This week in NYTimes Arts, 9/19-9/21
What have you found of interest in the NYTimes Arts section? Add your comments to this post. I encourage you to leave multiple comments, and to comment freely on others’ ideas.
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29 comments
Looking at the Friday, NYT I found an article about the Fall for Dance performance we went to on Wednesday night. The title of the article was “Swaying Flames, Thai Steps and a Hip Hop Parody.” I thought this article was interesting because I can relate and compare opinion to the author on the performance that night. In the article the author really like the performance by Pichet Klun-chun Dance Company of Thailand “Chui Chai” I honestly disliked that performance the most. It was way too slow and too quiet for me. I have to admit the costumes were beautiful but the main dancer seemed out of place with his plain all black outfit. The author states its a juxtaposition between modern and ancient times, but in my opinion it was just odd. The first performance by the Shen Wei exciting at first but then it got boring because they mainly kept twirling around and the group of a dancers separated into two and started doing their own thing so I got confused. My overall favorite was the Larry Keigwin and Company because it was a light performance that was lively and funny. It helped wake up up after the very slow Thai dance. The last performance from the National Ballet of Canada, I wasn’t sure why the dancers took off their shirts at the end of the dance. The author said the performance was suppose to reflect the anguish of war I guess that explains for all the men laying in the floor and the warlike music. Overall the article did help explain to me some of the things I didn’t understand during the performance and I was surprised that what I liked least was the highlight of the performance for this author.
Nancy I agree, the swaying flames was also my favorite part of the play. The ballet at the end was great also but the fast pace music of of the flames really caught my attention. The dancers in the third part were really good. I also agree that the “Chui Chai” was too slow. I understand there is a story behind it and that the performance is beautiful, but it was too slow for me. Especially when the characters just walked across the stage really slowly. But overall the performance s in general were really interesting and I am excited for the other “Fall for Dance” I am attending on Tuesday.
I am actually kind of excited for the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. Although there may be negative aspects about it, the whole thing in general seems fascinating to me. I have always wanted to go to a hands-on museum. When I take my cousin to museums, like the Metropolitan or the Natural History museum, he is interested but since it is usually only looking children get bored easily. Although some things may be boring to an adult, the children may be interested in the most simplest things so the Brooklyn Children’s museum seems like a great place to visit.
The article about the high chest from New Orleans was really interesting. It is really lucky that the high chest survived the hurricane. I said “Wow!” when I read that the chest price jumped from 50,000 to 500,000. The buyer was really lucky to have found it because the sale was not even advertised. I would like to see what the antique looks like.
The movie “Ghost Town” seems good. Watching non-scary movies with ghosts is fun. You know it is not true but it is fun because during the movie you actually do not really question the existence of the ghost. I like movies that have a happy ending.
The movie “All of Us” seems very powerful. The documentary could probably teach people about AIDS. I think we could learn a lot about not only how to prevent AIDS but in general how to stay strong through tough situations.
I also read the Fall For Dance article and I kind of agree with it. I thought the “Chui Chai” performance was decent because I really liked the costumes. However, it was incredibly slow and it lost my attention after a while. The shimmer of the gold costumes was enticing, and the dancing was smooth and flowed nicely. I, like everyone else in the class, thought “Fire” was the best dance; but there was only a paragraph on that dance.
I also read about Brad Pitt’s support of same-sex marriage. I heard about this on television and I read this to learn more about the specifics. Pitt donated $100,000 to support gay marriage rights and fight Proposition 8, which will overturned the Supreme Court’s decision the legalize same-sex marriage if passed. I agree with Pitt’s statement that people should live their life the way they want to, and no one should tell them how to live.
Like Heajung and Nancy, I read “Swaying Flames, Thai Steps and a Hip-Hop Parody.” I agree with Nancy about how gorgeous the costumes are but the dance was simply just too slow. Although the dance itself was probably not the longest, it felt like the longest. As dancers, don’t the women get impatient for having to walk across the stage in such a slow manner? I didn’t even know this dance belonged to Thailand culture originally. But when I heard the music in the beginning, I said this is so Asian so it must be the dance with the title I couldn’t pronounce. I was originally confused between what we were up to – the break or the intermission. Overall nothing about this particular dance really attracted me besides the beauty of the costumes, but the overall process to complete the dance was simply too long. However, they did a good job of portraying the royal subjects because they usually walk in this slow manner to show that they are superior.
