First, two comments about our president, Donald Trump. - Remember how I've been telling you that Trump failed in his 6January2021 coup attempt mostly because he had no real control of the Department of Defense?
- Well, he is acting more swiftly than I thought, for yesterday he fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C.Q. Brown, who has been in the military for over 40 years, whose term in this position was supposed to end in September of 2027. Trump gave no explanation on why.
Trump also replaced Admiral Lisa Franchetti, head of the U.S. Navy, as well as the Air Force Chief of Staff and the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force. They ensure enforcement of military justice.- Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the firings were "un-American, unpatriotic, and dangerous for our troops and our national security. This is the definition of politicizing our military," he said.
- President Trump now has total control of the military, something he theoretically already had in 2021, being the Commander in Chief, but really didn't.
- But now Trump is in good position to actually become a dictator whenever he decides to take that step.
The Supreme Court actually ruled against Trump yesterday, who had appealed to overturn his firing of Hampton Dellinger, the head of the Office of Special Counsel, an agency charged with protecting the rights of federal employees. Actually, this declination was not really so, for the lower court judge only reinstated Dellinger for 14 days, and now Dellinger will instead be released on February 26. Not sure why the White House even bothered to appeal.
Okay, now to the topic of the day. Network TV is great for local news and most sports. But streaming channels gained huge momentum during the pandemic (for people avoided movie theaters), expanded their impact since then, and now, more and more, are also beginning to manage key sporting events, a sign of what will come.
I'm a good example. I've had access to Netflix and Amazon Prime for more than a decade, and paid those monthly fees, without using them much.- However, when COVID-19 came I stopped going out to movies and instead became satisfied with these two channels.
Then it occurred to me that when I did go to the theater, I had to drive there and back, buy a ticket, which is now around $15, and also popcorn with something to drink, perhaps doubling the cost.
Why bother going out when these streaming channels are always available, and I had by then built up a list of dozens of series I had started, with more films than I could possibly watch.- Since 2020 I've been to a theater only once, to watch Barbenheimer, which was an event worthy of my participation.
Around 85% of U.S. households now have at least one subscription to a video streaming service, such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video orMax. U.S. users have an average of four streaming service subscriptions, according to the Deloitte Digital Media Trends Study. Another study found that 7% of Americans have six or more streaming subscriptions.3, 4, 10
A full 15% of people said they spend $50 or more on video streaming subscriptions per month, but the majority of people spend between $20 and $29.99. Those aged 35 to 49 spend the most on streaming subscriptions, with 24% paying for more than five. A whopping 93% of Americans said they plan on increasing their streaming options or at least making a change to their existing streaming plan.10
I subscribe to Netflix and Amazon Prime.
- I pay... I don't know, I think around $30/month, but I also purchase products from Amazon, so Prime is almost free.
- 84% of those who have Netflix, also subscribe to Amazon Prime
- Netflix and Prime dominate. # of subscribers:
- #1 Netflix 302 million
- #2 Prime 200 million
- #3 Disney+ 125 million
- #6 HBO Max 100 million
- #7 Paramount+ 72 million
- #8 Hulu 54 million
- #9 Peacock 36 million
- #12 Apple 30 million
- #14 ESPN 25 million
- #55 FuboTV 2 million
- What is your best guess by country?
- Germany: #1 is Netflix, #2 is Prime
- Japan: #1 is Prime, #2 is Netflix
- China: #1 is Tencent Video, #2 iQ1Y1
- Russia: #2 Kinopoisk, #2 ivi TV
Netflix.- In 2021, had more than 3700 movies and 3500 series, almost half being Netflix originals, then in 2023 6,621 titles. They regularly add and remove titles.
- Netflix Serbia has a catlog of 7,436 titles.
- They add new shows and remove old ones, so that number might still be close to what are available today.
- Squid Game generated 1.65 billion hours in the first month.
- Money Heist accumulated more than 6 billion viewing hours since first shown.
- They are both worth your while.
- There was a time when ads were rare. Not now, especially on Prime, but also Netflix. To remove commercials, you can pay more/month.
- Cost:
As of February 2025, Netflix has three subscription plans:
- Standard with Ads: $7.99 per month for up to 1080p/Full HD streaming
- Standard: $17.99 per month for up to 1080p/Full HD streaming
- Premium: $24.99 per month for up to 4K Ultra HD with HDR and Dolby Atmos streaming
- Cost:
Amazon Prime membership costs $139 per year or $14.99 per month in the U.S. There are also discounted membership options.
Discounted membership options
- Students: Young adults (ages 18-24) and college students can try Prime for six months at $7.49 per month or $69 per year
- Government assistance recipients: Qualifying recipients can try Prime Access for 30 days at $6.99 per month
Amazon Prime benefits include:
- Free delivery on more than 300 million items
- Exclusive deals
- Savings for eligible members
- Free two-day delivery on prescriptions from Amazon Pharmacy
- Exclusive discounts on medication orders through Amazon Pharmacy
- Access to One Medical's healthcare services
- Here are the new films in February,
- Korean Dramas.
- I watched The Menu, a shocker of a film.
- Rotten Tomatoes scores of 88/76.
- Stars Ralph Fiennes, with Anya Taylor-Joy
- Oh, a really high class gourmet documentary. I was once into Michelin 3-star restaurants, and dined in several of the World's 50 Best Restaurants. The gourmet-quality of the movie beginning exceeded any of the ones I experienced. But then....
