In the sphere of movies at the theatre, there doesn't seem to be anything good, interesting, original, or unique.
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In the sphere of movies at the theatre, there doesn't seem to be anything good, interesting, original, or unique. Nothing that makes you go WOW. The fuck is going on... #movie #movies #theatre #itallsucks #hollywood #fail
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In the sphere of movies at the theatre, there doesn't seem to be anything good, interesting, original, or unique. Nothing that makes you go WOW. The fuck is going on... #movie #movies #theatre #itallsucks #hollywood #fail
@MartinGuay same as everything else
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@MartinGuay same as everything else
@jpaskaruk I wouldn't know what everything else is.
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@jpaskaruk I wouldn't know what everything else is.
️@MartinGuay The application of extractive Private Equity logic to all things.
Old Hollywood had volatile "talent," Scorceses, Woody Allens (leaving aside Epstein for a moment, cause Hollywood is run by Epsteins)
who sometimes give you a culturallly resonant golden goose like The Godfather or Star Wars, but also produce a lot of weird and publicly ignored flops (often very good, but without appeal to the masses, who provide the all-important Dividends).Something had to be done, these Artists were making line go down.
So, find "reliable people" who will make blockbusters that keep line upward, and for the Oscarbait, make sure they do not do silly things like sfx or anything expensive.
Simultaneously, grease every runway; control theatres, distribution, streaming, every possible outlet for the "art" so as to eliminate consumer choice as much as possible.
Do not allow any new Coppolas or Von Stroheims (look him up if you don't recognize that one, he is the demon who haunts he shareholders' nightmares. Then watch Jean Renoir's "The Grand Illusion") onto the lot, ever.
Result: there is no creativity, just a bunch of nepobabies playing with approved-IP (ie. owned IP) alphabet blocks which they arrange into Madlib-like "scripts" that are handed over to the working class of Hollywood to produce.
I have not really seen anything I would describe as "the best movie in x years" in a very long time, BUT I can say with no reservation that I watched The Fall Guy a year or two ago and it absolutely is the worst movie I have seen in pretty much ever. This is the future of Hollywood.
Thankfully, it's all about to implode and we're gonna build new and better things, once we finish dealing with the billionaires like a bunch of Gaddafis.
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@MartinGuay The application of extractive Private Equity logic to all things.
Old Hollywood had volatile "talent," Scorceses, Woody Allens (leaving aside Epstein for a moment, cause Hollywood is run by Epsteins)
who sometimes give you a culturallly resonant golden goose like The Godfather or Star Wars, but also produce a lot of weird and publicly ignored flops (often very good, but without appeal to the masses, who provide the all-important Dividends).Something had to be done, these Artists were making line go down.
So, find "reliable people" who will make blockbusters that keep line upward, and for the Oscarbait, make sure they do not do silly things like sfx or anything expensive.
Simultaneously, grease every runway; control theatres, distribution, streaming, every possible outlet for the "art" so as to eliminate consumer choice as much as possible.
Do not allow any new Coppolas or Von Stroheims (look him up if you don't recognize that one, he is the demon who haunts he shareholders' nightmares. Then watch Jean Renoir's "The Grand Illusion") onto the lot, ever.
Result: there is no creativity, just a bunch of nepobabies playing with approved-IP (ie. owned IP) alphabet blocks which they arrange into Madlib-like "scripts" that are handed over to the working class of Hollywood to produce.
I have not really seen anything I would describe as "the best movie in x years" in a very long time, BUT I can say with no reservation that I watched The Fall Guy a year or two ago and it absolutely is the worst movie I have seen in pretty much ever. This is the future of Hollywood.
Thankfully, it's all about to implode and we're gonna build new and better things, once we finish dealing with the billionaires like a bunch of Gaddafis.
@jpaskaruk Respectfully, the 'Private Equity' bogeyman is a decade out of date. In 2026, PE is actually funding the mid-budget resurgence that the major studios abandoned. A24 is now a $3.5B powerhouse, and original films like Marty Supreme are outperforming 'safe' IP. Also, The Fall Guy was a pro-worker movie directed by a stuntman—it’s the exact 'working class' art you're calling for. Maybe the problem isn't that they aren't making good movies, it's that people are too busy complaining about billionaires to go see them.
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R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topicR relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topic
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@MartinGuay The application of extractive Private Equity logic to all things.
Old Hollywood had volatile "talent," Scorceses, Woody Allens (leaving aside Epstein for a moment, cause Hollywood is run by Epsteins)
who sometimes give you a culturallly resonant golden goose like The Godfather or Star Wars, but also produce a lot of weird and publicly ignored flops (often very good, but without appeal to the masses, who provide the all-important Dividends).Something had to be done, these Artists were making line go down.
So, find "reliable people" who will make blockbusters that keep line upward, and for the Oscarbait, make sure they do not do silly things like sfx or anything expensive.
Simultaneously, grease every runway; control theatres, distribution, streaming, every possible outlet for the "art" so as to eliminate consumer choice as much as possible.
Do not allow any new Coppolas or Von Stroheims (look him up if you don't recognize that one, he is the demon who haunts he shareholders' nightmares. Then watch Jean Renoir's "The Grand Illusion") onto the lot, ever.
Result: there is no creativity, just a bunch of nepobabies playing with approved-IP (ie. owned IP) alphabet blocks which they arrange into Madlib-like "scripts" that are handed over to the working class of Hollywood to produce.
I have not really seen anything I would describe as "the best movie in x years" in a very long time, BUT I can say with no reservation that I watched The Fall Guy a year or two ago and it absolutely is the worst movie I have seen in pretty much ever. This is the future of Hollywood.
Thankfully, it's all about to implode and we're gonna build new and better things, once we finish dealing with the billionaires like a bunch of Gaddafis.
@jpaskaruk This is a great 2014 take, but the 2026 data actually crushes it.
The 'Coppolas' are winning: Independent film box office grew 41% last year. A24 is now valued at $3.5B specifically because 'Private Equity logic' realized that original art makes more money than tired IP. The 'Golden Goose' is the only thing keeping the lights on.
The Union Fact-Check: The 2024/25 WGA/SAG contracts literally banned the 'Madlib scripts' you're talking about. AI is legally restricted, and writers have more power now than they did in the 90s. The 'working class' you mentioned? They wrote those protections into law.
The system isn't failing because of billionaires; it’s changing because the 'reliable' blockbusters stopped being reliable. We’re in a creator-led renaissance; you’re just looking at the wrong posters.
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@jpaskaruk This is a great 2014 take, but the 2026 data actually crushes it.
The 'Coppolas' are winning: Independent film box office grew 41% last year. A24 is now valued at $3.5B specifically because 'Private Equity logic' realized that original art makes more money than tired IP. The 'Golden Goose' is the only thing keeping the lights on.
The Union Fact-Check: The 2024/25 WGA/SAG contracts literally banned the 'Madlib scripts' you're talking about. AI is legally restricted, and writers have more power now than they did in the 90s. The 'working class' you mentioned? They wrote those protections into law.
The system isn't failing because of billionaires; it’s changing because the 'reliable' blockbusters stopped being reliable. We’re in a creator-led renaissance; you’re just looking at the wrong posters.
@MartinGuay "n the sphere of movies at the theatre, there doesn't seem to be anything good, interesting, original, or unique. Nothing that makes you go WOW. The fuck is going on..."
is this actually true, or were you just baiting to deliver your "actually everything is great!" retort?
I said, Hollywood will implode, perhaps I should have said "is imploding". What you're describing is what I said would happen, happening.
As to Private Equity being behind any sort of quality art, well, I don't buy it, but if you've got some articles or something with compelling facts and figures, I'm open to reading them.
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@MartinGuay "n the sphere of movies at the theatre, there doesn't seem to be anything good, interesting, original, or unique. Nothing that makes you go WOW. The fuck is going on..."
is this actually true, or were you just baiting to deliver your "actually everything is great!" retort?
I said, Hollywood will implode, perhaps I should have said "is imploding". What you're describing is what I said would happen, happening.
As to Private Equity being behind any sort of quality art, well, I don't buy it, but if you've got some articles or something with compelling facts and figures, I'm open to reading them.
@jpaskaruk To me there's nothing WOW or interesting. However, it doesn't change that there's is QUALITY and Amazing stuff being produced. Here's some fact based information about what I just said.
Film Studio A24 Valued At $3.5 Billion Following Thrive Capital Investment
A24 has become known for its critically acclaimed, “edgy” arthouse films that have dominated many awards seasons.
Forbes (www.forbes.com)
Indy box office outpaces studio system with double-digit growth in 2025
The independent box office has seen receipts rebound to heightened growth in 2025. The previous year had seen takings dip, amid the impacts of falling consumer spending power – but according to Indy Film Library’s latest analysis, the last 12 months have seen the indy segment outpace the wider market, with growth of more than…
Indy Film Library (indyfilmlibrary.com)
The Fall Guy breaks world record with heart-stopping blockbuster cannon car roll
Stunt performer Logan Holladay broke the most cannon rolls in a car record with 8.5 as he filmed The Fall Guy in Australia.
