Cultural News Today

Doreen St. Félix on the murder of Nia Wilson, an eighteen-year-old black woman who was stabbed to death at a BART station, in Oakland, earlier this month. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2NX2JaW

0.5/5 stars Doraemon is such a beloved Japanese anime classic that no matter how old we are, there’ll always be a place in our hearts for the blue cat robot. But the latest – and 38th – animated film featuring the character, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Treasure Island, does leave us wondering if the franchise is dragging on for far too long. In the film, Doraemon, Nobita Nobi and his crew (Shizuka, Gian and Suneo) set off for the Caribbean Sea, where a treasure island... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2O0Oli1

Françoise Mouly talks with the artist Nora Krug, whose forthcoming book, “Belonging,”compiles drawings, photographs, and writing to make sense of her family’s Nazi-era past and her own German identity. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2Asf0Cb

Patrick Radden Keefe tells the story of how Astrid Holleeder exposed a notorious Dutch gangster who happened to be her brother. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2mYPv1S

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Amy Davidson Sorkin writes about Donald Trump’s recent press conference with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti, of Italy, and how the two leaders endorsed each other’s politics, including on immigration. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2v4RQwv

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Upside-down paintings are part of a 60-year survey of the German painter and sculptor, who makes a return to the Hirshhorn from Arts & Culture | Smithsonian https://ift.tt/2KefDPr

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And how it inspired her debut, The Incendiaries. from Culture - ELLE https://ift.tt/2O1uQG6

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Dami Lee shares illustrations excerpted from her forthcoming book, “Be Everything at Once: Tales of a Cartoonist Lady Person.” from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2KdG4EM

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Amanda Petrusich writes about the relief that MoviePass provides for anxious moviegoers, and how much longer the company might last in the face of financial troubles. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2NZMFVQ

The animated satire broadcast in Russian has been co-produced by DW since 2017 in an unusual workflow using state of the art computer gaming technology. from Deutsche Welle: DW.com - Culture & Lifestyle https://ift.tt/2Kf3lGv

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Jon Adams’s Daily Cartoon explains why collusion is not a crime. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2LIevJC

If rumours are true, Tyler Mitchell, 23, will be the first black photographer to shoot the magazine’s cover image in its 126-year history. Fellow creative David Uzochukwu explains how people of colour are effecting change When I woke up to the news that Tyler [Mitchell] had apparently got the shoot I was as excited as if I had shot Beyoncé myself. And if we look at the situation, yes, if it’s true, it’s a moment to be celebrated – but it’s also sad. It is not US Vogue that chose him. It is Beyoncé. A powerhouse of the music industry. She’s the one who pulled him in, one of the most famous women in the world. And that’s telling. The internet has been incredibly helpful for me and creative people of my generation; it has helped break down barriers. You can get your work out there much more easily, which is key for people of colour. I got to shoot FKA twigs because I was found online by other black creatives – the stylist Matthew Josephs and Twigs herself– and then pulled into the team

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The outspoken star, who has recorded a ‘prayer for peace’, gives a few clues about how the show might end – and says why he’s more comfortable with fantasy than the real world “Let’s be honest,” Mandy Patinkin says. “The beard is far more loved and famous than I am.” He’s sitting in a New York apartment crowded with art and photos and antiques. (Not fussy antiques, but the chipped, comfortable, roadside-stand kind.) His beard, which starts out pepper and declines to salt, oscillates between Mephistopheles and mountain man. Today it’s somewhere in the middle. On the set of Homeland , where Patinkin is having a late-career renaissance as the CIA daddy bear Saul Berenson, Patinkin has had a dedicated beard groomer every season, except for the sixth, which was filmed in New York. “Every minute another person was touching me, and it was making me crazy,” he says. “And so I insisted – it was the only time I insisted in all the years – ‘I need one person who can do this right.’” That, he sa

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Analogue photography is not dead, say the co-founders of Lomography, which morphed from a simple non-profit society centred around sharing non-traditional photography into an international brand selling film, analogue cameras and accessories in an almost completely digital age. Lomography’s history can be traced back to 1991. That year a group of students from Vienna, Austria, including Sally Bibawy and Matthias Fiegl, found a small, cheap, communist-era camera built in the USSR for sale... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2v1asxo

Pulp singer and bandmate Candida Doyle will go up against Happy Mondays pair in longrunning BBC TV show Jarvis Cocker is to appear on a special edition of Bargain Hunt in a bid to defeat the Happy Mondays and prove his band has the best eye in British music for cheap antiques. The Pulp singer will be accompanied by bandmate Candida Doyle as the pair search for low-value goods to sell on at auction in the longrunning BBC TV programme. The pair will hope to show they’re in a different class by earning more money than Bez and Rowetta Idah, who will be representing their Manchester-based musical rivals. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2LQ0Ejy

