John Woo Receives Hometown Honors in Hong Kong
HONG KONG (AP) – John Woo has received one of the top official honors awarded by his hometown Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong government announced Thursday the veteran director has been bestowed the Silver Bauhinia Star in recognition of his contributions to Hong Kong and Chinese cinema. The award is named after the semiautonomous territory’s official flower.
Woo made his name in Hong Kong with stylish action thrillers before moving onto Hollywood, where his credits include “Face/Off” and “Mission: Impossible II.” He returned to Chinese film in 2008 with the two-part historical epic “Red Cliff.”
Hong Kong announced its annual honors list Thursday to mark the 13th anniversary of the former British colony’s return to Chinese rule.
‘Charlie’s Angels’ Composer Allyn Ferguson Dies
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. (AP) – Allyn Ferguson, an Emmy-winning composer who co-wrote the themes for the 1970s TV shows “Charlie’s Angels” and “Barney Miller,” has died at 85.
Ferguson died at his home in Westlake Village near Los Angeles on June 23, said his daughter, Jill Ferguson.
Ferguson wrote scores for dozens of TV episodes in the 1970s and 1980s but he may be best-known for the “Charlie’s Angels” and “Barney Miller” themes he co-wrote with Jack Elliott.
He received six Emmy nominations, winning the award for music composition in 1985 for scoring a television adaptation of the classic novel “Camille.”
It was one of several literary adaptations that Ferguson scored for producer Norman Rosemont.
“Allyn will always be remembered as the co-writer of two iconic television themes,” said Jon Burlingame, author of “TV’s Biggest Hits.” ”But I think his real strength was in writing large-scale orchestral scores for Rosemont.”
“He’d often write lavish orchestral scores, some very swashbuckling in nature, that helped to set the mood and place the viewer in the proper period,” Burlingame said. “It was great stuff; he was really good at this.”
Ferguson also conducted and was musical co-director for Academy Award, Emmy and Grammy shows.
During his career, Ferguson also was an arranger or musical director for artists such as Sarah Vaughan, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis and Julie Andrews.
He wrote the arrangements for the Count Basie Orchestra’s 1998 Grammy-winning album, “Count Plays Duke.”
In addition to his daughter, Ferguson is survived by his wife, Joline; sons, Dan and Todd; his sister, Marilyn Dallman; and six grandchildren.
Motion Picture Academy Invites 135 New MembersBEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) – Adam Sandler, Bono and James Gandolfini are among 135 people invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Also on the list announced Friday are several Oscar winners from this year, including Mo’Nique, best supporting actress for “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,'” Christoph Waltz, best supporting actor for “Inglourious Basterds,” and Mark Boal, writer and producer of “The Hurt Locker.”
The list also includes previous nominees such as Carey Mulligan, Anna Kendrick, Vera Farmiga, and “District 9” writers Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell.
Documentary makers Davis Guggenheim, who won for “An Inconvenient Truth,” and Morgan Spurlock also are listed.
They’ll all be honored at a reception in September.
Elvis On The Big Screen AgainAdrian Sainz
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Elvis Presley is returning to the big screen again in the remastered film “Elvis on Tour: 75th Anniversary Celebration,” which will be shown July 29 at more than 460 movie theaters around the country.
The movie will feature remastered footage of concert performances and interviews from the 1972 documentary “Elvis on Tour” – the singer’s last film before he died in 1977.
The film’s release commemorates the 75th anniversary of Elvis’ birth and includes a retrospective from his former wife, Priscilla Presley, and a montage supervised by director Martin Scorsese. Some of the tour footage has never been released.
“I was thrilled when I heard fans will be gathering in theaters across America on July 29 for this Elvis experience,” Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “Those of us who witnessed Elvis in concert know how incredible it was to see him performing live.”
“Elvis on Tour” follows the singer on a 15-city U.S. t our in April 1972. Written and directed by Robert Abel and Pierre Adidge, it combines rehearsal and backstage footage along with concert performances of “Don’t Be Cruel,” ”Hound Dog,” ”Suspicious Minds” and other hits.
It also includes Elvis’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show and his first performance of “Burning Love.”
The film will be shown again during Elvis Week in Memphis, the annual tribute remembering his contributions to music and American pop culture. This year’s Elvis Week runs from Aug. 10-16.
The new “Elvis on Tour” also will be available as part of a box set featuring 17 of Elvis’ films presented in Blu-ray and DVD formats. It’s release is set for Aug. 3.
Online: List of theater locations: http://www.fathomevents.com/concertsandmusic/series/elvisontour.aspx
Lady Gaga Shakes It for a Polaroid Picture
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) – Lady Gaga is lending star power to Polaroid and the MIT Museum.
