With his ill-considered jokes at Cannes about being a Nazi and admiring Hitler having led to a police interrogation, the controversial filmmaker has decided that his mouth gets him into so much trouble that he’ll (try to) keep it shut in public from now on.
Category: today’s top story
The Problems Of Choosing A Nobel Literature Laureate
Swedish Academy permanent secretary Peter Englund “talks about the difficulty of balancing literary quality and cultural significance, the Academy’s undercover translation project, the awkward lack of women laureates and whether Philip Roth will ever win the Nobel prize.”
Why We’re Failing At Big Innovation
“Today’s belief in ineluctable certainty is the true innovation-killer of our age. Any strategy that involves crossing a valley–accepting short-term losses to reach a higher hill in the distance–will soon be brought to a halt by the demands of a system that celebrates short-term gains and tolerates stagnation, but condemns anything else as failure. In short, a world where big stuff can never get done.”
Philadelphia Orchestra Tells Court It Will Shut Down Without Loan
“The Association has applied to U.S. Bankruptcy Court for permission to assume $3.1 million in debt to pay operating costs, including salaries and vendor bills. ‘Unless these expenses are paid, the Debtor will be forced to cease operations, which would likely result in irreparable harm …’ the Association states in papers filed Wednesday.”
Swiss Website Asks Theaters To Pay To Be Reviewed
TheaterKritik.ch “plans to fund itself by having smaller theatres take out subscriptions to be reviewed. But this won’t be a matter of buying a favourable opinion. Oh no. For their money, the subscribing theatre will get two professional critics attending, who will then record a podcast discussing the show’s merits or otherwise.”
Why Do The Literati Denigrate Business?
“The business of America may be business, but the business of American literature in the past century has been largely to insist that the nation is, in pursuing business, wasting itself on unworthy objects.”
The Movie Marketplace Is Being Reordered In Front Of Us
“Unless theater owners are prepared to call for the wrecking ball, filmgoing isn’t going away. And so a new order is emerging, one in which a mix of franchises, remakes and, yes, even retreads, could dominate.”
Why Paulo Coelho Gives His Novels Away Online
“I saw the first pirated edition of one of my books, so I said I’m going to post it online. … I put this first copy online and I sold, in the first year, 10,000 copies there. And in the second year it jumped to 100,000 copies. … Then I started putting other books online, knowing that if people read a little bit and they like it, they are going to buy the book.”
Cesaria Evora Abruptly Retires Due To Ill Health
The renowned Cape Verdean singer, who is now 70 and underwent open-heart surgery last year, and her manager “decided to end her career, and give up this wandering life that has taken her to the four corners of the world.”
American Folk Art Museum Saved (For Now)
“The quilts will live to see another day.” The long-troubled Manhattan museum “decided to continue operating at its current location at Lincoln Square in Manhattan with the help of financial infusions from trustees and the Ford Foundation.”