Showing posts with label Boston Strangler news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boston Strangler news. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 December 2013
For Paul Melendy, acting is a far
Saturday, 14 December 2013
Tony liked it hot
Stay in bed: Friday the 13th is here
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TORONTO - If you need a reason to call in sick to work this Friday, tell the boss you've got paraskevidekatriaphobia - the fear of Friday the 13th.
It is only the second time this year the 13th of the month has fallen on a Friday (the previous one was - gulp! - 13 weeks ago) and the last time this will happen until June.
So, why is Friday the 13th so dreaded?
It starts with the fear of the number 13, a condition known as triskaidekaphobia.
Most highrise buildings don't have a 13th floor, airports generally lack a Gate 13, couples avoid getting married on the 13th of any month, and it's considered unlucky to have 13 guests at a dinner party.
The superstition can be traced to the Norse myth about 12 gods dining at Valhalla who were interrupted by evil Loki. Or The Last Supper, at which Jesus was betrayed by Judas - the 13th guest to arrive.
Is 13 really cursed, though?
NASA's only unsuccessful mission to the moon was Apollo 13. The voyage was aborted after the module's oxygen tank ruptured on April 14, 1970 (a day after the 13th!).
Many evil people have 13 letters in their names, including Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Osama bin Laden, John Wayne Gacy, Theodore Bundy, Albert DeSalvo (aka the Boston Strangler) and Jack the Ripper.
Some believe Friday the 13th became infamous because the Knights of Templar were killed on Friday, Oct. 13, 1307. But it really made its mark in popular culture thanks to a far more modern tale - the 1980 horror flick Friday the 13th.
Still, there is no credible scientific data to support the theory that Friday the 13th is unlucky. There is no significant increase in accidents (although a total of 203 people perished on Friday, Oct. 13, 1972 in two separate plane crashes) so there's no rational reason to avoid flying, driving or going for a walk.
Just don't step on crack.
© Shaw Media, 2013
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Radar: Gourmet Food and Wine Expo, European Union Film Festival, Not Dead ...
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
'Star Wars' Musical Supervisor Lionel Newman Gets Fox Building in his Name
Building 222 at 20th Century- Fox will be named after longtime Fox music executive Lionel Newman at a dedication ceremony on Nov. 21 at the Pico lot.
Composer John Williams, who worked with Newman during the 1960s and 1970s - first on such TV series as "Lost in Space," later on the early "Star Wars" films - will speak at the ceremony. Other members of the Newman family, including singer-songwriter Randy Newman (Lionel's nephew) and TV composer Joey Newman (his grandson), are expected to attend.
The building has housed the studio's music-department administrative offices for many years, including Lionel's own office and one for Williams when he was regularly composing for the studio ("The Poseidon Adventure," "Star Wars").
Newman worked at Fox for more than 40 years, beginning as a rehearsal pianist in 1943 when his older brother Alfred was the studio's general music director. He went on to compose, conduct or supervise more than 250 scores at Fox until his retirement in 1985.
As a songwriter, he had a huge hit in "Again" (from 1949′s "Road House"), which generated six top-10 records for singers including Doris Day and Mel Torme. He was nominated 11 times for Oscars, either as a songwriter or for overseeing the scoring of musicals, and won in 1969 for his work on "Hello, Dolly!"
At Fox, he was promoted to head of TV music in 1959 and to general music director of the studio in 1963. He was promoted to VP of music in 1977 and to senior VP in 1982.
Newman was well-known as Marilyn Monroe's favorite music director, working closely with her on several films including "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "There's No Business Like Show Business" and "Let's Make Love."
His dramatic film scores included "The Proud Ones," "Love Me Tender," "Compulsion" and "The Boston Strangler"; he also composed several popular TV themes, including "Dobie Gillis," "Daniel Boone" and "Adventures in Paradise."
He came out of retirement in 1988 to become senior VP of music for MGM-UA. He died in February 1989.
Targeting Boston's biggest 'jerks' in a new book
Sunday, 10 November 2013
Andrew Toney: Deserves Induction Into Philadelphia Hall Of Fame
Thursday, 31 October 2013
In the Red Corner: Housecore Horror Film Festival: The new kids on the block ...
There's a new beast on the Austin film-gathering scene. Heavy metal legend Phil Anselmo (Pantera, Down) and author/film critic Corey Mitchell unleash a monster with three days and nights of horror, grindhouse, true crime, and gruesome exploitation both fresh and arcane, all with a live metal soundtrack. Possessing the whole Emo's/Antone's complex and converting it into their own little hell on Earth, they've summoned the blackest souls of the genre, including Ruggero ( Cannibal Holocaust) and Jörg Buttgereit ( Nekromantik). From the cerebral to the spine-ripping, from classics like Maniac to world premieres - including Kyle Kuchta's examination of horror conventions, Fantasm - there's plenty of killing to be done around the farm. We've picked 10 must-see events below, but you can also check out our interviews (see sidebar) and our coverage of the music component of Housecore.
1) Birth of the Living Dead: George A. Romero's little indie horror reshaped the world, and its impact is caught, part in interviews and part in animation.(Friday, 9am, Grindhouse Tent)
2) The Profane Exhibit: A who's who of gore icons like Deodato and new bloods such as Nacho Vigalondo ( Timecrimes) gather in coven for this anthology flick of the malicious and powerful. (Friday 11:45pm, Antone's)
6) Goblin perform Suspiria: The ultimate Italian horror soundtrack band re-create the shrieking audio ceremony for Dario Argento's bloodcurdling psychedelic slayer. Check the Music blog Friday morning for an interview with keyboardist Maurizio Guarini. (Sunday, 10:40pm, Emo's)
8) Decibel Magazine's 100th Issue Show: The Movie: If there's not enough live metal for you, there's always this concert film for Decibel, the bible of extreme metal, featuring enough rumbling terror to see off a graboid. (Saturday, 11:45am, Grindhouse Tent)
9) Stranglehold: In the Shadow of the Boston Strangler: Documentarian Myles Jewell grew up with his grandfather Phil DiNatale's case files on the Boston Strangler around the house. Now he tries to finish the job and identify the murderer. (Saturday, 11:59am, Zombie Room)
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Wednesday, 30 October 2013
Toronto concerts, November 2013
Saturday, 12 October 2013
All Bulger gang victims should speak at sentencing – prosecutors
BOSTON (Reuters) - Survivors of all 19 people murdered by James "Whitey" Bulger's gang should be allowed to speak at his sentencing, prosecutors argued on Friday, even if a jury did not find the 84-year-old convicted mobster personally responsible for their deaths.
