Thompson on Hollywood

3-D Stats are Trending Down

Hollywood would like to think that 3-D cures all ills. But the stats don't lie, as a discerning public picks and chooses the 3-D movies that are clearly worth paying a premium for. Check out The Wrap's analylsis of 3-D performance. The studios may want to reconsider throwing good money after bad when they try to buttress their returns on a bad B-movie with retrofitted 3-D. I quickly started to tune out Step Up 3-D, which actually had some good dancing, which I would much rather have seen in good old-fashioned 2-D. The intrusive 3-D wore out its welcome real fast. (Variety's Justin Chang disagrees.)

By Anne Thompson
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August 4, 2010 7:04 AM
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3-D Resistance, Teen Stars Disappoint at Box Office, Justin Bieber Biopic, New Idol Judges

- The ultimate Hollywood truism these days: if you can't make it good, make it 3-D. The NYT considers the pull for and push against 3-D domination. At Comic-Con, several directors played to anti-3-D sentiment in the cavernous Hall H. J. J. Abrams believes that “when you put the glasses on, everything gets dim." Joss Whedon loves 3-D, but at the same time was against MGM turning his production of The Cabin in the Woods 3-D: now Whedon hopes being the only non-3-D horror flick could make it special. With almost 60 3-D films set for release in the next two years across some 5,000 digital screens, now 2-D is old-school-cool. Some filmmakers are resisting 3-D; it complicates shooting and, according to both Whedon and Abrams, typically does little or nothing to improve cinematic storytelling. Christopher Nolan resisted making Inception 3-D, while tech-savvy Michael Bay has admitted to making Transformers 3 only partially 3-D.

By Sophia Savage
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August 3, 2010 5:40 AM
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Media Watch: Media Moguls Head for Sun Valley Summer Camp, Relativity Pics on Netflix

- It's known as the summer camp for moguls, writes THR, and Apple God Steve Jobs is probably not coming to the party (he's only attended twice). In it's 28th year, Allen & Co.'s event in Sun Valley, Idaho hosts a range of key media and tech players. They park their private jets and spend their time talking business, dodging media reporters and riding bikes in the high altitude. While their families play in the resort, the moguls will likely discuss such pressing issues as growth strategies post-recession, mergers and acquisitions like the Comcast/NBC Universal deal, and the future of 3-D on film and elsewhere.

By Sophia Savage
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July 6, 2010 3:47 AM
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Eight Things I Learned About Producing Web Entertainment

Here are eight things that Cameron Carlson learned at The American Cinematheque's Monday panel on web series and emerging trends in online content development. Instead of giving up on Hollywood after pursuing conventional career routes, the intrepid panelists took their chances on the web. Videos after the jump.

By Cameron Carlson
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June 22, 2010 10:47 AM
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Sony 3D Promos At-Home 3D: At Expense of Theater Experience?

"I refuse to say the sky is falling," declared Sony chairman Amy Pascal, when I asked her about the grim summer box office so far. She was observing the Sony 3D show-and-tell Wednesday on the Sony lot. Clearly, not only is the studio earmarking a number of 3D features for 2010 and beyond--including Resident Evil Afterlife in 2011 and Spider-Man 4 and Men in Black III for 2012 (Will Smith putting on his shades takes on a new meaning), but the entire corporation is moving aggressively into the 3D space both at home (PS3, 3D games, Bravia HD 3D televisions, Blu-Ray 3D devices) and in theaters (see videos below and Sony News).

By Anne Thompson
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June 10, 2010 2:10 AM
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Rafat Ali To Leave PaidContent Behind for New Chapter

One of my daily reliables is respected digital news site PaidContent, founded by Rafat Ali eight years ago. Ever since he sold PaidContent to The Guardian's ContentNext two years back, Ali's future has been unclear. The last time I met with him, before he moved to New York some months back, he was pondering various options for his future. Well, one of them is a summer tour of Central Asia after he leaves PaidContent in July, which is well-deserved.

By Anne Thompson
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May 22, 2010 4:48 AM
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Rotten Tomatoes Integrates with iTunes

As of May 20, Rotten Tomatoes is integrated with Apple’s iTunes Store. Thus the Tomatometer scores that aggregate reviews from hundreds of critics are now part of the information page for movies across the web on the iPhone iTunes application. Users can click for more info directly from the iTunes Store to Rotten Tomatoes.

By Anne Thompson
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May 20, 2010 12:51 PM
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Mubi's Big Move is Sony PlayStation 3

Mubi CEO Efe Cakarel has made a major move: partnering with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) to put the global online cinema site Mubi (nee The Auteurs) on Sony PlayStations in Europe, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand. Cakarel made the announcement at a Majestic press conference, along with Andrew House (CEO of SCEE), Hengameh Panahi (CEO of Celluloid Dreams) and director Agnès Varda. Mubi will be available on PS3s in the U.K., Ireland, France, and Germany this fall, but will not broaden to 18 more countries until spring. House says he is taking a wait and see attitude about when to launch in the U.S. and Japan. Talks are ongoing.

By Anne Thompson
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May 18, 2010 9:53 AM
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The Auteurs is Now Mubi

It had to happen. The cinephile site The Auteurs has changed its name.

By Anne Thompson
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May 13, 2010 5:09 AM
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Netflix's Sarandos Talks Streaming, Recommendations, Set Top Boxes

Scott Kirsner, author of Fans, Friends and Followers and the Cinematech blog, recently interviewed Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos at his office in Beverly Hills for Kirsner's "CONVERSATION" series.