EPISODE 725 WHY DON'T YOU SAVE HBOMAX AS A PDF AND SEE IF THAT HELPS
Is Apple TV hiring?
POP CULTURE SPIRIT WOW
Hi! Welcome to Pop Culture Spirit Wow, where I talk about pop culture and sometimes spiritual stuff and try to be funny.
I’ve been away two weeks, but (un)luckily one thing has been dominating a lot of the news.
THAT TIME THE DC UNIVERSE DUG UP AN ANCIENT BURIAL GROUND
So you might have heard about the big pop culture news: HBO Max-Warner Brothers- Discovery+-I-seriously-don't-know-what-the-name-of-this-company-is-anymore announced that its latest DC Universe film Batgirl, which is currently in post-production, is not ever ever ever going to see the light of day, or even the ambient light of your computer screen, because apparently they thought it went really well the last time DC basically scrapped an entire movie it had spent years making.
I hate to say it, but this is 3000% times better than her actual line.
In fact shuddering the Batgirl movie has not gone down well, as you might imagine. One Pop Culture Site That Shall Not Be Named basically spent the week shoveling out dozens of stories about other HBO Max projects that might be on the chopping block, though there was absolutely no evidence to suggest that was happening and it only increased the anxiety already being felt by many execs, writers, actors and crew.
Late in the week the new leadership reassured their fans and employees that there were no such plans in place, everything was fine, they're going to do so much cooler DC stuff, like Marvel you guys, it's going to blow your mind.
Of course that still doesn't explain cancelling Batgirl, one of the most beloved comic book characters of all time, and maybe the best female DC character ever (I will also accept Lois Lane or Wonder Woman). The real story will no doubt come later.
But what I'm struck by most of all is the sheer weirdness of the fact that Warner Brothers+TV once again has shot itself in the foot over the DC line. *cue Chandler Bing voice* Could there be a more cursed media franchise right now?
And also a more unexpected one? You've got Superman, Batman, all the other -mans, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Green Lantern and Nightwing's butt (Google and you'll understand), and you can't put together an at least semi-consistent track record of non-disasters?
And the funny thing is, in its own quiet way the DC Cinematic Universe has been a roll for the last three or four years. A lot of people hate Joker, but it won an Oscar and is doing a musical sequel with Lady Gaga. Suicide Squad was such a hit it led to a delightful TV spinoff, Peacemaker. Shazam performed solidly and has a sequel coming. Black Adam looks likely to do well in October. The Batman garnered a lot of praise. Everyone says The Flash is going to be great despite the fact that its lead is in a lot of trouble personally. And Justice League: The Snyder Cut, too, was an unexpected smash (and also way better than I expected). And I'll bet you I'm forgetting a bunch of other cool DC stuff, too.
It's true, the DC practice seems to have done away with its shared universe, at least in part, but that doesn't seem to have hurt their stories. In fact, I suspect it's been part of the reason for their success. The Marvel Universe has started to feel like a never ending homework assignment where you have to do so much research before you can enter in. Meanwhile going to a DC movie is like, you know, going to a movie. You can just sit back and enjoy.
DC's new leadership says it's going to go Full Feige and design a 10 year plan to slowly build a coherent universe. For a lot of years I've thought that's the way to go. But as I look at my own exhaustion at the Marvel Method, I don't know, I just can't help but wonder who offended a god/stole from a crypt or witch/fired the wrong employee.
Whoever you are, listen, you don't even have to admit it, just go fix the damn thing so we can all watch our stories. And #ReleasetheBatgirlCut
I am seriously here for a Batgirl movie filled with jokes like this. I accept your harsh judgment and also tips.
YOU KNOW YOU WORK AT HBO MAX WHEN
You no longer know what the future of status of name of your company is.
The project you've been working on the last four years is ready to go going to be a big deal for the network the most important work you've ever done backed up on your personal computer in case the new bosses decide to erase it in the night.
You think to yourself, Seriously, now we're connected to the white supremacist house renovation channel? Seriously though, do we have to air reality shows about mermaids now? No, but seriously, is Apple TV hiring? No, but seriously though, What the !%!% just happened?
