“YouTube’s aggressive effort to leave its low-rent entertainment reputation behind continues: On Thursday the Google-owned video hub plans to announce a partnership with the Venice Film Festival and Ridley Scott’s production company to create what it’s calling an online film festival.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Leonard Cohen, Deadpan Humour And Artful Dodging
“He was always funnier than he was given credit for; now he has honed his deadpan to such perfection that every questioner becomes the straight man in a double act. … He still resists explaining [his songs] and his relentlessly dry self-deprecation works as a very effective, very entertaining shield.”
Sorry, Lit Geeks, Books Aren’t Really Our Friends
“Dickens refers to ‘the friendships we form with books’, while Charles Lamb regarded books as ‘the best company’.” The problem, of course, is that however much we care about books, books don’t care about us.
Starchitects Revolutionize The Parking Garages Of Miami Beach
“Miami Beach has become a magnet for high-end architects” – Herzog & deMeuron, Frank Gehry, Enrique Morten, Zaha Hadid, Arquitectonica, Rem Koolhaas’s OMA – “intent on rethinking what the often drab, utilitarian parking garage can be.”
Former Top Sydney Art Dealer Charged With 87 Counts Of Fraud
“One of Australia’s former leading art dealers, Ronald Coles, faces up to 10 years in jail after being charged today with 87 offences relating to an alleged multimillion-dollar investment art fraud scheme.”
For Election 2012, Prop 8 Play To Run Across US
“The pro-gay marriage American Foundation for Equal Rights and partner Broadway Impact are sponsoring dozens of productions of Dustin Lance Black’s play starring local actors across the country this election year. It’ll be shown in states where marriage battles loom, including Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire and North Carolina.”
Niles Ford, Dancer And Choreographer, Dead At 52
“As a choreographer, Mr. Ford was drawn to political and cultural themes. His work, rooted in ballet, jazz and modern dance, paid homage to figures as disparate as Rod Rodgers … and Mumia Abu-Jamal.”
New York City Opera Strikes Deal With Both Unions, Ends Lockout
“New York City Opera has reached a tentative deal with its unions, ending a lockout that began on Jan. 9 and potentially resolving a bitter labor dispute that threatened the company’s entire season.”
Concern Over Plans To Build Mega-Casino Near Miami’s Arsht Center
“A group formed to protect the $460 million Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and its surroundings in downtown Miami is raising new concerns about nearby traffic congestion from proposed casino resorts, and it could take a truckload of money to address it.”
Megan Fairchild Loosens Up
She joined New York City Ballet at age 17, was a soloist by 19 and a principal at 20. At that point, she felt terrified, unworthy to hold the same rank as the likes of Darci Kistler. Unsurprisingly, her dancing seemed to many to be studied and tense. Seven years on, she’s changed.