分类：文艺

NEW FILM
电影新作

The whipcracker is back
策马扬鞭，英雄归来
http://www.ecocn.org/
May 22nd 2008
From The Economist print edition
http://www.ecocn.org/
Indiana Jones returns with a steely secret weapon
携带冷酷铁血的“秘密武器”，印第安纳·琼斯系列回归银幕
http://www.ecocn.org/
AP/美联社

The real star 真正的明星
http://www.ecocn.org/
HARRISON FORD may be 65, but he still wields a prehensile bullwhip with aplomb and his punches sound as though they might fell an elephant.
年近六十五岁的哈里森·福特，依旧沉着挥舞着他那收放自如的长鞭，声声鞭鸣置地有声,力量十足仿佛可以将大象击倒在地.
继续阅读“[2008.05.22] The whipcracker is back 策马扬鞭，英雄归来”

Computer animation
电脑动画

Tall tales
离奇故事

May 22nd 2008
From The Economist print edition

The rollercoaster, rags-to-riches story of a remarkable animation studio
非同凡响的动画工作室是如何白手起家，平步青云的。

Breaking the mould
打破陈规

PIXAR’S characters—whether the heroic toys of “Toy Story”, the father and son fish of “Finding Nemo”, the insects in “A Bug’s Life” or the rat-chef of “Ratatouille”—are full of yearning; for a child to play with, a lost family member, or to become something that seems far out of reach. The small company that imagined them is just the same. Right from the beginning, Pixar, officially a computer-hardware business, secretly dreamed of a more creative life making feature films.
从《玩具总动员》中神勇的玩具 兵，到《海底总动员》里的父子鱼；从《虫虫总动员》中的小昆虫，到《美食总动员》里的老鼠大厨，皮克斯创造出的角色总是对未来满怀期待：期待着能够一起玩 耍的小伙伴，期待着失去的亲人重新团聚，期待着拥有看似无法企及的身份。这其实也是这家小公司对自身的期许。成立伊始的皮克斯公司的正式业务是电脑硬件， 然而却暗暗怀着制做长篇电影的梦想。
继续阅读“[2008.05.22] Tall tales 离奇故事”

Global warming
全球变暖
A lot of hot air
热浪滚滚，夸夸其谈

May 15th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Books about climate change are often flawed—some more so than others
有关气候变化的书时常让人不敢恭维——浮华之作中更见浮华者

ONE of the most troubling aspects of climate change is the feedback loop. As the world warms, so frozen earth begins to melt, which releases greenhouse gases, which warms the world up further. Something similar seems to be happening with the literature of climate change. As people write books on global warming, so they generate interest in the subject, which increases demand, which leads to the writing of even more books. Both these cycles result in a lot of hot air.
（应对）气候变化最棘手 的一点就是它的反馈循环（feedback loop）：随着全球变暖，冰冻的大地开始融化，所释放出来的温室效应气体又进一步加剧全球变暖。某种“类反馈循环”似乎也发生在气候变化文献的写作上 ———人们写书探讨全球变暖，于是激发了公众对此类问题的兴趣，而这又扩大了书市需求，结果就是大家一起炒冷饭，越来越多的重复建设由此而起。这边厢热浪 滚滚，那边厢夸夸其谈，循环效应绵延不绝。 继续阅读“[2008.05.17] A lot of hot air 热浪滚滚，夸夸其谈”

Richard Nixon
理查德·尼克松
The fuel of power
权力助燃剂

May 8th 2008
From The Economist print edition

A fascinating biography argues that Americans supported Richard Nixon because of his anger and resentment, not despite it
一部卓越的传记表明，美国人并不是容忍了尼克松的愤怒与怨恨，相反，正是这种愤怒与怨恨为他赢得了美国人的支持

IS THERE really room for another book on Richard Nixon? In the past two years alone there has been a doorstop of a biography by Conrad Black, a blow-by-blow account of Nixon’s visit to China by Margaret MacMillan and a joint portrait of Nixon and Henry Kissinger by Robert Dallek. And those are only the notable ones.
是否真的还有必要再来一本尼克松传？仅仅过去的两年内，已经有了那么多关于他的作品：康拉德·布莱克所写的仰止之作；玛格丽特·麦克米伦关于尼克松的中国之行那种的翔实记录；罗伯特·达莱克则生动地刻画了尼克松与基辛格的肖像……这还仅仅是作品中最为著名的那些，无名之作更数不胜数。

继续阅读“[2008.05.10] The fuel of power 权力助燃剂”

Venetian art
威尼斯艺术

The line of beauty
一线风情
Jul 27th 2006
From The Economist print edition

Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, and the Renaissance of Venetian Painting
贝里尼，乔尔乔内，提香及文艺复兴时代威尼斯绘画
By David Alan Brown

Yale University Press; 336 pages; $65 and ￡40

WHO was the first modern artist? How about Giorgione? A far-fetched notion, perhaps, but this Renaissance Venetian revolutionised painting—and his work, focusing on secular subjects such as nudes, landscapes and female beauty, was dubbed “modern” by the leading art commentator of the day, Vasari.
谁是第一个现代艺术家？是乔尔乔内？或许有些牵强，但这个文艺复兴时代的威尼斯人给绘画带来革命，他的画作关注世俗题材比如人体，风景和女性美，这些都被当时的评论家瓦萨里授予“现代”的称号。

继续阅读“[2006.07.27] Venetian art”