Media and Entertainment News

October 21, 2016

Latest Headlines

updated 5:33pm EDT

Exposure to Violence Makes You More Likely to Lie, Cheat

Dec. 3, 2015 — Can watching a violent movie make you more likely to lie, cheat or steal? What about reading a violent book? While that may seem like a stretch, a new research study shows it ... read more

No Link Between Movie, Video Game Violence and Societal Violence? More Violent Video Game Consumption, Less Youth Violence: Study

Nov. 5, 2014 — Since the 1920s, scholars and politicians have blamed violence in movies and other media as a contributing factor to rising violence in society. ... read more

Cinema-Like Environment Helps Audiences Become Immersed in Movies Even When Shown on Cell Phones

Oct. 29, 2014 — If the surroundings are designed to be sufficiently stimulating, even a simple computer screen is enough to generate an ... read more

Social Marketing at the Movies

May 23, 2014 — Word-of-mouth marketing is recognized as a powerful route from long-tail sales to blockbuster, whether one is talking about the latest fishy ice cream flavor or a Hollywood romantic comedy. In the ... read more

Rating Films With Smoking 'R' Will Cut Smoking Onset by Teens, Experts Say

July 9, 2012 — New research estimates, for the first time, the impact of an R rating for movie smoking. Researchers emphasize that an R rating for any film showing smoking could substantially reduce smoking onset ... read more

Physicists Predict Success of Movies at the Box Office Based Solely on Advertising Costs

June 15, 2012 — A group of Japanese scientists have surprised themselves by being able to predict the success or failure of blockbuster movies at the box office ... read more

Whirligig Beetle Gets Rock 'N' Roll Legendary Name

Jan. 28, 2008 — An unusual new species of whirligig beetle from India is being named Orectochilus orbisonorum in honor of the late rock 'n' roll legend Roy Orbison and his ... read more

In Bali's Deaf Village, Silence Is Golden

Why You Shouldn't Google Amy Schumer — Or A Bunch Of Other Celebrities

DiCaprio Unveils Free Technology to Spy on Global Fishing

Kabul Zoo Is Buzzing Again More With Families Than Animals

Highly Prominent Product Placements Tend to Benefit from 3D Movies, While Placements With Low Prominence Lose out

July 7, 2016 — Two new studies have investigated product placements in two Hollywood movies. Volunteers watched the Hollywood movies as either a 2D, a 3D, or a 4D version (the 3D movie with added scent). ... read more

'Spectre' Villain Fails Neuroanatomy in Latest Bond Film

Dec. 29, 2015 — James Bond's nemesis in the most recent film likely failed neuroanatomy, says a real-life neurosurgeon and scientist. Blofeld didn't quite know his brain anatomy and would've probably ... read more

Film Music Captivates Us

May 7, 2015 — Sound and music in films do more than merely enhance our experience of a film's narrative. They can also affect the ways in which we perceive ourselves and how we ... read more

Automated Method Beats Critics in Picking Great Movies

Jan. 19, 2015 — Don't rely on the Academy Awards next month if you are seeking to know whether the movies deemed great today will survive the test of time. According to a new study, the best predictor of a ... read more

How Much Science Can Be Found in Pop? And How Much Pop Is in Science?

Dec. 10, 2014 — Researchers have examined the occurrence of science in mainstream pop music and asks whether the media of popular culture are suitable for scientific ... read more

Valuable Movies, Valued Movies May Be Two Different Things

Nov. 12, 2014 — Action movies may drive box office revenues, but dramas and deeper, more serious movies earn audience acclaim and appreciation, according to a team of ... read more

Impact of Movies on Dog Breed Popularity

Sep. 10, 2014 — The effect of movies featuring dogs on the popularity of dog breeds can last up to 10 years and is correlated with the general success of the movies, according to new ... read more

Sports Broadcasting Gender Roles Echoed on Twitter, Study Shows

Sep. 10, 2014 — Twitter provides an avenue for female sports broadcasters to break down gender barriers, yet it currently serves to express their subordinate sports media roles, researchers have concluded after ... read more

Teenagers Learn About Modern Life Through Celebrity Culture, Says Academic

June 17, 2014 — Teenagers interested in celebrity culture are more likely to have a well-rounded knowledge of modern life and awareness of issues relating to politics, economics and the media, a leading Media Arts ... read more

Climate Change at the Movies

June 3, 2014 — New research suggests that purportedly entertaining films that feature global warming and climate change can affect public understanding. But films are often bound up in problematic and limiting ... read more

Male-Biased Tweeting: Gender Differences in the Use of Twitter

Apr. 23, 2014 — Today women take an active part in public life. Without a doubt, they also converse with other women. In fact, they even talk to each other about other things besides men. As banal as it sounds, this ... read more

Social Ties Influence Who Wins Certain Hollywood Movie Awards

Mar. 13, 2014 — When it comes to Oscars and some other Hollywood movie awards, who your friends are affects whether you win, according to a new study. Film awards generally fall into two categories: those, such as ... read more

Hollywood Failing to Keep Up With Rapidly Increasing Diversity, Study Warns

Feb. 12, 2014 — At the most influential levels of the entertainment industry, minorities and women are represented at between one half and one twelfth the rate that would be expected given their proportion in the ... read more

Rate Films With Smoking 'R' -- Cut Teen Smoking

Jan. 18, 2014 — Research estimates the impact of an R rating for movie smoking, and emphasizes that an R rating for any film showing smoking could reduce smoking onset in U.S. adolescents by ... read more

Study Explores Possible Costs, Benefits of Making Movies With 'Oscar Appeal'

Jan. 15, 2014 — What do Hollywood moguls holding their breath this week for an Oscar nomination have in common with the influence peddlers on K Street in Washington, D.C.? More than you might imagine, suggests new ... read more

How a Hollywood Box Office Success Can Translate Internationally

May 22, 2013 — A researchers is looking at why some Hollywood movies are successful in the international box ... read more

Before 'Skyfall': 46 Years of Violence in James Bond Movies

Dec. 10, 2012 — Violent acts in James Bond films were more than twice as common in "Quantum of Solace" (2008) than in the original 1962 movie "Dr. No," researchers have ... read more

Smoking in Movies Increases in 2011, Reverses Five Years of Progress

Sep. 27, 2012 — Top box office films last year showed more onscreen smoking than the prior year, reversing five years of steady progress in reducing tobacco imagery in movies, according to a new ... read more

Musical Clues to the Truth About Female Sleuths

Sep. 25, 2012 — By analyzing the soundtracks of 1940s film noir thrillers, a musicologist can track changing attitudes to women -- moving away from the classic femme fatale and love interest to the independent ... read more