LET'S TALK ABOUT IT 2024:1

Happy 2024! General chat about films & TV; if the thread gets too long (ca. 200 postings?), I'll start a 2024:2. Continues: LET'S TALK ABOUT IT - SEPT 2023.

For specific films, see: What Are You Watching in January-April 2024 -TV Shows or Film!

For books about movies & TV, see: Books on Movies & TV.

For thoughts on books made into movies, see: BOOKS MADE INTO MOVIES OCT 2023-? (Not the lengthiest of threads!)

Calum Marsh. NYT, 01/02/2024: Anime Is Going Digital. Fans Are Wary.

"In an era where many films and albums are stored in the cloud, "streaming anxiety" is making people buy more DVDs and records – as younger digital generations fear having their life histories erased."

Clare Thorp. BBC Culture, 01/03/2024: Oppenheimer and the resurgence of Blu-ray and DVDs: How to stop your films and music from disappearing.

The "Movie Club" discussion at Slate is one of the year's most entertaining traditions. Four movie critics take turns sharing their thoughts on the films, performances, and trends of the year gone by. Four rounds of posts, with occasional interruptions from other Slate writers. This year, Dana Stevens is joined by Bilge Ebiri, Esther Zuckerman, and Mark Harris. The conversation begins here:

https://slate.com/culture/2023/12/best-movies-2023-barbie-oppenheimer-barbenheim...

Shivani Gonzalez. NYT, 01/07/2024: Golden Globes Winners 2024: The Complete List.

Highlights:
Best motion picture, drama: Oppenheimer
Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Poor Things
Best Motion Picture, Animated: The Boy and the Heron
Cinematic and Box Office Achievement (interesting category!): Barbie
Best Motion Picture, Non-English Language: Anatomy of a Fall
Best Director, Motion Picture: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Emma Stone, Poor Things
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Best Television Series, Drama: Succession
Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy: The Bear
Best Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture made for Television: Beef
For the most part, actors in the TV series that won awards also won awards, but:
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Supporting Role: Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown

Addendum, or, a dissenting voice:
Stuart Heritage. Guardian, 01/08/2024: ‘One of the greatest actors on Earth went home empty-handed!’ All the shocks from the Golden Globes.

so glad these two won, they were both amazing

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown

love emma stone, need to see poor things

jI did not like boy and the heron at all; granted the animation was splendid but the story was all over the place

>6 cindydavid4: I love Paul Giamatti - I enjoyed his role!

>3 featherbear: I can totally see that.
Streaming provides quicker access to many items and often times legitimately free. In some cases it expands access to an item.
However, I have noticed the draw back of content switching between distributors and how that causes inconvenience for the end user and how some content is sometimes not avaliable to stream.

Therefore in our family, for any family favorites that we will frequently want to watch we buy a DVD copy and we have a designated shelf space. If we get tired of something, we pass it on. If it is just a once in a while watch, we watch when avaliable via streaming.

The strike delayed 75th Emmy awards.

Rachel Sherman, compiler. NYT, 01/15/2024: Emmy Winners: The Full List

Highlights:
Best comedy: The Bear (FX, Hulu)
Best drama: Succession (HBO)
Best limited series: Beef (Netflix)
Best actress, comedy: Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
Best actor, comedy: Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Best actress, drama: Sarah Snook, Succession
Best actor, drama: Kieran Culkin, Succession
Best Actress, Limited Series or TV Movie: Ali Wong, Beef
Best Actor, Limited Series or TV Movie: Steven Yuen Beef
Documentary or Nonfiction Series: The 1619 Project (Hulu)
Documentary or Nonfiction Special: Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple TV+)

gosh ive seen none of those (tho have watched John Oliver and Trevor Noah in their shows which won awards as welll. Wonder if im missing something...

Hope this isn't paywalled:

Brandon Streussnig & Bilge Ebiri. Vulture, 01/17/2024: The Stunt Awards Are Back Here are the nominees for Vulture’s second annual celebration of stunt professionals — and the action movies they make great.

Guardian, 01/23/2024: Oscars nominations 2024: the full list.

No noms for Greta Gerwig or Margot Robbie.

Catherine Shoard. Guardian, 01/23/2024: Oscars nominations 2024: Oppenheimer eclipses Scorsese, Poor Things – and Barbie.

If you're wondering where you can catch the various Oscar nominees, here's a list of where they're available for streaming in the US. The ones marked "streaming/rental" aren't available for free streaming anywhere, but are widely available for rental; you should be able to find them at Amazon or Apple+, among other rental sources.

STILL IN THEATERS: American Fiction, The Boy and the Heron, The Color Purple, Godzilla Minus One, Napoleon, Poor Things, Society of the Snow, The Teacher's Lounge

2024 US RELEASE: Perfect Days, Robot Dreams

US RELEASE PLANS UNKNOWN: Io Capitano, To Kill a Tiger

STREAMING/RENTAL: 20 Days in Mariupol, Anatomy of a Fall, Four Daughters, Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part One, Oppenheimer, Past Lives

APPLE TV: Killers of the Flower Moon

DISNEY+: Bobi Wine: The People's President, Elemental, Flamin' Hot, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

HULU: The Creator, Flamin' Hot

MAX: Barbie

NETFLIX: American Symphony, El Conde, Maestro, May December, Nimona, Nyad, Rustin, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

PARAMOUNT+: The Eternal Memory, Golda

PEACOCK: The Holdovers

Most of the short film nominees are not available for streaming in the US, but you can find these:

HULU: The Last Repair Shop

NETFLIX: The After, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

PARAMOUNT+: The ABCs of Book Banning

YOUTUBE: The Barber of Little Rock, Knight of Fortune

>14 KeithChaffee: Thanks for this -- lot of Netflix watching to do; btw I noticed that Peacock will be streaming Oppenheimer in Feb.

Was willy wanka too late for the oscars? thougth both leads outstanding, and the 'prequel was lots of fun

No, Wonka was eligible, but it wasn't ever really expected to be a contender for any awards.

In part, that's because the Academy is increasingly reluctant to look at more than a handful of movies in its nominations. In the "above-the-line" categories -- picture, director, acting, and screenplay -- the 45 nominations went to only 14 different movies.

Some happier notes about the nominations: The Best Picture field includes three movies that are entirely or largely in a language other than English, and three movies directed by women. Seven of the twenty acting nominations went to POC actors; two went to openly LGBT actors playing openly LGBT characters, only the 3rd and 4th such nominations ever. Ten of the acting nominees are nominated for the first time.

