When giving his Best Actor acceptance speech, Sean Penn said, "For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think that it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way of support." LAist has photographs of the protesters, who are from Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas; one said, "I'm picketing the Oscars because the entertainment industry in this country is just ...one of the institutions, that you're using to promote sin and filth and rebellion against the commandments and standards of God." And Penn later said backstage, "I think that these are largely taught limitations and ignorances. It's very sad in a way, because it's a demonstration of such emotional cowardice to be so afraid to be extending the same rights to a fellow man as you would want for yourself." more ›

While accepting the best supporting actor prize from the New York Film Critics Circle on Monday night for his riveting performance in Milk, Josh Brolin lashed out at the Times's chief theater critic Ben Brantley, who negatively reviewed Brolin in True West on Broadway. Sure, that was over eight years ago, but Jo Bro does not forget a slight: "As much as actors like to say they don't read reviews, I do. Ben Brantley—honestly I hate that motherfucker! And I don't think he's a good writer." (We do.) Then Brolin turned to his Milk co-star: "Quite an actor Sean Penn...Amazing. Not an asshole like Russell Crowe." more ›

Gus Van Sant’s new film Milk tells the story of Harvey Milk, who in 1977 became the first openly gay man to be elected to a major public office in the United States, only to be assassinated within his first year of serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. At turns tragic and exhilarating, the film chronicles the last eight years of Milk’s life (played by Sean Penn), when he worked on campaigns for public office and the protection of gay employees. more ›

At a lively memorial for Norman Mailer held yesterday at Carnegie Hall, the esteemed author’s son claimed to channel his father’s spirit, a feat that turned into a tongue-in-cheek impersonation of Mailer that brought the house down. According to the Post, 42-year-old Stephen Mailer, one of nine Mailer children, stepped up to the podium, raised his arms like a revivalist, and shouted "Come on, old man, I'm all yours.”

He then fell to the ground as if struck by the spirit, staggered up, and began acting like his father. Clearing his throat before speaking, as was Mailer's custom, the son said in the gruff voice of his old man, “Can you hear me in the back? Hmm? Carnegie Hall? Well, why the f--k not? I think it's the perfect place for my memorial . . . I practiced my ass off.”

Kaki King (MySpace) is a guitar player and singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. She lived in Brooklyn for 7 years until last summer, when music started taking her on a permanent tour around the world. Her upcoming album is called Dreaming Of Revenge and will be released March 11th on Velour Records. King was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Score for the music she played in the Sean Penn film Into the Wild, and Rolling Stone Magazine has declared her the first and only female "Guitar God." more ›

Londonist was proud to announce the winner of this year's Turner Prize was Mark Wallinger who made long-standing London protester Brian Haw a work of art, after he has previously been made into a sort of law due to his lengthy banner-waving vigil outside parliament. The strength of the pound made real in the form of a 25 foot high coin on a quiet patch of the Thames river bank, aiming to inspire all Londoners in a publicly voted decision on spending £50 million Lottery money. Perhaps some new play projects for London kids who, for the lack of youthful entertainment, are trying to amuse themselves by collecting prostitute calling cards, which are worryingly rigged and booby-trapped. And for those who are anticipating a lovely fat check from a great-aunt this Christmas and wondering what to spend it on, the London Marathon will need a new sponsor after 2009. How does The Londonist London Marathon sound? more ›

The Gotham Awards gala run by the Independent Feature Project (IFP) will be held in Brooklyn for the first time tonight, after 17 years spent bouncing around between Roseland, Hammerstein Ballroom and Chelsea Piers. This year the independent film awards will take place on the soundstage of Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Among the thousand-plus guests expected to attend are Javier Bardem, Sean Penn, Laura Linney, Uma Thurman, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Brooklyn’s... more ›

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Protest over national vs. regional chains, the never-ending debate over the place of cars and bicycles in our metropolises, professional sports scandals, remembering a solemn day, and being issued a search warrant - it all happened across our sites this week! more ›

February 10th and 17th, class is in session at the UCB Theater. Welcome to the Al Pacino School of Acting , where you learn from the master, portrayed by Cesar Gracia. Audience members will have the opportunity to pick up some of the tricks of the trade as Pacino calls them onstage and brings out the true auteur in them. more ›

If you count yourself as a New Yorker and a movie lover, it's tough to not have a special affinity for films by Woody Allen. Practically the filmmaker laureate of the city, Allen's prolific 40 plus year career is getting a three week long screening series at Film Forum starting this Friday. Gothamist loves Allen's movies (both the highs and the lows) so much that we thought we'd chat with an Allen expert, Queens College professor Bob Kapsis, about how to plan our screening calendar during "Essentially Woody." more ›

- His next plan is to film in the jungle and live with dangerous animals to show they aren't so dangerous (dude, tell that to Roy Horn!) more ›

