Weekend Read: Nov 26-ish, 2022
GLASS ONION, What I read/watched during my Thanksgiving vacation, etc.
My favorite Thanksgiving 2022 moment? By far, when my high school senior daughter asked, unprompted, “Dad, how much money do you think Netflix left on the table by not putting GLASS ONION in theaters longer than a week?”
#ipromisedmyselfiwouldn’tcry
We just got back from seeing it in a nice big theater - it’s polished and charming and funny and everything the trailer promises, definitely worth seeing with a crowd. The Americana’s theaters were packed all weekend (my daughter kept checking), our Sunday evening audience was enthusiastic throughout, and the Rotten Tomatoes scores are still over 90%. I’d guess they could have cleared $100m domestic from a 3 weekend run on 4000 screens (without adjusting their marketing spend). So…maybe a $100m loss for Netflix?
If you subscribe to this newsletter I hardly need to describe the Iger of it all, let alone point you to the cascade of “WTF?!” stories that started Sunday night (November 20). Nevertheless, I found the following commentary to be most incisive (and least subject to corporate spin).
Matt Belloni’s “What I’m Hearing…” take the morning after was solid: The Iger Shocker. And his podcast with Lucas Shaw that Monday was well observed, too.
The Information’s Martin Press had the semi-anti-Iger take on Tuesday: Bob Iger Won’t Be Able to Solve Disney’s Biggest Problem
The Ankler published a nice roundup of the conventional wisdom (pro & con) this morning here: The Week of Iger Bloodshed.
I’m not one to pay much attention to actor profiles (especially during Awards Season), but I was curious where Brendan Fraser had been in the few years before he resurfaced (to great acclaim) in THE WHALE. His GQ interview covers it pretty well. Worth reading.
History may not repeat itself, but what is it with the WGA and striking on the verge of recessions? I appreciated UTA’s Jeremy Zimmer’s attempt to get out in front of what conventional wisdom says is the biggest issue (evaporating profit participations) via this op-ed in the Reporter.
For what it’s worth, I think the issue is going to solve itself now that Netflix and Disney have launched ad tiers (and HBO Max isn’t far behind). The “Streaming Only” model is over; theatrical windows for the right movies is the obvious move, and library licensing of streaming originals is a foregone conclusion as well.
That said, I worry the WGA will cut off its nose to spite its face and focus on yesterday’s issues, instead of tomorrow’s.
In a perfect world, the guilds would work together to chart a path back to Hollywood’s heyday (circa mid-1990s to mid-2000s), when writers rooms were full, full season orders meant 22 instead of 10, and Variety’s “Facts on Pacts” chart took up more than one 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper. Martini Shot’s and The Ankler’s Rob Long had a pithy piece in Commentary this week that illustrates the difference between then and now.
Totally off topic: This Quantian post about applied mathematics is incredibly satisfying if you’re a data geek like me. I’m about as far from a mathematician as it gets and just barely understand the handful of included equations, but I was captivated by the idea of someone figuring out the yield of an early nuclear weapon test based solely on a photograph of the explosion. (Plus I learned the term “stoichiometry,” and was unreasonably pleased to discover my daughter already knew what it meant.)
I took advantage of the 5-day weekend by reading more fiction and watching more stuff than usual. Here’s what I packed in (on top of FIFA World Cup as well as NFL):
Reads:
WARCROSS and WILDCARD, by Marie Lu - I was in the mood for a fireside YA sci-fi metaverse-y experience and had heard good things about Warcross. It was exactly what I was looking for and had the vibe I expected. It’s not quite a Recommend, but definitely a Consider if you like this kind of thing.
Watches:
BLACK ADAM - as disappointing as I’d heard, an utter waste of DJ’s charisma
AVATAR - holds up, in that what was good about it when it first came out still feels good, and now I feel ready for the sequel next month
KNIVES OUT - holds up, and now that I’ve seen the sequel, I kinda prefer this one’s somewhat unpolished quirky charm
GLASS ONION - solid Recommend
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL - worth watching, silly but charming, Kevin Bacon is everything you want him to be
WEDNESDAY (S1:E1) - solid Recommend, great casting, perfect tone (I wish THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY had threaded its needle this well)