Anthony Hopkins Has Another Career: Painter

“In recent years, the 72-year-old actor has become something of a renaissance man: in 2007 he wrote, directed and scripted a film called Slipstream. Last year, his composition The Masque of Time was given its world premiere by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Now there’s the painting … ranging from traditional landscapes to much darker and more garish images.”

Try As They Might, Critics Don’t Review In A Vacuum

“As soon as you open the press release, you’re forming a view; open the programme and you’ll find a piece by the director. Resistance can start to feel futile. Then there’s the audience: sometimes, particularly on a West End first night, those in the auditorium seem to have been paid to persuade everyone present what a great night we’re all having.”

Canada’s Arts Publications Imperiled By New Funding Rules

Almost all “small publications with a total annual paid circulation of 5,000 copies or less are ineligible” for assistance from the new Canada Periodical Fund, which replaces two longtime funding streams. “Most of the country’s literary, arts and scholarly periodicals … fall into the ‘small publications’ category,” and they will likely die.

The Mystery Of The Jane Austen Phenomenon

“While she didn’t quite invent the romantic comedy (Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ a clear inspiration for ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ can probably claim that honor), Austen surely conceived and perfected it in its modern form; no one has ever surpassed ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ and not due to any lack of trying. Still, literary achievement can hardly explain the Austen craze.”