- Yikes! A staff member commits suicide. An irreverent diner gets one of his fingers chopped off. A lot more.
- Oh my gosh, this is a horror film.
- I won't say any more.
Even though I already have many dozens of series I've already begun and not finished, I was fishing around and The OA caught my attention.- Brit Marling, creator and main actress. I remembered her, for I saw a couple of her films more than a dozen years ago. In 2011, Another Earth:
#2 Another Earth (72%) has won awards at the Sundance and Maui Film Festivals, and while it has huge scientific flaws, as I once worked on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence looking for extrasolar planets, found the premise of an Earth 2 suddenly appearing about as faraway as our present Moon from Earth 1, interesting and creative. Nothing is explained as to why--although this could have something to do with parallel universes colliding--but the heroine, who was soon to enter MIT to major in astrophysics, while driving back home from a party, and obviously inebriated, is transfixed on the new planet and runs into the car of a Yale professor and composer, played by William Mapother (who is a character in the Lost TV series and has had small parts in five Tom Cruise films...they are cousins...Cruise's real last name is Mapother--and William took on this commanding role for $100/day). He survives, but his pregnant wife and young son are killed. Actress Brit Marling is relatively new to the screen, and co-wrote the script of this film. She spends four years in jail, and the rest of the film has her attempting to make up for this tragedy, where the relationship with the composer becomes intimate, without any knowledge on his part about her past. Turns out that Earth 2 is a mirror of our Earth, with what appears to be the same people. A journey to Earth 2 is planned, and the student wins an essay contest to join the expedition. After finally admitting who she is, the opportunity to go is given to the professor to revisit his possible family. A few months later, the final scene shows the two Marling characters staring at each other. This movie gets you thinking. Trailer.
A year later, from my posting:
There was a fifth alien movie: Sound of My Voice (RT: 74%). It came and quickly disappeared. The reviews were not kind. It was sort of like Another Earth (RT: 68%). The lead actress for both was Brit Marling, who also co-wrote the former. Both were ingenuous, illogical and mostly harmless nonsense, except Sound of My Voice was the only one of all those alien films that presented a case for the existence of an actual alien! Some reviewers totally missed this twist. Brit deserves these large posters.
Sorry, all the above only to justify why I chose to watch The OA, where Marling is again creator and main actress.- There are two seasons, but S#1 only got 76/78 Rotten Tomatoes ratings. However, S#2 scored 92/89.
- There are 8 episodes in each, averaging about an hour each in length. If I get through the first season, the second will get much better.
- So I'm now on episode 7 of S1, and okay, typically Brit Marling. To borrow from the past: ingenuous, illogical and mostly harmless nonsense.
- Looking forward to the next 10 episodes.
- One giveaway, OA stands for Original Angel.
One more entry. We've been watching Suits, a legal drama the past few weeks by recording a certain channel. Turns out that it's simpler just going to Netflix, for they have all the seasons well organized.
- From Wikipedia:
Mike Ross, a university expellee with a photographic memory, makes money by taking the LSAT and the bar examination for others. He does this to pay for his grandmother's living expenses, as she was his primary caregiver after both his parents died in a car accident when he was 11. In the pilot, Mike agrees to deliver a briefcase of cannabis for his best friend Trevor, a drug dealer, for a large payout. Mike astutely avoids being arrested in a sting, only to stumble into a job interview with Harvey Specter, a supremely self-assured senior partner at the prestigious Pearson Hardman, a law firm specializing in corporate law and one that only hires Harvard graduates. Harvey is impressed by Mike's tenacity and knowledge of the law and hires him as an associate, despite Mike's not having a license to practice law.[12] Together they try cases while maintaining Mike's secret from the rest of the firm, though Harvey's insightful legal secretary, Donna Paulsen, finds out almost immediately. Mike meets Rachel Zane, an ambitious paralegal he is immediately attracted to, while trying to impress managing partner Jessica Pearson and avoid the suspicions of junior partner Louis Litt.
- First season appeared in 2011 with 12 episodes.
- Then seasons 2 to 8, with each having 16 episodes.
- Season 9, only 10 episodes, released in 2019.
From the New York Times this morning:
📺 “Suits LA” (Tomorrow): In 2023, “Suits” — a show that had been off the air for four years — was the most watched show on Netflix. It’s easy to see why. The show was sleek and light, sexy and fun. What’s more, it introduced the world to Meghan Markle. Now, we go again in “Suits LA,” a spinoff series. Like the original, it follows the lives of improbably good-looking lawyers. Unlike the original, it’s set in the world of Hollywood entertainment law. I’m sure it’ll be just as fun, but whether it produces a star who helps convulse a centuries-old British institution remains to be seen.
I think, but I don't know, since I'm still into Season One, the two might have gotten married in Season Seven. That's Mike Ross and Megan (now the Duchess of Sussex) above in that photo. They both left the series after S7. But if a series lives through 9 seasons, it surely must be amazingly good, and Rotten Tomatoes gives it 91/87 ratings, with S4-7 getting 100% from reviewers.
Further, Suits LA will begin on NBC tomorrow night. New actors, but the lead for for the first Suits, Gabriel Macht, reappears in 3 episodes. That's him above.
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