’ll also be making money off the games that they otherwise would not be making money from. As we have learned with the pandemic, and as marketers have known for decades, having people panic is a really effective way to sell something out. It’s why so many websites will have flash sales, the biggest words will be “for a limited time only,” and sometimes they’ll tell you how many copies of the product there are left, how many people have it in their carts, or they’ll say “hurry now, less than 50 left!” Even if you realistically had a long time to buy that product or the company actually has a lot of the product left, they create artificial scarcity and manufacture panic so that you’ll make impulse purchases. While it feels kind of slimy, it is effective when done right. And, correct me if I’m wrong but, I don’t think that Her Interactive has really done this before. So it seems like they might be stepping up their marketing which could be a good sign for the company.

I think this could be the company taking a step in the right direction to make everything digital. Although I absolutely love having physical copies of the games and other memorabilia, I also think that we are living in an increasingly digital world, and it only makes sense for them to get with the times. Go digital, spend less money on making physical games, etc. So many laptops these days don’t have CD/DVD drive, so many of their older games (and their newest game) have issues which can be especially hard with a disc, and so many stores don’t sell the physical games anymore. With a smaller, probably not very wealthy, company, it makes no sense for them to waste money on this. Like I said, I love collecting the physical copies, but I don’t really use them, and younger people coming across the games will probably go for the digital version, probably even buying it directly from Steam. (Which kind of a side note, kind of related, this article on Her Interactive is really interesting. It mentions that HeR kind of fought putting their games on Steam, because Steam took too big of a cut of their money. But I do think that that’s better than not having any of your games sell. And if they’re going completely digital, and almost all of their games are on Steam now, it seems like maybe they’re modernizing and progressing.)

While this could be a bad sign and I don’t want to get my hopes up too high, I do have some hope that it might actually be a good sign that they are finally getting smart.

Another thing that could either be worrisome or a good sign is that they changed offices. In another video from that same YouTuber, he talks about how Her Interactive still has the address that they’ve had for years on their contact page, but on their privacy policy page, they changed their address to a PO box. Plus, there’s a listing for their old office.

Obviously, this could be a bad thing, because they no longer have an office, and that just doesn’t sound good? But this also means that they’ll be saving money by doing so. During the pandemic, they’ve probably had to work at home anyway, so why pay for an office that no one is going to be in? It also makes sense, because at this point, they probably are not the ones making the games. They’re a marketing team who gives the Nancy Drew name to other companies to make the games. All of this can be done from home. LJ also commented on this video in early April, saying:

As far as I know, we are NOT going out of business. 😋 We are all remote working now, since our team (including a male) is all over the U.S. Our work is digital, so it’s an easy change.

Something else that he talks about in that video is that they changed the layout of their website. He points out that it costs money to pay someone to change a website, especially where it seems like multiple details have changed. Hate it or love it, you have to admit that the website is more sleek, modern, and just a different vibe to what it was before. Why would they put in the money for a website and company that’s going to be dead soon?

Lastly, he discusses the company’s change in advertising. I hadn’t even noticed the change (mostly because I don’t look at what they post; I only come across it if it’s posted by someone on here), but when he pointed it out, I did see the difference. The picture advertisements that they post are better quality (not necessarily in content, but in size and resolution). They’ve also changed the font that they use, they’ve ditched the logo, and they use random pictures as well. Regardless of whether it’s good or effective or not, it is a change. Here are two examples (one, two) from the past two years, and here are two examples from the past two weeks (one, two).

This change in marketing is also in line with their Facebook posts. Facebook is the social media that they are most active on when it comes to engaging with fans, at least from what I have seen in the past. But at least since January, they didn’t respond to any comments until they announced that they were selling out all of their physical copies. They didn’t respond to too many questions, but they responded to a few, for the first time in literal months. If they were shutting down, why would they start caring about answering fans’ questions now?

I also found information about some of the stuff that HeR has been doing in the past 2 weeks. I don’t have an account on the website so I can’t see all the information, so I don’t know what was blurred out. I also can’t see any other “scoops” about them, so I don’t know what they’ve done in the past, and I don’t know if this amount of activity is normal or more or less than they usually have. But the company has been doing a few things here and there, so as I keep saying, maybe this is a good sign.

With all of this being said, it seems like Her Interactive might not actually be going under. We can’t be sure, but we can have a little bit of hope. But even if that is true, just because they’ll still be a company, does that mean that they are going to make any more games?

I honestly don’t know. There isn’t much information out there about game 34,  but I will still compile the information that I’ve found here. Unfortunately, it gives us nothing other than them maintaining that there will eventually be another game.

(Timeline) TL;DR: I think that the key points are that they started saying that they were working on the game in December 2019 (as far as I can tell), but since then they’ve also said that they were planning the game. To this day, they are saying that they can’t give out any information regarding the new game yet and can’t make guarantees as to when they can release any information, let alone the game itself. The only thing LJ has seemed to say with certainty is that the next game will be made on Unity. They also have confirmed that there will be some improvements from MID, but it will be similar.

Some other tidbits from this that sound promising but probably don’t mean much: they have said that it shouldn’t take as long for future games as it did for them to make MID, they’ve mentioned that there are plans for multiple more games, that we should subscribe to their newsletter to stay up to date with any new information regarding anything (game 34 or otherwise), and LJ hopes to share news in the near future.

And other things that they’ve said that I’m 99.99% sure don’t mean anything at all: Nancy might potentially someday go on a boat in the future, LJ likes jump scares too “😉,” and Bess and George might appear in future games. (The first two are probably just jokes and fun, but the last one seems like it could be true, just because they’re in most of the games in some way or another.)

Lastly, some speculations: the next game might take place in Austria, and they might address the drama between Nancy and Ned.

Now here is the timeline.

On May 8, 2017, someone from Her Interactive said: "Yes we plan on making a 34th ND game. No is hasn’t been designed yet. Yes there will be a teaser at the end of MID, but no, we haven’t decided on what that teaser will look like yet." Obviously, it’s been years and plans can change (proven by the fact that there was no trailer at the end of MID, lol).

In December 2017, Her Interactive posted a letter about why MID was taking so long to come out. Here was the most important part:

As you may recall, we are moving to a new engine to be able to develop a game not only for PC/Mac but also for tablets, consoles, and now for the increasing popularity of augmented or virtual reality. Very exciting!  Part of us going down this path was to ensure that we have multiple platform options for future Nancy Drew titles so that all Nancy Drew game fans and those new to our games could play these amazing games no matter what their preferred device or platform.

This versatility means that the design and development of our games are even more complex than in the past. Our PC/Mac game design will work for players on the go with tablets and possibly for players that may want to immerse themselves in the mixed reality world. We are also constantly evaluating new technologies and trends in the game industry. Consequently, this is why it is taking much longer to develop this title than previous ones. This thoroughness will put HeR Interactive in a better position for the future while providing us with the tools necessary to continue to deliver amazing experiences for our fans.

On January 2, 2018, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hello Carmen! South America is always a possibility for future game locations. However, we haven’t planned that yet. MID will be available for PC as well.”

On July 21, 2019, a Reddit fan posted a response they got from Her Interactive. They explained that they lost trust in the company and would not be preordering the game. They responded with their reasoning for the game taking so long and how it won’t happen in the future.

We are moving to a new engine to be able to develop a game not only for PC/Mac but also for tablets, consoles, and now for the increasing popularity of augmented or virtual reality. Very exciting! Part of us going down this path was to ensure that we have multiple platform options for future Nancy Drew titles so that all Nancy Drew game fans and those new to our games could play these amazing games no matter what their preferred device or platform. This versatility means that the design and development of our games are even more complex than in the past. Our PC/Mac game design will work for players on the go with tablets and possibly for players that may want to immerse themselves in the mixed reality world. We are also constantly evaluating new technologies and trends in the game industry. Consequently, this is why it is taking much longer to develop this title than previous ones. This thoroughness will put HeR Interactive in a better position for the future while providing us with the tools necessary to continue to deliver amazing experiences for our fans.

On October 1, 2019, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “Hello Grace, the consistent schedule back then was on a system that never changed or upgraded with the times. Once we get the structure of this upgraded game done, the future games will not take 4 years to make.”

On October 2, 2019, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “The frustration is understood. We hope to be more accurate in the future, and to regain our players' faith in the next game release.”

On October 4, 2019, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “Hello Lisa, we understand the frustration and loss of trust in us. Since this game was designed from the ground up, we have certainly learned a lot and will be applying our lessons to the future games.”

On October 4, 2019, they responded to another fan on Twitter saying, “Hi highly doubt the next game will take this long - since we had re-designed from the ground up in a new system this time. We apologize for lengthy delay. :(”

On November 6, 2019, two users on Gameboomers made comments:

One said that LJ said there wouldn’t be a trailer for the next game after MID, but “she did say that there were some ‘early ideas’ floating around for the next game.”

The other got an email from Her Interactive that said, “We will absolutely be releasing more games after Midnight in Salem. We cannot commit to a release schedule as of right now since all of our focus is on MID. It will definitely not take us as long for the next title to release. Four years is not the new normal.”

On December 3, 2019, Midnight in Salem was released. The end of the game didn’t have a trailer for the next as is the tradition for Nancy Drew games, but there seemed to be some drama between Nancy and Ned, and she mentioned wanting to go to Austria. A user on the Her Interactive message boards pointed out that the game was outsourced to an Austrian company so that might be the reasoning. But maybe it could be the plan for the next game.

On December 3, 2019, an article came out about the company that said, “Her Interactive has already developed a Nancy Drew VR proposal based on one of the books with a Spanish director, but it's more likely an AR project would come to market first.”

On December 17, 2019, a user on the Her Interactive message boards said that they emailed Nancy’s new voice actress who confirmed that there will be more games where she will play Nancy.

