“The FCC’s lax oversight of the terrestrial radio industry may have contributed to the death of a listener who drank almost two gallons of water to win a video game console, critics say.”
Tag: 01.25.07
Fantasy Skyline (But It’s Real)
Dubai is building some of the largest, most fantastical buildings on earth. The city’s new skyline is like a fantasy model.
ABBA Dabba Doo! Reich, Rollins Win Polar Prize
Steve Reich and Sonny Rollins win this year’s Polar Music award. “The Polar Music Prize is an international music prize and awarded to individuals, groups or institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music. The prize breaks down musical boundaries by bringing together people from all the different worlds of music.” It was set up and funded by the former manager of the band ABBA.
You Can’t Please Everyone
When Washington, D.C. public radio station WETA decided to switch its format back to classical music (after two years as an all-news station,) classical fans rejoiced, but not everyone was happy. The station faced severe opposition from longtime listeners when it dumped classical music, but plenty of listeners liked the news-talk format as well, and they claim that WETA deceived them.
Sundance Spending Spree Sparks Skepticism
This year’s Sundance Festival has been a contradictory mix of low hype and huge sales. “A festival that was generally expected to be too dark and uncommercial for a breakout hit has turned into a buying spree. One reason is this week’s announcement that Little Miss Sunshine has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including best picture.” But reproducing that movie’s commercial success is hardly as easy as throwing wads of cash around Utah, and many wonder if the studios really have any idea what they’re buying.
Parental Guidance Suggested
Everyone, it seems, likes to bash the MPAA for its inconsistent and (some feel) out of date film ratings system. But what about reserving some outrage for the thousands of parents who apparently have no problem toting their young children along to see a movie chock full of horrific violence and themes far too adult for them to understand? The MPAA is considering a special advisory for the clueless.
The Kids Are Not Even Remotely All Right
Film critics have been rushing to debunk the controversy over the “rape” of child star Dakota Fanning in a new film screening at Sundance this week. But while Fanning may not have been in harm’s way when the film was made, there’s no question that this year’s crop of Sundance features is chock full of kids in horrible (if fictionalized) situations.
What Is Art? What Is Truth? Answer The Question!
A documentary focusing on a prodigiously gifted 4-year-old painter whose work has been called into question by journalists who believe her father helped her create her art is screening at Sundance, and it delves deeply (and disturbingly) into issues of both artistic and journalistic ethics. “The documentary gradually became a meditation on truth instead, one that manages to explore and sometimes indict the motives of all the adults who have swirled around Marla.”
Stolen Italian Marbles Recovered
“The Italian government said yesterday that police investigators had tracked down a rare group of first century B.C. marble panels that had been illegally excavated and offered to museums and private collectors. The 12 panels depict gladiators in combat and were found about two weeks ago in the garden of a private home 25 miles north of Rome.”
NY To ‘Depoliticize’ Arts Funding
New York City is changing the way it funds the arts, increasing overall funding but making grants merit-based and subject to a peer-review process. City funding will also be consolidated within the Department of Cultural Affairs, rather than being spread out among several departments. “The hope is that arts groups will find it less necessary to appeal to their council representatives for small amounts of financing.”