ThaOGDreamWeaver

Slight industry side note: Bob Iger has first sidelined and then abruptly terminated Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter, who was, according to reports, trying to lead a palace coup against Kevin Feige. What also didn't endear Ike to Bob was using his shareholding to help an activist investor join the board (trust me, they can be trouble.) The comics division Ike was relegated to will be folded into Disney Entertainment. One hopes they find a nerd who knows what they're doing with them. Even if QM doesn't seem to have caught fire, Feige is still the golden boy and he has plans. I just wish he'd revise them a bit to make better flicks. The bigger story (on the FT, but paywalled), is that Disney needs to find seven thousand job cuts to balance the box - around 3% of their worldwide workforce - plus spinning off Hulu and ESPN to hit their new, partly activist-induced business plan. So QM underperforming at the box office - and potentially putting a question mark over the Multiverse franchise expansion - is now putting the almighty bottom line at risk and investors on guard. But to fix both problems, they need to take more risks, not less.

As the storm clouds gathered, and bright flashes of lightning split the sky, our party ventured out to a place they had not been in years... ....that dark, cavernous, mysterious space, wherein the dread guardians would first demand FOURTEEN BLOODY QUID EACH FOR A TICKET ARE YOU BLOODY JOKING? Sheesh. Some things have definitely changed at the flicks post-pandemic. As for the movie...

Confirmed on the @StarWars twitter. Yup, it's him, fully canon. And whether that was practical effects or CGI, that's a massive improvement on Cad Bane from the last series.

I'm enjoying the heck out of it right now. One odd question - I went Elec/Elec/Elec: wondering about dropping Tough and Weave in a respec and just getting the Elec resist in favour of more offensive powers. Whatcha think?

Just fancied a wrasslin' toon - and, Saraya Knight (aka Paige) being from my home town, she'd be my base character. What powersets would you pick? Street Justice seems like the obvious choice. Looking to build as much flair and fun into an all-out attacking, fast-moving playstyle as possible, rather than minmax DPS etc.

Having not had a chance to catch Quantumania yet, what I'd noticed - even before this flick - is that in the urgency to set up a universe, they forget that each movie has to work as a unit, with a beginning, middle and ending, and plot and character development along the way. For example, Empire Strikes Back hits all of those notes, and ties all but the two key loose ends - Han and Luke - up when credits roll. Audience satisfied but wanting more. DS:MoM worked as a complete movie, introducing the Multiversal concepts, and only glued on the next chapter tag in post-creds. QM seems more of featherlight amuse-bouche for whatever they've got coming next, but clearly not enough bouches are amused. VFX teams are unionising now - and without going full activiaaaaaAAAHHH [thump] ...sorry, trashcan incident - that is a Good Thing. 80 hour weeks with executives hanging over your shoulder, demanding individual details be tweaked or rerun without budgeting either time or money for creative changes, do not good product or happy teams make. Particularly if said execs haven't quite settled the creative look of the flick with the director, and have a marketing deadline to meet where cash has already been spent.

Samara Joy - Guess Who I Saw Today?

/em holdtorch I've read multiple tributes to the guy on socials, and the universal comment is - aside from his fine work - what an utterly lovely guy he was to be around. I know it's not a 100% guarantee, but... I think, based on the evidence, those tributes are probably right. The evidence: May he rest in light. Preferably somewhere where there's dogs.

What I do have a problem with... and this is the first time you'll hear me say this about Pedro content...

So, finished up series 1, with less emotional support drinking required for the last two episodes. So, a great series, so many candidates for standout performance, directing and editing. But where do we go from here? They've more or less 100%'d part 1 of the game plus the Left Behind DLC. Part II was greenlit on January 27th, even before normal humans got to see the Bill & Frank episode (but the critics had screeners by that point...), which is one hell of a vote of confidence. Thoughts:

WAIT how could I forget this one... ...Scoob's also had quite the guest list recently... plus KIss, Elvira and Bill Nye in the movies.

Having had a quick Google, there are quite a few more where real folks show up in comics: Eminem vs Punisher (not sure that's gonna go well for Detroit) Muhammad Ali + Superman Spidey + Barack Obama (I'd always wondered if he'd show up as a shield-wielding hero called Barricade. Though I guess it'd be tough fitting the ears under the Spandex) Charles Barkley vs Godzilla (still no match for the big lizard's 3pt game, though)

Posting this, mainly because I want to know if the below is real or fanart... ...though I have a sad feeling it's not. What's the oddest crossover that you've seen - and is there anything you'd like to see? Personally: Sherlock (Cumberbatch/Freeman edition) vs their Marvel counterparts. GotG x Firefly Firefly x Star Trek (which I ran as a light-RP group on STO for a bit...)

I don't recognise them . But if you notice, they aren't playing effectively together or operating as a team, which is, well, critical to surviving madmen's mazes, caverns of doom, or endless warehouses filled with Clockwork. Hence, doomed. Also, while the other contestants are listed on IMDB as Dragonborn Contestant, Wizard Contestant, etc, the other group are Eric, Bobby, Diana, Sheila, Presto and Hank. OMG. Just had a thought. If they don't make it, who's gonna take care of Uni? *sad maaah*

That would not be who I was thinking of. (Unless Baldur's Gate also wrote them in...)

Another clip from the flick. I'm slightly worried when PR bomb us with all these bits. I think they're worried it ain't gonna play (and it is a big, high-concept swing. Lego Movie, which seems like a similar idea and style to me, did great on word of mouth as much as anything else.) And this is at least half of one of the big setpieces. So you might not wanna watch this. You've been warned. ...but that said... I did start laughing like a drain about 1 minute in.

Final trailer is up - and is that a Mind Flayer?

Önnu Jónu Son (aka Haraldur "Halli" Thorleifsson) - Almost Over You

Metallica - Lux Æterna

Ray Charles & The Blues Brothers - Shake A Tailfeather

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Lupin The 3rd (1978 version)

I didn't know Feige was up to anything (and generally don't admit if I do, since I don't want the ninja robots after me again). Rogue Squadron's demise we kinda knew about, but I thought with Patty's schedule being cleared post DC reboot it was back on. Guess not.

Ezekiel 25:17 would have been funny. As it is, the one they're claiming is appropriate for the fate of Mandalore. Have to admit, if I ever get round to writing a Star War (chance'd be a fine thing) I'd drop my family's Life Day Pudding recipe in Aurabesh and see if they worked that one out.

Thoughts: