Category: media

Men are wimping out of seeing Little Women‘s award showings, which is tanking its chances; despite the awfulness of Cats, Ian McKellen’s chances are up; and more. – Vulture

The popularity of older formats is growing, including black and white and things like Canción sin nombre‘s 4:3 format. – Los Angeles Times

Despite rather lackluster reviews, the film is on track to take in almost $400 million internationally. And wow, does that benefit Disney. “Disney said that it had booked The Rise of Skywalker into 4,300 cinemas in the United States and Canada, including 415 IMAX screens and 3,200 3-D locations. Theaters typically keep about 55 percent of ticket sales, with the balance going to studios. But Disney will receive about 65 percent of ticket sales for The Rise of Skywalker, in keeping with the onerous contracts it negotiated for previous Star Wars films.” – The New York Times

Perhaps that won’t improve its dismal showing at the box office this weekend, but at least it might improve the moviegoing experience. Director Tom Hooper “has been upfront about the fact that he barely finished the CGI-heavy Cats in time for the Dec. 16 world premiere in New York City, and subsequently wanted to make more tweaks to certain effects, according to sources.” So it looks like he did. – The Hollywood Reporter

It’s for Netflix, y’all. For The Two Popes. – Los Angeles Times

The movie was supposed to be about her, or be “her movie,” according to The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams. But she died long before this one started shooting. The way it worked was a reminder to everyone, writers and photographers and videographers, to save edited scenes. “‘Originally the frustration I felt at cutting out these scenes that we had shot in ‘Force Awakens,’’ Abrams says, ‘were suddenly the relief that we needed in prepping ‘The Rise of Skywalker.’'” – Washington Post

The Newseum was “prey to the economic and cultural forces that have bedeviled institutions as diverse as symphony orchestras and the electronic media. It had to compete for audience and achieve the right balance between substance and entertainment. Like so many organizations in American society, it struggled to find a compromise between being authoritative and being accessible.” – Washington Post

“Hollywood started as a green industry and then became brown. Everything was used repeatedly; nothing went into storage. Then when studios began to decline, they got rid of everything, sold things in auctions or just threw them away. And the first to go were backings. We will never know how many were lost, and if I go down that road I will just start to cry.” – Los Angeles Times

Ty Burr: “You’ve heard of the “uncanny valley” effect? The eeriness or revulsion felt when looking at a humanoid figure that’s not quite human? The digital era has given us many examples of the uncanny valley, but “Cats” is the first movie to entirely set up shop there.” – Boston Globe