Why are the judgments of movie critics so often at odds with those of the movie-going public? “Are we out of touch with the audience? Why do we go sniffing after art where everyone else is looking for fun, and spoiling everybody’s fun when it doesn’t live up to our notion or art? What gives us the right to yell ‘bomb’ outside a crowded theater?”
Blog
Robots Begin To Take Their Places
Science fiction writers have been writing about robots forever. Now, “a half-century after the term was coined, both scientists and engineers say they are making rapid progress in simulating the human brain, and their work is finding its way into a new wave of real-world products. The advances can also be seen in the emergence of bold new projects intended to create more ambitious machines that can improve safety and security, entertain and inform, or just handle everyday tasks.”
Older Movie-Goers Making Their Mark
There’s a major surge in the number of older people going to the movies. And their larger numbers might start to change the movie industry. “Older audiences want to see a different kind of film. Maybe, as Norma Desmond once said, the movies have gotten smaller. But might not they be getting better, too?”
New TV Ads In The Form Of “Programming Content” (CW’s Got ‘Em)
“In an effort to keep viewers from skipping ads — whether the old-fashioned way, by fleeing the room, or the TiVo high-tech, fast-forward method — the newly created CW network is introducing a new forum for sponsors called ‘content wraps.’ The content wraps will replace national advertising on an occasional basis on CW and will play at the beginning, middle and end of a program.”
Plaintives Lay Claim On Iranian Artifacts To Collect Judgment
Five Americans who won judgments against Iran in an American court have adopted an unusual tactic to collect on their claims. They are “laying claim to some 2,500-year-old cuneiform tablets that are on loan from Iran to the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. The survivors are demanding that the university sell the tablets, unearthed by American archaeologists at the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis in the 1930’s, and compensate them with the proceeds.”
Is Venice Dying In A Sea Of Tourists?
“If left unmanaged, the sea of tourists may be a lot more threatening than the Adriatic Sea. Currently, around 15m people visit Venice each year, while the city has a resident population of about 60,000. Around the world literacy and cultural awareness are increasing. Incomes in India, China and Eastern Europe are now increasing very rapidly; there are 2.5 billion people in India and China alone who within 50 years might have incomes comparable to ours. That means that the number of people who want to see Venice and will be able to afford to see Venice might very plausibly expand by a factor of three or more over the next few decades.”
The Phenomenon That Is YouTube
YouTube, the internet video site phenomenon, is now serving 100 million videos a day. “YouTube videos account for 60 percent of all videos watched online, the company said. Videos are delivered free on YouTube and the company is still working on developing advertising and other means of generating revenue to support the business.”
“Pirates” Is Already The Year’s Top Movie
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” had another smash weekend at the box office, earning an estimated $62.2 million. In only ten days, the movie has grossed $258.2 million, making it the top-selling movie of the year.
ABT – More Than The Crowds
American Ballet Theatre’s season at the Metropolitan Opera House is a crowd pleaser. “Whether it or any company could be great and grand enough to fill the 3,900-seat Metropolitan Opera House consistently on the highest artistic level week after week is another matter. Ballet Theater needs the Met to certify its grandeur; the Met needs Ballet Theater to plug a two-month hole in its schedule with a lucrative rental. The match is not ideal.”
Are Writers’ Estates Ruining Innovation?
“The oddity of the general intransigence of the posthumous representatives of Brecht and Beckett has always been that both dramatists were radicals who overturned theatrical convention. Yet subsequently their executors have sought to seal these free-thinking pieces in an artistic formaldehyde at least as strong as the conservatism that the authors originally stripped away.”