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All posts tagged ‘entertainment’

Friday, October 9, 2009

Are You a Betty or a Veronica?

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Like a lot of fans of the “Archie” comic book series–yes, BoomTown is that old–I was irked when Riverdale’s endless teen goofball picked spoiled Veronica over sweet Betty in a recent issue in August.

Not because I like Betty more, but because it ended the long-running love triangle that has been going for almost 70 years.

But apparently, the story is not over, because the whole thing is part of a six-story arc, which includes Archie marrying both Veronica and Betty and having twins with each.

And, you can see it all on your iPhone.

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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

MySpace Poised to Hire New Ad Sales Head as It Preps Music- and Entertainment-Centric Strategy and Redesign

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In a week, the entire advertising sales staff of MySpace will gather at a swanky new seaside resort about 20 miles south of Los Angeles to get a first glimpse of the fresh direction the company is preparing to take under its new management.

The beleaguered social networking site has been in the midst of an effort to reinvigorate its image, spur innovation in its product and–most of all–pull itself out of a too-long slump, even as longtime rival Facebook has seen explosive growth.

On the possible agenda: A new strategy aimed at music and entertainment; a new look; and, perhaps, a new boss for the ad sales team.

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Monday, October 5, 2009

Will Facebook and Twitter Keep “Paranormal Activity” From Turning Into “Snakes on a Plane”?

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Four years ago, the movie, “Snakes on a Plane,” became a genuine Internet phenom well before the movie was in theaters.

Which, in the end, only showed that online buzz had negligible impact on the viewing public, given that the movie’s box office turned out to be tepid at best.

But will another small film, about a demon-plagued couple with an infrared-equipped videocamera, called “Paranormal Activity,” prove that the chatter of Facebook and Twitter has more legs today?

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Friday, October 2, 2009

Viral Video: All the Single Babies

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Here’s the latest Internet sensation that spoofs Beyoncé’s “All the Single Ladies” hit music video.

This time it is tiny Cory Elliott, getting down with a diaper when he was 13 months old.

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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Fox Slaps Back (Legally) at Redbox

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In the ongoing fight between Redbox–which rents DVDs from kiosks for $1–and major Hollywood studios, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment just filed a brief to dismiss Redbox’s lawsuit against it.

The fascinating legal battle between Redbox and the studios centers around the issues of steep discounting, windowing and the price for premium content.

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

“Terminator” Terminated? Actually, Restructured!

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Memo to all Cyborg Geeks:

“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology….We can make him better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”

Wait, that’s “The Six Million Dollar Man” motto!

But it might as well apply to the Hollywood outfit that owns the “Terminator” movie franchise.

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Monday, September 28, 2009

Kool-Aid Guy Too Harsh? Then How About These Visual Metaphors for Twitter’s $1 Billion Valuation!

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Earlier today, BoomTown wrote a tongue-in-cheek post to depict what I thought of the $1 billion valuation that Twitter recently got from investors.

It was meant all in fun, as poking holes in the frothy atmosphere around the microblogging hottie is kind of an easy layup.

But someone on Twitter called my use of an image of the Kool-Aid pitcher man as “harsh,” and I got several other emails from those who think bubble-investing is dandy!

So, in the interest of fairness, here are some other visual choices for a metaphorical depiction of the amazing valuation.

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Viral Video: Megan Fox and Her Transformer Friends at Home

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Here’s one of the many funny videos from this week’s “Saturday Night Live” 35th season opener, hosted by “Transformers” starlet Megan Fox.

Of course, the video features her in a spoof of the silly action movie, although this one is much more entertaining than the real thing.

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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Viral Video: Twitteleh, Yet Another Twitter Parody Has Wings

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Since it debuted last week, a spoof video for Twitteleh is rising fast, with close to 200,000 views on YouTube.

It’s one of the many parodies of the popular microblogging service, Twitter, which attracts them the way it attracts valuation-mad VCs.

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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Is Spotify Spot On? Co-Founder Daniel Ek Talks About the Hot Online Music Start-Up!

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There’s no question that Spotify is the latest hot start-up of the moment, which would be super annoying to BoomTown–who is easily irked by never-ending froth around Web 2.0 companies–if co-founder Daniel Ek were not so sharp and the digital-music-on-demand service he created not so nifty.

But, indeed, Ek turned out to be a very refreshing and level-headed serial entrepreneur in an interview I had with him yesterday in London.

Here’s the video.

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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Former Bebo CEO and AOL Top Exec Shields and Shine’s Murdoch to Form Interactive Content Start-Up

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Former Bebo CEO Joanna Shields and Shine Group Chairman and CEO Elisabeth Murdoch have formed a content start-up to produce across media platforms, both online and offline, with a focus on social engagement, according to sources.

The new venture, which does not have a name, is being financially backed by both Shine and Shields.

Based in London, it will invest, develop and partner to create a variety of content offerings that also incorporate interactive and social networking elements.

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Monday, September 14, 2009

Viral Video: Kathy Griffin Channels Kate Gosselin

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BoomTown is a major fan of comic Kathy Griffin, so here’s a good one by her from last week, in which she mocks Kate and Jon Gosselin (neither of whom seems to need any help looking like fools).

Her “Kate Is Enough” video–which she did for “Jimmy Kimmel Live”–is very funny, mostly due to the brilliant casting of former Trekkie George Takei as Jon.

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Saturday, September 12, 2009

Viral Video: Teen Girl Alert! “Twilight: New Moon” Trailer Loose in the Internet Wild.

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Since it was tacked onto the slasher movie, “Sorority Row,” which opened this weekend, many have been posting the brand new trailer for “New Moon.”

The second installment of the “Twilight” vampire series debuts Nov. 20, natch!

But for those who cannot wait, here’s the new trailer, as well as the two older ones.

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Friday, September 11, 2009

Smells Like Mean Spirit: Courtney Love Collects Check From Guitar Hero, but Goes on Twitter Rampage Anyway

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Courtney Love went into a Twitter frenzy yesterday, threatening to sue Activision Blizzard over of its use of the image of her late husband and grunge music legend Kurt Cobain in the latest version of its popular music game, Guitar Hero.

Except, oops, Love signed the contract herself and also, sources said, the check has long been cashed from Activision.

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Friday, September 4, 2009

BoomTown Talks About the iPhone Apps Economy on the News Hour (Plus Some Future Stuff Blather)

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Last night, “The News Hour With Jim Lehrer” aired a piece on “how technology companies are innovating amid the recession by designing popular new smart phone applications.”

BoomTown was to talk about how perhaps not all of the 65,000 apps being created by legions of third-party developers for the Apple iPhone will result in gold, diamonds and unicorns raining down on entrepreneurs.

Oddly enough, I somehow went all Jules Verne at the end and started talking about screens on coffee tables, so I am obviously just as bad.

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About Kara

Kara Swisher started covering digital issues for The Wall Street Journal's San Francisco bureau in 1997 and also wrote the BoomTown column about the sector. With Walt Mossberg, she co-produces and co-hosts D: All Things Digital, a major high-tech and media conference. Read more »

Ethics Statement

Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.

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