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NEWS ABOUT: movie industry

3 Things That Killed Blockbuster

Netflix takes leading role in company's imminent bankruptcy

(Newser) - With Blockbuster, once the dominant US video-rental chain, on the verge of bankruptcy, Daniel Indiviglio takes a look at three crucial factors in the demise of an outfit whose “fate was mostly sealed by its failure to embrace technology quickly enough.”
  • Netflix: “Its business model merged technology,
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Don't Let Your Cash Get Stolen

Recommended only for Jon Hamm die-hards

(Newser) - Stolen, in which finds Mad Men star Jon Hamm in a mystery involving the search for two missing children, is getting panned by most critics.
  • "First-time feature director Anders Anderson brings nothing to the table in terms of style or modulation," writes Noel Murray for the Onion .
  • "
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Movie Stock Exchange Proves Wall Street's Mad

Speculation doesn't really help anyone

(Newser) - The announcement that investors can soon buy “futures” in Hollywood movies, shouldn’t be too surprising—it’s the logical extension of what financial markets have become. Once tools for raising capital for real businesses, the markets “have turned themselves into high-tech casinos,” writes Steven Pearlstein of... More »

Like a Movie's Chances? Now You Can Bet on It

First futures market for films about to begin

(Newser) - 3D isn’t the only immersive movie experience out there—soon, filmgoers will be able to play Hollywood mogul and bet on box office in the nation’s first film industry futures exchange. Cantor Futures, expected to gain regulatory approval next month, will allow anyone to buy contracts starting at... More »

Best Actress Oscar Is Sexist

Why can't men and women just be actors together? Kim Elsesser asks

(Newser) - Hey, Academy! Kim Elsesser shouts—acting ain’t the Olympics, so why are you still giving out awards for Best Actress? Female actors consider themselves actors, as the name would imply, and “in the 21st century women contend with men for titles ranging from the American president to the... More »

Worst Movies of All Time

Even George Clooney can't save 1997's Batman and Robin.

(Newser) - So he's up for a best actor Oscar and his movie Up in the Air has gotten tons of buzz. That doesn't mean George Clooney's beyond the occasional flop. His 1997 "franchise-killing" flick Batman and Robin, with Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone, was picked by Empire magazine readers as... More »

Hollywood Casts Cheaper Cities as LA

California loses its grip on the movie business

(Newser) - LA is starting to feel like a has-been actor; the city can’t even get gigs playing itself. Next year’s Battle: Los Angeles, for example, was shot in Louisiana, while Starz’s TV version of Crash set up shop in New Mexico. New York is accustomed to being bypassed... More »

Spider-Man 4 Scrapped

Franchise rebooting with new film after problems

(Newser) - Sony has canceled plans for Spider-Man 4 and will reboot the franchise with an all-new cast and a different director instead. The studio scrapped the fourth installment after director Sam Raimi told the studio that story issues meant there was no way he could meet the summer 2011 release date,... More »

Movie 'Chastity' Sells Better Than Sex

Viewers prefer innuendo to full nudity

(Newser) - Filmmakers looking to score a box-office hit should follow the lead of Twilight, Lord of the Rings, and Spider-Man: keep the love scenes chaste. So claims a new study of more than 900 films released between 2001 and 2005, which shows that, contrary to popular belief, nudity and explicit sex... More »

Streep, at 60, Still Rewriting the Rules

'America's greatest actress' shattered glass ceiling for older women

(Newser) - Who says older women don't belong in Hollywood? Meryl Streep, who appears on the January cover of Vanity Fair, proves that bit of conventional wisdom—and others—dead wrong. Need evidence? "Mamma Mia! has grossed $601 million worldwide, despite some cringe-worthy reviews (for the movie, not its much-lauded heroine),... More »

Movie Popcorn = 3 Quarter Pounders, Plus Butter

It's as unhealthy as it was 15 years ago

(Newser) - Figure 1,600 calories, 60 grams of saturated fat, and 980 milligrams of sodium—that’s what you’re eating when you scarf down a medium helping of movie popcorn at the nation's biggest theater chain. Add a soda and it’s the equivalent of eating a pound of baby... More »

Funding for Independent Films Dries Up

We need government help, say small-budget movie-makers

(Newser) - With no public funding and credit lines frozen, American independent filmmakers are finding it tough to make a movie these days. “I mean if Osama bin Laden gave me money to film, I’d take it,” Todd Solondz tells Bloomberg . The financial crisis has heavily curbed bank financing,... More »

Downey's 'Sherlock': Less Gent, More Hero

Movie depicts brilliant but troubled brawler

(Newser) - The new Sherlock Holmes, played by Robert Downey Jr, is no tweed-clad gentleman. In the latest movie remake, which opens Christmas Day, the detective is reimagined as a ripped martial arts expert "with a mind that whizzes along like a Ferrari and a penchant for falling into a disheveled... More »

Hollywood Heads Roll as DVD Sales Plunge

New studio heads place bets on 'branded entertainment'

(Newser) - In previous downturns, the corporate owners of America's movie studios would cut Hollywood some slack. Not anymore: these days, the corporate suites of LA look like the aftermath of a slasher flick, with old hands kicked out at Disney, Universal, MGM, and Paramount. With DVD sales down 25% and... More »

Blogger Nikki Finke Stays One Step Ahead

Deadline Hollywood Daily is insiders' first call, for good or ill

(Newser) - Nikki Finke works out of her apartment in Hollywood, surrounded by six phones, a laptop, and a cat. Although she doesn’t go out and mingle with her contacts, she certainly has them. And their desire to be on her good side—or stay out of her sights entirely—has... More »

Studios Hot (and Bothered) on Twitter

(Newser) - Movie companies aren't sure yet how big the Twitter effect is in making or breaking films—a spate of negative tweets are reputed to have killed Bruno after a strong opening over the summer—but they're leaving as little as possible to chance. It's the hot new "campaign-management tool,... More »

Zombieland Conquers US

Woody Harrelson vehicle dethrones Meatballs in debut weekend

(Newser) - Zombieland raked in $25 million to dominate the box office in its debut weekend, easily dethroning Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which had held the top spot the previous two weekends. The R-rated comic horror movie starring Woody Harrelson drew an overwhelmingly young audience, with 56% under 25, Variety ... More »

Meatballs Rain on Bruce Willis' Parade

(Newser) - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs dominated the box office for the second straight weekend, racking up $24.6 million in ticket sales and running 10-day total to $60 million. That represents just a 19% fall-off from its opening weekend performance, a notably strong showing in a generally weak autumn... More »

3-D TV Shows Promise, But Those Glasses Still a Must

You'll have stuff to watch next year—but you still need specs

(Newser) - Admit it, your heart skips a beat at the prospect of a 3-D high-definition TV in your own home. And by this time next year, Sony and Panasonic will have ‘em on the market. But—and it’s a big one, even after the cost—you’re going to... More »

Read Your Script? F—, No!

History of Violence writer tells it like it is

(Newser) - Josh Olson is a professional screenwriter, and his time and experience are money. So just as the author of A History of Violence wouldn’t ask you to “represent me in fucking court, or take out my fucking gallbladder,” please, don’t ask him to give you advice... More »

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