Should win (of the actual nominees): Anatomy of a Fall, Triet, Giamatti, Huller, Gosling, Randolph. Will Win: Oppenheimer, Nolan, Murphy, Stone, Downey, Randolph. Only one of those that might be close is Best Actress, where I can imagine Gladstone winning in order to give Killers something.

Happiest surprise: Colman Domingo making it in over (most likely) DiCaprio.

Most appalling inclusion: The painfully overpraised The Zone of Interest in every category that included it.

Most egregious omission: No, not Robbie or Gerwig. I'd have preferred Robbie to Mulligan or Gladstone (who I think belongs in supporting), but I understand why Robbie was left out; the Academy rarely takes comedy seriously. (America Ferrera got in for what is the movie's most serious moment, and Gosling got in because his was a much weaker category than either Robbie or Gerwig faced.) The worst omission was Charles Melton; I'd have booted De Niro to make room for him.

Richard Brody. New Yorker, 01/23/2024: Now That the Oscar Nominations Are in, Here’s What Deserves to Win.

Caryn James. BBC Culture, 01/24/2024: Oscars 2024: The real reason Barbie's Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were snubbed by the Oscars.

>15 featherbear: Oppenheimer was quite good but long.

Or not:

Shirley Li. Atlantic, 01/30/2024: The Sundance Movie That Sent People Running for the Exit: Sasquatch Sunset.

Rather unexpected list from this website:

Eunjin Choi & Rita Raley. Public Books, 01/30/2024: PAYBACK: KOREAN REVENGE DRAMAS WILL DO IT FOR YOU.

"Revenge in its purest form—distilled down to cold, primal, retributive fury—is one of the signature themes of South Korean media. Two decades ago, Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy set the tone. But in the intervening years, the revenge genre has exponentially expanded beyond film and settled into television, where it is right at home: tailor-made for both streaming services (with fewer constraints on explicit content) and TV networks (the standard K-drama format, with its sensational plot twists, keeps audiences in place for their eight-week runs)."

>21 featherbear: I can see why

Mike Hale. NYT, 02/11/2024: The Super Bowl Ads, Ranked.

I missed a number of these because the 1st 3 quarters were rather dull w/lots of miscues (the football game; glad I hung around for the 4th & overtime). I did like the Walken/BMW commercial, I'd watch Aubrey Plaza in anything. Thought the list did underrate the T-Mobile w/Jason Momoa, the couch potato/Pluto (major identification), the Dove girls in sports, Kawasaki mullets; sorry I missed Mighty Patch (Pop me!) & the Dunkin' one w/Affleck, & I had problems remembering the Uber Eats jokes.

At HARD DRIVE, critic Matt Fresh offers a ranking of all 95 Best Picture Oscar winners by how good a Muppets version would be:

https://hard-drive.net/hd/entertainment/every-best-picture-winner-ranked-by-how-...

Niela Orr. NYT, 02/14/2024: Tubi Is Reviving a Lost Joy: Watching Really, Really Bad Movies.

"Tubi, which debuted in 2014 and was purchased by Fox in 2020 for $440 million, has surged in popularity since the pandemic. Gaffe-rich projects certainly haven’t held the service back. In January 2021, Tubi had 33 million active users; by February 2023, that had gone up to 64 million, and by September it was 74 million."

this sounds an awful like Mystery Science Theater 3000 which I long adored

Guardian, 02/18/2024: Baftas 2024: the complete list of winners.

Dune 2 is outstanding; really captures the book; looking forward to the third one Dune Messiah which I think is actually better than Dune.

Peter Campion. LARB, 02/26/2024: Wake Up, Sleepyhead. Review of: Remotely: Travels in the Binge of TV / David Thomson.

>29 cindydavid4: Couple of questions from someone who's seen Villeneuve's Dune 1 & the Lynch version as well:

a. Does it complete the arc of the original novel, or would a Dune 3 be required? i.e., not a film based on the sequel to the original novel. I've only read the original novel, decades ago.

b. Since I'll be unable to see it in theater, did you watch it in IMAX? (what will I be missing sigh?)

c. As a whole (i.e. part 1 & 2 together), better than the 80s version with Sting?

A) Dune 3 will be required, but it does follow the original with some cuts that bothered me but worked nonetheless

B) we say it in IMAX and cant imagine seeing it any other way, but I assume it will be just fine in the theatre

C) I did not like that version at all cant remember why now, but Id been reading that book since 1974 and it did not match my image of it... the one version that comes close to this one is the 1984 scifi station series, which completes the book

>32 cindydavid4: Much thanks. I'll try to take a look when it gets to one of the streaming services. Won't be IMAX, but I saw part 1 on my large screen TV, & it was fine, though I can only dream about seeing it on one of the super screens -- don't think I've ever seen anything on IMAX. Not sorry for having seen the DeLaurentis version, but the Villeneuve is probably closer to Herbert's vision.

I'll take this opportunity to put in a good word for the 2013 documentary Jodorowsky's Dune, currently streaming on Max and available to rent/buy at Amazon and Apple+.

The Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky had something of a cult following in the early 1970s; his style was a sort of surreal mysticism. And for a few years, he attempted to make a film of Dune.

He planned to cast his 12-year-old son in the starring role, and wanted to fill other roles with Udo Kier, Mick Jagger, Orson Welles, and Salvador Dali. Dali had never acted before, and demanded a salary of $1,000,000 per day. He recruited H. R. Giger to design the movie and Dan O'Bannon for special effects (if you're not a SF movie person, those are legendary names in the field), and Pink Floyd was to score the movie.

With that combination of ambition and lunacy, it's no surprise that the film never came to be, but the documentary turns Jodorowsky's failure into a marvelously entertaining story.

Ian Bogost. Atlantic, 02/28/2024: YOUR TV IS TOO GOOD FOR YOU: 4K resolution is a sham.

Kerry Hegarty. The Conversation, 03/04/2024: How non-English language cinema is reshaping the Oscars landscape.

I'm not too familiar with Greta Garbo; I've only seen Ninotchka & Grand Hotel, but I've got Camille waiting on my DVR. More to explore.

Ella Dorn. Guardian, 03/04/2024: Alone time: reassessing Greta Garbo, 100 years after her screen debut.

