AVP Critic caught bootlegging!

[deezelboy]

No news, really, just that I find this article fairly amusing:

Movie critic caught selling titles to pirates

Ever wonder how pirates get their hands on the latest movies before the public even gets to see them? One method has been revealed by Variety (subscription required). Movie critic Paul Sherman was arrested and charged with selling over 100 "screeners"?preview copies of movies on DVD handed out to reviewers?to various pirate and warez groups over the last few years.

Sherman, no relation to the animated Jay Sherman of FOX's short-lived The Critic, did not exactly get rich from his piratical dealings. He received a mere US$4,714 for the use of his screeners. If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of US$250,000 and a three-year prison term.

....

Sherman was definitely no corporate lackey. In many of his reviews, he decried the industry for relying on formulaic plots and an over-emphasis on special effects. Currently, it appears as if all of his reviews that were hosted on the Boston Herald's web site have been removed from their server, although a few snippets still remain in Google's caches. For example, Sherman commented on the movie Alien vs. Predator by declaring "Audience loses in lame duel of horror icons," showing that he can't be all bad, really.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060623-7126.html

[NERMAL]

Could have been any of us. We were all pretty critical of that dross.

[beckmen]

But we don't all sell bootlegged movies...

[NERMAL]

Thats right. Some of us were giving it away...

[SM]

And still nobody wanted it!

[BlackWatch]

I could use the blank VHS tapes...

[NERMAL]

Wipe'em of the film first so they become worth more...

[Hudson]

This proves that critics suck.

[Gigeralien]

Well naughty? Proud to say I've never bought or own any pirate CD's, DVD's or even old Video's. Had a few odd video's pass through my hands in the 80's when I was a lot younger, but back then I didn't realise the impact it could have on the movie industry.?

A lot of Studios struggle enough these days to finance new movie projects hoping they'll make a profit with the next hit instead of counting the cost of a flop, some only just break even with a pretty decent movie. Losses producing movies that don't fair well can run into millions... piracy doesn't help this or new and aspiring film makers as studios these days can't afford to take a chance. Eventually, Piracy, to this end is also going to ROB US of a multitude of movies and music we're never going to be able to enjoy cos they won't ever have the chance to be made. I hope laws get tougher, and piracy eventually gets stamped out.?

[O'Malley]

I don't know... I think the market is just changing and the movie/record industries are failing to adapt.? There's great potential for them to use new technology to their advantage, but for some reason they've been reluctant to change, instead hoping a few misplaced lawsuits will scare people away from getting music/movies by illegal means.

The movie industry's logic in particular continues to baffle me.? With home theatre systems becoming more affordable, allowing moviegoers to enjoy a film without the distraction of ads, rude audience members and annoying children, they decide to lengthen the runtime of ads preceding trailers (which in itself puts a lot of people off) and fund bigger, more obnoxious multiplexes.? At the same time, movie budgets increase exponentially, both in production and advertising costs, to the point where even a movie grossing $200 million domestically is considered a flop.? It almost seems like they want it to collapse.? And in all honesty, I believe the success of films like Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest will only be detrimental in the long run, as it sustains the illusion that a film with an enormous production budget and oversaturated marketing will turn in a hefty profit.? Fortunately there's the mediocre performance of Superman Returns and King Kong to balance it out, otherwise it would have backfired by now.

Anyway, I'll end my rant here.? I wrote a whole essay on how the movie industry should greatly reduce their budgets (by eliminating needless overspending), thereby forcing only the most creative and innovative talent to the forefront - but I'll refrain from posting it here.

[BlackWatch]

I doesn't help that Hollywood will green light any dipshit's lame-ass idea for a movie, sink $100 million into making, release it with great hype, only to have produced a shamefully horrible film that ends up flopping at the box office. Has anyone seen Hostel? I shut it off after the first 30 minutes, it was that bad. And the worst part is they're making a fucking sequel!

I guess what I'm try to say is, I don't feel sorry for studios losing big bucks for one second. Try putting out some decent films and the problem will fix itself. Quit catering to the teeny-booping, pre-teen crowd, as we can only watch so many Scary Movies or Big Momma's House's...better yet come up with a new idea instead of remaking things like The Fog or When a Stranger Calls...

/rant

[RaV]

O'malley, If its not too much trouble, could you post your essay somewhere, after reading all this I feel like a good read on this subject. I agree with Hicks, they look at the business and money side of it all and just use the movies as a tool to get the money. For example spending loads of money on advertising, promotional stuff, creating the hype by buying the best posters, trailers they can. Then they release tiny snippits of informations and teasers. But the actual movie, can be shit. Aslong as whats in the trailers and posters looks good, nobody can say the movies shit untill they've gone to the cinema, PAYED, and then found out how shit the movie actually is. So more and more people are getting Pirate DVD's, because they're sick of going into a cinema, paying and coming out un satisfied. Im blabbing on too, and when I blab i dont make sense.  Frustrating topic to discuss though isn't it. 

[Gigeralien]

O'malley, If its not too much trouble, could you post your essay somewhere, after reading all this I feel like a good read on this subject.

Me too, I'm intrigued to know more.

[O'Malley]

I found it on my hard drive, but realized it's incomplete.  I did it for school, so I must have finished it and printed it there.  I have a hard copy somewhere, though I don't know where off hand and most of my stuff is now packed in boxes.