Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Star Wars Profits from Avengers Box Office Success

A well earned and truly fantastic sentiment

It surprises me that someone hasn’t gloated to me about the insane box office numbers Avengers: Infinity War is generating. I’m not going to lie, there is a small bit of jealousy but, to be honest, I’m happy for Avengers. Disney is doing some amazing work with the MCU! I’ve always been a Marvel fan, probably my second favorite franchise (albeit a very distant second). I have just as much enthusiasm for its success as I do for any Star Wars film (which can be rare for some “fans”). As fans of nerd culture, there is no remorse for the dethroning of The Force Awakens by a comic book movie. Ultimately, Star Wars will profit from The Avengers box office success.

Profit Sharing

Marvel Cinematic Universe is apart of Marvel Studios which is [1]a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, itself a wholly owned division of The Walt Disney Company“. Also a subsidiary of Disney is Lucasfilm and the entire Star Wars franchise. This Avengers movie marks the 10th year of the Marvel film franchise. Suffice it to say, Marvel movies have already peaked and are likely winding down. Star Wars, on the other hand, is just getting started. Therefore its only logical where all the money the Avengers (and other subsequent Marvel films) will be heading.

Yes, we have the Ant-Man sequel, Avengers 4, Guardians of the Galaxy 3, and Captain Marvel where that money will also be used. Ultimately, however, all the profits benefit The Walt Disney Company media conglomerate as a whole. This is a 2-way street; I’m sure the 900 million dollars in domestic box office earnings from The Force Awakens is partially allocated to Marvel Studios. I know they are different subsidiaries but the bottom line is, both franchises affect the same stocks.

Brothers Shouldn’t Fight

Monetary reasons aside, neither franchise should be battling for supremacy. Let’s be honest, in high school if you liked Star Wars or comic books you were labeled a nerd. Isn’t it ironic that 20 years later that is all everyone talks about. It’s the only thing everyone is going to see in the theaters. The nerd connotation these franchises induced makes them brothers by association. As such, we need to be embracing each of their successes in the box office. Competing seems like pointless bickering. After all would you rather Star Wars and Marvel hold the top spot, or some romantic drama (or worse yet, a DC movie ?)?

/cheers

film_reel“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.”
– Stanley Kubrick

 

May Should Be Star Wars Appreciation Month

I really do think May should be Star Wars Appreciation Month. I recently posted this tweet:

Of course I’m sure most people are not quite as in tune with the nerd culture to understand just how many days in May are (or can be) linked to Star Wars. I’m sure everyone knows the two more popular days but there are more than you think. So I’m here to enlighten everyone on the days in May with Star Wars significance.

The Star Wars days in May

  • May 1st – The lesser known 501st Day (because 5/01, get it?). The day we appreciate the 501st Legion.
  • May 4thStar Wars Day (because May the Fourth Be With You). This is the more popular Star Wars day, which began back in 2008.
  • May 5/6th – The lesser known Revenge of the Fifth (Sixth), this isn’t as officially observed as May 4th, but a fun play on words nonetheless.
  • May 14th – George Lucas’ Birthday. I’ve even seen this referred to as “The Maker Day”.
  • May 19thPeter Mayhew‘s (aka Chewbacca) Birthday.
  • May 25th – The anniversary of the release of A New Hope back in 1977, and the release of the Han Solo movie this year. Since it’s also Towel Day, many observe it as Geek Pride Day

There you have it. There are several days in May that have significant, or “punny” references to Star Wars. I found an article that essentially agreed with my theory, however the author attempted to associate every day in May with some kind of Star Wars reference, most of which are a stretch. I don’t think every day needs to be acknowledged, a handful is sufficient.

/MTFBWY

The Force. It calls to you. Just let it in.

 

RTotD: Turn Social Media Against Itself

Let’s face it (no pun intended), social media is the source of the dissemination of hate. Perhaps not the only source, but in the modern era it has to be the largest source. People are not afraid to say or share what ever comes into their wicked mind because they feel protected by ambiguity and distance. I believe I have ranted about this before. Perhaps its time we try something different on social media.

Just “Hide All”

I am now selecting to “Hide all from …” on everything that is clearly an attempt to elicit as response (regardless of political affiliation). I think everyone should start doing this. Instead of sharing, commenting and liking posts that disparage people of opposing viewpoints; let’s start blocking, “unfollowing”, and muting all of them. Facebook makes this really easy; Twitter does not. The only way you can avoid political vitriol is to unfollow a person, or simply stop using Twitter.

Obviously this will not eliminate hate altogether. Humans were finding ways to do this long before social media, it was just significantly less prolific. However, if we reduce the antagonizing posts, we can reduce the hate.

The things that go through my mind when I’m alone with nothing but my thoughts for entertainment is dangerous. Some might even say eccentric. Consider this your warning about today’s Random Thought of the Day

 

Newest [and Last] Solo Movie Trailer

So I fail again as I did not realize a new trailer for the Han Solo movie is out. I guess while I’m very cautiously optimistic about this movie, I’m avoiding hype. I have been saying often that I’m skeptical about Alden Ehrenreich’s acting abilities. Before I make any further comments, here is the latest (and probably the last) Solo movie trailer.

