Mama, they took my Kodachrome away

After 75 years as a gold-standard tool of photography, Kodachrome rides into the sunset today, when the only remaining Kodak-certified processing facility on the planet, Dwayne's Photo Service, 415 S. 32nd Street, Parsons, Kansas 67357, ends its processing of the legendary color film. For old-school photographers and photojournalists, it's the end of more than one era. Read the appreciation at Short Sharp Shock. 

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Photo: thechiefway.com

‘We are the antigenocide paparazzi’

As Sudan prepares for nationhood, the world holds its breath fearing the potential for genocide. But George Clooney’s making a pre-emptive strike. His idea, the Satellite Sentinel Project — a joint venture of the United Nations, Harvard and Hollywood — will hire satellites to monitor movements of troops of northern and southern Sudan. The images will be available online. The reason? “If you know your actions are going to be covered,” he said, “you tend to behave much differently than when you operate in a vacuum." More at Time.com

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Photo: Tim Freecia/Enough Project

NYC: Billy Taylor is dead at 89

The jazz pianist and educator Billy Taylor died on Wednesday in Manhattan, of heart failure. As much an advocate and an ambassador as a musician, Taylor was the eloquent embodiment of the class act. The New York Times weighs in with words, but watch the video. See and hear what we've lost. 

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Teena Marie, godmother of hip-hop

For music writer Paul Devlin, writing in The Root, "Teena's career was inextricably intertwined with hip-hop. She was a hip lady who embraced the music that embraced her." More in Music.

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Photo: From the Congo Square album

Merry Christmas

Two classics, just in time for the holidays. Again. 

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Merry Christmas. Prep the wedding music

The merger of NBC Universal and Comcast is all but a lock, according to stories in various news sources. Comcast got a big thumbs-up from FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who conditionally supported this civil union pending Comcast's acceptance of some limitations on its reach as a cable provider. Full FCC approval's expected next year. The Justice Department is still vetting this thing for possible antitrust issues. See the stories in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal for more.


Also: Could NBC-Comcast be a Hulu killer?

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Images: Comcast, NBC Universal

Jeff Bridges rides again

More and more, it seems, it’s Jeff Bridges’ world and we just live in it. With a best-actor Oscar under his belt for his stunning role in Crazy Heart, his whiskey-and-honey voice gracing ads for Duracell and Hyundai, and last weekend’s hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, the Dude is in full effect. Bridges is back on the big screen as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, the Coen Brothers’ tweak of the John Wayne classic. Oscar winner Matt Damon and Josh Brolin star in supporting roles. Some early reviews for this horse opera, which opened Wednesday, have been strong. There’s so much firepower here, and so much goodwill for Bridges generally that, who knows? Maybe there’s another golden dude with the Dude’s name on it.

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Tomatometer: Rotten Tomatoes

'Spider-Man' soldiers on. And on

The show must go on. Broadway’s basic law remains in force for “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” the troubled $65 million Julie Taymor-Bono-Edge production now in previews. Four people have been injured in the staging of the musical, including a stuntman hospitalized Monday after a 20-foot fall (see the video). The show’s also been plagued by numerous delays, sour reviews, and script and music changes. But sales of tickets for 2011 performances have been brisk. Good thing: It’s estimated the show will have to sell out every night for the next five years to break even. Somewhere, an accountant’s spider-sense is tingling.

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Flynn lives, in 3D

You’ve been waiting patiently ... 28 years, to be exact. Now, finally, Disney revisits the world of Tron, the 1982 film that was a hit with sci-fi fans and proto-geeks. Tron Legacy — starring Jeff Bridges (in his original role), Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde — opens today in Imax 3D.

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Larry King hangs 'em up

The Cal Ripken of TV interview shows ended his 25-year run at CNN on Thursday night, after thousands of interviews, tens of thousands of questions and, in 1994, a kiss from Marlon Brando. Michael E. Ross offers an appreciation at Short Sharp Shock.

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Photo: CNN

Blake Edwards, master of joy and pain

The director of seven Pink Panther movies, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Days of Wine and Roses, 10, Victor/Victoria and S.O.B., died on Wednesday in Santa Monica at the age of 88, leaving a body of work that blended slapstick, farce and reality by turns painful, hilarious and painfully hilarious. Aljean Harmetz of The New York Times remembers the man and his work.

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Photo: Art and Living

Harlem: McCartney 
at the Apollo!?

White man in R&B Palace: Paul McCartney and friends played the Apollo Theater on Monday, with the once and always Beatle bringing his rollicking, recognized musical catalog (from Beatles to Wings and beyond) uptown, and giving his propers to the revered soul and R&B venue where he’s wanted to perform “for many a year.”

