It's official. The 2012 box office is up by 2 percent over the 2011 box office. Is this great news or what? I'm afraid its more "or what," since the 2 percent increase is a tad meaningless. Heck, 2011 had an overall drop to begin...
Just as I was settling down to work on this piece, I got the news that Ray Bradbury had died. Never having been a huge fan of his work (to be honest, I always leaned more toward Philip K. Dick), I was surprised at my...
There is an important lesson to be learned from the lackluster opening weekend for Men in Black III (depending upon who is doing the counting, it took in $55 to $70 million -- best real figures tend toward $55 million -- which wouldn't be too...
One of the problems in trying to create a rational model for film finance and production is that the entire industry operates mostly on blind hunches, untested assumptions and general notions that sound like something out of a fairy tale. Nowhere is this more obvious...
There are more than seven billion people on this planet just waiting to give you advice. If you are an indie filmmaker, it will feel more like fourteen billion. And I'm not even including your mother. With so many people handing out advice, you would think...
There is a general notion that part of the difference between major movies and indie films is that independent flicks operate outside of the cultural mainstream. The mainstream represents an overall cultural/institutional structure while the indie world operates in an oppositional state. Maybe they do. But...
What is the common link between Think Like a Man, John Carter, The Hunger Games and Jennifer Aniston, a performer whose career is largely based upon being Hollywood's ideal concept of a major star? Presumably the correct answer would be nada. There is obviously no...
James Cameron is planning to set up mining operations on near-earth asteroids within the next two years. But before he becomes the first plutocrat on Mars, Cameron also wants to move the standard running speed of film from 24 frames per second to 48 fps....
Death is not necessarily an end. Sometimes, it's a career move. It almost worked for Orson Welles. After he died in 1985, various attempts were made to restore some of his movies to his original cut and even complete several films he had left unfinished....
I was wrong. I thought the congressional debate on the JOBS (Jumpstart Our Small Businesses Act -- and yes, the acronym is screwy) would take a bit longer than it did. Heck, here lately Congress can't even agree if it's a nice day without lots...