It’s Friday. Here’s What Happened This Week

Happy Friday and here are 5 articles to ponder. Enjoy!

Dustin Hoffman makes a deeply emotional declaration on our perception of beauty.
“If I met myself at a party I would never talk to that character.” Playing Dorothy in Tootsie made him realize that he had been brainwashed into only engaging with attractive women. This great and peerless actor sheds a few tears at this epiphany and we love him even more.

 

The Academy Awards will present a concert of Oscar-nominated songs.
Three days before the next Oscar show, a special concert on February 27, 2014 at UCLA will feature the songs and film scores that will be up for an Oscar. The Academy stated, “A symphony orchestra of L.A. studio musicians will perform a suite from each score … it is our hope that either the original artists or the songwriters will perform their own songs live.” This Oscar first could become an annual event. More music? Sounds great!

 

Two movies with the same name. Oh, and they’re practically a century apart. So why is there a problem?
A new film coming out next month, The Butler, based on a true story, stars Forest Whitaker as a butler who served in the White House from Eisenhower to Reagan. And what a cast. It includes Liev Schreiber, Terrence Howard, Mariah Carey, James Marsden, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Robin Williams, Melissa Leo, John Cusack, and Vanessa Redgrave. Wow. So what’s the problem? There was an old, very old, short silent film from 1916 that was also called The Butler. And now there’s a battle over the use of that title. Although it seems crazy, it’s also complicated. And probably has to do with … yep, money.

 

White House presented the National Medal of Arts this week to some pretty terrific artists.
Presenting the award to George Lucas, Tony Kushner, Renee Fleming, Herb Alpert, Allen Toussaint, the Washington Performing Arts Society, and the other recipients, President Obama said, “We celebrate people like our honorees here today not just because of their talent, but because they create something new. They create a new space and that becomes a lasting contribution to American life.” The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which manages the award, recognized Tony Kushner (see pic) for his “contributions to American theater and film … his scripts have moved audiences worldwide, marrying humor to fury, history to fantasy, and the philosophical to the personal.”  Musician and record label founder, Herb Alpert, “is also a philanthropist who shares the power of arts education with young people across our country.” And George Lucas, “by combining the art of storytelling with boundless imagination and cutting-edge techniques, Mr. Lucas has transported us to new worlds and created some of the most beloved and iconic films of all time.”

 

There’s a new American orchestra of student musicians. Their mission? To brave different parts of the world each year and boldly be America’s youth ambassador.
The new National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) is made up of 120 musicians 16 to 19 years old. Founded by Carnegie Hall and its Weill Music Institute, NYO played its first concert this week at Purchase with Joshua Bell and Maestro Valery Gergiev. Next stops are the Kennedy Center, the Proms in London, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg. Sure sounds like mission possible.

 

Sources:
Dustin Hoffman pic: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty
Oscar heads pic: Premiumhollywood.com
The Butler pic: The Harvey Weinstein Company
White House pic: Ralph Alswang
NSO-USA pic: Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute