Pop Culture Cosmos #453- Thunderbolts* Review, Sinners Takes A Bite Of The Box Office, and What Is XBOX Thinking?
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Welcome to the Pop Culture Cosmos. Pop Culture Cosmos is Gerald Glassford and he has returned once again. It is the great one himself. It is.

not the final boss because the great one now has moved on to the final boss so the great one here took over the great one name i just hope there's no copyright infringement in on that it is of course tj johnson tj great to have you here my friend back again on the pcc thank you brother i'm grateful to be back on a pop culture cosmos

So I ask you, my friend, a lot's been going on in regards to the world of pop culture. I know that first and foremost, this is

weekend that we're recording on this is the weekend of the thunderbolts uh movies are getting back into gear we've had a very strong april leading into hopefully will be a very strong may starting off with the thunderbolts not sure yet how that will be playing itself out there but it's not because the movie is bad in my opinion i had a chance to see it uh first showing first day

And I'm going to tell you right now, I thought of it in a really positive fashion. It's one of the better movies. I've already ranked it on my list for people to go out there on popculturecosmos.wordpress.com. I've already ranked it on my MCU list, but I'm giving it a good positive score. It's right around the top 10. Right around, I put it at 11 to give you an idea. Okay. All right. Yeah, that's pretty solid for you. I like it.

I will say, going in, if you're not familiar with what's going on with this part of the MCU, it deals with mental health and mental health issues. I like the fact that, I think the strength of this movie, it goes in places where Marvel movies have only traded very lightly.

The only thing I could relate to this was an Ultron where Scarlet Witch basically she casts a spell on a couple of the Avengers and put them into dreamlike scenarios and things like that to explore parts of their traumatic past. We see bits of that here but to a much greater extent and how that portrays itself out as far as the good and bad parts of this movie as far as what's going on and

And basically it portrays mental health in a way that, you know, with Marvel characters and Marvel heroes, how they can be one step away with their mental health from being the good guy

and turning into the bad guy. And I really, really liked the way that they delved into this aspect. They dealt with it very carefully, very respectfully, but it was very effective. And for that, it's one of the deeper Marvel movies, and I think that's one of its greatest strengths, TJ. Well, that's awesome. I think that, you know, I agree. I think the last time, I think they really even touched on mental health. Well, if you don't want to count

Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the series versus the Captain America movie, Brave New World. I think that one kind of touched on a bit of the mental aspect and it kind of got into more of the socio-political aspects of it as well. But I think it's important that Marvel films in general

Or just Marvel Entertainment. I wouldn't even just limit it to films. Marvel Entertainment understands that their audience has grown. You know, obviously, we've been dealing with the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2008 with the original Iron Man, which just released on this date in like 2008, I want to say. I think it was May 2nd, 2008.

So I think this is literally the anniversary of the first Iron Man film. And so we've been, we've grown up with these movies and we've grown up with these characters. And a lot of us have known them way before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So with that being said, these movies and this entertainment medium, if you will, have to evolve along with their audience to tackle some of the, you know, the broader, some of the tougher subjects that people tend to want to shy away from.

from when it comes to their storytelling. But if art often imitates life the way it does, then there are things that we kind of really should be talking about, even if they're things that are a little bit uncomfortable. Absolutely. But I think that's the best part of this film is what it delves into. There's bits of comedy. There's also bits of really...

Heavy storytelling. I enjoyed it. I don't know for younger audiences if they're going to get it. This is more of an adult Marvel movie, which may ultimately decide its box office effectiveness because it's a movie, if you take the kids, they just may not get it.

And so it's not exactly the greatest family film in the world, but I will say for what it does, it's very effective. I will say also as well that the

Post-credits scenes, please stay for both of them. One is amusing, and then one is supposedly the longest on record. I didn't feel that long, but I guess according to what the stats say, it is. I will say there's one caveat, which hopefully when you see it, I'll be able to tell you what that is that I thought that, you know, it's like, oomph.

You didn't quite stick the landing for me, but it's still pretty effective, much more effective than Brave New World, which is absolutely the worst of all the cutscenes that are out there. But the way it portrays the Thunderbolts and how they have to go ahead and try and save the situation that goes on, I really like it because it takes you a really dark place.

but shows if you work together, you can get yourself out of any situation, TJ. Well, that's, that's pretty awesome. And I think that's a point that's well needed nowadays. It seems like if we just find a way to come together, we can accomplish so much more. So that's pretty awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing it now. I know that it relies heavily on Yelena Belova, Florence Pugh's character, and,

I don't know. It's so weird because I really like the fact that Bucky Barnes was in this movie, but I don't know how effective people will say he was utilized, especially coming off of his Academy Award nomination. His two great movies that he did last year. So...

We'll see. I'd like to hear people's thoughts on that, on how was Bucky used in this proper context as far as this film is concerned? Because he's moved on, he's become a congressman, and then he's brought back into the mix with this for certain reasons. So...

Your mileage may vary there, but Yelena Belova, Florence Pugh, and her father, Red Guardian, David Harbour, they do steal the sunshine and spotlight pretty good, pretty effectively. Chewie Luis Dreyfus as the mustache-twirling villain, per se, in this scenario, as the CIA director, Dave Fontaine.

