“French newspaper Nice-Matin reports that a minor stroke prevented director and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Terry Gilliam from attending May 7 court arguments on whether his The Man Who Killed Don Quixote will be permitted to close the Cannes Film Festival. … Paulo Branco (Cosmopolis), a onetime producer on the project, sought an injunction to stop both, claiming he has held the rights to the film since August 2016.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Hit BBC Gangster Series To Be Adapted For – Ballet?
While the creator of Peaky Blinders, a drama about a criminal family in 1920s Birmingham, was making an announcement about plans for future seasons, he revealed that he is in talks with Rambert, Britain’s oldest dance company, for a ballet version of the property.
Pierre Rissient, Great Mover And Shaker Of French And World Cinema, Dead At 81
“Type multi-hatted Rissient’s name into online cinema database IMDb, and barely a dozen credits appear. Behind the scenes, however, Rissient was a legendary figure in the film world at home and internationally, respected for his deep knowledge of cinema, his nose for talented directors, and his ability to promote them and forge connections on their behalf. The Cannes Film Festival once described him as ‘a figure who cannot be categorised’, while Clint Eastwood, who is one of the many stars and directors whom Rissient nurtured and supported over the years, nicknamed him ‘Mister Everywhere.'”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.08.18
Simon Rattle’s landmark 3-D high-def Mahler festival with the London Symphony Orchestra
So often when star musicians such as Simon Rattle hit a golden spot in their late 30s and early 40s, you stand back and ask, “Where can they possibly go from there?” … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2018-05-08
The Problem of “Engagement”
In March I had the privilege of participating in the Intersections Summit hosted by Milwaukee Repertory Theater. It was a heady gathering of community engagement practitioners from theaters (mostly) across the U.S. As frequently happens, … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2018-05-08
A Little Masterpiece in Central Asia
There are many reasons to visit Uzbekistan, which I did last fall. … [One of them is] the Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara. The little structure not only survived the 13th-century marauder Genghis Khan but also many earthquakes and other natural shifts … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-05-08
“Are We All Done?” Christie’s Delivers a Dull (but effective) “Sale of the Century” Debut
Maybe I’m getting jaded, but tonight’s first installment of the “Sale of the Century” — the David Rockefeller estate disposals at Christie’s — seemed to me as exciting as a wet blanket. (I suppose that would be me.) … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-05-08
Propwatch: the fans in The Way of the World
There’s no limit to how much bad acting you can do with a fan, if you’re in a folderol frame of mind. Point it for emphasis. Snap it shut in high dudgeon. Make peekaboo … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2018-05-08
In The Wake Of #MeToo, Publishers Are Adding Morality Clauses To Writers’ Contracts
“Until recently, the term ‘moral turpitude’ is not one that crossed the lips of too many people in book publishing. But Bill O’Reilly, Milo Yiannopoulos, Sherman Alexie, Jay Asher, and James Dashner changed all that. … Major publishers are increasingly inserting language into their contracts – referred to as morality clauses – that allows them to terminate agreements in response to a broad range of behavior by authors. And agents, most of whom spoke with PW on the condition of anonymity, say the change is worrying in an industry built on a commitment to defending free speech.”
Confederate Memorials ‘Belong In A Museum’ – Or Do They?
“Are museums, in fact, the appropriate place for storing these gigantic homages – not even to the Civil War itself – but to the Jim Crow movements that fueled their commissioning and erection on state capitol grounds, university commons, city parks and other places of power in the early decades of the 20th century? We would argue that the ‘put them in a museum’ response to Confederate memorials reflects a misunderstanding of what museums are for – and an effort to sidestep conversations that we really need to have.”
Choreographer Alexander Ekman Makes A Movie And A Mess On The Streets Of San Francisco
“‘I have no idea what’s happening right now,’ co-producer Jenny Stulberg said during a break from shooting. ‘I just know that my shopping list for today was for a watermelon, cucumber, two half-gallons of almond milk, a gallon of regular milk, two bottles of Prosecco and a bag of flour. And fish.’ Dead fish? ‘Yes.’ Nearby, three dearly departed striped bass cooled their heels on ice. ‘I brought sparklers, just in case,’ said costumer Jamielyn Duggan. ‘And rubber gloves.'”
How The United States Is Turning Japanese
It’s not just sushi and ramen and anime and Marie Kondo. “‘Japan is the global imagination’s default setting for the future,’ as the author William Gibson wrote in 2001. ‘The Japanese seem to the rest of us to live several measurable clicks down the time line.’ … But what Gibson wrote about products was just as true about other, less visible trends in Japanese society: economic stagnation; a plunging fertility rate; a dramatic postponement of the ‘normal’ milestones of adulthood, such as getting married or simply moving out of the family home; a creeping sense of ambivalence about what the future might hold. Seventeen years later, America has finally caught up.”
What It Takes To Dance Nine Characters Eight Times A Week In ‘The Lion King’
“As an ensemble dancer in The Lion King, India Bolds, age 32, plays nine characters in every show, eight times a week. That’s a lot of entrances and exits, costume changes and choreography to remember. But after five years of dancing in the production, she has the show down pat. Dance Magazine followed her through a performance day to see what it takes to be in Broadway’s third-longest-running production.”
Intrepid Arts Reporter Braves All Eight Hours Of Max Richter’s ‘Sleep’
“My first mistake was waking up early to get groceries.
Then it was a long Friday at work, followed by a piano recital and finally a sprint downtown – where, exhausted, I was in the worst possible shape to take in one more concert. Except that the performance was Sleep, Max Richters eight-hour soundtrack engineered, with the help of scientific consultants, to provoke a relaxing night. By dozing off, I’d be doing my job.” The hardworking and tireless Joshua Barone reports.