Bulger, who ran Boston's criminal underworld in the 1970s and '80s while the FBI looked the other way, was found guilty in August of 31 criminal counts including 11 of the 19 murders of which he was accused.
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper will decide on his punishment based on the sentencing hearing scheduled for November 13-14. He faces a possible life sentence.
Federal prosecutors argued that prior convictions of Bulger's gangmates, including Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi and John "The Executioner" Martorano, established that Bulger's "Winter Hill" gang had murdered all 19 victims, making it appropriate for their family members to testify.
"The criminal enterprise was responsible for the murder of all of the victims specified in the indictment regardless of whether the actual shooter or strangler was John Martorano, Stephen Flemmi or James Bulger," prosecutors wrote in a filing in U.S. District Court in Boston.
Bulger's attorneys had previously argued that only survivors of the 11 people the jury found Bulger guilty of murdering should speak at the sentencing hearing.
Bulger's trial this summer capped off one of Boston's longest-running crime dramas. After years of his gang terrorizing Bostonians with daytime shootings and shake-downs of businessmen in the backrooms of bars, Bulger fled the city in December 1994 on a tip from a corrupt FBI agent that arrest was imminent.
Nicknamed "Whitey" for the shock of light-colored hair he had as a youth, Bulger evaded capture for 16 years before law enforcement caught up with him in June 2011, hiding out with girlfriend Catherine Greig in an apartment in Santa Monica, California.
Greig was convicted of harboring a fugitive and her sentencing hearing in June 2012 turned raucous, with the families of Bulger's victims calling her a "cold-hearted criminal" and a "bitch," prompting an apology by the judge. (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Gunna Dickson)
This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Hamilton
HAMILTON - For 35 years, Wayne Thomas has appeased the insatiable appetites of war memorabilia collectors who squeeze into his tiny, cluttered shop at 2038 Greenwood Ave. in the shadow of the Hamilton Township municipal building.
They come to Armies of the Past Ltd. for everything from 25-cent buttons to war uniforms, helmets and figurines, not to mention the memories that come with them. A red wool uniform jacket with brass buttons echoes images of the elite British Coldstream Guard, founded in Coldstream, Scotland, in 1650 and still active in the British Army.
Incongruously, a straw purse that hangs on a wall and seems out of place was made in Hong Kong and once belonged to a Navy nurse.
Although Thomas estimates about 90 percent of his business now comes from online orders at www.aotp.com, he still welcomes customers to see some of his inventory at the store on Saturdays or by special appointment. They come, he said, to peruse his "high-end collectible stuff."
Over the years, the soft-spoken former Department of Transportation civil engineer has catered to movie companies, a television show, veterans and re-enactors.
Lately, thanks to the international customer base he reaches through his internet site, Thomas has seen a flurry of Japanese interest in Vietnam War artifacts and also from Northern Europeans.
"I don't remember the first thing I collected," Thomas explained on a recent Saturday afternoon. "I started collecting things as a kid and I never stopped."
Even now, he admits, when he buys 10 things for his shop, he keeps about eight for himself. He houses the most important collectibles in storage elsewhere in the township.
He locks the Greenwood Avenue store with a metal, roll-down garage-style door when it's not open for business.
There are badges, binoculars, medals, old photographs and muskets inside. Artifacts from the Civil War to Desert Storm are packed and piled wall-to-wall in the store that was once a house, then a bakery and a residence again before Thomas, who grew up just across the street, turned it into his Armies of the Past.
A smooth-skinned 72 with a white ponytail that is anything but military-style, the Mercerville resident knows his merchandise. Ask about a helmet with a pointed top and he describes a World War I German Pickelhaube. Looking for a button to spruce up an old uniform? Thomas points to a clear plastic mini cabinet of drawers meant to store screws. His is filled with buttons. By his own estimate, Thomas has "400 to 500" items in the store, his favorites being the cloth uniforms.
Some of his stash was almost featured in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan." But the average soldier in World War II wore a size 36 or 38 uniform, according to Thomas, and the actors and extras on the production were larger and more muscular, requiring mostly size 44s. So the production company looked elsewhere.
He had more success with a British movie crew that came needing uniforms for a Boston Strangler movie based on the life of the late convicted murderer Albert De Salvo when they were filming in Fort Dix.
Thomas also supplied the television show "Burn Notice" with a pair of bayonets. The store made a television appearance of its own on the since-cancelled Discovery Channel show "Dirty Money."
The same sizing problem the movie company faced is true of customers who come in to buy: Most are larger than the older uniforms on hand. Add to that the fact that government cuts have resulted in less surplus uniforms being issued and Thomas' collectibles become even more rare, he explained.
A framed collection of medals sits on a chair that is sometimes occupied by one of the helpers who come in to talk to Thomas and assist with customers. A small figure of a soldier in a beige cloth uniform, probably used as a decorative promotional item, greets visitors who come in for one thing and often stay to look at all of the others.
In the aftermath of 9/11, Thomas could barely keep gas masks in the store. Customers aren't so jittery these days, he said, despite wars that have turned Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria into household words.
