“One of her close friends — a friend! — calls Elaine Stritch ‘a Molotov cocktail of madness, sincerity, and genius.’ And now she’s the subject of an up-close and sometimes glaringly personal new documentary.”
Being Elaine Stritch
How Brazilian Funk Left The Favellas And Moved Into The Mainstream
“Funk’s newfound popularity is fueled by listeners from a generation that has undergone the biggest class shift in Brazil’s history: tens of millions of people moving out of poverty to form a new middle class. If economic empowerment has given this new class a voice, funk has given many of its members something to sing.”
If You Offer Your Plays For Free, You Have To Keep On Opening Everything Up
“For Radical Hospitality to truly be a mission-based initiative, it can’t just be about giving our audiences free tickets, it’s also about providing our audience access to our space, to the artists, access to our process. So from those realizations we created a program called Free Speech.”
The Real Guy Behind The Dallas Buyers Club
“Sitting behind a desk. Always by himself. No ‘customers’ lined inside or outside the drab, low-slung office space in a row of buildings close to downtown Dallas. Just this little, well-groomed, cursing man who was shuffling papers, placing calls and working a calculator.”
Penguin (The Publisher) Is Not Amused By Artist’s Spoof
“It was a bit of a shock. I never really thought about copyright,” artist Miriam Elia said. “Artists just respond to the world in your little room and you’re not thinking about much else. You just think: ‘Oh, this will be great!’”
Music For The Hardest Days (No, It’s Not *Exactly* Therapy)
“Turning to music for comfort and solace is not a subject that is talked about much—not out loud, at any rate—in our community, even though it is a perfectly natural inclination, and something that many of us engage in regularly.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.02.14
What is a movie star worth?
AJBlog: For What it’s Worth | Published 2014-03-02
The Debate About Criticism Flares Again
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-03-02
Whose Audience?
AJBlog: We The Audience | Published 2014-03-02
Salzburg: Two festival directors convicted of fraud
AJBlog: Slipped Disc | Published 2014-03-02
How The Oscars Logistics Work
“How those envelopes end up in those briefcases, how the ballots are counted, how they get transported to the ceremony via not just one clandestine route but two different routes — it’s all part of a security system so impregnable, not even the NSA could hack it.”
Rufus Wainwright On Why The Opera Is More Spiritual Than Church
“I definitely feel there’s some force for good that’s been with me through life, and I think that comes from all the dead great composers.”
Yes, Mad Men, Black People Have Been In The Advertising Biz For A While Now
“In the ‘parallel universe’ of Mad Black Men, protagonist Ron Rapper gets a job in the Colored Marketing Department at Sterlin Copper.”
Does Going To College Create Yet More Inequality?
“Higher education is becoming a caste system, separate and unequal for students with different family incomes.”
Will The Visual Effects Picket At The Oscars Accomplish Anything?
“It all comes down to foreign tax incentives, says David S. Cohen, who covers the special effects beat for Variety. Cohen says California cannot compete with the lavish subsidies studios get from Canada, Australia, the UK and New Zealand. He says other places can offer about 10 percent to even more than 50 percent back on the labor costs for visual effects.”
Is Matthew McConaughey Going To Win An Oscar Because Of ‘True Detective’?
Were most Academy voters too afraid to see “12 Years A Slave”? And many, many other (disturbing) questions raised by these “brutally honest” ballots from Academy voters.
What Does The Explosion Of Pre-Academy Awards Do For (And To) Movies?
“An increasingly eclectic group is also capitalizing on the Oscar-season feeding frenzy, taking advantage of celebrities’ and filmmakers’ willingness to be seen just about anywhere, accepting virtually anything, in a bid to generate heat for the prize that really matters.”
Will The Oscars Honor Camera Assistant Killed On Film Set?
“The 27-year-old was killed last week and has inspired the ‘Slate for Sarah’ social media campaign where crew members post photos and comments with Jones’ name written on their film slates.”
Do The Oscars Mean Anything At All? [AUDIO]
Bob Mondello: “I don’t think they mean anything. And it drives me nuts they’re taken so seriously. Let me give you an example. In 1952, the picture that won best picture was ‘Greatest Show on Earth,’ the circus movie. ‘Singing in the Rain’ was not nominated. What kind of sense does that make?”
Here’s The New York Times’ Oscars Live Blog
It’s far from the only live blog, but here’s one option for “real-time fashion highlights, interviews from the red carpet and backstage, live commentary during the telecast, reviews of the night’s best and worst looks and star turns, video, photos, social media features and more.”
NY’s Frieze Art Fair In Talks With Labor Leaders
“The fair, which is set to return to Randall’s Island in May, has been criticised by artists and activist groups for employing non-union workers to build its sprawling tent and transport art.”
Are You Betting On The Oscars?
“‘It’s by far the biggest non-sports occasion for us,’ says Kevin Bradley, sports book manager for Bovada, a sports betting site licensed in Canada. Bradley puts his site’s Oscar wagering in the ‘healthy’ six-figure range, adding that a lot of money comes from Hollywood.”
How Can Amazon Ease The Pain Of A Prime Price Hike? Music.
“Amazon needs to figure out how to hold onto Prime members, its most valuable retail customers. Since keeping them happy is so vital, any additional Prime offerings can’t just be afterthoughts. If Amazon does music, it has to do it right.”
Amazon Can Bury Your Novel, Unless You Pay Up
“I don’t know if my publisher, Little, Brown, has given Amazon a white envelope thick with green bills, but in recent weeks my novel has distanced itself from Sweet Valley High (‘What do you mean you broke up with Scott!’). Now, whenever you search for the book, you’ll find its company more appropriate.”
You Know What Makes More Money Than Google? Television
“On a profit-per-employee basis, 21st Century Fox (annual net income: $7.1b) is even richer than Google ($12.9b), according to calculations by BuzzFeed business editor Peter Lauria. That’s pretty astonishing.”
Writing A Bestselling, Super-Famous Book At Age 18 Might Not Be The Best Thing For You
“Instead of leaving for Chile with a band of gangsters, one stays in Paris and writes a novel. That seems to me a great adventure.”
Hello, Paradise: The Godfather Showing In Royal Albert Hall With A Live Orchestra
“There is little film music as instantly recognizable as Nino Rota’s opening music played on trumpet, and only a handful of films as masterfully made as The Godfather.”
Sure, The Book Was Better – But Is That Always True About Stage Adaptations?
“Text is only a very small part of the experience, unlike the stage adaptations of old, which were often merely an attempt to provide a substitute for the novel.”
Adapting Regular Books To The Stage Is Hard Enough, But Many Playwrights Are Afraid Of Virginia Woolf
“Most successful Woolf adaptations play fast and loose with their own medium.”
Helen Mirren Isn’t Having Any Of Your Excuses For Hollywood’s Gender Gap(s)
“‘Shut up,’ said Helen Mirren, ”cause Mama’s in the house. That includes all you guys over there near the bar.’”
Beyoncé Is The Gateway Drug To Literature (Yes, Really)
On her recent self-titled surprise album, the queen of pop music references novelist Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie – and that sets off a chain reaction of knowledge.
What We Can Learn From How Teenagers Use Social Media And The Internet
“Context is everything.” (And we perform different selves in different contexts – but the internet collapses them into one.)
How The Short Film (An Oscars Fave) About Pianist And Holocaust Survivor Alice Herz-Sommer Got Made
“‘I definitely see a Holocaust fatigue,’ [director Malcolm] Clarke said. ‘Initially, I actually didn’t want to make this film. I thought enough had been said on the topic.”