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Rest assured, Amazon would not be providing their books to libraries for free. ↩︎
Ahead of Apple antitrust hearing, Sen. Klobuchar calls AirTag launch âtimelyâ â
This just in: monopolist in the item tracking industry is pitching a fit now that their kingly status is being threatened.
Look, go after Apple, et al. There are some legitimate concerns there. AirTags are not one of them. Tile knew this day was going to come and proceeded to do not a damn thing to make their product more desirable than Appleâs. Furthermore, the Find My app is now open for Appleâs competitors to use.
While youâre at it, Congress people, take a look at the real anti-competitive offenders: the telecoms and internet service providers.
âMankâ Wins Top Honor at ASC Awards
Just an incredibly well-deserved win for Erik Messerschmidt. This guy has been blowing me away lately. You can check out a load of shots from the film over at Filmgrab. đ„
UPDATE: He won the Oscar for Best Cinematography, too! Good for him.
Bezos says Amazon should âdo a better job for our employeesâ after union vote â
Bezos is concerned about these glaring and long-standing issues with Amazon only now that heâs leaving the accountable CEO position?
Just more fuel to add to the fire of him basically being a villain.
Justice League Screenwriter Chris Terrio Is Super Pissed Off â
The more I read about what went on with the making of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, the more Iâve come to understand how misguided Warner Bros. has been about their understanding of the characters in those films.1 Likewise, how inept they have been in crafting coherent stories that are worth telling.
Before Joss Whedon was brought in to rewrite and direct Justice League, Chris Terrio had written the script. It was his words that were being filmed by Zack Snyder and his crew. After Snyderâs exit from the film, the whole thing went off the rails, leaving Terrio behind and feeling frustrated.
In an interview with Anthony Breznican, writing for Vanity Fair (in what appears to be developing into his beat),2 Terrio has some strong feelings about how things went:
The 2017 theatrical cut was an act of vandalism. Zack may be too much of a gentleman to say that, but Iâm not.
Heâs got well-considered opinions to back this up. Heâs not just mindlessly pissed about how things with both films turned out. Seems that Warner Bros. just doesnât understand the necessities of storytelling:
I was proud of the [Batman v Superman] script when I completed it, but it turns out that when you remove the 30 minutes that give the characters motivation for the climax, the film just doesnât work. As we learned from the two versions of Justice League, you canât skip on the character and think the audience will give a shit about the VFX. That stuff was later restored in the extended version.
None of this is surprising to read. Since Justice League came out in 2017, itâs been clear that thereâs a fundamental problem with how Warner Bros. handled the making of the film:
When the movie was taken away, that felt like it was some directive that had come from people who are neither filmmakers nor film-friendlyâthe directive to make the movie under two hours, regardless of what the movie needed to do, and to make the colors brighter, and to have funny sitcom jokes in it.
Contrast that to his approach to Batman v Superman:
I came into it thinking the only way that this could work is as a fever dream or as a revenge tragedy. I thought, How do we create a story in which Bruce Wayne is traumatized by the war of Krypton coming to Earth, and in which he enters into this kind of madness? He becomes Captain Ahab, and he wonât listen to saner voices, like Alfred, for example, who are telling him to just see reason. Heâs a man possessed.
This is clearly someone who understands the motivations and nuances of the characters. He knows what it takes to write a good story. Itâs just a shame that his role will always be subservient to studio heads and money people who think they know better:
These [investor] guys were in charge because they controlled the money at the very top of the pyramid. They were making big decisionsânot the film executives weâre talking about, but Wall Street guys. One guy, who I can only describe as the man who Central Casting sends you when youâre trying to cast Douchebag #1, pulled me aside and started telling me how to write Batman.
Thereâs a lot more that can be quoted in this article, but this is a good primer. Itâs a fascinating interview thatâs worth reading. Iâve always enjoyed Snyderâs vision for these characters. Now, Iâve also come to understand that heâs not the one whoâs been the issue with the films. If they’re not your particular cup o' tea, that’s fine. If you want brighter, more comedic, less serious superhero movies, then watch a Marvel film. However, not all superhero films have to be copies of, say, Iron Man. They can be darker visions like Snyder’s have been. He’s been consistent in his storytelling and love for the characters he’s bringing to the screen. Unfortunately, his work appears to be hamstrung by those working above him.
Itâs a damn shame that Warner Bros. isnât run by people who understand the films theyâre making. đ„
Amazon workers vote against unionizing at Alabama warehouse â
Suhauna Hussain and Jenny Jarvie reporting for Los Angeles Times:
Over half of the 3,215 employees who cast ballots by mail since early February voted against joining the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which led the effort to unionize employees at the facility in Bessemer, Ala., according to a preliminary tally Friday overseen by the National Labor Relations Board.
What a damn shame. This could have been something positive, not just for the employees at this particular Alabama warehouse and not just for all Amazon employees, but for workers everywhere. Instead, it suggests that itâs okay for the heavy boot of all too powerful corporations to remain on the backs of the people those corporations need the mostâtheir employees.
On the other hand, perhaps the exposure this unionizing effort has gained is still a good step in the right direction.
I wasnât alive when labor unions were at their peak in this country, but I would hazard an educated guess that things were better back then. At the very least, more progress was made than it is now.
The public vote count came after more than a week of the labor board reviewing and certifying each ballot cast behind closed doors, with representatives from both the union and Amazon contesting the eligibility of some ballots. The union said about 500 ballots total had been challenged, largely by Amazon. The union said it intends to challenge the results.
Weâll see what comes of that.
Ray Fisher Opens Up About ‘Justice League,’ Joss Whedon and Warners: “I Don’t Believe Some of These People Are Fit for Leadershipâ â
I first made reference to this problem in a previous post. That one dealt more with the thoughts I was having about separating art from the artist, but itâs still a good primer.
