Category: media

Kenneth Turan: “Simply put, Hollywood has traditionally been celebrated as the fox, entertaining everybody by making movies for a wide variety of appetites and audiences. … Today’s Hollywood, by contrast, has transformed itself into the hedgehog. The one big thing it knows how to do is make sequels and superhero movies and sequels to superhero movies, all aimed at a young adult crowd with no end in sight.”

“Comedies have long been the ratings and profit drivers of the television industry, cheaper to produce than hourlong dramas and lucrative in syndication,” but “only 14 of the 82 prime-time comedies unleashed since 2009 are on the air.”

“From surreal illustrations, to memorable film stills, and the original artworks of beloved directors, these posters (and accompanying facts) remind us why the annual celebration on the French Riviera is still the most glamorous, essential, and exciting film festival around.”

“After so many totalitarian bummer allegories of varying quality, audiences, I suspect, are good and hungry for something off-world and a little less dire, set in galaxies far, far away.”

“It is a rare visual depiction of middle-class black characters from an era when lynchings and stereotyped black images were commonplace. What’s more, the material features Bert Williams, the first black superstar on Broadway.”

“There’s not that big a variety in the types of movies that get made. People don’t take a chance on material as much as they used to. The kind of character-driven stories that we were making in the late ’90s and 2000s — all that stuff has moved to cable.”

“When African Americans were cast, they were also expected to wear black make-up. It was against this backdrop that a parallel black cinema industry arose.”

“Some expectant parents visit spa-like ‘keepsake ultrasound studios’ several times over the course of their pregnancy, to capture images at various stages. Others put ultrasound images on cakes and cupcakes, shower invitations, dog tags, and original prints.”

Shonda Rhimes had little patience on Friday for the way the television critic of the New York Times wrote about her and her shows.

“The law, which takes effect next year, increases the annual film and TV tax credit offered by California and eliminates a selection process producers complained is arbitrary and flawed. Advocates say the new law is crucial to preventing other states and countries from continuing to lure away film and TV production by offering their own lucrative incentives.”