Category: media

“Robert Swagger, the chief executive of Veriana, … said that because his company’s exchange, which cost more than $10 million to develop over the last three years, and its first contract had been approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, he believes they should be ‘grandfathered’ into law.”

“When you tune in and watch Larry King interviewing Lady Gaga and he seems to be the more Dada performance artist, that speaks volumes … Larry King has always been a bit of a punch line, but you don’t want him to become a joke.”

A new biopic – if that’s the word – of the ninth-century Englishwoman who allegedly disguised herself as a man and eventually sat on St. Peter’s Throne has attracted the controversy the film’s producers were surely hoping for. The Vatican, which has insisted for centuries that the entire story of Pope Joan is a slander invented by Protestants, is predictably angry about the new film; the Church’s displeasure has, predictably, helped the movie become a big hit in Italy.

“Journalists crossing over into other writing fields is not new. … But in recent years, David Kinahan of the Writers Guild of Canada says there’s been a definite increase in the number of journalists trying their hand at TV and film writing – a trend he attributes, in part, to a tightening job market as news outlets consolidate and struggle to stay relevant in the digital era.”

“The fond ideal of a ‘discovery’ festival is lots of people running around eagerly from cinema to cinema, lapping it all up and joyously proclaiming one or other unheard-of film a masterpiece. The reality, of course, is somewhat different. Sitting through a third-rate, unreleasable film is a thoroughly dismal experience….”

“Digital cinema can help theaters program opera, soccer matches, a lot of things. People have been really thrilled with the opera we’ve offered. But opera is not particularly mainstream, so there must be other things that can be even more popular.”

“Toy Story 3” had the biggest opening day of all time for an animated film — but not the biggest-ever opening weekend.

“Incredibly, the 3DS displays true 3-D images without the use of special glasses. It actually works. Unlike many 3-D movies with objects that might appear to come whizzing out at you, the 3DS images appear to have depth that recedes into the screen.”

“Foreign markets have, at least from a strictly financial standpoint, changed the definition of a flop. A film like “Ishtar” — considered one of the great all-time flops — pulled in $14 million against a $55 million budget, according to boxofficemojo.com. Today it might recoup some of its money overseas.”

“Through the small screen, Turkey has begun to exercise a big influence at Arab dinner tables, in boardrooms and bedrooms from Morocco to Iraq of a sort that the United States can only dream about.”