On December 29, 2019, they responded to a fan’s DM on Instagram asking if they were going to make another game to which they said. “Absolutely!  We’ve already begun!”

On January 7, 2020, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hello Oona! Yes, we are planning on more Nancy Drew games. Can’t say when the next one will be released, yet. 🙂”

On January 8, 2020, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hi again Jillian! I’m not sure on the release month or year just yet, but I do know it will not take 4 years to make. 😉”

On January 10, 2020, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hello SWhite5052! I’m not sure what the intent from our designers is for poor Ned. I’m a big fan of Nancy’s boyfriend, and I do hope we get to have him in-game someday, be Nancy’s hero and also take her out on a romantic date. 😉” I don’t think this really means anything, but I hope it means that she has hope that there will be future games.

On January 28, 2020, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “Yes, there are plans for more Nancy Drew games. :)” Plural?

On February 3, 2020, LJ responded to a comment on the blog saying, “Hi Jam5022! We do not have any news to share yet, but we are working on the game. 🙂”

On February 11, 2020, LJ responded to two comments on the blog:

“Hello felicity18! Glad to hear you enjoyed Midnight in Salem! The leads didn’t add a teaser to the end of the game per tradition since we are secretly working on the next one, and haven’t put together footage to share or tease on it yet. Stay tuned for future updates!”

“Hi Madi! Ship of Shadows was shelved, meaning we stopped working on it. At this time, we are only focusing on the main mystery adventure line.”

On February 20, 2020, LJ responded to two comments on the blog:

“Hi Sarah! Yes, the next game will be made on Unity. 🙂”

“I hope so, Nicole! I always like having Nancy’s best friends on the case with her! No promises just yet, but it’s likely for a future game. 🙂”

On February 25, 2020, they responded to a fan’s DM on Instagram saying, “New game info coming shortly. Stay tuned!” This didn’t happen.

On April 13, 2020, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “Hi Anna! When we have news on the next Nancy Drew game, we will be sure to share it! #NancyDrew”

On May 22, 2020, they responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “No news to share yet, but we are working on it!”

On September 13, 2020, someone on Reddit said that there was an untitled 34th game on Wikipedia. As they pointed out, anyone can edit entries on Wikipedia. But almost 7 months later, it hasn’t been taken down.

On November 29, 2020, someone on Reddit posted LJ’s response to a YouTube comment. “Game 34 is in the works. That’s all I can say for now. :)”

On December 1, 2020, LJ responded to some comments from October 2020 on a blog post:

“Hello! Game 34 is in the works. Stay tuned for future updates and be sure to subscribe to the newsletter for when we announce news. Glad you liked the graphic!”

“Hello! No news yet to share at this time, but that we are working on it. Keep an eye out in future newsletters for future bits of information. 😀”

“Sadly, I do not have anything to share about the next game. 🙁 I hope to be able to tease out clues in the future, though!”

On December 4, 2020, LJ responded to some comments from October/November 2020 on a blog post:

“Hello, beka! Sadly, I do not have any new info to share about the future game at this time. 🙁 I hope to share news with you in the future!”

“Hi Stephanie! It has been a while, hasn’t it? Sadly, I do not have any news to share at this time. As soon as I have some that I can share, I will!”

“Hi Natalina! It has been a while since we have had a Twitch stream. Sadly, we do not have any news to share yet about the next Nancy Drew game. Stay tuned!”

“Hello Foundation2430, things have certainly changed since Sea of Darkness. I am limited to what we can share behind the scenes, but once I have things I can share with you about the current and future games, I will. I don’t think the next game will take 4 years. 🙂”

On December 11, 2020, LJ responded to a comment from a blog post saying, “Hi ali! We are working on the next game, but we do not have a release date for it just yet.”

On January 6, 2021, LJ responded to a comment from a blog post saying, “Hello Natalina! Sorry, I do not have any news to share about new Nancy Drew games or projects. 🙁”

On January 8, 2021, LJ responded to two comments on the blog:

“Hi Aly! The next game is indeed in the works. Sadly, I cannot share anything about it at this time. 🙁 But I do hope you have a great new year as well! I hope to share more secrets with you in the future!”

“Hello Sanjeet! Happy New Year! We do have game 34 in the works, but I cannot share anything with you at this time. 🙁”

On January 28, 2021, LJ responded to a comment on a blog post saying, “Hi Cleanna! I think Nancy spending time on a ship is a great idea, too. Hopefully, she will get to do that in the future!” I doubt that this will happen, but she didn’t have to answer it this way. I guess it was probably to create some hope.

On February 2, 2021, LJ responded to two comments on the blog:

The first response was to a fan who talked about VR where she said, “Hello Madi! Thanks for sharing your concern. We have seen others comment their worry about the graphics since they get easily sick from motion as well. We are keeping this in mind for our future games. 🙂” I don’t think that they ever really planned to do VR, but she didn’t have to add that last part. Again, I’m guessing it was to create some hope.

The second response was to a fan who asked a question on January 15th where she said, “Hi Jessica! I do not know when the next game will be released, but once I have info, I will be sure to share it!” She answered this a few days after she answered the first question, when this was the first comment on the post. I wonder if she didn’t skip it, but rather waited until she could say the right thing.

On February 15, 2021, LJ responded to a few comments on a blog post:

The first comment asked if they’ll share any information on the game this year to which she responded, “Hi Rach! I do not know when news will become available to share. Sorry!” I understand this because MID was a hot mess where they kept giving dates and time frames that they couldn’t keep. But if they’ve been supposedly working on this since November, a year should be plenty of time for them to give some information, right? That they’ll keep the same voice actress for Nancy, part of the plot, who a phone character will be, the state or country it will be set in, or something super simple. Yet she couldn’t even say that she’d give any information this year.

She also responded to someone saying, “Hi Sarah! I cannot say exactly, since the behind-the-scenes work is top secret. I hope to share news in the near future when I’m able to!” One minute she couldn’t say whether they’d give out any information this year at all, the (literal) next minute she said she hopes to share news soon.

On March 3, 2021, LJ responded to a few comments on a blog post:

“Hi Lindsay! There are plans for the future. Stay tuned for news when I am allowed to share it!”

“Aw thanks for sharing! We are indeed working hard behind the scenes here. 😉”

On March 10, 2021, LJ responded to a comment on a blog post saying, “Hello Rishi! I would love to share information about our next game, but sadly, I cannot at this time. All I can say is that we are indeed planning another game. 🙂” So they’re still in the planning stage for the next game?

On March 30, 2021, LJ responded to a few comments on a blog post:

“Hi Becca! Jump scares are my favorites, too. 😉 Sadly, I do not have any news or even a date when we will share news about the next game. 🙁” (I kept the first part, because she didn’t need to put a winky face. I’m sure this is just wishful thinking, but maybe there will be a jump scare in the new game? Lol. But she doesn’t even have a date for when she can even share news about the game.)

“Hi Grace! We are indeed working on another game. I do not have any idea when we will be sharing news about it, though.” Pretty much the same, generic response.

On April 5, 2021, Her Interactive responded to a Reddit fan on Instagram about the future game saying: “Hello lorichelter! The next game will have some improvements but will be similar to MID. We’re glad to hear you enjoyed the game! Also, future games will be Mac compatible, but unfortunately we do not have plans to remaster the old games at this time. :( If we ever find a workaround for the Apple restriction of 32-bit games, we will quick to share that trick.”

[minghellafine]

Full article below.

Spiral is now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and digitally. The Saw spin-off stars Chris Rock, Samuel L. Jackson, and Max Minghella in the lead roles and is directed by Saw II-IV director Darren Lynn Bousman in his return to helming the horror series. While it exists in the Saw universe, it’s very much its own thing and provides a fresh experience.

ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Spiral star Max Minghella about the film, a possible sequel, his relationship with the Saw franchise, and much more.

Tyler Treese: I really liked Spiral and it’s this great mix of genres as you’ve got the Saw-type horror and the torture scenes, but the first half of the film is very much kind of like a buddy cop movie. Can you speak to that interesting blend of genre that we have?

Max Minghella: I was very excited when I started to realize that that’s the direction the movie was going to go in. I love buddy cop movies. I really miss movies like that. I had been craving it as a movie fan, so I was really relieved by that. And then I thought that the needle thread of the Saw franchise and the identity of that franchise into this other story was so brilliantly handled in very kind of successful, you know what I mean on the page. I can really see how this works and is very much the movie I’d go and see even if I had nothing to do with it.

You couldn’t get a better buddy cop partner than Chris Rock. He just has so much natural charisma. He’s so funny in the first 30 minutes of the film. Can you talk about your chemistry on set and how it was getting to have him as your buddy cop?

Yeah, I mean, it’s an insane privilege and he’s just somebody I love so much in every way. I love him as a actor performer. I loved him as a filmmaker and it was really fun just getting to have meaningful time with somebody you look up to so much and see how they work and pick their brain. I’m sure Chris got very bored of me badgering him with questions all the time, but I had such a good time getting to work with him. We really had fun together.

Before signing onto Spiral, were you a big fan of the Saw franchise, and what was it like coming into such an established series? It just crossed the billion dollar mark. What are the expectations of coming into a series like that?

I think it’s the first franchise thing I’ve done. I love franchises just in general. I love the concept of them. I love how they exist in film culture. I like the challenges of having to keep them alive and what’s about them and it really appeals to me. So that was just exciting, just fundamentally to be a part of a franchise, like you said, and sort of take on that responsibility, I suppose. I also love so much about the DNA of Saw movies, so I love the kind of whodunnit element of them. I love how sort of visceral it is an experience for an audience, especially when you’re watching it. It’s so fun to watch these movies with people. To answer your question about my familiarity with the franchise. I had seen several of them, but the one I’ve always loved, and I think I owned on DVD like way before being involved in this, was Saw II. I love Saw II. I’m a big twist guy, like a big twist fan, and that movie has got a great twist.

