this small and struggling community along the Chehalis River bled money but newly elected Mayor Linda Springer set a new direction when she assumed public office for the first time last year No longer can Cosmopolis rely on artificially high revenue estimates waiting and hoping for the pulp mill in town — once its largest employer — to reopen Budget lines can’t be filled in with promises and maybes The city can no longer afford a financial director or city administrator no major capital improvement projects or upgrades to aging infrastructure It can afford to keep two full-time police officers on staff but can’t keep the station open to the public “We are operating on a very thin line,” Springer said customer service — maybe they could attract a school or data center But their vision for the future can’t rely on whether the facility represents a challenge to the logging and milling towns of the Pacific Northwest and to small communities everywhere struggling to survive in postindustrial America contending with the scars left on their landscapes These cities must decide whether they want to forge their own path or try to reclaim a bit of their past glory with the same industries that led to prosperity and then decline.  The latest owner of Cosmo Specialty Fiber is looking to capitalize on the federal shift The British investor with a checkered past in the industry has a grand vision for the future square up with state and federal regulators rustle up millions more and make long-overdue repairs he sees a field of opportunity in Cosmopolis Others look at the mill and see a relic of a bygone era, harmful to salmon streams and the environment even under the best conditions This particular site has run afoul of even the most basic health and safety regulations for years Cities like Cosmopolis and nearby Aberdeen haven’t historically considered the true cost of the lumber and milling industries, said environmental economist Ernie Niemi While they bring jobs and create needed products they wreak havoc on the environment and churn out millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions Better now to lay the mill to rest and find new ways to keep the community afloat At the center of the debate sit all the people of Cosmopolis nestled in the drizzly forests of Western Washington the area is blanketed with a palette of greens and grays and — if the weather cooperates — a peek of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains comes into view beyond the foothills to the north quick to remember the days when they could set their watches by the shifts at the mill and count on the business to put food on their tables Most people there want the business to return Or are the boom days of the lumber and milling industry just shrinking smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror Mayor Springer brought with her into office a can-do attitude and rolled up her sleeves for the work ahead She declined to take over an office within the tiny Cosmopolis City Hall she posts up at a conference table in the front room conducting city business while talking to friends and neighbors as they walk in the door Springer acknowledges her vision for the city — which residents endearingly call “Cosi” — has been unpopular “I’m not feeling that doom and gloom,” she said With all that lumber flowed money and thousands of jobs The Cosmopolis mill opened in 1888, owned by the Grays Harbor Mill Company. The global lumber behemoth Weyerhaeuser took over in 1957 and turned it into a pulp mill, creating things like specialty papers, plastic molds, fibers, cigarette filters and even toothpaste Former Cosmopolis Mayor Frank Chestnut remembers the old days People moved in — like he did in 1973 — and they don’t ever seem to leave Weyerhaeuser served as a good corporate neighbor Entire generations grew up in and around the mill logging and milling companies cut jobs and automated more work Environmental regulations also chipped away at the industry which over the years pumped hazardous chemicals into rivers Beset by lagging profits and a changing industry, Weyerhaeuser closed the Cosmopolis mill and other operations on Grays Harbor in 2006 eliminating nearly 350 jobs and cutting off most of the city’s operating budget “Sixty to 65% of your revenue disappears overnight,” Chestnut said And the massive mill on its northern border sat empty But British investment banker Richard Bassett saw an opportunity. By 2010, and backed by a California investment banking firm, he closed a deal on the mill and brought it back to life, albeit on a thinner budget. The resurrection drew broad fanfare across the state Cosmo Specialty Fibers closed again in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic sputtering to life once more only to lay everybody off just days before Christmas in 2022 he forged a deal and took over as the sole owner now envisioning a way to use the mill’s wood byproduct to generate electricity a possible asset to the state’s electrical grid with perhaps even room for a data center on-site This type of thing has been done elsewhere and could unleash a torrent of money in America “We kind of thought we were on the side of the gods here,” Bassett said But reopening the mill has turned into a much bigger challenge than he ever anticipated Not only is a shuttered mill difficult and expensive to turn back on but the old owners — called The Gores Group — put off basic maintenance for years The place needs something like $50 million to $60 million for repairs The federal issues are even worse. Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leveled a type of regulatory order against the mill Bassett said the order is unnecessary and discourages investors which stanches the money flow he’d use to fix the issues But in documents obtained by The Seattle Times federal regulators warn of leaking acid and other hazardous substances left unsecured The conditions give rise to the risk of a “potential catastrophic release,” the EPA’s acting regional administrator wrote in January Cosmo’s footprint extends beyond the mill site Byproducts left over from the milling process were long pumped across town and into a series of retention ponds farther downstream where they were diluted with freshwater and treated before flowing into the Chehalis River strolled along the Westport South Aberdeen Trail in late January and pointed toward those ponds pumps are supposed to keep the water aerated to keep chemicals from settling “It should be called the Cosmopolis Filthy River Treatment Trail,” First said As part of her work for the national environmental watchdog group of waterkeepers First tallies violations along the watershed and reports them to Ecology She’s been frustrated with the state agency’s pace over the years Regulators weren’t able to keep the mill in check when it was running Why would she expect anything different if it were to reopen Mills like this have left a trail of heavy metals and other toxic elements in their wake heart disease and other complications for people living around them Other environmental concerns are just as bad a retired scientist for Washington’s Fisheries Department (now Fish and Wildlife) and not just for Grays Harbor but most any place with this type of industry Seiler investigated declining coho salmon populations in the Chehalis River About half as many salmon returned each year when compared to the Copalis River to the north The difference was that the Chehalis salmon had to swim through Grays Harbor and all its pollution from mills and other industries “A story of resource extraction with absolutely no thought to the environment.” While the logging and milling industry exacted a steep toll on the people and environment of this region Lumber from the region built cities like Seattle Pulp mills like Cosmo are essential for more everyday products than you’d believe They’re the main competition for oil-based products in a society looking to free itself of a dependence on fossil fuels and plastics The industry kept towns like Cosmopolis booming for generations City Councilmember Kim Skinner said he worked at Cosmo for years and attitudes have shifted recently Many still want the mill back in business but they also don’t miss its more unpleasant aspects City officials have relied on volunteer labor and grant funding to make ends meet. For some emergencies, they’ve had to rely on Aberdeen for help They talk about the possibility of a brewery But businesses can be difficult to attract for a town that draws little outside foot traffic Other cities have successfully transitioned away from a heavy industrial economy said Bassett: Why turn down millions from his mill in favor of whatever pittance the tourism sector might bring in and he called that sort of transition “delusional.” If he can get the mill running again he envisions more than a thousand jobs in the area He’s worried whether they’ll be able to find enough qualified workers There’s no going back to the way things were a historian with the University of Rhode Island who has written extensively about the timber industry in the Pacific Northwest While the city and its people remain open to reviving the mill Rust streaks down buildings and tanks that once brought prosperity to the community Infrequent lumber trucks move along the highway just across the Chehalis River The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser 2025 in partnership with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston shows the exhibition Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits the first show devoted to the artist’s friendship with the postman Joseph Roulin The two museums had already collaborated for the 2000 exhibition Van Gogh: Face to Face — the Portraits which had featured an important number of the Roulin family portraits During his stay in Arles in 1888 and 1889, Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) created a total of 26 portraits of the postman’s working class family The current MFA Boston exhibition is featuring 23 works by Van Gogh—including 14 of the Roulin family portraits—as well as earlier Dutch art and Japanese woodblock prints that inspired the artist In addition to iconic works from the MFA’s collection the show includes more than 20 key loans from prominent international collections the exhibition presents 10 letters from Joseph Roulin to Van Gogh and the artist’s siblings together for the first time offering an intimate look at their friendship the materials in almost thirty of the nearly two hundred paintings Vincent Van Gogh made while living in Arles have been studied The exhibition is co-curated by Katie Hanson William and Ann Elfers Curator of Paintings Senior Curator at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts The exhibition is organized in thematic sections “Sense of Place: The Yellow House in Arles,” provides an immersive look at Arles where the artist lived from February 1888 to April 1889 and the dwelling he rented in May 1888 to use first as a studio and then as a home completed in Paris as Van Gogh was making plans to move south radiates the ambition and enthusiasm of the painter as he envisioned a new life in Arles A map of the town orients visitors along with The Yellow House (The Street) (1888) the artist’s colorful depiction of his home and studio where the Roulin family posed for their portraits A schematic construction of Van Gogh’s studio within this first gallery provides a sense of scale for visitors of the cozy space in which the artist worked with the ambition to create colorful portraits with a grand through which he hoped to contribute to the art of the future famous for his caricatures and cartoons made for newspaper and periodicals After completing his first painting of Joseph Roulin in summer 1888 Vincent van Gogh would go on to create a suite of 26 portraits of the five Roulin family members by April 1889 The artist made eight portraits of Augustine the entire family is portrayed across four canvases encircling the visitor A large series of works devoted to the members of a single working-class family is unique not only in Van Gogh’s oeuvre but also highly unusual in the history of art According to Nienke Bakker and Katie Hanson while a portrait painter would pay several visits to sitters of imperial or royal blood depicting the various members of a seemingly random working-class family with such frequency and concentration was otherwise unknown in the nineteenth century Van Gogh considered them more interesting than any royal or aristocratic family he demonstrated that the same person supplies material for very diverse portraits Van Gogh’s Roulin family portraits were a creative amalgamation of close observation of his beloved friends and of other sources of inspiration The exhibition section “Creating Community through Art” highlights Van Gogh’s artistic influences from Japanese printmakers such as Toyohara Kunichika and Utagawa Kunisada to Dutch artists including Frans Hals the Elder (1582-1666) and Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1669) Rembrandt and Frans Hals” by Christopher D In addition in this section, the curators situate Van Gogh within the artistic community of his time, featuring works by artist friends Émile Bernard (1868–1941) and Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) the latter of whom shared his Yellow House in Arles for two months in late 1888 After an argument with Gauguin in December 1888, Van Gogh cut his left ear and was hospitalized Joseph Roulin visited the artist in the hospital and wrote several letters to Van Gogh’s family Roulin also wrote to Van Gogh for months after the artist pursued residential care in the psychiatric hospital at Saint-Rémy “Letters from the Postman” presents 10 of these letters offering an intimate look at the relationship between the artist and his friend The section “Observation and Inspiration” explores how Vincent Van Gogh found great potential for art in the people and places around him—starting with what he saw and modifying it to bring forth profound depth of feeling In addition to the dedicated portraits of Augustine Roulin Van Gogh included her features in other paintings including The Dance Hall in Arles (1888) and The Raising of Lazarus (after Rembrandt) (1890) A similar combination of vision and imagination characterizes the landscapes Ravine (1889) and Enclosed Field with Ploughman (1889) from the MFA’s collection that Van Gogh painted in Saint-Rémy “Enduring Legacy: Beyond Arles,” the exhibition comes full circle – ending as it began with the artist’s own image and a cherished place visitors encounter Self-Portrait (1889) and The Bedroom (1889) both painted in autumn 1889 in the hospital of Saint-Paul de Mausole in nearby Saint-Rémy as Van Gogh reminisced about his time in Arles a year prior when he focused on the portraits of the Roulin family allowing visitors to see the individuals behind the portraits The exhibition—and this section especially—explores how the Roulin family The exit foyer of the exhibition serves as a community space for visitors to write and color postcards of the MFA’s Postman and enjoy reading a children’s book and the exhibition’s catalogue Visitors can also learn more about Van Gogh’s techniques with tactile 3-D prints of detail areas from Van Gogh’s Lullaby: Madame Augustine Roulin Rocking a Cradle (La Berceuse) MFA conservators partnered with Canon Production Printing Canada Inc and Canon Production Printing Netherlands B.V using photogrammetry to create a digital 3-D model of areas from the painting and feel deeply with these paintings made at a pivotal moment in Van Gogh’s life and career This exhibition touches on broad themes—such as how we communicate and how we see ourselves and those around us these themes resonate with us after the covid-pandemic It is a story of resilience—although I would add that it ended badly with Van Gogh’s suicide—and of the tender bonds that bring life greater meaning through connection offers essays written by 10 specialists offering new insights the catalogue features reproductions of Roulin’s letters and of all works exhibited in Boston This exhibition and catalogue review is based on the book Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits quotations and partial quotations in this review are not put between quotation marks Exhibition and catalogue review added on May 1 This website is unavailable in your location It appears you are attempting to access this website from a country outside of the United States therefore access cannot be granted at this time the largest residential project in Romania built after 1989 marks with the launch of the MyCosmopolis application a new premiere for the local real estate market The next-generation digital application, developed by Cosmopolis together with Realtynno, aims to transform and ease the interaction between residents, administration and neighborhood facilities. The digital platform sets a new standard of comfort, efficiency and connectivity for the more than 15,000 residents of Cosmopolis, a community comparable to the population of the cities of Râșnov, Otopeni or Sinaia. “The launch of MyCosmopolis is a key moment in Cosmopolis’ evolution as a pioneering brand in real estate innovation MyCosmopolis becomes an essential digital hub in this fast-moving world dynamic community and a space where every detail is designed to offer residents a unique experience Our app is a strategic step into the future a tool that completely transforms the way our residents interact with the neighborhood,” says Ozan Tuncer Neighborhood access management – Residents can approve visitor access directly from the app and manage their personal cars for quick and safe access to Cosmopolis barriers Transit monitoring – The app provides real-time views of bus routes and schedules. Digital payments to administration – A user-friendly interface allows for quick and secure payments for maintenance fees Advanced maintenance system – Residents can submit maintenance requests, track progress and receive responses directly in the app. Cosmopolis Plaza – the mall at a click away – The app includes a section dedicated to Cosmopolis Plaza stores Notification system – Whether it’s official announcements from the administration updates on neighborhood facilities or important alerts all are delivered instantly through the app to ensure direct and efficient communication Cosmopolis and Realtynno will continue to add additional functionality to the MyCosmopolis app as the community grows and the needs of Cosmopolis residents evolve “The technology behind MyCosmopolis is built for the future which means the app is ready for unlimited further developments MyCosmopolis has already been launched for some Cosmopolis residents and is still in the roll-out phase We are already preparing new functionalities that will further extend the platform’s capabilities turning it into a complete ecosystem for modern urban living From the integration of new features and services Realtynno provides a platform that not only solves today’s problems a project incubated and accelerated in AcceleronX with ambitious plans to develop and deploy its innovative solutions across the B2C real estate industry The launch of MyCosmopolis marks a landmark moment in the real estate industry an important step to consolidate Cosmopolis’ position as a leader in innovation and digitalization in an era where technology and convenience are perfectly blended to offer residents a complete living experience We use cookies for keeping our website reliable and secure providing social media features and to analyse how our website is used Cosmopolis App is a marketplace for Help Offers and Help Requests they receive Help Points that they can use to access more Help Offers Help Offers typically include all kinds of donations from large companies and enterprises Cosmopolis also cares about purchasing goods from undervalued providers who are Help Seekers and who are discovered by Cosmopolis Field Officers in struggling regions The goods of undervalued providers are also listed on the platform as rewards for good deeds and can be earned or purchased with Help Points Cosmopolis publishes the 100 Helpers Hotlist based on the number of Help Points a person or company has acquired As global connectivity continues to transform the world Cosmopolis has emerged as a force