If more NYU kids were like John Waters, the university’s downtown super-saturation would at least be a bit more colorful. In a recent interview with Details, Waters took a nostalgia trip back to his NYU days, when he, uh, did a lot of tripping: Back then you weren’t very interested in school. Who lasted at NYU longer, you or Woody Allen? I bet Woody went longer, because I think I was there from September to......

Playwright David Mamet (pictured) will be maintaining a blog to promote his new Broadway play, November, which stars Nathan Lane as contemporary American president Charles Smith and Laurie Metcalf as his lesbian speech writer. What’s interesting, perhaps, is that Mamet will be writing the blog – which he says he’ll update for the duration of the open-ended run – as President Smith. Sample entry from Monday:CONGRESSIONAL PAGE SEX SCANDALS It seems to me that, at......

Sunshine (directed by Danny Boyle) Sweltering in the humidity today it's hard to imagine being so upset about the sun going out, but that's the horrific premise in Danny Boyle's excellent new sci-fi fantasy Sunshine, which is out this weekend. The movie is set 50 or so years into the future, as the crew of the Icarus II are about to move outside of communication range on their voyage to the sun. The ship is......

Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis (directed by Mary Jordan): It's not such an uncommon story—a misunderstood, sensitive, artistic boy moves from the sticks to Manhattan seeking creative and sexual freedom. However, Mary Jordan's documentary, Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis, paints Jack Smith, the avant-garde photographer, filmmaker, actor and performance artist as hardly a common person. Influential on such filmmakers as Federico Fellini, John Waters and Andy Warhol, Smith's most notorious movie......

Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the Gothamist network wanted to express would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate. SFist saw their beloved mayor enter rehab, and they loved......

It’s been a couple of year since Baltimore auteur John Waters has brought a new movie to the silver screen but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been as busy as ever. Whether it’s guest starring on TV shows or curating art exhibits, Waters puts his distinctive, off kilter imprint on anything he’s involved in, even the lowly mix tape. After adding oddity to your holiday soundtrack with his Christmas CD A John Waters Christmas, Waters......

THEATER: It’s Friday night, and what better way to cut loose than an evening of interactive theater – set in plague-ravaged New York City! In All Fall Down, a savage battle rages for the dwindling supplies of the vaccine, but soon a question arises: "Is the cure worse than the disease?" Theatre Recrudescence vows to explore our “post 9/11 hysteria with elements of carnival, clowning and rock and roll.” (All Fall Down is in previews,......

Aside from the stations where you must use an elevator to get the trains, it always seems like most of the subway station elevators Gothamist sees are out of order. And the AP had an enlightening article about the sorry state of subway elevators when a reporter accompanied a Disabled Riders Association coordinator underground. When Michael Harris powered his motorized wheelchair off the No. 5 subway train in Brooklyn last week, he encountered a......

Ooh, New York's Look Book captures John Waters on the subway!Do you always ride the subway? People always ask me what I’m doing on the subway, but I love it! Sometimes I like to ride in the front car and look out the window at the rats. I’m just glad I’m not crippled, because I hate the bus. Every block takes a hundred hours.Word! We'd love for his next movie to involve the subway system......

Comedian Dane Cook has a massive following, from his huge record sales to his zillions of MySpace friends. This weekend we'll see if he can extend the brand loyalty to the cineplex, as his first starring role in Employee of the Month hits theaters. Cook plays the slacker box boy Zach who's the Parker Lewis of the bulk bargain store, SuperMart. However, Zach decides to buckle down and shape up when he discovers the new......

As the summer season winds down over this Labor Day weekend, there's a few more big budget blockbusters vying for your attention. Nicolas Cage travels to a creepy island where a young girl has gone missing in Neil Labute's The Wicker Man. If you've ever seen the kitschy '70s original, you know this seems like an odd horror movie for a remake but maybe provocative Labute will make it more interesting than horrific. Playing a......

This week at the movies, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that the new releases are seriously scrapping the bottom of the quality bucket. How many weeks now has it been that we've had this complaint? The good news is that, as per usual, there's load of other fascinating movie related events In New York to sink your teeth into with relish. Someday soon someone should tally up the release record......

Pickings this week are slimmer than last month's turkey. If your Christmukkah party schedule allows, give yourself an early present and forage for some rock and roll scraps. Monday kicks things off with Spin magazine's Year in Music Party at Rothko, with We Are Scientists, the Spinto Band (at left), and the Five O'Clock Heroes. Of course, it's a private party, so you'll have to call in a favor or two or be creative at......

Well, it's finally here. That day we've all be eagerly anticipating since last year, hoping and praying for its joyous return. Yes, it's....THE DAY AFTER TAX DAY! Now, if you are anything like Gothamist the only IRA you are intimately acquainted with is your uncle from Wantagh, and at some point in the past year your well-intentioned attempt to file your receipts gave way to the much grander plan of making the World's Largest Ball......

Ed Halter, Writer/Film Curator...