Aurelia Butler

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    ‘Eno’ Review: Creativity, 52 Billion Billion Ways

    A new documentary about the groundbreaking artist Brian Eno breaks its own ground, too.The key to “Eno” comes near the beginning of the film — at least, the beginning of the first version I saw. The musician Brian Eno, the documentary’s subject, notes that the fun of the kind of art he makes is that it’s a two-way street. “The audience’s brain does the cooking and keeps seeing relationships,” he says.Most movies are made up of juxtapositions of scenes, carefully selected and designed by the editor. But “Eno,” directed by Gary Hustwit, turns that convention on its head. Writ large, it’s a meditation on creativity. But every version of the movie you see is different, generated by a set of rules that dictate some things about the film, while leaving others to chance. (I’ve seen it twice, and maybe half the same material appeared across both films.)Eno, one of the most innovative and celebrated musicians and producers of his generation, has fiddled with randomness in his musical practice for decades, often propelled along by new technologies. He agreed to participate in “Eno” only if it, too, could be an example of what he and others have long called generative art.The word “generative” has become associated with artificial intelligence, but that’s not what’s going on with “Eno.” Instead, the film runs on a code-based decision tree that forks every so often in a new path, created for software named Brain One (an anagram for Brian Eno). Brain One, programmed by the artist Brendan Dawes, generates a new version of the film on the fly every time the algorithm is run. Dawes’s system selects from a database of 30 hours of new interviews with Eno and 500 hours of film from his personal archive and, following a system of rules set down by the filmmakers with code, creating a new film. According to the filmmakers, there are 52 quintillion (that is, 52 billion billion) possible combinations, which means the chances of Brain One generating two exact copies of “Eno” are so small as to be functionally zero.This method is unusual, even unique, among feature-length films. Movies are linear media, designed to begin at the beginning and proceed in an orderly, predictable fashion until the end. The same footage appears in the same order every time you watch.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Mary Martin, Who Gave Many Music Stars Their Start, Dies at 85

    Her loyalty to artists and her eye for talent made her a force in a male-dominated business. Among her accomplishments: introducing Bob Dylan to the Band.Mary Martin, a Grammy-winning talent scout, manager and record executive who helped start the careers of a long list of future legends, including Leonard Cohen, Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell — and who introduced Bob Dylan to the Band — died on July 4 in Nashville. She was 85.Mikayla Lewis, a documentary filmmaker and close friend, said she died in a hospice from complications of cancer.Among the musicians whose work exists somewhere between rock, country, folk and Americana, Ms. Martin was a legend in her own right, widely respected for her fierce loyalty to artists and her keen eye for budding talent.“She saw the bumpkin in me, and she also saw something that was going to develop,” Mr. Crowell said in an interview. “She was one of those people who just said, ‘Shut up and let me show you something of the world that you may not have seen.’”Ms. Martin and Rodney Crowell in a scene from “Mary Martin: Music Maven,” a forthcoming documentary. Ms. Martin helped Mr. Crowell get his start. “She saw the bumpkin in me,” he said, “and she also saw something that was gonna develop.”Mikayla Lewis/ “Mary Martin: Music Maven”A chain smoker with a keen love of football, she seemed to know everyone, and she had a knack for being in the right place at the right time.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Joe Bonsall, Tenor Voice of the Oak Ridge Boys, Dies at 76

    His vocals on songs like “Elvira” were a key to the evolution of the group, originally a Southern gospel quartet, into perennial country hitmakers.Joe Bonsall, who for more than 50 years was the tenor voice of the Oak Ridge Boys, one of the most popular and enduring vocal groups in the history of country music, died on Tuesday at his home in Hendersonville, Tenn. He was 76.His publicist, Jeremy Westby, said the cause was complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the neuromuscular disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. (Mr. Bonsall issued a statement in January saying that he was retiring from touring with the Oak Ridge Boys but would remain a member of the group.)Originally a Southern gospel quartet, the Oak Ridge Boys had 17 Billboard No. 1 country singles, as well as 17 more that made the country Top 10, after reinventing themselves as a country act in the early 1970s. The group, which has sold more than 41 million records worldwide, was formed in Oak Ridge, Tenn., in the early 1940s, and disbanded and reformed twice before its lineup stabilized with Mr. Bonsall’s arrival in 1973.“Elvira” (1981) and “Bobbie Sue” (1982), two of the group’s best-known No. 1 hits, featured Mr. Bonsall on lead vocals in place of the regular lead singer, Duane Allen. William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban, who sang baritone and bass, rounded out the four-part harmony quartet during its heyday in the 1970s and ’80s.The Oak Ridge Boys in 1982 with the Grammy Award they won for “Elvira,” one of their 17 songs to reach No. 1 on the Billboard country chart. From left: Mr. Bonsall, Duane Allen, William Lee Golden and Richard Sterban.Reed Saxon/Associated PressAmong the group’s other No. 1 hits were “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” (1979), an early Rodney Crowell composition, and “American Made” (1983), a wry topical number that showcased Mr. Bonsall’s clean, resounding tenor. (“American Made” was later used in a television commercial for Miller Beer.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Carol Bongiovi, Jon Bon Jovi’s Mother, Dies at 83