A review of a picture I'd like to take a look at, though reactions have been decidedly mixed. Meanwhile, the second part of Shoah is still waiting on my DVR.

David Hering. LARB, 03/04/2024: Viewing the Ob-scene: On Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.”

>38 featherbear: I got hold of a box set as I had seen only a few of her films. Queen Christina is amazing. Garbo has great chemistry with the ill-fated John Gilbert.
I also love her in Ninotchka.

Perhaps I should have posted to the RIP 2024 thread:

Travis M. Andrews. WaPo, 03/05/2024: The Oscars’ In Memoriam bit will break your heart (one way or another). "For 30 years, the montage for the recently deceased has touched, confounded and angered just about everyone."

Sarah Bregel. BBC Culture, 03/04/2024: Why is the Dune 2 popcorn bucket going viral?

As an alternative to TCM's "Month of Oscars," a new March collection on Criterion Channel: films honored by the Golden Raspberry Award, for the worst film of the year; "they have often inadvertently shed light on films so out-there, so uncompromising, so beyond the bound of accepted "good" taste that they demand attention ..." On offer this month:

Cocktail
Showgirls
Xanadu
Heaven's Gate
Barb Wire
Cruising
Freddy Got Fingered
Under the Cherry Moon
The Wicker Man
The Blair Witch Project
Gigli
Swept Away
Querelle

I'll admit Heaven's Gate is in my DVD collection; I've seen Showgirls & Blair Witch (neither particularly memorable for me); meanwhile, still working my way through my Starz freebie week checklist (Sunday is the last day).

PS This just in: Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey got most of the 2024 awards; "Sylvester Stallone's Expend4bles also picked up two awards." (per BBC) Soon to appear on my Peacock Premium subscription I imagine.

Still awake due to Oscar hangover or Daylight Savings mind-scramble.

I watched most of it from ca. 7:15PM EST, toggling between a YouTube watch party & the ABC presentation, using the mute for much of the ABC, though I listened to some of the musical nominations (including the Vegas-y Ken number from Barbie & of course the actual announcements). Rather brisk. As advertising for the 2023 films, the Emma Stone movie definitely caught my eye -- just looks like great eye candy & I've liked another of Alasdair Gray's novels -- Lanark, so I hope to rent a streamer one of these days. Should try to finish watching Oppenheimer. Academy doesn't seem to like long Martin Scorsese movies (cf. The Irishman); I'll wait till the streamers offer a better rental price on the Killers (it's around $20 last time I checked). The In Memoriam presentation was rather hard to follow for my aged eyes, and at the end there was a long illegible list of deceased who didn't rate a photo/memoriam, though a more detailed website list flashed by. Al Pacino did the best picture presentation & didn't bother to name any of the nominees; foregone conclusion? I'm hoping the Miyazaki anime shows up on HBO/Max as a result of its Oscar. Also, as an explosions fan, I should take a look at Creator which must be rentable somewhere, as well as this new Godzilla movie that seems to have been Oscar'd for being made on the relative cheap -- the bits shown at the Oscars show looked pretty good. I think there was a piece in The Atlantic or The New Yorker on the use of background sound in the Auschwitz movie, so it seemed appropriate that it got an Oscar for sound.

Shivani Gonzalez. NYT, 03/10-11/2024: Oscars 2024 Winners: See the Full List: The complete list of winners for the 96th Academy Awards.

Addendum. The following is better, since it lists the runners-up (unlike Al Pacino):

Guardian Film. 03/10/2024: Oscars 2024: the full list of winners. "All this year's winners & nominees."

Oscars
I usually like the lists of the actors who had passed away at the Oscars but the screen was so small you couldn't read the names!

>45 JulieLill: This appears to be the official Oscars In Memoriam list, with pics when available:

https://aframe.oscars.org/news/in-memoriam

The NY Post was outraged: "Oscars 2024 viewers outraged over botched In Memoriam segment: ‘An astronomical failure’"

>45 JulieLill: That was the one really awful moment in a show that was otherwise quite well done. It was one of the most entertaining Oscars in a long time.

>47 KeithChaffee: Al Pacino ignoring the runners-up for best pic was ... somewhat surprising

I was less bothered by that than some. I mean, each picture had already had its little spotlight montage. And it's the one award where everyone in the room knows exactly what's been nominated; would have been something else entirely if a presenter had forgotten to read the nominees for, I dunno, Production Design.

But yes, it was a bad choice from the producers. When you send Al Pacino out there, you know something weird is going to happen. He should have had a presenting partner who could have made sure that the presentation went according to plan and gracefully covered for his eccentricities, like when Liza Minnelli and Lady Gaga presented Best Picture two years ago.

Gift links to a pair of terrific TV-related articles from the NY Times:

Mark Harris on the disappearance of the Gay Best Friend:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/t-magazine/gay-best-friends.html?unlocked_art...

James Poniewozik on the 50th anniversary of the TV special FREE TO
BE...YOU AND ME:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/09/arts/television/free-to-be-you-and-me-50th-an...

>49 KeithChaffee: Now it can be told!:

Sian Cain & agencies. Guardian, 03/11/2024: Oscars 2024: Al Pacino says he was told not to name best picture nominees.

Kaj Larsen. NYT, 03/13/2024: What the ‘Rust’ Shooting Case Is Really About.

"The conviction last week of the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, for involuntary manslaughter, and an assistant director’s plea of no contest to a charge of negligent handling of a deadly weapon, underscore the systemic nature of the problem. It’s not just about individual lapses in judgment but about a broader culture of laxity and disregard for the lethal potential of firearms on set.

"The very language Hollywood uses, particularly the term “prop gun,” is emblematic of the problem. The phrase “prop gun” suggests something inauthentic, a harmless facsimile of a real weapon. This is a dangerous misnomer. The guns used in films are typically real firearms, often modified to fire blank rounds or to be nonfunctional. By referring to them as mere props, the industry perpetuates a false sense of safety, downplaying the genuine risks these weapons pose."

>52 featherbear: interesting, hadnt thought of that before but it makes sense.

Tom Nichols. The Atlantic, 03/15/2024: The TV Shows That Don’t Solve Their Mysteries.

"I know, I know. Almost everyone loved Jodie Foster and Kali Reis in True Detective, and they were great. The show lured us in with a horrifying mystery: a “corpsicle” of naked, mutilated, frozen bodies in the Alaskan snow. Characters began to see ghosts. The dead spoke to the living. Body parts showed up in a mysterious lab. And after several episodes, we finally learned …

"Nothing. We learned nothing. The frozen guys had been made to strip and go freeze to death at gunpoint by some local women for a bad thing they had done earlier. The end.

