Maestro -- Leonard Bernstein biopic

[Paul MacLean]

I've been jaded about new movies for years, but based on the trailer, I have to say this looks very promising. I might even be excited about it!



And when you compare this footage of the actual Leonard Bernstein to the trailer above, it’s uncanny how well Bradley Cooper has captured Lenny’s mannerisms and body language...

[AndyDursin]

Excited for this one too. More so than Napoleon!

[Chris Shaneyfelt]

You are so right about Cooper capturing Bernstein's mannerisms, Paul. I certainly hope it will be a good film. The trailer brings to mind a Cole Porter biopic I saw years ago called "De-Lovely."

[Eric W.]

This is definitely on my radar. This could be a career pinnacle for Bradley Cooper. If this lives up to billing it could rake in some hardware.

[Monterey Jack]

The Dedham Community is getting this soon, and I always try to see Netflix stuff "for real" when possible.

[AndyDursin]

On Netflix today...will be checking it out asap.

[Monterey Jack]

Saw it in theaters about two weeks ago...extremely well-acted and directed, if a tad stodgy.

[Paul MacLean]

Is this going to get a Blu-ray release?

Or is Netflix going to prevent one so we have to pay $22 a month to watch it?

[AndyDursin]

It's possible depending on the title but I wouldn't count on it. Especially because Netflix produced it themselves after Paramount and Scorsese left. They don't tend to ever do physical releases unless they don't own some part of the project or there's a stipulation involved.

[Monterey Jack]

Basically, if it gets a bunch of Oscar nominations, there's a decent chance (see The Irishman, Roma and Marriage Story), but even then it's far from a guarantee...I'm still waiting on the Coens' Ballad Of Buster Scruggs.

[AndyDursin]

I totally forgot that film existed!

It seems like Netflix physical releases happen when:

a) The movie or series is produced by a different studio, i.e. HOUSE OF CARDS which Sony released on physical very quickly after it streamed

b) It's, say, a movie directed by someone with clout like Martin Scorsese who wanted THE IRISHMAN out there and probably had a stipulation in his contract or "wanted to make it happen"

There are other, occasional releases like those STRANGER THINGS disc releases, probably because the property was so popular Netflix wanted to showcase it to non-subscribers.

But I can't blame them for hanging onto their exclusives. Their business is getting people to pay money for their content. Putting their exclusives out on physical defeats the entire purpose of what they do.

[Monterey Jack]

I totally forgot that film existed!

That's the insidious nature of the streaming "revolution"...a movie might be discussed for a week or two after it drops, but then in vanishes into the endless grind of new "product", even if it's by a pair of filmmakers who have been making movies for forty years and have a dedicated fanbase.

But I can't blame them for hanging onto their exclusives. Their business is getting people to pay money for their content. Putting their exclusives out on physical defeats the entire purpose of what they do.

Doesn't mean we have to like it, especially in the era where streaming movies and shows often get junked and yanked off their respective services, essentially ceasing to exist entirely. Forty years ago, even the biggest flop movies would still be released on VHS. Twenty years ago (in the salad days of the DVD format), even a flop TV series that lasted one season would get a disc release. Now? Once a movie or show's out of a streaming service's "top ten", it may as well have not existed. Half of Mike Flanagan's filmography is trapped for all time on Netflix. Hell, his excellent 2016 movie Hush was taken off Netflix last year. Where is it? Will it be shopped around other services, or will it just become a vague memory? And Flanagan has a fanbase...there's no reason why a label like Scream Factory or Arrow couldn't get the rights to that and press a Blu or UHD disc. For a #PhysicalMedia4Life hardcore COLLECTOR, the last decade has been maddening, especially when it's a director whose work I admire, yet will have a permanent hole in my disc collection for.

[AndyDursin]

The unfortunate reality of the declining theatrical marketplace sadly and how people are experiencing films now. This strike may be over but the lack of content is going to kill off more screens in 2024 -- even locally over in Newport a 10-screen complex announced it's closing in 2 weeks.

It also creates this weird thing where people don't watch movies at the same time either so between them being locked behind one service or another -- or jumping from one place to another -- none of these films has much cultural impact. If it's not BARBIE nobody seems to care about much these days...