You probably know the French actor Julie Delpy from the Richard Linklater movie trilogy that begins with Before Sunrise, but she's been writing and directing movies for a while. She wanted to keep her new film real, but also deal with the near-future. "I am not saying that cloning is a good thing, but I’m saying, let’s not blind...
Of course, the venue itself likely has no feelings on the matter. But Madrid's Frontón Beti-Jai, built when the Basque game pelota was all the rage in the city, was recently restored, and is now sitting idle. - The Observer (UK)
The standup comedian, who produced a special called Rape Jokes in response to her own experience of assault and Donald Trump's Access Hollywood tape (among other things), says that it was extra ironic to be promoting her memoir that first month. "It’s about growing up Catholic and figuring out that I was queer. There are no helpful tips for...
Perhaps this was an idea that could have gotten, shall we say, misplaced during various shutdowns? But no. What does Dutch art of the 17th century smell like? An exhibit "will shortly be available as a virtual tour with a four-scent fragrance box. It doesn’t just descant on the theme, although there is plenty of historical narrative about plagues,...
At the beginning of the pandemic and its ballet shutdown, choreographer Alexei Ratmansky had big plans. Then reality hit, and he's spent hours organizing his photos and posting to Instagram. Hurray for the return to a dance bubble. - The New York Times
And other animals. And smoke. But the project manager has some questions. "The Living Desert specialists had assured us that the project would not damage the desert or any native or captive wildlife, so their backing out is incredibly disappointing and perplexing."- The New York Times
The first novel to be considered a "Western" came out in 1902, and the tropes it established have lasted for more than a century - white men shooting each other and Indigenous people, and women, if they exist at all, serving those men. But newer novels set in the West "preserve some aspects of the old Westerns: the parched...
Why now? "While it is illegal in France for an adult to have sex with a minor under the age of 15, there is no age of consent; if there is no evidence of threats or violence, the adult will not be charged with rape. In 2018 ... ministers proposed introducing an age of consent, which has yet to pass. A...
Cauchetier, whose death was caused by COVID-19, was a self-taught photographer who "documented the revolutionary early films of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and other New Wave directors a half-century ago with now-classic portraits, only to go uncredited for decades." - The New York Times
McQueen, whose series of (what some of us would call) films hasn't been entered for BAFTAs or Oscars, says, "I just make stuff. You are the guys who want to put labels on things. That limits your thoughts and your imagination. If you want to be limited by form then fine. But kids aren’t. It feels dusty. It feels...
We live in a fragmented celebrity world, due mostly - but not entirely - to social media. It's a global culture "where somebody can have nearly 17 million subscribers on YouTube and plenty of people can have no clue who they are." - The Guardian (UK)
The artist wrote, "The magnitude of research and study of Afro-Amerikans is what I have dedicated my life. My works are the missing pages of American history." She worked in as many mediums as she could; she believed "that life for her people in America was an act of near-superhuman perseverance, and she was determined to capture that history."...
Maria Kochitkova left the San Francisco Ballet in 2018 to go freelance. Her career was going well; she had bookings out for many months. Then came March 2020. Everything - everything - was canceled. She and her ballet dancer partner "changed our living room into a studio space and bought a special floor and a ballet barre. I am...
The designer of Black Panther, Selma, Dolemite Is my Name, Malcolm X is the first Black costume designer (and second costume designer ever) to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Eddie Murphy: "I’ve never had a wardrobe designer whose clothes actually influence how you play your character — how you walk, how you stand. She...