"If you watched the series, you might have been among the many people yelling, “What about the tongue on the floor?” I imagine the writers would answer that True Detective is more than a mystery: It’s a character study, a view into the lives of Indigenous women, a meditation on death and darkness and other Deep Questions.

"Yes, yes, that’s all very important. But what about the tongue on the floor?

"This is now the umpteenth time I’ve fallen for a show that promises dark secrets and a big reveal but tells me very little. If you have a monster lurking about, you should show us the monster, as the old rule of horror movies once decreed. And if there’s a mythology behind the series, then the writers should keep faith with the viewers and be consistent about it."

The author attributes part of the problem to series runners & writers "winging it" with renewable series (e.g. Lost), but the True Detective: Night Country example was a limited series that "paid off" in loose change. Still, when browsing Netflix or HBO/Max, I look for the limited series label in hopes of at least some creative discipline. Not sure if the recent Amazon Prime Mr and Mrs Smith was intended to be limited, but the way it ended it could have been either way: Amazon Studios keeping its options open as it cuts back, adds commercials, & seems to aspire to become a hub for other niche streaming services & rentals. I recently started the Netflix series The Witcher Season 2 after a long hiatus, but realized I'd forgotten much of Season 1, so I started re-watching 1, which in itself is pretty confusing, since it has a lot of non-signaled flashbacks that make the storylines hard to follow, even on a second go-round; the series being open-ended, though, I suspect trouble ahead. Is this why geezers my age are attracted to those British police procedurals like Vera, Endeavour, Midsomer Murders, etc with resolution at the end of 90 min & no open-ended story arcs (new DS in Season X? Oh, the previous one moved to Australia; no mention of it at the end of Season IX) we can only leave to our heirs.

Richard Brody. New Yorker, 03/19/2024: The Best Bio-Pics Ever Made. A list of 33.

J. Oliver Conroy. Guardian, 03/27/2024: The film fans who refuse to surrender to streaming: ‘One day you’ll barter bread for our DVDs.’

Though you'll have to barter family members for DVD players.

Li Yuan. NYT, 03/27/2024: Filmmaker Draws Censors’ Wrath: ‘A Price I Have to Accept.’ "Wang Xiaoshuai is among the few Chinese artists who refuse to bend to state limitations on the subjects they explore."

>57 featherbear: Very interesting article and gives a lot of motivating factors.

Altthough I really enjoy watching movies and TV shows, i stream mostly now unless it's a movie or show that I know I will watch multiple times.

I have however noticed that there are some tv shows that were well written but were canceled and have been forgotten and as far as I can tell have not been avaliable in any format since originally airing.

I have encountered a similar perspective with music, so I understand the frustration. ( I enjoy a wide variety of genres from various decades. Between the radio djs and Spotify this gives me access to a lot of mainstream music. However, there are some off beat artists from a while back that can only be found via vinyle record. A lot of times before I found a cheap record I had never ever heard of the artist. Although not a talented musician I was in several music classes through school so I assumed between the enthusiastic teachers and fellow students that I had at least heard of many of the successful artists of the past.)

I just wonder how many of the great cinema works that will be forgotten.

As we prepare for tomorrow's final episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, NY Times TV critic James Poniewozik wants to do away with the notion that a TV finale has to "stick the landing." Gift link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/06/arts/television/curb-your-enthusiasm-finale.h...

T.M. Brown. NYT, 04/09/2024: Want to See This Film? Movie Studios Won’t Let You. "As in the case of ‘Coyote vs. Acme,’ sometimes an entertainment company sees more value in not selling you its products."

>60 featherbear: Thank you for sharing this. No wonder a lot of people think new content is lacking.

A few arguments that I think should be made by the public to Warner Brothers

* If they did not like the direction of the movie, why was the movie finished?

* Viewers have different taste and the hype of the movie could bring in sales.

* So okay so this is not going to released, is it going to be on the free Warner Brother streaming series? And by the way when is the free Warner Brother streaming series going to launch?

Peter Markham, interviewer Sophie Roell. fivebooks.com, 04/10/2024: The Best Book-to-Movie Adaptations.

Other recommendations?

I liked Mina Kimes's remark on Twitter:

"Shogun is like Game of Thrones if Ned Stark was smart"

>59 KeithChaffee: Might be of interest:

Paula Mejía. Atlantic, 04/11/2024: Larry David Learned Nothing, and Neither Did We. Chef's kiss to the opening anecdote.

>63 featherbear: ha!

Haven't fully absorbed this article, but I've started the Fallout series on Amazon Prime, & I'm considering resuming watching The Last of Us with NCAA basketball over, & of course alien communication is via a video game in both the novels & the 2 recent adaptations of the Cixin Liu trilogy, 3 Body Problem (HBO/Max) & 3 Body (Amazon Prime & Peacock).

Maria Bose & Jason Willwerscheid. LARB, 04/12/2024: Watching Pixels Die: Sony, HBO, and “The Last of Us.”

Nicole Sperling. NYT, 04/14/2024: Netflix’s New Film Strategy: More About the Audience, Less About Auteurs. "Dan Lin, the streaming service’s new film chief, wants to produce a more varied slate of movies to better appeal to the array of interests among subscribers."

>67 featherbear:

Interesting article

Used to Netflix used to be seen as a streaming service that you had a variety of shows that the whole family would like. I have many fellow coworkers whom have mentioned they considered cutting or had cut Netflix and went with another streaming service. Plus with it increasing cost over the years they were going to go with something that would fit their niche interest.

I think in some respects writers and creates of shows needs to think in the perspective I assume they did when there were only 4 or 5 network channels, no streaming, and few had cable or satellite. In order to make it on air and stay on air you had to create to serve multiple demographics. The really successful shows and movies succeeded with this and are usually remembered for years after.

But beyond this, I think that they should have the subscription with no ads and offer an open version with ads of older hit original Netflix content, season premiere only of new shows, and hit subtitled shows from other countries that they think might be of iterest in another country.

By doing this I think they could generate intest back and rebrand the direction they want to head.

Saskia Solomon. NYT, 04/25/2024: Shelley Duvall Vanished From Hollywood. She’s Been Here the Whole Time. "After two decades, the actress known for her roles in era defining films like “The Shining” and “Nashville” has returned to acting. But what happened to her?"

