George Floyd’s daughter Gianna now owns a piece of Disney thanks to a gift from Barbra Streisand. The 6-year-old posed with a letter from the legendary singer and actress, along with a certificate of Disney shares, in a slideshow of photos on Instagram. “Thank You @barbrastreisand for my package, I am now a Disney Stockholder thanks to you,” Gianna, who goes by GiGi, shared. Streisand also sent Gianna two of her albums.
The National Theatre is streaming Alan Bennett’s “The Madness of George III”…The Drama Desk awards, postponed from two weeks ago, will go ahead on Saturday evening on NY1.com…”Gone with the Wind” has been “given historical context” by HBO Max, so maybe it’s time to re-watch the Carol Burnett parody, “Went with the Wind, which needs no explanations.“…”Da 5 Bloods” is Spike Lee’s new movie and it can be seen on Netflix…I’m counting down the days until Premier League resumes with Arsenal-Man City.
I went one year to Coachella, the massive music festival in southern California. In spite of my dislike of crowds, I had a great time. The desert air, the companionable friends, the variety of musical acts all conspired to create contentment. No one will be experiencing such contentment this year: Coachella, which had been postponed from April to October, is now cancelled.
On Tuesday, HBO Max removed the 1939 film from its library in the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd. An HBO Max spokesperson says “Gone With the Wind” will eventually return to the platform with a discussion about its historical context and a denouncement of its racist depictions. I can understand why the movie — the most successful of all time, in adjusted dollars — would be pulled, while many other, equally problematic pictures are not. But where does this process end? Or shouldn’t it? Shouldn’t all movies depicting stereotypes and cruelty be withdrawn?
Of this Friday’s streaming movie release, starring Pete Davidson, Jeff Wells writes: ‘How about spending two hours and 16 minutes with a smart-assed, perpetually stoned flatliner from arguably the most low-rent culture on the Eastern seaboard and certainly the scuzziest borough of New York City, a place so low on the cultural totem pole than even New Jerseyans look down upon it? And at the same time a well-crafted film with heart and honesty and a relatable personality? And which ends…well, hopefully?’
Activating HBO Max isn’t easy, but if you do you’ll be rewarded with all those reruns of “Friends” that you used to watch on Netflix…The Metropolitan Museum in New York has been having digital premieres and coming on Saturday: In Songs from the Spirit, New York City Ballet dancer and choreographer Silas Farley asks, “What does freedom mean?”…New York’s other Met — the opera — has been continuing to stream glories from its archives…No New York filmmaker is more of the moment than Spike Lee: watch his new short film, “3 Brothers,’ here…Britain’s National Theatre is streaming Tom Hiddleston in “Coriolanus” — for free…Still not many sporting events to watch — unless you like German football. But there’s good news — the NBA returns at the end of July.