"After Desert Storm, they came in for a while and the business was good for that stuff. And then it just stopped," he noted.
The married father of two, Thomas was never in armed conflict himself, although he was in the National Guard reserves from 1963-69.
Twenty to 30 years ago, the owner used to go to Las Vegas trade shows where nearly 3,000 vendors would sell collectibles.
These days he gets new items from "pickers" (people who buy and resell), flea markets and walk-ins who respond to the "We Buy War Relics and Military Items" sign posted outside the shop.
While the internet has provided Thomas with a European customer base, eBay - for a time - took away some prospective buyers.
"It was popular up until a couple of years ago, but not so much anymore," he added. "Plus I used to issue a catalogue. Now I don't have to because I can list things on my website."
By Thomas' estimates, "50 to 60 percent" of his sales are World War II items. More than once, some of the World War II vets who came in got emotional, he recalled.
"Interest in Civil War items is a little soft, now. But there always seems to be an interest in World War II and the Army."
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Wednesday, 9 October 2013
The trial of Sid Vicious – a classic report from the vaults
Friday, 4 October 2013
For Conley, A Pivot From Law Enforcement To Something Broader
BOSTON - Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, the region's top lawman, is running for mayor in a city not much worried about its safety.
And he knows it.
Seated before a handful of voters in the basement offices of an East Boston immigrant advocacy group on a recent afternoon, Conley said Boston was a "very different city" when he entered public life two decades ago. "Crime," he said, "was at its very highest levels."
That's no longer the case. There hasn't been a single homicide in East Boston in the past year, as Conley told the assembled. And 82 percent of voters in a recent Boston Herald/Suffolk University poll said they feel safe walking alone in their neighborhoods.
The district attorney, his shoulders framed by a large American flag, took some credit for the city's safer streets. But after years of focusing on law enforcement, he suggested, he's ready to pivot - to tackle the root causes of the problems he confronts every day.
"Education, to me, really is the final frontier," Conley said, the key to ending "the cycle of violence and dependence in our city."
Education reform and the other focal point of his campaign - jobs - are not just anti-poverty strategies, of course. They are issues of broad appeal.
And with a sizable war chest - he had $847,000 in the bank as of Aug. 31, the most of any candidate in the race - Conley is blanketing the city with his jobs-and-schools pitch in the run-up to the Sept. 24 preliminary election, when voters will narrow the field from 12 to two.
But the district attorney is not the only candidate talking about those issues. And several of his competitors can make a more natural leap from their life's work to the concerns of the moment.
At the East Boston forum, he was flanked by former Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative executive director John Barros, who has spent decades fighting poverty on the ground, and City Councilor John Connolly, a former teacher who carved out a niche as the education reformer long ago.
"The problem," said former City Councilor Michael McCormack, "is [Conley is] a DA, a cop, he locks people up. ... He's running for an office that's completely foreign to what he's done for the last 10 years of his life."
Still, his job means a certain level of visibility and name recognition. And over the last two decades, he's built the sort of electoral base that could prove critical in a crowded field. Conley, whatever his obstacles, has found himself near the top of the public opinion polls - trailing Connolly and state Rep. Martin Walsh by just a few points.
He has two weeks to close the deal.
'He's Measured, But He Has To Be'
Conley, 55, grew up in Hyde Park, the oldest of seven children.
His father, an Irish-American, was a phone company technician. His mother, the daughter of Italian immigrants, was a homemaker who worked seasonally at Lechmere Sales.
His childhood was Italian food and school and sports. He took to hockey at a young age and dreamed of playing professionally. But he also cultivated an early interest in politics.
At Stonehill College, he pinned a campaign button for then-Mayor Kevin White to a bulletin board in his dorm room. It read simply "The Mayor." Someday, Conley told his friends, he would hold the corner office.
As he was finishing up at Suffolk Law School, he went to work on Thomas Menino's campaign for City Council, manning the office and studying for the bar exam when things got slow.
Conley worked as an assistant district attorney for several years. But when Menino ascended to the mayor's office in 1993, Conley ran for his Hyde Park council seat and won.
As head of the panel's Public Safety Committee, he pushed for more police on the street. But he ran afoul of some in the department when he cast the sole vote against the Quinn Bill, which offered a sizable salary bump to police officers with college degrees.
He would retain that independent streak after Acting Gov. Jane Swift, a Republican, appointed Conley, a Democrat, to the district attorney post in 2002.
He reopened cases with questionable convictions. He revamped eyewitness identification procedures. And in 2007, he publicly criticized Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis for appointing a new chief of the homicide unit without consulting him.
Running a district attorney's office is a politically fraught endeavor. High-profile, emotionally charged cases are bound to bring criticism. And Conley has faced his share.
But the district attorney, who oversees about 265 employees and a budget of just over $17 million, has generally won high marks in the legal community.
Along the way, he's carved out a reputation as a serious, sober figure. But standing at the podium to discuss often-horrific crimes requires a certain gravity, his backers say.
"He's measured, but he has to be because of the job he's in," said Anthony Dowling, a politically active liquor salesman from the Readville section of Hyde Park who supports Conley.
Off duty, Dowling said, Conley is a family man devoted to his wife Tricia - a nurse at New England Baptist Hospital on Mission Hill - and his teenage children.
Supporters add that he has long evinced an interest in more than crime and punishment. He's set up special courts for the mentally ill and homeless. And he hosts annual "Basketball for Peace" and "Soccer for Peace" tournaments for kids across the city.
"Even though he's a district attorney," said Oslin "Jack" Mayhew, a soccer coach who volunteers for "Soccer for Peace," "doesn't mean he doesn't know what's going on in the street."
The Achievement Gap As 'Moral Disgrace'
Breaking cycles of crime and poverty are hardly the only issues Conley has discussed in the campaign.