James Poniewozik. NYT, 04/27/2024: The Comfortable Problem of Mid TV.

>70 featherbear: Skimmed this article totally agree with this happening.

To a certain degree there has always been a demand and will always be a demand for mid content.

When you are doing mild paperwork or homework and need background noise (you can turn off when needed) a mid-show or non-complex tv snow or movie is helpful. Try to watch a witty or plot twisting content you are watching more than working.

Also sometimes a mid show or movie is sometimes the only thing that a non-close group finds nonconfrontational. The more in sync you are with tastes the easier it is to find content and sometimes it is still hard to find something everyone will like. (Everyone wants to be a critic :).)

What I have noticed is there seems to be either a lot of this midcontent and then there are shows that are extremely on their soapbox all the time. There seems to be less shows that occasionally get on their soapbox, but not constantly. The characters anymore seems to be perfect or spiraling out of control. Where are the characters that are unperfect, stumbling occassionally, but are trying to live better and trying to not to cast judgement upon others.

Peter Bradshaw. Guardian, 04/29/2024: What’s the perfect movie length? Only a lightweight needs toilet or food breaks.

Elizabeth Alsop. LARB, 04/29/2024: The Past Is Never Dead: On TV’s Backstory Problem.

Jason Bailey. NYT, 04/30/2024: Are You Screaming for a Free Streaming Choice? Try Shout! TV.

Jada Yuan. WaPo, 05/25/2024: ‘Anora’ wins Palme d’Or award at Cannes — and more festival highlights.

"“Anora,” a touching, high-octane comedy about a sex worker from American director Sean Baker (who shot his 2015 film “Tangerine” on an iPhone), won the Palme d’Or.

"Grand Prix went to “All We Imagine as Light,” a delicate, poetic story of sisterhood among single women in Mumbai that is the first Indian film in competition in 30 years, from female director Payal Kapadia.

"And “Emilia Peréz,” director Jacques Audiard’s genre-bending musical about a Mexican cartel boss transitioning to become a woman, won not just the third-place Jury Prize, but a rare ensemble best actress award for Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña and lead Karla Sofia Gascón, a telenovela star who is now the first trans actress to win at Cannes."

"From the gimmicky goons of early James Bond to the slimy underlings of ‘Indiana Jones,’ henchmen have long been essential. It’s time to finally give these underappreciated characters their flowers."

Miles Surrey. The Ringer, 05/31/2024: The 21st-Century Henchman Hall of Fame. Note the restriction to "21st-Century" folks.

Multi-media!

Brandon Wu, produced by Alice Wang. NYT, 05/23/2024: Found in Translation: on screen. "American audiences used to balk at subtitles. But recent hits like “Shogun” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” show how much that has changed."

Add me to the list of Netflix subscribers who missed the announcement:

Stuart Heritage. Guardian, 06/04/2024: Netflix released Takashi Miike’s new film without telling anyone. Please stop doing this!

Oh wait -- The Guardian -- just Euro Netflix maybe? -- just checked, streaming on US Netflix! This is definitely Asian horror week on Netflix for me: last night Godzilla Minus One & finally got around to finishing Siksa Neraka. Will try to catch the new Lumberjack the Monster today.

Allan Straton. Quillette, 06/05/2024: Blood, Sweat, and Gasoline: The story of Hollywood’s most unlikely blockbuster franchise. On the Mad Max series.

Mark Allison. BBC Culture, 06/06/2024: How Saving Private Ryan's D-Day sequence changed the way we see war.

Must remember to cancel Atlantic subscription ...

Lora Kelley. The Atlantic, 06/05/2024: The Free-Trial Trap: How much of the subscription economy relies on people forgetting to cancel? "This dynamic, Sidney Fussell reported in The Atlantic in 2019, is known in some circles as the “roach motel. Easy to get in, nearly impossible to get out.”"

As soon as I watch Oppenheimer I will cancel that PeacockPlus sub swear to God.

gosh the Atlantics Salon Table Talk was my first toe dip into the web and online book groups. I didnt realize how limited my reading was till I discovered all these readers and great books they introduced me to, It was followed by more online books, each expanding my reading even more. Glad its still there tho I dont subscribe.

Jacob Bielecki. Quillette, 06/06/2024: Roger Corman: A Filmmaker’s Filmmaker. "An account of all the lives Corman touched, the careers he helped to jump-start, and the genres he pioneered would fill several books."

Nicholas Barber. BBC Culture, 06/07/2024: Ten years on, Richard Linklater reflects on his revolutionary masterpiece Boyhood: 'I thought: Am I making a mistake?'

Jonathan Edwards. WaPo, 06/07/2024: The ultimate TV spinoff: Pat Sajak says goodbye to ‘Wheel’ after 8,000 episodes. "Pat Sajak hosted his final “Wheel of Fortune” episode, saying farewell to viewers. His co-host Vanna White will stay with the show and new host Ryan Seacrest."

Addenda from The New York Times:

Maya Salam. NYT, 06/07/2024: En_ of an E_a: As Pat Sajak Signs Off, a Look Back at ‘Wheel of Fortune.’

Maya Salam & Julia Jacobs. NYT, 06/07/2024: ‘The Time Has Come to Say Goodbye’: Pat Sajak Bids Farewell to ‘Wheel of Fortune.’

Guy Trebay. NYT, 06/07/2024: Pat Sajak, the Cool, Unflappable, Reliable Host, Signs Off. "If AI were ever prompted to generate an avatar of a game show host, surely the result would be Pat Sajak."

I had hoped that the show would take the opportunity of Sajak's departure to finally acknowledge that Vanna White has the most unnecessary job in the world, and switch to a host-only format. The board has been digital for years, so nothing needs to be turned or touched. I could understand keeping her around as long as Sajak was there; "Pat'n'Vanna" had become so firmly established as a hosting pair that it would have felt strange to have one without the other.

>86 KeithChaffee: Why can't Vanna host the show? I like her. They don't need a tile toucher anymore!

I don't know if she has those particular skills, or would have wanted that job, but if so, then that would have been a fine option, too. But there is something unpleasantly creepy/retro about continuing to pay a woman (well, any person, but you don't see it happen nearly as often with men) for doing absolutely nothing but being decorative.

>88 KeithChaffee: I agree!

