By: Jon Caramanica
Tuesday, March 12, 2009
NYT-The Arts, C5
This article is a music review of Busta Rhymes’ celebration of President Obama and the recession, during his start-stop tour. Caramanica clearly did not like performance, because it’s not his style of music. I like his lede though, because he states how Rhymes proposed a toast while pouring himself a little bit of Courvoisier, which I know is his favorite drink, and which he made a song out of. The lede caught my attention, because Caramanica says Rhymes’ celebration took place in New York, which is my hometown.
Caramanica’s “but” statement is in the third paragraph: “His entertainment start-stop tour through his catalog on Tuesday covered more than 20 songs and skipped plenty great ones. But what he performed was a testament to versatility: songs that emphasize his Jamaican heritage.”
One thing I think was cool, but Caramanica didn’t seem to enjoy was a funny move during his performance, “During ‘Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See,’ Busta Rhymes went from loud to soft and back while Spliff Star mimed turning a key next to his mouth, as if manually adjusting the volume.”
Caramanica then ended the article saying Rhymes’ celebration had nothing to do with the word recession, “Later he sprayed Champagne over the crowd as if it were still the late Clinton era. For a minute, at least, there was no recession to speak of.”
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Times Are Tough on Wall Street and Wisteria Lane
By: Edward Wyatt
Thursday, March 12, 2009
NYT-The Arts, C1
This article talks about how very popular television comedy shows are coming out with episodes that relate to our economic crisis. The reader can tell what the article is about based on the lede, which grabs attention because it is very blunt, “Full-time moms are being forced to take part-time jobs, and corporate executives treat themselves to expensive wine after asking for a government bailout…”
Wyatt’s “but” statement comes shortly after in the third paragraph stating the shows that express economic crisis, such as “Desperate Housewives” and “Ugly Betty” on ABC, “The Simpsons” on Fox, “Flashpoint” on CBS and “30 Rock” on NBC: “Popular entertainment often takes the form of escapism in tough economic times. But a growing number of broadcast network shows have recently incorporated more real-life issues into their stories--a reflection, producers say, of how widespread the current financial troubles are.”
I think it is a good idea that these popular shows are coming out with these episodes, because it shows that the economic crisis is effecting everyone, not just the working and middle class.
One thing Wyatt mentions for readers to look forward to is the fact that networks are working to create series that involves things about the economic crisis, “Networks are even considering entire series based on the recession. Fox is developing a comedy titled ‘Two Dollar Beer,’ that features a group of friends living in Detroit who are trying to weather that city’s worsening financial condition, and ABC Studios is developing ’Canned’ a situation comedy about a group of friends who all get fired on the same day.”
The article ends with a quote from chairman of 20th century Fox Television, Gary Newman, “When our characters are dealing with things that are relatable to our own lives, it can become more meaningful,” which I agree, and they are still entertaining.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
NYT-The Arts, C1
This article talks about how very popular television comedy shows are coming out with episodes that relate to our economic crisis. The reader can tell what the article is about based on the lede, which grabs attention because it is very blunt, “Full-time moms are being forced to take part-time jobs, and corporate executives treat themselves to expensive wine after asking for a government bailout…”
Wyatt’s “but” statement comes shortly after in the third paragraph stating the shows that express economic crisis, such as “Desperate Housewives” and “Ugly Betty” on ABC, “The Simpsons” on Fox, “Flashpoint” on CBS and “30 Rock” on NBC: “Popular entertainment often takes the form of escapism in tough economic times. But a growing number of broadcast network shows have recently incorporated more real-life issues into their stories--a reflection, producers say, of how widespread the current financial troubles are.”
I think it is a good idea that these popular shows are coming out with these episodes, because it shows that the economic crisis is effecting everyone, not just the working and middle class.
One thing Wyatt mentions for readers to look forward to is the fact that networks are working to create series that involves things about the economic crisis, “Networks are even considering entire series based on the recession. Fox is developing a comedy titled ‘Two Dollar Beer,’ that features a group of friends living in Detroit who are trying to weather that city’s worsening financial condition, and ABC Studios is developing ’Canned’ a situation comedy about a group of friends who all get fired on the same day.”
The article ends with a quote from chairman of 20th century Fox Television, Gary Newman, “When our characters are dealing with things that are relatable to our own lives, it can become more meaningful,” which I agree, and they are still entertaining.
If You Think You're Good, You Should Think Again
By: Dwight Garner
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Book Review
NYT-The Arts, C6
This article is based on the book “The Life You Can Save” written by Peter Singer. The lede questions the readers whether they are a good person or a bad person. You can’t really tell what the review is going to be about based on the lede. He then introduces the book and says a little biography of Mr. Singer, saying he is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University, but insults him a little bit by saying that Mr. Singer made his career out of making people feel uncomfortable. After this statement, the reader can tell Garner does not like this author or his book.