She's solid in whatever she's doing. She's a really great actress. She's really good as far as hamming it up for the villainy aspect of it. The secret as far as Bob is concerned and how that is portrayed out, it was pretty effectively portrayed out. Overall, again, a pretty solid movie. I'd probably give it right around 8.

7.8, 7.9, 8, right in that range out of 10. Again, I put it at 11. You can go ahead and check out my entire stuff out there if you're listening. Go ahead and check it out at popculturegospels.wordpress.com. It's right there on the front page. My entire list where I categorize all 30-something. I don't know. I lost track of how many. There's a lot at this point. Exactly. So,

your hope when you go see it Thunderbolts is what? I think if I have to summarize my hope for it, I think my hope is that it kind of helps reset like

reset the entire MCU, but kind of give us a strong point. I feel like the problem with the multiverse saga is that they've been throwing so much crap on the wall, seeing what sticks, and nothing's really stuck. I hope that we really have a movie that kind of finally grounds us and kind of gives us something to

base the next few movies on, if that makes any sense. You know, the thing with the Infinity saga is that we had this overarching theme and we've seen bits and pieces of the overarching theme play out in each movie or the majority of the movies. There were some films that didn't touch on it too, too much. But by and large, you understood what the cosmic threat level that was Thanos was and that he was coming. Yeah.

With the multiverse saga, I think where we've had issues, and especially because they've had to about face in the light of Jonathan Majors and the things that went on with him and his characters and Kang, they've had to shift focus and shift positions and really kind of re-center themselves. So it's been very difficult for them to have a

grounded approach to the multiverse saga. So I'm hoping that this movie, considering the fact that they've been able to kind of see everything else that's played out, has had the opportunity to kind of rewrite itself and be

be the more grounded experience that can really kind of set the tone, at least for the next few films that we have coming out and kind of give us at least a chance to really understand what's coming next. So that would be my hope, if that really happens or not. Not 100% sure, but I'm definitely hoping that they give us a good starting point to get ready for the next couple of venture films.

Absolutely. And hopefully it will lead into a very solid showing for Fantastic Four, The First Steps, coming up in July, and whatever they have planned forward in between, leading up to Avengers Doomsday, which they're already filming for right now, for coming up next year. So looking forward to that.

Checking out everyone's thoughts on the Thunderbolts, but we're not done. We're not done yet with the box office because there is also another great story that's going on. I know we've talked about it on the show in previous weeks, Josh and I, but Sinners is just still...

doing great at the box office and had a tremendous hold in a second week. I think that's what everybody was worried about is how does a movie perform in a second week? Well, it had one of the greatest holds ever for a wide release. Uh, I think it was under 5%, just under 5%. Uh, and it was just absolutely a tremendous showing centers, uh, is now heading into the weekend. Uh,

Over $181 million worldwide as it starts to try and roll out internationally, but it's a huge hit domestically, over $140 million worldwide.

Obviously, you know, the Ryan Coogler magic touch is getting this one again. Just such a great director. It's one of the highest rated films of the year. It's a win, win, win situation for this film. It's great to see Michael B. Jordan. I'm hoping that this film does not get forgotten about like Dune did, you know, later in the year when it comes to Academy Awards.

and nominations and things like that because I thought it should have been thought of more fondly. But be that as it may, it is really, really done well. And I expect a huge, huge haul for this at the box office. Plus the fact that I know that there's some controversy in regards to the deal.

that Warner Brothers signed with Ryan Coogler that this will be Ryan Coogler's baby once again in 25 years. Your thoughts on the success of Sinners and what may go forward? I don't think Ryan Coogler will get this deal every single time when he does the movie, especially I like to see him. Yeah, I like to do Black Panther 3, but I like to own the rights after 25 years and Disney would just go, uh... Yeah, yeah. Um...

Yeah, no, I don't see this deal being something that's a regular mainstay. However, what I do see this deal doing is very much like the Nintendo Switch has done for Xbox and more than likely Sony, is that it's setting a precedence. It's setting a very interesting precedence for directors who...

are of the caliber of Ryan Coogler. And, you know, obviously Ryan Coogler is still a very, very young director, but has already established himself as a premier director in Hollywood. So I would imagine that this is really going to kind of set the stage for what other directors go to the negotiating table with

with these movie companies in regards to what they're looking for rights-wise to own the film afterwards. So I think it's going to be very, very interesting to see how that plays out. You know, I think that's an incredible thing that Warner Brothers did that actually, you know,

allowed him to have those rights after 25 years and that it would actually be his film. And considering that, you know, some of the thematic elements in the film even talk about ownership. You know, you have a Black director owning a predominantly Black film after 25 years. You know, there's...

There's some poetry in that. And I think that's actually a really, really cool thing. But again, I think it sets a very interesting precedence moving forward for directors in regards to their negotiating ability with some of these major movie studios. In regards to the success of Centers, you know, my wife and I went to go see it and absolutely enjoyed the movie. It wasn't

It wasn't overly grotesque. It wasn't overly gory, which is, it wasn't overly horror either, which are, you know, kind of the three things that my wife and I both were not interested in seeing. So we were very grateful that it was not any of those above three. You're listening to the pop culture cosmos. But what I found,

is that it's sort of very, very interesting. There were so many things that were happening in that movie from a thematic standpoint. I mean, layers upon layers of different things that you could peel back and you could spend quite a bit of time peeling back all the layers that were in the movie centers and trying to point out every little nuance. But what I've come to really appreciate is that Ryan Coogler is a director that does his homework and Ryan Coogler is a director that...

