OT: Disney-FOX merger
Lots of talk in the news this week about Disney buying significant parts of 21st Century Fox. It's not clear yet what exactly they may be buying, but it has pretty big implications for sports fans.
It looks like Disney could be purchasing the Fox regional sports networks. As a Detroit fan, it would be great to consolidate the Tigers, Wings and Pistons under the ESPN umbrella, where most Michigan football and basketball games are already broadcast and streamed. However, it sounds like Fox will be keeping FS1 and the regular Fox broadcast channel.
Fox owns 51% of the BTN, and that may be moving over to Disney as well. IMO if the BTN got ESPN production value it would be an upgrade.
Part of the reason the B1G conference has so much TV money is that they have been very successful in playing potential broadcasters off each other to get max value, which is why Fox started broadcasting B1G football this year. I thought an ABC/ESPN/FOX congolomorate would reduce the B1G's leverage at first, but after further reading it looks like they will stay separate for now.
Outside the sports world, lots of big movie franchises would move, and be unified, under Disney. This includes Marvel characters and all Star Wars movie rights.
The articles below have more information. The WSJ one in particular focuses on the impact to sports fans and cable subscribers/cord-cutters, and how sports TV rights are an important piece for anti-trust regulators to consider as part of the deal.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/12/13/if-disney-buys-fox-…
https://www.wsj.com/articles/will-regulators-penalize-fox-disney-deal-o…
December 13th, 2017 at 11:37 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 12:51 PM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 11:14 AM ^
Reviews are just trying to get clicks, which you'll only get by saying its the best Star Wars movie ever, or the worst ever.
Nobody will read a review that says "It was pretty okay. If you have time, it's probably worth going to see in theaters."
December 13th, 2017 at 1:09 PM ^
Rotten Tomatoes has it at 94% positive
December 13th, 2017 at 1:29 PM ^
But most others are extremely positive. I read a few that basically said, just go see it. As someone pointed out, Rotten Tomatoes has a massive score.
I will report back with my review when I have seen it like five times, so, by Tuesday.
December 13th, 2017 at 2:39 PM ^
I have read 3 reviews, and two called it "competing for worst ever with Attack of the Clones." That made me really sad...
Per RT, it's getting stellar reviews: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars_the_last_jedi.
But putting that aside, two of the three reviews you read used the exact same language in comparing it to Attack of the Clones? I'm skeptical.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:59 PM ^
Not that RT is the end all be all, but it have tons of reviews to look at.
Currently TLJ is scoring higher than TFA and Rogue 1.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^
I’ve never been a star wars guy but I genuinely don’t get the Disney hate. Do people just pretend to prequels didn’t happen?
December 13th, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
I do.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:17 AM ^
I call it "The Godfather III Rule."
December 13th, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^
is underrated. I watch all of the Godfathers about once per year and Part 3 gets better the more that you watch it.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:43 AM ^
This. While I do NOT think it is as good as its predecessors, it is a good movie in its own right. GF3 biggest problem is the name. People expected it to be one of the greatest movies of all time, which the first 2 are, and it just couldn't live up to that
December 13th, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^
don't think it did itself any favors by having the opening part of the the movie try to "mimick" the celebration/party scenes of the first two films. It tried really hard to establish the same "gravitas" as the first two movies by just setting up a similar structure but those first scenes were poorly edited and poorly written and worked against it. The longer the film goes on it creates an identity of its own and ends up being pretty memorable on its own terms, IMO.
December 13th, 2017 at 12:50 PM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
Wait a moment....I thought all of us agreed not to talk about that one.
It was summarized perfectly at the end - the film fell of its rocker and died alone.
December 13th, 2017 at 12:10 PM ^
biggest issue was casting, both Garcia and Coppola. Garcia was way too hyper and Coppola just wasn't an actress. There is still some really good stuff from Pacino and Keaton in there.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:08 PM ^
the kingdom of the crystal what now?
December 13th, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
because it birthed my absolute favorite subreddit - prequelmemes
December 14th, 2017 at 12:34 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 10:09 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 10:16 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 10:30 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^
I generally agree with you re the overuse of storylines or tropes (like, every TV series needed a Don Draper a few years ago; or Dirty Harry in the '70's). But generally, what's happening in Hollywood is a reaction - a valid one, imho - to the overwhelming number of dominant male heroes and male-centric storylines thru the ages. I'm not a Star Wars or comic book fan, so I'm not as familiar with the genre. But I suspect it's been the same everywhere.
