Results tagged “billmurray”

It was around 3:30 a.m. on Halloween when Bill Murray surfaced at Dave Summers's loft party in East Williamsburg. The 58-year-old Garfield star—who had never met the 29-year-old Summers—had been party-hopping with indie darlings MGMT after their show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, and wound up staying at the loft until one sanctimonious hipster finally told him, "I think you're making bad life choices." Murray's wife of 11 years divorced him last May, and Page Six Magazine has strung together a number of Bill Murray sightings at random parties and lame bars in NYC, where he sometimes talks to young women!

Every year, we look forward to Groundhog Day for the appearances of Punxsutawney Phil, Staten Island Chuck, and the inevitable multiple screenings of the movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray. But we also love Groundhog Day because it means that WNBC newswoman Sue Simmons is prodded into doing her impression of a groundhog. We love a beautiful woman not afraid to make herself look ridiculous--like when she fell off her chair and recovered somewhat gracefully. The video was recorded yesterday, as Sue has today--Groundhog Day--off from work.

Ghostbusters has been in the form of a videogame ever since it hit the big screen in 1984, and since then it's been through many versions and platforms. Seems it has taken nearly 24 years to perfect it though, as it's just been announced the movie will haunt us til the end up time with a series of top-notch videogames to come.First title in what the publisher hopes will be a series of Ghostbusters games...

COMEDY: This weekend marks the 9th Annual Del Close Marathon. Del Close, if you don't know by now, "was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years influencing Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley and the Upright Citizens Brigade to name a few." The annual weekend began after Del's passing in 1999.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a partial roof collapse on Union St. in Brooklyn, a person under a train at Coney Island and Brighton Beach Aves. in Brooklyn, and a slashing at Dyckman St. and Broadway in Manhattan.
• Artie Fufkin speaks! Paul Schaffer, who was the musical director of the Blues Brothers, keyboardist for Bill Murray's lounge singer character on SNL, and the bandleader for David Letterman's "The World's Most Dangerous Band" since 1982, is publishing his memoirs. Yeah!
• A local moving company is converting a number of its trucks from diesel to biodiesel fuel in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
• The producer of a Broadway show called "My First Time" is employing a mindreader to determine who gets free tickets to the show. Recipients must affirm via a psychic they are virgins.
• A 17-year-old was shot several times in the head as he lay in bed in the middle of the afternoon while visiting relatives in the Bronx.
• Juana Yolfo is a Spanish-speaking 106-year-old woman who was born in Puerto Rico before moving to Brooklyn and then settling in the Lower East Side more than 40 years ago. She's celebrating her birthday this week after more than 50 years as a NYC resident.
• Al Sharpton as Apollo Creed? The reverend is getting in shape to pummel Giuliani if there's any hope the latter's electoral prospects brighten.
• Carroll Gardens parents are in a huff about youthful neighborhood ruffians, who are disrespectul to adults and unmindful of younger children as they engage in shenanigans and otherwise behave like hooligans.

, don't subject us to this.

There hasn't been much going on to mark the occassion, but The Daily News put together a Top 10 list of their favorite Letterman moments over the years. Their picks include Madonna's 1994 appearance in which she "dropped 13 F-bombs", Britney breaking the news she was pregnant with a 2nd child just last year and of course Drew Barrymore who came on the show and flashed Letterman in 1995.

COMEDY: The Del Close Marathon is happening this weekend, the full schedule is here.

Breakups are hard, but when animals are involved, fuhgeddaboutit. The Post reports that two good friends and roommates are now in the middle of a $4 million squabble that involves "$1 million in monetary damages and $3 million in punitive damages" - and the ownership of a West Highland terrier named Ollie Pablo. After two years of sharing a Tribeca apartment, Alexis Carroll and Michelle Clarity, both 26, went from being BFF to BEFN (Best Enemies For Now), with Carroll had her lawyer filed a "notice in court" against Clarity, charging "extortion, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and breach of contract" and that the dog be returned to her. Ack! Clarity tells the Post the "funny" thing is that Ollie isn't even a purebreed, but won't say where the dog is while Carroll's lawyer says the dog "certainly doesn't belong to" Clarity. The funny thing to Gothamist is how the Post tries to describe the ex-roomies:

Clarity, who graduated from Pace University in 2002 with a degree in communications, is known in the neighborhood as a quiet, hardworking person. Her Myspace.com profile lists her hero as Rush Limbaugh.

Continue reading "Friendship Goes to the Dogs"

Jim Jarmusch’s latest, Broken Flowers, has been described as his most commercial project yet -- and that just makes the so-indie-he-just-can’t-indulge-the-masses director “cringe,” as reported by Newsday. “I almost feel like if too many people like the film, it might freak me out. I might think I did something wrong,” said Jarmusch. “I don't think too many people will like it because it's too open-ended, it doesn't resolve, there's no pyrotechnics, it's very slow moving...I'm probably safe." So far, critics and moviegoers seem to enjoy the film’s "fairly accessible" storyline and we just might have to throw Jarmusch a full blown pity-party.

A Talk With Wes Anderson

Gothamist has loved Wes Anderson and his films even since we saw Dignan's Five Year Plan in Bottle Rocket, so we're happy to announce that Touchstone Films has given us twenty-five tickets to a screening of Wes Anderson's new film, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, starring Bill Murray. And we're holding a contest to give them away!!

Wendy Mitchell, indieWIRE

Listen to Elvis Mitchell's show on KCRW, The Treatment, via Real Player. And low culture on Elvis Mitchell's geek factor.

The Late Show's website Big Show Highlight is also of Murray discussing Lost in Translation back in February; he also got a "Dave" tattoo during the show.

