dirac

Forgot to add that the 'In Memoriam' segment seemed more comprehensive than usual, as far as I could tell - the only person I missed was Maria Schneider of "Last Tango in Paris," who died quite recently.

Thanks, Barbara. I was wondering if that was Reyes next to Sorkin. She looks like his daughter, but it's a free country, let her mother worry.

This was a bridge too far for me. I do see what you mean but I like to give the actresses brownie points when they take a few chances on the red carpet. I thought it looked great - on her. Great dress, though. Thanks for those links, cubanmiamiboy. Did anyone else see all/part of the show?

Out of my control, alas, although Christian Bale might have looked pretty cool if not for the beard. Speaking of color, I Speaking of color, I loved Amy Adams and Marisa Tomei, the latter in Charles James. Also liked Kidman in Dior and Blanchett's Givenchy. I agree about Hailee Steinfeld, who looked happy, charming and, as you say, age appropriate. Went back and forth about Scarlett Johansson's cranberry number and decided for it. I decided against Witherspoon's hair. Too much forehead for that look. cubanmiamiboy, the wins for The King's Speech weren't a surprise, true, but Tom Hooper's win over David Fincher qualifies as an upset. The latter looked grim all evening, for good reason as it turned out.I have no strong feelings either way about Portman's win. It's her best performance as an adult, not a large statement. The appearance by Kirk Douglas was a ghastly mistake. I never saw Millepied although I did switch away just before Portman's name was announced, having run out of patience with the "Natalie, you bring to all your performances a unique quality of blah blah blah, plus you never forget your deodorant blah blah" homages that all the acting nominees received. Congrats to both of them, in any case.

Alexander Theroux reissues his book.

Bumping this up for any discussion or comments on the awards telecast(s) this weekend.

The scariest part of the movie for my money. Well, there was Winona Ryder's eye makeup.

The Liverpool Oratorio of some years ago, composed by McCartney with Carl Davis, was just okay but better than many expected and generally well received. McCartney's musical powers are not what they once were but his melodic gifts have never entirely deserted him and to give him credit he's still in there punching. There's no reason not to expect this to be a respectable effort. McCartney has always been interested in the arts outside his own speciality and as far back as his earliest years of fame he could reasonably be described as a culture vulture, always out with Jane Asher at the theater and other events during his man-about-town period, dabbling in experimental music and film, funding an art gallery, etc., etc. He also composed a film score during that time. McCartney's father in law, Lee Eastman, was de Kooning's attorney and Paul and Linda were good friends of the painter.

In the case of PBS some of it has been from hunger. With the decline in public support they have to rattle the cup more often. NPR's classical music programming has been cut because although the classical music fans whined a lot, they didn't actually send in much money, and the people who listened to the talk shows did.

I agree, abatt. Sad. Rich women donating money and time is one thing, and often a good one. This is quite another. You'd think they'd be embarrassed, but dancing onstage is a fantasy for many women, and these just happen to have the deep pockets to make it happen.

Thank you for reviving this thread, Bonnette. It's now showing on cable in my area, too, and I plan to watch it. I think comparisons were made between Tautou and Mouglalis mainly because the two movies were released fairly close to each other. Not quite the Dueling Capotes situation between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toby Jones some years ago, but a little like it.

Yes. Not a hard question for me to answer, actually. There are many things I'd rather not see on my local PBS stations but there is still plenty of programming that I do want to see that would not make it on the air at all save on PBS, and when the station isn't fundraising those shows are still shown without commercials and without the disfiguring cuts that are common on many cable channels. (I prefer to watch the BBC News on PBS rather than the BBC America channel, because there is no barrage of commercials.) PBS also makes available quality programming to people who can't afford cable. I may complain, but I still contribute, and will certainly defend public broadcasting against those who would destroy it or would inflict death by a thousand cuts, as carbro noted.

Yes, that's my real concern. Total defunding is unlikely at present, but even cuts made for symbolic value will take much needed money away. An update:

I can sympathise, Mashinka. By the time the credits rolled I was ready to shoot myself in the head. Oh, it wasn't that bad. I guess it just goes to show that one should be careful about potential offense to fellow audience members. Especially in concealed carry states.

