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James P. Sumner (65 KP) created a post

Aug 22, 2019  
So everyone's talking about Spiderman. As a huge Marvel geek, I am obviously disappointed there's a chance all the work the MCU has put in could be undone to an extent now that Sony has ended its deal with Disney. The chatter online centres around how awful Disney, Marvel and Sony are because they only care about money and not the fans...

The thing is, those companies didn't get where they're at today by not thinking about money and making smart business decisions. It's a vicious circle. On the one hand, yes, it's the fans that make them the money by consuming the product, but those companies need to money to make that product. I know Disney isn't exactly short of a few quid, but I can kind of see their point here.

When Marvel/Disney first acquired the rights to Spiderman, they were desperate. They didn't actually fully acquire them, they basically rented them in an extortionate deal that saw Sony keep 95% of the profits. Fast-forward a few years and Spiderman: Far From Home grosses $1.1B worldwide. From Sony's point of view, it became their biggest movie ever. For Disney, it was their fourth billion-dollar movie of the year. Knowing they have an excellent product, the Disney/Marvel Finance department said, "Hey, 5% of a billion is WAY less than, say, 50% of a billion. Seeing as we do everything, we should totally ask for more money, right?"

A fair point. However, Sony's Finance Department saw the proposal and were all like, "Hey, did you know, if we give 50% of a billion away, we're left with WAY less than if we only give 5% of a billion away?" This was backed up by Sony's top execs saying, "We still own Spiderman. We're Kings of the world now because we had one huge hit that someone else gave us. They need us more than we need them now. Tell Disney they get the same 5% or they get nothing."

I understand Sony not wanting a 50/50 split when it's their IP, but they need to understand they only made the money they did because Marvel but its name on it. I also think Disney could've negotiated a little. Maybe 75/25, for the sake of not ruining a multi-billion-dollar franchise they've spent 11 years building?

As things stand, the next Spiderman film will be made by Sony and will not be a part of the MCU, although talks between the two companies are apparently ongoing. For me, this is easily remedied by one of three options:

1. Sony stops being greedy and making childish excuses, Disney stops being unrealistic, and they negotiate like grown-ups.
2. Disney pays whatever Sony wants to obtain the full rights to the Spiderman franchise - pretty sure it'll be worth it.
3. Disney just buys Sony to spite them. Because they can. Probably.

People who say these companies don't care about the fans are thinking with their comic book hearts and I get that. But this is all a business at the end of the day. Sony are acting like stubborn bullies here. Disney need to be the bigger person. Whatever amount they have to part with will still be made back twice over, because it's Marvel. What's right for business is also right for the fans - put the MCU franchise first.
      
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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Licorice Pizza (2021) in Movies

Mar 9, 2022  
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Licorice Pizza (2021)
2021 |
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Disjointed
The films of Director Paul Thomas Anderson is a bit of an “acquired taste”, moviegoers generally fall into one of 2 camps. (1) those that LOVE what he does (and thinks he is one of the greatest Directors of All Time) and (2) those that don’t.

I thought I fell into the 2nd camp, but upon reviewing his portfolio of work for this review (HARD EIGHT, BOOGIE NIGHTS, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE and THERE WILL BE BLOOD), I realized that I pretty much liked whatever he had done, but with his last few films (THE MASTER, INHERENT VICE, THE PHANTOM THREAD) I am finding that “PTA” (as his fans call him) is becoming just a little too “artsy” and pretentious for my tastes. He has fallen too in love with his material - and artistic style - to objectively look at a film and realize that it needs to move along at a brisker pace.

Such is the case with his latest film, LICORICE PIZZA.

A memory of his youth, LICORICE PIZZA follows the relationship of a pair of mismatched young adults as they work their way through the early 1970’s in search of themselves and love.

This film is a series of scenes stitched together to tell a story and the problem with it is that it made this film seem disjointed. The central “get together already” love story of the main 2 characters is supposed to be the through-line of the film, but when this through-line breaks (as it often does here) it is detrimental to the flow of the story.

Based, loosely, on the real-life exploits of PTA’s friend, Producer Gary Goetzman, LICORICE PIZZA stars Cooper Hoffman (son of Phillip Seymour Hoffman) as Gary Valentine and Alana Haim (of the Sister Act Musical Group HAIM) as Alana as they have an on-again/off-again friendship that SHOULD BE a romance, but isn’t (kind of like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY). They circumnavigate circa 1973 Los Angeles running into fictionalized portrayals of famous people like Producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper) and Film Actor Jack Holden (Sean Penn) an amalgamation of William Holden and Steve McQueen.

The central performances of Hoffman and Haim are competent enough, but never rises to anything more than that, which pulls this film down for one or the other of them is in every scene . The various actors doing extended cameos (like Cooper and Penn) seem to be having fun chewing up the scenery, but they are acting in a completely different style of film than Hoffman and Haim are and our 2 leads don’t stand a chance of standing out compared to these over-the-top performances.

Blame for all of this needs to be laid on Anderson (Oscar Nominated for his Direction in this film). He tried to give us a “slice of life” nostalgia piece like AMERICAN GRAFFITI or ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, but he just doesn’t pull it off.

An Oscar Nominee for Best Picture, LICORICE PIZZA seems to be riding the wave of nostalgia both for the times depicted - and the artist who put this film on the screen - but it just isn’t that good of a film.

Letter Grade B- (for Cooper’s and Penn’s scenes in this)

6 stars (out of 10) and you can take this to the Bank(ofMarquis)