One of the cool things about Children of Men, besides it being the best film of the year and an amazing showcase of cinematography and editing, is the profusion of ads and background video that convey the texture of a dystopic future England. Here’s a link to a collection of the videos, from the production team that put them together.
No, not the iTunes top 20. The podcast simply got into iTunes, which for some unknown reason didn’t happen the last time i submitted it. Hopefully this will mean a few more listeners, as the bulk of the podcast-listening audience finds shows through iTunes. If you’re reading this, you probably already subscribe to the feed, but just in case you don’t, check out the iTunes listing here.
My erstwhile co-host Steven will disagree with me, but I think Sylvester McCoy’s era was the low ebb of the classic series before it triumpantly retuned decades later. Join us as we argue, cajole, and fail to convince each other that the seventh Doctor’s adventures were a bold new step for the show, or a pile of unwatchable junk. (feed, web, direct download)
Movies, once lauded as the dominant art form of the twentieth century, are being usurped by all manner of other media. It’s not that the movies are any worse than they were (or better, for that matter), they just aren’t held up as the cultural totem they once were.
Partly that’s because there’s a surfeit of other media out there, a bunch of different ways to watch movies, and a democratization of movie production that’s taken it down a peg or two. And partly it’s because a new generation of consumers is more interested in connecting with their network of friends and virtual acquaintances than what Hollywood has to say.
On the one hand, I love movies, and it’s kind of sad to see them lose their primacy. But on the other hand, this was a change that was bound to happen. As the media goes from one to many to many to many, the the dictatorial nature of the movie screen loses out to a thousand text messages.
But at the same time our culture is more obsessed with celebrity and entertainment than ever, which requires the movie industry to fuel the ever churning rumour and hype mill. But then again, a whole new tier of Internet “stars” spring up at a lower level to feed the mill.
What’s essentially happening is that we’re witnessing a similar change in media consumption from when radio lost out the the movies, an the movies slipped a little in the face of TV. The difference this time is that the pubic is in control. What they’ll do with this shiny media beast is uncertain, but it’ll be fun to watch.
Afghanistan’s favorite sons are back, and their leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, might be leading the charge. Newsweek has an interesting article about how the Taliban is getting ready for a big springtime assault andriding high on a wave of newfound confidence.
The New York Times is covering the Oscars via a blog called “The Carpetbagger,” and the pre-event article pretty much sums up my thoughts on taking pictures of celebrities at big entertainment spectacles and awards ceremonies. I’ve only done the Geminis, which is the low-rent Canadian television version of the Emmys, but the article hits home on a number of points, such as the fact that very little actual reporting goes on, and that some people are secretly (or not so secretly) excited at seeing and photographing a bunch of celebs, and some (like the Carpetbagger himself) aren’t as blown away by the star power on display.
I fall firmly into the second camp….though I’ve taken some pictures of celebrities while I’ve been doing my Metro gig, I found that any sense of nervousness (or for that matter, shame) approaching them for a photo or interview evaporates pretty quickly when it’s your job. Doesn’t stop me from taking the odd triumphantly nerdy photo, but generally it’s just a gig.
Still, I think that’s probably why tonight, for the first time in a decade, I’m not going to bother watching the Oscar telecast. Having seen similar pomp and circumstance firsthand, I’m pretty much satisfied to check the results on the net when I get home from dinner with friends. And since Return of the King swept the Oscars when it was nominated, my sense of nerd justice was long ago satisfied.
Still, we’ve had pretty good comment threads in previous years during the Oscars, so feel free to throw in your rants, raves, praise and derision at this year’s Bill Conti-scored mayhem.
Headline says it all. In other news, not so much of a deluge on the blogging front. Good conference, though.
I have my doubts about the movie, since at 15 minutes the TV show is pushing it with the funny, but this poster is pretty much the greatest tribute to over-the-top, narcissistic Boris Vallejo style artwork ever. EVER.
I’m at the Northern Voice blogging conference at UBC, taking pictures for my Metro column and generally nerding it up. I’ll probably post a lot today, as I did for the first conference back in 2005.
Thishas been floating around the internet for a couple of days, but I’m pretty sure my core nerd readership can appreciate a video of a bunch of drunken frat boys involving stabbings, the Force, lightsabers and stormtroopers. Simply lovely.
