The channel — derided by critics for formulaic, low-budget fare with dialogue inspired by Hallmark cards — is carving out a space in this divisive, Trumpian age. The worse things get in the real world the more people run to safe spaces. Hallmark, along with sister channel Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, has been a key beneficiary.
Category: media
The Revival Of ‘Roseanne’ Has Split The American Left
Emblemizing the split are author Roxane Gay (“[the show is] further normalizing Trump and his warped, harmful political ideologies”) and comedian Sarah Silverman (“I like that Trumpers will watch and embrace it because it’s secretly liberal as fuck”). Conor Friedersdorf unpacks the arguments.
‘King Of The B-Movies’ Roger Corman Sued By Sons Over Film Archive
“The sons, Roger and Brian, claim that the sale of 270 films under their father’s New Horizons Picture Corp banner – which they refer to as ‘stolen film properties’ – violated an irrevocable trust agreement that would have provided them and their two sisters with $30 million-$40 million each. They are also suing [purchasers] Ace Film and Shout! Factory, claiming they ‘knew or should have known that the purported sale of the New Horizons catalog included film properties owned by the trust.'”
Global Movie Ticket Sales Set $40 Billion Record In 2017 (But Down In US, Canada)
The global box office hit a record $40.6 billion with growth in China off-setting declines in movie-going in the U.S. and Canada. The domestic box office fell 2% to $11.1 billion, down from 2016’s record high of $11.6 billion, according to a new report by the Motion Picture Association of America.
AMC TO Open 100 Movie Theatres In Saudi Arabia
Leawood, Kan.-based AMC and the entertainment subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund have signed a deal to operate cinemas in the kingdom, with up to 40 locations expected to open in 15 cities within five years, the theater company said.
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ – How The Extraterrestrial Epic ‘Changed The Very Form Of Cinema’
“As Stanley Kubrick’s monolithic movie celebrates its half century, special effects gurus, directors and those who worked on the film consider its legacy.”
Reckoning With The Wreckage On Reality TV
“The obvious question to bring up here is: Are we complicit? ‘We’ meaning you and me but also, in that awful think-piecey way, standing in for the culture. Sure. I suppose we are complicit. The attention given to sociopaths, and the public pain that results from the potent mixture of attention and sociopathy, exists only because there are reliable consumers who enjoy the cocktail. And then we wait for more of the same, so more of the same is provided.”
Do “Roseanne’s” Big Ratings Mean Anything About The Future Of TV Comedy?
Much of the analysis that followed focused on the show’s politics: Star Roseanne Barr is an eager champion of debunked right-wing conspiracies, and the premiere’s storyline hinged on her character’s support for President Donald Trump. And since the 2016 presidential election, television programmers have been working to find ways to reach working-class whites who voted for Trump. The success of “Roseanne” only reaffirmed those efforts. But looking ahead to 2018-19, “Roseanne” may be a harbinger of a less titillating, more significant programming shift — the revitalization of the broadcast comedy after years of emphasis on drama.
The Nude Art Created By Artificial Intelligence
AI researcher Robbie Barrat decided to see what would happen when he fed a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) thousands of nude portraits from a dataset and then trained it to create its own bizarre artworks.
Why Did Wes Anderson Set ‘Isle Of Dogs’ In Japan, Anyway?
Nina Li Coomes: “In the film, the country is a plot device that creates a vague sense of unfamiliarity to move the story forward and explain away bizarre narrative elements. … [In other words,] using Japan as a way to normalize outlandishness, thus creating the illusion of a cohesive story.”