“The Walt Disney Company is blocking its Miramax division from distributing a new documentary by Michael Moore that harshly criticizes President Bush. A senior Disney executive elaborated that the company had the right to quash Miramax’s distribution of films if it deemed their distribution to be against the interests of the company. The executive said Mr. Moore’s film is deemed to be against Disney’s interests not because of the company’s business dealings with the government but because Disney caters to families of all political stripes and believes Mr. Moore’s film, which does not have a release date, could alienate many.”
Tag: 05.05.04
Altman’s Joffrey Film – Does It Translate In UK?
Robert Altman’s film about the Joffrey Ballet hits the UK. “There is nothing in the British scene that quite compares with Arpino, Joffrey, or the weirdly dated choreography that the company performs. But has Altman managed to paint a more universal portrait of ballet in which British dancers can recognise themselves?”
MoMA’s Modern Museum (For The Art)
While museums the world over have gone on a binge of commissioning trophy buildings by famous architects, the Museum of Modern Art is going with basic modernism (at $425 million). “A museum is not architecture, and it is not a collection. It is both. A museum, in other words, should not compete with its art. The midtown Modern, scheduled to open in late November after being closed for two and a half years, is 630,000 square feet of straight walls, floors and ceilings with no obtrusive columns or dead-end hallways. It is a building with a harmonic precision.”
Recording Companies To Pay $50 Million Royalty Settlement To Musicians
Recording companies have made a settlement with thousands of musicians to pay outstanding royalties. “The settlement, which amounted to nearly $50 million, was the result of a two-year investigation that found the world’s largest recording companies had failed to maintain contact with many artists and writers and had stopped making required payments to them.” The companies offered “an array of explanations like `we didn’t really pay close attention,’ and none were persuasive legally.”