Word: vinci
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...counterfeiters you write about seem to have a certain reverence for the crime's long history. Art's mentor, a man nicknamed "Da Vinci," insisted on listening to Italian opera while making fake bills because the music itself was old. Is that romantic aura part of what drew Art into the crime? Well, I think initially what drew him in was the desire to make money. But it does take a certain sensibility to be a producer of counterfeit money; you have to have an artistic sense. You have to have a respect for the craft and a creative personality...
...history have raised questions about his dealings in the art world—Berenson was friendly with and respected by the foremost literati of his day such as Oscar Wilde and Henry James. His word was often the only authority needed to verify the authenticity of a Da Vinci or Titian, and consequently, Berenson was an indispensable friend to collectors and dealers across the world.But perhaps Bernard Berenson’s greatest legacy was the villa which he called his own, and which became very much a part of who Berenson was—Villa I Tatti...
...occasionally there's a film people see because they want to - because a friend told them it's fun, or they've already enjoyed it and want to return. This weekend, obligation was represented by Angels & Demons, a sequel of sorts to the 2006 superhit The Da Vinci Code, with the same star, Tom Hanks, and director, Ron Howard; and pure movie pleasure, by last week's winner, Star Trek, which has enjoyed enthusiastic reviews and word of mouth. Angels beat Trek, but not quite in the way a debuting blockbuster should steamroll a movie that opened the previous weekend...
...reasons for the relatively close finish - a new hit typically doubles the weekend take of the movie it's replaced - are easy to enumerate. The Da Vinci Code was a publishing phenomenon with the added balm of religious controversy; the movie version earned $77 million its first weekend. Angels, actually a prequel, didn't generate the kind of heat that spurs audiences to see it immediately. Also, Dan Brown, the author of both Da Vinci and Angels, is a powerhouse literary name but not yet a megamovie franchise; Star Trek, the latest in a series of film spin-offs that...
...match that haul. But Hanks' films usually don't open with a big bang; audiences discover them over time, and by the end, he has a Forrest Gump. At 52, Hanks is not the ideal age for a teen kid's movie icon; his one starring role since Da Vinci, in Charlie Wilson's War, brought in only $65 million. So Hanks should probably be happy with the huge salary he earned for making Angels, for the fact that it did manage to edge out the competition for the weekend's No. 1 slot...