If the words “Bird Box” and “Bandersnatch” don’t immediately light up images in an individual's mind, that person likely had better things to do than fill up on the most popular movies on Netflix over the holidays.
Social media users and news outlets were buzzing after binging the Sandra Bullock sci-fi drama “Bird Box” and the newest “Black Mirror” movie “Bandersnatch.” With these two hits coming relatively close to one another, Netflix made a rare move and released viewership numbers. The Netflix Twitter account tweeted that “Bird Box” had over 45 million viewers in its first seven days. This fairly unprecedented (and unverified) report from the Netflix team implies that a record number of viewers watched at least 75 percent of the film which was considered a success for a movie that is readily available in most households across the world. For many who are tuned into social media, these numbers would be completely believable as most news feeds were flooded with memes and updates about the film. The problem? These memes were mostly generated as part of Netflix’s marketing strategy for the movie. (Which they prefer because real advertising is much more expensive.) So knowing how many people made the conscious choice to watch Bullock run blindfolded from an alien-invasion is still uncertain. However, the results are the same regardless, it was a lot. Netflix continued their reign over the 2018 holiday season when they released “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch,” an interactive viewing experience, just three days after Christmas. In the new film, a videogame creator goes off of his medication while creating a new choose-your-own-adventure game in the 80s. He begins to have hallucinations and trouble controlling himself when he realizes someone else has been controlling him all along (which is extremely meta considering the twist in this film is the fact that the audience at home is making the choices for the main character). This is an experimental storytelling format and technology for Netflix. Once again, their marketing team remained non-existent until the day before the film’s release. Shortly after the film was released on Netflix, social media exploded with memes and content related to the film assuring that many would actually watch the new movie just so that they could understand the memes. With this new marketing strategy, that appears to be working, the question remains whether the viewer is choosing their Netflix content of if Netflix is controlling them. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia
0 Comments
Emily Blunt as the titular character of Mary Poppins is practically perfect in every way.
I don't have time to write a review, but I wanted to say that it is so much fun and heartwarming. The music is great too! One might think that the entire D.C. Cinematic Universe is doomed to sink at this point but it appears that Jason Mamoa's solo "Aquaman" movie is just the right type of hero to soar to the top.
Aquaman isn't an amazing film but it does take a lot of risks that pay off in the end. Anyone going into this film shouldn't expect a serious movie like "The Dark Knight" or "Man of Steel" but rather, a Marvel-like comedy with insane battles and bright colors is more accurate. It's a fun time for anyone who likes superheroes but I still wonder if general audiences will love it too. "Spider-Man Into the Spider-verse" is an amazing achievement by Sony Animation. No other superhero film has ever dared to be this inventive, this close to the source material, this unique, and this woke at the same time. Introducing Miles Morales for the first time, "Spider-Verse" is a bold take on the classic Spider-Man character. The cast is amazing, the soundtrack is rock-solid, the story is fun and so are the characters. This is one of the few times I can claim that somebody might have made a perfect movie. No exaggeration, I loved this film that much. [email protected] @GrahamWoodMedia |
Erick L. Graham Wood
|