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Post by GTCGreg on Dec 25, 2019 14:35:18 GMT
Are usually avoid the reviews until after I see a movie. And when I do going to see one, my expectations are usually fairly low. That way, it’s an easy bar for the movie to exceed them. Although I have to say, that some movies have proven my expectations to be exceedingly too high.
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Post by the light works on Dec 25, 2019 15:50:39 GMT
I agree. there are some artistic decisions I would have made differently, if I was writing it, but the one biggest thing I would change is NOT letting a different guy write chapter two than wrote 1 and 3. overall; Doomcock can suck it. I stopped watching those links a long time ago. A little too much “There is a girl in it it must be bad.” and "they did it wrong because they didn't get the results I wanted" |
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Post by the light works on Dec 25, 2019 15:56:48 GMT
Are usually avoid the reviews until after I see a movie. And when I do going to see one, my expectations are usually fairly low. That way, it’s an easy bar for the movie to exceed them. Although I have to say, that some movies have proven my expectations to be exceedingly too high. there used to be a reviewer whose taste ran almost opposite mine, so I knew if he panned the movie, I would like it, and if he liked it, I wouldn't bother watching it. but for me the true kiss of death is a best picture academy award nomination. if the academy loves it, I know there is a good chance I won't like it. |
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Post by Cybermortis on Jan 25, 2020 2:37:27 GMT
Well just as Disney was hoping, nay praying for no more drama from Lucasfilm...along comes Kathleen Kennedy once again to screw things up.
The Obi-Wan 'series' which was due to hit Disney+ has been placed on Indefinite Hiatus, meaning that the entire production staff have been 'let go'.
I'll let Grace Randal explain the complexities here. And yes she does seem to be tooting her own horn a bit, but her comment about people trying to discredit her means I'll give her a pass here.
This comes on the back of the performance of Episode IX. I said 'Heck, it may have trouble hitting a Billion' and turns out that I was right, much to my surprise. It has limped over the Billion mark but has yet to match the box office of Rogue One, although I'd expect it to at least match that it is clearly not going to come close to the box office for Last Jedi.
This is a huge problem for Disney, since while Rogue One made money (I estimated between $150-200 million) it had a much lower budget. As I noted my estimate was (depending on how much they really spent on the reshoots and reedits) it would probably need to pull in around $1.2 Billion to break even.
There is also Ride of the Resistance at the parks. Everyone who's been on the rides says the same thing; It's great.
That is IF you can get on the damn thing. Turns out that when the 'Imagineers' at Disney said that the ride wasn't ready and need several more months to iron out the bugs they, surprise surprise, actually knew what they were talking about. Unlike the 'suits' who ignored them. The rides at both parks are breaking down practically every day, which doesn't help the already long wait times.
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Post by ironhold on Apr 22, 2020 6:13:15 GMT
A key figure at distributor Diamond Select Toys has claimed in an official interview that toy sales for 7 and 8 were indeed quite poor.
This backs up what I and others have noted via pictures and other recording methods of unsold product at retail.
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Post by the light works on Apr 22, 2020 15:24:34 GMT
A key figure at distributor Diamond Select Toys has claimed in an official interview that toy sales for 7 and 8 were indeed quite poor. This backs up what I and others have noted via pictures and other recording methods of unsold product at retail. meanwhile, we got our copy of episode 9 and did our first rewatch last week. |
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Post by Cybermortis on Apr 22, 2020 20:59:44 GMT
The situation at Disney is dire. Five weeks into the shutdown and they have either had to take out loans or secure credit to the tune of some $6.2 BILLION. This would work out as a loss of a Billion $ per week.
Now insiders are reporting that Disney is planning for everything being shut down for the rest of 2020. This is actually understandable as both a worse case scenario and factoring in the time its going to take to reopen the parks, cinemas (or what is left of them) and how little customers they are likely to have for quite some time.
Basic math's would indicate that, including existing debts, that if in effect Disney is shut down until January 2021 the company could be looking at a total debt heading towards $200 Billion. And this isn't including the costs of all the work that is going to be needed to reopen the parks. Even cutting where possible it is likely that Disney is most likely looking at a deficit of around $150 billion by January 2021.
It seems inevitable that Disney is going to have to start raising capital by selling off existing assets just to stay afloat. They can try spinning things and publicly claiming that all is fine and dandy. But neither the shareholders nor other businesses are going to be taken in by such things. Nor are the banks or investors.
