February 9, 2024

[+] 9 Feb 2024

This is the beta of foofaraw[+], the temporary home of something new.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, let me know what you think and if you have any ideas for how it can be improved.

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Alright… we are going deep in this innaugural beta issue just to power through a bunch of links I’ve seen or thought about over the last couple days. This allows me start fresh and begin collecting links and thoughts for future issues which will be a little more focused (maybe).

Most of these links, with the exception of ones from the NY Times, are Apple News links. I will avoid that in the future, but this was the easiest way for me to capture these quickly and get things moving.

I went back and fourth on the format for this, but I think I got it to a place I like. The idea isn’t to read everything—the headlines should help keep you informed—but obviously read whatever strikes your fancy and hopefully my commentary in the Top of the News adds a little something too.

Big inspiration for this format comes from [SIC], Feed Me, and The Trend Report.

Let’s get to it.

Top of the News

Amazon’s Prime Video Gets Exclusive NFL Playoff Game Next Season — The Wall Street Journal

• I guess it was a success for Peacock although I heard awful things about the streaming performance. Curious how many new subscribers they were able to attribute it and the cost benefit analysis Amazon did to decide to pick it up this year.

Peak TV Is Officially Over: FX Tallies 14 Percent Drop in Scripted Series for 2023 — The Hollywood Reporter

• This seems more like a trailing indicator as we’ve seen the contraction of streamers along with cable tv already being decimated.

'The Bear' Season 3 Will Premiere in June — Variety

• Just super excited for this to come back.

Marcus King Teams With Rick Rubin For New Album — SPIN

• Marcus King has felt like a pretty under the radar guy in the southern rock sort of genre. Bringing Rick Rubin in the fold is interesting. As great of a legacy Rubin has, I’m not sure he’s really at the top of his game, but maybe someone like King can bring the best out of him.

Indie labels cry foul over Apple Music’s enhanced spatial audio royalties — The Verge

• Yeah, this is bullshit. If Apple wants to encourage this with a 1.2% payout, that 0.2% should come from them, not from the remaining pool of payouts.

Rolling Stone’s Top Editor Steps Down - The New York Times

• This piece makes it sound like Rolling Stone was actually on an upward trajectory with Shachtman, but it’s been so long since I’ve paid attention to them. The last time I checked them out it seemed like a clickbait farm. Theres definitely a space for someone to own music, I just don’t think it’s RS. Hoping a Defector/404/Aftermath comes out of the ashes of Pitchfork.

New Predator Movie Coming From Prey Director, And There's More In The Works — /Film

• I still haven’t watched Prey (I know, sacrilegious), but I love Trachetnberg back from the TRD days, so I’m excited to see his success with this franchise. Will be cool to see if he can continue to elevate it (even though it’d be cooler if he got a chance to do something original).

TV

• ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Made Something Out of Nothing - The New York Times

• FX's John Landgraf Declines to Crown Netflix the Winner of the Streaming Wars — The Hollywood Reporter

• Peacock to Stream Adaptation of 'Three-Body Problem' Ahead of Rival Netflix Version — The Hollywood Reporter

• AMC Networks U.S. Ad Revenue Drops 23 Percent, Streaming Subs Rise to 11.4M — The Hollywood Reporter

• How Spain Became Key to Netflix’s International Strategy — New York Magazine

• From stand-up to late night, Taylor Tomlinson finds a way to 'have it all' on her own terms — Los Angeles Times

• Percy Jackson Series Renewed At Disney+ — Empire

• Network TV 2024: What's New, Renewed and Canceled (So Far) — The Hollywood Reporter

• CNN’s New Morning Strategy: More News, Less Banter - The New York Times

• In ‘The New Look,’ It’s Chanel Versus Dior in War-Torn Paris - The New York Times

Music

• Kanye West Learns the Definition of Consequences, Claims He Can't Book Venues After Numerous Controversies — Rolling Stone

• Greed, cocaine and rock’n’roll decadence: The truth behind Talking Heads’ split — MOJO

• Elon Musk just lost $56 billion because of a heavy metal drummer — San Francisco Chronicle

• What New Opportunities Do Vision Pro and VR Headsets Bring to Music? — Billboard

• Sony Music Buys Stake in Michael Jackson Catalog, Valuing Rights at Over $1.2B — Billboard

• Real Estate: New Jersey melancholics keep up the wistful thinking — MOJO

• Vampire Weekend Detail First Album Since 2019 — SPIN

• Who Was “the Old Kanye,” Anyway? — The Ringer

• Kith launch record label with new track from Cam’ron and Swizz Beatz | The FADER

Comics

• Dark Horse Manga adds another purr-fect manga to its library

• Preview: Get a glimpse of MAYBE TOMORROW #1

Movies

• Why Apple Gets a Pass for Disappointing at the Box Office — The Hollywood Reporter

• Denzel Washington And Spike Lee Are Remaking One Of The Greatest Thrillers Ever Made — /Film

• CUCKOO - Official Teaser

• Why ‘Dune: Part Two,’ is director Denis Villeneuve's life dream | AP News

• The Mandalorian And Grogu Will Land In 2026, Kicking Off A New Wave Of Star Wars Movies — /Film

• A24 Delivers Murder, Mayhem, And Muscle Mommies In Love Lies Bleeding Trailer — /Film

• Knuckles Trailer: Idris Elba Is Back In Sonic Spin-Off Series — Empire

Misc.

• Sam Altman Seeks Trillions of Dollars to Reshape Business of Chips and AI — The Wall Street Journal

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