Category: media

“What so many modern movies feature as music is a tuneless, thin, watercolor wash — musical doodling. It’s wallpaper music, music without a profile. I defy anybody to whistle a theme from any of the Lord of the Rings movies, which is precisely the kind of moviemaking that demands a great score. Even the occasional modern movie that summons some primal force, such as the recent King Kong, labors beneath a James Newton Howard score that’s thin gruel — not terrible, not inappropriate, but pallid compared to the force of the images.”

“New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s investigations into payola — and subsequent settlements with three of the four major record companies — have brought about sweeping changes in the way labels approach radio promotion. And those changes affect that summer marketing stalwart, the radio festival.”

“The premiere party used to hold great sway in Los Angeles nightlife. In a town whose occupation is looking good, it was a hallowed kind of faux-civic event — celebrities showing up to watch themselves on-screen and then repairing to a party to discuss themselves. The premiere was a win-win for Janie in Peoria and Hollywood both. Janie got her fix of Hollywood meta-existence, sure that all anyone in L.A. did every night was go to premieres, and Hollywood got Janie. Things have changed.”

What happens when you put out a call for artists to be in a “reality” show about artists? You geet 400 people lining up around the block to participate…

In the wake of “Lost”s success on TV last year, numerous science fiction shows got on the tube this season. Most of them flopped.

The Smithsonian made its contract with Showtime public Thursday. It is locked into its exclusive TV contract with Showtime network for 30 years. Critics have blasted the deal, saying it excludes other filmmakers.

The Canadian government has agreed to put $25 million into a new home for the Toronto International Film Festival. “The building will have five theatres, a film reference library, a gallery, exhibition space and an education centre. It also includes Festival Tower, a condominium project. The total cost of the project is estimated at $196 million and $132 million has been raised to date.”

A TV special offers a celebration of 30 years of “Live from Lincoln Center”. “Live from Lincoln Center offered America’s unwashed a good deal: We’ll bring the stage to you, so you can stay at home, keep the car in the driveway and dip into the elitist culture that you could have all the time if you were rich and lived in Manhattan. We’ll keep you plied with galas, potpourri recitals and birthday celebrations. But each show is live and one time only. No endless fund-raising retreads of Andrea Bocelli or Andre Rieu. You have to let your memories go. This special has a different kind of virtuosity in mind: editing.”

Fox pulls the plug on filming a comedy that was to have cost $112 to make. “At an over-$100 million budget, the talent is making $60 million before the studio can recoup its costs. The economics on it make no sense.”

The British commercial TV network ITV is opposing the increase the BBC is asking in the home license fee. “The BBC has asked the government for a rise of 2.3% above inflation for the next seven years, meaning the licence could rise to £180 by 2013. But an independent report commissioned by ITV argues the corporation needs a licence fee – currently £131.50 – rising only at the rate of inflation.”