Festival co-founder urges government to make it easier for international artists to perform in Britain The musician Peter Gabriel has expressed “alarm” over UK foreign policy after a number of international artists were unable to perform at Womad world music festival after visa issues. At least three acts scheduled to appear at the event in Wiltshire last weekend were unable to take part, according to the event’s director, Chris Smith. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2vuhuun

Record audiences for ITV2 watched Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham win hit reality show Love Island’s finale was watched by a peak audience of more than 4 million Britons – with millions more watching on streaming services – as the programme gave hope that Britain’s television industry can still create lucrative programmes that appeal to younger audiences. The dating show came to an end on Monday night as Dani Dyer and Jack Fincham were crowned winners of the Mallorca-based programme, taking home £50,000 in prize money and embarking on their lucrative careers as Instagram influencers making personal appearances at student club nights . Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ArPeOw

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National Portrait Gallery to celebrate US artist known for unsettling self-portraits Cindy Sherman , the superstar American artist who has for four decades been transforming herself into unsettling characters who might be matinee stars, girls next door or Republican wives, is to receive her first UK retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG). The gallery said about 180 works would be exhibited including an important series of works produced by Sherman in her 20s, going on display in the UK for the first time, which helped make her name and define her approach. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mUKuY6

Girl on the Train screenwriter to write script for new version of the 90s film, which starred Robert Redford, Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson Indecent Proposal, the 1993 thriller about a billionaire who offers a couple $1m to sleep with the wife, is to receive a remake. Collider reports that Paramount Players is producing a new version of the film , and has hired Girl on the Train and Secretary screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson to write the script. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2LPvgS9

Just when you think the internet can’t get any weirder, it always does. The latest internet trend is inspiring drivers all over the world to jump out of moving vehicles and dance in the street while a friend in the passenger seat films, and transpiration officials and law enforcement officials around the world are starting to speak out against the dangerous fad. Even members of breakthrough K-pop boy band BTS are getting in on the action. The ‘mannequin challenge’ is the... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2M4AXZq

Love Island was more than the sum of its beautiful contestants’ body parts. It held up a mirror to some uncomfortable truths Two TV shows have been endlessly debated during the long, hot summer of 2018. One was a vacuous, pointless, and time-consuming programme where cartoonishly attractive, stupid people shagged endlessly in a tacky villa; the other a fascinating social experiment where the complexities of the heart, so often hidden from view, were laid out for inspection. That is to say, no programme has split opinion like ITV2’s Love Island . But those who use the first description tend not to have seen it. Or, they dipped into one episode, caught a ridiculous challenge where the men performed a fireman striptease, and couldn’t fathom why this was ITV2’s most-watched show ever. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2KdWgpB

Oval Space, London The composer, aided by guitarist son Gyan, sounds like Bach doing bebop during this series of joyously ramshackle improvisations For half a century, Terry Riley has found himself filed alongside fellow American composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass and John Adams, whose minty-fresh minimalism sounds as if it has been plotted out on graph paper. Riley’s music is, in the best possible way, often much messier than that of his peers, and it seems to have become even more gleefully chaotic in recent years. The minimalist rigour is there , but it has been warped and reshaped by Riley’s multiple interests, not least his love of Indian ragas, Balinese gamelan, west African percussion and jazz. It reminds us why the Who’s Pete Townshend, a fan of Riley’s work, once said “the only thing minimal about Riley’s music is the limitation of the audience”. Tonight’s show is as close to a jazz performance as you’re likely to see by Riley, or indeed any other contemporary music

New report from USC found just 31.8% of characters with dialogue were women in 2017, roughly the same ratio as the last 11 years Hollywood has made “no progress” in on-screen representation over the last decade, with women of color largely excluded from leading roles and men occupying more than twice as many roles as women in 2017 films, according to new research. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mYWQyD

The Newsnight presenter’s Simpsons addiction has served him well: every truth about politics is in there somewhere Evan Davis has claimed that he watched an hour of The Simpsons every day for seven years. That might sound like a waste – think of everything he could have accomplished if he’d put those 2,500 or so hours to more constructive use – but it isn’t. In fact, it’s actually time incredibly well spent. Not only is The Simpsons one of the best programmes in the history of television, but it’s also the perfect crash course for any budding Newsnight presenter. Here are all the things it should have taught him. Related: No laughing matter: how can The Simpsons solve its problem with Apu? Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2M1xpam

A 24 prequel would be a step too far for a show that has been stretched to the limits and broken. Can someone do the honourable thing and put it out of its misery? First, a disclaimer. I love 24. I have always loved 24. Honest to God, I truly believe that 24 will be remembered as one of the most important television programmes in the history of the medium. Look around now, at this landscape full of colossally expensive series that brim with big-name movie stars. It’s all thanks to 24. I believe in 24. I love 24. That said, they should absolutely not make any more 24 . Absolutely not. Never, ever, ever . CTU, ticking clocks, the entire concept of a soft perimeter; all of it should be parcelled up with packing tape and kicked into an active volcano. I say this with nothing but affection. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2M4f4tr

