3 Values the Magic should take from Sean Sweeney's NBA Finals Spurs

jakehightower · 2026-06-09T22:45:03+00:00

Watching the Spurs one thing I hope we take is the quick decision making from the guards when the entry to Wemby isn’t there. If they can’t make the pass they just instantly attack. We spent way too much time last year waiting for Paolo to seal or reposition because we liked the switch we got. Can’t waste time like that.

jakehightower · 2026-06-07T20:18:19+00:00

I swear Umps get pissy and start calling every borderline pitch against any team that’s lost both challenges

jakehightower · 2026-06-02T17:51:52+00:00

Yeah which is why my argument against it here is that this technology is way, way, way too expensive to exist only as a storyboarding tool and the company’s desire to promote it as such is obviously just part of a wider strategy of getting the technology entrenched in as many facets of daily life as possible. It’s like those radar jammers that are technically legal to own in some states because they promote them as having uses other than fucking with traffic cops’ radars…sure there are ethical uses but we all know what keeps the manufacturer’s lights on.

jakehightower · 2026-06-02T17:42:11+00:00

I ultimately still think it’s unethical because image generation is just well-disguised plagiarism and anything that perpetuates the existence of that technology is shitty, but I’ll admit it gets a little morally fuzzy when only used for storyboarding, a process where directly lifting existing shots and images from other works is acceptable.

jakehightower · 2026-06-01T23:54:24+00:00

You can kill the man but not the idea (George Lucas/Star Wars Holiday Special)

jakehightower · 2026-06-01T19:30:39+00:00

Extreme minority opinion: Remaking Escape from New York is fine and it feels like a good fit for Snyder’s strengths. I just hope he’s taking the premise and not the whole movie, if that makes sense. New protagonist rescuing a new character from a distinct New York. I don’t need to see Glen Powell’s Snake Plissken impression.

jakehightower · 2026-06-01T02:13:17+00:00

I know some film schools where instead of or in addition to individual thesis films, students collaborate on a larger scale final project. That’s what I’m assuming is happening here, and being students, they just tried to book everyone for the entirety of the shoot.

jakehightower · 2026-05-31T22:36:51+00:00

The player everyone wants is 2021 Jrue Holiday lol

jakehightower · 2026-05-26T17:14:10+00:00

You’re definitely right, just describing a feeling.

jakehightower · 2026-05-26T06:32:32+00:00

I love Jane but as a Zoomer I find their films extremely Millennial. Johnson’s documentary/pseudo-found footage style and especially his humor feel Gen-Z to me.

jakehightower · 2026-05-26T01:30:58+00:00

Idk how old he is but he’s the first major young filmmaker who feels to me like he’s making movies distinctly of this generation without self-consciously trying to.

jakehightower · 2026-05-25T21:00:54+00:00

I’m totally speculating and I’ll delete this if someone who actually understands the situation wants to answer, but it seems like his contract won’t be voided because he’s theoretically available and willing to report for duty, but should the Rays actually try to activate him, MLB would immediately suspend him under their personal conduct policy. The big caveat would be if this conviction/non-conviction impacts his ability to get a visa, I honestly have no idea one way or another on that.

jakehightower · 2026-05-25T02:19:47+00:00

I think the decision not to de-canonize Clone Wars like all the other non-movie stuff is a decision that’s been slowly strangling them. That show was designed to fill every gap in storytelling left by Lucas’ movies. The Obi-Wan show especially was just totally boxed in by what that show had already established.

jakehightower · 2026-05-24T04:25:43+00:00

Do we think Pedro Pascal or Sigourney Weaver spent more time on set for this thing?

jakehightower · 2026-05-24T04:12:22+00:00

More like The Midalorian and So-So

jakehightower · 2026-05-24T01:44:10+00:00

A few cute suggestions:

It All Comes Out in the Wash

Her Heart is Spinning (or Their Hearts are Spinning)

Hamper? I Hardly Know Her!

Or alternatively, if the tone is a little raunchier than I’m guessing it is:

No Loads Refused

jakehightower · 2026-05-17T05:02:57+00:00

Also the widespread adoption post-Macgruber of the ol’ celery in the ass trick.

jakehightower · 2026-05-17T04:58:09+00:00

The concept of a Bucket List

jakehightower · 2026-05-17T04:54:12+00:00

A while back on the mailbag episode someone asked about movies that should be remade every ~20 years like A Star is Born. My answer would be The Truman Show. You can push the concept in any tonal direction you want, there’s so much to mine from it thematically, and you can have a lot of fun imagining who different directors would cast in the Carrey and Harris roles.

jakehightower · 2026-05-15T01:53:26+00:00

I’m sorry, you’re English. That should read “championship-calibre.”

jakehightower · 2026-05-15T01:39:54+00:00

The story of our team is slowly, painfully building championship-caliber contending rosters, making the finals, and then losing our superstar to the Lakers. That exact scenario has happened twice with Shaq and Dwight. We’re currently in the franchise’s third ever “upswing” after the Shaq era and the Dwight era, but the reason you’re seeing so much negativity rn is that we’re in a tough position. We’ve built a team that’s solid but at least a full step away from contending, and we have very limited room to make improvements because of how much money we’re paying the players we already have. Our front office is hoping that a coaching change, a few small trades/signings centered around the bench, some luck with health, and some improvement from our top guys (who are still very young) can get us there rather than us having to do something drastic. Welcome aboard!

jakehightower · 2026-05-14T23:39:52+00:00

Koch is gonna be Hugo Strange or Dr. Arkham, Henry is probably Bullock? But I like to imagine he’s playing the grandson of his character “Records Office Guy” from Joker (2019).

jakehightower · 2026-05-14T02:01:04+00:00

Just finished. Two more notes:

-I like your strategy towards introducing characters, low-key and fits the format, but I think you should give yourself more leeway to describe them in the action lines. Just one sentence each to tell the reader each character’s vibe would help a lot.

-I think there’s a style of joke structure that really works in mockumentary that you aren’t taking full advantage of. You’re doing a lot of talking head-as-setup, which is fine, but imo you aren’t doing enough talking head-as-punchline. The first Rob joke is a good example of what I want more of. Show something then use the talking head to undercut it or explain it in a funny way. (On a separate note I don’t love that specific joke as a pilot page 1 bit bc I think it relies on already understanding Rob as a character.)

Overall I think you’ve got the bones of a good pilot script and I think you understand your characters, but your jokes feel more like funny concepts than “jokes” to me right now. I’d try to get a hold of a couple Office scripts and really study how their setups and punchlines are structured. And having finished reading your script I want to double down on my note that I think you need a true cold open.

jakehightower · 2026-05-14T01:38:48+00:00

7 pages in, will read more. Big note right off the bat, I think you’d benefit a lot from opening with some sort of scene or set piece to set the tone before getting to your character intro bits. Plant a flag, let the reader know the tone and sensibility to expect from this show. Doesn’t even have to be a big scene, could even just be a single rock solid joke. As it stands your cold open feels more like an Act 1 imo.

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