Tag: 11.24.17

Sometimes, Movies Are Better Than The Books They’re Based On

Children’s books in particular seem ripe for the cinematic wonder-inducing treatment. But Wonder isn’t one of those books. “Here is where I encourage anyone whose child has not yet read the book, or seen the movie (and let’s remember that with children’s literature, an entirely new audience ages into a book every year): Try to get hold of a copy that is not the brand-new ‘movie tie-in edition.’ As the cover trumpets, this new edition ‘includes full-color movie photos and exclusive content!’ No, no, a thousand times no.”

Today’s AJBlog Highlights 11.24.17

The Literary Roots of Lou Reed Back in the spring, when I pitched the Los Angeles Review of Books on a regular column on musicians and their literary interests, my editor immediately came up with the title All the Poets. … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-11-24

Piano Sonata as Video Game: Anomalies in My Reception of Beethoven’s Music A transcript of my spoken remarks at Boston University this week, as part of a symposium on piano sonatas by Beethoven. “I’d like to talk about what I would call anomalies in my own reception … read more
AJBlog: PianoMorphosis Published 2017-11-23

So you want to see a show? Here’s my list of recommended Broadway, off-Broadway, and out-of-town shows, updated weekly. In all cases, I gave these shows favorable reviews (if sometimes qualifiedly so) in The Wall Street Journal when they opened. For more … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2017-11-23

Soft power and the arts (3/3) Soft power is the ability for a country to have international influence through means other than the threat of military action or aggressive economic policy (i.e. hard power). How do the arts and cultural … read more
AJBlog: For What it’s Worth Published 2017-11-21

How Dance Addresses A Culture Of Suffering

“In countries where people suffer and have a rough life, they dance as a necessity instead of as an option. When you have this kind of history, this very hard background, you don’t practice art for the same reasons. It’s not a luxury; you need it, to heal yourself. I know people in Algeria who say: ‘I had to dance, or I would die.’”

Apple Could Spend $4.2 Billion On Original Streaming Content By 2022

“Apple won’t catch up to either by 2022 in terms of spend, projecting that Amazon will eclipse Netflix, $8.3 billion to $6.8 billion. Earlier this year, Apple signaled its intent to invest as much as $1 billion into original programming. That’s still well short of Netflix, which announced previously an $8 billion budget toward original and licensed content in 2018, and Amazon, which is expected to spend more than the $4.5 billion that went into premium video entertainment this year.”

A boom In Inventing New Musical Instruments

“You would be forgiven for thinking instrument-making reached its endpoint long ago. The orchestra has largely been fixed since the Belgian Adolphe Sax patented his eponymous instrument in the 1840s. And these days, a standard laptop can make so many sounds, why would we need anything new? But there are hundreds, even thousands, of instrument inventors beavering away.”

More Studies Say Using Laptops In Class Leads To Less Learning

“A growing body of evidence shows that over all, college students learn less when they use computers or tablets during lectures. They also tend to earn worse grades. The research is unequivocal: Laptops distract from learning, both for users and for those around them. It’s not much of a leap to expect that electronics also undermine learning in high school classrooms or that they hurt productivity in meetings in all kinds of workplaces.”