Tom Cruise stunt-fest delivers the franchise’s biggest opening weekend in Britain, while Mamma Mia! sequel hits a high note The total UK grosses of the Mission: Impossible films may have declined across the first three instalments, but they have risen steadily since the low point of 2006’s Mission: Impossible 3 . Now the sixth episode, Mission: Impossible – Fallout , has delivered the franchise’s biggest opening weekend in the UK at £5.43m – or £7.30m including previews. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mXbx55

O2 Academy, Glasgow The now-veteran band could do with truncating their setlist – there’s not enough rebellious spirit to power two hours of songs With a thunderclap of reverb, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club surface through a sea of dry ice to roll out Spook ’s opening riff. From their recent eighth album, Wrong Creatures , it’s a garage-rock foot-stomper with anthemic ambitions that sets a steady pace for this rarely spontaneous evening. “I’m waiting on a vision, I’m waiting on the fall of this dead song city,” sneer co-front men Robert Levon Been and Peter Hayes, with ennui but little urgency. Rousing favourites such as Beat the Devil’s Tattoo and buzzing, bluesy Ain’t No Easy Way come early in a bloated set that spans the San Francisco band’s 20 years in business. The latter sees the first plastic pint glass go flying, but the two hours that follow, via deeply repetitive new singles such as Question of Faith , sit comfortably in third gear. Driven by Leah Shapiro’s scrupulous drumm

Royal Albert Hall, London The Austrian composer’s Concerto Grosso No 1 and Strauss’s Alpine Symphony were nimbly scaled by the BBCSO G eorg Friedrich Haas may be one of the leading composers of today, widely performed around Europe and increasingly in the US too, but until this concert by Ilan Volkov and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, his music had never been heard at a Prom in the Albert Hall. Volkov made the UK premiere of Haas’s Concerto Grosso No 1 the centrepiece of his programme, framing it with Mozart’s D major Notturno K286, with four echoing groups of strings and horns disposed around the Albert Hall, and a fine, impressively nimble account of Richard Strauss ’s An Alpine Symphony. The Strauss linked neatly with the Haas, for the soloists in the Concerto Grosso are a quartet of alphorns – the Hornroh Modern Alphorn Quartet , who gave the premiere four years ago. Haas grew up in the Vorarlberg region of Austria to which the instruments are native, but his use of them

The artists trolling tech to poke holes in the future The hidden motivations driving artists to pick apart technology through ingenious hacks 31 Jul 2018 In-depth from Life & Culture https://ift.tt/2mXuapv

Rain pools in the seats of folding chairs arranged haphazardly near an outdoor stage. Parents, huddling under umbrellas, have pushed the chairs aside, determined to capture photographs of their children performing a traditional Filipino dance against the backdrop of the United States Capitol, in Washington. An announcer thanks the families for spending their Saturday afternoon this way, despite the inclement weather. “Anyway, for Asians, this is a blessing,” she says of the rain.... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2mWxTDH

3/5 stars Adapted from the novel by Japanese porn star Mana Sakura, the ironically titled The Lowlife unfolds over a single weekend and follows a trio of women through their experiences in Tokyo’s bustling pornography industry. Rather than depicting the world of porn as a dangerous and exploitative hellscape, however, all three women fare just fine in front of the cameras. Their persecution and humiliation instead comes from those in the real world, particularly their families, who... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2vlRzVq

Emma Rathbone humorously posits why you are not interested in her extraordinary drawing of a cube. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2ArMFw1

The writer Yudhijit Bhattacharjee tells the story of Spyros Enotiades, who is considered one of the most successful D.E.A. informants in history. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2Ki771Q

The latest instalment in this series on the best DJ mixes and radio shows features a Japanese pioneer and sets from some of the world’s top parties After Tayyab Amin’s selection of South American electronica, grime and Welsh seabirds last month, here are July’s mix highlights, spanning high-octane club music, a Japanese experimental pioneer, and sets offering a taste of the world’s best parties and record labels. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2LCAodb

The box office success of Mamma Mia 2 and Broadway buzz over shows centred around music from The Go-Go’s, Alanis Morrisette and Cher opens the doors for more big star musicals If jukebox musicals come in waves, right now we’re experiencing a significant swell. The second cinematic plunder of the Abba catalogue, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, has already made $176m worldwide in just over a week. The Go-Go’s catalogue show, Head Over Heels, just opened on Broadway, joining Summer, a musical stitched around the life of Donna Summer, which debuted in April. On the horizon looms Jagged Little Pill, one of the few jukebox musicals to win rave reviews for its early run, insuring a swift move to Broadway. Soon enough it will be joined by The Cher Show, based on the bawdy life of the ex-Mrs Bono; Tina: The Musical, a New York version of the hit from London; and a new beast called The Heart of Rock & Roll which plumbs the Huey Lewis and the News archives for a production that opens at San Die

