Posts by Neil Morrison
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Dutton challenged the received wisdom within acadmia at a time when he didn't have a lot of support. On the whole I tend to side with Brian Boyd on the (realtively small but significant) differences they had over the relationship between evolution and art.
But in a world where Lacan still gets talked about seriously in film theory he was well ahead of his time.
-
It's been the most bizarre issue for quite some time.
If the broader problem facing NZ at present is Key then the solution has nothing to do with the Labour Party, the unions or most of the self-identified left-wing pundits who have all shown themselves to be ill-informed and quite happy to wallow in their ill-informedness.
The class war is all that matters for them and they've all tried to make the facts fit their own ambitions. Never mind that there were some actual workers who stood to lose their livelihoods. They were just scabs.
There really does need to be some sort of re-think on the centre left. I don't think that's going to happen.
-
Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to Ross Mason,
My jaw is still sliding around on the floor flaunting its new-found indendence.
But I think it's a bit more than CTU vs Warners. I think the fact that the CTU was behind Bryson and that the CTU fronted for AE in such a destructive way was a bit of a coincidence but a coincidence Warners got spooked by. For good reason.
Behind the CTU and AE was Simon Whipp. He drove this piece of industrial sabotage. The CTU didn't have a clue about what was going on.
But everyday that the NZ union movement doesn't tell Whipp to go away makes me think maybe the CTU wasn't so clueless. He's now demanding an apology from Jackson, now would be the time to give him a firm indication he's not wanted.
-
...the CTU, which funded the Bryson action.
holy shit, I'll just go and retrieve my jaw from off the floor.
-
This must be Assange's promised brave new world of Scientific Journalism. Masses of random confidential information leading unerringly to The Truth.
I feel empowered already.
-
how come we don't get the full text of the emails?
-
Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to giovanni tiso,
It’s not so much casual it’s more that most people working in film are only ever employed for specific periods of time on specific projects. Crew move from film to film, ie from employer to employer, following whoever has been able to raise finance.
Operating as a contractor suits most people involved. They do of course belong to guilds etc who advocate on behalf of their membership on conditions etc.
Now if the objective of the MEAA and CTU is to completely unionise the film industry along the lines of US film unions – which is what Simon Whipp wants – then that will place enormous strain on low budget films in NZ. In the US the industry is big enough to run two systems in parallel – the union films, where everyone has to be in a union and not everyone who wants gets to be in the union (closed shop) and non-union films which tend to be lower budget productions.
And we do know the objective of the US unions is stop “their” films coming to places like NZ. So making production here more difficult is certainly something they wouldn’t complain about.
-
Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit, in reply to giovanni tiso,
Most film industry workers I know are happy to be on contract. It has tax advantages and everyone knows it's all a bit tenuous. It's a risky business and most people involved manage the risks.
you have to be extremely highly motivated and skilled to make any money as a film techie. Everyone knows that every production is precarious. Every one apart from the CTU that is.
-
another correction to that timeline, Actors Equity gave notice that they had recommended SAG lift the boycott not on the 20th, but on the 21st - a few hours after that interview.
Interesting timing.
There was an interview where Boyens and Walsh claimed the boycott was still on and just a few hours later AE annnouce their recommendation to SAG and soon after SAG lifts the boycott.
Did someone finally get the message.
-
correction, SAG lifted the boycott a fews hours after that interview on 21st our time.
http://www.sag.org/sag-statement-regarding-feature-film-production-hobbit
Helen Kelly when she was on straight after claimed the boycott had been lifted. It actually had not. She thought that the statement from a few days before saying that they intended to lift the boycott was the actual lifting of the boycott, which is wasn't.
I'm not surprised Walsh and Boyens wanted to see this up on the SAG web site before believing the boycott was actually off.
Also, during the interview - while the boycott was on - Walsh and Boyens said that the lifting of the boycott may not be enough to save the production, that the damage was already done and that NZ will have to show that there will be a stable environment for the production.
I can't see and deception.