The Oscar winner for Slumdog Millionaire said, "As a nation, our two art-forms are theatre, in a middle-class sense, and pop music, because we are extraordinary at it." - The Guardian (UK)
It's not just Game of Thrones, but Line of Duty, The Fall, and more to come. Why? Says one production manager, "Thirty minutes from Belfast you can be on a beach, you can be halfway up a mountain, you can be at any number of locations." - BBC
The "Return to Work" protocol has been extended through January of 2023 with the unions on board, and "other protocols including masking and testing will remain in place, a person close to the matter said. Disney may still require vaccines for some productions." - Los Angeles Times
It's not just the second Knives Out movie. "Film producers are now prepared to risk huge sums on the sort of classic crime capers that were once the preserve of Sunday afternoon television specials." - The Observer (UK)
So why is a series trying to capitalize on our nostalgia for the stores? (By the way, the actual last Blockbuster in the world is in Oregon, and there's a documentary about it - also available on Netflix.) - Slate
It's not pretty. "HBO Max subscribers are apparently watching a small selection of shows like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, and Two and a Half Men far more than a lot of the platform’s original programming." - The Verge
"Just to reach the cineplex, people need to pass through a police checkpoint manned with heavily armed officers. Then they are then frisked at the theater entrance for bombs and weapons. Only those who've bought tickets online ahead of time are allowed in." - NPR
Mark Zuckerberg is obsessed with a virtual world no one wants, the company’s stock is down 70 percent from its peak, and it has lost $800 billion of its market capitalization. - Vice
An Artificial Intelligence (DALL-E) was tasked with imagining from their official synopses and titles what these movies, with their mix-and-match tropes and grab bag of Yuletide signifiers — movies that will one day be pitched, greenlighted and written by AI, if they aren’t already — might look like. - Los Angeles Times
It’s tempting to see Garfield as a footnote. But he was far better than his contemporaries at solving the puzzle of how to take the new acting techniques coming out of the New York theatre during the thirties and forties and adapt them for the screen. - The New Yorker
"Nothing short of a total overhaul of the category is in order. Every year, the Academy tweaks the rules, trying to improve the controversial and oft-criticized process by which the nominees are selected. ... But they won't get it right until the Academy rethinks the flawed logic behind the category." - Variety
"(The package gives) subscribers access to bonus content, ad-free episodes, and other perks from nearly a dozen NPR podcasts including Planet Money, Fresh Air, and Code Switch. To join NPR+, listeners must make a new recurring contribution to their local member station starting at $8/month or $96/year." - Nieman Lab
As a lot of the current people leave and a lot of new people who are there because of what they think Elon is going to do join, that’s going to significantly change the culture of the platform.” - The Atlantic
