Cordkillers 230 - Bread Cutters

Locke & Key, Deadwood movie, Star Wars 9, and a Stranger Things date?  All this and more on Cordkillers!

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CordKillers: Ep. 230 - Bread Cutters
Recorded: July 31 2018
Guest: None

Intro Video

  • None


Primary Target

  • 'Deadwood' Movie Is Finally a Go at HBO
    - The Deadwood movie has been approved. HBO ended the series without a proper finale 12 years ago. Production begins in October with plans for a premiere in Spring 2019. David Milch is writing and Daniel Minahan who did 4 episodes is atatched to direct.
  • 'Locke & Key' Officially a Go at Netflix With New Writer and Co-Showrunner
    - Netflix has officially ordered 10 episodes of Locke & Key. Meredith Averill ('The Good Wife') will co-showrun with Carlton Cuse. They are redeveloping the series and will recast. Aron Eli Coleite ('Star Trek: Discovery') will executive produce and is re-writing the pilot along with Joe Hill.
  • Star Wars: Episode IX cast announced
    - Lucasfilm issued a press release on Star Wars Episode IX, confirming Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell are in the movie as is Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian. Also listed as being in episode IX is MArk Hamill. And most surprising was the announcement Carrie Fisher will appear as Princess Leia using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.


How to Watch

  • Verizon Is Seeking Google or Apple as 5G TV Provider
    - Sources tell Bloomberg Verizon is considering partnering with Google or Apple for a TV service to offer over 5G in Los Angeles and Sacramento later this year. Last month, Verizon folded its go90 streaming app. At a May investor conference, Chief Financial Officer Matt Ellis said Verizon wants the outside help until it gets “comfortable” with its own internet-based video service." Google’s YouTube TV offers more than 60 channels of live TV for $40 a month. Apple doesn’t offer a live TV streaming service, but is expected to announce something eventually since its locked up dozens of top actors and producers to make original TV shows.


What to Watch


What We're Watching


Front Lines

  • Fox AI predicts a movie's audience based on its trailer
    - Researchers at 20th Century Fox are developing a deep learning system that can predict who is most likely to watch a movie based on its trailer. The AI was trained with hundreds of trailers linked to their movies attendance data. It has had some success anticipating the performance of movies based on the trailer. It analyzes visual elements like colors, faces, landscapes and lighting, but not temporal ones like an explosion after a car chase.
  • Amazon stops asking viewers to vote on Prime Video pilots
    - Amazon's Studio head Jennifer Salke announced the company has "set aside for now" the practice of letting the public vote on Amazon Prime Video pilots. Instead it will use internal testing and user data to make decisions about shows. The move is less about fan voting and more about avoiding the time and cost of making pilots. Salke also said the company is in the middle of a new interface for Prime Video that she says should be coming soon.
  • Viacom acquires youth-focused AwesomenessTV
    - Viacom has acquired AwesomenessTV the YouTube channel that has grown into a full TV production arm. Awesomeness TV will help Viacom reach younger viewers that have moved on from its channels like Nickelodeon.
  • Disney, 21st Century Fox Shareholders Vote to Approve $71.3 Billion Merger
    - Disney and 21st Century Fox shareholders both voted to approve the sale of most of Fox's assets to Disney. What's left will become New Fox, which will include Fox Broadcasting Co. and Fox’s TV station group, Fox Sports and Fox News. Disney already received US approval in exchange for agreeing to divest itself of the regional sports networks within 90 days of the sale.. Disney still needs approval from a handful of international regulators before it can close the deal in the first half of 2019.
  • MoviePass couldn't afford to pay for movie tickets on Thursday
    - MoviePass's service was unable to process ticket requests Thursday because Moviepass hadn't paid the company that processes its payments. Parent company Helios and Matheson borrowed $6 million to pay that company and get everything working again. However technical issues were blamed for continued outages and high surge pricing over the weekend. And the loan is half due August 1st with the total due August 5. A source told Business insider that MoviePass head Mitch Lowe told staffers that the service won't offer tickets for Christopher Robin or The Meg and it might be the policy for other big movies in the future.
  • Discovery may launch its own streaming service, too
    - Discovery CEO David Zaslav says the company is considering a streaming service fro all Discovery properties, including the recently acquired Scripps networks, for $5 to $8 a month. It has not been decided if it would be US-only.


Dispatches from the Front

Hey Killers,

Our barber is currently having money troubles, and as he was discussing it, he mentioned that he has cable, and was getting charged $80 a month for it. We told him about streaming services, but he said he'd gotten his wife what seems to be a loaded Fire stick, which he claims he got from Wal-Mart. He says with this device, his wife can watch anything she wants for free. We tried to explain that it's piracy, and is illegal, but he still doesn't see benefits of subscriptions over free venues.
Now currently he's not using the Fire stick because he lives in another house, but I can't convince him to switch from cable and piracy to something like Sling or PlayStation Vue. I think Brian once called himself a "proud pirate," what convinced you to switch to more...legitimate alternatives to cable & satellite?

From,
- Amar

 

 

Hey Cordkillers,
I just canceled because of surge pricing. I’m seeing Mission Impossible and the surge was $4.25. Regular ticket price here in small town Indiana is only $9.00.
On top of that, the theater was not at all busy and half of the movies had surge pricing so that says to me the surge is just B.S.
I’ve signed up with Sinemia but have yet to receive my card so I don’t know if it’ll be better or not.
I definitely got my money’s worth out of Moviepass and went to the theater more than I have in the past. But I don’t see enough movies to pay for the subscription plus surge. If they had changed my unlimited plan to a limited one I’d be less disappointed than I am now. 

Now back to work,
Your Boss,
- Michael 

 

 

 


Hey guys-

With regards to your recent discussion of an "I Feel Lucky" button on Netflix, am I the only one that remembers/experienced the "You Don't Know Jack"-style suggestion engine that was briefly available? You could select the option from your content menu and it would launch into a fake cheesy game show setting, complete with a very Cookie-like announcer/host. It would ask a series of questions ("Are you in the mood for a comedy or drama", etc) and offer choices on screen, and after 3 or 4 questions, it would present you with a single recommendation based on your answers and prior watch history.

I loved it, and thought it was a fun, clever way to solve that all too familiar sensation of just freezing because Netflix has too many choices and you don't know what you want to watch.

Anyway, keep up the good work.

- Ryan

 


Links

2018 Summer Movie Draft
patreon.com/cordkillers

Bryce CastilloComment