Friday, April 4, 2014

Week in review: 3/31 - 4/4

The power of the princess movie has asserted itself in Disney's Frozen, which officially became the highest-grossing animated movie of all time earlier this week, displacing previous record-holder Toy Story 3.


Incidentally, if you take the number three and double it, you will find you have just calculated the 1279358-Margaret_Mdnumber of years director Kenneth Lonergan's "masterpiece" (in the view of some critics) Margaret remained mired in legal woes. On Monday, film financier Gary Gilbert moved to dismiss the lawsuits that have accrued against the fraught production.


Lonergan and company must be feeling very happy at the prospect of a future free of litigation, but it's unlikely their optimism -- or anyone's, for that matter -- can match that of Marvel Studio, which has reportedly mapped out a plan for its Marvel cinematic universe through 2028. Apparently, no one is a sidekick in the world of the modern superhero: Spinoffs for all and sundry.


And a writing platform, too! Entertainment Weekly set off a media firestorm on Wednesday when A). it laid off renowned film critic Owen Gleiberman, and then B). announced it was effectively replacing Gleiberman with its new vertical of film bloggers culled from social media and journalism schools. Right now, the publication has about 40 aspiring critics raring to go, though EW hopes to expand its corp of film scribes to roughly 1,000. If you think this sounds like an expensive venture, you would be right only if EW intended to pay for the labor of all of its writers. But it doesn't, at least not in dollars, cents, bitcoins, or anything a landlord would accept as payment, a pretty good gauge of value. Instead, most bloggers will be paid in prestige.


As The Week's Scott Meslow points out, "How much is all that 'prestige' going to be worth when there are 999 other writers vying for space on the landing page?"


There seem to be just as many opinions on Lars von Trier -- below, we've included two.


What do you think of this week's stories, viewpoints and developments?


 'Frozen' is Officially the Highest-Grossing Animated Film Ever, The Huffington Post


Six-Year Legal Battle Over Kenneth Lonergan's 'Margaret' Finally Ends, The Hollywood Reporter


Kevin Feige: Marvel has Plotted Films Through 2028, The Hollywood Reporter


Entertainment Weekly Lays Off Movie Critic Owen Gleiberman After 24 Years, Indiewire


Entertainment Weekly wants you to write for free. Don't do it., The Week


Music Ruined by Movies, The New Yorker


Working with the enigmatic Lars von Trier, LA Times



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