“The champagne has been flowing all around Hollywood lately. Box-office receipts jumped 13.5%, to $9.5 billion, in 2002 – the biggest year-over-year increase in two decades. DVD sales grew 71%, to more than $11 billion. That doesn’t even include DVD rental revenues, which grew from $1.4 billion to $2.9 billion, according to DVD Entertainment Group, an industry association. You can’t blame Hollywood for not wanting to rock the boat.” But big trouble is looming – and unless the movie business reinvents its distribution as download times shrink, a major case of heartburn awaits.
Blog
Dumb And Dumber – Just How Do These Books Get Published?
It’s supposed to be really difficult to get a book published, right? So how to account for all the really dumb books out there? “What were they thinking? I’m not talking here about bad books. Though they exist, books that are just plain and irredeemably awful are too sad to waste time thinking about. No: the books I’m presently pondering aren’t necessarily bad – though some of them are – they’re just so… well… dumb and unplaceable, it’s difficult to imagine book store owners knowing what to do with them, let alone book buyers.”
A New Opera Masterpiece?
John Rockwell heads off to New York City Opera for Mark Adamo’s “Little Women” with low expectations and comes away believing he’s heard “some sort of masterpiece.” Almost everything in the production work, from the libretto to the music and cast. “The two styles blend effectively, the modernism not rigorously alienating and the lyricism genuine and heartfelt. Nearly all the big moments in the opera work.”
British Radio Restricts Songs During The War
British radio stations are restricting the songs they play. ” ‘We do not want to upset listeners by playing anything which is inappropriate in the current climate. We continue to monitor our output on a daily basis in light of the war to ensure we are sensitive to the expectations of our listeners’. Producers have been asked to play music with a ‘light, melodic’ feel before and after news bulletins, especially if the reports contained distressing news.”
The Objective Image – Is There Such A Thing?
When it comes top journalism, facts are not just facts. A case in point – Americans are fascinated by pictures of the war, yet, “difficult” images of the war – dead bodies, for example – aren’t being shown, as they are elsewhere. “At issue are several questions central to reporting and consuming news in the era of 24-hour television coverage and the burgeoning independent news media on the World Wide Web: Are images facts or illustrations? If a fact is ugly, should it be kept at a distance from readers and viewers? And what do news organizations do with the simple fact that there is both an eager appetite for, and a sincere disgust with, graphic images?”
We’re Watching You – The Eye Project
British artist Antony Gormley travelled to China and enlisted the help of 300 villagers to create thousands of small figures with only eyes for features. “He and the villagers got stuck in to 100 tonnes of clay. He hoped for 120,000 figures but in five days 192,000 were produced.” Now they’re all arranged to fill up a room – 384,000 eyes all staring at whoever comes to see them.
Shaw Festival Announces Expansion
Ontario’s Shaw Festival is “launching a major expansion and renovation of its main theatre, the company announced yesterday as it introduced a $50-million fundraising campaign.”
India’s National Museum To Expand
India’s National Museum in New Delhi has got the go-ahead for a major expansion. “Pending for more than a decade now, this ambitious project will not only provide the museum with much needed space but also result in the headquarters of the Archaeological Survey of India being shifted to a new location.”
Bringing Jazz To Rock
Trying to win fans, jazz tried hard to incorporate pop music into its bones. “But as each new attempt to bring jazz to rock failed loudly, a new generation of jazz musicians has quietly been bringing rock to jazz. In this reverse fusion, instead of applying rock’s rhythms and amplified dynamics to jazz forms, they’ve brought jazz sophistication and swing to rock tunes. The range of material being drawn from is as broad as pop itself.”
Top Programmer Leaves CBC
Adrian Mills, who was brought in last year to revamp the CBC’s programming, has resigned from the public broadcaster. “Mills’ departure was described by one observer as ‘reassuring,’ and it will certainly be applauded by those listeners who became disgruntled with CBC Radio’s dramatic changes under his leadership.” Mills had said his mandate was to go after a “younger, more diverse, audience. ‘Canada is changing, and society has changed, so CBC Radio needs to make sure it is as relevant to future generations as it was to previous ones.”