“It’s not exactly in the racial dynamics, and not only in the way that Koenig tells the story. It has to do instead with the psychological tourism that comes in the aftermath of a crime, the license that everyone (Koenig, her audience, but also the cops and prosecutors and judges and Hae and Adnan’s classmates) feels to gaze into the lives of both victims and the accused and to wonder about the extent of what people are capable.”
Category: media
The Reason You Have To Smuggle In Reasonably Priced Candy Or Drinks To Movie Theatres
“Even with the exorbitantly high prices on food items, only about 4% of a theater’s gross revenue in a given year is profit, despite typically around an 85% profit margin on concession sales themselves,” thanks to a 1938 court case that limits studio monopoly power (really).
Dark Horse Movie By Formerly Censored Director Takes Asia’s Top Film Prize
“‘Blind Massage’ chronicles the early loves and awkward sexual forays of a group of young, blind masseurs in Nanjing, China. Lou Ye, a mercurial, often political director who was banned from filming in his native China from 2006 to 2011, directed the film with a mixed cast of professionals and blind amateur actors.”
Whose Side – OK, Apart From The Movie Studio’s – Is The Hunger Games Series On?
In Thailand, “protesters showed up at the movie’s premiere in Bangkok and flashed the salute – only to be carted off by the police on the grounds that the Thai government has banned it. It’s an extraordinary blending of art and life that, although moving, possibly takes art a little too literally.”
More Than A Century In, Have We Figured Out What Makes A Film Successful?
“There’s a stark difference between ‘flop’ and ‘second-highest-earning live-action original release of the year,’ and it comes from the worldwide gross.”
Increasingly Problematic: TV Ratings Are Failing To Count More Of The Audience
“Nielsen’s metric doesn’t include those who watched the episode on streaming sites like Hulu or Fox’s own website, nor does it count those who watch via video-on-demand more than four days after the original airing. That’s an issue for networks that want to use those viewership totals with advertisers.”
“Serial” Addresses The Backlash Directly (More Or Less)
“Up until now, it has seemed a little bit like Serial was occurring in a vacuum, removed from the fandom and hubbub surrounding it. But on this week’s episode – which came after a week of mounting backlash online and a public statement on Reddit from a man claiming to be Hae Min Lee’s brother – the show seemed to reach a brand new level of self-awareness.”
The Only Three Kinds Of Scenes, According To Mike Nichols
The great director liked to say that “there are only three kinds of scenes: a fight, a seduction or a negotiation.” Dana Stevens explains – and argues that his best scenes were all three at once.
China Delays Release Of Latest “Hunger Games” Film – To Protect Domestic Industry
“The China release date for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 has been pushed back until January 2015, sources in Beijing said, as film authorities try to balance domestic and foreign box office totals before the year end.”
The “Serial” Backlash Has Arrived
Almost any media phenomenon that becomes as popular as fast as this podcast has gets some sort of backlash on the Web. Anna Silman offers us – without judgment (we can provide that) – a guide to the main complaints.