On April 6, The Hollywood Reporter released this lengthy story that delves further into the heaps of bullshit that actor Ray Fisher has had to deal with concerning the production and aftermath of Justice League. Itâs a fine read. What I find unpleasant is that Fisher is still engaged with this fight with Warner Bros., and how much heâs having to defend his own grievances and actions. There appears to be a lot of disbelief over his side of the story, as if heâs a person who would willingly risk the ruination of his acting career just to stick it to some film industry execs. And for what? Out of spite? Boredom? Please.
Isnât it far more likely that Fisher is telling the truth, and Warner Bros., Joss Whedon, Jon Berg, and Geoff Johns are now scrambling to cover their asses for fear of public backlash and losing future employment? This story is continuing to develop, but I believe this latter scenario to be the truer one. đ„
Jessica Walter, âArrested Developmentâ and âArcherâ Star, Dies at 80 â
Damn, this one sucks. I’m not familiar with all of her work, but I am very familiar with and love Arrested Development. Lucille Bluth was one of the all time great characters. I’ll miss her a lot.
Want to borrow that e-book from the library? Sorry, Amazon wonât let you. â
I was led to this story by a Dan Moren post on Six Colors and it was just so remarkable that I had to place it here. I’ll also use Dan’s chosen pullquote:
Turns out, the tech giant has also become a publishing powerhouse â and it wonât sell downloadable versions of its more than 10,000 e-books or tens of thousands of audiobooks to libraries. Thatâs right, for a decade, the company that killed bookstores has been starving the reading institution that cares for kids, the needy and the curious. And thatâs turned into a mission-critical problem during a pandemic that cut off physical access to libraries and left a lot of people unable to afford books on their own.
The reasoning behind this is likely to be something to do with capitalism, competition, and yadda yadda yadda. “We can’t let people have access to our product for free. They wouldn’t be compelled to purchase from us then! Why would we let someone else dabble in our product? How crazy would that be?”
Except the competition in this case are the libraries. They are young people. They are people who can’t afford to buy a brand new book whenever they want or have to read something. They are people who have lost work because of COVID (or any other reason) and are looking to develop skills that could make them hireable in another field.
How could any of that send a shiver down Amazon’s spine? What’s the harm in selling their books to libraries?1
Selling their product to a separate entity they couldn’t fully control would cost them some of their power through that dispersion. It would muddy their clear waters. Once they have that power, why would they ever let go of it? Keeping control over their published materials only benefits Amazon, and they’re more than happy to ensure it stays that way. They will not hesitate to employ their considerable wealth and popularity to maintain their monopolistic position.
At this point, I’m ready to follow in the footsteps of @Burk and escape the Amazon myself. This sort of heavyhanded restriction to stories and knowledge is greedy and harmful. I’m not saying I’m surprised by Amazon’s actions here, but I continue to be disappointed in them. They probably believe that they’re making the world better, or at least more convenient to live in, but when that’s done in the name of profit and under the guise of simplicity and affordability, the world just becomes worse. đ
Right-wing Idaho activists burn masks, claiming COVID restrictions infringe on liberties â
I guess the last year and change doesnât mean anything to them. âThe health of other people? Whatâs that?â
On the plus side, I think I found my new favorite Los Angeles Times writer. Richard Read reports:
The protesters appear to inhabit an alternate reality, one in which they claim that the coronavirus is no more dangerous than the flu and that public health directives based on science are dictatorial.
Thatâs some top-notch truth and shade this man is throwing.
Iâd ask these people what they think of their fellow citizensâ right not to become infected by the callous actions of these dumb crusaders, but that sort of thing would mean theyâd have to think of someone other than themselves.
Dr. Francisco VelĂĄzquez, Spokane Regional Health District interim health officer, in an interview for this article:
I donât think the intent is to violate anyoneâs rights, the intent is mainly to protect all of us. I do respect their opinion, but the facts are the facts.
The facts are the facts, but their opinion isnât respectable. Itâs harmful.
Is This What You Wanted? â
I couldnât agree any more with Casey Liss (@liss) than I do currently.
Iâm also completely finished with Trump, his hateful ideologies and rhetoric, and absolutely anyone who continues to support this weak, murderous, monster of a person.
From an article in The New Yorker written by Susan B. Glasser, titled âTrump Plays Macho Man as America Burns,â
By midday Sunday, of course, Trump was back to being Trump, even as the piles of broken glass were still being swept away from the front of expense-account restaurants and fancy hotels and A.T.M. machines in the blocks around the White House. As joggers snapped pictures of the fresh âFuck Trumpâ graffiti across the street, the President was back to fulminating on Twitter about the âLamestream Mediaâ and âFAKE NEWS.â He was blaming the mayor of Minneapolis and âradical Left Anarchistsâ for the nationâs troubles, chiding leaders of âDemocrat run Cities and States,â and mocking his November opponent, âSleepy Joeâ Biden. He was claiming legal power that he does not have to designate the loosely organized, leftist Antifa movement as a terrorist organization. He was back, in other words, to being the almighty President of his public conjurings, the fulminating would-be autocrat who loves nothing more than to ramble on about his âabsolute rightâ to do just about anything, whether he has that right or not.
We clearly have a petulant man-child in the White House, surrounded by an army of enablers, and supported by a small, but vocal collection of the populace (whom he does not actually care for) with an equal share of blackness and hatred in their own hearts. All he cares for in this world is his own enrichment and popularity. Iâm certain heâs not spared a single sorrowful thought for the murder and loss of George Floyd. His words and presidency are a knee on the neck of this entire country.
Iâm looking forward to help vote him out in November. This country, this world, deserves far better.