IconoclasT wrote:

I am at a bit of a loss as to why DVD/PPV distribution still lags the cinema release date by 60-180 days.

I think its because a theatre run actally boosts sales on home video. The "direct to home video" route is reserved for most (not all) films that got poor reviews in front of test audiences. In the eyes of most people, films that go straight to DVD/PPV are seen as average at best, and more likely than not "crap".

Where as a national theatre run will pre-hype a film before it goes into the video stores.

LB

RE: Is the blockbuster the end of cinema?

noteworthy wrote:

In 1946, weekly movie attendance was a hundred million. That was out of a population of a hundred and forty-one million, who had nineteen thousand movie screens available to them. Today, there are thirty-six thousand screens in the United States and two hundred and ninety-five million people, and weekly attendance is twenty-five million.

The industry is short sighted (as usual).

In 1946, no one had television or Internet. Cinema was how you "watched the news" and there weren't nearly the multitude of other entertainment options then as there are now competing for everyones money.

25 million people out of nearly 300 million - better than one in twelve Americans is in a movie theatre once a week. Not too damn bad at all by my calculations. Not when you factor in the fact that people are getting taken to the tune of $5 for a bucket of popcorn; $5 for about 5 CENTS worth of product.

Going to the pictures is EXPENSIVE. Lets see... I can pay $50 to take my family to go watch it in a theatre, or I can wait and BUY the DVD for $15 in a couple months and watch it any time in my OWN theatre. Hmmm...

Of course part of the high cost of a movie ticket is the costs of distributing a film on celluloid. Digital cinema will drasticly reduce the costs of distribution, but its currently stuck in a catch-22 situation. Theatres dont wanna pony up $120,000 for a DLP projector unless they have movies (besides Star Wars) to show on them. Studios don't want to bother with digital releases unless there is a substantial number of screens they can play on...

Blockbuster is NOT the end of cinema. Its the same song they have been singing for the past ~25 years. When home VCRS came out in the late 70's "Oh, who is gonna bother to go to the theatre when they can watch it at home?"

I think the days of the 35 bazillion screen mega-plexes might be coming to an end, and maybe somewhat of a return to the larger theatres with fewer screens.

LB

RE: Is the blockbuster the end of cinema?

janelane wrote:
] ] President Bartlet (Martin Sheen): I like how you call
] ] homosexuality an abombination.
] ]
] ] Jenna Jacobs: I don't say homosexuality is an
] ] abomination, Mr. President, the Bible does.
] ]
] ] President Bartlet: Yes, it does. Leviticus.
] ]
] ] Jenna Jacobs: 18:22.
] ]
] ] President Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you
] ] a couple of questions while I have you here. I'm
] ] interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery
] ] as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown
] ] sophmore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table
] ] when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be?
] ] While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of
] ] Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath.
] ] Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I
] ] morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to
] ] call the police? Here's one that's really important
] ] because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town:
] ] touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean.
] ] Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the
] ] Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame?
] ] Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be
] ] together to stone my brother John for planting different
] ] crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small
] ] family gathering for wearing garments made from two
] ] different threads? Think about those questions, would
] ] you?
]
] Found this the other day and thought the Memestreams audience
] should share the laugh. FYI: The stoning commences tomorrow.

I cant help but wonder how many people have ever tried to plead "not guilty because the bible says so!" and quote chapter/verse in their criminal defense?

LB

RE: The West Wing

] President Bartlet (Martin Sheen): I like how you call
] homosexuality an abombination.
]
] Jenna Jacobs: I don't say homosexuality is an
] abomination, Mr. President, the Bible does.
]
] President Bartlet: Yes, it does. Leviticus.
]
] Jenna Jacobs: 18:22.
]
] President Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you
] a couple of questions while I have you here. I'm
] interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery
] as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown
] sophmore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table
] when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be?
] While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of
] Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath.
] Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I
] morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to
] call the police? Here's one that's really important
] because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town:
] touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean.
] Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the
] Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame?
] Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be
] together to stone my brother John for planting different
] crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small
] family gathering for wearing garments made from two
] different threads? Think about those questions, would
] you?

Found this the other day and thought the Memestreams audience should share the laugh. FYI: The stoning commences tomorrow.

