The European Union is considering applying the same film classifications across all its member countries. But the British Film Board says the idea is impractical…
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UK To Release Moore Film
Michael Moore’s UK distributor says it will release Farenheit 911 in the UK, even though Disney won’t allow its release in the US. “We feel it is important that artists and commentators are always free to express their opinions.” Meanwhile, in the US, Disney is “accusing Moore of engineering a dispute about the film’s release to gain maximum publicity for it.”
The Case For Sarasota Arts
Arts supporters in Sarasota, Florida are making their case for the arts. “The Urban Institute’s Performing Arts Research Coalition study shows that 71 percent of residents attend arts events. In addition, 43 percent of those surveyed said that the arts played a part in their decision to move to Sarasota. Data gathered by the Renbrook Consulting Group shows that 20 percent of all arts admissions are free, and that people of all income levels attend the arts. This dispels the popular notion that culture in Sarasota County is for the elite few.”
Melbourne Nixes Funding Political Art
The Melbourne City Council has voted to not fund any political art in the future after a controversy over a recent play. “We should fund art that the majority of the rate base don’t have a problem with. I don’t think political art is something that people want to fund.”
Taking The Missouri Out Of Kansas City Rep
Missouri Repertory Theatre has changed its name to the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. “Many trustees and others in the community had increasingly come to believe that ‘Missouri Rep’ did not fairly represent our many supportive patrons living in Kansas, and it was also apparent that the name didn’t identify our location,”
Controversial Michelangelo On Show
“A small but anatomically perfect wooden Christ on the cross is set to cause a stir in the art world this weekend as it appears in Florence for the first time, billed as a hitherto unknown masterpiece by the city’s most famous artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti.”
Rappin’ The Word In Music
Are you a music or a words person? That is – are the words or the music more important in a pop song? “To be sure, the music of much rap is minimal compared to, say, a Frank Sinatra ballad or George Martin’s productions for the Beatles. In the eternal roundalay of melody, harmony and rhythm, rhythm has seized the spotlight. But that is merely a reflection of the steady evolution of 20th-century popular music, led by black music, that starts out underground and eventually conquers the mainstream.”
The Boy Girl Books (And Never The Twain Shall Meet?)
Is there a gender gap in what we read? “The publishing flurry that surrounds Mother’s Day means a spate of books with conspicuously feminine points of view. Fitness, gossip, middle-aged romance, the dating woes of bright young things and anything about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: these are standard subjects in the parade of Mother’s Day titles. They are not to be confused with the sports lore, war stories and tough-but-fair paternal advice that arrive for Father’s Day.”
Major Mayan City Find
“An Italian archeologist said Tuesday he had uncovered ancient objects that show an unexplored site in Guatemala’s Peten region to be one of the most significant preclassic Mayan cities ever found.” The city he has discovered could have been home to 10,000 Mayans at its peak, he says.
Looting Afghanistan: Tricks Of The Trade
In Afghanistan, red and white stones are used to warn people where landmines are buried. “But instead of protecting civilians, looters are using these symbols to prevent access to sites where they are systematically stealing the country’s valuable artefacts. Three years after the world looked on in horror as the Taleban destroyed the giant Bamyan Buddahs, many of the nation’s historic treasures continue to be destroyed, this time stolen by looters often aided by local gunmen.”