UK Arts Minster Alan Howarth has selected a panel of experts to examine ways to crack down on Britain’s growing black market for smuggled art and antiquities. An estimated £500 million is laundered every year through the sale of looted artifacts from the Middle East and Africa, all of which can then be legally bought and sold in the UK. – Ananova
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LOSE, LOSE
London’s Millennium Dome has been at the center of controversy since the day it was built. The latest stir: the Dome was given an extra £29 million from the National Lottery this week on condition that its chairman resign. He did, and then MPs protested the government’s earlier promise that no further public funds would be advanced to the Dome. – The Telegraph (UK)
MISSING ART
As Boston contemplates an enormous new waterfront development, artists wonder why there has been so little discussion of how the arts might fit in to it. “We have heard very little about the arts in this process. We have not been able to sustain a dialogue about the arts in this community.” – Boston Herald
NOT RATED FOR VIOLENCE
A new study of movie violence published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that a “G” rating doesn’t guarantee no violence. “G”-rated movies “averaged 9.5 minutes of violence, with the 1998 King Arthur tale ‘Quest for Camelot’ topping the list with 24 minutes of violence, or almost 30% of the movie.” – Los Angeles Times
“G”-SPOT
“The amount of cinematic violence–ranging from body blows to swordplay to gunshots–so alarmed researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health that they recommended that the Motion Picture Association of America consider changing its age-based rating system to one that provides specific warnings about a movie’s content.” – Washington Post
TO BE OR NOT TO…
A former journalist has gone on a crusade to “give philosophy back to the people.” He says for too long philosophy as an art has been locked behind the walls of academia. – Feed
CALLING ALL AUTEURS
Speaking to a graduating class of media students in Liverpool, Steven Spielberg said the British film industry is in need of a “great leader” to revive the art form to the greatness it achieved in the ‘40s and ‘50s. – BBC 05/24/00
INDECENT LAW
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a section of the 1996 Communications Decency Act – which restricts sex-oriented programming on cable TV – may be overly restrictive and threaten first amendment rights. The CDA, “introduced after complaints from church groups and conservative family lobbies, restricts sex-oriented channels to operating at night unless they “scramble” their signal.” – The Age (Melbourne) 05/24/00
ANYWHERE BUT HOME
The Chinese film “Guizi Lai Le” (Devils on the Doorstep) was well-received at Cannes. But rather than trumpeting its success at the prestigious festival, the Chinese government hasn’t yet even granted permission for the movie to be shown at home. – China Times 05/24/00
SHOO-IN
- Despite recent media reports that he wants to spend the rest of his life as a shoemaker in Italy, Daniel Day-Lewis has signed on to star in Martin Scorcese’s $100 million historical gangster epic, “Gangs of New York” which begins filming in August in Rome. Day-Lewis hasn’t acted since he appeared in “The Boxer” three years ago. – Irish Times 05/24/00