Spiral saw the return of Darren Lynn Bousman as the director. How exciting was it to get to work with him? He has helmed so many great Saw films in the past and now he gets to reinvent it here with you and Chris Rock onboard.

Yeah. It was great to have Darren back. He was such a smart choice. To have somebody who was one of the architects of the Saw aesthetic, which is a very specific aesthetic. I don’t think any other movies share this sort of visual technique. So there’s a lovely, I mean, I think the movie is a great blend of the old guard and then the new kids, you know, Chris [Rock] and Sam [Jackson] and Marisol [Nichols], myself, we’re all completely new to the franchise, but then almost everybody else involved has been there for a minute and it’s like a family, you know what I mean? It really does feel very kind of an intimate group of people and very familiar.

You grew up around movies, you’ve gotten to work with so many incredible actors, so I’m sure it’s not super often where you’re like, “Wow, I can’t believe I’m with this guy,” but Samuel L. Jackson. If that’s ever going to happen, it’s probably him. How cool was it getting to work with a legend like him and cross that off your bucket list?

It’s pretty cool and unexpected. This movie was sort of almost always a pinch yourself kind of job, to be honest. There’s very few days on set where I wasn’t like, I can’t believe I’m going to [do this]. Sam Jackson is truly one of the great actors of all time, it’s a pretty ridiculous situation to be in.

One thing I really like about your character is that he has these very valid grievances about police corruption and that’s a true-to-life issue. Spiral spotlights it, but it’s a very real issue and very timely for the society that we’re in. Did having that interesting backstory for the character really help you dive into playing this role?

I love when you have compassion for a villain. I think it’s so much more compelling than when they are impossible to relate to. So that was really important to me that when he said things. It was his own sort of mad logic to him, obviously the way that he goes about practicing his beliefs is completely wrong, but there’s something there sort of relatable I think to what he’s saying. That’s much more interesting always.

We see that in the original series with Jigsaw and Saw always had some social commentary and some interesting morality questions. Can you speak to Spiral also bringing those philosophical elements and how the series has stayed really interesting? It would have been so easy to just be leaning into just the gore element, but instead, you keep that philosophy and having the moral ambiguity.

Like you said, man, it’s so essential to the DNA of these movies. There’s John Kramer and he always had some interesting perspective on things and reasons for doing things. I think it’s essential that that sort of stays in it, even though Spiral is obviously a very different direction. I think for these movies it is its own story and its kind of its own sort of journey in a way, but there are certain things you don’t want to lose and that’s one of them. You want a compelling villain and I think compelling villains aren’t just being idiots with their point of view.

There’s not many people that can say they fought Chris Rock in a fistfight. How fun was that final fight sequence in the film, and you got the punch Chris Rock! How cool is that?

Again, man, it was all so much fun. Everything was so much fun. I just felt like a kid on the playground. It was crazy. I mean all of it’s like the stuff you sort of dream about doing as a kid. I think there’s a line in the movie where, “I started dreaming about this since I was 12 years old,” and I felt that was pretty resonant for me because I really have. I grew up with a Beverly Hills Cop poster above my bed since as long as I’ve been a conscious person. I really like movies like this where the genre movies have real stakes, but have a sense of humor and aren’t pretentious. It’s very specific to what I want to go and see.

Before we get the big reveal of yourself as the villain, we see the villain in a pig mask a lot. Was it actually you wearing the mask in those scenes?

That’s funny, man. You’re the second person to ask me that question. Yes, not always. I mean it depends on what we’re doing. But absolutely. As long as it’s not some big dangerous stunt.

There are some gruesome and really clever traps in Spiral. Did any of those stick out as a particular favorite for you and what was it like getting to see how they’re actually, with the movie magic and all that, how they’re actually concocted?

It’s dope, so cool. It’s really fun. The subway trap is my favorite. I feel it was really brilliant way into the movie, so cinematic, and that set was crazy sort of built that station. That was so cool. I felt like going to Universal’s studio tour thing. That was how I felt.

Saw fans are very passionate. How’s the reception been? You talked about this being your first franchise, how cool was it to enter that fandom?

I’ve got to say, I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t anxious before the film was released. Obviously I felt a huge amount of responsibility to the fans of these movies and didn’t want them to feel let down by the performance. I’ve been so like grateful and moved by how kind of nice that community is. I mean, nice is maybe a weak word to use, but they’re really supportive. They love these movies. They’ve been really supportive of the movie and supportive of us, the new actors, and I’m very relieved and it means a lot.

With the way the film ends, there’s obviously some unfinished business between yourself and Chris Rock’s character. Would you be interested in returning for a sequel?

For sure, if there was an appetite for us to come back. I think we both love to do another one. But we did this without any expectations of anything beyond. I think it’s a very unusual ending and also very unique and exciting one. I haven’t seen something that sort of ends with such a pronounced cliffhanger. So I’m certainly curious to know what’s gonna happen.

For your other projects, you’ve got Babylon coming up, which has just the most incredible star-studded cast. It even has Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

I know. That’s cool, right?

It’s really cool. I believe filming starts on that soon. How thrilled are you to just get to work with so many talented actors on one set?

Yeah, man. Amazing. I’m a huge fan of Damien Chazelle and he’s sort of one of my sort of heroes. So I’m really looking forward to getting to be on set with him and see how he works. All of this is sort of like an education, you’re really just trying to work with people you can learn from and hopefully, we’ll make it better. I can’t think of a group of people to be around that’s more talented.

We spoke about passionate fans earlier. The Handmaid’s Tale has so many passionate watchers and Season 4 had a really shocking ending. What are you looking forward to the most in Season 5?

Season 4 is, by some pretty wide margin, my favorite season we’ve shot. I really loved the season. It’s funny because it’s an ensemble show, and as a result,I don’t know what everyone else is doing. I’m not there on set when everyone else is shooting that stuff. I play a pretty small part in the show, so when it comes out, I get to watch it like an audience member and go along for the ride. I just had such an amazing time watching it this year. I was so proud of everybody in the cast and crew. It was tough circumstances, as you can imagine, shooting during a pandemic and especially Elisabeth Moss just was incredible this year, really just took care of everyone and for it to come out as strong as it was, was really amazing. I never thought I’d be so excited to go into Season 5 of a TV show, but I get more and more excited every year as we get further into it and it just keeps staying so strong. It’s amazing. I can’t believe how lucky I am to be on a show that is that good.

It’s kind of rare to see a show building on its quality over time. Usually it peaks in Season 2 or 3, but like you said, Season 4 is the best one yet. It was very exciting as a fan to see how it’s going to continue.

Thank you. It’s amazing and that people are still watching a show and sticking with us. We are all so conscious. It’s sort of pathetic actually, whenever The Handmaid’s Tale cast talk about anything, we’re just all so conscious of how singular this experience is and how we can’t take it for granted. I think stuff like this comes along very, very rarely, and when you’re lucky enough to be a part of something that you like so much and other people seem to like.

Over the past five years, we’ve seen you find success as a screenwriter and a director as well. Working behind the camera and looking at the scenes from that different perspective, does that help your acting as well?

That’s a good question. I dunno. I don’t know if I can do anything about my acting talents, but it comes from a very simple place, man, because I just love movies so much. Just the fact that I don’t really know about anything else. Like if you asked me about where any country is on a map, I would have no idea, but I’m okay with movies. Like I kind of know movies and, and so I get impatient. I’m a bit of a workaholic and I just want to do whatever I can. So it would be on set. So we get to engage creatively and I can do it a little bit. It’s really different. Well, what I think is interesting about it is often have a day where I have to have a call maybe as a producer and then a call as a writer, then a call as a director, then a call as an actor, and each conversation I’m treated quite differently or my job is so different. Switching those hats is I think quite good and keeps you in check and keeps your feet on the ground and keeps you hungry and all that stuff. So I feel very lucky I get to do different things.

When you were growing up, one of your goals was to be a music video director. Is that something that you still want to wind up doing down the line?

I got to make a movie that I think exorcised a lot of those demons. So I have to be honest, I have less of a burning desire to sort of work in that space because I felt like I got to sort of express that part of me a little bit. That said, I love music videos. It’s one of my favorite mediums. The tricky thing, and I’m sure most people would tell you this, is that music videos have very, very limited budgets. When I was a kid, this was the year of like Francis Lawrence and Hype Williams where people were getting like $4 or $5 million to make these two-minute clips. Now when I’m sent music video stuff, it’s like the budgets are very, very limited. So you really have to be passionate about it because you’re basically going to have to spend money to make it. So to answer your question I would love to do some music videos, but I think there has to be things that I was really, really married to.

In the past decade and some change we’ve seen superhero films become all the rage. Would you be interested in those types of projects and are there any comic characters that appeal to your acting sensibilities?

I kind of like all kinds of movies. I don’t have a genr that I’m not into. Yeah, I’m totally open to that. I think as long as I felt useful ther., I mean, that’s totally how I approach everything. It’s not so much about the glamor of an opportunity so much as whether I think I could actually contribute something. If I can’t, I don’t think it’s helpful for me to do it, then nobody wins. But if there was a show that I felt like, oh, I could do this and maybe not sink the ship then for sure.

[anotheruserwithnoname]

What am I looking forward to?

I get asked what I’m looking forward to in terms of entertainment as 2021 trundles along. I thought I’d put together a list of my thoughts of the things I have marked on my calendar (or am prepared to buy, as the case may be!)

Klokkenluider, The Sandman, The War Rooms: Obviously I’d be failing at my duty to not include Jenna Coleman’s trio of upcoming projects! I have a confession - I’ve yet to watch all of The Serpent, too. Hoping for a DVD or (even better) Blu-ray release of that later in the year too. UK has one already. Netflix does release many of its shows to permanent media so hopefully The Serpent will be one of them (ditto Sandman and War Rooms down the line).