In the embarrassing new film from the far-right provocateur Dinesh D’Souza, he compares Donald Trump to Abraham Lincoln, claims Hitler was LGBT-friendly and calls Antifa the real Nazis Here’s a typical Dinesh D’Souza argument. In Death of a Nation – the far right commentator, film-maker and recently pardoned ex-con’s fourth political documentary – he tries to make the case that Hitler was a lefty. That’s a tall order, and here’s the best D’Souza can muster: he says Adolf wasn’t a homophobe. Most historians think he was, and will cite as proof the 100,000 arrested for violating Nazi anti-homosexuality laws and the 15,000 murdered in camps. And yet here’s D’Souza claiming there were known gay men peppered about the Nazi top brass. Hitler didn’t have them executed or even demoted. Ergo, Hitler was an SJW snowflake. QED. Right? Related: Donald and Dinesh: how Trump found his new favorite film-maker Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2v60VVW

Robin Wright on the recent repatriation of the remains of fifty-five of American servicemen who died or were captured during the Korean War. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2KisZdK

Jeffrey Toobin provides historical examples of conservative Supreme Court nominees being rejected in favor of moderate Justices, which Democrats may find instructive for Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2uYqY1p

Stars used to keep quiet about their pregnancies, fearing they could ruin their career. Now they are celebrating them – and Cardi B is leading the pack ‘SAD NEWS: I can’t see my vagina any more,” tweeted the record-breaking superstar rapper Cardi B in June. She had revealed her pregnancy to the public while performing on Saturday Night Live in April. Later, she tweeted that the last month of her pregnancy was “hell” and, when daughter Kulture was born, opened up about the baby’s sleeping patterns, her emotions (“I’m in love and I feel like I’m melting”), and, then, that she had “underestimated the whole mommy thing”, cancelling tour dates she had planned for six weeks postpartum. It was unusual to see a pop superstar documenting their experience of pregnancy and early motherhood so publicly. Until recently, pregnancy has been mostly anathema to the pop world. However, a more positive, accepting attitude has been brewing for a while. In 2011, Beyoncé famously announced her pregnancy

The HBO show refused to fetishise its black characters and instead illuminated their lived experiences. As its third season arrives, we explore its impact on culture “Why you talk like a white girl?” “What’s up with your hair?” Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2vnSW5Q

Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter are among the A-listers appearing in the new series of Netflix’s drama – but which of them looks the best fit? T he Crown has got a lot to lose this year. For two seasons, viewers have developed a sense of ownership over the cast – Matt Smith’s randy Prince Philip, Vanessa Kirby’s Ab-Fab-gone-emo Princess Margaret, Claire Foy’s confusingly expressive Queen Elizabeth – but now the decks have been cleared. Related: A Crown writer on the royal wedding: the next episode in the world's greatest soap opera Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Aod3Xo

As the multimillion-dollar industry’s worth and growth have accelerated, regulators have struggled to clamp down on illegal gambling In 2017, the global eSports economy was estimated to stand at around $696m , attracting an audience of over 385 million people, according to Newzoo . But the industry’s formidable growth has attracted more than just hordes of professional gamers, avid viewers and brands offering lucrative sponsorship deals. Organised criminals and low-level chancers have seen an opportunity to influence match outcomes and profit from them in betting markets. As the industry has grown, a string of match-fixing scandals have unfolded, embroiling some of the most prestigious competitive gaming tournaments. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2AoHVah

The compelling story of how an Iraqi beekeeper saved the lives of Yazidi women sold into slavery by Isis We know and yet we don’t really know. News reports in 2014 told us of the desperate plight of the Yazidis , a small religious minority who had lived clustered around the northern Iraqi city of Sinjar and its mountain for thousands of years. They were being driven out of their homes and villages by the advance of Muslim fundamentalists they knew as Daesh, or Islamic State. The figures were stark: over 3,000 Yazidis, mainly men and the elderly, were summarily executed and dumped in mass graves, while more than 6,000 women were kidnapped and sold by Isis as sex slaves. We were horrified. We demanded action of our governments, which made the right noises but did little. And so, after a bevy of experts surfaced briefly to explain that the Yazidis are not “devil worshippers”, as Isis claims, but rather an ancient religious group whose credo combines elements of Christianity, Islam, Judai

