Yikes: "[T]he Motion Picture Association’s claims of $58 billion in actual US economic losses and 373,000 lost jobs came from this press release. These numbers originated at a think tank called the 'Institute for Policy Innovation' – an organization that Businessweek once profiled in an article called 'Op-Eds for Sale.' In it, an IPI analyst freely admitted to taking payoffs from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for writing 'op-ed pieces boosting the lobbyist’s clients.' The IPI’s president supported this behavior, saying it was neither wrong nor unethical, and dismissing those who apply 'a naïve purity standard' to the business of writing op-eds. This doesn’t necessarily mean that MPAA lobbyists paid the IPI to conjure up these numbers. But whatever their genesis, they’re not easy figures to support." [TED Blog via The Dish]
Some of you may be tempted to BitTorrent the latest new releases this week (Were you one of those Fast Five pirates? Admit it, rascal!), but let indie filmmaker Ti West bend your ear with a personal plea as his latest film, the spooky ghost tale The Innkeepers, hits VOD on Friday (December 30). "It's not the money," he writes, admitting that he still hasn't made a dime from his excellent 2009 film House of the Devil. Pay to see indie films like West's, he argues, "because if the movie makes money... that's tangible evidence of a paying audience out there for movies like mine. For independent films. For something different. Not just bland remakes/sequels or live action versions of comic books/cartoons/boardgames." Hear, hear.
more »
This past October, we looked long and hard briefly at the most pirated films of all time -- a fairly predictable list that included blockbuster titles like Avatar, The Dark Knight and Transformers. Today, TorrentFreak has released a more current snapshot of the movie-stealing industry: A list of the top ten pirated films this year. Surprisingly, there are a few films on this list that you probably paid to see.
more »
While at the Austin Film Festival to pimp this week's Hunter S. Thompson adaptation The Rum Diary, star Johnny Depp grabbed his guitar and took to the stage with Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top for a surprise rock show. Because that's how you get the kids to come to your new period movie, folks! Viral marketing meets rock 'n' roll! Johnny Depp can do no wrong! Watch the video and stick around for more Buzz Break.
more »
Earlier this month, Netflix released a list of their ten most-rented movies ever. It was a strange selection that shocked and saddened us -- Sandra Bullock's films The Blind Side and Crash ranked first and second, while the abominable, Jack Nicholson-Morgan Freeman terminal illness buddy comedy The Bucket List finished third. But weep for America's horrendous taste no more -- TorrentFreak has ranked the most pirated titles of all time and they are much more respectable selections. Can you guess what they are?
more »
During the rush to get awards season hopefuls in front of various guilds, the studios have turned to increasingly digital means of distributing screeners to voters. Theatrical screenings and snail-mailed DVD screeners have given way to iTunes codes that allow recipients to download films directly for viewing on laptops, iPads, and other devices. It's a bold move dependent on a trust that none of the nearly 100,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild, for example, will turn around and pirate said films to the internet. But that's exactly what one SAG member did last winter.
more »
The first week of August (and the official beginning of the end of summer) rolled by in fine fashion; sure, it was at times an agonizingly slow news week, but the first looks, surprise developments, and WTF? revelations kept things bouncy. Head into the weekend with your head held high, week. You gave us plenty to munch on. For starters: The terms "Brett Ratner" and "Oscars" in the same sentence? You so crazy!
more »
The Twilight Saga of the stolen sex scene footage rolls on! Today, after alleged footage pirate Daiana Santia of Argentina held a press conference to defend her name against accusations that she stole intellectual property from the unreleased Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn production, Summit Entertainment hit back in press release detailing the copyright infringement they say Santia committed and their months-long efforts to get her to cooperate with investigators.
more »
Today, after four months of investigation, Summit Entertainment released a press release identifying the young woman who allegedly stole photos and video of Bill Condon's unfinished Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn back in March and leaked the images and screen grabs on the Internet. The investigation spanned four continents and the studio has filed civil action in two countries and criminal action in one. But enough with the boring legal details! After the jump, Movieline conducts its own high tech Facebook research on the woman who allegedly released those Bella/Edward sex pics.
more »
It's a Marvel movie so you knew it was coming, but still: Despite studio efforts to keep it from press in early screenings, a teaser sequence appearing at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger has leaked online. Multiple accounts and even a bootlegged video of the footage suggest that the leaks didn't come from the media, but from special public screenings held over the weekend. So why keep it from the press to begin with?
more »
