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Disclosure
I’m not terribly commercial, but I do enjoy making money.
As such, it is safe to assume that any company, entity, corporation, person, place, thing, or other that has a product, service, post, or link has in some way compensated me for said product, service, post or link. That compensation–direct or indirect–may be in the form of money, swag, free trips, gold bullion, smurf collectibles, super-models, or just warm-fuzzies. That list is NOT in order of preferred method of compensation.
To reiterate: If it’s commercial, and it’s here, I’m probably being paid for it.
Carnival Roundup
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Charlie Hunnam and the Success of 50 Shades of Grey
It looks like actor Charlie Hunnam is all set to cash in on the biggest romance novel of the decade. He is set to play the lead role of Christian Grey in the film adaptation of the salacious hit novel 50 Shades of Grey directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson.
Charlie Hunnam, with his English good looks and charm, will definitely make the fantasies of so many women into a reality. Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1980, Hunnam is already well known in the UK for his portrayal of Nathan Maloney in the television show Queer as Folk. He is also fresh off his recent role in the summer blockbuster Pacific Rim. Now, he will delve into the alternative, sexy, and edgy role of Christian Grey, the hero of the novels written by E.L. James.
With 70 million copies of the BDSM-themed trilogy sold around the world, even the novels themselves are a runaway success. Hunnam himself stands to make quite a bit of money off the film adaptation. If the initial film is a success on the level of Twilight, then Hunnam could easily become an A-list actor in Hollywood, which would boost the amount of money he earns per film. If the novels continue to be adapted into films, then he will be set for at least another few years. Who wouldn’t feel comfortable knowing they were starring in a saucy summer film that would be a guaranteed blockbuster? However, Hunnam didn’t jump straight away to become Christian Grey – he turned down the role at first, but then reconsidered it later. If the buzz surrounding the film means anything, then it’s a good thing that Hunnam changed his mind!
Production work on the film will begin in October 2013, and a release date has been scheduled for August 1st, 2014. With the recent announcement of the lead actors, the excitement is building, and it doesn’t seem like it will die down any time soon. It looks as if 50 Shades of Grey will be a wise career move for Charlie Hunnam as a well as a great way to boost his annual salary.
SOPA Is Evil
So the record companies, the movie studios, the obsolete media, and some large software companies want the ability to nuke a website from orbit if they find any of their intellectual property there.
Or a hint of their intellectual property.
Or, “Oops, I guess that wasn’t ours. How much business did you lose during the 6 month appeal of a non-judicial takedown?”
Pure crap.
I’m not saying that from the perspective of some junior high pirate watching free porn in his parents’ basement. Intellectual property is the basis of my livelihood. I am a Microsoft Certified Professional; a software engineer. I am a blogger; a writer. I am a web developer; again, pure IP.
Giving private companies the right to arbitrarily take down sites for what may or may not be an actual violation is absurd.
Over the last few years, a law firm called Righthaven(spit!) has been teaming up with news agencies around the country to extort fees out of websites–generally small sites–for violating their copyright. Most of those cases involved individual users–not owners–posting fair-use snippets of articles. Since the cases were filed in Nevada, it would have cost more to fight the suits than to simply pay the blackmail, typically $5,000-$10,000.
Now, add the ability to threaten to administratively shut down the site if settlement isn’t made in 24 hours. That eliminates the ability to consult with an attorney, undermining the legal system completely.
All because once-successful companies can’t cope with the current world.
I’m not a fan of piracy. I enjoy buying movies because that encourages the people who made them to continue to make movies. The delivery system sucks.
Netflix has developed a successful business model out of making it easier to watch movies legally than to pirate them. For $8/month, you can watch as many movies as you’d like. If you have a $50 Roku, or any number of other devices, you can watch right on your TV. Add another $8/month to that, and you can get new DVDs delivered right to your door. For less than $20/month, they are delivering licensed, legitimate content and making a profit doing so.
How did the movie companies respond?
Did they increase the availability of their libraries, to get more wanting-to-be-honest customers paying a small fee to watch their content?
Of course not. They reduced the instant library and extended the amount of time before they would license new movies for rental. They made it harder to get their content legitimately, which increased the amount of piracy.
Now, since Plan A is biting them in the ass, they are pushing for yet more legislation to salvage their failed business models.
