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August 17, 2006
TV and Documentary Miscellany
I'm exhausted after two long days of benefits orientation seminars here at my new gig, but I came across a few links I don't want to lose.
First, Steve Rosenbaum points to a discussion of Current TV, Al Gore and Joel Hyatt's San Francisco-based cable and satellite channel featuring three- to seven-minute video clips produced by amateur filmmakers and other citizen journalists. As Joe Garofoli's article points out, early reviews of Current TV were relatively tepid, but in a post-YouTube universe, Current TV has become just a little more timely. I'm hoping to have a little more to say about Current TV later (I just realized this afternoon that my local Time Warner sevice carries it).
Matt Dentler discusses a Boston Herald article on this weekend's premiere of Snakes on a Plane, noting that the film's success as a "user-generated movie" may not be measured on its much-anticipated opening weekend, but the following week when word gets around about the film's quality.
And via Green Cine, a link to Anthony Kaufman's review of Nice Bombs, Usama Alshaibi's Iraq documentary, which draws from Alshabi's perspective as both Iraqi and American. Worth noting: filmmaker Alshaibi has a blog.
Update: I forgot to mention that I caught Jeff Tweedy in concert last night in Raleigh with George (pics). Maybe that's one of the reasons I'm so exhausted this afternoon. Not that I'm complaining--it was a great show.
Posted by chuck at August 17, 2006 6:47 PM
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Comments
My prediction for SoaP? No more than $17 million opening weekend. I agree that next week is key, but then again, look at what the second week did for the Browncoats and Serenity, which was actually a pretty good sci-fi film. Internet marketing phenomena do not always equal box office gold.
How is everything down there btw, Chuck? Hope all is well....
Posted by: marc at August 17, 2006 7:49 PM
I'm inclined to agree that internet buzz doesn't always (and often doesn't) translate into box office gold. I think the first weekend will be stronger (maybe $22-25 million), especially given that SoaP is the only major opening, but my guess is that it's not going to live up to the hype.
I'm slowly adjusting to Fayetteville. It's quite a change from DC, of course, but once classes start, I'll likely be too busy to notice.
Posted by: Chuck at August 17, 2006 8:00 PM
I'm on the same wavelength as marc (Serenity popped into my head too), although Joss Whedon did not have the awesome star power of Samuel Jackson combined with smashing snakes. On a plane. There is something appealing in that.
Posted by: Jason at August 18, 2006 9:49 AM
Yeah, watching Sam Jackson and Jon Stewart dropping (bleeped out) F-bombs on The Daily Show was incredibly fun and underlines the film's marketing as irreverent. But I don't think SoaP will be nearly as irreverent as some people are anticipating.
Posted by: Chuck at August 18, 2006 12:16 PM