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Will New Rental Kiosk Spell Blockbuster’S Doom?
5 hours ago
A new video-rental kiosk capable of providing consumers with an unlimited number of movies, TV shows or videogames that can be downloaded onto thumb drives or video discs in a matter of seconds has been developed by Symwave of Laguna Niguel, CA and Xona Media of San Francisco, the two companies announced Tuesday. The MK3 DVD+Digital kiosk uses advanced Usb 3.0 technology to achieve fast transfers. "Consumers can select and download a movie at a convenient MK3 kiosk with the entire transaction taking less time than getting cash from an Atm," Symwave marketing chief John O'Neill said in a statement. "The movie playback is then just as simple as plugging the flash drive device in to any commonly used Usb compatible media player including gaming platforms and DVD players." Moreover, the downloaded films need not be returned to the kiosk since they are automatically deleted after viewing. In addition, the kiosks will cost less than $5,000, the companies said, versus $15,000 to $25,000 for the current Redbox types. »
James Cameron Urges China To Change Film Policies
5 hours ago
A day after the World Trade Organization rejected China's appeal of a ruling rejecting its restriction of movie imports, director James Cameron told reporters in Beijing that China doesn't need such restrictions. What's more, he argued, doing away with those restrictions could actually benefit Chinese filmmakers. Arriving in the Chinese capital to promote the opening of Avatar on January 2 (the opening was delayed because the Chinese quota on foreign films had already been reached for 2009), Cameron told reporters, "By opening the doors in China to other filmmakers, it will raise the entire film industry in China. ... There will be more seats, more cinemas, more excitement about the cinema-going experience, which will also raise the Chinese filmmakers' ability to play their films." Meanwhile, MPAA Executive V.P. Greg Frazier told the Wall Street Journal Tuesday that his group will begin talks with China early next year to wok out a compliance schedule. »
Movie Reviews: “Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel”
5 hours ago
One of the most surprising blockbusters of all time was the original Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, which grossed more than $217 million in the U.S. The sequel (or "squeakquel" as its called in the title, is not likely to perform as well, although several critics are advising box-office followers to expect the unexpected. Not that they can find much to praise about the film; most of their reviews sound as if they wish they could be writing about something else. Comments Claudia Puig in USA Today; "For anyone over age 8, the arrival of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel may not be the most welcome news." Peter Hartlaub of the San Francisco Chronicle brought his four year old along to the screening, who, he says, "laughed pretty much nonstop throughout." However, he writes, "despite its success as a babysitter for preschoolers, it's a not a very good film." Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News says the "movie's plot is a hodgepodge of standard kid-film elements." Tongue firmly placed in cheek, Betsy Sharkey comments in the Los Angeles Times: "Perhaps not since The Godfather: Part II have we seen a sequel come along that more than matches the mastery of the film that came before it -- all the pathos, the brio, the epic sweep ... the cheese balls" Actually Sharkey's is one of the few positive reviews of the movie. "The script includes enough clever moments to help put The Squeakquel in solid family entertainment territory," she concludes. And Michael Sullivan in the Washington Post pays the movie this left-handed compliment: "Call it a Christmas miracle, albeit a minor one: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel isn't entirely awful." »
"Avatar" Doesn’t Set Record After All 2
22 December 2009 12:21 PM, PST
Actual box-office receipts for Avatar turned out to be bigger than the studio's original estimates but not as big as the first revision on Monday, which would have made it the top-grossing December movie ever. And while the film's $77.03-million take -- the final figure -- overshadowed the first-weekend gross of any other James Cameron movie, including Titanic, it fell short of some of the biggest summer blockbusters -- most especially last year's The Dark Knight, which holds the opening-weekend record with $158 million. Overseas, the film collected $159 million, to bring its worldwide total to $236 million -- far short of the $394 million amassed by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last July. Still, no one was complaining. The general consensus was that the film would certainly recoup its production and marketing costs, which some reports have estimated could come to nearly $500 million. The real test of the film's potential could come during the next few weeks when analysts will be able to appraise its repeat business, the crucial factor in the success of Cameron's Titanic. It appeared that the film could face some serious competition quickly from the musical Nine, which collected $257,232 in just four theaters over the weekend -- or an average of $64,308 per theater. When it expands on Christmas Day, it will only be shown in about 1,500 theaters, compared with the 3,452 showing Avatar. Overall, the box office stood up quite nicely to the storms that hit the East Coast. The top twelve films collected $129.83 million, up 60.84 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago when Jim Carrey's Yes Man topped the list. As of Sunday, the box office was just $4 million short of hitting the $10 billion mark for the year and likely hit that figure on Monday. Revenue for the year is up 8.84 percent over last year while attendance is up 4.76 percent.
