Results tagged “russellcrowe”

Artist and David Byrne collaborator Danielle Spencer (not to be confused with the Danielle Spencer who played Dee in What’s Happening!! or the Australian actress/singer Danielle Spencer married to Russell Crowe) has some pretty creative friends. Every November this Danielle Spencer hosts a pre-Thanksgiving dinner party in which guests make a fake turkey out of various eccentric ingredients. Some of them, like the Quiche turkey (pictured) or the sushi turkey look to be even...

Two movies set in New York are coming out today, and both are getting a lot of press, promo and opined upon.

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.

New York city's streets are a favorite location for filmmakers. Anyone who's ever turned the corner in their neighborhood only to be confronted by a giant trailer or cherry picker rig, knows this. Even as it gets colder, there's still lots of movie being filmed in the city. For instance, the last week or so 2nd Avenue in the East Village has been home to one of the many local film or TV productions.

Brother. Russell Crowe complains about the fallout from his June 2005 phone throwing incident at the Mercer Hotel. Crowe pleaded guilty to third degree assault, paid a $160 fine, and had to settle with the hotel employee, Nestor Estrada. (And it wasn't just a phone handset or cordless phone thrown at Estrada - apparently Crowe had taken the whole phone out of the wall and thrown it at him, causing minor injuries to Estrada's face.) Crowe tells 60 Minutes that the U.S. legal system "is very open to being abused" and further:

"Where I come from, a confrontation like that, as basic and simple as that, would have been satisfied with a handshake and an apology."

We'll keep that in mind when we go to Australia and have a crazy temper tantrum! Do Sydney hotel employees train with rugby teams? Then again, how about not resorting to physical assault? Sure, accounts say Estrada was dismissive of Crowe's problems using the phone (which is not good when you work in the hotel business), but if your plumber tells you he can't help you fix your toilet situation, do you tear it out of the wall and throw it at him? We hope Steve Kroft interviews Naomi Campbell next for her thoughts on throwing objects at employees.

Foodies attack the silver screen! In today's Times Arts & Leisure section, the long history and current feast of food in film is given another look. Would there have even been a Big Night if not for the food? In the coming months, Russell Crowe, the first person we think of when the phrase "good taste" coming up, will star as a man who inherits a vineyard and Nora Ephron is working on an adaptation of Julie & Julia, the Julie Powell book that came from her blog. Fast Food Nation has been filmed, too, and, there will be acompetitive eating movie, All You Can Eat, to add some low-to-middle-brow enjoyment to all the wineries and roux.

- When translated into Snoop Dog speak, Gothamist is entirely typo-free!

The craziness at Ground Zero continues as the Port Authority tries to take over the 9/11 memorial.

Yesterday was a day for celebrity pseudo-justice. Russell Crowe plead guilty of being a phone thrower while DMX was further humbled by the courts.

Bloomberg might be our Mayor on normal days, but for this weekend that job is most probably being filled by Marc V. Shaw.

Maybe that wasn't really Braunstein in Cobble Hill after-all.

December 1st may become Rosa Parks day.

The U.N. is trying on plan for its renovations.

Retail rents went up by as much as 32% this year.

On the first day they were available, the MTA sold 10,000 holiday Metrocards. That's a lot of cards!

Oh, dear. While Gothamist admits to being bemused by rapper DMX's various run-ins with the law and antics at the Queens court house where he's facing charges of violating a previous sentence (when he crashed through a gate at JFK Airport), this is too much. He was almost three hours late for his latest sentencing hearing yesterday, so the judge issued an arrest warrant for him. When he finally showed up, he was asked to spend the night in jail. His lawyer says that DMX's asthma was the reason why he was so delayed (DMX and his wife had to go back home for his inhaler), but that's the shoddiest musician excuse since Ashlee SImpson blaming her lip syncing on acid reflux. If you have asthma, you carry an inhaler around with you!

It was too quiet on the Russell Crowe front, and perhaps after seeing the spades of publicity given to his Cinderella Man co-star get and another wannabe tough guy actor for maybe groping a lady's butt, Crowe decided to break into the tabloids. He was arrested at the Mercer Hotel after allegedly throwing a phone at a hotel employee. Reports say the actor was frustrated after not being able to phone home (Australia?), and the airborne phone hit an employee in the face at around 4:20AM this morning. Clearly, the Mercer Hotel didn't give the "When Russell Crowe Stays Here" pitcher's masks as part of their uniform. This isn't Crowe's first brush with terrorizing a SoHo hotel: In 2002, his assistant apparently freaked out at 60 Thompson when there was no more chicken paillard (gasp!) - not to mention that a fruit basket wasn't up to his standards. However, Crowe is very fond of downtown hotels... Gothamist remembers hearing a rumor that he was interested in buying a suite at 60 Thompson or the SoHo Grand. Anyway, Gothamist recommends that Crowe get a better cellphone plan that can work in the U.S. and Australia - then he can just throw the cellphone on the ground in frustration.

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.

The other Times Talk panel I went to was "Films that Deserve a Second Look" - films that New York Times film critics Stephen Holden, Elvis Mitchell, and A.O. Scott felt audiences missed the first time around. Many of the films they mentioned were victim to just being dumped by their distributors because they were not easily marketable as a teen comedy or date movie. Another problem is that films live and die in one weekend, whether a would-be blockbuster or arthouse film...word of mouth buzz no longer works as well as it used to and the fascination with box office grosses is not helping any. While most films were recent, there were some older films, and by master directors, proving not everyone gets a fair shake based on name alone. There were a few funny questions - one person asked what actors did not deserve to be on screen. A.O. Scott said, "You want us killed, don't you?" before Stephen Holden remarked about the difference between being a good actor and a movie star (some people have that charisma and may not be a good actor, but are movie stars; some of the finest actors don't have that charisma and thus are not stars). Sartorial gossip: Stephen Holden looked like everyone's kind of cranky uncle, in a polo shirt, sport jacket, khakis, and New Balance sneakers; A.O. Scott looked the rumpled academic, white shirt, sport jacket, wrinkled khakis with the cuffs rolled up and brown shoes; Elvis Mitchell looked like a mod rocker in a Prada suit and black boots. Here are the movies they picked - all I wish is that more people, outside of major cities, would be able to hear about these films and watch them.