Galaxy Cluster SMACS 0723 as It Appeared 4.6 Billion Years Ago

This image, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, is the sharpest and most detailed infrared image of galaxy cluster SMACS 0723 taken to date.*

“Thousands of galaxies – including the faintest objects ever observed in the infrared – have appeared in Webb’s view for the first time. This slice of the vast universe is approximately the size of a grain of sand held at arm’s length by someone on the ground.” — from NASA’s Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet.

The image shows stars that are more than four billion light-years away from Earth.

It’s a crowded universe. It seems highly unlikely that we’re the only ones in it.

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*At least by Earthlings.

Andy and Marilyn

As pretty much everybody knows by now, Andy Warhol’s 1964 artwork, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, sold at Christie’s for a record $195,000,000, making it the most expensive American artwork to ever sell at auction. The bidding lasted less than four minutes, and the identity of the winning bidder has not been disclosed.

Meanwhile, Netflix is currently screening “The Andy Warhol Diaries”, a six-part series based Warhol’s extensive posthumously published journals. Warhol’s diaries covered the period between November 1976 and February 1987, ending about five days before his death. An edited version of the diaries, running 807 gossipy pages, was published in 1989. To the great frustration of many readers, it had no index, which made finding juicy stories about the celebrities in Warhol’s orbit difficult to find.

It could have been worse. The full diary was more than 20,000-pages

The

The last time I saw Warhol was at a book signing in Washington. Warhol, well aware of the value of his name, was willing to sign anything. I was amused to watch as a young man dropped his jeans and ask Warhol to sign his underpants, which Andy, also apparently amused, did.

I wonder what those underpants would fetch at auction today.

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Andy Warhol’s Dead But I’m Not

I’ve always loved this late ’80s song by the band E-I-E-I-O.

Andy and Marilyn, together at last.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”

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I finally saw Everything Everywhere All at Once today.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been in a movie theatre, but according to my old blog postings, it was for Knives Out in late 2019. I was really excited by the concept and the previews for that one, but a little let down when I finally saw it.

Coincidentally, one of the key players in Knives Out was an actress named Jamie Lee Curtis, who has an even bigger role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. With two big roles in two big movies, it sounds like Ms Curtis’s career is off to a flying start. Keep an eye on her–I predict she’ll go far!

But back to the movie. Now that I’ve seen it, I have some minor mixed feelings about Everything Everywhere All at Once, too. The effects were wonderful, and it lives up to the praise it’s been getting from the media. It’s a fast-paced, joyride of a movie, brilliantly produced and full of unforgettable images, sometimes beautiful, sometimes wildly hilarious, and sometimes both at the same time. (“All at Once”, so to speak.) There’s enough raw originality here to fill a multiverse of movies.

My only real criticism, and it’s a mild one, is that it’s too much of a great thing. At 2 hours and 19 minutes, this is one long movie, And if you’re like me, by the time you’re hit with the fifth or sixth false ending, you’ll be getting a bit cranky.

This minor quibble aside, Everything Everywhere All at Once is definitely a must-see. It overflows with vigor and creativity, and it will probably be the most memorable movie of the year.

Cautionary Tales — An Award-Winning Short Film

It’s only eight minutes long, and it will leave you smiling.

Important: Watch it to the end. Then you’ll probably want to watch it a second time.

From BBC Earth — A Glorious Seven Worlds, One Planet

For the past few weeks, a brilliant new nature series called Seven Worlds, One Planet, has been playing on BBC One. Each of the seven episodes focuses on a different continent; segments of the show were filmed in 41 different countries.

The narrator is naturalist Sir David Attenborough, as if it could be anyone else.

Here’s a sample, in which a Giant Leopard Seal pursues a Tiny Penguin:

Warning. The photography in the show is stunning, but Nature is not always pretty. Some viewers in the UK have responded to parts of the series with tears or nausea.

US viewers will be able to judge for themselves when Seven Worlds, One Planet premieres on Saturday, 18 January 2020, on BBC America, AMC, IFC,  and SundanceTV.

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Survivor: Galápagos

From Planet Earth II — View in Full Screen

Remember the famous “Iguana vs Snakes” sequence from the BBC series, Planet Earth II?  When that little iguana made a run for safety as the rocks around it erupted with dozens of hungry snakes, we witnessed the most exciting chase scene in any movie or TV show released in 2016. I’ve reposted it at the bottom of this item. Three years later, it’s as breathtaking as ever.

His Dark Materials Arrives Tonight on HBO

The new adaptation of Philip Pullman’s bestselling fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials, a collaborative project by the BBC and HBO, premiered in the UK last night, to rapturous reviews and the highest ratings for a new drama on British TV in five years. The Independent called it “A beautiful, brooding vision of Philip Pullman’s universe that is unafraid to air the book’s anti-theocratic messages.” (★★★★★). The Telegraph said it was “…a gorgeously-realised version of Philip Pullman’s novels.” (★★★★). And The Guardian hailed it as “a riveting realisation of Philip Pullman’s magic.” (★★★★★).

