YouTube Videos: Jul 23-29

 

Cold Suit

I would have shrugged off this story before revelations came up. When it comes to sexual allegations, I have a hard time wondering if people are telling the truth. There's no defending Blizzard for this. It has reached Bloomberg, The New York Times, many other news organizations and websites. Stunned to know that this was a couple of years in the making in California suing them for the way they treated employees. Plenty of bad things that you would think was unimaginable.

The company has been accused of being a "frat boy culture." One of the big stories was one of their female employees committing suicide after harassment and a trip when a guy brought butt plugs and lube. Rather heinous. Stories of guys goofing off while women were doing their work. That one sounds like something from a different period of time. Offensive jokes and I would have to guess many other inappropriate things were to have been said. I wouldn't think it's all the guys working at Blizzard, but the ones creating the toxicity might have sunk this company.

If this is two years in the making for California, there has to be much more stuff that went down at Blizzard beyond that period. People that got screwed over. More than just the women. Burnt bridges, regardless of who was in charge. I believe the head of the company made a response about not being aware of it and that caused more ire. So much that many current and former employees signed their names to a statement, blasting the head's thoughts. One of the results was a walkout.

There's a lot that probably will get brought up at some point. This is following a trend of controversies involving gaming. You got the Super Smash Bros. fandom from last year with their tournaments. EVO from last year. Stories of Ubisoft and one of their studios. This can happen to either gender, but the death threats towards several actresses that were in The Last of Us Part II. It has evolved a lot more from what was seen way back in the 80s. There is still that stereotype of being a bit exclusive to guys, but I'd have to imagine there is a decent amount of women playing that you wouldn't have seen 40 years ago.

This is a burn it to the ground and rebuild thing. Blizzard stands to lose a lot in reception and commercial profit. The only thing you can do is boycott if you want to stick it to them. Your choice. But this will take a long time to repair their image. I'm not a legal expert, but I anticipate heavy damages.

Space Flop?

Think we're going to have to say that now. Space Jam: A New Legacy needed a month long run of big weekends to even get close to the supposed 150 million dollar budget. Not reaching 10 million (9.6 million according to Box Office Mojo) is very much a death sentence. You can chalk this up to many factors. The pandemic is too easy of an answer, but some states are rising in cases, making it kind of difficult for some to go to the movies.

But the pandemic is not the only thing holding it back. HBO Max has it for free. As I said in a blog about it being number one last week, this is getting panned. The original was also panned, but not as severely. The first Space Jam's concepts are rather forgettable and you forget the first half unlike something like Rocky where you're engrossed in all of the film. With the sequel, it didn't do anything for critics. LeBron James' being a factor is there, too. What he does off the court and his behavior, this is not the type of guy you're going to have lead a box office.

The original's director, Joe Pytka, talked to TMZ recently and tried to justify why he viewed his film to be better than the sequel. I'm assuming he's had to defend himself a number of times. Yes, there's Bill Murray and Danny DeVito. You have a soundtrack that is very memorable. NBA players that provided funny moments. Big name ones that Michael Jordan competed against. But Pytka doesn't seem to realize that his film is not a masterpiece. There's issues. It has fans, but the fans are not in huge numbers that Warner Brothers was hoping they thought they had.

If the pandemic didn't occur, I'd argue it would have still came up short, but the bleeding wouldn't be so severe. Worldwide, this should make more than the budget, but I'm not seeing this making any kind of profit. It didn't need 150 million dollars. Maybe these studios should stop relying on CGI driven films and look back at the past of why a number of movies did really well and netted them huge profit. This overly expensive films will come back to bite them.

The Effects of Milwaukee

Almost a week later, and the Milwaukee Bucks gave the NBA a shot in the arm. Being down two games to the Phoenix Suns, they won the next four en route to a championship for the first time since 1971. Back then, it was the young sensation, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leading the way. Here, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo and other starters playing defense and making shots count. Here's what helped the league.