>86 KeithChaffee: The only time I've watched Wheel was some years ago when visiting my late mom in Hawaii. Regular routine having dinner together in the living room watching the show. She was suffering from onset of dementia & I believe liked the mental exercise; perhaps I'm being sentimental but guessing she would have missed Vanna. White might have been "useless" but I prefer the human touch over digital updates entered by an off-screen person or maybe even an AI.

Andrew Pulver. Guardian, 06/20/2024: London premiere of movie with AI-generated script cancelled after backlash.

Got the link from X, so hoping it isn't locked -- it goes back a ways; currently reading Schulman's Oscar Wars: a history of Hollywood in gold, sweat, and tears, by the way:

Michael Schulman. New Yorker, 04/28/2016: Meryl Streep’s Twenties, and My Own.

Not sure why I share the 1949 b. year w/Streep & Sigourney Weaver; the only reason they were briefly New Haven contemporaries when both were Yale Drama when I was at the nearby grad school. Hope they aren't as feeble & have to look up names all the time (sorry Sigourney). I believe I had the pleasure of watching Streep in a Christopher Durang student production (lot of make-up as an old lady in The Idiots Karamazov so maybe wishful remembering). Did I run into Jodie what's her name exiting the WaWa store on York & Broadway immortalized in Ninth House?

Mee-Lai Stone. Guardian, 06/25/2024: Bogart, Dietrich, Keaton: faces from Hollywood’s golden years – in pictures. From FABULOUS FACES OF CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD / Robert Dance & Simon Crocker.

Jason Bailey. NYT, 06/26/2024: Seeking Serious Cinema on Streaming? Try Kino Film Collection..

Zach Schonfeld. Inverse, 06/26/2024: Hollywood's Newest Money-Making Scheme is ... Books.

Chris Broughton, interviews. The Guardian, 07/01/2024: ‘I was attacked by a bloody rabbit’: how we made Xena: Warrior Princess.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!! HAVE A SAFE 4TH HOWEVER YOU CHOOSE TO CELEBRATE.

J. Hoberman. NYT, 07/03/2024: ‘Seven Samurai’: Masterless Warriors in a Cinematic Masterpiece. "Akira Kurosawa’s epic has always been known for its action-film artistry, but there is emotional heft and nuance as well." (temporarily unlocked)

Josie Torres Barth. LARB, 07/13/2024: The Myth America Show. Review of: Gold Dust on the Air: Television Anthology Drama and Midcentury American Culture / Molly A. Schneider.

Benjamin Lee et al. Guardian, 07/18/2024: From Twister to Titanic: writers on their favourite disaster movie. "As the tornado-chasing sequel Twisters arrives, Guardian writers pick the films that have stuck with them the longest."

Only citing this for the correction at the end of the article: "This article was amended on 18 July 2024. An earlier version said that Shelley Duvall, rather than Shelley Winters, was in The Poseidon Adventure."

Michael Szalay. Public Books, 07/22/2024: MIYAZAKI’S LAST FLIGHT.

Enjoy!

Tara Joshi. Guardian, 08/10/2024: Cinema posters through the decades – in pictures.

Myles Burke. BBC Culture, 08/12/2024: 'This will make them scream': Alfred Hitchcock on his film-making secrets.

Ralph Leonard. Quillette, 08/13/2024: Roman Polanski’s ‘Chinatown’ Fifty Years On.

>105 featherbear: I can't believe China Town is 50 years old. Great film!

Kambole Campbell. BBC Culture, 08/24/2024: All About Eve hits the ring: The wrestling feud inspired by Golden Age Hollywood. "The wrestling world is known for its creative costumes and storylines – and now two US female rivals are modelling themselves on the Bette Davis/Anne Baxter classic."

Lucas Trevor. WaPo, 08/24/2024: Criterion is streaming movies 24/7. I stayed up all night to see them. Dedication!

Mary Elizabeth Williams. Salon, 08/24/2024: “It’s like we were astronauts”: From peak TV to “Fallout,” Walton Goggins ascends to new heights. Loved The Shield (got the complete DVDs when they were on sale) & Fallout was pretty good -- & Justified!

I've liked both The 13th Warrior & the Crichton novel it was based on, Eaters of the Dead. It was commercially unsuccessful, so it's nice to see it still has some legs. It's sort of based on Beowulf.

Mohammad Zaheer. BBC Culture, 08/27/2024: The 13th Warrior: The Hollywood blockbuster that pioneered a Muslim hero.

Guy Lodge. Guardian, 08/27/2024: Mary Poppins at 60: a dazzling Disney masterpiece that hasn’t lost its shine.

Regarding keithchaffee's appreciation in the May-August What Are You Watching, I noticed this article on Columbo in NYRB. NYRB is subscription/paywalled, but you might be able to get in via the Longreads site: https://longreads.com/2024/08/29/an-ass-backward-sherlock-holmes/

Neyaz Farooquee. 09/03/2024: Netflix show on India plane hijacking sparks row.

"Directed by Anubhav Sinha for Netflix, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack recounts the events surrounding the hijacking of a Kathmandu-Delhi flight which was taken to Taliban-ruled Kandahar to demand the release of militants jailed in India.

"The negotiations lasted eight days, resulting in the Indian government releasing three militants, including Masood Azhar, in exchange for the passengers.

"India has blamed Azhar, who founded the Jaish-e-Mohammad group after his release, for several attacks in the country. He has also been designated as a terrorist by the United Nations."

Miles Surrey. The Ringer, 09/11/2024: The 21st-Century Bad Vibes Movie Canon. "You’re probably familiar with the idea of feel-good movies. But sometimes you need a film that’s designed to drag down your mood. Enter the Bad Vibes Movie Canon, a celebration of the best feel-bad cinematic experiences of the past 24 years."

Shivani Gonzalez. NYT, 09/15/2024: Emmy Winners: The Full List. Temporarily unlocked.

Benjamin Lee. Guardian, 09/16/2024: Shōgun makes Emmys history as Hacks, The Bear and Baby Reindeer triumph.

Sonia Rao. WaPo, 09/16/2024: The best — and most shocking — moments at the 2024 Emmy Awards.

Sarah Bahr. NYT, 09/13/2024: How a TV Critic Navigates an Age of Endless Content. "James Poniewozik, The New York Times’s chief television critic, discusses the state of modern television and the struggle to watch it all." Temporarily unlocked (tho I've passed the halfway point of my max shares for this month)

BBC nostalgia:

Myles Burke. BBC Culture, 09/23/2024: 'It tanked at the box office': Frank Darabont and Morgan Freeman on The Shawshank Redemption's path from flop to classic.

