“Some scenes in union documentaries are almost guaranteed: organizers rallying the rank and file at meetings, workers expressing concerns about the strike’s impact on their families, tensions flaring up at the picket line. There will be corporate spokespeople, union-till-I-die old-timers, and scabs.” - The Guardian (UK)
But after an international outcry, Lufthansa managed to find it. The blame, though, rests with certain U.S. security forces: “A TSA agent stopped him and said the Oscar could be used as a weapon.” - CBC
Every era (and country) gets the mummy movies it deserves. And “in recent decades, the mummy film has taken on a decidedly populist and, in some cases, postmodern status.” - Reactor
In another rule change, “the Academy also requires screenplays to be ‘human-authored’ and said it reserved the right to investigate the use of generative AI in any submission.” - NPR
“The major issues on the agenda included artificial intelligence and streaming residuals, both of which also featured prominently in the 2023 strike.” - Variety
“The Onion’s plan to take over the Infowars platforms that Alex Jones built into a bullhorn of conspiracy theories and turn them into parody sites was in limbo again Thursday, after a Texas court paused a proposed deal involving the satirical news outlet.” - AP
“Paramount subscribers, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in federal court, allege the acquisition will substantially reduce competition in streaming, news and theatrical distribution in violation of antitrust laws.” - The Hollywood Reporter
“That is the technical legal term for this: batshit crazy. … Legally there is no basis for removing a broadcast license because you don’t like the program. And if there is some kind of DEI claim here, I really don’t know what that would be.” - Vulture (MSN)
As expected, Brendan Carr and the FCC on Tuesday unleashed license-renewal hell on The Walt Disney Co. However, with another Jimmy Kimmel brouhaha erupting with Donald Trump and MAGAland, the Josh D’Amaro-led Disney is playing it cool and playing along, at least for now. - Deadline
Reviews are now even more crucial than they used to be while ratings have dipped in importance in a world of cannibalized viewing, Jeff Pope told a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch this afternoon in London. - Deadline
“They’ve got the books, and I (have no) desire to debate them over what they say their business model is and how it does not work anymore. But less than two years before, ... they were very eager for me to be signed for a long time. So, something changed.” - The New York Times
While the rest of the world was getting hooked on cat videos and bedroom-dance routines, Chinese creators were tinkering with something more ambitious: serialized shows shot vertically, for phones, and packed with racy plots, absurd twists, and great swells of emotion. - The New Yorker
“Seventy per cent of India’s films made before 1950 are gone forever. Film Heritage Foundation founder Shivendra Singh Dungarpur is trying to save the rest.” - Variety
