Category: media

The basic cable network A&E paid $195 million for the rights to show old episodes of HBO’s acclaimed mob drama, The Sopranos. But before the episodes could be shown, of course, A&E had to edit out much of the foul language that peppers the show’s dialogue. But did they actually have to? The whole process “reiterates the culture’s lingering hypocrisies (it’s OK to show assassinations, but the F-word is verboten and strippers must be in bikinis.)”

The nominations are out for this year’s Genie Awards, Canada’s answer to the Oscars. But an ongoing actors’ strike is casting a considerable pall over the proceedings.”It is ironic. This is all happening after a year in which box-office successes were as much a part of the story as the usual critical acclaim.”

This was supposed to be the season that appointment TV made its comeback, in the form of several high-profile serial dramas on major networks that everyone hoped would entice viewers to keep coming back for more. Instead, the serials have been dropping like flies, leaving what few loyal viewers they had to wonder how the story would have ended.

Apocalypto had the biggest all-time opening weekend. “The film, spoken in the Mayan dialect and estimated to have cost £20m, has taken £1.3m since its release last Friday. The film, which has received the kind of attention directors of other foreign language films can only dream of, beat the previous record holder, Hero, which took £1.05m in 2004 during its opening weekend.”

“Today, single-screen theaters are no longer endangered – they’re practically extinct, maybe 150 nationwide, a handful in this area. Some fill niche markets, showing art films or classics. Others have found new life as anchors for business districts, a means for generating excitement and driving foot traffic.” A new life is the hope for the 94-year-old Hiway Theatre of Jenkintown, Pa., about to reopen after a $1.6 million renovation.

“The film, with a budget of about $200 million, is an original science fiction story that will be shown in 3D even in conventional theaters. The plot pits a human army against an alien army on a distant planet, bringing live actors and digital technology together to make a large cast of virtual creatures who convey emotion as authentically as humans.”

“A UCLA study released in December 2006 argues that, though 69 percent of roles were reserved for white actors, minority actors have an option to improve their job prospects by suing the entertainment industry for violating their rights under Title VII, the equal employment opportunity clause of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

Alfred Hitchcock’s “characters are haunted by tunes for good reason. And while the achievements of his films and their scores have not lacked elaborate celebration (he worked with the best film composers of the 20th century and left his mark on their development), Hitchcock had something else in mind that may not be fully appreciated.”

New York City is looking for a bigger piece of the movie and TV production business. “It’s frustrating to see shows set in New York that are not made in New York. Something like ‘CSI: NY’ spends maybe five days a year here. You can see that it’s a fake New York.”

“The union representing 21,000 of Canada’s film, television and radio workers went on strike Monday in a dispute that centres on how actors should be paid for performances shown on cellphones and the Internet.”