“Game Change” : Politics Would Never Be The Same

Sneak Peek new key art supporting the film “Game Change”, directed by Jay Roach, based on the book “Game Change” by journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin.
The new film covers events surrounding the Republican Party during the 2008 US Presidential Election, with significant focus on the introduction of then-Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin as the vice-presidential nominee.
Produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman,  the HBO Films, Playtone production will be released March 10, 2012.
Is anybody else amazed how much Ed Harris and Julian Moore look like the originals?

Sony files patent application for Kinect-like device for PlayStation

Illustration from the patent application showing how virtual objects could be inserted int...A recently published patent application indicates that Sony may be working on a Kinect-like 3D depth-sensing device for PlayStation. If Sony follows through with development of such a device, it will no doubt be looking to make up some ground lost to Microsoft, whose release of the Kinect in November 2010, overshadowed the release of Sony’s PlayStation Move just a month earlier.

Like the Kinect, Sony’s patent application for a “User driven three-dimensional gaming environment,” involves the use of a 3D depth sensing camera to allow users to interact with virtual objects on a screen in a 3D space. The patent application also mentions visually altering the onscreen appearance of real world physical objects – mapping of virtual clothing to the user, for example.

With the current PlayStation Eye sporting only a standard video camera, Sony will have to produce a new peripheral capable of obtaining distance or depth information. The application lists infrared or stereo cameras as possible technologies to accomplish this.

Seems like Sony is a bit late, (again)!

Very Clever Oscar Ad…

The Cheat Sheet: Academy Awards

Great recap for the Oscars in the LA Times site (see below)

 

The Cheat Sheet: Academy Awards.

New Bond Site – Good Video

New Videoblog site for the next 007, “Skyfall”…

Great interview with Sam Mendes, Director (see below)

Sony Pictures Imageworks Expands Vancouver Studio

Oscar-winning visual effects/digital character animation company, Sony Pictures Imageworks,reports it will expand its Vancouver, British Columbia capacity by opening an additional 16,000 square feet of space in the Yaletown area for work on the current productions “Men In Black 3”, “The Amazing Spider-Man”, “Oz The Great and Powerful” and Sony Pictures Animation’s “Hotel Transylvania”, currently in production.

Imageworks growing presence builds on the Vancouver studio’s experience with ‘The Smurfs’ production for Sony Pictures Animation and the successful integration of the Canadian team with Imageworks’ Culver City workforce and infrastructure. The new office effectively doubles the floor space. The two Vancouver locations, two blocks apart, are fully connected to Imageworks’ Culver City data center. Imageworks Canada will occupy a total of 32,000 square feet of office space when the new location comes online in March…”
“Vancouver today is a vibrant digital production center that offers a strong talent base and significant government incentives vital to our ability to deliver exceptional quality and value to our clients,” said Randy Lake, executive vice-president and general manager of Sony Pictures Imageworks.
“Imageworks Canada here in Vancouver is a true extension of the Culver City studio,” says Rick Mischel, Imageworks’ Senior Vice President of Satellite Production, who is based in Vancouver. “Video conference, large-screen viewing suites that mirror the set-up in Culver City, and data transfer connect the artists here directly to our home base.”
“To have Sony Pictures Imageworks Canada expand their studio space by an additional 16,000 square feet is a great vote of confidence in Vancouver,” said City of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “We’ve worked hard to make our city a global destination for digital media talent, and are thrilled that Imageworks is putting down deeper roots in Vancouver.”

Apple unlikely to launch iTV in 2Q12, say sources

 

The chance is low for Apple to launch so-called iTV products in the second quarter of 2012 as there are no signs indicating that Sharp is ready to ship IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) panels to Apple, according to industry sources.

Apple reportedly has sought to source IGZO panels from Sharp for the production of iTVs as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which unveiled their 55-inch Super OLED and AMOLED TV models, respectively, at CES, both have regarded OLED TVs are their killer products for 2012, and therefore the two Korea-based companies are unlikely to share OLED panel production capacities with Apple.

Although Sharp’s 8G lines are able to produce panels in 32- 46- and even 55-inch sizes, the Japan-based panel maker seems unready to start shipping the IGZO panels needed for the production of iTV sets, the sources indicated. Additionally, yield rates of Sharp’s IGZO panels are also a major concern.

And THE “Annie Award” GOES TO …

“Rango” Wins Best Animated Feature @ 39th Annie Awards

Paramount Pictures $135 million budgeted, computer-animated feature “Rango” took top honors as ‘Best Animated Feature’ @ the 39th Annual “Annie Awards”, Saturday, February 4, 2012 in Los Angeles.
The 2011 Western comedy, directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Graham King, follows a chameleon who winds up in the town of ‘Dirt’, an outpost in desperate need of a new town sheriff :
“…a pet chameleon (Johnny Depp) becomes accidentally stranded in the Mojave Desert after his terrarium falls from his owner’s car. After meeting an armadillo named ‘Roadkill’ (Alfred Molina), he narrowly avoids being eaten by a red-tailed hawk.
“The next day he meets desert iguana ‘Beans’ (Isla Fisher), a rancher’s daughter, who takes him to ‘Dirt’, an Old West town populated by desert animals.
“At the ‘Gas Can Saloon’, the chameleon, using bravado and improvisation, presents himself as ‘Rango’, a tough drifter, who quickly gets in the face of outlaw ‘Bad Bill’ (Ray Winstone), narrowly avoiding a shootout.
When Rango kills the returning hawk, the Mayor (Ned Beatty) appoints him the new sheriff and has him start by investigating the criminal source of the town’s water problem…”

“Rango” screenplay is by John Logan, from a story by Verbinski and Logan. Music is by Hans Zimmer. Producers are Nickelodeon Movies, Blind Wink, GK Films and Industrial Light and Magic.

Super Bowl Ads 2012: Here Are The Winners And Losers

There’s fascinating disconnect between which advertisers  the media thinks did well on last night’s Super Bowland what the research  says was effective.

To hear the  business press tell it, Clint Eastwood’s “Halftime  in America” spot rocked  the house. It was indeed a great spot from a creative point of view.

But it didn’t even show up in the Ace  Metrix Top 10. Ace Metrix measures a panel of 500  consumers who watch ads and rate them for effectiveness. That research says Doritos’  sling baby ad won the night.

It was also a big night for dogs. Volkswagen’s much anticipated follow-up to  its little Darth Vader spot from last year used an obese  dog getting in shape to gets its revenge on a VW it wanted to chase down the  street (and then somehow ended up in the Star Wars cantina scene).

Skechers used a dog — Mr.  Quiggly — in a greyhound race.

As did Bud Light, whose appeal with Weego,  a rescue dog, was heartwarming.

So did Doritos, in another comedic appeal revolving around the whole Dogs  v. Cats war.

There weren’t any total disasters  — last year both Groupon  and HomeAway  had to apologize for their ads — but there were some failures in the sense that  clients ads bored people or went unnoticed.

Chase ran an ad that for the life of me I can’t recall even though I am  paid to remember these things. And TaxACT’s  ad, featuring a kid who urinates in a swmming pool, was disgusting.

 

Who says the “Big Party” has died?

It's enormous. It may have been invite-only, but it wasn't exactly "exclusive"

INDIANAPOLISMark  Cuban capped off a wild week of Super  Bowlparties with a blowout DirecTV-HDNet party last night.

 

The invite-only shindig featured a performance by Katy  Perry, and was touted as the weekend’s most exclusive party.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-super-bowl-party-2012-2?op=1#ixzz1lbVsK4A1