A Spirited Perfect Ten

[rael ramone]

Want to make one last comment about SW7 - for families.

If you let your kids watch the others, you can take them to see this.

 

[TalkingHead]

Not looking for spoilers, but for those who have seen JJ's Star Wars and Star Trek(s), is Star Wars better? Because I've been lukewarm on the Trek movies and am wondering if Star Wars is noticeably better than those.

 

[Cesar R M]

to question the credibility of those that publicly have established credibility.

huuuuu.. really?

All I hear is him supposedly showing up on Podcasts and spouting his normal "throw enough crap to the wall and see if it sticks" schtick.

I'm sorry, he's gotten a few tidbits before, but most of what he has come up with in the past has been cribbed from this website with some educated guesses thrown in.

He certainly isn't as prolific as he once was; the amount of people who listen to WDW podcasts is not that great, so his little 'guest stars' on them isn't really anywhere near what he used to have. I can't remember the last time any article he wrote got any traction whatsoever - I haven't been to his site in years, because once I realized how full of crap he was (his "stories" are like "inspired by" movies - as in, the bulk of the actual "what happened" to get between point A to point B are completely fabricated), I never went there unless there was a link for some reason. And that doesn't happen much these days.



I know he's your buddy and all, but this is...reaching, guy. Who cares? As you state, "weren't against Disney". So has nothing whatsoever to do with the points being made here.



Sorry guy, with all due respect (and with the exception of your blind spot when it comes to this topic, I do quite respect you) - that's not your call.

Jim Hill is a joke throughout much of the Disney community. He has been for years. Thing after thing has turned folks off from him. This is the most "talk" he's gotten in quite awhile. He had one big leak (NFL) that he was used for, but other than that? The guy repeats what others say and, as I said, makes educated "throw crap on the wall and see what sticks" predictions that any of us could make.

That said, I do agree on the point that WDW1974, if he really feels he has vital info, wasted his time on this board if getting this vital info out there was the goal. I have emphatically stated that myself quite a few times.



I don't think any of us think Jim owes us anything - I certainly don't. All he did was make a complete fool of himself by posting here, with his erratic follow-ups that read like arguments made by a five-year-old who got caught and is trying to worm his way out. I don't expect anything much more from him, honestly - but even I was shocked at how transparently he pulled every childhood "trick" of "Well, no one cares anyway, and at least they are talking about me!" as he cried into his pillow.

The topic of this thread has never been about WDW1974. In fact, the fact that this thread moves just as quickly when he is not here as when he is proves without a doubt what I have been saying for quite some time is true - it's not about him. It's the "general entertainment/Disney catch-all" thread, and it's popularity has nothing whatsoever to do with him but the fact that it's the only "catch all" in the forum and it's easier to catch up on one thread than many. If Steve created a "General Entertainment/Disney Catch-All" thread, it would have the same amount of traffic. There is no question.



See above - that's because that's never been the heart of these threads to begin with.

I'll be honest - this bit of your post sounds like it's going in that direction of Hill's last postings - "Wah take it away because I don't like it!" Don't like it? Skip it. You can ask for it to be closed over and over, but if that hasn't happened now...I'll be surprised. Because, again, even without WDW74 here for five months now - this thread still drives quite a bit of traffic to this site.



Let's just leave that up to the owner of the site. That's the only option, really. And personally, again, I am quite fond of you and respect you in many ways - but don't get deeper on this Hill thing, seriously, guy - you aren't helping it, and it's not helping you.




Because he doesn't like what it says. I think he's pretty plainly said this. On one hand, I admire that he sticks up for someone he believes in - but on the other, I have to deeply question the choice of believing in such a known intellectually dishonest, opportunistic, and now we know, downright criminal person.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Not looking for spoilers, but for those who have seen JJ's Star Wars and Star Trek(s), is Star Wars better? Because I've been lukewarm on the Trek movies and am wondering if Star Wars is noticeably better than those.

The Force Awakens is better, but not necessarily by a big degree. I like all the new characters and the fanservice isn't as prominent as it was in his Trek pictures.

 

[Cesar R M]

But has Hill though? Are there any examples, any links?

Is the Schadenfreude over any payback for Hill having previously displayed similar behaviour as Lee? Or is it Schadenfreude just out of spite over general dislike of Hill, incidentally displaying what Rsox argues: that at the heart of all this lies a little black box filled with envy, animosity, and fandom bitchfighting, carefully wrapped in colourful Christmas wrapping paper saying 'neutral discussion about social media strategy'.

considering how many times wdw1974 and lee have reported insults/fights against them from "twitter disney personalities" . I find your statement laugheable but at same time, fitting.

 

[Cesar R M]

You guys are still talking about Jim!?!?!???

some people made it personal and now its sticking like mud.
both sides are beating a death horse.

 

[Cesar R M]

I think we covered those predictions a few pages ago - but that certainly is a good topic.

Seeing the film last night, and the crowds, and the enthusiasm, and today - hearing from people that even as of last week said "nah, not my thing, I don't like Sci-fi" and now are like "We're going this weekend!" - I think we have a new #1 movie of all time.

