Category: media

Product placement in TV shows is getting bolder. The Writers Guild of America says they “recognize ad integration is here to stay. What they want is to negotiate with networks a process that gives creators a say in what can and can’t be done, and they said the networks haven’t been willing to put that on paper.”

The mysterious island adventure is also an interactive website that tantalizes fans with clues. And it’s a novel…

“[Filmmaker] Jean-Claude Brisseau, 62, was convicted by a court in Paris last December of forcing actresses to masturbate during casting ‘test’ shots to ‘satisfy his own sexual impulses’. He was given a one-year, suspended jail sentence and fined €15,000. In a movie shown all this week on the fringes of the Cannes festival, M. Brisseau tells the story of a director whose life and career are ruined after he asks actresses to perform erotic acts during auditions.” The film has been generally well-received, but many critics have remarked on the surreal nature of it all.

A European think tank is urging the BBC to sell off two of its main radio services, arguing that Radio 1 and Radio 2 (which play pop/rock music) serve no compelling public interest beyond pure entertainment, and that their existence stunts the growth of commercial radio stations.

Despite a slew of bad reviews, the film version of The DaVinci Code opened a strong number one at the weekend box office, taking in $224 million worldwide. The film’s distributor believes it to be the second biggest opening in film history, behind only the final Star Wars installment.

“What does it mean to be glamorous anymore? What did it mean in the first place? Is Jessica Simpson glamorous when she’s playing Daisy Duke? Is she glamorous as herself, eating tuna out of the can? Or is she glamorous only when she’s posing for InStyle, in-styled within an inch of her life?”

Is there something odd or negative about the way Los Angeles is perceived by the rest of the world? If so, maybe it’s the way the city has been portrayed by the hometown movies industry…

Niche programming is one thing, but do newborns really need their own TV channel? Probably not, but they’re getting one, and those behind it are taking steps to insulate themselves against the inevitable backlash. “In almost every way, BabyFirstTV is an ideal match for its prospective demographic — at its best it is spirited, lively and full of simple wonder, and at its worst it is utterly innocuous.”

Yes, yes, all of Cannes is abuzz over the whole DaVinci Code thing. But of course, DaVinci will hardly be the only film to make a splash at the fest this season, and to judge from some of the independent films being launched at Cannes, it could be a very interesting year at the multiplex. Whether it’s the latest opus from Spanish legend Pedro Almodovar, or a film-based attack on the fast food industry that has the Mickey D’s crowd so worried that they’re already preparing a counterassault, the indies are still the kings of quality at Cannes, says Simon Houpt.

From the day that iTunes burst upon the scene, it’s been extremely difficult for any other online music service to compete, considering iTunes’ easy compatibility with the iPod, and Apple’s aggressive push to make it the industry standard for downloadable audio. But there are millions of digital music listeners using platforms other than the iPod, and Urge, the online music service launched this week and backed by MTV and Microsoft, is aiming to circumvent the iPodders and Mac users entirely, and embrace… well, everyone else.