May 7, 2008

Globes and Games

The Walker Art Center kicks off their Global Lens film series today, which will run through May 18th. The series is an annual touring festival supported by the Global Film Initiative. From the Walker's website:

"Recognizing that few Americans have the means or the will to travel outside the U.S.—especially beyond Europe—Susan Weeks Coulter has created a funding program that provides ways for Americans to experience other cultures—through cinema. Now in its fifth year, the Global Film Initiative supports filmmakers from developing nations..." (my emphasis)

Yeah, so this program is essentially tailor-made to my passions in life. I'm a little stretched just coming out of the MSPIFF last weekend, but I'll definitely do my best to check some of these out, and continue to champion the Global Fil
m Initiative at every opportunity.
__________________________________________________________

Matt (MNRaul) has set up a fantasy movie league. Yes, we've gone from football to baseball to box office. I've never done this before and I'm not really sure what the best strategy is, but come along and try it with us! You choose 8 movies that will be released from May2 - July 28. If your movies do well at the box office, you do well in the game. You have to choose them carefully, though, as you have a limited budget. What are the sleepers? What are the certain blockbusters?

Since this is the first season, we'll take it easy. Maybe I'll come up with a prize by the end of it. Registration closes on May 20, just in time for Indy IV.

Sign up now, anybody! It takes two seconds, and it's free. Click here to register. Then find out private league. We're playing "Box Office Moguls" and the league name is Getafilm. The password is "hoon". Then you give your studio a name and pick your movies. Let me know if you have trouble. Let's see who's ready to be a producer!

__________________________________________________________

Jeff Sauer pointed me to a really interesting post from a blog called Strange Maps. Yesterday they analyzed a Volkswagen ad that shows three world maps, cartograms in fact, distorted "in relation to the average budget per feature film, the number of films produced per capita and the total number of films produced per country." Check it out here.

New Zealand boasts the highest average budget per feature film, Iceland produces more films per capita than any other country, and maybe not so surprisingly, the U.S. produces more films overall than anybody else. Those are cool facts, but what I find most interesting is the analysis they provide of what we don't see. Great idea, VW, but I'm not sure if it works as an ad. I'm still a Toyota loyalist.

11 comments:

  1. Finally, a fantasy league that I can join! I've registered and my slate is chosen! Bring on the summer films!

    ReplyDelete
  2. As much as I complain about box office, I can't resist a good game. Sign me up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've seen this game but I never thought about signing up. Come on Kit Kittredge!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome, Kathie! It's the next generation of fantasy sports, isn't it? I've played those for years, but somehow never thought about doing this. Good luck to you.

    Glad you're in, Craig. I know you're not a box-office hound (nor am I), but this should be fairly low key. I know I'm not going to be telling people to see Sex and the City to help my studio...

    Awesome, Matt - I think Kittredge might actually be a solid sleeper. Nice catch.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeah, I joined too... what the hell, right?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for the visit, k! (Check out Inside the Gold)

    Spread the word, people, the more the merrier...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'll pass the word along to Dorothy, daniel, I'm sure this is something she'll be interested in.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Up until now Nicole has picked zero movies. An honest mistake or a biting commentary on the decline of the American blockbuster ?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks, k. I hope we get more people in the next 10 days.

    I don't know, Matt, but that would be a bold and witty declaration. My guess is she's still researching the correct title for Meet Dave (formerly Starship Dave) - soon Unemployed Dave.

    Seriously, Eddie Murphy. Is he financing these on his own or what? Interesting that you didn't pick it up, Norbit...

    ReplyDelete
  10. In.

    I'm just upset it doesn't run through August, as it cuts the legs off of many, many big flicks (Hancock, for starters) and leaves out a great pick like Tropic Thunder.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nice, Fletch. I'm going to throw it in the LAMB forum and see if anyone's interested as well.

    Yes, the bad news is that the seasons are limited to three months, and the summer is actually now four months (May-August). The good news is that you can start a new season whenever you want to, so maybe we can prepare a little bit and then set one up for the fall/Oscar season time.

    Also, after having just read the rules (for the first time), I'm a little disappointed to confirm that yes, totals are only counted during the season, meaning you better hope that a July 25th movie has a massive opening weekend before the season ends on July 28th, while one that opens in early June will have weeks to accumulate cash. Or will it...? There's still some room for risk there.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails