Meeting with the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission

Posted on February 6, 2008 at 4:50 pm

Yesterday I attended a meeting with Kevin Martin, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to talk about media and family issues. It was arranged by the Parents Television Council, which has been very active on issues of non-family-friendly content and especially on “cable choice,” unbundling of cable channels so that consumers can buy only the channels they want.

Chairman Martin spoke frankly to us about his views and his frustrations. He, too, believes that consumers should not be forced to pay for channels they do not want to watch. But there is so much money at stake that industry is pouring a lot of money into opposition and it is not likely that legislative proposals will get much support. He has some hope that at the local level, as communities select their cable providers, they may be able to insist on unbundling. The Chairman also looks to local communities to oppose the licenses of broadcast stations that do not meet their commitment to the public interest. He pointed out that local complaints led to the largest fine in the Commission’s history, $24 million paid by Univision for claiming that it had three hours of children’s programming when what they were airing was a Spanish language soap opera. He said that what he found even more outrageous was something over which the FCC had no authority. “Sesame Street,” originally created with government funding and broadcast at no charge over PBS stations, will be moving to cable on an exclusive basis when television goes all-digital next year. This also slows down the creation of an all-children’s public television channel because they will not have access to the content. The Chairman feels strongly that programming created with public money should not be able to sell exclusive rights to channels that are not available to everyone.

PTC’s Tim Winter commented on the meeting and the issues he finds important.

PTC has pioneered activism that holds advertisers accountable for the programs they sponsor, and their website has a lot of very useful informtation about television programs and policy initiatives.

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Commentary

Q&A with The Movie Mom

Posted on February 2, 2008 at 8:00 am

More recent questions and answers. Thanks to all who wrote!
I am looking for the title to a movie from late 70s or 80s about a group of US teenagers on field trip to Europe (I think a French class to Paris) that get embroiled in a spy plot where the male protagonist/classmate gets mistaken for an agent and plays the hero’s role– a comedy action film.
Angelinonsf was right on this one — it is “If Looks Could Kill” with Richard Grieco.
The 1985 movie <a href="Gotcha! with Anthony Edwards had him involved with a spy but not mistaken for one. Thanks, Angelinonsf!
I can’t find the name of the TV show or name of the judge that had court cases on tv in the 80’s or early 90’s. He was an older male, bald, and was once a referee in an Evander Holyfield championship boxing match. He himself was once a boxer.
That is Judge Mills Lane. (Thanks to my son the boxing expert for the assist on that one.)
What is the name of the movie with the little boy who writes letters to “his father” who is on a “ship.” His mom answers his letters and mails them back to him. When the ship “his dad is on” is scheduled to dock in their town, the boy gets really excited about meeting his dad. So she puts an ad in the paper to hire someone to pretend to be the boy’s dad for the duration of the ship’s stay. I saw the trailer once and forgot the name. I think it is a couple of years old. Anyhow, she ends up really liking the guy. I don’t know what happens next because I have not seen the movie. Can you help me find out the name of the movie so I can finally rent it?
dear%20frankie.jpg That lovely movie is <a href="Dear Frankie” with Emily Mortimer and Gerard Butler. Enjoy!
What is the name of the family movie from the 80’s (I think) where a little boy kept seeing bubbles in an old flooded quarry and the “monster” turned out to be an old piece of machinery?
That is a 1986 movie called <a href="The Quest” with Henry Thomas, who was the star of “E.T.”
There was a movie in which some kids attempt to teach a bully a lessen. He drowns by accident and they panic and cover it up he drowns in a river on a boat trip after playing truth or dare, I think.
That movie is Mean Creek (2004). Very sensitively done, with beautiful performances.
What is the name of the movie where a little boy is chasing someone saying “where’s my $2?”
That movie is 1985’s Better Off Dead with John Cusack.

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For Your Netflix Queue Q&As

What does “Not Screened for Critics” mean?

Posted on February 1, 2008 at 7:40 am

I hear there is some sort of sporting event going on this weekend. So it makes sense that studios decided it would not be a good time to release big-budget movies with hopes of big box office. If Sunday will be devoted to Superbowl XLII, much of the potential theater-going audience will be at home. I got that.

But I still don’t understand why that means that the studios did not let critics see three of the four new releases in time to write reviews. Movies not screened for critics are called “cold opens” because they open without any reviews, which means no exclamation-point-studded blurbs for ads. Jessica Alba has been everywhere promoting the thriller “The Eye,” but they did not show it to critics. There are ads all over television for the comedy “Strange Wilderness,” starring Steve Zahn, from Adam Sandler’s production company. But no blurbs from critics because no one has seen it. And what possible reason could there be to keep critics (except those from LA and NY) away from the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert film? Are they afraid we’ll give away the surprise ending? (She’s both! It’s a wig! And it’s in 3D!) Here is a clip of the concert film, which is more than critics got to see.

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Beliefnet salutes 2008 movies and the all-time top Westerns

Posted on January 31, 2008 at 8:34 am

This is my third year as one of the nominators for Beliefnet’s annual awards that pay tribute to the most spiritually nourishing and inspiring films of the year. Each of the candidates is presented with pro and con statements (mine is the pro for Emile Hirsch’s performance in “Into the Wild”), with the awards to be decided by Beliefnet voters. Please visit the site and let us know what you thought about the nominated films and performances.
And I enjoyed Idol Chatter’s list of the 10 Most Inspiring Westerns. Westerns are epic and mythic. They present stark contrasts — cowboys and Indians, outlaws and sheriffs, ranchers and herders, railroads and farmers, gamblers and solid citizens, dancehall girls and prim schoolteachers. I do not agree with all of the choices (especially “Maverick” and “Tombstone”), but endorse with enthusiasm the selection of Silverado as the top choice. This year’s 3:10 to Yuma is worth including. But why limit the list to recent films? Classics like The Searchers, High Noon, My Darling Clementine, How the West Was Won, How the West Was Won, and Red River should be seen by everyone.

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For Your Netflix Queue

James C. Strouse of “Grace is Gone”

Posted on January 30, 2008 at 8:00 am

“Grace is Gone” is the story of a father who cannot bear to tell his daughters that their mother has been killed in Iraq, so he takes them on a road trip to a theme park called Enchanted Garden. It was written and directed by James C. Strouse, who spoke to me about making the film.
You worked with two of my favorite actors on this film, John Cusack, who played Stanley and Alessandro Nivola, who played his brother.
John wanted to try something different. It was written pretty specifically, you could see it on the page that was buttoned down and quiet, slightly repressed, and he was excited to try that. I had a backstory for him and put him in touch with a couple of people including a man who lost his wife and has three kids. John was ready to do and came up with a lot of the performance on his own.
Alessandro is just phenomenal. That was one of the last roles we cast and as soon as he read the script he said, “Yes, I’ll do it.” He’s so smart. It’s great to meet an actor who not only understands their part but the larger story as well. It’s kind of a luxury, when they understand the micro and macro at the same time. From the first take, I had very little to say because he just got it so clearly. Like his character, he was a breath of fresh air, a fun presence. The girls just instantly were smitten with him. I loved his film Junebug and I poached as many people as I could from that film, not just Alessandro but also the editor, screened the movie for Junebug’s director Phil Morrison to get his comments.

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