Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[Mr.Skunkape]

After the refillable mug fireworks I can't wait till the 2014 prices are released that should really light up the boards.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

SW is clearly having financial issues, largely a debt burden. Part of those cutbacks looks like an almost definite sale of BGW and, possibly, BGT.

Sounds like typical Wall St.

 

[WDW1974]

Conspiracy theories aside, while I don't always agree with their reviews, I find Slashfilm's writers to pen very honest opinions. I can't help but think their take on The Lone Ranger is a worthwhile one:

http://www.slashfilm.com/the-lone-r...between-tradition-and-subversion/#more-183506

I'm sure I'll eventually catch most, if not all, of it on cable at some point.

If you know anything about Hollywood and the way the entertainment business is run, then you know that what many may term conspiracy theories are simply part of the bizarre way the industry operates. I don't know what happened with TLR. I do know that Disney's former studio head completely sabotaged a film that casued his company to write off $200 million and sent him packing. In any sane business that wouldn't happen, no one ever said show business was sane.

As to the above review, read it, read many of what seem like PR talking points for ripping the film. I disagree with much of what the author says.

The movie has summer blockbuster written all over it. It shouldn't have misfired at all, let alone to this degree.

 

[WDW1974]

That review is SPOT ON. I just saw this movie and I have to say it was an incoherent mess.

I absolutely don't get the incoherent criticism at all. This isn't a film like Tron: Legacy or the last few PotC films. It is pretty damn straight forward, which is one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much. Where the hell is @Lee with his deep hillbilly thoughts?

 

[JimboJones123]

Still questioning the tanking of The Lone Ranger, just read the feedback here:
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/27684/-lone-ranger-to-lose-150-million

 

[WDW1974]

Maybe you already have answered this and if so just refer me to the post. But why even greenlight the film if you want to set the movie up to fail? Because it failed Disney now has to take a beating from the media, has to write it off, the stock may be impacted, etc. How do they benefit from doing that? Wouldn't it have been easier to just cancel it during preproduction? (Which at one or two points they actually did to cut the budget)

The company didn't set this up for failure in a concerted effort, anymore than it did with Mars Needs Moms or John Carter. Individuals working for a company all the way up to the CEO may have other motivations though.

 

[Captain Neo]

Here's a twitter review of Pacific Rim from someone I really respect; Hideo Kojima

Kojima is a huge twilight fan too don't go by what he says

 

[WDW1974]

Because of the great Drive-in in my area I was able to see both MU and TLR last night. I am not a movie critic and don't play one on these forums. I go to a movie to be entertained.....to spend a few hours and hope to get my monies worth. Well both these movies did just that.....they entertained me. I enjoyed them both.

I actually like Lr a little more then Monsters U. I personally like westerns. Thought it was well done :shrug:
There is a lot to be said about enjoying a movie at a drive in. Cant hear everyone talking over the movie.... don't have some brat kicking on the back of your seat.....don't have to play that game of who is going to put their elbow where on the arm rest. Don't have to breath everyone elses germ infested sneezes.....yes, I will take a Drive in ayday. Its a shame they are dyeing. You can enjoy the cool night air and a great movie (two) at the same time. What a nice evening.

A long, long time ago my family owned a few drive-ins ... it was fun seeing a film that way. We have one down here in SoFla but it is basically a flea market that still shows movies on the side.

 

[bubbles1812]

Still questioning the tanking of The Lone Ranger, just read the feedback here:
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/27684/-lone-ranger-to-lose-150-million

I think the commentors do have a point. I liked the movie, as I said in my earlier post, but no way should it have gotten the budget it did. That is a lot of money thrown at what was always going to be a high-risk film.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

It looks more like Littlest Pet Shop to me. Either way, gak.

*DING**DING**DING* Winner!

It goes deeper than just that one picture. Much deeper. Each princess gets a pony (of course!), a puppy, etc.

 

[Taylor]

A long, long time ago my family owned a few drive-ins ... it was fun seeing a film that way. We have one down here in SoFla but it is basically a flea market that still shows movies on the side.

