Return of the Links

23rd November 2014


Since we have been offline for a month and more, this is a longer (and later)-than-usual selection of articles and more that have engaged me over during that time, with the usual apologies for not including appropriate thanks to those who alerted me to some of them.

• No one wanted to talk about Bill Cosby’s alleged crimes because he made white America feel good about race: strong analysis of the story of the moment by Rebecca Traister for New Republic.

Bebop/silence – on Hickey & Boggs: Charles Taylor for the LA Review of Books is rather brilliant on the ’70s movie starring Bill Cosby and Robert Culp.

Nightmare at the Picasso Museum: Guardian Arts has been very strong recently, and one of the treats was Jonathan Jones’ report on the reopening of the artist’s personal collection in Paris.

Picasso – the view from Florence: more about the master, here from Ingrid D. Rowland for the New York Review of Books on a major show in Italy.

Being discovered – an interview with Calvin Tomkins: J. C. Gabel for The Paris Review talks with Tomkins about his friendship with Gerald and Sara Murphy, the couple F. Scott Fitzgerald used as the models for Dick and Nicole Diver in Tender is the Night.

Will Self – are the hyper-rich ruining the new Tate Modern?: not sure I agree with Self’s entire argument for the Guardian, but it’s a fine provocation.

Eric Fischl: ‘What America wants is artists who are doing very expensive toys’: a very good interview-based profile by Tim Adams for The Observer with the painter whose new works are on show at Victoria Miro.

Standing naked in front of an audience – Amanda Palmer and a new way to make art: Cory Doctorow for The New Statesman.

My Darling Clementine – the great beyond: before we went offline I hymned John Ford’s great 1946 western here, and I make no apologies for returning to it with this link to David Jenkins’ new essay for The Criterion Collection.

What-if movies – forking paths in the drawing room: David Bordwell on (mostly) the 1934 RKO film version of J. B. Priestley’s play Dangerous Corner.

The hard work of marriage: Zoe Heller on Gone Girl for the New York Review of Books.

• The hidden history of the zoom lens: Nick Hall tells you all you need to know in a video essay distilled from his dissertation:

The Hidden History of the Zoom Lens from Nick Hall on Vimeo.

The veils of collaboration: a dense, lengthy but fascinating not-quite-a-journal-article about the writing of early modern plays by Holger Syme for his blog dispositio.

It’s best not to make him angry: a terrific review for Michael Boyd’s Brooklyn staging of Christopher Marlowe’s Tamberlaine, by Ben Brantley for The New York Times.

At the Donmar: Jacqueline Rose for London Review of Books on Phyllida Lloyd’s all-female production of a compiled Henry IV.

Bertolt Brecht’s Marie-Antoinettism: for The New Republic Anthony Daniels reviews Stephen Parker’s mammoth new biography.

The new Jacob Bronowski archive: Erica Wagner for the Financial Times goes to Cambridge with Lisa Jardine to see the papers of her father [requires registration].

Dumb and Gummer – The Newsroom: Run: to her great surprise Libby Hill for The AV Club loves S3 E2 of Aaron Sorkin’s series (which is running on Sky Atlantic, and is illustrated above)…

The Newsroom may be the most entertaining show on television:… and Richard Lawson for Vanity Fair agrees – ‘I come to praise The Newsroom and, sadly, to bury it.’

The cult of Connie Britton: the Nashville star considered by Anne Helen Petersen for Buzzfeed.

Science has great news for people who read actual books: Rachel Grate at Arts.Mic on the e-books versus paper debate, with the strong suggestion that paper wins every time.

The future of the culture wars is here, and it’s Gamergate: Gamergate had mostly passed me by, but this piece by Kyle Wagner at Deadspin is a good place to catch up.

Revenue streams: John Seabrook writes for The New Yorker about Spotify.

The creepy new wave of the internet: Sue Halpern for The York Review of Books.

Silicon Valley and journalism – make up or break up?: an essential lecture by Emily Bell, Director at the TOW Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School.

Labelling BBC Online’s archived websites: Neil McIntosh for the BBC Internet blog.

Labour vanishes: a deeply depressing but bracing read by Ross McKibbin for London Review of Books.

Out of print: if it’s still online, below is Julia Marchese’s documentary about the famous Los Angeles movie theatre, and about the end of 35mm, is well worth watching; see also David Bordwell, Ode to the New Beverley, and a downbeat coda, but you need also to read the background from Julia Marchese, I will not be censored. Out Of Print from John T. Woods on Vimeo.

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