MOVIE: As the Oscars approach, take a look back at one of the past films to be granted a golden statue. Tonight Agatha Christie's classic mystery Murder on the Orient Express leaps from the page to the big screen when the 1974 movie is shown at Film Forum. Starring Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall and Anthony Perkins, the movie will help you hone your crime-solving skills (and possibly make you think twice about taking Amtrak).......

Islero: This new Spanish restaurant (pictured) takes its name from the bull that killed famous toreador “Manolete” in 1947, shocking the nation and resulting in three days of Franco-decreed mourning, during which only funeral dirges were permitted on the radio. Anyway, there’s no bull on the menu, but chef Jessica Floyd, previously of DB Bistro, does have an appetizer of crispy pork belly, olive oil poached apple, fino vinegar jus and candied pinollas. An entrée......

Did your commute feel more like Springfield than New York today? If you're out and about than you'll likely run into the Simpson-izing of Manhattan! Too bad we don't have a monorail here. Earlier this year upon The Simpsons Movie release, we saw 7-11s transform into Kwik-E-Marts, and today with the DVD hitting stores, we'll be getting a lot more than KrustyO's.Today's Simpsonfest is an all-day Fox affair in the heart of the city marking......

Last night television created a new internet superstar (though we're sure they won't make any money off this whole internet thing), when Homer Simpson paid homage to Brooklyn's own Noah Kalina. You can watch the original video here, and Homer's below. Kalina says this of the surprise Simpsonization: "A few months back a producer from the Simpsons contacted Carly [Comando] about using her song ‘everyday’ for an upcoming episode in which they were going to......

A look at some noteworthy television this week: The War: A Ken Burns Film (Sunday - Tuesday, 8:00 p. m., WNET 13; Sunday - Tuesday, 10:00 p. m., WLIW 21) The Ken Burns World War II documentary wraps up this week. Top Gear (Monday 8:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m., BBC America) We recently stumbled onto the insanely brilliant BBC 2 show which is in theory about cars, but is really about three crazy Brits going......

Giving Proper Credit to CBS 2 and Scott Weinberger Scott Weinberger's exclusive reports this week on security guards sleeping like Homer Simpson at the Peach Bottom Nuclear Plant just outside of Philadelphia were an eye opener, since a major catastrophic event there could have its effects felt over a hundred miles away. Plus the same company, Wackenhut, is also under contract to the federal government to provide security. Thanks to Weinberger's three month investigation and......

Emergency newswires are reporting that Port Authority cops requested that the Emergency Services Unit hustle over to Laguardia's main terminal this afternoon - and with a cage - because there was a monkey on the loose inside the airport. The animal apparently arrived at Gate B6 on Spirit Airlines' Flight 180. We have so many questions about this incident. Was the monkey traveling as a passenger? Was it a helper monkey like Homer Simpson's Mojo?......

Every child (and Homer Simpson) dreams of a land where everything is chocolate as far as the eye can see. Spending a day at the 9th Annual Chocolate Show is damn close to that land of chocolatey goodness. As soon as we walked through the door, we were hit with the scent of chocolate wafting through the air. Breathing it in, we worked our way through the crowds to sample the wares of some......

The blog Ironic Sans is going through different animated films or TV shows that show Manhattan and analyzing how they portray the city. It's really great, and so far, there are entries on Fritz the Cat, Antz, Sundae in New York, The Simpsons: The City of New York Vs. Homer Simpson, Tom & Jerry: Mouse in Manhattan, Family Guy, and the Rhapsody in Blue segment in Fantasia 2000. Ironic Sans' David says he has a......

Sometimes we get a kick out of strange criminal activities. Especially when they remind us of pop culture references that we hadn't thought of for a while. For instance, when we got to A Sugar-Plumb Stupid Theft in today's Post the first thing, and for a few moments only thing, that came to our mind was the immortal words of Homer Simpson: "In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then......

Well, the Post has ruined butter knives for us. There is a story about a career criminal hiding a knife in his buttocks. Or at least that's what the authorities think. George Konstantides apparently pulled out a knife to threaten correction officers (with the typical "If you come near me, I'll cut you" spoken threat), but then hid it in his buttocks. The Post says officers used the "BOSS" Body Orifice Scanning System that can......

Besides fumbling with the newspaper, the subway game Gothamist plays is "Do we really need to hold onto the bar/pole to remain steady?" Sometimes, we're able to lean against the doors (yes, the MTA doesn't advise this, but we're skilled at it). Or sometimes we'll work on our balance and just plant our legs firmly on the ground and will ourselves not to topple into others. But most of the time, Gothamist grabs onto the......

If you think New York City is too crowded, Gothamist has some bad news for you. The Census Bureau has revised our fair city's population, increasing it by 29,393 people. The new figure stands at 8,115,135, but the good news is that city coffers should gain $15 million over the next five years because of the increase. Okay, that's only $510 per person, but that's better than losing people like DC did, no? The revised......

NY State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer managed to raise about $3 million at a fundraiser lunch in Manhattan, a few days after announcing he was going to run for Governor in 2006. One of Spitzer's platforms will be his attempts to reform Albany, but the NY Times notes that he's trying to seem more warm and fuzzy, too.He tried to address both issues in his speech, offering, for example, a jaundiced view of New York's......

Of all of the reports about the stalled contract negotiations between Fox and the vocal talent of The Simpsons and current work stoppage, you have to hand it to Variety. Their article ended on this pearl of wisdon: Homer Simpson, in 1995 episode "The PTA Disbands," gave Lisa this piece of advice on work stoppages: "If you don't like your job, you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed.......

Gothamist is so watching Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels tonight. Not just because the women playing Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith look and sound exactly like them (the blond, not so much in either department), but because Wallace Langham, a.k.a. Phil from The Larry Sanders Show, and Dan Castellaneta, a.k.a. Homer Simpson, have prominent roles, underneath the wigs and 70s leisure suits. Wallace plays talent manager Jay Bernstein while Dan......

If you're not going to see The Passion of the Christ, at least read Times' A.O. Scott's review of it, because Scott begins by referring to the Simpsons episode with Mel Gibson: There is a prophetic episode of "The Simpsons" in which the celebrity guest star Mel Gibson, directing and starring in a remake of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," enlists the help of Homer Simpson, who represents the public taste (or lack of it).......

KFC probably never thought the day would come when they would miss the "hip" cartoon Colonel Sanders (who rapped!), but now that they had to pull their ads touting the relative "health benefits" of eating fried chicken, you'd have to wonder how their ad agency managed to sell that concept to them (a case of either a very slick ad person or a very stupid client). The Center for Science in Public Interest sent the......

The FOX Network has renewed The Simpsons until 2005, which will make it the longest-runing sitcom in TV History. It's also time to give props to the wacky Hollywood Foreign Press Association for nominating The Simpsons and recognizing its brilliance as a Best Comedy contender, rather than what the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (aka the people behing the Emmys) do, which is put The Simpsons in the animated cartoon category.......