“Did ‘The Irishman’ Take a Bite Out of the Thanksgiving Box Office”

“Don’t blame Netflix’s ‘The Irishman’ for the Thanksgiving box office being down this year”

Just the fact they’re debating this proves the point.

“The Irishman” on Netflix was an event. Other than “Frozen,” was there a picture in the theatre you had to see?

Furthermore, platform releases died years ago, everything is day and date, that’s what Netflix affords!

You’re going to see this debate in the trades on a regular basis now. You see theatrical distribution is dying. Theatres don’t like it, the Academy doesn’t like it, many directors don’t like it, but the public LOVES being able to see fresh movies on streaming services.

Nothing has legs anymore. You’re here today, gone tomorrow. If your plan is to spread the marketing of your art for over a year, you’re out of touch and dreaming or you just haven’t gotten traction yet.

No one wants to be left out anymore. When you close the door…

The dirty little secret is today’s audience can miss anything. Nothing is so important everybody has to see it. Whether it be a movie or series, or the impeachment hearings. There are many offerings, we’re overwhelmed and we prioritize based on our own desires.

And one desire, which has nothing to do with technology, is to be a member of the group.

That’s what art affords, assuming you deliver it in a way that’s palatable to the audience.

And sure, there are boomers who will seek out an art house film after the first week of release, and sure, kid pictures like “Frozen” might last more than one week, but that’s because it didn’t fit into your schedule, or it was too crazy at first, with so many people going, or you were waiting for the feedback to make a decision whether to partake.

But streaming services allow people to partake INSTANTLY!

The movie business is swimming upstream in a country where Amazon’s focus is on SAME DAY DELIVERY! I’ve got to ask you, why go to a store? That’s why malls are dying. Shopping can be entertainment, but it’s time-inefficient. And the outlets have become so talent lean, nobody is working in the store and those who do are unfamiliar with the product/unhelpful.

But we’re supposed to wait months to see a flick on the flat screen?

The movie business has always thought it was different and the rules didn’t apply to it. They justified it by saying people “love” movies. People love story, wherever it’s exhibited people will watch. But today it’s got to be convenient.

And maybe even the business model is changing.

Hell, it’s changed for the talent. Pay is way down. Profit participation from dollar one gross? Essentially unheard of. The studios have loved making the movies bigger than the talent, they want the talent to be fungible.

So maybe you should just sell it to the streaming service for one flat fee. At least you’ll get to make what you want.

It’s a field day for talent, and it’s gonna last for a very long time. You see it’s kinda like concert promotion, there’s always someone to pony up the bucks if you won’t, maybe a casino, so talent fees never decline, rather they rise!

Streaming services are based on hits. Distribution is king, which is why Netflix is so powerful, but it needs talent/story to grease the wheels. And catalog is not the driver, despite Disney and HBO believing so, it’s all about new product.

And the streaming service can absorb a flop much better than a studio releasing a theatrical film. One flop does not make everybody unsubscribe.

And less hype is needed to promote. Maybe even putting something on everybody’s Netflix homepage is enough. So, you can forget the TV ads, the print, even a lot of the b.s. hype. It appears on your service, and the audience tells you whether it’s worth watching. Because of the BUZZ!

“The Irishman” had buzz on Netflix. It comes up in every conversation I’ve had this weekend. Not everybody agrees, we can argue as to the film’s merit, but we’ve all seen it or are going to see it and for the first time in a long time we’re all on the same page.

And we could finish it!

The “Morning Show” buzz is getting better, but most people partook of the early episodes and tuned out. It’s so much harder to resuscitate a flop than to grow a hit from kindling. Believe me, there would be early adopters who watched all of the “Morning Show” episodes right away and these people would tell everybody about it! Buzz starts with very few. And then it becomes a conflagration. That’s the power of the internet!

As for “Business Insider”‘s lame analysis of the dearth of hit movies…isn’t that the problem? It’s hard to create hit movies, and usually there’s only one a week and the rest flop/are forgotten.

It’s just like the economy, winners and losers. No one’s got time for losers in today’s multi-offering world.

You live and die in one day. The movie business hates this, as if it could break the will of consumers. I’ve got limited time, I go to Rotten Tomatoes, what is the consensus? Oh, I’ll take a risk on a film I’m very interested in if it’s in the eighties, maybe even the seventies, below that I’m out. Sorry, it’s like asking me to listen to your album ten times to see if it grows on me. NO! I don’t want to waste the most valuable resource I’ve got, which IS time.

