Category: media

While readers often note the number of stars a critic gives a movie in a review, most critics dislike the star system. “If I give the animated film “Cars” and the global-warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” three stars each, are they equally good? Am I comparing them to each other? Or am I comparing them to other animated and documentary films?”

The Edinburgh International Film Festival has got itself some controversy after planning to show and Israeli movie, then reportedly canceling and returning some Israeli funding…

Those increasingly valuable gift bags that are handed to Hollywood celebrities attending awards shows are certainly extravagant, but the IRS would like to remind the recipients that they are most decidedly not tax-free. Like any other gift, their value is taxable, and thanks to the horde of entertainment reporters in attendance at any awards show, the IRS knows exactly what the gift bags are worth, and who got one. “The value of the gifts must be reported on a celebrity’s tax return. They count as income because the IRS does not believe the gifts are given ‘solely out of affection, respect or similar impulses.'”

A new study says that TV has a numbing effect on children. “Researchers confirmed the distracting power of television – something parents have long known – when they found that children watching cartoons suffered less pain from a hypodermic needle than kids not watching TV. Especially disturbing to the author of the scientific study was that the cartoons were even more comforting than Mom.”

Hollywood is offering fewer and fewer pre-screenings for critics these days, especially with films that have the potential for big box office success, but not much in the way of artistic merit. Some critics are furious at being shut out, but William Arnold says that moviegoers may actually be better served. “Before the mid-’80s, films usually opened on Wednesday, and reviews were spread out through the following week… Films were not faced with a make-or-break opening weekend, and a landmark film like Bonnie & Clyde could be saved by an outbreak of enthusiastic reviews well into its run.”

A new report says that product placement in films, TV shows, and even song lyrics may triple by 2010. “The practice, where firms pay to have their products featured in the media, was worth $2.21bn last year… Product placement is common on US television, but it is banned in the UK.” The biggest impetus for the product placement explosion is the increasing prevalence of digital video recorders, which allow viewers to skip through commercial blocks.

New York’s city council has approved plans by a movie studio to build a $1.2 billion studio complex in Queens. “The complex calls for 18 movie studios as well as 1,150 apartments, including 150 units of low-income housing. New York City’s production industry employs 100,000 New Yorkers and generates $5 billion for the city annually.”

The FCC is investigating the proliferation of fake new clips being run on TV newscasts. “Video news releases are packaged stories paid for by businesses or interest groups. They use actors to portray reporters and use the same format as television news stories. The FCC has mailed letters to at least 42 stations asking station managers about agreements between the station and the creators of the video news releases.”

Will XM and Sirius, the two American satellite radio services, merge? Their stock prices have been languishing and losses have mounted. “Some observers have speculated that time is of the essence if the two are thinking of merging — both companies declined comment for this report — because a Republican president and Congress would be more open to such a scenario than Democrats would be if they take power in upcoming elections.”

Baghdad’s movie theatres have fallen on hard times. “Most of the city’s once-popular movie theaters have shut down for lack of business. Those that remain open save money by replaying the same films. As with art and music and theater in Baghdad, going to movies is a cultural luxury losing out to the daily killing.”