I suspect that the first to go will be the cruise line. The two(?) ships under construction in Germany will be cancelled. While increasing their debt in the short term this will not leave them with expensive hulks to pay for in the long term. I also wouldn't be too surprised if they sell off some of their existing ships. If indeed they don't decide to close down the cruise lines and sell off all the ships outright - even sold as scrap they are worth something.
Studio wise I suspect that Pixar will remain, if somewhat smaller than it is right now. It's not in itself a big earner but has on the whole been consistent.
Marvel Studios will remain, its their only big hitter, but I'd expect fewer films and projects released simply due to Disney not really having the money to support multiple big budget films at once for quite some time. Marvel comics however is going to be closed, with the rights to the comics being leased out of whomever wants them.
Lucasfilm is a different matter. Even Disney couldn't hide the fact that Lucasfilm has been actively costing them money. I would not be too surprised if Disney ends up selling Lucasfilm off, with part of the agreement being that they can continue to air TV/Streaming shows. Even half what they paid for it, heck a quarter, would go a long way towards covering the costs of reopening the parks.
Streaming services; I think Disney will have to get rid of either HULU or Disney+. My money is on HULU, mainly out of Corporate pride, although those shares are something they can actually sell and get money from.
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Post by ironhold on Apr 22, 2020 21:12:54 GMT
This goes back to my noting that they could have made some easy money if they'd monetized the anime they got when they purchased Saban, especially that season of Transformers.
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Post by the light works on Apr 23, 2020 0:01:11 GMT
it would make good business sense for them to find someone who can afford to sit on some boats to buy out the cruise line. that is a property that costs money just for it to exist. the studios, on the other hand, are a lot less maintenance intensive to sit idle, and they can actually do animation work under social distancing. the parks also cost money while they sit idle, but I really can't see them walking away from those. personally, I'd like to see them dump proprietary streaming services and go back to licensing their property to netflix, but I'm sure there are egos involved, there.
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Post by Cybermortis on Apr 23, 2020 2:22:13 GMT
Animation-wise much depends on the level of Paranoia Disney has about Pixar films. If this is anything close to the paranoia they have regarding Marvel films there is no chance of them letting people take any work home with them.
There may also be issues with the software, which I *think* may be custom made for Pixar and therefore may not exist on computers outside the offices. The hardware needed to run the programs and if Disney is willing to continue to pay the staff.
The paranoia may be the biggest factor of these, even more than the money. I suspect that Disney itself would be against the idea of work continuing from home simply due to their inability to fully control who gets to see it; The technical problems could be solved simply by loaning the staff some of the machines used in the office.
Streaming wise given that Disney+ was Igers pet project, and that he is currently back in charge. Well I don't see him being willing in any shape or form to get rid of that. I suspect that they will sell of their HULU shares for quick money. As ditching Disney+ would be an admission that the platform is not successful and Disney is in serious financial straits. (Plus there may be legal issues with closing the platform when some people have subscriptions that run into 2021 Disney would rather not deal with).
Disney's shareholders were already starting to ask some hard questions of the company, and were not being appeased by the half and none answers or for that matter accepting Disney's attempts to spin things. It is not unrealistic for their to be a full blown revolt from the shareholders by the end of the year. The sticking point is likely to be Disney+, which Disney has outright refused to release any financial information on even to the shareholders. I get the growing feeling that Disney is going to end up having to release that information, and that in turn is gong to result in shareholders demanding Disney+ is shut down by late 2021.
Or put another way I have a feeling that things are going to turn nasty one way or another. If Disney refuses to release information to shareholders their is likely to be a vote of no confidence in the entire board. If they do release information there is a good chance a lot of the board is going to get kicked out anyway.
Maintenance, in this context, isn't about maintaining the existing equipment at this time be it in the parks or the studios. It's about everything having to be checked to make sure it is still working before they can use those items. This will be less of an issue for the studios sure; They don't have rides that contain several hundred or thousand parts all of which need to be checked to make sure they work. Lest there be an accident, injuries and criminal charges for negligence.
However all of the props and equipment will need to be checked and cleaned, and some of that work is going to require specialized skills. It would be, for example, a good idea to check the electrical wiring to make sure rats haven't chewed the cables before you turn the studio lights on and burn the lot to the ground.
This is an area people are overlooking, not just with Disney but with a lot of closed businesses. Just because people can go back to work doesn't mean that those businesses are going to reopen the same day. In the case of the studios it is likely to be several weeks before filming can resume, and quite possibly even months if they were intending to do location filming overseas. For the parks months per park is looking increasingly likely, and that time is only going to increase the longer they are shut.
This isn't simply a matter of money. It's the time needed to do the physical work even if nothing needs major repairs/work or replacing.