Another article that I found interesting is “Nocturnal Van Gogh, Illuminating the Darkness.” I really like how his paintings deal a lot of night scenes and nature. They are so different from those of Dali. It is amazing how his artwork depict elements of nighttime, such as the setting sun, stars, and the moon. His paintings compared to Dali are more peaceful and natural whereas Dali’s are unnatural and sometimes very creepy.
Friday’s most interesting article was Gia Kourlas’ review of the Fall for Dance performance, titled “Swaying Flames, Thai Steps and a Hip-Hop Parody”. The review is concise and engaging, and echoed many of the sentiments that I myself felt towards the performance. The first dance was unique but became “monotonous”, and I kind of felt myself dozing off near the end. I also agree the “Soldier’s Mass” was performed with “too heavy a hand”; the music was a bit too strong, and the routine was a bit repetitive. I do disagree, however, with Kourlas’ opinion that the “highlight of Wednesday’s opening program was the New York debut of the Pichet Klunchun Dance Company of Thailand.” I certainly did appreciate the costumes and the beauty of the dance, that the value of the routine was in the dancers’ controlled movements, and I really was drawn in for the first five minutes, but I ultimately found the dance a bit too slow for my taste. Like everyone else who has commented, I thought Keigwin’s “Fire” routine was the most exciting part of the night, especially the hip-hop routine. In conclusion, the review was informative and interesting, and would have been helpful for anyone who didn’t see the performance first-hand.
“Getting In Palin’s Hair, or Close to It” was a very amusing article about comedian Tina Fey’s attempt to portray Sarah Palin in a recent SNL episode. Apparently, when a political figure is about to be portrayed, SNL researches pictures and videos of the figure for the makeup department to study. The copying takes quite a long time; wigs take 40 to 50 hours to make, and the application of the makeup takes quite a while as well. Overall, it was a very entertaining article that provided a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what takes place backstage of shows like SNL.
I also looked over the article “Swaying Flames, Thai Steps and a Hip-Hop Parody”. All I can say about the Thai dance was that it was very extremely slow. I understand that this must be one of the main elements of the dance but I just couldn’t help mouthing the words “run already!!!” as the dancewas drawn to a close. On the other hand, I must say that the Fire dance was very interesting and entertaining. It is unfortunate we were seating so far away from the stage since I would love to see these amazing performers up close. The first dance, Maps, was very attractive as well. I really enjoy seeing the dancers move according to the rhythm of the music. It got a bit tiresome after a while though. The last performance, Soldiers’ Mass, although powerful in some ways, was just plain boring to me. It was probably because I was already very tired after the first three performances and also because I just gave up trying to get a good view of the performers that lead me to not enjoy this last performance as much as I want to. Nevertheless, I enjoyed going to this Fall for Dance festival since I was actually looking forward to visiting it myself even without IDC’s invitation. It definitely broadens my views in the field of dancing.
The article I mainly wanted to talk about was “Kids, Can You Say ‘Cultural Diversity”. This article talked about the reopening of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. I was surprised that it was actually closed for a period of time. I remember I went there only once and it was at least several years ago. I agreed with the author that the museum is not only inviting to young children but it also appeals to adults that accompany the children. When I visited the museum that time, I was just stepping into my teenage years while my siblings were youngsters. However, I was just as fascinated as they were with the creative design of the place with all the cool activities they provided. The article continued on about how with the new funding, the museum was able to add more features with the new spaces it now contains. Maybe someday I will drop by in Brooklyn and see what’s new with this Brooklyn Children’s Museum.
I see that everybody read the article about the Fall for Dance, but I couldn’t find it. But the Flame dance was my favorite too. But looking through today’s paper, I didn’t really find anything that had interested me other than, “Battle Over ‘Watchmen’ Surrounds a Producer.” This article was about how Fox is claiming rights over “Watchmen” just a few months before it is planned to release and a few weeks after Warner Bros. wrapped up the movie. The article talked a lot about Mr. Gordon, a 72 year-old man, who has been in the movie making industry for a very long time. I found it peculiar that FOX would decide to file a case after the movie has finished up. They could have done it a whole lot earlier, like when Warner Bros. first announced that they were filming it. But then again, there are many legal issues with this story, such as the agreements between the two companies from the past. Let’s hope this dispute won’t affect the schedule for ‘Watchmen’.
FYI – here’s a link to the Fall for Dance review
For myself, I did enjoy both the “Fire” and the “Chui Chai” dances. The Fire performance was witty and energetic, and more than a bit campy, while at the same time the dancers seemed in control of what they were doing, so it was not just a free-for-all. I liked the mix of popular forms (both in the music and the dance styles) with ‘high art’ forms.
