Tag: 01.14.20

The Very Complicated Culture Of Reviewing Books

The consequence of identifying so closely with the literary community is that critics often don’t feel that they’re part of the reviewing apparatus. They feel like they’re subject to it. This has two consequences. First, they live in a certain fear of it, because the kind of reception that their future books will have might be contingent on their relationship with the person they are reviewing. Second, there’s a lot of insistence that the book reviewing world is going through some challenges, but there’s very little consensus about who is responsible for making changes. – American Scholar

Choreographer Gregory Maqoma Turns Traditional South African Movement Into Contemporary Western Concert Dance

“‘He has coherently brought classical African dance into conversation with all that is contemporary,’ said [South African dance scholar] Jay Pather, … long-established practices of Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho people, ‘rituals and codes that are highly complex and have been passed on in highly sophisticated ways.’ Mr. Maqoma, who is of Xhosa descent, doesn’t deconstruct these rituals and codes. He uses them to tell contemporary stories.” – The New York Times

Bird Killers – Our Glass Buildings

All told, glass buildings are responsible for up to one billion bird deaths in the United States each year. At a time when two-thirds of North American birds are in danger of extinction from climate change, it’s no exaggeration to say that glass architecture is a threat to life on Earth. Yet buildings sheathed in smooth glass walls continue to go up, not because they are cheaper to construct or better from an architectural standpoint, but because they embody modern luxury. – The New Republic

Intimacy Coordinators Are Making Sex Scenes Sexier As Well As Safer

On stages and film/video sets alike, the practitioners of this new profession help actors feel secure physically and emotionally — which, naturally, help the actors do their jobs better. What’s more, the intimacy pros are able to choreograph and describe the movements to be done better than directors can. Writer Lizzie Feidelson reports on how exactly they work. – The New York Times Magazine

Bollywood’s Female Stars Speak Out In Support Of Protesters As Male Stars Keep Mum

“Unlike Hollywood, where actors and filmmakers have [frequently] spoken out against governments, A-listers in Bollywood — the world’s second-best paying film industry — have largely remained apolitical public personas. … Now, as protests spread across India over a controversial new citizenship law and attacks on students, Bollywood women are breaking with that pattern even as the biggest male actors … stay quiet.” – OZY

Why Do The ‘Star Wars’ Films Keep Bombing In The World’s Second-Biggest Movie Market?

“One after another, Star Wars movies have flopped in China, defying efforts to bring one of the most successful franchises in history into a market that has printed money for the heroes, monsters and robots of other films. … Avengers: Endgame made more in its 2019 opening weekend in China than all the Star Wars premieres combined.” Why? You could think of it as an accident of history. – The New York Times