First of all, argues Stuart Heritage, nobody, not even a poor old TV critic, can watch anything close to that much. Second, “Netflix is gaining a reputation as a provider that throws buckets of money at stuff nobody else wants. … Third, if this isn’t an unsustainable land-grab, I don’t know what is.”
Tag: 02.28.18
A (Fascinating) History Of Movie Censorship In America
Several cities and states sought to curb the moral influence of movies through censorship laws. Chicago passed the first such ordinance in 1907, while Pennsylvania became the first state to enact movie censorship in 1911. These laws grew in popularity after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Mutual Film Corp. case. In its opinion, the Court ruled that movies were “not to be regarded as part of the press of the country or as organs of public opinion.” State and lower federal courts upheld this stance consistently, and by doing so, empowered censor boards.
Gershwin’s “Rhapsody In Blue” Encapsulates Struggles For The Soul Of American Music
When the “Rhapsody” bowed, classical was seemly, jazz the outsider. By the time the jazz-band version was again in the ascendant, jazz itself had become “America’s classical music.” Now, both traditions are marginal to popular-music dominance. Near the end of the 1996 Ben Folds Five single “Underground” — a cheery, piano-pop ode to more hard-core musical subcultures — Folds, at the piano, drops in a quote from “Rhapsody in Blue.” Even the most daring cross-stylistic experiment eventually occupies just another niche. Nevertheless, the work’s competing forces still jostle for space. To perform the “Rhapsody” is, in part, an exercise in diplomacy.
Visitor Admissions Have Plunged For Two Big London Museums
The National Gallery had 6.3 million visitors in 2016, but this fell to 5.2 million last year, a drop of 17%. The NPG did much worse, with numbers decreasing from 1.9 million to 1.3 million—a fall of 35%. The data for May to December 2017, as reported in the Times newspaper, presented an even more dismal picture, with a decline for the NPG of 42%.
Chuck Klosterman: The Ways We Look At Culture Have Completely Flipped
“Being smart meant you knew about things that you didn’t experience. If you were a student of history, it meant that you understood the expanse of history. Anyone can know what’s going on right now. To be smart you have to know what came before you, and that no longer seems to exist. Now the belief is sort of: Any of that stuff can be found on the internet in five seconds. I don’t want someone telling me what the past was supposed to mean and have that inform the way I listen to music now or I watch film now. I want to eliminate the past and only exist in this perpetual state of the present.”
America’s Librarians Pressed Into The Drug War
The opioid epidemic is reshaping life in America, including at the local public library, where librarians are considering whether to carry naloxone to battle overdoses. At a time when the public is debating arming teachers, it is another example of an unlikely group being enlisted to fight a national crisis.
How Facebook’s Algorithm Tweak Wiped Out A Thriving Digital Publisher
The site Little Things, which had amassed 12 million Facebook followers, said the recent algorithm shift, which Facebook has said was designed to tamp down content that is consumed passively — and would instead emphasize posts from people’s friends and family — took out roughly 75% of LittleThings’ organic traffic while hammering its profit margins.”
In Ranking Of The World’s Top Universities, UK Comes Out On Top (Particularly In Humanities)
Seven UK universities lead the world rankings in 10 areas, with the University of Oxford top of the list for four subjects: anatomy and physiology, archaeology, English language and literature and geography. This makes it one of just three universities to perform best in more than one subject, alongside Harvard University, which comes first in 14 subjects, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which comes first in 12 subjects.
When Machines Are Reporting The News You’re Consuming
In the not-so-distant future, we will be presented with the version of the news we wish to read — not the news that some reporter, columnist or editorial board decides we need to read. And it will be entirely written by artificial intelligence (AI).
The Movie Industry’s Greatest Innovations-Gone-Wrong, From AromaRama To Astrocolor
“IMAX is hugely popular, while virtual reality movies are gaining steam. But what about film inventions that never took off? When will they get their due? … We asked four film experts to each write about a different flop. Some ideas were on the right track and would eventually be realized in one form or another. But others are probably best relegated to the dustbin of history.”