Sully envelops himself into that world and doesn't just say, okay, I'm going to make a time piece and have a couple of cars, you know, or, you know, some wardrobe or a little bit of the dialogue is going to be reflective of that piece. No, that was authentic Sully.

from, from, from the ground up and the, the, the people that they use, the way that they, the way that the, the one lady had to go, how they had to go across street to get the mom to come over and help with something, you know, just the way that that entire thing was developed and shot and the way that they moved, everything was very, very true, um, to the time that the movie was depicting. And it was just an interesting, um,

an interesting play on something that, you know, the vampire trip that we just haven't seen done in quite that way before. But there was so many nuanced layers, so many different things, and you could spend an entire Pop Culture Cosmos episode breaking down different things, different Easter eggs and different systemic, not systemic, systemic's not the right word, but just different sociological

layers of this film and different things from a socioeconomic standpoint and different cultural things. There was just so much to this film. And I think that's what the mark of a great film really is. You know, the plot is very basic. The plot is very simple. And it's not that there's not a lot that was unexpected. It wasn't like they rewrote

a vampire story. You know, this is still a very basic vampire story. And that goes to show you that there's so much magic in the process. There's so much magic in the environment. There's so much magic in the actors and the actresses that they have in these films that really set it apart from that. So I'm very, very, very, very grateful that that happened. I'm very, very grateful that that film got made. I'm interested to see how it again continues to elevate the genre and

sets of presidents for these directors moving forward. Definitely see what happens. But again, Sinners has been a great financial success. One of the biggest surprises probably recorded for 2025. You can pretty much count it right now. I don't think anyone was expecting this kind of success.

feedback and this kind of audience support for this film. And I'm just thankful for it. I'm really thankful that when a good film comes out, people support it. That's what counts to me the most is that they're going to support it and continue to support it. And word of mouth is definitely driving this film. And I see it having a lot of legs leading through Memorial Day weekend for this film and a

I don't know. I'd say five, six, $700 million couldn't be out of the picture for this film. Oh, absolutely not. And from what I understand, they're actually having an IMAX re-release of this film for a few days. So, you know, the...

I know that Ryan Coogler is such a fan of filming in IMAX. I mean, all of his movies between Black Panther, I think even the Creed films were filmed in IMAX or filmed using IMAX cameras. So he has this love for IMAX. I know even Michael B. Jordan has a love for IMAX films as well. So it'll be interesting to see now that it's being re-released in IMAX. When I actually, when my wife and I seen it, we seen it in IMAX. I didn't...

I didn't realize I was buying IMAX tickets until I found out how expensive it was after I paid for it. And I'm like, what the world did I just pay for? It's like, oh, it's an IMAX. Well, okay. I kind of wish the teller would have told me that prior to swiping my card. But, you know, now that I've gotten to experience it in IMAX, I'm very grateful that I was able to experience it that way. Because it definitely set the bar very, very high for what I expect that movie to have been. And it was amazing. Amazing. Great, great, great film.

Once again, it is T.A. Johnson, the great one, along with me, Gerald Glassford. Thanks again for watching us. Truly appreciate you joining us. So it is Sinners and also Thunderbolts at the top of the box office in a year where initially it was not very good for the box office. I'm glad to see that people are going back to the movies again and hopefully they will continue to do so again.

because we as consumers hopefully will be able to have some type of outlet and hopefully good movies are going to be it. It just shows, TJ, that, yeah, I understand the marketplace has changed with the desire to go ahead and see these movies on streaming. I know that the success ratio for movies is not as great as it once was,

because of the alternatives that you have now. I think it's just something where these film companies have to start realizing, do we actually put this film out to pasture in a box office format or do we just send it right to streaming where it can be promoted?

And maybe even if it's a lukewarm movie or a bad movie, still get an audience for that. Maybe they wouldn't have got it had it not come with the baggage of being a box office bomb. I just think that these companies need to start realizing what they think will work if they put it out in theaters and what they think is probably better off maybe going straight to stream. Yeah, I think that there's going to be a very interesting opportunity

conversation with these movies and with these directors and these producers to say, okay, this is what we have. What kind of legs do we think this is going to have? What kind of reach is this going to have? What kind of appeal is this going to have? And like you said, is this something that's going to be worthy of maintaining box office status or should we look at other

other distribution services for this particular film. So I do, I think it starts the conversation and it's a conversation that needs to be had quite frankly, because you have to be realistic in your expectations. And if it exceeds expectations and far exceeds them, then that's one thing and kudos to that. But I think they have to have a realistic idea of what's going to happen and then are able to go from there.

So we will see what happens with the box office as it heads into a very important month, a critical month for May as Thunderbolts is out now. And then later on this month, the legal and stitched live action remake, Mission Impossible, Dead Reckoning and more. So we'll go ahead and keep you updated right here. Plus the continuing success of Sinners.

We'll go ahead and keep you updated on that right here at the Pop Culture Cosmos. But my friend, there's still much more to talk about on today's program. TJ, I know that you originally sent me a message in regards to what you want to talk about a few days ago. And one of the lines in there was Xbox winning.

