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You are here: Home » Arts + Culture + Fashion » Archive » December 2007-2
December 2007-2
French Arts + Culture Archive: December 12-20, 2007
Book review: A Life of Picasso
New York Review of Books. Dec. 20, 2007
Volume three of John Richardson's A Life of Picasso has now appeared
and, like the first two installments of the biography, it is a work so
rich with information and insight that it will forever change our
understanding of the artist.
> More
Book review: Hervé This’s Kitchen Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking
Economist. Dec 19, 2007
Hervé This is one of the founders of molecular gastronomy or kitchen
science. In this of this odd but captivating little book, Kitchen
Mysteries: Revealing the Science of Cooking, he explains why microwaves
cook fish well and meat poorly and why one should dress a salad just
before serving.
> More
French Radio Partners with Virgin
Reuters. Dec.19 2007
French media group Lagardere is banking on a rebranding deal with UK
entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Group to bolster the audience and
advertising revenue of its Europe 2 music radio.Under the deal with
Virgin, Lagardere's Europe 2 radio and digital terrestrial music
channel Europe 2 TV will be renamed Virgin Radio and Virgin 17
respectively on Dec. 31.
> More
Book review: Barthes’ What Is Sport?
NewYorkSun. Dec. 19, 2007
In 1960, French philosopher Roland Barthes was contracted to write the
script for a documentary on sport, to be aired a year later by the
Canadian Broadcasting Company under the title "Le Sport et les hommes."
The text he provided — which was left out of both Le Seuil editions of
Barthes's "Oeuvres complètes" — has now been published in English as
"What Is Sport?" (Yale University Press, 84 pages, $15).
> More
In Marseille, Rap Helps Keep the Peace
NewYorkTimes. Dec. 19, 2007
Marseille escaped the violence that rocked the Paris suburbs. The
Marseillais have plenty of explanations for this, aside from the
obvious one that the poor areas here aren’t segregated on the city
outskirts, as they are in Paris — but it is hip-hop, as much a source
of local pride as the town’s soccer team, that turns out to be a lens
through which to examine why this city didn’t burn.
> More
Tintin on stage and Screen
Variety. Dec. 18, 2007
Tintin is big showbiz news at the moment, thanks to Steven Spielberg
and Peter Jackson's recently inked three-pic deal to bring the beloved
Belgian comic strip character to the bigscreen. London's Young Vic
Theater was ahead of the curve with its staging of one of the stories,
"Herge's Adventures of Tintin," which premiered two years ago and is
now back for a limited West End run.
> More
Review: Tartuffe at Yale
NewYorkTimes. Dec. 18, 2007
Daniel Fish’s intriguing production of Moliere’s “Tartuffe, or the
Imposter” in Richard Wilbur’s justly revered translation, at the Yale
Repertory Theater insists, maybe a little too emphatically, on the
primacy of this theatrical fact of life. This production serves to turn
the play into a museum piece when all we really need is a newspaper.
> More
Paris Ballet roundup
FrenchJournal. Dec. 18, 2007
The valuable FrenchJournal blog has a nice summary of New York Times
dance critics’ week at the Paris ballet, discussing the influence of
Merce Cunningham on the French, and viewing the Nutcracker, Paquita,
etc.
> More
Cinema review: Satrapi’s Persepolis
New Yorker. Dec. 17, 2007
The new animated movie “Persepolis” is France’s entry for this year’s
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It owes much to the
French obsession with bandes dessinées, yet its theme is Iranian.
Despite its erious subject – Islamic fundamentalism, one critc finds
the treatment is too shallow and simplistic.
> More
AFI’s Best films of 2007
Yahoo. Dec. 17, 2007
The American Film Institute's list of the year's 10 best movies
included th same two French-themed films which have won in all other
awards races so fa this year: Julian Schnable’s "The Diving Bell and
the Butterfly” and the animated rat comedy "Ratatouille.”
> More
Lesbian love tangle stirs Paris literati
UKTimes. Dec. 16, 2007
The former editor of French Playboy Annick Geille has caused a
sensation in Parisian literary circles with a memoir exposing the “love
triangle” she shared with Françoise Sagan and the famous novelist’s
boyfriend.
> More
A History of the Obelisk Press
UKTimes. Dec. 16, 2007
This valuable addition to the literature of anglophone Paris profiles
Jack Kahane, the novelist turned publisher of the Paris-based Obelisk
Press, which published “unprintable books fit to read” for a
“one-handed readership.” Along the way Kahane printed saucy books from
art porn to modernist masterpieces by Henry Miller, DH Lawrence, and
James Joyce.
> More
François Pinault, Art Mogul
Vanity Fair. Dec. 16, 2007
With a triumphant second exhibition at his Venice museum, François
Pinault, the self-made French tycoon whose holdings include Gucci,
Christie’s, and the Château Latour vineyard, has found a new role:
champion of contemporary art.
> More
Inside The Paris Opera Ballet School
NewYorkTimes. Dec. 15, 2007
"The manner of presentation might serve as an example to any ballet
school in the world. The teachers introduce each exercise with
intelligence and grace, and treat their pupils with respect. Humor,
charm and good manners emerge. At times, joy in dancing is mentioned as
a goal, but the general tone is objective, sober."
