Magazine Matters: The Campaign to Save Paste

I received the following email from the team at Paste magazine.

We write this letter with great appreciation for all you’ve done for Paste, as well as sorrow that we need to come to you and ask for further support. The economy has taken its toll on Paste, and we need your help to continue.

As the global recession has continued, many of you have written us (especially as ad pages shrunk) to say, “If you ever need help, let us know.” That day has come.

Has American enterprise really come to this? Businesses exist to provide products and services to customers. They live and die on how well they accomplish this objective. Apparently the current economic crisis and the nation's response to that crisis has emboldened companies to treat their customers like benefactors.

The Paste letter, written in the style of a "Christian Children's Fund" letter:

It doesn’t take much. Every little bit helps and you can be a part of continuing our efforts to help you find signs of life in music, film and culture. If $1 (yes, one dollar) came in from everyone on our e-mail lists (or $10 from 10% or $100 from 1%), we’ll reach our goal and emerge from this recession as a stronger magazine and website.

asked for a donation instead of just telling me that my subscription was going up by an amount that would help them cover their operating margin. The editors of Paste have done a phenomenal job putting together an outstanding product that I'm more than happy to spend my money on. But the product they are selling in this email is not a product I'm willing to buy.

Thoughts?

Update: Paste resent the email again. This time Gmail sent it directly to Spam. I should really buy stock in that company.

Movie Matters: Star Trek Review Round Up

The reviews for Star Trek are in and echo what readers of this blog already know. The movie rules. Here are some highlights from people who get paid to write about movies.

Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post

Lord of "Star Trek" and its many spinoffs, we thank thee for a movie that, against all odds, has miraculously resurrected a wheezing but beloved and still-relevant franchise

...Lord, please look kindly upon screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who have eschewed the dour pseudo-depth, snarky irony and sadistic violence of so many recent action movies. Keep them steadfast in their devotion to resuscitating not only the "Star Trek" brand, but also a long-abandoned principle in American cinema: pure pop pleasure.

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone

I couldn't be more surprised. After six TV series and 10 movies (1982's The Wrath of Khan being the only standout), the franchise has been milked so hard, it's a wonder the udders haven't dried up and disintegrated. So how does this newbie break the jinx? By plugging in livewire J.J. Abrams, a director of style and substance (M:i:III, Lost), who fuels this origin story with killer action, bracing wit and a sense of true discovery.

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly

Sci-fi origin stories, at least those launched decades after the stories themselves, tend to be disappointing. They're usually more work than play. The acquiring of superpowers, and/or Defining Personality Traits, has a certain built-in roteness, whether the subject is Luke Skywalker, Batman, or Wolverine; we know where we're going, and the getting there can be an elaborate 
filling in of blanks. But in Star Trek, the clever and infectious reboot of the amazingly enduring sci-fi classic, director 
 J.J. Abrams crafts an origin myth that avoids any hint of the origin doldrums. That's because he rewires us back into the original Star Trek's primal appeal.

Check out Rotten Tomatoes for more reviews.