Week Of July 24, 2006 - Comic-Con Mon / Wed / Fri

July 26, 2006

Continuing Monday's theme of differentiating between perspectives, today I would like to try to do what a lot of media is having a hard time doing these days, distinguishing gossip from news and opinion journalism.

In today's world of freeway chases dominating local news, the top celebrity of the moment being most famous for allowing anyone with an internet connection to examine her fellatio technique, and the defining form of violence in this era involving men willing to blow themselves up in the pursuit of scores of virgins awaiting them in the world to come, what else should we expect? Still…

News. Paris Hilton is dead.

Publicist Spin. Paris Hilton is wearing Prada in her Gucci casket.

Opinion. Paris Hilton was a whore and a bore.

Gossip. Paris Hilton had sex with a donkey last week before she was killed (for the first time in weeks).

See?

Maybe it's not so difficult to differentiate.

News. Studios are not doing as well as their corporate parents would like, so they are trying to cut back on costs.

Publicist Spin. The Studio is taking a bold step to make the company stronger for the future.

Opinion. The studio is going to keep axing people but probably won't get to the real fat - slicing fat and muscle and even some bone, but the new leadership is not really much more inventive than the old leadership.

Gossip. Hollywood is ablaze with talk about the old chief being fired at his mother's funeral. Some even have suggested that his mother might have been murdered to get him out of the office so the walls could be painted before the firing even took place.
___________________________________________

News. Merry Men Of Repetition won the weekend with a record setting gross (since last weekend's record setting gross).

Publicist Spin. Merry Men not only set the record for this weekend, but Best Weekend By A Movie Made By A Left-Handed Midget and the best ever opening for the third lead actress, and there is buzz about Oscar nomination for catering, if catering is finally allowed to be nominated this year.

Opinion. The record is insignificant, though it bodes well for the lead actor's next movie.

Gossip. Another studio thought Merry Men was going to be much bigger, so with such a disappointing opening, it seems likely that the studio head will soon be fired. Insiders (the source at the competing studio) say that Genuine Crap, which opens next week, is not just a better movie, but will gross much more than Merry Men, which got lucky because there was a blackout in some major markets that didn't effect the movie theaters.
___________________________________________

News. There was a private conference involving leaders of major corporations.

Publicist Spin. Here is the list of everyone attending, the schedule, and what will be said extemporaneously.

Opinion. This is the most important/the least important event of the year (since last week's)!

Gossip. This guy hates that guy… and look at what they are wearing!
___________________________________________

News. A studio is releasing a movie in which they are investing almost $200 million, between production and P&A. It's at a new studio for the well-established filmmaker and expectations are unusually low. Also, the filmmaker participated in the writing of a book about how he ended up at the new studio, how he made the film, and where the experience left him.

Publicist Spin. None of the issues noted in the book mean anything, the box office for the movie is expected to be very strong because the filmmaker has so many fans, and the studio is virtually guaranteed to make a profit.

Opinion. This filmmaker embarrassed himself with this book and the movie's not very good either.

Gossip. The filmmaker is ruined. The studio that passed is genius! And the movie is the greatest disaster (since last week's).
___________________________________________

News. Studios use tracking research to figure out how well their marketing is working and to give themselves a rough idea of how much they should expect at the box office.

Publicist Spin. It's tracking better than any movie of the summer (since last week's).

Opinion. The tracking on Movie A indicates that it will be the biggest opening of all time… and the tracking on Movie B, opening the week after shows that the studio will have to work hard to get Movie B out of Movie A's shadow.

Gossip. Movie B is a disaster and will mark the end of the director's career. And movies C & D look like they will be ugly at the box office as well.
___________________________________________

News. The movie went significantly over budget and over schedule, in part because a number of members of the production team quit in frustration and because they had already obligated themselves to their next jobs.

Publicist Spin. The director is a perfectionist and the actors demanded that he have the time to fully complete his vision.

Opinion. Sometimes, movies that are easy to make are bad and movies that are hard to make are good. Sometimes, not.

Gossip. There was trouble on the set. One of the actors walked off in a huff and refused to return in a fit of pique. The shoot was so hard it sent another actor into rehab. No one knew what the movie was about. The director was crazy.
___________________________________________

News. With the cost of production and marketing soaring, studios are looking for ways to take even better advantage of the Home Entertainment markets.

Publicist Spin. We're going to make a huge amount of money from people watching movies on iPods.

Opinion. We should make DVDs available on the same day movies go into theaters because studios could make more money in a shorter time… and movies are a pain in the ass these days anyway.

Gossip. I know some people who don't go to the movies anymore.
___________________________________________

News. What happened?

Publicist Spin. How "they" wish you saw it.

Opinion. How a journalist saw it and why they see it that way.

Gossip. How people on other blogs who have no newsworthy insight saw it… how it made me feel… how people I talked to on the phone - who won't let me tell you who they are but trust me and they are really important - feel about it… my pet theory… your pet theory… their pet theory… what I secretly hope is true because I hate this damned town, everyone in it, and especially myself!

E Me. Any News/Spin/Opinion/Gossip notions of your own?

---

Week Of April 3, 2006 - Life In the Bubble - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of April 10, 2006 - List Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of April 17, 2006 - Review Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of April 24, 2006 - Overlooked Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 1, 2006 - Mystery Week - Tue / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 8, 2006 - How We Watch Week - Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 15, 2006 - Premature Week - Oscar Mon / Wed / Fri
Week Of May 22, 2006 - B-13 Mon / Inconvenient Wed / Fri
Week Of May 29, 2006 - Wed / Fri
Week Of June 5, 2006 - 666 Tue / Iraq Doc Wed / Seattle Fri
Week Of June 12, 2006 - SIFF Mon / SIFF Wed / Fri
Week Of June 19, 2006 - Cinevegas Mon/Deliver Us Wed/Prada Fri
Week Of June 26, 2006 - Pirates Mon / Super Again Wed / Fri
Week Of July 5, 2006 - Wed
Week Of July 12, 2006 - M. Night Mon | You, Me & Wed | Monster House Fri
Week Of July 17, 2006 - 8 A Year Mon / Water Wed / Revamp Fri