The Apollo Gallery had been closed to the public ever since last October’s broad-daylight theft of the French crown jewels on display there. Now it’s open again, with nothing on display. Fortunately, the room itself is pretty spectacular. - AFP (MSN)
“The European Commission … said that even with a Paramount-Warner combo, enough competitors would exist across markets like film production and streaming in its 27-nation bloc. Still, when it comes to distributing movies to theaters, the Commission warned of high concentration,” leading to worse terms for cinema operators. - AP
“Hadi Matar, the man who stabbed Salman Rushdie in the eye on stage in 2022 is standing trial for a second time – this time facing (federal) terrorism charges after being found guilty (in New York state court) of attempted murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison last year.” - The Guardian
They’re divided into such categories as “Big Fish in Small Ponds,” “The Old Guard,” “Masters of Genre,” “Solid Commercial Filmmakers,” “Middle-Class Auteurs,” “Animation Specialists,” “IP Guys,” “A24 Boys on the Rise,” “The Haute Bourgeoisie,” “Wunderkinds,” “Trusted Hands,” The New Hotness,” and “The Most Wanted.” - New York Magazine
“The Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture and Design will be ‘a cornerstone’ of Vanderbilt's planned campus on the ... site it is purchasing from California College of the Arts.” Huang College, backed by $75 million from a co-founder of Nvidia, will emphasize how the arts intersect with engineering and technology. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
The freedom to read is a feel-good cause, and maybe an issue typically associated with concerned parents and school boards could use a little glamour. But Dua Lipa’s project highlights how the public discourse around bans has become detached from the ground reality of access to books. - The Atlantic
I played a lot of Mozart piano concertos as a student. His slow movements are not just him gushing emotions. There’s a perfect balance of structure and harmonic direction. That’s my model for my own music. I like a sense of structure. You’re listening to something that is logically constructed, with heartbreakingly beautiful melodies and harmonies in the midst...
“He plans to (depart) on July 31, 2028, his 70th birthday. His departure will signal a transition ... not only for the Public, but also for theater in New York, where Eustis is among the last of a group of long-serving artistic directors who for decades oversaw the city’s biggest nonprofits.” - The New York Times
In a motion filed early Wednesday in federal court in Oakland, the WGA‘s legal team argued that the transaction “is presumptively illegal in the market for writing services for anticipated top grossing films,” noting that the combined companies would have a 35% share of that market. - Deadline
The Anthropic payout will deliver $3,000 per work across an estimated 500,000 works, shared among the authors and publishers who hold rights to them. While the settlement is believed to be the largest in the history of U.S. copyright law, many authors and creators still don’t view it as a win. - TechCrunch
The book is flattering, fabricated and absolutely packed with em dashes. It bears all the signs of A.I. slop. I clicked on the author, one John Crane Miller. His bio page described him as a “seasoned biographer and cultural analyst,” and his portrait was a widely used stock photo. - The New York Times
In a House Subcommittee on Delivering Government Efficiency hearing titled "Rewriting American History: Examining the Smithsonian's Efforts to Reshape the Past," National Museum of American History director Anthea Hartig faced such questions as “When did you know you were a woman?” and “Was Mickey Mouse racist?” - ARTnews
Exactly who or what is to blame for the closures is hard to diagnose. Producers have cited astronomical transportation costs as a major factor, perhaps unwilling to blame audiences’ increasing reluctance to pre-book. Industry-wide fixes are even trickier to identify. - The Guardian
