Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[JohnAV]

Marvel Studios’ Phases 5 and 6: Everything We Learned at Comic-Con About the Multiverse Saga - Variety 7/23

Marking their first appearance at San Diego Comic-Con in three years, Marvel Studios did not disappoint and brought down the house with a complete lineup reveal for Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As confirmed by Kevin Feige, Phase four of the MCU ended with their upcoming sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Phase 5 will officially begin with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The complete list of movies and TV shows that will appear in Marvel Phase 5 includes:

Lots of information for many films/series, their release dates.

[bhampton]

In a trend that will only continue more digital assets are leaving unexpectedly.

The Subscription service Apple Arcade has begun killing games and has added a "leaving soon" tab to the service.

https://www.macworld.com/article/813...s-leaving.html

Game Developers can add the games back to the app store after they leave Apple Arcade. If they want to.

To add to it's recent bad decisions the Ad free nature of apple subscriptions is also going right out the window as Apple Music has added commercials to it's radio stations and playlists.

https://www.google.com/url?client=in...bk5oRcpPHe1Dlh


Basically this trend will only snowball. A lot of folks got used to the money coming in and only want more to no end.

I love Apple. I have almost all of thier products (iPhone, iPad, Mac Mini, Apple Watch) and subscribe to the Apple One service but the ads are getting too much and I believe I'll drop it soon. They had me ad no ads but are going to lose me at try not to notice these ads.

I actively reduce my exposure to ads.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by bhampton

In a trend that will only continue more digital assets are leaving unexpectedly.

The Subscription service Apple Arcade has begun killing games and has added a "leaving soon" tab to the service.

https://www.macworld.com/article/813...s-leaving.html

Game Developers can add the games back to the app store after they leave Apple Arcade. If they want to.

To add to it's recent bad decisions the Ad free nature of apple subscriptions is also going right out the window as Apple Music has added commercials to it's radio stations and playlists.

https://www.google.com/url?client=in...bk5oRcpPHe1Dlh


Basically this trend will only snowball. A lot of folks got used to the money coming in and only want more to no end.

I love Apple. I have almost all of thier products (iPhone, iPad, Mac Mini, Apple Watch) and subscribe to the Apple One service but the ads are getting too much and I believe I'll drop it soon. They had me ad no ads but are going to lose me at try not to notice these ads.

I actively reduce my exposure to ads.

Most of the biggies will have both options.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Most of the biggies will have both options.

Why not?

Take the money from users

or

Take the money from advertisers.

Until the well runs dry just keep on taking.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Most of the biggies will have both options.

Once Disney+ and Netflix offer reduced monthly cost AVOD (with ads) streaming, then all the major streaming services will offer both SVOD and AVOD.

Amazon Basic Video ($8.99/mo) has ads - but they are Amazon ads. No 3rd party ads.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

Once Disney+ and Netflix offer reduced monthly cost AVOD (with ads) streaming, then all the major streaming services will offer both SVOD and AVOD.

Amazon Basic Video ($8.99/mo) has ads - but they are Amazon ads. No 3rd party ads.

Yeah, it’s inevitable.

We have a Amazon owned service with ads over here as well as the regular Amazon Prime video. It’s called Freevee I think.

[Lee A Stewart]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Yeah, it’s inevitable.

Now more than ever due to sky rocketing inflation. Consumers want to lower their montly costs and are willing to make some sacrifices.

Meanwhile . . . Disney already has $9 billion in pledged ads for their Disney+ with ads AVOD.

We have a Amazon owned service with ads over here as well as the regular Amazon Prime video. It’s called Freevee I think.

Freevee - that's it

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Lee A Stewart

Now more than ever due to sky rocketing inflation. Consumers want to lower their montly costs and are willing to make some sacrifices.

Meanwhile . . . Disney already has $9 billion in pledged ads for their Disney+ with ads AVOD.



Freevee - that's it

I’m surprised Netflix didn’t introduce ads in the U.K. this year because we are going to get hammered in October with energy bills. They risk thousands more dropping out before the wait for the ad free option.

