Results tagged “starwars”

We thought that using Craigslist to find someone to harass one's married lover's wife was bad, but Topless Robot offers up this NYC Craigslist ad. TR does warn with its headline that "The Most Awful Nerd in America Found," and that sensitive souls might be disturbed by it—plus "I don't think I'll ever be clean" again after reading it: "Need an amputee to complete my Halloween costume (Brooklyn)"...

Eric Seemann of Levittown was surfing the internet when he learned that he might be able to save a Philadephia cop's life by providing him with a much-needed kidney. But he didn't across the news that 41-year-old Jeff Romanoff was suffering kidney failure on his only remaining kidney on a donor list website, but rather on the message board for Vader's Fist 501st Legion, a group of over 4,000 fans worldwide who dress up like various villains from the franchise. But the clone troopers were not lining up when things looked critical for Romanoff, who suffers from Von Hippel-Lindau disease. Seemann told the Post, "They weren't actually asking members of the group to get themselves tested [for compatibility]. But I thought about it. They hadn't asked for it, but I stepped up." After learning they were a match, the two underwent surgery on April 3rd and Romanoff was released from the hospital Saturday. The operating surgeon didn't miss a beat, saying, "I've never operated on a stormtrooper before. And I've never operated on Darth, either."

Acclaimed chef Grant Achatz, who recently put out a deluxe cookbook called Alinea (named for his Chicago restaurant), will be making a few NY appearances in the upcoming weeks, most notably a scaled Alinea dinner at the Astor Center on November 6th. At $225 a head, the price is steep, but each guest receives five courses (including ‘hot potato, cold potato;’ above left) from the restaurant, and some crazy-ass Champagne.

The Dark Knight has officially opened, and the figures are in: the NY Times reports that the movie took in "$18.5 million in gross revenue at its 12 a.m. opening screenings early Friday morning at 3,040 screens, the most ever for midnight shows." Gawker laments about the movie taking the title from 2005's Star Wars, Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith, which previously held it for racking up $16.9 million at 2,915 screens. Meanwhile, the single-day box office record previously held by Spider-Man 3 was also shattered: The Dark Knight took in $66.4 million on opening day (to Spidey's $59.8 million).

MUSIC: It’s been roughly six years since Fugazi, Washington, D.C.'s apotheosis of punk, announced a hiatus that's looking increasingly permanent. Oh well; they had a hell of a run, and certainly went out on a high note with The Argument. And on the bright side, the band members’ solo work has certainly been worth tuning into. Bassist Joe Lally’s second album, Nothing is Underrated, is a bewitching and self-assured embrace of his post-Fugazi career; tonight he plays the Knitting Factory, accompanied by Jonathan Morris and Geoff Farina. (Requests for “Waiting Room” will not be indulged.) Brooklyn Vegan has an mp3 from his last album, an mp3 from the opening band, Farina’s Glorytellers, and a link to our interview with Lally. – John Del Signore

A long time ago (last week), in a galaxy far far away (the far West Side), this photograph was taken outside of the Javits Convention Center, where the New York Comic Con was held. It's unclear if the police were making sure the light sabers at 34th Street and 8th Avenue remained safe, but the Storm Trooper getup seems very similar to what Operation Torch cops need!

     

Subway ads are always undergoing transformation, but And I Am Not Lying recently spotted a more advanced form of subway ad art. He reports:

Those great big billboard ads you see on the subway are nothing but giant peel-and-stick Coloforms, really. I love the accidental collages you see when people randomly pick and peel those thing like they’re great big scabs, and I just knew it was a matter of time before someone started making art out of them.

Not the first time sci-fi has overtaken the streets of New York (last year the USPS installed some R2D2 mailboxes), Spike TV has sprinkled Star Wars ads all over town. Their most eye-catching yet involves lightsabers in a bus shelter (pictured), which amNY spotted at West 34th Street and 8th Avenue.

Drawing on his roots in the fecund 1970s East Village avant-garde film scene, critic J. Hoberman has spent his three decades at the Village Voice introducing readers to the more adventurous cinematic worlds awaiting beyond the realm of Hollywood. He is the author of nine books, most recently The Dream Life: Movies, Media, and the Mythology of the Sixties, which was described by Slate as "an extraordinary publishing event." To commemorate his thirty years at the Voice, BAMcinématek has invited Hoberman to select films that have sparked some of his most stimulating reviews and articles, as well as a few personal favorites.

People have been wondering about former mayor Rudy Giuliani's campaign for a long time (his presidential campaign plan notebook went missing last January! he pays more attention to his friends' advice versus that of election consultants). Now, with the Florida primary on the horizon, it seems his New York-based supporters are starting to worry.

What do we make of the fact that the NY Times book critic Michiko Kakutani purchased a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at a NYC bookstore yesterday and was able to sift through its 1.8 pounds to write a review in today's paper? There are no true spoilers, just confirmation that there is a fitting ending (but if you are worried about spoilers of any kind, don't read the blockquote):

J. K. Rowling’s monumental, spellbinding epic, 10 years in the making, is deeply rooted in traditional literature and Hollywood sagas — from the Greek myths to Dickens and Tolkien to “Star Wars.” And true to its roots, it ends not with modernist, “Soprano”-esque equivocation, but with good old-fashioned closure: a big-screen, heart-racing, bone-chilling confrontation and an epilogue that clearly lays out people’s fates.

