A fingerprint and stylistic touches uncovered during restoration of a disputed Renaissance masterpiece raises the possibility it may have been painted by Leonardo da Vinci, who sometimes left his mark on works as a kind of signature, restorers said Tuesday.
Blog
Playwright Uhry: Accused Of Defamation (Poisoning By Nicotine Patch?)
“Driving Miss Daisy” playwright Alfred Uhry is accused in a $1.4 million lawsuit of defaming his former son-in-law, who claims he was wrongly accused of child abuse and attempted poisoning by nicotine patch.
WTC Memorial: A “Grandiose Paen To Grief”
What has happened to the World Trade Center Memorial? A year after being chosen, the design has been bloated, writes James Russell. “It was inevitable the planned memorial would grow to a disturbingly large size, once it was deemed that the towers’ footprints must be entirely preserved — for political, not design reasons, in response to pleas from some of the victims’ family members. In the past year, the proposed project has expanded into a vast commemorative complex; it threatens to become a grandiose paean to grief.”
A Hollywood Giant And His Progeny
“As Harvey Weinstein and Miramax prepare to go their separate ways – the Walt Disney Company, which now owns the company, has said it does not plan to renew the contract of Mr. Weinstein and his brother, Bob, to run the unit – more than a few power players in Hollywood have been tallying up their debt to a 52-year-old entrepreneur who often started them in the business, and sent many on their way with lessons that did not always come easy.”
TV Shows For Your Cell Phone
Producers are starting to create shows for mobile phones. The producers of the hit TV show “24” have jumped in with a spin-off. “Each of the one-minute mobile episodes (referred to as mobisodes) is specially shot and edited for the small, small screen. ‘Conspiracy,’ produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television, a division of the News Corporation, is one of three original series making their debut on Verizon’s V Cast, a high-speed cellular phone network that delivers broadband Internet-quality video.”
Russian Choreographer Missing, Presumed Dead
Dmitri Briantsev, 57, the artistic director of Moscow’s Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Ballet (considered the city’s second-best dance company after the Bolshoi), stepped out of his hotel near Wenceslas Square in Prague last June 28 and has not been seen since. He presumed to be a victim of crime.
Top Ten Anything (Why Do We Care?)
Andrew O’Hagan wonders if competition is good for the arts. “We are addicted to the concept of winners and losers. Last week alone, I was asked to nominate the Best Top 10 British Bands, write something about the Top 100 Scottish Novels of All Time, and I attended a lavish awards ceremony, sponsored by The Daily Telegraph, to name several Great Britons. The assumption, not a bad one in itself, seems to be that life is more exciting the more rivalry it involves, as if competition was the food of endeavour. I’m not entirely sure that competition is good for art. There is the danger that it can create a uniformity of thought and aim.”
The Aussie Director Drain
“Back in the heyday of the Australian film industry – some 20 years ago now – Australian directors sweated out a solid slate of local films before going Stateside. Today, however, the film industry’s talent drain to the US has accelerated to an alarming degree. Directors make only one or two films here before being presented with creative opportunities that have them reaching for their passports.” The question is why?
Will Musical Phones Knock Off The iPod?
Cell phone makers are incorporating music players into their new generations of phones. “Music is the next big thing in mobile multimedia. Mobile phone makers and networks are looking for ways to boost their revenue given difficulties finding new customers in saturated industrialized markets and even in some developing countries. Free voice calls over the Internet pose a further threat to revenues, forcing mobile operators to look to entertainment and data services for their future profitability.”
Are Canadian Content Laws “Orwellian”
In Canada TV programs getting funding and air time must pass Canadian content rules that promote homegrown talent. But critics charge that the “process for determining whether projects are distinctively Canadian is “Orwellian,” and are incensed by what they call the subjective assessment of what Canadian audiences will watch. For example, a proposed film on Modigliani by acclaimed filmmaker Harry Rasky was rejected by the CTF on the grounds that it was insufficiently contextualized for Canadians.”