Perhaps It’s The Chewie and Han Dynamic

This is the best trailer yet (of course that makes sense with only 6 weeks left). I’m actually a little more excited for the movie. While I’m still not completely sold on Ehrenreich’s acting, but so far the writing seems great. I hope the dynamic between Han and Chewie in the trailer is consistent with the rest of the film. I really hate it when all the best dialog is in the trailer. If the dynamic is maintained throughout the rest of the film, and Ehrenreich’s acting is improved, this movie has a chance to be pretty good. It’s also very encouraging that Ron Howard is the director. I’ll probably have to watch this a few more times to try to glean more.

There are two items from canon that must be kept the same. 1) Han should win the Millennium Falcon from Lando in a game of sabacc. 2) Han and Chewie’s bond forms as a result of a life debt Chewie owes Han for saving his life.

/MTFBWY

The Force. It calls to you. Just let it in.

 

RTotD: Finally Killed the Filthy Punk

This isn’t really a true “Random Thought of the Day” since I am posting this to celebrate victory. After several grueling weeks of banging our heads against the wall, we finally killed Heroic Argus. It is the final “Ahead of the Curve” (AOTC) achievement available for this expansion. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the “Ahead of the Curve” achievement; it involves killing the final boss of the current tier on Heroic difficulty before the release of the next tier (or expansion, in this case). It is no easy feat (unless you are a Mythic raider).

We Got Them All

This AOTC achievement is especially important to the Humpday Heroes raid team. This is not our first; in fact we have all of the AOTC achievements from this expansion. This is also very exciting for myself as I have never done any kind of Heroic raid content in the past (unless you count 25-man and/or hard-mode). These were my first “Ahead of the Curve” achievements. I am beyond thrilled to be apart of this team.

Click to enlarge

Also, the Violet Spellwing mount looks amazing! I can’t wait to get it for the rest of the team members that couldn’t be there last night. We have a lockout saved so we will get you in there to get yours!

And now … ON TO BfA!!!

FOR THE ALLIANCE!

duke-nukem-sm If zombies attack the world, everyone will run and hide. Except for us gamers, of course. We’ve been waiting for this all our lives!

 

WoW: Legion Expansion Final Thoughts

Legion Expansion Final ThoughtsThe sixth World of Warcraft expansion is in its final months, so lets review the past year. I’m going to cover the various new mechanics of the game, the goals I have planned before Battle for Azeroth, as well as my thoughts on the raiding and the storyline. To start off my Legion expansion final thoughts, I’ll simply say I really enjoyed this expansion. I think the story is just as interesting as it was for Wrath of the Lich King. The Legion has been an indefatigable foe for Azeroth for decades. It’s really cool to be apart of the final chapter (“if” it’s the final chapter).

The raiding content, I felt, was pretty epic. I really had fun taking down Xavius, Gul’dan, Kil’Jaeden and ultimately Argus himself. Blizzard devs deserve some mad props for some pretty fun and challenging new fight mechanics. This is also my first expansion participating in Heroic raid content. I have never gotten an Ahead of the Curve achievement before! The Humpday Heroes CTR raid team on Aerie Peak are a fantastic group of guys and gals! I’d say, with the exception of the Coven of Shivarra fight **, the heroic content was just the right amount of challenging.

** Next time Blizzard, let’s tweak that RNG algorithm on fights like Heroic Coven of Shivarra to be a little less random and a little more deliberate.

My Legion Expansion Goals

Beyond achieving Ahead of the Curve (which my raid team is 1 boss away from accomplishing) I have quite an ambitious list of goals to try to finish before Battle for Azeroth goes live. I feel like there is more I want to do at the end of this expansion that any other expansion. After hitting max level, the list of things to do are seemingly endless. Every class has a mount to unlock and an Order Hall campaign which awards titles and gear. Every spec has an artifact weapon campaign and 75 points to unlock in artifact power.

Of course, that makes leveling alts quite a daunting task, especially for an “alt-aholic” like myself. I have been working to complete the Order Hall quests, unlock all Class mounts for every class and acquire at least one hidden artifact weapon appearance. I am keeping track of my progress:

Class Order Hall Hidden Appearance Class Mount
Paladin
Priest
Demon Hunter
Hunter
Death Knight
Druid
Shaman
Warlock
Mage
Rogue
Monk
Warrior

Unlocking the Class mount is probably the most arduous of the tasks, especially trying to grind out the 50 Marks of the Sentinax. It borders on insanity and masochistic. There are still a few exploration and collection achievements I’m trying to finish, as well a few more mounts to farm. It should be enough to keep me busy until the release of Battle for Azeroth.

Review of Order Halls

I know I was in the minority when I said I liked the Garrison from Warlords of Draenor. In fact I wasn’t even convinced that I was going to like Order Halls because I felt they were a step back from Garrisons. Blizzard successfully proved to me that Order Halls are fun; the quest campaign really improved my impression of Order Halls. I have unlocked the Order Hall for every class and I think my favorite is the Shaman Order Hall. I do really like the locations of the Paladin and Rogue Order Hall; the Warlock Order Hall seems to be the most confusing.

I’m glad they continued with the followers/champions. Having a pocket tank to level with is very helpful. I believe they are continuing this mechanic in Battle for Azeroth.

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