Thursday, April 22, 2004

Years and Years and Years of Premium Reality T.V. WHAT KIND OF BREAD WOULD YOU LIKE WITH THAT CIRCUS? I know I'm not the only one who doesn't care about "reality television shows" -- but you'd never know it, given the sheer volume of attention given over to this stuff. The incredible level of interest in these people is amazing. In yesterday's edition of USA Today, for example, a reader writes: [I] could not agree more with those who think that no-talent wannabes who come from reality TV programs are most certainly not stars of any kind. Most reality TV shows are, in essence, merely game shows. I'll expand on that. Not only are people who appear on reality TV shows not stars, nearly every "star" isn't a star. Aside from entertaining us, precisely what have most of these actors, athletes and musicians done with their lives to elevate themselves to Mount Olympus? At one time, describing someone as being in show business was no compliment. I'm thinking of a scene from "My Favorite Year" in which one Manhattan swell tells another than an Errol Flynn-type character is dangling from the balcony. "Alan Swann is beneath us," he says. "Of course he's beneath us," comes the reply, "he's an actor." [Hanlonvision.com] 7:38:59 PM

A Deep, Murky Channel --- But evidence in court documents suggests that Clear Channel -- which owns more than 1,200 radio stations -- aimed to severely damage its Denver competitors and the artists who worked with them. The most dramatic details are found in e-mails from Michael O'Connor, director of programming for Clear Channel's five FM stations in Denver. When the 2001 Styx/Bad Company tour selected House of Blues as its promoter, O'Connor instructed his radio underlings to "crush" HOB and avoid mentioning the concert on its classic-rock stations. --- CC to court. RollingStone.com: News: Clear Channel Goes to Trial In a legal setback for the world's largest concert promoter, Clear Channel Communications, a U.S. District Court judge granted a jury trial to a Denver competitor that accuses the company of "monopolistic and predatory practices." By skadz.com (Skadz). [Geeks, Guitars and Guinness] 7:32:46 PM

Adaptation of 'The Watchmen' ARONOFSKY to Direct WATCHMEN [Digital Theatre [dtheatre.com]] 7:22:47 PM

More on 'Casshern' Casshern Coming to America?. If you've been reading this site for a while you know I'm more than a little excited about an upcoming Japanese sci-fi flick called Casshern. It opens in Japan tomorrow and it looks as though those of us who have... [The Movie Blog] 7:15:35 PM

Earthrise Earthrise. Apollo 11 - Earth from the Moon. 6:16:25 PM

AOL and the Business of Web Portals Portal envy strikes AOL. America Online is going on the offensive with a new plan to retain customers and expand its business on the Web--a strategy it has tried before with little success. [CNET News.com] 7:29:32 AM

Google's Atom Syndication and Foolish Disregard for RSS A technical note via Scripting News: If you've ever wondered if Google has too much power, read this email, and then think about it. A copy of the email I sent to Berkman fellows mail list... [Scripting News] 7:22:13 AM

Discussion on Streaming Classic Movies Streaming classic movies: a bad idea? putting out fires with gasoline. Streaming classic movies: a bad idea? is a topic in the Cinema Minima Readers Forum. AUSTiN pours gasoline on the already raging debate: A properly-exhibited thirty-five millimeter film image is comparable in range and quality to an Old Master painting. The single greatest depredation suffered by the classic motion picture image, was not colorization; it was exhibition on television screens, whose limited tonal-range robbed the image of its subtlety, nuance, and the authority which comes from those hallmarks of quality. A thirty-five millimeter film movie image shown on even the very best television set is comparable in range and quality to that of a comic book printed on cheap newsprint. You are invited, dear Reader, to add your own fuel to the fire. [Cinema Minima] 6:46:02 AM