Category: media

“Picture this: it is 2016 and Brad Pitt’s latest heist film, Ocean’s Fifteen, is a roaring box-office success … except the man himself never set foot in front of a camera. Instead, Pitt’s digital image was recreated on screen by teams of visual effects artists, leaving the actor free to work on other projects. This scenario is quite plausible.”

“Take note, the days when summer TV was a wasteland of repeats and previously unseen rubbish are over. Summer is no longer all dumbed-down TV all the time. A lot of smart TV is coming over the next few months.”

During the administration of Mayor Richard Daley fils, Chicago experienced an upswing in both film production and the city’s cinematic image. Yet now, with the Batman franchise having decamped for Pittsburgh, Chicago’s boosters are worried that the city’s filmic renaissance is over. Could the new mayor – whose brother is one of Hollywood’s most powerful agents – get the momentum going again?

“Consumer rebellion over high 3-D ticket prices plays a role, and the novelty of putting on the funny glasses is wearing off, analysts say. But there is also a deeper problem: 3-D has provided an enormous boost to the strongest films … but has actually undercut middling movies that are trying to milk the format for extra dollars.”

“Coming off what is arguably its biggest season ever, Idol has never been better poised for Emmy accolades. But the academy must stop punishing the show for being hugely popular.”

“The move comes days after the Navy challenged Disney’s attempt to trademark the name by filing its own applications.”

Theatre owners “worry that narrowing video release ‘windows’ will cannibalize the moviegoing industry, which tallies more than $10 billion a year domestically. Studios and some analysts counter that flatlining ticket and home video sales warrant a new theatrical template.”

“The total impacts of the natural disaster will slice 150 billion yen ($1.83 billion) off operating profit this year, Sony estimated, as it struggles to get production of key electronics and other products back to normal levels.”

“It turns out that vivid commercials are incredibly good at tricking the hippocampus (a center of long-term memory in the brain) into believing that the scene we just watched on television actually happened. “

“Film executives are creatures of habit, and habit dictates that certain types of movies are released at certain times of the year to satisfy certain types of movie goers. There are exceptions, of course.”