First is the two teams. Small market ones, yes, but ones that hadn't seen a Finals. No Warriors, no LeBron James team. Excitement can occur for ones that never sniffed a championship or had, but haven't been at one for as long as Milwaukee did. How about the fact that these weren't super teams, either. Unknowns or stars accompany the guys like Antetokounmpo and Chris Paul. Anyone could play a factor.

The games having an underdog mentality. Milwaukee being down two games, the audience wants to see the "heroes" rise up to the challenge. In doing so, they fixed what was problematic and rebounded to get the championship. A lot of energy to stay in that fight. Phoenix lost some of that mojo after Game 2.  They were in close games, but had didn't take advantage of opportunities late or let Milwaukee crawl back into a game. In the history of Arizona sports, it unfortunately continues a thing where the state has yet to see a championship outside of the Diamondbacks World Series in 2001.

Ratings helped, but not good enough. Compared to last year, these are a big improvement, getting around eight to nearly ten million viewers.  Almost averaging ten million for the whole series. It doesn't come close to reaching 2019. Many factors have played a role. People getting tired of James. The Warriors making it to five straight Finals, winning three. Politics over the last two seasons, especially all the social justice stuff last year. I'd argue players speaking before thinking on social media. Adam Silver not understanding why his league is suffering. The NBA burnt its audience out.

I think this 2021-22 season is going to be an even bigger test. Does Milwaukee winning it bring forth a group of fans to return to watching it? Will Silver keep close eye on what his players do? There's more questions that have to be asked as there is a lot at stake for the NBA. Early prediction, I believe they will see a small improvement, but not by a lot. It all depends on the direction they want to go and any controversies that occur. They can't airball any mistakes.

YouTube Videos: Jul 16-22

 

The Teigen Trap

Watching this unfold is pure karma and entertainment. About two months ago, model Chrissy Teigen was called out for cyberbullying by Courtney Stodden. Stodden received death threats from her in 2011 when she was married at the age of 16 to then 51 year old Doug Hutchison. Other people spoke out of Teigen's bullying, including the mother of actress Lindsay Lohan. For the most part, Teigen is now viewed as a cyberbully. Some retail places not having her cookware anymore. Issuing half assed responses. And she still doesn't understand why she's in the position she is in now.

Go to PageSix.com since they are putting up a valiant effort in detailing the latest news of Teigen. Supposedly she's depressed and feels like things are very rough. One part I'd probably feel bad for is her miscarriage I believe from last year. No one wants to terminate a pregnancy because of that. But that doesn't excuse poor behavior. She's probably pissed deep down that she can't get on social media and continue her bullying crusades. Eventually, she was going to get caught and she did red-handed. I don't think she realized how big this issue was going to be and still be one two months later.

Complaining about being in the "cancel club", yeah, because you made death threats to a teenager. You harassed a ten year old who has had big success on television for the last seven years. Those are just a few people, though. There's probably more that Teigen has went after viciously. This "cancel club" is a taste of her own medicine. If she was 20 years old, I'd let it slide a tiny bit, but would have a firm warning on not continuing this behavior. But at the age of 35/36, that's over the top and childish. The fame got to her head and she didn't learn to control anything.

The fact that PageSix had another article with Stodden speaks volumes. From the article, she has yet to get a direct apology from Teigen and thinks she should donate to anti-bullying charities. Her behavior could have a long lasting effect on her kids at the age of five and three respectively. Someone in public relations is going to have it very rough. If she can change, she has to commit to it, but I don't think she has the heart to do so. Until then, she deserved to be exiled from social. If she still doesn't understand the consequences of her actions, she will never learn a thing.

A Peculiar Top Two July 16

The dust settled and one of the more interesting weekends a few days ago had a new number one film. How they will fare the next weekend is what I'll be curious about. From Box Office Mojo, Space Jam: A New Legacy scored its way to the top with over 31 million dollars, besting Black Widow by over five million. The next closest film was a huge drop with an Escape Room sequel making 8.8 million.

