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Why Are Readers And Moviegoers So Obsessed With Stories Set In British Country Houses?

"These novels, films and TV shows set on grand estates strike us differently when most people can’t buy a flat. ... More than that, the Arcadian English ideal simply cannot survive when we discover slavery in the deeds.” And yet. - The Guardian (UK)

To Write A Truly Great Fake Pop Song, You Need Real Songwriters

AI isn’t going to cut it, say the songwriters for the show Girls5Eva. "Though the tunes are ostensibly satirical versions of pop songs, there is no questioning that they are true bops in and of themselves” - and they’re written fast, because TV writing and filming is speedy. - Time

Ceramics Artist Toshiko Takaezu Is Getting Attention Now, But Only After Her Death

One curator said, "This surging interest and recognition is in large part because of the incredible force of Takaezu’s extended network so deeply committed to her and her legacy,” and another said, "She knew she was ahead of her time.” Now her time seems to have arrived. - The New York Times

Will Bradley Cooper Ever Win An Oscar?

Maybe? Some suggestions for him - plus other one-week-later musings, including blaming a former Secretary of State for Barbie’s losses. - Vulture

The Hollywood Strikes Slowed New Content, So AMC Turns To Horror

In a year where new content is trickling in, the cinema chain has turned to Blumhouse’s seemingly limitless horror library. Like A24’s “Lovers’ Series” in February, this one has some marketing power behind its (inaccurately titled) “Halfway to Halloween” push. - The New York Times

London’s Biggest EuroVision Screening Party Cancels To Protest Israel’s Participation In The Contest

Rio Cinema said, "With own slogan in mind, we hope that we can all be United By Music again soon. We will continue to organize fundraising events for the charities we support, including Doctors Without Borders and Medical Aid for Palestine." - Variety

Climate Protesters Interrupt Broadway Play

The play: Enemy of the People. The protesters: Shouting “No theatre on a dead planet.” The actor: Jeremy Strong, who stayed in character. - The New York Times

Ryuichi Sakamoto’s Last Performance

"Shot in just over a week in September 2022, Opus is a spare and intimate film. In stark black and white, the concert is just a man performing behind a grand piano. Off camera, though, there was a crew of over thirty people." - The Verge

How Did Thomas Ades Step Into The Classical Canon?

It’s not easy for contemporary composers, and Adès’s The Exterminating Angel is an expensive opera in a world that isn’t even supportive of classic, already successful operas. But a new production in Paris shows that its composer may now be firmly fixed in the canon. - The New York Times

Shigeshi Negishi, Inventor Of Karaoke, Dies At 100

Negishi “was in his 40s when he came up with the idea of prototyping a mass-produced, coin-operated karaoke machine, branded 'Sparko Box,' after a colleague at the consumer electronics assembly business he ran in Tokyo criticized his singing." - NPR

Pasadena Playhouse’s First Latinx Commission In Its History

The playwright is Hollywood showrunner Gloria Calderón Kellett (One Day at a Time, With Love). She says, "Latinos are 20% of the United States population, and still only 5% , and I can’t even imagine what the numbers are for theatre.” - MSN (Los Angeles Times)

The London Book Fair Map Shows Power’s Relationship To Geography

"Everything radiated outward from this central core across two carpeted floors, in diminishing order of importance: the slightly smaller publishing houses, then the ones whose best years are behind them, then the niche ones, then the flatly obscure." - The New York Times

As The Vancouver Fringe Fest Turns 40, It’s Searching For Help

Rising costs and a commitment to paying artists better, organizers say, are leaving the vital theatre festival in the red. And, they say, it’s not just Vancouver - theatre fests across the country need infusions of cash to survive. - CBC

After His Oscar, The Question Remains: Will Miyazaki Retire?

Hayao Miyazaki was the oldest person ever nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature - and then, in a surprise moment (Spider-Man: Into the Multiverse was tipped to win), the oldest to win. Now, “rumours are swirling that he will return to work yet again." - The Guardian (UK)

An Irish American Silent Film Was Pulled For Its Stereotypical Depictions

Then what happened to The Callahans and the Murphys? "Released in June 1927, the comedy initially received encouraging reviews.” Then things got ugly, and fast. - The New York Times

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