Blogcritics Author: John Guilfoil

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Studio 60 Walks Off Into the Sunset

John Guilfoil — Tue, 3 Jul 2007 13:53:46 EDT

By Elizabeth RafteryIn hindsight, it should have been obvious that Aaron Sorkin’s drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was doomed from the outset. At a time when American audiences would rather tune into mindless reality programming like Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and Age of Love, the clever soapbox series struggled to find its niche.Perhaps it has to do with the current state of the county. Modern audiences might not want to see politically-charged, depressing fictional situations sandwiched between newscasts about politically-charged real-life situations that are depressing enough in themselves. (Hence, Dancing With the Stars and Hey, Paula?)This time last year, television fans and critics were practically salivating at the thought of a new Sorkin drama, and it was one of the most highly-anticipated shows of the fall. But after a stunning pilot episode, the show floundered, losing nearly half its initial audience by the sixth episode. It plummeted in the ratings enough that NBC pulled it from its Monday night slot after just 11 episodes for a seven-week hiatus. (It returned briefly in February for three episodes before a continuing ratings free-fall prompted NBC to announce it was pulling the plug for good).Sorkin’s shows have always had a smug touch of self-importance, but Studio 60 took itself a little too seriously. The subplots, for the most part, revolved around comedy sketches about foreign policy, for instance, not foreign policy itself — but you’d never know it from the dramatic background music.Studio 60 treated Hollywood television with the same reverence that Sorkin’s tour-de-force, The West Wing, treated D.C. politics, and the sentiment didn’t translate well. Or at all, for that matter. Let’s face it — audiences aren’t going to empathize with an earnest, drug-addicted television writer trying to bang out a sketch as much as they will with an earnest, drug-addicted chief of staff trying to prevent an international crisis. And they shouldn’t be expected to.The witty banter that elevated West Wing bogged down Studio 60 — to no fault of the actors. Bradley Whitford, Matthew Perry and Steven Weber turned in exceptional acting week after week, but still the show fell flat. The best performance all season came from a non-regular: John Goodman as a small-town sheriff early on in the series.None of the regulars was particularly likeable or even empathetic. Romantic entanglements between Danny (Whitford) and Jordan (Amanda Peet), and Matt (Perry) and Harriet (Sarah Paulson) were less than exhilirating.The show’s idea of a “complicated” character, Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson), turned out to be rather boring. Her religious sermonizing got old by the third episode, and audiences can’t be blamed for scratching their heads at the notion that such a pious woman would be starring in a late-night comedy show in the first place. Still, that didn’t prevent Paulson from earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Acrtress in a TV series.It’s true that Studio 60 never had the same snap, crackle, pop of The West Wing. But for its small, devoted fan base, Studio 60 was a breath of fresh air, dripping with Sorkin’s signature snappy dialogue and seemingly endless tracking shots. Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme earned nods from the Writers and Directors Guilds of America for their work on the show.NBC threw Sorkin a bone by playing out the remaining six episodes of the show in May and June. The last few of which became a miniseries of sorts with, ironically, the most interesting subplots of the entire season — a main character’s brother being held as a POW in Afghanistan and Jordan’s near-fatal hospital stint and childbirth.A DVD set of the entire series, plus extras including commentaries by Sorkin, will be released in October, according to NBC.In the end, Studio 60 became a mirror of the show it revolved around — a noble effort by a brilliant writing team that often failed to connect with the audience upon whose support it relied.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.

