Category: media

“Your expectations are disrupted. And I believe that’s what I’m here for. I hold that flag.”

“Actors, like Donald Trump, prefer to remain ‘semi-exact’ when it comes to the facts. Perception is our domain, not to be undermined by actuality. A fact like an actor’s date of birth stands in the way of our dreams at some point in all our working lives – we’re no different from anyone else in this – but it’s notoriously true that actors contend with age in unequal ways.”

“New York is set to become the first city in the country with a major municipal program geared toward helping female filmmakers and theater-makers. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment is to announce on Thursday a new five-part initiative to promote equality behind and in front of the camera, in film and television, as well as onstage.”

“We undertook a major poll – actors, writers, producers, critics, showrunners. Legends like Carl Reiner and Garry Marshall, who sent us his ballot shortly before his death this summer. All shows from all eras were eligible.” Even so, there seem to have been some unspoken limits: the shows chosen are all in English and almost all from the U.S.; there’s only one Masterpiece series (you know which one, so no Upstairs Downstairs, Prime Suspect or Sherlock), no news or documentary shows, and some strange choices and omissions. (Beavis and Butt-Head and not Bugs Bunny or Bullwinkle? Really??)

“It starts out like any other training montage. Alan is a white doctor in Uganda, and the children of the slum resolve to teach him the ways of the commando. A child soldier, armed with a makeshift assault rifle strung together by yam sticks and slung over his shoulder, chases the hapless doctor into a small stream. Alan falls face first. ‘That, my friend, was poo poo, for real,’ the film’s omniscient narrator exclaims through giggles. ‘This is Uganda. Poo poo everywhere.’ Madcap moments like this are emblematic of Wakaliwood-style films. And Wakaliwood is one Ugandan man in a slum.”

“What makes virtual reality so potent is not only how it envelops players in a 360-degree visual experience, but also how it uses 3-D lenses, immersive audio and head-tracking technology to create a profound sense of physical presence that developers are just beginning to explore.”

“Thile’s plan, as suggested by his musical-guest choices, is to invert the formula of Prairie Home. Music will take the lead; guest comics like John Hodgman will provide side banter … His challenge is to curate a musical show that’s as attractive for the Prairie Home faithful as it is for a yet-unrealized younger crowd.” Says Thile about the show’s audience, “My goal is to lose one million and add two.”

“Frequent competitors – such as France, Spain, Iran, South Korea and Chile – have opted to bank on festival favorites from directors with significant art-house clout. As tried-and-tested as this method of attack sounds, it’s in fact not a given occurrence.”

“If you combined the fastest and slowest types of social media, the result could be both must-see and never-forgotten.”

And then what? As the artificial intelligence computer gets better at understanding humans it starts to interact with them in more complex ways. For now though, Watson is coming up with movie trailers…