The theater I saw it in kept adding shows by the minute - it was insane. I'll be curious once the news wakes up today to see if what I have been seeing is happening all over or if it's atypical - I'm guessing the former.

The prediction I made a few pages back I am sticking with - every Dec record has been shattered, unless something drastic happens, JW just had a pretty short reign as the biggest opening weekend ever, and come Spring (if Winter ever states, LOL) there will be a new #1 movie of all time.

And, even then, Darth Iger haters will still refuse to admit the absolute brilliance of the purchase of Lucasfilm - and even though I hate Avaturd myself - how Iger was able to get the top two movies of all time under the Disney Parks banner.

You know, I actually wonder if the hype will maintain itself.. if there will be many people watching it more than once...
Or if all people want to ride the hype train now and watch it.. and then the popularity will fade fast.

I suppose the most realistic scenario will be a similar "train" as JurassicWorld.
Besides, its not like they have much competition right now. They only have The Hateful Height for young adults, and Alvin and the Chipmunks for the children groups.

 

[Cesar R M]

Starring in the next-to-be-released Star Wars movie, actually.

wait a sec.. are you kidding?

 

[Cesar R M]

Yes, I'm sure the Star Wars expansions in DL/DHS will be a failure too.

of course its a failure. They haven't started building yet

 

[Cesar R M]

My favorite thing out of the last 24 hours is seeing things go from "Disney is going to ruin Star Wars!" to "OMG THAT WAS AMAZING." Disney didn't ruin Marvel, why would they ruin Star Wars?

technically.. Disney didnt do anything with Marvel.. they were chunking darn nice movies left and right.
But they surely disappointed with Age of Ultron.

speaking of disney..
did you check this @PhotoDave219 ?
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...-metal-detectors-security-20151217-story.html

metal detectors and wands everywhere now up at all top orlando parks.

 

[RandySavage]

Not looking for spoilers, but for those who have seen JJ's Star Wars and Star Trek(s), is Star Wars better? Because I've been lukewarm on the Trek movies and am wondering if Star Wars is noticeably better than those.

For me: JJ's Star Trek was 7/10 and JJ's Star Trek II was 5/10. JJ's Star Wars is maybe 9/10. Not the Second Coming, but a beautiful-looking, nicely-paced, fun spectacle that I'll probably end up seeing again in theaters (I wouldn't consider seeing JJ's Star Treks twice during theatrical run).

 

[TalkingHead]

Appreciate the responses. I thought his Star Trek was awfully overpraised, and while I liked Into Darkness I was underwhelmed by the predictability of the story. Thought Super 8 had a promising start before fizzling out in the final half hour, too.

I'm hoping I like his version of Star Wars, but a lot of critics I trust went with a B+/3-star review. Didn't exactly push me into the opening weekend crowd.

 

[AEfx]

It's just a matter of time before Disney's IP lawyers realize that the 501'st is using Disney IP without licensure and payment. It will be fun to watch

The legal issues surrounding the 501st have long been settled. Like how Disney can't undo the old Marvel deals, they wouldn't be able to undo the 501st deal. Not to mention, the massive backlash Disney would face as the 501st is largely a charitable organization, and the fact that Disney has had a relationship with them long before they ever bought Lucasfilm - who do you think all those Troopers at SWW have been all these years?

In any case, the last bit is why Disney loves them - they have access to instant Stormtrooper squads who come with their own uniforms and generally work for free - it's an even better deal for them than the CP.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I'm very curious to see if Disney/Lucasfilm/Fox pursue a theatrical or home video release of the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy. It seems like an obvious thing to do, but I'm not sure if Lucas would have any veto power over that decision.

 

[JoeCamel]

My local drivein HAS to show it for 4 weeks. Been moved to the last showing the last three weeks as of now. Not much confidence there.

 

[AEfx]

I'm one of the greatest Darth Iger haters and it WAS a Brilliant move to get Lucasfilm but I'm not a fan of what Darth Iger is doing with the property ie strip mining the Star Wars brand for cash and diminishing it's value long term.

The 'Launch Bay' is a perfect example of the mindset. One reason is Lucasfilm always cared about the fans where Disney does not. To Disney Star Wars is tentpoles and toy sales - they don't understand that lots of people have an emotional attachment to the SW Universe. In the Lucasfilm world fan fiction was encouraged, In the Disney world it's to be stamped out.

I'm just wondering when the lawsuits will begin against the 501'st or demanding licensing fees from the troopers.

I answered the 501st bit above, but on this - I disagree so totally. It's the old Lucasfilm that was strip mining - who let canon get out of control with a dozen or more levels - who didn't care about continuity between products or experiences - and let's face it - Lucas sold his soul to toys back during the OT with ROTJ.

Today's Lucasfilm is so much more about fan service and maintaining integrity in relations to the fans than old Lucasfilm ever, ever was. Because the old Lucasfilm was run by someone who didn't even understand the fans, much less really consider them. Since the last SW film, Lucasfilm has employed more lawyers than creative folks.