He's argued that the entire city, and not just East Boston, should vote on a planned casino at Suffolk Downs; he's also laid out an East Boston agenda, which includes repositioning highway tolls so only those leaving Logan Airport will have to pay.
And his television ads, while focused on education and jobs, have been the sort of bright and forward-looking fare suitable for a broad audience - with only glancing reference to poverty.
Still, when Conley gave what his campaign dubbed a "major policy speech" on Labor Day in the "mayor's room" at Doyle's restaurant and bar in Jamaica Plain, the tone was striking.
Conley spoke of cutting red tape for small businesses and cultivating high tech jobs as part of his "Better Jobs Now" plan.
But at the heart of his speech was a focus on tackling the "achievement gap" separating white students from blacks and Latinos - and the "employment gap" that follows.
"The educational achievement gap has been a problem unto itself for too long," he said. "But it's also been nothing short of a moral disgrace. ... When I'm mayor, one of the things you'll never again hear is the excuse that kids can't learn because they're poor."
It was a full-throated embrace of a "no excuses" education reform movement that supports charter schools and greater accountability for teachers and has dubbed the overhaul of urban public schools the civil rights issue of our time.
The speech won hearty applause from the roughly 200 supporters gathered for the event.
The question, though, is whether Conley - the upright district attorney - can convince a broader swath of the city that he's got a bit of the social justice crusader in him.
Earlier Profiles:
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Denis Kilcommons: finding fame on the worldwide web
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With nothing better to do, while sitting in front of the computer I Googled my name, like you do, and found I'm famous around the world
By heck, but I do get about a bit. And without ever leaving Huddersfield.
With nothing better to do, while sitting in front of the computer I Googled my name, like you do, and found I'm famous around the world.
Google has its eye on everything from my flickr photographs to my Facebook account and every mention in between. But it is the column I write for the Examiner that has been reproduced around the world. Whatever happened to copyright?
My views on tipping can be read on a website devoted to high finance. I'm quoted on international news and feature websites and reproduced in the Chester Chronicle. I'm alongside the Boston Strangler and on pages devoted to Nicole Kidman, which is nice. I like Nicole Kidman.
My definition of a "knocker up" is quoted in the Free Dictionary, I have been reprinted on a celebrity site in India that is devoted to Brad Pitt, a perceptive piece about alien abduction is on UFO Casebook, my critique of all that is wrong about the commercialism of Mother's Day is listed under British and foreign news in The Week.
Stories I wrote years ago about Huddersfield band The Killermeters are on a rock 'n' roll record site, and I'm included as a footnote in an online Bangladesh dictionary under the word 'remove'.
I don't think they mean this as a personal suggestion.
Then there is Silobreaker: "Overview page of events, news, people, companies, organisations." This is packed with global happenings in Syria, China, Kenya and me. A whole section of my columns from the Examiner are reproduced. At the bottom is: Copyright (C) 2013 Silobreaker Ltd. All rights reserved.
Which is cheeky.
I'm proud to be featured on the website of Elmore Leonard, one of the greatest crime novelists of any generation, for my reviews of his books, and, in the most bizarre entry, I am credited with taking a photograph of world renowned white witch Pat Crowther.
I interviewed Pat at her home next to a graveyard in Sheffield 40 years ago. I also met her husband, who was a nice chap. They were the high priestess and high priest of a coven. He was also a magician at children's parties. She was a delightful lady but I didn't take the picture - some unnamed Examiner photographer did that.
The way the internet can capture and collate information is amazing - it's like a machine taking possession of your soul. It's also frightening if they get it wrong.
Me and the Boston Strangler? It wasn't me, guv. Google it. I was in Africa at the time.
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Monday, 23 September 2013
How the weird becomes law ? in Texas
Friday, 20 September 2013
The Future of Cinemas
A controversial claim for sure, but this utterance from Jack Valenti, former President of the Motion Picture Association of America ( MPAA) helps highlight the fears that emerging technologies can cause amongst those with an interest in the status quo. In this instance, the underlying concern was that VHS-enabled time-shifting meant that viewers could not only copy and distribute copyrighted broadcasts, but also fast-forward commercials, which could discourage advertisers.
During the so-called Betamax case, which saw Sony challenged by Universal City Studios in 1983-84, the US Supreme Court ruled that copying from TV onto video cassette constituted fair use, and thus was permitted. Things could've been so much different in the entertainment industry today had the ruling gone the opposite way.
The subsequent proliferation of home video players actually gave the movie industry a much-needed shot in the arm, given that a film's lifespan could be extended far beyond its theater release-window, with fans able to purchase or rent their own copy to watch at will. And yes, record from TV too.
Moreover, movie theater attendances were dwindling in many markets anyway, but either through coincidence or some other indirect knock-on effect, this case seemed to herald a reversal in fortunes for some movie theaters.
In the UK for example, cinema admissions had fallen from around 200 million tickets sold per year in 1970, to 54 million in 1984. Since then, sales have risen gradually to a point where they've pretty much plateaued in recent times, with sales typically remaining between 150m and 175m admissions per year. In fact, 2012 saw the second-highest number of tickets sold in the UK since 1971.
So what's all this chatter we keep hearing about the movie industry dying at the hands of home theaters, Netflix, Redbox, LoveFilm, and Amazon Instant Video? It has been repeated so many times, that we might actually start believing it. Before we look at where the humble movie theater may be 5 or 10 years from now, here's a quick snapshot of cinema attendances from around the world in recent times.
Cinema attendances in Europe fell by 0.9% on average between 2011 and 2012, according to estimates from the European Audiovisual Observatory.
That's not a massive drop, you'll no doubt agree, and if we dig deeper into the numbers, some countries actually demonstrated gains - including Finland (+19%), Russia (+5.9%), Turkey (+3.9%) and the UK (0.5%). Bosnia & Herzegovina actually saw the biggest climb overall (+37.9%), while Bulgaria saw the largest drop (-12.9%).
