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Super Mario Bros. is an almost perfect kids film. It's stunningly animated, it has enough momentum to keep youngins from being bored, and almost every character is unique and likable (even Bowser himself, thanks to the comedic stylings of Jack Black). It's clear that Nintendo didn't want to repeat the mistakes of that other Mario movie, the live-action 1993 film that's ironically beloved by some '90s kids (it's all we had!), but ultimately failed to capture the magic of the games. This film, meanwhile, is chock full of everything you'd remember from NIntendo's ouvre. It's a nostalgic romp for adults, and it's simply a fun time for children.
But boy is it safe. Maybe I'm a bit spoiled by the excellent non-Pixar animated films we've seen over the last decade, especially the ones that Phil Lord and Chris Miller have touched (The Lego Movie! Into the Spider-Verse!). But it's glaringly obvious Nintendo didn't want to take any major creative risks with this adaptation. The script from Matthew Fogel is filled with enough humor and references to keep us from feeling bored, and directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic deliver some inspired sequences. But it's almost like the film is trapped in a nostalgia castle thanks to the whims of an aging corporate dinosaur. (Bear with me.)
That wasn't a problem for the kids in my matinee audience, but it's a bit disappointing if you've waited decades to see a truly great Mario adaptation. It's in line with the recent live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movie — Super Mario Bros. is "fine." There's no attempt to achieve anything deeper than the basics: Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are two floundering Brooklyn plumbers who are inexplicably transported to the Mushroom Kingdom. Luigi, ever the scaredy-cat, is almost instantly captured by Bowser's minions, and it's up to Mario and Princess Peach (an effervescent Anya Taylor-Joy) to save him. Big bad Bowser, meanwhile, has plans to either marry Peach or, barring that, take over the kingdom.
The film bombards you with an endless series of references from the start – just look at all those Punch-Out! characters on the wall! – something that will either delight longtime Nintendo fans or make your eyes roll. Personally, though, I mostly enjoyed seeing how all of the nostalgia fodder was deployed (the adorably fatalistic Lumalee from Mario Galaxy practically steals the film). The filmmakers also show off plenty of visual flair, like an early scene in Brooklyn that rotates into a 2D chase sequence. If only some of the musical choices were more creative. (A Kill Bill reference? Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero" during Mario's training montage? Come on.)
It's always nice to see kids movies reach far beyond our expectations — The Lego Movie wrestled with the prison of capitalism, the importance of pushing against restrictive social expectations and how fandom can ruin the thing you actually love, all in addition to being a fun adventure for kids and injecting a dose of smart humor for adults. In Super Marios Bros., Mario learns to eat mushrooms because they literally make him big and strong. What subtext!
At the same time, I can still respect a movie that simply accomplishes its goal of entertaining children. Over the years, I've been subjected to plenty of truly awful kid's films with ugly animation and production design, lazy writing, and zero creative vision. I wish I could reclaim the time I spent watching Space Jam: A New Legacy or the 2011 Smurfs movie. The Super Mario Bros. may be a bit basic and safe, but it's not a waste of time.
For one, we've never seen Mario and the Mushroom Kingdom look this good. Illumination may not have the stellar track record of Pixar, but this movie is filled with gorgeously detailed characters, vibrant worlds jam-packed with detail and some of the most fluid animation I've seen in years. It's a visual feast, and it makes me long for the day when a Mario game can look so lush (as much as I loved Super Mario Odyssey, it's visuals are held back by the Switch's aging hardware).
And for the most part, the voice acting kept me invested. Jack Black is inspired as Bowser, a hopeless romantic who can only express his feelings through song and world domination. Charlie Day basically plays his usual harried persona, but it fits Luigi, a character who mainly exists to support his little bigger brother. And Anya Taylor-Joy makes for a perfect Princess Peach, a leader who has to feign bravery to protect her adorable Mushroom Kingdom people.
For all of Chris Pratt's hype about his Mario voice, though, it's merely serviceable. The movie jokes about Charles Martinet's original problematic accent (Martinet also voices two characters in the film), but Pratt's spin on it just feels like someone pretending to be a schlubby Brooklynite. That's particularly surprising since Pratt injected so much life into his Lego Movie lead.