    Nicknamed Mom Jovi, she founded the Jon Bon Jovi fan club, and earlier was a Marine and a Playboy bunny.Carol Bongiovi, the mother of the pop star Jon Bon Jovi, died at a hospital in Long Branch, N.J., on July 9. She was 83.Her family confirmed the death in a statement on Wednesday.Ms. Bongiovi, a former Playboy bunny and U.S. Marine, according to her family, was also the founder of her son’s fan club, which she ran from a flower shop in suburban New Jersey, and came to be known to some fans as Mom Jovi.“Our mother was a force to be reckoned with,” Bon Jovi said in the statement. “Her spirit and can-do attitude shaped this family.”Carol A. Sharkey was born on July 12, 1940, in Erie, Pa. In 1959, she joined the U.S. Marine Corps, where she met her future husband, John Bongiovi Sr.After they were discharged from the military, the couple married and raised three sons in Sayreville, N.J., starting with Jon, born in 1962.Ms. Bongiovi worked as a bunny at the Playboy Club in New York City when Jon was growing up, the singer told Larry King in 2006.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Kevin Costner’s Next ‘Horizon’ Film Release Is Canceled

    The film was supposed to hit theaters on Aug. 16, but that plan was scrapped after the first chapter of the Western saga disappointed at the box office.Kevin Costner’s audacious experiment seems to have failed.Mr. Costner tried something rare this summer, releasing the first chapter of his western saga “Horizon” — which he directed, starred in, co-wrote and partly financed — in theaters across the country on June 28. The plan was for the second chapter in the sprawling story to be released six weeks later.But thanks to paltry box office returns, that plan has been scuttled. On Wednesday, New Line Cinema, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., said it was canceling the theatrical release of “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2,” which was scheduled to debut in theaters on Aug. 16.The first chapter, which cost $100 million, made $11 million in its opening weekend and has generated just $22.6 million over all. Mr. Costner planned for the saga, about the settling of the West after the Civil War, to consist of four chapters, and tickets to the first two chapters were made available at the same time. Those who bought tickets to the second “Horizon” film would be able to receive a refund.“Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1” will now be available via premium video on demand on Tuesday, “in order to give audiences a greater opportunity to discover the first installment of ‘Horizon’ over the coming weeks,” a New Line spokesman said in a statement. It will also be available on Max, the streaming service from Warner Bros. Discovery, though no date has been set for that. It is not clear when or how the second chapter will be released.Mr. Costner, who invested $38 million of his own money in the project and left his lead role in the hit television show “Yellowstone” because of scheduling conflicts over “Horizon,” declined to comment. He began filming the third chapter in May.“Kevin made this film for people who love movies and who wanted to go on a journey,” Territory Pictures, Mr. Costner’s production company, said in a statement. “The support that we have received from film fans, and the theater owners, as they experience the first chapter of this saga only serves to reinforce our belief in them and the films that we have made, and we thank them for coming on board for the ride. We welcome the opportunity for that window to be expanded, as we know it will only serve to enhance the experience of seeing ‘Horizon 2.’” More

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    Megan Moroney Sings a Message About Messy 20-Something Life: It’s OK.

