Stories

After A Series Of Spendy Movies That Got Meh Returns, Apple Rethinks Its Film Strategy

When its movies don’t do well, Apple’s psychology suffers. “Apple’s brand is quality, cutting-edge, sleek, refined, forward-looking, and so now you’re tarnishing that brand with what seems like an old-fashioned, not-relevant, not-part-of-the-zeitgeist slate.” - The New York Times

Less Painful Ballet Shoes Are Available, At Last

But some ballet dancers, or more likely companies, refuse to use them. Says one consultant, “The classical ballet world has a resistance to change that can be a huge obstacle.” - Wall Street Journal (MSN)

Rapping About Adverbs Made This Teacher Go Viral

“Under the name of his alter ego, MC Grammar, Mitchell has become a wildly popular performer whose rhymes have made reading and grammar all the rage among young people across Britain.” - The New York Times

Hollywood Is Missing Jobs Because Reality TV Shows, Too, Are Moving Overseas

“As streaming platforms and increasingly vast multinational companies seek to raise their global profile and take advantage of cheaper labor markets, runaway production has become a growing threat to U.S. workers.” - Los Angeles Times

Ted Lasso May Get Its Fourth Season After All

At least, “the studio picked up the options on three main cast members represented by U.K. performers union Equity: Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca Walton), Jeremy Swift (Leslie Higgins) and Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent).” Now for the U.S. actors - and maybe the Richmond women’s team? - Los Angeles Times

Is This Ancient Stone Carving In Turkey The World’s Oldest Calendar?

“Sweatman believes illustrations of snakes coming out of the bodies of birds and foxes on the pillars represent a meteor shower.” - Hyperallergic

Laguna Beach’s Legendary Pageant Of The Masters Is About So Much More Than Arrested Development

Art, theatre, spectacle: "As we watched life-sized replicas of Alfred Hitchcock movie posters, and actors recreating a scene from The Birds, the narrator invoked this quote from Head: 'What a costume designer does is a cross between magic and camouflage.’” - LAist

In Mexico City, Women Feature Behind And On Stage

“At Hera, women were not only performing on stage but working behind the scenes as producers, engineers and more. It’s something Itzel González, festival promoter, and Ximena Sariñana, Mexican singer-songwriter, co-creator and director of the Hera committee wanted to highlight with the event.” - Seattle Times (AP)

Why We Love A Movie Star In A White T-Shirt

“As a costume designer, I see the white T-shirt as the ultimate blank canvas. I’ve cut up white tees to define a character’s unique style; I’ve used their simplicity to accentuate the silhouette of a suit. … Will I find a way to create an iconic moment?” - The New York Times

Congrats, Your Film Has Been Accepted To The Venice Film Festival

Now all you have to do is that little detail of finishing the film before its festival premiere. “It’s all a normal part of the process when postproduction and festival calendars overlap” - normal, but intensely stressful. - The New York Times

Alert, That Victorian-Era Book You’re Holding May Be Poisoning You

Wait, don’t lick that bright green cover - which probably contains arsenic. “Since the project launched five years ago, Tedone's team has cataloged more than 300 books containing the pigment, a figure that's likely just a drop in the ink pot.” - NPR

Wooing Young Festival-Goers With A TikTok Stage

More than TikTok, the stage at the Reading Festival in Britain celebrates podcast stars, YouTube stars, and more. One 20-something: “Everybody watches TikTok … so to then actually see some people, and to take a break from live music - it's great times.” - BBC

The Dangers In Making A Subversive Movie In Saudi Arabia

“Saudi Arabian director Ali Kalthami was born in 1983, the year the country’s cinemas were shut down. Growing up a committed cinephile and guerrilla film-maker, he was on tenterhooks, waiting for the ban to be lifted. But when it finally happened, in 2018, he was daunted.” - The Guardian (UK)

What Emmy-Nominated Actor Anna Sawai Gained From Being In Season One Of Shogun

Sawai says that while filming, “I didn’t understand the intensity of what I was mentally going through, and how much it had affected me, but it speaks volumes now. I want to approach all my projects the way I approach Mariko.” Alert: Spoilers in the article. - The New York Times

Surrendering To The Surprises Of The Criterion Channel’s New Live Stream

“The summer setting is a great vibe for my viewing experiment. The plot plays out slowly, and the warm setting is calming. Of course, it’s intercut with family members hitting each other and screaming, ‘Calm down! You want a cigarette?’ Like I said, ‘Frenchness.’” - Washington Post

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