The Mandalorian

[Professor Bear]

I'm not going to stan for piracy, but the rise in the Earth's mean temperature correlates with the decline in global pirate numbers.  That's just a fact.

Anyhoo: no-one says it but Disney want you to download this and then gush about how great it is to boost sign-ups for their service.  This is SOP for high-profile shows now - their value is literally in that high profile - but Disney just can't come out and say it any more than they can come out and say they love the racism that surrounds Star Wars.  It benefits them, but they have to worry about the optics.

chasing illicit streaming is a PitA

I literally just type the word "proxy" after the name of the torrent website, so clearly the UK government is doing as great a job protecting copyright as Youtube does.
Porn streaming sites are so rife with uploads of non-porn movies and tv shows OR SO I HAVE HEARD ETC that Pornhub apparently once tried to bankroll a reboot of Sense8 because so many people were watching it on their website and giving it a high rating.  You may now write your own "only wankers watch Sense8" punchlines.
Chrome also has a plugin called HOLA that's a free VPN that sets your location as whatever country you wish, but I can't say I've tried it.

[Dandontdare]

On a related note, is there anywhere you can find full listings for these streamers without signing up? All the press about Apple+ talks abouit the same three shows, but I want more depth of content for a monthly sub - can't find it anywhere!

[Frank]

On a related note, is there anywhere you can find full listings for these streamers without signing up? All the press about Apple+ talks about the same three shows, but I want more depth of content for a monthly sub - can't find it anywhere!

I don't think Apple offers much more than those same shows at the moment, but they've sunk a huge amount into original content, which is what they appear to think the strength of their offer is. I'm not sure they're right. Disney+ gets you almost everything Disney has ever made or bought.

I pay for my mum's Netflix^*, which, thanks to a complicated system of pulleys and levers, I'm able to watch, too, but I've spent more time scrawling through the menus there than than watching stuff. It's the choice paralysis of staring at box covers in the video shop, but with a wall that goes on forever.

There's more stuff on free-to-air telly^** than I have time to watch and there really isn't much I want to watch. Renting the stuff I do want on Youtube and Amazon feels like going to the video shop and makes more sense to me than spunking money on subscriptions I'll hardly use, like a fat guy with three gym memberships.


* Which has replaced buying her The Crown on DVD every Christmas

**90% of the films I've ever seen have been on terrestrial telly, and fibre-optic broadband hasn't changed that arithmetic very much. As part of the first generation of TV babies, I think I just like the idea of someone choosing a film or TV show for me and having to watch it at a certain time and day of the week.

[Dandontdare]

but I've spent more time scrawling through the menus there than than watching stuff. It's the choice paralysis of staring at box covers in the video shop, but with a wall that goes on forever.

I hear ya - I've got huge watchlist on both Amazon and Netflix, but I still scroll through for ages looking for something I want to watch RIGHT NOW!

[Frank]

IIRC, they didn't announce Pedro Pascal's involvement until very late in the day - I think they'd even released publicity stills at that point, so I wouldn't be surprised if it isn't even him in the suit.

In the same way that 99% of the time Batman's on screen you're watching a stuntman, while Ben Affleck's in his trailer, on the phone to his agent, trying to get himself out of his three-film deal.

Disney+ Pitch Meeting: https://youtu.be/iFeZx3Xkvgg

[Tjm86]

but I've spent more time scrawling through the menus there than than watching stuff. It's the choice paralysis of staring at box covers in the video shop, but with a wall that goes on forever.

I hear ya - I've got huge watchlist on both Amazon and Netflix, but I still scroll through for ages looking for something I want to watch RIGHT NOW!

I tend to go with a simple rule:  if I'm still scrolling and looking after three minutes, I'm wasting my time.  Off I go to find something else.

[Jim_Campbell]

I absolutely haven’t seen Episode 2, but if I had then I would have thought its neat swerve from Star Wars spaghetti western into Star Wars Lone Wolf and Cub worked splendidly and I imagine that if I had seen it, I would now be positively champing at the bit to see Episode 3. I would probably have thought baby Not-Yoda was the best thing ever.

[shaolin_monkey]

It’s all just bloody rubbish. Watch all of the Akira Kurosawa films and just add lasers.

[JOE SOAP]

The Mandalorian Chapter 2 is the most Star Wars '77 since, well, 1977, allegedly.

[pauljholden]

If you haven't had a chance to watch it through legal means, you could always just watch Samurai Jack until it becomes available.

-PJ

[Tiplodocus]

FFS. YOUTUBE thumbnails already spoilers some of the surprises for me.

[TordelBack]

Good grief, the barrage of unsolicited graphic spoilers from every possible  online source (present company being solicited) - including European types, who are presumably publicly admitting to having watched it illegally. I appreciate this is part of a deliberate roll-out strategy to create an illusion of scarcity and demand, and it leaves one grotty taste in my mouth.

So unless I want to have every potential surprise ruined every time I pick up my phone (as with GoT) while I wait 5 months to actually pay for the fecking thing, I have to rejoin the piracy club. Wonderful situation you've created, Disney, cheers.

[JOE SOAP]

I appreciate this is part of a deliberate roll-out strategy to create an illusion of scarcity and demand, and it leaves one grotty taste in my mouth.

That, plus international licensing for content and trying to iron-out the streaming/app issues that arise from the US launch. Waiting for deals to expire means some content won't be available even when it launches. 

Netherlands was the initial test base for Disneyplus (a month before the US) because of its excellent broadband accessibility.

Netflix didn't roll-out everywhere at once either: it was 2 years before it was available in Europe, and at first only UK, Ireland and Scandinavia.

[Jim_Campbell]

Good grief, the barrage of unsolicited graphic spoilers from every possible  online source

I’d like to apologise for the spoiler upthread. I initially thought that spoilers were fair game (having seen the show being implicit in the thread subject) but quickly decided that that’s was the sort of dick move that annoyed the piss out of me over GoT, but I’d missed the edit window to fix it. I’ve petitioned the mods to whack some spoiler tags on it, but it’s a Sunday and I’m sure they have better things to do.

FWIW, though, I’m very sorry and I’ll liberally apply spoiler blocks from now on.

[TordelBack]

I’d like to apologise for the spoiler upthread.

No complaints from this quarter. If I'm checking in on a thread about a programme that's aired, I expect to run the risk of being spoiled: that's my decision.

It's when ever feed I have from every other source is replete with images and taglines that can't be unseen... that's when I get hacked off. It's just mean.

That, plus international licensing for content and trying to iron-out the streaming/app issues that arise from the US launch. Waiting for deals to expire means some content won't be available even when it launches. 

Nah, I get that - it just annoys me that Disney are using their SW IP as a launch tentpole, but aren't providing an alternative means of viewing it legitimately outwith their international schedule. Depending on the SW fanbase to get subs, but knowingly allowing the digital world to shit on us at the same time.