What’s happening in the way we watch, receive, and choose our movie and television entertainment might just end up being as revolutionary as the switch from silent films to talkies. And in many ways, what we may be witnessing is
(Note: this is the first in a series of weekly film reviews I’ll be doing. Every review will be about a documentary that’s available on Netflix streaming, so if you’re interested you can just watch it right away. Just one
This seems desperate, a throw it up against the wall strategy to boost stagnant ticket sales and plummeting DVD purchases. If you want to see a movie thirty bucks-bad, wouldn’t you go to the theatre? And if you can wait,
Last week’s Hollywood Reporter has yet another excellent story (Variety who?) looking into the many fascinating details of where digital technology is currently taking home video — a subject I’m even more obsessed with than Jon Stewart. Powered mostly by
One saying often said in the Film Industry is that, if you want to go it alone in creativity (versus collaboration), then “buy yourself a paint set.” Whether we like it or not, that cheap paint set is becoming all
[audio: http://newledger.com/podcasts/CoffeeandMarkets022511.mp3] Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson is joined by John Ross and Cole Abaius to discuss how movie studios are struggling to survive in a 3D and digital
What is not to love about this story? The levers of power in the world of popular culture are mostly held by the very few elite Watchmen who control the bottle neck of distribution. They are The Man and politically
Metro PCS is an American wireless phone service provider – with coverage reaching about 90% of the nation. Their slogan is “Wireless for All” – and their different price packages are certainly readily accessible for most people. Including a single
Over the last year I watched an interesting mini-social experiment play out: my sixty-something parents trying out Netflix. The company’s now-famous little red envelopes first gained fame around the time the dot-com boom went bust in early 2000. Video rental
America wants to watch their entertainment at home and when they want to watch it. Those in Hollywood holding out had better get on the streaming bandwagon and figure out a way to monetize it accordingly, or they will be
When they spoke, they spoke in one voice, and they were heard. They were black, they were white, they were Irish, they were Polish, they were Catholic, they were Jews, they were one. That’s what a union is: one… Why
From the Associated Press: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski now has the three votes needed for approval, despite firm opposition from the two Republicans on the five-member commission. Genachowski’s two fellow Democrats said Monday they will vote for the rules, even
Much has been made about James Agee’s affectionate judgment of Buster Keaton: “Keaton worked strictly for laughs, but his work came from so far inside a curious and original spirit that he achieved a great deal besides, especially in his
Most of the movies I’ve seen from 1987 are not what I would call decent. It was feast or famine. I loved several. I hated many. The Academy’s nominees for best picture… The Last Emperor: Bertolucci’s beautiful portrait of China’s
Are you watching what’s happening over at Netflix? Because what’s happening is seismic in terms of how America and the world will be receiving their movie and television entertainment in the near future. For years I’d speculated that eventually home
On September 5, 1949, a largely unknown forty-year-old writer named James Agee had an essay published in Life magazine. Titled “Comedy’s Greatest Era,” it was a paean to the silent screen comedians of yesteryear, and to the fine art of
I’m sure you’ve heard about the Juan Williams/NPR debacle. You may also know that Senator Jim DeMint has vowed to introduce legislation that will deprive NPR, as well as public television, of taxpayer funds. It seems that in this political
So my agent called me the other day and said she’s putting me up for the newest James Bond movie and would I come up with a “take” so I can go in and pitch. Of course I said sure,
The mainstream media is doomed. I understood that as soon as I understood the power the Internet gave to everyone to gather, disseminate and analyze information. While there are a few remaining honest and talented MSMers doing the excellent work
Michael Worth was not born a filmmaker, but he came pretty close. Raised as a child not too far from the Chesapeake Bay, Michael began his camera savvy ways at the young age of ten. Armed with a Super 8mm
As the famous saying goes, “Pride goeth before the fall.” And perhaps there’s no moment of greater pride in the world of entertainment than being nominated for an Oscar – a fact that Joaquin Phoenix knows all too well after
The brilliance of Edward Jay Epstein’s “The Hollywood Economist” is that it takes existing “common knowledge” and turns it on its head, revealing ways we’ve all been duped by Hollywood into believing that studios are always nearly broke and thus
There are several takeaways from Netflix’s announcement that it will have exclusive streaming rights to movies from Epix, the joint venture between MGM, Lionsgate, and Paramount. While the deal has generated a lot of press, however, I find the impact
When Jack Schaefer’s novel Shane first appeared in France, the translator did a curious thing: he snuck Brandon De Wilde’s famous movie line “Shane! Come back!” into the text. That bit, of course, never appeared in the novel. But the
When director George Stevens decided to film Shane in the early fifties, it was a momentous decision on a number of levels. Born in 1904, he was the product of a family of actors, and grew up in San Francisco
