Category: media

Fight Between Netflix And Movie Theatre Owners Led To Odd Theatre Availability Of “Irishman”

The major exhibitors typically insist on a 72-day period of exclusivity for the films that play on their screens. During the monthslong talks with Netflix over “The Irishman,” representatives of two major chains agreed independently to lower that number to around 60, according to two people familiar with the negotiations who were not authorized to discuss them publicly; Netflix signaled that it would not go above 45. And that’s where it ended. – The New York Times

‘The Game’: The Game — In Which The Dangers You Dodge Are Pick-Up Artists

Artist Angela Washko spent four years studying Neil Strauss’s notorious womanizing instruction manual The Game, along with other materials of its kind, to develop The Game: The Game, a video pastime in which the player is a young woman in a dive bar being hit on by a series of men on the hunt. Each line of dialogue and “seduction technique” is taken directly from PUA (pick-up artist) books and how-to videos. – The Nation

As Netflix Expands Into More Countries, It Has To Deal With Those Countries’ Mores — And Censors

“[The company’s] 2018 annual report lists both ‘censorship’ and ‘the need to adapt our content and users interfaces for specific cultural and language differences’ as business risks. But as its subscriber growth in the United States stalls, the firm needs to keep growing significantly overseas in order to keep investors happy and stave off the competition from services like Apple TV Plus and HBO Max.” Reporter Alex Marshall looks at how these issues are playing out so far in India and Turkey. – The New York Times

Rediscovering The Women Who Built The Early Film Industry

“In the early years of the twentieth century, women worked in virtually every aspect of silent-film-making, as directors, writers, producers, editors, and even camera operators. The industry — new, ad hoc, making up its own rules as it went along — had not yet locked in a strict division of labor by gender. … Now we are in the midst of a new round of rediscoveries — this time of women’s behind-the-camera roles well into the golden age of Hollywood.” – The New Yorker

That Terrible Last Season Of Game Of Thrones? Turns Out Creators Really Didn’t Know They Were Doing

” They apparently kept being surprised at their experience, and not just through its now-infamous, unseen pilot, which the duo has long admitted was a complete disaster. It just seems like even as the show evolved into the success it became, the duo—who scripted the vast majority of the series, taking on even more work when the show began outpacing the source material from George R.R. Martin—were still, apparently, largely unsure about anything they were doing.” – Gizmodo

Is This Comedy Quiz Show Responsible For Boris Johnson Becoming Prime Minister?

“An institution in Britain, Have I Got News For You began airing in 1990 and runs on Friday nights on the BBC’s main channel, averaging 4 million viewers. … Political guests are subject to continual mockery, especially if they have a scandalous past or their policies appear muddled. But for those willing to be laughed at, and to laugh at themselves, the show has become a way to endear themselves to the public in a country where self-deprecation is an art form.” And Boris Johnson’s appearances on the show are seen as “pop culture classics.” – The New York Times