Ai Weiwei, Marina Abramovic documentaries opening this summer

 

Two new documentaries about two iconoclastic artists -- Ai Weiwei and Marina Abramović -- will be gracing U.S. screens both big and small this summer. Both movies ran at the Sundance Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival earlier this year.

"Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" is set to open in New York on July 27 with a national rollout in August. The film also will be available to watch on-demand through Sundance Selects. Directed by Alison Klayman, the movie examines the life and career of the Chinese artist who has repeatedly run afoul of Beijing authorities for his advocacy of free speech.

Klayman began work on the movie before Ai was thrown in jail last year and completed the film following the artist's release after 81 days in prison. The movie won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance in January.

"Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present" is set to air on HBO on July 2. The cable premiere will be preceded by a theatrical engagement in New York and L.A., set for some time in June. (The L.A. engagement is scheduled for the Nuart Theatre, while the New York engagement will be at Film Forum.)

A performance artist who has achieved worldwide renown, Abramović received a career retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2010. The documentary, directed by Matthew Akers, follows the artist as she prepares for the exhibition. The movie is being distributed by HBO Documentary Films and Music Box Films.

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Photos: Ai Weiwei and Marina Abramović. Credits: Leon Neal / AFP/Getty Images; Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images

Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood show in works at LACMA

A major exhibition on the American painter Thomas Hart Benton is in the pipeline at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art -- one that would dovetail very nicely with the new movie museum that could be part of LACMA’s campus by fall 2015, when the Benton show is tentatively scheduled to open.

The news of the Benton exhibition came Wednesday when the National Endowment for the Humanities announced its latest round of grants, including $40,000 to LACMA for the show's planning. The grant was modest -– less than half the average of $82,000 in a round that totaled $17 million and included much bigger ones for the Getty Research Institute, UCLA, USC and UC Santa Barbara.

But the show whose planning it will support is a biggie: “Benton, Hollywood and History,” co-organized by LACMA and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo., will feature about 100 works, including 75 paintings and murals and 25 preparatory studies and drawings, plus a selection of Benton’s historical prints, illustrated books and never-exhibited ephemera and photographs.

A written description LACMA released after The Times inquired about the grant says the show “will be the first exhibition to examine the visual strategies that Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) pursued to become the preeminent history painter of 20th century America, and the ways those strategies intersected… with the strategies of Hollywood, America’s paramount myth-making machine.”

'Hunger Games' ' Stanley Tucci to go to bat for arts funding

Does star power matter on Capitol Hill?

Well, here’s something to ponder: Last April 5,  Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey were scheduled to address a House appropriations hearing as part of the annual Arts Advocacy Day organized by Americans for the Arts, which spearheads the arts-lobbying effort in Washington.

Their appearance got canceled, and congressional ears missed the two actors’ pitches for averting the 12.6% budget cut that President Obama was then proposing for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Three days later, congressional leaders struck a temporary budget deal that reduced NEA funding by 7.5%. Then, when Congress got around to passing the 2011-12 federal budget, it deepened the cut to 12.7%. The NEA was left with $146.2 million to spend, down from the $167.5 it had commanded when the year began.

It’s debatable whether star-powered oratory really would have helped --  2011, you’ll recall, was a year in which Washington was consumed by a near-impasse over how much to cut the federal deficit, prompting fears that the government might shut down entirely.

Now it’s time to deliberate on a budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, and Americans for the Arts is again bringing star power to bear, in hopes of securing a modest recovery for the nation's arts grantmaking agency. On Thursday, actor Stanley Tucci (pictured in "Hunger Games" with its star, Jennifer Lawrence) and Americans for the Arts President Robert Lynch are scheduled to address the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior. The goal, says Americans for the Arts, is to raise the NEA’s budget to $155 million -- a 6% increase that would be slightly more than the $154.3 million that Obama recently proposed.

Matthew Bourne’s 'Swan Lake,' filmed in 3-D, one night only

There is much to anticipate from this spring’s exciting roster of live and pre-recorded international ballet concerts showing in area cinemas -- including a handful of performances by Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet and London’s Royal Ballet. But nothing quite pumps the adrenaline like the quiet news that there’ll be a one-night-only cinema rebroadcast Tuesday of Matthew Bourne’s fantastic, male-driven 1995 re-envisioning of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.”  

