Category: media

Magnificent Century, a television drama about the great Ottoman sultan that is “replete with scenes from the royal baths and the harem,” has attracted hundreds of complaints from appalled nationalists and Islamists, a warning from the state broadcasting authority – and millions of viewers.

“About 4,500 hours of footage taken on July 24th 2010 were submitted to the project as 80,000 clips from 190 countries. Some cameramen were seeking to provide insights into their lives or the lives of others, to impress the world of film or just have a bit of fun and the chance to win a ticket to the Sundance film festival.”

“Industry Minister Tony Clement says the government will overturn a CRTC decision on internet usage-based billing unless the telecommunications agency watchdog reverses course.”

“The Web’s biggest retailer has held talks with the Hollywood studios and several independent companies about acquiring library content for a subscription movie streaming service similar to Netflix.”

“First, there is the emphasis on regional coverage in all areas – TV, radio and online. If the CBC has any reason for existing, it is precisely that: local content in areas that commercial broadcasters see as too insignificant to make a profit. Mind you, this may be too little too late to save the CBC’s hide in parts of Canada.”

A.O. Scott: “My complaint, really, is about the peculiar and growing irrelevance of world cinema in American movie culture. … As fashion, gaming, pop music, social media and just about everything else have combined to shrink the world and bridge gaps of culture and taste, American movie audiences seem to cling to a cautious, isolationist approach to entertainment.”

“This kind of story flushes out the good, the bad and the stupid in TV news. It’s as obvious as a poke in your eye that TV news wants an understandable, familiar narrative to emerge. What’s unfolding has to have a story arc, just like a movie. So, the lack of a discernible opposition leader in Egypt flummoxed everybody.”

“Statistics keep telling us that Latinos are coming into their own in the United States, growing as both an economic force and a cultural one. Spanish-speaking countries are giving Hollywood bankable and critically acclaimed actors like Javier Bardem, Salma Hayek, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Penelope Cruz. So why is Hollywood returning the favor by making such dreadful movies for Latino audiences?”

“You don’t want to overestimate the importance of bitter words in Hollywood. People may not have liked NBC, but that didn’t stop most of them from working there if it offered the best or only job available. Still, the network would be better off with better relations with its suppliers and its competitors, if only to stem the public perception that it’s become the TV stop of last resort.”