I think I want to rescind that one. Yeah, I think you want to rescind that one because actually Josh and I went on the year, both the Super B.S. Gamescast and the Pop Culture Gospels to talk about people need to get on board with Xbox. Now, Xbox coming up to this week was, in my opinion, the leading video game company for 2025. In fact, on all platforms, PC,

xbox and ps5 because they've come out with more games better games on all those platforms than any other publisher slash console maker whatever you want to call them at this point in time they have done a better job of putting out great playstation games than playstation itself which is laughable they've had a series run ever since you know i guess you can go back uh maybe with uh

I don't know if you want to go Indiana Jones, you want to go for Flight Simulator, you want to go after that with, of course, Avowed, you want to go, of course, with that with South of Midnight, you want to go after that with, of course, what we've seen with The Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered. They helped fund Claire Obscure Expedition 33, and that has been a breakout hit in and of itself.

The successes have been there. So let's talk about the good before we talk about the bad with Xbox. You wanted to talk about that. You were so excited. Xbox has had a run now of success and

games that they put out or help put out that have really moved the needle really solid stuff that's out there I played 75 close to 75 hours of Avowed I really think that was a really good adventure out there I know South of Midnight has really connected with a lot of people but your thoughts my friend on this in regards to Xbox let's get to the good with Xbox before we get into the not so good which they mentioned

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, that's fair. I think you always want to start with that. Always start with the sugar. Yeah, obviously you have quite a few successes as of late. I mean, obviously South of Midnight we talked about already in previous episodes.

And then with Indiana Jones and like they, I guess the, when I say success for Xbox, we also have to be realistic in what success for Xbox looks like. So having multiple titles in the top tier of games that are purchased for different platforms is incredible, right? You know, that just kind of shows you that the games itself were, were not so much the problem or the,

I shouldn't say the games. The quality games for Xbox weren't the problem. The Xbox had legs and it still has legs. And there are a lot of titles within Xbox family that have legs. The Forza Motorsport, Forza Horizon, those titles have legs. Doom, you know, the entire Bethesda lineup has legs on other platforms.

So it's important that, you know, for Microsoft to be, to have things that are considered wins, understand that a win for them is having, you know, multiple games at the top of people's playlist. Especially in this day and age where you have so many options and so many different avenues to get these games, to have Xbox titles as top tier games on multiple platforms is pretty darn cool for, for Xbox. So,

Between that, between them showing once again the value in the Xbox Game Pass by releasing a lot of these games day in day, I mean, they surprised everybody with the not surprised Oblivion remaster or remake that came out and, you know, hey, by the way, we're doing this and by the way, it's going to be out tomorrow or today. Like,

Those are the kind of things that we've come to miss about games and game consoles and this development cycle and all that stuff. We've come to miss those type of announcements. And so having one of those announcements and having it happen that way was just an awesome thing to be a part of, but to know that, you know...

When I go home today, I'll have that game available to play before I even realize it was out. So Xbox has had a string of victories, and I think it's something to be said because I know myself personally have been very, very...

very, very pointed with Xbox in regards to what they're doing. And while I've been, I feel like I was one of the very first to truly say, hey, this is what Xbox focuses on. It's not about console sales anymore. They're interested in the ecosystem. They're interested in having the Xbox brand in every home, on every television, on every console. That's what their focus is now. Their focus is Game Pass. Their focus is expanding. It's not really on the console sales anymore. That's not to say that they're not going to

have console sales um but that's just not their focus and with that you know seeing that this their their plan is now coming to fruition um you know i i would consider those wins for microsoft um and even when we talk about some of the negative and obviously the negative going to be talking about is the price hike across the the slate of xbox uh software hardware so on and so forth

We have to remember that, again, this was kind of precedented by Nintendo two weeks ago when they announced the price points for the Nintendo Switch 2, and then they even announced the price points for some of the first-party titles. And they're very specific in saying it's not going to be every title, but there will be titles that go upwards of $70 for purchase now or $80. And it's not something that console gamers really want to hear, but we also...

We also have been eating pretty good for a while. And I think something else to kind of really consider, keep in mind, is that the price of these games are going down so quickly. I mean, we look at titles that were released three weeks ago, four weeks ago, a month ago, and they're already showing 10, 15% discounts, 20% discounts, especially if you're a digital consumer and if you're purchasing these things through Amazon.

you know, the Xbox marketplace or the PlayStation network or the Nintendo shop. Well, Nintendo, not so much. They're notorious for not wanting to lower the price on their stuff. But I say that to say, we'll ultimately still find ways to save a few dollars here and there. But the real is the, the truth is the cost of everything is going up and it's really, it's unfortunate because like,

You know, this economy is not really getting better. It's really going to become more of a luxury to be a gamer, as opposed to it being something that, you know, we've all been able to kind of really just enjoy and do. It's going to really make us a bit more selective on the titles that we purchase and how we spend our hard-earned money, because now there's not as much of it to go around, and we don't have as much to purchase with the little bit that we have now. So...

it's, it's a great thing, um, that Microsoft is putting themselves in a position to be around for a long haul. And, you know, again, they had a, a great year. Um,

However, you know, this price hike is just not something that people were interested in seeing, especially considering the fact that, you know, a special edition Xbox Series X is now costing more than a PlayStation Pro. And that's one that has like the two terabyte hard drive. And, you know, that costs more than the cost of a PlayStation Pro at this point, or it's very, very comparable in cost to it.