The West Wing

] I was 23-24 years old when I wrote these diaries. I
] certainly wasn't planning on publishing them when I wrote
] them; so reading them now either makes me laugh, cry or
] cringe. I will not make any claims to being a gifted
] writer or diarist, but the aim here is to give the reader
] some sense of what it was like to tour across the USA in
] a van with a punk rock band in the mid to late 1980's.
] Some say this was the heyday of independent rock music
] and the college radio scene. I would bet we worked harder
] and played many more shows than many of today's
] 'alternative' rock bands will play in their short-lived
] careers.

Dean Clean has put up a Moveable Type blog, and is posting commented entries from his journal covering the Milkmen's first tour. Other members of the band are also adding comments. You can follow the band on their tour, 18 years lagged.

Also, they have a number of music videos available for download from their main website.

The Dead Milkmen are required listening. Don't trust anyone who says they do not like The Dead Milkmen.

The Dead Milkmen: 18 years ago

IconoclasT wrote:
] This kind of reminds me of that old Dire Straits tune.. Money
] for Nothing (but no chicks for free...)
]
] He is ''Gentleman'' Jim Reeves, the crooner with the velvet
] voice who transcended his country music roots and continues to
] captivate fans worldwide, almost 40 years after dying in a
] plane crash. It is a lasting popularity that has turned
] Reeves — who helped launch the legendary ''Nashville Sound''
] with such hits as Four Walls, He'll Have to Go and Welcome to
] My World — into a substantial revenue generator to the tune of
] at least $400,000 per year, according to royalty statements
] made available to The Tennessean.

Yea - $400K a year for a corpse aint bad.

But what about that truck driver from Tupelo Mississippi? Died from a drug overdose in the late 70's... I think his name was Presley or something like that.

Last I heard, "The King" was raking in profits in the several HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS today - and he's making several times more today than he ever made while he was alive!

Similar story for Buddy Holly, John Lennon, Curt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Sid Vicous, ETC ETC ETC... Just about any famous recording artist that dies "before their time" ironically makes more money when they are dead.

Strange world we live in.

LB

RE: Can someone dead 40 years make $400,000 / yr?

Rather funny.. :)

and true.

Crash Different

inignoct wrote:
] ] What NOT to do while in the theatre when watching "LOTR:
] ] Return of the King":
]
] some of these are pretty funny.

The link changed... MIS-TER ANDERSONNNNN!

http://www.geocities.com/fossilfreak.geo/j03/0312/12.htm

LB

RE: What NOT to do...

"All hell breaks loose in the deliciously brainy "Evil Dead 1&2:The Musical," adapted from Sam Raimi's seminal Evil Dead films. The musical, directed by Christopher Bond, written by George Reinblatt, and blessed by Evil Dead star Bruce Campbell himself, cranks the camp factor of the movies all the way up to "666."

SNIP

"The show must go on - particularly if it's opening night. Evil Dead 1 & 2: The Musical triumphed over the blackout gremlins Thursday night by moving the whole show outside and performing outside the Tranzac Club on Brunswick Ave. Lighting was by hand-held flashlights and as the sun finally went down, the headlights of a car. The zombies - and the audience - loved it."

SNIP

"Toronto Globe and Mail - August 16th - Where were you when the lights went out? "We saw a musical, Evil Dead, spill out of a theatre and right out on the street," Chris says. "It was really cool."

C'mon... you knew this HAD to happen!
LB

Evil Dead - The Musical

] A report from the front lines of the real culture wars

] Learn how corporations use 'statutory damages' as a
] secret weapon to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars
] from people who are 'guilty until proven innocent'. YOU
] COULD BE NEXT!

] WILLFUL INFRINGEMENT was produced on digital video, is 58
] minutes long, in color and stereo. It is available only
] on DVD and comes with over 45 minutes of bonus material
] including an interactive discussion guide for educators
] and exclusive 'Mickey & Me' sidebar video.

No need to pay $50 (though they do ask for a donation) - I wrote the president of the production company and asked them to stream it. To my surprise, they wrote me back to say they did it!

http://willfulinfringement.com/WillfulinfringementFLM.asp

Laughing Boy

Willful Infringement