Paramount Will No Longer Make 35mm Film Prints

This week the LA TIMES reports that Paramount Pictures has officially announced that it will no longer release its films on actual film. ANCHORMAN II would be the last of its movies to hit theaters as standard 35mm release prints and, conversely, THE WOLF OF WALL STREET would be the first of its flicks to be distributed only digitally. This is big news and marks the beginning of a big transition for the major studios that began nearly 10 years ago with the introduction of digital projection technology.

Originally, digital projection was seen as a potential boon to indie filmmakers. In summer of 2003, BOYS LIFE 4 (a project I executive produced which included my short BUMPING HEADS) was released digitally in 20 cinemas across the county. It saved a lot of money on the cost of striking film prints but, at that point, it limited our release somewhat as a lot of theaters were not yet equipped for digital screening. A decade later, some indie cinemas are still trying to make that expensive upgrade because if they don't, they may have to go out of business.

The NEW YORKER has put together an interesting and beautifully shot short film about such a theatre in Hudson, NY. The Fairview is a small 3 screen art house that shows indie fare but is struggling with the upgrade. Fortunately, the local community there has helped support the transition but it might not be enough to make it happen. A compelling look at the changes and challenges in commercial cinema today.

F. Scott Fitzgerald Has A New Short Story Out This Week

Though he's been dead for more than 70 years, F. Scott Fitzgerald keeps cranking them out apparently.

This week's New Yorker has a short story that was previously unpublished called "Thank You For The Light". It is a very short story about a women having trouble with smoking in public and it contains some classic FSF turns of phrase. I found it delightful and somewhat contemporary given the way smoking has been demonized in today's culture.  Would he have every imagined someone today that a person could get a ticket for lighting up in Central Park?

Fitzgerald was such a prolific writer that many works of his have turned up in recent years as new to us, though they were written years ago. The great irony with this story is that he submitted it to the New Yorker back in 1936 and they rejected it.

Gay Republican Running For President...Seriously

So it sounds like a setup for a joke; a gay, Jewish, Republican running for President enters a bar and starts canvassing for votes.  But for Fred Karger, a 62-year old California political consultant, he is serious. Sort of.  He's knows he has basically no chance of winning the Presidency or even a GOP primary for that matter. But he's going for it anyway (with his own money too!) in an attempt to get the message out that you can be gay and run for the highest office in the land.

The LA Times ran a feature on Karger yesterday which is sorta fascinating.  He was closeted and made disparaging gay jokes freely until coming out just five years ago at age 56. In the 80's, he worked on George HW Bush's presidential campaign, specifically the heinous Willi Horton angle, and also shilled for major tobacco companies.  But what really got him personally involved in politics was spearheading the efforts against Prop 8 and the Mormon Church's campaign against marriage equality.

Despite this, he's found no love from the gay community for the simple fact that he is a Republican.  But he's not giving up and is determined to get onstage for at least one GOP Presidential debate.  It would certainly be interesting to see him challenge Romney and his party on the issue of marriage equality. But, registering less than 1% support in the latest polls, it seems unlikely that Karger's efforts will be more than a queer footnote on the 2012 campaign.