Comments on: Why Hollywood Needs To Save Newspapers

By: A.J. Sutter

A.J. Sutter — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:52:51 +0000

… though I think a filmmaker could have fun with the Internet newspaper trope at least once: e.g. a kind of running gag through the movie with one time waiting for the page to load, another time scrolling down the page with the stop-start, forward-reverse rhythm as if scrolling manually on a mouse wheel, etc., another time a fake pop-up ad or “random selection” survey, etc. (Cf. the postmodern spirit of the subtitle scene in Goldmember.) It might wear thin in a second movie, though.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:42:04 +0000

Yes, even something as simultaneously advanced and decadent as Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi video uses the spinning paper trope repeatedly, to ingenious effect. The newspaper is decadent on two levels. Most provide a mere simulacrum of a public sphere. And when they go gossipy, they’re usually creating the very conditions they purport merely to describe.

By: A.J. Sutter

A.J. Sutter — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:10:33 +0000

How to replace the twirling front page that always comes to a halt top-side up? With an hourglass cursor?

By: anon

anon — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:11:55 +0000

See, e.g., Twilight, in which Bella discovers the dangerous truth about her beloved by googling something like “Vampires AND myths” and then scrolls through the results. Thrilling.