Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last and continues to fight for relevance. You may be surprised to learn that one of the business lines they’ve kept has been film manufacturing for still photography and movies. Not enough, though, because Kodak is about to lay off the 61 workers who make acetate film base in the company’s Rochester, N.Y. home. [More]
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YouTube To Rent Movies
By 1.21.10
Tomorrow, YouTube will start renting online movies at $4 for 48 hours. At launch, the selection will consist of five titles from the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, says the Associated Press, but Google hopes to get studios on board in the coming months. Studios will be able to set their own prices and rental periods, however, should they participate. [More]
Awesome People Film A Melodrama At IKEA
By 9.3.09
I’ve long thought that Ikea would serve as an ideal backdrop for a drama of marital discord and corporate intrigue and, now, finally, it is. David Seger and Paul Bartunek created “Ikea Heights,” a short film shot entirely in a Ikea store in Burbank, California. It’s worth noting that this is MUCH funnier than Ikea’s own Ikea comedy.
Documentary Looks At Compulsive Hoarders
By 6.30.09
Possessed, a short film by Martin Hampton, explores the lives of four people who obsessively collect consumer detritus of one variety or another. (You can view the full film below. It’s 21 min.)
Soderbergh Subverts The Theater Experience Again
By 5.8.09
One of the hotter indie flicks of the summer, Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, debuted on Amazon’s rental service this week, way before the movie opens in theaters May 22. At $9.99 for a three-day rental, the movie is also cheaper to rent than it will be to see at many theaters.
Polaroid Saved
By 1.28.09
Polaroid film was set to die and run out, but thanks to an an Austrian artist and businessman, the world could be supplied with Polaroid film for months to come. [The Independent] (Thanks to Hikari!0 (Photo: SundaysWithMarina. )
This Steak & Shake Is A Pigsty
By 7.21.08
We’ve never been to a Steak & Shake, and Cal’s behind-the-scenes footage of one of their restaurants in Indiana makes us think we’ll be saying that for a long time. In his intro to the footage, he claims they were so understaffed that he was able to walk into the back of the restaurant and take photos, and then return later with a video camera. We wonder if he knew someone who worked there, but that’s not really the point. The point is the shake-making area looks like babies vomited all over it. We can only imagine the horror that begins at night when all the people are gone and the roaches have their nightly dairy & syrup feast.
Polaroid Instant Film Is Dead
By 2.13.08
”We’re trying to reinvent Polaroid so it lives on for the next 30 to 40 years,” Tom Beaudoin, Polaroid’s president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, said in a phone interview Friday.
Credit Card Documentary "Maxed Out" Opens Today
By 3.9.07
Maxed Out, a documentary about the credit card industry, is opening today in select cities (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington DC, Seattle, and Austin) and next week in a few more (Chicago, Boston, and Minneapolis).
Hostel World Spoofs Hostel
By 4.18.06
AdFreak points out this awesome advertisement for HostelWorld, playing off of the movie Hostel, which you might remember is a film primarily celebrating every adult’s most primal fantasy: to chainsaw torture to death those On The Road spouting smelly beatniks who pompously preach about the “purity” of traveling with only ten dollars in their pocket, a single pair of underpants in their rucksack and a twenty pound bag of rice slung over their shoulder.
More On Hollywood’s Crazy Download-To-Own Schemes
By 4.5.06
A couple weeks ago, we repoted that Universal Pictures was intending on selling its embarrassing remake of King Kong over the Internet to customers for the low, low price of thirty five dollars. “Jeezum Crow!” was the only properly incredulous reaction to the announcement. The price was absolutely ghastly for what was being offered — basically, one huge mpeg with none of the extras, packaging or company-expenses of DVDs that sell for half the price.
Universal Idiots To Offer Download-To-Gouge Movie Service
By 3.24.06
Universal Pictures is launching a download-to-own service where you can legally download movies like King Kong on to your computer for the low, low price of thirty-five dollars.
Movie Theater Ads “More than $50k per screen anually.”
By 1.9.06
There’s not a ton of new information in Ars Technica’s Peek into movie theater economics, but Ken Fisher does manage to pull out a few bits that were new to us.