Free Guy: the much-delayed video game-based film starring Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer. Reminds me of Ready Player One, which was one of my favourite films of the last few years. And it’s the first leading film role for Jodie Comer from Killing Eve and it looks like she might be playing a nerdy version of Villanelle (without all the murdery sociopathic stuff; at least, I assume!). 

No Time to Die: Some aspects of the trailers have me concerned, and whenever I hear people talk about “new directions” I get antsy because that rarely ends well. But this is Bond and while there has been the occasional poor 007 film in the past (A View to a Kill and Quantum of Solace are the only Bond films I dislike and avoid; not a bad ratio out of 25) the odds of me liking it are pretty good (hell, I even consider Spectre to be one of the best Bonds ever, and I know that’s unpopular opinion). I was concerned about Phoebe Waller-Bridge being one of the writers due to my opinion that Fleabag is overrated (I know, another unpopular opinion), but that was before I saw her work on Killing Eve. If she brings some of that spirit to the film, it’ll work. Some of the things people are complaining about don’t bug me, especially regarding the 007 designation which belonged to somebody else before the events of the 2006 Casino Royale film and in all likelihood they’ll reboot continuity with whoever follows Daniel Craig anyway so none of that matters. They could kill Bond off and it wouldn’t make a difference.

Lower Decks Season 2: Speaking of unpopular opinion, Season 1 was one of the most pleasant surprises of last year. I think the backlash against Lower Decks is primarily a case that, for many fans, their dislike and disappointment of the current state of the franchise is so high that even if they do something good, it’s rejected automatically. I’ve given up on Discovery, have little interest in Picard (I had good things to say about it last year but it’s not aged well) and don’t care to see Strange New Worlds. So I was prepared to pooh-pooh on Lower Decks (I could have worded that a bit more elegantly; I dedicate that to Seth McFarlane) but, while it’s obviously a non-canon spoof, it still feels like Trek, which I cannot say for the current live-action shows. Basically that means it’s The Orville done for Star Trek. Which is fine, because it works better than Discovery’s and definitely Short Trek’s attempts at Orvilling (which in my opinion was about as entertaining as gerbilling - did I type that out loud?). And I think Beckett Mariner is the most interesting lead character of a Trek series in years. Speaking of The Orville...

The Orville Season 3: It’s in Red Dwarf territory right now in terms of it taking forever between seasons, and I am worried that being on Hulu might make it too edgy and turn away the many who latched onto it because Discovery was too edgy. But I have faith in Seth McFarlane, so eventually we’ll see it. If not, maybe I’ll give Avenue 5 a shot. Oh, and I am expecting Season 3 to be the end. It feels like getting it made - even taking C19 into account - was very difficult this time around and McFarlane sounds like he has a lot on his plate. If it does end, I hope somebody continues it in novel or comic book form (the comics have been incredible - seriously some of the best tie-ins I’ve read in years, and they’re canon too apparently thanks to being written by the show’s producer).

Magnum PI Season 4: It’s a sweet show and I watch it for the Magnum-Higgins ship (which is currently following the Clara-Danny trajectory). And I keep hoping co-star Perdita Weeks is able to recruit BFF Jenna Coleman to appear someday. So there’s that.

Legends of Tomorrow Season 7 and the conclusion of Supergirl Season 6. Another unpopular take is I happen to really like these two CW shows. Supergirl is calling it a day after 6 seasons, with the final season split into two parts, with the second half airing later this summer. Legends is still midway through S6 but has been renewed for a 7th. Both are fun, with Legends literally being the only show on TV that is legitimately unpredictable (seriously, this past week was a riff on Baby Yoda of all things - and no, Beebo was a riff on Furby. Different merch magnet, pay attention.), plus it’s most likely (IMO) the reason why John Constantine the character is unavailable for The Sandman series (which opened the door for Jenna Coleman to be cast as his ancestor Johanna, which is fine by me!).

Killing Eve Season 4: obviously. It’s only because of Jenna Coleman that you’re not getting wall-to-wall Jodie Comer on this blog. If she and Jenna are ever cast together in anything, I might need to call an ambulance.

Peter Capaldi’s debut album. It’s about time! No it’s not, that would be silly. And I don’t want to thank C19 for creating the circumstances that led to Peter doing a record. But still - a Peter Capaldi album is coming. It just better not be digital-only. I want to see him on the New Release rack at Sunrise Records.

So looks like I have a lot of stuff to occupy my time coming up!

[sienablackwood]

Well I gotta deliver at one point or another. Needed a bit to think about those (and about my uni essay). So thank you for tagging me @drippinlou

I tend to take my music taste too serious 🤣 so sorry beforehand. This might as well be hilarious.

1. What’s the first song you remember hearing?

Dragostea din tei - O-Zone

It was the year 2003 and this was played over and over again on the radio. So my kindergarten teacher let our group create a choreography to present at the annual summer get-together in front of our parents.

2. What’s the first band you got into?

Probably I should say Led Zeppelin or Metallica. My dad was a big fan and when he drove me somewhere we would headbang in the car and he told me all about the concerts he's been to and who was playing which instrument and from which drug addiction they where suffering.

My first band Obsession was 5 Seconds of summer. I wasn't a Directioner, I was one of the cool edgy kids I listened to 'punk rock'. No, I seriously felt like I'm definitely not like other girls.

3. Do you collect physical music?

No, usually I don't. I own a few albums only because I like the cover artwork but my CD-Player broke a few years ago. I try to manage my possessions digitally as much as possible.

4. What is your favorite piece of music memorabilia?

A Rock am Ring 1994 Festival memorial shirt. I of course was born 1999. It was my dad's shirt he gifted it to me when it didn't fit him anymore. My parents met at this festival so it's quite precious to me. My dad missed 'apparently' missed Rammstein because of her (I checked, Rammstein didn't play that year)

5. What’s your favorite concert that you’ve been to?

It's quite embarrassing but I've never been to a concert yet. When I discovered my genre of music the pandemic hit and before that I was never so much into a artist that I considered going to a concert.

6. If you could see any artist that’s no longer alive in concert, who would it be?

I mean of course the Beatles, who wouldn't like to see the beatles. But technically some of those bands are still touring but I would have liked to see AC/DC, Deep Purple and the Rolling Stones in the original lineup. I mean the seeing Michael Jackson or Amy Whinehouse would have been nice too. But most of the artists that I actively listen too are still in the business.

7. Have you met any musicians?

No. And I don't really aspire too. I saw a German Pop-Singer once in a restaurant, and even through I did listen to his music at the time I would never go up to them because of privacy reasons. I can fangirl online I don't have to bring that up to them.

8. What’s your go-to album when you’re feeling sad?

The 'Recovery'-Album from Eminem. It throws me back into my teenage self who had - compared to me now - very different problems and I've overcome them and that kinda means I will overcome the recent ones too. And I hate being sad, so getting into an angy mood sometimes is better than crying in the corner.

9. What’s your go-to album when you’re feeling happy?

I don't have an album but I've got a "sing along in the car"-Playlist with cringe euro dance stuff. Or my "Barbecue with Daddy"-Playlist with classic rock and old school metal.

10. What is one music documentary that you love?

Does "The Dirt" the Mötley Crüe Biopic count? I'm not overly into documentarys. I did like 'Rocketman' too and the festival documentaries of the Wacken Open Air.

11. What is one concert DVD that you love?

I dont own a single one. If I watch something on TV I'm gonna go for a movie.

12. Do you prefer listening to playlists or albums?

Definitely Playlists. The music needs to fit my mood. If it changes theme suddenly I get aggravated.

13. Do you listen to albums in order or on shuffle?

If I do listen to albums I don't care about the order - usually. Except if it's like one of those concept albums where the order really matters to tie together some story (like Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones by BVB - I love this album. Its teenage wanna-be-emo Toni in a nutshell) but I at least listen to any album in order once to determine if I should keep it that way.

14. What is your favorite deep cut song by your favorite artist?

I change favorite artists so often... and favorite songs too. But my all time go-to is probably "Breath of Life" by Florence and the Machine. I love this song. I can dance my heart out to it or cry in my bed.

Tags are open, y'all!

[gravelyhumerus]

You ever see a UFO in these parts?

Relationship: Jemily (if you squint)

Summary: Emily Prentiss likes The X-Files. It may or may not have been the reason she joined the FBI. One Shot. 

Word count: 1374

Read it on AO3

Emily Prentiss’s first thought after getting the call that she had officially been accepted into the FBI was that she could finally find out whether or not aliens were real.

Scratch that, her first thought was probably: oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I am finally employed! This is so cool! But right after her small freak out was the alien thing.

You see, Emily Prentiss spent most of the 90s extremely obsessed with The X-Files. She not only watched each and every episode live, but for Christmas she always bought herself each subsequent season on DVD. Watching two FBI agents search endlessly for the truth, despite the politics and bureaucracy was probably the best thing young, rebellious, daughter-of-a-diplomat Emily Prentiss could ever see.

Not to mention Gillian Anderson was in it. Need she say more?

Anyways, Prentiss had to start off her career at Quantico for training, where, like always, she strived to be the best in the class. She studied hard, trained hard, and stayed in line. She knew that any mention of something spooky like The X-Files would get her sent straight out of the academy, or even cause her to fail her psych evals. She didn’t want to go the way of the fictional Fox Mulder and get herself dubbed as Spooky Prentiss before she even became an agent.

Thus, like her nerdy love for literature and the likes of Kurt Vonnegut, Trainee Prentiss made sure to keep her minor obsession with aliens, cryptids and all things supernatural under wraps.

She wasn’t a true believer or anything. She didn’t identify with Mulder directly, having a heavy dose of skepticism about anything that science couldn’t explain. That being said, she knows that cover-ups, truth suppression and manipulation of reality was something that the bureaucrats the likes of her mother were well-versed in.

She would not put it past the American Government to hide something as big as aliens from the public.  

