Was Cezanne misunderstood? “Given his reservations about modernity, the grouchy old man might not be pleased to hear that he has since been generally accepted as the first modern painter. Would the iconoclast have preferred Mary Cassatt’s judgement that public taste had been perverted by him?”
Tag: 03.25.04
Video Games Meet The Movies
Some $20 billion worth of video games were sold last year. Games now outsell movies, and games now look more and more like the movies. “The convergence between films and games makes sense for many reasons. Both special-effects-laden blockbusters and shoot-’em-ups rely on computer power, and as games consoles become more capable their output becomes ever more cinematic. Indeed, modern games based on “Star Wars” look even better than the original films, since today’s games consoles far outperform any special-effects technology available back in the 1980s. Costs have increased as the production values of games have improved: the typical budget is now $5m-8m.”
Humans – We’re Jaw-Dropping Smart (Literally)
How did humans develop such big brains? It could be because our jaws got smaller and weaker, says a new theory. “A mutation 2.4 million years ago could have left us unable to produce one of the main proteins in primate jaw muscles, the team reports in this week’s Nature1. Lacking the constraints of a bulky chewing apparatus, the human skull may have been free to grow, the researchers say.”
Words, Words, Words (And More Words) They’re All Here
The American National Corpus, an “annotated body of over 10 million words” is being released. “If the dictionary is like the drawer with bugs on cards, the corpus is the jungle. The ANC collects blocks of text from newspapers, books and conversations so words and phrases can be viewed in their natural habitat – that is, in an American English context.”
Monty Python: Looking On The Brighter Side Of Life
Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” is going to be released in theatres in the US again, following the success of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” “Adverts will challenge Mel Gibson’s blockbuster with the lines ‘Mel or Monty?’, ‘The Passion or the Python?’ Distributor Rainbow said it hoped the film would ‘serve as an antidote to all the hysteria about Mel’s movie’. It was condemned as blasphemous before its original release, although Monty Python said it was intended as a spoof on Bible films and intolerance rather than Christianity.”
NY Artists Still Suffering Since 9/11
A new report on the condition of artists in New York since 9/11 says that “despite huge infusions of crisis-aid funding from both public and private sources, a new study finds that artists, including performing artists, are still suffering great economic misfortunes with very little end in sight.”
Scottish Opera Union Propose Alternate Budget
Unions at the Scottish Opera have done an unusual thing – they’ve drafted their own budget for the financially sick company. “The unions believe the current management’s plans for the future of the company will lead to extensive job cuts and its eventual dismantling.
Instead, the union proposes a halt on the large scale operas that play at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow and the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, for the next two years.”
Cohen: Can Anyone Tell Me Why Edwards Had To Go?
National Public Radio’s decision to bump Morning Edition host Bob Edwards from the chair he has occupied for the show’s entire 25-year run is meeting with astonishment and anger from NPR listeners. Richard Cohen, for one, is incredulous that NPR would lower itself to the ratings-obsessed, buzzword-intensive level of TV news. “The telling sign was not just that he was axed as the program’s host but that no one can tell you why. At NPR, clearly the most erudite of the networks, various officials descended into the juvenile babble of TV executives, empty words spilling out of their mouths, as if they were determined to fill airtime yet say nothing.”
When In Doubt, Blame The Bureaucrats
“The Toronto film and television industry yesterday assailed the Toronto Transit Commission for making it so difficult to get approval to film in the city’s subway system that the city loses business to more film-friendly competitors… The basic complaint from the industry is that the TTC takes much longer than other transit agencies to approve and organize filming in the subway, most of which takes place at an unused TTC station below the Bay-Bloor station.”
Martin’s Arts Budget Doesn’t Impress
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin may have thought he would get some accolades from the arts sector after his budget calling for the restoration of millions of dollars to the nation’s Television Fund, but it isn’t happening. In fact, outside of the TV industry, the Liberal government’s budget is being called a disappointment by nearly every arts advocate within earshot of a reporter. The arts world has been wary of the Martin government ever since the PM appointed a sports specialist as his heritage minister, and while the new budget doesn’t make any cuts to the cultural budget, the lack of any significant increases seems to have confirmed many artists’ suspicion that the arts aren’t a priority with Martin.