for good bridging divides and fostering a vibrant community that brings together helpers and help-seekers leveraging human connections for positive change The organization was founded by Paula Schwarz whose journey from investment management to social entrepreneurship has been marked by initiatives such as the social enterprise incubator Startupboat and the World Datanomic Forum At the heart of Cosmopolis’ mission is the belief in a cashless post-capitalist economy that incentivizes people to do good The platform serves as a catalyst for unity and progress transcending national and geographical barriers as well as creating a global community with abundant support and opportunity The organization aggressively invests in infrastructure development which includes its own fleet and storage system in order to pick up and deliver goods and services reliably and timely Cosmopolis App works with a research team led by De Kai at the University of Berkeley and the University of Hong Kong to identify misinformation on the platform Cosmopolis has successfully onboarded more than 4,000 helpers and help seekers Cosmopolis has pioneered initiatives like online fashion workshops and purchases creations from local fashion designers showcasing their talent and attracting good deeds and more clients for the designers with them by uploading them to Cosmopolis in exchange for Help Points Cosmopolis aims to further empower undervalued producers such as young indigenous designers in Nigeria by providing access to an international community of people who want to do good Cosmopolis not only nurtures local talent but also stimulates economic growth and community resilience As Cosmopolis continues to expand its footprint globally Paula and her dedicated team remain committed to realizing their vision of a world where good deeds have value and reliable human connections can pave the way for sustainable progress Cosmopolis is redefining how people internationally can help each other and what inclusive economies and communities can look like The STEM Fellow 2024 of Global Women in Asia Tee Ganbold is helping Cosmopolis expand with her company Improvability AI This award-winning partner of Cosmopolis creates automated reports on the sustainability performance of a company Cosmopolis suggests good deeds for the employees and management of the company to significantly increase the social responsibility footprint transparently in a very short period based on the results of the report This partnership between Improvability AI and Cosmopolis App can lead a company to quickly rise on the Helpers 100 Hotlist and demonstrate a new way in which AI clearly helps humanity on a large scale I accept Forbes Australia's Terms and Privacy Policy Please check your inbox to confirm your subscription Get the magazine delivered with a Premium membership, find it at all good newsagents, or purchase previous issues online Cosmopolis has performed poorly at the Canadian box office distributor eOne Films will get the job done right south of the border If they do and Cosmopolis becomes a succès d’estime there could be a chance that the David Cronenberg and Robert Pattinson collaboration will be remembered during awards season Cosmopolis opens in France on May 23 and in Australia on August 30 “The logical extension of business is murder.” See trailer below: David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis is missing a scene found in Don DeLillo’s 2003 novel: a 300-person orgy at a Manhattan intersection apparently has more than enough to intrigue Reviews have been generally positive-leaning Canadian critics aren’t of the same mind when discussing Cosmopolis: too cold and overly intellectualized Referring to Cosmopolis as a “blockbuster of the mind,” Toronto Star critic Peter Howell says “We might quibble with the emphasis Cronenberg places on dialogue on the staginess of his sets and on the relative lack of action … What we can’t argue is that Cosmopolis is the work of a master filmmaker one who is determined to have us think about the ideas packed into the trunk of this limo bound for the furthest corners of the psyche.” Howell says the following: “Very well played by Pattinson as a mash of guile and naivety Packer would have made a good patient for the subjects of A Dangerous Method T’cha Dunlevy in the Montreal Gazette: “This is not Cronenberg the macabre (though that side of him does surface) plot-driven Cronenberg we saw in last year’s A Dangerous Method quirky film in which he lets his weird side shine through in the details.” Dunlevy thus sums up the review: “But this film rests squarely on Pattinson’s broad shoulders and in the brooding features of his perfectly chiseled face surreal affair that is best appreciated with open ears and an open mind – and begs to be seen twice.” Katherine Monk says Cosmopolis is “impenetrably cold,” adding as a metaphor for the international monetary system … Cronenberg designed his film to refuse intimacy self-conscious allegory is to point out how removed we’ve become from our own world.” Monk adds: “We never care about Eric Packer The scenes that could humanize him are stilted and most of the movie feels like theatre of the absurd — only with the axis reversed.” Cronenberg opted not to shoot it because he felt it would look fake Perhaps there’ll be a realistic one in the Los Angeles-set Maps to the Stars but expect David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis to win something at this year’s Cannes Film Festival Reviews haven’t been unanimously favorable for Cronenberg’s “ethical fable” about a (disastrous) day in the life of a New York City multibillionaire (Robert Pattinson) determined to get a haircut Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life was last year’s Palme d’Or winner despite a highly mixed reception in the process of shedding his Twilight image has mostly earned extremely positive (and surprised) notices Below are a translated snippets from a few French-language reviews A chief complaint about Cosmopolis is that it’s too chatty David Cronenberg reportedly wrote the screenplay in six days keeping much of author Don DeLillo’s dialogue intact It should be released in the United States sometime in the second half of 2012 Via Paris-Match: “Screened for the press at 8:30 this morning David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis seems to have divided the critics this implacable observation of the inhumanity of the world’s new masters can be seen as a nightmarish sequel to David Fincher’s The Social Network Robert Pattinson is flawless as Eric Packer the reviewer adds that although he “desperately tries to deliver his long philosophical tirades with the least artificiality with the talkative Cosmopolis Cronenberg crosses the dubious border with which A Dangerous Method had only flirted at … David Cronenberg shoots as close as possible this living-dead creature [Robert Pattinson’s Eric Packer] floundering in the raging ocean of global finance this dark futuristic tale envelops the audience and carries it away Gucci-outfitted Robert Pattinson / Cosmopolis image: Courtesy of Gucci (via MTVNews) An early Cosmopolis review has come out via Studio Ciné Live’s Fabrice Leclerc Directed by the iconoclastic David Cronenberg Cosmopolis is definitely one of the most eagerly anticipated films at the Cannes Film Festival 2012 three-star (out of five) Cosmopolis review reads: “A Cronenberg as brilliant as he is taut.” Leclerc then begins his review by explaining that Cronenberg and DeLillo are “manufacturers of fantastic Referring to Cosmopolis as a “ghostly and hypnotic” tale Leclerc adds that Cronenberg had adapted to the letter DeLillo’s “ultrarich prose filming with incredible inventiveness this stifling and disturbing airtight environment.” Leclerc says he’s “impeccable” until Cosmopolis’ last segment “lost in a verbal torrent,” Pattinson “seems Leclerc wraps up his review with the following: “As always with Cronenberg Cosmopolis is to be experienced in full or not at all which is in competition for the Palme d’Or Cosmopolis comes out on DVD/Blu-ray on August 31 August 2012 is the rumored Cosmopolis US release date Besides Robert Pattinson as billionaire Eric Packer Robert Pattinson has two other movies coming out in 2012: Nick Ormerod and Declan Donnellan’s period piece Bel Ami and Christina Ricci; and Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 David Cronenberg / Cosmopolis image: Alfama Films / eOne Entertainment Mathieu Carratier has written a highly positive Cosmopolis film review for Premiere magazine Cosmopolis is in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival Carratier begins his Cosmopolis commentary by remarking that whether or not he appreciates David Cronenberg’s recent work – one assumes he means more accessible fare such as the Viggo Mortensen trilogy: A History of Violence and A Dangerous Method – he was “seriously missing” the Cronenberg of (no-holds-barred) movies such as Crash and Videodrome “Pop open the champagne,” exults Carratier “because he’s back in every Cosmopolis shot.” Cronenberg himself wrote the Cosmopolis screenplay – reportedly in six days and his first for a feature film since eXistenZ (1999) The plot is based on Don DeLillo’s novel about a fateful day in the life of a young New York City multibillionaire Packer is “haunted by a question that is never formulated: Can someone who has everything still desire something else?” (A haircut Carratier continues: “Cronenberg has made sure that all his obsessions mark out the route be they intellectual (the search for “another” reality) or physical (at the end of a scene that will make people talk Packer learns that his prostate is asymmetrical) Enthroned in the back seat of his limousine Robert Pattinson reveals a depth that becomes increasingly more fascinating as his character approaches the abyss the fear that takes over his face isn’t only that of an antihero arriving at the point of no return; it’s also the fear of an actor testing his limits with unsuspected bravery Cosmopolis proves he’s not yet close to reaching them.” Cronenberg’s Crash – not to be confused with Paul Haggis’ 2005 Best Picture Oscar winner – was screened at Cannes in 1996 Cannes Official Competition jury president Francis Ford Coppola had to explain that several jury members were adamantly against the selection as (a clearly irate) Cronenberg was booed when he got onstage And here’s an interesting David Cronenberg comment regarding movie directors: “If you don’t enjoy some element of voyeurism and there is a deliciousness in ignoring it Even when there isn’t any overt sexuality in front of the camera a film set is a very sexually charged place You’re never surprised that strange people have affairs You’re just as likely to want to have sex with the props person as the leading lady you realize that these are things that should be enjoyed but not acted upon.” Robert Pattinson has two other movies coming out in 2012: Nick Ormerod and Declan Donnellan’s Bel Ami in which Pattinson is reunited for the last time with Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner Robert Pattinson has reportedly signed on to star in Mission: Blacklist and The Rover David Cronenberg has several rumored projects in the works including a sequel to Eastern Promises and a remake of his own The Fly (1986) which starred Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis other projects include As She Climbed Across the Table Robert Pattinson (photo) needs to get inflamed (and to get a haircut) Sarah Gadon doesn’t look all that willing to inflame him (or to cut his hair) but a couple of guys holding dead rats while proclaiming “A specter is haunting the world!” just might be willing to do both (Please scroll down to watch the Cosmopolis clip.) so I’m not sure exactly what on Earth is happening in the clip but it just might be something out of Videodrome It’s interesting how both the dialogue and particularly Sarah Gadon’s performance come across as quite stylized Robert Pattinson’s lines are stylized as well Best line exchange in the Cosmopolis clip: Robert Pattinson (impatient): “I need anything you can give me.” Robert Pattinson has two other 2012 releases: The Cosmopolis premiere is currently being held in Toronto right now A clarification: that’s the Canadian premiere of Cosmopolis as the film has already had premieres in places like France and Portugal David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis was in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival It rode away (it’s a white limo movie) empty-handed despite some ardent supporters among the media and critics will handle the Cosmopolis release in North America Besides Robert Pattinson as a haircut-obsessed asymmetrically prostated (that doesn’t sound quite right Cosmopolis features Sarah Gadon and Juliette Binoche Robert Pattinson has two other films coming out in 2012: Nick Ormerod and Declan Donnellan’s period piece Bel Ami (The same day Cosmopolis opens in Canada.) In addition to Pattinson Bill Condon’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 The last installment in the Twilight Saga franchise also features Twilight regulars Elizabeth Reaser including a sequel to the 2007 thriller Eastern Promises which starred Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts in addition to a remake of Cronenberg’s own The Fly a hit for Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis back in 1986 other potential projects include As She Climbed Across the Table The Robert Pattinson movie Cosmopolis may have an August release date in the United States That would be a curious choice for Canadian-based distributor Entertainment One (eOne) as David Cronenberg films have “fall release” written all over them That’s certainly how US distributors have perceived Cronenberg’s last three films all of which were awards-season contenders: starring Michael Fassbender A Dangerous Method opened in the US in November 2011 (In mid-January 2012 in Canada.) Starring Best Actor Oscar nominee Mortensen and Naomi Watts Eastern Promises opened in mid-September 2007 And Mortensen / Maria Bello’s A History of Violence came out on Sept which is in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival Cosmopolis already has a DVD/Blu-ray release date in Portugal: August 31 David Cronenberg cowrote the screenplay with Don DeLillo Robert Pattinson haircut / Cosmopolis picture: Entertainment One Other August releases in the US include the Total Recall remake starring Colin Farrell; The Bourne Legacy with Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz; the latest Meryl Streep movie Hope Springs; and the horror thriller The Apparition As pointed out in the previous article about the Cosmopolis US release date August is a curious choice as Cronenberg’s unusual film is a “prestige” – i.e. closer to the time critics hand out their awards so the films can remain fresh in the minds of Academy voters which was in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival It opens tomorrow in Canada and on June 15 in the UK Cosmopolis features A Dangerous Method’s Sarah Gadon The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’s Mathieu Amalric David Cronenberg cowrote the Cosmopolis screenplay with Don DeLillo Robert Pattinson has two other movies coming out in 2012: Robert Pattinson and David Cronenberg will join forces again in Maps to the Stars an old Cronenberg project that has been in the back burner for about six years Other Cronenberg movie projects include the satirical sci-fier As She Climbed Across the Table the Robert Ludlum Cold War thriller The Matarese Circle and a sequel to the thriller Eastern Promises Cosmopolis / Robert Pattinson shirtless picture: Alfama Films The price for a Washington state Discover Pass would rise by $15 later this year The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe is honored to welcome Robin Souvenir as Chief of the Shoalwater Bay Tribal Police Department Washington State Patrol and Washington Traffic Safety Commission urge safe driving 2025 Alte Pinakothek in Munich presents one of the greatest painters ever: Rachel Ruysch (1664–1750) The exhibition Rachel Ruysch: Nature into Art is organized by Alte Pinakothek in Munich Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio and Museum of Fine Arts in Boston 2024 the exhibition will be on show in Toledo Although Rachel Ruysch was one of the highest paid painters of her time the first woman admitted to The Hague painters’ society appointed court painter in Dusseldorf to Johann Wilhelm this is the first major exhibition dedicated to her outstanding work Exhibition view Rachel Ruysch – Nature into Art explain that the exhibition and its accompanying catalogue are monographic at their core but take an interdisciplinary approach: art historians literary historians and others contributed to the show and catalogue The result is an examination of Rachel Ruysch’s intellectual milieu leading botanist and anatomist Frederik Ruysch as well as the connections between her work and pressing scientific questions of the late 17th and 18th centuries the exhibition highlights how the arrival of non-native specimens in the Netherlands was a catalyst for an increased interest in horticulture creating the rich context in which the artist put her own personal signature on the still-life genre The show brings together a substantial group of her finest works selected from at least 150 surviving paintings some of which have not been seen in public for many years The majority of Rachel Ruysch’s works are signed and dated—she painted from the age of 16 or 17 until she was 83 the exhibition presents the largest group of paintings by her sister Anna Ruysch Research about her is still in its infancy and is ham pered by the inaccessibility of many of her paintings According to Robert Schindler’s catalogue contribution Anna Ruysch likely trained with the flower still-life painter Willem van Aelst either directly or through Rachel copying her work and perhaps even collaborating with her only about a dozen and a half paintings have been attributed to her with varying degrees of success She was almost 90 when she died in January 1754 She was never even mentioned by Rachel Ruysch’s 1750 biographer Jan Van Gool Robert Schindler explains that Rachel Ruysch’s maternal grandfather was the architect Pieter Post the widow of widow of Stadholder Frederik Henrik; together with Jacob van Campen the Mauritshuis in The Hague for Johan Maurits the Princ of Nassau-Siegen and Governor of the colony Dutch Brazil; and the town hall in Maastricht a notable landscape painter who accompanied Johan Maurits to Brazil the mother of Rachel Ruysch married Frederik Ruysch who later became a member of the Academia Leopoldina-Carolina then in Nuremberg and the French Académie Royale des Sciences Rachel Ruysch grew up in a period of tremendous advances in knowledge and understanding of the natural world superintendent of midwifery for the city of Amsterdam director of the city’s Botanical Garden (appointed in 1685) He had assembled a famous collection of anatomical he made his name with a revolutionary embalming technique which he used not merely to preserve dead bodies but to imbue them with a fascinatingly lifelike appearance; some of his anatomical specimens have survived until today The sprawling collection was published in a catalogue running to several volumes – the so-called Thesauri the Museum Ruyschianum was even visited by the Russian Tsar who was so impressed that he purchased the entire collection in 1717 for the considerable sum of 30,000 guilders One of the longest biographies (24 pages) in Jan van Gool’s collection of 190 lives of famous Dutch artists entitled De Nieuwe schouburg is dedicated to Rachel Ruysch who visited Rachel Ruysch in 1749 to interview her for his biography her father had decided to apprentice Rachel to the famous flower still-life painter Willem van Aelst the exact date that she joined van Aelst’s workshop is not known but it was likely sometime in the late 1670s and she worked in his studio until his death in 1683 Rachel Ruysch’s earliest known work (1681) depicts a festoon of flowers and fruits that hangs in a small niche (catalogue page 12 chestnuts and blackberries hang from a string attached to a nail at the top of the niche Three butterflies or moths fly nearby or rest on leaves Robert Schindler