Busting the Block – How Avengers: Infinity War Changed the Game…for Everyone

While Rules of the Game is largely intended to reflect on the rules, regulations, and incentives that help influence our lives, occasionally something hits close enough to home that I feel compelled to write about it on this blog.  This is one of those times.

SPOILERS ABOUND

Check out the video here! – YouTube

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On October 29, 2014, Disney’s Marvel Studios announced Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (“MCU”), the culmination of a decade-long effort to infuse 20+ major motion pictures with just enough connective tissue to plausibly bring them together in one universe-shaking, climatic, cross-over event.

Well, that event is here.  Avengers: Infinity War (“Infinity War“) has arrived.

40+ characters.

A dozen galaxy-spanning locations.

6 Infinity Stones.

1 damn triumph.

As the MCU has grown to dominate the box office, almost every other movie studio has at least feigned interest in starting their own “universe” of interlocking films and other materials.  But whether Warner Brothers, Universal, or others, none have come close to what Marvel has achieved, and after Infinity War, the bar has been set even higher.

How does Infinity War do what it does?  How does the MCU work so well when seemingly all others have faltered? And how does Infinity War successfully navigate the “impossible” task of serving as the climax of dozens of plots over almost 20 movies and half as many years?

How? Let’s dig in.

The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker, and Heroism in the Age of Trump

While Rules of the Game is largely intended to reflect on the rules, regulations, and incentives that help influence our lives, occasionally something hits close enough to home that I feel compelled to write about it on this blog.  This is one of those times.

SPOILERS ABOUND

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NOW A (NOT SO) MAJOR MOTION PICTURE ON YOUTUBE!

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Let’s get this out of the way first.  The Last Jedi is a poor film (91% fresh!).  As a Star Wars film, it’s even worse.

Before breaking down The Last Jedi, I feel it’s important to make some disclaimers.  I have attended Star Wars Celebration.  Multiple times.  I have a robot BB-8 and a Millennium Falcon pillow. My wife dressed as Padme Amidala for the release of Episode II.  My Internet handle has been (and apparently always will be) a major Star Wars character.  From any angle in either my formal or home offices you can see something from Star Wars.

I am invested.

With that as context, I sat down last Thursday with hope in my heart ready to be taken on another journey to that galaxy far, far away.  While The Force Awakens was not my favorite Star Wars film, it was a decent enough re-entry for the franchise, and I was excited to see what the series could do outside of the long shadow of A New Hope.  I had no particular “theories” about where the story would go, or what Writer/Director Rian Johnson and Disney would do with some of the hooks that The Force Awakens had left to them.  I simply wanted to be told a good story.

Roughly three hours later, my excitement was largely dashed, and more than anything I was surprised to find how negative my reaction was.  I didn’t feel I had “over-hyped” the film in my own mind going in.  I knew that it had received strong critical reviews, but I had not read them, and I had been relatively luke warm (no pun intended) towards the two trailers I had seen.  But still, Last Jedi felt like a punch in the gut.

Only days later do I feel I’ve digested enough about the film to understand what I think went wrong.

Let’s dive in.

TGIF: March 10th, 2017 – Plane Crashes, Television Contracts, and Scofflaws

Despite what you may have heard, lawyers are, in fact, human beings with interests and hobbies all their own. They are not, I repeat not, robots sent from the future solely for the purpose of billing hours, drafting documents, and negotiating terms.  Not all of them anyway.  

In TGIF, I touch on some of my own interests primarily through the lens of the “Rules of the Game”, focusing on the rules and resulting incentives that ultimately affect all of us in pursuing our life’s endeavors. I may even crack a joke or two.  Hard to say.

TGIF will be published regularly on (surprisingly enough) Friday mornings.  For more information, check out www.hoeglaw.com or drop Rick a line at rhoeg@hoeglaw.com.

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Critical Thinking and Jumping to Conclusions – Michigan Men’s Basketball’s Eventful Journey to the Big Ten Tournament

On Wednesday March 8th, the State of Michigan was buffeted by a wind storm so fierce that more than a half million homes lost power (and expect to stay that way until Sunday or beyond).  Hoeg Law itself lost power 8 separate times (but fortunately for only a few minutes each).  It was in this  storm that the Michigan Men’s basketball team attempted to take off for their Big Ten tournament game in Washington D.C.  The results of that attempt were less than ideal, as their plane failed to take flight amidst 60 mph+ winds before skid-crashing off the runway (Mgoblog, SB Nation).  Players and team members would later describe the harrowing incident (including fuel pouring in the head coach’s face, exit door evacuations, and more) and admit to certain of them needing stitches and other medical care.  Plane crashes are not minor things.

Despite this the “games”, as they say, must go on, and so Michigan’s 12 noon tournament game on Thursday was refused to be rescheduled.  As it turns out, TV contracts are not minor things either.