This week: Big Brother is watching you read, and making fun of Aaron Sorkin never, ever, ever gets old.
- I understand why book publishers and retailers are analyzing data on how long people spend with their ebooks, how quickly they read, what they search for, and that sort of thing, but the potential misuse of that data is troubling—in invading people’s privacy, obviously, but also in leaping to all kinds of dumb conclusions about artistic work based on shallow quantitative data.
- I had no idea that DVD companies routinely redo film subtitles rather than simply using the version from the theatrical release (seriously, there has to be more to this issue), but this NPR story on how badly such DVDs can misrepresent foreign films is both depressing and delightfully bizarre.
- I’m planning on seeing Beasts of the Southern Wild, the critically adored indie fantasy film set in rural Louisiana, but honestly, I wonder whether the movie can be half as interesting as the people behind it.
- I know it’s a cheap shot, but I don’t care: this super-cut of the same lines popping up over and over again in Aaron Sorkin’s work is hilarious.
Much Review About Nothing 