    The rising country star writes about disastrous love and learning big lessons with charm, wit and solid hooks. Her new LP, “Am I Okay?,” is due Friday.The budding country star Megan Moroney was 36 stories above Times Square last month, waiting to meet some of her biggest fans, who were among the first invited to hear “Am I Okay?,” her eagerly anticipated second album.As she prepared to greet her guests in the glass aviary atop the Hard Rock Hotel, Moroney admitted she’d culled them via social media, group chats and meet and greets. “They don’t know I stalk them,” she said after slipping into a cobalt mini dress from Zara and a pair of metallic Balmain stiletto boots. Her hair teased into a butter-blond cloud, she joked, “It’s 20 pounds of hair and 10 pounds of makeup.” It’s a look her fans recreate to varying degrees, but they’re also drawn to the way Moroney embraces the moments most people airbrush out of their Instagram-perfect lives.One example is the closer of “Am I Okay?,” which is due on Friday: the spare, simple “Hell of a Show.” It’s just a verse and a chorus, a raw artist singing over an acoustic guitar about being jerked around by a self-absorbed boyfriend, pulling it together to slay a crowd of people who “love me better than you could’ve,” but still crying herself to sleep.It’s hard to believe there’s anyone who isn’t clamoring for the attention of this 26-year-old rising songwriter. Moroney was the leading female nominee at the Academy of Country Music Awards this spring, competing for top prizes alongside Kacey Musgraves and Lainey Wilson. Her rocket-ship trajectory began with “Tennessee Orange” in 2022, a Romeo and Juliet ballad for fans of SEC football, which earned her 18 record company offers and nominations for both the A.C.M.s’ and the Country Music Association Awards’ song of the year. (She ultimately signed with Sony’s Nashville and Columbia’s New York divisions.)Four years ago, when Moroney released her first EP, she seemed like just another attractive Nashville hopeful in a city overstocked with them. At least on paper. But she had ideas about how to become a star, and they started with her songwriting. Wry, vulnerable and a real reflection of how 20-somethings drink and wreck their hearts, Moroney’s songs are authentic in a way the Music Row system can rarely access.Moroney onstage during the CMA Fest in June.Amy Harris/Invision, via Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    How ‘Kill’ Slices Bollywood Open

    Five questions for the director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat about his Indian action film, which takes an ultraviolent step away from Bollywood conventions.The writer-director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat bristles whenever someone labels his claustrophobic action film “Kill” as Bollywood. In “Kill” (in theaters), the characters rarely break out in song and there are few colorful sets — just the mundane cars of a train on which the bulk of the movie takes place.According to Bhat, in fact, “Kill” was inspired by a real-life train robbery he experienced in 1995. That memory is respun here into a story involving a lean commando named Amrit (Lakshya), who is working to save his girlfriend, Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), from a team of working-class bandits led by the spiteful Fani (Raghav Juyal). Amrit’s gory, swinging, kicking barrage through tight train corridors — propelled by a muscular exterior yet an emotional vulnerability — is an action extravaganza accomplished through sharp technical execution.In a Zoom interview, Bhat spoke about crafting fight sequences in tight spaces and his love of James Cameron’s “Aliens.” Below are edited excerpts from the conversation.How did you shape the fighting styles here?It comes from the story itself. Amrit is highly trained in commando warfare, which is a kind of martial arts. They’re fighting these goons, who are robbers, who do not have any kind of training. They’re street fighters. And we trained like that. We purposely made sure that it looks very raw and visceral, and it looks uncoordinated because the film is very emotional. I wanted every action sequence to be preceded by some kind of emotional upheaval or turmoil. It could not be one set piece of action after the other. It’s being driven by the characters and their relationships, which are being tested throughout this journey.Bhat, center, standing, with the actors Raghav Juyal, left, and Mohit Tripathi, right, on the set of “Kill.”Ketan MehtaWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    The Key Players in Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ Shooting Manslaughter Trial

    ‎ The actor Alec Baldwin was filming the movie “Rust” in New Mexico in 2021 when the gun that he was rehearsing with, which was not supposed to contain live ammunition, went off, firing a bullet that killed the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for weapons and ammunition on the set, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Now Mr. Baldwin is going on trial for involuntary manslaughter; he has pleaded not guilty. Opening arguments begin on Wednesday. Here are some key players.The ‘Rust’ ProductionAlec BaldwinRoss D. Franklin/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesActor and producerMr. Baldwin, who was playing a grizzled outlaw in “Rust,” has vehemently denied responsibility in the fatal shooting on Oct. 21, 2021, saying that he was told that the old-fashioned revolver he was handed on the set that day was “cold,” meaning that it was not loaded with live ammunition, and adding that it was unthinkable that any live rounds would be on the set. Mr. Baldwin has also said he did not pull the trigger when the gun discharged, but had merely pulled the hammer back and let it go; prosecutors have said that forensic examinations have suggested that he must have pulled the trigger.Hannah Gutierrez-ReedPool photo by Luis Sanchez, via Saturno/EPA, via ShutterstockArmorerAs the armorer, Ms. Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for weapons and ammunition on the “Rust” set; even though there was not supposed to be any live ammunition on the set, she loaded a live round into the revolver that day and failed to catch it when she checked the weapon. She stood trial this year, and a jury convicted her of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors argued that she had brought the live rounds onto the set, which she denied. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison — the same maximum sentence that Mr. Baldwin would face if he is convicted. She is appealing the conviction.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More