Summer Movie Season: From Hot to Not

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Summer-s the popcorn season for Hollywood movies. On Memorial Day, this year-s industry blockbusters like Spider-Man and Lilo & Stitch took off with a bang. So did indie-sleepers like My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But by Labor Day, the so-called silly season was down to a whimper. While summer box office revenue is up, attendance has been dropping for almost two months. What does that mean for one of this region-s major industries? We learn more about content and counter-programming, and what made this summer-s movie season go from sizzle to fizzle, from the president of Exhibitor Relations Company, a film industry research firm, and the former senior film critic for Variety magazine. Newsmaker: Contract Dispute at West Coast Ports Still Unsolved There-s been heated rhetoric but no work slowdown at 29 West Coast ports, even though the stage was set Sunday when the dockworkers- union walked out of talks with shipping companies. With $ 300 billion in cargo moving through the ports every year, the stakes are enormous. Michael Kahn, in San Francisco for Reuters News Service, has a progress report. Reporter's Notebook: Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral Opens to Public The great bronze doors of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral opened yesterday to 3000 international dignitaries who packed into America-s first new Roman Catholic Cathedral in 30 years. Today was the first day of regular services. Kathryn Maese, of the Los Angeles Downtown News, says some 6200 people, from nearby workers and jurors to the devout and skeptical, turned out for today-s two masses.
Summer-s the popcorn season for Hollywood movies. On Memorial Day, this year-s industry blockbusters like Spider-Man and Lilo & Stitch took off with a bang. So did indie-sleepers like My Big Fat Greek Wedding. But by Labor Day, the so-called silly season was down to a whimper. While summer box office revenue is up, attendance has been dropping for almost two months. What does that mean for one of this region-s major industries? We learn more about content and counter-programming, and what made this summer-s movie season go from sizzle to fizzle, from the president of Exhibitor Relations Company, a film industry research firm, and the former senior film critic for Variety magazine.
  • Newsmaker: Contract Dispute at West Coast Ports Still Unsolved
    There-s been heated rhetoric but no work slowdown at 29 West Coast ports, even though the stage was set Sunday when the dockworkers- union walked out of talks with shipping companies. With $ 300 billion in cargo moving through the ports every year, the stakes are enormous. Michael Kahn, in San Francisco for Reuters News Service, has a progress report.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral Opens to Public
    The great bronze doors of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral opened yesterday to 3000 international dignitaries who packed into America-s first new Roman Catholic Cathedral in 30 years. Today was the first day of regular services. Kathryn Maese, of the Los Angeles Downtown News, says some 6200 people, from nearby workers and jurors to the devout and skeptical, turned out for today-s two masses.

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Frances Anderton