“Yes, Sundance has always reflected contemporary society, but the view is usually blurrier than people (especially reporters looking for trends) want to admit, or at least more outdated. Historically, because Sundance films have roughly had a gestation time of three to five years, chances were high that the cultural moment they were examining had already faded. That has now changed. Because of advances in digital moviemaking, a notable number of this year’s selections took less than a year and a half to come together.”
Tag: 01.17.12
Royalties Restored For 25-year-old Les Miz Recording
“Cast members from the 1985 production of Les Miserables will continue to receive royalties from the original London cast recording of the musical, after Equity settled a dispute which began when the payments were stopped.”
Steve Jobs On How To Revolutionize Education
“I used to think that technology could help education. I’ve probably spearheaded giving away more computer equipment to schools than anybody else on the planet. But I’ve had to come to the inevitable conclusion that the problem is not one that technology can hope to solve. What’s wrong with education cannot be fixed with technology. No amount of technology will make a dent.”
Why The Chinese Government Feels Threatened By Reality TV
“In the minds of Communist Party functionaries, these shows are corrupted irredeemably by their Western origins. A few shows, like Super Girls, have incorporated audience voting, a daring concept for a dictatorial state. Moreover, this “vulgar” programming has been growing so fast that it is crowding out more ideologically inspiring fare. But Beijing authorities put an end to that. Among other changes earlier this month, dating show Take Me Out was replaced by Ordinary Hero, which promotes socialist virtues.”
The M/F Of Book Reviews In The NYT
“In 2011, the Times reviewed 254 works of fiction. 104, or 40.9 percent, were by women, and 150, or 59.1 percent, were by men. Of the works of fiction that got two full reviews, 21 were by women, 22 were by men.”
Spider-Man Producers Countersue Julie Taymor
“The fight between Julie Taymor and the producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is getting uglier. On Tuesday, producers said they have filed a countersuit in federal court against the director, accusing her of failing to fulfill her contractual obligations on the Broadway musical.”
John Burnside Wins T.S. Eliot Prize After Two Competitors Quit
“The Scottish poet John Burnside has won the most controversial TS Eliot poetry prize in years, for a collection described as ‘haunting’, after two of the original shortlisted poets dropped out in protest over funding from the hedge fund Aurum.”
Strike At Comédie-Française Called Off
“Employees at the Comédie-Française have voted overwhelmingly today to return to work after threatening an indefinite strike over parity of pay and protests that technicians and junior performers receive a far lower share of profit-related bonuses than leading actors.”
Even In Death, J.D. Salinger Keeps Us Guessing
“The author, who was famous for demanding control over every detail of his work while living, is still in control. In a sense, J.D. Salinger has been able to cheat death because – in the continued absence of his unpublished manuscripts – he has managed to deny us the ability to measure the second half of his life and to determine his full impact upon literature.”
Film Criticism Was Born Exactly 100 Years Ago
WG Faulkner of the London Evening News, in the first regular film review column, on 17 January 1912: “The picture theatre has taken a firm place in the social enjoyment of the people. It is no longer a matter of wonder; it has become an everyday part of the national life.”