“In a sense, Altman radically democratized movies, upending the Hollywood hierarchy of star over supporting player, story over atmosphere, emotion over all. … His films were raucous parties, too: he would assemble crowds of actors, give them the hint of a story, encourage them to improvise in Babels of overlapping dialogue and let the canny chaos spill onto the screen.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Are We Killing Art Museums With Their Own Popularity?
Peter Schjeldahl: “It is idle to lament democratizing developments that have been inexorable for well over half a century, … [but at]what point does a widely shared yen for aesthetic engagement alter the character of that engagement? We’ve reached that point on many days … where the crowds experience mainly crowdedness.”
A Primer On The Man Who’s Replacing Craig Ferguson On “The Late Late Show”
“But who is James Corden? Well, he’s a Tony winner, for starters; he’s the Baker in Into the Woods; he’s in Begin Again with Keira Knightley; and he’s pretty damn famous in the U.K. But he’s not a household name in the U.S. – yet. Here’s your quick and easy guide to Corden’s career so far.”
Could A Three-Day Work Week Really Work?
Maria Konnikova: “When we own more of our time, we feel like we’re in charge of our lives and our schedules, which makes us happier and, ultimately, better at what we do. Our health and happiness also increases in the course of our lifetimes and, with it, our value to the workplace and to society as a whole. Additionally, we may finally recover from chronic sleep deprivation.”
The Problem With Ivy League Colleges Isn’t A College Problem At All
Joshua Rothman, responding to William Deresiewicz’s broadside against the Ivy League and its students: “I tend to draw the opposite conclusion from Deresiewicz’s data: the fact that you can feel soulless in such an intellectual paradise suggests that the problem is bigger than college. … Deresiewicz makes a mistake in ascribing to his students, as personal failings, the problems of the age in which they live.”
Raised Voice: The Many Battles Of Nina Simone
“As the sixties progressed, the feelings she displayed – pain, lacerating anger, the desire to burn down whole cities in revenge – made her seem at times emotionally disturbed and at other times simply the most honest black woman in America.”
Where The Met Opera Needs To Take Risks, Not Avoid Them
Anthony Tommasini: “It’s telling that both sides have latched on to the role of new productions to buttress their arguments. Mr. Gelb has long said that bold new productions will … entice new audiences to the house … The unions claim that the new productions are too risky and expensive. … But this argument over the new productions could compromise the artistic ambition and global influence of the company.”
Classical Music’s Past Is In As Much Danger As Its Future
Tim Smith: “Today, you tend to hear more talk about what orchestras are playing, not how; more about what operas are being staged, not how they are being sung. I don’t think there’s nearly enough attention paid by current musicians and audiences to the many ways that music used to be played and felt, how differently it communicated – and how much more grippingly it could be performed today.”
Amsterdam Is Out Of Control, Says Rijksmuseum Director; Chill Out, Reply Amsterdammers
Wim Pjibes complains in an open letter that the city is “dirty, filthy, and too full”, with too many badly behaved visitors, hashish coffee shops, and whores in shop windows, not to mention a “medieval way of dealing with rubbish”. Opponents are not only calling Pijbes a killjoy, but suggesting that he’s in league with the forces “artwashing” the red-light districts for the sake of real estate interests.
Conductor Daniel Harding Cops To Having Been “Obnoxious” When He Started His Career
“I had that attention when I was a very excitable, immature young man. And I look at my colleagues because now there are so many of us, of our generation, and I’m jealous of those who started later and have their great moment in the sun when they’re kind of grown up. I’m always going to be paying for the impression I created as an obnoxious 22-year-old.”