Roundup: Pop Culture & the Arts ... Movies, Documentaries and Museum Exhibits

Julie Taymor's 'Lion King' costumes join Smithsonian collection

Costumes from the Tony-winning Broadway production of "The Lion King" now have a permanent home in one of country's largest museums. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has acquired objects from the musical's costume wardrobe designed by Julie Taymor. The gift from Disney Theatrical Productions includes items worn by the characters of Simba and the tribal shaman Rafiki. Simba's lion mask and headdress plus Rafiki's costume, custom shoes and hat

Interview with Francine Prose on her new book about the life and legacy of Anne Frank

Had she survivedBergen-Belsen concentration camp, Anne Frank might have turned 80 this year. Dead of typhus in 1945 at the age of 15, Anne Frank is perhaps the most famous young girl of all time. Her diary has been a worldwide bestseller for decades, and it inspired a Broadway play and a movie. Now David Mamet is reportedly planning to make another movie about Anne Frank's life. When Francine Prose, a novelist and critic, read Anne Frank's diary as a girl, it moved her

Artefacts from the Staffordshire Hoard on Display in Birmingham Museum, UK

A day after the discovery of Anglo-Saxon treasure was announced to the public, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery put a selection of the still-earth-covered objects on display until 13 October. Thereafter, the Staffordshire hoard will head to the British Museum where the artefacts will undergo forensic study before being sold and the proceeds divided – as per the 1996 Treasure Act – between the finder of the haul and the owner of the land. Notwithstanding experts ruling it out as a

Kirk Cameron monkeys with Darwin

In November, Charles Darwin’s history-changing “On the Origin of Species” turns 150. And after a century and a half of archaeological discoveries and biological advances lending credence to his evolutionary theories, even Darwin would have to be impressed with the sheer endurance of those who prefer the literal, biblical version of how we all got here. People like '80s sitcom star-turned-Christian action hero Kirk Cameron. Celebrations and exhibitions commemorating “Origin’s"

Fred Siegel: The Romance of Evil: A new film tells the disturbing story of the Baader-Meinhof gang

[Fred Siegel is a visiting professor at St Francis College in Brooklyn and a contributing editor of City Journal.] The Baader-Meinhof Complex: The True Story of the Red Army Faction, a fast-paced docudrama about the famous West German terrorist group that emerged from the 1960s, is now in theaters. Based on the similarly titled book by the West German author Stephen Aust, who knew some of the key players personally, the movie, ably directed by Uli Edel, stars some of the leading lig

Naked Hope Diamond Is Rare Sight Indeed

The Hope Diamond went back on display yesterday at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History. It is the first time the rare gem has been displayed "naked" -- that is, by itself rather than in a jeweled setting... ... The Hope Diamond was originally much larger but has been cut down over the years. Detailed records of its history begin when it was sold to the king of France in 1668. After numerous owners through the years, it was donated to the Smiths

Tavis Smiley brings touring blockbuster on African American history to L.A.

Conceived by Tavis Smiley, a sweeping historical and cultural survey of the black American experience called “America I Am: The African American Imprint” will arrive in L.A. on Oct. 30 for a 5½-month run at the California Science Center in Exposition Park, it was announced today. Smiley, who hosts talk shows on public radio and television, said the idea took hold early in 2007, after he took part in events surrounding the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony, t

British Museum Presents First Exhibition to Examine the Semi-Mythical Statues of Moctezuma

Completing its series of exhibitions exploring power and empire, the British Museum focuses on the last elected Aztec Emperor, Moctezuma II. Moctezuma: Aztec Ruler is the first exhibition to examine the semi-mythical status of Moctezuma and his legacy today. Loans of iconic material from Mexico and Europe will be displayed, most for the first time in this country. The exhibition anticipates the anniversaries in 2010 of the Independence of Mexico (1810) and of the Mexican Revolution (1910).

King Tut Arrives at Denver Art Museum for Summer

Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs, a touring exhibition featuring more than 100 treasures from the tomb of the celebrated pharaoh King Tut and additional ancient sites, will make its sole Rocky Mountain West appearance at the Denver Art Museum (DAM), opening to the public July 1, 2010 and continuing through January 2, 2011. The exhibition is organized by National Geographic, Arts and Exhibitions International and AEG Exhibitions, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Counc

At the Julius Shulman memorial

On Sunday afternoon, the Getty Research Institute held a memorial service for architectural photographer Julius Shulman, who died in July at the age of 98. The Getty Center's Harold Williams Auditorium was packed with architects, photographers, curators, historians, family members and a small smattering of celebrities. The program mixed personal reminiscences from architect William Krisel and architectural historian Thomas Hines, among many others, with a short panel discussion and

