In this morning’s roundup of movie news ‘n’ notes from around the web, pirates change tactics and toys come out to play.
There’s a new pirate on Hollywood’s high seas – and according to Carl DiOrio, cheap subscription services based overseas and “often mob-run” have become a bigger threat than illegal downloading. The so-called “cyberlockers” maintain and sell an array of pirated films, Paramount COO Fred Huntsberry told European theater operators at the Cinema Expo in Amsterdam on Monday. And sometimes they even sell ads to companies that don’t realize they’re helping fund illegal sites. Reportedly, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Netflix are among the duped. (The Hollywood Reporter)
The Walt Disney Company debuts “Tron: Legacy” – not the movie (right), the merchandise. Disney Consumer Products unveiled the line on Monday, and Michelle Kung has some details: Oakley sunglasses, Adidas clothing, headphones, and “enough toys to make any Comic-Con geek swoon.” And, of course, video games. (Speakeasy)
More merch: Paul Bond lists the Top 10 movies selling the most international merchandise these days, unsurprisingly “Toy Story 3” has a big lead. (The list only includes movie tie-in stuff made overseas.) “Iron Man 2” was second to “TS3,” followed by “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra,” “The Princess and the Frog” and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.” He has the rest of the top 10 as well … (The Hollywood Reporter)
British film critic Mark Kermode, an outspoken critic of 3D moviemaking, goes to see “Toy Story 3,” forgets he was watching it in 3D, and decides that might mean it’s a use of the medium that he can live with. On the other hand, he says in a video commentary, he thinks it might also raise the question, if the 3D you like best is the 3D you didn’t notice, what’s the point? Somewhere in between his begrudging acceptance and his feeling of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em,” Kermode brings up “Inception” director Christopher Nolan’s objections to the process, which center on the loss of brightness (measured in something called foot-lamberts) that invariably comes with the technology. From what I hear, Nolan’s complaint that 3D brings a typical film down from 16 foot-lamberts to 13 is far too generous – best-case scenario for 3D at the moment, I’ve been told, is about 10. (BBC)
Also on the subject of Nolan and “Inception,” David Poland drops an interesting commentabout the film’s marketing into a discussion of the weekend’s boxoffice figures: he thinks that unless Warner Bros. gets more specific about what the film is about, they’ll be looking at a disappointing opening. “You can't just expect audiences to come see trippy, beautiful images because ‘The Director Of The Dark Knight’ directed the film,” he says. “ … You … have to make it clear to audiences what kind of ride they are in for… and ‘trippy’ isn't an answer and ‘you know this guy’ isn't either.” (The Hot Blog)
The Edinburgh Film Festival calls itself a “festival of discovery.” The Guardian begs to differ. Or maybe Andrew Pulver just doesn’t think the fest has programmed enough films worth discovering: “Sitting through a third-rate, unreleasable film is a thoroughly dismal experience,” he says, “and repeated exposure to lameness requires a sort of grim, monocular focus that means festival-going can become a genuine ordeal.” He did like “The Illusionist” and “Winter’s Bone” and a couple of documentaries, but thinks that if the festival had more clout, it might be a more reliable discovery channel. (The Guardian)