Bourne is said to be pleased with this 3-D film, starring principal dancers Richard Winsor and Nina Goldman, which was recorded at Sadler’s Wells in 2011.  Cast with threatening male swans, the high-intensity ballet (glimpsed at the end of the film “Billy Elliot”) features camerawork shot from above and below that is said to capture and enhance stage patterns, momentum and the ballet's menacing tone.

Of all the “Swan Lake” offerings turned out recently to satisfy the excited thirst for balletic drama created by Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” this one is surely the favorite to satisfy. Twelve Southland theaters will be screening it. 

 7:30 p.m. Tuesday: Matthew Bourne's "Swan Lake" at Rave 18 with Imax (Los Angeles), Burbank 16 with IMAX (Burbank), Del Amo with IMAX (Torrance), Ontario Mills 30 (Ontario), Orange 30 with IMAX (Orange), Citywalk Stadium 19 with IMAX (Universal City), Cinemark 22 with IMAX (Lancaster), Cinemark 14 (Long Beach), Orange Stadium Promenade 25 (Orange), Huntington Beach 20 (Huntington Beach), Ventura Stadium 16 (Ventura), Irvine Spectrum 20 with IMAX (Irvine). Tickets are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com.

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Bolshoi and London Ballets, coming to a theater near you

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Mike Daisey, the theater artist behind the headlines

-- Jean Lenihan

Photo: Richard Winsor in Matthew Bourne's "Swan Lake." Credit: From NCM Media Networks.

 

Arts on TV: Chris Botti; Ann Hobson Pilot; Idina Menzel

“Exploring the Arts With Gloria Greer” 6:30 p.m. Thursday, KVCR: Jackie Autry's Private Collection: The veteran journalist chats with art experts in Palm Springs.

“Chris Botti in Boston, Part II” 7 and 11 p.m. Thursday, KOCE: A continuation of the trumpeter's performance with the Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart includes guests Sting, Steven Tyler, Josh Groban and Yo-Yo Ma.

“Open Call” 9 p.m. Thursday, KCET: Live at the Ford-Angel City Jazz Festival.

“L.A. Tonight with Roy Firestone” 10 p.m. Thursday, KCET: Chris Botti. 

“Celtic Woman -- Believe” 9:30 p.m. Friday, KVCR: Classic Irish songs, pop anthems and inspirational songs; from the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

“L.A. Tonight with Roy Firestone” 10 p.m. Friday, KCET: Steve Tyrell. 

“Inside” 6 p.m. Saturday, KSCI: The Emperor's Treasure: Taiwan's National Palace Museum houses an art collection of more than 600,000 objects that gives a new perspective on China's cultural history.

“Smart Travels: Pacific Rim With Rudy Maxa” 6:30 p.m. Saturday, KLCS: Chinatown and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco; Alcatraz Island; Napa Valley wine country; vegetarian food; wine tasting.

“The Artist Toolbox” 8:30 p.m. Saturday, KLCS: Chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud discusses the art of French cooking and running his business.

“Clannad Live at Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin” 9 a.m. Sunday, KVCR: The five original founding members of the family group Clannad mark the band's 40th anniversary with a performance in Dublin. With Anúna and Brian Kennedy.

“Great Performances” 6 p.m. Sunday, KOCE; 7 p.m. KVCR: Tony Bennett sings his greatest hits with contemporary artists. Performers include Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, Norah Jones, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood and Willie Nelson.

Movie: “Rembrandt” (1936) 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, TCM: Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester. Alexander Korda's fact-based account of the later years in the life of the great 17th-century Dutch artist.

“The Wendy Williams Show” 11 a.m. Tuesday, Fox; midnight, Tue./Wed. BET: Audra McDonald.

Movie: “Lust for Life” (1956) 1 p.m. Tuesday, TCM: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn. Tormented Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh meets French painter Paul Gauguin.

“The Wendy Williams Show” 2 p.m. Tuesday, Fox: Nick Jonas; Ruben Studdard performs.

“L.A. Tonight With Roy Firestone” 10 p.m. Tuesday, KCET: Debbie Allen.

“A Harpist's Legacy: Ann Hobson Pilot and the Sound of Change” 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, KCET: The life and career of Ann Hobson Pilot, former principal harpist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

“L.A. Tonight with Roy Firestone” 10 p.m. Wednesday, KCET: David Foster. 

“Idina Menzel Live -- Barefoot at the Symphony” Midnight Wednesday, KVCR: Menzel performs Broadway classics, her own selections and contemporary songs with Taye Diggs and composer Marvin Hamlisch.

-- Compiled by Ed Stockly

 Photo: Idina Menzel. Credit: Robin Wong / PBS

Bolshoi and London ballets coming to a movie screen near you

Ballet lovers who haven’t yet seized the opportunity to experience the enhanced view of detail and artistic interpretation inherent in cinema-casts have a slate of interesting opportunities from London and Moscow this spring, plus an even larger roster down the road.

Similarly to Metropolitan Opera and National Theatre cinema-casts, performances are first seen live, via satellite, and with repeat screenings.

Emerging Pictures co-founder Barry Rebo, whose company presents the ballets, said his audiences have been steadily growing "week by week, show by show" this year, with an overall 35% rise in ticket sales for combined ballet and opera offerings across the U.S. and Canada.

Numbers spiked noticeably when David Hallberg performed live with the Bolshoi Ballet in November, a performance in which the American actually danced after twisting his ankle early in the first act, said  Emerging Pictures publicist Raymond Forsythe. 

Almost like mini-residencies, this spring's offerings from London’s Royal Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet from Moscow will each bring three unique concerts featuring some of the most beloved and stylistically demonstrative choreography born from those institutions. Participating cinemas include the  Monica 4-Plex (Santa Monica), Town Center 5 (Encino), Claremont 5 (Claremont) and Playhouse 7 (Pasadena).

For 2012-13, Rebo said, his company has gained exclusive rights to Paris Opera Ballet performances and Opera Australia’s “Opera on Sydney Harbour” series.

First up this spring is the Bolshoi's presentation of "Le Corsaire," screening Tuesday. This performance, along with a later presentation of comedic "The Bright Stream," offer viewers the chance to see the robust Russian company perform works that choreographer du jour Alexei Ratmansky brightly re-imagined for the Bolshoi dancers during his award-winning tenure there, before he brought it to his current home, American Ballet Theatre. (These screenings will bracket the real thing: ABT brings Ratmanksy's newly created "Firebird" to Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa on March 29-April 1.)

Lastly from the Bolshoi is Yuri Grigorovich's staging of "Raymonda," a three-act dramatic classic with a sample of Marius Petipa's finest choreographic morsels.  

From London, the Royal Ballet will present some of the creme de la creme of British choreographers -- Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan --  on a set list that includes live cinema-casts of “Romeo and Juliet” and “La Fille Mal Gardée” plus an encore presentation of “Giselle.”

Here are the dates and times of the spring shows, some live via satellite (as noted), the rest replays.

Brigitte Bardot comes to Hollywood

The elusive Brigitte Bardot has been seen in Hollywood. Well, not exactly. "BB Forever," an exhibition of photographs celebrating the life of the French actress and cultural obsession, is on display at the Hotel Sofitel.

The seldom-seen blond beauty, who retired from acting in 1973, gave her blessing for the show, a collaboration between the hotel chain and French journalist and author Henry-Jean Servat, who is also the curator.

"I could not have done it without her permission," said Servat, who has known Bardot for 25 years. He wrote "Bardot: La Légende" in 2009 and produced an exhibition a few years ago at Musée des Années 30 Espace Landowski in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt.

PHOTOS: Brigitte Bardot exhibition

Bardot rose to fame during the '50s around the same time as that other blond goddess, Marilyn Monroe. A majority of the never before published photos are drawn from the archives of Paris-Match magazine.

Arts on TV: Michael Feinstein; Woody Allen; Isabella Rossellini

“Project Runway All Stars” 9 and 11 p.m. Thursday, Lifetime: Puttin' on the Glitz : The designers are tasked with creating an outfit for the Broadway musical “Godspell.”

“Michael Feinstein's American Songbook” 9 p.m. Friday, KOCE: Saloon Singers: The history of nightclub entertainment.

“Michael Feinstein's American Songbook” 10 p.m. Friday, KOCE: A New Step Every Day: Jazz takes off during the 1920s and 1930s; the impact of talking pictures; radio.

“BET Honors 2012” 8 p.m. Saturday, BET: At the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., Maya Angelou, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Spike Lee, the Tuskegee Airmen, Beverly Kearney receive honors for contributions to their respective fields; host Gabrielle Union.

“Woody Allen: American Masters” 9 p.m. Saturday, KOCE: Woody Allen's childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., his creative process, and his career as director and writer. (Part 1 of 2)

“Woody Allen: American Masters” 11 p.m. Saturday, KOCE: Woody Allen's childhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., his creative process, and his career as director and writer. (Part 2 of 2)

“Isabella Rossellini: My Wild Life” 11:15 a.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, Sundance: Profile of the artist.

“NFL Super Bowl Gospel Celebration” 2 p.m. Sunday, Fox: The Super Bowl Gospel Choir performs. With appearances by Jennifer Hudson, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Underwood, Stevie Wonder, Bono, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Lionel Richie, CeCe Winans and Kirk Franklin; hosts Nick Cannon and Kurt Warner.

“Vine Talk” 6:30 p.m. Sunday, KLCS: Sipping Sancerres from the Loire Valley: Author Gay Talese; actor Cheyenne Jackson; chef Joey Campanaro.

“Independent Lens” 11 p.m. Sunday, KOCE: More than a Month: A filmmaker creates a satirical cross-country campaign to end Black History Month.

Movie: “Amadeus”  (1984) 9 p.m. Monday, TCM: (PG) F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce. Antonio Salieri, court composer in Vienna, confesses in old age to his sins against the young genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

“Chihuly Fire & Light” 8 p.m. Tuesday, KLCS: The De Young exhibit has 11 galleries of new and archived works by glass artist Dale Chihuly.

“The 5 Browns in Concert” 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, KVCR: Five siblings, all trained pianists, perform standards, classical and jazz.

Movie: “Brooklyn Boheme” (2011) 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Showtime: Historian Nelson George paints a portrait of the black arts movement that exploded in Fort Greene from the mid-1980s through the '90s.

-- Compiled by Ed Stockly

Photo: Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in "Amadeus." Credit: Phil Bray / Orion Pictures.

Valentine's Day ideas: 6 nights out for culture lovers

If you haven’t made plans for Valentine’s Day and you consider yourself the classy type who won’t resort to buying a six-pack of Bud and some 7-Eleven roses for your loved one, fear not -– choices still abound in the arts, performance, film and music world. Here are some suggestions for love with a degree of culture:

'Dirty Looks: Long Distance Love Affairs'

This New York-based roaming screening series plays matchmaker with East Coast and California-based queer experimental filmmakers currently working and the recent past. Featuring works by Cecilia Dogherty, Deanna Erdmann, Rhys Ernst, Glen Fogel, Mariah Garnett, Jonesy, Dani Leventhal, Charles Ludham, Narcissister, Luther Price and Michael Robinson. Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. hammer.ucla.edu. 8 p.m. Tuesday. Free.

'Cyrano de Bergerac'

On the Knightsbridge Theatre’s production poster for this classic play, there’s a cheeky tagline: “He’s famous for his long… sword.” Oh, my! Actually, in Edmond Rostand’s play, Cyrano suffers for his grotesque nose but we recommend you make as many puns and double-entendres as your significant other can stand. Knightsbridge Theater, 1944 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles. (323) 667-0955. 8 p.m. Tuesday through March 18. $18-$20.

'Two Pianos, Four Hands'

Racy title, we know, but that's how Pasadena Symphony is selling its Live at Noor, a night of piano music in the sleek digs of Noor Restaurant. Hosts Yana Reznik and Esther Keel will tickle the ivorys and chat elegantly, all the while treating the audience to selections from Brahms, Bearber, Chopin and a closing sensual tango by Piazzola. Noor Restaurant, 260 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. pasadenasymphony-pops.org. 

Al Pacino, Andre Watts among National Medal of Arts winners

Actor Al Pacino, pianist Andre Watts, visual artists Will Barnet and Martin Puryear and art philanthropist Emily Rauh Pulitzer are among the winners of the 2011 National Medal of Arts, to be bestowed Monday by President Obama in a ceremony at the White House.

Also announced Friday were winners of the National Humanities Medal -- including classical music scholar Charles Rosen.

The ceremonies will be streamed live Monday at 10:45 a.m. (Pacific) on the White House website.

Pacino, famed for wide-ranging film and stage roles that include the sympathetic gay bank robber of “Dog Day Afternoon,” mob boss Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” trilogy, and Shakespeare’s Shylock and King Richard III, is being cited for his “signature intensity” and as “an enduring and iconic figure, who came of age in one of the most exciting decades of American cinema, the 1970s.”

Watts, who is not expected to attend the ceremony, according to the White House, is being recognized as “a perennial favorite with the most celebrated orchestras and conductors around the world,” his performances marked by “superb technique and passionate intensity.”

Barnet, a New York City painter and printmaker who turned 100 last year, was cited for “nuanced and graceful depictions of family and personal scenes” that are “meticulously constructed of flat planes that reveal a lifelong exploration of abstraction, expressionism and geometry.”