“The director of a Thailand museum who was indicted as part of a federal investigation into looted antiquities has been found dead at the Federal Detention Center in SeaTac — apparently from natural causes.”
Tag: 05.14.08
A Contrarian Assessment Of Robert Rauschenberg
Jed Perl: “There is art. There is life. For all I know, Rauschenberg’s has been a life well lived. As for his art, it stank in the 1950s and it doesn’t look any better today.”
Specialty Movies Find Increasingly Difficult Time
“All the rules are changing. Traditional platform releases, the heart and soul of the independent film biz, are being threatened. Studio specialty arms in particular are going through an identity crisis as they plot new distribution strategies to compensate for too many films and ever more expensive projects.”
Help For Decrepit West End Theatres?
Members of Britain’s House of Lords say that “deteriorating West End theatres should be given the same tax breaks as historic churches to prevent them from falling into disrepair and becoming financially unviable.
Livent Trial: Witness Tells Of Falsified Financials
“Livent founders Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb ordered their employees to falsify financial statements to boost the bottom line and attract investors for their once powerful theatre production company, says a former top executive.”
David Cronenberg Protests Canadian Bill As Censorship
“He said the proposed tax change in Bill C-10 would cause an exodus of Canadian filmmakers to other countries, and would shatter Canada’s fragile industry of independent filmmakers.”
Does Cannes Matter In America?
“The other, sadder truth is that the foreign films shown here, and at big festivals like Berlin, Venice, Toronto and New York, have never had less an impact on the average U.S. moviegoer than they do now. Long gone is the time when every American with a pretense to culture felt obliged to know all about ten or twenty top European or Asian directors.”
Shafer: Bah! Humbug On The Rauschenberg Obits!
Jack Shafer takes issue with the laudatory obits for artist Robert Rauschenberg. “His critics discover triumph in his every groan and belch because, as they write, his work was about invention and reinvention and experimentation and possibilities!”
Colin Davis At 80
“The conductor is as far removed from pipe-and-slippers reflection on the past as you could imagine. That past has been illustrious, and last week was acknowledged with an award for Male Artist of the Year by the Classical Brit Awards.”
Why Glyndebourne Works
“Glyndebourne is awash with larger-than-life characters. Walking round the red-brick backstage corridors – “round” is the word, as the place is circular – you’ll meet nobody prouder of their lot than the volunteer ushers in their gold medallions, unless it’s Vince the resident fireman, who once took great delight in extinguishing a picnicker’s unauthorised barbecue. Or the polyglot Ingrid, who mans the stage door, translates Norwegian books (including The Bookseller of Kabul), and has been appointed MBE for services to skiing, having coached the British Olympic team.”