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Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

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Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#221
post #23

Placidly uncaring since long ago I stopped consuming media from either party.

If someone wants "film school" you can do a lot worse than ticking off the film from the "1001 Movies to See Before You Die" [1].

It may take you the next decade to complete. There are some real oddballs in there that lean toward "art film" (but what do you expect from Andy Warhol). A lot of "foreign" films (foreign for this U.S. viewer). In short a lot of surprises.

Definitely feel like a student of film now (for whatever that's worth).

[1] https://1001films.fandom.com/wiki/The_List

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#223
In terms of people who actually like movies and music it’s not a great time.

Unfortunately it’s pretty clear that the true business model of music and content streamers is about “putting something on in the background” and not actually about the quality level of the content.

Thus you get inoffensive cheap netflix series and AI generated chill beats to study to, and no one really notices as long as it’s above a certain quality threshold.

And this isn’t exactly Netflix’s problem- they know what their users want. When you’re cooking dinner it doesn’t make much difference to you if it’s a Judd Apatow romantic comedy and one that’s some Hallmark knockoff romcom bullshit.

I’m not really sure how to solve the problem of this very siloed video content landscape. No one wants to subscribe to 4 streaming services.

I would think the original netflix model of being mailed bluray discs might be viable, but without independent studios like Warner around, why would anyone produce physical media?

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#225
post #54

“The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us.” - Ted Sarandos in 2013 Seems Netflix won that race.

Thing is that Netflix didn't really succeed at that goal. HBO was and still is the gold standard for premium cable content. Netflix instead decided to go for the bottom 70% of the market, and the quality of their shows reflects that.

In fact the very reason for this purchase is that they desperately need help on the creative side.

Netflix is what it is today because all the studios trying to compete with their tech was an even bigger disaster than Netflix competing on content.

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#226

I don't like this. Netflix rarely creates excellent content; instead, it frequently produces mediocre or worse content. Will the same happen for Warner? Are cinemas now second behind streaming? Edit: I agree Netflix has good Originals. But most are from the early days when they favored quality over quantity. It is sad to see that they reversed that. They have much funding power and should give it to great art that re…

Lots of good lesser-known stuff on Netflix if you wade through the crap:

* The Devil's Plan

* Alice in Borderlands

* Extraordinary Attorney Woo

* Brassic

* Back to Life

* Intelligence

* Black Doves

* Top Boy

* Mo

* The Breakthrough

* Borgen

* Love Death & Robots

* Scavenger's Reign

As well as well-known stuff like Stranger Things and Squid Game as a sibling comment mentioned.

[Edit: replies point out some of these are bought rather than produced but I think it still counts for overall quality]

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Netflix is `while profitable(): make_sequel()` which _always_ ends with shitty content and incomplete stories.

I actually think that’s the opposite of Netflix. TV shows rarely make it past a second season, as soon as there’s even a mild drop in viewing figures they drop a property like a hot potato.

Note the OP's algo was *while* profitable. You're focused on shows that never make it. I think this is true of the cash cows, while dogs are historically (with only one or two channels so limited broadcast bandwidth) networks could be far more brutal while Netflix needs a much bigger catalog.

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#229
post #126

It's always great to read about how the people the own the means of distribution aquire also the means of production, trying to create a meta-monopoly. /sarcasm I'm rooting for someone on the regulary side disliking all the crap that Netflix produces, and just shuts the whole thing down. Those 5 billion they'd have to pay for a breakup fee in that case would have me feeling better that I couldn't cancel their service…

If this goes like all the other media mergers this year, the only regulatory scrutiny will involve Netflix allowing the executive branch to install a censor / ombudsman that has final say on their news and documentary content.

Re: Netflix to Acquire Warner Bros

#230
post #223

In terms of people who actually like movies and music it’s not a great time. Unfortunately it’s pretty clear that the true business model of music and content streamers is about “putting something on in the background” and not actually about the quality level of the content. Thus you get inoffensive cheap netflix series and AI generated chill beats to study to, and no one really notices as long as it’s above a certai…

It would just get ripped and put on pirate streaming sites.

This seems like a chicken and egg downward spiral with consumers pirating and studios producing slop.

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