voluntaryXchange

RIP, Actors We Lost in 2011

TCM Remembers 2011:

It’s a good way to spend 5 minutes …

Of course, it has all the big names, plus those actors you always had a soft spot for, like Charles Napier for me, plus lots of people I’d forgotten about, like Susannah York, and lots whose faces I recognized but whose names I never knew, like William Campbell and John Wood.

Technorati Tags: actor,died,2011

Only In Utah (Can You Be Fined for Screening an R-Rated Movie)

A movie theater in Salt Lake City was fined for screening The Hangover II.

The cops didn’t do this on their own; they were asked to look into this:

Utah Highway Patrol officers issued the citation against Brewvies in early September after a complaint was filed with the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Yes, the violation is an exploitation of a law intended for another purpose:

The law is generally used to regulate strip clubs, which aren't permitted to have nude dancers — g-strings and pasties are required to be worn — if they serve liquor. The law is applied only to businesses with liquor licenses, so it wouldn't apply to alcohol-free theaters.

I wonder if this got called in by the owners of other movie theaters or restaurants: it is legal, and quite common in Utah, for restaurants that serve liquor to offer dinner packages that include movie tickets.

The fine issued by the state liquor board Thursday is the first for Brewvies, which only allows people 21 years and older to attend their movies and serves food and liquor to patrons. But under state law, many PG-13 and R-rated movies could net the theater a fine because of prohibitions on showing a film with sex acts, full-frontal nudity or even the "caressing" of breasts or buttocks.

I haven’t seen most of these movies, but under the law Brewvies could be fined for showing some of them.

Technorati Tags: salt,lake,brewvvies,movie,hangover,fine

You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

FOXNews is reporting that there are rumors that Nicholas Cage is a vampire because of the existence of a photo from the 19th century that looks like him.

Well shucks … he just must be, because he sure did look that character he played from the 50’s in Peggy Sue Got Married.

Technorati Tags: nicholas,cage,vampire

How the Lord of the Rings Should Have Ended

I’m such an idiot. I’ve read the book, seen the movies, but I never thought of this:

For my part, I’ve always thought Tolkien’s occasional, but very convenient, use of giant eagles was the biggest deus ex machina in the series.

Via Bryan Caplan at Econlog.

Technorati Tags: lord,rings,should,havel,ended

Wishful Thinking

I wish I’d known this was there when I drove through Iowa a few years ago. Talk about a touristy side-trip …

And don’tcha just love the little Enterprise?

Technorati Tags: kirk,birthplace,memorial,star,trek

Heard In Utah

At last week’s Utah Midsummer Renaissance Faire, they had a procession of all the participants in costume.

At the end were two guys pulling a cart, crying “Bring out your dead”.

Outside of Utah that references one particular cultural meme.

Inside Utah it references a completely different meme specific to the local culture: I heard a kid shout out “Hey look! They even have pioneers!”.

Technorati Tags: monty,python,utah,bring,dead,renaissance,faire

Skynet Self-Aware?

According to the mythos laid out in the The Terminator series almost 30 years ago, SkyNet became self-aware last Tuesday evening.

In 1984, this was the vision of the years after 2011:

FTNItK: The Terminator features thinking machines from the future. Skynet is the first machine in the future that becomes self-aware: it knows what it is, and it knows what it wants. Specifically, that it is not a human, and that humans are a violent threat. The problem is that Skynet is a Defense Department computer system, so it uses those capabilities to attack humans in the future, and for convoluted reasons, to find a way to attack humans in the past as well.

Technorati Tags: terminator,skynet

Scientology and Paul Haggis

Got an hour? Read The New Yorker’s expose on the director Paul Haggis’ decision to leave Scientology (Fair Warning: it’s about 25K words).

Technorati Tags: haggis,scientology,cult

Netflix vs. Blockbuster†

I’m a psychic: next year’s version of this graphic will detail how Amazon Video On Demand for members of Prime killed Netflix.

The managerial economics story here is that the marginal cost of streaming a movie is zero, and that competition will push the price towards that level. Amazon, with other source of revenue, can handle that. I’m not sure that Netflix can.

Via: Online MBA Programs

† This graphic is sponsored, and was sent to me, but it's a good one!

Technorati Tags: netflix,blockbuster

The Best Sequel Ever?

And the winner is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan:

Movies that are better than the original are above the line, and a most improved one would be towards the top. Star Trek II is the one sitting off by itself – a so-so original followed by a great sequel.

I know … lousy graphic if it’s small. So blow it up already!

Via I Love Charts via BoxOfficeQuant.

Technorati Tags: star,trek,wrath,khan,best,sequel