It soundtracked the counterculture in Easy Rider – and ended up being played on the moon and Mars My brother Jerry and I were living in Toronto and playing in a band called the Sparrows . In search of success, we all moved to San Francisco at the height of the psychedelic 60s. We were on drugs. We played with the Doors and Janis Joplin, but it didn’t really happen for us. So I left the band to focus on writing songs and – after taking more psychedelics – started calling myself Mars Bonfire. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2AmyS9X

Critical adoration and box office success has met the sixth installment of Tom Cruise’s series, an unlikely 22-year phenomenon that shows no signs of tiring Let’s take a moment to appreciate the preposterousness of Mission: Impossible. Not the rubber masks or the exploding gum sticks or the nuclear countdown clocks that always stop with one second till death. (“The usual,” Ving Rhames’ Luther Stickell would shrug.) All franchises have their implausibilities, whether it’s Transformers’ sentient cars or the Fast and Furious’ sentient Vin Diesels. But only the Mission: Impossible franchise has gotten better reviews with every installment, climbing its way up the Rotten Tomatoes rankings as though wearing electromagnetic gloves. Bruce Willis can’t make a good Die Hard happen. But this weekend, Mission: Impossible – Fallout had the best critical approval of Tom Cruise’s entire career, better even than the three films that scored him Oscar nominations, and his second-highest box office open

Stars like Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper released a joint statement calling for the director’s reinstatement after Disney fired him over offensive past tweets Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Bradley Cooper, along with other cast mates from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, have signed an open letter asking that James Gunn be reinstated as director of the upcoming third installment. Related: Who will rescue Guardians of the Galaxy after James Gunn's sacking? Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2OrL9wF

Touchstone, Rochdale From sand-filled tights to a BDSM portrait, this Lancashire gallery gets a major lift with a provocative show For a long time, a painting by Jessica Etchells hung in Rochdale Art Gallery was presumed to have been painted by her brother, artist and architect Frederick Etchells . Jessica, born in Stockport in 1892, had studied at art school, moved to London and worked both for Roger Fry’s Omega Workshop and, later, Wyndham Lewis’s Rebel Art Centre . It was only in 1980 that the painting was identified as being her work. Now, this lowering still life hangs next to two works by the American artist Sherrie Levine – one is a photograph titled Untitled (After Walker Evans), the other a drawing “After” Henri Matisse. The Matisse is a direct, watercolour copy of a Matisse drawing, while Levine’s photograph reproduces a famous Walker Evans, rephotographed by Levine from a catalogue of the late photographer’s work. Levine’s appropriations of Matisse and Evans are plays

An erudite study of mazes and labyrinths takes the author on a personal twisting path of her own As Professor Dumbledore prepares his students to enter a magical hedge maze – the concluding task in the film of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – he gives them a warning. “People change in the maze,” he explains. “Be very wary. You could just lose yourselves along the way.” There is an interesting difference between the novel and the film version: in the book, the maze is filled with obstacles and monsters, like the mythical maze created by Daedalus at Knossos, where Theseus killed the Minotaur. In the movie, the maze itself is the monster: shifting, unpredictable, potentially lethal. Charlotte Higgins , chief culture writer for the Guardian , has been obsessed by labyrinths and mazes since a childhood trip to Knossos. The difference between the two kinds of puzzle is not concrete: “Some authorities say that the labyrinth has a single winding, convoluted route that often seems to tur

Sacha Baron Cohen reliably churns out cringeworthy moments on his new Showtime series Who is America?, but Sunday night’s episode may be the most uncomfortable yet. Cohen – who shows up as various characters in the satirical series – played fake Israeli anti-terrorism expert, General Erran Morad, as he interviewed former Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. And “Morad” brought along “the latest Israeli gadget”: a wand that detects paedophiles. Republican... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2NV7e5K

Chris Pratt and fellow Guardians of the Galaxy cast members have come out in support of the film’s ousted director James Gunn 10 days after his firing. In an open letter on Monday signed by Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and five other main stars of the franchise, the actors said they fully support the director and the character he showed both on the set of the first two movies and in the wake of his firing. Gunn was let go from directing the third instalment of the... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2AqL3Ct

China’s Evolving Consumers: 8 Intimate Portraits edited by Tom Nunlist Earnshaw Books Since the 1980s, China has risen from 10th to second in the global GDP rankings. The resulting improvement in living standards and greater spending by Chinese consumers has proven a tremendous opportunity for brands both local and global. The country’s own citizens, though, have sometimes struggled to keep up with the pace. But who are Chinese consumers? What are their lives like and what are they... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2AqGWXd

Deborah Treisman hosts the author Richard Ford, who reads his short story “Displaced,” from the August 6 & 13, 2018, issue of the magazine. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2vnds6D

John Cassidy writes about Rudy Giuliani’s recent appearances on Fox News and CNN, in which he discussed the forthcoming trial of Paul Manafort and Donald Trump’s alleged collusion with Russia. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2v2Vmrz

