Pattern Ghost

And in the case of movie theaters, the movie is the medium and the theater is the "device" that carries it. IOW, the movie theaters can go bye-bye and we can all still watch movies. Just think of all the things that cell phones have replaced for most people and can only be found as mostly niche items these days. I have the smallest TVs in my extended family, and at 55" for my apartment living room, I don't have any need to deal with the myriad of inconveniences of a theater trip. 70"+ HD TVs are common and affordable these days. I don't think theaters are going to suddenly go *poof* any time soon, but I think due to COVID and several studios breaking the old relationships between studios and theaters, we're going to see a large reduction. I think the next phase for theaters will likely be what we see in desktop PCs today: Less of a commodity and more of an enthusiast niche item. (Ironically, COVID has also boosted the desktop PC market greatly this last year, but prior to the home office needs, people were shifting heavily to phones and tablets as a primary device.) What form that will take, who knows? Maybe the remaining theaters will shift to a more premium experience, with more focus on unique offerings such as the smaller (but still impressive) IMAX formats, better seating, etc. I think change is definitely coming to the industry.

I know! I often reminisce about how silly those people are while browsing for 8 track tapes at my local music store.

This is a question for a lawyer.

At four hours, they may as well have added a few extra hours and made a mini-series for HBO Max.

Well, they could bring Graviton back in a souped-up form. He was still growing in power at the time he was blasted into orbit, so it'd be pretty easy to bring him back by saying his power grew to the point that being spaced isn't such a big deal. They could show an ominous gravitonium cocoon, then have him pop out at an opportune moment.

In Graviton's case, "used up" means "dead." Of course, there are many ways around that in genre.

It'll be another series that gets finished posthumously.

As a neutral bystander . . . let's not let the nerd fights get bloody here. We're all friends here with common interests.

Well, she's not the first racist to be fired for making racist remarks on the internet. Probably won't be the last.

The Dr. Fate abilities look like they were fan made Marvel FASERIP write ups.

You might want to wash your hands after unboxing your Amazon purchases: https://theintercept.com/2021/03/25/amazon-drivers-pee-bottles-union/

It's pointless posturing. There are plenty of products on the market for those who want them, no need to make the manufacturers include the feature.

Yeah, but . . .

Just watched the second episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Much better pacing than the first episode, which bored me silly. Looks very promising. It seems like they're bringing together a lot of classic Captain America storylines and lore.

That was the Smallville version. Same actress played Medusa in that abomination of an Inhumans show.

Here's a video covering what I was talking about regarding vaccine comparisons:

If you like lens flare.

I read an article on this. The long and short of it is that the J&J vaccine was tested in different areas (and is effective against the S. African strain, as that's an area it was tested in) and was tested during a spike period, whereas the Pfizer and Moderna were tested during lulls in cases. So, the efficacy rates for preventing infection are not apples to apples, since the conditions were different. However, it's a much closer comparison to look at the number of cases where there was an infection, and what the result was, which is where all the vaccines perform very well, and on par with each other, with none of them having had a serious case or hospitalization in a vaccinated person. That's why authorities are saying just get the first one you can get. Because they're all equal in the only way we can reliably compare them.

You also have to cut physical film to add bits. It's just short for "edit," I think.

That's only one approach to building a character. Compelling villains need to have understandable motives, not ones we empathize with. Thanos is a force of Nature. Do people read "To Build a Fire" and say, "Gee, I'm sure glad I didn't end up like that freezing Winter day! That could have been me!"? Nope. Do people watch any of the movies or TV shows featuring Hannibal Lecter and empathize with Hannibal? No. Because he's a monster in a human suit. There's not enough humanity in him to empathize with, and you aren't at any risk of becoming Hannibal through a few bad life choices. But his arrogance? His rage? His appreciation for the finer things, and for good manners? Those are understandable. I could fill this little text box with examples, but I'm recovering from thoracic surgery and not inclined to put in the effort today. You don't dogmatically apply one writing technique to every villain you create. That's a lack of understanding the options on the table. That's amateur hour. --- ------------------------------------------------------- screw this post merging nonsense --------------------------------------------- Yeah, they certainly didn't have the opportunity to slowly roll the concepts out over a decade worth of movies. Shame, that. See, that wasn't necessary, and it was done so hamfistedly that every discussion of the plot of the movies comes back around to the stupidity of the plan.

In other words, they really didn't have a good reason to change his motives. The audience does not need to empathize with a villain.

Logically, the axe isn't an issue. Aesthetically, it is. At least for me. But I'll overlook it if I like the movie.

I disagree with your premise wholeheartedly. That Marvel personified version of Death was ripped from the popular consciousness, and we've been personifying the concept for AGES. It is literally the easiest sell possible. Ditto the appeal of Death.

You could sell his obsession with Death with a single soliloquy extolling the virtues of Death (and this has been done in many genres of many media), then reveal that he's talking to the Marvel version of Death, who simply turns her back on him and walks away. Cut back to his facial features going through the emotions of rejection, settling on a look of grim resolve. Not that hard to sell.

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-56397324