The pop star known for her outlandish wardrobe posed Wednesday for a Polaroid at the museum run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In January, she was given the title of creative director for the company that owns the iconic photography brand.
The museum had recently taken possession of thousands of Polaroid inventions that revolutionized photography in the 20th century, including the 20- by 24-inch camera that was used to snap the photo of Lady Gaga wearing a low-cut black lace dress. Lady Gaga has concerts in Boston on Thursday and Friday nights.
Polaroid was founded in Cambridge in 1937. It was sold in bankruptcy last year and is owned by Minnetonka, Minn.-based PLR IP Holdings.
Hulu Launches $10 video Subscription Service
Ryan Nakashima
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Online video site Hulu, under pressure from its media company parents to generate a bigger profit, launched a subscription service Tuesday with complete access to back episodes of popular television shows.
For $9.99 a month, subscribers can get the entire current season of “Glee,” ”The Office,” ”House” and other shows from broadcasters ABC, Fox and NBC, as well as all the past seasons of several series. The popular, ad-supported website will continue to have a few recent episodes for free online.
In a surprise move, however, paying subscribers will get the same number of ads as users of the free website.
Hulu Chief Executive Jason Kilar said keeping ads was necessary to help keep the subscription price low.
“Certainly there was an opportunity for us to offer an ad-free service at a higher price,” Kilar said. “But we heard loud and clear from consumers that they would prefer to have a lower price in a way that advertising helps lower the cost.”
The new site is initially available by invitation only on computers and through special applications designed for Apple Inc.’s iPad and iPhones and certain Samsung Blu-ray players and TVs – the first time Hulu is available off desktop and laptop computers.
It’s coming soon to Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 and some of its TVs and Blu-ray players, and there are plans to launch on Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox early next year.
“More wherever. More whenever. Than ever,” the company says in new marketing materials.
The long-awaited move should be a boon to Hulu’s corporate parents: News Corp., General Electric Co.’s NBC Universal, The Walt Disney Co. and Providence Equity Partners.
Hulu served up 1.17 billion videos to U.S. users in May, nearly triple the 411 million a year earlier, but remained a distant second to YouTube owner Google Inc.’s 14.63 billion, according to comScore Inc. Hulu also had 43.5 million U.S. visitors last month, ranking it sixth among video sites.
While Hulu’s paid section will show the same number of ads to viewers as on the free site, it will have more content available. In the rush to launch, Hulu cut new deals with only about half of its 200 content partners, and for a time, not all of the free content will be available on Hulu Plus.
Paying subscribers can also watch shows in high def inition – at up to 720p, compared with 480p for free. Hulu didn’t go all the way to 1080p, the maximum resolution for many TVs, mainly to maintain a good viewing experience given the average consumer’s broadband Internet bandwidth.
Automaker Nissan Motor Co. and Anheuser-Busch InBev SA are advertising partners for the launch.
Analysts questioned whether Hulu could gain enough paying subscribers without launching an ad-free service.
“There’ll be some pushback if there’s the exact same number of ads, free or paid,” said eMarketer senior analyst David Hallerman.
Dan Rayburn, principal analyst of digital media at research firm Frost & Sullivan, called the dual revenue model “a bit greedy” but unavoidable to keep Hulu’s media company owners happy.
“Do I think it’ll be wildly successful? No,” he said. “Do I think they’ll get a percentage of Hulu users to use this? Yes.”
King Kong swings back to Universal Studios in 3-DDerrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) – Over two years ago, a fire ravaged the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot, turning several famous outdoor sets into ashes and apparently setting iconic giant gorilla King Kong free. At least, that’s how the fact-meets-fantasy story line goes in “King Kong 360 3-D,” an immersive addition to the studio tour opening July 1.
Rather than simply move past the real-life blaze that destroyed the theme park’s original 30-foot-tall animatronic ape in 2008, the fire has become part of the revamped attraction’s mythology, addressed by tour guides and featured in footage broadcast inside the tour’s trams. One doctored image ominously depicts the figure of King Kong emerging from the smoke.
“The fire presented us with a unique opportunity to rebuild King Kong, which had been without a doubt one of the most popular stops on the studio tour,” said Universal Studios show producer Valerie Johnson-Redrow. “The initial thought was, of c ourse, to go back to Peter Jackson’s 2005 film and re-imagine King Kong in an entirely new way for the studio tour.”
Instead of recreate the animatronic Eighth Wonder of the World that burned down alongside exterior sets from “Back to the Future” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Universal Studios enlisted Jackson and his team at special effects company Weta Digital in New Zealand to craft an entirely new adventure that would transport visitors to his rendition of Skull Island.
During the breakneck three-minute encounter, the computer-generated battle-scarred big ape tussles with a dinosaur gang on the side of a cliff. As the beasts seemingly smash into and lunge over the tram, a system underneath the winding vehicle jolts in sync with the action while bursts of air and water mimic King Kong’s breathy roar and the dinosaurs’ wet slobber.