Agent Emily Prentiss thought she was being smart about her clandestine motives for looking into The X Files. She waited. She waited until she was no longer a rookie, that she had earned the respect of her peers and supervisors, so they knew she was not some kook before looking into things.

At the time, files were not quite digitized yet, with cabinets of file folders strewn about record rooms throughout the field office that she was stationed in. She looked into the drawer labelled X. Hence the name: The X-Files. Nothing except a few copies of X-Rays and a few victims or perps with the last name X.

She did this in every new administrative building, in every field office, and any government building that she had clearance to enter. She was pretty sure she had gotten placed on a watch list in her third year as an Agent.

Prentiss did not risk asking around, and as long as no one asked, she did not tell.  

At one office birthday, a party for her coworker, Agent Mills, she heard about a man in IT that was not as bright as her.

“I heard he lost his clearance,” was the whispered water-cooler talk she overheard. “He got unofficial desk-duty.”

“What did he do?” Prentiss asked.

“He wanted to look into a closed case,” her coworker whispered back, wide-eyed, “Teenage girls claiming to be abducted.”

“ Really ?” Prentiss, said, wide-eyed.

“No!” he replied, before the whole group burst into laughter at Prentiss’ expense. “What do you think this place is?”

The whole group burst into laughter as Prentiss’ face went hot with a blush. Emily vowed to keep her mouth shut from then on.

As time wore on, her suspicions did not fade, but the stakes got higher as she rose the ranks. A new agent might simply get canned for looking into the wrong thing, but Prentiss slowly had more to lose, more at stake. Emily Prentiss’ desire to uncover the X-Files got placed firmly on the back burner.

During her time in Interpol, Prentiss had much bigger things to worry about than monsters who may or may not be real. Monsters were in front of her and it was her job to take them down. Supernatural be damned, real horrors struck enough fear into her heart.

Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss’ first thought when she walked into the office of Penelope Garcia, FBI Technical Analyst, was that she was the kind of lady who would be able to find The X-Files. Or, whatever they were called in real life.

But, it was not the time to ask her that. The group looked at her with distrust, pretty much all of them except Agent Jareau, who was taking her on the tour of the offices and ‘showing her the ropes.’

Prentiss was new here, and growing up always being the new girl, she knew to keep her weirdness under wraps. She did not burst out into a nerdy rant when they had a case that looked suspiciously like vampires, or the time they had a case that truly seemed to have all of the markers of an alien abduction.

No, Prentiss did not say any of that, not at first, at least.

See, this team felt different somehow. After Prentiss almost quit—for the first time—after finding out she was a pawn of Erin Strauss’ vendetta against SSA Hotchner, she felt almost… welcome?

She started to be invited to things. Like girls night with JJ and Garcia, or foriegn movie night with Reid, or to drinks with Morgan after a long case. For the first time in ages, people seemed to like her, even her weird stuff.

After a few months, she found herself relaxing into this new routine and these new people. She slowly let her guard down, as far as she could reasonably manage, and revealed some of the things about herself that she normally held close to her chest.

She can only blame this, and the combination of pain pills she was taking for her recent injury she acquired in the hunt for the last unsub, for what happened.

A small knife to her side led Prentiss to needing minor surgery and a night in a small hospital in Nevada. She had awoken to JJ sleeping at her side and a bad headache that she learned was from the concussion caused by her head hitting the concrete after being stabbed.

Despite protesting, saying that she had been through worse, Prentiss was resigned to desk duty for almost two weeks after this incident. This meant that when the team was called away to Washington State for a new case, Prentiss was stuck sitting next to Garcia, sitting on her office chair that she had rolled down the hall.

Now back to the whole pain pills thing. Emily Prentiss didn’t react well to narcotics. She got a bit… loopy. And only a week after her surgery, finally back in the office after recovering at home, she was still needing quite a bit of medication to keep the throbbing of her side at bay.

So, when there was a lull in the case, with Garcia focusing on doing some more background research on their vics and herself flipping through some case files, Prentiss found herself blurting out something that she had spent her entire adult life avoiding.

“So you ever find out if aliens are real with that thing?” She said, gesturing to Garcia’s massive computer set-up.

Immediately after she had said it, she kicked herself, her own jaw dropping in surprise after hearing them fall out of her mouth. Prentiss was mortified. It was something that she thought she had been thinking not something she had any plans to actually say out loud.

See, she had noticed that Garcia could basically hack anything and anyone, and there was that whole Princess Diana thing from awhile back. She was thinking a lot about how if anyone could find the truth on the matter, it would be Penelope Garcia.

“Oh I knew I liked something about you,” Garcia said, spinning around in her chair, grinning at her. “What do you want? UFOs? Abductions? Probing? You know there’s always probing!”

Emily smiled. Maybe this was where she belonged after all.

[adultswim2021]

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law #1: "Bannon Custody Battle" December 30, 2000 - 4:30AM | S01E01 Welcome to the first episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, the first show on Adult Swim’s roster that I rejected as a substandard product. It should’ve been the Brak Show. In the opening episode, Birdman takes a case from Dr. Benton Quest, better known as Jonny Quest’s father. Race Bannon is fighting for custody of the boy, arguing that he’s a much better, much more present father figure to Jonny. Harvey Birdman was first conceptualized with an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. In the episode “Pilot” we’re shown a supposed disastrous pilot episode of “Coast to Coast” where Birdman was originally attached as the star. Birdman, a depressive, out-of-work super hero, utterly botches the job as his inability to host a late-night show due to his deriving all his powers from the sun becomes more apparent. The character recurs a few more times, most notably in the episode “Sequel”, where Birdman guest-hosts the show. Still, to call this a proper Space Ghost spin-off requires carrying a big asterisk along with it. The character name “Harvey Birdman” was invented for Space Ghost, but besides both being based on the old 60s Birdman Hanna-Barbera show, they have little to do with one another. One would get almost nothing out of watching the original Space Ghost episodes before watching this (except for, you know, getting to see episodes of a much funnier show).

So in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law you have one 60s Hanna-Barbera character as a lawyer taking court cases from various other Hanna-Barbera characters, usually of a similar vintage. In this particular episode we’re treated to a lot of jokes about the homoerotic subtext of Jonny Quest, specifically the relationship between Race Bannon and Benton Quest. The writers decide to tastefully side-step the seemingly pederast relationship between Race and Jonny. Watching the original Jonny Quest with the same attempt to subvert and recontextualize the relationships between the characters through a modern lens, a certain type of observer would probably note the amount of shirtless roughhousing Race does with Jonny. Speaking of watching Jonny Quest: I have to admit something: I never really watched Jonny Quest at all before writing this blog. I’ve had an interest in older shows and cartoons my entire life, but the entire genre of action cartoon didn’t appeal to me whatsoever when I was a kid. So last night I watched my first episode of Jonny Quest, in glorious 1080p on my new 4K television; a format it was never EVER intended to be viewed in. Jonny Quest is objectively junk. It’s fun, boyish, escapist entertainment, and there’s a lot of good irony in it, especially with it’s antiquated portrayal of other cultures from a bygone era when we were far less connected to the rest of the world. It has limited animation and simplistic design. The backgrounds look like they were painted on a post-it-note and most of the men are drawn to look like reskinned versions of Race Bannon. But there’s at least something a LITTLE charming about it. In fact, there was one moment of beautifully scripted action that absolutely won me over: Race and Jonny’s speed boat goes airborne briefly and crushes the bad guy’s boat from above as they speed towards one another. I nearly cheered when it happened. I knew The Venture Bros took liberally from Jonny Quest, but the coolest action sequences on that show seemed to be striving for the same exact visceral reaction I got from seeing Race crunch up some lizard men on a boat. Birdman is a similar deal: He was a cookie-cutter imitation of comic book heroes from the silver-age of comics (the obvious comparison here is DC’s Hawkman). I actually did watch a Birdman adventure late last night as I was falling asleep to follow up on Jonny Quest, but it felt less important. I can remember checking out the original Birdman on DVD not too long ago. Also, your typical Harvey Birdman usually focuses on jokes about shows other than Birdman. Still, it’s neat to see those characters in their original context, as well as that Hanna-Barbera stock-explosion animation we all know and love from Space Ghost blowing up Zorak on Coast-to-Coast. Also the episode I watched will be heavily referenced later, but not for this. I only watched the first episode of Jonny Quest taking a cue from my friend Kon who noted that most of the references in “Bannon Custody Battle” are directly from the first episode. The most specific (and funniest) scene in the whole show involves the Lizard Men, the main villains of that first installment. Other characters show up very briefly, and are all ones that appear in the opening sequence. Unless I find out differently (I’ll probably try to make my way through the rest of Quest in preparation for Venture Bros.), it really does seem like the writers just watched the first episode of Jonny Quest to write this show. Watching this episode of Harvey Birdman was like batting away an existential crisis. I remember vaguely at the time not being SUPER hot on this show, but I cut it a lot of slack and trusted that it would simply get funnier. I wanted to love all the shows on Adult Swim. Anyway, I went from being lukewarm on Birdman, to hating it. Reading my own earlier review of Birdman I blasted this episode for being homophobic. I used to have a very low tolerance for gay jokes, back when they were highly in fashion. But now that we live an era where there’s an arms race to find new ways to scold one another for perceived slights gay jokes can sometimes, NOT ALWAYS, be a little refreshing to hear. The fact that my stance on gay jokes can change as long as it’s in direct-opposition with the rest of the world is at least a little troubling. Does this mean I’m an inauthentic reactionary? Yes. Yes it does. There, I admitted it. Now, let me off the hook, please. I say that sorta jokingly. The gay jokes in this are mostly pretty lame, and come off like Mike Scully-era Simpsons gay jokes. The early scene at the beginning where Birdman eyes widen when he’s misunderstanding the nature of Dr. Quest’s and Race Bannon’s relationship really does come off as early 90′s homophobia. I remember it seemed out of place at the time. I’m sure it played just fine in the midwest, but the show didn’t really put it’s best foot forward with that. Speaking of lame jokes, this episode has a few that have nothing to do with insulting gay people. One of my least favorite bits involve the specific gag of undercutting a dramatic moment with characters fumbling around awkwardly in true-to-life fashion. Why, if a person tried to recreate a dramatic sting you’d see before a commercial break in real life, you’re right, it’d probably go awkwardly! But this 11 minute show has at least 3 explicit examples of this, and it’s only mildly amusing once:

Bannon dramatically walks out on Dr. Quest, after announcing his intention to take Jonny with him. He awkwardly comes back because he forgot his keys

Birdman dramatically argues with a rival prosecutor and summons his personal digital assistant, and then awkwardly fumbles with it

Birdman proves that the Race Bannon on the witness stand is actually a robot by unplugging him, but he accidentally pulls the wrong cord and has to spend a few seconds untangling and retracing the correct cord.

