“As important as religion is in the lives of many viewers, television has had a tentative relationship with it. … But are things changing, and how? Here, the New York Times critics Margaret Lyons and James Poniewozik survey how television’s congregation has expanded and where there’s still room for improvement.”
Category: media
Director Of ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Sues Weinstein Brothers For Fraud
“[David Frankel is] alleging fraud and negligent representation as well as breach of contract over the size and scope of the October 2014 release in North America” of his film One Chance, “which stars James Corden as Paul Potts, a real-life shop assistant and amateur opera singer who won Britain’s Got Talent in 2007.”
Julian Fellowes On Writing ‘Downton Abbey’ Singlehandedly And What Happens To The Crawleys After The Finale
“Far more of those houses survived than people realize, and often with the families that were in them. It’s often down to luck, and the cleverness of the people in charge. … My own belief is that Mary, whether you like her or dislike her, is a hard worker, and she’s practical.”
Film Is Gone. So How Do We Save It As Historical Record?
“Most of its history, cinema was medium-specific — it was shot, processed and distributed on film. The movies we watch today, by contrast, are rarely made through mechanical and photochemical processes, but with computer code, with strings of zeros and ones: bits… What happens to an art when its foundational medium disappears? We don’t yet know, because it’s happening right now. If you care about movies, you should be wondering.”
The World’s Highest Paid Actors
“Combined, the top 10 men on the list earned $457 million, more than double the top 10 women’s $205 million pay. Additionally, 18 actors reeled in more than $20 million, versus four on the actresses’ side.”
The Web At 25 – Lots Of Unfulfilled Promise
“Sure, you can upload your own videos to YouTube, which is owned by Google. But will they show up in anyone’s search results? You can publish your manifesto, but will anyone see the links to it you post on Facebook? It’s as though everyone now has a printing press, but there are only two stores in town that sell newspapers. If you want to find an audience, you have to go through them.”
‘Welcome To The Era Of Empathy TV’: Reality Shows Are Getting Way Less Mean
“[Things are now] an extremely far cry from the old days of The Voice‘s ideological predecessor, American Idol.” (Remember Simon Cowell’s insults?) “What The Voice is similar to, though, … is The Great British Baking Show, whose judges offer encouragement to their contestants even, and especially, when they fail. … And Project Runway and Dancing with the Stars and America’s Next Top Model and The Biggest Loser and RuPaul’s Drag Race – competition-based reality shows that, episode by episode, opt for supportiveness over sadism.”
Why Hollywood Thought Remaking ‘Ben-Hur’ Was Ever A Good Idea (And Why That Was Wrong)
“In 2004, Mel Gibson’s biblical film The Passion of the Christ hit theaters after a months-long, small-scale ad campaign that focused on church groups and evangelical leaders … After opening on Ash Wednesday, it became the highest-grossing R-rated film in history, earning $611 million worldwide.” The new Ben-Hur, on the other hand, “opened this weekend to a pitiful $11.4 million at the box office.”
Report: Consumers Are Mostly Not Buying Or Renting Digital TV Shows
“46 percent of consumers have ever bought or rented a digital movie or TV show, according to GfK’s recent Home Technology Monitor. In contrast, 86 percent of consumers have rented or bought a DVD or Blu-ray in the past, and 78 percent have done so with a VHS tape.”
‘No Hugging, No Learning’: How ‘Seinfeld’ Really Changed Television
“Anti-hero sagas like Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Shield, and Californication may not appear to have much in common with a sitcom about four nebbishy New Yorkers. But Seinfeld‘s immense popularity proved to network executives that audiences could get on board with a show that didn’t necessarily end with a lesson and a group hug – and characters that reveled in their flaws instead of working to overcome them.”