Category: media

“In the wake of Roger Ebert’s death, most will remember him for his work as a critic, but a small niche of fans will fete him for a more obscure but nonetheless worthy reason: his writing of the screenplay for the 1970 cult classic, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.”

“Hong Kong investors call it the Ting Hai effect: When the actor Adam Cheng has a new television show or a new movie, the Hang Seng index often takes a dramatic turn for the worse. And in a city where superstitions can guide daily routines, the financial sector is worried.”

Egypt’s ruling party accused the US of “blatant interference” and meant that the US “welcomes and defends contempt of religion by the media”.

“The Russian government in recent weeks has been making use of a new law that gives it the power to block Internet content that it deems illegal or harmful to children. … So far at least, the Russians have been mostly singling out not political content but genuinely distressing material posted by Russian-speaking users.”

“In many ways, the show carried on the themes of Victorian youth literature: the Doctor is a fearless traveler; he encounters strange cultures and lands; he is stoic, sophisticated, and not without a few eccentricities. … By aligning the show with trends in Western international relations, the audience is able to enjoy the continuation of imperial literature without any of the unsavory political undertones. It’s as if Cecil Rhodes joined the Peace Corps and donated his salary to UNESCO.”

“I grew up with celluloid, with its particular beauty and its idiosyncrasies. But cinema has always been tied to technological development, and if we spend too much time lamenting what’s gone, then we’re going to miss the excitement of what’s happening now. But in order to experience something, and find new values in it, it’s got to be there in the first place. You have to preserve – you have to preserve it. All of it.”

“A divided federal appeals court, ruling 2-1 Monday, declined to block a unique, antenna-based subscription service that enables the streaming of broadcast television to any internet-enabled device.”

“More and more, studios trolling for the next Hunger Games are acquiring the rights to books before they’re published; a buzzworthy title sometimes gets snapped up before an author has even finished writing. (No, aspiring scribes, it still pays to actually complete your work.)”

Kristin Scott Thomas (French) and Viggo Mortensen (Spanish) are but the best-known of anglophone film stars who are building respectable filmographies in other tongues. And there are even more of them who are fluent enough to do so if they wish.

“Broadcast directly after the phenomenally successful ‘The Walking Dead,’ ‘The Talking Dead’ has taken on a life of its own, evolving from a half-hour companion show into a full-fledged, hour-long monster mash whose ratings in the coveted 18-49 demographic surpass a host of prime-time shows on the major networks.”