HBO Max Streaming Service Thread

[JD]

One of the guys in charge of WarnerMedia has said that they plan on expanding the Harry Potter franchise with sequels on spin-offs, which honestly really shocks me. I would think with all of the controversy around JK Rowling right now, a major company like Warner would want to stay as far away from anything associated with her as possible. I know the Harry Potter stuff has been popular, but with it so closely associated with Rowling as it's creator, you can't really continue the franchise without it looking like you support her.

 

[Jax]

The Fantastic Beasts movies are god awful and if that's the level of quality for the post Harry Potter movies then I've got zero interest in them. From the last Box Office results, i'm not the only one with that feeling.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

One of the guys in charge of WarnerMedia has said that they plan on expanding the Harry Potter franchise with sequels on spin-offs, which honestly really shocks me. I would think with all of the controversy around JK Rowling right now, a major company like Warner would want to stay as far away from anything associated with her as possible. I know the Harry Potter stuff has been popular, but with it so closely associated with Rowling as it's creator, you can't really continue the franchise without it looking like you support her.

I guarantee you that 9 out of 10 people you ask on the street don't know anything about the controversies around J.K. Rowling. And of the people who do know about it, half of them agree with her. Weigh that against the billions of dollars that Harry Potter has made for everyone through books, movies, theme parks, & merchandise. I also wonder if there isn't some clause requiring Warner Bros. to always have some Harry Potter projects in development lest the property revert back to Rowling. I mean, it only took 5 years to get from The Deathly Hallows, Part 2 to Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them. It felt a lot longer than that but maybe I'm just getting old.

Slightly off topic, but does HBO Max have a good collection of old classic movies from the '30s-'50s? I might actually make it my first streaming service if they have a bunch of Bogart films and golden age MGM musicals.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Slightly off topic, but does HBO Max have a good collection of old classic movies from the '30s-'50s? I might actually make it my first streaming service if they have a bunch of Bogart films and golden age MGM musicals.

They have a smattering mostly as part of a curated TCM collection though sparse for what you're looking for.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

They have a smattering mostly as part of a curated TCM collection though sparse for what you're looking for.

Damn. I was hoping for some deep cuts, particularly for stuff that you can't get on DVD unless it's an MOD Warner Archive release. I needs me some Eleanor Powell tapdancing!

 

[crookeddy]

There are streaming services that focus specifically on classic movies...

 

[JD]

I guarantee you that 9 out of 10 people you ask on the street don't know anything about the controversies around J.K. Rowling. And of the people who do know about it, half of them agree with her. Weigh that against the billions of dollars that Harry Potter has made for everyone through books, movies, theme parks, & merchandise.

I don't know, the news about the controversy over comments was everywhere when it happened, and we even got comments from most of the movies' cast. I have a feeling at this point that anybody with even the slightest familiarity with Harry Potter know about it, and even if some people don't, I would expect enough bad press when we get closer to release that they would become aware.
I just think with the current environment right now, purposefully choosing to continue to associate themselves with one of the most controversial media figures out there right now, is kind of a weird choice.

I also wonder if there isn't some clause requiring Warner Bros. to always have some Harry Potter projects in development lest the property revert back to Rowling.

That could be.
Right now when it comes to Harry Potter, I would think the smart move would be to wait and see Hogwarts Legacy and Fantastic Beasts 3 do, before moving on with anything else. After the bad reviews and iffy box office for The Crimes of Grindlewald, and the fact that Rowling has alienated the entire trans community, and anybody who supports them, I have to wonder if there's really much life left in the franchise.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I don't know, the news about the controversy over comments was everywhere when it happened, and we even got comments from most of the movies' cast. I have a feeling at this point that anybody with even the slightest familiarity with Harry Potter know about it, and even if some people don't, I would expect enough bad press when we get closer to release that they would become aware.

I don't know about that. Have you ever tried talking about an issue like this to random acquaintances who don't follow entertainment news? I've occasionally tried this with family members and coworkers on various issues. It's amazing how many issues completely consume the internet community but don't permeate the general consciousness, from Johnny Depp's divorce to the director controversies behind Justice League & Solo.

There are streaming services that focus specifically on classic movies...

Any recommendations?

 

[crookeddy]

Any recommendations?

How about the Criterion channel?

 

[JD]

I don't know about that. Have you ever tried talking about an issue like this to random acquaintances who don't follow entertainment news? I've occasionally tried this with family members and coworkers on various issues. It's amazing how many issues completely consume the internet community but don't permeate the general consciousness, from Johnny Depp's divorce to the director controversies behind Justice League & Solo.

Not really, this is pretty much the only place I talk about this kind of stuff.
But the JK Rowling stuff was even making it onto the main stream news, so it's not like it was something that was only making the nerd news.

 

[frankieteardrop]

Any recommendations?

I second crookeddy's suggestion of The Criterion Channel and also recommend The Film Detective. Both have a robust selection of classic films.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

There are also a couple of useful YouTube channels that present films and shorts that slipped into the public domain, like Cult Cinema Classics. They occasionally also stream marathons of old serials, like Flash Gordon or very recently Commander Cody.

 

[Caretaker]

Evidently next week, HBO Max will (according to the Batman v Superman Twitter account) be putting up the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition in IMAX aspect ratio and with "enhanced color". Looks like this will be up a day or two before the Snyder Cut.

 

[crookeddy]

Evidently next week, HBO Max will (according to the Batman v Superman Twitter account) be putting up the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Ultimate Edition in IMAX aspect ratio and with "enhanced color". Looks like this will be up a day or two before the Snyder Cut.

Did they enhance the theatrical or extended cut?

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Ultimate Edition is the extended cut.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Is Rowling actively fighting against trans rights or did she just express a personal opinion about the nature of gender that was hyper analyzed by the media?

To me the difference between disagreement with progressive culture and activism against trans rights is a big one. Asking people to respect differences and not interfere in anyone’s life is not the same as asking them to change their personal beliefs.

 

[JD]

I can't remember exactly, but I think some of it got pretty bad. The big thing for me was the fact that each time she was confronted about it, she doubled down on her stance and just made it even worse.

 

[JD]

AT&T is selling all of Warner Media to Discovery. No word yet on what this means for HBO Max or Discovery+, but I wouldn't mind if we started getting Discovery shows like Mythbusters on HBOMax.

 

[Morpheus 02]

AT&T is selling all of Warner Media to Discovery. No word yet on what this means for HBO Max or Discovery+, but I wouldn't mind if we started getting Discovery shows like Mythbusters on HBOMax.

Didn't realize they owned Warner Media... so have communications tech executives been the ones "guiding" how DC characters have been made into live action this past decade (i.e. throw everything against the wall and see what sticks; as opposed to having some level of coordination)

 

[EnderAKH]

Didn't realize they owned Warner Media... so have communications tech executives been the ones "guiding" how DC characters have been made into live action this past decade (i.e. throw everything against the wall and see what sticks; as opposed to having some level of coordination)

AT&T only bought Warnermedia in 2018, so no, it wasn't their fault.