A Spirited Perfect Ten

[KYWDW]

Just because you're an executive in one unit of a massive corporation IN NO WAY makes you fit to run a division, a totally unrelated division, you don't have a day's experience in. C'mon, how stupid, how flat out dumb does one have to be to believe otherwise?

This is something I've recently seen happen. The company I work for pulled someone out of a totally different division to run a very unrelated division. When you meet an executive and or someone whose bound to be in that position in the near future, they have an aura/it factor about them. Where you just know they can handle it and know what they are doing. Iger just doesn't have that and the way Chapek was shoe horned in I can make the same reasonable assumption he won't either. I wouldn't bother asking Iger any questions as he has shown he will just pontificate about absolutely nothing related to what's been asked. But, seeing him squirm when tough questions are asked could make it worth it.

 

[ford91exploder]

Thats why you could just.. you know, download a free program and decrypt them all.

speaking of bluray..
didnt the master decrypt code for both the PS3 and the bluray was hacked (or leaked?)

Does not matter - it can be updated

 

[Cesar R M]

I didn't either.

I did see Grand Budapest and thought it was typically stylish and fairly engrossing. A great film, however, it was not.

My favorite film on 2014 might surprise you: Guardians of the Galaxy. But I didn't get to see any films from September on due to some family circumstances. Now, I **** well know GotG didn't deserve mention at the Oscars as popcorn films aren't what the Academy is there to honor. ...So, everyone I know who saw Birdman either loved it or hated it. When that happens I usually think the movie is OK, but nothing special. I suspect that may well be my reaction when I finally see it.

I honestly was surprised more of the style of filming used in birdman.
in your every day Hollywood movie.. the takes hardly take more than 5 seconds to change from scene to scene.
In birdman, they could go almost up to 5 minutes.. SINGLE TAKE.. seamless transition from characters to characters. That style surprised me.
Another thing that makes the movie not normal of hollywood.
IT MAKES YOU THINK. (vs mindless explosions that you see in your average Hollywood movie a la transformers). You need to guess what is true and what is not in the birdman perspective.

I also seen grand Budapest hotel, I found it good because its funny.. dramatic and completely bonkers with some sort of mocked realism... very entertaining for me, yet it doesn't have a very deep meaning other than keep you hooked with all the things that are going on at same time.

 

[Cesar R M]

Does not matter - it can be updated

the disks cannot. they are physically there.

to update most devices, specially computer readers.. they need to modify the firmware.
which isnt a "plug and play" type update.

*edit*

to resume..
every old bluray will be easily viewable in every single device that is not connected on the internet.
only new bluray disks could be affected.
Many devices are never upgraded (like computer or laptop based bluray drives)

the only device that I've seen that forces you to upgrade everytime.. is the PS3 and probably the PS4 too.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

I'd like to see Gawker's take on the Huffington Post pulled story.

 

[Smiddimizer]

I didn't either.

I did see Grand Budapest and thought it was typically stylish and fairly engrossing. A great film, however, it was not.

My favorite film on 2014 might surprise you: Guardians of the Galaxy. But I didn't get to see any films from September on due to some family circumstances. Now, I **** well know GotG didn't deserve mention at the Oscars as popcorn films aren't what the Academy is there to honor. ...So, everyone I know who saw Birdman either loved it or hated it. When that happens I usually think the movie is OK, but nothing special. I suspect that may well be my reaction when I finally see it.

You'll love it until it takes its title too seriously.

 

[Darth Sidious]

Isn't that a coincidence? Well, I'm of the belief that people who believe everything at face value are not very happy with the world and use it as a coping mechanism for not doing anything.

As to the picture, I'm honestly shocked that in light of this strange situation involving the HuffPo that Shendi's overlords didn't allow Bob to place a photo out there so he could 'save face' with anyone who is starting to ask questions as to Disney's business in Shanghai. It's not just fanbois who are wondering why if everything has been going so well and Disney and the CCP are getting along has the company been unable to present one photo of Bob Iger or Tom Staggs or Jay Rasulo or anyone on the site in the last four years of construction.

People wonder about this $800 million?!?!

The smoking gun is that Disney, not exactly shy when it comes to publicizing major, or minor, projects, hasn't put ONE PHOTO out in FOUR FREAKING YEARS.

