CINEMA BUZZ and more....

Star Wars Fans Shell-out Big For Memorabilia

Fisher in bikini

The gold bikini worn by Carrie Fisher in the 1983 film 'The Return of the Jedi' sold last week at auction for $96,000.  The sale also included the first spaceship seen in a Star Wars film, which is called the Blockade Runner - that model spaceship sold for a staggering $450,000.  These sales demonstrate the huge fan base and power of the Star Wars franchise.

The bikini worn by Fisher, who plays Princess Leia in the saga, was memorized in a scene at Jabba The Hutt's palace on the planet of Tatooine. The scene ends with Leia strangling Jabba with a chain.

Both the bikini and the model spacecraft were sold to anonymous bidders.


4K - The Way For Cinemas

Panasonic's new DMR-UBZ1 4K player

As many of my clients use DVD/BluRay players to screen alternative content at their cinemas it should come as very good news that Panasonic will began selling the world's first 4k Ultra High Definition BluRay player.  To be first sold in Japan starting in November, the Panasonic DMR-UBZ1 player has four times the resolution of a regular DVD.

Larger than a conventional BluRay Player, the DMR incorporates a 3TB disk as the extra resolution of Ultra HD and a frame rate of 60 frames per second requires a lot more data then traditional high definition content.

This player ushers in a new era in high-powered resolution and should do well in bringing UHD to cinemas.  Patience will be required as 4k content becomes available but cinemas should seriously think about upgrading to this delivery platform and adding another dimension to their featured content.

Are Women Holding Back Women?

Winslet at NY Film Festival

Could it be that women themselves are holding back other women's rise in, not only the movie business, but in other endeavors they pursue?

According to Oscar winner, Kate Winslet this is the case.  At the New York Film Festival on Tuesday, she took the opportunity to urge women to be more supportive and complimentary of their female friends and co-workers. "Young women, these days, because they're exposed to levels of criticism in the media, they just automatically criticize their friends, themselves, and each other. It's bizarre."

Winslet is fiercely against cosmetic surgery and made headlines in 2003 after complaining about a GQ magazine cover in which her legs were airbrushed to look slimmer. She was in New York to promote the film 'Jobs'  in which she co-stars and is considered to be a front-runner for an Oscar.

Noted for her role in 'Titanic' (the second highest grossing film of all time) she stated that its immense success caught her off-guard (she's not the only one).  "Call me naive, but I had no idea - I really didn't - that that was what was going to happen with that film and to my life.  In a funny way, I didn't feel that I earned it. I was only 21 and still learning."

Winslet has a point regarding how women treat each other, but it's within them to change, as the media and social networks are only the tools people use to hurt, keep-down, and disparage one another.

Another Bond - "No Way!" says Daniel Craig

Is Craig over Bond? Yes and No. "I'd rather slash my wrists .... I'm over it at the moment. We're done. I want to move on."  Then he stated, "For at least a year of two.  I just don't want to think about it. If I did another Bond it would only be for the money."

On a promotion tour for the upcoming Bond film 'Spectre' (the 24th Bond film), Craig says the new film "has more of everything".