Maggie Smith Is Wrong – There Are Plenty Of Good Movies For Older Audiences

“Two or three years ago, she would have had an unanswerable case. Now, thanks not least to her own exertions, ‘grey cinema’ is booming, with a string of successful films, many British-made … They have done well because they are well-written, well-acted, do not patronise their audiences and tackle serious themes in an intelligent, nuanced way.”

How Patent Trolls Are Killing Innovation

“Patent ‘trolls,’ as they are called, purchase large numbers of patents in the hope of using the threat of a patent-infringement suit to extort a patent-license fee from a company that makes a similar product; the product may or may not infringe, which is often very difficult to determine, but the alleged infringer may decide to pay the licensee fee, if it is not too large, to avoid the cost of litigation.”

Indian Movie Effects Companies Set Up In Hollywood

“Hollywood studios for many years have farmed out basic visual effects and animation work to India and other countries to take advantage of a pool of low-cost workers skilled in software engineering and computer graphics. But well-heeled foreign companies such as Reliance are no longer waiting for work to be parceled out to them from thousands of miles away.”

Anatomy Of A Meme

“Marketing taps into shared ideals between brands and customers to encourage trends, ideas, and behaviors to spread. If we understand what makes a meme stick–inspire a purchase, encourage word-of-mouth, or change behavior or opinion–we can repeat that stickiness.”

Fabio Luisi: Don’t Count On Me To Step In For Levine Again

The Italian maestro saved the Met’s bacon – sometimes breaking contracts to do so – repeatedly over the past couple of seasons when ailing Met music director James Levine withdrew from performances on short notice. Now that Levine seems to be back, Luisi indicates that he will have to honor his existing commitments, even if Levine should fall ill again.