Yes, that's why Bob is acting the way he is. Hastag it Disney CEO Fumbles Entry to China !!!

But MDE did...

 

[asianway]

As much as we would like to think...probably not. They will fill the Q&A (as they always do) with Disneyphiles wanting to know about if is possible Boba Fett survived the sarlac pit or if they will please consider bringing back the attractions from the '64 World's Fair. If you ever get a chance to go or listen to the broadcast please do. It is more painful than entertaining.

I'm pretty sure Drew has asked a question at a meeting. Being in SF this year we may actually get some intelligent questions. Rent a bus for a road trip from LA with a couple dozen question askers anyone?

 

[TalkingHead]

Not that the Comcast earnings report is surprising, but it does suggest that the Universal parks have been busy doing good business over the last couple of months. I know the Hogwarts Express has had some sizable waits, so I'm not terribly surprised that the park-to-park tickets have become increasingly popular.

Last weekend, we were on the train leaving King's Cross with a group who had already ridden it from Hogsmeade. They started the trip back towards Hogsmeade saying, "Oh, see, it's the same pictures in reverse." A few seconds into the ride they realized the trip wasn't the same and that there were different effects and images for the two directions.

It was probably a small thing to them, but it exceeded their expectations. One resort in Orlando used to specialize in that. The other resort in Orlando is at least trying to do that. (And for my money Universal's doing an excellent job of it.)

Really, the Bob CHEAPak (credit to whomever coined that in this thread) news would be more disappointing if Universal wasn't evidently intent on adding top-notch attractions left and right. WDW has surrendered the crown to Universal when it comes to rides, and it's not even close -- Gringotts may not even be the best attraction at Universal, but it's far more impressive than anything that WDW has opened since Tower of Terror in 1994. Let that sink in.

I'm not sure why anyone at this point thinks WDW's going to swing for the fences. For over a decade, WDW has been content to do "just enough" -- the new additions haven't sniffed the classic status of Pirates, Mansion, the Mountains, Tower, etc. All the while Universal's added Spidey, Forbidden Journey, Minion Mayhem, Potter's immersive lands, Gringotts, the best shooter attraction in Orlando, Transformers, Mummy...and Kong's on the way.

I doubt Bob the Consumer Products dude is going to change that trend, and I don't think I need to "wait and see" to say that.

 

[Omnispace]

Well, I've said it before, but you could damage Disney, you could force them to answer for and to various things, you could express your power IF there was agreement by fanbois in the Twitverse to push things on the 'net. If suddenly #firewillowbay or #disneycensors or #disneybombsinchina were common, just to use the absurd situation of the last week, you can bet that Disney would have to put it's highly compensated response team into overdrive.

But you don't get that. You get the same cliques and fractured BS that assures TWDC that the status quo is just fine. What is trending today amongst fans? Are they still ******** about price increases that only Tom Amity saw coming? Are the UNI ones frothing over because an attraction that we knew was coming 18 months ago finally got a shout out in an earnings call? Are they also crowing, just like the Disney ones did, about a cold multi-national media conglomerate putting up big profits like it means a **** thing to them? (HINT: Tom Williams and Co are just slightly more competent than their Disney compadres!) Are we talking how beautiful the new Hub with fake grass (don't you dare call it Astro-turf!) is going to be? I see MAGICal Steve posted 5-6 threads of small newsworthy items recently, are they talking about those?

The point being they NEVER get their stuff together. And as individuals or cliques or even followers of one web site, they don't amount to enough to make Disney sit up and take notice. You hurt Disney with ... powerful words ... and, obviously, they don't like the truth about how they are failing in China (maybe they are failing forward?) and they wake up when enough people get together that their social media hacks sit up and make a phone call from their cubicles saying ''We have a problem.''

Some of us are doing what we can behind the scenes in various places, in various ways, but at the end of the day, it has to be a collective effort.

Again, we have people here who want to ''wait and see'' how yet another exec who has never worked a day in his life in theme parks gets to run Disney's empire. That is a HUGE part of the problem.

I sometimes think I'll be my Dad's age before something meaningful opens in either the MK or EPCOT.

Remember Al Lutz?