The top four EU cinema-going territories - France, the UK, Germany and Italy, which account for almost two-thirds of all EU movie theater admissions - fell by 2.8% last year. While Northern Europe generally showed big increases in tickets sold, Southern Europe saw the opposite effect, with Cyprus (-5.7%), Spain (-6.5%), Slovenia (-8.3%), Italy (-9.9%) and Portugal (-12.3%) all falling. Among the factors blamed for this drop was the recession and a shortage of locally-produced movies, while a rise in online piracy was noted as a possible contributor.
That, of course, was just one year. What did the past decade look like? A decade that saw DVDs cement their place in livingrooms around the world, not to mention Blu-ray and streaming? Well, the picture hasn't changed all that much - as you can see here things have fluctuated a little, but it has largely remained around 900m-1bn annual admissions.
Looking at year-to-year ups and downs doesn't really tell us much. Sure, 2012 might have been slightly down on 2011, but it was actually quite a bit up on admissions in 2005 and 2006.
Reports from other regions around the world were positive too, with China rising by 36%, meaning it edged Japan into second place with its mere 7% increase. And the USA - the largest movie theater market in the world - gained around 6%. It's worth noting here that revenues and admissions generally matched each other %-by-%, as you'd perhaps expect, and the average cinema ticket price remained about the same.
Indeed, as the Motion Picture Association of America reports, total international box office revenues grew by 6% between 2011 and 2012, with Europe the only region not experiencing growth last year.
Taking things back a little further, global box office revenue was up 32% compared to five years ago, with the likes of China, Russia and Brazil driving this surge. And as you can see in this graph courtesy of The Numbers, tickets sold each year in the USA may have fluctuated over the past couple of decades, but there hasn't been a seismic shift in any one direction. 
2011 saw the least number of admissions in the US since 1995. But if you look at the figures between 2000 and 2005, sales varied wildly from 1.39 billion up to 1.58 billion and back down to 1.39 billion. The point is, exponential growth isn't really possible year-on-year, and a multitude of factors affect the number of people who visit their local movie theater, such as the economy ( recessions actually help), movie-selection and even the weather.
There's nothing to suggest - at the moment at least - that Netflix is eating into the silver screen's attendances.
What 2013 holds, remains to be seen. Some early reports suggest the recent growth will continue, while others suggest it will drop. In many ways it doesn't really matter, because year-on-year fluctuations are normal. What we're more concerned about here is the bigger picture over the longer term, and what the future holds for cinema.
If you can pardon this blatant truism, home entertainment is getting better. Scratch that, it's becoming phenomenal.
3D TVs, ultra high definition TVs with mesmerising 4K 84-inch screens, wireless surround-sound speaker setups, Blu-ray players and home console systems with Netflix built right-in. Maybe not affordable for every household, but they certainly pose some form of threat to movie theaters.
Everything is trying to pull us away from the outside world, and deeper into our sofas. But this has been happening ever since the dawn of television, VHS, DVD and on-demand streaming. Yet cinema attendances haven't been massively affected in recent years - they fall, sure, but then they rise again.
Adam Leipzig, former Senior Vice President at Walt Disney Studios, former President of National Geographic Films, and current CEO of Entertainment Media Partners, has been a producer, distributor or supervising executive on more than 25 films, including March of the Penguins, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and Dead Poets Society, garnering somewhere around $2 billion in revenue along the way.
Earlier this week, we spoke with Leipzig about his thoughts on how technology is disrupting entertainment, including the impact home entertainment is having on the silver screen.
"The quality of the in-home experience has really increased - both in terms of picture quality, sound quality and also the quality of content," says Leipzig. "It's completely competitive with what we might see in a cinema. In fact, I'd argue that the best writing and the best character development is generally happening on Web series, or televisions series. I would include shows created by Netflix, or by cable networks - there's better character work and better writing, than we see in most studio movies."
By way of example, Netflix has moved beyond a simple video-on-demand (VoD) and into the original content realm, launching its first original series - Lillyhammer - in February 2012, followed by House of Cards and Hemlock Grove. And they have mostly achieved wide acclaim for the quality of these shows. As a side point, they also serve as massive incentives for would-be subscribers to opt for Netflix over a rival. HBO too has drawn plaudits in recent times for the quality of its output.
So the home entertainment 'draw' is clearly there and growing. But why aren't movie theaters serving up similar engrossing content?
"Because studio movies are big economic plays - most summer studio movies cost $200m to make, and another $200m to market," says Leipzig. "The day that they open, the studio is risking $400m on that opening weekend. There is a propensity to play it somewhat safe."
While it is, of course, a generalization to say that there are no quality movies hitting the big screen, the big blockbusters - the crowd-pleasers that people typically go to the cinema for - maybe aren't what they once were. It would certainly explain the plethora of sequels and remakes we see these days - it's all about playing it safe.
"The golden thread for most studios is the franchise, because with a franchise, you don't have to spend many millions of dollars in marketing to tell people what the story is about," continues Leipzig. "The story has pre-awareness, and that makes it easier for audiences to decide that they want to go and see the movie. At the same time, it also make movies repetitive and less innovative, and I actually have begun to sense audiences growing tired with franchises and reboots because they all feel so similar."
So is there a direct correlation between the rise in quality of home entertainment systems - and content - and the fall in people's desire to visit the cinema? Will having Netflix or Amazon Instant Video plugged into a super-duper, high-def, 3D wonder box really replace the cinema experience? Perhaps only time will tell for sure, but there's one key factor that's worth bearing in mind when considering this question.
Social creatures
Leipzig reckons that technology won't destroy movie theaters, but they will change them.
