“Hollywood’s biggest worry about Kagan might be her philosophy on intellectual property matters. As dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009, she was instrumental in beefing up the school’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society by recruiting Lawrence Lessig and others who take a strongly liberal position on “fair use” in copyright disputes.”
You might have heard that the land around the famous Hollywood sign was put on the market two years ago. The non-profit Public Trust For Lands group, fearing that the land would be bought by developers who would put advertising or build luxury homes on it, launched a campaign to buy the 138-acre area above the sign known as Cahuenga Peak. The group secured an option which gave them until April 14th to raise the money, and we still don’t know the result. A couple days ago they were $3 million short of the total needed to secure the property.
A Danish architect named Christian Bay-Jorgensen has come up with an idea to turn the sign into a hotel, which in effect would/could solve all the money/land issues. The plan calls for the famous letters to be enlarged to double the size, building them out from the back, allowing guests to stay inside the Hollywood sign itself. The crazy idea isn’t as bad as it might first appear.
I support this.
With The Hurt Locker now having all but vacuumed up the year’s critical acclaim, and with Avatar having just this week become the top-grossing domestic movie of all time, Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker is an awesomely symbolic race (and not just because James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow were once married). It’s a clash of size, values, popularity — of essential notions of What Movie Art Is in the 21st century. A Hurt Locker victory would open the door to a new definition of Oscar glory, a defiant celebration of artistry over commerce. A win for Avatar would be, in its way, a definitive assertion of the same old same old.
I thought it was a pretty interesting read.
I’ve seen all ten Best Picture nominees and The Hurt Locker is by far my favorite. Owen Gleiberman points out that it only grossed $12.6 million which effectively eliminates it from contention for Best Picture unless there’s a major change in the perception of the award.