Eve of the iPhone

John Guilfoil — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 20:30:40 EDT

Well, it's coming.Is everybody on the AT&T-formerly-Cingular-network ready for the iPhone?In a statement more fit for Hollywood than Silicon Valley, Apple announced that their cell phone/portable multimedia gadget "premieres this Friday night at Apple retail stores." Said stores will be opening at 9 a.m. all summer long to offer "support for iPhone at the Genius Bar and personal training through Apple's new One to One program."Responding, Verizon (which doesn't have the iPhone) fired back, saying their own retail stores will be open all day tomorrow, letting customers test drive the Verizon network and their own set of 18 multimedia/music phones. The popular LG VX9400 is now available for $99, and Verizon is giving away a "music essentials kit," which includes a 2GB memory card, headphones and a data transfer cable to anyone who buys it.They're also offering "name that song," which allows users to hold their phone up to any speaker with a song playing. The software identifies the song and lets the user instantly download it to their phone.The iPhone is expected to have a strong burst of immediate sales, but some experts are skeptical about its ability to attract a strong market share among regular consumers."The underlying drivers for converging music, multimedia, and communications capabilities in a device such as an iPhone are certainly prevalent in today's market," said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst with Parks Associates. "However, the high price point may prevent the iPhone from achieving greater adoption over the short term. It may be an early-adopter product that appeals to technophiles but initially leaves other interested users on the outside looking in."Parks Associates recently put out a study showing only 3% of consumers surveyed are strongly interested in spending $499.99 on the iPhone including a two-year contract.iPhones will be available in a 4GB model for $499 and an 8GB model for $599 and will work with either a PC or Mac, according to an Apple statement.Playboy is eagerly on-board with the announcement of iPlayboy. The adult entertainment magazine's package for the iPhone will include free wallpapers, photos, videos and MP3s customized for iPhone users. Several images, including non-nude images of popular playmates, will be available."We have always tried to stay ahead of the curve by delivering the fun, sophistication and sexiness of Playboy to our fans on the newest and hottest media platforms," said John D. Thomas, editor of Playboy.com, in a statement. "And with so much buzz surrounding the all-in-one Apple iPhone, we knew we had to develop something specifically designed just for this device."The iPhone, itself, will bring a wide array of features to bear on the cell phone user. It's based on a new multi-touch display controlled by a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers. Apple says the iPhone is a combination of a widescreen iPod, mobile phone and portable Internet device. While these features aren't new in and of themselves, consumers can't help but realize that portable music existed before the iPod came to dominance.Time will tell, but for now, we wait during final hours of Earth without the iPhone.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.

Yahoo! Gets Beat By MySpace For The First Time

John Guilfoil — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:07:35 EST

Yahoo! has shown its true colors, and they're not Fox gold and blue.CNN has reported MySpace drew more American website visitors in November than Yahoo!, for the first time ever. MySpace, the News Corporation-owned social networking site has been gaining on the giant Internet directory for some time now.While this does raise serious concerns about the former king of the hill, the news may not signal the end of the line for Yahoo!. According to CNN:a one-month change could represent an aberration. Furthermore, Yahoo's page views could be diminished by the company's growing use of Ajax technology for maps, e-mail and other services. Yahoo!'s people were quick to defend the company, saying that they remained at the top of the web content world. New technologies may not yield more page views, but according to one Yahoo! spokeswoman, their reach has not necessarily been affected."Yahoo continues to be the overall Web audience leader with the largest number of unique users and most time spent online. The page view change in November is related to the use of Ajax and other Web 2.0 technologies across the Yahoo network," Yahoo spokeswoman Nissa Anklesaria said to CNN on Tuesday.News Corporation's web holdings had a great overall month with IGN drawing a huge crowd of visitors when Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii launched.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.

Golden Globe Nominees Announced

John Guilfoil — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 19:23:01 EST