What's most disappointing about The Super Mario Bros. Movie is that it's so close to being genuinely great. If the film had more time to build up its characters, or if it made room for Jack Black unleash his full Tenacious D talents as Bowser, it would easily be stronger. Why not go a bit harder on that Mario Kart sequence? (Even Moana managed to fit in a Mad Max: Fury Road reference!) Why not spend a bit more time on the rivalry/budding bromance between Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) and Mario?
With a projected opening weekend of $150 million or more, it's clear that Nintendo has a hit on its hands. A sequel is inevitable. I just hope that the company loosens up the next time around. After all, what fun is a Mario adventure without taking a few creative leaps over chasms of uncertainty?
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/super-mario-bros-movie-review-fun-safe-romp-135146207.html?src=rss
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Mario and the team in karts in The Super Mario Bros. Movie
At the Star Wars Celebration in London, Lucasfilm has unveiled a raft of news, trailers and more on its numerous upcoming streaming series, Variety has reported. That starts with a first look at The Acolyte showed to the ExCel Center crowd (but not online yet) and a launch date window of sometime in 2024.
First revealed at Disney's Investor Day 2020, The Acolyte takes place in the High Republic era of the Star Wars universe (100 years before the franchise’s prequel trilogy) during a period called the Golden Age of the Jedi. The cast includes Jodie Turner-Smith, The Good Place star Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Rebecca Henderson and Carrie-Anne Moss.
The first look showed footage of a Jedi temple, fighting with Moss, a gold lightsaber, and a shots of the Jedis lighting up their sabers in unison. "This is about power and who is allowed to use it," a tagline read. The show is reportedly a "mystery thriller" seen from the perspective of the Siths, with the term "acolyte" describing soldiers of Sith Lords, according to Variety.
Warrior. Outcast. Rebel. Jedi.#Ahsoka arrives August 2023 on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/SBfCgr4WRA
— Star Wars | #TheMandalorian is Now Streaming (@starwars) April 7, 2023
Lucasfilm also revealed that the Ahsoka series will debut in August of 2023, and stars Rosario Dawson and Mary Elizabeth Winstead revealed a teaser trailer to the crowd (above), with Dawson intoning "Something is coming, something dark."
In other news, creator Tony Gilroy also showed off a trailer (also not online yet) and said that Andor's second and final season will debut in August 2024. Meanwhile, Jude Law and Jon Favreau showed off the first trailer for Skeleton Crew, a Spielberg-esque series focused on a group of rebellious kids. The footage showed Jude Law as a Jedi, kids on speeders and spaceships, and a baddie from The Mandalorian.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-acolyte-star-wars-series-will-hit-disney-in-2024-123506267.html?src=rss
'The Acolyte' Star Wars series will hit Disney+ in 2024
'The Acolyte' Star Wars series will hit Disney+ in 2024
Pop star Maggie Rogers isn’t going to let bots spoil her upcoming tour. The “Alaska” singer told fans in an email today that she’s getting a jump on automated scalpers by selling tickets the old-fashioned way: in-person sales.
Rogers says fans can physically walk up to box offices on Friday to get first dibs on pre-sale tickets for her US summer tour, running from July to August. “On Friday, for one day only, we’re running an in-person pre-sales, where you can go directly to your local box office to buy a ticket,” wrote the artist, who rose to fame after a video of Pharrell Williams reacting to her “Alaska” demo went viral in 2016. “There’s a two-ticket-per-person limit, but you can choose any ticket you want — all of the prices and tiers will be available, along with exclusive merch and a special playlist I cooked up just for box office day.”
Rogers says the in-person process will vary from city to city, and she advises fans to check her website for specifics. For fans in the NYC area, she adds that she will visit the Music Hall of Williamsburg box office in Brooklyn on Friday, greeting fans buying tickets for her Forest Hills show scheduled for July 27th.
