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Commerce

Fringe Phenomena in the Omniculture

August 6, 2006

Another hugely successful "fringe" phenomenon (see my Lollapalooza post immediately below) is the Edinburgh Fringe, which Reuters characterizes as "the world’s largest and most irreverent arts festival." According to the Reuters story, this "fringe" phenomenon is a big business and highly influential on the culture. The festival’s director "said the Fringe has sold about 20 million tickets over the past six decades ‘and we hope this year to top the million mark again which we have done for the last three years.’ " A common theme in this year’s program reflects some current concerns, but with a typically quirky approach. As the Reuters story reports, the Edinburgh Fringe . . . celebrated its 60th birthday on Sunday with religion the big theme being tackled this year by playwrights and comedians. Fringe performers revel in controversy and 2006 should be no exception with "We Don’t Know Shi’ite" about British ignorance of Islam and "Jesus: The Guantanamo Years." "It is the most amazing barometer of world politics," said The Scotsman newspaper’s theater critic Joyce McMillan, reflecting on the Fringe which last year tackled the subject of terrorism head on after the London suicide bombings. Fringe director Paul Gudgin, overseeing 17,000

Lollapalooza in the Omniculture

August 6, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

The Lollapalooza festival of "alternative" music is drawing huge crowds in Chicago this weekend. Reuters reports: Thousands of concert-goers, mostly in their 20s, returned to Chicago’s lakefront Grant Park on Saturday as the three-day music festival Lollapalooza resumed after drawing more than 50,000 people on Friday night. Billed as one of the city’s largest music events ever, the festival is expected to draw about 150,000 people by the time it ends on Sunday. I put quotes around the word alternative because the very popularity of the music indicates that it is a mainstream part of the culture, no longer—if it ever was—some sort of fringe phenomenon. Scheduled performers such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, the Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, and Manu Chao are anything but obscue, and 130 music acts in total are scheduled to perform at the festival. It’s a great example of what happens in what I call the Omniculture, where the counterculture continuously becomes the culture. If you want to know what is going to surround you tomorrow in American culture, look at what is on the fringes today.

MyNetworkTV

August 5, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

The people behind MyNetworkTV are characterizing their forthcoming national network as something new, and it certainly is that. Starting September 5 on stations around the country, the network will feature two programs per night: Desire, at 8 p.m. EDT, and Fashion House, at 9 p.m. EDT. The innovation is that each program will consist of 65 episodes in a single story arc, shown five nights per week (with a "weekly recap" on Saturday nights). The programs are filmed in high-definition video, and the visual quality looks quite good in the commercials and on my computer screen. (Sample clips are available at the network’s website.) It’s a very clever idea. The long-term trend in TV drama programs has been to include an overarching mystery element to the series while having each episode deal with an additional story that wraps up in that episode. The idea is to give viewers the satisfaction of a full resolution while encouraging them to return the next week to find out what’s happening in the main story line. In Monk, for example, the mystery of the murder of the title character’s wife, which happened before the events of the series began, is always in the background

MTV Turns 25, World Continues Turning

August 4, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

MTV turned 25 this week, and your intrepid correspondent has contributed a few thoughts to a National Review Online symposium on the deeper meaning of it all. Most of the comments in the symposium are fairly light, but there are some interesting facts to be gleaned and ideas to be pondered. It’s certainly interesting to see this group of right-wingers’ rather amused and unworried reaction to MTV, widely considered to be a powerful force of cultural change. Perhaps American conservatism is not so conservative after all. For those newly visiting from NRO and looking for additional commentary on the state of popular music, I suggest my post, from earlier this week, on the rise of gloom, doom, and general depressingness in popular music. In addition, the category entries at the right side of the page offer full lineups of articles in various subject areas, including quite a few on music.