And the nominees are (the PR guy's predictions are in bold):Best drama: Babel, Bobby, The Departed, Little Children and The Queen.Best comedy or musical: Borat,The Devil Wears Prada, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine and Thank You for Smoking.Best actor in a drama: Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond and The Departed), Peter O'Toole (Venus), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland).Best actress in a drama: Penelope Cruz (Volver), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Sherry Baby), Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Kate Winslet (Little Children).Best actor in a comedy or musical: Sasha Baron Cohen (Borat), Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest), Aaron Eckhart (Thank You for Smoking), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Kinky Boots) and Will Ferrell (Stranger Than Fiction).Best actress in a comedy or musical: Annette Bening (Running with Scissors), Toni Collette (Little Miss Sunshine), Beyonce Knowles (Dreamgirls), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) and Renee Zellweger (Miss Potter).Best director: Clint Eastwood (Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima), Stephen Frears (The Queen), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel) and Martin Scorsese (The Departed).Best supporting actor: Ben Affleck (Hollywoodland), Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls), Jack Nicholson (The Departed), Brad Pitt (Babel) and Mark Wahlberg (The Departed).Best supporting actress: Adriana Barraza (Babel), Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal), Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada), Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) and Kikuchi Rinko (Babel). (No prediction)Best screenplay: Babel, Little Children, Notes on a Scandal, The Departed and The Queen.The award ceremony is set for January 15. Not too many surprises are present, and it looks like Scorsese won't have Francis Ford Coppola to worry about this year, as The Good Shepherd is set for the 2007 awards, of which it should take several. To explain a few of my thoughts, Wahlberg had a breakthrough performance in The Departed, and I think he added a lot to the movie, making him worthy of a nod. Scorsese's time has come and he will take home directing awards this year. Leo will take best actor in one of his two nominations for the category. He's had a good year.What to look for in 2007? Keep your eyes on Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd. Damon was overlooked in The Departed but that's only because they can't nominate everyone that starred in that movie. Vera Farmiga did deserve a supporting actress nomination, however, as not only was this her best movie performance, but it was also a damn good job of portraying the psychologist that sleeps with her patients.Borat will get recognition that may surprise some, but its unbelievable box office success will propel both it, and its leading man Sasha Baron Cohen, to awards. It was a great year for comedies. Pirates, Little Miss Sunshine and Smoking could easily take any of the awards in the comedy/musical category.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.

Baby Names List Released

John Guilfoil — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 04:58:13 EST

It's that time of year again.A time when we can reflect on new knowledge and celebrate new life. As the weather turns colder and the fireplaces burn warmer, we eagerly anticipate the coming days and weeks. This is a family time to be thankful for the many things family provides us with.Like, our name, for instance.And if you're an Ava or an Aiden, you're in a popular crowd lately.According to Babynames and its million members, Aiden and Caden topped the list for the second straight year as the most popular baby boys' names in 2006. Ava and Abigail were tops for the young ladies. Ava has been on the climb since 1999 when Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillipe named their daughter in 1999, according to a press release. Hugh Jackman and Heather Locklear also have Ava's in their respective clans.Neither John nor Michael, nor Susie nor Jane appeared in the top 20 for either gender. Top names are now Dylan, Chloe, Ethan, Bailey, Tristan and Cadence, making for a diverse list of preschoolers coming forward."Celebrity culture always has an influence on naming trends," says Jennifer Moss, founder and CEO of BabyNames, "but it seems like it has increased in recent years."The popular Internet service traces all sorts of celebrity naming trends going back to the 90s when Will Smith's Jaden first started the craze, which has been attributed falsely to Brittney's Jayden.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.

Boy Arrested for Opening Christmas Present Early

John Guilfoil — Thu, 7 Dec 2006 07:35:39 EST

In a case of "that could only happen in the South," an irate South Carolinian mother had her 12-year-old son arrested Sunday after he opened his Christmas presents early.The Smoking Gun website published the actual police reports showing the boy charged with petty larceny. Officers Michael Reid and Andrea Smith responded to the "scene" and took a full report of the "incident." The "victim," 27-year-old single mother Nancy Holley, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, was apparently fed up with her disruptive son. The last straw came when he opened his video game system a few weeks too early.According to South Carolina's The Herald, in an article Tuesday, the boy, whose name is not being released, disobeyed his great-grandmother and unwrapped his Game Boy Advance without permission. The mother, who had the boy at age 15, claimed she didn't know what else to do and called the police after her son produced the contraband.What's more, the boy is said to have shown "no remorse" when confronted by police officers.The Herald report showed the boy to be starved for attention and having taken part in petty mischief before. His mother is struggling to obtain a business degree, which may explain some of the attention issues.But it was the first case of a child being arrested for opening a Christmas present early, said Rock Hill Police Lt. Jerry Waldrop to The Herald."Yeah, it's strange," he said.Yep. Sure is, y'all.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.

