The Hollywood Reporter has news that Beastie Boy Adam Yauch will be expanding his music and film production operation, Oscilloscope Laboratories, into indie film distribution. Under the nom de plume Nathanial Hörnblowér, Yauch has orchestrated many of the Beastie Boys videos, as well as the hip hop group’s inventive full-length concert doc Awesome; I Fuckin’ Shot That! Oscilloscope also shot and produced live concert videos for Beck and Ryan Adams. Former ThinkFilm vice president David......

The producer of Pan's Labyrinth, the Oscar-winning film that partially delves into the world of abuse, may in fact have done some abusing of her own. A lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court yesterday against Frida Torresblanco. Her nanny, Angelica Hernandez, claims she was treated like a virtual slave. Hernandez (who was hired in February 2007) worked up to 150 hours a week for seven months in the producer's Tribeca apartment and brought home......

We've been monitoring how I am Legend, the big budget post-apocalyptic zombie movie set in New York, will be portraying the Big Apple ever since filming took place on the Brooklyn Bridge (it eventually gets blown up). Now, with reviews starting to pop up, we're hearing mixed things about the movie but raves about how a futuristic people-less New York City looks. The Observer's Sara Vilkomerson was freaked out, noting how the city is......

Some folks were mighty disappointed when a Daisy May's BBQ cart on Park Avenue and 52nd Street turned out to be a tease. According to Midtown Lunch, the cart was set up outside the Seagram Building for the filming of the next Adam Sandler movie, You Don't Mess With Zohan. The Hollywood Reporter says You Don't Mess With Zohan was written by Sandler, Judd Apatow, and Robert Smigel and it "follows the exploits of......

Last night, Katie Couric made her CBS Evening News debut. Overall, the newscast was perfectly fine - no banter, a long Lara Logan feature on going in Taliban-run Afghanistatn, an interview (sorta like The Daily Show, just without the humor) with the NY Times' Thomas L. Friedman, a segment from Morgan "30 Days" Spurlock, and what the public has really been waiting for, pictures of baby Suri Cruise (she has a crazy head of hair!).......

Aha, the cast changes we've been wondering about: The Hollywood Reporter says Dennis Farina is leaving, while Conviction's Milena Govich will come on board. And since Govich played an ADA on the now-cancelled Conviction, she'll probably be playing an ADA on Law & Order. Lucky for her to get another season of work, but L&O will be on Friday nights at 10PM (GASP!), moving from Wednesdays at 10PM for the first time ever, so some......

This might be the most alarmist issue of New York magazine ever! The city's weekly takes the time to summarize the insane saga of strange bird Peter Braunstein, the suspected Halloween sexual attacker. There are some choice tidbits about Braunstein's iex-girlfriend and interactions with colleagues, there are also some withering critiques of his style:In this [cutthroat fashion magazine] environment it was normal for people to be working a persona, but no one quite got Braunstein’s—the......

Mick Stingley, Low-Rent Rock Critic...

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......

The Hollywood Reporter says that Meryl Streep will be playing the Anna Wintour-inspired devilish boss in the movie of The Devil Wears Prada. Streep has already played another Conde Nast employee, New Yorker writer Susan Orlean, in Adaptation, so we can't wait until she plays Graydon Carter or Jeff Jarvis next (hey, she played a rabbi in Angels in America - she can probably do it!). We think that someone like Lara Flynn Boyle, with......

One of the great uncles of the reality TV genre, Taxicab Confessions, has its 11th season premiere tomorrow night on HBO. The NY Times had an Arts & Leisure feature about the show last weekend, noting that most New Yorkers ignore cab drivers, which could be partly due to some cabdrivers' chats on the cellphone, but, yeah, New Yorkers will conduct all sorts of strange business anywhere. Most of the other seasons of Taxicab Confessions......

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association awards their 62nd annual Golden Globes this Sunday, a sure sign that the season of gowns, the buzz and the surprise upset is upon us. Unlike the Oscars though, the Golden Globes covers television and film, so we get to see the disjointed mingling of the stars on the red carpet from both genres. Speaking of the red carpet, this year look out for the gossip and designer name dropping......

Whoa whoa whoa: The seminal 1979 Walter Hill film, The Warriors, about warring NYC gangs is going to be remade! Tony Scott will direct the film, based on a screenplay by Sopranos writer Terrence Winter, which makes us think there will be some flashy car chases, lots of explosions, and bodies being cut up. The Hollywood Reporter says "Scott's version will follow the outline of the first film -- in which a gang leader is......

