Popularism

Grad school meets The Mighty Ducks

2009-01-08T21:54:00.007-06:00

I did an online search for Michigan universities that have any kind of film degree. Some of the major state schools, such as Michigan State University (Go Spartans!) and the University of Michigan do NOT have any kind of real film program.

Central Michigan does, however. In looking over the graduate program's courses, I ran across this:

An entire course about hockey movies? Do they sit around and watch The Mighty Ducks trilogy?

Link to the document

Watch documentaries for free

2008-07-17T16:28:00.004-05:00

VERY cool: Documentaries go free online

The short story - watch documentaries for free online at snagfilms.com

Free Music: Leeland

2008-07-12T17:02:00.002-05:00

I couldn't believe it, a free song with no gimmicks; I didn't have to sign up for anything. Just go to http://leelandonline.com/oppositeway/ or click here for a direct link

Michigan wins over Texas film

2008-06-18T23:22:00.003-05:00

Drew Barrymore's film starring Ellen Page, "Whip It", was set to be shot entirely in Austin, TX - that is, until Michigan came along...

My friend won an Emmy

2008-06-13T00:28:00.002-05:00

My friend, David Fry won a regional Emmy for his producing/editing. This is him accepting the award (he's the second one to speak).

The 45th Annual Northwest Regional EMMY Awards from David Fry on Vimeo.

Who is Roderick Jaynes?

2008-06-10T22:36:00.005-05:00

Do you know who Roderick Jaynes is? Neither did I - until today.

He caught my attention when I noticed him on Entertainment Weekly's "50 Smartest People in Hollywood". Most of the people on the list are producers, directors, actors, but there was an editor on the list - Roderick Jaynes.

So, I looked him up and found that...

1. He's been nominated for two film editing Oscars (Fargo and No Country for Old Men) and,

2. He's not a real person. Roderick Jaynes is the pseudonym of Joel and Ethan Coen as editors.

What would happen if he should win an Oscar? Perhaps the bigger news is that the Coen brothers are a bit odder than previously thought.

Of note: Other fake people have been nominated for Oscars

Robot is really, really smart, but not really

2008-05-15T00:06:00.003-05:00

I love stuff like this... The headline reads "Robot conducts Detroit Symphony!" Then I read the actual article which essentially says:

1. It's not really conducting the symphony, and

2. It's not really very smart and can't respond in simple ways humans can

Yay for progress

Avid's new strategy

2008-05-14T00:29:00.003-05:00

Avid (video editing software) recently announced "new thinking" and shift in 2008 strategy, complete with a new website: www.avid.com/we-are-listening.

I guess www.avid.com/we-aren't-listening wasn't working so well.

Speed-Rater

2008-05-13T23:06:00.004-05:00

I was watching the latest speed racer trailer on apple.com and I thought to myself, too bad this movie is rated PG-13 because this movie looks perfect for younger boys. It's like hot-wheels on a hollywood budget.

Lo and behold, somewhere along the way, they changed the rating from PG-13 to PG - a smart move, I might add. If you look on the Speed Racer trailer page, the rating still says PG-13.
Be careful of movies that have been converted from PG-13 to PG (or from R to PG-13 for that matter); they tend to push the ratings envelope a bit and have odd traces of mature subject matter.

Free Music: Coldplay

2008-04-28T13:52:00.001-05:00

Everyone loves free music; it's like a free T-shirt for the ears (even if you don't like it you are compelled to take it because it's free).

Starting tomorrow (Tuesday) for 7 days only, Coldplay will be giving away their new single, Violet Hill

http://www.coldplay.com/song.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7370808.stm

Music as a commodity/the magic of ownership

2008-04-25T00:33:00.001-05:00

Have you heard of this? The thought of making music a commodity. The ideas is that you pay a bill every month whichallows you to download and share whatever music you want. Apple is currently negotiating a subscription service with record labels that do just that.

I've been thinking about this. Doesn't the art that we own say something about us? For example, if you were to take a look at my DVD collection, you would see a variety of films that I have purposefully acquired and been given. I have everything from Spider Man to Koyaanasqatsi to Citizen Kane to Singin' in the Rain. I have big hollywood films, smaller films, and documentaries. I take pride in my collection and I like what it says about me. However, if everyone had access to whatever movie or music they wanted, some of that magic of ownership would be lost. What do you think?