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- Cultural Ground Zero: Defusing the Pop Bomb pt 2
- Confirmed: Jodie Whittaker & Chris Chibnall Leaving ‘Doctor Who’
- Flash Film Set Pics Offer a Look at Batfleck’s New Suit & Batcycle
- Hell Hath No Fury: ScarJo Sueing Disney for Breach of Contract
- How Archie Comics Shapeshifted from Kid-Friendly to Satanic Horror
| Cultural Ground Zero: Defusing the Pop Bomb pt 2 Posted: 30 Jul 2021 04:20 PM PDT
Folks seemed to enjoy my previous look at what might have been if Cultural Ground Zero hadn't happened. Today felt like as good a time as any for a second glimpse at an alternate timeline, but instead of video games, this "what if?" will focus on the music industry.
Specifically, one rather large node in that particularly hard-hit industry, the former Christian band turned Pop Cult high priests known as U2.
For those who're wondering why this band keeps turning up in this blog's Ground Zero posts, it's because I used to follow their career closely before they turned hideously evil. A major consequence of Music Ground Zero is that there will never be another Biggest Band in the World, and U2 are noteworthy as the last group to hold that title.
Sharp readers will recall that I cited the band's 1997 album Pop as a Ground Zero landmark. Musically, it epitomizes the phenomenon of reliably brilliant acts from the 80s and early 90s suddenly marring their stellar track records. Only Metallica's Load rivals Pop for late 90s fan disappointment.
As I did with the Sega Saturn and Final Fantasy VII, today I'll speculate on how U2 might have delivered a superior ninth album, which in turn may have averted a subsequent quality drop in the aughts.
To get you up to speed, we'll have to start with Pop.
Hot off their successful early 90s experimental period kicked off by Achtung Baby, U2 spent the High 90s putzing around on collaborations with opera singers and Scottish DJs on soundtracks for nonexistent movies. When they finally slouched back into the studio, they decided to reinvent their sound yet again. To achieve this feat, they brought in a motley army of new producers and sound engineers. What followed was two years of playing around with tape loops, sequencers, and drum machines while their actual drummer spent lengthy stretches of studio time out with back trouble.
The absence of Larry "The Hanging Judge" Mullen left the other band members free to indulge their technological excesses. The lack of focus left U2 scrambling to mix and edit the album during mastering and tour rehearsal time.
Result: some of the lowest long-term sales in U2's catalogue and unanimous dissatisfaction with the final product among the band.
Pop's negative effects on U2 didn't stop there, though. The relative flop of their last experimental album and the massive success of their follow up "return to form" taught the band the wrong lesson. They've basically been rehashing their 1983-1987 albums ever since.
A quick jaunt through U2 history reveals that events could have taken a number of drastically different routes. Pop's track list–and even some of the tracks themselves–weren't finalized until the last minute. The hodgepodge of unfinished new songs, plus tracks going back to The Joshua Tree that still never quite gelled, could conceivably have featured a better lineup of more polished songs.
How might U2's ninth studio album have turned out if the band had kept legendary producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, then heeded Eno's advice to wait for Larry before going into the studio, and thus had people to rein in and focus their vision?
Under those conditions, we might have gotten something like the proposed Pop alternate Godzilla, which I took my best stab at assembling.
Take a listen and tell me what you think:
With its heady mix of driving tunes that wouldn't see release until later albums or as b-sides, along with more refined versions of songs from Pop, my contention is that Godzilla would have been better received on release and in the long run. What do you think?
The Butterfly Effect dictates that one change inevitably leads to countless others. What forks inU2's career path do I speculate may have taken place had they released Godzilla instead of Pop?
First, All That You Can't Leave Behind would still have come next, since more than a few of its songs were already in development, and it's not nearly as retrograde as everybody says it is. About the only difference I could see would be the replacement of "New York" with "Love and Peace Or Else", the latter of which appeared on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in our timeline.
Which brings us to how the "No Ground Zero" Atomic Bomb would have differed from our rather hackneyed version.
If anything, the alternate reality iteration of Atomic Bomb would have differed from the Clown World version even more than Godzilla departed from Pop.
Here's my take on what a "No Ground Zero" version of Atomic Bomb might have been like.
Note that I assembled this playlist from tracks that were proposed for but cut from the finished album, or alternate versions of HtDaAB tracks.
Give it a listen below, and be sure to share your thoughts in the comments!:
The post-future's secrets revealed
Originally published here. The post Cultural Ground Zero: Defusing the Pop Bomb pt 2 appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
| Confirmed: Jodie Whittaker & Chris Chibnall Leaving ‘Doctor Who’ Posted: 30 Jul 2021 01:55 PM PDT
The BBC has finally confirmed one of the worst kept secrets in television: Jodie Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall are quitting Doctor Who.
