As a Hollywood writer friend of mine said after she watched “Nomadland”: “That was not entertainment. That was Frances McDormand having explosive diarrhea in a plastic bucket on a van.” Not a crop of movies that make you reach for the Junior Mints. – The New York Times
How Yahoo Went From Being The Web’s Welcoming Atrium To Its Wrecking Ball
Back in the 1990s, before search engines were much good, Yahoo was a popular and useful portal, a directory organizing the great, amorphous mass of websites into something navigable (especially for those who didn’t want to be stuck inside AOL’s bubble). Now Yahoo’s seen as a giant, bumbling monster, gobbling up and wiping out beloved hubs of user-generated content — GeoCities, Flickr, Delicious, the old Usenet boards that became Yahoo Groups, and now Yahoo Answers. Kaitlyn Tiffany traces how it happened. – The Atlantic
Scalpers Have Been Buying Up UK Festival Tickets And Massively Hiking Prices
A Guardian investigation found that dozens of professional touts have snapped up tickets for eagerly awaited festivals and are demanding massively inflated prices from fans desperate to see artists such as Stormzy, Nile Rodgers and Fatboy Slim. – The Guardian
I was A “Minority Intern” In The 1990s. We Need To Talk About These Programs
“Without long insights into the early diversity programs, our profession cannot address the structural inequities that perpetuate the need for entry-level opportunities targeted for non-white individuals. Museums must acknowledge the stigmatizing, tokenizing, and economic effects of these programs, in addition to the opportunities they offer.” – Hyperallergic
Choreographer Creates Company To Copyright Dance Moves
The JaQuel Knight’s company Knight Choreography & Music Publishing will see to the rights to Knights dance moves while operating as a music publisher as the company will broker licensing deals and protect IP. – Geo
Streamers Ruled The Oscars This Year
Yes, 2020 was a weird year, and the rules for movies to debut in movie theatres were waived, but still: Netflix had seven statues, Amazon two, Disney one (or a lot more, if you count Nomadland as a Disney production), and Warner Bros one, all for movies that were either only streamed or debuted on streaming and theatres (if any were open) on the same day. – Los Angeles Times
The Oscars Disrupted Union Station And More
How wild to have a show with Crip Camp nominated for best documentary, a show that prevented disabled people in L.A. from getting to their subway trains – and also forced hordes of people to find the new site for COVID-19 testing. Ash Pana, who lives by Union Station and “who suffers from chronic pain and sometimes uses a walker, said other disabled people had been directed to detour at least 10 blocks rather than receive an escort into the station to which they needed access.” – Los Angeles Times
London’s West End Galleries Reopen
And visitors who have been in lockdown number … infinity? … and have been absolutely starved for art are more than happy to be in the galleries, masked, in person. – The Guardian (UK)
The Best Way To Predict Our Futures
It’s a kind of internal averaging of disparate opinions: “Each of us has an inner crowd, too, with a wisdom of its own.” – The Atlantic
Most People Are Missing The Most Revolutionary Thing About Nomadland’s Win
Yes, Nomadland is only the second movie directed by a woman to win a Best Picture Oscar, and the first Best Picture Oscar to go to a film directed by a woman of color. But also: Nomadland is about women. “Movies about women basically never win Best Picture. By my count, Nomadland is one of only six movies focused on the lives and stories of women ever to win the award. That’s in 93 years.” – Slate
Activists Say They’ll Move Protests Inside MoMA
Protests have been going on outside the museum for the last three weeks. “These protests, called ‘pop-up deoccupations’ in the activists’ parlance — have so far been tame, focusing on ‘speakouts’ and performances while keeping a measured distance from the museum’s entrance. But this might change next Friday, April 30, as the activists plan to escalate their protests and bring them into MoMA’s halls.” – Hyperallergic
Christa Ludwig, Mezzo-Soprano, 93
Ludwig was most prominently associated with the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival, but she also sang at the Met. She “rose from straitened origins in a shattered wartime Germany to the height of the singing world, aided by a sense of discipline instilled by her strong-willed mother — her only real teacher and a constant presence throughout her career. … Onstage, Ms. Ludwig brought a striking combination of acting ability, charisma and vocal beauty. Her voice had range and power, a security through all the registers and a broad array of colors.”- The New York Times
No, No One’s Going To Watch The Oscars
Broadcast TV ratings have been declining for years, and this ceremony will be no different – and won’t mean anything about the actual movies involved. “I have long thought that the thing the Oscars needs most is one of those old Christmas special sets, with the cool living room sofa, the baby grand and that front door through which all the guests enter. Especially this year, when, until recently, so many of us have been unable to cross any threshold but our own. What better way to capture the mood of ‘opening up’?”- Los Angeles Times