The issue, historically, has been access.

When it first launched you needed an Apple device to watch. Some folks may have bought an Apple TV, which is what Apple wanted, but that’s not a big audience. I know people watch things on their phone, but not 30 minute episodes. You could watch it on a computer, but if you’ve got a nice big TV it’s not happening. Yes I know you can hook things up to your TV, but it’s another point against it.

Over the years they’ve added apps to Roku and Chromecast has shifted to Google TV which is also app based (and worse, but I digress). However some of this relies on people upgrading their devices and people aren’t going to upgrade just for Apple TV.

So you can call it a 5+ year service, but really it’s only been available for 1-2 years.

But now that you’re outside the Apple bubble you’re competing against Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO, etc.

Disney+ & (to a slightly lesser extent) HBO have figured this streaming market out. Every week these services offer me something new to watch. Disney+ has a weekly release of Daredevil, and by next week I’m watching Andor. HBO has a weekly release of White Lotus and two weeks later I’m watching The Last of Us.

If they can keep at it I’m sure they’re get to where they want to be. But it’s a long journey ahead and they’re really just getting started.

I would but I don’t have the inside knowledge. For all I know the director made exactly what they intended and that was apparently terrible. Maybe they cut scenes, maybe they added unnecessary scenes, maybe there was push from the studio.

Ultimately a film is what the director creates. If the writing wasn’t good it’s up to them to figure something out how to improve it. If the producers try and force changes it’s up to the director to either make them fit or convince them otherwise.

Obviously you pick your battles and a film is a collaborative project, but the director is the captain, they guide the ship, they guide the film.

Yeah I wasn’t even going to touch on that. AFAIK he was just a “regular dude” when this film came out. But chances are he was just hiding it. If the DCEU didn’t die I suspect the future of these films and the lead actor would be a huge problem.

That sounds absolutely plausible.

The film also has the most egregious bit of product placement I’ve ever seen in the film, which I have to imagine is a push from the studios/finance.

For those who haven’t seen the film, the film deals with gods and other mythical creatures. One of those creatures is a unicorn. One of the characters, a young girl, loves unicorns. However these unicorns are less friendly horses and more fantasy war machines. Luckily they can be tamed by “ambrosia” aka “nectar of the gods”. So when the unicorns appear and begin to attack everyone, good or bad, the little girl tames them using… SKITTLES. And I swear a character even says “Taste the Rainbow”. Basically Skittles save the day and defeat the bad guy in the film. They are core to the story.

At the time of its release the first Shazam film was solid and generally fit in the “good” section of the DCEU.

However by the time Shazam 2 came out it was bad and generally fit in the “bad” section of the DCEU.

I don’t think Shazam 2 was poorly directed, but the story didn’t work at all and was ultimately a mess. So with that, it’s difficult to blame anyone other than the director.

I’m glad Sandberg is taking another swing at something big because they seem like a nice person and I think they can do a good job.

I think Storm is being flippant but I don’t think she is an asshole or should shut the fuck up.

Storm has absolutely faced discrimination as a result of her powers. She is still a mutant. She is still hunted by the government who want to lock her away in a cage.

Now, I don’t in any way want to discount the pain that Rogue has had to endure. She faces the same problems Storm faces, PLUS the curse of her power causing her to be touch starved and the inadvertent pain she has caused others.

It’s understandable why offering such a cure would be appealing for Rogue. But let’s not forget Rogue has slowly gained more control over her powers. She can have physical contact with people, she even gets to enjoy their powers for a brief time.

Forcing the “cure” on people is the problem. Forcing them through fear or forcing them as a means of control. That’s the problem. It’s totally fine if Rogue decides to take the cure and is of sound body and mind.

Just because a sizable population sees Rogue as a “freak” doesn’t mean that she is one. Storm is reminding her that there is nothing wrong with her. She doesn’t have to make this choice. She’s reminding Rogue that she has friends, she has a (found) family, she has support.

Should Storm perhaps be a little more tactful in how she approaches it? Sure. But she is absolutely right to say it.

Two days?

A friend worked at a company with a one-man IT crew aka “the friend”. Technically they worked part time, but occasionally had to come in and fix things that broke overnight. So they were “always” on call, but things mostly ran smoothly and unless it was super important it could wait until business hours/the next working day. Basically computers working was useful, but not a requirement for this company.

Anyway I was looking for a job, friend convinced the owner they needed help, so the job was mine, no interview needed.

So day one I get a look around, get a jist of how things work, get accounts setup, get HR-type stuff setup, take long business lunch and talk shop.

Day two, meet the owner and eventually the conversation turns to, “So let me know which days each of you are covering.” As in a single 30 hour per week job for one person, is now two 15 hour per week jobs for two people.

Needless to say my friend was mortified. Obviously I wasn’t going to screw them over, so I quit. I found a job shortly after that was way better and my friend got a small (although not nearly enough) pay bump. So guess it worked out.