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Post by the light works on Apr 23, 2020 2:54:19 GMT
Animation-wise much depends on the level of Paranoia Disney has about Pixar films. If this is anything close to the paranoia they have regarding Marvel films there is no chance of them letting people take any work home with them. There may also be issues with the software, which I *think* may be custom made for Pixar and therefore may not exist on computers outside the offices. The hardware needed to run the programs and if Disney is willing to continue to pay the staff. The paranoia may be the biggest factor of these, even more than the money. I suspect that Disney itself would be against the idea of work continuing from home simply due to their inability to fully control who gets to see it; The technical problems could be solved simply by loaning the staff some of the machines used in the office. Streaming wise given that Disney+ was Igers pet project, and that he is currently back in charge. Well I don't see him being willing in any shape or form to get rid of that. I suspect that they will sell of their HULU shares for quick money. As ditching Disney+ would be an admission that the platform is not successful and Disney is in serious financial straits. (Plus there may be legal issues with closing the platform when some people have subscriptions that run into 2021 Disney would rather not deal with). Disney's shareholders were already starting to ask some hard questions of the company, and were not being appeased by the half and none answers or for that matter accepting Disney's attempts to spin things. It is not unrealistic for their to be a full blown revolt from the shareholders by the end of the year. The sticking point is likely to be Disney+, which Disney has outright refused to release any financial information on even to the shareholders. I get the growing feeling that Disney is going to end up having to release that information, and that in turn is gong to result in shareholders demanding Disney+ is shut down by late 2021. Or put another way I have a feeling that things are going to turn nasty one way or another. If Disney refuses to release information to shareholders their is likely to be a vote of no confidence in the entire board. If they do release information there is a good chance a lot of the board is going to get kicked out anyway. Maintenance, in this context, isn't about maintaining the existing equipment at this time be it in the parks or the studios. It's about everything having to be checked to make sure it is still working before they can use those items. This will be less of an issue for the studios sure; They don't have rides that contain several hundred or thousand parts all of which need to be checked to make sure they work. Lest there be an accident, injuries and criminal charges for negligence. However all of the props and equipment will need to be checked and cleaned, and some of that work is going to require specialized skills. It would be, for example, a good idea to check the electrical wiring to make sure rats haven't chewed the cables before you turn the studio lights on and burn the lot to the ground. This is an area people are overlooking, not just with Disney but with a lot of closed businesses. Just because people can go back to work doesn't mean that those businesses are going to reopen the same day. In the case of the studios it is likely to be several weeks before filming can resume, and quite possibly even months if they were intending to do location filming overseas. For the parks months per park is looking increasingly likely, and that time is only going to increase the longer they are shut. This isn't simply a matter of money. It's the time needed to do the physical work even if nothing needs major repairs/work or replacing. I am sure maintenance staff is still on duty at the parks. |
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Post by Cybermortis on Apr 23, 2020 6:28:17 GMT
From what I can tell the Park in Florida had some 43,000 staff members, of which only 200 are still working.
Those still working include housekeeping, custodial and security staff; Security mainly from what I can tell, as several people have been arrested for trespassing in the various parks.
200 people is just enough to provide security and ensure that important areas are in good condition. However its not going to be enough for them to do daily checks on everything and some things they would not realistically be able to check on a regular basis or be able to spot. A water pipe breaking is one thing. That is something that would be noticed fairly quickly, although 'quickly' might mean 'within a day' depending on where it is.
Discovering that the motors for one of the rides isn't working because its rusted solid is a different matter. That kind of thing wouldn't be noticed unless you, say, removed the cover or tried to start the thing. The former is not practical, given how many their are. The latter might not be possible if they've shut off the power to them - which would probably be a fair bet if only for safety.
Remember that those 200 people are working 24/7 in shifts. If each shift is 8 hours that would work out as some 65-66 people on site at any given moment.
A site that is the same size as San Fransisco.
Further most of those 65ish people are not remotely qualified to work on the actual equipment, that not being their job. Figure maybe around 20 per shift who's job *may* include such things although maybe half of them are remotely qualified to work on the rides. Their are other bits of equipment that needs maintaining, such as the vehicles they move around in.
As I said, the best these 200 people are going to able to do is slow the rate of decay not stop it. They just have too much to cover and not enough time or people to check or maintain everything. In the case of the rides they might possibly be powering them up once a week to make sure they are still working. And they *might* be able to identify and address some problems themselves. If they have the skills and parts on hand. But while they are fixing one problem another is going to turn up. One that will have to be left alone until the current job is done...and another problem will then turn up and...well you get the idea. The problems will start to pile up, and the longer they are left the more work would be needed for that issue.
