The Daily Valet. - 5/27/21, Thursday

✔️ A Big Deal

May 27, 2021

Thursday, May 27th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Would you be more willing to get a tattoo if you knew it’d be gone in a year?

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

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Today’s Big Story

Amazon Buys MGM

But what exactly does the $8.45 billion deal mean for James Bond and Amazon Prime Video?

You likely heard that on Wednesday, Amazon reached a deal to acquire MGM, the company that owns the iconic Hollywood studio. It’s a significant acquisition for the e-commerce giant, and it means the company will own a content library of that consists of around 4,000 films and over 17,000 hours of TV.

The acquisition, of course, is likely to help Amazon attract even more big-spending Prime subscribers as its Prime Video service competes with the likes of Netflix and Disney Plus.

Forbes said Amazon overpaid. They called the deal, worth around $8.5 billion, “a willful overpayment as a show of force.” The deal is the biggest for Amazon since its $13.7 billion acquisition of the Whole Foods grocery chain in 2017.

Amazon said MGM’s goldmine is the intellectual property that it can leverage for making new content—the beloved franchises that can now be spun into new material. While Amazon’s media business has so far been a relatively small part of its overall empire, it still spends billions on content each year.

As far as what it means for MGM’s golden goose, Eon Productions stated that “We are committed to continuing to make James Bond films for the worldwide theatrical audience.” So, I guess, we probably shouldn’t expect James Bond 26 to premiere on Amazon Prime.

But one thing is clear: the studio era has definitely given way to the streaming conglomerate era. Hollywood continues to consolidate as companies attempt to beef up their content libraries to compete with Netflix and Disney. AT&T recently spun out its media business WarnerMedia to merge it with TV company Discovery, creating the world’s second largest media firm by revenue outside of Disney. Both companies have their own streaming services (HBO Max and Discovery Plus), raising the possibility of them being combined into a single, more substantial service.

↦ BOND MONEY: According to Variety, the 24 James Bond films released so far have generated $16.3 billion in global ticket sales.

Re-Fund the Police?

Cities across the nation rethink police budgets in relation to recent spikes in crime

One year since a nationwide movement sparked calls for slashing police funding in favor of other nontraditional forms of public safety, it's not clear whether any city achieved anything resembling what protesters demanded: massively defunded or abolished police departments.

As American cities face a “surge in violent crime amid pandemic despair and a flood of new guns onto the streets,” civic leaders who embraced the values of the movement are now reassessing, reports the New York Times.

In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he'd reinstate $92 million for a new precinct after scrapping the project last summer. Several other cities, from Baltimore to Los Angeles have followed suit. In fact, nine out of 12 of the nation's largest police departments have local leaders calling for a funding increase.

The New Republic, however, points out that there are some flaws in the statistics and politics being used in these conversations around crime. Most notably, is that the FBI releases national crime statistics in full on an annual basis and with a significant delay. The bureau released its 2019 figures in September 2020, meaning that we won't have a clearer picture about national crime rates at this moment for another 15 months.

↦ FYI: The budgets can still lead to positive change. Cities under Justice Department scrutiny often have to spend money to implement changes, such as new training for officers and body cameras.

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‘Friends: The Reunion’ Is Here

Be warned, the long-anticipated special is for die-hard fans only, apparently

If we've learned one thing about Friends during the 17 years since it ended its original run on NBC, it's that Friends will never really go away. Every episode is available to stream while re-runs air on cable constantly.

According to Vulture, that inescapable reality gives Friends: The Reunion (available today on HBO Max) a vibe that's somehow simultaneously unsentimental and deeply nostalgic.

In the 104 minutes of the celebratory special, we see numerous revisits at once: the cast meeting up again on the rebuilt set, a table read in which they mimic episodic dialogue from decades ago, a group interview in front of an audience hosted by James Corden, a clip show, even a bloopers reel.

But it's clear this is for hardcore fans. Which is fine, right? Like who else would want to watch it. But Esquire's Dave Holmes said he was left with more questions than answers, dubbing the special “The one where you wonder why any of this is happening.”

Considering a Post-COVID Tattoo?

Maybe you’re not sure. You’re not alone ...

It's something a paradox. We saw stories this week on both a recent surge in new tattoo appointments as well as a spike in tattoo removal services. Of course, both are possible.

It seems while in lockdown, some people “had more time to look in the mirror and saw tattoos they didn't want post-COVID.” And then there are those who took to experimenting with DIY stick and poke tattoos at home and now need to either erase or fix their handiwork.

Others are using the medium to—as one tattoo artist put it—reclaim their body and recharge their creativity. But, of course, permanent ink is a big decision.

Thankfully, semipermanent tattoos (made from new, top secret ingredients) that are made to disappear in about a year now exist.

↦ Meanwhile: Top tattoo artists are opening a marketplace where tattoos will be sold as tradable commodities in the form of NFTs.

In Other News

↦ Biden Seeks More Intel on COVID-19 Origin

↦ Transit Employees Among 9 Dead in San Jose Rail Yard Shooting

↦ Recent Patent Filings Hint That Dyson Is Working on a Toothbrush With a Built-in Water Flosser

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

This Scotch-sniffing dog

Seth Rogen

The return of ‘Garbage Pail Kids’

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