But Garner does mention an interesting point Mr. Singer wrote in his book, “It‘s a volume that suggests given that 18 million people are dying unnecessarily each year in developing countries, that there is a ’moral stain on a world as rich as this one.’ We are not doing enough to help our fellow mortals.”
Garner feels personal when Singer says people makes so much money and waste it on things that are less important, “Am I ‘financially comfortable?’ My mortgage, my credit-card bills and my other debts scream no. But the $3 coffee I‘m drinking while I type this, and the Lucinda Williams concert tickets I just bought, tell me there is wiggle room in my budget.”
This review ends with a message to his readers, “You don‘t have to agree with everything in ‘The Life You Can Change’ to feel that there‘s no real debate: When it comes to living the so-called ‘good’ life, one‘s moral omissions count more than ever.”
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Book Review
NYT-The Arts, C6
This article is based on the book “The Life You Can Save” written by Peter Singer. The lede questions the readers whether they are a good person or a bad person. You can’t really tell what the review is going to be about based on the lede. He then introduces the book and says a little biography of Mr. Singer, saying he is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University, but insults him a little bit by saying that Mr. Singer made his career out of making people feel uncomfortable. After this statement, the reader can tell Garner does not like this author or his book.
But Garner does mention an interesting point Mr. Singer wrote in his book, “It‘s a volume that suggests given that 18 million people are dying unnecessarily each year in developing countries, that there is a ’moral stain on a world as rich as this one.’ We are not doing enough to help our fellow mortals.”
Garner feels personal when Singer says people makes so much money and waste it on things that are less important, “Am I ‘financially comfortable?’ My mortgage, my credit-card bills and my other debts scream no. But the $3 coffee I‘m drinking while I type this, and the Lucinda Williams concert tickets I just bought, tell me there is wiggle room in my budget.”
This review ends with a message to his readers, “You don‘t have to agree with everything in ‘The Life You Can Change’ to feel that there‘s no real debate: When it comes to living the so-called ‘good’ life, one‘s moral omissions count more than ever.”
Friday, March 13, 2009
The Tsunami That Buried a Wall Street Giant
Book Review By: Michiko Kakutani
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
NYT-The Arts, C4
This article is about the book “House of Cards” written by William D. Cohan, a former investment banker who is also author of “The Last Tycoons,” a 2007 book based on Lazard Freres & Company. The lede gives a little history of Bear Stearns, and what the book is about. The nation’s fifth largest investment bank that survived every crisis in the 20th century, never losing a quarter, now crashed and burned during these economic times, and what led to its downfall.
Kakutani then says what the book mentions, “As William D. Cohan makes clear in his engrossing new book, ‘House of Cards,’ Bear Stearns is also a kind of microcosm of what went wrong on Wall Street--from bad business decisions to a lack of oversight to greedy, arrogant C.E.O‘s--and a parable about how the second Gilded Age came slamming to a fast and furious end.” He then goes into a small paragraph about the author and his past works.
This article has no “but” statement because it is a book review. I am not sure what is the format for a book review, but this one gets me interested in the book, and summarizes it in a way that doesn’t get me confused, because the book is about the economy, which I never understand.
Kakutani points out two things Cohan talks about in his book. The first one has to do with Wall Street and how they are worried about the possibility the domino effect will happen in the financial markets. The second is the butterfly effect, which sounds very interesting. “…the flapping of a tiny butterfly‘s wings can lead to a gigantic storm in a globalized, interconnection world, where rumors fly around the planet by television and the Internet…”
This review ends with the effect the book can have to readers: “Mr. Cohan‘s account of its death spiral not only makes it riveting, edge-of-the seat- reading, but it also stands as a chilling cautionary tale about how greed and hubris and high risk gambling wrecked one company, and turned it into a metaphor for what the author calls ‘the near collapse of capitalism as we have known it.’”
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
NYT-The Arts, C4
This article is about the book “House of Cards” written by William D. Cohan, a former investment banker who is also author of “The Last Tycoons,” a 2007 book based on Lazard Freres & Company. The lede gives a little history of Bear Stearns, and what the book is about. The nation’s fifth largest investment bank that survived every crisis in the 20th century, never losing a quarter, now crashed and burned during these economic times, and what led to its downfall.
Kakutani then says what the book mentions, “As William D. Cohan makes clear in his engrossing new book, ‘House of Cards,’ Bear Stearns is also a kind of microcosm of what went wrong on Wall Street--from bad business decisions to a lack of oversight to greedy, arrogant C.E.O‘s--and a parable about how the second Gilded Age came slamming to a fast and furious end.” He then goes into a small paragraph about the author and his past works.
This article has no “but” statement because it is a book review. I am not sure what is the format for a book review, but this one gets me interested in the book, and summarizes it in a way that doesn’t get me confused, because the book is about the economy, which I never understand.
