Arts
The Arts
We Swoon, We Faint — ‘Bridgerton’ Will Return For Season 2 Without Its Hunky Duke
Season two of the hit TV series Bridgerton will roll out for fans without its hunky star, Regé-Jean Page, who played Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings. Set during the Regency era in 1813 London, the show’s first season was a steamy love story between Simon and Daphne Bridgerton.
Washington State Names Its First Native American Poet Laureate
The author of two poetry books and a member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation, Priest is the sixth poet and first Native person to be selected for the two-year term, a program of the Washington State Arts Commission and Humanities Washington.
Filmmakers Call Out PBS For A Lack Of Diversity, Over-Reliance On Ken Burns
Nearly 140 documentary filmmakers have signed onto a letter given to PBS executives, suggesting the service may provide an unfair level of support to white creators, facing a “systemic failure to fulfill (its) mandate for a diversity of voices.”
Tina Turner’s Life Explored In New Documentary
Near the end of HBO’s new documentary, Tina, the movie implies the legendary singer has made a decision: after this film rolls out, Tina Turner just might be done appearing in public and talking about her life. It’s an odd message, coming from a woman whose life story and experiences have inspired at least four books, an Oscar-nominated biopic, a Broadway musical and, now, this new film.
Comedian Eddie Izzard Switches To Screenwriting And Acting For ‘Six Minutes To Midnight’
Eddie Izzard, the wildly-admired and inventive comic, was in a museum in the British resort town of Bexhill-on-Sea, where she spent much time as a child, when historians showed her an old badge from the Augusta Victoria school for girls in the 1930’s. There was a Union Jack on the crest — and a Nazi swastika.
Farcical ‘Life Of The Mind’ Skewers Academic Life And Adjunct ‘Hell’
The Life of the Mind is about endings that dribble to a close, the inexorable erosion of dreams, the slow leak of youthful buoyancy. It’s about being young-ish at a time in history when it feels like many things might be fading away, including the natural world. The great accomplishment of Smallwood’s taut novel is that while it is, indeed, about all those grim subjects, it’s also one of the wittiest, most deliciously farcical novels I’ve read in a long time.
Children’s Author Beverly Cleary, Creator Of Ramona Quimby, Dies At 104
Children’s author Beverly Cleary died Thursday in Carmel, Calif., her publisher HarperCollins said. She was 104 years old. Cleary was the creator of some of the most authentic characters in children’s literature — Henry Huggins, Ralph S. Mouse and the irascible Ramona Quimby.
Illustrators Build A Bridge For Young Readers, Says Artist James Ransome
Artist James Ransome is a huge Parliament-Funkadelic fan. So much so, that one of their tunes provided the soundtrack when Ransome accepted the Society of Illustrators’ Gold Award during a virtual ceremony on Thursday.
FILM REVIEW: In ‘The Father,’ Anthony Hopkins’ Mind Is Playing Tricks On Him — And On You
There have been many fine films over the past several years about characters struggling with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, like Away From Her, Still Alice and the recent Colin Firth/Stanley Tucci drama Supernova. But few of them have gone as deeply and unnervingly into the recesses of a deteriorating mind as The Father, a powerful new chamber drama built around a mesmerizing lead performance from Anthony Hopkins.
James Levine, Former Met Conductor Fired After Abuse Allegations, Dies At 77
James Levine, the immensely accomplished conductor who wielded power and influence in the classical world, and whose singular tenure at the Metropolitan Opera ended in a flurry of accusations of sexual abuse, died on March 9 in Palm Springs, Calif. His physician of 17 years, Dr. Len Horovitz, confirmed his death to NPR, saying that Levine died of natural causes. He was 77 years old.
BOOK REVIEW: Story Collection Puts A Ghostly Spin On Digital ‘Reality’
In John Lanchester’s collection, Reality and Other Stories, the supernatural manifests itself through cell phones, social media, computers, reality tv shows, and smart houses. “Signal,” the opening story, was originally published in The New Yorker and it’s a standout: an eerie homage to Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw.
5 Lesser-Known, Late-In-Life Works By Frida Kahlo Now On View In Dallas
What more is there to say about Frida Kahlo? She died in 1954 at age 47. By now she’s a cottage industry. Her face (that unibrow, the red lips, the scores of self portraits) reproduced on mugs, matchbooks, pandemic masks, of course tote bags.
