A new study of movie critics and reviews tries to find some common behaviors. “It finds that many film critics, faced with far too many movies to write about, tend to avoid writing reviews of bad films that they’ve seen. At the same time, a few critics, faced with the same overwhelming choice, tend to avoid reviewing good movies that they’ve watched.”
Tag: 02.22.06
Thinking You Can Dance
Dance shows are big in the TV ratings. So You Think You Can Dance is a competition that “puts dancers through a 12-week competition/boot camp to master everything from ballroom to hip hop. The winner gets a New York apartment and enough cash to live their dream.”
Summers Forced Out Of Harvard – What Does It Mean?
What does Harvard president Larry Summers’ resignation mean? “Some look at him and see a textbook example of why trustees need to pay attention to what professors think. Others think he’s a textbook example that faculty members have too much say in what goes on at their campuses. Some think his biggest legacy in higher education will be unprecedented national discussion of women in science — an issue on which he didn’t intend to set off a public debate. Others think the collapse of his presidency may scare boards from hiring presidents who want to speak out on any controversial issues.”
The Pope – Copyrighted
The vatican wants publishers to pay royalties on the Pope’s writing. “The demand by the Vatican to respect copyright on the pontiff’s writings and pay for their use has triggered hot debate: Should an institution which exists to spread the word of God be putting a price on papal writ? Unthinkable, say some authors. Not so, counters the Vatican; the authors are being paid for their efforts, so why not the church?”
Summers Quits Harvard
The controversial president of Harvard University has resigned under pressure, bringing to an end a stormy 5-year tenure. Lawrence Summers drew the ire of many Harvard faculty and alumni during his time at the helm, but many students were disappointed to hear of his departure.
Bold, Brash, Blunt: The Summers Legacy
“When the Harvard Corporation chose [Lawrence] Summers to lead Harvard in 2001, there was a sense among its members that the nation’s most prestigious university had become complacent. Summers was brought in to shake things up, and he didn’t disappoint.” His record on fund-raising (one of a university president’s most important duties) was less than stellar, and yet, his big plans and blunt leadership style endeared him to many outside the institution, who saw in Summers a populist dedicated to bringing the famously elite school into the larger Boston community.
Domingo Reups In LA
Plácido Domingo, the superstar tenor who helped found Los Angeles Opera and has led it as general director since 2003, has renewed his contract with the company for an additional five years, through 2011. At the same time, the company announced Tuesday, artistic director Edgar Baitzel has been promoted to chief operating officer, and two new executives are coming on board… Although Domingo’s re-upping is no surprise, it underscores his pivotal role at Los Angeles Opera.”
…And DC, Too (but shhh! it’s a secret)
Washington National Opera will announce next week that they, too, have inked General Director Placido Domingo to a five-year contract extension, running through the 2010-11 season. The company had promised execs at LA Opera that they wouldn’t trample on the California story with a simultaneous announcement of their own, but leaks are apparently a whole different story.
Paging Dr. Junkie
Medical shows have always been a hit with TV viewers, but doctors are concerned that the latest wave of edgy hospital dramas are misleading viewers, and possibly giving the impression that prescription drugs are something to be played around with…
Gives Whole New Meaning To “Cult Hit”
As documentaries go, What The #$*! Do We Know? was an unlikely hit when it was released in 2005. Dealing in quantum physics, philosophy, and more than a little bit of new-age mumbo-jumbo, the film straddled the line between science and religion just carefully enough to make it the fourth-highest grossing documentary of all time. What most viewers never knew was that What The #$*!… had its roots in a bizarre sect whose followers believe that a 35,000-year-old “spirit warrior” from Atlantis appeared in the kitchen of a Tacoma housewife in 1976.