Modern technology/streaming services allow you to reach EVERYBODY or at least the 160 million with Netflix accounts, never mind those sharing logins. Think of the power of this! If you succeed, your value goes up, both culturally and monetarily. Because it is a culture of winners. And those who win get richer.

“The Irishman” on Netflix is a breakthrough. And if theatrical distribution really meant that much, was so important, why did all that time in the theatre sell so few tickets and create a fraction of the buzz?

Movies are over in a day. Some albums are over in a couple of hours, Spotify can tell by the skip rates. But somehow the cabal of studio heads and exhibitors believes it’s gonna keep everybody locked in the past?

There will still be event pictures. Just fewer and fewer of them.

As for studios… These blowhards have been riding on their self-importance for far too long. Why do they get to decide what the public wants, why do they get to tell creators what to do? The streaming model is to give more options to more creators and let the public decide. Meanwhile, the studios are releasing fewer and fewer pictures (in fewer and fewer genres!) striving for blockbuster successes.

A blockbuster is something everybody sees and has an opinion on.

And today blockbusters are built on Netflix.

The recording business finally gave up trying to hold back the future, and revenues went up!

Make those pictures for streaming services, they need you! As to whether you will end up with as many profits… Just think about it, all those marketing costs you’ll save, why buy billboards? People are at home with the remote and the product is promoted right up front, there’s no way they can miss it.

This is a good thing!

He got what he wanted.

And he wanted me.

Some movies you never forget, like “Tell No One.” A French production of a Harlan Coben novel.

Yup, that used to be a badge of honor, going to foreign films, but now no one wants to read subtitles.

So I’m always looking for shows to watch. I like to dig down deep. I never watch movies on streaming services, I’ve even give up on them on premium cable, they’re just not satisfying.

And I can’t watch “Succession,” or “Ray Donovan,” or the rest of the shows people talk about on cable. That’s not how I watch TV anymore. There is no appointment, and then I fall behind and give up.

Now if the movies aired on TV day and date, I might just change my philosophy, but they don’t, and by time you can see them at home they’re no longer part of the discussion, they’re stale, there’s something new, in a world where it’s so hard to keep moving forward, I don’t want to go back, kinda like the Democrats who still think it’s 2016, who can’t see that we don’t want safe, we don’t want centrist, the problem wasn’t Wisconsin, or Michigan or Pennsylvania, it was Hillary and the DNC, the whole kit and kaboodle, there was nothing to believe in anymore, we were sick of business as usual. And sure, we hate Trump, but being against him is not enough, we need a leader who will take us into the future as opposed to the past. We don’t want dad, we want someone who will provide more than hope, someone who knows there’s no coming together, no kumbaya, we want someone with action.

But the media is afraid of action.

Actually, the media just tells you where you’ve been, oftentimes poorly. It’s not like the media could see the abuses of Facebook. It’s not like the media could see the entire internet revolution.

Which is overwhelming, right?

I just signed up for Apple News+. “New York” magazine wanted $70 for a year’s subscription, whereas I can get it on Apple News+ for ten bucks a month.

Along with a bunch of other magazines I’m interested in. And the fact that they all signed up for Apple News+, does that mean magazines are history? Yup, printed magazines are gonna die in our lifetime. Newsstand sales have already cratered. The outlets have all closed in L.A. The one on Cahuenga, the one in Brentwood, I don’t even know where you’d go to buy a magazine anymore.

But I love the information, I can’t get enough information, it’s my window to the world.

But the more you look, the more you miss, as in living. We don’t know what to do, pay attention or tune out. I mean what happens in D.C. is the story of our times, it affects our lives, but do we need to put our lives on hold to pay attention?

And then there are those who’ve tuned out who are uninformed.

No one’s at the wheel.

Which is why Trump got elected, at least one of the reasons, the populace wanted the trains to run on time, someone to make sense of the chaos.

But that’s impossible these days.

So society has devolved into tribal warfare.

I’m not talking about D.C., I’m talking about your own damn neighborhood, your own damn friend group. We’re all arguing all the time, because we feel both important and ignored, so we express ourselves, that’s what social media has allowed, the illusion that we all count, the sideshow of influencers…it’s no different from being on reality TV, you’re famous for a minute, if that.

Which is maybe why I like the nighttime.

Oh, I can switch my schedule, get up in the morning, but I hate it. Hate being exposed to the rat race.