He never would have gotten anywhere, even in those early 'net days, if folks kept saying ''Let's give Pressler a chance'' or ''Let's wait and see, Cynthia really seems to get it.''

The problem with both the Disney and UNI fan communities in general is they are like petulant children who only care about whatever their whine of the moment is. They don't get the big picture and they listen to others who don't get it either.

Many times I feel like I'd be more productive slamming my head against a wall ... and then Disney does something stupid and I realize just how open they are. I wish others got that.

I understand how the overall Disney fan base can be more focused on the nuances of what's happening at the parks or onscreen versus the overall picture of what's happening with the corporate leadership and where it's taking the company. I can also see how discussions of questionable or shortsighted business practices could really turn many of them off. It's much easier to discuss the merits of artificial turf (I proposed the term "cultured grass"), or whether A is better than B -- people tend to stay in their comfort zone. What I find amazing though are the bizarre apologetic arguments that come out in defense of the Company whenever something is looked at critically. There always seems to be someone who either argues the miniscule details of what's being discussed, takes the "wait and see" high road before making an opinion, and best of all those who try to discredit what is being discussed based on lack of "facts" and then propose their own unsupported opinion. It's almost as if there's a league of corporate plants online, there to push the agenda of the leadership and discredit those who go against the grain. But who would think a large corporation like Disney would be that sneaky.

I remember reading Al Lutz's articles back when he was running his "Promote Paul Pressler" campaign, (unfortunately they did). I admired the effort that Al put into it but someone had to actually die before anyone really took notice of Pressler's deferred maintenance practices. Fortunately, when the reality of the matter hit the general public, there were Al's articles there to document the unfolding catastrophe.

 

[Omnispace]

Bringing in a new chapter of weirdness to the HuffPo saga, I woke up this morning to an interesting email from the USC Alumni Association, inviting me to the USC Global Conference this fall in Shanghai, with none other than Bob Iger as the featured guest:

http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=08245ccd24cc9d6794dd3be4e&id=98d1e45091&e=[UNIQID]


At this point, there will be no denying that Bob has been in Shanghai, and it will be getting tougher to hide his connection to Willow and Annenberg. I wonder if we'll finally get a photo of him on the construction site out of this...

I'm also sending this whole saga along to a friend of mine who is a big Disney fan with international experience, and 2 degrees from Annenberg. It will be interesting to see if we get a rise out of this

Isn't that a coincidence? Well, I'm of the belief that people who believe everything at face value are not very happy with the world and use it as a coping mechanism for not doing anything.

As to the picture, I'm honestly shocked that in light of this strange situation involving the HuffPo that Shendi's overlords didn't allow Bob to place a photo out there so he could 'save face' with anyone who is starting to ask questions as to Disney's business in Shanghai. It's not just fanbois who are wondering why if everything has been going so well and Disney and the CCP are getting along has the company been unable to present one photo of Bob Iger or Tom Staggs or Jay Rasulo or anyone on the site in the last four years of construction.

People wonder about this $800 million?!?!

The smoking gun is that Disney, not exactly shy when it comes to publicizing major, or minor, projects, hasn't put ONE PHOTO out in FOUR FREAKING YEARS.

Yes, that's why Bob is acting the way he is. Hastag it Disney CEO Fumbles Entry to China !!!

And then there's this article:

https://news.usc.edu/74982/arianna-...c-annenberg-students-to-report-whats-working/

Perhaps everyone is just being way too negative.

 

[bhg469]

Not that the Comcast earnings report is surprising, but it does suggest that the Universal parks have been busy doing good business over the last couple of months. I know the Hogwarts Express has had some sizable waits, so I'm not terribly surprised that the park-to-park tickets have become increasingly popular.

Last weekend, we were on the train leaving King's Cross with a group who had already ridden it from Hogsmeade. They started the trip back towards Hogsmeade saying, "Oh, see, it's the same pictures in reverse." A few seconds into the ride they realized the trip wasn't the same and that there were different effects and images for the two directions.

It was probably a small thing to them, but it exceeded their expectations. One resort in Orlando used to specialize in that. The other resort in Orlando is at least trying to do that. (And for my money Universal's doing an excellent job of it.)

