Author: movie boss

Scott Rosenberg is an award winning entertainment journalist covering stories bridging the United States and Asia. He is also managing director of AMW International Co. Ltd., a Bangkok based pr and marketing boutique. Wearing his journalist cap, he serves as Asian Pacific Bureau Chief of US based Film Journal International and former editor of Monsters and Critics. Formerly Scott was Thailand correspondent for The Hollywood Reporter and Southeast Asian correspondent for Variety. Scott has served as consultant to many international film festivals, most recently serving as director for the inaugural Phuket Film Festival in Phuket, Thailand in October 2007. Scott was presented the “Friends of Thailand” Award by the Thai Government in 2002 for his contributions to the Kingdom through his journalistic endeavors while having received from His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, that same year the royal titles Commandeur de l'ordre Royal du Sahametrei and Commandeur de l'ordre Royal du Cambodge. As a hobby, Scott raises rare breed, pedigree Thai Ridgeback Dogs and "hangs-out" with Thai Elephants in northern Thailand as they paint. Their paintings can be found at www.elephant-paintings.com

MySpaceTV goes beyond borders

The popular social networking Web site MySpace is taking its MySpaceTV outside the US for the first time, as they penned a deal with London based Shine Group, a collection of creative TV companies helmed by Elizabeth Murdoch, the daughter of media titan Rupert Murdoch, who jus so happens to own MySpace via parent company News Corp.

“MySpace is essentially the world’s largest focus group,” said Travis Katz, head of MySpace’s international arm, when announcing the Shine Group deal at the recent MipTV conference held earlier this month in Cannes. “You can see what resonates with people and then take that content and blow it out worldwide.”

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Don’t want to catch a virus? Stay away from Internet!

Online security specialist Symantec Corporation, creator of virus stopper Norton this past week published “Internet Security Threat Report (ISTR), Volume XIII” which reports the world is now home to more than one million malicious viruses, worms and Trojans — or malware as they are referred to.

The report also states online users can increasingly be infected simply by visiting everyday Web sites.

Overall, in 2007, Symantec detected 711,912 new threats compared to 125,243 in 2006 – an increase of 468 percent; this brings the total number of malicious code threats detected by Symantec to 1,122,311 as of the end of 2007.

The report is derived from data collected by millions of Internet sensors, first-hand research and active monitoring of hacker communications and provides a global view of the state of Internet security.

In the past, users had to visit intentionally malicious sites or click on malicious email attachments to become a victim of a security threat. Today, hackers are compromising legitimate Web sites and using them as a distribution medium to attack home and enterprise computers. Symantec noticed that attackers are particularly targeting sites that are likely to be trusted by end users, such as social networking sites.

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Del Toro confirms Hobbit role

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Mexican film-maker Guillermo Del Toro has confirmed he is likely to direct ‘The Hobbit’ and a sequel to be shot in New Zealand – however the deal has yet to be signed off by New Line Cinema and exec producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.

Del Toro, best known for the films ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ and ‘Hellboy’, had been rumored since January to be directing the $US150 million film.

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Don’t lie to me – you’re playing games on that computer!

New York based NPD Group, a provider of consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries reported April 2^nd that overall American participation in gaming rose in 2007 to 72 percent of the population from 64 percent last year. Of these, more than half say they play games online.

In its “Online Gaming 2008,” which analyzes the online gaming landscape and focuses specifically on consumer behavior, time and money spent in this market, the PC platform continues to be the driving force in online gaming, with 90 percent of online gamers stating they use a PC to play games online, 19 percent claiming they use a video game system (console or portable) and 3 percent claiming they use a cell phone.

Four out of 10 online gamers are ages 2-17, driven heavily by kids ages 6-12. Kids ages 2 to 12 are driving more than 25 percent of online gaming, while 18-24 year olds only represent 10 percent of online gaming.

2 years old??!! I was still learning to use the potty at age 2 and today kids are playing games online???????

At this point in the lifecycle of today’s video game consoles, multiple console ownership is low, with only 3 percent reporting that they own two of the three “next-gen” systems and only 2 percent claiming to own all three systems.

Among those who use a video game system for online gaming, Xbox 360 is the top system used, with 50 percent stating they play games online via that system. On average, Xbox 360 owners spend the most time per week using their 360s to play games online, followed by PC and PS3 owners using these respective systems for online game play.

According to the report, 13 percent of online gamers spend 20 hours or more per week on online gaming. Per platform, 33 percent of portable online gamers, 29 percent of console online gamers and 13 percent of PC online gamers are in this heaviest online gaming group.

“Despite the buzz in the industry regarding online gaming, it is still relatively small compared to offline gaming,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. “There is still a large, untapped market for gaming in general and online gaming in particular.”

What is this world coming to?

I’m pissed off!

If it wasn’t enough that in the March 31^st issue of the International Herald Tribune, a front page article declared: The Baton Passes to Asia, with a tag line of “It’s the end of the era of the white man.”

Followed by the April 1 front page article in the British rag The Independent declaring “USA 2008: The Great Depression” (no April Fool’s here folks).

Now comes reports that the first pen-spinning champion is Ryuki Omura, a 16-year-old Japanese high school student.

What, American’s have grown so damn fat they can not twirl a pen between their fingers?

Omura was among the 16 finalists chosen from 276 video entries to showcase his moves in Tokyo on Sunday in a contest organized by the Pen Spinning Association Japan.

A short video of Omura showing off his talents can be found here. (Warning site is in Japanese. Click on picture to the left)

Have a nice day!

A man’s worst nightmare?

What is a man’s worst nightmare?

Zombie Strippers of course (Ouch! What gets bitten first is something I don’t want to imagine).

Worldwide sex goddess Jenna Jameson (Playmate of the Year 2004) and Nightmare on Elm Street ‘s Robert Englund star in ‘Zombie Strippers’, written and directed by Jay Lee (‘The Slaughter’). Press Screenings in LA are April 2nd 2008 with limited opening in early May.

When a secret government agency lets out a deadly chemo virus causing the reanimation of the dead, the first place to get hit is Rhino’s, a hot underground strip club. As one of the strippers gets the virus, she turns into a supernatural, flesh-eating zombie stripper, making her the hit of the club.

Do the rest of the girls fight the temptation to be like the star stripper, even if there is no turning back?

Also featuring Roxy Saint (of the Goth band Roxy Saint and the Blackouts) and Ultimate Fighting Champion Tito Ortiz, ‘Zombie Strippers’ is a sexy, bloody, hilarious good time!

Unlike the ‘Dawn Of The Dead’ franchise and movies of its ilk, ‘Zombie Strippers’ mines humor more in the vein of the Brit horror comedy ‘Shaun Of The Dead’ as the proverbial envelope is stretched, split, eviscerated and eaten.

Rated – R for “strong violence and gore, sexuality/nudity and language.”
Running Time – 94 minutes.

Here’s the corny trailer: (are you ready for this?)