hollywood

Spoilers ahead! Read at your own risk. In the very last moment of Django Unchained Hildy grabs a rifle.** The movie follows her husband, Django (Jamie Foxx), on his quest to save her. Saved, Hildy (Kerry Washington) must learn to save herself, and/or her husband. But we have to imagine that future, because Django is a movie about [...]

The New York Television Festival is over and the winners have won. This year 19 development deals, in various sizes and configurations, were handed out. Quality is always pretty high at NYTVF, widely regarded as a leading showcase for independent television, one that can make a real difference in a person’s career. And this year was no [...]

Most people believe the Internet and television have different aesthetics. Web content is short, cheap and brash, while television takes its time, because of higher budgets and greater cultural legitimacy. What works on the web cannot work on television, the thinking goes. Asked about The Annoying Orange‘s debut on Cartoon Network last night, professor Jeffrey [...]

Thanks to Girls Like Giants for linking. Why can’t all political television shows be like Parks and Recreation? Don’t get me wrong. Veep is nice and smart. Scandal is fun and salacious. It’s great to see those strong, sexy women make decisions, good and bad. And it’s even better to see both shows get second seasons, particularly [...]

Thanks NewsforTVMajors and Racialicious for linking. So HBO has a problem with Girls. Mainly, that a lot of smart people are really pissed the show is so white! And they’re right. I’ve refrained from writing extensively about this because (a) so many other people (links above!) are doing it well, (b) I think the show is smart, [...]

Thanks to NewforTVMajors for linking. Nothing ever “ends” in culture — and nothing is ever new. Conditions change. Culture changes, sometimes. Still, it does feel like a certain era is ending. That era might be called the post-identity era, which, in television, had its prime in the 2000s. “Post-identity” here refers to the casting of characters [...]

At one point in José Padilha’s Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, a police officer confronts local gang members in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, asking for his share of their drug revenue. The police are corrupt, but their illicit money supply has been cut off by their own belligerence: a massacre at a prison temporarily [...]

Thanks to Racialicious for linking. It was a blockbuster weekend if there ever was one. The Hunger Games shattered theatrical record after record, all the more admirable for what is essentially a feminist blockbuster — broad, violent and just as stirring other top earners Harry Potter and The Dark Night (blockbusters are so dark these days, aren’t they?). [...]

The Producers Guild joined the WGA this past weekend and honored original web programming. As Tubefilter notes, the nominees were usual suspects, a mix of web-grown originals (Ask a Ninja, The Guild), derivative programs (Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock) and web-to-TV success (Web Therapy). 30 Rock‘s Jack Donaghy: Executive Superhero won. Another of its series, Frank [...]

Originally posted at Hacktivision. Why have awards? Award shows help media creators establish norms and values for audiences. They adjudicate quality, innovation, diversity and help raise awareness. The past two weeks have seen two big awards developments for professional web video: the IAWTV Awards held at CES January 12 and the WGA nominations. What about [...]