Usually, the Oscars highlight the chasm between Hollywood's elite and average Americans. But, says one movie critic: "This is one of the rare years when critics and paying audiences backed the nominees." Also notable in 2011 is a youth movement in the nominees -- and the show's hosts.
Aiming to ease a major concern among Hollywood studios, Intel is set to introduce new chips that will have antipiracy measures built in. This will allow the streaming of top-quality 1080p movie images to PCs, something pretty much not possible up to now.
Previously for DailyFinance, Catherine Ryan Hyde described how novelists (theoretically) profit from their books. Here, the author of Pay It Forward, which was adapted to film, explains what happens to authors when their books make the journey to Hollywood. Hint: Money doesn't have a starring role.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn threw his support behind Lions Gate Entertainment's proposal to acquire debt-laden Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, according to a filing with the SEC Tuesday. Icahn is Lions Gate's largest shareholder and also holds a significant amount of MGM's debt.
Studios including Sony Pictures (SNE), Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Warner Bros. (TWX) are in talks with cable companies about offering movies soon after their theater release for as much as $30 per showing. The companies are in discussions with In Demand, a partnership of Cox Communications, Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable, Bloomberg News reported.
Lions Gate Entertainment shares jumped some 12.5% to around $7.30 Tuesday after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn raised his hostile bid for the studio to $7.50 per share in cash, up from the previous offer of $6.50 a share. Lions Gate's board said it will review the offer.
Google is talking to Hollywood studios about a pay-per-view video service based on YouTube, according to a new report. The move comes as Google girds for battle with Apple, and telecom and media companies jostle for control over the next generation of high-speed content delivery.