Although this is already a nightmare for Disney things could easily get worse. If there was an accident, especially one which caused injury, and it turned out that 'Geoff from Landscaping' had last serviced part of that ride.
Well I wasn't joking about the 'Criminal Negligence' line in an earlier post, along with the potential for a class-action lawsuit from anyone who'd been on that ride in question since the park reopened. It would also, should there be ANY question as to the pre-opening checks, result in the park in question being closed down again while everything was, once again checked. And might also result in the other parks being closed while checks were carried out in them as well.
Basically in such a situation Disney, as a company, would be finished.
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Post by GTCGreg on Apr 23, 2020 13:28:17 GMT
I'm not sure anybody would be standing in line to buy a used cruse ship these days. And especially not an entire cruse ship operation.
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Post by the light works on Apr 23, 2020 13:59:37 GMT
From what I can tell the Park in Florida had some 43,000 staff members, of which only 200 are still working. Those still working include housekeeping, custodial and security staff; Security mainly from what I can tell, as several people have been arrested for trespassing in the various parks. 200 people is just enough to provide security and ensure that important areas are in good condition. However its not going to be enough for them to do daily checks on everything and some things they would not realistically be able to check on a regular basis or be able to spot. A water pipe breaking is one thing. That is something that would be noticed fairly quickly, although 'quickly' might mean 'within a day' depending on where it is. Discovering that the motors for one of the rides isn't working because its rusted solid is a different matter. That kind of thing wouldn't be noticed unless you, say, removed the cover or tried to start the thing. The former is not practical, given how many their are. The latter might not be possible if they've shut off the power to them - which would probably be a fair bet if only for safety. Remember that those 200 people are working 24/7 in shifts. If each shift is 8 hours that would work out as some 65-66 people on site at any given moment. A site that is the same size as San Fransisco. Further most of those 65ish people are not remotely qualified to work on the actual equipment, that not being their job. Figure maybe around 20 per shift who's job *may* include such things although maybe half of them are remotely qualified to work on the rides. Their are other bits of equipment that needs maintaining, such as the vehicles they move around in. As I said, the best these 200 people are going to able to do is slow the rate of decay not stop it. They just have too much to cover and not enough time or people to check or maintain everything. In the case of the rides they might possibly be powering them up once a week to make sure they are still working. And they *might* be able to identify and address some problems themselves. If they have the skills and parts on hand. But while they are fixing one problem another is going to turn up. One that will have to be left alone until the current job is done...and another problem will then turn up and...well you get the idea. The problems will start to pile up, and the longer they are left the more work would be needed for that issue. Although this is already a nightmare for Disney things could easily get worse. If there was an accident, especially one which caused injury, and it turned out that 'Geoff from Landscaping' had last serviced part of that ride. Well I wasn't joking about the 'Criminal Negligence' line in an earlier post, along with the potential for a class-action lawsuit from anyone who'd been on that ride in question since the park reopened. It would also, should there be ANY question as to the pre-opening checks, result in the park in question being closed down again while everything was, once again checked. And might also result in the other parks being closed while checks were carried out in them as well. Basically in such a situation Disney, as a company, would be finished. and you know Disney has placed making up the rooms daily above doing weekly checks on the mechanical infrastructure, how, again? |
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Post by the light works on Apr 23, 2020 14:01:15 GMT
I'm not sure anybody would be standing in line to buy a used cruse ship these days. And especially not an entire cruse ship operation. depends on how big a bargain, it is. and you don't need a line, just one person with long term thinking and a bit of liquidity. |
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Post by GTCGreg on Apr 23, 2020 16:08:18 GMT
I'm not sure anybody would be standing in line to buy a used cruse ship these days. And especially not an entire cruse ship operation. depends on how big a bargain, it is. and you don't need a line, just one person with long term thinking and a bit of liquidity. I've been thinking about getting a bigger boat. |
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Post by the light works on May 4, 2020 15:19:03 GMT
Happy Star Wars day. May the fourth be with you.
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Post by mrfatso on May 4, 2020 20:16:58 GMT
To you too.
Just re-watched Rise of Skywalker on Disney+ it was better this time around.
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Post by rmc on May 4, 2020 22:51:00 GMT
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Post by the light works on May 5, 2020 1:38:55 GMT
To you too. Just re-watched Rise of Skywalker on Disney+ it was better this time around. there are several violations of canon in it, but I'm satisfied with it. |
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