Director Ilinca Calugareanu talks about her new film, Chuck Norris vs. Communism which looks at how Hollywood action movies offered Romanians living behind the Iron Curtain a glimpse into Western culture, and helped spark a revolution.” (audio)
Tag: 12.30.15
What’s The Deal With Dubuffet’s ‘Art Brut’?
“The trajectory of twentieth-century art history has long been a fairly tidy one, with artists of similar sensibilities herded into neat groups; those who fall beyond these bounds are too often left out of the story, sometimes ‘rehabilitated’ only decades later. But art brut offers a ready example of looking beyond expected lines of investigation into what Dubuffet praised as ‘new values not yet perceived.'”
What Does A Casting Director Do?
“We look for somebody who can elevate the material, which is very important when you’re looking at so many actors for a specific role. Particularly in pilot season. There are times when we see hundreds of actors for one role. It’s quite often the people who get down to the wire are the ones who can elevate the material in a way nobody else has.”
Will ‘Mozart In The Jungle’ (Not To Be Too Dramatic) Save Classical Music?
“Set apart immediately by its setting and even more so by its platform, Mozart, a show about art, commerce and change is being produced not on network or even cable television but on instant streaming. Classical music, often deemed inaccessible and elitist, is being represented in the most accessible form, and streaming or not, we have a show that delves into the complexities of a career in the arts without being pedantic. Unfortunately for those who may never care enough to watch, Mozart has selling power in surprising amounts.”
The Smithsonian’s Cosby Show Problems Magnified
“As the Smithsonian contemplates the dilemma yet again, it can’t be stressed strongly enough: This was a bad show from the start. It was bad on ethical grounds (because it could potentially elevate the value of an art collection owned by a close friend of the museum’s director), and it was bad on curatorial grounds.”
More People Are Streaming. But Piracy Is Way Up Too
“Piracy is still just a great alternative, unfortunately, for those who want free content. The best way to fight piracy is to just make your own services better, cheaper, easier to use.”
Royal Shakespeare Co. Set For First-Ever Tour To China
“Shakespeare’s works were banned in China from 1964 to 1977 and the playwright was denounced as ‘revisionist, feudalist and capitalist’ and now productions of his plays were allowed. But next year, to mark 400 years since the Bard’s death, the RSC will take productions of Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II and Henry V to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong in February and March.”
This Was The Year The FCC Showed Why It’s Still Relevant
“On Feb. 26, the commission adopted the strongest net neutrality protections in American history: the Open Internet Order of 2015. This historic order established basic “rules of the road” for online traffic to prevent broadband providers from splitting the Internet into two tiers.”
Rudyard Kipling, Misfit Poet
“Kipling is not at all like his image, which is a good thing, since he is widely regarded as jingoistic, narrow and racist. It is a pity if, for this reason, some never read him. Kipling was always an outsider, and never a member of the Establishment. He received the Nobel Prize, but refused any honour, including the Order of Merit, that would identify him with a single country.”
The Future No Longer Works The Way We Thought It Did
“The 130-year timeline of telephone innovation describes a relatively steady rise as the technology under the surface was continuously improved … But the timeline of innovation for the defining technology of our new age is barely a line at all: The Internet happens, and all hell breaks loose. … You couldn’t have foreseen Twitter, and if you had, you probably would have dismissed it as a dumb idea. I would have.”