Angry Americans are voting with their media choices, and the news is very bad for complacent leftists. The mainstream media continue their downward slide as the New York Times and Washington Post report continuing drops in profits and stock values. That's great news for the rest of us.
Continue reading "Profits Down Again for New York Times, Washington Post" »
Continue reading "'Grand Theft Auto IV' Tops Half-Billion Dollars in Sales in One Week" »
After the immensely successful opening weekend box office performance of Iron Man, Marvel Studios has announced plans to release a sequel in April 2010.
Continue reading "Marvel Announces 'Iron Man' Sequel" »
Marvel Studios' Iron Man dominated the movie box office during its first weekend, at a near-record pace. Even more surprisingly, it has some serious thoughts behind it.
Continue reading "'Iron Man' Is Super Box-Office Hit--And More" »
Customers are flocking to big-discount clothing stores such as Steve and Barry's, and celebrities are lining up to endorse them. Is it a welcome rejection of materialism and slavery to fashion, or simply making a virtue of limited expectations in relatively tough economic times?
Continue reading "Cheap Chic" »
A strange, spiritually infused novel by a troubled Oregonian tech representative has hit the best-seller lists, thanks to plenty of free publicity in Christian media outlets. But it may be a very un-Christian book.
Continue reading "Best-Selling Book Shows Market Power of Christian Media" »
Continue reading "Lifetime Network Pursues Homosexual Audience" »
The embarrassing Miley Cyrus Vanity Fair photo shows the value of public relations people—and why investing real money makes people more careful about what they do.
Continue reading "Miley Cyrus, Unprotected Celebrity" »
The media industry publication Advertising Age reports that viewers are not returning in hoped-for numbers to the TV shows they watched before the writers' strike interrupted the television season, even though new episodes are airing.
The Advertising Age article suggests that the convergence between broadcast and cable TV audience levels may be even greater than in recent years. This bodes well for audiences, as it further undermines the power of the big networks and portends a possible increase of consumer choice as competition makes the networks more resonsive to their audiences' preferences.
This won't necessarily bring on a Golden Age of Television, as long as the most popular cable and broadcast networks are owned by a small cartel of media conglomerates, as they are today. Nonetheless, anything that further breaks up the networks' oligopoly is good for the public at large. Something good may thus come from the writers' and producers' mutual greed.
A new ad campaign for Absolut vodka shows open hatred for the United States.
Continue reading "Absolut Radicalism" »
A new TV network, Planet Green, is about to provide a forum for allegedly "eco-friendly" lifestyle choices. In reality, this entire movement will make money for opportunists and phonies and hurt everybody else.
Continue reading "Discovery Goes Green" »
Could this be the start of a new trend toward greater optimism and positivity in the culture? HBO, for two decades the home of dark, unhappy, "edgy" TV series, is debuting a new show with a light touch.
Continue reading "HBO Lightens Up With New Detective Series" »
'Big Four' network brings original programming to Saturday nights, chasing MMA's upscale, young audience.
Continue reading "CBS Brings Mixed Martial Arts to Major Network TV" »
In addition to the low box office numbers for most of the films nominated for Academy Awards and those that won, perhaps the strongest evidence that Hollywood—like the U.S. cultural elite in general—has become very distant from its audience is the fact that the TV ratings for Sunday's Academy Awards show were the lowest ever.
Continue reading "Oscars Draw Record-Low TV Audience" »
For those wondering when new episodes of network primetime TV series will begin appearing if the writers strike ends Tuesday as expected, there's a good AP article on the subject here.
Short answer: the rest of the season will be a mess. New episodes of popular fiction series will be scarce, and new episodes of most fiction shows that began this season are unlikely.
The worst news is for fans of the popular Fox series 24. The show will probably not return until early next year, according to reports.
Thus the writers union has accomplished what the worst supervillains in the world could not. Now that's power.
U.S. film audiences continued to show their preference for light fare this week, as two new releases, both comedies, topped the weekend's U.S. movie box office competition.
Continue reading "Romantic Comedies Are Strong Draws in Runup to Valentine's Day" »
Continue reading "Super Bowl, Miley Cyrus Rule the Weekend" »
Providing further proof that America's elites are delighted when people of low mental ability use Christians and Christianity as punching bags, ESPN has suspended sports-show anchor Dana Jacobson for one week after she indulged in a drunken, foul-mouthed public tirade that included an astonishingly vulgar curse directed at Jesus Christ.
The one-week suspension is very revealing of the mentality of the management team at the Disney-owned sports network, given that the same behavior would have gotten anyone not in the media fired, and it would have gotten a media person fired had it been delivered against an accredited victim group—cf. the termination of radio host Don Imus and basketball commentator Tim Hardaway last year.
Continue reading "Christ-Hater Skates,Thanks to Elite Prejudice Against Christians" »
Continue reading "EU Presses Computer Privacy, Thwarts Google" »
Cloverfield, the innovative monster movie directed by TV producer J. J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Felicity), achieved the strongest January box office opening weekend in film history this past weekend.
