Durham Enviro Stars

For the numerous fans who love to watch Japanese animation, many already know that the anime movie Akira directed by Katsuhiro Otomo was the first of its genre not only to reach audiences worldwide, but also go beyond the boundaries of its time. It is visually mind-blowing; I could not say it better than that.   There were several moments in Akira that made this such an exceptional film.  One of those points being the level of energy a person can possess and the potential of that energy to grow exponentially reaching dangerous heights.  As seen in the movie, Akira was a boy who was able to tap into this inconceivable force.  This energy which was found in all living creatures was the essence of life itself.  But as we come to see in the film, it can be highly unstable.  Akira was unable to control this power, which led to the destruction of Tokyo in 1988.  Now 30 years later, the energy is re-awakened in Tetsuo.  Like Akira, Tetsuo’s power grew rapidly reaching critical levels that will cause the destruction of Tokyo again if he is not stopped.  The purpose of this article is to focus on three visually epic scenes which demonstrate the devastating power Tetsuo wields and reminds us why this anime is a must see.

In the first scene Takashi, Kiyoko and Masaru challenged Tetsuo by invading his mind, but their failed effort only angered Tetsuo as he grew more vicious.  Tetsuo used his psychic powers to find where the aged children were hiding.  Shortly after this he broke out of his room and the guards were alerted.  Upon their arrival they discovered a disturbed Tetsuo in the hallway.  They tried to escort him back to his room but Tetsuo obliterated them leaving only their remains plastered against the walls.  This scene was significant in the film because for the first time you saw the devastating potential of Tetsuo’s power.  A rage developed in that moment when the guards approached and his thoughts became action.  He wanted them to go away and they were instantly destroyed. There was no remorse for the lives he took which represented him going over the brink of insanity.  
Another scene that illustrated Tetsuo’s devastating potential was the ascension of the Akira chamber.

Windows of opportunity. Windows of revenue. Windows are the ecosystem for how content is monetized. A movie opens in theaters in the US, then Europe, then on airlines & Pay Per View, coupled by a DVD release and first run HBO, second run Starz, 3rd run USA, 4th run NBC and so on and so on. What will the arc of a content launch look like in the future?

When a movie studio sets up a tentpole release of a major motion picture like Robin Hood or Avatar, Hollywood makes a decision. They take a deep, acid-reflux breath & decide should we release this movie in the US and then go global, should we do a worldwide release all at once or should we dump this bomb on 2 screens in NY and LA and send this turd to BlueRay for a long slow ride to the $3.99 bin at Walmart?

There is no bigger fundamental risk to the roll-out of a major motion picture than to miscalculate the lifecycle for its many forms and release schedule within its formats.

Are they releasing Russell Crowe Man in Tights worldwide because they are afraid of the reviews killing the buzz or do they want to snag Crowe for press before he goes on a bender? In any event, the event of unveiling a film is momentous at least momentous in the eyes & red meat of the producers who have sweat out a film’s existence and so every decision they make could mean the difference between boffo @ boxo or doa @arrive…

The interesting thing is that I contend that the days of this choice could be numbered.

Movies and all content live in windows of opportunity. Opportunity to buzz, opportunity to monetize and opportunity for the consumer to consume in dissimilar seats, formats, ratings & devices. Will the future of entertainment be a menu of choices as a movie is released? What if Robin Hood was released in regular theaters at $12, in 3D theaters at $14, at home on pay-per-view at $100 in G/PG/R ratings, on your cars satellite DVD player for $39.95 and on an iPad for 1 stream at $29.95?