Jack Valenti, who was president and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America for nearly 39 years and who created the movie ratings system of G, PG and R, died today at age 85. I always respected the man, and devoted most of a chapter to him in my book Darknet, even if I […]
Film
Guggenheim wins for ‘Inconvenient Truth’
Congratulations to Davis Guggenheim, director of An Inconvenient Truth, which won the best documentary Oscar tonight. Davis is not only a cool dude — he’s on the board of Creative Commons — but he’s also the nicest, most down-to-earth guy I’ve ever met from Hollywood. (By contrast, Al Gore, whom I ran into three times […]
‘Inconvenient Truth’ opens wider; new studies back its science
“An Inconvenient Truth” opens in San Francisco, Berkeley, Mill Valley, Nevada City, San Jose, Palo Alto and hundreds of U.S. theaters this Friday. MoveOn.org is asking members to pledge to see the movie and get tickets in advance. They’re also sponsoring a conference call with Al Gore this Sunday, June 4, at 7 pm EST […]
Why ‘Crash’ beat ‘Brokeback’
After Ang Lee scooped up the best director Oscar tonight, I was surprised, but not shocked, that “Crash” beat out “Brokeback Mountain” for best picture of the year. (The balloting split between best picture and best director is very rare.) I think “Brokeback” was a slightly more mesmerizing and powerful film than “Crash” — one […]
Movies with a message
On Wednesday I swung by Participant Productions, the relatively young movie production company in Beverly Hills founded by former eBay president Jeff Skoll.
I just posted to Ourmedia this 8-minute video interview with the amazing Micki Krimmel, Participant’s Director of Internet Outreach. She talks about the organization’s goals and its first three films: Good Night, and Good Luck; North Country, and the upcoming Syriana, about the oil industry. (See Ourmedia page | watch video — 21.8 MB in MPEG-4 | here’s a higher-quality version in H.264, 51MB)