Kakutani points out two things Cohan talks about in his book. The first one has to do with Wall Street and how they are worried about the possibility the domino effect will happen in the financial markets. The second is the butterfly effect, which sounds very interesting. “…the flapping of a tiny butterfly‘s wings can lead to a gigantic storm in a globalized, interconnection world, where rumors fly around the planet by television and the Internet…”
This review ends with the effect the book can have to readers: “Mr. Cohan‘s account of its death spiral not only makes it riveting, edge-of-the seat- reading, but it also stands as a chilling cautionary tale about how greed and hubris and high risk gambling wrecked one company, and turned it into a metaphor for what the author calls ‘the near collapse of capitalism as we have known it.’”
Back to Gale-Force Power
By Jon Caramanica
Monday, March 9, 2009
NYT-The Arts, C1
Caramanica critiques Clarkson’s new album, “All I Ever Wanted,” and compares it to her previous albums. His lede starts with a rhetorical question: “Are we asking too much of Kelly Clarkson?” He then continues to say that it was unclear what kind of fame the 2002 American Idol winner was going to have. Along with the lede, he mentions Clarkson’s personality on the show of American Idol and how it changed as she became more famous. In the show, Clarkson was “down to earth and a bit awkward, expertly running through a raft of blues-infected classic soul, with a couple of detours to Celine Dion,” but when she came out with her first and second album, the songs were all about disappointment: “Since You‘ve Been Gone,” “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “Because of You,” and others.
Caramanica then goes into his “but” statement: “But Ms. Clarkson, allergic to tabloids and image consultants, often appeared adrift in the pop landscape. Her songs had become famous, but she herself less so.”
He also makes a funny remark to make his point: “So if her first album was the Obligation, her second the Breakthrough and her third the Reaction, then “All I Ever Wanted” plays out as Ms. Clarkson‘s Concession.”
Caramanica also criticizes her voice by saying it is “broad, nimble and gale-force strong.” I agree, but I actually like it. Kelly Clarkson is an amazing performer and I can relate to her songs. Only Kelly can pull the voice off, and it goes along with her songs, so why not shout the words out.
Caramanica ends his review by saying the Swedes’ songs don’t ask for as much voice as Clarkson’s songs do: “Theses songs don‘t ask as much of Ms. Clarkson‘s voice as the Swedes do, but they acknowledge that, after all these years, Ms. Clarkson‘s identity is finally firm: spurned, hurt and torn.”
Monday, March 9, 2009
NYT-The Arts, C1
Caramanica critiques Clarkson’s new album, “All I Ever Wanted,” and compares it to her previous albums. His lede starts with a rhetorical question: “Are we asking too much of Kelly Clarkson?” He then continues to say that it was unclear what kind of fame the 2002 American Idol winner was going to have. Along with the lede, he mentions Clarkson’s personality on the show of American Idol and how it changed as she became more famous. In the show, Clarkson was “down to earth and a bit awkward, expertly running through a raft of blues-infected classic soul, with a couple of detours to Celine Dion,” but when she came out with her first and second album, the songs were all about disappointment: “Since You‘ve Been Gone,” “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” “Because of You,” and others.
Caramanica then goes into his “but” statement: “But Ms. Clarkson, allergic to tabloids and image consultants, often appeared adrift in the pop landscape. Her songs had become famous, but she herself less so.”
He also makes a funny remark to make his point: “So if her first album was the Obligation, her second the Breakthrough and her third the Reaction, then “All I Ever Wanted” plays out as Ms. Clarkson‘s Concession.”
Caramanica also criticizes her voice by saying it is “broad, nimble and gale-force strong.” I agree, but I actually like it. Kelly Clarkson is an amazing performer and I can relate to her songs. Only Kelly can pull the voice off, and it goes along with her songs, so why not shout the words out.
Caramanica ends his review by saying the Swedes’ songs don’t ask for as much voice as Clarkson’s songs do: “Theses songs don‘t ask as much of Ms. Clarkson‘s voice as the Swedes do, but they acknowledge that, after all these years, Ms. Clarkson‘s identity is finally firm: spurned, hurt and torn.”
"Watchmen," A Dark Tale, Lights Up Box Office'
By: Michael Cieply
Monday, March 9, 2009
NYT-The Arts, C1
This article is about how “Watchmen” made $55.7 million in ticket sales but “Tyler Perry‘s Madea Goes to Jail,” made $76.5 million, and Cieply says it makes sense, because “Watchmen” is not such a great movie. He even got a quote from a viewer: “Everyone around me liked it a lot more than I did,” said by a professor who teaches courses in genre film, television and comics at Duke University.
