dirac

He was a big man in every sense, cubanmiamiboy. That said, I can certainly understand why Reinaldo Arenas felt and said what he did on the subject. The Autumn of the Patriarch is fascinating. I'm embarrassed to admit I've read no Calvino, only Gore Vidal's fine essay on his work.

Yes, they were good friends, and García Márquez was the creator of Havana's Film and Television School. He also interceded on occasion for dissidents. For thirty years he was denied a visa to the United States, partially because of his left-wing cooties but mainly because of the Castro connection, until President Clinton extended an invitation to him in 1995. I cannot say I'm the biggest fan of magic realism as a genre, but One Hundred Years.... is a marvelous book.

Death is often good for a writer's sales figures. His press has been huge, which helps. Thanks for the quote, pherank.

I hope Smith is worth the dough. A local press report with more details. It looks as if the idea is to carry on with a meaner, leaner company.Looks like the Campbells got canned, as it were.

"Influential" doesn't really begin to do justice to the Marquez Effect. The only novelist since Hemingway with such a combination of popular and artistic impact, and I think he may well be the last of his kind. RIP.

Thank you for posting, mussel. Does anyone know more details?

Welcome to the forum and the board,sparklingtonic. Chime in any time. Yes, in the end the community will has to be there. So sorry to hear about your local symphony and chorus.

To add to what Helene just said, Madonna doesn't need the money (unless she hasn't been investing wisely over the years) and gay men form a significant portion of her fan base. If she performed in Russia without saying anything about the new law, she would probably have received some pointed criticism from that fan base, with justice. I don't doubt she's perfectly sincere in her sentiments, but if anything she was erring on the side of caution, not taking a risky stand.

I thought Tommasini was writing more along the line of “obligation to disagree openly with governments who happen to be the bogeymen du jour in U.S. media.” Leaving aside the specific examples of Gergiev and Duhamel, I tend to think that nobody, famous or not, is obliged to be political beyond performing one’s civic duty as a voter. If American celebrities do speak out on an issue likely to alienate people who are disposed to buy tickets to see them (cf. the Dixie Chicks), then they get brownie points from me, depending on my opinion of their opinion. It would be risky to speak out for segregation in today’s environment – well, I hope it would be risky, anyway – but I’d not think highly of the proponent of such views regardless of the courage required to air them. Prominent people living in more dangerous political environments have far more difficult choices to make (which has also been true to a lesser extent during certain periods in American life, such as the Red Scares). I don’t think it’s possible to make too many generalizations about the “duty” of the artist. Some artists may feel that call to duty and some of them become heroes, like Vaclav Havel. And one thing about heroes is that there aren’t too many, which is why we revere them.

Another link to the golden age gone. It's easy to forget what a colossal star Rooney was in his day, because so many of his vehicles haven't aged so well and his star personality seems a tad hyperaggressive for today's tastes. A contemporary viewer might well wonder why young Judy Garland was relegated to second-banana status in their pictures together. But he was a big star and a big talent. No one could pick up a routine faster (which may have encouraged some his bad offscreen habits; it was all too easy for him). Adieu, Puck.

What DanielBenton said. As sandik says, this is a big topic. Unfortunately Tommasini does not begin to do it justice.

Another O'Hare interview:

And a staging of "Jewels" often seems to serve as a company's warrant that it is now officially In the Big Time, or in some cases, officially Modern (even if it is forty plus years old) .

Thank you, pherank. These are gorgeous.

Thank you for posting this awful news, pherank. It's not impossible for the company to come back. The 1% are experiencing the economic renewal you mention even if everyone else is mostly left out and there are plenty of folk in San Diego who belong to that happy minority. (Y'all have fun making that drive to L.A. to catch an opera.) It's also possible that a culturally-minded local government could do something. SD isn't exactly known for such things, true, but I can envision a scenario where local bigwigs get together around, say, the building of a state-of-the-art performing arts venue, which SD currently lacks. Of course, the habit of giving is built over time. And, as sandik notes in her post, the continuing economic malaise (which is very real for ordinary people), and cultural changes in who is giving to what also make a difference. I hope at least something will be done for the orchestra in the immediate future.

Thanks, Buddy. Don't know what's going on. Anybody?

Which isn't quite the same as saying, "It was good," if you think about it. I think she covered several performances in the same review. I remember Farrell saying in her book that in the end she decided it was best not to try rescale her dancing style and it was probably the right decision, at least for her.

Four years isn't so great. The bare minimum, I'd say, particularly for anyone who has his eye on bigger fish. Stiefel does seem to have done well enough by the RNZB, however.

Thanks for posting, pherank. I can't say that Hiroshima Mon Amour has aged all that well, although Emmanuelle Riva is still astounding, but Last Year at Marienbad and Night and Fog are essential viewing for me. Providence has a delicious performance from John Gielgud, aged 73. Ripeness is all.

I read that the ratings were up from last year, but only slightly. I hope this doesn’t mean she gets asked back next year. I had no particular investment in any nominees this year. 12 Years is a good picture and also a nice safe Academy choice to recognize the struggle of black Americans. (No one’s going to argue that slavery wasn’t bad.) I knew it was in the bag for McConaughey as soon as Jared Leto’s name was announced. Good for him. No more Sarah Jessica Parker vehicles in his future!

I thought the joke about Minnelli (yes, it was in poor taste, but I’ve heard worse at the Academy Awards) was the least of DeGeneres’ troubles last night. I have a high tolerance for Oscar tedium but last night really took the boredom biscuit. MacFarlane at least produced some funny stuff. DeGeneres had nuthin’. The selfie bit might have been okay the first time but she overworked it. As for the pizza bit, I’m sure the audience members appreciated the opportunity to get pizza sauce on their designer frocks and dinner jackets – Harrison Ford’s face was a picture, and later on there was a glimpse of Meryl Streep’s husband nobly scarfing his wife’s piece. She wasn’t helped by the terrible idea of showing montages from past Oscar-winning pictures and theme montages like “Heroes.” The show rolled on even longer than usual, the chief victim onstage being Idina Menzel, who suffered the double indignity of having her song cut short and John Travolta getting her name wrong. I too was surprised that Novak didn’t get a big standing O. Given that they were hopping up and down on the flimsiest of pretexts (maybe they needed to stretch their legs) it’s hard to see why not.

An interview with Liam Neeson, where he speaks about the death of Richardson. He notes that several of her organs were donated.

Thank you for posting, Mme. Hermine. I hadn't seen this before. My condolences to Makarova and the Karkar family.

Carley's obituary in the Times. RIP.

Thank you for posting, Pamela. I hadn't heard of him. NYT obit here.