Recent Disney films like the animated “Strange World,” with its gay teenage protagonist, have become cultural flash points. But “Pocahontas” prompted a full-blown fracas. - The New York Times
Born the year after Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, Panaíbra Canda, 47, has used his art to offer searing critiques of his nation’s evolution through the independence struggle, socialism, civil war, democracy and corruption. He also has taken aim at Western domination and jaded perceptions of Africa. - The New York Times
You know what watching a movie felt like to my easily-distracted hamster brain? It felt like an accomplishment. It felt smart. It felt like a spa day for my skull. It felt like…finishing a book. - The Wall Street Journal
It seems odd to think that in a year with two massive strikes and 20 fewer movies released than in 2019, the industry might be looking profitable. But the "scheduling" of Christmas and New Year's has theatre owners stressed. - Variety
Amazon certainly doesn't seem to want to solve the issue by, say, verifying review writers. Now it's asking Goodreads users, along with a team of volunteers, to solve the one-star slams that can destroy writers' careers. - NPR
Van Gogh wasn't cooking with onions, the British Museum wasn't keeping good track of its items, and then, you know, Michelangelo's David wasn't actually pornographic. (And so, so much more.) - Hyperallergic
Who could have predicted that on Netflix, Ginny & Georgia's numbers would be so far ahead of The Witcher - or The Crown? (Anyone who remembers the Nielsens from the first age of Prestige TV, of course.) - The Verge
"More art than ever leans on the trust and authenticity of journalism, so it’s good for performers to think about the peculiar bargain they have struck with their audience and how to navigate it." - The New York Times
"If you want to know who someone truly is—what they eat, what books they read, what movies they watch, or how furious they get inside their own minds—you should probably check their Notes app." - Wired
Disney turned 100 in 2023 (as you've no doubt heard ad nauseam). Its founder's "legacy was the production of a modern shared language, a set of reference points instantly recognizable to almost everyone, and an encouragement to dream out loud about a utopian future." - The New York Times
The California "Civil Rights Department sued the Santa Monica-based Call of Duty maker in 2021, alleging that women at the company were regularly subjected to sexual harassment, paid less, denied promotions and met with retaliation." - Los Angeles Times
Hunt was the first Black artist with a solo retrospective at New York's MoMA, and he "recently completed a model for a monument to Till that is to be installed at the childhood home of the civil rights icon." - Chicago Sun-Times
At the Alley Theatre in Houston, "when the PPP money was announced, which was just within about a couple of weeks of laying everybody off, we realized that we could bring everybody back and pay them for their time off. And we did that." - NPR
If a production "fails to hire a stylist who can do the job in-house, the actor must be reimbursed for paying qualified personnel for preapproved hair or makeup services, as well as for time getting their hair styled outside of regular work hours." - Washington Post
