“It is known that the opinions of America’s movie critics, the majority of whom work for newspapers, do not necessarily have a great impact on a film’s box office. Film reviewers do, however, have a real impact on adult filmgoers who are seeking a high-quality movie and on the growing number of organizations that award prizes for movies.”
Tag: 03.12.06
Proulx: A Sour Grapes Rant?
Annie Proulx hoped that “Brokeback Mountain” would scoop her up the Best Picture Oscar. But it didn’t, of course, and Proulx isn’t happy. “It was a safe pick of ‘controversial film’ for the heffalumps,” she writes in an essay for The Guardian. Is she bitter? You judge: “For those who call this little piece a Sour Grapes Rant, play it as it lays.”
Are Non-Fiction Scandals Hurting Fiction?
“Is all this fretting over lies in nonfiction giving fiction a bad name? I fear it is. And I’m afraid that our lack of regard for fiction actually may be hindering us from sorting out what is true and what is a lie. Fiction, after all, is the one lie that can tell us a truth. Unlike nonfiction — memoirs included — fiction makes no claim to reality. Works of the imagination — better known as literature — are totally unfettered from what actually has happened.”
Ringtones Under Glass
As a fundraiseer, the American Composers Orchestra is auctioning mobile-phone ringtones created by Philip Glass, Meredith Monk, Laurie Anderson, and other composers as part of its spring fundraiser.
Canadian Arts Groups Score Big Tax Win
Canadian arts groups have won a court ruling that allows them to classify the artists they hire as contract workers rather than employees. The ruling will save the arts groups a lot of money. “Earlier Revenue Canada rulings had hit arts groups such as the Thunder Bay Symphony hard, demanding thousands of dollars in Employment Insurance and pension contributions that drove them near bankruptcy.”
Big Step – Pacific Symphony’s Europe Tour
Orange County’s Pacific Symphony is heading to Europe for its first tour. The orchestra has been talking about going on a tour for about a decade. But until recently it wasn’t thought that the orchestra was ready for one, financially or artistically.
Deaf Theatre Loses Funding, Might have To Close
The 38-year-old National Theatre of the Deaf has lost a major grant and the theatre’s leaders fear the company might not be able to continue. “Without the $680,000 annual grant, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Theatre of the Deaf slashed its annual budget from $1.2 million to $300,000.”
A Dance Movement Of Fractious Parts
Mark Morris is celebrating his company’s 25th anniversary this year. Tere O’Connor and Susan Marshall are celebrating 20th anniversaries. “Together with Morris, they possess the force of a movement. But with all the bickering, no one has noticed. And modern dance’s health depends on people noticing. Without an acknowledged history, an art form has little chance of a robust future.”
The Great Battle Of The DVDs
“A new war has broken out as two new generations of DVD players hit stores this year. Both are targeting owners of high-definition televisions, promising to maximize their set’s capacity for razor-sharp images. One is called HD-DVD. The other is called Blu-ray. North America gets its first real look at Sony’s Blu-ray player in Las Vegas this week, with the new format hitting stores May 23. HD-DVD players go on sale at the end of this month. And soon stores will stock movies on DVD specifically formatted for one player or the other.”
Another Play – The Success Burden
So you’ve produced a play and it’s been well received on Broadway. Now what? “Expectations rise along with the number of opportunities to disappoint fans, who tend to want what they’ve so memorably enjoyed before. Then, of course, there are the critics, a few of whom specialize in holding artists to the impossibly high standards of their best works. These dramatists (one almost feels inclined to label them ‘poor little rich’) are damned if they attempt to produce more of the award-winning same and damned if they don’t.”