If ‘No Hard Feelings’ Does Gangbusters — It Could Mean The End Of The Superhero Movie Era (Until A.I. Burns Hollywood To The Ground)

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Jennifer Lawrence’s new vehicle, “No Hard Feelings” is tracking really well. And if it’s a huge hit, then it could be a ping from a post-Superhero Era movie era. It could be, in short, a vibe shift.

More likely, of course, it will just be a vibe shift until…AI generated movies make the very idea of humans creating movies quaint. But I will be quite pleased if we see 80-style raunchy comedies shurge to the forefront of pop culture between now and when the Fourth Turning causes combined with the Petite Singularity throws everything up in the air so much, we may be longing for Aliens to save us from ourselves.

We’re fucked, but, YOLO.

It’s rather annoying how prudish GenZ is. I don’t know what is wrong with them. Have young people stopped wanting to see T&A on the big screen? They have all the porn they could possibly want on the Internet and yet they want to make it so you can see an attractive woman’s ta-tas on a huge movie screen. UGH.

The End Of (Human Generated) Art?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As we all wake up from the Superhero movie era daze we’ve been in for 20 years, I think maybe we aren’t asking the right question. The question isn’t, “What type of movie genre will replace Superhero movies?” but, rather, “Is this the twilight of not just mass media, but human generated art?”

It’s very possible that a lot sooner than you might think, AI sensors on your TV and phone hooked up to “Her”-like technology will generate movies, TV shows, songs and — gulp — novels, that are designed specifically for what you want at that specific moment because of your mood.

Some 99% of what is generated by the hand of man when it comes to art is shit and, as such, 99% of all art could very well be, well, AI generated shit. AND, there won’t be any mass media anymore, no shared reality.

As such, the Singularity won’t come with us uploading our minds into computers, but with the very idea of human-generated art for profit being seen as a quaint notion of a bygone era. And that dystopian nightmare is probably going to happen a lot — A LOT — sooner than you think.

If it happens at all, that is.

And add the general tendency to name, shame and drug anyone who is “different” and, lulz, our posthuman future may already be here.

Making The Case For A Netflix — WBD Merger

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Now that we learn that Warner Brothers Discovery is thinking of licensing HBO content to Netflix, why don’t the two companies just merge? It would make a lot of sense. It would be a massive media powerhouse that could go toe-to-toe with The House of Mouse.

What’s more, then Paramount Global could merge with NBCUniversal (or something) and then all of America’s media would be owned by The Big Three (Except for Columbia studios, owned by Sony.)

I just don’t know enough about the companies involved, but just a back of the envelope thought experiment about a Netflix – WBD merger seems to make a shit ton of sense.

But, then, I’m always wrong.

Some Thoughts As I Approach The Beginning of The Public Beta Reader Process

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

  1. Write drunk, edit sober.
  2. I’m going to be at a loss once I hand this novel over to Beta Readers
  3. I need to keep momentum going — I have to think up a new novel (or two) to write while I wait for Beta Readers to finish the novel.
  4. While Stieg Larsson’s novels are more provocative than my novel, I think my novel is intriguing enough that people will want to read it.
  5. I have to accept that it’s very possible that I won’t publish this novel, but maybe some other subsequent novel that I write using the skillset I’ve developed working on this one.
  6. I need to read more.
  7. I need to watch more movies / TV shows.
  8. I have no idea what is going to happen next, once the Beta Reader process begins.

Hard Deadline For Finishing The Public Beta Of My First Novel: June 30th

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m not going to make my June 20th deadline, so the new, hard deadline is June 30th. That will give me a few days to do some post-production work before I start to distribute copies to people.

At least, that’s the plan at the moment.

The biggest obstacle to this happening is I keep thinking up new ideas for the Public Beta that require me to write entirely new scenes, rather than edit scenes that exist — and have existed for some time.

Anyway. I have to do some hard work now. I have to stay focused and do some hard work.

Does The Flash Being a Dud Mean The End of The Superhero Movie Era?

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

To every season, turn, turn turn. As such, it is at least possible that we’ve finally reached the end of the post-911 “If Only A Superhero Could Have Saved The Day” expectations of audiences. But what’s going to replace the Superhero Movie Era if that is the case?

I only ask this question because, apparently, The Flash was something of a dud this weekend — at least, relative to Hollywood expectations. My natural inclination is to think that Hollywood is going to, because of inertia — just drift until AI Generated Movies are good enough that, lulz, movies made by people will seem quaint. Like silent films once Talkies went mainstream.

And, yet, nature abhors a vacuum, so, it’s at least possible that the upcoming hard reboot of the Alien franchise might be so good that between now and our inevitable Her scenario future where we have a digital assistant who will make all our entertainment for us, that humans might manage to squeeze out a brief era of good scifi movies.

Maybe?

I wouldn’t get too excited, however. I think we’re just going to slouch towards a post-human Hollywood between now and, say, maybe 2026-2029. Remember, there’s a good chance The Fourth Turning is going to happen and all hell will break loose for a few years while we sort out if America will be an autocracy or not.

Anyway. Enjoy your human-made movies while you still can, I guess.

The WGA Is In Trouble

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I often say — I’m always, always wrong. But it definitely seems as though it’s at least possible that we’re in something of a waiting game when it comes to the current WGA strike.

And the two sides, tragically, are waiting for different things.

The WGA is waiting for the Suits to come back to the negotiating table, while the Suits are waiting for LLMs to advance to the point that Hollywood writers are…moot. So, rather than “September” being the deadline as one very young and naive striking WGA writer proposed, I think we have a far more open-ended situation on our hands.

It could be 18 months before there’s any resolution to the Writers’ Strike and the resolution will be that technology has reached a point where the Suits feel like they can just ignore the WGA altogether. And, rather than thinking about a WGA strike, they’re thinking about how many programmers they’re going to have to pay in place of them.

Like I said — I’m always, always wrong. So, I suppose it’s possible that something will happen and the Suits will come to some sort of agreement with writers. But..I couldn’t count on it.

I’m Such A Storytelling Snob That I’m Struggling To Get Through ‘Tar’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I have very strict metrics for consuming a story and if the story doesn’t meet those metrics, I bounce. And, yet, I can’t just read my own writing all the time. If I’m going to be a well-rounded author, I have to consume someone ELSE’s story on occasion.

I’m trying to watch Tar, but I’m not having much success. It’s a really good movie and if I was 20 years younger, I probably would really enjoy it. But I’m an old coot now who has spent a few years obsessing over the finer points of storytelling and I find it overwrought and sort of meh.

Get to the point, people!

But, whatever. It IS a good movie. I think I’m going to have to get so drunk that I don’t care and just sit down and watch it without skipping 10 seconds forward TOO many times.

‘The Sprint’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Ok. I’m not going to make my first deadline of June 20th for wrapping up the Public Beta of my first novel. But I still can make a July 4th deadline for this momentous event if I hunker down and get to work.

So, starting today, I’m going to begin to line edit a pre-Public Beta version of the novel I have. I have a number of blank scenes I have to fill out. But not so many that I can’t finishing something by June 30th.

That will give me a few days to do some of the post-production things necessary to get the Public Beta into people’s hands in a way that makes me feel good.

Anyway, let’s rock.