Once More… Briefly

I didn’t read everything this morning, seeing how the ABC News presidential debate got slammed in the media.
I will not join the fray, though I have to wonder why someone thought it was okay to have a guy who owes his entire public career to The Clintons asking questions.
But what struck me was that with as many attacks as were thrown at Obama – four straight questions about the statistically insignificant Reverend Wright, a dumb question about a flag pin, plus that weak stuff about David Ayers, which sadly to me, forced Obama to point out the Bill Clinton had taken other Weather Underground members OUT OF JAIL with pardons – he just kept moving forward with answers that both made sense and for the most part, were not at all evasive. Half the time, I was watching Hillary with that “I can’t believe that we can’t hurt this guy” look on her face.
Bring on McCain.

A "So What" For Adults… But Someone Should Be Fired For Stupidity

I don’t know what the national layout on the new Gossip Girl campaign is. I had noticed something online about an “OMFG” ad campaign, but the initial reaction seemed to be about the sexual images, not the phrase.
So as I drove over Barham yesterday, seeing a giant OMFG billboard suddenly hit me… Oh My Fucking God.
Someone at Time-Warner approved the use of anything inferring the word “fucking” next to the word “God?” Are they out of their fucking minds?
I am not language squeamish. In fact, I am a First Amendment absolutist (which is why I am so tough about the morality of publishing choices, as I do not believe in censoring the ideas, I believe in individual responsibility). But even I could see a reasonable person being extremely offended by the use of that phrase in ads

The Digital Copy Thang

I ran into two firsts this week regarding digital copies made available with DVDs.
First, I got a copy of Sony Home Entertainment’s direct-to-DVD title, Diamond Dogs, starring Dolph Lundgren. Prominently placed on the cover, which is also tricked out with a 3D image, it says, “INCLUDES BONUS DIGITAL COPY.”
This is, as far as I can tell, a first for Sony. I have seen it, as noted here, with WB in the past, including the last Harry Potter… which didn’t work on iPod/Phone/Touch. And of course, Sony is pushing their PSP, so this download, which you can make to your PC, doesn’t transfer to Mac, and apparently will not work on iPod/Phone/Touch.
One movie that will absolutely work on your iPod/Phone/Touch is Juno. The Blu-ray copy of the film comes with a second disc expressly intended as a digital download for PC, MAC and specifically, the “i”s.
This is the future… a purchase will be a purchase to all formats, becuase that is what the public wants.
I gather in regular Juno DVDs, there is a premium price to get a download. I think that’s fair. $7 is not realistic. But bring it down to the cost of a DVD rental and it becomes a viable premium.

BYOB Again

Sorry… it’s been one of those days.
I did get to make my April Fools joke real… more on that in time.
Here is some space for y’all. I should be posting more later tonight.

Will This Last Gasp Finally Kill Off The Clintons?

The saddest part of the Clinton attacks on Obama is not the damage they will do to the 98%-likely Democratic nominee. So far, the only damage seems to be landing on Hillary Clinton, who last time she threw everything she could against Obama, she lost half of her lead in Ohio and lost the delegate count in Texas, no matter how those primaries have been spun into “surprising success” by her supporters.
The sad part is that Clinton is now burning down her own legacy and her husband’s legacy with it… and heeeee helped!
The issue of damage to the Democratic Party in the fall is becoming a secondary issue, to me, as we proceed. In many ways, this is another test of fire that helps Obama learn how to respond… an asset, not a detriment, primarily because of how Obama has responded. He has shown, by his actions, the kind of public man he is and will be. And that continues to work to his benefit.
The “bitter” fight is becoming the “Bosley Crowther” of this election season, long term. You will notice that those who want to attack Obama on this issue not only quote him narrowly (it’s interesting that someone offering the ENTIRE context of the evening is getting no attention at all, even on The Huffington Post), but feel the need to tell us all what he “really meant,” embroidering the comments with the kind of buzz words that the best liars love to trot out.
He is no messiah… but it becomes clearer and clearer… Obama is the start of The Future.
And if he fails, the sense of loss will be profound. But to me, it is far better to try… especially when the old school’s creakiness becomes more and more apparent.
As with an inoculation against disease, Obama grows in stature… and the Clinton campaign becomes more and more the embodiment of a mosquito…. small, nasty, virulent, and ultimately, squashed.
The great story in all of this

BYOB – Taxed

LAByrinth Keeping NY Theater Vital

Something really great is happening at the LAByrinth Theater Company in New York.
We caught up with The Little Flower of East Orange a few weeks ago. This time, it was Philip Seymour Hoffman directing a play by Stephen Adly Guirgus. The duo had successes before with Our Lady of 121st Street and Jesus Hopped the