notes that a bouquet now in the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen Münczhen is the clearest evidence of her apprenticeship with van Aelst (page 14 It reflects the elder artist’s approach to designing a flower bouquet and also copies verbatim individual motifs known from his paintings the young Rachel Ruysch was inspired by works of the painters Abraham Mignon de Heem and his son Cornelis as well as Otto Marseus van Schrieck she painted several forest-floor still lifes with amphibians reptiles and insects in shadowy undergrowth or on tree stumps and wild plants while moss and dark pools create a swamp-like atmosphere they where inspired by Otto Marseus van Schrieck as she gradually freed herself from her role model her interest turned to the zoological and botanical prepared specimens of her father became the director of the Botanical Garden in Amsterdam Due to the global trading networks of the Dutch East India and Dutch West India Companies notably from Dutch colonies such as Mauritius found their way unto the Amsterdam Botanical Garden where Rachel Ruysch most likely could study these often previously unknown plants and their different stages of development 1693 Rachel Ruysch married the portrait painter Juriaen Pool It appears to have been a union of love: Pool was the son of an impoverished goldsmith who had been raised in Amsterdam’s Burgerweeshuis (an orphanage for the burgher class) He does not seem to have brought either assets or social prestige to the marriage Rachel Ruysch continued her successful career even after bearing no fewer than ten children she turned away from the forest-floor still life devoting herself henceforth to flower and fruit pieces 1701 both Rachel Ruysch and her husband were elected members of the painters’ guild Ruysch was the first woman to receive this recognition Rachel Ruysch started to paint about one or two large bouquets per year Her compositions developed towards a more clearly defined oval-shaped bouquet with an emphasis on flowers over foliage with fruit and individual insects placed near the vases Johann Wilhelm was one of the prince- electors of the Holy Roman Empire and thus one of the highest-ranking German dukes he assembled a fabulous collection of paintings the Elector – together with his wife Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici – became the godparents of the youngest son of the Ruysch-Pool family personally attending his baptism in Amsterdam a painting now in Munich which belonged to Johann Wilhelm; the following year she painted its pendant for the Elector (catalogue figs She would spend eight years in Johann Wilhelm’s service she painted a number of works for the duke including a large canvas of fruits and flowers with an unusual horizontal format in 1714—the largest painting she ever painted (see fig The last years in Johann Wilhelm’s service were unusually productive for Rachel Ruysch as she signed and dated no less than seven paintings between 1715 and 1716 including a bouquet now at the Rijksmuseum (fig Juriaen Pool painted a portrait of himself and his wife with their youngest son that marked the end of their tenure with Johann Wilhelm (fig Robert Schindler mentions that no dated Rachel Ruysch paintings survive from the period between 1723 and 1738 although there is documentary evidence to suggest that she continued painting during this period was marked by a bold change of style when she was already over 70 years of age luxuriant bouquets now gave way to smaller looser and more delicate floral arrangements acknowledging the advent of French Rococo and the influence of the still lifes of Jan van Huysum who set the standard for flower painting in the 1720s and 1730s The catalogue Rachel Ruysch: Nature into Art features ten scholarly articles including one by Marianne Berardi entitled The Artful Nature of Rachel Ruysch: What Distinguishes Her Painted World Davis entitled Painting the Botanical World And there is much more to discover in this lavishly illustrated book The still life painter Rachel Ruysch was second to none less so for her flower still lifes than for her other still lifes such as Fruit and Birds under a Tree in Front of the Entrance to a Cave Rachel Ruysch was not only lucky thanks to her upbringing Juriaen Pool and their son George won a major prize in the lottery of the States of Holland The ticket had cost 10 guilders; the pre-tax value of the prize was 75,000 guilders – equivalent to the buying price for several Amsterdam houses you learn that lotteries had been a widespread phenomenon in Europe since the 17th century They helped to bolster state coffers and support charitable causes such as building almshouses or providing aid for disaster victims In the Netherlands the draws were popular public spectacles with prizes including not only money but also works of art The Ruysch-Pool family were regular lottery players: Rachel Ruysch had already won 200 guilders in 1713 The large win in 1723 may explain why she produced few works in the following years she was now certainly financially independent quotations and partial quotations in this book review have not been put between quotation marks Exhibition and catalogue review added on January 3 Located within the newly opened Art Gallery at Cosmopolis Plaza – a modern space that brings together art and education – the Admissions Center serves as the first point of contact for parents interested in enrolling their children in the future campus The new Mark Twain IS Cosmopolis Campus will be situated on the Ring Road, on the border between Tunari and Ștefăneștii de Jos, on a plot of nearly one hectare, right next to Lake Crețuleasca. With a built area of 8,000 sqm, the green campus will host Kindergarten, Primary, and Middle School units, offering a total capacity of 800 students. „Opening the admissions center brings us one step closer to launching a project we wholeheartedly believe in The Cosmopolis campus is our tangible response to the needs of families in Ilfov who are seeking a high-quality international education for their children—without the daily stress of commuting to Bucharest We want to give parents a real alternative: a modern learning environment right in the heart of their community,” said Anca Macovei Vlăsceanu Founder of Mark Twain IS and CEO of Romania Education Alliance the estimated enrollment rate is 25–30% of full capacity meaning around 250 students are expected to be registered across all three levels of education by September 1 Interested parents can visit the Admissions Center at Cosmopolis Plaza to receive detailed information about the educational offering Mark Twain International School is a private co-educational institution offering a dual curriculum for the entire pre-university cycle Mark Twain IS provides its students with a high-performing and stimulating learning environment tailored to their individual needs This fosters lifelong curiosity and a love for learning The school is accredited by the International Baccalaureate to offer all three of its engaging academic programs and is fully accredited by the Romanian Ministry of Education Cosmopolis Art Gallery is a unique space in Romania that harmoniously combines art The gallery brings an innovative concept to the real estate market and the art community: a multi-functional space offering art exhibitions an educational center and a venue for cultural events and community workshops Located in Cosmopolis Plaza, the new gallery is the first of its kind in a residential development in the country and was inaugurated at a special event attended by the artists exhibiting in Cosmopolis’ first opening, Opus Land Development and Mark Twain International School. “We wanted to offer the Cosmopolis community more than just housing The Art Gallery is a heartfelt project that brings art closer to the people directly where they live and build their lives,” said Ahmet Buyukhanli The gallery will host temporary exhibitions for sale in order to give visitors and residents of Cosmopolis direct access to sculpture ceramics and other artworks that can also be purchased Cosmopolis supports contemporary art and aims to create links between artists and the community   “We’re excited to bring art into the heart of a vibrant community This is a unique opportunity for artists to exhibit their work in a residential area the size of a city and for visitors of Cosmopolis Plaza to enjoy art while shopping or exploring options for their future home,” said Filippo Musneci The Cosmopolis Art Gallery also aims to be a venue for cultural and artistic events; a space where both community workshops and educational courses will be organized “It is essential for education and culture to come together and be present in the daily lives of children and families Such a space becomes an anchor for the harmonious development of the community and a constant source of inspiration for all The gallery will also host the admissions office of the Mark Twain International School highlighting how the educational component complements the arts in a space dedicated to creative experiences and learning,” said Anca Vlăsceanu Macovei founder of Mark Twain International School The inaugural opening of the Cosmopolis Art Gallery features sculptures and fine art prints that visitors can admire and purchase until early summer when the current exhibits will be replaced with new artworks “This is the first sculpture exhibition held in a residential complex in Romania and it is undoubtedly a defining moment for the arts This step lays the foundation for how Romanian artists’ works should be exhibited and integrated into new real estate developments,” said exhibiting sculptor Ana Rus “Providing access to art in such spaces gives artists a rare opportunity to engage with a diverse audience and make art a part of everyday life in rapidly growing communities This initiative marks a milestone in the collaboration between art The opening of the Art Gallery is part of a broader development plan for Cosmopolis transforming the residential complex into a model of integrated community living and education come together to improve the lives of its residents the Backhausen company was the longest-standing manufacturer of upholstery and decorative fabrics in the history of Austria 2025 the Leopold Museum (Vienna) exhibition and its accompanying catalogue Hans-Peter Wipplinger stresses that, alongside floral and organic patterns, strictly geometric underlying forms dominated the works of Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann Jugendstil put the previously underrated decorative arts This paradigm shift led to new levels of recognition and appreciation of textile art Many talented artists started turning their hands to this previously underrated medium Consistent with the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk –  total work of art – the artists and designers of the Secession and Wiener Werkstätte strove for a synergy of architecture Textile design was an integral part of this holistic concept for a new way of life The Backhausen Archive shows the result of collaborations between numerous artists and architects who wrote Austrian art and architectural history Among the highlights are the interiors of Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904/05) and the Skywa-Primavesi villa (1913–15) one can add Stoclet House in Belgium’s capital Brussels (1905–11) Artists and artisans of the Wiener Werkstätte or the Secession and the gifted stars of Viennese Modernism worked together outstanding people who worked for Backhausen were Josef Hoffmann Aline Marion Steinwender writes about the origins of the Backhausen company founded by the brothers Karl and Johann Backhausen in Vienna in 1849 that the roots of this family business actually go back to their enterprising father who was born in Brühl near Cologne in 1789 Jakob learned the family craft before emigrating ahead of the Napoleonic army’s arrival in the Rhineland using the papers of his brother Franz Theodor which declared him unfit for military service His marriage to Theresia Bogg (1783–1859) produced the aforementioned brothers Karl (1824–1887) and Johann (1818–1886) refounded the company specializing not only in the already established production of apparel and brocade fabrics but also in the manufacture of sheep wool shawls The high quality of their textiles marked the beginning of decades of success The international reputation grew with the participate in the World’s Fairs in London (1851) and Paris (1855) In 1853 Karl Backhausen withdrew from the company and left business operations to his brother who promptly adapted the company name to Johann Backhausen Fashion and Chenille Factory with Exclusive Imperial Royal Privilege (Johann Backhausen ausschliesslich privilegierte Mode- und Chenillefabrik) the term chenille was included in the company name to draw attention to this new weaving technique and the fact that Backhausen had been granted the sole patent for its production in both Austria and France and Jean (1849–1937) joined the family business Public commissions included the decoration of Vienna City Hall (1888) and the Burgtheater (1874–1888) which had been redesigned by the architects Gottfried Semper and Baron Carl von Hasenauer Backhausen was awarded the title imperial royal purveyor to the court (k which attested the highest quality of their products Floral patterns gave way to geometrically abstracted shapes Among the most famous representatives of this new concept of art were the architects Otto Wagner (1841–1918) and Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) as well as the painter and craftsman Koloman Moser (1868–1918) the latter two would prove close cooperation partners of the Backhausen company artists embraced Modernism: floral patterns gave way to geometrically abstracted shapes Among the leading representatives of this new art concept were the architects Otto Wagner (1841–1918) and Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) as well as the painter and craftsman Koloman Moser (1868–1918) the latter two would become close cooperation partners of the Backhausen company It remains unclear how exactly Backhausen’s artistic direction changed Aline Marion Steinwender notes that the Heinrichshof destroyed in 1945 and situated on the Vienna Ring Road (Ringstrassenpalais) housed not only the company’s salesroom but also the Café Heinrichhof which had opened in 1863 and soon became a meeting place for the Viennese avant-garde She writes that is also possible that the close connections with the Viennese avant-garde sales manager and later partner in the company Alois Schedewy He joined the Backhausen company in 1876 and encouraged their leaders to embrace the emerging artistic trends of Modernism Otto Wagner first cooperated with Backhausen in 1891 explicitly designing textiles for his architectural creations or for his own home Koloman Moser created some fifty designs between 1898 and 1904 that were produced by Backhausen as upholstery carpets or for luxury volumes of the Secession’s publication Ver Sacrum He also created a Backhausen advertisement first printed in the catalog to accompany the Fourth Exhibition of the Secession Backhausen was the main supplier for the famous Wiener Werkstätte Josef Hoffmann worked with Backhausen from 1901 and designed several patterns that found their way into the total works of art (Gesamtkunstwerke) he created together with the Wiener Werkstätte The famous Wiener Werkstätte was dedicated to uniting all aspects of life under a single creative style Examples include Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904/05) Stoclet House in Brussels (1905–11) and the Skywa-Primavesi villa (1913–15) All projects are presented in details both in the exhibition and the catalogue Backhausen produced many of the Wiener Werkstätte’s textiles at which point the company finally decided to launch its own fabric department both Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann were teaching at the School of Arts and Crafts in Vinna The used their position to acquire new talents for the growing number of commissions Carl Witzmann (1883–1952) and Fritz Dietl (1880–1929) are some of their students whose creations can be found in the Backhausen archives In 1900 the company realized designs by Unger and Moser for the World’s Fair in Paris in 1908 Backhausen participated in the formative Vienna Kunstschau with Hoffmann’s design Autumn Leaf (Herbstblatt) and in 1914 it was represented at the German Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne by carpet patterns by Otto Prutscher (1880–1949) Backhausen was present in widely read magazines such as Das Interieur Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration and The Studio The company cultivated its reputation internationally Aline Marion Steinwender underlines that the First World War marked a turning point not just for the Backhausen company and not just economically Many former soldiers were no longer able to return to work as a result of physical and psychological war wounds The new generation at Backhausen tirelessly sought to restructure the company and maneuver it through sustained financial difficulties In addition to Karl Eduard’s sons Heinrich (1889–1973) and Paul (1894–1965) The dialog with contemporary artists continued New machines were purchased to keep up with the latest technical innovations the Wall Street Crash in 1929 hit the company hard Backhausen only gained lucrative commissions by adapting for war production: tent tarps blankets and flags were now made on the machines that had once woven fabrics bearing the most impressive designs of Viennese Modernism The Backhausen factory grounds emerged from the Second World War almost unscathed – until the Soviet occupation confiscated and demolished the factory in 1945 The salesroom in Vienna’s Heinrichshof fell victim to the bombing Eduard’s son Teddy (1909–1974) and Heinrich’s sons Heinz (1928–2021) and Peter (1932–2021) reconstructed the company’s factory in Hoheneich a new salesroom opened at Vienna’s Kärntnerstrasse 33 which had been home to Cabaret Fledermaus from 1907 to 1913 a Gesamtkunstwerk for which Backhausen had once supplied textiles Countless buildings and prestigious mansions had been destroyed during the Second World War Backhausen – which had once supplied the initial textile decorations for many of these buildings – was now approached for its support Historical damasks were woven and business prospered again Backhausen produced textiles for great buildings around the world The old formulas for success were revived: the fruitful symbiosis of traditional craftsmanship and artistic designs famous artists such as Peter Kogler (*1959) Vesna (1935–2021) and Esther Stocker (*1974) designed textiles for Backhausen these numerous commercial and creative endeavors ultimately proved unsuccessful and Backhausen – now led by the sixth and seventh generation – filed for bankruptcy the Viennese Jugendstil and the creations of Modernism had almost entirely disappeared from the collective memory It was only in the 1970s that countless works on paper and fabric patterns from Backhausen’s earlier years of production – today’s archive – were rediscovered in the offices at Kaiserstrasse 12 In 1978 the company started reproducing Jugendstilfabrics after original designs The forgotten art movement only enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s Later the company opened a private museum in its salesroom on Kärntnerstrasse that made the precious designs of over three hundred artists as well as the family history available to the general public Louise Kiesling (1957–2022) acquired the struggling company She strove to preserve its cultural heritage for subsequent generations and to restructure what was now Backhausen GmbH the company closed its doors for good in June 2023 Thanks to Louise Kiesling’s knowledge of its priceless artistic and historical value the Backhausen archives with some 11,000 items can now be accessed for further research at their new home They include almost 5,000 design drawings and sketches created using a range of techniques in addition to over 1,100 fabric and carpet patterns in various sizes and materials The centerpiece of the archive are six design books documenting the years of 1890 to 1965 In addition to the article by Aline Marion Steinwender