Category: media

Chinese censors have banned the film Memoirs of a Geisha, calling the casting (two Chinese actresses portray Japanese geishas in the film) “insensitive… because of Japan’s atrocities during their occupation of China in the 1930s.” China has also banned Brokeback Mountain due to its storyline involving a homosexual love affair between two cowboys.

“You know it’s a bad year for women when none of the best picture nominees even features one in a lead performance. Both Good Night, and Good Luck and Munich present almost entirely hermetically sealed male universes, while Brokeback Mountain, Capote and Crash feature women as ignored wives and gal pals… [Historically,] only 7% of the 250 top-grossing films were made with female directors. No woman has ever won the best director Oscar; only three have been nominated.”

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is ordering Canada’s commercial broadcasters to increase their investment in homemade drama from an average of 3.3% of gross revenues to 6% over a five-year period. “Similarly, the CRTC is now requiring the networks, through marketing and scheduling, to boost the viewing of English-language drama programming so that by 2008-2009, Canadian productions will enjoy at least 16.5 per cent of the networks’ total drama viewership.”

A minor uproar has broken out in Hollywood over new rules imposed on who can and cannot receive an Oscar in the production category. At issue is the old industry habit of giving producer credits to far more people than actually do serious production work on a given film. “The ad-hoc nature of moviemaking on the margins can lead to some hurt feelings or worse, and the situation is now compounded by growing fussiness about credits among those who grant awards, including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.”

Are there any, shall we say, larger societal meanings behind what movies snap up Oscar nominations? You know there had to be: “To some, Oscar night – and the movies it celebrates – has become a Rorschach test for a self-absorbed industry out of touch with mainstream tastes. Other culture watchers, though, insist that the cinematic tribute reflects, and even guides, America’s collective direction and values. As that debate rages on, at least one larger trend is evident in nominations of recent years, including this one: From biopics to message films, audiences and creators alike seem to be drawn to “reality”-based movies – both in content and technique.”

Here’s a complete list…

Why can’t Hollywood make politically relevant movies? Well, it can. “In the past six months, the movie business has offered an astounding outpouring of provocative, socially relevant films, some of which will be among today’s Oscar nominees. But while these films have all enjoyed plaudits from film critics, the response from op-ed writers, bloggers and columnists has been, with rare exception, somewhere between scorn and disgust.”

“Rather than a breeding ground for auteurs, film school — and there are now some 114 colleges that offer a major in film studies, according to the College Board — has become a path to a professional career in Hollywood, a foot in the door and a place to make connections. With the announcements of this year’s Oscar nominations due Tuesday morning, U.S.C. boasts on its Web site that at least one alumnus has been nominated for an Academy Award every year since 1973.”

Steven Soderbergh’s “Bubble” played to tiny box office on its opening weekend. “While the film’s box-office performance was modest because major theater chains refused to run it, the film’s backers declared victory for their release strategy. We are very happy with the results so far of this first day-and-date release.” The film’s release was controversial because it opened in theatres as it was released n DVD.

“Who killed the movie stars? Conversations with dozens of Hollywood insiders result in a forest of pointed fingers. Certainly, the entertainment media are blamed for their obsession with tearing down talent as fast as it blooms, but so is the death of the midlevel movie, the dismantling of the studio system, competition from television and the Internet, the enormous paydays with their just as enormous expectations, not to mention the sometimes questionable behavior and talent of the young stars themselves.”