dirac

Well, someone can always revive "Edward II." I should say that a book and a movie are quite sufficient where "Maurice" is concerned. I wish it were better. It did have a happy ending. I'd suggest respectfully that's a serious simplification.

Graham's life and her ending did indeed contain elements of tragedy, but I would hesitate to include failure to destroy her works thoroughly enough as one of them......

The auction of Taylor's jewelry breaks sales records. The estimates, which proved to be laughably, almost perversely low, were apparently derived only from the intrinsic value of the metals and minerals involved. The crucial but impossible-to-quantify factor of stardust was not included in the equation. Proving that the extravagantly rich are not immune to the charms of secondhand celebrity, the bidding maintained a giddy pace through the night. To cite just one memorable example, the famous La Peregrina pearl, dangling from a necklace of pearls, diamonds and rubies by Cartier, caused ripples of murmurs and applause when it sold for $11.8 million, almost four times the estimate of $3 million. Related. Among buyers, there also will be those who just want to own, and wear, a piece of history. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian said she paid $64,900 for three jade bracelets, telling InStyle.com, "I believe they carry her spirit". More. Meanwhile, during last night’s couture and art portion of the auction, a signed Warhol print of Taylor went for a whopping $662,500 after a spirited bidding war. It had been estimated to sell for about $50,000.

Could be, Jayne. I've never seen it in a theater. I do understand that it isn't all sweetness and light, but I don't find that offputting in itself, on the contrary.

True. In addition,Cunningham was ninety, and like Balanchine he probably had difficulty going gently into that good night. It's a very human thing to believe (and perhaps even to hope) that your work can't survive your own extinction. And of course Balanchine gave mixed signals - sometimes he would say his works wouldn't survive, but he also took steps to preserve them. Sometimes his ballets are not well danced, but often as not they are. The closing of the Cunningham company and the school was surely precipitate. The company might have failed. It might have survived. The point is that it never had the chance. (I would say it's possible that Graham truly didn't care - that once she ceased to dance her works ceased to have real value for her. But her dances are part of our collective cultural heritage and they were worth fighting for. It's a difficult issue, because the rights of the artist also deserve respect.)

I sawThe Bishop's Wife recently and enjoyed it considerably more than I thought I would. (Loretta Young not being a raving fave of mine and I thought the whole Cary-Grant-as-an-angel premise dubious. But it works!) It's not a holiday movie, but I've always associated The Sound of Music, a guilty pleasure of mine, with this time of year because of the annual ABC broadcast. I could watch it on DVD free of commercials, but upholding tradition is important. I also enjoy a viewing of The Ref as an antidote to too much holiday cheer. Also Christmas Holiday. Traditional Christmas favorites I'm not that crazy about: Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life. Any more out there?

Plucking this quote from a post by miliosr in another thread: Before said Christmas spirit fades away completely, I thought I'd ask BA posters: What's your favorite holiday movie?

A farewell to the company by Robert Greskovic in The Wall Street Journal. If, in the wake of MCDC's departure, companies with other backgrounds choose to acquire Cunningham's dances, they'll have a fighting chance at success if they can commit to the quiet concentration and rehearsal time suited to putting the chosen dance on stage. If not, they'll find themselves confounded by these works widely known for their presentation of independently-arrived-at movement, sound and design aspects. Ghosts of these final performances at the Armory, so pristine, alert and full of fine detail, will rise up and doom halfhearted efforts to inconsequence, a fate worse than death.

Well, she's not "St. Hildegarde" just yet. Abbesses could exercise considerable power in Hildegarde's day. Later, not so much.

Grigorovich turns 85. Happy birthday! But are these "his best ballets"? A celebration in his honour will take place in the Bolshoi Theatre on the 6th of January with the performance of ballet suites based on Grigorovich’s best ballets – Romeo and Juliet, The Golden Age and The Nutcracker.

Thanks for the links, Quiggin. Cy Twombly, Leo Steinberg, John Chamberlain, Lucian Freud, and Helen Frankenthaler died. They won’t be replaced. Nor indeed will any of the others. They lived in a special era for art.

