Earlier this month, Manohla Dargis wrote: “Take a moment and consider whether flooding theaters with titles is good for movies and moviegoers alike.” Tim Wu counters: “Dargis is wrong: making lots of films to yield a few hits is not dangerous to independent film but exactly how independent film sustains itself – and ultimately how it improves Hollywood.”
Translating Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’
Even the iconic first sentence is tricky – the phrase English-speakers think of as “giant insect” – “ungeheueres Ungeziefer” – isn’t nearly so simple as that.
Meet the Mipsterz: Young Muslim Hipsters Are Now a Thing
“Yasmin Chebbi describes her style as edgy. She wears vibrant colors, mixes dresses with combat boots, and sports handmade jewelry. She cites her mother, a major Vogue enthusiast, as her greatest style inspiration, and loves making outfits out of pieces that wouldn’t conventionally match. She also wears a hijab.”
The Quick Guide to Mipsterhood
“We will leave NPR, The Daily Beast and others to examine the impact of this emerging trend on American society. What GlobalPost wants to know is, ‘how do we become Mipsterz?'” A photo and video guide. (Hint: Hijabs are really easy to accessorize.)
A New Wave in Pakistani Cinema
“After years of economic doldrums and creative drought, Pakistani movies are pulling in crowds at home and garnering awards at international film festivals. … Taking the power of storytelling into their own hands, Pakistani filmmakers are fashioning much-needed, nuanced portraits of their country – and cultivating a degree of national pride that hasn’t been felt for a long time.”
See Some Renderings Of Norman Foster’s Philly Comcast Tower
It’s tall and skinny and textured and very open and well-lit.
Crystal Bridges Buys Frank Lloyd Wright House to Move to Arkansas
As the flood plain in New Jersey seems to rise year after year, the existing owners of the house decided they had no more hope of saving the structure from water damage than King Canute.
The Most (and Least) Oscar-Bait-y Movies Ever, According to Science
“We all have a pretty good idea of what constitutes ‘Oscar bait,’ but a forthcoming paper in the American Sociological Review by UCLA professors Gabriel Rossman and Oliver Schilke attempts to define it mathematically.”
Tea and Sympathy With Pussy Riot and a Russian Orthodox Priest
Yes, really. He’s a missionary who thinks they should have been shown mercy rather than sent to a gulag.
Is Texting Killing Our Ability To Write Well?
The popularity of “textisms,” a research team led by Australian psychologist Nenagh Kemp writes in the journal New Media and Society, “has not undermined university students’ ability to write words using conventional spelling when appropriate.”
Amateurs With Metal Detectors Found 990 Historical Objects In The UK In 2013
The public reported more than 74,000 other historical items to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, which experts say has “revolutionised archaeology”.
Urban Versus Rural – Where Should Arts Money Be Spent?
“It’s generally accepted – for a host of artistic, historical and economic reasons – that London should indeed receive a greater share of funding. But the proportion of Arts Council money that gets spent outside of London has been falling for decades, even though the Government’s own surveys show that the average Londoner is no more likely to enjoy the arts than his country cousin.”
Norway Puts 135,000 Copyrighted Books Online (For Free) (And Pays Authors)
“More than 135,000 books still in copyright are going online for free in Norway after an innovative scheme by the National Library ensured that publishers and authors are paid for the project.”
Interest In Sundance Suggests Indie Film Surge
“The films on show at Sundance were chosen from a staggering 12,218 submitted to the selection committee for consideration, a figure that reflects the renewed confidence in a sector which had been hit hard by the global financial crisis in 2008.”
Martin Filler: MoMa Building Plans Are A Blunder
“Not since the vandalizing of Charles Follen McKim’s Pennsylvania Station half a century ago has New York City’s architectural patrimony been dealt such a low blow.”
Sarasota Ballet Keeps Director Iain Webb For Ten More Years
The former Royal Ballet star, who came to Sarasota in 2007, is credited with giving the small company in a smallish Florida city an international reputation.
This Ballerina Danced Through Her Entire Pregnancy
“The ballerina in question is Mary Helen Bowers of Ballet Beautiful, and the photos she took of herself striking stunning (and difficult) ballet poses while carrying her little baby girl have taken the Internet by storm.”
L.A. MOCA Names New Director
Philippe Vergne, director of the Dia Art Foundation in New York, replaces the controversial former art dealer Jeffrey Deitch, whose rocky tenure ended after three years of a five-year contract.
What It Really Means to Be ‘Kafkaesque’
Think about it: the word is hardly as clear as, say, “the ‘Proustian’ reminiscence, the ‘Dickensian’ slum, [or] the ‘Orwellian’ surveillance program.” Ben Marcus argues that Kafka’s parable “A Message From the Emperor” gives us the real essence of Kafkaesque-ness.
Chinese Women Are Mad for Sherlock Holmes Gay Fan Fiction
The ladies are writing and reading countless stories wherein the detective (specifically in the Benedict Cumberbatch incarnation) gets hot and heavy with Dr. Watson, Prof. Moriarty, and even brother Mycroft. (Wait till you see what the Chinese call them.)
Meryl’s Right – Walt Disney Was a Bigot, Says Grandniece
Filmmaker and social activist Abigail Disney: “I LOVED what Meryl Streep said. I know he was a man of his times and I can forgive him, but Saving Mr Banks was a brazen attempt by the company to make a saint out of the man.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 01.15.14
A Fizzled Evening with Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal
Source: Fresh Pencil | Published on 2014-01-15
BlogBack: Chris Crosman on Saving Folk Art Museum’s Building
Source: CultureGrrl | Published on 2014-01-15
Come On The “Sexually Explicit” Tour
Source: Real Clear Arts | Published on 2014-01-15
Source: Engaging Matters | Published on 2014-01-15
Rescuing Wright: New Jersey’s Bachman Wilson House Moves to Crystal Bridges
Source: CultureGrrl | Published on 2014-01-15
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The Minnesota Orchestra Lockout Is Over. But The Damage…
“The lockout may officially be over, and terms of the contract may be agreed on. But it will be at least months, perhaps years, before we’ll know if the damage done can be repaired.”
Young Dancer Dies In Freak Rehearsal Accident In Chicago
“A 22-year-old dancer who studied his craft in three countries died in what authorities determined Tuesday was an accident when a steel acrobatic ring hit him on the head during a rehearsal on the Northwest Side.”
The Net Neutrality Ruling Is Bad. But Maybe It’ll Force The FCC To Stand Up
“Imagine if, years ago, MySpace or AltaVista had cut deals with cable companies to block Facebook and Google. Without network neutrality, telecom and cable companies could also stifle free expression. They’d have the legal right to block articles like this one.”