Results tagged “karatekid”

At 8:30PM (following a half-hour red carpet special), the 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will begin, finally putting an end to the "There Will Be Oscar" or "Oscar Country for Old Men" type headlines.

On Friday Gothamist visited the set of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead, a bizarre little indie shooting in the East Village. The movie is a sequel of sorts to Tom Stoppard’s hilarious existential comedy Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, but with “sexy vampires, the Holy Grail and Hamlet.” Jake Hoffman (son of Dustin), who appeared on some Arrested Development episodes, is a broke, frustrated ladies man who jumps at the chance to direct an off-Broadway play written by a pale, mysterious Romanian, played by John Ventimiglia, best known as Artie Bucco in the Sopranos. (Pictured above.)

In Ryan Seacrest is Famous, his debut collection of pop-culture enthused short stories, Dave Housley makes you think, makes you laugh, and, if you're a writer, inspires you to run to your computer and get started on that premise you've been putting off. Whether it comes in the form of an alcoholic clown, people obsessed with Fight Club, or a DJ hiring a prostitute in an attempt to win back his old flame, Housley's stories...

Natasha Khan is better known as the singer-songwriter behind Bat for Lashes, a band recently nominated for the Mercury Prize. Khan weaves a world all her own with her music and artwork, and happily invites anyone to come join her there. We wouldn't be surprised if at university she majored in nostalgia, with so much attention drawn back to childhood in her work. Her wide-eyed world of yesteryear is a little bit magical, a little bit noir, and seems to be fueled by a never-ending supply of innocence, experience and anticipation.

-- Speaking of bridges, the entire lower deck of the Manhattan Bridge is going to be closed for a year. That's not going to be good for traffic on Flatbush Avenue or Canal Street.

Bobby Tisdale, Comedian

Gothamist remembers when everyone and their mother wanted to take karate after The Karate Kid (more about The Karate Kid), but taking up martial arts is a great way to learn about self-defense. And one of Gothamist's favorite Seinfeld episodes is the one where Kramer takes up karate and becomes the most feared student in his dojo. Of course, all the other students are kids.

Boxing themed movies seem to come around every so often, even though none have done that well since Rocky. There was The Boxer, Ali, oft-delayed Against the Ropes, and Ron Howard is aiming to shoot The Cinderella Man, with Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger. The only one that has done well is Girlfight, and that's an indie.

With last week's release of Seabiscuit, the Palm Beach Post's sports writers come up a list of the best sports movies ever made. Not surprisingly, the list skews towards more recent films, but Gothamist was surprised to see how much we agreed with the selections. We were especially glad that Hoop Dreams, one of the best films ever made, period, made the list, thereby not getting the short shrift for being a documentary. The top ten: