Using Toni Erdmann, Cristian Puiu’s The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, the orignal British version of The Office, and a new Canadian comedy (yeah) from VICE Media as examples, John Semley argues that not quite getting the joke is half the fun.
Tag: 02.12.17
‘Trainspotting’ (The Original One): An Oral History
“With the sequel – finally – upon us, the director [Danny Boyle] and star [Ewan MacGregor] plus author Irvine Welsh, producer Andrew Macdonald and more look back on the 1996 Cool Britannia flagbearer and how it all happened.”
And Now… An Artist Who Doesn’t Understand How The NEA Works Argues Against The NEA… On NPR!
“Well, the basic problem with the government supporting the arts in the way that it does – through the NEA and through direct grants to producing organizations – is that it stands in the way of free market competition, which is really the best way for arts organizations to build new audiences…”
Scenes From The War On Scalpers: West End Edition
Hamilton in London and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are working hard on strategies to combat “the secondary market” and the high prices it charges.
Kirk Douglas At 100 – He’s Still Here
He may tire quickly and need a live-in nurse, but he’s still present and lucid – and how many people have a stroke at 80 and live another 20 years? He’s even published a new book, his 12th. Hadley Freeman pays a visit.
Mezzo Throws Up Onstage, Finishes Concert Nevertheless
Our heroine in the latest episode of “The Show Must Go On” is mezzo Sasha Cooke, who was singing beautifully in Verdi’s Requiem in Houston when nausea struck and she didn’t quite make it offstage in time. Even so, she came back and finished the job. Steven Brown has the details.
The Humanities Only Survive Because Of Long, And Deep, Exploitation
“We might note that the conditions ravaging our profession are also ravaging our work. The privilege of tenure used to confer academic freedom through job security. By now, decades of adjunctification have made the professoriate fearful, insular, and conformist.”
Are There Plays That Should No Longer Be Produced? (And How To Decide?)
“Just as we need to produce more women, LGBTQIA artists, and people of color (that is to say, more people who aren’t straight white men), we need to consider what plays should no longer be produced. This is not about political correctness. This is not about censorship. This is drawing a moral line that defines what is in and out of bounds in our culture.”
The 94-Year-Old Persian Intellectual Who Is Finally Breaking His Silence About His Lover, A Giant Of Iranian Literature
Fifty years “after Forough Farrokhzad’s sudden death, the reclusive Ebrahim Golestan has finally broken his silence, speaking out about the seriousness of their relationship. … Farrokhzad, one of Iran’s most loved literary figures of the past century who was largely overlooked in the west, was known for her candid writings challenging the patriarchal limits of Iranian society and has been compared to Sylvia Plath.”
Let’s Talk About Public Sculpture – And All Of The Attendant Problems
The basic problem is not that it gets climbed upon or graffiti’d or messed up by the public it’s supposed to engage. It’s that people don’t care.