“At college, we were assigned Barthes’s S/Z , which made me understand what I could do in radio. … In S/Z, Barthes takes apart a short story by Balzac, line by line. He asks: How does this story pull you in, engage, and give you pleasure? He … explains: here’s how to structure a narrative by creating a sequence of events that will create forward motion that will create narrative suspense, planting questions along the way that can be answered. That turned out to be an enormously useful way to think about how to do an interview.” – The New York Review of Books
Category: media
Rotten Tomatoes’ Critic Problem
The movie review aggregation site is only as good as the critics it aggregates. But are the critics representative of the real movie audience? Assuredly not. So there’s a problem. How to fix it? – Columbia Journalism Review
Tolkien Estate Throws Large Monkey Wrench Into Amazon’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Series: Report
“Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey, who is supervising the show’s development, told German fansite Deutsche Tolkien that the estate has refused to allow the series to be set during any period other than the Second Age of Middle-earth. This means Amazon’s adaptation will not cross over at all with events from the Third Age, which were dramatised in Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy and sees hobbit Frodo Baggins destroy the One Ring.” – The Guardian
Blame Video Games For Violence? Not According To Any Of The Studies
Though researchers have toiled on the subject for many years, none has categorically found that playing video games has harmful effects. Indeed, the absence of conclusive evidence was remarked upon by conservative Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia in 2011 when California attempted to criminalise the sale of violent video games to minors. – Irish Times
Here’s Why Your Cable Company No Longer Cares Whether You Cut The Cord
Instead of extending promo deals to keep customers from dropping TV service, they’re simply extracting more revenue from those who haven’t formulated an escape plan. Either way, companies like Comcast profit from selling high-margin internet service. – Fast Company
Oh No – One Of Our Favorite Sources Is Closing Down
Pacific Standard has about 20 full-time employees, 25 writers on contract and dozens of freelance writers who contributed to the publication, Nicholas Jackson said, adding that the employees were offered severance packages. – Los Angeles Times
Finally, There’s A Distributor Willing To Handle Errol Morris’s Steve Bannon Documentary
“After [premiering at] Venice, American Dharma screened at the Toronto and New York film festivals and picked up strong reviews. But the idea of Bannon getting a platform at all ignited a backlash … that made the film radioactive for buyers. … [Now] Utopia, co-founded in February by musician and director Robert Schwartzman (nephew of Francis Ford Coppola), has acquired U.S. rights to the film from the Oscar winner behind The Fog of War.” – The Hollywood Reporter
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Loses Its Director. What Does That Mean For The Yet-To-Open Building?
“Where they are right now — making that transition between heavy construction and the other things a museum does — is the most fragile and sensitive time for any organization,” said Justin Jampol, director of the Wende Museum of Cold War History, which opened in Culver City less than two years ago. “It’s a big switch and it has a very stressful impact on the organization.” – Los Angeles Times
Emmys Follow Oscars – No Host For This Year’s Awards
How is the decision going down with people who’ve hosted awards shows in the past? Pretty well, apparently. – New York Magazine
Longtime Composer For ‘The Simpsons’ Files Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
“[Alf] Clausen joined The Simpsons during its second season and worked on the show for 27 years. When he was let go in 2017, he said he received a call from Simpsons producer Richard Sakai, who said the show was seeking ‘a different kind of music.’ In his new lawsuit, filed Monday, Clausen countered, saying, ‘This reason was pretextual and false. Instead, Plaintiff’s unlawful termination was due to perceived disability and age.'” – Rolling Stone