And when you look at things of that nature, it's like, okay, what's our ultimate end game? And obviously, as we talked about it, it's not going to be console sales. That's not going to be their bread and butter anymore. So why the price hike, even though you're not really interested in selling, even though you're not really selling consoles, and so you're not selling a whole lot of consoles, and then you decide to raise the price on your consoles. I'm not really sure I understand that concept.

or why you would raise the price on any of your hardware, your games. I understand that. But the hardware that's already out, it's not like you're making that hardware better. You're just re-pricing it. So I'm confused. I'm confused on what they're doing and why they're doing it. You're listening to the Pop Culture Cosmos.

once again it is t.j johnson along with me gerald glassford thanks again for watching this thing right here at the pop culture cosmos uh noting uh before we went to the half hour break and uh noted that xbox has indeed upon all the good things that they've done of course for the core over the course of this 2025 did announce uh earlier uh this past week uh that they've raised prices on their console sets and also as well of course

their accessories as well. Controllers, headsets, you name it. Everything has gone up substantially by the course of... As a whole, as a median, 20% across the board. Their consoles now range in price from...

the uh what uh the mid 300s for the s uh to now 700 plus uh for the special xbox series x uh two terabyte edition so unfortunately uh again xbox had a chance to take full advantage of the marketplace but you're right uh

They don't seem to have a focus on that as far as when they have the advantage to themselves, bringing out so many great games, so many games that, that really could be in tune, at least promote game pass. If you're not going to go ahead and promote the consoles itself that you're jacking up the price on. Okay. That's fine. You pretty much priced yourself out of any type of success, the hardware area there, but again,

promote Game Pass as something that's approachable still to consumers as a value-driven entity in this economy that's right now. It would be so great if they did that, but unfortunately, all the news that you're seeing this week is that

that xbox has raised its prices of its consoles and accessories and not you know what let's focus on game pass as really being the thing in the video game industry that people should go ahead and try

Yeah. And it's unfortunate because of it's such a value. It really is. And I know you and I have already spoken ad nauseum about the value that is the Xbox Game Pass and the value that still is the Xbox Game Pass, considering how much content you get.

And what you're paying for, it's really staggering the amount that you're getting for it. So it really is an amazing value. And I hope that they do a better job of letting that be the focal point kind of moving forward. However, it's just not been what they focused on. And it's unfortunate because there's really a lot to be said about the value that you're getting there. And especially, again, you look at this economy, this market where we are and everything

how this economy just isn't what it used to be and there's just so much value in what the xbox is bringing to the table that is is really disappointing that they haven't found a way to tap in and let that be what they focus on um i'm hoping that that changes i really am because they deserve it you know people deserve to be rewarded um with something for their money and unfortunately

the Xbox, while having the ability to show them the real value in it, just hasn't made that their focal point. Not like it was, you know, in years prior or at times prior to. So I really hope they get back to focusing on that. I really hope they get back to

Not necessarily the console wars as we knew them back in the early to mid to early 2000s, you know, 2010s and whatnot. Not those kind of console wars, because I think those days are long gone where, you know, you would actually have slugfest between Microsoft and between Microsoft and PlayStation and Nintendo as far as who has the better console or who's doing what better.

I think those days are gone because everybody wants a much more Fumbaya experience when it comes to their gaming platforms. Well, personally, I like a little bit of fight, but, you know, what do I know? That's just the WWE fan in me, so please forgive that. But I think that they need to continue to focus on what's going to really be their driving factor. And I think that's why they've gone the route of trying to put some of their first party titles on other consoles as their way of saying, hey, I don't care how you play Xbox titles, just play them.

So we'll see, man. We'll see. It's been a very interesting year for Xbox though. It has. They just need to get the word out on still how value driven Game Pass is. And if they did that and where you can access it, if you don't want to access it on Xbox consoles, which are substantially higher now, you can still access it on smart televisions, of course, Amazon fire and PC and other outlets as well. So go, go,

That's the thing. Xbox doesn't really do a good job of communicating that. And then they wonder why they only have about 35 to 40 million subscribers to Game Pass, which still in this day and age is the best value in video games. I just, you know, I don't know. I would just be too disappointed if I had all these successes as far as video games in a row.

And I'd be just tooting the horn about it, but that's just me. That's just me. No, I agree, brother. I think that they're missing the opportunity. However, there's still time. I mean, they still have a chance to do so. I just don't think that that's kind of their focus at this point. But they absolutely have the ability to really showcase that they might have been right.

You know, when everybody's all like, Thanos was right, Xbox might have been right. So we'll see. Time will tell. Time will tell, indeed. But the video game world also got another shocker before the end of the week, and that was Grand Theft Auto 6, the impending biggest entertainment launch in history, got delayed out of 2025 and is now being set, as of now,

I'm going to put that in pencil right there. Yeah, exactly. Nice big eraser just in case. But they did give a date in the least sexiest version allowed as far as just a press release. May 26th, 2026 is the target date now for GTA 6.

I know a lot of people are looking forward to this. Some are not because of the price tag that may come along with it. But your thoughts, GTA 6, which was pretty much assured by 2K president and the 2K CEO earlier this year, saying, yeah, it's on track for 2025. It's going to happen. It's going to happen. And you know what, TJ? Yeah.

Didn't happen. Didn't happen at all. It's funny how that happens like that. You know, it's tough. There's such... When you're a company that is 2K, especially in regards to the Grand Theft Auto series, I mean, they've... They're so high that you're kind of a victim of your own success in a lot of ways. And with Rockstar Games and just in 2K, I'm sorry, and Grand Theft Auto...

