A Little Of The Old In And Out



(image via sky.com)

In: Bollywood Chic. Bollywood-style dancing is the new black (better than Pilates). And Indian film, the world's largest democracy's soft power, will have its own "coming out ceremony" when Slumdog Millionaire takes "Best Picture" at the Academy Awards this Sunday. The Indian film industry, or Bollywood, is the world's largest in terms of ticket sales and number of films produced annually but until now it didn't have what the Japanese call "face." This Sunday that changes.



Out: Dollhouse. Just watched episode 2 via Hulu and thought it was compelling. The storyline was complicated -- but not "Damages" complicated -- and the characters, especially the lead Eliza Dushku's, are worth following. Why isn't this show then catching on? Granted, the following numbers are just the initial ratings -- on a Friday night, to boot (when the young "Dollhouse" demo was more than likely out getting their drink on)-- but they are not particularly cheerful for Joss Whedon's show. From TheHollywoodReporter:

"The numbers are disheartening, if not entirely surprising.

"The second episodes of Fox's 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' and 'Dollhouse' failed to improve on their premieres last week, even though Friday's biggest usual competitor from a numbers standpoint -- CBS' crime dramas -- aired repeats.

"'Dollhouse' (4.2 million viewers, 1.7 preliminary adults 18-49 rating/7 share), fell 15% in the ratings. This is an almost-typical second-episode slip and placed second in its 9 p.m. hour, topped by 'Supernanny' (5.2 million, 1.8/5)."

Anyway, we posted last night's episode above so that we can turn this "Out" into an "In" next time around.



(The twin suns of tatooine via blogcdn)

In: Science Fiction. Batman: The Dark Knight, a product of DC Comics, which alighted the childhoods of three generations of Americans in graphic novel form, hit a billion dollars at the box office. Iron Man, a product of Marvel Comics, was also a Hollywood blockbuster. Watchmen is the most buzzed about movie of the year and hits theaters next month. And Clone Wars, which was just renewed by the Cartoon Network, is a ratings bantha. Even the President of the United States is a Trekkie (The first trekkie President). From deadlineHollywoodDaily:

"Well, I'd take $1 billion over a Best Picture Oscar any day. Warner Bros made the announcement late Friday. Helped by its relaunch on January 23rd, the Batman sequel is only the 4th Hollywood movie to do this (not adjusted for inflation or higher ticket prices), behind Titanic, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The Dark Knight's current grosses break down to $533.1 million domestically and $468 million overseas. (Box Office Mojo says it's the only movie in the Top 20 of the all time worldwide chart where the domestic gross exceeds the foreign gross, which is a common trait among comic book-based pictures. On the all time domestic chart, The Dark Knight ranks second to Titanic, while it stands at No. 22 on the all time foreign chart.)"

LOTR, we cannot fail to note, is also of the fantasy genre, a cousin to sci-fi. And zombie mashups are all the literary rage.