Hollywood’s Critical Crossroads

Two years after settling the writer and actor strikes that hobbled Hollywood, the entertainment industry remains under assault on multiple fronts.

Politically, Donald Trump’s escalating culture war, and his willingness to use government to silence dissent, have put studios on the defensive, and opened them to charges of capitulating under pressure. Technologically, A.I. threatens to upend how content is created, and more pointedly, stirs fears about further job losses and eradicating entry-level tiers. Financially, the business continues to undergo wrenching change as it makes the transition from linear television and theatrical exhibition to the a la carte streaming age.

What’s unfolding isn’t just a speed bump for the industry, but rather an existential crisis that has destabilized the old studio framework, while questions linger about just how committed Big Tech titans—whose entertainment investments amount to rounding errors—are to playing in this pond.

While it’s easy, even tempting, to write off the entertainment industry’s struggles as a niche business story, that’s a myopic way of looking at things, often fueled by bad-faith actors who hate “liberal Hollywood” on ideological grounds.

The True Intent of 'Tron': The ostensible plot of “Tron: Ares” is about the perils (and possibilities) of “military A.I.,” but the two letters that matter most in terms of the movie—and why it even exists—are I.P. Disney seldom lets potentially fruitful intellectual property wither on the vine, which means reviving this 43-year-old concept—15 years after a long-deferred sequel, “Tron: Legacy”—tried to jumpstart the title with limited success.

In movie terms, and what amounts to damnation with the faintest of praise, “Tron: Ares” is slightly less incoherent than its most recent predecessor (granted, not a particularly high bar), while taking advantage of the passage of time to improve on the visuals, since “Legacy’s” de-aging process involving original star Jeff Bridges served as a lifeless distraction, if perhaps the most memorable aspect of the film.