dirac

I was going to point that out, Estelle, thank you for saving me the trouble. 'Doesn't look like the typical romantic hero'? Try 'yuck.'

Suzanne Farrell says in her autobiography that during their time in the Bejart company Paul Mejia and she had a private joke - 'Have chair, will travel,' or something to that effect - in reference to their boss' fondness for choreographing around that item of furniture. A practical man. Thanks, I couldn't remember where I read it.

papeetepatrick’s new thread reminds me that I meant to post something about the Joseph Cornell exhibit that recently left San Francisco and never got around to it. I do plan to do so, but in the meantime here’s a thread. If anyone else in the Bay Area saw it, please tell us about it here. (Ballet Review has a nice article in the current issue, too.)

Thank you for posting on this. No time to look at the links now, but I will. Cheung's name rings a bell but I'm not familiar with his work. I hope others will be able to go.

A lot of the modern companies do that, I find. I had the impression Rambert wasn't really ballet, which is why I didn't put up anything about this piece is in the Links. I suspect also that 'ballet' gets more attention, and in this instance it's also alliterative.

What Andrew73 said.

More discussion, with opinions solicited from Tom Stoppard and John Banville. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle3365802.ece

Thank you for the reviews in brief, cubanmiamiboy. I liked 'Eastern Promises,' too, although I didn't think it was as interesting as the last Mortensen/Cronenberg outing, 'A History of Violence.' But it's well done and more accessible than Cronenberg usually is. Atonement is only now showing up in my vicinity. I'm on the fence about going. Diving Bell is also around and I'm planning to go. Mathieu Amalric is a wonderful actor. The writers appear to have settled matters, so it looks like the Oscar ceremony is a go.

Yes, indeed. Thanks, canbelto, and to Natalia for the review.

I have not been following this story closely, but my understanding is that Spears is mentally ill. Even if she weren't I still wouldn't say that it's open season on her. Be that as it may, the main issue here is whether , it's appropriate for a dance company with any claims to seriousness to be doing such a piece at this time and in these circumstances, and I think it's pretty clear that it's not. Exactly. It's just a really tacky thing to do.

I just hope this doesn't derail the film(s) of "The Hobbit." Once big projects like this get shelved, they don't necessarily come back. Let's hope for the best.

Thanks for posting, Andrew73. I think you've put the central issue in a nutshell. The devil, of course, always being in the details.

Tolkien’s estate is suing New Line Cinema: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7240421.stm Hard to tell from news reports, of course, but taking Hollywood accounting practices into, um, account it wouldn’t surprise me if the suit has merit.

Thank you for taking the time to tell us about the performance, YouOverThere. I'd be very interested to hear this version. I hope they do record it.

Good point. I seem to remember reading that Balanchine said something privately to the effect that after Hayden left, Cortege would be a nice little piece for McBride to do. Don't know how accurate that was.

I think it's far more difficult in ballet to maintain such a clear distinctin b/t elements of performance practice ("the steps" or "the formations") and all the other, mostly visual, elements of the staging--(Though some would argue that opera often crosses a line of propriety.) But yes, Hans, I really do enjoy opera's ability to juxtapose modern sensibility and rigorous, traditional/authentic practice. Often the results are quite poignant, as in the recent Met production of Peter Sellar's Lohengrin. Yes, it's more difficult because there is no 'text' to work from - in some cases there's nothing more than muscle memory! I think a certain composer would be most upset if we referred to the opera as anything other than "Wagner's Lohengrin." I would suggest, and this is not aimed at anyone in particular, that we avoid locutions along the lines of "Are you accusing me of This?" or "Are you calling me a That?" unless someone has actually said, "You THIS!" or "You THAT!" in which case we moderators will step in, have no fear. Thanks, all. Otherwise, great discussion. Carry on.

Tell us what you thought of it, Paul, if you see it.

It's perfectly okay, BTW, to just copy and paste the link without embedding. I'm not particular. And Scheider was older, too, which would have created a different dynamic between that character and the ones played by Streep and Walken. Would have been interesting to see.

GWTW asked me to put up a post noting the death of Roy Scheider, who is gone at age 75. NYT obituary. Maybe he wasn’t the most glamourous actor in the world but I always liked to see him, and he could display a certain Bogart/Belmondo flair in the right role. He was a great reactor, too; I love the “I–can’t-believe-I’m-out-in-the-middle-of-the-ocean with-this-raving-loon” looks he keeps shooting in the direction of Robert Shaw in “Jaws.” He’s amazing in “All That Jazz” although I think Fosse has to get some of the credit – Scheider never managed quite that kind of attack again. He also appeared to good effect in “Sorcerer” and I have a perverse fondness for “Still of the Night,” although it really isn’t very good. There were a lot of great things about movies in the seventies and early eighties, and Scheider was one of them. R.I.P.

Thanks for the link, Amy. I had read this article in the print edition. Very sad news.

Thanks, sidwich. It's left my area so unless they bring it back because of Depp's Oscar nomination, as sometimes happens, I have to wait for the DVD. More reviews and comments welcome. Very likely you're right.

It's unlikely that they looked quite so Sixties, however.

Thank you for taking the time to post, cubanmiamiboy. It’s appreciated. I’d like to see Oscar but don’t. The Savages is a Fox Searchlight picture and from what I can tell the full weight of Fox is behind Juno and Ellen Page. It’s an honor just to be nominated, Laura...... I didn't know that. I hope we get to see more from her.

Thank you for the heads up, miliosr. I heard this was going to be released on DVD and I look forward to seeing it, although for once I wish I had HD and one of those gigantic new television sets. (One day I hope our local repertory theatre will get a new print and I'll see it again on the big screen, which is where it belongs, as you say.) The cinematographer, Robert Krasker, should also get a mention. It’s one of the most gorgeous movies I’ve ever seen, and whatever happened between Heston and Loren offscreen, they are an august pair. Picky, picky.

Thank you, Estelle, for that report from the front lines. I don't much care for too much emphasis on private lives, either, but I prefer open discussion to the 'organized hypocrisy' described by Gopnik. All too often said hypocrisy meant an easier life for powerful men and stoic silence on the part of their wives and lovers. It still does, of course, but it's a lot harder now. That is not, all in all, a bad thing in my view. I can well imagine. I think they have a point. I wondered about that, too. Gopnik seemed to think it was sort of cute.