“China’s official censorship guidelines technically prohibit movies that ‘promote cults or superstition’ … and the country’s regulators occasionally have been known to use this obscure provision as rationale for banning films that feature ghosts or supernatural beings in a semi-realistic way (Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest suffered such a fate in 2006).”
Month: July 2016
Filmmaker Héctor Babenco (‘Kiss Of The Spider Woman’) Dead At 70
His breakout film was Pixote (1981), the story of a ten-year-old slum-dweller in São Paulo; he was also known for Ironweed, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, and Carandiru. His final film, My Hindu Friend starring Willem Dafoe, should be released in the U.S. later this year.
‘New Yorker’ Cartoonist Michael Crawford, 70
“[He] sold more than 600 cartoons and drawings to The New Yorker after William Shawn, the editor at the time, bought the first one in 1981. Like many cartoonists of a nonpolitical stripe, he was something of a sociologist – a student of habits and trends, memes and fashions, the purposes and cross-purposes of human interaction, most of which he exploited for gentle ridicule or defiant amusement.”
Philly’s Kimmel Center Keeps Its CEO For Three More Years
“Anne Ewers, the Kimmel Center’s president and CEO since 2007, has been signed to a four-year contract extension that keeps her here at least through the 2019-20 season … Ewers in her time has retired the center’s debt, raised tens of millions for endowment and programs, developed a master plan of renovations that has been partially realized, overseen the coming and going of resident companies, and has greatly reduced the center’s own classical programming in favor of commercial presentations.”
Palmyra And Its Warrior Queen: Return Of A Forgotten Rossini Opera (Whose Overture You Already Know)
Aureliano in Palmira, which gets its U.S. premiere next week, “tells the story of Roman emperor Aurelian’s 272 A.D. campaign against Queen Zenobia of Palmyra … [It] has had a fascinating journey – from highly anticipated star vehicle to underwhelming opening night to obscurity to recent rediscovery as one of Rossini’s most beautiful works.” And you’ll probably recognize the opening notes immediately.
Nice Jazz Festival Cancelled Following Bastille Day Attack
The event, which had been scheduled to run from Saturday through next Wednesday, was to have featured George Clinton, Laura Mvula, Avishai Cohen, Abdullah Ibrahim, and Youssou N’Dour, among others.
Michael Flatley To Open His Own Chain Of Irish Dancing Schools
“Flatley’s new venture will begin teaching classes in and around London from September, with plans to expand internationally in the next five years.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 07.14.16
More Major Met Museum Departures – And More Woes
The exodus, and the troubles, continue at 1000 Fifth Avenue: announcement of the departure of Carrie Rebora Barratt, a deputy director of the Metropolitan Museum and longtime close associate of director Tom Campbell, is imminent. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-07-14
They can do better
I got a press release from the Boston Symphony, advertising live streams from Tanglewood. On July 15 (tomorrow, as I write this), Pinchas Zukerman will conduct the Mozart E flat symphony, and the BSO will stream the second and thirs movements. Which seems lame. Why not the whole piece?… read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-07-14
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Why Are Sports Surging But The Arts Aren’t?
Bottom line: I think it has a lot to do with the fact that sports has succeeded in being part of kids lives to an extent that arts have not.
What Happened To America’s Mid-20th Century Composers?
“I’ve never understood why the music of America’s midcentury modern composers disappeared from our concert halls. Not only is it “entertaining,” but it speaks to ordinary listeners in a direct, immediately comprehensible way, just like the better-known music of Copland and Samuel Barber. Don’t take my word for it—try listening for yourself.”