The Space Jam sequel is an interesting one. If I had to guess where it was going to be, it was top five due to nostalgia and a new generation seeing Looney Tunes. You also have the fans of LeBron James, who acted like a shithead with a "Hi haters" tweet after seeing the film reach number one. Like the original it is getting panned and some of James' fans online are acting like Michael Jordan fans are review bombing. It makes no sense at all. A lot of people and critics view the original as a forgettable film. This will be no different. Expect the new generation of kids to like it tremendously like most 90s kids back then.

That said, Space Jam Legacy has a huge uphill battle. The budget is either around 150 million or 185 million. Warner Brothers could be taking a huge bath if this doesn't have huge legs. It needs a good solid month in the States to get close to the budget. I don't think it will happen. The international release dates, I don't know, but that could be the saving grace. Pending the budget and advertising/marketing, this needs to make 400 to 500 million to even be considered a profitable one. Add in the small controversies, it's hard to give it a benefit of the doubt combined with the panned reception. James' haters tweet could bite him given his toxic behavior.

Black Widow could have been seen as a favorite to repeat. There was a headline I saw with movie theaters blaming Disney Plus for why the movie dropped to 25 million dollars. That could be streamed for 30 dollars, similar to what was done with Mulan last year. According to Deadline, the numbers reached 2 million households, which means it made 60 million. That number could be skewed a little bit, but take it as it is. The confidence in going to movie theaters is still a question. If you have a family of four or five, it's better to do your own popcorn and drinks and buy the film off of Plus for 30. At least in theory. Sure, it's not like the movie theater experience, but with a pandemic still going, why should some take that risk?

And this isn't just families that may not see the film in theaters. Right now, it's made just over 210 million worldwide (270 mil, give or take, from Plus) This also had a 200 million dollar budget and my guess of 50 million or more for advertising and marketing. It's going to look a lot more disappointing compared to the Ant-Man sequel though this will make more than that. There's also the Birds of Prey film from DC that I look at a little bit. That film did not have the budget like Widow, but made past it worldwide. You also have people who might be burned out on Marvel and Disney churning out these films. Scarlett Johansson isn't exactly a top billed actress that can lead a box office. They have to hope that the film doesn't drop steeply in its third weekend.

This upcoming weekend will bring in a new G.I. Joe film, Snake Eyes. Also plenty of smaller released films coming out. I can't imagine Space Jam having a strong second weekend and Black Widow could go either way. Maybe studios should learn you don't need 150 to 200 million budgets for most films to do well. 

Shooting in the Outfield

What do you say about a situation like this? How do you comprehend it? Saturday night is one Nationals fans will remember for the wrong reasons. Later stages of the game, switching of sides for who will bat and who will field. Gunshots erupt. Chaos ensues. Players get their families into the clubhouses. Fans told to exit through center field and right field exits as the game got suspended. Scary situation.

Thankfully, Sunday went by without incident, but it makes you think. What is going on in DC? Has mayor Muriel Bowser lost control of keeping things from spiraling downward fast? Nationals Park isn't exactly in the greatest neighborhood from what I remember, but it wasn't like it was in the ghetto. People should be at ease when they go to a game. At least they think they will. Last week had an incident with three potential killers at a hotel near Coors Field. Though the All-Star Game was not their target, bloodshed did not occur.

I'm surprised this happened in DC and not a city like Chicago or Los Angeles. I don't know what can be done to prevent another incident like this from happening. Or at least you hope it doesn't happen again. I honestly think no one is putting any effort to stop crime. I feel like it's only going to get worse until an athlete gets killed. The time to really go after criminals needs to happen now before we see a tragedy amidst many tragedies that go unnoticed. 

YouTube Videos: Jul 9-15

 

YouTube Videos: July 2-8