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“Soylent Green”, Made 50 Years Ago, Is Set In 2022.  Here’s Why It Got Things So Wrong — And Changed So Few Minds Back...

" Movies like Soylent Green abandon such messiness in favor of predictive certainty as they set out to shock people into action. ... And as predictions fail to materialize, shock and concern risk turning to cynicism and doubt." - Slate

Public Radio’s Efforts To Diversify Its Interviewees Are Working

"Journalists at NPR and Minnesota Public Radio say they are seeing the payoff from a heightened focus on tracking the diversity of their sources, with reporters more keenly aware of the need to expand their pools of interviewees." - Current

Fifty Years Late, Motion Pictures Academy Apologizes To Native American Actress

Almost 50 years after she was booed on the Oscars stage for declining Marlon Brando's award on his behalf in protest at the film industry's treatment of Native Americans, Sacheen Littlefeather has received an apology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. - EuroNews

Might The Next Blockbuster Movie Be Based On NFTs?

The question is simple: Is it possible for a show based on NFTs to cross over to a mainstream audience that may not even know what those three letters stand for? - CNET

MGM Parts Ways With Universal And Chooses Warner Instead

"During the pandemic, Universal had helped MGM steer Ridley Scott’s starry crime drama House of Gucci to $100 million overseas, Paul Thomas Anderson’s coming-of-age story Licorice Pizza to $15 million," and the Bond No Time to Die to more than $600 million. - Variety

Tatiana Maslany Is Nobody’s Token Superhero

True, she is playing a woman who accidentally joins Bruce Banner in Hulkdom. But the idea of a strong female lead doesn't do it for her: "It's a box that nobody fits into. Even the phrase is frustrating. It’s as if we’re supposed to be grateful." - The Guardian (UK)

For Canada’s Indigenous Filmmakers, A Shift In Representation

An Indigenous crew member "remains cautiously optimistic about the future of Indigenous inclusion in the film industry," and actor Michelle Thrush says that "well-thought-out practices on production sets are replacing her previous experience of crying alone in her trailer." - CBC

Gen Z Dilemma: What Actually Is A Healthy Relationship With Social Media?

Because young people have grown up with online communities, they have a more inextricable relationship with platforms and their identities. This changes the idea of what exactly a "healthy" relationship with social media should look like, making the notion of a digital detox unrealistic and, arguably, unhealthy. - CNET

Is There Any Such Thing Anymore As A Star Whose Name Can Sell Movie Tickets?

"The A-list is a shrinking paddock of ageing thoroughbreds. All five films in the top 100 this year that might be called 'star vehicles' ... feature leads who found fame in the '90s, with an average age of 56." - The Guardian

Netflix Offers A Whole Bunch Of Games. No One Is Playing Them.

"According to recent findings from analytics company Apptopia, 99 percent of the service's users have never touched a single video game on the platform. ... It would be easy to say the streaming giant isn't gaining gamers because their offerings are bad, but they're not." - Wired

Disney Passes Netflix In Number Of Subscribers

Disney’s numbers include Disney+ (152M), ESPN+ (22.8M) and Hulu total, including Live TV, at (46.2M). - Deadline

Streaming Services Are Consolidating Or “Rebundling.” Maybe Not A Good Idea

We live in an age when identity is intimately tied to cultural consumption. Trying to be everything to all people is a risky strategy in a world that already has Netflix. - Washington Post

A Major Corruption Scandal At Berlin’s Regional Public Broadcaster

"It's quite a catalog of allegations that have been leveled against Patricia Schlesinger. Until recently, she was both the director of the regional public broadcaster RBB (Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg) and held the rotating chair of the (national association of state public broadcasters) ARD." - Deutsche Welle

Pew Study: Teen Social Media Use Has Doubled Since 2015

The share of 13- to 17-year-olds who say they're "almost constantly" online has nearly doubled, from 24% in 2014-15 to 46% today.  Among Black and Hispanic teens, that share was even higher, at 55%. - CNET

Cox Media Buys News Startup Axios For $525 Million

The deal offers a rare flicker of hope for the digital publishing sector, which has been fraught with difficulty for investors and operators over the last decade. Some of Axios’s peers have struggled to go public, sell or raise funding at favorable valuations as investors have cooled on digital advertising. - The New York Times

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