Dave Cockrum: Comic Book Legend, Dead at 63

John Guilfoil — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 10:51:40 EST

There was a time when no one liked X-Men. The comic book that told the story of the plight of outcast mutants recruited to attend Professor Xavier's school just didn't appeal to the masses.That was before Dave Cockrum took on the fledgling project with comic writer, Len Wein. That was before Dave Cockrum drew the shadowy Mystique, the weather-shifting Storm, and the devout Nightcrawler. That was before the Fox-cartoons and Hollywood trilogy, which may never have come to be if not for Mr. Cockrum, who loved the genre so much that his wishes include cremation in a Green Lantern T-shirt.Mr. Cockrum died Sunday of complications due to diabetes. He was 63 years old.Surrounded by adventure at a young age, Mr. Cockrum was in born Pendleton, Oregon to an Air Force officer. His art aspirations were on hold while he served in the United States Navy during Vietnam. He returned from war in the 1970s and set to work for DC Comics and later went to Marvel where he took on the X-Men.The comic series he saved has spawned three major and high-grossing Hollywood blockbusters with a fourth movie about the character Wolverine, set to release next. Mr. Cockrum, however, received no royalties from the film companies or from Marvel, despite the fact that four characters he created, Storm, Mystique, Nightcrawler and Colossus, were used in the films. One cannot help but speculate that if Mr. Cockrum could afford better medical care to manage his condition, his death may have been averted. In the meantime, the world goes on with one less Superhero.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.

Mid-week Market Rag: Video Games Galore

John Guilfoil — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 05:21:26 EST

The Market Rag took a little election-week vacation, but it's back now and ready to talk shop.We have entered the age of Playstation 3 and Wii.Sony will sell its 400,000 American units promptly and unleash 6 million units by March, according to a CNNMoney article. The same coverage also points out a glitch in backwards compatibility rendering dozens of previous Playstation and Playstation 2 games unplayable. Sony does plan to fix the problem though. Almost 90,000 units of Playstation 3 left store shelves bare in Japan after its launch there last week.The Nintendo Wii launches on the 19th to high anticipation and one of the better backward compatibility options which enables users to obtain and play games from the NES days. Interestingly enough, both companies have been quiet with advertising lately. CNN noticed this too:While there's been plenty of talk about the PS3 and Wii, television ads have been scarce. Sony (Charts) started running some unusual PS3 ads in the past week, but Nintendo has been silent. Fils-Aime said that's very deliberate.Both companies have poured their coffers into development and the hype is certainly there, but something is missing for the PR guy in a useless yet entertaining advertising sweep; a cola-wars commercial battle between Sony and Nintendo with Microsoft scarily coming in as RC Cola just hasn't been there. Wouldn't you have loved to see a commercial where a Playstation 3 eats a Wii, or a Wii moves its magic "nunchuck" wand and makes a Playstation 3 disappear? Alas, nobody does it like Coke/Pepsi and Bud/Miller. The advertising clearly wasn't a necessity, however, as even Ebay has to put limits on how much the Playstation 3 can be sold for.Shares of Sony and Nintendo had been mixed today with Sony finishing slightly down and Nintendo finishing slightly up today in trading.Is it Zune season?Microsoft's iPod killer came off its leash today. The WiFi-enabled personal music player enables users who are in close proximity to share their media with one another. The line looks promising, with equivalent Microsoft versions of Apple's Nano and Shuffle expected with flash media storage and Internet compatibility anticipated. Zune may also become a VoIP phone eventually, and CNNMoney reported an iPod phone is in the world. Zune also has an FM tuner on board if you're feeling saucy. Both companies will fare well with their computer and portable media products this season, however. Neither looks like they're throwing a death blow quite yet, and this explains why both companies stocks were flat today. Apple was down slightly on anticipation of Microsoft's Zune taking some kind of a swing at iPod's virtual lock on the portable media market.That's the Rag for now. Now get out there and spend. If you need early gift ideas, CNN has a few ideas.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.