LEND ME A DREAM
This week Netflix debuted The Sandman, a fantasy TV series about the lord of dreams, Morpheus (think Goth Neo), and his interactions with humanity. It's sort of a mythical property at this point, thought by many to be the greatest comic book series ever and also the most impossible to adapt. I believe they've been trying since the 1990s (which I am shocked and offended to admit is 30 years ago).
I haven't finished it yet, but I can tell you the cast is FAN-tastic, the world is just amazing to behold—every episode seems to be building the broader universe of the show and truly there are just so many toys to play with.
If you start it and you're like, I don't, what is—huh., I totally get that. Do yourself a favor and watch episode six before you quit. It's the kind of episode you can watch any time after the pilot, and it is truly wonderful. A story about death and also life.
I'll probably have more to say about that episode and the show next week. If we had a book club, this is the book I would suggest you watch/read lol. So far I think the thing I like most about the series is the invitation it offers to think about what dreams are and what it means that we do them. It’s a different way in to thinking about our humanity.
WE'RE WALKING WE'RE WALKING APPARENTLY WE'RE STOPPING SEASON
I just came back from some time away getting my pray on (even having crossed it out I still feel bad I wrote that). And I seem to be spending a lot of time since sitting in my room before my air conditioner. And the ancient world’s unexpected choices for gods are making so much more sense. Please, Lord, keep pumping out this cold air, the people need this and we love you above all things. We offer you this Apple Watch which we have smashed to show our devotion to you, Lord, only you.
But there have been moments when I have had to leave my room, including times I have had to travel to Times Square.
Ah, Times Square. Just mentioning it makes your heart skip a beat, doesn't it? What is New York if not the Brooklyn Bridge, enlarged apples and Times Square?
I'll tell you what it is: It's BETTER. IT'S SO MUCH BETTER.
The problem with the Times Square/Midtown area of Manhattan is this: everyone walks to there, but no one seems to know how to walk within there. Walking down the sidewalk in Midtown is a constant game of chicken, made worse by the fact that much of the time your opponents don't even know they're playing, because they're too busy feeding their Gram, pointing out A Detail of a New York Building that I am Pretty Sure Was in New Jack City or having a Very Important Conversation about Beanie Feldstein. (I just saw Funny Girl with her understudy, Julie Benko. It was hilarious. If you're coming to New York in the next month, come and see her.)
Even though you know this is what you're getting if you go into the Midtown area of town, still, the reality wears on you quite quickly. The technique that I have adopted—and I am not proud of this—is to throw people in front of buses.
No, it's not, come on, give me a little credit. I gently push them. *laughs in hearty way that makes it unclear whether he is kidding*
Seriously, my tendency has become to stare and walk straight ahead, as though nothing is in front of me. You occupying the whole sidewalk with your BFFs? Cool. Here I come.
I know, nice. In my defense, I do try to follow the rules of the “road”—I walk on the right side of the sidewalk, I stay off my cellphone (mostly, and may I be run down when I don't), I do not stop to have a chat or take a photo. But none of that matters, because chaos doesn't have rules and Times Square is 95% that.
The priest who gets mad at pedestrians—yeah, what a treat of a human he must be. Mea culpa. Can I just say, when you're drowning it’s just instinct to do everything you can to keep your head above water.
Also, if you have to drop a text, could you just pull off to the side? Please?
THREE TWEETS
This Meme Just Never Stops Being Great
Because Sometimes You Have to Do the One to Fund The Ones You Want to Do
I Don't Know What This Is But I Still Can't Stop Looking at It
I BET IT'S GOOD THOUGH
So when last we caught up I had posted a set of interviews with the screenwriters asked to write sequels. I don't know if you got to it yet, but it is, as hoped, really good!
The best sequel writing advice ever, from Michael Green, who wrote Blade Runner 2046:
If you’re tackling something that’s considered a sequel, you get to ask yourself, How am I widening the circle? What epochal moment in this world or this set of characters do I get to tell
Also this, about working with Bruce Willis on the sequel to Die Hard: "Whenever there was any kind of argument, whether it was with the script or the director or the studio, it was, “Who’s your second choice to play John McClane?” And that’s a very good trump card to play when you’re trying to figure stuff out."
For this week, an obituary of the man who did the music for Sesame Street, which has been waiting in my inbox since January. I hope it’s good!
That’s it for now. Offer sacrifices to your sacred air conditioning units. Be well. And see you next week.