Category: media

This year, we’re watching more movies streaming over Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and iTunes than we’re watching on DVD – and the movie companies aren’t real happy about that. “In total, online stores and services will account for 57% of movie consumption in 2012, but only 12% of spending.”

Actors wear a lot of wigs, not to mention extensions: “Bailey estimates that 75 percent of all women on TV, more in film, wear hairpieces. If you’re distressed that your hair seems far more limp and sparse than the people on screen, rest assured: it isn’t.”

“Globally, ticket sales reached $32.6 billion in 2011, only a 3 percent gain. That’s due to a marked downturn at the North American box office, where revenue reached $10.2 billion, down 4 percent over 2010. International revenues made up nearly 69 percent of the pie.”

Andrew O’Hehir: “Most people involved in marketing independent or foreign film will tell you that the audience is no bigger or smaller than it ever was – but that those people now have far more flexibility about how, when and where they can watch movies.”

“Several insiders I spoke to argued that today’s studio and network chiefs are more confused than ever about what their audience wants, a lack of certainty that encourages them to look for answers — and cede control — to high-powered creative minds.”

“The Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) said sales of £1.93bn in 2011 made the gaming industry the country’s biggest entertainment sector. By contrast, sales of DVDs and other video formats totalled £1.80bn, while music pulled in £1.07bn.”

“A handful of top-tier performers” – among them Louis C.K., Aziz Ansari and Jim Gaffigan – “have begun producing stand-up specials on their own, posting them online and selling them directly through their personal Web sites … While this straight-to-the-Internet strategy is far from ubiquitous in stand-up, it is already having a profound impact on the comedy landscape.”

“In inflation-adjusted dollars, three of the top 10 movies of all time — Gone With the Wind, Doctor Zhivago, and Titanic — are tragedies. Why do we willingly subject ourselves, again and again, to these sad stories?”

“The pirated Russian translation of the film, voiced over in a monotone by one man, depicts Thatcher as a bloodthirsty, Hitler-admiring leader, whose fondest desire is to destroy the working class. While some of her critics might say this is an accurate representation of her plans, even her fiercest enemy would concede the Russian version takes it too far.”