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The Culture Enthusiast

High Strung

Movies 3:32 PM
I remember when I was a teenager and I put High Strung on the VCR  for my cousin to watch. I had seen it several times and this looked like a good option for a sleepover. After 4 minutes, she commented: “What a long scene!”. “Well, - said I - actually, this scene is pretty much the whole movie.” She protested and asked if we...

How to read more often

Books 2:42 PM
Source I admit it: I’m a big procrastinator and have to fight my laziness every single day. Sure, I love reading, but this demands time and concentration. During college I had to read often because of the classes and tests. However, I no longer have an obligation to read. It is much easier to neglect my reading and indulge in less demanding activities...

Shakespeare on canvas

Art 9:48 AM
I've just discovered Shakespeare Illustrated, a website that shows, among many things, several paintings portraying scenes from Shakespeare's plays. Some of my favorites are: William Quiller Orchardson, "If Music Be the Food of Love, Play On" (1890) from Twelfth Night William Blake, Lear and Cordelia in Prison (c. 1778-80) from King Lear Joseph Mallord William Turner, Queen Mab's Cave (1846) from Romeo and Juliet Oh, Turner... you can never really disapoint,...

The Passion of the Christ

Movies 6:45 AM
Source (I wasn't really going to post anything today, but then I thought "if there is one movie appropriate to a Good Friday, is this".) Back in 2004, when "The Passion of the Christ" was released, I tried to steer clear of the much warned explicit violence of the movie. Words like "graphic violence", "excruciating" and even "anti-semitic" kept appearing all over the...

Books I should have read

Books 2:14 PM
source The other day I found this little card inside a book. It was a list of classical books and it asked "How many have you read?" Having nothing better to do, I started checking the list. To my utter embarrassment, there were some books  I was suppossed to have read for college, but never got around to doing it. Oh... "Jane Eyre"....

The Pietà theme

Art 9:55 AM
In commemoration of Easter, I've compiled a list with some of my favorite "Pietàs". Probably the most famous of all is Michelangelo's sculpture, which is indeed highly impressive. Pietà - Michelangelo 1498 - 1499 Source But we can't forget that "Pietà" designates a common subject in Art which focuses on portraying Mary holding the dead Christ on her arms after the Crucificion. The Virgin mourning...