Category: media

“No one [at Fox] stopped to think that maybe a musical about the death of Jesus broadcast live from New Orleans, which culminates with a 20ft illuminated crucifix being paraded through the streets, would be a good idea. … There are so many ways this could go wrong and/or verge into unmitigated camp that it’s absolutely unbelievable.”

“We’re in the thick of awards season, and everybody’s getting their say. … Many of the same titles are popping up, and for good reason: Carol, Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road, and the rest are certainly worth celebrating. But let’s take a moment to acknowledge a few more great movies from earlier in the year that have been mostly overlooked.”

“The writer behind Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and, now, Anomalisa – a stop-motion animated dark comedy about a depressed customer-service expert who falls in love on a business trip, which Kaufman co-directed – discusses where his ideas come from, the TV shows he can’t get made, and the finer points of puppet sex.”

“Tired of commuting 150 miles each way, the owner of a movie theater in Maine is holding an essay contest to give away his restored, nearly 100-year-old cinema. … The contest requires a typed 250-word essay describing why the entrant would make the best new owner. No name, address or other identifying details are attached to entries to ensure impartiality; that information is on a separate form.”

“American film companies are increasingly looking to producers and directors outside the U.S. to grow their overseas business as the international box-office grows.”

“The sale has the potential to earn Howard hundreds of millions of dollars that proponents say could help bolster other parts of the university. But it could also spell the end of WHUT.”

“The anticipated Oscarizables have mainly ranged from the blandly enjoyable to the droningly disastrous. Partly, the problem is merely one of scheduling: most of Hollywood’s inspired directors, the ones whose images have a natural musical sublimity and complexity, weren’t on call this year.”

“Adding to the after-work atmosphere, the show also features quizzes such as Frim Fram Fittlesworth, where Clayton tries to guess whether a nonsensical string of letters is the real name of a British white dude or just a figment of Nigatu’s imagination.”

Or even being better? “Something is happening, a subtle rearrangement of the medium’s DNA that better represents both who we are now, collectively and variously, and where we are hopefully headed. The popular arts have always been a harbinger and an agent of change, positing the world that the world grows into.”