Category: media

“It’s not a game in the truest sense of the word, considering it’s surprisingly realistic and not a lot of fun.”

“Mr. le Carré is maybe the most eccentric constructor of fiction in English literature since Joseph Conrad. His stories are full of digressions and long flashbacks; he circles around his plots for the longest time, as if he were doing reconnaissance on them before deciding to go in for the kill. And the verbal textures of the books can be challenging too, because his spies tend to speak in their own special jargon, which seems like normal speech, but isn’t quite.”

“Ironic, you say, that an organization known for secrecy is doling out helpful hints to Hollywood? The CIA doesn’t think so. For them it’s all about image control. And they’re just the start of it. The Department of Defense and just about every branch of the military has an entertainment industry liaison similar to the CIA’s.”

“The video rental company’s shares plunged 17% on Thursday after it warned investors that it would end the current quarter with fewer subscribers than it previously predicted.”

Prescreen, a new venture launched by former Groupon exec Shawn Bercuson. The service offers a library of non-studio films, with one highlighted each day in an e-mail; users can stream movies for up to 60 days and earn points for sharing the films via social networking.

“Revenue from subscriptions to online games such as World of Warcraft fell in 2010 and are expected to continue declining over the next few years as consumers favor games that generate money by selling virtual goods.”

“They’re the performers nibbling in the corners of the screen … Their faces, bodies and performances linger in your memory even if you can’t quite recall their names. … Give that actor a few good lines, and suddenly the character in question can become a tragic figure within the confines of a single, haunting scene.”

“This government-promoted 40-minute workout, full of kung-fu-type lunges and kicks, was established by Chairman Mao in 1951 to train China’s proletariat in the fight against the capitalist West. And now … the exercise has been overhauled to prepare the masses for the next stage of the fight – a long, a healthy future in front of their computers.”

The new Web video series Husbands “trusts that its audience won’t judge a gay couple for treating marriage as cavalierly as straight couples have been allowed to for decades. By going small on the Web, Husbands can raise bigger questions about the future of gay relationships than its longer and better-financed network counterparts.”

“What he’s seen has led him to develop a working theory about the genre. It’s not just that a lot of the shows are set in suburbia – suburban life actually creates the appetite for them.”