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Alan Burdick on the discovery of a new shape called the scutoid, which is common among cells in curved tissues. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2M38X8J

Some actors and filmmakers were born to work together. Take Joaquin Phoenix and Lynne Ramsay, the star and writer-director, respectively, behind the radical new thriller You Were Never Really Here. Phoenix is a three-time Oscar nominee known for his anguished, full-blooded performances in films like Gladiator, The Master and Walk The Line. Ramsay is the Scottish auteur behind the uncompromising Morvern Callar and We Need to Talk About Kevin. Film review: Irrational Man, starring Joaquin Phoenix... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2v3ExMX

Katy Waldman reviews Andrew Martin’s début novel, “Early Work,” which is more than just elderly millennials “talking about books and having sex.” from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2NWq9gr

Gary Sernovitch writes about the charter-school system in New Orleans, which operates like a free market but is compromised in three key areas: an incomplete reward system, a fixed-price economy, and a half-finished funding model. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2mVafYg

Pop star Demi Lovato remains in the hospital nearly a week after she reportedly suffered a drug overdose. The singer is dealing with “complications” such as a high fever and nausea six days after she was taken to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, TMZ reported, citing a source. Although doctors are unsure of when Lovato will be cleared to leave the medical centre, her prognosis is good, an insider told the celebrity gossip site. “She is under the care of medical... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2AoocYf

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George Packer reports on how the midterm elections are the last obstacle to Trump’s consolidation of power—and the greatest obstacle to voting is the feeling that it doesn’t matter. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2vjpw9g

Every year, cities across the globe bring in artists to transform buildings from Arts & Culture | Smithsonian https://ift.tt/2LQ5iy7

Letters, envelopes and enclosures take center stage in an intimate new art show from Arts & Culture | Smithsonian https://ift.tt/2NZhZ7h

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Senator Chris Van Hollen explains the bipartisan support for his bill, the DETER Act, co-sponsored by Marco Rubio, which is designed to impose crippling sanctions on Russia in response to its election meddling. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2mXlvDA

Nathan Heller writes about the decline of Diet Coke, which has coincided, in part, with President Trump’s notorious obsession with the beverage. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2vh8Xe1

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Amelia Lester on Bill Granger, the restaurateur who is most responsible for the Australian café’s global reach, and whose restaurant is said to have been the first to serve avocado toast. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2mUPZGa

Gabrielle Bell offers humorous advice on how to come to terms with a romantic interest who stops replying to your phone calls and texts. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2vhQCgR

From Daniel Barenboim to Liberace and from Maria Callas to Ella Fitzgerald: He has met and known them all. And the head of the Adler concert agency has a story to tell about each one. from Deutsche Welle: DW.com - Culture & Lifestyle https://ift.tt/2AlDlK8

The state department has yet to select an artist for next year’s Venice biennale – the latest sign of the Trump administration’s toxic relationship with the arts Last February, Fox News commentator Sean Hannity challenged his detractors to criticise a portrait ofDonald Trump painted by the arch-conservative artist Jon McNaughton. “The ‘left,’” Hannity wrote on Twitter , “loves art, and especially taxpayer funded art that is ‘provocative.’” He wanted to see if that love of art would extend to McNaughton’s portrait, in which a characteristically navy-suited Trump, bearing a presumably unintentional resemblance to Newt Gingrich, clutches a tattered American flag as he stands in the middle of a stadium full of football fans. The piece is titled Respect the Flag , invoking protests against racial injustice that several NFL players have staged during the national anthem. Hannity’s willingness to cede “art” to the “left” was a natural extension of the culture wars waged by the president, wh

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Western art cannot be ‘intercultural’ without including the historically marginalised people that it claims to represent As artistic director of Ex Machina, creator of some of Cirque du Soleil’s best-loved shows, and a major name in international theatre, Robert Lepage is Quebec royalty. He has been making beautiful, influential theatre art for 40 years. He’s also had his latest two productions cancelled because of (divisive terminology klaxon) cultural appropriation. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2NV7CRO

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Lindsay Lohan's New Reality Show Will Follow Her Adventures Running a Resort in Mykonos from Culture - ELLE https://ift.tt/2LYQaLx

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Tate Modern, London The artists condemned as ‘degenerate’ by the Nazis really did revel in the perverse and depraved, and their sex and violence-drenched paintings still shock In a self-portrait that he sketched in the 1930s, George Grosz is getting ready to paint a model in his studio. As she does her hair, standing with her back to him and us, naked except for a translucent green slip that half covers her buttocks, seamed stockings and shoes, he grins lasciviously, squeezing a phallic paint tube. A rag hangs from his pocket like a masturbatory spurt. What a degenerate. I mean that precisely. In 1937, Grosz, like many of the artists in Tate Modern’s often astonishing display of early 20th-century German art, had his works held up for mockery and revilement by the Nazis in their Munich exhibition Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art). Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2LYzHXJ

