The women of English theatre are not happy. Sphinx Theatre artistic director Sue Parrish: “All along we’ve been given assurances that our concerns were being taken very seriously and being addressed, and that is clearly absolutely not the case. … I think they think that women’s progress will happen by osmosis, that it doesn’t need direct support, but all the research shows that is not the case.” – The Stage (UK)
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Hildur Gudnadottir Becomes First Woman Composer To Win Best Score Oscar
Gudnadóttir won for Joker. She said, “To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up — we need to hear your voices.” – The Hollywood Reporter
The Academy Might Not Honor These Black Actresses, But Alfre Woodard Sure Will
Woodard invites Academy Award nominees from past and present – and, she says, “those who, in a perfect world, should have been.” She also says the Oscars don’t have an impact on good acting. “You know, it’s something entirely separate from what we do. … I liken it to the baby contests back in the Southwest when I was growing up. It was kind of a hilarious thing: ‘Look at this baby with the nice plump legs!’”- The New York Times
An Art Critic ‘Accidentally’ Destroys A Piece She Doesn’t Like At A Mexico City Art Fair
The critic, Avelina Lésper, shattered the installation by Mexican artist Gabriel Rico with an empty soda can. – The Guardian (UK) (AP)
This May Be The Best Time To Go To The Movies On The Big Screen
Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly Theatre, which has regularly been selling out his Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood since last year, is but one of many arthouse cinemas being bought, refurbished, and revived by owners with singular visions. Netflix took out a longterm lease on New York’s Paris Theater and is in talks to buy LA’s 1922 Egyptian Theater. The artistic director for New York’s Metrograph, a new indie theater, says, “I’ve been going to the movies pretty much daily for about 25 years now, … and this is probably the best time I can remember.” – The New York Times
An Unsung Belgian Artistic Genius And His Atmospheric, Haunting Canvases
The Belgian artist Léon Spilliaert “is the great night bird of modern art. Restless, insomniac, and suffering from stomach ulcers from a very young age, he would rise in the small hours and walk the dead streets to the long promenade where Ostend meets the shore. His art is captivated by the unnerving solitude and silence. Image after image shows the empty seafront, the lone gaslights along the pier, the vertiginous steps dropping down to the wide blank sands, the black sea turning over and over.” Perfect for February, really. – The Observer (UK)
Media Outlets Calling Antonio Banderas A Person Of Color Are Upsetting People In Europe And The US
Banderas may be a Spanish speaker first, but the actor “is from Málaga, Spain, and does not identify as a person of color. There are nonwhite Spanish people, but this isn’t the case for him.” And whew. Media outlets lumping him in with Cynthia Erivo to give the Oscar acting nominees some diversity are not being accurate. (But many white Spaniards’ responses aren’t great either.) – NPR
Netflix Spent Many Millions Promoting Its Films And Got 24 Oscar Nominations – But Only Two Wins
Laura Dern won best supporting actress for her role in the Noah Baumbach Marriage Story, and Netflix also got an award for the Obamas-supported documentary American Family. “This is disappointing for Netflix, if the reportedly prodigious budget the company dedicated to its Oscars campaign—estimated to be at least $70 million—is anywhere close to what was actually spent.” Streaming does not win the day, again. – Slate
Mirella Freni, Matchless Italian Prima Donna, Has Died At 84
Freni had a “special claim on [the Italian] tradition, which valued bel canto principles of producing rich, unforced sound; of shaping even, lyrical lines across the range of a voice; and of sensitively matching sound to words.” – The New York Times
Historic Upset As Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Parasite’ Wins Four Major Awards, Including Best Picture
The Korean writer and director of the dark comedy and class parable Parasite wasn’t prepared to win best director, which he did, or for his film to win best picture, which it most certainly did. When he won best director, he said, “After winning best international feature, I thought I was done for the day and was ready to relax. … When I was young and studying cinema, there was a saying that I carved deep in my heart, which is that the most personal is the most creative. That quote is from our great Martin Scorsese.” (The other winners are also available at this link.) – Los Angeles Times