Clare Thorp. BBC Culture, 09/21/2024: 'When you're single and in the city, your friends are your family': Why the key message of Friends endures - 30 years on.

Somebody up there likes Megalopolis:

Richard Brody. New Yorker, 09/26/2024: “Megalopolis” Is Francis Ford Coppola’s Artistic Rejuvenation.

No movie theaters in my town; crossing my fingers it plays eventually on one of my streaming sites.

Regan Morris. BBC Culture, 09/28/2024: Hollywood's big boom has gone bust.

A little off-topic, but couldn't resist, though most have been in movies at one time or another & some of these are screenshots. Thought of putting this in the RIP thread but wouldn't be fair to those still kickin around:

Alexis Petridis, Michael Cragg, Gabrielle Schwarz. Guardian, 09/28/2024: From Elton John at the piano to Stormzy at Glastonbury and Madonna snogging Britney: 41 era-defining music photos.

Scott Tobias. Guardian, 10/01/2024: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre at 50: a brutal yet artful shock horror.

Neyaz Farooquee. BBC Culture, 10/02/2024: India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold.

Melena Ryzik. NYT, 10/11/2024: 6 Takeaways From the Christopher Reeve Documentary ‘Super/Man.’ "The new film chronicles the life of the paralyzed star, covering his friendship with Robin Williams and gut-wrenching details about his care and family." Unlocked I believe via Twitter.

>123 featherbear: How can I stream it?

>124 kjuliff: I believe Super/Man: the Christopher Reeve Story will be opening in theaters Nov. 1 (per IMDB); generally you can purchase streaming access after a couple of months -- sometimes one of the subscription streaming services like MAX, Netflix, or Prime will make popular documentaries available

Christina Newland. BBC Culture, 11/02/2024: 'They've been there since the beginning of cinema': How female action stars have wowed through the ages.

I have watched a lot of Hallmark and Hallmark like movies across multiple free streaming services.

I noticed a while back that there were some movies that I was watching that was not originally produced by Hallmark. I started looking closer at these other producing companies. On the surface, these movies seem very similar to Hallmark movies. However when analyzed closer there are some very slight differences. (It is hard to explain the very subtle differences.)

One such company is Reel One Entertainment. As Wikipedia well summarizes the company, "Reel One Entertainment is a Canadian entertainment company that produces and distributes television movies and series. It is one of the independent providers of Lifetime (and some Hallmark films) movies."

As of when I am posting this IMDB.com lists Reel One Entertainment lists them producing 528 movies and shows. 264 of these being romance productions.

The acting quality of these productions are all over the board. It seemed like the better productions had actors or actresses that have been in a variety of other types of roles.

If you Hallmark like movies, these movies would be worth a glance especially if you recognize an actor or actress you enjoy watching.

>124 kjuliff: A little bird told me the Reeve documentary is now streaming on Apple TV -- I don't subscribe so it's hearsay for me but if you do you can check it out.

>128 featherbear: Thanks. I’ll check it out and get back to you

It’s on Amazon Prime but only to buy @ $15. I don’t have Apple TV but suspect same.

Sean Cain. Guardian, 11/12/2024: House at 20: perfectly mad 2000s television that has aged better than you’d think. "Hugh Laurie’s medical drama was once the most watched show in the world. Why is it now having a second life among Zoomers?"

Gregory Wakeman. BBC Culture, 11/22/2024: Did ships really battle in the Colosseum? The bizarre true stories that inspired Gladiator II.

Alita is my guilty pleasure too!

Jesse Hassenger. Guardian, 11/25/2024: ‘Activates my lizard brain’: why Alita: Battle Angel is my feelgood movie.

Allie Jones, "a freelance writer who covers celebrity, culture, and influence." The Cut, 11/26/2024: At Least We Have Netflix’s Insane New Christmas Movies.

Alas, The Cut is paywalled, but fyi, the Netflix Xmas pix are:

Hot Frosty: "When a young widow’s magic scarf brings a dashing snowman to life, can he help her rediscover romance, laughter and holiday cheer before he melts away?”

The Merry Gentleman: "To save her parents’ small-town nightclub, a Broadway dancer stages an all-male, Christmas-themed revue — and meets a guy with all the right moves.”

Our Little Secret: "“After discovering their significant others are siblings, two resentful exes must spend Christmas under one roof — while hiding their romantic history.”

This was on my recent TLS posting, but thought this would be interesting for Gladiator fans (I'm not one):

Mary Beard. Fantasies of Rome: Blood and guts and a touch of Virgil: Ridley Scott’s second Gladiator film. Review of Scott's Gladiator II film.

Really cool free feature on Roku TV and Roku devices

https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming-devices/new-roku-feature-turns...

Emily Yahr. WaPo, 11/27/2024: Hark! The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce holiday TV movies are here! "How Lifetime and Hallmark applied their audience savvy to an ongoing obsession with the pop megastar and her loyal tight end."

James Poniewozik, Mike Hale and Margaret Lyons. NYT, 11/30 -- upd. 12/03/2024: Best TV Shows of 2024. Temporarily unlocked. Sad to note that Somebody Somewhere is closing up shop. Nice to see a special section on international series, which I need to check out.

Hate using up my NYT share quota this early in the month, but the list has a number of items that are new to me, so I thought it might be of interest, so "temporarily unlocked." I'm sure there will be some disagreement on what can be called a "classic."

Scott Tobias. NYT, 12/04/2024: 25 Classic Christmas Movies to Watch This Holiday Season.

John Waters. Vulture, 12/06/2024: The Best Movies of 2024, According to John Waters. "An enthusiastic recollection of the outré offerings you should have seen this year."

Vulture is paywalled & articles aren't shareable, so here's the list with some tid-bits. Fortunately Mr. Waters tends toward the succinct.

1. Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass). "This hilarious, bloody film noir is the best movie of the year, one that Russ Meyer might have made if he had been a lesbian intellectual addicted to steroids. Even the pig-men are cute."

2. Queer (Luca Guadagnino). "Daniel Craig may be queerbait for taking on the gay beatnik role of William Burroughs’s alter ego, but I’m all for it."