In the Chui Chai piece, I found it visually arresting with the stark lighting. I tend to enjoy slow work as there is so much in my life that is fast, it is sort of a luxury to be forced to slow down and gain a different awareness of time. Perhaps it was just our terrible seats but I didn’t see the dancer in street clothes appear on the stage until he was almost in his spotlight, so seeing him there in contrast with the classically dressed dancers was another visually arresting moment that held my attention. The ringing cell phones and grumbly audience added another level of weirdness. I enjoyed watching the movement, particularly the way the dancers moved their hands. But as I said, I do have patience for slowness, which may account for a lot of my enjoyment of the piece.
On another note I found this short article on Randy West’s photographs in the City section of the Times. I thought you might enjoy seeing the pictures and reading the article. It reminded me again that art is where you find it – and then how you show what you find!
Well, since everyone was reading about the Fall For Dance performance on Wednesday night, I figured it would be interesting to see what the review said. When reading the review, I started to appreciate the second dance, “Chui Chai” a little more. Though my overall opinion of it is still considering it to be boring, I did think about the dance more after reading the review. Like everyone else said, the dancers were a bit too slow, but the costumes were indeed very attractive. When I first saw the male dancer, I was like “what the hell, he’s totally out of place.” After reading the review, I noticed that the point of the black costume was a transition between ancient and modern times, which is one thing that made me appreciate the dance more. Also, the beginning of the dance was a bit too slow. I do agree with Zoe that there are many things in life that move too quickly and it is nice to appreciate time sometimes. However, it was maybe a little “too slow.” Like Joyce said, and many of us may have been thinking it, “run already!” I remember hearing “..something’s GOTTA happen soon,” but it didn’t. It was interesting that it was so mysterious though. In addition, I found that the end, when the dancers were slowly walking off the stage, it is impressive how they are exactly the same distance apart, and they are very well choreographed. Reading this article made me realize that there were people there that actually liked these kinds of dances. It’s a great example to show us that everyone is different, and not everyone’s taste is the same as yours. Though, I think I can safely say that the class has generally the same taste, in that we loved the hip hop, and possibly slept through the rest. Also, I find that reading something that I actually saw is way more interesting than not.
Like everyone else, I also read “Swaying Flames, Thai Steps and a Hip-Hop Parody.” The writer feels that “Chui Chui,” the dance by the Thai company was the highlight of the evening. I didn’t think so. Personally, it wasn’t lively enough for me and it felt so dragged out – every step that the dancers took! The costumes were absolutely beautiful but it was very difficult to sit there and watch these dancers walk about 1 inch in 5 seconds. However, after reading Professor Zoe’s comment, I realize that the beauty of the dance WAS the gradual movements. We could learn to take things slowly and not be in such a rush. I personally loved loved “Fire.” Each section of the dance was very fun and kept the audience awake. I liked it a lot because not only was it performed well but it was also very humorous.
I also read “Boys and GIrls, Can you say ‘Cultural Diversity’? Many museums are becoming more child-friendly but the Brooklyn Children’s Museum is turning it into a child’s playground. THe museum has sandbox and water machinery! I also like the idea that these museums are serving troubled neighborhoods and that these museums are intertwining play and education.
I also read the review for the Fall for Dance out of curiosity. The author’s opinion was quite interesting. This article describes the most boring dance, that I thought, out of the show as a highlight of the show. I do agree that the dance did accentuate the specific body movements and had amazing costumes. Those factors, however, were not enough to captivate me. I thought the dance was extremely slow; if it was little bit faster, I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Other than my opinion towards the Thai dance, the author and I had similar view: explaining how the other dances were. The first dance was interesting at first, but soon became too repetitive. That applies well to the stage performed by National Ballet of Canada. The ballet moves were powerful but the lengthiness made the excitement go away. I give applaud to Larry Keigwin because his dance was contemporary, witty, and clever. As a young college student, I know that my views are very biased; however, his dance stood out far more than the others. Reading this was a very interesting experience. From comparing the views of professional and those of mine, it really showed how different my thoughts stood aside from theirs.
