Archive for 2009/01


News Roundup

Can Fox News Survive? I’m not talking about Rachel Maddow and I’m not talking about Obama.  I’m speaking of the dreaded Internet, which has eviscerated the music business to the point where even Interscope is laying off staffers. CNN.com rules online news.  And that’s a significant sphere.  By 3:30 on Tuesday, CNN.com had served 21.3 […]

Bob Ezrin On Quality

Bob, I usually sit on the sidelines and eat my popcorn as I enjoy the theater that is you and this wonderful newsletter.  You’re better than most movies and just about any music that’s out there right now for entertainment.  And even when I think you’re being a stick in the mud, you do it […]

Quality

There’s a fascinating story by Tad Friend on movie marketing in the January 19th issue of the "New Yorker".  It’s especially poignant in light of yesterday’s Oscar nominations.  Why didn’t the best pictures get noms?  Or, more importantly, does it matter what gets nominated, does it matter what consensus is on any piece of art […]

Boxee

Conventional wisdom is that the visual entertainment media are nowhere near as stupid as their brethren in the music industry.  They’ve seen the Net coming. They’re not going to make the same mistakes the record labels did. Then there’s that old saw that content is king.  This is a fiction spread by the makers of […]