And those people who wear the time they get up as a badge of honor. 4:30. 3:30. They want to get ahead of the game. But in today’s world, the days all run together, and you’re trying to beat the traffic and it makes me want to tune out, live in an alternative universe, the nighttime, when there are fewer cars on the road and the market and drugstore are uncrowded, when I get room to breathe.

Kinda like going to the movies during the daytime. Before mobile phones, never mind smartphones. You were in the dark, for hours, the rest of the world no longer mattered. It was like…

Bingeing series at night.

Somehow, it doesn’t work during the day. Kinda like how you can blow off everything on the weekend, but if you try to do so during the week you feel too guilty, like you’re missing out, you can no longer play hooky.

But streaming series are an investment. I do research, I want to know I’m not gonna waste my time. I’ve got no time.

George Drakoulias wants me to see Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” at the Landmark. No can do. It’s not the money, but the time. I’ve got to drive over there, park, buy my ticket, get there early so I can choose a decent seat and not worry about missing anything.

Then there are the patrons. Who feel entitled to talk, look at their phones, no matter what the rules are. Have you noticed that, the rules no longer apply? I mean if they don’t apply to the President, why should they apply to me?

And by time I get there, I’m no longer in the mood, I’m not up for seeing the picture.

But when it gets to Netflix next Friday night… I’ll watch it then, I’m a big fan of Noah Baumbach, have you ever seen “The Squid and the Whale“?

So I was planning to hike, but it was raining. And in the forties to boot. I know, I know, I could join a gym, but I’m not that kinda guy, if it’s not fun, I don’t want to do it. But I do want to be in shape for ski season.

So it was verging on nine and it was time to stream a series, which one?

Well, somebody e-mailed me about “The Bureau.” Gets great reviews online. But you’ve got to buy it, or subscribe to Sundance streaming, neither of which I want to do. Why in hell would I want to buy anything? I don’t want to own anything, like the millennials I just want to know it’s available when I want it.

As for paying another streaming service…that’s an insult. I mean they’re bleeding me to death already. And if I didn’t get them for free, there’s no way in hell I’d sign up for Apple TV+ or Disney Plus…can’t they bundle all the content together?

Not like the old cable systems, with fifty seven channels and nothing on…but just quote me a price for everything, like Spotify, make me an offer. And if you’re smart, make the price low, so people won’t think of unsubscribing.

Now every week the “New York Times” has a column “What To Watch.” And I don’t think we’ve got the same taste. Too often the titles are light. I like heavy, I want to sink my teeth in. I’m not looking for escape, I’m looking for reality, truth, I want that visceral hit, unless it’s a comedy, I’m down for that too.

And this week they suggested “The Five.” On Netflix. Based on the Harlan Coben book.

Just like “Tell No One.”

They think we’re addicted to the channels.

But we’re addicted to the creators. We want to believe, we want to follow, we want to invest. Do something great and we’ll hang in there for quite a while, because we’re looking for more.

And “The Five” delivers more.

You see Jesse disappeared. Twenty years ago.

Do you believe he’s still alive? Are the older kids who abandoned him responsible?

And “The Five” is just like “Tell No One,” it’s fast, there are blind alleys, and once you think it’s all surface, pure entertainment, there’s wisdom, depth.

Like Pru, whose finance bro husband wanted her and got her. But is that what she wanted? People have this power over others. If they want you bad enough, the desire is hard to resist, even though after they’ve caught you they’re frequently not that interested.

And who is guilty, and who is innocent?

And do you dedicate your life to bucks or service. That’s one thing they don’t tell you. Oh, they’ll tell you sand is gonna run out of the hourglass, but they won’t tell you that as you’re circling the board game of life, getting the diplomas, building the relationships for your career, getting married, buying a house and starting a family, you might be going down the wrong road, and get in so deep that there’s no turning back.

Regrets, that’s what you don’t want to have.

Most people can’t follow their dreams, it’s too daunting, they give up. Success is hard. And usually the biggest victory is its own trip into the wilderness. Kinda like those people trying to create winning apps today…that era is over, lock in to what’s next. You can’t see it. But the innovators can.

So these foreign shows, “The Five” is English, are so much better than their American counterparts. Everyone is not beautiful, they’re oftentimes dark in image, not only plot, they somehow seem more real. In the U.S. we venerate Meryl Streep, who we can’t separate from the role, she’s so studiously into the character…no one would try that hard, not even the people the role is based upon!

But in the U.K…in Europe. You don’t have to be beautiful, and many are classically trained and know how to fit in the background, not fight for screen time, not everybody can be up front and center. And the truth is you can be in the background and be a star, you just have to be happy in the role.

