The NY Times is hinting that Brooklyn may be so over, a theory that seems to be based around Heath Ledger leaving the borough.

What if Brooklyn’s recent cachet as the locus for what’s next is little more than a thin and fragile crust of chic, hiding the insecurity of people who constantly measure the social currency of their ZIP code by Manhattan standards? The number of trendy boutiques, bistros and music clubs in Brooklyn may have spiked in the last five years, but its infrastructure of cool still represents only a fraction of that found in Manhattan. Its new identity is moored to a finite number of shops, restaurants, luxury condominiums and, yes, celebrities. If even one leaves, a void is created. Could the borough’s new status vanish as quickly as it ascended?

This is sure: Jennifer Connelly is breathtakingly beautiful and her husband, Paul Bettany, is no slouch himself. And from all gossip, they seem very cute when they are living their lives in Brooklyn with their kids. That said, we were amused to read in the Post that Bettany freaked out at the Waverly Inn when another patron made some comments about Connelly. Various witnesses tell the Post that some dude as making "lewd comments" or comments that weren't insulting but more "objectifying."

Bettany - who was about 10 feet from Connelly, his Academy Award-winning co-star in "A Beautiful Mind" - heard what was going on and "completely lost his temper" with the man who approached her, the witnesses said. more ›

The conspiracies are swirling, the evangelical Christians are frothing at the mouth, it can only mean one thing: Ron Howard's opens this weekend. Will you get sucked in to the Hollywood thriller madness? It's not even Memorial Day yet but Gothamist already has summer blockbuster fever. more ›

Remakes and sequels and genre formula, oh my! February is a great month for releasing exactly what the studios think the people will pay to see and this week's release schedule is a textbook example of this development by marketing focus group strategy. Oh well, doesn't mean Gothamist is ready to give up on moviegoing quite yet. Here's a few suggestions to guide your weekend viewing. more ›

• 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 more ›

If Caroline Kennedy moves to Park Slope, what does that do to the neighborhood? Do you think she'd join the Food Co-Op? Here's the Corcoran guide to Park Slope (a Corcoran broker called "Prospect Park West" Brooklyn's "Central Park West"). NY Magazine's Park Slope profile. more ›

It's premiering at Cannes in May, in official competition, and it's website doesn't launch until May 19, 2003, but for now, you can see the trailer for Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark follow-up, Dogville. Starring Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, von Trier regular Stellan Skarsgaard, James Caan, Ben Gazzara, and Paul Bettany, Dogville is about a woman who ends up in a small Rocky Mountain town, possibly in the 1930s. The trailer, however, is something totally strange. The actors seem to be talking about the film as actors, not as characters in the film. Kind of a meta trailer. more ›