The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Avatar, 20th Century Fox, $77,025,481, (New); 2. The Princess and the Frog, Disney, $12,185,949, 2 Wks. ($44,717,721); 3. The Blind Side, Warner Bros., $10,021,280, 5 Wks. ($164,725,525); 4. Did You Hear About the Morgans?, Sony, $6,616,571, (New); 5. The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Summit, $4,407,598, 5 Wks. ($274,598,319); 6. Invictus, Warner Bros., $4,203,171, 2 Wks. ($15,877,956); 7. Disney's A Christmas Carol, Disney, $3,443,464, 6 Wks. ($130,813,354); 8. Up in the Air, Paramount, $3,210,132, 3 Wks. ($8,216,,051); 9. Brothers, Lionsgate, $2,889,121, 3 Wks. ($22,349,862); 10. Old Dogs, Disney, $2,340,575, 4 Wks. ($43,625,471). »
China Loses Appeal On Foreign Movie Quota
22 December 2009 12:20 PM, PST
The World Trade Organization has rejected a Chinese appeal of an August decision striking down China's policy of restricting the number of foreign films and DVDs that can be distributed in that country and forcing film companies to use state-owned distributors. In a statement, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said, "We expect China to respond promptly to these findings and bring its measures into compliance." If it does not, the U.S. could take retaliatory measures against Chinese goods. However, in an interview with today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Times, Greg Frazier, an executive with the Motion Pictgure Association of America (MPAA), said, "We've never been under the illusion of overnight, instantaneous effect [of the Wto ruling,] ... The whole point is to get leverage to open that market." »
Court Refuses To Dismiss Charges Against Polanski
22 December 2009 12:19 PM, PST
A California appellate court on Monday refused to dismiss charges against fugitive director Roman Polanski but said it was "deeply concerned" about allegations of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct presented by Polanski's lawyers. The allegations were detailed in an HBO documentary, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired. However, it added, "Even in light of our fundamental concern about the misconduct that has been alleged here with significant evidentiary support, flight was not Polanski's only option. It was not even his best option." The court said that Polanski's lawyers ought to have filed motions seeking to disqualify the judge, the late Laurence Rittenband. It said that the director now has two options: file a motion to be sentenced in absentia or return to the U.S. and face sentencing in person. »
“Classic Nerd” Arnold Stang Dead At 91
22 December 2009 12:16 PM, PST
Arnold Stang, the actor who was blessed with the features of a classic nerd and the voice to go along with it -- attributes that brought him roles in hundreds of films, radio and TV shows, cartoons and commercials -- died Sunday in Newton, Ma of pneumonia at age 91, his son David disclosed Monday. Standing 5 foot 3 and weighing about 100 pounds, he once described himself as looking "like a frightened chipmunk who's been out in the rain too long." And indeed he often provided the voice of chipmunks and assorted runty creatures in cartoons and commercials. (He was the original Buzz Bee in the Honey Nut Cheerios commercials.) In an interview with today's (Tuesday) New York Times, JoAnne Stang, his wife of 60 years, said: "He loved the cartoons, and he liked doing commercials, too. ... But most of all, he loved radio. It offered him such a span of roles." »
Avatar Takes Over Rest Of Earth
21 December 2009 11:51 AM, PST
Avatar collected more than twice as much overseas as it did domestically -- $159.2 million, the most for any non-sequel on an opening weekend and the fourth largest weekend gross internationally of all time, behind Harry Potter 3, Spider-Man 3, and Pirates of the Caribbean 3. The movie has yet to debut in the two largest Asian markets, China and Japan. It is due to open in Japan on Wednesday and a week from Saturday in China, where it fell victim to China's policy of allowing only 20 foreign films to be shown in a single year. »
Polanski Completing Film Under House Arrest
21 December 2009 11:50 AM, PST
While under house arrest at his chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland, Roman Polanski is completing the editing of his latest movie The Ghost Writer, starring Pierce Brosnan and Ewan McGregor, in time for it to be screened at the Berlin Film Festival, which opens on February 11, the French Sunday newspaper Le Matin Dimanche reported. The newspaper citing a friend, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, reported that the movie will be entered into the competition. It also noted that Polanski had complimented Swiss prison authorities on his treatment, saying that they had treated him with kindness. »
Disney’S Sale May Have Triggered Citadel’S Doom
21 December 2009 11:48 AM, PST
In another case of a highly leveraged media acquisition collapsing under its own weight of debt, Citadel Broadcasting, which bought the Walt Disney Co.'s ABC Radio Networks and Disney's owned-and-operated radio stations in 2006, filed for bankruptcy in New York on Sunday. The company valued its assets at about $1.4 billion and its debt at $2.4 billion. Since Citadel acquired the broadcaster, it has been slashing costs, often by firing key executives and top-rated on-air personalities. Some analysts accused it of "dismantling" the company and forecast that it would sell off the network and stations piecemeal. But radio has been particularly hard hit by the current recession, with many local advertisers cutting back or withdrawing entirely from the medium. Other media conglomerates are facing similar disarray. »
Actress Brittany Murphy Dies At Age 32
21 December 2009 11:45 AM, PST
Actress Brittany Murphy, who was featured in the sleeper hit Clueless and co-starred with Eminem in 8 Mile, died Sunday at age 32 of apparently natural causes, the Los Angeles County Coroner/Medical Examiner confirmed Sunday. An official said that toxicology tests will be performed but that they are not likely to be released for several weeks. »
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