Three Things That Are Killing Our Media

John Guilfoil — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:17:50 EST

A desensitized public, a press that operates purely as a business and intrusions into privacy and grief are three strikes against modern journalism. I believe there are ways of dealing with and reducing the impact of all three issues.First, no doubt exists that the public is desensitized to drama, gore and overall bad news. Much of this is not caused by journalists but by the entertainment industry. The problem is that the media has started to adopt the mannerisms of the entertainers because entertainment sells.Aristotle taught us to avoid extremes and seek moderation. But making the news into a Hollywood production is creating a generation of viewers and readers that aren't surprised by anything. Headlines are bold and dramatic and television personalities strain out emotion, often trying to force drama into dry subject matter. That having been said, we should not dryly report the news either. If the news is boring and completely uninteresting, it will be just as bad as it is now.The solution is professionalism. Needlessly verbose or dramatic headlines should be avoided. Leads should be compelling but not exaggerated. Audio and video reporters should refrain from emoting too much in newscasts, especially in scheduled news programs. Reporters should deliver the news neither theatrically nor monotonously but professionally.The media as a for-profit business is a problem for journalism while being essential for survival. It is a manageable problem. Managing editors should have a less active role in the selection and prioritization of the news. The delivery of the news should not be a money making mechanism. Money making efforts should be concentrated on advertising revenues, subscription sales (if applicable) and other business activities separate from news reporting. Media can be a business as long as the business isn't the media.Finally, impositions on the grief and privacy of people in the news are always concerns in this business. I believe that the dramatic nature of modern journalism contributes to this problem. The solution is to send only select journalists on sensitive assignments. We want more mature journalists with soft, friendly voices and approachable faces. We don't want journalists who pull the notepad out or stick the microphone in the face of the grieving as soon as they can.The media needs to establish a rapport with the victims and families, not scare them away. Reporters should approach victims and mourners slowly and unthreateningly. They should sit down with these people and get into a dialog before they start going on the record.People want to tell their stories. Parents want the world to know all about their dead children. Husbands want to tell the story of their late wives. Journalists can help them do this, but it will require training and the media's willingness to change.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.

Playstation 3 Launches in Japan Tomorrow

John Guilfoil — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 18:20:28 EST

Sony will release its next generation video game console, the Playstation 3, tomorrow in its home market of Japan, where gaming fever is in full force and effect this holiday season, with an Xbox 360 upgrade and Nintendo Wii also set to launch. Nintendo Wii will be released in the United States on November 19.The relative success of the Playstation 3 versus the Xbox 360 HD-DVD upgrade will affect not just the gaming industry, but the home entertainment and movie industries as well. Playstation 3 will use Sony's Blu-Ray technology, another next-generation home video standard. Whichever gaming console does better may tip the scales either way.Sony has been playing catchup with Nintendo and Microsoft since its poor showing at the Electronic Entertainment Expo this summer. It boasts the highest technical specifications ever seen in a home video game console, including built-in digital audio, HDMI and several USB ports that allow a variety of computer peripherals to be connected to the gaming platform.Nintendo is marketing their console by advertising a system that can be played by everyone from small children to grandparents and is going back to its roots by offering classic game downloads including Super Mario 64 and Donkey Kong. Sony is also fueled by a line of well-followed titles including Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy and Gran Turismo. Microsoft benefited from specs by being the first to release an high definition gaming console, long before Sony could put out PS3. Their titles are not as deep as the former two companies, but their action and sports lineups have helped drive their success. They are also eagerly awaiting Bungie's Halo 3, the next installment in Xbox's marquee first-person shooter game.The next few months are shaping up to be legendary in the gaming community. It will be interesting to see how things unfold and if Sony can keep its title of No 1.

John Guilfoil is the editor of Blast Magazine. He is the former editor and founder of The Review Center. He currently maintains the blog PRrag: All the news that's fit to spin.