the catalogue contains an essay regarding the Backhausen Archive and public taste by Ursula Oswald-Graf as well as one about the Viennese style by Christian Witt-Dörring readers can discover historic black and white photographs which are juxtaposed with today’s color photos of the respective fabrics The list of the Backhausen designers and the exhibited works complement the catalogue The Leopold Museum show presents some 260 exhibits from the periods of Historicism Art Deco and Kinetic Art and sheds light on individual production stages – from the design via fabric samples all the way to the execution The exhibition is a highlight of the Vienna museum scene and open until March 9 quotations and partial quotations in this Poetry of the Ornament The Backhausen Archive exhibition and catalogue review have not been put between quotation marks The Backhausen Archive exhibition and catalogue review added on January 30 The largest health & fitness club World Class in the North of the Capital the World Class club in Cosmopolis Plaza also includes the first indoor swimming pool in the complex In the 25 meters long and 13 meters wide swimming pool with 7 lanes we will focus on teaching as many adults and children as possible to swim and in the club’s rooms we offer opportunities for physical activities and classes Skill X and dedicated children’s programs,” says Kent Orrgren “Because Cosmopolis has become city-like in size we want to offer our residents all the services they need as close to their home as possible The health and fitness component is a very important one which is why the partnership between World Class and Cosmopolis is proof of our commitment to encouraging healthy living for our customers as well as our emphasis on premium services World Class Cosmopolis can be accessed both from the Bucharest Ring Road, via Tunari, and soon from the A3 highway, a road that will transit the new development phase, Cosmopolis 2.0″, emphasizes Ozan Tuncer, CEO of Cosmopolis. The area where the World Class center is located provides a parking lot with over 500 parking spaces as well as multiple leisure opportunities in over 30 cafes and restaurants in Cosmopolis Plaza World Class in Cosmopolis Plaza is a Gold category, and access to the club is based on a membership card, which allows entry to the other Gold locations in the network, as well as to the Bronze and Silver categories. World Class aims to exceed 65 health & fitness clubs in the next 3 years. Patricia Brennan’s latest album as a leader, Breaking Stretch, was released on Pyroclastic Records in September 2024 and features the artist for the first time leading a septet. Accept cookies — we receive a commission; price unchanged — and get the album from Amazon.com, Amazon.de The Patricia Brennan Septet: Patricia Brennan on vibraphone with electronics marimba; Jon Irabagon on alto and sopranino saxophones; Mark Shim on tenor saxophone; Adam O’Farrill on trumpet 9; Marcus Gilmore on drums; Mauricio Herrera on percussion; Kim Cass on bass Patricia Brennan writes that she seeks to create depth through the exploration of density and shifting rhythmic layers by using orchestral techniques that create broadness: depth through width The album Breaking Stretch contains original material written by Patricia Brennan The harmonic resonance gives the illusion of a larger-than-seven sound The composer writes that this record continues her journey of inner search and exploration The word “breaking” refers to pushing the sonic and technical limits of each instrument to a breaking point past the normal expectations for the role of the instruments within the ensemble the term “stretch” is a function that makes a graph narrower or wider through different methods of expansion and contraction she seeks to make the music mile-wide and simultaneously mine-deep Her compositions trigger tension and unify opposites: broadness and depth is the furious prelude to an exciting album Patricia Brennan writes that this composition represents our connection to our multiple or “other” selves from past She talks about the parallelisms offered by the physical self The soca-inspired vibe invites the celebration of our true self Patricia Brennan notes that the rhythmic structure of this composition juxtaposes binary and ternary rhythmic feels creating the illusion of constriction and dilation coexisting within the same space and at the same time The composer writes that the number five is associated with her Zodiac sign and that Virgos tend toward analysis and exactitude I would like to stress that astrology is a pseudo-science The composition “555” represents the pursuit of balance between known specificity and unknown freedom movement and action can unfold in exact and exacting spaces these spaces are divided into micro and macro groups of five elements These groups exist within measures of three beats The rhythmic structure of the fourth track was inspired by a card game Patricia Brennan used to play with her grandmother: the suit of gold coins with the division of the measures and phrases divided into micro and macro groups of five beats “Sueños de Coral Azul” (“Blue Coral Dreams”) That day marks the twentieth anniversary of Patricia Brennan’s immigration to the United States She calls this composition an ode to an immigrant’s journey: the uncertainty the dream of one day reuniting with the people from the place you once loved and called home deals with the Aztecs’ concept of creation They believed that the world has undergone five stages of creation and destruction Each stage marks a period of stability that abruptly ends with upheaval and destruction Patricia Brennan writes that the core of this composititon is a repeated form that is disrupted every cycle the disruptions becoming more and more pronounced was inspired by the homonymous poem by Mexican poet and Veracruz native Salvador Díaz Mirón It is a nostalgic reflection on the joyful pleasures of yesterday while acknowledging the pain and challenge of the present moving from a gentle marimba solo to the gradual darkness of the full ensemble’s chordal resonance It is inspired by New York’s Fifth Avenue sculpture “Golden Arbor” by Harry Bertoia the weight and the profundity of the sculpture with its plethora of shapes which Patricia Brennan translated into music The 9th and last tune on the album Breaking Stretch takes its name and feeling from Earendel the oldest and most distant star discovered The name derives from the old English word meaning “morning star” or “rising light” Patricia Brennan writes that this composition begins and ends over a pulsing which represents the beginning and end of matter including Earendel itself as it journeys away from us “Earendel” is the septet’s exploration of the concept of constant expansion and our never-ending travel through space into infinity Spherical sounds take us to distant worlds I wished all musicians were able to compose such visionary music and explain it in comprehensive liner notes like Patricia Brennan Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch, Pyroclastic Records, September 2024. Accept cookies — we receive a commission; price unchanged — and get the album from Amazon.com, Amazon.de improviser and composer Patricia Brennan started with music at the tender age of 4 playing latin percussion along salsa records with her father and listening to Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin records with her mother as a member of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas Patricia Brennan toured all countries of the Americas and performed with renowned musicians including the classical music cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the latin jazz and classical music alto saxophonist Patricia Brennan was performing with leading Mexican symphony orchestras such as the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra and the Minería Symphony Orchestra She won several marimba competitions as well as young artist competitions before moving to the United States in 2004 studying at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she played under famous conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle and Charles Dutoit as well as with the Philadelphia Orchestra she worked for the John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz Big Band and many others She has collaborated with the pianist Vijay Iyer After the album More Touch, released on Pyroclastic Records in November 2022, followed Breaking Stretch, released on the same label in September 2024. In 2025, Patricia Brennan will release a duo project with the Swiss pianist and composer Sylvie Courvoisier entitled TALAMANTI quotations and partial quotations from the liner notes of the Patricia Brennan Septet: Breaking Stretch jazz album have not been put between quotation marks 2024 Vienna’s Leopold Museum presented the exhibition Splendor and Misery: New Objectivity in Germany The show with some 150 exhibits from international museums and private collections Five specialists cover topics ranging from the rediscovery of reality between esthetics and ethics to literary observations on objectivity the “new woman” on Germany’s streets and the new art scene the portrait of new objectivity in Germany culture politics and society of the Weimar Republic (1918-1933) Exhibition curator and catalogue editor Hans-Peter Wipplinger explains in the Prologue that the term New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit) was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub who organized the exhibition New Objectivity – German Painting since Expressionism (Neue Sachlichkeit – Deutsche Malerei seit dem Expressionismus) at the Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim Emil Orlik (1870–1932): Portrait of Nelly Neppach Hans-Peter Wipplinger describes New Objectivity as a reaction, to the pathos-filled, illusionistic Expressionism striving for inwardness and glorifying a Dionysian awareness of reality Expressionism was no longer able to document the intellectual and political crisis situation and its reality in the Weimar Republic According to Friedrich Hartlaub’s 1925 definition the two wings of New Objectivity were: the politically-oriented socio-critical wing of the “Verists” on the left which he described as “the new Classicism” The common ground of the two variants was a return to the ideals of a classical esthetics and a rejection of the color and form experiments of Expressionism which were associated with the disaster of World War I and with the failure of the Expressionist way of thinking Hans-Peter Wipplinger underlines that New Objectivity artists captured the zeitgeist They derived the themes for their works not only from the aftershocks of World War I but also from the thriving Weimar Republic amusement industry the new life plans pursued by independent and confident women and from the encroachment of technological advancements upon nature and everyday life New Objectivity artists depicted people and things in a razor-sharp, sober and distanced manner. These new artistic approaches came to an abrupt end in 1933, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazis rose to power and enforced their art policy politically suspect artists had to endure raids of their apartments and studios were excluded from art institutions and associations while others chose to align themselves with the new regime’s art policy “The Rediscovery of Reality between Esthetics and Ethics” Hans-Peter Wipplinger writes that the young republic would last no more than 15 years when civil war-like conflicts caused the democracy to fall apart the republic’s end was sealed by the seizure of power of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor.” it was a civil war-like situation with people killed on a weekly basis in conflicts between the left and right Adolf Hitler came to power democratically in free and more or less fair elections as part of a coalition government But they quickly seized full power and moved on to a bloody dictatorship Back to the essay: After the defeat in the First World War the fall of the monarchy and the establishment of the parliamentary Weimar Republic the fresh art of New Objectivity was largely shaped by progressive artists on the political left who translated their pacifist ideas into art Hans-Peter Wipplinger notes that the term New Objectivity emerged in Germany around 1922/23 as a reflection of the developments in politics and society which shaped this decade more than the Bauhaus and Constructivism Hans-Peter Wipplinger describes the artistic developments of Otto Dix and George Grosz examines the examines the dark sides of the era such as hyperinflation supply shortfalls and high unemployment rates The women’s departure into Modernism emancipated women who carved out new opportunities and freedoms in the Weimar Republic pantsuits and assumed androgynous or masculine attitudes Magazines and feuilletons such as Die Dame or Elegante Welt accompanied the new trends Vicki Baum and other writers had the protagonists of their novels and stories represent the zeitgeist full equality for women remained an illusion The actual circle of “New Women” encompassed only a small elitist group who were able to live up to the ideal thanks to their financial resources vast army of female laborers were merely seeking to escape into an illusion fueled by the media conservative forces intended to stop the spreading of this “dangerous all too unfeminine” type of woman and to stabilize traditional gender boundaries The relevant catalogue essay regarding the “New Woman” portrayed in sculpture by the likes of Emil Rudolf Weiss and Georg Kolbe after the meteoric rise of the “New Woman” The 1929 crash and the following Depression and the rise of National Socialism which called for women to return to conventional roles erased the image of the independent and autonomous “New Woman” from everyday life and society’s collective memory Daniela Gregori examines the New Objectivity portrait in Germany She mentions Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub’s definition of Neue Sachlichkeit by defining everything it is not His now famous letter written in May 1923 regarding a future exhibition expresses his interest in works by artists “who in the last ten years have been neither impressionistically relaxed nor expressionistically abstract who have devoted themselves exclusively neither to external sense impressions Daniela Gregori underlines that the term he coined did not really take off until after Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub’s exhibition New Objectivity – German Painting since Expressionism (Neue Sachlichkeit – Deutsche Malerei seit dem Expressionismus) at the Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim finally opened in 1925 after some delay Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub had in mind art which completely lacked pathos or illusion so that the style of New Objectivity had two distinct directions from the beginning characterized by a downright timeless Classicism whose detachment invariably appeared dreamy or even slightly dreary Alexander Kanoldt and Carlo Mense can be named as exponents of this variant which Hartlaub described as “garishly contemporary” seeks “through a primitive obsession with observation through a nervous obsession with self-exposure” to “un-cover the chaos Among the artists covered in this catalogue are Max Beckmann, Heinrich Maria Davringhausen, Otto Dix, Dodo (Dörte Clara Wolff), George Grosz quotations and partial quotations in this catalogue / book review of Splendor and Misery: New Objectivity in Germany have not been put between quotation marks Book / Catalogue review added on October 24 2024 at 11:24 German time; last detail added at 18:05 Francis Giacobetti is a French photographer and filmmaker (e.g He rose to prominence notably thanks to fashion photographs for Elsa Schiaparelli Madame Grès and other fashion houses as well as for his work for glossy magazines such as Marie Claire Thanks to the help of the editor Michel Archimbaud, from late 1991 to early 1992, just months before he passed away, the sulfurous Irish-British painter Francis Bacon (1909-1992) granted Francis Giacobetti a series of interviews and sittings The French photographer portrayed the artist and his surroundings and created a series of some 200 original images inspired by Francis Bacon’s unsettling works (check some of the photos below) Presenting these never-before-published photographs this volume relates an unprecedented and unflinching portrait of this important but disconcerting artist Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti, Assouline, 2024, 264 pages with 200 illustrations, 38 x 33 x 8 cm. Accept cookies — we receive a commission; price unchanged — and order the English book from Amazon.com the Marlborough Gallery London showed the exhibition Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti and the British auction house Christie’s even issued a catalogue called Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti but the project was cancelled because of protest by Francis Bacon’s right holders In the 2024 Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti book a relevant article by Jean Michel Roques for Vanity Fair from November 2014 is republished a completely illiterate former bar manager found himself the painter’s only heir Francis Bacon’s estate was valued at £11 million. The art world suspected foul play. There were suspicions about the Marlborough Gallery, which had sold the majority of Bacon’s canvases at a very low price. Already in 1975, the same gallery had been accused of embezzling the works of Marc Rothko and was ordered to return 658 works to the American painter’s heirs and pay $9.2 million in damages John Edwards sued the Marlborough Gallery before a British court he requested that all of the artist’s paintings be returned to him asked Francis Giacobetti to testify on his behalf but Bacon was paid in advance and in cash.” Francis Giacobetti sent a video to the judges which he had made on the day of his meeting with Francis Bacon who said: “I know that the price of my work is manipulated by sellers They buy my paintings for a price that has nothing to do with what they say in the papers so they are free to raise the prices as they see fit.” In a conversation between Michel Archimbaud and Francis Bacon with his usual sense of provocation: “I get along very well with the gallery’s owners Francis Bacon had acted knowingly and had not been cheated The furious John Edward had to withdraw his complaint Gilbert Lloyd called Francis Giacobetti from New York to tell him: “Francis I’m hopping on a plane and tonight we’ll dine at L’Ami Louis.” as well as members of a trust that managed Francis Bacon’s rights and estate challenged Francis Giacobetti before a London court they intended to forbid him from reproducing any of the painter’s paintings in his book “I had an authorization that had been signed by Bacon himself” assign to Francis Giacobetti the right to reproduce any amount of my paintings for his book without territorial or temporal limitation.” Nevertheless, the publication of the photographs was forbidden. Therefore, the 2024 Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti, published by Assouline, 264 pages with 200 illustrations, 38 x 33 x 8 cm, is the first time the 1991/1992 photographs by the French photographer are published. Accept cookies (we receive a commission) and order the English book from Amazon.com In a conversation published in the 2024 book Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti said this about your painting: “There is a way to look at a Bacon painting to see it as a mirror reflecting our own suffering of growing old and of the innumerable catastrophes that threaten us.” I think he came very close to your truth.” Francis Giacobetti says: “When I listen to you speak I feel that you are incapable of making concessions Francis Bacon answered: “But that’s the privilege of being an artist who sells his paintings for a lot of money because it’s in my nature to avoid social situations and obligations to prefer simple folks over the more refined ones I was lucky to never have to compromise myself in one way or another Maybe because I didn’t attend school like everyone else and when I’m drunk I say a lot of foolish things To visit in