There's a point where things will balance out via market forces. But this is probably a social correction that was overdue. Sorry about the politics.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 11:05 AM ^
was hot garbage. the beginning when the amazons scale the cliffs made me laugh hysterically
December 13th, 2017 at 11:13 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 2:33 PM ^
I'm getting negged because I dared say that I wasn't into comic book/superhero movies. Or Star Wars. Which wasn't really my point.
Folks, we need more women and people of color in storylines in all forms of entertainment.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:10 AM ^
Probably because throughout history most of the actual heroes (with a few notable exceptions) were men.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:21 AM ^
December 14th, 2017 at 7:23 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 2:31 PM ^
Hatter - I laugh at your posts, but this opinion needs refinement.
December 13th, 2017 at 5:33 PM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 5:54 PM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 3:24 PM ^
What is easily forgotten is that very few men actually achieve the level of importance and significance to be included in the story of history. If given the choice between average male existence and average female existence I'd be tempted to pick average female existence for the longer life expectancy and inherent value to society from possessing the more scarce resources needed to create the next generation.
December 13th, 2017 at 10:51 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 10:59 AM ^
am not worried about a culture war on men. I am, however, a little worried about a culture war on the concept of due process. I think that should concern everybody a little bit, men and women alike.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 11:07 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^
probably shouldn't have posted it here. At this point, I think it is just something that needs to be pointed out, where possible, in any discussion where it remotely fits. The societal appetite right now to watch people burn could be a very concerning development if not checked and I think very few people either understand that or think it is OK to vocalize it.
December 13th, 2017 at 1:22 PM ^
Yes to this. These are times when those of us lucky enough to receive a classic liberal arts education need to show ourselves HIGHLY skeptical of any sweeping witch hunt ideology. This is not to dismiss it all outright--just to question it squarely. This can be harder than it sounds, unfortunately.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:13 AM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 2:51 PM ^
The Handmaindens Tale is about 5 minutes away from becoming reality, based on some of the opinions written upthread.
December 13th, 2017 at 4:13 PM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^
I've had 20 years of dealing with personnel issues that inlclude six (6) sexual harassment complaints - including one on-going. This gets me pretty close to understanding the "rule of law." FWIW, I never made a decision to suspend or fire a man due to an accusation. They never reached that point because somebody gives up their employment. One of the following occurs - ( 1) he quits; 2) she quits; 3) they both quit. My investigations in every case led me to believe there was substance and guilt involved.
And those are the ones that get reported. Many don't because grievance procedures and "rule of law" is time consuming and most women (not to mention their careers) can't withstand the "societal pressures" that accompany making accusations. "Rule of law" will take time to catch up to an accuser's willingness to participate in the due dillegence.
There will be a backlash (hysteria) because that's what white men do when confronted with threats to their power structure. We can get into my understanding of The Handmaiden's Tale now - if you want.
December 13th, 2017 at 5:23 PM ^
December 13th, 2017 at 5:48 PM ^
I used the quotation marks to directly reference your terminology. Why would I mock the "rule of law" ?
You're right - "we" definintely aren't "getting anywhere now." Just read my last post. Or don't.
December 13th, 2017 at 11:23 AM ^
people who use the "your dick is small" bit are the ones with the small dicks.
Also, who truly hates a movie JUST because there's a female lead? I get that dipshits like you just NEED to scream at anyone that doesn't agree with you and spew drivel about mysogyny, or anti feminism, or racism, or old white guy syndrome. You won't listen to anyone's argument. "Welp, someone doesn't like what I like. Hey! It's got a strong female or minority lead! That's gotta be the reason why! Let me see your dick!"
I haven't seen Wonder Woman. Probably won't. But it won't be because I don't want to see a strong female lead. It's because the super hero genre doesn't do it for me. Up until I heard both sides bitching at each other for the rise of a strong female/minority lead in the latest Star Wars movie, I never even gave it a thought. Not everything has to be some stupid ass fucking "statement" on the political spectrum. You will not die if you just go to a gotdam movie and fucking enjoy it for what it is.
December 13th, 2017 at 2:40 PM ^
That's fine, but the "stupid ass fucking political statements" upthread are mostly being made by dudes who want to see movies/tv/comic books/video games starring dudes who do dude things to other dudes. Unless said dudes are having sex with attractive naked women. Then all the dudes are happy.
I'm not even getting into the post-hysteria over women standing up to rape and sexual threats. Not going there.
December 13th, 2017 at 3:11 PM ^
funny that your avatar is don draper
December 13th, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^