Category: media

The UK has a big presnce at this year’s Oscars. But do the films nominated for the movies’ top prizes really reflect contemporary British filmmaking? I thought not.

“When Disney posted 10 questions on its Web site last month asking fans to influence what was in the High School Musical sequel more than 27 million votes were cast in 20 days. The success of High School Musical vaulted the Disney Channel into a tie with USA for top-rated cable network in prime time last year.”

“These days, Canadians are going to the movies less frequently than we used to. And the films we do go see are often not the ones embraced by U.S. audiences. Denzel Washington may be Americans’ favourite movie star, as a poll published last week suggests. But here, it’s not necessarily the case. Canadian admissions have been edging downward for close to five years.”

Major UK cinemas are being been accused of “withdrawing family film Night at the Museum in a row over the timing of its DVD release.” The DVD is to be released soon, and theatres are protesting over the short window between theatrical release and DVD sale.

Martin Scorcese has won this year’s Directors Guild of America top director award. This makes him a favorite to win a Best Director Oscar. “The 64-year-old beat the directors of Dreamgirls, Babel, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen to win his first DGA award after six previous nominations.”

“The San Francisco International Film Festival may not rank as an industry event that gets buzz off movie deals and celebrity sightings, but this April it will become the first film festival in the Americas to celebrate its 50th anniversary — and it is diligently documenting its cosmopolitan history.”

“A war of press releases erupted yesterday after the striking Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists said it was appealing a portion of this week’s Ontario Superior Court decision, specifically the part allowing the Canadian Film and Television Production Association to take the legal dispute to arbitration.”

Two major UK cinema chains are refusing to show a popular new movie, apparently as a protest over the studio’s decision to release the film on DVD only a couple of months after it premiered in theaters. “DVD release dates are a hot issue in the movie industry. Cinemas in Italy and Germany have already forced studios to delay the DVD releases of a string of films.”

Allowing the public to vote on the outcome of televised competitions and reality shows has become a staple of the modern entertainment world. “Yet even as entertainment democracy proliferates, some question how well it works… And some skeptics ask whether the spread of such contests is a reflection less of rising populism than of new marketing tricks.”

The Oscars may be an enjoyable diversion, but David Gritten says that the Academy’s sketchy voting practices have undermined its collective judgment, and allowed the Oscars to be bypassed in importance by the various critics’ choice film awards. “I guarantee we film critics see more films week in, week out, than members of other awards bodies. When we cast a vote, it’s based on a vast wealth of film-watching experiences – by no means all of them good ones.”