If you can't make it to the box office on Friday, Rogers says her website will open registrations for traditional artist pre-sales on April 11th. In addition, Spotify will have its own pre-sales on April 12th with local promoters joining on the 12th and 13th. General availability opens on April 14th.
Ticketmaster has been in hot water lately over its inability to prevent bots from scooping up pre-sale tickets and reselling them for egregiously inflated prices. After 1.5 million presale codes went out to Taylor Swift fans in November, 14 million buyers (including “a staggering” amount of bots) tried to purchase tickets. The company said it was hit with 3.5 billion system requests, leading to the site crashing and fans left without access.
That caught the attention of the US Congress, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called for the breakup of Ticketmaster. Joe Berchtold, President and CFO of Ticketmaster’s parent company Live Nation, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in January, acknowledging the problem but punting a resolution to (the largely dysfunctional) Congress. Despite a reported DOJ investigation, Senate hearings and the usual political showboating, the government hasn’t yet produced any reforms.
A similar fiasco unfolded in December when thousands of Bad Bunny fans heading to see the reggaeton star in Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca were denied entry at the door, with staff telling them their Ticketmaster-purchased tickets were fake. That incident led to Mexican antitrust scrutiny, but Ticketmaster avoided paying announced fines after it refunded buyers who were denied entry and provided additional compensation.
Although Rogers deserves credit for an analog solution to a modern-day problem, the story says more about our high-tech, modern-day ticket-purchasing catastrophe as it does the artist’s crafty workaround.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/maggie-rogers-thwarts-ticket-bots-with-in-person-sales-204546294.html?src=rss
2020 Spotify Best New Artist Party
Maggie Rogers performs live on stage at the 2020 Spotify Best New Artist Party at The Lot Studios on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020, in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)
In this interview, Amanda Petrusich talks with Nick Cave about grief, resilience, religion, music, and Faith, Hope and Carnage, a book based on his conversations with journalist Seán O’Hagan. Sure, these are topics you’d expect in a Q&A with the Australian singer-songwriter, but that doesn’t make it any less rich or moving. I like their exchange about channeling spirituality or some kind of “enigmatic otherness” when making music, and dealing with loss over time, which Cave says gives us a deeper understanding of being human. His thoughts on AI, ChatGPT, and art also bring music to my ears.
Art has to do with our limitations, our frailties, and our faults as human beings. It’s the distance we can travel away from our own frailties. That’s what is so awesome about art: that we deeply flawed creatures can sometimes do extraordinary things. A.I. just doesn’t have any of that stuff going on. Ultimately, it has no limitations, so therefore can’t inhabit the true transcendent artistic experience. It has nothing to transcend! It feels like such a mockery of what it is to be human. A.I. may very well save the world, but it can’t save our souls. That’s what true art is for. That’s the difference. So, I don’t know, in my humble opinion ChatGPT should just fuck off and leave songwriting alone.
It turned into a five-hour showdown between TikTok CEO Shou Chew and US lawmakers, who have found suspicion of TikTok to be a rare source of bipartisan agreement. It comes as US officials told the company they could ban the app if it doesn’t separate itself from ByteDance.
As with previous hearings with social media executives, lawmakers pressed Chew for often impossible yes-no answers to complex questions and grew frustrated when he declined to give one. In one exchange, Representative Tony Cardenas asked Chew whether ByteDance was a Chinese company. He would only admit it was a “global” firm with a Chinese founder. The hearing was also notably different from previous hearings with other social media company CEOs because the vast majority of lawmakers are not active on TikTok. Not all of their questions were nuanced, either: Representative Richard Hudson demanded to know if TikTok can “access the home WiFi network.” TikTok’s future remains uncertain, Chinese officials said Thursday they opposed a sale of the social network.
– Mat Smith.
