The shortlist of nominees is out for the prize formerly known as the Whitbread, and it appears that the judges “have marked its shift to sponsorship by the Costa coffee chain by shifting their taste towards the thriller. Two of the four books picked for the novels shortlist released last night for the inaugural £50,000 Costa award are marketed by their publishers as ‘gripping’, ‘tremendously exciting’, ‘gritty’ and ‘thrilling’.”
Tag: 11.30.06
This Is Why You Want To Keep Your Architect Happy
The architect of a major Berlin railway station has won an unusual lawsuit against the station’s owner, in which it was alleged that cost-cutting measures by the railway authority (which resulted in a partial redesign) amounted to a “defacement” of the building. The presiding judge ruled that the station was indeed a work of art, and that the railway’s decision to change it without the architect’s permission caused significant harm to the design. The railway is appealing, but if appeals fail, the station will have to be rebuilt at a cost of €40m or more.
You Can’t See It Yet, But Trust Us, It’s Awfully Good
“A version of 1980s working-class England triumphed over a version of 90s upper-class England at the ninth British Independent Film Awards last night. Shane Meadows’s This Is England will not be on general release until next spring but it has already won over film festival audiences, impressing critics in London and winning a special jury prize at Rome. It added a Bifa best film award last night. It beat impressive opposition such as The Queen… The Last King of Scotland and two films which won at Cannes – the Palme d’Or winner, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, and the jury prize winner, Red Road.”
So, Oasis Wouldn’t Be Appropriate, Then?
Putting together a film soundtrack is tricky business. Stick to sweeping orchestral melodies, and you sound dated by scene two. But embrace the pop music of your time, and your whole movie will be stuck forever in the year it was made. The trick to a truly timeless soundtrack may be to go retro, but not too retro. Not surprisingly, the master of the form may be that most retro of New York filmmakers, Woody Allen.