Regardless, I have zero intention of watching any ads so I will be paying for the full fat versions.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by Ender14

I never use an antistatic wristband when doing my builds and/or maintenance.

Not long ago I was doing a mod to a GT Media V7 satellite receiver. I a rare lapse I forgot to touch my worktable ground point and zapped the HDMI chip set. These receivers are not very expensive but I made sure to use my wristband when I modified another one (have 3). Where we live it is not uncommon for the humidity to be 30% or less.

At work all the tables in the maintenance shop had tops that were conductive and grounded. I remember when one of our Ampex AVR-1's (below) +5VDC power supply over voltaged and took out dozens of SMI, MSI and LSI. The VTR maintenance supervisor designed and installed a fast acting crowbar circuit to all the power supplies.

[Show spoiler]

[JohnAV]

Box Office: Jordan Peele’s ‘Nope’ Scares Up $44M Opening - Hollywood Reporter 7/24

The original sci-fi horror mashup reunites the filmmaker with his 'Get Out' star Daniel Kaluuya.

Acclaimed filmmaker Jordan Peele’s newest film, Nope, easily topped the domestic box office in its opening with an estimated $44 million from 3,785 theaters, according to Universal’s weekend estimates.

While that is certainly a solid start, the sci-fi horror adventure pic came in well behind the huge $71 million bow of Peele’s Us in spring 2019. Either way, Nope still scored the biggest launch for an original studio screenplay since Us after besting the $41 million debut Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which was released in late July 2019.

Nope had been tracking for a domestic debut in the $50 million range heading into the weekend. It pulled in an estimated $19.3 million on Friday alone, including a strong $6.4 million in Thursday previews, and continues the rebound at the 2022 box office.

In 2017, Peele and Universal redefined the horror genre with Get Out, followed by Us two years later. This time out, the innovative filmmaker interjects sci-fi into the mix, as well as continuing to explore themes of race and culture. Sci-fi, however, can be a difficult genre.

Nope reunites Peele with Get Out actor Daniel Kaluuya, who stars alongside Keke Palmer and Steven Yeun as the residents of a remote town outside of Los Angeles who attempt to document a mysterious event involving an unidentified flying object. There’s also a showbiz angle: Palmer and Kaluuya play siblings who run a Hollywood horse ranch they inherited from their father (black Westerns are referenced throughout the film).

Along with directing, Peele wrote and co-produced the Universal movie via his Monkeypaw Productions. He used Imax cameras to shoot parts of Nope, which is getting a major push from the large-format exhibitor (nine of the top 10 runs on Friday were Imax locations). And for the weekend, Imax and other large-format premium locations accounted for at least 34 percent of the overall gross. Younger adults made up the adult of the audience, with almost 70 percent of all ticket buyers between the ages of 18 and 34 (the overall gender split was 55 males and 45 female).

Like his previous films, Nope is benefiting from an ethnically diverse audience, with Black audiences in particular over-indexing. An estimated 35 percent of ticket buyers on opening weekend were White, followed by Black (33 percent), Latino (20 percent) and Asian (8 percent), according to Universal.

Get Out, Peele’s directorial debut, launched to $33 million in 2017 on its way to becoming a water-cooler sensation and grossing north of $255 million globally against a miniscule $4.5 million budget.

Us ultimately made $255 million-plus at the worldwide box office, scoring another win for the studio and the filmmaker. The trio of movies directed by Peele have all opened at No. 1 domestically, and are all rated R.

In terms of reception, Nope has a lower critics’ score than Us and Get Out, which sits at a stellar 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Nope currently rests at 82 percent, while Us boasts a score of 93 percent.

Nope earned a B CinemaScore from audiences, the same grade as Us. Get Out earned an A-.

Not surprisingly, Peele’s films are getting more expensive to make as he widens his scope, although they are still modestly budgeted for a Hollywood studio event film. Us cost just under $20 million to produce; Nope cost $68 million.

Marvel and Disney’s superhero pic Thor: Love and Thunder held at No. 3 domestically with $22.1 million from 4,370 theaters as it all but crossed the $600 million mark globally in its third weekend.

