5AM StoryTalk Coffee Reading: Issue 11
A compilation of new and older arts-related articles that you might've missed
On the first Friday of every month, I share a list of arts-related articles (and occasionally podcasts) I’ve recently read that I think you might find illuminating/challenging/inspiring, too. I don’t necessarily agree with everything in each article/episode, but I don’t need to entirely agree with something to think it’s worthy of my time - and, when it comes to art, I encourage you to embrace the same philosophy.
Today’s links come to you in three different sections: Screen & Page; Stage & Music; Arts Culture & Industry. It’s capped off with some recommendations about arts newsletters to read here on Substack.
Thanks for being part of this conversation!
Cole
SCREEN & PAGE
The Lego Movie Changed How Hollywood Blockbusters Get Built
By Sam Adams; Slate
There would be no Barbie—and no backlash over those Oscars “snubs”—without it.
The Case Against the Trauma Plot
By Parul Sehgal; The New Yorker
Fiction writers love it. Filmmakers can’t resist it. But does this trope deepen characters, or flatten them into a set of symptoms?
Trauma is part of the human condition, in my mind. I don’t know how we create without acknowledging it. But there’s a lot to consider here.
Inside the Censorship Scandal That Rocked Sci-Fi and Fantasy's Biggest Awards
By Adam Morgan; Esquire
The Hugo Awards [recently] melted down over unexplained disqualifications. Insiders tell Esquire what really happened—and what it could mean for the future of literary awards.
The Second Death of Pablo Neruda
By Graciela Mochkofsky; The New Yorker
Why everything about Chile’s national poet has come into question.
The Big Chill: When Boomers Stumble on the Truth about Their Own Failings
By Kyle Smith; National Review
How the quintessential Boomer movie developed into an unintended parable about how the Flower Power generation missed what actually went wrong.
The Taste of Things director Tran Anh Hung: ‘Cinema needs to be very sensual, very physical’
By Jonathan Romney; The Guardian
Hi Octane: Sofia Coppola’s starry 90s series feels like a gen X fever dream
By Wendy Syfret; The Guardian
Starring Keanu Reeves, the Beastie Boys and Anna Wintour, this hypnotic Comedy Central series shows the Priscilla director’s early talents.
I’d forgotten about this series altogether despite how much I enjoyed it at the time.
Years Later, ‘The Year of Magical Thinking’ Wields Different Magic
By Mike Dawson; The New York Times
As his own life unfolds, an artist reconsiders his reaction to Joan Didion’s memoir about loss.
This is…powerful.
STAGE & MUSIC
‘It’s frustrating’: Fleabag star Andrew Scott urges West End to slash ticket prices
By David Connett; The Guardian
Actor says seats costing £150 are driving away young people and risk keeping theatre ‘elitist’.
No.27 - "In Bloom" - Nirvana
By
;Kurt Cobain spent his career teaching men how to be queer allies and feminists.
Music in Schools: A Plea
By Howard Goodall; Byline Times
In the wake of Lord Melvyn Bragg’s House of Lords debate on the vital importance of the arts to the UK’s society and economy, composer Howard Goodall makes an urgent call for the Government to rethink its proposed further reduction of resources for musical education.
ARTS CULTURE & INDUSTRY
The State of the Culture, 2024
By
;Or a glimpse into post-entertainment society (it's not pretty).
This is an essential read, I think. It’s terrifying in every way.
2023 was a historic low for women leads/co-leads of top films
By USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative
Onscreen representation for women is getting worse, not better despite what the online trolls want you to think.
UK film industry may achieve gender parity in 2085, study finds
By Catherine Shoard; The Guardian
Report suggests equality set to be reached in United Kingdom in 61 years, compared to 17 in Germany – and almost 200 in Canada.
Remember this the next time some white guy tells you how hard it is to be a white guy in film/TV.
Issa Rae On The Changing TV Landscape: “You’re Seeing So Many Black Shows Get Cancelled”
By Armando Tinoco; Deadline
Everyone’s a sellout now
By Rebecca Jennings; Vox
So you want to be an artist. Do you have to start a TikTok?
This will be a gut punch for all artists, I expect.
The Red Hand Files Issue #274
By Nick Cave
This is really a piece about creative inspiration and the value of art, but I don’t have a category where it neatly fits, so I’ve shoved it here because why not? It’s a profound read, as many things Cave writes are.
Jason Reitman Enlists Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Bradley Cooper and More to Buy Westwood’s Village Theater
By Zoe G. Phillips; The Hollywood Reporter
The group, led by Jason Reitman, totals 35 filmmakers who united earlier this year to acquire ownership of the 93-year-old movie theater.
Hollywood Contraction: Actors Struggle To Find Jobs As TV Castings Dry Up
By Nellie Andreeva; Deadline
“A decade ago, as many as 100 broadcast pilots would be casting right now. This year, we have a total of three, all at NBC.”
Inside the Music Industry’s High-Stakes A.I. Experiments
By John Seabrook; The New Yorker
Lucian Grainge, the chairman of UMG, has helped record labels rake in billions of dollars from streaming. Can he do the same with generative artificial intelligence?
Fuck me.
SUBSTACK RECOMMENDATIONS
I enjoy reading the following Substack newsletters about art. Maybe you will, too. I try to change these up every “reading list”, so there is always something new here.
In the Writing Burrow by
The Honest Broker by
Songs That Saved Your Life by
Hope for Film by
Thin Ice by
Unmapped Storylands by
The Author Stack by
So Here’s a Thing by
LegalDispatch by
If this article added anything to your life but you’re not up for a paid subscription, please consider buying me a “coffee” so I can keep as much of this newsletter free as possible for the dreamers who couldn’t afford it otherwise.
It means so much to be included among such thought provoking writers. I’m bookmarking this so I can carve out time to read each one of these. Thank you for the curation!