American critics have been somewhat less impressed, but the Tomatometer is still 82% “certified fresh”.

His Dark Materials is set, at least at the beginning, in a world that is not quite ours. There’s an Oxford University, but the Magisterium (a thinly disguised Catholic Church) dominates society. Technology is at about the same level as it was during our Victorian Age. And then there are the dæmons….

The eight-episode series will run from 4 November 2019 through 22 December 2019, and has already been renewed for a second season. That suggests the show will take its time covering Pullman’s three-volume epic, and may well extend the scope of the story.

Fourteen-year-old Dafne Keen plays the key role of “Lyra Belacqua”, with Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda in prominent roles.

Worth checking out.

Years and Years — Highest Recommendation

Just watched the sixth and final episode of Years and Years on HBO, and what a thrill ride that turned out to be!

The series follows the multi-generational, diverse Lyons family of Manchester, England, through the next 15 years, as technology keeps getting better, while life keeps getting worse. At the same time, it charts the rise of the populist demagogue Vivian Rook, played brilliantly by Emma Thompson as a cross between “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher and a much smarter version of “Short-Fingered Vulgarian” Donald Trump.

Stand-outs, in addition to Thompson, are Russell Tovey as Daniel Lyons and Anne Reid as Muriel Deacon, the Lyons family matriarch. Reid’s monologue in the final episode will probably win her a BAFTA award next year.

Here’s the original BBC One trailer:

And here’s the one from HBO:

Years and Years was a huge hit in the UK, where it got rave reviews across the board.

I’m posting only one tiny spoiler beyond what’s in the trailers: In the final episode, the recounting of the fate of two famous buildings made me laugh out loud.

You gotta watch it yourself.

Another Highest Recommendation.

“Infinite Space” at ARTECHOUSE

“Infinite Space, the first major retrospective of the work of award-winning, Los-Angeles-based, Turkish-born artist Refik Anadol, invites visitors to open their senses to the endless transformation and infinite possibilities at the intersection of man and machine.”
—from the program notes

That quote got me thinking about the endless transformation and infinite possibilities at the intersection of me and my vacuum cleaner, but perhaps I was taking it too literally.

The current environment in the main room at ARTECHOUSE suffered from a long, dull opening sequence that drove many of us from the room. It was only later that the artist gave us a taste of the mesmerizing beauty that keeps us coming back to the venue:

The walls in ARTECHOUSE’s main room are 30-feet high, so the video is best viewed full screen.

The real fun at this show was in the Infinity Rooms in the side galleries, where mirrored, angled walls created a high tech funhouse effect. Seeing two people who look vaguely familiar simultaneously approaching you from a corridor on your right and from a side hall on your left, and then realizing that they’re both you, is a wonderfully disorienting experience.*

If you wanted, you could be a one-person chorus line.

Two’s company, four’s a crowd.
Look closer. There are only four people in this picture.

“Infinite Space” will run through 2 September 2019.

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The Lady From Shanghai
That Scene from Orson Welles’ 1947 film noir.

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*Even though those two people are considerably older and heavier than you are.

Downton Abbey — Look Out! Here It Comes Again!

Downton Abbey is coming back, this time in the form of a movie.

Most of the cast—except for Isis, the unfortunately named dog, and the actors whose characters were killed off by Lady Mary (aka “The Black Widow”) or by the murderous Mr and Mrs Bates and their creepy secret son, Norman—will return.

UK release is scheduled for 13 September 2019, with US release a week later.

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While You’re Waiting…

Meanwhile, back at the stately manor, tickets are available for Downton Abbey: The Exhibition in West Palm Beach, Florida, through late April 2019. No word yet on where the traveling show will land next.

Return to ARTECHOUSE (with Much Better Video)

I had a delightful visit from my Left Coast brother and sister-in-law this week, which included another trip to ARTECHOUSE, to see touch experience the current “New Nature” installation.

I’ve never been able to come close to capturing the HD quality of ARTECHOUSE’s visual displays with my IPad, but I’ve found some online samples from the shows.

In “New Nature”, a side room contains “The Menagerie”, a collection of large monitors displaying fluid abstract designs. The “creatures” on screen respond to the hand movements of the person watching the monitor.

Like this:

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A post shared by ARTECHOUSE ® (@artechouse)

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Here’s an overview of the current installation. The main room, at the start of the video, is 24 feet high*, and the installation covers 270°.

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A post shared by ARTECHOUSE ® (@artechouse)

Love this place! ARTECHOUSE has become one of my favourite hangouts in Washington.

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*To put that in perspective, imagine four six-foot-tall people, standing on each other’s heads. Or imagine six four-foot-tall people, standing on each other’s heads, if that works better for you. The point is, it’s big.