>>>The whole trilogy-on-the-cheap adventure has been the story of what happens when there's a mismatch between ego and ability.

Bingo.

Well, of *course* he knows a theatrical release will be a money loser. And of *course* Part III will bomb, just like Parts I and II. That writing's been on the wall for a long time. But he's having too much fun playing bigshot to give it up, and he's apparently found a way to do it by grifting Other People's Money.

What he doesn't get is that the last two films were for him too. The whole trilogy-on-the-cheap adventure has been the story of what happens when there's a mismatch between ego and ability. Aglialoro got to strut around in his movie-producer glasses, as he created a string of stinkbombs that have enwreathed the novel in eau d'isaster so rank that nobody's going to consider another adaptation, let alone one that isn't wretchedly bad, in our lifetimes.

Yeah, if you've only got one theater, why waste the screen on a sure loser?

"The reality of AS movies is that they don't show in a lot of theaters because, well, most people would rather watch the usual Hollywood drivel."

The reality is that Part I started small and tried to use word of mouth to grow, and the word of mouth was - outside the groupies - quite terrible. And deservedly so, because it was a very slapped-together movie that disappointed a lot of the base and was ignored outside the base.

So Part II canned the "start small and grow" release pattern in exchange for wide release. But as a sequel to a bomb nobody saw, and one getting horrific reviews as well, it too sank without a trace. It actually did worse than Part I. The moment that theaters were no longer contractually obligated to show it - that is, after the fourteenth day - theaters dropped it like the proverbial hot brick, and overnight it lost five-sixths of its screens.

The odds that Part III might actually make any money in a theatrical distribution are pretty much zero. Aglialoro would be smarter to release it direct to video, so that its tiny little audience won't have to wait, but then that gives Aglialoro less of the ego-boosting "Look at me, I'm a movie mogul" he seems to need.

If you make a sequel to a terrible bomb sequel to a terrible bomb, don't expect a profit. That seems like a simple enough idea.

Because he had talent?

It would take more noise than this site could generate in its wildest dreams.

Part I failed. That's no secret.

Part II failed worse. That's no secret either. You saw that in January when the special showing in upstate NY got cancelled. A quarter million people within thirty minutes of the theater, yet you couldn't even get three dozen who wanted to see it.

The real goal, as always, is to complete the trilogy so that astroturf organizations can buy it bulk and give it away by the forkliftful to artificially inflate Rand's popularity, just as they do with her books, which would vanish without a trace without that sweet, sweet astroturf.

Now, you can pretend that you don't know this, but that won't make it any less true.

Agreed. A is always A, but we have to engage those who say A is not A, not to be in agreement, but rationally explain why their statement that A is not A renders themselves meaningless.

Here is the point. If I say that A is not A, then I am saying that whatever I say A is is not really A, then my statement has to be meaningless and my words are just a garbled mess.

I agree there are standards (man creates standards all the time) and A is A, reality exists and is incontrovertible.

Perhaps I have misunderstood the whole A thing. I guess if I say that God existing equals A, then A is A, regardless of others' opinions. Gee, A is always A, then.

If that is the case, if others say A is not A, then their statement cannot mean what they say it means, unless they do not intend to communicate anything.