Mr. Moto Returns

August 3, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

Although 20th Century Fox is not exactly shouting it from the housetops, The Mr. Moto Collection, Vol. 1 is now available on DVD. In the series of Mr. Moto films from the late 1930s, Peter Lorre played the title character, a Japanese secret agent who solves crime mysteries. Lorre was absolutely brilliant in the role of the small, slight, unobtrusive, exceedingly polite master of jiujitsu and deductive logic. The films were made on B-level budgets, but the directors definitely got the most out of the investment. The stories were more action-oriented and hard-edged than most detection series of the time, such as the Charlie Chan films, and they hold up surprisingly well. Peter Lorre deserves admiration for his performance as Mr. Moto. Although he was very ill and fighting off the overuse of morphine to combat gall bladder pain, Lorre brought great charm to the character, which was lacking in the Moto novels of J. P. Marquand, on which the series was based. In the books, Moto is something of a mystery himself, as Marquand tells us little about him other than his doings as an agent, and he is always seen from other characters’ point of view. Lorre’s

Another File-Sharing Network Bites the Dust

July 27, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

Another File-Sharing Network Bites the Dust

Sharman Networks Ltd, the makers and distributors of the hugely popular file-sharing network Kazaa, have settled a lawsuit brought by the music and movie industries, agreeing to pay $115 million. Most of the money will go to the music industry, and a smaller portion to the movie companies, according to the AP story. Kazaa will become a pay-to-download service along the lines of ITunes.

Microsoft Tries a Different Plan for TV on the Web

July 27, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

Microsoft Tries a Different Plan for TV on the Web

Computer software giant Microsoft is about to bring free, commercial television to the Web, AP reports. Several online sites have experimented with offering commercial programs commercial-free on a pay–per-view or pay-to-download basis. Most notable among these, of course, is ITunes. What Microsoft is about to do, by contrast, emulates commercial television while improving convenience, by providing content for free but on an on-demand basis to consumers. The programming will be paid for by advertisement revenues rather than direct fees. The effort will begin with three episodes of the Fox comedy Arrested Development, the AP report notes. This marks the first time the program has been made available online. Microsoft has acquired exclusive "portal syndication" rights to all 53 episodes of the program for three years. Arrested Development was canceled at the end of the just-passed television season after three years. The G4 network will air the program on basic cable beginning this fall.

Mass-Marketing Good Taste

July 26, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

The Reebok shoe company has announced that it has signed young actress Scarlett Johansson to sponsor a new line of "retro-chic" footwear and clothing, Scarlett "Hearts" Rbk, E! Online reports. The shoes will reportedly take advantage of the starlet’s "Old Hollywood-style glamour," as E! breathlessly puts it. A respect for stylishness seems to me a very nice thing, although mass-marketing such a thing would seem a sure means of defeating the purpose, given that originality and expression of a strong, interesting personality were the hallmarks of that old-style Hollywood glamour. That is the sort of thing money cannot buy. That said, a move from the Britney/Christina Desperate Slut look to a more stylish, presentable look based on Ms. Johansson’s more tasteful approach would be a welcome change indeed.

Disney Returns to the Family

July 21, 2006

By S. T. Karnick

The Walt Disney Company is returning to its roots as a purveyor of family-oriented entertainment, World Net Daily reports: Famed family-film maker Disney is headed back to its roots, with confirmation yesterday of cuts of 650 employees that will include a phase-out of its R-rated movies. Oren Aviv, newly appointed president of production at Walt Disney Pictures, told the Hollywood Reporter that the company’s coming productions will be along the lines of "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Chronicles of Narnia," "National Treasure" and "Miracle." "If it’s a great idea and it’s done with quality and care, then it qualifies to be a Disney movie," he told the newspaper. The studio, which founded its greatness on the classics for families and children, had branched out in the 1990s to grasp R-rated projects with its Touchstone and Miramax labels. Touchstone was created to deal with more mature themes, and is expected to remain but be significantly smaller, generating only two or three films a year. Miramax handles independent and art-house films and now operates separately from Disney. . . . Now, Aviv told the Reporter, he will see to it that what the company brings to its audience is something the whole family

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MTV Turns 25, World Continues Turning

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Another File-Sharing Network Bites the Dust

Microsoft Tries a Different Plan for TV on the Web

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