Category: media

Filmmaker Alexander Sokurov’s film tribute to the Hermitage is unexpected and amazing. “Russian Ark was made in a single hour-and-a-half-long shot, unedited. It took that hour and a half to film (after two years of preparation) and takes the same time to watch. It is the first film to be made in this way, exploiting digital technology not to bend reality but to do justice to it – no film on celluloid could continue unbroken for this amount of time.”

“There is a recognition that the arts, especially on BBC1, have been underserved. Accordingly, the holy grail for the BBC seems to be programmes that bring in a mass audience while simultaneously appealing to aficionados.” But how to accomplish it? “It means doing more and doing it bolder; it means resting tired formats, and indeed tired faces. Those involved in the live arts would attest to the fact that if you want to make an impact, if you want to transport and transform people, then you have to take real risks. And that’s what art is all about.”

Traditionally, documentaries have been small business. But will Michael Moore’s success at the Oscars, turn things around? According to one theory, “the studios are making more and more popcorn, merchandisable films – package films with no core. But there’s an audience who want to see movies about the real world who only get the opportunity to do that when they see documentaries. In theory, then, this ought to be a golden moment for documentary makers in the US.”

Hollywood seems political (or at least some in Hollywood seem so). But Tinseltown has a long history of dancing around political controversy while trying to do business…

“Plans are well underway to build dedicated new theatre and office space for the Toronto International Film Festival which, after Cannes and Sundance, is regarded as the most important movie celebration in the world… Individuals and organizations associated with TIFF’s plans have been extremely tight-lipped. Still, it is known that the festival began to look seriously at having a dedicated, year-round space of its own about 18 months ago, surveying major cultural players as to the value and tourist potential of such a space… Three award-winning architectural firms are in competition for the project’s design.”

Several Hollywood unions are banding together to launch a major push aimed at curbing the spread of digital media piracy. The groups, led by MPAA president Jack Valenti, will lobby U.S. policymakers to crack down on piracy, and will “also [target] foreign countries with poor records on protecting copyrighted material.”

“The champagne has been flowing all around Hollywood lately. Box-office receipts jumped 13.5%, to $9.5 billion, in 2002 – the biggest year-over-year increase in two decades. DVD sales grew 71%, to more than $11 billion. That doesn’t even include DVD rental revenues, which grew from $1.4 billion to $2.9 billion, according to DVD Entertainment Group, an industry association. You can’t blame Hollywood for not wanting to rock the boat.” But big trouble is looming – and unless the movie business reinvents its distribution as download times shrink, a major case of heartburn awaits.

We watch war movies as entertainment in peacetime. But “with the new engagement in Iraq, however, the Pentagon and television news coverage are blurring the lines between movies and real life as never before, turning viewers into 24-hour couch voyeurs. The start of the war caused business at movie theaters to drop by 25 percent on Wednesday as people stayed home to watch the war, and snack-food sales and restaurant deliveries thrived. The opening salvos of the war had taken the place of prime-time entertainment, and television stations did their best to serve up gaudily produced coverage: the war in Iraq as the ultimate in reality television.”

Many are predicting the return of the big movie musical. But there’s a hitch, writes Renee Graham. Where’s the talent to star in them? “Just a thought here, but isn’t the true magic of all that singing and dancing on film derived from having people who actually know how to sing and dance? Still, with the success of ‘Chicago,’ the first musical to win a best-picture Oscar since ‘Oliver!’ in 1968, just about every major studio is planning one, including possible remakes of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ ‘Bye Bye Birdie,’ and ‘The Pajama Game.’ Unfortunately, there are way more musicals than viable musical stars these days.”

Movie box office tanked this weekend with the war and the Oscars on. “The weekend’s top 12 films sold an estimated $84 million worth of tickets, the lowest total since Super Bowl weekend and down 29% from the same weekend last year.”