Another thing about Birdman is that there is usually a lack of strong jokes. The show usually includes a layer of comedy where there are simply characters who simply have odd, scattered speech patterns or odd ticks. The rival lawyer in this slurs his speech in a particular way: cut to the jury looking confused. That’s the joke. The Judge grumbles in an ornery fashion and generally acts like he doesn’t wanna be there. He says stuff that sounds like bad improv. That’s the joke. The show will only ocassionally come up with jokes to justify these character traits. It’s just silliness that doesn’t usually go anywhere. But, I do kinda like some things about this episode. It was animated by J.J. Sedelmaier, known for early digital animation seen in the crude era of Beavis and Butt-head and SNL’s TV Funhouse. They really do have their own style of comic timing, and there are some gags in this where the animation works in their favor. There are some jokes where the drawings really sell the comedy. I’m not sure if I liked this animation better or worse, but it does match the oddly-stilted Jonny Quest animation better than the episodes that came after this would have. Oh, one of the funniest bits not on the show was when I popped in the DVD I forgot that the menu music is Wesley Willis’ “Birdman Kicked My Ass”. If I were in high school when the DVD came out I would have loved it just for that reason. Same could be said “Jonny Quest Thinks We’re Sell-Outs” by Less Than Jake. I was an easily impressed kid.

[sandalaris]

DVD Commentary A: Lesson in Navigation - The End of Chapter 5? Starting with: "She wakes to the sounds of the shower running and an empty bed across the room." (it may be slightly longer than 500 words, but only by like 60, don't cut off this line: "It reminds her a little of the way he'd case a potential score, half-lost in the calculations and newly revealed details, and she fights a shiver, looking away as she ties her laces and stands." cause it's one of my favorites)

A. Send me any passage of 500 words or less from any fanfic I’ve written, and stick that selection in my ask. I will then give you the equivalent of a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what’s going on in the character’s heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you’d expect to find on a DVD commentary track.

She wakes to the sounds of the shower running and an empty bed across the room. There’s a pounding behind her eyes, a physical protest against the late night and too short hours of restless sleep, and an irritation at the world under her skin.

This was a mixture between my personal dislike of developing a crush, because it feels awful in the beginning and I don’t get anyone who says they like feeling that way, and my being convinced that Kate didn’t sleep well after her realization the night before that led to Kate waking up cranky and with a headache from a bad night’s sleep.

Not gonna lie, I’m a little proud of the line “an irritation at the world under her skin.” I made a point not to cut it when my editing almost reworded it in such a way that it didn’t work.

She wants to roll over and escape back into unconsciousness for a few more hours but the digital clock beside her tells her its already well into late morning. Her stomach grumbles in hungry protest as Kate slips from the bed, blinking groggily in the muted light from the curtained window. 

I probably spent way too long trying to figure out exactly what time motels stop serving breakfast, especially when I didn’t even specify what time it actually was that Kate woke up, but that’s a big part of writing, doing a bunch of research you never actually use. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the timeline so that I could stick as close to canon as I could, and I needed it to be late enough that they wouldn’t arrive at Uncle Eddie’s too soon but also wouldn’t have to skip out eating. Parts of the breakfast scene were already written and I really didn’t want to have to chuck them all and make them eat in the car.

The shower turns off and Seth appears a few minutes later clad in boxers and pulling his undershirt on over his head.

Seth was always going to come out in some kind of clothes, but I did amuse myself with the idea of writing him coming out in a towel and a flustered Kate grumpily dealing with that.

It’s such a small thing, I doubt anyone’s noticed or cares that much, but I try very hard to only call Seth’s white tanks “undershirts.”

Lingering patches of moisture glue the thin material along the lines of his chest and torso and Kate’s eyes catch and stick for a moment, a faint echo of heat pulsing low in her stomach.

Because now that Kate’s realized she’s attracted to him, she's going to notice such things in a way she didn’t quite before. And Seth seems like the kind of guy to not fully dry off before pulling some of his clothes back on (but not all, because pants on damp skin doesn’t work). They’ve also developed quite a bit of casual intimacy with each other by the time season two starts, and coming out in what is essentially his underwear falls under that.

I was also wanted to touch on the idea that Kate finds her feelings/attraction to him a bit inconvenient. Not only does she have to deal with everything else going on in her life, she’s now distracted by Seth in a damp undershirt and runs the risk of being caught staring.

I’m also asexual and do not understand the appeal of visual stimuli in a purely sexual context. I read a lot various slowburn romances dealing with sexual attraction in hopes that I could get Kate’s physical attraction/noticing of Seth across in this and the chapters following. I know this is just a short line, but “a faint echo of heat pulsing low in her stomach” was practically agonized over as I tried to figure out if that was something that was plausible. *shrug* It’s easier to imagine/write about when there’s touching and/or emotions involved.

He pauses when he sees her, gaze flicking down to her bare feet before coming back up to her sleep mussed hair.

“Sleeping Beauty finally wakes,” he greets almost cheerfully and Kate scowls at him.

It’s a cliche and I don’t care, Seth one-hundred percent noticed her wearing his shirt and only his shirt, especially with her just-out-of-bed hair. He’s also more than a little amused by Kate’s sleepy state, because sleepy people are adorable and you can’t convince me otherwise.

The fandom refers to Kate as a Disney princess enough that I just had to put a reference in as well. :P And Seth will take a teasing opportunity when it presents itself, especially after last night and her new awareness of him. And I’m stopping there because I do have his version of this scene written and I don’t want to spoil everything that’s going through his head.

And of course, grumpy!Kate.

Seth, she’d discovered shortly into their life on the road, is a morning person. Even when hungover he’s able wake-up fairly alert and ready to get moving, while Kate has always needed time to shed the lingering effects of sleep. “Get dressed. Breakfast ends in forty-five minutes.” 

“Yeah yeah,” she mumbles, rolling her eyes as she heads towards the now vacant bathroom.

I took most of that from canon and just expanded on it a bit. We only see him wake up the once, but he definitely got up and got moving really quickly. It wasn’t much to decide that he’s a morning person.

She finds her clothes folded haphazardly on the bathroom counter, pausing with a flash of muted embarrassment at the sight of her underwear sitting on top of her jeans.

It amused me to think of Seth catching sight of Kate’s clothes on the shower and then having to pull them down and poorly folding them. Just the domesticity of it, of sharing a living space with another person and all those little things that you end up doing/seeing. But it also takes on a different, more embarrassing context when you like someone and you realize they’ve seen your bra and panties sitting out.

It’s ridiculous, Seth must have seen every article of clothing she owns at some point or another, either when doing laundry or because life in one room motels doesn’t leave a lot of space for modesty, but there’s something about knowing he had to pull her delicates down from the top of the shower curtain that leave her self-conscious and eyeing the simple faded green cotton critically.  

I was thinking of those moments when you run into your crush and suddenly you’re thinking about how your shirt still has that coffee stain from this morning or how messy you’re desk/apartment/workspace/etc looks and just becoming suddenly self-conscious of how they are taking in you and your stuff. And again, the whole he saw her bra and panties thing and then had to move them out of the way.

She shakes it off, brushing her teeth and using the restroom quickly before pulling on her panties and jeans.

I’ll admit, this line was mostly because I didn’t want to forget that these are people and they need to do basic human things like use the restroom.

Her shirt from the day before is full of weird wrinkles and her bra still too damp from where the lightly padded cups absorbed their fair share of water and she hesitates only a moment before shoving them both in the plastic shopping bag.

Part of this was an excuse to get Kate in Seth’s shirt for a bit longer (for reasons), although the bra part was more inspired because I noticed Kate wears bras with slight padding and I know they can take too long to dry.

Folding the sleeves of Seth’s shirt up to her elbows and removing the smudges of make-up from below her eyes go a long way to making her look presentable, but she still morns the loss of her few cosmetics and face wash. Or god, even a hairbrush, running her fingers through her hair only does so much.

I hadn’t entirely realized the implications of Kate and Seth running into Carlos right after their dinner and then having to flee until the conversation Kate had with Sonja in the parking lot. (I’m a pantser, I set write something and then think about the consequences after :P) In the first draft, Seth didn’t come back with anything after getting a room so there was no bag or Tylenol for Kate’s headache or toothbrushes. But he also didn’t get much, and I wanted to show the consequences of running with virtually nothing and how much you miss the little things.

Seth’s brows knit together when he sees her, but he doesn’t comment.

Seth and seeing her wearing his damn shirt and the statement it implies... yeah...

He watches her though, throwing on his suit jacket and buttoning it closed as Kate pulls on her socks and shoes, something thoughtful and a bit intense behind his eyes. It reminds her a little of the way he'd case a potential score, half-lost in the calculations and newly revealed details, and she fights a shiver, looking away as she ties her laces and stands.

