Category: media

“Picture a day when instead of recording that episode of “Two and a Half Men” on your DVR, you order it on video-on-demand. The only difference would be that on VOD the ads would be there and you wouldn’t be able to skip them.”

“In a surprise move, Lions Gate Entertainment has made another merger proposal to MGM lenders, potentially upsetting a proposed prepackaged bankruptcy plan that would hand debt-holders about 95% of the studio, according to people close to the matter.”

It wasn’t the heightened depiction of violence. (Is Bonnie and Clyde really so much more violent than some of John Ford’s Westerns?) Penn’s gift to the movies was “a profound understanding of the potential of actors to enrich their characters, and thus his movies, with layer upon layer of complexity and contradiction.”

“Typically, the ‘couch gag’ in the opening credits of The Simpsons is a spot for its writers to slip in one more punch line before the cartoon family assembles to watch its own show. But on Sunday that running joke went to a very dark place” – one dreamed up by the pseudonymous British street artist.

Reaction from fans to the KCET-PBS split has been swift and mostly negative.

“The channels are all delivered through the same portal; the key distinguishing factor is the quality of the content itself. I’d argue we’ve truly reached parity (with the broadcast networks). Sometimes there’s great television on both — sometimes, not so good.”

“[The] UKFC was far from perfect. It has been accused of cronyism, arrogance and waste. It has been attacked for throwing public money at the arthouse on the one hand and for backing mainstream work that would surely find funding elsewhere on the other. … But as we evolve from an analogue to a digital landscape, the game is bound to change.”

“The Hollywood studios are retreating, and the UK Film Council is heading for oblivion. But help is at hand from the other side of the Channel. The French are coming.… StudioCanal has emerged this year as the most significant new force in UK film-making.”

“If these guys think they can make a big studio film without looking like whores or compromising their vision, they are all pretty eager to jump at the chance. The sad truth is that there isn’t much of an indie marketplace anymore, so it’s not like they have a lot of other places to go.”

“Once MGM emerges from bankruptcy, it is expected to ramp up production after several years of very little activity. It will release about six films per year, including new James Bond Pictures and two films based on “The Hobbit” that it will co-finance with Warner Bros.”