"Because I believe audiences now decide - even before a movie opens - whether they will see it in a cinema, or at home," explains Leipzig. "There are certain types of films that people really love to see at home, and they're experiencing a renaissance - documentaries are a perfect example. Documentaries have a very limited theatrical cinema life, but they are exploding on online services such as Netflix and Hulu."
Conversely though, Leipzig says that some movies work much better in a large social setting.
"Comedies are a great example - comedies are not so funny if you're sitting alone at home. But they're really funny in a theater with 400 other people," he says.
"In my 20s I went to a lot of movies. Now, not so much. Over the past two years becoming a parent has been the main cause but really my lack of interest in the theater experience started way before that. Some people dislike going to the movies because of price or crowds, but for me it was more of a lifestyle decision. Increasingly I wanted my media experiences plugged in and with the ability to multitask. Look up the cast list online, tweet out a comment, talk to others while watching or just work on something else while Superman played in the background. Of course these activities are discouraged and/or impossible in a movie theater.
"But why? Instead of driving people like me away from the theater, why not just segregate us into environments which meet our needs. I'd love to watch Pacific Rim in a theater with a bit more light, wifi, electricity outlets and a second screen experience. Don't tell me I'd miss major plot points while scrolling on my ipad - it's a movie about robots vs monsters. I can follow along just fine."
"Because WHY would I go outside my house and pay for the exact same experience I can have inside my house? What value is being added?
"That's the whole point of going to the movies; to provide a substantially different experience than what you'd have in your own living room. You, on the other hand, want to make the movie theaters even more like your living room for some reason.
"This is a bad idea, sorry. The number of people who might enjoy this experience is infinitesimal. Certainly nowhere near enough to actually support a profitable business."
@hunterwalk You can have that experience. In the comfort of your home. A ludicrous idea to create a passive viewing experience at a theater.
- Elijah Wood (@woodelijah) August 8, 2013
Embrace...or not embrace
US theater chain Cinemark actually rewards patrons for not using their mobile phones during movies. When the movie's about to start, you launch its app and click 'Turn CineMode On'. Your screen will then dim, and you'll be prompted to set volume to vibrate.
Assuming you stay in CineMode for the duration of the movie, you will earn a reward each time you see a movie, for example a free drink when you buy some popcorn. From what we can tell, there's nothing stopping anyone from activating this feature from home and gaining rewards anyway, but this is probably more of a souped up incentive to get people to buy some over-priced popcorn than anything else.
On the other side of the fence, cinema advertising company Screenvision launched a second-screen experience for movie theaters last year. Called The Limelight, it lets users browse additional content before the movie begins. To access this pre-movie content, users must download an app called Screenfanz.
The app includes a range of entertainment options, from information on movies to gaming and social features. For instance, movie-goers can check-in, share content through Facebook, earn points and compete for film tickets.
And earlier this year, Screenvision teamed up with Shazam, which saw Shazam's TV advertising platform arrive in movie theaters across the US. Similar to The Limelight, it encourages moviegoers to use their smartphones during the ads, letting them access special offers, enter sweepstakes and more.
It may not be standard protocol yet, but moves are being made to normalize mobile phones in theaters, though the efforts are confined to pre-movie. But it surely can't be too long before we begin seeing this kind of initiative creep into the actual movie too. Right? In many ways, it seems inevitable, but I do hope I'm wrong.
Cinemas of the future
Just as digital cameras have have all but consigned traditional film to the history books - ask Kodak - cinemas too are shifting away from 35mm to digital. This is much to the chagrin of many film-makers though, including Quentin Tarantino, who has suggested he may retire from directing movies if his work won't be projected to screens from reels.
Just this month, a small Rhode Island theater secured more than 100% of its $55,000 funding target on Kickstarter, as it looks to avoid closure by converting to digital projection. You see, while multiplexes and big-name cinema chains actually share the costs of converting with film distributors, independent theaters typically don't have that luxury.
According to the latest MPAA figures, more than two-thirds of the world's 130,000 cinema screens are now digital. There has been a concerted effort to make digital the norm in theaters, with major movie studios looking to phase out 35mm film by the end of 2013. So as with your home TV, the future of cinemas are very much digital too.
Laser projection
In an interview with TechRadar earlier this year, IMAX CTO Brian Bonnick outlined why he feels laser projection will play a big part in the future of movie theaters. Indeed, IMAX is currently testing this new technology, with trials expected this year, beta tests in 2014, and potential widespread launch by 2015.
It seems that laser projection's major plus-point is its contrast ratio - in other words, the brightness of the whites and the darkness of the blacks, with Bonnick noting that this is "one of the most important things" to a viewer's experience. He says:
"In digital a current 4K projector has contract of between 1500:1 to 1700:1, a 2K projector is up at around 2100:1, and our existing digital IMAX is at 2600-2800:1 - it's 30 per cent higher but not where we need to go.
It's a big problem with digital projectors. IMAX film projectors offer up between 3500:1 and up to 5000:1 on a good day and if the print was done well, so that's the benchmark. With IMAX Digital Laser, we are looking at contrast ratios of 8000:1 and higher."
It's food for thought, and will be interesting to see how this one pans out.
3D
It would be somewhat remiss of us not to mention 3D. Since the 1950s, the movie industry has gone through a number of 3D resurgences, but it never quite managed to become 'mainstream'. That has changed in recent years though.
MPAA figures state that US 3D box office figures in 2012 were about similar to that of 2011 ($1.8 billion), even though there were fewer 3D film releases. The number of 3D-capable screens have been steadily rising too, though the explosive growth of 3D screens hasn't continued from where it started in 2009.
In 2012, almost half (48%) of all US and Canadian moviegoers viewed at least one movie in 3D, according to MPAA figures.
The jury may still be out on 3D, but it's far from a fad. The 3D experience can be exceptional with the right movie - Avatar, for example, was pretty mesmerizing (visually, at least). And nature documentaries are also particularly enticing. But one can't help but feel if 3D was going to take off, it would've done by now - it likely has a future, but it isn't the future.
