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The Artistic Costs Of Censoring In Movies

Artful jump cuts can illuminate all kinds of interesting associations between images. Bad ones just create bumps in logic; they’re disorienting in a way that suggests external, self-interested forces at play. - The New York Times

How ‘In Cold Blood’ Destroyed Truman Capote

"Overnight, Capote catapulted from a mere darling of the literary world to a full-fledged global celebrity on a par with the likes of rockstars and film legends. The success was all encompassing, but the cost would prove greater than even Capote had realized." - LitHub

Shedding New Light On The Troubles

"A quarter of a century after the Good Friday agreement drew a line under the Troubles, a documentary series has scraped away the familiar narratives and rote explanations and propaganda to show what it was really like for those who lived it." - The Observer (UK)

Theatres Are Now Trying To Tempt New Audiences With Virtual Reality

"To watch a show the customer has to insert their phone into the VR device. Once the phone is place, the users strap the box, effectively a pair of cardboard goggles, around their head and plug in their own headphones. The app then streams a recorded performance." - BBC

How Tracy Chapman Made Country Music History

"More than three decades after Chapman’s 'Fast Car' dropped, ... drove to the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart" as a Luke Combs cover, making Chapman the first Black woman with a sole songwriting credit on a number one country hit. - Los Angeles Times

Half Of Britain’s Empire Cinema Chain Shutter, With 150 Jobs Lost And Cities Losing Their Main Cinemas

"Staff apparently turned up for work at branches on Friday to find notes on windows explaining they were closing down." This leaves Sunderland (yes, the town of Roy Kent's first team) and Wigan suddenly without large cinemas. - BBC

How Do You Invent A Language That Half A Million People Want To Learn On Duolingo?

"You learn to say 'The woman is sweating' before that most basic greeting, 'Hello.' An incongruously cheerful cartoon asks you to translate 'All men must die, goodbye.' And, of course: 'Ñuhyz zaldrīzesse gevī issi.' ('My dragons are beautiful!')." - The Guardian (UK)

A Library Book Comes Back 119 Years Late

Good thing fines are mostly a thing of the past, eh? "This came back in extremely good condition. ... Someone obviously kept this on a nice bookshelf because it was in such good shape and probably got passed down in the family." - NPR (AP)

The Repurposed Burlap Coffee Bags Of Henry V

The set designer for the production at the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival: "It just immediately added a layer that I don't think we would have achieved if we had to fake it out of totally brand new bolts of fabric from the store." - CBC

A Thumbs-Up Emoji Can Be A Contract, Court Says

"The ruling shows how ingrained emojis are in modern culture, also that so much of our daily communication happens via text. The playful symbols and faces are an accepted way of expressing emotion, but they’re also used so commonly, they even show up regularly in straightforward business deals." - Fast Company

The Set Used For The Banshees Of Inisherin Is Now A Real Pub, Open For Business

"The film set pub lay for a year-and-a-half in a yard on Achill Island - and when Luke offered to buy it from his brother-in-law, he was told he could have it for nothing. ... He already had a pub licence - ideal." - BBC

Minnie Bruce Pratt, Poet And Activist, Dead At 76

Pratt, originally from Alabama, "moved between the worlds of literature, scholarship and activism over nearly five decades as the LGBTQ+ community achieved gains such as legalization of same-sex marriage and greater recognition of trans and nonbinary identities. But Ms. Pratt rarely adopted a celebratory tone." - Washington Post

Netflix Gets Deeper Into Europe With Deal In Germany

The deal gives the streamer access to upcoming films "involving Jella Haase, Peter Saarsgard, Ben Chaplin, John Magaro, Leonie Benesch, Mads Mikkelsen, Vanessa Hudgens, and many others, Constantin Film announced." - Variety

A Trial May Determine Which Of Aretha Franklin’s Handwritten Wills Is Valid

Shall it be the will in the cupboard, or the will from the sofa cushions? "I think they all wish this had been settled a week after she passed away. ... But they’re not blaming anyone — it is what it is." - The New York Times

Puritanical British Transport Bans Theatre Ad Featuring Wedding Cake

Just what we need: More joyless, foolish bureaucrats quashing theatrical productions. "The interactive show is set at an Italian-American wedding, with a three-course meal, live music and dancing." - BBC

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