Dublin: Francis Bacon’s atelier at 7 Reece Mews after a decade of painting in temporary spaces Francis Bacon moved into 7 Reece Mews in South Kensinton It remained his atelier until his death in April 1992 Hugh Lane Gallery Director Barbara Dawson secured the donation of Francis Bacon’s studio from the artist’s heir John Edwards and Brian Clarke executor of the Estate of Francis Bacon the entire content of Francis Bacon’s atelier was moved to Dublin where it is permanently on display in the Hugh Lane Gallery A few more quotes from the painter Francis Bacon united in book Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti Francis Bacon: “Any artist worthy of the title spends his whole life dreaming of making the ultimate painting the one that will forever define the discipline Francis Bacon: “Great art doesn’t require any explanation without any need for culture or intelligence Explanations have no place in my conception of painting if you can say it,why bother painting it?” what I love the most in the world is not the actual paintings themselves I have been lucky enough to make a living from myobsession the only thing that remains is thedesire brought on by the technical challenges I am hypnotized by every painting I work on and can only separate myself from it when I’ve finished Then I ask the gallery to take it away as quickly as possible.” I never imagined that I could make a living from my paintings I was very surprised that people were willing to pay for them And some people even think that the more expensive they are for instance making himself by contract the slave of his mistress Baroness Fanny Pistor for the period of six months I had to chance to visit the first Francis Bacon retrospective after the artist’s death raw depictions of the human condition depicted by the gay What impressed me even more was the contrast between the brutal subject of his works and the aesthetic In 2018, Fondation Beyeler in Switzerland rightly paired two of the most important 20th century artists: Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti. Read my German article about the Beyeler exhibition Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti, Aoussline, 2024, 264 pages with 200 illustrations, 38 x 33 x 8 cm. Order the English book from Amazon.com quotations and partial quotations in this Francis Bacon by Francis Giacobetti review have not been put between quotation marks We’re unable to locate the page you requested If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, you can contact us Business Insider SRL is a carrier of data with personal character registered in the “Registrul de Evidenta a Prelucrarilor de Date cu Caracter Personal” with the no Romania-Insider.com is a trademark registered with the help of NOMENIUS and all exclusivity rights are reserved to the owner of Business Insider SRL Any unauthorized use will be sanctioned according to the provisions of trademarks law 84/1998 Tariffs are a tax on imported goods and services and Donald Trump has been consistent since the 1980s His role model is president William McKinley (1897-1901) McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist in 1901 All of this echoes not only with Trump’s claim that tariff was the most beautiful word in the dictionary but also with his claims regarding the Panama Canal the Gaza Strip and Canada; Trump was not just publicly “joking” about Canada as “the 51st state” but in a conversation with the prime minister at the time he questioned the 1908 treaty that demarcates the border between Canada and the USA The trouble with Trump is that he is operating with fantasy numbers He claims that the European Union is imposing tariffs of 39% on average on imports from the United States Trump claims that the figures include the “the combined rate of all their tariffs nonmonetary barriers and other forms of cheating.” However it remains unclear how he arrives at the respective figures the United States are no angels when it comes to tariffs nonmonetary barriers and other forms of cheating Joe Biden was already pursuing a protectionist policy bringing companies (partly back) to the USA with subsidies and other measures His Inflation Reduction Act did not fight inflation His erratic policies are destroying a lot of trust and have economic consequences which has gained two new members in Finland and Sweden Trump has further strengthened NATO and the Europeans in that they are now finally taking the 2% military spending target seriously his tariff war could lead to tariffs being dropped or reduced worldwide The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union (EU) and the United States aimed at promoting trade and growth Trump doesn’t even really have to destroy NATO or international trade it’s enough to cast doubt on the reliability of the USA as an ally Trump’s tariffs and trade war will backfire Musk and others are undermining the soft power of the USA in the political Confidence in the USA’s respect of Article 5 of the NATO Treaty clause is sinking The stock markets and the dollar are falling Europeans are rethinking the production of weapons ammunition and a European security architecture Trump doesn’t understand the international division of labor FDI’s in Europe amount to roughly $4 trillion European FDI’s in the USA to $3 trillion European FDI’s in China are just $300 billion international trade and supply chains are under threat you ensure that the country is stable and economically prosperous It will minimize migration and consumers for US products will continue to grow there Free trade has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty An end to globalization would be a disaster for the world as a whole Trump has many bankruptcies behind him. The US deficit and national debt have been out of control for years. Will he bankrupt the USA with his unsustainable, erratic policies? The Trump administration reminds me of Liz Truss Trump’s electorate is divided into groups that pursue very different goals: Evangelicals, rust belt MAGA supporters, the ideologues J.D. Vance and Steve Bannon, tech Moguls with a libertarian agenda such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and others Musk’s stint as a special government employee The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is not making a substantial contribution to reducing the deficit the United States would only manage to save 1% of federal spending Because of Musk’s political role and because of stiffer international competition but torching or scratching cars is undemocratic and illegal The November 2026 midterm elections will be the first important moment voters can show Trump the red card 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election showed that despite a roughly $25 million support (New York Times figure) Musk could not undo the liberal 4–3 majority on the court The Democratic candidate Susan Crawford was able to beat the Republican candidate Brad Schimel by a clear margin of 55% to 45% between the week of January 15 and the week of April 1 Democrats have spent $42.1 million in ad spending and reservations while Republicans have spent $33.7 million To summarize: Democrats can still raise large donations and beat Republicans in a swing state The 2025 Florida 1st and 6th congressional district special elections took place in safe districts for the GOP the Republicans won the 1st District by 66% to 34% the Republican candidate won with 56.9% to 42.3% but things could look better for the Democrats in the 2026 midterms Trump was able to beat Harris in 2024 presidential election by pointing to the economy and the United States have a consumption-driven-economy isolationism and protectionism in the style of McKinley or the 1920s and 1930s is a recipe for disaster inflation goes up and a recession threatens things will get tight in the midterm elections even for Teflon Trump and his MAGA movement Russia is not at all on Trump’s long list of countries and territories that he wants to impose tariffs on The USA and Europe are engaged in a trade war The proto-autocrat in the White House and the autocrats of Russia and China want to break up the unity of the EU and they want to impose the law of the strongest where inflation and public debt are going through the roof because of Trump’s tariffs and his fiscal and financial policies Bannon and others don’t want to accept the end of Trump’s term and/or the election result Beauty items at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk Photograph from the 2017 German carnival of a carnival float made by Jacques Tilly Under the leadership of the Islamist Organization for the Liberation of the Levant the Syrian opposition managed to oust dictator Bashar al-Assad in less than two weeks Syrian soldiers were only paid $40 per month and not ready to die for an unpopular Russia is weakened by the war against Ukraine, Iran and Hezbollah are weakened by Israel’s war against Hamas and Hezbollah. They were unable to protect Assad and his doomed regime any longer. The Russian Tartus naval base and the Russian Hmeimim Air Base near Latakia are probably lost, unless Putin can strike a deal with the new regime Russia remains present in Libya with military bases notably thanks to its good relations with the leader of the Libyan National Army Iran lost a strategic partner for its weapons and other supplies to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip Those two organizations are further weakened With the return of many Syrians to Syria, the Turkish strongman Erdogan could lose a lot of blackmail potential vis-à-vis the EU A recent NYT article stated that the main drug exported by Syria was Captagon global captagon seizures had a street value of about $2.9 billion more than triple Syria’s legal exports of $860 million Much of the production and distribution was overseen by the Fourth Armored Division of the Syrian Army Bashar al-Assad and several of his family members fled to Moscow where Russian authorities granted them political asylum Since the 2011 Syrian uprising and its brutal repression Russia had refused that status to Syrians fleeing their country Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (nom de guerre) was born Ahmed Hussein al-Shar’a in Riyad where his Syrian father was working as an oil engineer Abu Mohammad al-Jolani is a former al-Qaeda IS and al-Nusra Front leader (2003-2016) leader the United States still offer a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture the PBS FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith became the first Western journalist to interview Abu Mohammad al-Jolani his fight with Assad and his ambitions for Syria at a time when he was already trying to rebrand himself and when he was becoming more “moderate”; already back then posing no longer a threat to Western society including ordering torture and killings of opponents the leader in Syria’s Idlib province Abu Mohammad al-Jolani said that he was influenced by the second Palestinian Intifada of the early 2000s by the image of people defending themselves against occupiers and invaders Al-Jolani said he went to Baghdad two to three weeks before the US-Iraq war began During the mismanaged (euphemism) early occupation by the United States al-Jolani joined the insurgency led by the terrorist al-Jolani claimed that he was against targeting civilians which Martin Smith found hard to believe because this was al-Zarqawi’s deliberate strategy to ignite sectarian civil war there would not have been so much bloodshed there would have been no resistance in Syria According to a 2021 Middle East Eye article a small but infamous jihadist group active in the major city of Mosul Saraya al-Mujahideen swore allegiance to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after he established al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2004 which subsequently became the Islamic State (IS) Al-Jolani was captured in late 2004 and remained in detention until the early months of 2010 he wrote a 50-page plan on how to bring the jihad to Syria In 2010 he became an al-Qaeda commander in Mosul he sent his paper to the new al-Qaeda leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who sent him to Syria to establish the organization’s Syrian chapter Al-Jolani said that he had asked for 100 men to go with him he hid his al-Qaeda affiliation and led the Nusra Front Al-Jolani claims that his men only stroke military targets Andrew Tabler of The Washington Institute confirms that al Jolani’s tactics were less bloody than others The Frontline interview claims that al-Jolani emulated Muslim Brotherhood It also mentions that his men abducted foreign civilians taking in tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments now sent money to the Islamic State of Iraq FRONTLINE reported that Baghdadi did not trust al-Jolani banned the name al-Nusra Front and created the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) the Nusra Front had rebranded with a new name and publicly announced it was cutting ties with al-Qaeda the American journalist once imprisoned by Nusra claimed that ISIS wanted money from al-Jolani’s group Iran sent Qasem Soleimani to Russia to convince Putin to help Assad and his regime Russian planes started to bomb Syrian civilians we learn that al-Qaeda was not a great brand name This was one reason for al-Jolani to split from Baghdadi and fight al-Qaeda the CIA backed Free Army Syrian and other groups which al-Jolani hoped would allow him to establish ties with Turkey Al-Jolani claims that he went through a transformation Martin Smith also said in the 2021 FRONTLINE interview that al-Jolani wanted to govern according to Sharia law women held no office in his Idlib Syrian Salvation Government and women’s rights were restricted the Special (US) Representative for Syria 2018-2020 says in the 2021 FRONTLINE interview that he is not surprised that al-Jolani would say and actually believe that he would respect the rights of women But James Jeffrey underlined that close to these groups are people who nurse a true hatred of anybody who isn’t like them Martin Smith says that evidence and allegations persist that Jolani imprisons and tortures journalists and pro-democracy activists Al-Jolani claimed in the interview that there is no torture He said that human rights organizations could visit and supervise prisons who also claimed to have become more moderate but turned out to be even more extreme than during their first reign in Afghanistan Abu Mohammad al-Jolani once again tried to project a moderate image He said: Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional not one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions He added: No one has the right to erase another group These sects have co-existed in this region for hundreds of years and no one has the right to eliminate them There must be a legal framework that protects and ensures the rights of all not a system that serves only one sect as Assad’s regime has done He underlined: Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham is one of the factions in the region Now we’re talking about a larger project Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is merely one detail of this dialog but a means to perform a task confronting this regime it will transition to a state of governance When Jomana Karadsheh mentioned that he is still designated a terrorist by the United States with a $10 million bounty on his head HTS considered a terrorist organization by the United States Donald Trump already wrote that the United States should stay out of the Syrian conflict apart from the fact that there is still an American military base in Syria How long will Netanyahu continue to bombard Syria independent Syrian Observatory for Human Rights documented 322 Israeli strikes in Syria since December 10 2024 the day President Bashar al-Assad had fled the country and numerous weapons and ammunition depots” Israel said today that it had destroyed Syria’s navy to make sure the ships do not fall in the hands of extremists 2024 the former oppositional Idlib region Syrian Salvation Government Director of Islamic Education and former Prime Minister of the Syrian Salvation Government is serving as interim prime minister of Syria After a meeting with HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani and outgoing Syrian prime minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali Muhammad al-Bashir was appointed head of the transitional government until March 1 the nom de guerre Jolani is a reference to the Golan Heights from where his grandfather and family were displaced after the 1967 Six-Day War Israel returned to the Golan Heights to be sure to keep the region under control Accept cookies — we receive a commission; price unchanged — and find beauty items at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk Photograph of Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, December 9, 2024. Via Wikipedia/Wikimedia Featuring a suburban landscape newly infested with parasitical beings it gave viewers a taste of Cronenberg’s unhinged approach to cinema which was welcomed consequently by lovers of horror and the unnerving forevermore Cronenberg even channelled his knack for the horrid into a hook-up with writer Stephen King in 1983 successfully remastering his novel The Dead Zone for a respectable critic score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes well-versed in the realm of uncanny-on-page meets uncanny-on-screen it becomes clear why responding to Don DeLillo’s 2003 novel Twilight star Robbert Pattinson plays Eric Packer a serial capitalist with a penchant for improving trade at the cost of almost anything dear to him – all played out in his ‘office’ in its The Matrix meets Panic Room styling protesting rodents are paraded outside the vehicle’s windows as Packer begins to lose his sense of importance – upheld throughout by Cronenberg’s trademark up-close camera angles and distorted compositions Cronenberg tells Film Comment that he doesn’t always feel as passionate about books as he did with Cosmopolis But yet this proceeds to amplify his bond with the film in question of which he denotes one simple reason to his commitment to bring novel to screen – and to the viewing of his cult fanbase Likened to the hard edges of Pattinson’s character throughout Cronenberg may have his own reservations in reading literature but was eventually broken down at the chance to translate DeLillo’s novel into his cinematic style as he expressed to Film Comment what exactly it was that pushed his will over the threshold and onto the set of Cosmopolis Just as Eric Packer finally drops his previously hardened exterior shooting his own hand in the final scene in the hopes of finally feeling something Cronenberg adapts novels he bonds with on a deeper level So strangely dehumanized and yet so obsessive and passionate underneath” Drawing parallels to his own working style it becomes apparent that when literature makes its mark on a director just as the death of a cherished artist had on softening Packer in the film directors like Cronenberg are not merely bringing a book to the screen In 2019 already, Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu ermerged as the most dangerous rival for Turkey’s president turned autocrat, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was single-headedly ruining the Turkish economy and impoverished large sections of the population but a charismatic one who is also electable for conservative and religious Turks as well as the Kurdish minority removed from office over terrorism-related charges President Erdogan and his allies are trying the same dirty tactics again If they only accused Imamoglu of corruption if terrorism charges are brought against him he can be replaced by a trustee appointed by the Interior Ministry In May 2023, Erdogan managed to steal another election The next presidential election will only take place in 2028 but the autocrat is already preparing the terrain While millions protested against the mayor’s imprisonment Erdogan celebrated the Kurdish New Year festival Newroz Turkish television showed him laughing as he lit the fire and jumped over it But now he is hoping for Kurdish votes after the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan issued a call in February 2025 for the PKK terrorist group to lay down its arms and dissolve itself