“Wim Wenders has decided to forge ahead with his 3D dance film about legendary choreographer Pina Bausch, who died last month. Pre-production had barely started on their long-gestating project, which was scheduled to begin shooting in September, when she died.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Right To Read Erotic Literature Turns 50
“For many decades, the courts let the Post Office decide which books people could read; then, suddenly, they didn’t.” Fifty years ago today, the publisher of Grove Press won a lawsuit against the Post Office, which had confiscated copies of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover.” The novel “had long been banned for its graphic sex scenes,” and the ruling set off “an explosion of free speech.”
Ballet Troupe’s Costumes, Props Stolen; Motive A Mystery
“Almost $20,000 in ballet costumes and props are missing from the Lakeville City Ballet, and ballet officials and police said Sunday that they’re stumped about who might have taken the items and why. … Among the items taken were a large sleigh and dozens of costumes for the ballet company’s annual production of ‘The Nutcracker.'”
Tossed From Tonys, Journos Can Change Their Rules, Too
“[I]n the end, the Tonys are run by and for the commercial theater. They’re marketing tools, and any hue and cry about ‘integrity’ is beside the point. If the producers don’t want journalists around, well, it’s their party. Which is not to say the press shouldn’t take its revenge.” Here are a few ways to do it.
Boston’s Hot Ticket: The Institute Of Contemporary Art
“At a time when cultural organizations struggle to hold onto their audiences, the ICA is Boston’s greatest success story.” Since its 2006 move to a new home designed by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, “attendance has boomed, making it the second most visited museum in the region. And a string of recent high-profile shows has … changed the way Bostonians, traditionally more attuned to Sargent and Monet, look at contemporary art.”
Author Gordon Burn Dies At 61
“The writer and novelist Gordon Burn, whose work explored the boundaries between fact and fiction, has died aged 61, his publisher announced today. … Burn examined the contemporary obsession with celebrity in a series of books spanning three decades, including an account of the Yorkshire Ripper, a study of Fred and Rosemary West and a Whitbread award-wininng novel which imagined an alternative life for the British singer Alma Cogan.”
Saudi Film Fest Canceled; Religious Pressure To Blame?
“Directors, writers and cinema buffs had arrived in Jeddah for what had been billed as a week-long festival of films from Saudi Arabia and neighbouring states.” Scheduled to begin Saturday, it was canceled Friday. “The only official explanation was that the event had not been sufficiently prepared. But it is widely believed the ban is the latest victory for religious conservatives, who regard cinema as a form of Western moral pollution.”
Barnes & Noble To Launch 700,000-Title E-Bookstore
“Barnes & Noble, the largest bookstore chain by revenue, just became the latest company to launch its own eBook store to compete with Amazon and its increasingly popular Kindle family of electronic readers. … Barnes & Noble says its new eBook store will let users download titles to a variety of mobile devices, including Apple’s iPhone, Research in Motion’s Blackberry, pcs and Macs.”
The Dark Omen In Amazon’s Orwellian Deletion Debacle
“Now we know that Amazon can delete anything it wants from your electronic reader. That’s an awesome power, and Amazon’s justification in this instance is beside the point. As our media libraries get converted to 1’s and 0’s, we are at risk of losing what we take for granted today: full ownership of our book and music and movie collections. .. I’ve predicted the Kindle is the future of publishing. Now we know what the future of book banning looks like, too.”
Michael Kaiser: Why The Arts Need Contributed Funds
A couple of giant obstacles are built into the arts’ economic equation. One is that “arts organizations have a very difficult time achieving productivity improvements. … A Balanchine ballet that required 32 dancers in the 1950s still requires 32 dancers today.” So costs escalate faster than in other industries, a problem compounded by the fact that “one simply cannot sell more tickets than one has seats.”