There’s a South Pacific island Romeo & Juliet-ish film from Australia, a Hitchcockian thriller from Iran, a post-WWII POW story from Denmark, the force that is A Man Called Ove from Sweden, and of course, the very tipped winner, Toni Erdmann – which is set to be remade in the U.S. with Jack Nicholson and Kristen Wiig (yes, really). Which will win? Which should win?
Author: ArtsJournal2
The Bumpy Course Of Moving Musicals From La La Land To Broadway
Can “Amélie” and “Come From Away” make it where West Coast transplants have failed before? The L.A. Times’ Charles McNulty says, “Musicals en route to New York receive an enormous amount of tinkering, polishing and sharpening. Rarely, however, does all this primping smooth over structural cracks in the book or holes in the score.”
Children’s Books So White? The New Book Count Is Out
While the population of the U.S. is 38 percent people who identify as African American, Latino, Native American, Asian American, or Pacific Islander, books written or illustrated by people from those categories clocked in at just 427 out of 3,400 children’s books published in 2016.
The Fake News From A Century Ago
Of course, it came into being because of war – WWI, to be precise, and because “Britain was at the time trying to bring China into the war on the Allied side.”
Dick Bruna, The Man Who Created ‘Miffy,’ Dies At 89
Miffy, or Nijntje in the original Dutch, was a rabbit that first appeared in 1955 after the creator told his son a story about rabbits. “Miffy remained unchanged in the many subsequent titles, although there is sometimes a scarf or hat, or outlines filled with a solid primary colour to show a change of outfit. Initially, and until the books were translated into English, the character was just a small rabbit; the gender was not defined. The most important feature of the books, Bruna said, was that ‘Miffy is always Miffy and a house is always a house.'”
When A High-End Gallery Turns Into A Convenience Store – As Art
The convenience store exhibit, which is also, sort of, a functional convenience store, is supposed to be a critique of art-world prices. But one anonymous artist says they stole an art – or convenience store? – bag of cat food. “‘Do not be confused,’ wrote the artist in Spanish, under the nickname ‘Peligro’ (Danger). ‘Oroxxo isn’t a criticism of capitalism, it is an act of capitalism.'”
In Tunisia, These Break Dancers Perform For Social Justice
This photo essay shows that the three-day festival “gives a lot of hope to the youth,” according to host Chouaib Cheu. “Tunisia’s hip-hop culture stems from the frustrations of the country’s disillusioned youth, who have sought to paint a picture of a society torn up by social injustice.”
The Humanities Only Survive Because Of Long, And Deep, Exploitation
“We might note that the conditions ravaging our profession are also ravaging our work. The privilege of tenure used to confer academic freedom through job security. By now, decades of adjunctification have made the professoriate fearful, insular, and conformist.”
The U.S. Has Opened Its Doors To Many Great Artists, But That May Come To An End With The Travel Ban
“The O and EB1 visas are what many consider America’s secret weapon. ‘It is how the US has been stealing the best of the best from other nations for years,’ Mazaheri believes.”
The Internet Killed Small Newspapers, And Now We’re Left With Breitbart
“Without that truth-seeking ecosystem of healthy small- and mid-size daily newspapers to explain national news in terms local readers can understand, Americans are left stewing in separate echo chambers, one urban, educated, and liberal, the other working-class, rural, and spoiling for a fight. Not only do the inhabitants of these echo chambers not talk to each other; they barely speak the same language.”