The duo have been in charge of the Tardis since 2017 and will be leaving BBC Studios' iconic sci-fi franchise next year, Deadline reports. Before they exit, they will bring fans Season 13 this fall and three feature-length specials in 2022, the last of which will mark the end of the Thirteenth Doctor.
Whittaker will be remembered as the first woman to play the Time Lord, bringing warmth and comedy to the role. Her departure has long been speculated and is in line with her predecessors, including David Tennant and Matt Smith, who also completed three seasons before moving on to other projects.
The first of next year's specials will screen on New Year's Day, while it will be followed by a second episode in the spring. Whittaker's last spin in the Tardis will broadcast in fall 2022 and will form part of the BBC's centenary celebrations. The show is co-produced by BBC America in the U.S.
No news yet on who will take over from Whittaker and Chibnall, though we know it won't be It's a Sin star Olly Alexander, who denied reports in June that he is set to play the Time Lord.
Meanwhile, Whovians cheered the news.
The post Confirmed: Jodie Whittaker & Chris Chibnall Leaving ‘Doctor Who’ appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
| Flash Film Set Pics Offer a Look at Batfleck’s New Suit & Batcycle Posted: 30 Jul 2021 11:15 AM PDT
Several shots of Ben Affleck’s Batman on the set of the upcoming DC film, The Flash, have recently emerged, offering a better look at The Dark Knight and his monster Batcycle. The photographs are from on location of The Flash film set, which is now taking place in Glasgow. The DC hero will presumably be thrown into the multiverse in the film, with the amount of Ben Affleck’s return as Batman yet unknown.
According to these photographs, Ben Affleck will don the massive Batman suit that has been popular with fans since his debut in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, with his method of transportation maintaining the same monster style as his Batsuit and Batmobile.
DC fans have been left to wonder how involved Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton will be, with director Andy Muschietti having offered some clues regarding the former and calling him “a very substantial part of the emotional impact of the movie,” especially as it relates to his relationship with Barry Allen, played once again by Ezra Miller. “It’s Barry’s movie, it’s Barry’s story,” the filmmaker added. “But their characters are more related than we think. They both lost their mothers to murder, and that’s one of the emotional vessels of the movie. That’s where the Affleck Batman kicks in.”
While not much is yet known about the extent of either actor’s involvement, Muschietti has stated that The Flash in “inclusive” with regards to previous franchises saying, “This movie is a bit of a hinge in the sense that it presents a story that implies a unified universe where all the cinematic iterations that we’ve seen before are valid. It’s inclusive in the sense that it is saying all that you’ve seen exists, and everything that you will see exists, in the same unified multiverse.”
In spite of some complaints, The Flash is scheduled to be released this November.
The post Flash Film Set Pics Offer a Look at Batfleck’s New Suit & Batcycle appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
| Hell Hath No Fury: ScarJo Sueing Disney for Breach of Contract Posted: 30 Jul 2021 08:15 AM PDT
Disney’s unilateral decision to debut "Black Widow" on Disney Plus at the same time movie was released in theaters has triggered a legal struggle with MCU actress Scarlett Johansson. According to a report in Variety, attorneys representing Johansson filed a lawsuit yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that the star’s contract was violated when the studio chose not to release the film solely in theaters, a decision they believe harmed ticket sales for the Avengers spinoff. Much of Johansson’s pay was related to the success of “Black Widow” at the box office – if it met certain targets, bonuses would be paid.
In other words, she was to receive a portion of the theatrical release profits, which she contends were suppressed by Disney’s decision to release the film the same day on their streaming platform, of which Johansson receives no bonus from. Obviously the film did not perform as well as hoped.
According to Variety, Scarlett’s legal team is claiming that:
"Disney intentionally induced Marvel's breach of the agreement, without justification, in order to prevent Ms. Johansson from realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel," the suit reads. Disney announced in March that "Black Widow" would premiere simultaneously on the studio's subscription-based streaming service, for a premium $30 price, as well as on the big screen. The move was made as the movie theater industry was rebounding from COVID-19 closures and capacity restrictions. On July 9, "Black Widow" set a pandemic-era box office record with its $80 million debut in North America and earned an additional $78 million overseas. It also pulled in $60 million on Disney Plus. Ticket sales steeply declined in subsequent weeks and currently stand at $319 million globally, putting "Black Widow" on track to become one of the lowest-grossing Marvel movies of all time.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a spokesperson for Disney claims the suit has no merit and is "especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the Covid-19 pandemic."