9/21/08
From early in the morning, I had an interesting time reading an article “Fuzzy Renaissance.” This article talks about the efforts of the Walt Disney Company to revive our childhood favorite: the Muppets. I still have memories of watching Kermit the frog singing songs, other muppets roaming around the pyramid, and rewinding the video of them thousands of times. Muppets along with Sesame Street, were my favorite childhood programs. Now that I do not watch those shows, I had no idea how they were doing. I learned from this article that the popularity of the Muppets could not withstand the upcoming celebrities such as Hannah Montana. I personally do not like Hannah Montana, however, I do understand that she represents what today’s “young kids” look forward to. I’m profoundly sad that the Muppets been having a hard time making their way through today’s society. I’m pretty sure that anyone who is older than I am would say the same thing. Because I was still too young, I do not recall much about the Muppets, but everyone who is older than me do recall a lot of it. I really hope that Disney could work it magic once again. Losing another classic into streams of celebrity based society will be a shame. From the article I can see that Disney is being careful more than ever to market our classic favorites. The company has to be aware of what the audience is looking for, and what the characters stand for. Despite the bad news of how the Muppets been doing, I’m happy to read this article to remind myself of some childhood memories.
An article I enjoyed today was “Home Views, Bound by Ice or Leather”. I was amazed that Catherine Opie started her career at age 9. At age 9 she knew she wanted to be a social-documentary photographer. Catherine Opie’s photographs all have an interesting theme and I think I would enjoy looking at all of them. She uses a lot of current events such as the election or global warming which can help the audiences relate to her work. It is interesting that she uses art-historical quotes to allow people to see pieces of arts that show topics that people do not usually look at. She also expresses her views on controversial topics such as heterosexuals. I admire that she tries to bring home and work together. She is a great artist and a great mother. Her images of the football players seem interesting. I found them different because others take pictures of perfect catches or perfect moments but Catherine Opie took pictures of all moments on the football field.
In the article “Making Her Own Breaks, in Triplicate”, I admire Niecy Nash because she worked hard for her success. The story about her beginning of trying to make her mom happier was touching. If someone has a hardship I think they work really hard and are very motivated. Also like death most hardships are a big thing in an artists’ life and influences them a lot.
In the article “Genre-Mixing Shows Are Born Here”, it is great that different elements of art are put together. It is a unique experience for both the makers and the audience. The producers learn new things about fields they did not work in before. Theater artists may learn about video producing and the other way around. The audience can experience different works in one piece which can be entertaining in a different way.
I did not find the Fall for Dance article make me like or dislike the show anymore than how I already felt. The Chui Chai was interesting, but it wasn’t enough to keep me focused on it. Far too slow paced, and somniferous. The costumes, although nice, became a real burden since the light would constantly blind me. It was like staring into the sun; if I dared to do it for too long, it’d become painful.
The Fire performance was good, it kept my attention the entire time. The movements were quick, but coordinated, like an actual fire. The final “Walk on out” managed to get a huge applause from the audience, and deserved it. However, if everyone else were like me, they would not have realized this was a PARODY. Woops.
“Sitcoms’ Burden: Too Few Taboos ” explores the Taboos of comedy and how few there seem to be left. The days of “Family Matters” and “The Jeffersons” are long gone, and have been replaced with crude humor that exploits a cheap joke over a good plot. The sad part is that it works and it looks like it’s here to stay. A huge part of comedy is relying on the element of surprise, and with the culture going down the path it’s been on, people have become desensitized to many things. So jokes about sexuality, and fluids are all fair game. This sad degeneration ushers in a new age of comedy that knows no limit, and therefore cannot become old. So tune in for The Life and Times of Tim on HBO. It seems like a funny show….
In the Sunday Times, I read “For Him, Reggae is the Family Business.” The article talks about a new producer and performer from jamaica. When we typically think of artists from Jamaica, we think of those such as Bob Marley who live in the ghetto. But Stephen McGregor is a wealthy 18 year old who comes from a family of musicians. I find it really amazing that even though he is the youngest of three children, he actually produces his older sister’s and brother’s works. I also like the idea of ‘riddims.” A riddim of a recycled piece of rhythm or music. As I read on, I learned a lot of remarkable things about Stephen. For example, by the time he was 5, he already wrote and released his first song.
I also read “Fuzzy Renaissance.” As a child, I LOVED the muppets and I actually don’t remember the last time I saw them on television. I didn’t realize that until I read this article which talks about the influence of celebrities such as Hannah Montana on today’s children. However, it’s great to know that Disney is attempting to revive the muppets. There will be more television specials starring the muppets and even clothing ( which I definitely will buy!) It’s also REALLY surprising that kids don’t even know who Miss Piggy and Kermit are. That was always a given, in my opinion. I also think it’s a great idea to increase Muppet popularity by making them relative to today’s world. Kermit and Miss Piggy will promote environmental friendliness,exercise and much more.