A look at some noteworthy television this week:

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting at 178th Pl. in Queens, a bank robbery at White Plains Rd. in the Bronx, and a homicide on West 157th St. and Broadway in Manhattan, and a water rescue off 88th St. near Gracie Mansion..
• The suspected killer of FDNY Chief Ray Downey's nephew, who was tracked to California, killed himself yesterday when cornered by cops.
• East River State Park opened today. Be one of the first to visit.
• $1,000 goes a long way: the cash handed to Richard Johnson at the NY Post continues to gain him press at the Times.
• Perhaps in an attempt to take the edge off moving it from Gramercy, Manhattan, to College Point, Queens, the City wants to pour $1 billion into the new Police Academy.
• A Long Island husband was arrested for allegedly murdering his estranged wife in a Long Island bagel shop.
• The original Star Wars was release this weekend 30 years ago.
• Vice President Cheney delivers the commencement address at West Point.

The special US Postal Service-Star Wars R2D2 mailboxes have arrived, just in time to get acquainted with NYC-style slush. WNBC has a slideshow of a mailbox in Midtown, and we suppose the horrible sleet kept some fans away, lest they sully their Jedi robes.

Take this as your dose of levity for the day: As part of a big Star Wars stamp roll out for the film's 30th anniversary, the US Postal Service will have some mailboxes across the country wrapped with R2D2 decals.

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing-- what's going on in the World of the -ist's?

Add "Do you play video games?" to the list of questions you might want to ask your surgeon.

THEATER: A one-of-a-kind theatrical event is happening this weekend only in a clothing store and barbershop on the edge of Chinatown. Called American Standard, this solo, seven character ‘sideshow’ is the work of Canadian-American troupe bluemouth,inc., which has been building a reputation for staging innovative theater in bizarre locales. (Other productions have taken place in hotel rooms and the basement of an office building.) In their latest foray, “a preacher, a tourist, a politician, an entertainer, an immigrant, a poet and a terrorist inhabit a storefront installation, spilling onto the street and lurking within the basement.” Martin Denton praises the show as “dense, artful, absorbing, and fun. The penultimate scene is so thrillingly unexpected that to say anything about it risks spoiling American Standard's neatest surprise; suffice to say that you've almost certainly never witnessed anything like it in any theatre of any description.”

THEATER: Sentimental hogwash! Following in the tradition of the one-man theatrical renditions of Star Wars and The Godfather Trilogy, comic actor/impressionist Jason Grossman presents his It’s a Wonderful (One Man Show) Life! tonight. Time Out NY called it “a guaranteed laugh riot.” We’re just excited to see how he handles the Charleston contest! - John Del Signore

A monstrous wave of theater will engulf Lincoln Center next month and Tom Stoppard, the protean dramatist of unparalleled wit and imagination, is at the center of the squall. His three play cycle, “The Coast of Utopia”, will have its U.S. premiere in October and seems like an ideal autumn theater overload.

With the Oscars coming up tonight, we thought we'd recap our favorite Brokeback Mountain parodies. Our nominees...

There's only one major wide release this weekend, and although it stars an Oscar winner, we can pretty much guarantee Paramount isn't expecting any year-end kudos for . In fact, it looks like the studio is hoping to slyly score a big opening weekend on the draws of Charlize Theron in skintight rubber and fans of the old MTV animated series because they aren't letting critics anywhere near it -- apparently no press screenings have been or will be held.

-Finally, check back tomorrow for our coverage of the Mayoral debate (which you too can watch, or TiVo, at 9 A.M. on channel 7).

David Pogue, NY Times Technology Writer, Author

. Lately, seems as if every studio or theatre is looking for a quick fix, as “anyone whose name was a derivation of Herbert” received, as the Wall Street Journal notes, sneak-peak preview tickets to Lindsay Lohan’s disaster, whereas Fox offers a “buy-three-get-one-free deal” to boost Star Wars, Episode III.

The American Film Institute's Top 100 Movie Quotes special, hosted by Pierce Brosnan, showcased the most memorable quotes which had a cultural impact and ensured a film’s legacy, with “frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” taking #1 and Titanic’s “I’m the King of the world!” (which they *actually* described as “a small goodybag the audience took home with them),” at #100. We were saddened that Dirty Dancing's “nobody puts baby in the corner” came in at a low #98 and somewhat surprised by the few one-word quotes: Citizen Kane's "rosebud" at #17 and The Graduate's "plastics" at #42. And was anyone else baffled by how Star Wars only had one quote, but both Jerry Maguire and James Bond had two? What about "my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father - prepare to die?"

Gothamist did not need to check Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, or Defamer to know that Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith would become the most popular movie across America this weekend. Gothamist knew it the moment we overheard a neighbor playing a DVD of the movie very loudly on Saturday afternoon. Said neighbor purchased the DVD in Chinatown, and while he missed the group experience of being around tons of people dressed up like beings from the five other Star Wars films, his surround sound system made us feel like we were in the theater. The NYPD, however, has been cracking down on counterfeit DVD sellers, with a raid on a Harlem storage unit revealed that counterfeit Sith DVDs were stacked "nearly to the ceiling." One counterfeit DVD buyer explained to the Daily News, "I can't even afford to go to the movies nowadays. It's $35 after a ticket, soda and food." Another possible explanation not offered that Gothamist will introduce is that the first two Star Wars prequels sucked so bad that people deserve to see Revenge of the Sith however they want.

Continuing our Star Wars coverage, Gothamist wanted to know just how powerful are Star Wars’ die-hard fans? Enough to affect the economy. Worker absenteeism for last night and today's showings of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is expected to cost NYC millions and U.S. employers $627-million, according to The Globe and Mail. If you're also interested in taking today or tomorrow off, Geek Squad has created customizable "fail-safe" excuse notes that will help even the most beleaguered employee get out of the office and into a theatre.