Actor best known for his roles in the TV series Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Colditz and I, Claudius Never on the front cover, but always somehow familiar, Bernard Hepton, who has died aged 92, was one of those actors you were always glad to see again. He could be plain and morose, or authoritative and stern, or he could be extremely funny, but he never let you down, whether as the German Kommandant with a human streak in the popular TV series Colditz (1972-74), or as an ordinary, humdrum “television watcher” in Jack Rosenthal ’s sitcom Sadie, It’s Cold Outside (1975), with Rosemary Leach . The 1970s was Hepton’s decade of greatest activity and exposure. He was hardly off our small screens, appearing as Thomas Cranmer in two BBC Tudor blockbusters, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), starring Keith Michell , and Elizabeth R (1971), with Glenda Jackson in the title role. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2LO4VE3

On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver discussed the release of the first secret Trump-Cohen recording and the news that Trump may have known of the June 2016 meeting at Trump tower On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver opened with last week’s bombshell release of a secret recording showing Donald Trump and his former fixer Michael Cohen discussing a payoff to a Playboy playmate the president has previously denied having an affair with. Related: John Oliver on the future of the supreme court: 'extremely grim' Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2Akxbtq

Our intitial poll has put more than 140 novels in contention. We need your learned opinions to winnow this down to a shortlist next week It’s time for the Not The Booker longlist. Just like every year, it feels like we need it. As you might have seen, t he actual Man Booker longlist was released last week and, well … Let’s try not to be rude. At least there are some admirably unusual choices on there. It’s also inevitable that the judges of that prize are going to miss off some beauties, because they only get to choose 12 books. And that’s where we come in. Our longlist is actually genuinely long. Thanks to all the nominations we’ve received, we’ve got a giant roster of more than 140 novels – and plenty of them are superb. It’s very pleasing to see so many books get some time in the sun, but this list is also rather unwieldy and needs pruning into shape. We need you to vote to decide on the five books that will go on our shortlist – before our judges’ panel gets involved and add its

Cecil Taylor and Don Cherry collaborator had continued to perform until a recent lung cancer diagnosis Polish jazz trumpeter Tomasz Stańko has died aged 76, following a lung cancer diagnosis earlier this year. Tomasz Tłuczkiewicz, deputy head of Poland’s Jazz Association, confirmed that Stańko died early on Sunday at a Warsaw hospital. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2vp1VUL

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Lindsay Lohan's New Reality Show Will Follow Her Adventures Running a Resort in Mykonos from Culture - ELLE https://ift.tt/2LYQaLx

Brendan Loper’s Daily Cartoon shows Trump’s meeting with the New York Times. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2NVfhiV

In a special series commemorating the 45th anniversary of Bruce Lee’s death on July 20, 1973, we aim to set the facts straight – as well as exploring some little known trivia – about the life of the martial arts legend. Asians have suffered from racial discrimination in Hollywood since the early days of the movies. As recently as 2016, the Bruce Lee drama Birth of the Dragon was criticised for making Lee a supporting character in his own story, which was told from the... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2mR3cQp

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Charlton Park, Wiltshire Township vocals, percussion, hip-hop and rousing bass riffs rang out as musicians such as Maâlem Hamid El Kasri, Gaye Su Akyol and Mari Kalkun took to the stage African music has always played at major role at Womad, and the most impressive newcomers this year were a young seven-piece from Soweto, South Africa. BCUC have shaken up the country’s tradition for harmony singing with a style that combines township vocals, hymns and spirituals with furious, insistent percussion, hip-hop, punk energy, and a real sense of danger. They started gently, then switched to a frantic percussion workout from bass drums, congas, whistles and shakers. The music built furiously, then ebbed away, allowing for fine, soulful vocals from their female singer Kgomotso Mokone or intense lectures about the spirit world of the ancestors from singer Jovi Nkosi. Then the barrage of percussion returned, driven by insistent, sturdy bass lines, as the crowd followed the band’s instructions t

Lowther Deer Park, Cumbria In a part of the UK not best served for live music, the Libertines served up a double whammy and northern frontwomen showed the blokes on the main stage how it’s done Set in spectacular countryside, Kendal Calling is one of the UK’s most picturesque festivals. The ancient, illuminated trees bore signs reading: “We are very old. Please do not climb us.” The 13-year-old, four-day event is more family-oriented than most, and children could play on the fairground or illumaphonium (giant woodland xylophone) or simply gawp at the caged fire jugglers or carnival of percussionists and dancers dressed as giant butterflies or aliens. Musically, what initially appeared a rather meat-and-potatoes lineup was actually a rather canny pitch to teenagers and their parents, and an eclectic balance of mass and niche. Safe-but-solid festival staples (Hacienda Classical, the Wailers, Fun Lovin’ Criminals) and newer grime acts (Bugzy Malone) were among acts otherwise weighted