They're victims of their own success. And the problem with that is now they're trying to find ways to up it and take it higher and take it a level higher and keep raising the bar, which is a commendable thing, but it really makes it difficult for us as gamers to... The weight is excruciating, right? But we ultimately know, and this is the true thing, that a delayed game can ultimately still become a really good game. But once a good game is released, it's very, very hard to...

to garner that goodwill back from the community. I mean, you, you, it can happen. I'm looking at, you know, cyberpunk 2077 is one of those examples of it being able to happen, but it didn't, it, it took his licks. It definitely took his licks to get to that point. So a game that's, that's delayed can ultimately still become a very, very good game. You know, a game that's released, that's not up to par or not up to the standards expected. Um,

will be an infamy. Granted, there's time to work it out, but it's a different ballgame at that point. So I can understand it. I don't like it, but I mean, I get it. There's a lot of expectations and a lot of things that they're trying to do with this game and trying to be revolutionary. And it takes apparently a whole lot of time to do that. So here we are waiting until May of 2026 as it stands right now.

yeah yeah remember the grand theft auto 5 came out on the original x on the xbox 360 xbox one xbox series s and x we'll be waiting for the next grand theft auto until 2026 they may have already announced the next xbox at that point we'll see uh and that'll probably be 900 at that point in time or something like that so um

It is what it is at this time. But it is, of course, Grand Theft Auto 6. I still think that there's going to be a ton of great games that are headed on the way for this year. So I don't think it's going to be too much missed when it comes to GTA 6. Mind you, it's going to be a great GTA or experience or whatever it is they're doing with Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto Online, no matter how many microtransactions they might try.

trying to squeeze into it. It's still going to be a great experience. But there are still hopefully some really good games along the way. I know that they talked about they readjusted the release date for Borderlands 4.

I'm assuming in anticipation for the later announcement in the week of GTA 6's move out of 2025. So they're circling that as their big release of the fall. I don't know whether the Borderlands market is still there. We'll wait and see, especially, you know, certainly not there on the movie side. And I'll just leave it at that. Will EA announce the new Battlefield? So anything that was going to come out in the spring,

or summer of any big nature in 2026 now has to figure out, oh, well, do we go out in the fall or do we try and go ahead and go into crunch and move it up for February, March release, or do we bring it up into 2025? So a lot of decisions to make TJ, when you have a, such a major release move out of one time period and move into another.

Yeah, absolutely. But I think, you know, to that point, I think they did the gaming industry a service by saying, hey, look, listen, we understand what we have. We understand what we have is going to demand. And, you know, before it was just target 2025. Okay, get it. But that's still a very, very broad, obviously, that's a broad target. So with them at least narrowing their target by saying, hey,

May 2026, we're looking to launch Grand Theft Auto. So whatever it is that you're going to do, you may want to do it well before or well after because that little spot right there, that's going to be all Grand Theft Auto and that's going to just print money. So if you plan on releasing a game, to your point, if you plan on releasing a game in that early spring,

that spring, you know, spring, summer-y time, you may want to reconsider. And actually, I think that's pretty solid on Rockstar to say, hey,

We know what we have. We know what it's going to do. We know the demand for it. We know the anticipation for it. So please, this is what we're looking to release it. I mean, you know, it's a bit of an ego thing, too. But at the same time, you know, it's like, hey, you know it and I know it. So let me help you by saying I'm going to do it right here. So you might want to part the seas for me because I'm coming.

Well, I'll tell you what, it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out as far as the games that either move up, move back, or move sideways into a different day, week, or month, or year ahead of GTA 6's release in May 26, 2026. But if you guys have thoughts on GTA 6 being bumped back, please let us know right here at PopCultureCosmos at Yahoo.com.

Well, my friend, before we head them out, you also wanted to go ahead and comment on the Lakers. They lost in Game 5 to the Minnesota Timberwolves. And as someone who covers the Lakers on a day-by-day basis, I know that a lot of people were surprised by this. A lot of people were angry, upset, a lot of fingers being pointed, fingers being blamed.

It was found out later on that LeBron James would not have been eligible or available to play anyways because he had an MCL sprain that he suffered in Game 5, so he would not have been able to continue playing anyways. But the future with Luka Doncic, to a lot of people's eyes, is still bright.

Just needing to go ahead and make a few changes on the roster. But you wanted to go ahead and share your thoughts, my friend, on the Lakers. Heartbreaking way to lose for many Lakers fans out there. But, you know, many of us think the best is yet to come. You're listening to the Pop Culture Cosmos. You know, yeah, and heartbreaking is the word I might use. I think that, you know, we have to really...

We had to calm our expectations. The Luka trade really reinvigorated the Lakers fan base and really reinvigorated the Lakers in general. Brought a lot of superstar fans

zeal and superstar energy back to Los Angeles. And, you know, again, we're talking about a Los Angeles Lakers team that still has LeBron James, who in year 22 is still averaging 25 points a game and is still probably one of the most efficient players on the court at any given time. So you take that into consideration and then you add Luka Doncic, who brings even his own star power and then the star power of the future for the Los Angeles Lakers is

It really did great wonders to reinvigorate the franchise, reinvigorate the fan base, reinvigorate the NBA. If you listen to some of the basketball pundits and the way they talk about how the Lakers talk was always top of the thing that people wanted to hear. It was a win for everybody. But I think the expectations needed to be tempered a little bit. And truth be told, they told you what they needed and they still didn't get what they needed. And

So this is kind of the end result of that. It's like, listen, you know, this is great, but we still need a big. We still need a big that can produce. And obviously Jackson Hayes was not able to be who we were hoping he would be able to be because of injuries and so on and so forth. And, you know, obviously the thing with...