Continue reading ""Cloverfield" Leads Pack, Shows Value of Ingenuity, Human Scale" »
Continue reading "Weird Comedies Take Movie Box Office Lead" »
After the success of several tie-in novels featuring characters from the USA Network detective-comedy series Monk, written by TV mystery veteran Lee Goldberg, two more USA Network series will get the same treatment, according to an item on The Blog of the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers.
TV writer William Rabkin has agreed to write three original novels based on Psych, with the first going into print in January 2009, and Tod Goldberg will produce three books based on Burn Notice, with the first installment due out in July 2008, when the series' second season will begin on USA Network.
Continue reading "Tie-In Novels for 'Psych,' 'Burn Notice'" »
The witty, charming comedy Juno, about an unmarried, pregnant teenager who decides to bear her child, moved into third place in U.S. movie box-office take this past weekend.
In its second week of general release, Juno pulled in an average of nearly $8,500 per screen, significantly more than the healthy $5,376 gathered by National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which was once again the top moneymaker for the weekend. In just three weekends and the intevening weekdays, National Treasure: Book of Secrets has brought in a stunning $171 million in U.S. ticket sales.
Continue reading "Cheerful Juno, National Treasure: Book of Secrets Still Going Strong" »
A year ago, upon the release of the Fox Faith theatrical film Facing the Giants, I reported on an analysis by Christian screenwriter Barbara Nicolosi criticizing the film. It took me a long 
time to get around to seeing Facing the Giants, in large part because of the many negative reviews, but I saw it a few weeks ago and corrected the record in an addendum to the original post on this site from November 1, 2006. I think it worth placing the full text here on the main page, to give readers my own comments on the film. The original piece and my update follow:
Screenwriter and script analyst Barbara Nicolosi is extremely disappointed by the Christian-produced film Facing the Giants. I have not yet gotten around to seeing the film, but I suspect that Ms. Nicolosi is quite right. She points out that Facing the Giants is the cinematic equivalent of Contemporary Christian Music, bland nonsense meant to make Christians feel good and thereby bring in a steady stream of money from a highly defined market segment, what is known in the entertainment business as a cash cow.
Continue reading "A Bad Sign for Christian Cinema—UPDATE" »
Old-fashioned entertainment once again emerged as the strong preference of American moviegoers as National Treasure: Book of Secrets and Alvin and the Chipmunks again dominated the U.S. box office this past weekend.
The two fluffy and cheerfully entertaining movies again finished 1-2 in weekend movie ticket sales for the second weekend in a row.
Continue reading "Lighthearted Fare Remains Strong at U.S. Box Office" »
New The American Culture correspondent Mike Long has put together a very contrarian and very good list of the best movies of the year for National Review Online, and he has been gracious enough to allow us to reprint it here in its entirety.
Contrary to most critics, Mike claims this was a good year for the movies. I agree. Another thing I strongly endorse about the article is that it does not succumb to political shibboleths of either left or right. That's our approach on The American Culture.
And there's more. In an exclusive for The American Culture, Mike informs us that since he wrote the article, he saw Sweeney Todd and would move it to number 4 on the list. Instead of altering the article, however, we're leaving it as is, so that you will not miss the number 10 movie, which is well worth seeing.
Here's Mike's "2007 at the Movies":
Continue reading "2007 at the Movies" »
That is actually the natural position for U.S. audiences, although most critics would very much prefer the masses to support more "edgy," arty fare that distrurbs them and questions bourgeois values.
Given that audiences are bourgeois, of course, it is absurd to expect them to want to pay to have their values questioned and denigrated, but most mainstream media denizens are sure they know what people should want, and that the hoi polloi should just line up and take it.
That's not happening. Quite the contrary, in fact.
Continue reading "Escapism, Star Power Drive Movie Box Office" »
Planned sequels to failed pro-atheism children's film are increasingly unlikely.
The controversial children's film The Golden Compass, which has accomplished only very weak box office appeal in the United States, has fallen off in foreign appeal as well, landing in second this past weekend, behind I Am Legend.
The Golden Compass has earned $130 million in non-U.S. markets and is fading.
None of this foreign money will go to the studio that made the film, New Line, because the company sold off the foreign rights a couple of years ago in order to raise enough money to produce and market the film. It has earned only $48 million in the United States since opening three weekends ago.
As a result of the poor U.S. showing, it is unlikely that any sequels will be made.
Continue reading "Golden Compass Sliding Outside U.S." »
As expected, the Will Smith-starring intellectual zombie film I Am Legend opened very strong at the U.S. box office last weekend, leading all films by a good measure in its opening weekend.
The film starring the well-liked Smith, whose movies consistently deliver his likeable personality and positive personal and religious values, grossed an impressive $77.2 million during its first weekend in theaters. That's $25 million more than any film in which he has starred has taken in during its opening weekend, and is a very strong performance indeed.