According to news reports some prospective Royal Ballet ticket buyers wanted to know which nights Natalie Portman would be dancing. You gotta wonder sometimes. tinywhite, some kind of enhancement, CGI or otherwise, can be expected in ballet movies, if only if it's the kind of helpful cutting that kept Leslie Browne from being totaled by Baryshnikov. The big ballet in "The Red Shoes" couldn't possibly have taken place onstage and the film winks at that (although Moira Shearer didn't need help in any department).

Actually, these stories are part and parcel of the movie's marketing campaign - a very skillful one in this case - and also of Portman's Oscar campaign,which is in full swing, most of it calculated to minimize the fact that Portman, whatever the degree of her offscreen labors, doesn't do any real dancing. (One might get the impression from these stories and others that being a movie star is a grueling endeavor, like the peach picking done by the migrant workers in The Grapes of Wrath.)

Thanks for taking the time to revive this thread, cubanmiamiboy. Good reading.

Thanks for posting this sad news, Mme. Hermine. A wonderful performer. She seems to have been in good health and active right to the end.

Defunding public broadcasting is a long term goal of certain elements of the right wing. It didn't start with the House freshmen and won't end with them.True, Democrats presently hold the Senate and the White House and it's unlikely that all funding will be eliminated, but damaging cuts to PBS' already tiny fraction of the budget are quite possible. Write those letters.

That's a point worth repeating. Write your own letter -- and use regular mail.

A story on the documentary in The Palm Beach Daily News. Looks very interesting.

Yes, thank you, Patrick, you said it better than I did. Regarding the dearth of dance writing in The New Yorker, an event like Ratmansky's new Nutcracker is the kind of topic the magazine should be covering, and if Acocella doesn't want to I wish they would find someone who does. I suppose it's possible regular dance writing isn't wanted there but I find that hard to believe, although anything's possible with magazines these days.

We are working from a different definition of the term “media critic.” My understanding of the contemporary definition is that a media critic is someone who comments on the place and status of various media, often news media, in contemporary culture, a definition which embraces the (relatively) new field of media studies. Film, to use a term Kael disliked, is a medium, but I think of dance, theater, music, and film critics as arts critics, not media critics. Kael restricted herself exclusively to movies, rarely venturing beyond that confine to make larger comments on media although she often generalized on the topic of culture high and low. We can agree to disagree.

Ahem The Post doesn't come close in terms of coverage space or influence but I'm putting in a good word for our arts section. Rather than let Clive Barnes' position disappear through attrition, they added writers - and all the reviewers are people I'm proud to have as colleagues. Our word count is tight, but I think everyone there gets maximum efficiency from the space. And I believe we reach more people locally than The Times. So read us too! Quite right, Leigh. I thought of that after I put up my post but didn't get around to clarifying. The Post certainly does deserve points for preserving their performing arts coverage when everyone else is cutting back. My use of "only game in town" was misleading - I was thinking also when I wrote that of papers aspiring to a broad national reach. The now-defunct New York Sun was a rag but they did have excellent arts coverage.

richard53dog writes: Yes, the Times has always had pride of place -- and not unreasonably since it is, after all, arguably the greatest paper in the world even after all this time. And because so many other papers are throwing in the towel as far as arts criticism is concerned, increasingly the Times is the only game in town despite Murdoch's efforts to expand the bailiwick of The Wall Street Journal. So the critics writing for the NYT -- in certain fields, as you note, and in different degrees -- wield disproportionate power, even now. I remember reading that Croce started Ballet Review in part because she was so fed up with Barnes' dance criticism in the Times. It's off topic, but Kael wasn't really a media critic. Apart from the occasional review of books connected to movies, she was a one-trick pony. And a lot of filmmakers would say that certainly wasn't the "one time" Kael "didn't do it." Still, I miss her. For better and worse, we won't see her like again. Even without knowing the name of the band, I don't doubt it, puppytreats. I add my compliments to Patrick's, puppytreats. I enjoyed reading your post.