Dan Brown, debunked

Michael Baigent,"Debunking Dan Brown," Daily Beast, 20 SeptemberTom Chivers,"The Lost Symbol and The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown's 20 worst sentences," Telegraph, 15 September

Very civilised savages: A new exhibition asks who were more brutal - the Aztecs, or the 300 Europeans who annihilated them? (London)

The battle-hardened, armour-clad soldiers stopped in their tracks and stared in amazement. Rising out of the waters of the vast lake before them was a majestic island-city of wide streets and white stucco-fronted houses. Bathed in bright sunshine and against a backdrop of snow-covered mountains, palaces and temples towered into the clear blue sky. 'Glorious!' exclaimed the Catholic monk who accompanied the gold-seeking adventurers from Spain on their journey of explorat

Enron play is gripping allegory for our times

I went to see the new play about Enron last night at the Royal Court Theatre. It was phenomenal. It charts the Texan energy company’s rise and 2001 collapse (at the time the world’s biggest corporate failure) in a gripping, shocking and strangely moving way. On paper, a play about accounting fraud at a US corporation doesn’t sound like a crowd-pleaser. But it is funny and inventive. The show itself incorporates physical theatre, singing, dancing and puppetry, all choreographed by a

Kandinsky's DNA

If you loathe modern art, but want to give it one more try, see the Guggenheim Museum’s current exhibition of Vasily Kandinsky’s paintings. (The exhibition opened this past Friday and runs through January 13.) The museum owns a gazillion Kandinskys, but only occasionally mounts a full-fledged exhibition like this one. Nearly a hundred of his paintings, including many from European museums, are currently hanging on the slowly spiraling walls of Frank Lloyd Wright’s great building. Ka

The Man Who Made Oz: L. Frank Baum and the first American fairy tale

In 1900, a 44-year-old L. Frank Baum published The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and became the father of the American fairy tale. The book was a commercial and critical success. The story of the orphaned Dorothy Gale, whisked by a tornado away from gray, impoverished Kansas to the magical land of Oz, captured the hearts of children and adults who had lived through an economic crisis but saw all around them the thrum of invention and change. As a young country abuzz with "progress," the Unite

Fans of Jane Austen are joined by hundreds in full Regency costume trying to break world record

The woman is dressed in a powder-blue satin bonnet and dress, waiting beneath the entrance to the Roman baths. Top-hatted gentlemen swirl around her, accompanied by ladies in full-skirted dresses. She is clutching a parasol in her gloved left hand. In her right hand is a bright red mobile phone. "No, not up the steps, near the fountain .... THE FOUNTAIN!", she shouts into the mouthpiece, tossing her ringlets. The fractious maiden has reason to be jittery. She was one of hu

Former George W. Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer says it's more than about Bush

It didn’t take long for former George W. Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer to be branded as a back-stabbing nobody — someone who slipped inside the White House just long enough to overhear some embarrassing snippets and spill them for a book contract. After GQ magazine ran excerpts of his new book “Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor,” Latimer found himself a target of both the right and the left for telling tales out of school. Among the tidbits that drew attention were his c

Church museum holds treasures of Mormon past

Perhaps it's the christening gown so carefully crafted by the young woman crossing the Atlantic Ocean a century and a half ago. She was anxious to rejoin her fiance, who had gone ahead to the Great Salt Lake Valley and homesteaded in Coalville. Once the two were reunited and married, the christening gown eventually was worn by not only the woman's children and grandchildren but her great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren as well — 86 descendants in all. Or maybe it's the p

Heirs of Comic Book Creator Seek to Recapture Copyrights

The heirs of late comic-book creator Jack Kirby served 45 copyright-termination notices to Marvel Entertainment Inc., Walt Disney Co. and other Hollywood studios relating to comic-book characters and stories created by Mr. Kirby, including "X-Men" and "The Fantastic Four." Mr. Kirby's four children are seeking to recapture as early as 2014 copyrights to characters he created. Those creations and co-creations are currently owned by Marvel. But if the heirs gain co

Amon Carter Museum Presents Views and Visions: Prints of the American West, 1820-1970

The Amon Carter Museum presents Views and Visions: Prints of the American West, 1820–1970. The exhibition, on view through January 10, 2010, showcases approximately 120 prints and illustrated books from the museum’s permanent collection. Admission is free. American artists saw and experienced the western frontier in different ways and with varied perspectives. This exhibition features prints from the past two centuries, representing a myriad views and visions of the American West.