“As album sales continue to decline, gadgets and games may help ensure the survival of the music business. Indeed, the most tech-savvy bands are already recording songs for distribution exclusively through new channels opened up by the iPhone, the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.”
Author: sbergman
Giving The Next Generation Of Filmmakers A Platform
The Victoria Film Festival may not be Canada’s biggest or most prestigious gathering of movie types, but it’s looking to make a name for itself as the springboard for up-and-coming Canadian filmmakers. At this year’s fest, 20 young directors will get the chance not only to have their work screened, but to speak directly about their ideas to an influential audience.
Two Nazi-Looted Works Return Home
“Two paintings belonging to the late Montreal art dealer Max Stern that were stolen by the Nazis just before the start of the Second World War were returned yesterday to his estate at a ceremony in Berlin… Yesterday’s restitution is the latest victory in a continuing attempt by the Max Stern Art Restitution Project, started in 2002 at Montreal’s Concordia University, to locate and claim more than 400 artworks that once belonged to Mr. Stern or his family.”
Getty Scores A Flemish Masterpiece
“The Getty today announced it has acquired — for the proverbial undisclosed sum — the 1617 ‘Wilderness With the Temptation of St. Anthony’ by Flemish master Roelandt Savery (1576-1639)… The acquisition has taken nearly two years to complete.”
Historic Philly Libraries Searching For A Lifeline
Facing a historic budget crisis, Philadelphia’s new mayor “has proposed closing 11 branch libraries, including four of the original… branch libraries built at the behest of philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in the early 20th century.” Local preservationists are scrambling to get the Carnegie branches designated as historic in an effort to keep them open.
The Delicate Business Of Casting Black Leads
Lisa DeMoraes thinks it’s absurd to assume that the election of Barack Obama will cause Hollywood to start putting more black actors in leading roles. But she sees a glimmer of hope in CBS’s decision to elevate Laurence Fishburne to the lead in one of its signature dramas. “The bad news about the TV industry is that it assumes a failure is an indictment of the idea, when it’s usually just an indictment of the show.”
Broadway Character Actor Robert Prosky, 77
“Robert Prosky, a craggy-faced, heavyset character actor who after 23 years in regional theater became a familiar face on Broadway, in movies and on television, notably as a gruff desk sergeant in the later years of ‘Hill Street Blues,’ died on Monday in Washington.”
Bringing Jewish Music Into The Hard-Rocking Present
“Mazel Tov, Mis Amigos”? It may sound like something a sketch comedy team would come up with, but there seems to be “an informal scene of performers and music aficionados who hope to introduce [the] category of Jewish music 2.0 — built from folk tunes and religious chants, and upgraded with modern-day beats and instruments — to a wider audience.”
Belafonte Cancels MLK Auction After Estate Objects
“On the eve of a planned Sotheby’s auction of three documents related to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Belafonte, the singer and a friend of Dr. King who owned the papers, withdrew the items for sale… After news reports early this week about the auction the King estate released a statement condemning the sale and saying that it believed the documents had been ‘wrongly acquired’ by Mr. Belafonte.”
Golden Globe Noms Announced
Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are up for best dramatic film honors, and Heath Ledger received his expected posthumous nomination for his turn as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Sean Penn is up for best film actor, and best TV actress nominees include veterans Tony Shalhoub and Mariska Hargitay, and TV newbie Anna Paquin.