The Morning After isn’t just a newsletter – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by subscribing right here.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission has cracked down on the businesses of crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and has charged him for the unregistered offer and sale of the tokens Tronix and BitTorrent. If those tokens sound familiar even to non-hardcore crypto enthusiasts, it's because several celebrities had promoted them on social media – and now they're also being charged by the agency. According to the SEC, eight celebrities, including Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, Soulja Boy, Ne-Yo and Akon, illegally promoted the tokens online without disclosing they were paid to do so. All celebrities charged, except for Soulja Boy and musician Austin Mahone, have agreed to pay a collective amount of $400,000 in penalties to settle the charges.
A new Cyberpunk 2077 technology preview (Overdrive Mode) supports path tracing, the next goalpost to make games look even prettier and keep you buying expensive new GPUs, courtesy of… GPU manufacturer NVIDIA. The two-year-old game joins Minecraft, Portal and Quake II — old… classics? – in supporting the technology. While ray tracing follows a single beam of light across a virtual scene, path tracing follows the light as it bounces around an environment, more realistically mimicking how it works in the physical world. But the heady calculations behind it mean you’ll need the most powerful NVIDIA RTX 40-series GPUs to enjoy Cyberpunk 2077’s path-tracing makeover – and you might still run into performance issues.
After multiple scrubbed attempts, Relativity Space has finally launched its 3D-printed rocket. But the results were mixed. Its Terran 1 vehicle successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral late Wednesday but failed to reach orbit after the second-stage engine ignited only momentarily. It's unclear what led to the failure, but Relativity is promising updates in the "coming days." Terran 1 endured Max-Q (maximum dynamic pressure), the moment expected to place the most stress on the 3D-printed design, so that’s being seen as an achievement. The 3D-printing process theoretically provides simpler, more reliable rockets that are cheaper to make and could be ready in weeks, lowering the costs of putting satellites into orbit.
The Framework Laptop 16 is the company’s second product after its upgradeable 13-inch notebook, but there’s not much information – or specs – to go on at the moment. Yesterday’s announcements essentially just prepared the ground for a fuller media blitz closer to pre-orders opening later this spring. But according to company founder Nirav Patel, the new laptop has “pretty much complete flexibility to support changes when it comes to GPUs.”
Archer Aviation and United Airlines announced a partnership today to launch a commercial air taxi route between downtown and O’Hare International Airport in 2025. As well as being United’s headquarters and largest hub, Chicago's airport makes it an ideal testbed for flying taxis. The drive to or from O’Hare, in the western suburb of Rosemont, can take anywhere from 35 minutes to over an hour, depending on traffic. Archer estimates a flight in one of its air taxis will only take 10 minutes to travel from O’Hare to its destination at a downtown helipad.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-what-tiktoks-ceo-told-congress-about-the-apps-ties-to-china-113834453.html?src=rss
1475546124 - TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 23, 2023 in Washington, DC. The hearing was a rare opportunity for lawmakers to question the leader of the short-form social media video app about the company's relationship with its Chinese owner, ByteDance, and how they handle users' sensitive personal data. Some local, state, and federal government agencies have been banning the use of TikTok by employees, citing concerns about national security.
Netflix took home six Oscars tonight besting all other streaming services, largely thanks to All Quiet on the Western Front, with only Apple TV+ in the mix taking a single award. However, the ceremony was dominated by Everything, Everywhere All at Once (A24) which took home no less than seven statues including three of four for acting, along with Best Director and Best Picture.
A German language take on the classic WWI book, All Quiet on the Western Front won Oscars for Best International Feature, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and yes, Best Original Score (despite some critics' complaints about said score).
Netflix also took home the Best Animated Feature trophy for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, a strong feather in its cap considering competition from established studios like DreamWorks, Sony Pictures and Pixar. Apple TV+, meanwhile, made it a streaming animation sweep, winning the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film with The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse.