Jesse’s parents still have hope he’s alive. You can ruin your whole life waiting… It’s kinda like that John Lennon quote, how life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. But also there are psychological barriers, you can’t get over that breakup, you can’t get over your family of origin, you get defeated, you get blindsided, and you can’t pick yourself up that fast. Meanwhile, the years keep ticking by.

There’s never enough time anymore. I flew back from Australia for over fourteen hours, finished one book, read another from start to finish, got deep into one more…but there still wasn’t enough time, I wanted the flight to go on forever, so I could be in the cocoon, in suspended reality, able to go deep into what I wanted without feeling left behind, like I do every damn day.

So I don’t want to give anything away. I don’t want to be like those reviewers who think their duty is to recite the whole damn plot. What I like most about art is the surprise. Which is why I only watch movies and read books once. Once you’ve seen the trick, it’s never the same.

Isn’t that life? Aren’t we all looking for that adrenaline hit of something new?

Tonight I recommend “The Five.” Watch two episodes, you’ll be hooked or you won’t.

But don’t answer your phone, don’t even look at it, pay attention.

Attention pays dividends.

Harlan Coben’s The Five

Do you fit in? Do you have the answer to everything? Are you always happy, always on the up and up?

Then “Atypical” is not a show for you.

What blows my mind about Netflix shows is there’s no hype. That’s reserved for movies. Have you read the Friday arts sections in the “New York Times” or the “Los Angeles Times”? Films you will never see made by people thrilled they completed a movie. That’s how far we’ve sunk, it’s easier to make a movie than get a show on Netflix.

But usually the Netflix shows are more interesting.

And at least they get a fighting chance, sort of.

I read about this movie on Netflix, now I can’t find it. There was a review somewhere, but despite having the best streaming interface, unless you want what’s popular, good luck finding it.

I’ve changed my policy, now if I read about anything good I’m making a note on my phone, my iPhone, did you read the story about Roger McNamee in the “New Yorker”?

Big Tech’s Big Defector

You should. He says Android has too many privacy problems. So now privacy is just like the rest of America, there are the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor, those who can afford an iPhone and those who cannot.

I didn’t even know there was a new season of “Atypical.” I just stumbled upon it after firing up Netflix.

No, I don’t want them to send me an e-mail. E-mail is broken, no wonder kids don’t use it, too many people sending you unsolicited stuff trying to convince you that what they have to say is important. (This newsletter is opt-in, if you want out, just click the link at the bottom.)

Used to be you didn’t know when your favorite acts were playing in town. Now you don’t know when your favorite TV shows are on!

The media has to stop this focus on movies. It’s kinda like music streaming. The war is over, theatrical lost. Oh, it’s good for event pictures, otherwise the experience doesn’t square with modern day life, where you want it on demand and you don’t want to be interrupted/affected by others if you don’t choose to. People DVR their favorite TV shows, they stream what they want, but we’re supposed to drive to the theatre at an appointed time to overpay for what is usually a disappointing experience? I don’t think so.

Why is it all legacy media refuses to die. Kinda like terrestrial radio, which is on a disinformation campaign, telling us how healthy it is when I’ve yet to find someone under twenty who listens.

These old media outlets die very slowly, then all at once, like Kodak. Or record stores. I’m living quite fine without Tower Records. And why go to a bookstore, when everything available is just a click away?

Funny to see the baby boomers try to hold on to the past, refusing to admit it’s nostalgia, always saying it’s better. It’s not.

And now the tone of this is completely different from what I intended.

I guess it’s modern life. There’s no one to complain to anymore, there’s no help online, you’re in the wilderness, so you express your frustration online.

And then everybody becomes frustrated with you. Play and you’re excoriated.

Which is why “Atypical” is such a pleasure. It reflects regular life. Without the division of politics, without the hungering for bucks. Michael Rapaport is an EMT and he pays for a whole house in Connecticut. Is that truly possible anymore? I think not.

So Elsa, Jennifer Jason Leigh, grew up with a distant, critical mother so she coddles her kids, trying to give them the upbringing she never got…AND THEY HATE HER FOR IT!

That’s the boomers. They’re there for their kids, praising them, helping them to the point they can’t stand alone, they’ve got to call to deal with a hangnail. Yup, my father worked all day, weekends too, he brought home the bacon, and I was allowed to roam free on my bike. Heresy, I tell you!