Turkey’s largest opposition party CHP has officially chosen Ekrem İmamoğlu as its candidate for the 2028 presidential election All of the approximately 1.7 million CHP members in all 81 provinces of Turkey were able to vote around 1.6 million voted for Imamoglu as the candidate Non-party members were also able to cast their vote for İmamoğlu via so-called solidarity ballot boxes a total of around 15 million people took part in the vote 13.2 million people expressed their solidarity with Imamoglu And that in a country with 85.6 million inhabitants and roughly 64 million voters Turkish authorities banned public gatherings and restricted public access to social media The regime has made the internet extremely slow or blocked it so that the opposition cannot express or organize itself in the days since Imamoglu’s imprisonment millions have protested on the streets around Turkey’s cities for the release of Istanbul’s mayor Especially young people are fed up with Erdogan’s regime many European mayors show their solidarity with Imamoglu Among them the inital ones were Anne Hidalgo They were joined by the mayors of Barcelona the Turkish Information Technology and Communications Authority (BTK) massively restricted access to social media and communication platforms and throttled internet speeds across the country the chairman of the Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) threatened to withdraw licenses from the media: “Sanctions will be imposed on broadcasters that incite the public to protest provide a platform for commentators who speak like spokespersons for illegal organizations or disseminate content that insults or even threatens leading state politicians Erdoğan is not allowed to run again in the 2028 presidential election as the constitution only allows him two terms in office Already in 2023 he was only able to run because the new presidential system was introduced in 2018 and his previous term was not counted he could simply change the constitution again or force an early election through parliament which would allow him to run for a third time according to the constitution the Istanbul city parliament elected the former deputy and long-time confidant of the imprisoned mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as interim mayor until Imamoglu is released from prison Because of the country’s strategic position and its weapons industry both NATO and the European Union have let Turkey get away with far too much The mass media are largely controlled by Erdogan and his cheerleaders NATO and the EU are reluctant to take a tougher stance on Erdogan because of several reasons the UK government wrote that the Turkish Armed Forces had a total strength of approximately 355,000 active personnel and 380,000 reserves making it the second largest within NATO (after the United States) other sources estimate that Turkey’s defence spending will roughly be comparable to Poland’s ($47 billion vs the Turkish defence industry made great progress According Turkey is exporting its Bayraktar drones to over thirty countries The Bayraktar UAV or drone is made by the private Turkish technology and defence company Baykar Its chairman of the board and chief technology officer is none other than Selçuk Bayraktar (*1979) the son-in-law of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (RTE) He is being touted as a possible RTE successor both as president and AKP leader Erdogan is trying to maintain good relations with Putin the NATO member Turkey bought S-400 defense missile systems which led the United States to stop the delivery of F-35 warplanes to Turkey; according to the BBC some 937 separate parts of the F-35 were manufactured in Turkey about 400 of which were made exclusively there the US announced to source these parts elsewhere Turkey was from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program one can hear that the Trump administration is reconsidering the sale of F-35 to Turkey Together with Orban‘s Hungary Erdogan’s Turkey blocked the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO for some time in order to gain advantages for itself NATO membership was and is important for Turkey Turkey gave up its traditional neutrality because Stalin claimed Turkish territories for the Soviet Union there are two important NATO air bases in Turkey: Incirlik and Konya Erdogan’s ability to talk to all sides can be helpful The (previous) grain agreement between Ukraine and Russia came about thanks to Turkey’s mediation Erdogan has even flirted with membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) NATO cannot tolerate an autocrat among its ranks Erdogan must be pushed hard to allow free and fair elections return to the rule of law and guarantee free media It is not about throwing Turkey out of NATO but about forcing Erdogan back onto the path of democracy and showing solidarity with the many detainees already over 1,400 until the evening of March 25 Beauty items at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk Photograph of Ekrem İmamoğlu by Voice of America (public domain) Added at 11:04 “interim mayor” David Cronenberg’s adaptation of the 2003 Don DeLillo novel of the same name in the spirit that I might recommend Scandinavian-style salted licorice to put it mildly—even some Cronenberg devotees may be turned off by this movie’s icy But at least it doesn’t taste like anything else out there Cosmopolis (Cronenberg’s first film since 1999’s eXistenZ for which he is sole author of the screenplay) can be maddening in its slowness and its casual dismissal of traditional story structure But it’s also bracing in its unapologetic engagement with language and ideas not to mention with global economic reality Though Eric Packer does eventually leave the car for a few on-the-ground encounters including a haircut from his childhood barber and a visit to the grubby lair of a Dostoyevskyan would-be dissident (Paul Giamatti) most of Cosmopolis takes place in the sleek with stock-tickers providing an ambient flicker as the characters exchange staccato which is not unlike Mamet-speak with a degree in semiotics the way painting did over time,” observes a character identified as Packer’s “chief of theory” (Samantha Morton); she might also be talking about the movie she’s in which veers steadily toward pure abstraction Packer’s financial adviser (Emily Hampshire) jumps in the limo in the middle of her nighttime jog to offer similarly cryptic counsel; in the movie’s bravura WTF scene Packer solicits her fiscal advice while submitting to Cosmopolis does contain several sickening bursts of unexpected violence.) Much of your reaction to Cosmopolis may depend on how you feel about Robert Pattinson, the 26-year-old British actor whose role as the abstinent vampire dreamboat of the Twilight series has made him an international object of fan desire (and, since he was publicly cuckolded by his co-star Kristen Stewart, of tabloid sympathy as well.) Pattinson’s combination of porcelain-doll good looks and narrow expressive range can make him seem vapid his line deliveries wooden—but what better affect for a character like Packer a master of the universe so callously remote from the world around him that he barely qualifies as human summarizes his principled objections to Packer’s existence concisely: “You are foully berserkly rich.” Casting Pattinson—an actor who’s also a globally recognized commodity—as a character who represents the terrifying future of capitalism was a bold conceptual gamble on Cronenberg’s part especially when Pattinson is paired with a similarly sleek who plays Packer’s WASPy new wife with an Arctic chill) But when he plays opposite someone who brings the crackle of real human life to the screen—like Giamatti who’s astounding in his one extended scene who flits through too briefly as Packer’s melancholy middle-aged mistress—Pattinson’s limitations are on plain display This mismatch in performance styles may all be part of Cronenberg’s grand plan but it nonetheless creates an alienation effect that makes this 108-minute movie feel considerably longer In a live interview he and Pattinson did with the New York Times’ David Carr Cronenberg suggests that viewers not seek to understand everything that’s happening in Cosmopolis but instead just let the movie wash over them as an experience the way flows of global capital—the falling dollar the rising yuan—stream by on the screens that surround the film’s empty Because I’ve long been captivated by Cronenberg’s keen intelligence and highly personal cinematic vision I took a strange pleasure in submitting to this movie’s stilted but weirdly poetic rhythms enduring Cosmopolis may be less fun than a backseat prostate exam the photographer Steve Schapiro (1934-2022) famous for documenting the civil rights mouvement in the 1960s and film stills of classic movies such as The Godfather (1972) and Taxi Driver (1976) started documenting Andy Warhol for LIFE magazine When they met in 1965, Andy Warhol was 37 Andy was cementing a reputation as an important Pop artist who drew his inspiration from popular culture and commercial objects Steve Schapiro took pictures of Andy and his entourage working on his silkscreens at the Factory as well as roaming the streets of New York Steve Schapiro was also present at the opening of Warhol’s first museum retrospective at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia attended by a hyped-up crowd of thousands ― where Andymania was born The last pictures from 1966 were taken in Los Angeles where Andy exhibited his ironic “Silver Clouds” at the Ferus Gallery stayed at the picturesque Castle and set up and filmed a performance by the cult band the Velvet Underground The art and coffee table book Steve Schapiro. Andy Warhol and Friends 1965-1966 features over 120 photographs. Schapiro’s images are juxtaposed with tipped-in plates of original Warhol artworks exhibited during the period. In addition, the book contains an essay and captions by the outstanding Warhol biographer Blake Gopnik (German review of his 1232-page Warhol biography) Photograph copyright © Steve Schapiro/TASCHEN Verlag At the beginning of his essay entitled “Pop Life” Blake Gopnik notes about this art book: The conception and documentation of Andy Warhol’s greatest masterpiece: “himself.” no artist had taken quite his pains to plant a crafted persona deep in popular culture while simultaneously establishing that persona as a credible work of art inseparable from and on a par with any material objects he might produce and Blake Gopnik himself asked: Has Warhol replaced Picasso as the most important and influential artist of the 20th century And he stated: It looks more and more like it groundbreaking artist from Pittsburgh at a transformative period in postwar American culture Blake Gopnik stresses that the classic Warhol look — shades mop of white hair — is about as recognizable as Mona Lisa’s smile or the abs on Michelangelo’s David Andrew Warhola did the shaping of this persona and the photographer Steve Schapiro helped set it before the world’s eyes Blake Gopnik underlines that Andy Warhol’s sculpting of a unique creative self got its start two decades before his collaboration with Steve Schapiro Andrew Warhola had already painted himself as a little girl in ringlets and as a nude boy-child wearing a girl’s Mary Janes with the same shock of blond hair that Schapiro caught on film in 1965 and 1966 Warhola got painter friends to depict him with boldly limp wrists and tightly crossed legs — not “manspreading” but “gaytwisting,” as no “real” man in Pittsburgh would ever have sat In a macho town whose rampant homophobia could prove fatal to its gay sons the art student went out of his way to establish his presence as the ultimate effeminate “fairy.” Andy Warhol was a persona that had a recognized place within the Western avant-garde; Jean Cocteau Warhol seems to have discovered photography as the ultimate tool for his self-presentation In an early photo by his New York friend George Klauber a fellow student from Carnegie Institute of Technology Warhol is captured posing like Greta Garbo as he he broke into New York’s “window-decorator” crowd (words by Truman Capote) Gopnik underlines that Warhol became one of that crowd’s most successful commercial artists Andy Warhol got his close friend and fashion photographer Otto Fenn to shoot him wearing a pink suit with a pale camellia in his hand both Warhol and Fenn had been obsessed by Greta Garbo as the Lady of the Camellias in Hollywood’s version of the 1848 romantic novel written by Alexandre Dumas fils in the period before he became a Pop Art celebrity the Warhol persona seen in those photographs was mostly for private consumption among his friends and familiars When he presented himself to a larger public mostly on the “contributors” pages of magazines he came off as a fairly standard New York creative in a suit and tie — even The biographer notes that all that barely changed in early 1962 when Warhol’s art first brought him wider fame During his first two or three years of Pop Art when the demand for photos of Warhol increased Warhol declared that his career as a Pop Art painter was over and that he would be making radical films from then on He failed to mention another radical project he was embarking on: the creation of a public presence that had some of the same eccentric countercultural energy as his 1960s paintings and films Blake Gopnik highlights that is was up to Steve Schapiro to document this change when the photographer’s career was to take off in the fall of 1965 with assignments for publications such as The New York Times and Life magazine in Schapiro’s early Factory photo sessions he captured the “real” Warhol: a highly trained deeply sophisticated and entirely professional artist dedicated to seeding the culture of his era with the most ambitious of avant-garde creations When Schapiro came on the scene with his camera one of the very latest of those creations was “Andy Warhol” a bizarre human creature who wore sunglasses 24/7 and a biker jacket he perfected his trademark gesture: a hand held to lips in silent perplexity Steve Schapiro captured the first public display of Warhol’s new persona on October 8 when the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia opened the artist’s first museum solo show a local journalist noted: wrap around sunglasses and a black bomber jacket with a slew of proto-punk safety pins stuck into its collar Blake Gopnik stresses that this made Warhol stand out like crazy from the collegians and art-world types who had gathered to receive him that night most of whom wore ties or button-downs that Warhol himself had been wearing until not long before under the influence of the four members of the Velvet Underground according to Blake Gopnik the most aggressive hard-charging rock group to hit New York until then Andy Warhol was adjusting his persona to be far tougher than it had been Blake Gopnik notes that Andy Warhol was almost certainly unable to ride a motorcycle; his one attempt at learning to drive had ended years before 1962 Andy Warhol had opened an exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles with Campbell’s Soup Cans This marked his West Coast debut of pop art Warhol was deliberately putting more than one version of himself on display the goal must have been to make the constructedness of his persona all the more evident If his persona was truly going to function as a sophisticated work of artistic “fakery” Warhol needed his photographer to document the artifice involved as well as the total control the artist had over this performance of self Read also the German article about Leo Castelli, who for instance showed Andy Warhol’s Flowers series in 1964, and the German article about Henri Cartier-Bresson the French photographer who was a role model for the young Steve Schapiro quotations and partial quotations in this book review of Steve Schapiro Andy Warhol and Friends 1965-1966 have not been put between quotation marks Andy Warhol and Friends 1965-1966 book review added on February 4 Merchandise items are available for return with full refund within 30 days of purchase date Questions? Contact us and we'll get back to you ASAP you are agreeing to be bound by these website Terms and Conditions of Use and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws If you do not agree with any of these terms you are prohibited from using or accessing this site The materials contained in this website are protected by applicable copyright and trade mark law Your privacy is very important to Moviejawn we have developed this Policy in order for you to understand how we collect communicate and disclose and make use of personal information Before or at the time of collecting personal information we will identify the purposes for which information is being collected We will collect and use of personal information solely with the objective of fulfilling those purposes specified by us and for other compatible purposes unless we obtain the consent of the individual concerned or as required by law We will only retain personal information as long as necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes We will collect personal information by lawful and fair means and with the knowledge or consent of the individual concerned Personal data should be relevant to the purposes for which it is to be used to the extent necessary for those purposes We will protect personal information by reasonable security safeguards against loss or theft We will make readily available to customers information about our policies and practices relating to the management of personal information We are committed to conducting our business in accordance with these principles in order to ensure that the confidentiality of personal information is protected and maintained even if a fungus is growing between my toes telling me to While not one of his most highly regarded films Cronenberg’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis is more relevant than ever We teeter on the edge of societal collapse as billionaires and late stage capitalism threaten to ruin life for anyone but the 1% And this past election which brought our current overlords into office only seems to solidify our anxieties As we follow the film’s  lead character a billionaire in his 20s on his way to get a haircut we get a chance to spend time with one of these horrible human beings (if you can even call them that) Through Packer’s journey across the city we see a day in the life of a toxic masculine man with all the power in the world We watch him at the height of his success to his ruinous end And close contact with one of these men provides much insight into the buffoons currently in charge of ruining our livelihood Immediately we can see that Eric is not a man who is denied much in this life His own wealth has just combined with that of his new wife Elyse (Sarah Gadon) whose family fortune has brought him to a whole new level of success Even though he is warned several times throughout the day that he should not go across town to get a haircut Not even a threat to his life or a giant violent protest with people dying in the street can make him change his mind Even the ability to command such a difficult task–which puts the lives of his security team at risk–shows the insane amount of privilege that he has We learn that he has two elevators in his apartment (which are used depending on his mental state) and he hopes to buy an entire church and the collection of valuable paintings it houses The only considerations he makes are for him and him alone.  most of which he tries to or does have sex with He meets his wife multiple times and their relationship deteriorates more and more each time There is his art dealer Didi (Juliette Binoche) who he fucks before insisting she help him purchase the historic church and a bodyguard Kendra (Patricia McKenzie) who he fucks in a hotel Finally there is Jane (Emily Hampshire) who he propositions for sex while getting his prostate examined and Vija (Samantha Morton) his chief theorist and the only woman he does not attempt to sleep with Even though he has only been married for a short while he continuously cheats on his wife and wonders why she refuses to have sex with him along with whatever other purpose they serve in his life who is hired with the expectation of potentially laying down her life is still easy to objectify His wife is the only one that refuses him and much of that seems to be due to the fact that she wields just as much power and influence–potentially even more with her rich family.  