The Republic of Georgia’s culture is in tatters, and the young president has his eye on rebuilding. “Despite its devastated economy, Georgia boasts a rich cultural heritage and an operatic and choreographic tradition renowned worldwide. It produced Balanchine. And it is famous for its unique three-voice polyphonic singing. Nearly everybody sings in Georgia — usually at the dinner table — and culture is viewed as an crucial part of life by Georgians, who in the midst of the civil war in the early 1990s continued to flow to the opera to support their artists. Today, half the population of Georgia lives under the poverty line, but the opera still plays to sell-out audiences every night.”
Tag: 09.17.04
Free Fall – Good For The Emmys?
Most of the big entertainment awards shows – the Oscars, the Golden Globes – are scheduled at the beginning of the year. And then there are the Emmys, which languish all by themselves in the fall. “Could an earlier Emmy ceremony juice viewership, which last year measured just under 18 million? That’s compared to nearly 27 million viewers for this year’s Golden Globes and 43 million-plus for the Oscars.”
Our Lust For Wealth Made Us Civilized?
“A new scientific study says prehistoric hunters loved to be dripping in luxury goods, and the taste for flashy trinkets may have been what turned humans from savages into a civilised society.”
Globe Theatre Head To Depart
“Mark Rylance, who has worked as the artistic director of London’s Shakespeare’s Globe Theater since 1996 and appeared in many of its plays, is planning to leave the post at the end of next year.”
What Giant MGM/Sony Deal Means To The Movie Business
What does Sony’s purchase of MGM mean to the movie business? “MGM has Hollywood’s biggest movie library, with some 8,000 titles, though Sony intends to close the company’s ongoing studio operations, with the exception of the James Bond and Pink Panther franchises. The new, combined group will own half of the colour movies ever made. Sony, which is struggling with low margins in its core consumer-electronics division, is also trying to amass content that it hopes will drive sales of its electronic goods.” The new landscape could change the way studios make money.
The Toronto Formula For Success
The Toronto Film Festival has beecome one of the world’s top festivals. So what’s different about TIFF? “What has made Toronto unique among an elite cohort of international festivals is the central role of the audience. Ordinary Torontonians go to the movies, react, and shape the out-of-town professionals’ idea of what might be possible in the future of cinema.”
Complicating The Fuhrer
A new German movie depicts Hitler as a compex character. “Does it diminish the evil that he did? Or is Germany finally coming to terms with its past?” In any case, the film has kicked up controversy…
Coming To Grips With Hitler?
A new movie about Hitler has caused a wave of national soul-searching. “Because Germans didn’t do more to fight him and because his actions were so atrocious, he still haunts us. Or put more negatively, the fascination emanating from his person has not subsided. That also means that there is no easy way of talking about him. In fact, when the subject turns to Hitler, he seems to retreat into the fiery realm of taboo.”
A Michael Moore Buy-Back Plan
A conservative US group is offering to exchange copies of the DVD of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 for copies of its book. “In urban areas, city leaders periodically sponsor gun `buy-back’ programs to help reduce gun violence. Similarly, the Fahrenheit 9/11 DVD Buy-Back program is designed to protect Americans from harm, especially young children who might accidentally slip this dangerous propaganda into the living room DVD player.”
DC’s New Indian Museum: “Look At Me!”
How successful is the building for the new Museum of the American Indian in Washington? “It is pleasing to report that the architecture is very good, and quite strange. The building rises above the elm trees of the Mall like a monumental apparition. Its curving walls shout, “Look at me!” And the more you do, the more there is to see and think about. Even more satisfying is the conclusion that, physically and philosophically, the new building creates a strong, tension-filled dialogue with its setting, and carries it off with amazing grace.”