> More
French Photographer Offers Images on Google Earth
Google. Dec. 15, 2007
Yann Arthus-Bertrand has become globally famous as a French nature
photographer. During his career he discovered the beauty of the world
as seen from above when he became a hot air balloon pilot.He has now
teamed up with Google. Users of Google Earth can display a layer with
over 460 exceptional pictures by Yann Arthus-Bertrand highlighting the
precious beauty of our world.
> More
The return of Vanessa Paradis
UKTimes. December 15, 2007
With a stack of movies also under her belt, French singer-actress
Vanessa Paradis has just released her fifth album Divinidylle (Wrasse),
her first in five years and third No 1 seller in France in a row. She
and Johnny Depp have a happy family, and homes in south of France and
an island in the Bahamas.
> More
French boxoffice weak, Hollywood fare preferred
Hollywood Reporter. Dec. 14, 2007
French cinema struck out at the boxoffice in November with transport
strikes causing admissions to drop 21.6% from the same month in 2006 to
13.1 million, government film organization the CNC said Wednesday.
Homemade fare received the hardest blow with French films representing
just 36.7% of total admissions, down from 43.9% in 2006. Hollywood
productions remained popular in the territory with a 50.1% market share
compared to 44.9% last year.
> More
French-themed films nominated for Golden Globes
Telegraph. Dec. 13, 2007
Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly about a French bon
viviant who writes his memoirs after being paralysed, and Marjane
Satrapi’s Persepolis were nominated for best foreign language film at
the 2008 Golden Globe awards. The Disney film Ratatouille about a
French rat who aspires to be a top chef, was nominated for best
animation film.
> More
Ravinia Fest to Honor French Composer Messiaen
ChicagoTribune. Dec. 13, 2007
The 2008 summer Ravinia Festival will celebrate the centennial of
French composer Olivier Messiaen, in five solo and chamber music
concerts. The Messiaen celebration will begin Aug. 11 with a
performance of the French composer's seminal "Quartet for the End of
Time" by the chamber ensemble Tashi, and "Vingt Regards sur
l'Enfant-Jesus" ("20 Contemplations of the Baby Jesus"), played by
pianist Marino Formenti on Aug. 12.
> More
Los Angeles Museum gets French masterworks
NewYorkTimes. Dec, 13, 2007
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has been promised a gift of 130
mostly Modernist works, including 20 by Picasso, three Cubist canvases
by Georges Braque, and sculptures by Alberto Giacometti. The museum
described the gift from the Lazarof family as a “transformative
addition” to its collection that “in many cases represents Lacma’s
first major work by that artist.”
> More
Starck on design
Ted.com. Dec. 12, 2007
Legendary designer Philippe Starck spends 18 minutes reaching for the
very roots of the question "Why design?" Along the way he drops
brilliant insights into the human condition; listen carefully for one
perfectly crystallized mantra for all of us, genius or not. Yet all
this deep thought, he cheerfully admits, is to aid in the design of a
better toothbrush.
> More
France Honors Niemeyer
AP. Dec. 12, 2007
France honored Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer with the Legion of
Honor Wednesday, days before his 100th birthday. French ambassador
Antoine Pouillieute presented the medal with the rank of commander to
Niemeyer in his Copacabana office. Niemeyer lived in exile in France in
1964 after he was forced out of Brazil due to his affiliations with the
Communist Party.
> More
Marie Antoinette's Pearls Fail to Sell at London Auction
Bloomberg. Dec. 12, 2007
A necklace fashioned from the pearls of Marie Antoinette, who was
guillotined in 1793, failed to sell at a Christie's International
auction in London today. The auction house had valued the necklace at
as much as 400,000 pounds ($818,520).
> More
Tax Break for French Video Game Makers
AP. Dec. 12, 2007
France will be allowed to offer a tax break to video game developers
for games with cultural content, the European Commission said
Wednesday. EU regulators gave their approval after France made changes
to ensure the tax break would not be broadly applied to give its video
games industry an unfair advantage over others in the European Union.
> More
Cyrano tops Broadway box office
Variety. Dec. 12, 2007
The Rialto revival on Broadway of Edmond Rostand’s play 'Cyrano de
Bergerac,' starring Kevin Kline, broke the record for any single
performance at the Richard Rodgers Theater, taking in more than
$150,000.
> More
Supposed Gauguin Sculpture a Fake
AP. December 12, 2007
A half-man, half-goat ceramic figure supposedly sculpted by 19th
century French artist Paul Gauguin has delighted aficionados visiting
the Art Institute of Chicago for a decade, but now the museum says
''The Faun'' is a fake by the British Greenhalgh forgers.
> More
Lafayette Medal Sells for $5.3 Million
December 12, 2007
A gold medal that was created for George Washington and presented to
the Marquis de Lafayette was auctioned at Sotheby’s in Manhattan on
Tuesday for a record $5.3 million. The enameled patriotic badge was
bought by the Fondation Josée et René de Chambrun at the Château La
Grange, Lafayette’s historic home 60 miles east of Paris.
> More
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