Internationally, Thor pulled in another $31.8 million to stay at No. 1 in a myriad of markets. Through Sunday, the tentpole has grossed $276.2 million at the domestic box office and $322 million overseas.

Universal and Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru continued to provide a boost for the family market in its fourth outing. The pic came in third domestically with $17.7 million from 3,806 locations for a domestic cume of $297.9 million and more than $640 million globally.

Sony’s Where the Crawdads Sing fell to No. 4 in its sophomore outing with $10.3 million from 3,650 theaters for a solid 10-day domestic total of $38.3 million.

Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick, rounding out the top five, remained unstoppable. The Tom Cruise movie finished Sunday with a domestic tally of $635.6 million and $1.28 billion worldwide.

Also from Paramount, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank tumbled to No. 7 in its second weekend with $3.9 million from 3,481 cinemas for a domestic total of $13.8 million.

Focus Features’ specialty offering Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris came in No. 10 in its second weekend with $847,000 from 1,001 locations for a domestic total of $2.9 million.

[crutzulee]

My wife tested positive 2 days ago and has been pretty much sleeping since then. I tested negative yesterday before heading out to the grocery store to stock up on provisions for the next few days (been barbequing for 2 days straight). The family is pretty much home for the summer and I have a few days off in a row this week and can take more as needed.

The kids and I were underwhelmed by THE LOST CITY (VOD) last night but my daughter and I LOVED 2008's THE RUINS (BLURAY) as the back half of the double feature after my son opted out in favour of playing video games with his friends. He came down this morning feeling "off" and just went back to bed after lunch (he NEVER naps ). There's no social distancing in our home and I doubt my 2nd booster from a few days ago is going to provide me with much protection. So far, my daughter and I have no symptoms...

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

My wife tested positive 2 days ago and has been pretty much sleeping since then. I tested negative yesterday before heading out to the grocery store to stock up on provisions for the next few days (been barbequing for 2 days straight). The family is pretty much home for the summer and I have a few days off in a row this week and can take more as needed.

The kids and I were underwhelmed by THE LOST CITY (VOD) last night but my daughter and I LOVED 2008's THE RUINS (BLURAY) as the back half of the double feature after my son opted out in favour of playing video games with his friends. He came down this morning feeling "off" and just went back to bed after lunch (he NEVER naps ). There's no social distancing in our home and I doubt my 2nd booster from a few days ago is going to provide me with much protection. So far, my daughter and I have no symptoms...

Take it easy Crutz.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

My wife tested positive 2 days ago and has been pretty much sleeping since then. I tested negative yesterday before heading out to the grocery store to stock up on provisions for the next few days (been barbequing for 2 days straight). The family is pretty much home for the summer and I have a few days off in a row this week and can take more as needed.

The kids and I were underwhelmed by THE LOST CITY (VOD) last night but my daughter and I LOVED 2008's THE RUINS (BLURAY) as the back half of the double feature after my son opted out in favour of playing video games with his friends. He came down this morning feeling "off" and just went back to bed after lunch (he NEVER naps ). There's no social distancing in our home and I doubt my 2nd booster from a few days ago is going to provide me with much protection. So far, my daughter and I have no symptoms...

Good luck dodging it.

[Ender14]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

My wife tested positive 2 days ago and has been pretty much sleeping since then. I tested negative yesterday before heading out to the grocery store to stock up on provisions for the next few days (been barbequing for 2 days straight). The family is pretty much home for the summer and I have a few days off in a row this week and can take more as needed.

The kids and I were underwhelmed by THE LOST CITY (VOD) last night but my daughter and I LOVED 2008's THE RUINS (BLURAY) as the back half of the double feature after my son opted out in favour of playing video games with his friends. He came down this morning feeling "off" and just went back to bed after lunch (he NEVER naps ). There's no social distancing in our home and I doubt my 2nd booster from a few days ago is going to provide me with much protection. So far, my daughter and I have no symptoms...

I hope your wife recovers soon and you and your kids stay negative.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by bhampton

To the crowd that "never ever lost a digital movie in all my years" how do you explain this ?

