http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/ Martha Bayles on Film en-US Copyright 2011 Wed, 25 May 2011 16:59:19 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification NOH HAO, at 25 the social media's youngest - and first female - multibillionaire, explains her meteoric success in an exclusive interview with MARTHA BAYLES.

Cambridge, MA, March 15, 2014 - "Meet me at the Harvard Square Peet's!"  The suggestion evokes a legend.  Only three years ago, Hao was sipping chai in that same Peet's when she got the idea for Bod-E, the ultra-hot social networking site that recently topped Google, Facebook, and Twitter in user volume and revenue.  On Monday Bod-E rocked global markets by gaining access to China, using the same sales pitch that had already helped it penetrate Burma (Myanmar), North Korea, Belarus, and the military dictatorships of Egypt, Iran, and the Persian Gulf Republic.  According to SeeNoEvil.com, the essence of that pitch is: Bod-E means stability.

Breathless from dodging traffic, Hao arrives and settles into her favorite corner.  Asked to describe her Eureka moment, she says, ]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2011/05/the_ultimate_social_network.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2011/05/the_ultimate_social_network.html main Arab Spring Facebook internet social media Turkle Twitter Wed, 25 May 2011 16:59:19 -0500 If you need a few minutes of joy, open this link to a live performance by Straight No Chaser (after the ad) .
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/12/a_pinch_of_merriment.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/12/a_pinch_of_merriment.html main Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:04:11 -0500

]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/12/keep_your_lights_burning.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/12/keep_your_lights_burning.html Fri, 24 Dec 2010 17:28:18 -0500 "Later that night I got to thinking about safe sex. We talk about it as something physical. But what about the emotions? Is sex ever safe?" So writes Carrie Bradshaw, trendy newspaper columnist in Sex and the City. Played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Carrie is one of four single women in their thirties, living in affluent Manhattan, whose erotic lives are chronicled in the HBO television series (1998-2004) and two subsequent feature films (2008 and 2010).

Each episode in the TV series begins with a question, some more portentous than others. To the one about safe sex, the answer will depend on a conception of the good - or rather, goods - associated with sex ... ]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/11/sex_and_the_city_redux.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/11/sex_and_the_city_redux.html main Carrie Bradshaw HBO Sex and the City TV series Sat, 27 Nov 2010 15:35:27 -0500 If you are still checking Serious Popcorn, you are a true and loyal reader.  You also may have noticed that SP has been estivating (the summer version of hibernating).

Snails do it, frogs do it,
Tortoises and salamanders do it,
Let's do it, let's estivate.

Apologies to Cole Porter.  What I'm trying to say is, the book is not yet finished, and I am on a publishing diet until it is done.  When I do publish something, I'll post it here.  But for the time being, that and perhaps the occasional mini-post is all I can muster.  Hope to be back soon.
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/08/suspended_animation.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/08/suspended_animation.html main Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:20:58 -0500 George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, once quipped, "Creating a universe is daunting."  This is true, as anyone can tell from a quick perusal of the book of Genesis.  But for animators, being daunted does not pay.  From the painstakingly hand-drawn classics of Walt Disney to the latest performance-capture and 3-D bells and whistles, the prizes in this realm go to the boldest, most obsessed visionaries.  Animation begins in comedy, but by its very nature, it aspires to higher things.

I recently wrote about this for the Claremont Review, and if you liked Avatar in spite of its heavy-handed "message," I invite you to read the whole essay...

]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/04/animation_and_aspiration.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/04/animation_and_aspiration.html main avatar animation religion movies special effects Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:08:09 -0500 If you have never heard Charlie Gillett, you have missed something.  His 1972 book, The Sound of the City, is still one of the best books ever written about rock'n'roll during its formative years.  And his website will tell you what an indefatigable and generous radio host he was to musicians from every continent (and the occasional author, as I can attest).

Gillett died yesterday, and while his obituary is worth a look, his real legacy is all the terrific music he shared with the world.
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/03/one_of_a_kind.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/03/one_of_a_kind.html main music Gillett world BBC Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:58:08 -0500 I am not a Scorsese fan, and if you want to know why, here's my review of The Departed, in which I compare it with Infernal Affairs, the Hong Kong thriller on which it was based.  My conclusion, in the words of Dr. Johnson, is that The Departed is both original and good, but unfortunately the part that is original is not good, and the part that is good is not original.

I confess to not having seen Shutter Island, Scorsese's latest, which like The Departed bottom-feeds on my home town of Boston.  But after reading A. O. Scott's scathing review, I suspect this murky mess does not even deserve Dr. Johnson's faint praise.

