Category: media

Podcasts Are Getting Book-Group-Like Fan Clubs — And, Like Book Groups, They’re About More Than Just The Material

“Though they are ostensibly meant for conversation about the shows themselves, actual episodes are seldom discussed. Instead, members get sidetracked and end up on tangents, talking about their failed marriages, sharing parenting advice and helping each other pick outfits for first dates.” – The New York Times

Intimacy Coordinators Are Making Sex Scenes Sexier As Well As Safer

On stages and film/video sets alike, the practitioners of this new profession help actors feel secure physically and emotionally — which, naturally, help the actors do their jobs better. What’s more, the intimacy pros are able to choreograph and describe the movements to be done better than directors can. Writer Lizzie Feidelson reports on how exactly they work. – The New York Times Magazine

How Are We Deciding Which Movies Are Actually Any Good?

There’s always been a divide between what the critical culture celebrates and what audience members actually want to see. “This three-and-a-half-hour Turkish film about the struggle between a boy and his father is a heartrending exploration of generational divides among a swiftly changing world …” “I don’t know, does anything blow up?” But that divide seems to be growing, with almost no living critic able to wield the kind of power figures like Siskel and Ebert used to have to get butts in seats, even so-called difficult films or subtitled films or art films. – The Guardian

Bollywood’s Female Stars Speak Out In Support Of Protesters As Male Stars Keep Mum

“Unlike Hollywood, where actors and filmmakers have [frequently] spoken out against governments, A-listers in Bollywood — the world’s second-best paying film industry — have largely remained apolitical public personas. … Now, as protests spread across India over a controversial new citizenship law and attacks on students, Bollywood women are breaking with that pattern even as the biggest male actors … stay quiet.” – OZY

Why Do The ‘Star Wars’ Films Keep Bombing In The World’s Second-Biggest Movie Market?

“One after another, Star Wars movies have flopped in China, defying efforts to bring one of the most successful franchises in history into a market that has printed money for the heroes, monsters and robots of other films. … Avengers: Endgame made more in its 2019 opening weekend in China than all the Star Wars premieres combined.” Why? You could think of it as an accident of history. – The New York Times

The Future Of Entertainment: 10-Minute Shows On Your Phone?

Yup. A startup called Quibi has raised $1 billion in investment capital from every major Hollywood studio and most of the major tech companies. It has corralled an A-list tsunami to make programs—Steven Spielberg, Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro, Anna Kendrick, Zac Efron, Chrissy Teigen, Jennifer Lopez, Antoine Fuqua, Sam Raimi, Catherine Hardwicke, Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Lena Waithe, NBC News, ESPN, BBC. The whole thing launches in April with a year of advertisements already sold. – Wired