The reviews are in for the $180 million production of The Golden Compass, and they’re lackluster at best, which is a pity not just for fans of the novel from which it’s adapted but for New Line Cinema, which was banking on another Lord of the Rings cash cow. Times critic Manohla Dargis calls it flawed and cluttered, although her description of Nicole Kidman ought to sway any dudes reluctant to see a movie starring...
The holiday-time movie releases are starting to pile up with their usual feverish frequency. Some have Christmas themes, like the widely reviled Vince Vaughn vehicle Fred Claus that’s already roadkill on the lost highway of cinema history; others, like Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, are timed to make an impression as close to Academy Award-voting season as possible. Here are some of the biggest gorillas set to dominate New York’s screens in the next six...
At just 24, Noah Baumbach made his mark on the indie film world with Kicking and Screaming, his hilarious and finely observed study of post-collegiate ennui. His Mr. Jealousy followed but the picture’s lukewarm response meant a long five years before he obtained funding for The Squid and the Whale. Happily for Baumbach, the superb film was a major critical and commercial success. Two years later, he’s back with Margot at the Wedding, another character-driven...
The Post has another article about Patrick Moberg and his flower-girl Camille Hayton today. What's new to report on the two-some since they are apparently, really, for real, turning off their spotlight now? Well, not much. The two shared the B train to Brooklyn after appearing on GMA yesterday and got some underground recognition (one straphanger hollered, "You are my favorite story this year."). Beating out an awww-struck ABC anchor Chris Cuomo as their most...
As outrageous as this may seem, this sort of makes sense: James Lipton, he of Inside the Actors' Studio, used to be a pimp in Paris! ABC reports:
The revered TV presenter, who has sat down with Hollywood's biggest names for in-depth chats about their life and work over the last 13 years, has revealed he once procured clients for French hookers.We'll have to go back and see how he discussed Moulin Rouge with Nicole Kidman when she was on the show. Lipton explains his foree into the seedy side of street life saying, "This was when I was very very young, living in Paris, penniless, unable to get any kind of working permit... I had a friend who worked in what is called the Milieu...this young woman and I, we made a rather good living, I must say." We may now have to actually read his new book, Inside Inside - where he also reveals his life with gypsies, and his role on Guiding Light. Who knew?!
EVENT: The NY Horror Film Festival kicks off with a party at Don Hill's tonight. Terrifying short films and some creepy classics are promised throughout the fest, as bands M-16, Kaos From Order and more set the sonic tone tonight. Free Wychwood Brewery beer from 8 to 9pm. More details here.
We've made it through 10 days of this year's New York Film Festival, and it's been a great run so far. As usual, the selection committee has picked stellar films and we've sat in on some star-studded Q&A sessions at Lincoln Center. Here are a few thoughts at the midpoint.
Who says the Wii is only for the young - or those dressed as Luigi? The Carter Burden Center for the Aging on the Upper East Side had a Senior Fitness Day this past Friday Friday that gave seniors a chance to play Wii baseball, as well as Brain Age 2 (photograph below), the Nintendo DS game that has various ways to challenge people's memory and keep people sharp.
he succeeds.
7:06PM First thoughts: Gael Garcia Bernal is so cute. Ryan Seacrest is an idiot, as are Joan and Melissa Rivers. But we want to know what Jennifer Lopez is wearing! (It turns out to be Marchesa.)
Just in time for Valentine's Day, The Daily News has created, what they call, a list of NYC's 100 Most Romantic Movies. Movies that capture what it is like to "live and love here". One problem: the list needs to be edited.
It's finally cold outside (sort of), so warm up this weekend at the movies. The new "in danger in the jungle" horror film to break any genre molds--it's got fancy group dancing, it's got rivalries between warring groups and it's got hottie du jour Meagan Good, so all the elements of the formula are there. But hey, if you're a Black fraternity and sorority step dancing connoisseur you might enjoy it. The critics are saying the dance sequences are fun, even if the plot about a poor boy wooing a rich girl against the backdrop of a dance competition is old hat.
It's so embarrassing, but when we saw how adorable little Suri Cruise was as she was toted by her parents Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes in Rome, we were goners. (She does not look particularly Asian, either.) We suddenly believe in media circus weddings abroad with a motley group of celebrities (Leah Remini and Jenna Elfman we get - they're Scientologists - but J. Lo and Jim Carrey?) and unions bound by carefully vetted contracts. Tom Cruise's children with Nicole Kidman are so damn cute, too. We can't help it if we feel like Kelly in The Office. (Speaking of, the Lazy Scranton video is on the NBC website.)
This week at the movies, two actors known for their intensity on (and off) screen have new flicks coming out. The Oscar-winning over-reactor Russell Crowe goes the romantic comedy route with about an English businessman softened by life in Provence. With a script by Peter Mayle, a novelist well versed in the French countryside, and direction by Ridley Scott, Crowe as Max Skinner actually comes across as incredibly charming. He's sure to send many loins a fluttering as he woos French hottie, Marion Cotillard on his newly inherited chateau and vineyard. Albert Finney, as his beloved uncle, and Freddie Highmore, as the young Max, also have some very cute exchanges together. All of these elements make for a light but well-made movie, that surprisingly entertaining.
JC: ALL RIGHT! I just took extra Vitamin C - I'm waiting for some food delivery.