Guinness World Records (www.guinnessworldrecords.com)
Default Title
The WGA secured groundbreaking AI protections in the 2023 MBA and continues to lead policy efforts to safeguard creative work and compensation in the age of generative AI.
Writers Guild of America West (www.wga.org)
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@jpaskaruk To me there's nothing WOW or interesting. However, it doesn't change that there's is QUALITY and Amazing stuff being produced. Here's some fact based information about what I just said.
Film Studio A24 Valued At $3.5 Billion Following Thrive Capital Investment
A24 has become known for its critically acclaimed, “edgy” arthouse films that have dominated many awards seasons.
Forbes (www.forbes.com)
Indy box office outpaces studio system with double-digit growth in 2025
The independent box office has seen receipts rebound to heightened growth in 2025. The previous year had seen takings dip, amid the impacts of falling consumer spending power – but according to Indy Film Library’s latest analysis, the last 12 months have seen the indy segment outpace the wider market, with growth of more than…
Indy Film Library (indyfilmlibrary.com)
The Fall Guy breaks world record with heart-stopping blockbuster cannon car roll
Stunt performer Logan Holladay broke the most cannon rolls in a car record with 8.5 as he filmed The Fall Guy in Australia.
Guinness World Records (www.guinnessworldrecords.com)
Default Title
The WGA secured groundbreaking AI protections in the 2023 MBA and continues to lead policy efforts to safeguard creative work and compensation in the age of generative AI.
Writers Guild of America West (www.wga.org)
edit: you seem to have taken my "madlib" comment to mean AI; I expressly do not mean anything LLM-related when I say that. This is constraints that have been in place for decades, enforced by management through the choices they make, and has been happening since way, way before LLMs showed up to accelerate the process of artistic decay.
@MartinGuay So what is your theory about the loss of WOW? You don't like mine, but you clearly are unsatisfied, even with good stuff like Uncut Gems happening.
I also believe there is a lot of quality stuff being made, it's just not being made in the Hollywood system. I would offer up San Ti, the Chinese 30-episode adaptation of Three Body Problem, as an example. The Netflix one is silly and has had all kinds of important content (political, scientific) amputated, I would argue because of extractive Capitalist Logic. I'll drop the Private Equity term if that pleases you, cause in the final analysis PE is just Capitalism on a crack bender.
A24 appears to be in the early stage of the process widely described as enshittification, to me. Shall we reconvene in a few years ago have a look at where they are? I seriously doubt you will find any WOW there, though there will be all manner of "good," for a while.
The unions have power, but capital always has more, in a situation where the government has capital's back.
You say cookie cutter scripts are banned, but let's stream any romcom or inspiration porn movie from the last year together, I'll predict what happens, accurately, well before it does.
Google was once the greatest search engine ever, Facebook was once a place where you could connect with only people, A24 is currently producing a lot of good art, but shareholders are shareholders, and they have a very predictable set of steps in extraction.
We are in a transformational era; the money wants the transformation to go a certain way, but the truth is we don't need them anymore, and there will be a fight about that at some point. Capitalism has always wrecked real art, and that will not change.
Look at what it did to technology.
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edit: you seem to have taken my "madlib" comment to mean AI; I expressly do not mean anything LLM-related when I say that. This is constraints that have been in place for decades, enforced by management through the choices they make, and has been happening since way, way before LLMs showed up to accelerate the process of artistic decay.
@MartinGuay So what is your theory about the loss of WOW? You don't like mine, but you clearly are unsatisfied, even with good stuff like Uncut Gems happening.
I also believe there is a lot of quality stuff being made, it's just not being made in the Hollywood system. I would offer up San Ti, the Chinese 30-episode adaptation of Three Body Problem, as an example. The Netflix one is silly and has had all kinds of important content (political, scientific) amputated, I would argue because of extractive Capitalist Logic. I'll drop the Private Equity term if that pleases you, cause in the final analysis PE is just Capitalism on a crack bender.
A24 appears to be in the early stage of the process widely described as enshittification, to me. Shall we reconvene in a few years ago have a look at where they are? I seriously doubt you will find any WOW there, though there will be all manner of "good," for a while.
The unions have power, but capital always has more, in a situation where the government has capital's back.
You say cookie cutter scripts are banned, but let's stream any romcom or inspiration porn movie from the last year together, I'll predict what happens, accurately, well before it does.
Google was once the greatest search engine ever, Facebook was once a place where you could connect with only people, A24 is currently producing a lot of good art, but shareholders are shareholders, and they have a very predictable set of steps in extraction.
We are in a transformational era; the money wants the transformation to go a certain way, but the truth is we don't need them anymore, and there will be a fight about that at some point. Capitalism has always wrecked real art, and that will not change.