Of course, I reserve final judgment on Shutter Island until somebody pays me to see it.
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/02/thank_you_a_o_scott.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/02/thank_you_a_o_scott.html main Shutter Island Scorsese film review The Departed Hong Kong Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:44:21 -0500 I confess to having started another blog, "Hearts and Minds" at worldaffairsjournal.org.  And because they are actually paying me (just a pittance, fellow bloggers, just a pittance), I agreed not to post those entries here.

But that doesn't mean I can't direct interested readers to the site, which has four entries so far: two on Avatar in China and two on the Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan (pictured above), whose new film, My Name is Khan, premiered in the U.S. this weekend.

I could use this new blog as an excuse for neglecting Serious Popcorn, but as loyal readers know, SP already suffers from chronic neglect.  Who knows?  Maybe my two-timer's guilt will goad me to better behavior.
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/02/blogamist.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/02/blogamist.html main shah rukh khan china india avatar film Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:02:42 -0500 latest report, the sage is not attracting enough business to justify keeping him on all the 2-D screens in China.
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/01/poor_confucius_ii.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/01/poor_confucius_ii.html main Sat, 30 Jan 2010 16:18:40 -0500 According to this brief item in today's New York Times, the Chinese government has yanked Avatar from the vast majority of that country's movie theaters in advance of the time it was scheduled to close - and replaced it with a new state-sponsored biopic of Confucius.

Whatever the merits of this new biopic, Avatar is so hugely popular in China, it's hard to imagine why the government would choose to market its own film in such a counter-productive way.

For reason, some have suggested that the climactic scenes in Avatar of giant bulldozers moving in on people's land is striking a chord with the many dispossessed people in China. Needless to say, this is not an interpretation that would not have occurred to most of Avatar's American critics (including me).
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/01/poor_confucius.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/01/poor_confucius.html main Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:47:39 -0500 In case you missed it, this parody promo reveals the many parallels between Avatar and a semi-forgotten animation feature, Fern Gully, released from Fox in 1992.  Same company, same theme, as you will see.  I still like Avatar better, because it is much more impressive to look at -- not because of its updated politics, which I'd describe as anti-globalization ca. 1995 (with a soupçon of crowd-pleasing anti-Bush venom thrown in). ]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/01/where_cameron_got_the_idea.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/01/where_cameron_got_the_idea.html main avatar ferngully cameron film review Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:11:55 -0500 The biggest box office success of the year is unfolding with Avatar, not just in the US but around the world.  Indeed, this new special-effects extravaganza from James Cameron may be the film to break the all-time record of his previous smash hit, Titanic.

I enjoyed Avatar immensely, but in this op-ed from the Boston Globe, I wonder whether it signals a new genre: the anti-American blockbuster ...
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/01/sinking_titanic.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2010/01/sinking_titanic.html main review film media avatar cameron Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:24:45 -0500 This cartoon says it all.  Hope your holidays are warm & mellow in spite of the cold & tense mood of the country and world.  More movie postings soon. ]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2009/12/under_the_tree.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2009/12/under_the_tree.html main Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:32:16 -0500 Is the grief caused by terrorism more intense than the regular kind?  Yes, to judge by Reign Over Me (2007), starring Don Cheadle as Alan, a successful Manhattan dentist who helps his former college roommate, Charlie (Adam Sandler), recover from the trauma of losing his wife and three daughters in the inferno of 9/11.

The critics panned this film for lacking a clear direction, but that's because it turns a predictable formula into something unpredictable.

First of all, Reign Over Me contains no overwrought flashbacks to 9/11.  Indeed, the only direct reference to that day is Charlie's painful recollection when finally induced to talk about his loss.  Second, the film has a wide streak of the juvenile humor we've come to expect from Sandler and writer-director, Mike Binder (whose credits include the raunchy HBO series The Mind of the Married Man).

The humor comes from Charlie's way of expressing his grief -- which is to regress to acting like a young teenager.  Instead of dealing with his pain, he tools around the city on a motorized scooter, listens to rock music on his headphones, and plays kill-the-monster video games on a giant TV screen.  Not only that, but he has been like this for several years when Alan runs into him, and it is clear that one reason why Alan decides to help is because spending time with Charlie allows him to regress, too.

But the result is something more than another comedy about the prolonged adolescence of the American male, because the immaturity of these characters is thrown into relief by the dark backdrop -- and when they finally do grow up, it comes as a relief not a letdown.
]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2009/12/when_the_novacain_wears_off.html http://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2009/12/when_the_novacain_wears_off.html main culture media video dvd film tv Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:54:32 -0500