Also, doesn't it feel like Barbara Walters is scraping the bottom of the barrel with this year's special? Matt LeBlanc, Diane Keaton, Billy Crystal? Gothamist can read about Matt, who is the LEAST controversial of all Friends with Lisa Kudrow (where's the Percoset addiction? Pregnancy woes? Marriage to Brad Pitt?), in People and US and In Touch. Diane Keaton, she's cool, but we knows she's walks to the beat of her own drummer with wacky fashion sense. And Billy Crystal...wouldn't it have been more apropos to interview him while he was pimping 61*?

The Post comes up with a few ideas for Oscar drinking games during the ceremony:

One of the best movie courtroom scenes in recent memory: Denise Richards freaking out at Neve Campbell, with Bill Murray as defense attorney, in Wild Things.

Our commenters make it into the Times! In Motoko Rich's article about cliches about Japan and the Japanese coming from Hollywood films, one of Gothamist's posts about Lost in Translation becomes a rich resource of quotes. Debate broke out over whether or not the film is racist or on the nose. There is a murky area between what would be acceptable if it came from an American/white director versus a Japanese/Asian director (the latter possibly having more leeway for satire, though an eagle eye would be afixed on accuracy), as well as the film being critically well received (like Lost in Translation) or a film not as worried about ideas (Rising Sun, Rush Hour, anyone?); for our money, many Japanese men of a certain age are shorter than Bill Murray, so that sight gag worked. Some of our regular posters quoted, but not named, are Frankenstein (whose quotes are even kept in the article) and RIO. So keep your comments coming, dear readers – the Times needs its quotes!

At this point, Gothamist will speculate about the Best Picture Oscar nominations. We expect to see "Seabiscuit" to fall out; technically excellent but less than full blooded. "Mystic River" might be too dark, but Clint is Hollywood royalty. The 8 nominations gives "Cold Mountain" some momentum, but if audiences don't respond, it's unlikely that it will be nominated for as many. It seems a given that "Lord of the Rings" will be the top nomination getter, as it will be nominated for pretty much every single technical category. So for Best Picture come Oscar time, we expect to see "Lord of the Rings," "Master and Commander," most likely "Cold Mountain," probably "Mystic River," and fifth slot is a wild card: "Lost in Translation" is a possibility (could be too precious for some), as is "Finding Nemo" even though it's a cartoon (it's one of the few consensus good films of the year). Gothamist will continue to look at different categories leading up to the Globes and Oscars. Stay tuned.

Many wonder what is the use of following these critics' awards, since they are only directionally useful in wondering who will win the Oscars, an imperfect process also. Gothamist ventures to say that when things move us, we want to talk about it, think about it, tell others about it. Movies are a reflection of who we are and become calling cards of ideas and dreams to other places, whether it's to a rural farm town in Nebraska or an emerging metropolis like Shanghai. Sure, there's an amount of unspeakable crap, but it's also nice to see that some exceptional work is being recognized.

Plus our super scientific rules for what not to do when you blog. And the week in full.

Buy Groundhog Day on DVD.

The best thing about Virginia Heffernan's New Yorker profile of Tina Fey, besides feeding our Tina-Fey-starved minds, is the breakdown of the different comedy styles of SNL performers and writers:

- Fametracker's Fame Audit of William James Murray: We second their thought, "Anyone who will go into detail, on the record, about how much he loathes Chevy Chase is someone whose friend we would like to be."

One of the most hilarious scenes in Lost in Translation (Gothamist's favorite movie this year, thus far) is when Bill Murray's character, Bob Harris, gets direction from a Japanese hipster director. The director rattles off instructions in Japanese for a while, only for it to be translated back to Bob as "With more intensity." The Times ends speculation from all non-Japanese-comprehending folks by giving transcription of the exchange; Gothamist loved that the director was saying, "As if you are Bogie in 'Casablanca,' saying, 'Cheers to you guys,' Suntory time!" We would have killed to see Bill Murray Bogie it up.

Gothamist's pick for any kind of moviegoing this weekend is by far, Lost in Translation, the best movie we've seen in a very long time. We were struck by it when we first saw it, and may have to see it again soon as it opens today. It has a brilliant performance from Bill Murray, who is being talked up for an Oscar nod at the very least (let's hope, unlike when he was last mentioned in the same breath as Oscar during Rushmore, the Academy actually nominates him).

Cate Blanchett and Willem Dafoe are joining the cast of Wes Anderson's next movie, The Life Aquatic. Bill Murray stars as an oceanographer, who will be the center of the film, as he and his crew go on "a series of wild deep-sea adventures, including the search for a shark" (Hollywood Reporter). The rest of the cast includes Anjelica Huston, Owen Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Stormare, and Gothamist's favorite Anderson regular, Kumar Pallana ("Man, I blew it. I blew it, man.").

- Gothamist's next food field trip

Lost in Translation, the upcoming film directed by Sofia Coppola, might be one of the loveliest movies you see this year - it certainly is for Gothamist. Also written by Coppola, Lost in Translation is the Tokyo story of the new friendship between two Americans; Bill Murray plays an American movie star shilling for Japanese products and Scarlett Johanssen is the lonely young wife who tagged along on her photographer husband's business trip. A valentine to frenetic modern Tokyo (cinematographer Lance Acord manages to make the city shimmer at some moments, dull at others, but always interesting), Lost also has a wonderful Bill Murray performance that is at times physically hilarious and at others very tender. Imagine Herman Blume less beleagured and more joyful, karaokeing to Elvis Costello. The film just unfolds before you, inviting you to get to know the characters better and then you are practically participating in their lives. There is also a fabulous soundtrack (Air, My Bloody Valentine).