[contextly_auto_sidebar id="KkC7I9hLXMdSqZ9yVeCleKO4zeItPdkO"] ONE subject that comes up a lot on this site, especially in reader comments, is the public funding of art by European nations. That funding makes a lot of things possible -- including access -- that the market would not support. A new dispatch from Paris -- where a private museum designed by Frank Gehry has recently opened -- … [Read more...]
Taking on Amazon
THERE'S been so much bad news as the online Goliath has crushed bookstores and tangled with publishers, that it's nice to see a bit of silver lining. Two new developments make us smile a bit here at CultureCrash, where we are too often locked into a grim expression. First, a talented first-time novelist has received an unlikely bounce from Stephen Colbert, who used Edan Lepucki's new book as an … [Read more...]
What Does Death of Net Neutrality Mean for Culture? And, Women of Paris
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xGDWAexoDrHPFCevaXgcNYzALx2EWaaG"] THIS week, it seems, has brought us closer to the end of net neutrality, with the FCC getting closer to approving a pay-to-play "fast lane." The fear among purveyors and enthusiasts of indie culture is that there will be a tiered Internet, one for wealthy corporations and a slow one for the rest. Enormous power would go to broadband … [Read more...]
Frenchman at Neutra’s House
RECENTLY I was invited to architect Richard Neutra's old house in Silver Lake to check out the "intervention" by the French artist Xavier Veilhan, who created a number of sculptures to refer to the pioneering modernist's life and work.The press events and opening were quite groovy -- movie stars, French people, music by a member of the French band Air.Los Angeles' Silver Lake, of course, is … [Read more...]
The Producer Behind "The Artist"
CRAZY ideas come and go; most don't see the light of day. When millions of dollars are required, it's even harder for unorthodox notions to go anywhere.So when Michel Hazanavicius decided he wanted to make a black-and-white silent film, he needed a lunatic to finance the project. He found one. HERE is my Q&A with Thomas Langmann, the producer who made The Artist -- nominated for 10 Academy Awards … [Read more...]
The Making of The Artist
SOMETIMES it takes the French to appreciate the best aspects of American culture. Whether it's jazz, detective novels or the films of Howard Hawks, the Gauls have often seen something in our own art that we've overlooked.The silent, black and white movie The Artist is the latest example. It's an homage to American cinema of the '20s and early '30s. I wrote an extensive feature HERE for the … [Read more...]
Masters of Cinema, Through French Eyes
THE French film magazine Cahiers du Cinema may be the most important, game-changing publication in the history of film, thanks to its role in the auteur theory and its instigation of the New Wave. The magazine also rethought film history in a way that honored directors like Hitchcock and Hawks at the expense of supposedly more serious French filmmakers. Some of Cahiers’ advocacy (Sam Fuller) now … [Read more...]