"I think 3D is here to stay, but it is not the new economic driver of the movie business." Adam Leipzig.
4D
And what about 4D? Spy Kids 4 hit theaters back in 2011, attempting to bring smells into the cinematic equation via scratch-and-sniff cards. It wasn't the first movie to attempt this - just look at Smell-O-Vision back in the '60s - but it's safe to say audiences haven't really taken to this type of 4D.
However, that fourth dimension doesn't need to be 'smell', does it? Vibrating seats seem like a much better idea, with movements in your chair corresponding with actions on the screen. Some cinemas already have this, with the UK receiving its first such auditorium just last year, kicking off in the country's busiest cinema in Glasgow. A handful more cinemas across the UK followed.
There are thousands of D-Box seats in cinemas across North America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. While they haven't really taken off in a big way yet, they do at least hint at the direction cinema may be heading. We're talking interactivity, taking the out-of-home experience to the next level.
Check this video of the vibrating seats in action, during an airing of Prince of Persia:
Hyper-Matrix
Created for the Hyundai Motor Group Exhibition Pavilion in Korea, the site of the 2012 Yeosu EXPO, the Hyper-Matrix was a kinetic landscape installation consisting of giant cubes that move in and out of the building's facade. The resulting effect is pretty mesmerizing, with patterns emerging across the three-sided display. At first, it's just three flat, blank walls, but it soon comes to life as thousands of individual cubes pulsate and move. Check it out:
It was more just a conceptual art installation than anything else, and there was no moving images projected upon it, but that surely wouldn't require a massive leap of technological innovation? Imagine that - a screen that actually moves in concert with the visual projections would be something else.
Conceptual urban rooftop cinemas
This certainly applies in areas of Tokyo where, as part of the ArchTriumph International Architecture Competition, two people designed a futuristic urban cinema concept.
The problem? Large cinema complexes have drawn audiences away from local cinemas, thus forcing many small theaters that were historically and contextually important to an area, to close down.
Kabukicho, once a key center of entertainment in Tokyo, is the proposed location for the 'Cinepalego', which uses the vacant rooftop spaces in Kabukicho to create a network of mini-theaters that spontaneously pop-up.
"Designed by Chansoo Byeon + Daichi Yamashita, the act of cinema going will be completely redefined, becoming seamlessly integrated into day-to-day life. Occupying the vacant space on the rooftop, the cinemas will also be closely integrated with the businesses underneath."
Though this is just a concept, it does allude to one of the fundamental problems of cinemas today. Generic, bland, uninspiring - all words that could be used to describe many of the suburban sites that house the 15-screen behemoths.
Immersive experiences
Back in August, BBC Worldwide announced what it called "...the first facility of its kind in the world" in cahoots with SEGA. Orbi blends SEGA's technology with BBC Earth's content to bring visitors "a supercharged nature experience".
The Yokohama, Japan-based installation isn't really a cinema as you'd imagine it today, and it doesn't sell itself as one. It's an immersive attraction that takes the public on a multi-sensory trip, putting visitors in the middle of nature and inviting them to use all their senses, including sight, smell, touch and sound.
There are twelve different nature zones, letting visitors become polar explorers and even experience life in the midst of millions of wildebeest as the animals rush past.
With 3D, 4D, vibrating seats, moving walls, rooftop screens, and multi-sensory journeys, this all seems very 'out there' and perhaps not the most likely immediate outcome for the theatrical experience 10 years from now. Though it would be nice to see elements of these creep in along the way.
Just as watching Back to the Future 2 is becoming increasingly amusing as we edge closer to 2015, the future of cinemas won't be any of the above. Multiplexes will probably still be the norm, though it would be nice to see little local gems such as the Ritzy in London's Brixton remain on the scene.
To look at what the future holds for cinemas, we just have to look at the now.
Democratization: Streaming and on-demand
As things stand, you pay your money to watch one of several pre-set movies advertised at a cinema complex. You have choice, sure, but you can't choose your choices, if that makes sense.
With cinemas becoming increasingly digital, there will shortly be no need for a time-delay between completing a movie, and shipping it around the country. As things stand, yes, digital files are still sent to theaters on drives or disks, but with improving file-transfer and broadcasting technology, movies could be beamed directly from source, just like Netflix or Amazon Instant. So the only real restrictions then, are those of tradition.
Democratization will likely play a big part in the future of movie theaters. Why have three screens completely sold out, and five sitting empty? With bookings enabled through the Web, mobile phones and hopefully even smartwatches, there doesn't need to be a limited number of tickets for one screening.
Just as cloud computing gives companies access to as little or as much server power as they need at any particular moment, in the cinemas of the future, space is allocated depending on the demand for a certain flick. Any 'overspill' just gets pushed to another screen, and for less in-demand movies, they simply get pushed down to the smaller auditoriums. Supply and demand.
Moreover, movie studios, distributors and cinemas could arrange a Netflix-style library of films to choose from - it could be the entire back-catalogue going back 100 years, every movie from the past 12 months, or somewhere in the middle. Let the public decide.
I paid to watch a special 25-year anniversary screening of Back to the Future in my local cinema back in 2010, and absolutely loved it. I've seen the movie a million times on TV since I first saw it back in 1985 on the silver screen, but seeing it again then was special. It would be great to be able to access older films in movie theaters, with customers perhaps 'voting' on what film will be shown on the dedicated 'oldies' screen every Friday.
Cinemas are currently restricted in what they can offer - it's been like that since the dawn of the movie industry. But with evolving technology, there is so much room for innovation. All it will take is one enterprising cinema operator to trial a few different things, find a winning formula, and the rest of the pack will follow.
