ON BERKELEY, DEL RÍO, AND WELLES—TOSS IN PARSONS AND HEARST AS WELL
BUSBY BERKELEY WAS RENOWNED for kaleidoscopic choreography. Dolores del Río with a career spanning 50 years was the first major female Latin American crossover star in Hollywood. Orson Welles was … Continue reading
KEEP ON DANCIN’
THE WORD “CHOREOMANIA” IS MORE THAN a song by Florence + the Machine. It’s a recognized phenomenon of dancing, something that’s been going on for millennia and yet as timely … Continue reading
ARG! HONORIS CAUSA
PH.D., OF COURSE, MEANS Doctor of Philosophy. And adding the Latin phrase honoris causa, “for the sake of honor,” means that the degree is awarded in recognition of one’s life … Continue reading
LUNA LUNA LA
WHAT A PERFECT ADDITION TO THE LOS ANGELES ARTS DISTRICT! “Luna Luna Forgotten Fantasy” is being installed in a 60,000-sq.-ft. warehouse at 1601 E. 6th Street, to be opened later … Continue reading
BUSBY BERKELEY—TAKING THE CAMERA TO PLACES IT’D NEVER BEEN
DAVID THOMSON PUT IT WELL in The New Biographical Dictionary of Film: “It is a delicious irony that as the cinema institutionalized its own morality—in the early 1930s—it promoted a … Continue reading
HOKUSAI JUST UP THE STREET
I’VE LONG ADMIRED THE ART OF HOKUSAI, thus Daughter Suz and I were delighted to have an exhibit of international stature nearby at the Bowers Museum. “Beyond the Great Wave: … Continue reading
VENERATION VENDING
I LEARNED RECENTLY of an ancient coin-operated holy-water dispensing machine. Geez—or is that Zeus?—this calls for more research. A coin-operated holy-water dispensing machine. Image from Smith College Museum of Art. … Continue reading
DAVID HOCKNEY: DRAWING FROM LIFE
GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT: Britain’s National Gallery will see a return of the five-star exhibition, ‘David Hockney: Drawing from Life,’ which was staged for just 20 days … Continue reading
DINNER AT EIGHT—THEATRE WITH REAL LEGS
I’VE JUST WATCHED DINNER AT EIGHT for the third time on Turner Classic Movies, and this 1933 flick continues to delight. Its 3:01 trailer at IMDb serves as a fine … Continue reading
SCRIPTS REDUX PART 1
SOME TALES ARE SO GOOD that they’re worth repeating. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. La Bohème and Rent. The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz. Here, though, I’m … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 