Valenti was a special assistant and confidant to President Lyndon Johnson when he was lured to Hollywood in 1966 by movie moguls Lew Wasserman and Arthur Krim. A lifelong film lover, he once cited the 1966 film ”A Man for All Seasons” as his all-time favorite.
movies
Jack Valenti, Architect of the MPAA Movie Rating System, Dies At 85
By 4.27.07
Airlines Embrace 'Edgy' Entertainment
By 3.12.07
Since September, United has loosened its restrictions on what types of movies can be shown on jets equipped with overhead screens, which all passengers can see. When the airline played “Little Miss Sunshine” in the fall, an R movie with some ear-curling rants by Alan Arkin, “We got a tremendous amount of positive feedback,” Kovick said.
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).
Blockbuster Weighing Charge For Total Access
By 3.8.07
Blockbuster may soon levy a $4-$6 surcharge for Total Access. By allowing DVDs to be exchanged as free in-store rentals, Total Access dangles a potential workout before couch-potatoes who would otherwise return DVDs exclusively by mail. Blockbuster is quietly circulating a survey to gauge potential outrage to a price hike.
One of the ideas is to offer Mail-Only plans, which would allow members to receive and return DVDs only by mail, without the option to return them at a Blockbuster store and exchange them for free in-store DVDs.
Objective Movie Rating Site For Parents
By 2.8.07
Want to know if a movie is appropriate for kids but don’t trust the crappy, arbitrary, and useless censorship of the MPAA? You might want to check out kids-in-mind. The site seems relatively free of pesky moral judgments; it sticks to listing potentially inappropriate stuff so that you, the consumer, can decide if the movie is ok for your kid.
Netflix On The Internet
By 1.17.07
The movie streams, so users will have to stay connected to the internet while watching. Netflix plans to roll out the service across these glorious United States of America portions at a time, to ensure its servers have enough capacity. —MEGHANN MARCO
Comcast: On-Demand Rentals on DVD Release Date
By 12.19.06
The New York Times is reporting that Comcast will begin testing a new video on demand service in two cities, Pittsburgh and Denver. Unlike traditional video on-demand that shows movies 30- to 45-days after their release date on DVD, this service will allow movies to be ordered the same date as the DVD release. This puts video on-demand in direct competition with sales and rentals. Each on-demand rental will cost $4, which compares with DVD rental prices. Uh-oh, Blockbuster. Forget the beginning of the end, this is the end of the end. —MEGHANN MARCO
Free Blockbuster Rentals For Netflix Subscribers
By 12.6.06
Blockbuster will give you a free online rental for each Netflix envelope flap you bring into a store. You must have a Blockbuster membership to qualify. The promotions lasts until Dec. 21. It’s an effort to get Netflix subscribers to sign up for Blockbuster’s Total Access Online service.
Amazon Unboxed Is Also Unhinged
By 9.18.06
Those copyfighters over at BoingBoing have uncovered some tasty tidbits in the user agreement of Amazon’s new Video-on-Demand service. The gist?
Burger King: The Movie!
By 7.10.06
Why bother to pay for product placement when you can just make a whole damn movie? Burger King and Crispin Porter & Bogusky agree and have announced their intention to bring the burger to the big screen.
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.
Wal-Mart Stocks Brokeback Mountain Next to Sesame Street
By 4.4.06
We’ve received a late-breaking report that a Wal-Mart in Englewood, CO is stocking Brokeback Mountain next to The Chronicles of Narnia and the Sesame Street learning series.
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.
Conquer Amazon.com Pricenoia
By 3.23.06
Michelle Slatalla suffers from a shopping disease. It’s called pricenoia. The characteristic symptom is a pang of doubt every time she’s about to press Click-to-Buy on Amazon.com:
Netflix Still Boning Best Customers
By 2.13.06
We were a bit surprised by the renewed ruckus concerning Netflix throttling the turn around speed of heavy users, considering it’s been a well-worn topic on Netflix blogs for at least a couple of years. But thanks to a new article on CNN.com, the issue is back to upset a whole new set of customers.
