Moe Lane's Blog, page 848
October 20, 2020
The TALES FROM THE FERMI RESOLUTION Kickstarter funded!
Thanks, folks! TALES FROM THE FERMI RESOLUTION even funded in half a day, which is real nice. I had it pegged for a couple of days, based on the fully expected comparatively lower interest in this project. But what do I know, huh?
The stretch goals are already up: at this stage I’m merely offering another short story sampler. Three stories, at least one original, with three more potentially available at higher goals. Will one of them be another standalone Tom Vargas story? Maybe.
Again, thanks!
October 19, 2020
The TALES FROM THE FERMI RESOLUTION Kickstarter is live.
BEHOLD! The second book of the FERMI RESOLUTION future history! TALES FROM THE FERMI RESOLUTION, Volume 1: SHADOW OF THE TOWER combines Patreon-published stories set in the Fermi Resolution fantasy setting (six of which were collected previously in a Kickstarter-exclusive sampler), and several new ones written specifically for this volume. It’s an epic span of stories, stretching across the continent. Humor, adventure, action, and defiance… for looming above all these stories is the cruel and vindictive mage-empire known as the Universal Dominion. All of these tales are told… in the shadow of the Tower.
Schedule was all messed up today.
Mondays and the Kickstarter starts tomorrow, so of course that’s a stress elevator. Or escalator. Or… moving sidewalk? Okay, now that just sounds silly. At any rate, I decided that two, three days off from writing won’t kill me.
In the meantime, here’s a remarkably interesting video about The Man Who Laughs, a silent film you’ve probably never heard of. I was expecting it to bore me within five minutes, but I ended up watching the whole thing.
The Skyrim: Extended Cut mod trailer.
The existence of Skyrim: Extended Cut suggests that Bethesda needs to get off of its rear and get the next Elder Scrolls game going:
Almost a decade at this point and they’re still modding Skyrim. Bethesda should take the hint. Aside from everything else; they’re not seeing any money from that, you know.
Tweet of the Day, NO. There WILL Be A Halloween edition.
I love Penny Arcade, but this situation is not the Apocalypse. It is, to quote Eric Flint, simply a problem to be solved.
Talk to your kids about Halloween. pic.twitter.com/ay4ckV4eJN
— Gabe (@cwgabriel) October 19, 2020
And we have solved it. Two wide-aperture three-foot cardboard tubes, secured with duct tape, and fixed to our stoop’s bannister. A box at the bottom to collect the candy. The angle is steep enough that the candy can and does travel freely to the bottom. There! Social distancing achieved, and problem solved. We even have cardboard tubes for our neighbors.
Disney investor talks up all digital-release model.
Expect these calls to get ever louder:
One of Disney’s top investors wants the company to by-bass theatrical releases for some of its big tent-pole films like Black Widow and start releasing them on the Disney+ streaming service as they did with Mulan and the upcoming Pixar film Soul.
Dan Loeb, a hedge fund manager for Third Point with roughly a $1 billion stake in the company explains that releasing high-profile films like Black Widow to Disney+ would attract new subscribers while also retaining its current customers.
More accurately: Loeb is arguing that, not explaining it. Admittedly, it’s not a bad argument; Disney made 13 billion in box office in 2019, and it looks reasonable to think that the Mouse will make something like 15, 16 billion this year from its online-only sources. If we really are losing the movie theaters, then it makes business sense for Disney to just pull the lever now and pop the chute.
The problem in all of this – aside from the fact that I like movie theaters and movies in theaters – is that this move will insulate Disney and the other studios just a little further from negative feedback. It’s no secret that the studios want the future of cinema to be people paying money every month to access their entertainment libraries. This makes the most economic sense… for them (at least until the system collapses because there’s no reason for tentpole movies because there are no more tents*). The rest of us might have a different opinion on the subject, but it’s going to be harder for them to figure it out when all they have are monthly subscription numbers to survey.
I have no good answers, sorry. Disney would like to live: movie theater chains have the same desire; and my opinion is officially not disinterested. You tell me what everybody should do.
*And/or the Second Golden Age of Internet Piracy. Which might end up bringing back physical media in a big way, and wouldn’t that be a shame?
October 18, 2020
Movie of the Week: THE INVISIBLE MAN.
So, my older kid tells me this evening he wants to see THE INVISIBLE MAN, and I’m going “Well, it’s on HBO Max, and maybe we can catch it when the Snyder Cut drops…” and he says, “No. The one from 1933.”
So proud*. Although I hear the new one’s actually pretty good. But it was clearly time to buy some of the classics. I also grabbed the DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN Blu-Ray collections, because they were half-off. OK, and the WOLF MAN, and I gotta stop now.
Moe Lane
*My younger kid went and brought in the groceries from the porch without being asked. Which is also a so proud situation.
The THE EMPTY MAN trailer.
THE EMPTY MAN isn’t getting much of a release, but then I dunno what Disney was gonna do with this one, anyway. Urban legend horror with women showing their buttocks before taking what will probably be the last shower of their lives isn’t exactly the Mouse’s usual programming. Such is the fallout from a corporate merger.
I guess this is gonna show up on… Hulu, then? Probably.
