Tag Archives: Videos

Video Interviews: 61-Year Old Director Tim Burton – Value Of Music In His Films

BFI logoIn an interview filmed just before Christmas, Tim Burton joins Soundtracking podcast host Edith Bowman to talk in depth about his work and the importance of music in his films.

In 1985, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure brought together Burton and a then-unknown composer called Danny Elfman, a collaboration that’s produced 16 films – and counting. With classics such as Batman, Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, audiences have grown up with a creative partnership that’s formed an unmistakable and formidable artistic voice, spanning over 30 years.

New Books: “Mathematics For Human Flourishing” By Francis Su (Jan 2020)

“Human flourishing refers to a wholeness — of being and doing, of realizing one’s potential and helping others do the same, of acting with honor and treating others with dignity, of living with integrity even in challenging circumstances. It is not the same as happiness, and it is not just a state of mind. The well-lived life is a life of human flourishing.”

An inclusive vision of mathematics—its beauty, its humanity, and its power to build virtues that help us all flourish

Francis Su Mathematics For Human Flourishing book January 2020For mathematician Francis Su, a society without mathematical affection is like a city without concerts, parks, or museums. To miss out on mathematics is to live without experiencing some of humanity’s most beautiful ideas.

In this profound book, written for a wide audience but especially for those disenchanted by their past experiences, an award‑winning mathematician and educator weaves parables, puzzles, and personal reflections to show how mathematics meets basic human desires—such as for play, beauty, freedom, justice, and love—and cultivates virtues essential for human flourishing. These desires and virtues, and the stories told here, reveal how mathematics is intimately tied to being human. Some lessons emerge from those who have struggled, including philosopher Simone Weil, whose own mathematical contributions were overshadowed by her brother’s, and Christopher Jackson, who discovered mathematics as an inmate in a federal prison. Christopher’s letters to the author appear throughout the book and show how this intellectual pursuit can—and must—be open to all.

To review or purchase

Art Review: “The Floor Planers” By Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte (1875) (Musée d’Orsay Video)

For her performances in over sixty films and forty theatrical productions, Ariane Ascaride has notably been awarded the César for best actress in Marius and Jeannette (1998) and the Coppa Volpi for lead actress at the Venice mostra for Gloria Mundi (2019), two films directed by Robert Guédiguian. She is also a director and a screenwriter.

The Floor Planers by Gustave Caillebotte 1875 video by Musée d'Orsay Januaary 2020

Les raboteurs de parquet (English title: The Floor Scrapers) is an oil painting by French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte. The canvas measures 102 by 146.5 centimetres (40.2 in × 57.7 in). It was originally given by Caillebotte’s family in 1894 to the Musée du Luxembourg, then transferred to the Musée du Louvre in 1929. In 1947, it was moved to the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, and in 1986, it was transferred again to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, where it is currently displayed.

Musée d’Orsay website

News: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter On “Politics Monday” (PBS Video)

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including whether enough Senate Republicans will vote to hear witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Trump and how 2020 presidential candidates are polling and campaigning in Iowa as its Democratic caucuses approach.

Art: “The Rediscovery Of Gaston Lévy’s Collection” Of Paul Signac & Camille Pissarro (Sotheby’s Video)

Known best as the author of Paul Signac’s first catalog raisonné, Gaston Lévy was perhaps the most remarkable art collector in pre-war Paris. After the Nazi regime seized his properties and dispersed his paintings, masterpieces were thought to have been lost to the Lévy family forever.

Camille Pissarro Gelée blanche Jeune Paysanne Faisant Du Feu 1888

However, This February Sotheby’s is proud to offer three recently restituted masterworks from the Lévy collection in our Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale. In this episode of Expert Voices, Sotheby’s Head of Restitution Lucian Simmons chronicles the story of Gaston Lévy’s collection and explores the extraordinary talent of Paul Signac and Camille Pissarro through their works Gelee Blache, Quai de Clichy and La Corne D’or.

Paul Signac Quai De Clichy Temps Gris 1887

(4 February | London)

Top New Travel Videos: “The Beauty Of Guilin” In Southern China (2020)

Filmed and Edited by: Dennis Schmelz

It was a long dream of mine to visit this unique area around Guilin, Yangshou and Xingping in Asia. To be honest, it was on the very top of my bucket list. Now I finally made it to this picturesque landscape in the south of China and I should not be disappointed.

The Beauty of Guilin Southern China Travel Video Dennis Schmelz January 27 2020

The karst peaks of Southern China are one of my favorite landscapes. But also capturing the Kormorant fishing on Li river, as it used to be centuries ago, was a big highlight. It was an absolute pleasure to shoot with Mr. Huang Gao Hui, one of the famous fishermen in Xingping. I was able to document a tradition that is unfortunately dying out, like many others, due to the increase of tourism in our ever developing world. The fact is, this man now earns far more through tourism that he would have done catching and selling fish locally.

Website

Top Documentaries: “Honeyland” Is An “Oscar Game-Changer” (NY Times)

The film… “is nothing less than a found epic, a real-life environmental allegory and, not least, a stinging comedy about the age-old problem of inconsiderate neighbors.”

“Honeyland” is the first film to be nominated for best documentary and best international feature (the category formerly known as best foreign-language film). It follows Hatidze Muratova, a middle-aged beekeeper whose peaceful life in the North Macedonian countryside is disrupted when a chaotic family moves in next door.

The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last year and came out on top with three awards, including the grand jury prize for documentary in the world cinema showcase.

From a New York Times online review

Video Profiles: 69-Year Old Singer Huey Lewis Talks About Hearing Loss (CBS)

Huey Lewis and the News are in the mood to celebrate, joking about their age as they prepare for the release of what is almost certainly their last album, titled “Weather.” At 69, Lewis, who has performed in bands for most of his life, had no intention of slowing down, but his diagnosis of Meniere’s Disease – a hearing disorder which has affected his voice – has made the decision for him. John Blackstone reports.

Literary Debates: “This House Prefers Reading Oscar Wilde To George Orwell” (Cambridge)

The Cambridge Union logoABOUT THE MOTION: This House Prefers Reading Oscar Wilde to George Orwell Do we prefer satire or comedy? Do we take refuge in the serious or the frivolous? Do we understand the importance of being earnest or would we rather be in room 101? These two authors demonstrate well two powerful traditions in British literature, the comic and the satirical. They both of course share in each other’s art. Some would argue that during our present global crises we should look to Orwell more than ever, others would reach for the escapism of Oscar Wilde. In a new enterprise for the Cambridge Union, we are beginning our cultural debates – and this is our first. At least for a while.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER (Closing for the Proposition) Will Self is the author of 25 books, some of which have been translated into 25 languages. His Dorian: An Imitation is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray set during the AIDS crisis. He holds the Chair in Contemporary Thought at Brunel University, and lives in South London.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER (Closing for the Abstention) Professor Angie Hobbs graduated in Classics and then a Ph.D. in Ancient Philosophy at the University of Cambridge. After a Research Fellowship at Christ’s College, she moved to the Philosophy Department at the University of Warwick. She was a judge of the Man Booker International Prize 2019 and is on the World Economic Forum Global Future Council 2018-9 for Values, Ethics and Innovation