Category: media

“The better the actor, the more convincing the sex scene — and the more potentially wrenching for the actor’s mate. No wonder so many couples devise rituals – some subtle, others more concrete — that they hope will ease the pain.”

“[T]he thirst for revenge has always been central to American movies” – from The Searchers through Dirty Harry, A Time to Kill and Unforgiven to Inglourious Basterds. “The vigilante’s sense of rough justice clearly descends from the western gunslinger’s idea of frontier law.”

“[E]very person in Finland (a little over 5 million people, according to a 2009 estimate) will have the right of access to a 1Mb broadband connection starting in July. And they may ultimately gain the right to a 100Mb broadband connection.” What exactly constitutes “the right,” however, isn’t completely clear.

The “effort to pass a bill requiring broadcasters to pay performers when their music is played over the air … extends back generations, and the victory in the Judiciary Committee is a significant step forward as previous efforts have stalled.”

“Channel 4 programmes are to become available free of charge on YouTube, marking the first time a broadcaster anywhere in the world has made full-length programmes accessible on the video-sharing website.”

“ITV intends to close its Specialist Factual and Arts department by August next year, … The closure plans come soon after ITV’s decision in May to axe long-running series The South Bank Show following more than three decades on air.”

“Employing proprietary musicDNA software, the website offers a database of 10,000 pre-cleared tunes from 50 countries for instant licensing to film, TV ads and videogames. Company touts its services as an alternative to laborious song clearances and use of production music.”

“Every network looks to book talent first: NBC Universal is taking the concept to a new level with the singer Jon Bon Jovi.” For two months, the network will call him an “artist-in-residence” – meaning that he “will be seen exclusively on shows on outlets owned by NBC Universal.”

“Speaking in Beijing, [Vladimir] Putin suggested the new song contest should be set up in the incongruous framework of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO), a six-nation defence bloc [made up of Russia, China and four formerly Soviet ‘-stans’] that is more accustomed to conducting joint military exercises than giving each others’ crooners nul points.”

“Afghan cinema has enjoyed a renaissance since the Taliban were forced out of Kabul, with young filmmakers shooting shorts, features and documentaries in digital format. The local theater market is dominated by Indian movies, but about 25 to 35 Afghan films are released every year.”