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Disney+, Hulu Merged App to Launch Next Month for Bundle Subscribers, Bob Iger Says ↗

A beta version of the Disney+/Hulu app will launch in December for subscribers of the two-service bundle […] ahead of the official launch in spring 2024 (around late March).

I’ve been thinking this would happen for a while. Wouldn’t it be so much easier for Disney to only have to run a single service? Who knows how this one will shake out when it goes live, but it could make for an interesting experience. Maybe I can stop paying for Hulu then?

Then again, the whole Max debacle was a letdown, so maybe this kind of content consolidation is always a bad idea. We’ll see.

Also, does this mean that Disney+ will get all of Hulu’s content, i.e., next-day tv episode premieres, the FX shows, and the decidedly more adult movies and shows? Will it also eventually get its live tv service?

The latter feels doubtful and the former seems necessary (but still kind of weird at this point).

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Looking at all of the conflicting review headlines for The Marvels is enough to threaten me with serious whiplash.

“It’s delightful and heartfelt!”

“It’s the worst thing Marvel has ever done!”

This is yet another reminder that movie critic reviews are, by and large, unhelpful. Regardless, I’m looking forward to seeing this one.

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Nothing like rounding out the previous night by throwing out your back while slightly leaning over the bathroom sink to floss. Luckily, the rest of the house was asleep, so my gasping, pained waddle to bed wasn’t witnessed.

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I’ve just discovered one of the greatest joys a person can have in their lives: relaxing on the couch while a cat uses your open hand as a pillow. He fell asleep so fast this way.

I haven’t moved a muscle in many minutes, my fingers are losing all feeling, and I couldn’t be happier.

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I understand that medicine is devoted to battling and curing the worst diseases we’ve encountered. It’s noble and I support it wholeheartedly.

But also, why is no one working on making sugar healthy for the body?

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Reading the latest essay by Craig Mod, the one about aloneness, has left me feeling utterly, joyfully, and in his words, seen. It made known a sensation that I’ve felt itching at my back for a few years.

More importantly, what he wrote has helped me recognize that feeling for what it can be—seeking potentially harmful emotional comfort food—and understand that there’s a way to work with it.

This morning, I feel grateful for him and his meaningful words.

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For the first time in who knows how long, I got to visit one of my favorite local bookstores, Cellar Door Bookstore. After getting hassled and evicted by their previous landlords, they’ve found a new location and are doing better than ever!

(I also bought Slaughterhouse-Five. I can’t believe I haven’t read that one yet.)

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Disney to Buy Full Control of Hulu in Deal With Comcast ↗

By Georg Szalai and Alex Weprin at The Hollywood Reporter:

Disney has agreed to take full control of Hulu in a deal with Comcast, which has owned a third of the streamer ever since Disney’s acquisition of the 21st Century Fox entertainment assets.

With this deal all but assured, I wonder what this means for Hulu’s future? Obviously, it could go one of two ways: everything gets folded into one service, likely Disney+, or they continue on as separate services.

The part of me that likes efficiency wants one app, but that would surely turn Disney+ into a overloaded behemoth.

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Letterboxd Diaries—October 2023

Total movies watched: 24.

Favorite movie of the month: Three Thousand Years of Longing.

Least liked movie of the month: Mile 22.

Be sure to follow me on Letterboxd! 🎥

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I’ve got the most normal cat living with me, which is to say that I’m living with an insane, furry monster who zooms around the house at all hours of the day, scream-meows at me when he wants something, and probably sits on my head while I’m sleeping. The only abnormal thing about him is he often wants me to scratch his tummy, and it’s not a trap!

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My wife and I took the Universal Relationship Test today: we went on a shopping trip to IKEA. I’m happy to report that not only are we still married, but we also came home with some delightful new bookcase lamps.

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I’m at the point with Letterboxd now that the only reviews and ratings I give any weight to are those written by anyone who isn’t a man. They just have better taste across the board.

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Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to play “Am I Sick or Is It Just Allergies?”

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It’s one of those blaring Doolittle by Pixies well past the time I should have gone to bed kind of nights.

But really, is that actually a problem?

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Completely rearranging and optimizing my bookcases is giving me a feeling of accomplishment that I’ll ride on all night. Great work gives great satisfaction!

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For me, the two greatest periods of television are:

  1. Kids’ WB cartoon shows, e.g., Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain.
  2. USA’s Blue Sky era, e.g., Psych, Monk, Royal Pains.

You can have your Netflix shows and modern prestige tv. Nothing compares to those two.

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Apple TV+, Arcade, and News+ subscription price increases from today ↗

By Benjamin Mayo on 9to5Mac:

Apple has today increased the price of Apple TV+ to $9.99 per month, up from the previous $6.99 price. Apple Arcade has gone up from $4.99 to $6.99, and the News+ monthly price has been upped to $12.99.

The Apple One bundle price has also been increased to reflect the increases in the constituent services. The Apple One Individual bundle is now priced at $19.95/mo, Apple One Family costs $25.95/mo, and Premier costs $37.95/mo.

Apple One Individual used to cost $16.95, so the increase on the bundle is less than the cumulative increase of Arcade and TV+, but it still represents a hefty increase for consumers.

Thanks to this surprise rate hike, my Apple One bundle shot up an additional $5. After the increase last October, I’d hoped for a longer reprieve than we just got.

Apple pricing the bundle at $38 a month was enough to force a closer look at my finances. Things had to fall by the wayside.

What’s the breaking point for all of these subscriptions? At some point in the future will Apple One cost $100 a month?

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Considering my cat’s insatiable love for playing with his feather wand toy, I shudder at the thought of just how many poor birds he murdered while he was living on the streets.

He’s a perfect representation of that Oatmeal infographic.

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I wonder how long it’s going to take before I end up buying my cat his own iPad so he can watch videos of other cats all day.

That’s crazy, but on the other hand, he keeps hogging my television.

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Netflix Reportedly Plans to Hike Prices for No-Ads Plans After Actors Strike Is Settled ↗

Netflix is gearing up to raise the prices of streaming plans without advertising “a few months” after the SAG-AFTRA actors strike is resolved, according to a new report.

The streaming service is “discussing” raising prices in “several markets globally,” and likely will first increase fees in the U.S. and Canada, according to a Wall Street Journal report, citing anonymous sources. The Journal did not have info on what Netflix’s new prices will be or when they might go into effect.

THE PRICE HIKES WILL CONTINUE UNTIL PROFITS IMPROVE!

While this news isn’t definite, it also wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it happened. I’m sure somebody in an executive suite questioned why in the world they should have to suffer the consequences of temporarily lost revenue when they could just pass it on down to their consumers. After all, it was the media companies that were the true victims of the recent strikes, right?

Right? 🙄

Every day it seems that enshittification should become an enshrined law of the universe.