The sequence, which premiered during an invite-only event Tuesday, is screened 60 frames per second from 16 hidden high-defini tion film projectors on two 40-foot-tall, 180-foot-long curved screens. The screens envelop the tram inside a soundstage, nestled in a new hillside location on the backlot across from the newly rebuilt New York set.
Before boarding the tram, riders are given 3-D glasses and instructed by Jackson in a video when to don them for the brawl, which at one point cleverly depicts the last car of the tram being ripped off. Some moments, such as King Kong toying with his prehistoric prey and a foolhardy tourist snapping a photo, can only be viewed from certain vantage points.
Joe Letteri, visual effects supervisor for “King Kong” and “Avatar,” said the team was tasked with several challenges in bringing 3-D to the studio tour. Most noticeably, the gorilla-versus-dinos smackdown is entirely seamless, so there are no cuts during the battle, and unlike a typical 3-D movie, the audience isn’t always looking in the same direction.
“Everyone is seeing something different because they’re not facing the same screen,” said Letteri. “Every time someone goes through this ride, they’re going to have a different experience depending on where they sit and look. We’re making sure that everybody in the tram – whether in the front or the back – experiences something interesting and exciting.”
Jackson introduced “King Kong 360 3-D” from New Zealand in a prerecorded 3-D video to a crowd of celebrities and media gathered in a soundstage Tuesday morning. Attendees were entertained by African dancers and drummers and noshed on such dishes as shrimp skewers and bite-sized banana cream pies at the jungle-themed soiree before boarding trams.
“Today is the first day you will ever be inside of a 3-D story as opposed to viewing the story from a seat,” Larry Kurzweil, president and chief operating officer of Universal Studios Hollywood, told the crowd. “You will literally be as deep inside a battlefield on Skull Island as you could possibly imagine. It ‘s riveting. It’s intense. It’s perilous.”
The attraction was first constructed 20 miles away inside the massive 281,000-square-foot hangar where Howard Hughes built his 200-ton plane dubbed the Spruce Goose and where James Cameron filmed several scenes for “Titanic” and “Avatar.” A mock tram filled with balloon-headed mannequins was fabricated to aid technicians in tweaking the audiovisual systems.
MOG, Rdio New Entrants to $10-a-month Mobile MusicRyan Nakashima
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Two more companies are jumping into the mobile streaming music field with applications that work on iPhones, giving consumers new ways to listen to millions of tracks on the go for about $10 a month.
Music blog site MOG and a startup called Rdio, backed by Skype co-founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, are both entering a market already served by Rhapsody International Inc. and Thumbplay Inc.
These so-called “cloud music” services do away with the need to download songs because the mobile devices tap into songs stored on distant computers through the cellphone network. In that way, they are the latest to challenge Apple Inc.’s grip on selling music as downloads through its iTunes store.
On Monday, a different startup called mSpot also launched to the public as a “beta” test, giving users a way to store music they already have and stream it to themselves on mobile devices. It’s free for 2 gigabytes of music, or about 1 ,600 songs; monthly fees are charged beyond that.
Along with access to 7.5 million tracks, MOG touts a slider control that gradually changes how many randomly selected tracks come from a single artist or many similar ones.
MOG’s iPhone app was approved last week, and MOG plans to launch in July on iPhones and on mobile devices that use Google Inc.’s Android operating system.
Also this summer, MOG is launching an application on the Roku set-top box, which was made popular for its integration with movie service Netflix. That application will allow subscribers to listen to songs through their TV and computer for about $5 per month. (The $10-a-month plan for phones includes Roku and computer access.)
“It’s part of our vision and our strategy to integrate MOG in all these experiences,” said Drew Denbo, MOG’s senior vice president of business development.
Rdio, with 5 million songs, is focused on social networking, with a splash page on the website th at shows what your friends are listening to and what they think about it.
The fee structure is similar, with about $10 per month giving users access to songs on their Blackberry devices or iPhones. The company plans to roll out on Android devices later. For about $5, users can listen to Rdio songs on a computer.
Rdio launched in an invitation-only paid preview program in early June.
Friis, who sold the Internet-based phone service Skype to eBay Inc. for more than $2.6 billion in 2005, said he’s not worried that the mobile music field now has so many startups as competitors. Apple is also expected to launch its own service for accessing music remotely, following the company’s purchase of the music startup Lala.
“It’s fundamentally always about creating the best product. That’s what we think we did with Skype and that’s why it took off,” Friis said. “This is the very, very early start of a whole new phase of music consumption. We think now is the right time.”
Online: MOG: http://mog.com
Rdio: http://www.rdio.com