What Disney's purchase did was completely revitalize the Star Wars franchise by employing people who have a true love for the franchise, from the guts of childhood - not a mildly resentful burnt out increasingly wizened faux-gatekeeper (I say faux because he full out admitted he didn't care about anything aside from the filmed material, he hasn't ever read a single sentence of a Star Wars book, let alone painstakingly approved it).

Marvel was the prototype, Star Wars was the master class. Disney pumped money in, brought in the best outside talent, and largely stayed out of it creatively. Basically, Disney has this amazing factory - the greatest in the world - for supporting a franchise, and they were smart enough to simply adapt their factory to be used by independently run divisions like the revitalized Lucasfilm, instead of show-horning them into the Disney wheelhouse. They could not have handled this better, and there was not a better company to do it.

 

[AEfx]

I'm very curious to see if Disney/Lucasfilm/Fox pursue a theatrical or home video release of the theatrical cuts of the original trilogy. It seems like an obvious thing to do, but I'm not sure if Lucas would have any veto power over that decision.

This has been widely ripped apart in various places, but a quick summary: Lucas has no say over anything whatsoever any more, Iger made this really clear in interviews at the time of sale. Iger was unwilling to buy the company otherwise. As to the original versions of the films, Lucas let go of that awhile back - his most recent statements before the sale were "I don't have any problem if that's what people want to watch, but I'm not going to pay a few million of my own money to make it happen".

According to "insiders" elsewhere, the very first thing that Disney started doing back in 2012 while the ink was drying was to completely inventory what Lucasfilm had for film and digital assets, and that the restoration of the OT was immediately commenced and has been done for quite some time now. It's just a matter of how and when Disney decides to drop them. The going thought was they would for this Xmas to coincide with TFA - but as that didn't happen, it's really a toss up of what time they pick next.

In any case, by the end of the decade, you can expect to be watching the OT in a version much closer* to what you would have seen in the theaters when they premiered.


*Much closer and not exactly, because clean-up/digital work still needs to be done as it is for any HD release, but those would be visual corrections/adjustments vs. let's insert changes and CGI cartoons on top of things...

My local drive in HAS to show it for 4 weeks. Been moved to the last showing the last three weeks as of now. Not much confidence there.

That's pretty much the definition of "anecdotal evidence" to begin with, but it's also logical - as many people who attend drive-ins do so regularly, making the repeat the later showing makes more sense. In any case, theaters around the country are adding showings around the clock - I don't think confidence in the film is a problem whatsoever.

 

[AEfx]

I thought it was brilliant.

Also, only $57M?

I honestly was scared what your reaction would be. I'm so glad it was positive.

The 57M was just for the post-7PM Thursday showings...that's the literal tip of the iceberg.

 

[AEfx]

The latest (cribbed from Variety - note if you view the article later, they may update it with more current info, this is how it stands now):

* Disney (who has been playing conservative end) boosted its Friday estimate from "at least $100 million" in the early afternoon to "$120 million" by the late afternoon — smashing the opening day record of $91 million for 2011’s “Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”

* “The Force Awakens” started its U.S. box office run in record-setting fashion with $57 million in Thursday night previews — 31% above the $43.5 million in previews for the final Harry Potter film. The $57 million is part of the Friday total.

* The film is playing at a total of 4,134 North American locations on Friday — a record for a December opening.

* Disney also reported Friday that “The Force Awakens” had grossed $72.7 million in two days from 44 international markets with the U.K., Germany, Sweden and Norway generating single-day records. The film, which carries a production cost of at least $200 million, opened in most other markets Friday.

* That means “The Force Awakens” could also eclipse the international opening weekend record of $316.1 million by “Jurassic World” — along with the dino movie’s worldwide opening record of $524.9 million.

Overall, Disney has upped it's 200M weekend prediction to 215M, which other "rival studios" estimates still are calling a lowball.


My commentary - Star Wars is back, kiddos. Feel free to get a bit cocky.

 

[AEfx]

Appreciate the responses. I thought his Star Trek was awfully overpraised, and while I liked Into Darkness I was underwhelmed by the predictability of the story. Thought Super 8 had a promising start before fizzling out in the final half hour, too.

I'm hoping I like his version of Star Wars, but a lot of critics I trust went with a B+/3-star review. Didn't exactly push me into the opening weekend crowd.

I think you are being too analytical, LOL. This isn't nearly as much of a JJ Abrhams movie as, say, Avengers films are Whedon films - aside from the fact that it starts a female protagonist.

I'd say get your butt to the theater this weekend, because there is no way unless you don't speak to anyone, watch any TV, and completely click off the Internet - to avoid spoilers. And there are several BIG ones.

It's Star Wars - this is a once in a generation thing - seeing it with a crowd was half the fun (and I say that as someone who HATES crowds) - it honestly was the most incredible communal experience I've had in a theater in my life. The claps when favorites return, the tears when people depart, the laughs with the callbacks to the OT - again, I never say these things, 99.9% of the time I say "Eh, I'll wait for Blu-ray - my sound system is better than the theater anyway" - but on this one? Get yer buns to the theater, or you'll regret it later (either by being spoiled or by missing the group experience).