The Hollywood Reporter is running a series of articles about how great New York is for film and TV production. One of them, Location report: New York, gives us some interesting information: "The original "L&O" has contributed more than $650 million to the city during 672 weeks of regular production spanning nearly 15 years." Wow! And that's just ONE of the Law & Order shows. Katherine Oliver, the Film, Theatre and Broadcasting Commissioner, says......

Ooh, it looks like Owen Wilson is taking the male lead opposite Natalie Portman in The Smoker, based on David Schickler's short story that appeared in the New Yorker four years ago (read The Smoker here). The Hollywood Reporter also reports that Richard Linklater is directing the film, which seems brilliant to Gothamist, since Linklater has shown a great hand at delicate philosophy and love stories (Waking Life and Before Sunrise) as well as humor......

This Saturday will mark the start of the third annual Tribeca Film Festival. There's a democratic mix of high (Hector Barbenco's Carandiru) and crowdpleasing low (New York Minute with the Olsen Twins) brow (as well as the gossip-worthy, like Stage Beauty, the film that Billy Crudup and Claire Danes met on) films, and tickets are still available for many screenings. It's a great week and a half of movies, panels, and other events that energize......

Michael Tully, Actor/Writer/Musician...

New York darlings Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker will be taking roles in the Strangers with Candy movie. Of course, Broderick is still best known for playing Ferris Bueller and Parker honed her teenager-in-high school acting chops as Patty Greene on the short-lived sitcom, Square Pegs (not mentioning playing an immature-as-a-higher-schooler on Sex and the City). The Hollywood Reporter says that the couple's friendship with Strangers with Candy co-creator and star, and all-around amazing......

The Hollywood Reporter says that Showtime has ordered a pilot for a show called, Make Me Cool: [A] squad of hip African Americans helps terminally uncool individuals -- not just Caucasians -- overcome their obstacles. Though a reality show, this sounds more like a public service, although there actually needs to be a S.W.A.T. team that stops white teenagers from copping too much hip-hop style, like Seth Green in Can't Hardly Wait. Fo' shizzle, my......

Since it's been fun to cast The Parker Grey Show, Gothamist would like to look at the casting for the upcoming Batman movie that Memento director Christopher Nolan will be directing. The Hollywood Reporter says that these actors are in the running: Jake Gyllenhaal Christian Bale Joshua Jackson Cillian Murphy Henry Cavill Eion Bailey Hugh Dancy Clearly, this Batman is young and hot, but not in the prettiest way possible, and we think Bruce Wayne......

The Washington Post's Beltway gossip Lloyd Grove gets ready for his new gig at the Daily News by going heavy on the D.C. screening circuit today. First, he leads with a screening of The Passion, with director Mel Gibson present, for insiders to quell rumors. The invitees skewed to the conservative: Matt Drudge, Peggy Noonan, Cal Thomas and Kate O'Beirne; conservative essayist Michael Novak; President Bush's abortive nominee for labor secretary, Linda Chavez; staff director......

Adam Buckman of the Post has seen the Buffy finale and say it's awesome. But Gothamist did not realize there was talk of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer cartoon - Joss Whedon wanted it to be on par with "Animaniacs or Batman: The Animated Series." [ Read more in The Hollywood Reporter interview with Joss.] But, to recap the Dawson's Creek series finale: - Dawson is a TV writer who has created a show -......

The Hollywood Reporter says Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz's production company, Crusader Entertainment, has bought to the rights to turn Atlas Shrugged into a film. Gothamist has enjoyed Rand's books (they were especially all the rage during high school), but Atlas Shrugged was always a trial, as it outlined her objectivist philosophy a little too obviously, especially John Galt's 60 page speech at the end. Atlas Shrugged seems better suited to television miniseries format, perhaps in......

The evening is over, while Gothamist will be following up with extensive commentary about the actual Oscar telecast, here are the winners and some post-game analysis: Best Picture: Chicago - Marty Richards Not a huge surprise given the momentum Chicago's had since the Golden Globes, but there was an outside chance of a Pianist upset with The Pianist's acting, directing, and screenplay awards. But in the end, Harvey got his best picture. Best Actor in......

As a hopeless cinephile, I feel that the year I spend watching movies is like having a crush on some unattainable person. It makes me feel alive, with all the planning and dreaming and effort I put into it, and somehow, even when I see a bad movie, it’s okay, because it’s one of the knocks I take in wishing that maybe this in time, after paying $10+ for a movie, it might reward my......