Everything Everwhere All at Once took home most major Oscars, even though it was handicapped by its early 2022 release. Its haul included Best Actress (Michelle Yeoh), Best Supporting Actor (Ke Huy Quan), Best Supporting Actress (Jamie Lee Curtis), Best Director (the Daniels) and Best Picture. The highlights of the night were perhaps the emotional speeches by Ke Huy Quan and Michelle Yeoh, who was the first Asian person to win Best Actress. "For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities," she said on the stage.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-leads-streaming-services-with-six-oscars-071026666.html?src=rss
95th Academy Awards - Backstage
HOLLYWOOD, CA - MARCH 12: Oscar statues, backstage at the 95th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson finally has a premiere date, almost a year after Netflix announced that the show was coming back for a third season. The streaming giant has announced on Twitter that the six-episode comedy sketch series will be available for streaming on May 30th. The show was created by Saturday Night Live alum Tim Robinson, who also stars in it, and SNL producer Zach Kanin. They're not the only comics connected to the show, though: It's co-produced by The Lonely Island, the comedy trio composed of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone.
Each episode of I Think You Should Leave is only around 16 to 18 minutes long, so you can finish a season in one sitting. There are multiple sketches per episode, mostly revolving around somebody doing something absurd in an everyday professional or social situation, as well as some pretty bizarre and over-the-top bits. Really, some parts are so weird, you don't know whether to cringe or laugh.
The show's first season premiered on Netflix back in 2019, while the second season arrived in 2021. Alex Bach, one of the show's producers, previously told Variety that Robinson and Kanin write every single script and that they "wait for the sketches to come to them" so there have been "extended periods of time between seasons."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/netflix-i-think-you-should-leave-season-3-may-30th-130212884.html?src=rss
I Think You Should Leave
A screenshot from the third season of Netflix comedy show I Think You Should Leave.
Spoilers for The Mandalorian seasons 1-3 and The Book of Boba Fett below.
Somehow, Grogu has returned. At least, that's what many people will assume when they tune into the first episode of The Mandalorian's third season. When last we left our lone bounty hunter and cub, Grogu was heading off to Jedi training with a creepy de-aged Luke Skywalker. Mando took off his helmet and braced for solitude. We all shed a tear. (How did a show manage to make us care so much for a monosyllabic man in armor and a green puppet? Bless you, executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.)
But at the start of this season, Mando (AKA Din Djarin) and Grogu are paired up once again, saving people from gigantic monsters, fighting space pirates and generally being adorable. To a casual viewer, it's like that dramatic season two finale was Jedi mind-tricked away. It turns out if you wanted to get the full story – which also explains why Din is flying a Phantom Menace-era ship, or why Grogu is becoming a more adept force user — you had to watch the final few episodes of The Book of Boba Fett.
If I wasn't already a hopeless Star Wars fan, I'd be pretty confused and annoyed. How are normal people supposed to know that The Book of Boba Fett basically served as a stop-gap between Mandalorian seasons? Disney didn't promote the connection between the shows much, so if you weren't reading geeky news sites, or talking to nerdy friends, it was easy to miss.
The first few episodes of Boba Fett made it seem like a far less ambitious series – did we really need to learn the specifics of how he survived the Sarlacc pit? And who cares about his future as Jabba the Hutt replacement? I've talked to several Star Wars fans who tapped out early on, only to catch up once they heard Mando and Grogu popped up. (Honestly, it almost seemed like Favreau and crew got tired of the Boba Fett story – so did we.)
It's not like I'm against the idea of narratives shifting between different shows and films. Everything Marvel's done since Iron Man has practically trained us to consume pop culture this way, with the rise of the Avengers initiative to the ultimate smackdown with Thanos in Endgame. The geeky side of me is overjoyed when I discover connections between films I love. (You should have seen me in the theater at the end of M. Night Shyamalan's Split.) But the idea that viewers have to keep tabs on everything is beginning to feel like homework, and it's particularly frustrating when one piece of media is inexplicably crucial to something that comes later.
It doesn't help that The Mandalorian barely referenced The Book of Boba Fett during its introductory episode. Even a bit of a nudge during the "previously on" opening section would help. Instead, the premiere episode just wants to get us back to normal, with Mando on a video game-like quest and Grogu having fun along the way. It's a shame, since the end of season 2 made it seem like The Mandalorian would actually change things up moving forward.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, creator and executive producer Favreau said he appreciated being able to check in on characters between shows. “I knew that I didn’t want to dedicate a lot of screen time within The Mandalorian to a period of time where there wasn’t a lot of character progression," he said. "Both [Din and Grogu] were kind of stuck, as far as character progression goes, until they were reunited. So, my feeling was that it would allow me to do both of those things and freed me up now two years later to have a whole new context for these two characters to have a relationship and move forward.”
