Chinese director Jia Zhang-Ke’s film “Sanxia Haoren” (Still Life) has won the Venice Film Festival’s top prize. “The film was a last-minute addition in competition, its name withheld until Sept. 5 because of sensitivities related to acquiring the proper permissions from Chinese censors. It only screened twice on the Lido, and in a poll of 14 leading Italian critics taken on the eve of the closing ceremony, not one listed the film among their top three choices.”
Tag: 09.11.06
NBC Plans Double Revenues From Digital
“Media conglomerate NBC Universal aims to more than double revenue from its digital businesses to about $1 billion by 2009 from an estimated $400 million this year.”
Baby Talk – Is TV Bad For Babies?
So now there is a TV network for babies. But some experts are protesting. ” ‘In essence, we’re conducting a big experiment on this generation of kids before we know what the impact of these media are’. That’s one reason the American Academy of Pediatrics has no plans to modify its recommendation that children under 2 engage in no “screen time” and that toddlers watch no more than two hours of quality programming each day.”
Chronicle Of Current College Controversies
Over the past several weeks controversies have erupted on American college campuses. Scholars who endorse dissenting views about 9/11 have been challenged, a decision to invite former Iranian president Khatami to speak at Harvard has been opposed, and an art show by a convicted muderer has been shut down in Maine…
Paris’ Salle Pleyel Reopening
After four years of renovation, Paris’ Salle Pleyel reopens this week. The theatre is the Carnegie Hall of Paris. “The acoustics used to be a weakness of the Salle Pleyel. To improve them, architect Francois Ceria and Artec Consultants Inc., the acclaimed New York sound gurus, have encircled the platform with a wooden wall and added four narrow side balconies and a number of rows behind the orchestra, replacing the old Cavaille-Coll organ with a human reflector.”
How To Record History In A Disposable Age?
“The National Library of Scotland, belatedly, is creating an archive of blogs, journals and e-mails written by leading Scots. Curators will harvest websites and inboxes for things of cultural significance, describing it as a ‘digital repository’ containing what will come to be regarded as the manuscripts of the 21st century. It all sounds very admirable: the e-mails of JK Rowling, Ian Rankin and Alasdair Gray captured for posterity. (JK’s e-mails to her investment manager would be the best read of all. Except those are precisely the ones that will never be kept and never be seen.)”
Claim: New UK Airline Carry-on Restrictions Killing Musical Life
“Restrictions on hand luggage, intended to reduce the volume of baggage going through cabin security checks, have had a devastating impact on performers. Musicians who were used to stowing their Stradivarius in the cabin fear that irreplaceable instruments will be smashed by a careless baggage handler or wrecked by freezing temperatures in the hold. Instead, they are cancelling concerts or enduring exhausting train journeys.”
Museum Names (Not Playing In Peoria)
Peoria is getting a new museum, but a contest asking the public to vote on names has backfired. It seems people don’t like any of the names. “Museum leaders chose the four finalists from 500 suggested by surveys, committees and focus groups (‘What was your focus group? A group of 5-year-olds?’ someone wrote on the Web site). Officials hope to choose a name next month.”
Towers Of Low Expectations
That’s what Nicolai Ouroussoff thinks of the latest efforts for the WTC site. “For those who cling to the idea that the site’s haunting history demands a leap of imagination, the towers illustrate how low our expectations have sunk since the city first resolved to rebuild there in a surge of determination just weeks after 9/11.”
Banksy Strikes Again (At Disneyland)
The self-styled “guerilla” artist placed a life-size figure representing a hooded prisoner at Guantanamo Bay inside a ride at Disneyland. “A spokeswoman for Banksy said the stunt was intended to highlight the plight of terror suspects at the controversial detention centre in Cuba. Banksy is notorious for his secretive and subversive stunts – such as sneaking doctored versions of classic paintings into major art galleries.”