Here are three options for watching movies I don’t own:
Option 1: Instant
Through the magic of Amazon Instant, Netflix Instant, or any of the magical Roku channels, I can…
- Open an account. Once.
- Find a movie I want to watch.
- Watch it immediately. This could be included in a membership fee, or as an individual rental.
Option 2: Piracy
I am not recommending illegal activity. This is for the sake of example, only.
- Download torrent software, like uTorrent. Once.
- Go to a site like Torrentz.com and find a movie I want to watch.
- Click the torrent link, let the torrent software open it and download the movie.
- Watch the movie in a couple of hours. For free.
Option 3: Buy it.
- Drive to the store each time I want to watch a movie.
- Spend $15-$20 on the movie.
- Drive home.
- Fight the bank vault of plastic and tape they wrap the movies in.
- Put the DVD in the player.
- Watch 5 minutes of “Don’t Be a Pirate” garbage. Hey jerkface, if I’m watching the DVD, I didn’t pirate it. Bad market-targeting here.
- Watch 15 minutes of commercials that I can’t skip through.
- Watch 15 minutes of
commercialspreviews that I can’t skip through. - Watch the movie. This process takes longer than the piracy and costs more than option 1.
On top of that, I’m told I’m a pirate if I back up my movies for archival purposes. Or if I rip my movies to my network to allow me to watch them conveniently. I’m told that I’m merely licensing the content of the disc, but if the disc fails, I have to buy a new one. I can’t just download the content again.
This is a failure, and it isn’t a legislative failure.
The companies that are embracing modern options are succeeding, and will continue to do so. The companies that refuse, at the expense of their potential customers, will sink.
A Late-Blooming Career Cut Short: Dennis Farina Passes at 69
Dennis Farina’s acting career was unique in Hollywood as one of the few actors to garner success later in life. This “late-bloomer” started his acting career at 37 years old, after almost 20 years as a Chicago police officer. He
was well known as a character actor, playing a cop on NBC’s “Law & Order,” and one of the only cast members that had been on the police force in real life.
Dennis was born on February 29, 1944 to Italian parents in Chicago. His father, Joseph, was a doctor and an immigrant from Sicily. This leap-year baby would go on to serve 3 years in the military and then to serve his native city as a policeman from 1967 to 1985. He worked mostly in burglary and it was there that he was hired by director Michael Mann as a consultant for the movie “Thief” (1981), starring James Caan. Farina was given a bit part in the movie and would go on to work for Mann in future roles. After a brief stint acting in Chicago theater, he left the police force for a lead role in Mann’s television series “Crime Story” (1986). He also played mobster Albert Lombard in Mann’s other television show, “Miami Vice.”
Farina’s distinguishing looks made him perfect for his roles as a cop or a gangster. He was tall and imposing, with a memorable silver mustache. He worked steadily in both television and the movies after quitting the Chicago police force. His first major movie role was another Michael Mann movie, “Manhunter”(1986), in which he played an FBI agent. This was the first of the Hannibal Lecter films and Farina would go on to star in all three.
Farina’s most memorable movie roles were in 1998’s “Saving Private Ryan” in which he played a colonel who convinces Tom Hank’s character to rescue Private Ryan from the Nazis. He was known for his comedy roles as well as his serious characters. In “Get Shorty,” Farina received an American Comedy Actor award for his performance as “Ray ‘Bones’ Barboni, John Travolta’s rival.
Dennis Farina’s other screen credits include “Out of Sight” with Jennifer Lopez; John Frankenheimer’s “Reindeer Games,” Guy Ritchie’s “Snatch,” as well as the 2008 comedy, “Bottle Shock”. He was narrator for the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries,” replacing Robert Stack as the original host. Farina starred alongside Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher in “What Happens in Vegas” (2008). Another comedic role was in HBO’s “Empire Falls,” starring Helen Hunt and Ed Harris. His last recurring TV role was in “Luck,” the 2012 horse racing series.
Farina and his wife of 10 years, Patricia, had three sons. Joseph Farina followed in his father’s footsteps and became an actor. And sadly, Dennis Farina’s second act in life came to a close on July 22, 2013. He was only 69 years old when he died from a pulmonary embolism at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona.