But what Favreau saw as a problem, I see as an opportunity. In Book of Boba Fett, Din and Grogu's time apart is handled briskly. Neither can fully let each other go. That stalls Grogu's Jedi training, as that's mostly focused on detaching yourself from the world and emotional connections. (Did that really work so well for Anakin Skywalker? Come on, Luke.) Din, meanwhile, acts like an empty nester who's lost his life's purpose. This is all good material for drama, but Favreau cuts through it as quickly as possible on a spinoff show. What a waste.
I may be particularly annoyed by The Mandalorian's disjointed narrative after seeing how Marvel handled its latest big bad, Kang the Conqueror, in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. In that film, Kang is introduced as a castaway, someone banished to the Quantum Realm because of his penchant for, well, conquering. But we never got a sense of his true motivation, his powers or what he's actually trying to accomplish.Perhaps that's because the folks behind Quantumania assumed you saw Kang's brief introduction at the end of the Loki streaming series, where he's presented as more of a trickster and vague threat.
If you didn't watch Loki and were confused by Quantumania, it's almost like Marvel is saying that's your own fault. To me, that's simply irresponsible storytelling.
Coming off of Andor, Tony Gilroy’s self-contained and trenchant exploration of the Star Wars universe, the simplistic and confusing nature of The Mandalorian feels like a letdown. The show was always a pulpy and almost video game-like romp. But after the end of season two, there was potential for something much greater. Instead, Favreau took the easy way out to deliver more of the same.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/dont-make-me-watch-boba-fett-to-understand-the-mandalorian-season-three-203004802.html?src=rss
The Mandalorian Season 3
Din Djarin in The Mandalorian Season 3
More than six years following the most recent entry in the series, Firaxis has confirmed it’s working on a new Civilization game. The studio didn’t share many details about the new title, but it did say that Ed Beach is the creative director of the project. Beach has more than 15 years of experience working on the franchise, including, most recently, as lead designer of Civilization VI.
Firaxis parent company Take-Two Interactive shared the news this week in a press release announcing a handful of staffing changes at the studio (via Eurogamer). Studio head Steve Martin is leaving Firaxis after serving nearly 17 years as the company’s president, a position he inherited from Firaxis co-founder Jeff Briggs in 2006. Heather Hazen, previously the studio’s chief operating officer, is taking over the day-to-day operations of Firaxis.
All gratitude. pic.twitter.com/pqe56mVvd5
— Jake Solomon (@SolomonJake) February 17, 2023
“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to carry on the studio’s storied legacy, beginning with the announcement that Firaxis is in development on the next iteration of the legendary Civilization franchise,” Hazen said. “I’m lucky to be working with some of the best developers in our industry, and we have plans to take the Civilization franchise to exciting new heights for our millions of players around the world.”
On Friday, Firaxis also announced the departure of Jake Solomon. After 23 years, the designer, who was one of the studio’s best-known employees thanks to his work on the XCOM franchise and Marvel’s Midnight Suns, is leaving to pursue new opportunities. "I loved designing tactical turn-based games, but it's time for other, smarter people to push that space forward,” Solomon said on Twitter. “My brain is on fire with a new dream. Time to go chase it."
Civilization VI keyart
Civilization VI keyart
Some of us are destined to lead successful lives thanks to the circumstances of our birth. Some of us, like attorney Bruce Jackson, are destined to lead such lives in spite them. Raised in New York's Amsterdam housing projects and subjected to the daily brutalities of growing up a black man in America, Jackson's story is ultimately one of tempered success. Sure he went on to study at Georgetown Law before representing some of the biggest names in hip hop — LL Cool J, Heavy D, the Lost Boyz and Mr. Cheeks, SWV, Busta Rhymes — and working 15 years as Microsoft's associate general counsel. But at the end of the day, he is still a black man living in America, with all the baggage that comes with it.