Many of Cronenberg’s films deal with some sort of penetration of the body This penetration is typically symbolic of the transformation in which the character will go through In this case it is not Packer’s actual body that is penetrated It becomes clear that Eric Packer is afraid of various kinds of penetration His limo is designed to be bulletproof and take on most potential threats he would face and he asks several times about the system that runs his work systems but is told that there is “no vulnerable point of entry.” Eric’s work and car are all an extension of his body and they help him distance himself from the world outside As his wealth quickly dwindles Eric is exposed more and more to the elements of the real world making him susceptible to the man trying to kill him Aggressively straight men being afraid of penetration certainly tickles me And the way that this leads to a spiral that destroys his whole life his “the American dream,” and ultimately patriarchal structures is very fitting Objectifying women and being scared of death and the world outside their bubble are not shocking traits to attribute to these billionaire types Packer’s personality is entirely unsurprising reminding us that these men are not unique Although there is another quality that is parsed out in the conversation he has with his Chief of Theory During their conversation they attribute the need to progress  and how looking towards the future has repercussions for the whole world These geniuses and visionaries continue to grow for the sake of growth and in doing so “pretend not to see the horror and death at the end of the schemes.” Our world feels like it is constantly moving and changing at a quicker pace making it hard to be grounded and stay in the present And it is easy for people to get wrapped up in it because the “new” is so seductive Vija says the protests happening outside are meant to “correct the acceleration of time and bring nature back to normal.” By fighting capitalism and those that wield it to their advantage people hope to bring humanity back into a natural flow Eric finally comes face to face with the man attempting to kill him Despite all the protections at his disposal he walks right up to him a bullheadedness refusal to course correct even when it is clear that they are wrong or moving towards danger This stubbornness and inability to see any way other than their own is another entirely unsurprising trait Eric and Benno take a philosophical pause from their violent interaction to discuss their beliefs and Eric refuses to accept that people want him dead simply for being rich As he puts it “you’re not against the rich anyone could be rich in 10 seconds.” Benno points out that Eric had a sense he would die young The ways in which male logic overhauls all sense of intuition or knowing is so strong Eric does not even see that he has engineered his whole demise Just as his formulas that track the rise and fall of capita fail him with their inability to see variables and look for the unexpected and childish selfishness all lead him to this sad ending The need to amass more and more even if it does not serve you to own things even when you do not use them means that many others are left wanting Eric is the perfect representation of these types of men the men who care only about themselves and who will always be left wanting more because all the money in the world will never fill the void of whatever trauma or human needs are not being met in their own sad pathetic lives The one issue with Eric is that he does not show what fucking losers most of these people are to begin with Cronenberg has often given us great representation of deeply damaged men and with the major capitalist overtones this particular portrait feels essential for the world we are living in now We can only hope that those like Eric flock towards their demise so willingly With the death of so much print media and meaningful journalism it is important now more than ever to support the writers and outlets you love show your support by donating to our writer Playing one of the two leads in a cultural juggernaut that had fans of multiple generations going weak at the knees the actor went from an unassuming relative unknown to one of the most famous faces on the planet in no time at all being the focal point of a franchise that soared past $3billion at the global box office presents its own unique set of problems Pattinson could have capitalised on his breakout role and continued chasing the easy paycheques that would increase his fame and visibility or he could have spent the next decade intentionally choosing the strangest and most offbeat projects possible to showcase his untapped chops as a versatile performer history has shown which path he opted to follow even if he did make his return to blockbuster cinema in one of the highest-profile parts by headlining The Batman The immediate post-Twilight years were of the utmost importance when it came to shaping Pattinson’s future and a pair of projects sandwiched between the two halves of Breaking Dawn helped set out his stall Period drama Bel Ami wasn’t particularly good or remotely successful but it did at least allow the leading man to give a fully realised performance His next feature arrived just months later and it partnered him with one of the most distinctive auteurs in the business when he headlined David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis It was the first of his movies for which Cronenberg had also written the screenplay since the sci-fi body horror Existenz The experimental drama follows Pattinson as asset manager Eric Packer who drives around New York City in his limousine encountering a raft of offbeat figures and circling the drain of personal and professional despair Working on a Cronenberg production is never going to be easy, so it was only sensible for Pattinson to describe the experience of shooting Cosmopolis as being “insane and difficult” to The Guardian There was huge pressure on his shoulders as the focal point of the narrative and a character present in almost every frame and the end result was comfortably the finest work of his career at that point Looking at the lengths he’s gone to for Good Time, High Life, and The Lighthouse in the years since, these days, “insane and difficult” have become par for the course for Pattinson as he continues to place his Twilight days further and further into the rear-view mirror 2025 and thanks to curator and writer Dieter Buchhart Moritz in Switzerland is presenting the intimate show Jean-Michel Basquiat: Engadin Jean-Michel Basquiat: Engadin is the first solo exhibition dedicated to works created by the artist both in and about Switzerland. Jean-Michel Basquiat first visited the country in 1982 for his first show at Galerie Bruno Bischofberger in Zurich the artist traveled a total of fifteen times to Switzerland The Engadin region in particular continued to fascinate Basquiat long after his return to New York resulting in a body of work that captures his impressions of the Swiss Alpine landscape and culture All of this was made possible thanks to the unique and visionary relationship between the artist and his gallerist Iwan Wirth writes that Basquiat’s time in Switzerland continued to echo even after the artist’s return to the United States where his works made in New York include references to Bruno Bischofberger notes that the exhibition is being held at the very same place in St Bruno Bischofberger became Jean-Michel’s exclusive worldwide dealer During Jean-Michel Basquiat’s many visits to Switzerland Bruno Bischofberger showed everything that was important to the artist He absorbed everything that was new to him including his art dealers various collections Bruno Bischofberger collected photography and design; folk art from both an artistic and an ethnographic point of view and the other Alpine countries; and prehistoric stone objects from all over the world Jean-Michel showed a strong interest in Swiss history all kinds of music as well as food and wine It didn’t take long before he knew a great deal about all of it Bruno Bischofberger underlines that he himself learned a lot from the artist On his first visit to Basquiat’s studio-apartment in New York City he asked him which artists had impressed and perhaps influenced him the most The first thing Jean-Michel Basquiat said was: “Works by very young children.” Moritz exhibition curator Dieter Buchhart underlines that Jean-Michel Basquiat was enamored with the mountains and the hospitality of the Bischofberger family Dieter Buchhart notes that drawing was always the foundation of Basquiat’s artistic practice and phrases are often an integral part of his art He quotes the art critic Klaus Kertess who stressed about Basquiat: “In the beginning of his creation Dieter Buchhart writes that certain factors clearly shaped Basquiat: the variety and intensity of the New York art world and its museums the everyday racism he was confronted with the influences of both the Engadin’s unique landscape and the Bischofberger family were also reflected in his works The curator notes the contrast between the pulsating life and breakneck speed of the artist’s native New York City and Basquiat’s “discovery of slowness” in the unique awe-inspiring landscape of the Engadin region these Swiss influences are unmistakable already visibly in Basquat’s monumental major work The Dutch Settlers (1982) combining a wide range of cutting-edge elements Basquiat creates one of his significant spaces of knowledge (Wissensräume) reflecting the field of tension of concrete poetry the “cut-up” technique of Beat writer William S.Burroughs and the speak-singing rap (Sprechgesang) of hip-hop Basquiat distilled not only language but his entire surroundings and humankind’s collective memory and knowledge and oil stick in The Dutch Settlers results in a form of painted hip-hop It shows how Basquiat’s knowledge-based artistic strategies raised the same sort of questions that would come to shape the contextual art of the 1990s and the present rather than exploring the formal and stylistic issues related to the Neo-expressionism of the 1980s Baquiat creates a space of knowledge with an internal logic that can unlock new spaces of thought for the viewer Creating such “montages” of canvases opened up yet another innovative avenue allowing Basquiat to assemble various visual fields by combining and recombining the paintings—literally Dieter Buchhart mentions Flesh and Spirit (1982–83) Dieter Buchhart offers information on the various works of art created by Basquiat across different visits to Switzerland as well as on works inspired by his Swiss stays The Dutch Settlers is just one work mentioned as an example The curator also describes Basquiat’s first encounter with Bruno Bischofberger when the art dealer was visiting Annina Nosei Gallery in New York City; Annina was Basquiat’s first art dealer the catalogue contains a useful chronology of Bruno Bischofberger’s encounters meetings and trips with Basquiat from spring 1981 until November 1986 Brook Bartlett and Bruno Bischofberger at the Cresta Klubhaus in St Photography by Christina Bischofberger © photo copyright Galerie Bruno Bischofberger quotations and partial quotations in this Jean-Michel Basquiat Engadin exhibition and catalogue review have not been put between quotation marks Engadin exhibition and catalogue review added on March 13 2024 ended the Alexander Calder (1898-1976) exhibition at the Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana (MASI Lugano) in Switzerland It was largely made possible thanks to the valuable support of the Calder Foundation in New York City It was edited by Carmen Giménez and Ana Mingot Comenge the director of the Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana explains that the MASI exhibition mainly focuses on works executed by the American sculptor Alexander Calder between the 1930s and the 1940s The 35 works on display largely mark the artist’s period of greatest creativity when he developed a formal and plastic language characterized by unprecedented innovation with his mobiles Calder introduced the dimension of time into non objective art managing to capture the essence of movement and balance thanks to his ingenious manipulation of materials and space invites us constantly to revise our perception of form and dimension signifying both the apotheosis of fine individualized manufacturing and the swan song of traditional craftsmanship oriented toward contemporary forms Carmen Giménez and Ana Mingot Comenge stress that the main protagonists of the avant-garde had embraced the “return to order” “noucentisme” or some other similar term denoting a crisis of formalism the movement of De Stijl had arisen in Holland and Suprematism and Constructivism were thriving in Russia sowing the seeds for what in the interwar period would become Abstraction-Création According to Carmen Giménez and Ana Mingot Comenge, the most fundamental element of the panorama was Surrealism It was codified in December 1924 and swept everything else aside by laying the foundations for a new vision artistic Surrealism naturally lagged somewhat behind; a delay that proved to be very fertile It criticizedthe formalism of the avant-garde and reopened the indispensable semantic field its anarchic libertinism led to many innovative reprises of Dadaism The 1929 stock market crash ended abruptly the folie de vivre of the 1920s While no longer by any means an aesthetic or technical novice Carmen Giménez and Ana Mingot Comenge underline that Alexander Calder was quick to understand what was taking shape artistically in that glittering historical moment Understanding entails being able to synthesize and the American artist responded to the time’s restless and fertile circumstances in the only way possible: by expanding his core foundation Alexander Calder intuitively understood the revolutionary value of inventions like Picasso’s and Duchamp’s establishing a singular aerostatic basis for his own trajectory was never averse to distilling from the finest of visions to make his own stew He took the most of common ingredients and made them taste differently he was attentive to the contributions of Surrealism as a vindication of the organic and the telluric without which it is difficult to penetrate the depths of nature’s physical being Carmen Giménez and Ana Mingot Comenge write that Alexander Calder combined the mechanical or industrial production of his works with elements of traditional sensibility, and with the ludic temperament of revolutionary artistic practices. In this, the American was close to Joan Miró and Hans Arp Alexander Calder extracted what was most personal to himself while maintaining an affinity for biomorphic forms and accidental relationships The curators stress that it took Alexander Calder less than five years to mark out his own terrain establishing that thermodynamic dimension whereby a sculpture not only moves He took the unique step of creating metal organisms that possess the qualities of lightness and variety Carmen Giménez and Ana Mingot Comenge write that Alexander Calder’s sculpture shine not only through their structured filaments—excellent transmitters of light—but also through their chromatic petals mirrored surfaces to capture and transfix the iridescence of ambient light and capture the spectacle of moments that he is the link between avant-garde abstraction and time-based performance and video art Carmen Giménez had previously curated the major Alexander Calder retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Carmen Giménez brings to its conclusion her time as President of the Fondazione MASI Lugano quotations and partial quotations in this Calder: Sculpting Time catalogue and exhibition review have not been put between quotation marks This Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana (MASI Lugano) catalogue and exhibition review was added on October 8 Reviews “Cosmopolis” is a flawlessly directed film about enigmatic people who speak in morose epigrams about vague universal principles they show no sign of understanding. Its characters are bloodless, their speech monotone. If there are people like this, I hope David Cronenberg‘s film is as close as I ever get to them It’s said to be loosely inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses it involves the hero’s journey across a city during a single day But the film and the novel both lack any trace of Joyce’s humor and rich humanity forbidding portrait of the damned in a hell of their making As the film opens, Packer stands on the sidewalk in front of what is possibly his office tower and states without emotion, “We need a haircut.” As Pattinson plays Packer, he states everything without emotion. All of the criticisms you may have heard or held about Pattinson’s performances as the vampire Edward in the “Twilight” (2008) films only serve to underline that he is perfectly cast as Packer He enters his improbably long white stretch limousine and sets off across Manhattan to his usual barbershop a rap star’s funeral and anarchist riots will spend from morning to night mostly inside the limousine who not only administers the prostate exam during his conference with Vija but also uses the limo’s built-in technology to conduct sonar exams There is also a hotel suite tryst with his beautiful security guard who teases him with a 100,000-volt taser that may remind you of Goldfinger’s laser beam “Hit me with it,” Packer asks her The limo is a command center with touch-screen displays that have the world’s financial transactions rattling past One of Cronenberg’s achievements here is to shoot so many scenes inside this vehicle without ever seeming crowded The limo is of course bulletproof and so on but there’s a dicey moment when anarchists surround it and begin to rock it back and forth Packer doesn’t deign to acknowledge them Not so easily ignored is a man who smashes a pie in his face as he arrives at last at the barbershop The final act involves a nutty little man named Benno Levin (Paul Giamatti) who opens fire on him from a warehouse in the district where limos go to spend the night How did Packer know how to find him in the warehouse most philosophical and impenetrable conversation Can one say Don DeLillo found not only the ideal but perhaps the only director for his novel Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013 he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism In a presidential debate, you should look presidential. Instead, Donald Trump was spreading lies. Among his outlandish claims was the one that immigrants were eating pets. His running mate JD Vance had made that claim before him but backtracked after fact-checkers had called him out a city in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania Donald Trump did not understand that he was not in a television reality show were anything goes to boost the rating the ABC team around the moderators Linsey Davis and David Muir offered useful real-time fact-checking In addition to debunking the lies that immigrants were eating cats and dogs Linsey Davis pointed for instance out that Trump lied when he said that She said: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.” Donald Trump falsely claimed that the crime rate went up under the Biden-Harris administration says overall violent crime is coming down in this country.” The former president did not back down and made another outlandish claim: “They didn’t include the cities with the worst crime It was a fraud!” David Muir did not debunk this Nobody expected Donald Trump to offer accurate facts and figures in the first and maybe only 2024 presidential debate Vice President Kamala Harris had everything to loose Only one candidate looked presidential — and it was not the notorious liar xenophobe and insurrectionist Donald Trump who wanted to overturn the result of a free and fair election In the 2024 debate in Philadelphia, Donald Trump was citing Hungary’s Viktor Orban as a witness for the validity of his foreign and security policy. Orban the Republican party has given up all its core values and become