Really, the Bob CHEAPak (credit to whomever coined that in this thread) news would be more disappointing if Universal wasn't evidently intent on adding top-notch attractions left and right. WDW has surrendered the crown to Universal when it comes to rides, and it's not even close -- Gringotts may not even be the best attraction at Universal, but it's far more impressive than anything that WDW has opened since Tower of Terror in 1994. Let that sink in.

I'm not sure why anyone at this point thinks WDW's going to swing for the fences. For over a decade, WDW has been content to do "just enough" -- the new additions haven't sniffed the classic status of Pirates, Mansion, the Mountains, Tower, etc. All the while Universal's added Spidey, Forbidden Journey, Minion Mayhem, Potter's immersive lands, Gringotts, the best shooter attraction in Orlando, Transformers, Mummy...and Kong's on the way.

I doubt Bob the Consumer Products dude is going to change that trend, and I don't think I need to "wait and see" to say that.

^^This!

 

[MagicGoofy]

I'm so tired of disney being bashed by universals additions... Literally everyother year universal opens up a breath taking ride while my Disney is fiddling there thumbs... Star Wars Land needs to blow hp away so then I can stop hearing universal fanboys brag...

 

[Omnispace]

It's Steve Job's 60th birthday today. I have friends who had dealings with the man and, yes, he could be as intimidating as people say. But one couldn't fault him for his strong sense of vision. This simple quote by Mr Jobs illustrates how far the current TWDC has lost it's way by placing its survey-focused by-the-numbers marketed brand synergy strategic planners in charge.

"It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."

 

[Phil12]

the disks cannot. they are physically there.

to update most devices, specially computer readers.. they need to modify the firmware.
which isnt a "plug and play" type update.

*edit*

to resume..
every old bluray will be easily viewable in every single device that is not connected on the internet.
only new bluray disks could be affected.
Many devices are never upgraded (like computer or laptop based bluray drives)

the only device that I've seen that forces you to upgrade everytime.. is the PS3 and probably the PS4 too.

In addition, you can prevent any computer based bluray drive from being "updated" from a disc or from the Internet. Also, computer based drives do not have AACS Cinavia detection included. Only stand alone bluray players manufactured after January, 2012 include that feature.

 

[Cody5294]

I didn't either.

I did see Grand Budapest and thought it was typically stylish and fairly engrossing. A great film, however, it was not.

My favorite film on 2014 might surprise you: Guardians of the Galaxy. But I didn't get to see any films from September on due to some family circumstances. Now, I **** well know GotG didn't deserve mention at the Oscars as popcorn films aren't what the Academy is there to honor. ...So, everyone I know who saw Birdman either loved it or hated it. When that happens I usually think the movie is OK, but nothing special. I suspect that may well be my reaction when I finally see it.

I might be the minority with this but The Theory of Everything was my favorite film of 2014. I recommend giving that a watch

 

[Tony Perkis]

I'm so tired of disney being bashed by universals additions... Literally everyother year universal opens up a breath taking ride while my Disney is fiddling there thumbs... Star Wars Land needs to blow hp away so then I can stop hearing universal fanboys brag...

I love Star Wars. I really do. It's my #1 favorite movie franchise. But if the new Star Wars Land is going to have a very heavy Episode VII focus and keep the original trilogy at bay, then I'm just not as interested.

 

[Tony Perkis]

I might be the minority with this but The Theory of Everything was my favorite film of 2014. I recommend giving that a watch

Fantastic performance by Redmayne, but the film's narrative was nothing special. It was the same standard biopic that's been made forever.

The best films of the year, in my opinion, were Birdman, Lego Movie, Interstellar, Whiplash, and Grand Budapest Hotel.

 

[Cesar R M]

In addition, you can prevent any computer based bluray drive from being "updated" from a disc or from the Internet. Also, computer based drives do not have AACS Cinavia detection included. Only stand alone bluray players manufactured after January, 2012 include that feature.

Cinavia is usually supported by the software decoders.
Software like PowerDVD
PS3 for example, did not had cinavia until an update.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I love Star Wars. I really do. It's my #1 favorite movie franchise. But if the new Star Wars Land is going to have a very heavy Episode VII focus and keep the original trilogy at bay, then I'm just not as interested.

Yes. That is what I was told 6-9 months ago. I regret to say that.... I want to be wrong.