Today, I read “Fuzzy Renaissance” on the Times. This was about the old group of ..things, called “muppets.” They are really old; I remember seeing them about 12 years ago, when I heard one of their Christmas CDs. It was pretty surprising to learn that they were still alive. They even plan to take a risk and go for the big market again. Honestly, I think that they don’t have a chance against what is popular today. The Muppets are losing ideas, and trying to imitate popular shows, such as Desperate Housewives and ANTM. Right now, they’re just creating parodies, which make me feel that they are desperate (they probably are). They’re also trying to make stuff animals and such to appeal to younger kids, but I think it wouldn’t be popular either—they probably would never rise to the status of the cute Winnie-the-Pooh. Honestly, I think it would be better for them if they just started a whole new group rather than trying to revive the Muppets. Even though I watched them a few times, I don’t love them as much as Miji and Diane.
I also read the article “Sitcom’s Burden: Too Few Taboos,” which makes me realize how many sitcoms are comedies filled with violence and profanity. It’s kind of sad for people today to come to this state, though I know many people find the sitcoms funny, myself included for some. Reading this article just made me realize that comedy today is really hard to find, unless they are filled with words that hurt others. I guess today, people just find it funny to see others get hurt.
The other article I found very interesting was “525, 600 Minutes to Preserve.” This article was about the Broadway show, “Rent.” Rent has been out for 12 years; I’ve always wanted to watch it, but never got the chance too. Though it’s too late now, I hope that one day in the future it would come out again because of such a big success it has made. Personally, I don’t know much about Broadway shows, because the first one I’ve been to was “South Pacific.” So if I was to choose another show to attend, it would’ve been Rent or Lion King. It’s amazing to hear how long Rent has been on; I remember always seeing billboards and ads on this show, but never realized that it has already been twelve years, which is really impressive. It’s also cool how celebrities went to watch it. Blake Lively is popular with teenagers today because of Gossip Girl, and Penn the Abercrombie boy, was pretty popular too. I found it interesting and funny that the article called Penn the “beautiful accessory boyfriend.” Overall, I wish I went to watch “Rent” and learned that I missed out on what many call a great show.
My sister’s a brat, to be quite blunt. She gets everything she asks for, and gleefully smiles whenever my mother reluctantly forks over some cash for a very unnecessary Hanna Montana Wig…or a Hanna Montana Halloween costume. She sits in front of the TV all day, when she’s not bothering me or my grandmother, and soaks up all of the crap that the Disney Channel throws at her. As most of you well know, the Disney Channel is the spawn of Satan, creating conformist sheep out of our nation’s still-developing minds.
In any case though, my sister is still a child. Children subconsciously seek reason, explanation in the world around them. Their parents (at least those that don’t consider the Disney Channel a viable baby-sitter) strive to give their children the best possible opportunity to learn, to somehow enrich themselves. One such way of enrichment is a children’s museum.
“Kids, Can You Say ‘Cultural Diversity?'” is an article published by Edward Rothstein. Superficially, it is a review of the newly renovated Brooklyn Children’s Museum located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Beneath it’s surface, it’s a commentary on how “knowledge too can be a form of play.”
I, myself, have been to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum with that aforementioned bratty little sister. I went before the museum decided to undergo $75 million renovations, and I must say that I wasn’t entirely impressed with the facilities. There were lots of children running around , so that might have been the source of my misery there. That, or maybe the fact that I’m no longer 2 years old and I don’t find toy boats incredibly fascinating.
The author of the article shares my viewpoint, to an extent. He admits that the museum had provoked his inner child to surface a bit at the sight of an “exhibit” called Water Wonders. As the name might imply, the “exhibit” features a whole bunch of contraptions whose sole purpose is to manipulate flowing water (ooh, aah) and amuse simple minded children. Its overwhelming colors act as a magnet of stupidity, with children getting themselves soaked in the stupidly stupid process.
The review’s title implies an underlying theme of cultural diversity. The author says there’s an area in the museum, Neighborhood Nature, that has symbolic models of stores from different areas of different ethnic influences. The author proclaims that such an exhibit is a petty attempt at impressing cultural diversity upon our children. I for one think that such an exhibit promotes stereotypes, with a small model of Brooklyn’s famous Spumoni Gardens on display, in which children can pretend to sell pizza.