Seth is a strategist guy, and when he’s casing a job he’s figuring out angles and how to best approach. He knows how to work the job, how to study all the pieces and get everything set up to give himself the best possible outcome. Its a rather focused look he has, his attention devoted on gathering as much information as he can and working out the steps he’ll need to take. Not to imply that Kate is something he's going to steal (although he kind of already did that) or that he’s got some grand master plan here, but rather this newly discovered (on her part) possibility between them and the statement she’s subconsciously implying and just this shift in their relationship... there’s a strategy to courtship and Seth knows strategy.

“C’mon,” she mutters, shoving what little possessions they have into the bottom of her bag. “I’m hungry.”

I’ll be entirely honest, I struggled way too much with how to end this scene. I swear that line gave me more trouble than the rest of the scene combined.

[dalegoldberg]

Will movie theaters be relevant in a post-pandemic world? It's now up to you.

On Monday, the beloved Arclight and Pacific Theaters announced they’re closing for good. ArcLight Cinemas is arguably Hollywood's most cherished theater and Pacific has been a mainstay in Los Angeles since 1946. The announcement of their closing shocked many as another casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the company announcement, they said "This was not the outcome anyone wanted, but despite a huge effort that exhausted all potential options, the company does not have a viable way forward." One can understand how a movie theater might go under in the middle of a pandemic but I did find it interesting that they felt there was truly no way forward.

One might've expected some members of the Hollywood elite to come clamoring forward with a bucket of cash to at least front the company long enough to sustain it through the pandemic so that it could reopen when the time was right.

Back in 2014, Kodak faced a similarly dire situation (for different reasons, obviously) and was ready to close its doors. That was until J.J. Abrams, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Judd Apatow and other filmmakers banded together to save the floundering company. Their shared love of film compelled them to save the dying medium and, thanks to those filmmakers and their studio backers, the company is still alive today.

But that hasn’t happened with these theaters. I'm not saying that can't happen, of course. The announcement just came this week so time will tell. I will say, however, it sounds like the company may have already exhausted their options (in light of the no "viable way forward" statement).

The death of ArcLight Cinemas and Pacific Theaters may not just signify another casualty of the pandemic but may actually be a sign of the times. Even prior to the pandemic many were wondering, amongst cord cutting and increasing interest in streaming content, how much longer would movie theaters stay relevant?

The pandemic has shifted the world in general, of course, and one of those big changes coming post-pandemic may be a world where movie theaters have a drastically different business model. Perhaps, one that makes them unrecognizable to us as we know them today.

Does that seem like too bold a claim? Perhaps. Let's just look at the state of the business now.

The state of the business pre-Covid

Prior to the pandemic, movie studios were beholden to the theaters to release their movies in theaters for a certain period of time. So if Warner Brothers wanted to release "Godzilla vs Kong" in theaters, they would have had to wait 90 days before releasing the film on Blu-Ray or to a streaming platform. There was a bit of flexibility on this when it came to digital rentals but otherwise 90 days was the standard. Now, movie studios did have the option of by-passing the theatrical exhibition altogether if they wanted and just going straight to people's homes. Why didn't they?

One reason might've been the Paramount Consent Decrees. The Consent Decrees date back to 1948 when the Supreme Court ruled that movie studios had to separate their distribution operations from their exhibition operations. Essentially, studios were barred from owning movie theaters as it was seen as a monopolistic practice and not fair to consumers. At the time, the only way you could see a movie was in a theater. Gradually, over time, of course, that changed and technology enabled us to watch movies at home. We got VHS, then DVD's, then Blu-Rays, then iTunes Movies, then Netflix and so on. But the theaters remained as a mainstay. Why?

I know many of my friends would argue it's because there's no better way to see a movie than in a theater. If you said that twenty years ago I would have agreed. But today, I'd say that's become largely subjective given the technology available at home. From a purely business oriented perspective, though, there's a host of little reasons theaters remained important such as films not being eligible for Oscar nominations without a theatrical release and, possibly, because studios worried that bypassing theaters would result in further regulations by the courts.

But mostly, it's because we, the audience, were accustomed to theaters. It gave a film legitimacy when it was presented in a theater. It used to be that if a movie went “straight to home video” it was considered cheap and probably low budget. Because of that, even though the studios were giving up 50% of their revenue to the theaters, their gross still was greater than what home distribution netted them in the initial release window.

Even after the invention of Blu-Rays and iTunes Movies, studios were still sending movies to theaters (1) because it was a huge source of revenue and (2) because it helped market the movie. The movie’s success at the box office gave us a reason to want that movie at home.

A shift in Public perceptions

There's a growing number of people that no longer think that way. If a movie goes to streaming now (the new home video), we no longer assume the movie is cheap or low budget. The content on streaming is just as good as the stuff we're seeing in theaters. There’s been a massive shift in our perception of what great “cinema” is. Yeah, you might still wanna' see some things in theaters but it doesn’t cheapen the movie for you if you don't.

And that’s a big problem for theaters. The leverage they’ve had over the studios up till now has been the Consent Decrees and our perception of what great cinema is. Significant, no doubt, but those two things have changed. In August of last year, the Paramount Consent Decrees were terminated with a two-year sunset period on certain aspects of the Decrees all but ensuring that studios could now vertically integrate if they wanted to. Or just bypass the theaters altogether - as some studios already have been experimenting with.

Even at the start of the pandemic, many movies were removed from theaters and sent straight to streaming with studios reporting that the revenue gained from VOD and online rentals rivaled the profit gained from theatrical distribution. As various studios like Paramount and Warner Brothers enter the streaming game alongside Disney (Disney Plus, Hulu) and Netflix, they too are experimenting. As you may have heard, Warner Bros. is releasing all their movies this year on their streaming platform HBOMax on the same day the films are released in theaters (a practice known as "day and date"). No doubt, the bean counters at Warner Bros. will be looking to see if this is a practice that should stay. It’d be fair to say that these experiments are not true representations of reality given the state of the world we’re testing this new distribution model with. But it is changing our perception of how important movie theaters are.

Studios are altering the deal

During the pandemic, theaters have been brought to their knees and have been forced to renegotiate certain terms with the studios including the release window between theatrical and home distribution. Most studios now have negotiated a home release date that comes just 17 days after the movie debuts in theaters - far shorter than the original 90 days.

This, of course, can be argued to just be a by-product of the pandemic. Theaters don't have leverage now but once the pandemic is over they will and they'll renegotiate. Right?

That really hinges on whether or not audiences still think a movie has more value if it was presented in a theater before they got to see it at home. Does it enhance the movie for me if it gets shown in a theater or am I just as interested (or maybe even more interested) in seeing it if it is sent straight to my home?

Other big changes are happening

There's other factors to consider as well. One might be the massive shift of homeowners into the suburbs and away from the city during the pandemic. Many employers are making it possible to work from home (a trend that will likely continue post-pandemic as the internet improves and more businesses see the benefits of a remote workforce) resulting in a mass exodus from cities to suburbs. Living in the suburbs means you don’t have the same pull of massive audiences in large gatherings the way you used to. We’re also investing more in our homes to make them enjoyable places to not only live but play as well. It’s a shift in our culture.

Another factor is that our perception of long form content has changed. Episodic television used to be where big movie stars went to end their careers after a career starring in movies. Now, it’s the reverse. A lot of stars are starting in television rather than finishing there because we (the audience) love binging on serialized content and when we’re not binging episodes we’re watching four hour movies (The Irishman, Zack Snyder's Justice League). Those experiences don’t work well in theaters where you’re stuck sitting in the same place and can’t hit the pause button.

Ultimately, the biggest factor might be what it usually comes down to - money. Before the pandemic audiences were already lamenting about the cost of movie tickets. A single afternoon of me taking my wife and kids to see the latest Disney movie in a theater could cost me $50 - $60 just for admission (not to mention the cost of food and drinks). But during the pandemic I was able to rent “Mulan” for $30 from comfort of my own home. Or, if I wanted, I could just wait three months and then see it as part of my regular Disney Plus subscription (which I was already paying for anyways so I could watch “The Mandalorian”).

As things open back up, many people are not necessarily swimming in money and, while I think the Covid relief packages have probably helped, a lot of people are still hurting and will be looking for any which way to save money. It seems unlikely that theaters will be able to lower their costs at this point given the need to recoup their losses from the pandemic and the probable need to make new investments in their facilities to stay competitive. They will need to get creative to show real value to audiences that might be reluctant to rush back in to theaters.

So what will happen to theaters post-pandemic?

For those of you worried I’m predicting doomsday for theaters - relax. I think theaters are probably here to stay regardless of what happens. They’re too much a part of what movies are to simply disappear. That said, they are a business and, currently, a failing one. What they look like post-pandemic doesn’t look great, from my perspective, unless the business model changes.

One possible scenario is that theaters become like playhouses or music festivals. In other words, they’ll still exist but in fewer quantities and will become more niche, featuring elevated experiences centered around tentpole movie properties which audiences are willing to pay a premium for (think “Top Gun: Maverick” or “Godzilla vs Kong”). I can see this form of adaptation working well in everyone’s favor.

Another possibility is that the studios buy out the movie theaters. The termination of the consent decrees has made that a real possibility. And then, once they’ve purchased them, build brand experiences centered around their properties. Something like miniature Disney Lands. They would most likely close a significant number of locations leaving only the flagships they felt would bring in a large audience and use them to promote the movies on their slate. A company like Disney with a large library of films could also use the theaters as a means of re-presenting old films from their library, borrowing a tactic from LucasFilm, and refresh old content to make it new again for theatrical. In essense, the net effect would be the same as in the first scenario: fewer theaters, more niche experiences.

I say this because it is somewhat unclear, to me at least, how the current model can persist if studios own theaters. Yes, they’d control theatrical distribution but they’d likely only be purchasing a theater to distribute their own movies. Would a company like Paramount, who’s only releasing seven movies this year, see the value of owning a theater chain? Even Disney’s slate only consists of 14 movies. To make the business viable (at least as it exists now), they would have to present movies from other studios. Would one studio trust that the studio in ownership of the theater was giving them a fair number of screens for presentation? It seems untenable under the current model.

