Category: media

“While CBC TV does stellar documentaries and public affairs shows — and I’m sure other outlets would happily buy them — the entertainment and TV news offerings have long underwhelmed us. Shows with three-quarters of a million viewers are called “hits.” Meanwhile, radio’s audience has grown to more than six million.”

In one corner are those who believe digital’s practical and economic benefits make it impossible to resist. In the other, “purists” such as Tarantino and “The Dark Knight Rises” director Christopher Nolan who cherish the visual “texture” of 35mm and warn that something important is being lost.

“So what changed when the same writers turned their attention to American politics? Why did their British satire bite so hard, when the American Veep prefers to nibble at the edges? … American political culture doesn’t encourage the contempt for its leaders that British political culture expects as standard.”

“A who’s who of European directors” – among them Pedro Almodóvar, Agnieszka Holland, Stephen Daldry, Béla Tarr, Wim Wenders and Mike Leigh – “have signed a letter to Vladimir Putin and Russian leaders seeking justice for Oleg Sentsov, the Ukarainian filmmaker who was arrested by Russian authorities on May 11 and is believed held in a Moscow prison.”

“The Everything Store is shrinking again. Amazon customers who want to order forthcoming Warner Home Video features, including The Lego Movie, 300: Rise of an Empire, Winter’s Tale and Transcendence, are finding it impossible to do so.”

“In the music industry, an overhaul of the copyright laws is seen as needed to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change in the marketplace, with streaming services like Pandora, Spotify and YouTube taking the place of CD sales and even downloads.”

All The Way won statuettes for best play and best leading actor – Bryan Cranston, already a hot television property for starring in the just-concluded Breaking Bad. “Spielberg wants Cranston to reprise his role in a drama that begins with the Kennedy assassination, and spans the first year of Johnson’s administration,” including passage of the Civil Rights Act.

Richard Brody talks with Marin Charmitz, who has produced films by directors from Godard, Resnais, Chabrol, and Malle to Kieslowski, Kechiche, and Kiarostami.

“Discerning parents still speak glowingly about the pair’s debut feature, the 2009 film Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. And the predecessor of 22 Jump Street, 21 Jump Street, based on the ’80s TV show, roundly surprised critics for having a heart while being clever. This year, [there was] adulatory chatter around The Lego Movie, which the pair wrote and directed – and made into one of the biggest movie moneymakers of the year.”

“It started out as an adaptation of one of the most beloved American children’s books of the early 20th century; now it’s America’s gay national anthem, as well as a launchpad for entire careers of subversive and oppositional film-makers, from David Lynch to John Waters.”