2016: The Year American Cinema Was Saturated In Beauty, And American Reality Was Saturated In Ugliness

MEDIA Posted: December 28, 2016 8:02 am

“Something rare happened this year: the best American film releases – Moonlight, La La Land, and Arrival – were also the most beautiful.”

Just because: Jim Hall plays his “All Across the City”

Jim Hall and Larry Goldings play Hall’s “All Across the City”: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Just because: Jim Hall plays his “All Across the City” at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-10
Almanac: C.S. Lewis on the tragic nature of love

“Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.” C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves (courtesy of Brenda Becker) Continue reading Almanac: C.S. Lewis on the tragic nature of love at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-10
NY Times Department of Corrections—Hillary Clinton/Maureen Dowd Edition

The Twitterati collectively rubbed their eyes and raised their eyebrows yesterday when the NY Times‘ Opinion page tweeted a hoot that couldn’t be blamed on the social-media staff: The mistaken posting accurately reproduced an astonishing error that appeared online yesterday (Saturday) in an Op-Ed column by Maureen Dowd, and was... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2020-08-09
Five Things to Fix in the Arts

The shutdown has suspended usual rules, positions and behaviors, suggesting there may be opportunities to not just rethink but take action.... Read more

Source: diacritical | Douglas McLennan Published on: 2020-08-09
Moloko’s Burroughs-Gysin Lockdown Reading

A summer package for the avant garde: 'BRION GYSIN LET THE MICE IN' edited and with a foreword by Jan Herman and with an introduction by Douglas Field. "MINUTES TO GO Redux' edited and with an introduction by Oliver Harris. 'THE EXTERMINATOR Redux' edited and with an introduction by Oliver... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-08-09
Spinning Shakespeare topically

In today’s Wall Street Journal I review a PBS webcast of Kenny Leon’s 2019 Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing. Here’s an excerpt. * * * PBS continues to present plays and musicals on TV and streaming video that were originally telecast on its “Great Performances” anthology series—wonderful... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-07
Replay: Picasso at work in 1949

Pablo Picasso paints for the camera in 1949 in a scene from Visit to Picasso, directed by Paul Haesaert: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Replay: Picasso at work in 1949 at About Last... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-07
Almanac: G.K. Chesterton on puritanism

“A puritan is a person who pours righteous indignation into the wrong things.” G.K. Chesterton, interview, New York Times (November 21, 1930) Continue reading Almanac: G.K. Chesterton on puritanism at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-07
Salort-Pons’ Response: Detroit Institute’s Director Tussles with Anonymous Detractors

Showing a courage and candor that’s been in short supply among museum officials who are navigating the choppy waters of racial tensions, political unrest and economic difficulty, Salvador Salort-Pons, director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, has publicly engaged with the issues raised in a Change.org petition calling for his... Read more

Source: CultureGrrl Published on: 2020-08-06
Almanac: George Santayana on music

“Music is essentially useless, as life is.” George Santayana, The Life of Reason Continue reading Almanac: George Santayana on music at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-06
Snapshot: Duke Ellington performs “Afro-Bossa” in Baghdad

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra perform Ellington’s “Afro-Bossa” at a 1965 concert in Baghdad: (This is the latest in a series of arts- and history-related videos that appear in this space each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) Continue reading Snapshot: Duke Ellington performs “Afro-Bossa” in Baghdad at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-05
Almanac: Marcel Duchamp on the Manhattan skyline

“Its beauty comes from the fact that nothing you see was built before 1900.” Marcel Duchamp (quoted in Virgil Thomson, Virgil Thomson) Continue reading Almanac: Marcel Duchamp on the Manhattan skyline at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-05
Lookback: on various things I wish I could do and be

From 2004: I’m not funny, and wish I were. Witty, yes, sometimes, and I’m pretty good at making an audience laugh when lecturing (a situation in which the prevailing standards are admittedly fairly low). But plain old drop-dead funny? Absolutely not. The only time I ever brought down a house... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-04
Almanac: Virgil Thomson on artists and money

“I have never known an artist of any kind who didn’t do better work when he got properly paid for it.” Virgil Thomson, The State of Music Continue reading Almanac: Virgil Thomson on artists and money at About Last Night.... Read more

Source: About Last Night Published on: 2020-08-04
As If We Didn’t Have Enough Trouble

Last evening this is what showed up in our neck of the words. Luckily it did not touch down.... Read more

Source: Straight|Up Published on: 2020-08-03