Ai Weiwei : Never Sorry
The documentary about the Chinese artist/activist received a rare standing ovation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Oscar Roundtable
The ultimate reality show for me features accomplished professionals sitting at a table, turning the camera on and letting them talk. It doesn’t necessarily matter whether you’re interesting in what they do but the passion, hard work and path they got to where they are leads to an extremely inspiring and refreshing dialogue.
Anthony Bourdain and his Travel Channel special ‘At The Table’, featured respected chefs/friends as they talked shop. Same with legendary comedians, Louis CK, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Ricky Gervais with ‘Talking Funny’.
And since 1998, Newsweek has hosted an Oscar roundtable with Hollywood’s elite talking about their craft. Newsweek and The Daily Beast was able to get this years’ front runner Oscar favourites, George Clooney, Viola Davis, Tilda Swinton, Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Christopher Plummer.
Enjoy.
WORDS FROM KURT VONNEGUT
Detropia
Detroit. Birthplace of the American middle class and now the deathbed of what was once a thriving and successful city. With a city that has lost 25% of its population in the last decade, thousands of factories closed and millions of workers/residents unemployed, the city is the unforunate result of globalization and the decay of the American manufacturing industry.
Oscar nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachael Grady, the women behind ‘Jesus Camp’, are back with ‘Detropia’. The documentary focuses on the deterioration of the city and its residents. For more, check out their New York Times feature, ‘Dismantling Detroit’. I highly recommend watching their video feature. ‘Detropia’ will premiere at this year’s Sundance Festival.
Photographing Photographers
Abe Frajndlich’s 20 year project, Penelope’s Hungry Eyes: Photographs of Photographers, turning the cameras on renowned photographers.
Source: The New York Times
69TH GOLDEN GLOBE PREDICTIONS
Monologist Mike Daisey discusses a visit to a Foxconn plant in Shenzhen, China to discover the origins of our favourite Apple products. What he discovers through a tour of the factory and employee interviews is something extremely bleak and heartbreaking.
As Daisey proclaims, do you think Apple really doesn’t know whats going on or are they doing, what we’re all doing, and do they just see what they want to see? Out of sight and out of mind?
NBA Logo Redesigns by Michael Weinstein
There are some logos you don’t touch. Lakers, Bulls, Celtics. If there is so much of a slight tweak to their logo, riots would break out in their respected cities. And while the NBA has some timeless team logos, some fans are pleading for a logo revamp from their team.
Enter Michael Weinstein, a Cambridge-based graphic designer. Weinstein has recreated logos for 8 teams while keeping their colours, traditions and previous logo elements. What he ends up are radically different logos that evoke a clean and simplistic finish that can be used for ages. My favourites are the Clippers, Hornets and Nets, all which undoubtedly need a redesign. Here’s hoping Weinstein can get to a new logo for the Raptors.
THE JOKERS, 1959
Photographer Bruce Davidson and his 1959 ‘Brooklyn Gang’ photographic set documented rebellious teenagers called The Jokers. His images exposed the shady side of a seemingly “innocent” time period.
Wynton Marsalis Group Live - New Years Eve
What a way to bring in 2012 with Wynton Marsalis and his group. Thank NPR for providing the audio for this. If you can’t appreciate this, kill yourself.