3. The Brutalist (Brady Corbet). "A cold-as-concrete VistaVision (!) epic about the cruelty of architecture and the agony of being ahead of your time, with Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce butting to the front of the line of Oscars hopefuls. Yes, the running time is 3.5 hours, but the only thing too long is the intermission."

4. Hard Truths (Mike Leigh). "A horribly sad and sometimes hilariously funny portrait of the most unpleasant sourpuss woman in the history of cinema. ... A wretched experience I’ll cherish forever."

5. Messy (Alexi Wasser). "... brings to mind the best of Woody Allen’s comedies with very different subject matter: hipster women and their sex addictions."

6. Joker: Folie à Deux (Todd Phillips). "Finally, a love story I can relate to."

7. Femme (Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping). "A twisted S&M love affair between a black drag queen (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) and a white rough-trade gay-basher (George MacKay) that gives new meaning to sexual role-playing."

8. Emilia Pérez (Jacques Audiard). "The Rocky Cartel Horror Picture Show: This wildly original musical-drama about the Mexican drug syndicate and its trans crime boss hiding in plain sight proves you can sing about anything in a film if it’s well-enough directed."

9. Babygirl (Halina Reijn). "Nicole Kidman a verbal power-bottom cougar at the top of her business-executive career who meets a dominant, lowly intern top who makes her lap up milk from a bowl like … like … "

10. Viet and Nam (Truong Minh Quy). "Who could knock off Pedro Almodóvar, Sean Baker, and Guy Maddin’s terrific new films from my list this year? ... It’s an eerie, surprisingly haunting drama about two young gay coal miners, one of whom licks ..." (Well, you may not get the idea)

By the usual standards of Waters' annual lists, that's an unusually mainstream bunch.

>130 kjuliff: If you have access to HBO/Max the Reeve doc is premiering Saturday night Dec 7.

Reminder there is a Christmas Movie list started by another Librarything member. This list is open to be added. https://www.librarything.com/list/43366/all/Christmas-Movies

BBC Critics weigh in:

Nicholas Barber & Caryn James. BBC Culture, 12/10/2024: Babygirl to Gladiator II and Conclave: The 20 best films of 2024. (so far)

LARB where media studies majors go to post:

Lauren Eriks Cline. 12/11/2024: Seriality and Slow Grief. "20 years of the TV series Lost and the lessons it holds for us today." Should that have been "since?" -- it only seemed like 20 years "of."

A.J. Urquidi. 12/11/2024: Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Angelenos. "YULETIDE CINEMALAND—HOME ALONE DOUBLE FEATURE, Heritage Square Museum, Los Angeles, December 7, 2024."

Brontez Purnell. 12/10/2024: The Only Girl in the World: On Madonna and “Desperately Seeking Susan.”

Maris Kreizman. LitHub, 12/19/2024: My Favorite Book-to-TV Adaptations of 2024.

And here's a look back on 2024's mid-TV:

Laura Martin. BBC Culture, 12/19/2024: Netflix's The Perfect Couple and the reason TV was so poor in 2024 – but we watched anyway.

Matt Stevens. NYT, 12/20/2024: How Airlines Pick the Movies on Your Flights. Temporarily unlocked.

Adam Valente. BBC Culture, 12/23/2024: 'It was probably the strongest picture I made': How Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life became a Christmas classic.

Just added this to the Books on Movies & TV, but thought this might be of interest; from the date it appears YFA haven't been keeping up, so not sure how accurate it might be:

Yale Film Archive, last update 10/27/2023: Film Resources at Yale & Beyond.

Good Morning, Featherbear and Julie. I'm still alive!!! I'm Just checking in...and yes, I know that's it's been so long since I checked in, that if you two didn't belong to other groups that I'm in and admin, you probably wouldn't even remember who I am:) You are doing a fantastic job and looks like you have people participating that actually do watch television and movies. I have a question. Based on the wonderful job you two or doing and the participation you have generated in this group...would either you mind or be offended if I backed out of the group? I "inherited" this group...and took it over when the creator "disappeared" to never be heard from again, almost 4-years ago... but I am literally a fish out of water when it comes to anything on television and there are only two movies that I will watch...so, I am utterly and entirely useless here. I can "ignore the group"...but backing out as admin is not easy. Even the staff at LibrayThing doesn't know quite how to do that...and seemed to be surprised and a bit horrified that anyone would really want to do that...so they just said, "ignore the group". Just wanted you two to know that leaving the group is in no way a reflection on what either of you are doing or have done. You have both been a "God send" to this group. Heaven only knows what you would need me for as I haven't turned the television on in so many years that if my husband didn't watch it, it would have drowned in dust by now. Just wanted you to know that I might "disappear".

>151 Carol420: Sounds like you'll be ghosting us officially; I'll miss your positivity & encouragement. Would you recommend getting a "replacement" third admin & if so what's the procedure? For my part I'm definitely getting on in years, so I personally favor additional administrative support. Meanwhile Happy 2025 to you & all members.

>152 featherbear: I believe a third...even a "part-time" third would be a huge help...especially if you don't plan to make this a 'life-long" career:) Also if you had thought of adding anything like a monthly challenge. Challenges are fun but believe me they are very time consuming to create, even if you and the other members take turns creating each month. I would look at the people that participate even 75% of the time or even more. You have a couple here and I believe you know who they are. You can either ask on this thread if anyone is interested in the "job"...or you can pick a couple and private message them...one at a time... with the proposition. Don't be surprised if you don't get any takers...at least not right away. Once they accept, Library Thing will send a message to them asking if they accept being an admin. If they do you should receive a message from LT that they have accepted, and you will receive on the site a button to add them as an admin. The button goes away on its own. This was in the beginning, a very active site before the pandemic hit and it lost A TON of people. Maybe it's not a site that especially interests most "book people", although there is a lot of movies that are the results of someone wanting to see the book on the big screen. If they accept great...if not, you are no worse off...and you still have Julie. She's very dependable and I believe she already knows the procedure to add an admin.

For January 2025 -- tomorrow! -- I plan to start new threads for What Are You Watching (for the 4 month period Jan-April) & Let's Talk About It 2025:1 (maybe start a 2025:2 in July based on the no. of postings in 2024?). I'll start R.I.P. 2025 hopefully at zero non-administrative postings.

I believe we can leave the thread Books on Movies and TV alone for now, since it isn't very long. As is Books Made Into Movies Oct 2023-? but the period covered was short, & the header might be confusing for navigation. Start a new Books Made Into Movies 2025?