“Sixth Sense” is a major hit in the home too. “Consumer spending on the purchase of DVD versions and the rental of VHS and DVD versions in the first five days is estimated to be as high as $50 million. DVD sales alone were so strong that the number of units sold in the first five days would have ranked the DVD version ahead of all but the top 20-25 best-selling VHS titles for all of 1999.” – Variety 04/06/00
Tag: 04.06.00
MEET YA’ HALF WAY
Cable TV enticed new viewers with dozens of highly specialized channels, whereas the web has recently been drawing audiences to more generalized content on fewer high-profile sites. “As TV becomes more of an active medium and the web becomes more passive, they will eventually meet in the middle.” Convergence already spells success for independent film producers and other artists, but “make no mistake, streaming media is cool but it’s still embryonic.” – The Age (Melbourne) 04/06/00
CAN HYPERLINKS BE OUTLAWED?
“Only last week a California judge ruled, in a case brought by Ticketmaster against Tickets.com, that it’s not illegal for one site to link to another.” So what is the Motion Picture Association of America doing filing a motion to criminalize links to DeCSS, a program that decrypts DVDs so people can play them on Linux-based operating systems? – Salon 04/06/00
LONG DRY SPELL
After violent clashes with Hindu nationalists last month, Indian director Deepa Mehta has given up all hope of shooting her new film “Water” anywhere in India this year. The new film highlights the plight of Indian widows and was denounced by angry protesters for “denigrating the image of India.” – Times of India 04/06/00
ONLY 55 YEARS LATE
Germany will publish a list of several thousand works of art stolen from museums and individuals across Europe in an effort to restore some of it with its rightful owners. – Financial Times
LET THE FREAK FLAG FLY
“In many ways, Frank O. Gehry is to architecture what Jimi Hendrix was to rock music – a wild, original, creative genius with a giddy, international appeal.” So he was the logical choice to design Seattle’s new interactive music museum, the Experience Music Project, which opens to the public in June. Gehry’s colorful, free-form design pays homage to Hendrix, and rock music in general, and was inspired in part by the look and style of electric guitars “which he cut up and used as the basis for the design.” (Story includes timeline of Gehry’s best-known buildings.) – The Guardian
OUTSIDE APPEARANCES ARE MISLEADING
In the past five years attendance at the Vancouver Art Museum has doubled. Then suddenly last week, the museum’s director resigned. Why? Some say it was over a dispute with the board of directors over whether the gallery should exhibit photography by rock star Bryan Adams as part of a fund-raising venture for the museum. But from behind the scenes emerges a story of turmoil. – Vancouver Sun
YO PICASSO
For 20 years they all thought the picture on the wall behind the boss’s desk was just an odd portrait, maybe even an unflattering one of the boss himself. But upon appraisal, the “poster” turns out to be a genuine signed Picasso. – Flint Journal
HE SAID, THEY SAID
Two prominent San Francisco families are arguing over the sale of a $45 million Picasso. The painting was to be bought jointly by a wealthy art patron and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The sellers agreed to the sale, thinking the museum would own it. When it became clear the patron and SFMOMA would co-own it, the sellers pulled out. – San Francisco Chronicle
SO YOU’VE GOT SOMETHING AGAINST BIG RED METAL SPIDERS?
Sculptor Mark di Suvero’s design for a “gateway sculpture” under consideration for a prominent spot in Sydney’s Sculpture Walk has prompted “responses from rapture to dread.” – Sydney Morning Herald