In his autobiography, Never Far from Home (out now from Atria), Jackson recounts the challenges he has faced in life, of which there are no shortage: from being falsely accused of robbery at age 10 to witnessing the murder of his friend at 15 to spending a night in lockup as an adult for the crime of driving his own car; the shock of navigating Microsoft's lillywhite workforce following years spent in the entertainment industry, and the end of a loving marriage brought low by his demanding work. While Jackson's story is ultimately one of triumph, Never Far from Home reveals a hollowness, a betrayal, of the American Dream that people of Bill Gates' (and this writer's) complexion will likely never have to experience. In the excerpt below, Jackson recalls his decision to leave a Napster-ravaged music industry to the clammy embrace of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
Excerpted from Never Far From Home My Journey from Brooklyn to Hip Hop, Microsoft, and the Law by Bruce Jackson. Published by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Copyright © 2023 by Bruce Jackson. All rights reserved.
“We gotta figure out a way to stop this.”
In the late 1990s, the digital revolution pushed the music business into a state of flux. And here was Tony Dofat, sitting in my office, apoplectic, talking about how to stop Napster and other platforms from taking the legs out from under the traditional recording industry.
I shook my head. “If they’re already doing it, then it’s too late. Cat’s out of the bag. I don’t care if you start suing people, you’re never going back to the old model. It’s over.”
In fact, lawsuits, spearheaded by Metallica and others, the chosen mode of defense in those early days of the digital music onslaught, only served to embolden consumers and publicize their cause. Free music for everyone! won the day.
These were terrifying times for artists and industry executives alike. A decades-old business model had been built on the premise that recorded music was a salable commodity.
Artists would put out a record and then embark on a promotional tour to support that record. A significant portion of a musician’s income (and the income of the label that supported the artist) was derived from the sale of a physical product: recorded albums (or singles), either in vinyl, cassette, or compact disc. Suddenly, that model was flipped on its head... and still is. Artists earn a comparative pittance from downloads or streams, and most of their revenue is derived from touring, or from monetizing social media accounts whose numbers are bolstered by a song’s popularity. (Publicly, Spotify has stated that it pays artists between $.003 and $.005 per stream. Translation: 250 streams will result in revenue of approximately one dollar for the recording artist.)
Thus, the music itself has been turned primarily into a marketing tool used to entice listeners to the product: concert and festival tickets, and a social media advertising platform. It is a much tougher and leaner business model. Additionally, it is a model that changed the notion that record labels and producers needed only one decent track around which they could build an entire album. This happened all the time in the vinyl era: an artist came up with a hit single, an album was quickly assembled, often with filler that did not meet the standard established by the single. Streaming platforms changed all of that. Consumers today seek out only the individual songs they like, and do it for a fraction of what they used to spend on albums. Ten bucks a month gets you access to thousands of songs on Spotify or Pandora or Apple Music roughly the same amount a single album cost in the pre-streaming era. For consumers, it has been a landmark victory (except for the part about artists not being able to create art if they can’t feed themselves); for artists and record labels, it has been a catastrophic blow.
For everyone connected to the music business, it was a shock to the system. For me, it was provocation to consider what I wanted to do with the next phase of my career. In early 2000, I received a call from a corporate recruiter about a position with Microsoft, which was looking for an in-house counsel with a background in entertainment law — specifically, to work in the company’s burgeoning digital media division. The job would entail working with content providers and negotiating deals in which they would agree to make their content — music, movies, television shows, books — available to consumers via Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. In a sense, I would still be in the entertainment business; I would be spending a lot of time working with the same recording industry executives with whom I had built prior relationships.
But there were downsides, as well. For one thing, I was recently married, with a one-year-old baby and a stepson, living in a nice place in the New York City suburbs. I wasn’t eager to leave them—or my other daughters—three thousand miles behind while I moved to Microsoft’s headquarters in the Pacific Northwest. From an experience standpoint, though, it was almost too good an offer to turn down.