It's official: Jon Stewart will host this year's Oscars telecast. Which means the Academy of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to go for crowd-pleasing ('specially in liberal Hollywood) political commentary, versus another year of cruel but insightful wisecracks from Chris Rock. Hmm, Gothamist likes Jon Stewart, though we downgraded him after the frat-party audience atmosphere of the Daily Show started to detract from the show, but he is better than Whoopi Goldberg again. Actually, we don't care as long as Bruce Vilanch is kept away from the writers' room and Steven Colbert is involved in the telecast - can you picture it, a "Colbert Report" on the evils of Hollywood? more ›

On Sundays, Gothamist runs opinion pieces on issues relevant to life in New York. The views expressed below belong entirely to the author. more ›

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: more ›

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. more ›

may or may not have caused the shooting of an associate of The Game totally confuses us. First, the media reported that one of 50's crew was shot in the lobby of Hot 97 where 50 Cent was on the air dissing The Game (photo left, AP). But then the victim, who was shot in the upper leg-groin (ouchie), turned out to be a friend of The Game's. Or something like that. Though police aren't sure if the shooting was related to the 50 Cent-The Game beef (The Game claims 50 didn't help him with his No. 1 album; 50 Cent says he wrote at least half the material), last night shots were fired into the building where 50's management company is located on West 25th Street. The NYPD is working with the LAPD to see if there's a connection between these shootings and an L.A. incident. And rapper Fabolous wants the rappers to make peace, which makes us wonder who can broker the peace process? Dr. Dre? more ›

Wow, it seems like Christo and Jeanne-Claude are like the Sean Penn and Madonna of the art world - at least for a few moments - as Newsday reports that the most famous public-art touting-and-building couple, plus their photographer Wolfgang Volz, tussled with a Newsday reporter and photographer:

Jeanne-Claude, whose saffron hair has evoked comparisons to the billowing bright sheets in Central Park, seemed to see red yesterday when a Newsday photographer tried to take the couple's picture in the park's northwest corner. more ›

I was born during the Kennedy administration, in Milwaukee Wisconsin, so people can date me within a thousand days. I went to Tufts University in Boston, which is where I started making short films. In fact, my first project was with my next-door neighbor, Gary Winick, who directed Tadpole and is off doing Charlotte’s Web right now. I had an idea to do a short film on super 8, I asked Gary if he would act in it, which he agreed. So, he had to take of his Fiorucci’s. He was from New York, so that’s what they were wearing at the time. more ›

One of Gothamist's favorite Midwesterners turned New Yorker would have to be Bob Dylan. Another being F. Scott. Both authors of a different time and caliber, now one has now written an autobiography (that being the, um, alive one). more ›

Another documentary that will be exploding on to big screens this summer is Riding Giants. A visually captivating look at big wave surfing, Riding Giants had the honor of being the first documentary ever selected to open the Sundance Film Festival. more ›

A.O. Scott calls Man on Fire partly a "moody, foreboding adventure in high-risk baby-sitting" and also a way for director Tony Scott to exhibit a "borderline creepy fondness for filming [little girls] in bathing suits." more ›

Listen to Elvis Mitchell's show on KCRW, The Treatment, via Real Player. And low culture on Elvis Mitchell's geek factor. more ›

Candice Waldron, TV Producer more ›

The Late Show's website Big Show Highlight is also of Murray discussing Lost in Translation back in February; he also got a "Dave" tattoo during the show. more ›

Also, doesn't it feel like Barbara Walters is scraping the bottom of the barrel with this year's special? Matt LeBlanc, Diane Keaton, Billy Crystal? Gothamist can read about Matt, who is the LEAST controversial of all Friends with Lisa Kudrow (where's the Percoset addiction? Pregnancy woes? Marriage to Brad Pitt?), in People and US and In Touch. Diane Keaton, she's cool, but we knows she's walks to the beat of her own drummer with wacky fashion sense. And Billy Crystal...wouldn't it have been more apropos to interview him while he was pimping 61*? more ›

The Post comes up with a few ideas for Oscar drinking games during the ceremony: more ›

If it involves movies or television, Gothamist is interested. And if it's the tiniest bit related to the Oscars, then we're all over it. That's why Gothamist has produced a Golden Globes commentary similar to our Oscar commentary from last year. Yes, awards shows are self-congratulatory and ridiculous, and the Golden Globes are not a reliable predictor of the Oscars (which aren't that great anyway but their usefulness as a marketing tool cannot be denied), but it's just become a part of our DNA to enjoy an evening of watching, wondering, and whining. more ›

- From Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter's review of The Last Samurai. [Via Jeffrey Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere] more ›

Opening night at the New York Film Festival is always fun in the grandeur of Avery Fisher Hall and stars in tow, and this past year was no different. Clint Eastwood began his introduction of his cast and crew (Mystic River author Dennis Lehane, screenwriter Brian Helgeland, and stars Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Tim Robbins, and Sean Penn) with what seems like the joke du mois - the California gubernatorial race joke: "I'm not running for governor." more ›