Sam Gardner is autistic, but he doesn’t resemble any autistic person I know. But now it’s the third season, and we accept this.

His younger sister Casey, who always seems older, is cool, but confused. Even sexually.

And Sam’s girlfriend struggles in college.

And Casey’s boyfriend has no future and…

Casey wants to go to UCLA, for the opportunity, to leave Elsa and Connecticut behind.

Sounds like a drama, right?

But it’s not. It’s more like a comedy.

But it’s only realistic in its essence. Not in the events of the show. Those are artificial.

But I can’t turn it off.

And I couldn’t figure out why. Was I just a sap? I’ll admit I liked the early “Full House,” and I don’t even have children!

I asked Felice, she said it was “cute.”

But when Casey is torn between two lovers…

When Elsa and Doug’s marriage is teetering, when it could go either way…

Come on, you’ve been there. You’re in an intimate moment, you’ve decided to try again, it was good once, wasn’t it? And then the other person doesn’t want to. Whew!

I just can’t recommend “Atypical,” you’ll laugh at me. Then again, you already are.

Life is confusing enough. You don’t know where you’re going and everything ends and you’re connected all the time…
I leave my phone in the other room when I watch television. It’s a religious rite, I’m not trying to pass the time, I want to be engrossed, taken away to real life, be reminded of the situations I’ve been in and the ones I’m going to experience in the future. That’s what art does.

Marvel movies are like pop music. Here today, gone tomorrow. No matter how much they’re gussied up, they lack an essence, of humanity, of real life. The makers are playing it safe, in an era where you can play it anyway you want to. That’s why Netflix burgeoned, it gave artists a chance to exercise control…enough with listening to network notes, that’s like listening to the record label, which you shouldn’t! A label can tell you what it thinks works, it can educate you, but you’ve got to do it your own way, try to get your humanity across, hits are not easy to predict.

I don’t fit in. Almost never have. There have been moments, mostly far from home, but they’ve always expired.

I go to the shrink and try to figure it out.

But when Chris Robinson said he was an outsider, that rang true.

Then I’m watching “Atypical” and everyone’s got issues, they feel alone, like no one is paying attention, or trying to lean on someone is worthless, a waste of time.

Can you tell people your truth?

Hell, there’s not even truth in the fact that everybody in the movies is beautiful. Making us desire something we all cannot have. Building up these two-dimensional characters to the point where we believe they’re something they’re not. But life’s got to be better than it is right now, right?

I want to go down the rabbit hole, dig down deep as Marc Cohn once sang.

But that was thirty years ago, they don’t make that music anymore.

Or people with less talent try, and it’s not worth paying attention.

It’s very hard to get it right, there’s a balance, a mood.

You try to capture it, and then you veer off course, even though you’re trying so hard, even though you can see it.

And art is about an individual vision. Sure, you need people to help you achieve that vision, but when art is compromised, it doesn’t resonate.

I think Roger McNamee will make a difference. Because he’s not giving up, he’s staying on message, one person can move mountains.

And being imperfect is no crime. That’s what Sam Gardner proves.

And Zahid is completely unbelievable but warm and fuzzy nonetheless, at least until he completely misreads the mood of a party.

“Atypical” is light. Which makes when they get heavy resonate.

You know, you’re just bopping through life and you hit a roadblock, everything changes, sometimes it’s even you. You can’t keep going down the same path, even though it’s the easiest one. You’ve got to grow up, you’ve got to confront your demons, you’ve got to be honest with yourself.

That’s what “Atypical” is about.

I don’t get it.

Film and TV still have not learned the lesson that the customer is in control. The record labels fought the public and then gave in. It was a tortuous experience, it took almost a decade, but now you can get all the music for ten bucks a month, advance hype is at a minimum, sure there are shenanigans on the “Billboard” chart, but the public doesn’t care about that, the Spotify Top 50 suits people just fine.

We’ve been reading about “The Irishman” for months. It played film festivals. It opened in theatres to satiate the film industry…the same one that says what premieres on TV doesn’t qualify for the Oscars, even though what the studios make doesn’t qualify either. Come on, superhero flicks the best movies of the year? I’m with Scorsese on this.

But I’m not with Scorsese on this film.

“The Irishman” hit Netflix on Wednesday. Feel the buzz? Of course not, because there is none! It was all expended before the majority of the public could partake, hell, the flick didn’t even play in the hinterlands, the supposed flyover country, that the Hollywood elite still believe exists, but the truth is they’ve got the same broadband and the same streaming services as they do on the coast, no one is left behind today, and we’re all on the same page, at least conceptually.