10. National Geographic – June 1985 – Afghan girl – “Haunted eyes of an Afghan refugee’s fears”Based on own magazine reading experience, Gothamist would have to say that Fabien Baron's Harper's Bazaar cover ranks at the top, though we're very fond of the two September 11th-related covers (#6 Art Spiegelman's black on black World Trade Center and Maira Kalman and Rick Meyerowitz's New Yorkistan, #14). There are high-res images of the covers here, but nowhere are there credits for who designed, illustrated or photographed the cover; we hope ASME releases that next. [Via AdFreak]
In the urban jungle that is New York many different plants make their home. One of Gothamist's favorite plants is the striking and fragrant Chinese Wisteria (wisteria sinensis). If you've ever walked around the Village you've seen its thick vines and drooping leaves, not to mention its splendid purple, white and pink flowers in the spring. And in case you weren't sure what you were looking at this weeks Villager gives a good rundown on the history of the plant and where to spot it. They even provides a rough guide to some of the Village's best vines:
• The Village Voice’s Best of 2004 series at BAM Rose Cinemas offers you one last chance to catch the best films of 2004 on the big screen. Tonight at 7:00 PM is Lars von Trier’s Dogville, the controversial film shot on a single set with chalk outlines, starring Lauren Bacall, Paul Bettany, and Nicole Kidman as a woman on the run from the mob. Also worth checking out is Guy Maddin’s Cowards Bend the Knee, an artistic film which features “autobiographical, peep-show installation” chapters. 30 Lafayette Ave and Ashland, bklyn; $10
Sidney Pollack's The Interpreter definitely makes a point of depicting the city in grand panoramic style, with plenty of overheads and shots on bridges. There are street scenes, as Nicole Kidman goes in and out of her apartment on Stuvesant and 10th, rides her Vespa up Lafayette Street and Fourth Avenue, and walks in and out of the U.N. building. There is even a few scenes in the outer boroughs, with nods to Crown Heights and Long Island City. But there is something blank and unfamiliar in the way the city is used as a backdrop. Almost as though it's an outsider's way of looking at the city.
You know it's the Oscars when P. Diddy busts out the velvet suit! Gothamist loves the Oscars, and we're going to attempt to do a little liveblogging. We might need to order a vat of caffeine and an EMT team at the ready; not because Chris Rock will be boring, but because we think that Gil Cates might kill us with his newfangled ideas and because we're meh about this year's nominees in the big categories. Anyway, onto the show.
How Stuff Works on how toilets works and there's actually a device out there to stop toilet overflows. And a hilarious take from the Columbia Spectator on Kravitz's current stage as a musician-celebrity.
- Concierge Service (assistance with story development, scouting assistance, budget analysis, and discounts on participating vendors)More details from the city. Mel Brooks yukked it up with Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki, saying, "It was breaking my heart to think that we had to go to Bucharest or Toronto or Vancouver to somehow mimic this incredible city," he said. "Without the tax benefits, the truth is, the horrible truth is that this movie would probably be made in Kabul, wherever the cheapest place in the world to shoot is." Newsday covered the event, and the Mayor's and Mel's salty attitudes were on display:
When Bloomberg suggested he be cast as Max Bialystock, the swindler who seduces old ladies to finance his Broadway schemes, Brooks quipped, "We wanted somebody a little taller."More Borscht Belt humor from the press conference from the Daily News, which reports that Brooks used to sneak into the Brooklyn Navy Yard to watch warships being built. Yes, he's that old. And so far, the cast of The Producers is starry: Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprising their Broadway roles, with Nicole Kidman as Ulla and Will Ferrel as Franz Liebkind, and could it be, Roger Bart and Gary Beach be signing on as well?
But Bloomberg -- slightly taller than Brooks but shorter on comedic stature -- got the biggest laugh of the day.
When Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver suggested Brooks get a second Bar Mitzvah during filming, Bloomberg shot back, "Or a second bris."
David Hinckley in the NY Daily News complains that the American Film Institute list of the 100 Top Movie Songs is no fun because it's actually not a bad list. Gothamist would almost agree, except for the lack of songs from South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut. We feel that Come What May from Moulin Rouge (who sings that? who cares?) is just an addition to please the public (that way you can get Nicole Kidman on the show), but let's be honest here: No one is humming "I will love you until my daying day," but they are singing, "Kyle's Mom is a Big Fat Bitch" or "What Would Brian Boitano Do" or "Unclef*cker" or "Blame Canada." So, lists like this are still very crack-like because they are addictive, but they can be very bad too.
One snitch told London's Daily Mirror that Nic "marched up" to Tom and demanded: "Can you please stop sending me those stupid text messages?"Somewhere, Peter Rojas is looking through his Rolodex for Nicole Kidman's publicist, in order to offer his technical expertise in teaching Ms. Kidman how to text message.
Cruise was said to "hiss" in reply: "Not here, Nicole!"
Kidman's spokeswoman denies the scene happened. "She doesn't have or use text messaging," her rep tells us. "I don't even think she knows how."
CZJ talking about "eating your way to oblivion?" (See it here.) Gothamist isn't going near that one. We will, however, bring up "to zeta-jones," the memorable catch all (literally) created by Elizabeth Spiers during her Gawker reign.
In a truly inspired turn, producers are looking at Will Ferrell to play Darrin to Nicole Kidman's Samantha in the film version of beloved television show, Bewitched. At first, Jim Carrey was mentioned to play the hapless, mere mortal husband, but how many times do we really need to him play a bumbling everyman? Will Ferrell, on the other hand, we could watch 24-7 and not get tired. It's 'cause we got a fever and the only prescription is a cowbell.
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