                                                                      More in Music >>>

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Photo: Richard Perry/The New York Times

St. Petersburg: Putin’s Fats Domino theory

In what’s either a boon to U.S.-Russian relations or a blow to that relationship, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin continued his independent study of English on Friday, going public with his version of Fats Domino’s classic “Blueberry Hill” at a benefit for a children’s cancer charity. Witnesses to this musical misdemeanor: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Sharon Stone and the 698,033 people who’ve seen this. Plus you.

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Reports: Aretha has pancreatic cancer

Aretha Franklin, the legendary Queen of Soul, has reportedly been diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer, one of the disease’s most aggressive forms, according to news reports.

                                                                                    More in Music >>>

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Photo: Ron Edmonds/Associated Press

It was 30 years ago today

He was taken from us at 40 by a twisted, fame-hungry fan in the city he adored, and the years since have never been what they were before. Now, imagine John Lennon still with us. David Kamp did in a provocative, ultimately joyful "interview" in Vanity Fair. It first came out in September but worth a look now, if only to think of what might have been. Today.

More in Word  >

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Photo: © 2010 London Media

D.C.: Who praises who at the Kennedy Honors

Merle Haggard, Oprah Winfrey, Bill T. Jones, Jerry Herman and Paul McCartney were the guests at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday, but for Paul Farhi of The Washington Post, “Half the fun of the Kennedy Center Honors, and almost all of the surprise, comes from who shows up to celebrate whom each year.”

                                                                      Read Farhi’s story on the gala

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Photo: Linda Davidson/Washington Post

Another kind of alien nation

Monsters examines an extraterrestrial invasion through ordinary eyes, with precious little CGI. But parallels between one alien experience and another, in the context of nativist American politics, are inescapable. Donald Clarke of The Irish Times interviews director Gareth Edwards.

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Photo: Vertigo Films

Billboard gets
social on ya

The 116-year-old bible of the music industry launches a ranking of top music artists on the top social network sites. Rihanna tops the chart’s first leaderboard. Justin Bieber and Eminem place and show

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Billboard logo: Billboard.com; Rihanna: Eric Charbonneau/Getty

Trailer Hitch: Lives in public

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Getting in touch with yourself: It’s basic to two high-profile films this weekend, both of which cast bankable but underseen stars in unconventional stories of lives in public and the private demons that haunt them. Black Swan, the new psychological thriller by the refreshingly unconventional Darren Aronofsky, stars Natalie Portman as a driven but tormented New York City ballerina in an intense rivalry with a fellow dancer, played by Mila Kunis. The personal competition between the dancers plays out on stage and (chillingly) off stage as well. Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey and Winona Ryder also star. IMDb: 8.9/10.


 

The King’s Speech, directed by Tom Hooper, stars Colin Firth as the man who would become King George VI, who reluctantly assumes the British throne in the wake of the abdication of his brother, Edward, in 1936. George, a lifelong stutterer, faces challenges in his need to communicate with his countrymen at a time when World War II is on the horizon. The man who will be king is assisted by a speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush) who brings an unconventional style to helping the King of England through his own darkest hour. Helena Bonham Carter (Alice in Wonderland) also stars in a film believed to be a strong Oscar contender. Rotten Tomatoes would seem to agree (93%), calling it “a predictable but stylishly produced and rousing period drama.”

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Los Angeles: Eminem paces Grammy field

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Eminem’s return to prominence was amply rewarded Wednesday night, as a beleaguered record industry gave him 10 Grammy nominations for his Recovery album, including nods in all three top categories, at a televised Grammy nomination concert from the Nokia Theatre. The Hawaiian-born musical multihyphenate Bruno Mars was a surprising nomination runner-up with seven nominations. The other three nominees for record of the year are country trio Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now,” “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem and Rihanna; and “Empire State of Mind,” Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ paean to New York City. And it wouldn’t be the Grammys without nods to Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, contenders in the album category. The Los Angeles Times’ Randy Lewis sorts it out.  
                                                                                         More in Music >>>

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Photo: Associated Press

Paris: Picasso treasures discovered

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The art world is salivating after the announcement of the discovery of 271 paintings, drawings, sketches and lithographs by Pablo Picasso. Police raided the Mouans-Sartoux home of Pierre Le Guennec, an electrician for the late artist who said the works were gifts after he installed alarm systems at the painter's homes. Claude Picasso said the collection has a "historic importance" as it was produced during a "crucial period; a revolutionary movement in art.”

                                                                           Read more in The Guardian
                                                                  Jonathan Jones on why it matters

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Photo: Ralph Gatti/AFP/Getty Images