All my physical media (CD, DVD, D-Theater and Blu-ray) is in media databases*. Do not have any IPTV media (Vudu, MA, Prime, iTunes, Google) in a database so I have no idea if I have lost access to any content. I really doubt most that have IPTV media keep a database of their content.

*Music Collector and Movie Collector.

[bhampton]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

All my physical media (CD, DVD, D-Theater and Blu-ray) is in media databases*. Do not have any IPTV media (Vudu, MA, Prime, iTunes, Google) in a database so I have no idea if I have lost access to any content. I really doubt most that have IPTV media keep a database of their content.

*Music Collector and Movie Collector.

To eliminate any confusion .... Wendell quoted a post I since deleted.

I deleted a post in which I expressed some alarm because the count in iTunes that is still visible on a computer (not still visible on a phone to my knowledge) had dropped by 14.

I figured out why this happened, so I deleted the post.

The Recently Added section of iTunes goes all the way back to 2008 and in that section I still have 1258 items.

In the Movies section I have 1236 and there's a variety of reasons for that. One of them is the movies section would not include 7 TV series I have and another reason is some movies were added more than once like Paramount Marvel movies that I re-purchased from Marvel studios.

So no need for alarm as this was just momentary confusion. I will still add my iTunes collection to the database on here. I share my iTunes with my family and this is the main reason I would like to keep tabs on it.

[Vilya]

My newly rebuilt computer is a beast. The question is how stable of one? Time will tell. Today is only the second full day of testing it. There are 11 fans in there, so hopefully it will stay cool enough.

I have reinstalled all of my Steam games (approximately 206 titles), but I have so much more to go. Most of the practical software is in place, but I still have my Gog games to do and a few stand alone titles. Thankfully, I have 8 TB of SSD storage space with plenty of expandability if needed. Next, I get to test it all and see what works and what doesn't. Fun will be had for weeks!

I converted my Vudu account today; the Walmart login no longer is an option. The conversion went very smoothly. I did not lose anything.

In my opinion, the most obnoxious streaming site for ads is youtube, especially when watching via the app on the Roku Ultra on my TV. While building the computer we used the Roku to watch a few nerdy how-to youtube videos and the near constant ad interruptions were infuriating. I never see anywhere near this many ads when I use youtube on my computer. The cost for ad free youtube is not worth it; I don't count new cat videos as "original" content to justify the price.

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

My wife tested positive 2 days ago and has been pretty much sleeping since then. I tested negative yesterday before heading out to the grocery store to stock up on provisions for the next few days (been barbequing for 2 days straight). The family is pretty much home for the summer and I have a few days off in a row this week and can take more as needed.

I hope your wife has a fast and full recovery and that you and the rest of your family avoid catching it.

[bhampton]

Congrats on the computer fun. Sounds like more video games than anyone could ever dream of playing.

It's off topic of the thread but I've been having fun modifying my Arcade 1up Ms Pac Man machine. I watched about 20 videos or maybe more about how to do it before getting started.

At first I didn't feel the need to modify it because Ms Pac Man is my all time favorite game ever but it needed better controls at least. I'm adding Donkey Kong, Gyruss, Tapper, TMNT and more. I'm waiting for a few more items before the mods are complete but they should be here by Friday.

I won't put thousands of games on it.... That is common practice but I would rather just have ones I love and a few others.

I really feel like grabbing a second Arcade 1up for games that aren't vertical screen. I can play those games (like Tapper and TMNT) but they get letterboxed on top and bottom now and this machine will remain one player or turn based two player.

Eventually I hope to have the arcade machine placed by the laundry machines as I would often play these games at the laundromat.

-Brian

[Vilya]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Congrats on the computer fun. Sounds like more video games than anyone could ever dream of playing. -Brian

If only I had a dollar for every time someone said the exact same thing about my movie library!

Many of my games are small indy titles that are completed rather quickly while others are sweeping epics that require going without sleep, food or water to finish. The majority of my games were gifts and I have just as many Gog games to install.

Gorf was my favorite arcade game. I played it every chance I could at whatever Army PX had the machine.