As documentaries go, What The #$*! Do We Know? was an unlikely hit when it was released in 2005. Dealing in quantum physics, philosophy, and more than a little bit of new-age mumbo-jumbo, the film straddled the line between science and religion just carefully enough to make it the fourth-highest grossing documentary of all time. What most viewers never knew was that What The #$*!… had its roots in a bizarre sect whose followers believe that a 35,000-year-old “spirit warrior” from Atlantis appeared in the kitchen of a Tacoma housewife in 1976.
Blog
Bond Fans Shaken, Not Stirred
Fans of the James Bond franchise generally aren’t terribly difficult to please. Give them a suave, hunky leading man, a sexy female sidekick, and plenty of car chases and explosions, and most Bond aficionados are perfectly content. So it was a bit of a surprise this month when a website was launched with the express purpose of organizing a Bond boycott as a protest against the decision to replace popular Bond portrayer Pierce Brosnan with actor Daniel Craig.
BBC To Invest In BritFilm, If The Money’s There
“The BBC plans to invest at least £100m in the UK film industry over 10 years. The money will be split between homegrown movie projects and acquiring British films for broadcast on UK TV.” However, the Beeb’s proposal is contingent on the corporation receiving the significant increase in federal funding for which it has asked the UK government.
On Second Thought, Mediation For Louisville
After weeks of recriminations and threats through the press, the Louisville Orchestra has agreed to mediation in its ongoing contract negotiations with its musicians. The orchestra’s management team had initially rejected mediation, and has said that without major cuts to the size of the orchestra and the compensation package paid to the musicians, the organization would declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidate before the end of the current season.
Oramo To Leave CBSO
Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo has announced that he will step aside as music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at the end of the 2007-08 season, after ten years at the helm. The CBSO won’t be completely bidding farewell to Oramo, however: in a rather unusual move, he will be granted the title of principal guest conductor beginning with the 2008-09 season.
Hong Kong Puts Brakes On Enormous Cultural Center
The Hong Kong government has put plans for one of the world’s largest cultura; centers on hold. “The decision is a setback for several major museums. The Georges Pompidou Center in Paris and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the Museum of Modern Art in New York had been vying for the right to run museums at the cultural center, which was to be several times the size of Lincoln Center.”
Paramount – A Movie Studio Reinvents
“After years of sedate stability under Sherry Lansing, Paramount has been rebuilt pretty much from the ground up. In less than a year, virtually every division chief has been replaced, some without warning, as happened to production chief Donald DeLine, who found out from friends that he was being replaced when he was in London on a business trip. Countless staffers have been let go after the studio paid $1.6 billion to acquire DreamWorks last December in a selection process that one staffer described as a human bake sale.”
Radio Tries For A Comeback
Traditional radio is going on the offensive to try to “recapture some of the consumer and industry buzz temporarily ceded to satellite radio in the wake of shock jock Stern’s defection to Sirius Satellite Radio. (Oprah Winfrey will be going to Sirius’ larger rival, XM Satellite Radio). Industry observers wonder whether these initial steps by terrestrial radio will be enough to maintain it as a dynamic media business.”
Banality Of The New
“We live in an age addicted to newness. It is a core attribute of any successful person or product in our consumer society. The whole economic system in the developed world depends on our continuing desire for new things that we often do not need. Do you remember the Innovations catalogue? How long has being new been a way of saying something is good in art? When did this quality take on a life of its own apart from being beautiful or thought-provoking?”
Born To Dance (Literally)
Researchers say some people are genetically engineered to dance. “People are born to dance. They have (other) genes that partially contribute to musical talent, such as coordination, sense of rhythm. However, the genes we studied are more related to the emotional side of dancing — the need and ability to communicate with other people and a spiritual side to their natures that not only enable them to feel the music, but to communicate that feeling to others via dance.”