Category: media

“In the last few weeks, a little-noticed nonprofit with big ideas about the persuasive power of movies and television shows quietly began an initiative aimed at getting filmmakers and others to use the insights and techniques of behavioral psychology in delivering social and political messages through their work.”

“That premise has been embraced by television for almost a generation, with gay characters and couples and parents dating at least to the dads depicted on The Tracey Ullman Show in the late 80’s. What effect have these portrayals played in gaining social acceptance for same-sex families? What role does a movie likeThe Kids Are All Right play in changing social perceptions?” Five contributors debate the questions.

A.O. Scott: “If I had to issue a one-sentence manifesto for film criticism, it would be this: Any movie worth seeing is worth arguing about, and any movie worth arguing about is worth seeing. But nothing is ever that simple, as demonstrated by Inception, a movie that makes a show of complicating everything in its path.”

“[He] exemplifies the fine art of the cringe comedy better than any other American filmmaker. He has no need for sympathy, having crafted an ambiguous blend of satire and tragedy that rejects any conventional notion of redemption.”

Of a college student who had just seen Happiness: “He was a little drunk and he came up to me and said, ‘Oh I loved your movie, it was awesome. Wow! Man, when that kid was raped, that was hilarious!’ And I knew then that I was in trouble, and that I was playing with fire, and that I couldn’t control the way in which the movie would be experienced.”

Francesca Steele: “All that indecision and self-reflection – a sort of Twilight for grown-ups, only with paler stars and better fashion sense. I don’t deny that Cahiers du Cinéma directors were geniuses of a sort, film critics who saw an overblown and worn-out Hollywood machine and decided to do something about it. … The problem is the characters.”

It’s Susan Mogul’s landmark 1973 video, “Dressing Up”. “Please understand that this work has been shown world wide and is in countless museum collections. This is a work of art that uses the artist and her body as the work. This is an important issue in the preservation of important art made in the late part of the 20th century and should not be wrongly presumed to be offensive.”

“The mid-year forecast, released Wednesday, estimated that regional entertainment employment will hit 155,300 jobs this year — 137,400 people in the motion picture and sound industries and 17,900 in television and radio. Those numbers are forecast to reach 170,400 in 2011, with 152,400 in motion picture/sound and 18,000 in broadcast.”

The TV audiences are huge, helping boost movie-house fare that otherwise might not sell well. “Nowadays, people have big TV screens and a whole family can watch a pay-per-view movie sitting at home, eating and drinking whatever they want.”

“I do think it is fair to say that Roger Ebert destroyed film criticism. Because of the wide and far reach of television, he became an example of what a film critic does for too many people. And what he did simply was not criticism. It was simply blather. And it was a kind of purposefully dishonest enthusiasm for product, not real criticism at all … I think he does NOT have the training. I think he simply had the position. I think he does NOT have the training. I’VE got the training.”