Finishing a surprising second was the CGI animated comedy film Alvin and the Chipmunks, selling a startling $45 million worth of tickets for the Fox studio. Fox was expecting the film to bring in about $20 million. The presence of Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl) as the Chipmunks' boss probably helped extend the film's appeal, though obviously the chipmunks must have been the big draw.
It is now obvious that audiences do not want to see the controversial fantasy film The Golden Compass, as it took in only $8.8 million and finished third. The money total represents a vertiginous 66 percent drop from the film's already disappointing opening weekend total the week before. It is officially a disaster for New Line Cinema.
Continue reading ""Legend," "Chipmunks" Dominate Movie Box Office" »
Senator's thinly veiled threat of congressional action to ensure fans see New England football game is emblematic of what's wrong with America's government today.
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) has decided to step forward to handle one of the great crises of our time.
No, not the War on Terror, concerns about global warming, or increasing access to good health care.
Continue reading "Thanks but No Bloody Thanks, Sen. Kerry" »
Our friend Jeff Emanuel reports that atheist parents who took their kids to see The Golden Compass thinking that they could have some good, committed atheist fun, were outraged that the preview for Prince Caspian was shown before the film.
Prince Caspian is the forthcoming second installment in the series of films based on C. S. Lewis's Narnia books—which Philip Pullman utterly despises for their Christian content. Pullman is the author of the "His Dark Materials" book trilogy, the first volume of which provided the story for The Golden Compass.
Parents at a 12:50 showing of "The Golden Compass" in Fort Worth's Eastchase district were both shocked and appalled to find that the movie was preceded by a trailer for the upcoming big-screen adaptation of the novel "Prince Caspian", which some parents fear may cause their children to read a series that promotes spiritual belief and "denigrates Atheism."
Continue reading "Atheists Offended by Movie Trailer" »
The epic fantasy film The Golden Compass, based on the first book in British author Philip Pullman's trilogy of novels "His Dark Materials," opened very weakly at the U.S. box office over the weekend. The film, which cost $180 million to produce, finished number one among U.S. releases last weekend but brought in just $26.1 million during its all-important opening weekend.
Comparable films The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (also 2001) captured much bigger audiences during their opening weekends six years ago, totaling receipts of $47.2 million and $90.3 million, respectively.
New Line, which released The Golden Compass, had expected $30-40 million during the first weekend.
Continue reading "Fantasy Film Not Golden at the Box Office" »
The controversial fantasy film The Golden Compass opens today in theaters across the United States.
With a production budget reported to be in the $150 million range, the film will have to sell a boatload of tickets in the United States and abroad if the investors are to get any return on their money—and the controversy over the film's origins in the first novel of an openly atheistic trilogy of books does not help things from their perspective.
Continue reading ""Golden Compass" Movie Opens Today" »
Program's mistakes show the importance of narrative coherence.
The NBC TV show Heroes, a widely acclaimed program just a year ago in its first season, slid badly in audience numbers during the first half of this year's TV season, and has lost much support among the show's fans.
In fact, in response to the criticisms and decreasing ratings, a couple of week's ago the show's creator and driving force, Tim Kring, apologized to the fans, saying that his team had underestimated the viewers' willingness to sit through long expository sequences as opposed to wanting the action to move forward.
Continue reading "Heroes Audience Shrinks Due to Producers' Missteps" »
Disney's Enchanted, which generated the second-biggest Thanksgiving opening weekend ever a couple of weeks ago, remains number one at the U.S. box office for the second weekend in a row. The film brought in $17 million, double the amount of the second place finisher, the African-American comedy This Christmas.
The success of both these films seems to reflect audiences' weariness of the sort of depressing films Hollywood has been releasing in recent months and the increasingly dark and grim conent of most network TV fiction series this year.
Continue reading "Movie Audiences Remain Enchanted by Charming Disney Fantasy" »
There's good news and bad news for the TV networks in recent figures released by Starcom, a leading media buying agency.
The good news is that the TV networks are making a substantial amount of money off of ads shown during online, streaming video releases of their programs. The bad news is that the writers want a slice of that rapidly growing pie.
Continue reading "TV Networks Are Making Big Money Online: Report" »
National Review Online has just published an interesting article praising FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. The thrust of the piece is that Martin, a Republican, has been better than a Democrat would have been. That's true, just as President Bush's compassionate conservatism is better than the Democrats' coercive progressivism, but just as with the President's agenda, "better than the Democrats" definitely does not mean "good".
The article's authors, Cesar V. Conda and Lawrence J. Spivak, make a good case for the proposition that Martin does indeed favor markets in general, at least in the abstract, and they make the following argument:
Continue reading "The Idea Behind the FCC's Intrusive,Coercive Regulatory Agenda" »
Continue reading "Disney's "Enchanted" Opens Strong at Box Office" »
Film directors Brian De Palma and Paul Haggis have attacked the media for not reporting enough on the negative aspects of the Iraq War, and said that they felt compelled to make up for that poor reporting b