Letter from Uvalde
matthew mcconaughey “The true call to action now is for every American to take a longer and deeper look in the mirror, and ask ourselves: ‘What is it that we truly value? How do we repair the problem? What small sacrifices can we individually take today, to preserve a healthier and safer nation, state and ...
Writer revered! Leonard Maltin at roundtable prior to Robert Osborne Award
It was a special occasion, April 23, 2022, and an honor, to be among the writers, all drawn to TCM Classic Film Festival 2022 by a shared interest in Hollywood history, and all in admiration of the modest gentleman at the end of a long table — he who wrote the film bible, Leonard Maltin’s ...
A festive fourteenth for arts•meme! Happy birthday, blog
May
3
2022
Look at Judy Garland. She was different. Not one of the glamour girls. But, oh, that voice. And at fourteen years-old, she was already belting like a torch singer, crooning like a warbler, and cooing like a nightingale. She was even Stompin’ at the Savoy! The happiest of 14th birthdays to you, dear blog. Your ...
Smart women talkin’ dance-books 1
la nijinska cover and author lynn garafola A study of sibling rivalry? Or shared dance DNA? Lynn Garafola uncovers the astonishing life of the choreographer Bronislava Nijinska, long overshadowed by her brother, Vaslav Nijinsky, and yet long deserving of attention as one of the most notable choreographers of ballet modernism. Garafola constructs Nijinska’s world across ...
To Cucamonga, with Joan Didion 2
Dec
26
2021
Ed. note: Writer Joan Didion’s recent death sparked a memory for an unexpected author on these pages. It is Kent Bulza, otherwise known as artsmeme’s tech and SEO specialist. Thank you, Kent! In my freshman literature class I was handed a standard-issue Borzoi College Reader filled with all sorts of names of authors I’d never ...
What is this man thinking? Go see ‘Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn’ 2
Radu Jude, director of BAD LUCK BANGING OR LOONY PORN Photo credit: Silviu Ghetie. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures He resembles an Every Man, doesn’t he? Someone Bertolt Brecht might portray in a play — set in the good old days, the 1930s. He is the contemporary Romanian film director, Radu Jude, who, borrowing from ...
Don’t bug out! Go to ‘Bug Therapy’
You think you have problems? What about our psychotherapists? They have to listen to other people’s problems (OPP) all day long. These wretched folk must be ready to jump out the window. But, luckily, according to Bug Therapy, a new animated light-comedy that’s premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, they may have ...
‘Hygiene theater,’ a good show at Segerstrom, others 1
Joan Crawford, Queen of Cleanliness There are copious stories in the New York Times and The Atlanta Monthly calling for the end to “hygiene theater,” that is the fake, fruitless, labor intensive, time-and-money consuming practice of keeping our shared public spaces scrupulously clean. Even the Centers for Disease Control is emphasizing that COVID-19 is spread ...
Girl, you’re a woman now: arts·meme at 13
Jul
17
2021
kind of looks like arts·meme founder did at 13 While you were all watching Netflix, arts·meme celebrated her 13th birthday. Since I was also watching Netflix on May 24, I missed it as well. But hey, now that things are opening back up, … er… what’s that? We’re closing down again? Opening again? No more ...
Election Day 2020: ‘De-polarize for democracy,’ says dancer Dana Caspersen
It seems pretty obvious. We need to tamp down the political polarization in this country. But how do we do that? “They” won’t listen. Let’s put our bodies into it. Assuring us that “We Are Not Doomed,” conflict specialist Dana Caspersen, also a former dancer, has created a special “score,” or physical/mindful exercise, in honor ...