The trade that we were going to get the center from was a Charlotte. I want to say Mark Williams. Yes, Mark Williams. Thank you. We're going to get that center and that fell through for whatever reason, you know, one side blames the other the other side blames them. So, you know, who knows the truth, but

What we do know is true is that the Lakers were exposed, but they weren't exposed to anybody who has been paying attention. You know, I think that's the funny part is that, you know, everybody says the Lakers were exposed. JJ Redick was exposed. And no, no, no, no, no. This is who the Lakers have been. The Lakers have always shown flashes of brilliance. They've always shown flashes that we can play brilliantly.

You know, we can play against anybody in the league. The difference is when you're playing playoff basketball and your rotation goes down from a 10-man rotation to an 8-man rotation or a 7-man rotation and you start looking at different lineup matchups and you're having to play against the same team multiple times, the game changes a little bit. Playoff basketball is different than regular season basketball and people that don't seem to understand that

are the ones that are confused at how the Lakers could have lost in such a spectacular fashion to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Make no mistake about it, the Minnesota Timberwolves are a team to be reckoned with. I understand that they were not exactly a very high-rated team

a high seeded team in the West, but it doesn't change the fact that, again, we're talking about regular season basketball versus playoff basketball. They have depth, they have youth, they have size. And those are three intangibles that you really, really, really benefit from going into the playoffs. You know, again, the rotations go down so small, but if you have more players that you're able to put into the rotation that can give you quality minutes, then you're,

That gives you favor going into these matches that only have players that they can do, you know, six or seven, six or seven player rotations with. So the more players that you have that are able to truly contribute, the better off you're going to be in the Minnesota Timberwolves are very, very, are pretty darn deep team. So it's really not a surprise. I think the bigger thing that we need to focus upon is one, this is coach JJ Reddick's first year. Um,

He already kind of surpassed expectations. Nobody expected him to be as good as he was. But the way he played as a player, the way he was as a player, is very similar to the way he coached. He coached very passionately. He played very passionately. But he kind of fumbled in some of the bigger moments. And I believe that in the big moments here in the playoffs, he fumbled a bit too. And he'll have something he can go back and take a look at in regards to his performance and what he did and be able to move forward

With that, so I'm not, it's not that I'm not disappointed. I'm disappointed because obviously I love my Lakers. I want to see them continue to succeed. I want to see them win. But I didn't, I never expected them to win this year. So my expectations were not met. I was disappointed to be right. I would have loved to have been wrong.

but it's, it's, it's what I expected. So I'm really not mad. I think that they have an incredible opportunity and incredible chance to, to, to build upon the success of this season. Um,

I think that Rob Palenka's got his work cut out for him, especially considering the fact that, you know, they already feel like they got, they, they, he was able to swindle a deal for Luka Doncic so that you're not going to have people that are going to want to have a lot of goodwill towards the Lakers or Rob Palenka. However, he's finding ways to get things done. So,

You know, we'll see what kind of rabbits he can pull out of his head at this point. But no, I absolutely think that there's a lot to have taken away from this season that's very, very positive. The fact that LeBron James is still producing at the rate he's producing, at the age he's at, is incredible. There's a lot of positive things to look at in regards to this season. Of course, there's some negative, but it's nothing that we didn't already come to expect. So I think the real question on what happens is...

this offseason, what this offseason looks like for the Lakers moving forward in the beginning of the end for the LeBron James era of Los Angeles. So that's the last question we'll touch on for the last nine minutes of the show.

Wanted to go ahead and hear your thoughts on LeBron James. LeBron James currently has an option for next year. Speculation says he might retire. Speculation says he might pick up the option, which is around $50 million, or that he might exercise to leave that option only to resign somewhere else or resign with the Lakers on another one-and-one contract.

option. One year guaranteed with a one-year player option on top of that. No trade clause, by the way. He cannot be traded. Your thoughts on that? Again, the

I know he's got it. It's a three to five week recovery period of time. So he'll be healthy come fall if he decides to continue playing. Let's just get that out of the way. The MSL sprain that he had is not serious enough that it's going to be long lasting. He should be fine come as far as training camp is concerned, whatever team he plays for.

But the specter of one son that he got the chance to play with and make history with, with Bronny James, there's another son involved who Bryce is playing at the, or this fall will be playing in his freshman year at Arizona and could be eligible for the draft if he decides to go one and done in the summer of 2026. So your thoughts on,

That's out there. I know I get a lot of pushback on that. I'm not saying I would like to see that happen, but you know, when you want to play with your kid, there's another kid involved. So playing with your kids becomes a little bit of a, I don't know, whatever you say, attraction to go ahead and stick around just that much longer. Okay. Very, very interesting. I don't,

I get it. At this stage in LeBron James' career, he has very little left. Dad, you played with Bronny, but you didn't play with me. At this stage in his career, he has very little left to prove to anybody. Very little to prove to... There's not much more that can be done to his legacy that's going to cement him anymore in the people's minds as one of the greatest, if not the greatest player of all time, than what's already been done, to be fair.

