The key problem for the Oscars is not, as Hollywood’s critics on the right sometimes suggest, that the movie industry’s liberal politics are dragging down both box office numbers and Oscar ratings — that the desire to preach is swamping the desire to entertain. There is a political problem, but it is secondary: The key issue for the academy is that the Hollywood system no longer produces enough of the kind of movies that a mass-audience awards spectacle requires.
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Last Of The Movie Projectionists
As the movie industry has gradually shifted from 35mm to simpler, less finicky, more device-friendly digital film, even moviegoers at places like BAM—who tend to be better versed in the finer points of cinematic geekery—are often unaware or unimpressed to learn that they’re being treated to screenings in older formats.
“The Big Lebowski” Is A Cult Classic. Here Are The Critics Who Hated It (And What They Think Now)
We took a look at some of the more negative reviews of the film written after its release on March 6, 1998, and reached out with a simple query for the critics who penned them: Would you review “The Big Lebowski” similarly now? Or has your opinion of the movie changed with the benefit of two decades’ time?
Martha Graham Dance Co. Makes A Virtual-Reality Video For Barney’s
“Department store Barneys New York has teamed up with Samsung and the Martha Graham Dance Company for what’s possibly the most intriguing dance-meets-fashion collaboration to date. Today through April 8, you can visit select Barneys stores or their website to experience Mantle, a surreal 11-minute virtual reality experience featuring current and former Graham company members in eerie choreography by Cynthia Stanley.”
Netflix Says Most Subscribers Watch On Their TVs
Netflix says 70 percent of its streams end up on connected TVs instead of phones, tablets or PCs. That number isn’t a shock — Netflix has been clear about the importance of TVs for a long time, and it’s why the company has spent a lot of energy working out integration deals with pay TV distributors like Comcast and Sky — but it’s a good reminder that not everything is moving to the phone.
Guerrilla Artist Yarn-Bombs Guggenheim Toilet With Gold Crochet
Looks like somebody was missing the Maurizio Cattelan solid-gold toilet (the one titled America) that was in the same bathroom last year (and which was not actually lent to Donald Trump’s White House). “While that work stayed in place for a full year, Saturday’s unsanctioned intervention remained in place for roughly two hours.”
The Great Tuba Crime Wave
The tuba, the biggest and lowest-pitched among the brass family, can run from around $2,000 for beginner band models to more than $20,000 for specialized professional versions, says Martin Erickson, a past president of the International Tuba Euphonium Association. People with “nefarious” intentions, he says, probably try to resell tubas or use them in other bands. “You don’t expect tubas to fall into that sort of thing.”
The End(s) Of Oscar Wilde
John Banville considers the writer’s last years – and whether (and in what ways) he willed his own destruction.
High French Court Rules Against Peggy Guggenheim Heirs Over Operation Of Venice Palazzo
In its judgment on 7 March, the Cour de Cassation found that the 1996 agreement between Pegeen Vail’s descendants and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation “imposed no constraint on the number or the duration of the displays of other collections, nor did it require a constant presentation of all the works” in Peggy Guggenheim’s collection.
‘I Wanted Music To Practice That I Liked’ – Philip Glass Talks About His Piano Etudes
Anne Midgette meets the composer, who’s about to make his Kennedy Center performing debut – at age 81 – with some of those keyboard pieces.