I did see online a rousing version of "Sweet Caroline," a terrific song. I agree about Ma - true, he went through the classical repertory a long time ago and has been exploring different avenues, but his classical prowess is still central to his prominence. KInd of like Baryshnikov in that way.

A piece by Alma Guillermoprieto in The New York Review of Books' blog. Mostly a reminiscence and appreciation, but raising questions similar to those of Simon in the first post in this thread.

Photo gallery of twelve of the departed from The New York Observer.

Thanks, abatt. I like Hathaway. And she's a trouper, as she demonstrated at last year's Oscars.

No, indeed, not forgotten. RIP.

That's okay, Barbara. Emoticons come in handy occasionally but the fewer the better, I always say. Like you and sandik, I was pleased that Cook was chosen. It's nice to see performers like her (and Rollins) who are well known to relatively few get this kind of national exposure. I intended to watch the show myself but forgot to record it. It doesn't surprise me that the Diamond segment was successful. I was dragged to one of his concerts many years ago and had an unexpectedly good time. He's written a ludicrous number of hits and he's an energetic stage performer. Hard man to dislike whatever you think of his music. I think Anne Hathaway would be great on the stage. Did she sing? She has a voice.

I'm inclined to agree. Williams looked better in the movie than she does in the publicity stills in Marilyn's costumes and poses, though. (If it's hard to match Monroe on film, it's even tougher in front of the still camera.) Theron is indeed too tall (I thought Williams looked a trifle short) but her height also makes her imposing. She's sexier than Williams and she's able to suggest voluptuousness without actually being so. In terms of acting ability it's probably a bit of a wash, at least in regard to the movie under discussion. I'm not sure that an actor of Marilyn's physical proportions would even be desirable, since most such can't avoid vulgarity - witness the Monroe imitators- which Monroe was able to do even when she was bursting out of her dress fore and aft. Hello, Bonnette and sidwich, it's good to hear from you. Haven't seen Blonde. The reviews of the Oates novel did not tempt me to read it, although they were mostly favorable. I did read somewhere that Naomi Watts might be up for the part in the feature film.

Hi, balletgirl22sk. The dance honors were MIA, as is all to often the case. Which segment did you like best? Thanks, kfw. What did you think of the broadcast overall? Come on, people. I can't believe only two of you saw it.......

Oh, I don't blame Williams for wanting to get out of kitchens and wagon trains and into a category that's a little more glamorous. I'm sure she'll be nominated up the wazoo this season and there's nothing particularly upsetting about that. I was just hoping for a more complex interpretation and a better performance (and a better vehicle for it). Holmes is no great favorite of mine but she's not a bad actor. She could be in a different place given different circumstances. I understand she wanted to play Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl, a project in theory at least as daring as Williams doing Marilyn, and Cruise nixed the idea, too bad because she would have been at least as good as Sienna Miller. She's also found herself in thankless jobs such as the villainess in Thank You for Smoking.

Thank you, Mashinka. I don't know that recording.

Even if Madonna weren't too old, she never photographed well. She can move and probably quiver, although when Monroe got quivery it wasn't a good sign. Very poorly constructed sentence, for which I apologize. It should have read, "where she has bad hair and sleeps in cars." Obviously I didn't mean to suggest that cars have bad hair, although I've seen some upholstery that might qualify.

Charlize Theron isn't a bad idea, cubanmiamiboy. Obviously no one can be Monroe, but at least Theron is a similar type, she can be radiant, and she can stop traffic. (It's too bad that a goddess like Charlize spends so much time in Oscar bait flicks where she's sleeping in cars with bad hair. MGM wouldn't have wasted her like that.) I remember a Marilyn TV movie years ago with Catherine Hicks and I recall that as a very good performance.

Anybody see the show last night?

rg very kindly sent in this link from Time Out New York in the same vein, with reminiscences from fourteen Cunningham dancers. Excerpt from Robert Swinston's Q&A below.