As horror films become ever more violent and gruesome, the PR reps whose job it is to get us to the cinema to watch people being tortured have developed an almost amusing strategy. Rather than shying away from controversy and claiming the high ground, studios and promoters do whatever they can think of to upset a few easily offended people and use the supposed outrage to promote the gorefest as some sort of oddly subversive experience. In fact, scandal has become such a reliable predictor of financial success that in Hollywood, “controversy is cultivated more often than it occurs naturally.”
Tag: 01.14.06
That Same Old Orchestra Sound
Critics have long complained about a supposed “homogenization” of orchestral sound, an abandonment of the distinct traditions that used to characterize each city’s unique orchestra. Some of the griping is overblown, but some stereotypes are rooted in truth. “North American orchestras still tend to show off their wind soloists at the expense of ensemble sound, a situation made more obvious by the players’ polyglot origins and training… Orchestras used to have a much more localized identity, which helped give them a more individual personality.” Of course, the nationalization of the audition process has also resulted in a surfeit of great orchestras, where many of the “distinctive” ensembles of the past used to be quite mediocre due to a lack of top-notch musicians outside the major urban centers.
The Mozart Obsession
Mozart could certainly be said to be overexposed, especially in central Europe, where his visage graces everything from concert programs to chocolate wrappers. Many of his most famous compositions long ago entered the dreaded realm of Muzak, and the film adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus didn’t exactly paint a flattering portrait. And yet, somehow, Mozart’s life and music continue to captivate audiences and musicians in an almost completely unique way.
Merger In Pittsburgh
Two struggling Pittsburgh film organizations are merging operations in order to streamline operations and retire debt. “In August 2004, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts had a debt of more than $1 million, and the center’s board closed the facility and laid off 13 staff members. A month later, Pittsburgh Filmmakers agreed to lend its executive director, Charlie Humphrey, to the center, and he has divided his time between the organizations since then… The two organizations will merge their budgets as of July 1, with a combined preliminary budget of $3.4 million.”
NYC Ballet’s Bright Future Arrives
Bright Sheng might not be the first person a ballet company would think of when contemplating the creation of a composer’s residency. (He’s never written a ballet score, or expressed any interest in doing so.) On the other hand, New York City Ballet is hardly the first arts organization you might assume would be in a position to strike a major, multi-year deal with one of the preeminent composers of the era. (Ballet companies are not exactly rolling in money these days.) But Sheng is enthusiastically embracing his newest task, commuting to New York from his home in Michigan nearly every week, and getting involved in fundraising and education as well as the artistic side of the organization.
Hecht Speaks Out As Prosecution Continues To Lay Out Its Case
Art dealer Robert Hecht, accused of illegally trafficking in stolen art, is firing back at prosecutors in his trial in Rome, saying that he is being made a scapegoat for the crimes of others. “Mr. Hecht, 86, spoke during a recess in a long trial hearing. Inside the courtroom, a Rome prosecutor, Paolo Ferri, continued to build his case, detailing a web of connections among dealers who he said traded in freshly dug-up artifacts by routing them through Switzerland or prominent auction houses and into the collections of museums and private individuals.” Hecht and Getty Museum curator Marion True are both being prosecuted in the case.
Donor Forces Met To Cancel Sculpture Auction
“Acceding to a request from an angry donor, the Metropolitan Museum of Art [has] canceled plans to sell a large steel sculpture by the Spanish artist Eduardo Chillida – the only work in its collection by that artist… The sculpture was donated to the Met in 1986 by Frank Ribelin, a Dallas collector. Mr. Ribelin contacted The New York Times on Thursday to complain that the Met had never informed him of the planned sale and that he had learned of it only after a friend pointed it out to him at Sotheby’s Web site.”
Canadians Going All-American
Canadians take great pride in their national artists, actors, and authors, and go to great lengths to avoid being swamped by the tidal wave of American culture looming just to the south. But increasingly, Canadian readers seem to be going off the national script, buying and reading far more American titles than Canadian. Moreover, bestseller lists that have long placed Canadian titles in the top tier are now known to have somewhat suspect data-gathering operations.
Frey’s Lies: Are The Readers The Problem?
Does it really matter that James Frey wrote a book falsely claiming to have been a drug-addled bad boy in his youth? Perhaps not. “There is, however, a deeper issue worth considering buried in all this pop-cultural titillation: Why are people so easily victimized by this sort of emotional con man? For some years, book publishing, television and — more recently — a growing segment of the news media have been sinking deeper and deeper into a particularly fetid sinkhole carved by two social currents that now dominate our collective lives. One is narcissism, which has turned the confessional memoir into the dominant literary genre of our age. The other is the public’s prurient interest, which creates a readership for the literature of self-absorption and supports a metastasizing culture of celebrity.”
Super Double-Triple Half-Caf Mochachino, With A Side of Jim Carrey To Go
It’s been fairly well proven over the last decade that, not only will Americans pay $4 or more for any 25-cent coffee drink that comes with a Starbucks logo, but we’ll also buy pretty much anything else sold alongside the lattes, no matter how peripheral the connection to coffee. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that Hollywood is jumping on the Starbucks gravy train in an effort to boost DVD sales and promote its new movies.