The film’s director, Zack Snyder, said a comment, which Cieply then makes it part of his “but” statement: “Mr. Snyder publicly fretted that too faithful a rendering of this dark tale would cause viewers to ‘slit their wrists and call it a day in their theater.’” Cieply’s “but” statement is: “The weekend‘s solid performance, at least, put aside those decades-long battle by the producer Lawrence Gordon and others to get the difficult project on screens.”
The kicker is the total number of tickets sold for the year of 2008, which is $1.9 billion, and he gives a guess as to why it went up by about 15 percent: “Since Christmas the United States box office has been unusually strong, as viewers--perhaps looking to escape bad news and diminishing prospects on the economic front--have flocked to crowds pleasers like ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop,’ and ‘He’s Just Not That Into You.’”
Monday, March 9, 2009
NYT-The Arts, C1
This article is about how “Watchmen” made $55.7 million in ticket sales but “Tyler Perry‘s Madea Goes to Jail,” made $76.5 million, and Cieply says it makes sense, because “Watchmen” is not such a great movie. He even got a quote from a viewer: “Everyone around me liked it a lot more than I did,” said by a professor who teaches courses in genre film, television and comics at Duke University.
The film’s director, Zack Snyder, said a comment, which Cieply then makes it part of his “but” statement: “Mr. Snyder publicly fretted that too faithful a rendering of this dark tale would cause viewers to ‘slit their wrists and call it a day in their theater.’” Cieply’s “but” statement is: “The weekend‘s solid performance, at least, put aside those decades-long battle by the producer Lawrence Gordon and others to get the difficult project on screens.”
The kicker is the total number of tickets sold for the year of 2008, which is $1.9 billion, and he gives a guess as to why it went up by about 15 percent: “Since Christmas the United States box office has been unusually strong, as viewers--perhaps looking to escape bad news and diminishing prospects on the economic front--have flocked to crowds pleasers like ‘Paul Blart: Mall Cop,’ and ‘He’s Just Not That Into You.’”
Upended by Downsizing
By Manohla Dargis
Friday, March 13, 2009
NYT-Weekend Arts, C1
Dargis reviews the movie “Tokyo Sonata,” and criticizes it based on the Japanese director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The lede talks about Kurosawa’s fame in making horror films, “A genius of dread, known for his unnerving horror films and eerie thrillers, the wildly prolific Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa tends to ply his trade with spooky silences, a lived-in feel for everyday, droning life and a sense of social unease.”
Dargis then walks right into her “but” statement, “Though his latest to hit the American big screen, ‘Tokyo Sonata,’ looks like a family melodrama--if a distinctly eccentric variant on the typical domestic affair--there is more than a touch of horror to its story of a salary man whose downsizing sets off a series of cataclysmic events.”
One thing most movie critics don’t comment on much is the editing, and Dargis does a great job in making a point of how even though Kurosawa separated the family in the beginning of the movie, he brought them back together with his editing. “…which pivots on an ethereal rendition of Debussy‘s ‘Clair de Lune,’ he keeps the discordant layers of his composition in harmonious play.”
Dargis kicker talk about the father’s role in the movie and how it somehow unites the family at the end, “an economic crisis shakes the family up--it brings the father to his knees, lifts the mother, almost destroys one son and liberates the other--but it‘s art, useless art, that unites them.”
I like this review, because I am interested in Japanese made movies. I think they have so much emotion in them, and there are so many American movies, that everything seems so fake. But Japanese movies are very intense and actually have a real story to it. One can clearly see the directors’ message.
Friday, March 13, 2009
NYT-Weekend Arts, C1
Dargis reviews the movie “Tokyo Sonata,” and criticizes it based on the Japanese director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa. The lede talks about Kurosawa’s fame in making horror films, “A genius of dread, known for his unnerving horror films and eerie thrillers, the wildly prolific Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa tends to ply his trade with spooky silences, a lived-in feel for everyday, droning life and a sense of social unease.”
Dargis then walks right into her “but” statement, “Though his latest to hit the American big screen, ‘Tokyo Sonata,’ looks like a family melodrama--if a distinctly eccentric variant on the typical domestic affair--there is more than a touch of horror to its story of a salary man whose downsizing sets off a series of cataclysmic events.”
One thing most movie critics don’t comment on much is the editing, and Dargis does a great job in making a point of how even though Kurosawa separated the family in the beginning of the movie, he brought them back together with his editing. “…which pivots on an ethereal rendition of Debussy‘s ‘Clair de Lune,’ he keeps the discordant layers of his composition in harmonious play.”
Dargis kicker talk about the father’s role in the movie and how it somehow unites the family at the end, “an economic crisis shakes the family up--it brings the father to his knees, lifts the mother, almost destroys one son and liberates the other--but it‘s art, useless art, that unites them.”
I like this review, because I am interested in Japanese made movies. I think they have so much emotion in them, and there are so many American movies, that everything seems so fake. But Japanese movies are very intense and actually have a real story to it. One can clearly see the directors’ message.
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