“Why should ‘harmful’ art be absolutely free from government restriction under the Constitution? There are two basic reasons.”
Tag: 01.05.10
Reappraising Eero Saarinen
Ada Louise Huxtable: Saarinen’s “dramatic departures from the conventions of modernism caused considerable unease among his peers; they acknowledged his talents but were uncomfortable with his buildings, while critics tempered their misgivings with carefully qualified praise. (Full disclosure: I was among them.)”
Mammoth Competitor Points Shoppers To Indie Bookstore
After the Tesco across the street from a bookshop started selling titles at a hefty discount, the shop’s manager outlined its plight to the chain’s chief executive. Now the supermarket “has three signs in its books section advising customers that a wider range of titles are available across the road … where specialist booksellers are also on hand to advise.”
Why Conservatives Hate Avatar
“[T]he film offers a blatantly pro-environmental message; it portrays U.S. military contractors in a decidedly negative light; and it clearly evokes the can’t-we-all-get along vibe of the 1960s counterculture.” Right-wing logic holds that this is at odds with mainstream America, “and yet the film has been wholeheartedly embraced by audiences everywhere, from Mississippi to Manhattan.”
Elvis Presley’s Film Oeuvre, Reconsidered
“[W]ithin his body of often-dismissed films there is a submerged narrative of unrealized potential and unexplored talent. Amid the flotsam are films with talented directors and actors in which Presley showed glimpses of startling sincerity and emotion, a true actor in the making.”
Katherine Paterson To Be Named Ambassador Of Kid Lit
As national ambassador for young people’s literature, the Newbery Medal-winning author of “Bridge to Terabithia” “will travel the country to speak to children, parents, teachers and librarians. The main advice she’ll be giving adults: Read aloud to your children.”