5AM StoryTalk Coffee Reading: Issue 10
5AM StoryTalk Coffee Reading: Issue 10
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 & Music; Page & Stage; Arts Industry & Fucking AI. It’s capped off with some recommendations about arts newsletters to read here on Substack.
Thanks for being part of this conversation!
Cole
SCREEN & MUSIC
How a Script Doctor Found His Own Voice
By Patrick Radden Keefe; The New Yorker
For decades, Scott Frank earned up to three hundred thousand dollars a week rewriting other people’s screenplays—from “Saving Private Ryan” to “The Ring.” Finally, he decided to stop playing ventriloquist.
Mark Kermode on… director Christopher Nolan, a magician of cinema as memory
By Mark Kermode; The Guardian
From Memento to the Golden Globe-winning Oppenheimer, the head-scrambling British-American director has revelled in using cinema as a time machine – and a conjuring trick.
The Algorithm Killed the Radio Star
By
;The lost generation of online songwriters, why TikTok songs sound like that, and who gets to be a "real" musician.
“When the key to success is to hack an algorithm, artists are incentivized to become hacks themselves.”
‘That film taught Mattel nothing’: screenwriters lead backlash to ‘women in film’ Barbies
By Catherine Shoard; The Guardian
Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner and The Wire creator David Simon were quick to point out the limitations of the range, while female screenwriters Emma Forrest and Carol Morley also had notes.
Sofia Coppola’s Path to Filming Gilded Adolescence
By Rachel Syme; The New Yorker
There are few Hollywood families in which one famous director has spawned another. Coppola says, “It’s not easy for anyone in this business, even though it looks easy for me.”
This is such an astute observation: “From Marie Antoinette to Priscilla Presley, Coppola’s protagonists enjoy enormous privilege but little autonomy.”
Toward a definition of "Egg Cinema"
By Emily St. Martin; Episodes
How movies made by seeming cis people sometimes end up super trans.
Pitchfork to be absorbed into GQ
By Amrita Khalid; The Verge
The nearly 30-year old music publication is being folded into GQ, and editor in chief Puja Patel is stepping down.
Why Is Music Journalism Collapsing?
By
;This is a bigger problem that you can fix with a Pitchfork.
“This feels like the end of music reviews,” complained a depressed critic last night.
Director John Sayles on the Making of ‘Lone Star’
By Matt Zoller Seitz; Texas Highways
The 1996 neo-Western starring Matthew McConaughey and Kris Kristofferson enters the Criterion Collection.
No.20 - "Women is Losers" - Janis Joplin
By
;On Bullying.
A wonderful, heartbreaking reconsideration of the death of Janis Joplin.
Melanie, Singer Who Made a Solo Splash at Woodstock, Dies at 76
By Alex Williams and Peter Keepnews; The New York Times
Just 22 when she charmed the festival crowd, she went on to enjoy success with songs like “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” and “Brand New Key.”
Melanie was one of only two women who performed unaccompanied at the Woodstock music festival in 1969 (Joan Baez was the other).
‘The Sopranos’ Turns 25: How David Chase’s Series Changed the TV Rules
By Alan Sepinwall; Rolling Stone
Creator David Chase — and four creators of 21st century dramas — discuss how the HBO series transformed television and inspired the next generation.
Era of complex and ambitious TV is over, says Sopranos creator
By Helen Pidd; The Guardian
David Chase says 25-year golden period was a ‘blip’ and he is being told to ‘dumb down’ productions.
The Age Of The Poly-myth?
By
;Or does the monomyth still stand...
My mate wrote this. It’s a very incisive piece about the limitations of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth, as well as a good primer about some alternative ways to look at story from around the globe. As you’ll see below, I encourage you to subscribe to his Substack.
Paris inaugurates David Bowie street in honor of legendary musician
By Jack Guy and Maya Szaniecki, CNN
PAGE & STAGE
Let’s Rescue Book Lovers From This Online Hellscape
By Maris Kreizman; The New York Times
Everything that’s wrong with Goodreads.
British theatre is on its knees - and TV has struck by the final blow
By Richard Morrison; The Independent
The Guardian view on radio plays: an underrated cultural resource that must be preserved.
Editorial; The Guardian
Their status has fallen since the great days of Under Milk Wood or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, but we still need audio dramas.
From Iowa to Florida, national lawsuits against local book bans begin to gain traction
By Emily St. Martin; Los Angeles Times
My father told me to always give a book 50 pages before deciding to put it down. It’s a good rule of thumb for life, too
By Adele Dumont; The Guardian
ARTS INDUSTRY & FUCKING AI
In Major Deal, Directors Guild Retroactively Secures Writers’ Streaming Success Bonus
By Katie Kilkenny; The Hollywood Reporter
The union informed members Thursday that it had also improved employer contribution rates to its pension and health plans in the second and third years of its contract.
The DGA stabbed the WGA and SAG in the back by taking a shit deal from the AMPTP, then sat back and let their sister guilds fight the fight they couldn't be bothered to. But hey, they get to benefit from other artists' pain, suffering, and bravery now - so, I guess good for them?
The Rise, Fall, and (Slight) Rise of DVDs. A Statistical Analysis
By
;The death and second life of physical media.
Amazon Is About to Eat the TV Universe
By Alex Weprin; The Hollywood Reporter
On Jan. 29, Prime Video will make its ad tier the default for its tens of millions of subscribers, a move that could unravel how advertisers deal with TV broadcasters and scare off rivals with its massive scale.
Prime Video Cuts Funding in Africa, Middle East in Favor of Focusing on European Originals
By K.J. Yossman; Variety
Predictable, but crushing. The world is filled with so many more stories than what you find in Hollywood and European TV traditions, and streaming was supposed to help introduce us to all of those voices.
‘Barbie’ Is Adapted? ‘Maestro’ Original? Let’s Fix the Screenplay Categories.
By Alissa Wilkinson; The New York Times
There’s a way to classify screenplays for Oscar consideration that would reward creativity and make much more sense. Unlike the current system.
Why Silicon Valley’s biggest AI developers are hiring poets
By Andrew Deck; Rest of World
Training data companies are grabbing writers of fiction, drama, poetry, and also general humanities experts to improve AI creative writing.
A ‘Shocking’ Amount of the Web Is Already AI-Translated Trash, Scientists Determine
By Jules Roscoe; Vice
Researchers warn that most of the text we view online has been poorly translated into one or more languages—usually by a machine.
‘Impossible’ to create AI tools like ChatGPT without copyrighted material, OpenAI says
By Dan Milmo; The Guardian
Pressure grows on artificial intelligence firms over the content used to train their products.
We Asked A.I. to Create the Joker. It Generated a Copyrighted Image.
By Stuart A. Thompson; The New York Times
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
Unmapped Storylands by
Little Things by
Sketchbooks & Scratchpads by
Thin Ice by Christopher Derrick
Re:Writing by
Strong Latte for Jeff by
Noted by
Agent of Weird: Exploring the Write Fantastic by Alec Worley
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.
I'm so flattered! Thanks for including Noted!
Thanks for reading (and recommending) Cole!