Ghosthoffa - The Only

It’s the correct move. The sun sets way too early in the winter. I will trade darker mornings for lighter nights. Can’t have it pitch black at 5pm

Prediction, when the gas prices fall back to low $2/gal in the next couple of months, the news media will forget there is such a thing as gas prices.

FIRST LOOK: Disney has shared the logo for ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE's 25th anniversary. A new collection will drop on the Disney Store on June 3.

This whole conversation around The Mandalorian & Grogu is proof positive that Hollywood accounting is bullshit. The Hollywood Reporter says people close to Disney believe the movie needs $500–600 million worldwide to be in the black. Maybe that is true on Disney’s spreadsheet. But look at what we actually know. The movie opened to $165 million worldwide over Memorial Day weekend. California lists $166.4 million in spending tied to the production, while giving Disney a $21.7 million tax credit. That number does not even include the major talent deals for people like Pedro Pascal, Jon Favreau, Sigourney Weaver or the producers. So yes, the movie cost more than the $165 million number being thrown around. But after tax credits, the real cost is also lower than whatever the full production total was. Then Disney gets to include marketing, distribution fees, theater splits and all of the other internal accounting that turns a $165 million opening weekend into, “Actually, we need $600 million before this makes money.” Meanwhile, The Mandalorian has already generated more than $1 billion in merchandise sales, Grogu sold over 13 million toys in his first two years, and this movie is pushing another full wave of toys, LEGO sets, apparel, Disney+ interest and theme park tie-ins. So what are we really measuring here? Whether the movie itself shows a theatrical profit on Disney’s books? Or whether Mando and Grogu continue to make Disney money across the entire company? Because those are not the same thing. A $500–600 million break-even point might be real according to Hollywood accounting. But there is no way I believe Disney looks at a $165 million worldwide opening, $21 million in tax incentives, and a billion-dollar Grogu merchandise machine and thinks, “Well, I guess we are done with these characters.” We are getting more Mando and Grogu.

As a Democrat, I can admit I’ve been voting wrong. Look what Mayor Karen Bass has allowed to happen to Hollywood Boulevard. It’s not only disgusting, it’s an embarrassment. It’s much worse than the picture depicts.

I saw it with my kids yesterday. The theater was mostly full and the audience really enjoyed it. There was a lot of laughter. The movie really improved over the show in important ways. Perhaps obvious given the extra time and budget resources, but worth pointing out. The limitations of the Volume are much less in evidence and there’s a lot of emphasis on puppetry as opposed to CGI: Grogu/baby Yoda is almost all practical, as is the fan favorite monkey-like Frik, and so on. You can see it on the screen. It looks good Now, Empire Strikes Back this is not. The story is not compelling and particularly memorable. It revolves around a bounty and Mando’s conscience, and is quite predictable. But there’s a definite charm to Grogu and again, as I said earlier, the audience loved it, especially the kids Star Wars deserves better critics. Having seen the movie, the online discourse about the latest installment seems absurdly parochial and disconnected from the actual project. Like I posted about the other day, negativity about movies is now a full time identity for an entire cohort of people online. It’s equal opportunity and insatiable for content, going from title to title to feed before moving on, herd-like and bovine, to the next victim It’s an absurd, self-perpetuating, and entirely solipsistic alternate reality that no one should engage with

A friend brought up an interesting point about the Mandalorian and Grogu movie: "It's hard to get invested in a film, where 98% of it is a guy in a mask, you can't see his face or expression, and his voice is monotone." Do you agree?