LAByrinth Piece… With Stupid Comments

This entry about the very valuable LAByrinth Theater Co was hijacked in comments by insanity. I am not removing the comments… and I hope that any need to be “wacky” will continue to limit itself to this entry and not spill over into the new entry… even if there is not a single relevant comment on that entry.
A little respect, please…

Lunch With… Young @ Heart Director Stephen Walker

Last summer, I sat down with the director of Young @ Heart and another director with a doc at LAFF, Ondi Timoner (Join Us). And here is The Lunch…

Turn Out The Lights, The New Line's Over…

Today was the day. Variety ran the story first, at 3:30p.
Is there really anything more to say?
They’re going to squeeze out a few summer movies – not the ones that Time-Warner sees real potential for – and anyone with a contract (and a few people managed to re-up just before the bloodletting began) will either run the string out at the Robertson offices, at home, or in reassignment to what is sure to be a less-than-thrilled-to-see-them Burbank.
New Line will never be New LIne without Shaye and Lynne. And that’s fine. Old, rich, and able to get over their short-term embarrassment, I’m sure.
And so it goes… tears already shed.
It’s been that kind of year. Fox Atomic… IFC theatrical… Sidney Kimmel…HD-DVD… and dead or dying, with more bodies to drop. Speaking of which, there is some buzz growing that Picturehouse – unmentioned in today’s NL announcements – is not in as good a place with Time-Warner parents as they thought… take that with a big grain of salt, but take it as balance…
My biggest hope is that with New Line clearing out, someone will take this opportunity to knock down that eye sore of a 1968-style building on Robertson and without building a monstrosity, putting something worth looking at in its place.

As DVD Sales Sail Into The Sunset…

Relased on DVD less than 2 months ago… though you can also buy this on Amazon.com brand new for $14.99.
And next month… buy the still-left-over AG DVDs for under $7.
For all the hand-wringing over internet delivery, the industry, just as it did by pushing the front-loading of theatrical release and making the marketing costs beyond sanity, is killing the goose so it can squeeze out the last golden egss all on its own.

Bribes To See A Summer Screening?

Digital Cinema Spin

There is a story in Variety today that reports the facts, but misses the real subtext. The journalism of it isn’t my issue.
The story, as it did at ShoWest, ties Digital Projection to 3D… which is a bit of a scam. 3D is cool, yes. Avatar and animation are the cash cows that are being used to force the issue, just as the Star Wars trilogy was offered as a motive a decade ago.
The truth is simpler. The cost of digital projectors got low enough and the belief in sustainability got high enough that the studios – which stand to save billions every year – have decided that it’s in their interest to pay their share for a technology that will benefit them a whole lot more than it will benefit the theater owners.
The story today is really about the studios playing games after having laid the public groundwork back at ShoWest. They got the media to sell the “3D is the future” con so that if it falls apart, it looks like the theaters owners are taking something away from the public, who they are scared of losing, even though the reality is that they are still showing up in huge numbers that ticket sales are dropping minimally in the face of so many alternate options for the delivery of same films. And now, behind the scenes, the studios are trying to force theater owners to pay for more than the offer that was on the table just months ago.
And in this story, NATO is pushing back and saying, “if you don’t pay for it, it will not happen… here’s a timetable… now YOU deal with Cameron and Katzenberg!” AND Lasseter, who just announced that all Pixar and Disney CG films will be available in 3D.
But in the end, this has very little to do with ten 3D releases a year… and has a lot to do with cold, hard cash. The studios want to squeeze a billion or so from the exhibitors over the next five years. The exhibitors have been saying for a long time that they are happy to have these projectors, but they will not make more money because of them, so the studios need to pay. And of course, the studios will be in profit on digital projection alone in less than 4 years.
In other words… it’s the same old negotiation right before “escrow” closes..

Yet ANOTHER Speed Racer Trailer

Critical

We have all be reading and writing about the endangered film critic lately.
Here’s a story about one that isn’t in career trouble, but whose health is in danger… because he has no health insurance, which brings things full turn, as so many writers who are internet-based don’t have benefits. (For the record, MCN has considered coverage for our writers, but all of our regulars are covered by other means.)
Portland’s DK Holm’s has “a very treatable case of esophageal cancer,” but needs help paying for that treatment. Even if it is 10 bucks apiece, if enough of us step up, he should have what he needs.
I am not one to post appeals to anyone taking money out of their pocket, invoking humanity and/or guilt. But in this case, there seems to be the rare opportunity to have a real effect on what should be a productive future in an arena we all care about.
A web page with info on an upcoming benefit for Holm in Portland, as well as an address where donations can be sent is here.