The company said it "fully complied with Ms. Johansson's contract and furthermore, the release of Black Widow on Disney+ with Premier Access has significantly enhanced her ability to earn additional compensation on top of the $20 million she has received to date." The suit could be a bellwether for the entertainment industry. Major media companies are giving priority to their streaming services in pursuit of growth, and are increasingly putting their high-value content on those platforms. Those changes have significant financial implications for actors and producers, who want to ensure that growth in streaming doesn't come at their expense. "This will surely not be the last case where Hollywood talent stands up to Disney and makes it clear that, whatever the company may pretend, it has a legal obligation to honor its contracts," said John Berlinski, an attorney at Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP who represents Ms. Johansson.
Disney began distributing movies on Disney+ and in cinemas at the same time, partly due to the Covid-19 outbreak, when theaters were shuttered or had restricted capacity, as well as to promote its brand new streaming platform. At the same time, AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia, which controls the HBO Max streaming service, began employing a similar technique for the full 2021 Warner Bros. film slate. NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast Corp., followed suit, releasing "The Boss Baby: Family Business" in cinemas as well as on its Peacock streaming service.
The WSJ report continues:
According to the complaint, Ms. Johansson's representatives sought to renegotiate her contract after learning of the dual-release strategy for "Black Widow," which she has said is her ninth and last Marvel movie. Disney and Marvel were unresponsive, the suit said. The decision to put the movie on Disney+ is projected to cost Ms. Johansson more than $50 million, a person familiar with details of her contract claimed.
Variety learned that the Johansson’s management had been trying to reach Disney from moment her people learned about the dual release, and were ignored:
Johansson legal team said that representatives for the actress were worried that "Black Widow" would debut on Disney Plus even before coronavirus brought life to a standstill. As part of the suit, they share emails from the star's management group that asked the studio to guarantee that "Black Widow" would premiere exclusively in cinemas. In response, Marvel Chief Counsel Dave Galluzzi promised a traditional theatrical bow, while adding "We understand that should the plan change, we would need to discuss this with you and come to an understanding as the deal is based on a series of (very large) box office bonuses."
Well, Disney did publicize that they broke $200 million opening weekend, so they made bank, according to their internal reports. This particular feud is somewhat unusual in that Johansson’s character is (spoiler alert) dead in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the actress has stated that she has no plans to reprise the role. In short, she has nothing to lose by going up against Disney. However, if she wins or reaches a settlement, the case might serve as a litmus test for other actors considering similar claims.
And given that studios have embraced streaming while cinemas have closed, there could be a lot of them. This will surely not be the last case where Hollywood talent stands up to Disney and makes it clear that, whatever the company may pretend, it has a legal obligation to honor its contracts," Johansson’s lawyer stated.
Looks like Johansson has a case. We look forward to updating this story when Disney decides to settle out of court. The post Hell Hath No Fury: ScarJo Sueing Disney for Breach of Contract appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
| How Archie Comics Shapeshifted from Kid-Friendly to Satanic Horror Posted: 30 Jul 2021 06:15 AM PDT
In this Valdosta Daily Times puff piece, they went about normalizing the recent change of Archie’s Sabrina series when Netflix adapted it:
And by that, they mean horror-themed storytelling. If anything, what this terrible fluff can tell us is that Netflix really is a bad influence on much of modern entertainment, and the tinkering doesn’t stop at just the publishers’ forced and contrived decisions. For all we know, if this is the direction they’re taking now, chances are that, for as long as Archie continues its existence, Sabrina may never be a humorous comic ever again. Like many other famous icons, it’s been exploited by modern ideologues who’ve forced in the concept of darkness as much as they have politics into entertainment. And these press sources will never complain about the lack of brighter, more optimistic storytelling free of political influence.
Originally published here.
Editor’s note:
What’s peculiar to note that Archie Comics is one of the only mainstream publishers to have created over a dozen Christian titles throughout their history that featured their beloved legacy characters. Back in the early 70’s, Spire Comics was a rare Christian comic imprint led by Al Hartley, who had been subtly infusing Christian morals into Archie Comics for years when he worked for the publisher. When Fleming H. Revell publishers eventually hired him in 1972 to work on adaptations of popular Christian novels like The Cross and the Switchblade and The Hiding Place. Hartley and Revell launched Spire Comics with the intent to publish comics for Christians and to be used as ways to reach out to Non-Christians. Al also reached out to John Goldwater, the President of Archie Comics to ask about using the Archie characters in these comics. And Goldwater agreed.
The Spire Archie comics were unabashedly Christian, and quite earnest, and since Hartley had been an Archie artist for years, they looked great, although these stories haven’t aged well.
Not at all like what has occurred in recent years, with the hard lean into what could be described as “anti-Christian” material. Which really doesn’t seem to be working out as well as the publisher may have hoped.
The post How Archie Comics Shapeshifted from Kid-Friendly to Satanic Horror appeared first on Bleeding Fool.  |
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