What happens next is really up to you

The biggest change from the pandemic is that we as audiences have changed the way we look at movies. We’re ok with watching movies at home and, thus, the leverage theaters have to negotiate longer release windows between theatrical and home distribution has all but disappeared. The artificial pillars that made theaters a necessity are all but gone. And yes, the Oscars will likely still require that movies be released in theaters to be eligible for nomination but the standards of what a "theatrical release" means do not require as vast a distribution as you might think (see page 2, sub-section D of the General Entry rules). Plus, let's be honest - not all movies are meant to be Oscar contenders.

So really, the only thing to keep theaters relevant now is you - the audience. My prediction is that we’ll initially see some high demand for theaters as cities are re-opened and we try to return to our regular lives. But after we get back to a sense of normalcy (whatever that means in the future) we’ll see how much audiences really want to keep paying $20 per ticket to see a movie when they could just pay $30 once to rent it at home with the entire family or binge the new hot show on Netflix / Amazon / Apple TV/ Paramount Plus / Disney Plus / Hulu / Peacock / whatever else is out there.

At that point, the studios will do some math and if the profit they’re making from streaming outweighs the profit from the box office, theaters won’t have much of a leg to stand on. That is, unless audiences continue to demand theaters be a relevant part of the movie watching experience. Without considerable innovation on behalf of the theaters, though, I question how likely that is to happen.

[makeitquietly]

A quick recap of what criticism I remember reading about this Blu-ray set: nobody agrees about the picture quality, or on which films it’s best/worst, but it’s on the waxy/soft side mostly because of too much digital cleaning or whatever, the sound is said to be good, some hissing, out of sync in the 1936 version of Berth Marks, extras are good too, no Blu-ray logo on the case, no booklet, awkward menu always reverts back to beginning, no play-all possibility, the films are not in the order of making/release.

But a lot of people worked very hard for a long time to make this set available. Which is why nothing negative should be said about it? Eh. Next time go for quality instead. Or don’t sell your product. Make it a fanwork.

Anyhow, if I was all powerful and had commissioned someone to restore these films, I’d make them go back and do it again if this set was presented to my ruling eyes.

OTOH, I paid 99 euros for this package and have had lots of fun with it and if there’d been Stan’s scrapbook (pages) amongst the galleries, I’d happily paid double. It’s not about the money spent except when people imply that negative reviews aren’t allowed. I’d paid 99 euros for the galleries alone.

It’s about the fact that the films aren’t as well restored as they should/could be. Beyond me, why it’s so difficult to admit. And it’s clearly not only an issue of getting waxified during some final cleanup or somehow being ruined when transferred to Blu-ray disks.

Any idiot (me) knowing nothing about the processes involved can easily confirm this by watching how different films on the same disk have different quality, likewise first reel can be almost okay, the second much worse, scenes and cuts have often annoyingly varying quality, even single frames look like they came from different prints and nothing was done to make them fit more seamlessly in their surroundings. And I’m not talking about that one wandering frame in Scram!, which must be some person’s idea of a joke, how else could it be so out of place?

Or didn’t anyone watch these that one last important time since it wasn’t removed, nor were the countless spots still there in most of the films? I know, when things get cleaned up that one remaining crumb is much easier to spot... er... see my point?

There are also jumpy frames, which I imagine would’ve been easy to adjust, and to prevent those ubiquitous flashy cuts, you’d only needed to adjust the brightness of that single frame causing the flashing. Even I have done that on GIMP when making gifs. I’m guessing too much contrast on, say, Me and My Pal isn’t a problem created by the wax people either.

The ridiculously softly glowing Brats might be, there’s an awful lot of glowing in One Good Turn too, and in parts of Sons of the Desert, for example, where faces are dangerously close to have that overly scrubbed look, which is a big problem in The Chimp and Come Clean.

When it comes to wax, Helpmates and County Hospital are the most hideous, the latter must be the worst looking of all the films in this set, being also awfully spotty as well as too dark. It’s got other faults too, like wonky frames. The Music Box has a pretty decent first reel (except for the opening scene), and despite not being able to see the stripes on Stan’s and Ollie’s pants because of too much contrast, Me and My Pal is also clearly better wax-wise in the first reel.

It’s interesting to watch some of these films for the first time, thinking that this is crap quality picture, but then the second reel is even worse and suddenly there’s a whole new level of crappiness.

I think the sound is ever so slightly out of sync for a bit in Way Out West and One Good Turn. At least it is compared to those same films on my 21 DVD set. In addition to being very clearly out of sync in that Berth Marks reissue like others have noticed. Berth Marks also has a weird stripey “cover” over the actual film. I suppose it was impossible to remove.

Even with some sync problems, if I had to choose the best restorations from this new collection, Way Out West would be on my list, together with Busy Bodies, Hog Wild and Towed in a Hole. Some parts of Sons of the Desert look gorgeous. With grain and all. Pretty much like Atoll K but unfortunately not as consistently. (Atoll K was restored by different people, I gather.)

The much anticipated but already online for free since 2019 The Battle of the Century then? Well, the first reel is quite good, or would be if it wasn’t a weird blend of an ugly greenish yellow or yellowish green. Sepia isn’t what it used to be. And I would’ve thought they’d made sure to get all those black spots removed at least from this one what with it being one of the “new” things on this set. The second reel is worse except colour-wise. But at least it’s there complete with Charlie Hall and the “what pie fight” ending.

Haven’t mentioned The Midnight Patrol, Their First Mistake or Twice Two yet. The last two are pretty evenly waxy, and comparing The Midnight Patrol to Come Clean and The Chimp makes it not that bad. There’s no actual need to bleach faces or an excuse for Billy Gilbert’s patternless shirt, is there?

For me the treasures from this set can be found on each disk under galleries. Even for those not interested in scripts, press material, posters and assorted documents, there are circa 1,400 photos, many of which really are rare, or at least I’d never seen them before. One of the gems are the about 140 photos from Babe’s Vim days. Awesome! Nothing as gemmy from Stan’s past before Laurel and Hardy, and someone put wrong names on the photos where he appears with the Hurleys, not the Cookes. Yes, there’s a short, handy description for most of the photos. 

So many of them and I must peruse more, of course, but I’m going give a special mention to Stan with both Loises on the set of Brats for adorableness and likewise to Thelma Todd for previously unseen (by me) variations from her photoshoot on that bathroom set. Love the six new-to-me photos of Stan and Babe together on the 1932 British tour especially. Great stuff. Oh, and Mae Busch, Dorothy Christy and Charley Chase in their Sons of the Desert portraits look fabulous.

Another treasure are the interviews with only a couple of slightly dubious moments. Joe Rock made me grin. George Marshall made me cry. Walter Woolf King made me laugh. Most wonderful. Short introduction by Randy Skretvedt for each interview. He’s the one who did the interviewing too. There’s 15 of them altogether. Plus a chance to hear composer Marvin Hatley perform Honolulu Baby and Will You Be My Lovey-Dovey. The audio only interviews come with some more great photos.

I kind of adore how Richard W. Bann casually debunks Anita Garvin’s The Battle of the Century story with one dry line during his commentary of the film. Hurts so good. Let’s have more debunking!

Speaking of the commentaries, and maybe more about them on some other occasion, Bann only comments The Battle and The Music Box, all the rest, including That’s That and The Tree in a Test Tube have commentaries by Randy Skretvedt.

I was expecting Bann to tell the whole story of why it took so long to get The Battle on video but he didn’t; fair enough, I thought, but then in his other commentary he goes on about his grudge with a dead guy, so I guess it was not his, um, politeness that stopped him from dishing on the much more recent and therefore interesting stuff. What then?

Perhaps a third person sharing the commentary duties would’ve been a good idea. That was my thought when Skretvedt obsessed over Stan’s smoking for the third time. By obsessed I mean he listed all the films where, according to him, Stan smokes. What for, you may wonder. I did. No answer. I remember reading somewhere that Stan not smoking in the movies means he’s a child. (Yes, some Laurel and Hardy fans are somewhat weird sometimes. Aren’t we all?) Maybe Skretvedt was trying to debunk that theory? Hehe, okay, I know he wasn’t, because he did the “they’re children, Hal Roach said so” routine in his Their First Mistake commentary, complete with Charles Barr quotes to prove there’s nothing gay about Ollie liking Stan more than his own wife. Made me fume. I don’t know why. Nothing new.

I don’t know why it doesn’t occur to him that if Ollie didn’t spend so much time with Stan, Mae wouldn’t be the lonely, disappointed wife who ends up wanting a divorce after one too many lies from Ollie and accuses Stan of alienation of Ollie’s affections. But no, apparently it’s no wonder that Ollie likes Stan more than his wife because she hits him with the broom. So the hitting came first and then too much time spent with Stan? I don’t think so.

Anyhow, third person, more variety, something newer, or at least an explanation for Stan’s smoking being of particular importance. Ollie’s smoking isn’t mentioned. Also, to digress even more, I always found the claim that Stan doesn’t smoke because he is a child odd, not only because he does, but also because he drinks alcohol too and manages to be married in several films. But the Laurel & Hardy child squad of course thinks the wives are actually their mothers. (Yes & again, weird.)

I did and do also wonder if there would’ve been anyone available and even if there had been, if these old school fans had accepted someone with different views. Probably not.

Still waiting for Skretvedt to notice Stan’s camera looks. Maybe he just hasn’t been a fan for long enough yet... 😛

I’m out of steam now. Need to rehydrate.

One more thing: No booklet, so maybe nobody involved wanted to spread about their name more than absolutely necessary knowing the restoration work was, shall we say, uneven?

Tl;dr: Uneven restoration work. Great extras. Mostly interesting commentaries.