It’s nearly impossible to get the word out. Oh, you can try, but it just doesn’t spread. Popsters figured out it’s best to feature a rapper. And name rappers drop in on wannabes’ records. And even other genres remix, Lil Nas X with Billy Ray Cyrus, because they want the attention.

And the attention rarely takes place in the newspaper, all the traditional outlets Hollywood still plays to. That’s right, Hollywood hates Rotten Tomatoes, but that’s where I go first! I mean in a time-challenged world, why waste hours?

So Apple TV+ is dribbling out the stiff on arrival “Morning Show.” Everybody in Cupertino is clueless. They know nothing about the entertainment industry. Everyone knows it’s hard to predict a hit, everyone knows the William Goldman quote, why did Apple think it was any different? You’ve got to overwhelm the public with product, so it has a choice, so something hits. This is another thing record companies have realized, however in this era of opportunity cost, they’re leaving complete genres on the sidelines, to their detriment.

But I watched “The Irishman.” I was eager.

I was disappointed, I’m thinking you will be too.

It’s Scorsese, he’s bad with arc. He gets the image, the feeling right, it’s just when it comes down to story… “The Irishman” is so linear as to look like a chart. Francis Ford Coppola inserted relationships in “The Godfather,” to make it more lifelike. In “Godfather II,” he went back and forth in time, to make sense of the family history. Sure, Coppola failed more than he succeeded thereafter, but he had big dreams, he tried.

Scorsese keeps making the same damn film over and over again. Oh, to be honest, I haven’t seen them all later ones. They just don’t feel like novels, with multiple acts, reaching to an unforeseen conclusion. They’re absent the drama of real life.

So what you get in “The Irishman” is history. Literally. In cars, outfits, everything is done exquisitely but the story.

And Frank Sheeran… Scorsese doesn’t even do a good job of demonstrating why Frank/DeNiro goes to the dark side.

DeNiro is good.

But Joe Pesci is phenomenal.

And after years of chewing too much scenery, Al Pacino’s performance is worthy of an Oscar, you truly believe he’s Jimmy Hoffa, not the actor underneath.

As far as the women? Two-dimensional characters at best. We never see the reaction of the wife Frank divorces, his adult daughter Peggy doesn’t even speak.

So Frank paints houses. Is he still working when he becomes head of the local?

And Harvey Keitel could be used more. He’s got that sinister look, like a true gangster, who will never be crossed.

So there’s endless hits, and a bit of Mafia politics. And you can see where the film is gonna end up, even though you can’t figure out why it’s going to take three and a half hours to get there.

Once again, Scorsese/Hollywood is not thinking of the audience. “The Irishman” should have been a miniseries. I mean what man over fifty can sit for this long in a theatre?

And sure, one might still binge the miniseries, but it’s the viewer’s choice. Instead, there’s this interminable film, you’re left waiting for payoff.

Maybe it’s because I watched it during the day.

Then again, I’ve watched “Ozark” during the day and been riveted. Hell, I could watch “Ozark” EVERY day!

Even the first season of “Mindhunter”. Although it too suffers a crisis of arc.

First and foremost, films, visual media, are emotional. If you don’t strike that chord, you’ve got nothing. Sure, I was scared the first couple of times Frank offed somebody, but it got to the point where it didn’t even bug me.

And the cars didn’t change perfectly with the times. Assuming you know cars.

But maybe that’s the point here, that it’s all ancient history, water under the bridge, the Mafia is a thing of the past.

Then again, whoever writes history controls it. Now viewers will be convinced the Mafia killed Hoffa, and that Kennedy was beholden to the Mob, and the truth is much more murky than that.

But at least Netflix gave Scorsese all that money. The studios were too afraid to pony up in a superhero/blockbuster world.

But Netflix’s business model is different. They just need people to keep paying every month, whether they watch or not. “The Irishman” enhances the brand. Meanwhile, Disney punts on this front. They make a “Star Wars” show for the brain-dead and for those wanting to chomp on something more…there’s nothing on Disney+, at least nothing new.

So, “The Irishman” should have been the story of the weekend. Believe me, if there was no theatrical run, it would have been the centerpiece of conversation on Turkey Day. And I don’t know about you, the last thing I want to do this weekend is go to the theatre/mall/look for parking. I want to stay home, and I did.

But to tell you the truth, “Atypical” hits more emotional notes than “The Irishman.”

But that’s another story.