Category: media

What does Sony’s purchase of MGM mean to the movie business? “MGM has Hollywood’s biggest movie library, with some 8,000 titles, though Sony intends to close the company’s ongoing studio operations, with the exception of the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises. The new, combined group will own half of the colour movies ever made. Sony, which is struggling with low margins in its core consumer-electronics division, is also trying to amass content that it hopes will drive sales of its electronic goods.” The new landscape could change the way studios make money.

The Toronto Film Festival has beecome one of the world’s top festivals. So what’s different about TIFF? “What has made Toronto unique among an elite cohort of international festivals is the central role of the audience. Ordinary Torontonians go to the movies, react, and shape the out-of-town professionals’ idea of what might be possible in the future of cinema.”

A new German movie depicts Hitler as a compex character. “Does it diminish the evil that he did? Or is Germany finally coming to terms with its past?” In any case, the film has kicked up controversy…

A new movie about Hitler has caused a wave of national soul-searching. “Because Germans didn’t do more to fight him and because his actions were so atrocious, he still haunts us. Or put more negatively, the fascination emanating from his person has not subsided. That also means that there is no easy way of talking about him. In fact, when the subject turns to Hitler, he seems to retreat into the fiery realm of taboo.”

“The UK government wants to switch the country to digital television to free up broadcast frequencies and to encourage technology that allows for more channels and a clearer signal.” To that end, it has mandated “switching off” analog signals completely by 2012. “Ultimately, the change could affect between 80 and 90 million television sets. Currently, about half the households in the UK have digital television through either cable, satellite, or the free-to-air service Freeview.”

American states are battling one another trying to lure entertainment projects. “In recent years, as more state legislatures have enacted tax incentives designed to encourage film, television, and commercial production in their states, the battle between bordering states has intensified.”

Are you ready to watch movies on your cell phone? “We’re not talking 90-minute thrillers starring the likes of Kim Basinger and William H. Macy. A mobile movie is a smaller, two-minute affair meant for audiences on the move, not captive cinephiles. Like a TV ad in the age of TiVo, cell phone cinema has to hold your attention before your mind jets off to do something else with your phone, such as surf the Web, check your e-mail or, gasp, make a phone call.”

Think you can’t be thrilled by special effects at the movies anymore? This fall promises some new innovations that take fX to the next level…

A big protest is planned against the so-called “Induce” act under consideration in the US Congress. “Critics believe the Induce Act conflicts with the landmark 1984 Betamax Supreme Court decision, which ruled that home videotape recorders were legal because they have “substantial non-infringing uses,” even though some people might use the machines to infringe copyrights. Though the entertainment industry opposed the machine at the time, the ruling paved the way for the development of the enormous home video and DVD market, and other technological innovations of the past 20 years.”

A TV documentary goes in search of political bias in Hollywood. “There is no studio ban on Republicans, of course, but certain conservatives have been dining out for decades on what they describe as a Hollywood witch hunt.”