The atheists aren't the only ones making a stink about the goings-on at Ground Zero; the former Deputy Mayor under Rudy Giuliani is lambasting Mayor Bloomberg for excluding religion from the upcoming 10th anniversary ceremony at the World Trade Center. "This is America, and to have a memorial service where there's no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me," Rudy Washington tells the Wall Street Journal. "I feel like America has lost its way." more ›

Every night this month the Gospel Tabernacle Church is holding an old-timey tent revival in a vacant lot in Flatbush, where people are getting RIGHT WITH GOD at very high volumes. But some of the wicked heathens who reside in the neighborhood say all this righteousness is disturbing their sinful, slothful peace. Others, with a little prompting from a local TV news reporter, agree the noisy revival sure beats the sound of gunshots. Here's NBC New York's amusing segment on the Tent Crusade 2011: more ›

We noted in yesterday’s roundup of theatre in 2005 that at least in our optimistic eyes, last year had plenty of great shows. If anywhere like the same number of impressive plays and musicals appear in ‘06, it’d be hard to complain. But nonetheless, we do have a small wish list. more ›

The last minute shoppers are out of the way, so check out the holiday windows from 34th Street (Macy's) to 61st Street (Barney's). We believe they'll be up until at least the first week of January (though there is no way of telling when stores actually take out the displays.) A walking tour map is provided if you should need one. Too lazy to walk? Check out some of this years window art here. more ›

Here we go: it's a huge weekend for year-end Oscar-bait and questions abound. Will audiences flock to see the "forbidden" love of ? (No.) Is it any good? (It's OK.) Will people be turned off by the heavy (and occasionally heavy-handed) allusions to Christian imagery? (Possibly, but we were moved more by Aslan's humiliation and sacrifice than Jesus' in Mel Gibson's biblical slasher film) more ›

Recently Time Magazine picked the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. Now as these lists seem to come out about once a month and mean about as much as the prize in a box of cracker jacks we've learned to generally completely ignore them. In fact, we probably wouldn't have even registered this latest list if it weren't for this genius post on The Morning News. more ›

Tomorrow, it's the NYC Parks Department's Eggstravganza 2005 in Central Park! While the activities are ostensibly for children, it seems like everyone can join in the fun, like the egg hunt, Easter egg dying, an Eggstacle, and a petting zoo (just don't put your fingers in your mouth after petting the animals). It doesn't seem like the Peeps Fun Bus is in town the way it was last year, but there will be Central Park's Biggest Cha Cha and Electric Egg Slide - woo! more ›

New Line Cinema (owned by HBO parent company Time Warner) decorated an S train to celebrate the DVD release of The Lord of the Rings two years ago. And in the current double issue of The New Yorker, there's an interview with Deadwood creator David Milch; since it's the NYer, it's not online. And do you watch Deadwood?
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Gothamist doesn't know why we bothered with the 2005 Emmy Nominations because they were boring, except that we're ruthless TV watchers and awards show fiends, so we're painted into the corner. The actors, actresses, and programs nominated were all fine and very talented, but it's the same crew every year! James Gandolfini...Allison Janney...The West Wing...Will & Grace - which wasn't even as good as the subpar non-nominated Friends this past season...four writing nominations for the Sopranos...blah blah blah. David Chase has a death grip on the Academy, even with Cousin Tony! This is almost as bad as when Helen Hunt and Candice Bergen would...keep...winning...even after their characters and shows lost steam seasons ago. There was even a posthumous nomination for John Ritter! Yes, he's a great comic talent, but come on. There needs to be a way for newer shows to get their feet in the door, like Nip/Tuck, The Gilmore Girls, The O.C., and Scrubs. But here are some nominations we were happy about: more ›

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

Will third time be a charm for Peter Jackson? Jackson's work for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, along with Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, Clint Eastwood for Mystic River, Gary Ross for Seabiscuit, and Peter Weir for Master and Commander, is nominated for the Directors' Guild Award. The DGA nominees are very similar to the Golden Globe nominees, except Anthony Minghella was nominated instead of Ross. Guess the Cold Mountain machine doesn't fly with the directors, huh, Miramax (the Daily News is shocked that Minghella was not nominated). What this year's DGA nominees tell us is that Sofia Coppola and the momentum behind Lost in Translation are no joke and that Hollywood loves a well made studio movie like Seabiscuit, even if it's 40 minutes too long. more ›

Is Crayola's Bittersweet a deeper shade of Orange? Gothamist wonders this because the Post says New York's increased security measure in a time of orange means NYC is at Orange+. But not even Super Orange can deter NYers from getting their Christmas shopping done: One shopper tells the Daily News, "I just healed from an aneurysm, so nothing is going to stop me. I'm not going to live in fear. Our time is our time." more ›

Gothamist on The Lord of the Rings and on Triumph.
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The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King premiered in New Zealand today. One of this year's great movies is from New Zealand: The Whale Rider. more ›

We thought Cate Blanchett was cool ever since we became fans of hers after Oscar and Lucinda, but she even manages to remain interesting while talking to Fox News' Roger Friedman, the pandering gossip columnist. After the premiere for her new film, The Missing (in frontier America, she teams up with estranged father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, to rescue her daughter), Blanchett tells him, "I didn't know how to shoot a gun or hold it. So my husband said, 'Just hold it the way that Sonic Youth holds their guitars.' And it worked." Her husband is cool, too. more ›

Upon first looking at this list of 50 ways to fix the movies, you might think, anybody could have thought of it. But that's the brilliance - it's what we all think. And leave it to two Canadians to put it to paper in the Toronto Star. Gothamist heartily agrees with many entries, especially these: more ›

The BBC will be releasing a list of the top 100 books as chosen by the British public soon, so the Independent though they'd ask a few British notables what the worst books they've read are. Here are two interesting entries: more ›

Oscar Commentary
Oscar is celebrating its 75th anniversary, I'm celebrating my 25th anniversary of watching Oscar. more ›

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: more ›

As a fan of the New York Times film reviews, I am very aware of all of the nuances of the reviews. One of the best things is the blurb that's written after the rating at the very end of the review, to call out any violence or nudity or language. The Times reviewers A.O. Scott and Elvis Mitchell are very funny. Check out these: more ›

Let the games begin. The Directors' Guild has announced their nominees, and they are Stephen Daldry for "The Hours," Peter Jackson for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," Rob Marshall for "Chicago," Martin Scorsese for "Gangs of New York," and Roman Polanski for "The Pianist." The most likely nominees for the Academy Awards' Best Picture of the bunch are "The Hours," "Chicago," and "Lord of the Rings." Photos above and an article(registration required) from Variety. "Gangs" and "The Pianist" are possibilities, but Scorsese and Polanski are polarizing figures. However, as these projects are labors of love for them, especially with Polanski's personal experience with the Holocaust and Hollywood's love of reliving the Holocaust in film (see "Schindler's List" and "Life is Beautiful"), they may be nominated for Best Picture. Good will for Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks may make "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" a Best Picture contender, but I personally am done with the big fat Greek hype. Back to the directors, the DGA awards are usually good indicators of who will win Best Director at the Oscars, but more recently, there's been discrepancy: Ang Lee winning the DGA award for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," while Steven Soderbergh won the Oscar for "Traffic"; Ron Howard winning the DGA for "Apollo 13", Mel Gibson the Oscar for "Braveheart". more ›