The author also mentions that there’s no models reflective of the Orthodox Jews, who are most prominent in Crown Heights. I feel that the inclusion and exclusion of ethnic backgrounds only enforces racial bigotry. Heading back to my Disney Channel reference, I only know of one show with an African American protagonist- That’s So Raven. Although I’m not as familiar with the Disney Channel as some of you might be, Other shows that I’ve reluctantly been subjected to watching (The Suite Life, The Wizards of Waverly Place) have predominantly white casts-African Americans and other minorities are featured as token characters.
It is appalling that the world in which we live is filled with so much hatred and bigotry. It is equally as appalling that this hatred and bigotry is being promoted, albeit implicitly and subconsciously, in the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. The author’s review is very well written, covering key points from many of the museum’s “exhibits.” I think the author hit the nail on the head with focusing his article around cultural diversity.
I’d also like to commend Chang for his masterful use of somniferous.
The article I found interesting in the Sunday Times is “Kids, Can You Say ‘Cultural Diversity’? I did not even know a Brooklyn Children’s Museum existed in the first place. If I did not know any better, I would think the place is only for children. But after reading the description of the renovations it went through, I find that it is a fun place for adults and children alike. These new exhibitions support the idea of playing and learning at the same time for kids. It is a great way for youngsters to learn while participating in interactive activities with others.
Another article that I read is “Fuzzy Renaissance.” I have always watched the muppets as a kid and cannot believe that today’s new celebrities have an effect on their popularity. I think that kids growing up nowadays are missing out on this friendly part of our culture since most of them have never heard of the muppets. In fact it is sad how many shows I have watched as a kid have been replaced by newer ones or simply fail to exist. To me the Muppets represent the innocence of childhood and I really do not like the fact that they are losing their popularity. I am glad that Disney is doing its best to revive the Muppets by putting them in more advertisements.
In 4th grade, my classmates and I once read a book whose protagonist was blind. We had an in depth discussion about how his blindness affected the way he went about his day to day life. Quite frankly the concept frightened me. I didn’t know anyone who had been blind in my life.
“Being blind sucks,” blurted out one of naive peers. I agreed.
My teacher made us think about what life would be like if we were blind, how we would interact with the world. She gave us an assignment to wake up the next morning and attempt to go about our morning activities with our eyes closed. Being the studious pupil that I was, that I am……I obliged.
I awoke the next morning. I brushed my teeth….with my eyes closed. I didn’t pick out my clothes with my eyes closed, but I did get dressed….with my eyes closed. I couldn’t function–it was debilitating. I promptly gave up the second I saw my mom, in fear of looking like a moron.
“Descending Into Blindness to See the Light” is an article written by Terrence Rafferty of the New York Times. Mr. Rafferty’s article is essentially a review of the film adaptation of a novel called Blindness.
I had the option to read Blindness last year, so the article’s title caught my interest. I instead chose Naked Lunch, which turned out to be nothing less than utterly disturbing. I was taken aback by the premise of Blindness…people mysteriously become blinded, only able to see white. I imagined the metaphorical implications that such a premise might have, as did Fernando Meirelles, the director of the new film.
The article is more of a preview than a review. The author is essentially interviewing the director about why he chose to direct such an adaptation, and why he chose to take a certain approach in filming different scenes.
The director talks about breaking the traditional mold of film-he wishes to take a different approach from the conventional point of view of the protagonist. I believe that this approach will set this film apart, at least in terms of its cinematography.
I did, however, feel that the preview gave a little bit too much information about the film. The author describes the plot in too much detail, saying that the quarantined eventually escape with a half hour left in the film.
Overall though, I’d say that the preview made me want to see the movie more. I hadn’t realized this book was being adapted, but now I’ll be sure to see it.
I, like a lot of the other people on this post, read “Swaying Flames, Thai Steps and a Hip-Hop Parody”. As we were leaving the show Wednesday, I told Chang and Corey that I was curious about the review of the show. We had a little debate about whether the review came out before opening night or after, but apparently it’s after.
I have to agree with about half of what Gia Kourlas said in the review. The lighting, as Kourlas pointed out, was a very good feature about the show, that I noticed right away. He also talked about how the lighting combined with the dress sent “sparks flying over the audience and hovering like tiny stars”. That was probably the only thing I found interesting in any of the dances besides the hip-hop parody.
It felt reassuring to see that the reviewer saw the same monotony that a lot of us were commenting about during the show. I was always under the impression that an art critique like that would find those dances engaging and uncover some type of second meaning in it that I could never see myself uncovering. It was nice to see that reviewers are human too, and have some decent opinions.
