“Journalists and technical staff at the BBC have agreed to stage strike action on Thursday, March 28, walking out for 12 hours in a dispute over changes at the corporation. … The unions claim problems of workload and harassment have led to conditions they liken to a ‘modern-day BBC sweatshop’.”
Tag: 03.21.13
Crystal Bridges Goes On Impressive Acquisition Spree
“Fortified by three major 20th-century acquisitions made last fall … the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is making sweeping changes in its post-war permanent collection galleries. … Reviewers have criticised the post-war galleries as the weakest part of the collection ever since the [Arkansas] museum, lavishly financed by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton, opened in November 2011.”
Bolshoi Theatre To Get Government Audit
“The Audit Chamber said the investigation into the use of public funds had been planned in advance and isn’t linked to the accusations of financial abuse raised by a dancer who was arrested earlier this month on charges of staging an acid attack on the [ballet’s] artistic director Sergei Filin.”
Emma Thompson’s Effie Cleared For Release After Victory In Second Lawsuit
“The Emma Thompson period drama Effie, about one of the Victorian era’s most infamous love triangles, is now cleared for release after winning a second copyright case in New York against a US playwright who claimed it was based on his work.”
The Hollywood Project Hemorrhaging Big-Name Talent
“Jude Law has become the latest big name to quit troubled production Jane Got a Gun, which has already had its director and another star exit the project. The film made headlines earlier this week when Scottish director Lynne Ramsay did not arrive on the Santa Fe set for the first day of shooting. … Michael Fassbender was the first to pull out, citing scheduling conflicts.”
Bollywood Star Ordered Back To Jail On Weapons Charge
“India’s supreme court has ordered the Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, the most high-profile of the 100 men and women who were convicted for the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings, to return to jail for a further three-and-a-half years.” Dutt was convicted of possessing illegal firearms purchased from the bombers, though he was cleared of any personal involvement with the disaster.
Punchdrunk’s Long-Awaited New Show Is Ready (But They Won’t Tell Us Anything About It)
“Details are fairly scarce. What is known is that it will be called The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable; that it is based on Georg Büchner’s unfinished masterpiece, Woyzeck; that it is a co-production with the National Theatre; and most remarkably that it will be staged in a secret, disused 19,000 sq metre venue … in central London.”
Panthéon In Paris To Get €100M Facelift
“The Centre des Monuments Nationaux, the French body responsible for caring for state monuments, is preparing for a ten-year, €100m programme to restore the Panthéon, an 18th-century building that has become an expression of national pride. During the first phase, the structure will be covered in scaffolding with awnings featuring work by a yet-to-be-selected contemporary artist.”
Why Do Scientists Seem So Obsessed With Beauty?
“Scientists have mused on beauty at least since Pythagoras proposed that the heavens conform to the same orderly proportions as musical sounds. But some kinds of science have in recent times presented a public face that seems to be turned toward beauty 24/7. … It seems that the more theoretical and expensive the science, the more they talk about beauty.” (Exhibit A: the Higgs boson.)
Christopher Walken Would Like To Play A Regular Guy Once In A While
“Quite often, I’ll be sent a script for a movie. And I find that I like it, so I say I’ll do it. But then they rewrite it for me. They make it quirky. Odd. I find that rather annoying. I call it Walkenising.”