David Remnick writes about the Oval Office meeting between President Trump and the Times publisher A. G. Sulzberger. from Culture: TV, Movies, Music, Art, and Theatre News and Reviews https://ift.tt/2AoaCEk

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In the second series of the meta comedy, its lead and creators found fame, making it a sanctimonious sitcom rife with celebrity schmoozing There is an awkward moment during an episode of Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Podcast when its host raises his antipathy towards the second series of Extras . His guest is the sitcom’s co-creator Stephen Merchant. Now, Herring may not have any Bafta statues to line the mantelpiece alongside his numerous chortle.co.uk internet awards, but the underdog podcaster raises a good point: the magic of earlier episodes was jeopardised when the show’s lead character became successful. Extras wasn’t about extras any more. There had been a fresh feel to Extras’ first series. It broke from the mockumentary style of Merchant and Ricky Gervais’s previous triumph, The Office. Each episode featured at least one VIP willing to send themselves up in hilarious fashion. Kate Winslet, for example, had the mouth of a sailor. The tabloid image of Les Dennis was ta

Japanese novelist, whose book Underground charted the impact of the 1995 sarin gas attack, says he is unable to argue with judicial killing in this case The Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami has said that he cannot publicly oppose Japan’s execution of the doomsday cult members behind the 1995 Tokyo sarin gas attack, despite being against the death penalty. In a rare essay, published in the Mainichi Shimbun on Sunday, Murakami said that “as a general argument, I adopt a stance of opposition toward the death penalty”, pointing to the number of wrongful convictions which mean that “the death penalty, literally, can be described as an institution with fatal dangers”. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2v1vwnz

Old Red Lion, London This improvised John le Carré parody is only as clever and funny as its liveliest participants Lamplighters is a thriller set in the mould of John le Carré ’s cold-war spy fiction but with one vital difference: its action-packed drama is largely sourced from the audience that has come to watch it. This is interactive theatre at its most interactive, co-created by its narrator-performer, Neil Connolly , and director, Dean Rodgers, who are stalwarts of immersive entertainment – Rodgers’ successes include The Crystal Maze Live Experience and Heist. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2v0mfw2

The “Japanese version” of breakthrough South Korean act BTS, King & Prince, are becoming increasingly popular among K-pop fans online. King & Prince made their debut this year. Their six members are Sho Hirano, Genki Iwahashi, Yuta Kishi, Ren Nagase, Kaito Takahashi and Yuta Jinguji. New BTS album ‘Love Yourself: Answer’ announced for August The group are the creation of Johnny’s Universe, Johnny & Associates’ new record label under Universal... from South China Morning Post - Culture feed https://ift.tt/2OqCWsG

Logos appear on the walls of Elephant and Castle station near where British producer was rumoured to have lived in the 1990s The logo associated with Aphex Twin has appeared on the walls of Elephant and Castle tube station in south London. The appearance of the imagery has led to speculation that Aphex, AKA Richard D James, is preparing to release his seventh album as Aphex Twin. The pioneering British producer’s record label, Warp , confirmed to the Guardian that the campaign is official. The album would would follow the release of Syro in 2014, the Cornish producer’s first full-length release in 13 years. In 2017 he released a standalone single, 3 Gerald Remix /24 TSIM 2, and launched a bespoke listening platform containing unreleased material. Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2vj6i3x

The death of Carrie Fisher didn’t end her role in the space saga and she’ll be back in Episode IX. But now may be the time for her to ‘drown in moonlight’ ‘If you die when you’re fat, are you a fat ghost? Or do they go back to a flattering time?” so mused Carrie Fisher in the documentary Bright Lights , while exercising furiously in preparation for “Star Wars Episode Seven … ty Two”. After the “force ghost” visitations of Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, imagining how she might appear as Leia Organa after her death clearly amused Fisher. On Friday, Lucasfilm announced that she will feature posthumously in Star Wars Episode IX , which prompts the question: when will Disney let Leia die? Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2K6xbx1

What do you mean you haven’t been watching? If that is the case, here’s our guide to the contenders and villains At 9pm, tonight, the UK’s roads will be empty, pubs will be shut and streets will be eerily silent as millions of people sit down and switch on ITV2. Because tonight is Love Island ’s live final, where, after almost eight weeks of crying, dumping, fighting and very loud sloppy kissing, we find out which couple has won. Look: maybe you’re not one of the 3.4 million people watching Love Island. Maybe you decided to spend the summer watching the World Cup , instead, or didn’t want to dedicate 48 hours of viewing time to the show. Maybe you even went outside and lived your life – we’re not judging, but you definitely made a huge mistake. Don’t panic! It’s still possible to blag it. Here’s everything you need to know ... Continue reading... from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2LyrU6U