I also read, “Descending Into Blindness to See the Light”, which, as you may have read from Corey’s post (which, by the way, was very well written), is a review of the new movie “Blindness”.
The review made the movie sound very interesting. It talked a lot about the new style and unique storyline behind the movie. It also mentioned that the movie gave the audience a distorted point of view, by taking scenes out of focus or framing it improperly.
The movie seems like it is about a disease that is highly contagious and how it infects people in the movie. The idea reminded me of the discussions in psychology class; What would people do if everyone around them was blind? I find that to be a very interesting question, and a question with a very interesting, horror-movie, answer. The question promises to bring about the natural animal instinct buried deep within every cultured human being.
The reviewer also tells about how the movie is supposed to be a metaphor. It appears to me that the movie takes a twist on the normal horror movie, in that the demon that must be defeated is within each person. I’m not much of a horror movie person, but that reminds me of the horror movie character that attacks during sleep through dreams. Just hearing about someone attacking during sleep, a time when you are completely defenseless, give me the creeps, and the similarity seems promising.
I think the movie will be a very interesting twist on horror movies. Moving away from the standard science fiction villain toward an inner villain will be quite a show. Next time I’m at the movie theater I think I’ll have to check it out.
I completely forgot about the Emmy Awards tonight. Apparently it was the 60th anniversary. (yay?) I hardly pay attention to TV shows except for certain shows that I am interested in. Although I did not watch the Emmy Awards, I did find out more about it in the article “Newcomers Make a Statement as Television Hands Out Emmy Awards”. According to the article, new TV shows are grabbing more awards than the old ones. I wasn’t surprised. Due to the TV strike last year, many shows were interrupted and some were abandoned. I was happy to see Pushing Diaries to be one of the award winners. I was just beginning to watch the series and it has a very interesting plot to it and it was full of both comedy and romance. Apparently it was Oprah Winfrey who opened the show even if she was not one of hosts. I guess she has the power to do that with all her nation-wide fans. The hosts weren’t doing such a good job either during the night since the article mentioned how they were “improvising” along the way. I was surprised that most of the nominations came from cable television. I guess people aren’t paying as much attention to TV unless they’re paying extra for it.
I found the article “Kids, Can You Say ‘Cultural Diversity’ pretty interesting from the Sunday NYT. It’s talking about the new renovated Children’s Museum that recently reopened after $70 million was put into updating the museum. The place has expanded a lot and they have solar panels and geothermal heating! Wow that’s the first I’ve heard for a museum. Honestly I’ve never been to the Children’s Museum and I don’t know what they have there. From the description of the article I imagine random objects just placed together which I don’t think really helps people to learn. The children will just think an object is pretty and move on to the next item. However, I would like to go now even though I’m 18 yrs old just to see what the author was talking about. There were also some pictures of the museum and it reminds me of a playground for little kids.
On the other note I didn’t get to see the Emmy awards either. After reading Joyce’s comment I think I would just like to see how bad the hosts really were. Also I want to see what shows won awards!
In the 9/21 New York Times, the article that happened to catch my eye was “All About Mr. Elephant, in His Becoming Green Suit”, an exhibition review featuring Jean de Brunhoff’s famous Babar the elephant. As a child, I remember reading Babar tales, knowing nothing about their background. I had no idea that they had been originally French, created in 1931 by de Brunhoff and his wife, Cecile, and later continued by their son Laurent.
I think it is certainly well-deserved for these classic works to be shown in the exhibition “Drawing Babar: Early Drafts and Watercolors”. I agree with the author of the article that “we don’t learn too much more about the reasons for Babar’s appeal. We simply feel it, and then have to make sense of it” – much in the same way the article alone appealed to me. There’s certainly a nostalgic aspect of seeing something connected to your childhood – and perhaps that’s what makes learning about its beginnings even more fascinating. Maybe it’s only because I find the way things are put together – You can see the artist’s experimentation, changing their style, shapes and colors slowly coming together, taking on a familiar form.
I also found the article interesting because it also talked about the meaning behind the Babar stories, and a little bit about the author’s influences. As a child, you really don’t tend to think too deeply about the meaning behind the stories, or the allegory. But the article made me think about how they really were meant to be seen – not only as entertaining for a child, but as a story and a message; “Invoking the colonial world of the 1930s and France’s mission of civilizing subjugated peoples, he was also satirizing that world, celebrating some things while being wary of others, knowing the need for civilization while also knowing the costs and inevitable failures that accompany it.”