So he has to find different things that are going to continue to motivate him to want to play the game of basketball and being able to play it with his son or with his sons at this point. Maybe that determining factor. It's I would like to see if I'm being honest, I'd like to see LeBron James opt out and resign for a smaller amount because truth be told, as if the ultimate goal is to win a championship.

You're going to need some money to do that. And they still have some, they still have a mid-level exception. They've still got some room, but they don't have a lot of room. And the type of talent that you're going to want to bring in, the type of talent that you're going to want to bring to play alongside Luka, to play alongside Austin Reeves, to play alongside Rui and this entire team, who I'm not even sure if those last two players are going to be there come next year, is

you're going to need some money to do that. So I'd like to see, if I'm being honest, I'd like to see LeBron leave some money on the table and allow the Lakers some room to get some other players because let's face it, he's not hurting for any cash. So I think that

he'll leave some money on the table i think that he'll allow the lakers to um bring in some more talent i'm hoping that he'll allow the lakers to bring in some more talent and i'm curious to see what that ultimately looks like moving forward so we'll we'll see but i mean if you still have a lebron james who's producing at the rate that he's producing at and is still able to put up those kind of numbers um which is just asinine at this point it's incredible it's crazy it's unbelievable i i've

I don't think anybody has ever seen anything like this or will ever be able to see anything like this in a long, long, long, long, long time, if ever. So I think it's a very unique situation and one that you're going to have to kind of just accept and be along for the ride. And I know there's been various criticisms of LeBron and Luka and

Believe me, I hear it every single day at the Lakers fast break. But whatever you want to say, it still will be interesting going forward. I have many opinions on it. If you want to check out my opinions on a daily basis on the Lakers fast break, go ahead and check it out there. But I guess if we...

That allowed me to go ahead and continue the context. We'd be here another two hours at least. So I'm going to go ahead and have TJ have to suffer through that. But again, it is going to be something interesting to see how that plays itself out. And of course, you can always follow that on the Lakers Facebook, but the Pop Culture Cosmos podcast,

Closing this out, again, always something good to talk about. Well, maybe not something good to talk about. We had some bad news with the video game world here, back to back. Also, EA laying off quite a few people, 300 or 400 employees just as a terrible capper. And

Obviously, they had no confidence from the get-go on Titanfall. Then Titanfall 2, a very much lauded game, but came out to minimal success and support by EA. And then, unfortunately, the latest Titanfall project gets canceled and people laid off because of it. Very, very, very sad way to end the video game section on the show.

Yeah. Um, you know, you, you, you hate to, you hate to see that you hate to see any developers lose their job, especially in this market, this climate. Um, however, what I'm, I'm hopeful for is that there's always a chance. I mean, if you look at recent resurgences of different games and different properties, I mean, I'm even looking at, you know, days gone up, you and I, as you and I both talked about, um,

The fact that people are still showing interest and that there's still love there, there's always a chance. There's always an opportunity. It's just not in the cards right now. But if the fandom continues to demand it, then ultimately they'll come back. We will see, my friend. We will see. But the video game industry is in flux right now because of the rising prices.

and changes uh so we'll go ahead and make sure we keep updated on the video game industry the latest news and trends also right here at the pop culture cosmos as well but uh my friend it's been great having you here uh what are you looking forward to real quickly in the world of pop culture have you caught up with any tv that you promised that you said you would before we head on

Oh, you know what? Well, we just don't have enough time to talk about it. So we'll be able to talk about it next time. But you have or you haven't?

You know, that's a great question, but we're out of time. So we'll answer that question next time. I'll do a quick one for everyone out there and or cut up to the first six episodes. It gets better. Four through six is better than one through three. And I'll just say that. That's fair. I think that I'm so to go ahead and actually answer your question. There are some things that I've had a chance to watch, but what I've currently been watching is as most of the world has is The Last of Us and The

I'm very mixed on my reaction or my receptiveness to it because I'm such a fan of the game. And, you know, you and I have talked at nausea about how much, how fan of the game I am in regards to that. So the TV show... Well, we'll go into more detail on it because, you know, obviously there was the shocking death that happened a little bit sooner or a lot sooner than a lot of people had planned out. So we'll save a nice big chunk for you on the next time. How about that?

That sounds good. I'll have some good comments for that one, for sure. I got a lot to say about The Last of Us. Did you ever end up watching Severance? You said you were going to do it on your vacation.

No, and I just didn't get a chance to. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. Please don't hate me. I failed. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just kidding. That and the studio. Those I've caught up on Apple TV Plus, those two have been really good. I've heard Friends and Neighbors is really good too, so Apple TV Plus is putting out a lot of

Good stuff, which is great because their selections overall are limited, so it's good to see them finally putting out some good stuff there. Now, whether or not they keep on continuing because they're still losing hand over fist on it, as far as the overall network, that remains to be seen. But TJ, always great to have you here. It is TJ Johnson, the great one. Do you have any questions for him or I? The world of pop culture, pop culture cosmos, and the Arctic. So for TJ Johnson, this is Gerald Glassford.

It's another beautiful day in paradise right here at Pop Culture Cosmos. We thank you for listening, and here's hoping you have yourself a great day.