a freakshow The debate showed once again that Donald Trump is unfit to lead the United States Donald Trump rightly attacked President Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan but Kamala Harris was intelligent enough to immediately counter-attack the self-declared master-dealmaker stating that Donald Trump had “negotiated one of the weakest deals you can imagine” reminding viewers that the former president had invited the Taliban leaders to Camp David the Biden administration had not followed through on his plan both Trump and Biden played a disastrous role in the Afghanistan retreat handing over a (totally corrupt) democracy to the Taliban Neither the Democrat nor the Republican candidate had much to gain in a debate over the Afghanistan disaster But Kamala Harris came out as the winner thanks to her counter-attack David Muir asked Donald Trump whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war The former president did not answer the question He just said: “I want the war to stop.” He claimed that people were killed “by the millions”; a fantasy number (as president-elect) he would negotiate a deal even before officially becoming president Trump warned of Russia’s nuclear weapons and of “playing with World War three.” Trump was repeating Putin’s playbook Kamala Harris had a strong attack line on Donald Trump: “Why don’t you tell the 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favour and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch.” Will this presidential debate change the election It ended Joe Biden’s presidential run The 2024 election will be decided in a few swing states What do the voters there think of the performance of the two candidates Advertisements (accept cookies; we receive a commission Great American Songbook sheet music Cosmopolis relates 28-year-old financial wunderkind and billionaire Eric Packer’s (Robert Pattinson) daylong there will be time enough for sexual trysts and the depredations of the Pastry Assassin (Mathieu Amalric in a hilarious cameo) Packer’s currency speculations turn self-destructive revealing an urge that will eventually manifest itself in a far more extreme fashion As his white stretch limo crawls across midtown Manhattan Packer consults with various advisors and underlings in a series of rapid-fire exchanges delivered in DeLillo’s syncopated resembles a sleekly self-contained mission control a war room in which Packer can wage his losing battle against the yuan Cronenberg nicely sidesteps that Aristotelian constriction with side-trips to some choice curbside attractions Just as Cosmopolis’s varied visual palette allows Cronenberg and DP Peter Suschitzsky to construct an imagistic index of his other films its episodic structure affords Packer a series of thematic sounding boards like advisor Vija Kinsky (Samantha Morton) seem tailored for a quantum of philosophical rumination abstract sort of speculation on speculation like fidgety flunky Shriner (Jay Baruchel) There are even moments of inspired surrealism as with the sexually charged discussion between Packer and his chief of finance that occurs while Packer submits to a prostate exam the film’s libidinal economy definitely favors a bull market crops up now and again as a suitably obscure object of his desire since she refuses to give in to his amorous advances Art advisor Didi Fancher (Juliette Binoche) uses a backseat bout of lovemaking to dissuade Packer from acquiring the famed Rothko Chapel and transplanting it in its entirety to his penthouse apartment has some innovative post-coital uses for her taser After the breathless forward momentum of its first two acts paced like the screwiest of screwball comedies Cosmopolis settles into a conversational groove with a pair of protracted confabulations When Packer finally reaches his ostensible destination the family-owned barbershop he and his father used to patronize we get a glimpse into what amounts to another world as though Packer’s journey had been back in time and downward through layers of strident upward mobility arriving at a place of simplicity and generosity evident nowhere else in the film all the better to avoid self-serious complacency seemingly abandoned warehouse district; this is a far cry from the nouveau riche sheen of tonier settings Everything builds to the final confrontation between Packer and his credible threat: shambling and believes he takes orders from a sentient fungus growing between his toes The loopy banter between the two could easily have lost traction entirely but Giamatti and Pattinson keep it grounded comes across like wholesale parody of the Lee Harvey Oswald found in DeLillo’s Libra.) Not one to be outdone Packer responds with a shocking act of self-mutilation it’s safe to say that Cosmopolis concludes inconclusively sounding a note that resounds with ambiguity Budd Wilkins's writing has appeared in Film Journal International and Video Watchdog He is a member of the Online Film Critics Society document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id" "a390eaea6869f8c0003d5c97f3e0d129" );document.getElementById("facec42938").setAttribute( "id" and website in this browser for the next time I comment Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker But underneath the urge to shock there has always been as great an interest in mental transformations as in physical ones and his movies nowadays seem closer to the art house than the grind house Following his versions of William Burroughs's Naked Lunch JG Ballard's Crash and Patrick McGrath's Spider eloquent adaptation of Don DeLillo's Cosmopolis is the fourth time he's brought a work of literary fiction to the screen it's both faithful to the text and a film that's very much Cronenberg's own set largely within a white stretch limo driving from east to west across midtown Manhattan It's taking Packer on a long day's journey into a dark night of the soul The ostensible purpose of Packer's mission is to get a haircut at some old traditional place he presumably frequented in his childhood But the film is a fable in which he appraises his life and his ultimate appointment is with death For much of the time he's in the sumptuously appointed car packed with computer screens flashing out the latest financial information from around the world The vehicle has been "Prousted" with cork-lined walls to exclude all outside noise and it moves at around a mile an hour across the gridlocked city Elsewhere on the island there's the funeral cortege of a Muslim rap star and a carefully guarded presidential motorcade with its echoes of the assassination in Dallas's Dealey Plaza Everywhere there's rioting by anti-capitalist demonstrators who deface Packer's immaculate car with their graffiti and he's visited by a variety of colourful associates and employees who comes to the startling conclusion that Packer has "an asymmetrical prostate" stylised and obscure in a Pinter-esque way power and such matters as where white limos are parked overnight Virtually all the dialogue comes directly from the novel a beautiful poet whom he seems hardly to know Samantha Morton and Emily Hampshire as his advisers Occasionally the impassive Packer leaves the car to visit an antiquarian bookshop and steadily a sense of dread builds up as night comes on by reckless investments in Chinese yuan (changed from the novel's Japanese yen) He appears worn out: a languid participant in sex a man without purpose who perceives no meaning beyond making or spending money in "a system that is out of control" Although the film is shot by Cronenberg's regular cinematographer Peter Suschitzky in a hard and significantly the opening and closing credits are presented against a background of abstract-expressionist paintings by (or in the style of) Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko When Packer is advised to snap up a Rothko he says he'd rather buy the whole Rothko chapel in Houston "All wealth has become wealth for its own sake There's no other kind of enormous wealth," someone remarks "Money has lost its narrative quality the way painting did once upon a time neglected apartment cluttered with the debris of a broken society where he meets an aggrieved ex-employee (Paul Giamatti at his most forlorn and aggressive) his head in a towel that gives him the appearance of a Jewish mourner saying Kaddish or the cowled grim reaper Packer's response is to shoot himself through the hand producing what looks like one of Christ's stigmata The two engage in a 20-minute dialogue as gripping as a one-act play and I was reminded of John Cheever's New Yorker short story The Swimmer (filmed in 1968 starring Burt Lancaster) A seemingly prosperous American businessman decides to make his way home by swimming across all his neighbours' pools His nightmarish journey involves confrontations with failure and humiliation and ends with him arriving rain-soaked at a deserted boarded-up house though at the end – and probably deliberately – it doesn't touch the heart or elicit much compassion for the protagonist This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page A minor DeLillo conceived during the economic good times it's a boutique-luxury literary event whose chief luxury was being able to imagine disaster in personal terms so exotic and disorientating that it was almost indistinguishable from the dizzying era of success that went before Now David Cronenberg has brought out a movie version; he has adapted it himself and DeLillo gave the film a notable endorsement by showing up personally on the red carpet for its premiere last month at the Cannes film festival he's not exactly enamoured of the flashbulbs either unmanoeuvrable and preposterous as the stretch limo at its centre; a "day in the life" drama with no satisfying life is cumbersome and self-conscious without the original speck of deadpan drollery It is possible to read Cosmopolis as a premonition of the economic crash we now know all about but really it looks like an exercise in zeitgeist-connoisseurship that appears obtuse a Renaissance prince of 21st-century finance his face set in an immobile mask of supercool unshockability and in any case sometimes partly hidden behind dark glasses It is a controlled and directed performance and Pattinson never does anything wrong but either – though this is a function of the way his character is conceived Packer has decided to get a haircut at an old-fashioned barber's shop that is a remnant of his childhood and his pre-super-rich existence; "haircut" could also be a hint at the slang for a ferocious market correction Insulated (as he hopes) in his extravagant vehicle a kind of armoured personnel carrier for mega-rich civilians he is nonetheless warned by his security guard that there is a "credible threat" to his life and plans to visit this terrible fate on Packer when the awful moment comes Cronenberg can't bear to give us the visual punchline and his camera looks away until most of the gunge has been wiped away from Packer's face some of the appearances are misjudged: Juliette Binoche and Samantha Morton make small car-bound contributions almost meaningless quality: they could have been reshuffled into the movie in any order or cut entirely as "deleted scenes" fit only for the DVD extras without making any appreciable difference to the film Sarah Gadon has poise and presence as Packer's young wife whose family wealth may or may not save him from gambles he has made on the money market And all the time the limo rolls on and the movie rolls claustrophobically on The Manhattan streets unspool outside like a back projection whose unreality is a deliberate effect; a function of Packer's mind a faintly delirious symptom of someone whose wealth has grown to such extremes that it cannot be enjoyed or even understood in any conventional way Packer's jadedness has grown out of his need to spend more or to force himself into some new evolutionary stage of being These are the ideas being gestured at in Cronenberg's film but there is something just so inert in it and the implication that the financial crisis has somehow been partly willed out of ennui is naive This cosmopolis looks narrow and parochial that the crash had real causes and effects on real people's lives far away from the Manhattan stretch limo far from the exotic travails of this glamorous trader whose business is rather sketchily imagined Cosmopolis might be seen as a distinctively late Cronenberg film like his Spider (2002) or A Dangerous Method (2011) one that combines his characteristic interest in transgression and taboo with something more discursive and cerebral It's a movie about danger in which nothing is credibly at stake Rated R for some strong sexual content including graphic nudity A matinee idol for the age of HDTVs and "retina displays," Robert Pattinson has a face that seems to require a higher resolution — glossy and ghostly pale Pattinson plays a creature so immaculately inhuman that he literally sparkles in the sunlight but Pattinson has become a thoroughly modern looking at all times as airbrushed as his many Entertainment Weekly covers Pattinson plays a different sort of vampire in Cosmopolis -- a soulless Wall Street billionaire who inches across Manhattan in a white stretch limousine oblivious to the turmoil outside his hermetic coffin His casting remains the most compelling thing about David Cronenberg's cerebral adaptation of Don DeLillo's 2003 novel both because it's a dramatic left turn from the florid teen-friendly romance of the Twilight movies and because it so cunningly exploits his robotic beauty As an unfeeling cipher who operates at a stark disconnect from the world around him Pattinson embodies that infamous Mitt Romney line from the campaign trail: "Corporations are people Updating DeLillo's book to reflect the contemporary backdrop of Occupy Wall Street Cronenberg stages Cosmopolis as a series of self-contained dialogues that come together in a patchwork of moral and economic decay Over warnings of a presidential motorcade clogging up the already busy streets — and a "credible threat" to his own life — Eric Packer (Pattinson) decides to travel across the city for a haircut he doesn't need It's the kind of absurd indulgence that billionaires like Eric can afford but on this day he probably needs a break from the office He has made a big bet that the Chinese yuan will stop increasing in value Without always explaining how the other characters get in and out of the limo the film finds Eric visited by a steady stream of business consultants and available women (including the ravishing Juliette Binoche) as well as his equally wealthy and chilly wife (Sarah Gadon) and a doctor who examines him regularly for "an asymmetrical prostate." Eric philosophizes with his guests and gets physical with a few of them but beyond the threat to his life and the linked deterioration of his fortune and marriage there's nothing terribly dramatic about Cosmopolis Didi Fancher (Juliette Binoche) is just one of the many characters who conference with Eric Packer in his limo Cosmopolis is the first screenplay Cronenberg has written for one of his films since 1999's eXistenZ and while the earlier project is a wholly original repository of Cronenbergian themes about technology and body horror both films are perfect time-capsule movies Images like Pattinson's one-percenter obliviously discussing financials while "the 99 percent" are outside trashing his limo give the film a very specific time stamp that should resonate as much in the future as it does now Its value comes more from being a vivid emblem of the era than a dramatic powerhouse Cosmopolis is another of Cronenberg's semi-perverse exercises in adapting the unadaptable joining other such screen-resistant works as William S Eric's plotless encounters are compelling scene by scene but they can feel a bit enervating over the long haul because there's nothing driving the film forward — certainly not the limo until waking with a start in a finale that's as bracing and raw as the rest of the film is coolly distant but Cosmopolis goes deep in trying to understand what that person might be like and how far he'd be removed from the rest of the species Cronenberg isn't a flame-throwing agitator by nature but he taps into an undercurrent of paranoia unrest and class resentment that's sharply political and of the moment Become an NPR sponsor 2024 at 15:06 Swiss time: According to CNN Kamala Harris’s VP choice is down to Josh Shapiro the governor of the must-win swing state Pennsylvania] The Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will soon announce who will be her running mate. She should obviously chose a centrist with executive experience who can win over independents and moderate Republicans Since the governors Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom have publicly excluded to run of Kamala Harris’s list are the governors of Kentucky Andy Beshear (*1977) and of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro (*1973) Against the popular Andy Beshear speaks the fact that Kentucky is not a battleground state But he is a Democrat governing a deep-red state He can appeal to GOP voters both in Kentucky and in neighboring “rust belt” Against him speaks the lack of foreign policy experience His advantage is that he is the governor of Pennsylvania the Jewish connection could hurt Democrats in Michigan I support their right to do that and I’ll defend that it is not sure that the fact that Josh Shapiro is Jewish would hurt Democrats in swing states with an important Muslim population the Gaza war is not among the top priority of voters According to a national New York Times-Siena College poll taken in June 2024 likely voters care most about the economy (23%) and immigration (17%) while just 2% said the same about “The Middle East/Israel/Palestinians” The question is how many of the 2% are Muslims in swing states Vice President does not come with much power Shapiro and Beshear can both work across the aisle as they have shown as governors in their resprective states The governors Beshear and Shapiro bring this to the table too do not chose someone like Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona As a former astronaut and husband to Representative Gabby Giffords who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 he is popular and can work across the aisle which is crucial if you are just one heartbeat away from the presidency Luckily, with J.D. Vance, former president Trump chose a MAGA cheerleader with no appeal to moderate Republicans and independents as his vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s choice of a moderate centrist politician as running mate could hurt the Republican ticket in the swing states which will decide the 2024 presidential election Three more candidates are still in the VP race: Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota the Jewish billionaire of Ukrainian descent co-owner of the Hyatt hotel chain and Governor of Illinois Jay Robert aka J.B Pritzker as well as Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Josh Shapiro or another moderate with executive experience who can appeal to Republicans and independents in swing states Let’s hope Kamala Harris and her team have done their job carefully vetting the potential candidates Advertissements (accept cookies; we receive a commission Photograph showing Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, speaking to an audience from the Capitol steps in Frankfort, Kentucky, as part of Inauguration Day events marking the beginning of his second term in office on December 12, 2023. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Dale Greer. Photograph in the public domain. Article added on August 3, 2024 at 14:56 Swiss time. Last update added at 16.47. The price for a Washington state Discover Pass would rise by $15 later this year, under a bill headed for… The Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe is honored to welcome Robin Souvenir as Chief of the Shoalwater Bay Tribal Police Department. Pattinson and His The Dark Knight Rises CommentsMoney technology and movies.Director David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Don Delillo's novel Cosmopolis was released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 1 as a young Wall Street mogul traveling the streets of Manhattan during the course of one day as his personal empire