“A couple of theories have arisen to explain Kael’s critical ascendancy during this period. One holds that movies in those years were just exceptionally good. Another theory suggests that Kael changed the rules of criticism, setting up a new way of evaluating popular art, without concern for prestige or self-conscious sophistication.”
Tag: 10.24.11
Why Didn’t Occupy Wall Street Appear In 2008? Status-Quo Bias
“It is extremely difficult for most of us to believe that our political or economic system is inherently corrupt,” says NYU psychologist John Jost. “Because of our immense psychological capacity to justify and rationalize the status quo, human societies are very slow to fix system-level injustices and to enact substantive changes.”
Violinist Suing Over Age Discrimination Says Judge Is Too Old
“A 60-year-old Manhattan musician at the center of an age discrimination lawsuit [against Young Concert Artists] is trying to get the judge handling his case booted – because he’s too old. Violinist Martin Stoner admits he sounds like a big hypocrite for knocking 88-year-old Manhattan Federal Judge Robert Patterson as “‘slow-witted and unable to function’.”
Orangutan Culture Develops Like Human Culture
“A team of anthropologists have shown that orangutans may have the ability to learn socially and pass these lessons down through generations – evidence that culture in humans and great apes has the same evolutionary roots.”
Why Soderbergh’s Contagion Won’t Make Us More Careful About Germs
“After the press show I attended, we were all given bottles of anti-bacterial handwash. Cute gimmick, we chortled, as we tossed them unopened into the bin. … Oddly, the genuine dangers posed by disease seem to frighten us far less than childish fancies.”
A New Language For Philanthropy?
“The new language of funders redresses a void in cultural “vibrancy”–the cultural qualities embedded in neighborhoods and cities. So by applying “intensity”–a synonym for deep, targeted investment–to creative pockets within neighborhoods and depressed cities, funders seek to oxygenate local fires and stoke vibrant culture from within.”
Work So Bad Even The Critics Left
“Critics, of course, are required to sit through whatever is thrown at them, be it shocking, preposterous, dreadful or dull. But have there ever been times when they left early? “
Straight Plays Have A Great Fall On Broadway
“Money-wise, new straight plays are poised to have one of their best fall seasons on Broadway in recent years.”
Why Does This Idea That Shakespeare Wasn’t Shakespeare Refuse To Die?
“Can we even be certain of Charles Dickens? How can a mere hack have known so much of the human condition? We must be constantly vigilant, upturning every literary stone, relentlessly pursuing the truth – particularly when there’s not the slightest chance of ever discovering it.”
Tolkien’s Own Drawings Of Middle Earth Released
“A swath of JRR Tolkien’s original illustrations for The Hobbit are to be published for the first time this week as part of celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of the book’s publication.”