Category: media

“A supernatural-laden drama about a dying man who takes a mystical journey, the film had won the hearts of many critics and festival-goers when it screened last week, but most experts believed the prize would go to one of a group of Cannes veterans, including Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Abbas Kiarostami and Mike Leigh, all of whom had well-received films.”

“With many contestants having honed their vocal skills at black churches and suburban megachurches, “Idol” has been embraced by Christian communities across the nation. Congregations have launched enthusiastic viewing parties and vote drives for favorites.”

“Even though ticket prices in the first quarter of 2010 were up 8% from the same period last year–the biggest yearly increase since theater owners began tracking ticket data in 2001–they’ve already taken another leap upward.”

“Piling more and more reality shows onto their schedules, often where movies, documentaries, and live or taped performances used to be, cable networks are setting ratings records as they redraw the TV landscape.”

“Google wants to turn televisions into giant monitors for web surfing so it can make more money selling ads. The company generated nearly $24 billion U.S. in revenue last year, mostly from internet ads displayed on computer screens. The demonstration of the new technology didn’t go smoothly, though.”

The series “had a fixed formula … but it explored social issues experimentally and innovatively … while linking them to the justice system. And by focusing on narratives rather than on individual characters and their personal lives … [the cast of characters] could be changed or replaced with ease. … [The show] was constantly renovated.”

Indian audiences will see “the traditional cut of the romantic drama [‘Kites,’] a two-hour-plus movie filled with extended dance sequences.” Audiences elsewhere will get a version “recut by ‘Rush Hour’ director Brett Ratner, a fast-paced, more Westernized rendering … that largely excises the creative indulgences that distinguish many Bollywood productions.”

“Ask a first grader to identify Bugs Bunny and the response more likely than not will be a blank stare. Dora, sure. Mickey, alive and kicking. But Porky who? Worried that the low profile of the Looney Tunes cast of characters among children is the start of th-th-th-that’s all folks for the historic cartoon franchise, Warner Brothers is embarking on a five-alarm rescue effort.”

“The upcoming movie from Marvel Studios was originally to be filmed in Los Angeles,” but the studio ultimately opted for London “largely because the story is set in Europe and will feature a number of scenes in London such as Piccadilly Circus, and also because of favorable tax incentives.”

“Released in 1927, the same year as the first talkie, The Jazz Singer, it’s a parable of class struggle, foregrounding issues that obsessed 1920s audiences and that have persisted through the present: the oppressive scale of modern cities, the exploitation of the lower classes by the powerful, and the allure of technology, which is presented by Lang as something akin to dark magic.”