Earlier this summer, Ben Wheatley's A Field in England, became the first UK film to be launched in cinemas, DVD, TV and VoD all on the same day. This could become the norm in the future - giving people the choice of medium from the start, rather than making them wait several months after the theatrical release to enjoy it, though such an idea would have to be deployed correctly to ensure cinema takings don't suffer.
An elite experience?
Movie tickets hit an all-time high of $7.96 in the US in 2012, and in the UK - where I live - it hit an all-time high of £6.37 ($10.21). These are just averages though - in some London cinemas that price is easily more than double that. When you throw into the mix popcorn and all the rest, it can be a very expensive evening out. But that's exactly what it is - an evening out.
There is something deeply enjoyable about sitting in a darkened auditorium with a bunch of strangers all laughing or crying at the same thing. As weird as that may sound.
When people argue, "why pay $10 for a film that's crap, when you can OWN it in HD three months later", they're missing the whole point of cinema.
You're paying for the experience, though granted this experience is getting particularly expensive in bigger cities. But if someone can't afford, doesn't want or simply doesn't see the point of cinemas, then yeah - they have the option of waiting a few months to watch it on DVD, Blu-ray or Netflix. For the rest of us who love the cinema experience, here's hoping we'll start seeing a swell of innovations and technological advances over the next few years and into the future.
Image Credits: Feature Image - Thinkstock | Image 1 Thinkstock | Image 2 Thinkstock | Image 3 AFP/Getty Images | Image 4 Wikimedia Commons | Image 5 Thinkstock |
Forensic science and art cross paths in new exhibit
A mug shot portrait of Frank Sinatra by Jennifer Hannaford, made with fingerprint ink. Image from Imagine Gallery
Fingerprints take on a new meaning at an upcoming art show at Port Jefferson's Imagine Gallery. Beginning Sept. 21, your perception of a person's one-of-a-kind digit markings will no longer be related only to the collection of evidence at crime scenes or booking of criminals. Jennifer Hannaford has successfully shifted her 20-year career as a forensic scientist and channeled it into an art form that brings criminal mug shots to life. "Science can be rigid sometimes. Bringing creativity to life is fulfilling," explains Hannaford as we discussed her upcoming work in the show titled "Cons and Icons."Hannaford grew up in California in the late 1960s. As a young girl, her experience with drawing was met with "great frustration." Many attempts ended up crumpled on the floor. In college she began studying fashion illustration, but that ended with an urging by her mother to find a career that would "put spaghetti on the table!"Always liking anatomy and the human form, Hannaford ventured into the field of forensic science. She went on to complete her bachelor's and master's degrees in forensic science. Working at crimes scenes in Oakland, Calif., and most recently, Nassau County, she has honed her expertise of recovering latent prints for comparison.However, Hannaford's desire to create was reignited when she began to experiment using her fingerprints and fingerprint ink to create small portraits. Eventually it led her to her first portrait of Mick Jagger. The idea of creating mug shot portraits was born after talking to a gallery owner in Boston about a local hotel, which was at one time a jail. She imagined showing her fingerprint art of Malcolm X and the Boston Strangler at the hotel. The hotel passed on the idea, but Hannaford was not deterred and as a result has since created over 13 portraits using her right index finger to produce a "simultaneous impression."Hannaford explains her artistic process: "In many ways it is the small details that are brought together to form the great picture," similar to her work ethic at crime scenes. Inspired by her favorite artist, Chuck Close, she uses her own fingerprints to create a bigger picture. As in the technique of pointillism, used by Georges Seurat, the artist asks the viewer to put the pieces together by viewing the work.In Hannaford's case, the dots are her fingerprints instead of dots of color. Once you step back from the artwork your brain transforms her individual prints into eyes, mouths, hair and an image of the criminal's emotional state. She laughs and praises her boyfriend Karl Turkel for being "so understanding about the remaining fingerprints on the wall in the living room" where she does her work. "Jen is finally starting to exhibit her skills and she's lifting a lot of eyebrows along the way," says Turkel.John Diaz, Imagine Gallery's owner and curator, met Hannaford eight months ago and the "idea for a show gelled," he said with a huge smile. The work she does is "different than what we have at the gallery. Jennifer takes a moment when people are vulnerable and conveys that moment of emotion," explains Diaz.This show unites the works of the gallery's resident artist, Ocean Clark, and Chris Mackie, who both create vibrant portraits of famous pop icons with Hannaford's "Cons." Along with other icon works by Stephanie Geremito and 9-year-old Setauket resident Bella Ospitale, "it is a combination that works," Diaz eagerly states.Imagine Gallery, 415 E. Main St., Port Jefferson, will present "Cons and Icons" on Sept. 21, with an artist reception from 6 to 9 pm. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 509-5340 or email imagineart@optonline.net. For more information on Imagine Gallery, go to www.imaginefineart.com.
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Google wants to kill the cookie monster
Google wants to ditch cookies and is close to coming up with an anonymous identifier for advertising, or AdID.
AdID would replace third-party cookies as the way advertisers track people's internet browsing activity for marketing purposes.
The tool will give users the ability to limit ad tracking through browser settings. AdID may be reset by the browser every year, and users can create a secondary AdID for super secret online browsing sessions.
If it does go ahead with the plan it could mark a major change in the $120 billion digital advertising industry.
According to the AdID would only be transmitted to advertisers and ad networks that have agreed to basic guidelines. Google thinks this would give consumers more privacy and control over how they browse the web.
Google plans to show the idea to industry participants, government bodies and consumer groups in coming weeks and months.
Lately third-party cookies have been about as popular as the Boston Strangler with many browsers starting to block them.
If Google follows through with its own version of this approach, that could give users more control over how they are tracked online. However, it will also give Google a lot more power.
Friday, 13 September 2013
Denis Kilcommons: Friday 13th is bad for your health
Saturday, 7 September 2013
An object lesson
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