Deeply conflicted and at a crossroads in my career, I solicited advice from friends and colleagues, including, most notably, Clarence Avant. If I had to name one person who has been the most important mentor in my life, it would be Clarence, “the Black Godfather.” In an extraordinary life that now spans almost ninety years, Clarence has been among the most influential men in Black culture, music, politics, and civil rights. It’s no surprise that Netflix’s documentary on Clarence featured interviews with not just a who’s who of music and entertainment industry superstars, but also former US presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
In the early 1990s, Clarence became chairman of the board of Motown Records. As lofty a title as that might be, it denotes only a fraction of the wisdom and power he wielded. When the offer came down from Microsoft, I consulted with Clarence. Would I be making a mistake, I wondered, by leaving the music business and walking away from a firm I had started? Clarence talked me through the pros and cons, but in the end, he offered a steely assessment, in a way that only Clarence could.
“Son, take your ass to Microsoft, and get some of that stock.”
ISRAEL-POLITICS/BUSINESS
The logo of Microsoft is seen outside their offices in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, Israel December 27, 2022. REUTERS/Rami Amichay
Amazon is moving forward with a live-action Spider-Man Noir series, according toVariety. It will reportedly focus on “an older, grizzled superhero in 1930s New York City” — one that isn’t Peter Parker.
Spider-Man Noir is an alternate version of the web-slinging hero, first seen in the 2009 Marvel comic series of the same name. The comic version was set in 1933, as a freshly bitten Spidey navigates New York City’s Depression-era criminal underworld. The character, who exists in a separate universe from the mainline Spider-Man stories, also appeared in the 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, voiced by Nicolas Cage. The report doesn’t mention whether Cage will be involved in the new project, but the actor has said he wasn’t asked to return for the upcoming animated sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The as-yet-untitled series will be Amazon’s second project based on Sony-controlled Marvel superheroes after the upcoming Silk: Spider Society. Oren Uziel will write and executive-produce the show; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse alumni Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal share executive-producing credits.
Sony controls the film rights to Spider-Man and supporting characters like Venom, Carnage, Vulture, Black Cat and others. In addition, it works with Marvel Studios on the current MCU film franchise starring Tom Holland.
Spider-Man Noir
Comic art of the character Spider-Man Noir, partially concealed in shadows, with a female character in the background.
Hollywood may be taking another stab at a Tomb Raider production, but this time for the small screen. The Hollywood Reportersources say Amazon is creating a Tomb Raider TV series for Prime Video, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge (of Fleabag fame) set to be an executive producer and write the script. It's not certain who would star, but we wouldn't count on movie stars Angelina Jolie or Alicia Vikander reprising the role of Lara Croft. The show is reportedly still in the development stage.
We've asked Amazon for comment. A collaboration like this wouldn't be surprising, at least. Amazon is publishing the next Tomb Raider game, and Waller-Bridge previously struck a three-year deal with Amazon that includes projects like the novel adaptation Sign Here. Sources for The Reporter claim Amazon was "aggressive" in pursuing a deal renewal late last year.
The rumor comes as game-based TV shows have their moment in the spotlight. HBO's The Last of Us has already been successful enough to get a second season. Sony, meanwhile, is prepping God of War, Gran Turismo and Horizon titles for Netflix and Prime Video. A Tomb Raider series would bolster Amazon's game-themed catalog and help it compete against rivals like Netflix, which already has hits like the League of Legends offshoot Arcane.
Amazon also hasn't been shy about chasing after potential blockbusters. The company reportedly spent $1 billion on The Lord of Rings: The Rings of Power, for instance. While a Tomb Raider show isn't likely to be as lavish, Waller-Bridge's involvement suggests Amazon is eager for a hit. Amazon struggled to breach the top streaming charts last year — this might give it better ammunition against Netflix successes like Stranger Things.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Los Angeles Premiere
Billboard during "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" Los Angeles Premiere at Mann's Village Theater in Westwood, California, United States. (Photo by J. P. Aussenard/WireImage)
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