Jennie Liu
In elementary school, some of the most popular books were titles like Clifford, Amelia Bedelia or Babar. When I saw the article “All About Mr. Elephant, in His Becoming Green Suit” on Saturday, it suddenly brought back memories of my the 1st~2nd grade and the good ol’ picture books I immersed myself in. This new exhibit featuring prints of the memorable elephant king brings back the well-loved story of the orphaned elephant created by Jean de Brunhoff and later, by his son Laurent. This French franchise was first a family story told by Brunhoff’s wife Cecile and later published into the well known Babar books we fondly recall from our childhood. Writtten in 1931, there are some aspects behind the story of Babar that I found interesting such as the allegory of colonialism behind the story itself. The article pointed out several things about the Babar stories that I never thought about as a child because as a kid, you just read the cartoons and books as is, never questioning or going deeper than whats before you. For example, one of the biggest connections I found interesting was Babar’s clothing: as a child in the big city he is naked and runs free but as he grows older under the care of the “very rich Old Lady”, he dons the “becoming green suit” to leave behind the childish things of his past. Also, I never thought about the dark side of the story as well because educator Herbert Kohl points out how corrupt the stories are in admiring Babar who, allies himself with the very society that created the hunters who killed his mother. Its fun to see that someone is bringing back these nostalgic memories from many people’s childhoods especially since many people don’t know about these days or new storybooks begin to replace the classics.
I found an article on the Fall for Dance, however it wasn’t on the show that we had watched as a class. This article was about the show on Friday and Saturday night. The Thursday show for Fall for Dance was okay. My favorite was the Fire dance. The other dances dragged on. While reading the recent article on the other nights, I wish I had went to it every night. There was a variety of dances each night, the performances were always different. Based on the article “Float Like a Bird and Sting Like a Missile”, the dances weren’t oh so great. The author even states that “the closer you look at the details, the funnier it becomes.” Even though the author doesn’t make the show sound that great, I would like to see them. Even though some of the dances that I had seen weren’t the most exciting ones, they were different; giving me a different perspective on dance. I learned that dancing wasn’t all just ballet, hip-hop, interpretative, and such but it was a pattern or a sequence of motions, fast or slow, or even super slow, that represents a story. Fall for Dance isn’t a show to show off the best dances, but rather a variety of dances.
Jennie Liu
I just saw the Fall for Dance article and liked how I got exactly relate to what the writer was saying because we’ve already seen the performance. I’ve wanted to watch Fall For Dance for a while and I think it was really more than I expected. When I thought of dance, the first thing that came to mind was the kind you saw in MTV music videos, ballroom or the Macarena. The first show, called “Maps” was an interesting introduction to another type of dance I was totally unaware of, with the dancers moving in sync, with monotonous movement. Out of the four segments in the night’s performance, my favorite (and by the sound of the applause, the crowd’s favorite) was the “Fire” piece by dancers Jenn Freeman, Nicole Wolcott and Julian Barnett who took on the “roles” of embodying different forms of flame. Their spoof-like segment which featured a well known hip hop song, “Walk it Out”, had the most energy and definitely got the audience pumped and awake. The National Ballet of Canada’s “Soldiers’ Mass” was pretty good too, showing the harshness and anguish of war through dance.
The article about Guggenheim finding its new director is one to be noticed (at least for me). I have been to the Guggenheim and also wrote a review about the museum and it’s art pieces. Guggenheim was well built and I hope the new director Mr Armstrong can succeed Thomas Krens and continue his works. He seems to have experience in running a museum. He has worked in several museums for a while. One other thing that he has experience with is refurnishment of museums. He has experienced some in the past.
I find this article interesting because of the fact that I have recently visited the Guggenheim. I wish to visit it in the future to see how the place has changed after Armstrong has taken over as new director.
In the article, “Disappearing to be seen,” Anorexia is spoken of. The title of the article pretty much speaks for itself. To me, they are strong words. If you look closely at the picture, you see a mirror. In the mirror, the girl sees herself as overweight, but in reality, she is skinny. That is what happens when anorexia occurs. You want to be seen, so you will tell yourself to keep losing weight. But something you wont notice is that you were already being noticed, and now you are just starting to disappear.
In the book, “Going Hungry,” it is said that there is no such thing as superficial anorexia. The author, according to several essayists, also point out that she has reproduced one of the most prevailing stereotypes of all-the anorexic as an achiever or genius. I disagree, and I see anorexics as many other people would see them. Their anorexia comes accompanied with an impressive imagination.
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