CANNES LINE-UP UNVEILED

Some familiar figures will be returning to the Cannes Film Festival next month. Among the filmmakers whose works have been selected for the competition are Jacques Audiard, Ken Loach, Michael Haneke, Walter Salles, Leos Carax, David Cronenberg, Thomas Vinterberg, Lee Daniels and Wes Anderson. Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom has also been selected as the opening-night film. [...]

JAMES CAMERON LANDS AT BOTTOM OF DEEPEST ABYSS

Director James Cameron has arrived at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, seven miles below the ocean’s surface, the deepest place on Earth, National Geographic reported today (Sunday). He is the first person to attempt such a solo deep-sea voyage. Arriving at the bottom, he signaled “All systems OK” to his support crew at the [...]

CASABLANCA RETURNING TO THEATERS AFTER 70 YEARS

Casablanca, which is on just about every film critic’s top-ten-of-all-time list, has received another digital facelift and is being re-released again on March 21, its 70th anniversary. But not just on DVD and Blu-ray Disc — that comes on March 27 — but also in brick-and-mortar theaters. “There are few things more thrilling for movie [...]

ABC’S WORK IT OUT OF WORK

After airing only two episodes, ABC has axed Work It, a show that had drawn fire from GLAAD, the gay-rights group, and from virtually every TV critic. TV Guide critic Matt Roush called it “atrocious” and “an instant early candidate for Worst Show of 2012.” Robert Lloyd in the Los Angeles Times remarked: “If you [...]

THE BIGGEST ELECTION MONEY CAN BUY?

Political advertising is expected to rise 30 percent in 2012 over 2008′s ad spending, according to research from MediaVest, a unit of French ad giant Publicis Groupe. Local TV is expected to be the chief beneficiary of the increase, which MediaVest predicts may rise to $4 billion, although spending on social media is also expected [...]

U.K. NETWORK BUYING UP ALL DIGITAL BILLBOARDS IN LONDON SUBWAYS

In a first-of-its-kind deal, the British television network Channel 4 will become the exclusive advertiser on all 1,460 digital signs in the London subway system on New Year’s Eve. The ads, appearing on the CBS Outdoor screens, will be changed at regular intervals, and will feature the stars of game and comedy shows celebrating the [...]

NETFLIX SUBSCRIBERS EXPRESS MORE DISSATISFACTION

Netflix customers are still angry at the company’s recent moves, but they’re no longer dropping their subscriptions. Industry researcher ForeSee said today (Wednesday) that on its 100-point scale of consumer satisfaction, “Netflix’s well-publicized blunders caused its customer satisfaction to plummet by seven points and 8% to 79.” Once ranked as an online “satisfaction superstar,” the [...]

SPECIALTY FARE TOPPING WIDE RELEASES PER THEATER

While the general box office turned out to be especially disappointing over the Christmas holiday weekend, so-called specialty fare did strong business in limited release. Opening on Christmas day, Warner Bros.’ 9/11 drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close earned $70,518 at 6 theaters — or a solid $11,753 per theater. It was expected to boost [...]

ADS FOR U.K. BLUE-CHIP COMPANIES APPEARING ON PIRATE SITES

Advertisements for dozens of Britain’s leading companies appear on pirate websites showing bootleg copies of movies and television shows, the London Times reported today. They include such “blue chip” companies as British Telecom, British Gas, the supermarket chain Tesco, and the airline EasyJet, the newspaper said. Those companies, it added, “are indirectly subsidizing the U.K.’s [...]

N. KOREAN LEADER DIES; TV HARDLY NOTICES

News organizations — particularly during these days of personnel cutbacks and closed foreign bureaus – are regularly forced to scramble when a major event occurs over a weekend. Such was the case on Sunday following word that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had died on a train Saturday outside Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. [...]

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