Category: media

The “Dear Leader” was crazy (as it were) for movies: he wrote a treatise on socialist filmmaking, produced many fiction films and documentaries, and micro-managed the rest of North Korea’s film industry, right down to costumes and make-up. Yet Kim himself was a fan of mainstream Hollywood action movies and Ealing comedies.

Shin Sang-Ok “is a film director of legendary stature in his native country – the Orson Welles of South Korea. … He and his wife, the well-known actress Choi Eun Hee, were among Seoul’s celebrity set.” Then the “Dear Leader” had them captured and brought to Pyongyang to remake North Korea’s film industry. Among their creations: a Communist Godzilla.

No one’s going to the movies anymore. Instead of moaning, make and distribute indie flicks yourself, says actor/director Ed Burns. “This is not a business model where you are making millions of dollars, but you are making really healthy robust six-figure numbers.”

Ouch: “After two previous weekends that were Hollywood’s worst of the year, overall business was down again, about 12 percent lower than the same weekend in 2010.”

Want a nod for the Golden Globes or even the Oscars? Get into war (movies). “Filmmakers are offering a kind of master class in the history of warfare, interpreted through everything from classics, to spy novels, to biopics and kids stories.”

What’s the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences up to now, other than crossing its fingers that more Oscars hosts won’t quit? Building. “The 17,000-square-foot outdoor space is designed to function as a venue for showing classic films and is expected to open in May.”

As the U.S. Postal Service brings an end to one-day delivery, Netflix inevitably moves toward streaming – and the internet could see a 50 percent jump in demand for bandwidth.

The list

“He doesn’t read scripts, preferring to write only to footage. He says he can’t pinpoint how musical ideas take shape, but like a costume or set designer, responds to a story’s setting and mood.”

“The movie required more than 200 horses. But no role was more central than that of Joey, played by about 10 different animals treated with makeup to resemble the equine hero with white socks on each foot and a white blaze down the forehead.”