The Drive in at Tulsa is a really popular local landmark (it was in the movie The Outsiders) and it is an amazing place to watch a movie. I hope the drive in movie theaters continue to stick around for a long time.

 

[WDW1974]

I think all of O Town may be down this summer. You can go on Uni website and book a room for next week at any of the Uni hotels. I have found some good deals on Hotwire. Sort of surprising how down things are this summer. Maybe people are staying closer to home this year or they finally figured out that coming to FL in the summer sucks.

This is my take. UNI is likely not showing the drops of DIsney and SW because they are getting a big bump from more locals out to check out all the new stuff.

The fact is the internationals don't appear to be there in the numbers they have been of late (say the last 7-8 years) and there simply aren't Americans to take their place. Many of us have never recovered from the economic collapse of 2007-08. Generally, WDW begins to slow down after July 4th and then drops to very slow by the second week in August (when weather is at its worst). I'm getting the idea that Disney believes that July 21st is gonna look an awful lot like August 10th does.

 

[englanddg]

*DING**DING**DING* Winner!

It goes deeper than just that one picture. Much deeper. Each princess gets a pony (of course!), a puppy, etc.

Skurry.

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

I don't know who this guy is, but he seems genuinely convinced that this is amazing, and that worries me.

 

[englanddg]

I don't know who this guy is, but he seems genuinely convinced that this is amazing, and that worries me.

He probably has an Ivy League MBA. Everything outsourced or manufactured in China amazes him. It's a requirement for graduation.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I don't know who this guy is, but he seems genuinely convinced that this is amazing, and that worries me.

I actually love that guy. How can he have that "cool, confident masculine salesguy" persona while extolling the virtues of Pumpkin the puppy dog and Teacup the pony? That guy could sell Palace Pets one day and cranberries the next.

 

[jensenrick]

Still questioning the tanking of The Lone Ranger, just read the feedback here:
http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/27684/-lone-ranger-to-lose-150-million

In particular, I noticed the back and forth of Campbell Glass and Darth Randall- because what they said gives me great pause as well.
If Disney can be this disrespectful of the original source material for LR, what are odds that they will ram thru "bantha fodder", as he puts it, for the new Star Wars movie? It gave me chills a little bit.

 

[WDW1974]

Fair enough. Three years from now the same analysts will be talking about how 2013 was Bob Iger's "sell-by" date and this contract extension just created another Michael Eisner dilemma. They're just acting on the data that is presented to them, and Disney is damn efficient at producing good looking data to distract analysts.

Of course they will. Analysts are so focused on numbers and immediacy (like now and the next quarter) that they never really seem to delve into the structural fitness of running a business (or a unit like the Disney Studios) a certain way. So the numbers look good and Iger can crow about Iron Man 3 and Monsters U and remind everyone on the Street that HE brought all that value to Disney by being a bold visionary and making those pricey acquisitions. But no one will think what happens when Disney has 2-3 $150-275 million dollar films flatline in the same year. The strategy of making almost no original product and of having every film have a crazy budget is not smart long term.

Which, by the way, WHY IN THE HELL hasn't any newspaper big or small picked up on the imminent sale of Busch Gardens Williamsburg? It's not like SEAS is doing a good job of hiding it.

Because they need to be spoon fed. Someone needs to let folks in media up in VA know what's going down and even O-Town media should have an interest in the story because of SW's presence here.

 

[WDW1974]

I think the patterns this year are going to be out of the norm. My sense is June/July are not where they should be. But Spring was way over, and winter really just stormed right into spring. Strange.

I spent most of May in O-Town and I can say none of the parks (and I did them all) ever seemed that crowded. I wasn't at the MK at noon anytime, however!

 

[raymusiccity]

Can't believe that LR only did about $30 million compared to the $82+ million DM2 did!

And I totally agree about Pacific Rim, it looks awful! It's basically transformers fighting Godzilla like monsters! No thank you....

I agree that Pacific Rim looks lame. We saw the extended preview just before The Lone Ranger. (We thought LR deserved 4 out of 5 stars).

I think Pacific Rim has already signaled that they're having problems when all of the action scenes are taking place either in the dark, in the rain, or both! I can't imagine how 3-D will work within those conditions.