Look at what it did to technology.
@jpaskaruk you’re diagnosing the 'old' Hollywood's corpse & missing the new system being born.
A24 isn't enshittifying; it’s scaling. They’re using that $3.5B PE valuation to fund $70M R-rated risks like Marty Supreme. The opposite of extraction; it’s doubling down on the 'Golden Goose.'
The 3-Body Problem comparison double-edged sword. The Chinese version you love was made by Tencent—hardly an anti-capitalist commune—and it censored the very political content (the Cultural Revolution) that Netflix actually featured.
The 'Cookie Cutter' era is dying by choice. The 2025 box office audiences are finally deserting the 'safe' IP. If you can predict the ending of a movie, it's likely a movie that is currently failing financially. Originality is now the only way to get a 'WOW' return, and the money is following that trend.
We don’t need to wait a few years—the 'implosion' of the formulaic blockbuster is already the lead story of 2026. The artists didn't just win a fight; they wrote the new rules of the game.
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@jpaskaruk you’re diagnosing the 'old' Hollywood's corpse & missing the new system being born.
A24 isn't enshittifying; it’s scaling. They’re using that $3.5B PE valuation to fund $70M R-rated risks like Marty Supreme. The opposite of extraction; it’s doubling down on the 'Golden Goose.'
The 3-Body Problem comparison double-edged sword. The Chinese version you love was made by Tencent—hardly an anti-capitalist commune—and it censored the very political content (the Cultural Revolution) that Netflix actually featured.
The 'Cookie Cutter' era is dying by choice. The 2025 box office audiences are finally deserting the 'safe' IP. If you can predict the ending of a movie, it's likely a movie that is currently failing financially. Originality is now the only way to get a 'WOW' return, and the money is following that trend.
We don’t need to wait a few years—the 'implosion' of the formulaic blockbuster is already the lead story of 2026. The artists didn't just win a fight; they wrote the new rules of the game.
@MartinGuay If the new system is capital-based, I will get no satisfaction out of seeing your eventual disillusionment. But you will be welcomed to the fight, if you're not a billionaire in a trench coat, for some reason bothering with my pinko ass for a moment.
There is a thing struggling to be born, and we are having this discussion one of its component pieces, which came into existence without capital, and thrives for the same reason.
There is no good future in capitalism, for art or for anything else. But we are building the good future nonetheless. Enjoy your good-to-mediocre entertainment in the meantime.
edit: also, not sure what you mean about the Netflix showing political content the other production did not, but I'm due to rewatch both, so I will come back and correct myself here if I'm wrong.
I was not planning to watch Marty Supreme for the same reason I haven't watched The Wolf Of Wall Street, but since you seem to be holding it as an exemplar of quality, I believe I will now. I'll let you know, or not, depending on the vibe of your next response.
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@MartinGuay If the new system is capital-based, I will get no satisfaction out of seeing your eventual disillusionment. But you will be welcomed to the fight, if you're not a billionaire in a trench coat, for some reason bothering with my pinko ass for a moment.
There is a thing struggling to be born, and we are having this discussion one of its component pieces, which came into existence without capital, and thrives for the same reason.
There is no good future in capitalism, for art or for anything else. But we are building the good future nonetheless. Enjoy your good-to-mediocre entertainment in the meantime.
edit: also, not sure what you mean about the Netflix showing political content the other production did not, but I'm due to rewatch both, so I will come back and correct myself here if I'm wrong.
I was not planning to watch Marty Supreme for the same reason I haven't watched The Wolf Of Wall Street, but since you seem to be holding it as an exemplar of quality, I believe I will now. I'll let you know, or not, depending on the vibe of your next response.
@jpaskaruk I’ll leave you with three final 2026 facts that don't care about 'pinko' theories:
A24 just spent $70M on a Josh Safdie movie. That’s the opposite of enshittification; it’s a billionaire-backed bet on the most 'volatile' talent in the room. It’s currently the highest-grossing indie in history.
The 'pure' version of Three-Body Problem was censored by the state. The 'extractive' Netflix version was the only one brave enough to show the Cultural Revolution. Sometimes 'Capitalist Logic' is the only thing that protects the 'WOW' from political erasure.
The 'Cookie Cutter' era is dead. Independent film market share hit an all-time high of 25% in 2025. People are starving out the franchises you hate.
The 'good-to-mediocre' future you’re predicting is the one currently going bankrupt. The rest of us are at the theatre watching the Safdie brothers and Sean Baker reinvent cinema with the very capital you claim kills it. Enjoy the 'fight'; the rest of us are enjoying the show.
