It was a clever position, to be sure. But how could it stand up to the prosecutor's seemingly solid arguments? Sean Bell was a father. Sean Bell was about to get married to his high-school sweetheart. The mother of his two little girls. Going to Club Kalua that night apparently wasn't even his choice; it was the suggestion of a friend. And, more to the point: Bell didn’t have a gun. No one did. Before shooting 50 times, the cops hadn’t even seen a weapon — not that entire night. A slam dunk, right?

Wrong. The acquittal today of Gescard Isnora, Marc Cooper, and Michael Oliver (he’s the one who was so driven to fire that night that he reloaded — and then, on the eve of his indictment, partied at Nello) was a surprise until you looked at Judge Arthur Cooperman’s terse decision. First, the judge essentially bought into the Club Kalua argument. He gave the cops the benefit of the doubt for assuming this was a dangerous place with dangerous people, and that any talk about a gun could mean they should be ready to fire. You might say the outcome was clear the moment the cops waived their right to a jury trial. A judge, the three cops hoped, would be less swayed by the emotion behind this tragedy, more willing to call what happened around the corner from the club on Liverpool Street careless, not criminal. And that’s what happened.

There’s more behind this verdict, of course. There is the possibility of prosecutorial incompetence, well outlined in the Daily News by Denis Hamill. Why did they read the cops’ grand-jury testimony into the record, when that would give them more of an excuse not to take the stand? Why did they put witnesses on the stand who would contradict themselves, and not bother to prep them for dealing with that on cross? Don’t these people watch Law & Order?? Al Sharpton hasn’t accused the Queens D.A. Richard Brown of throwing this fight yet, but it doesn’t take much to imagine that’s next. Even the prosecutor I spoke with before the trial was concerned about this. “There has to be some tension between Richard Brown’s office and the police,” he said. “The difficulty with the Queens D.A.’s office is they need the police to prosecute their cases.”

But there’s another problem with this case that maybe not even the best prosecutor could resolve. Bell’s friends — the same guys who brought him to Club Kalua in the first place — just weren't convincing enough on the stand. Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, who were also shot that night but survived, insisted that no cop ever yelled ‘Police!’ or showed a badge. But it wasn't even about whether they contradicted themselves or one another, the judge said. It was their “demeanor on the witness stand,” and “the motive witnesses may have had to lie.” It was how “at times, the testimony just didn’t make sense.”

So the tarnishing of Bell's reputation wasn't even necessary to get an acquittal. In the end, Benefield and Guzman failed him twice — first in November, now in April. And the bullets they took this time, by failing to bring him justice, might have been the most painful.

Sean Bell, for the record, remains innocent. —Robert Kolker

Earlier: Officers in Sean Bell Trial Acquitted of All Charges
Related: A Bad Night ad Club Kalua

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 25 Apr 2008 | 8:45 pm

We're Not Yet Committed to Hating ‘Late Night With Jimmy Fallon,’ Necessarily

Just for the hell of it, here's Fallon doing an awesome French Stewart impression on "Celebrity Jeopardy":

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 8:45 pm

Classic Game, Next-Gen Console Equal Dumb-Fun Geeking

Ever since Nintendo concocted the elusive perfect combination of cartoonish go-kart simulation and turtle-shell combat in 1996's classic Mario Kart 64, subsequent iterations have merely offered improvements. Mario Kart Wii takes erratic driving to the next level: In addition to the usual aesthetic upgrades — along with a twelve-player online mode and a host of added characters and racetracks — MKW makes use of the Wii’s motion-sensing controller and even comes packaged with the all-new Wii Wheel. It’s literally revolutionary!

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 8:30 pm

Something's Off in the New ‘Sex and the City’ Promos

Over at the Moment blog, Elizabeth Spiridakis's weekly "free association" column "Very" lays into the new Sex and the City promotional photos. She detects an underlying tension in the ads and suspects all those tabloid rumors about the ladies feuding and fighting over clothes are true. We agree: The photo looks off. Like, why does Carrie look so damn happy while Charlotte stares at the floor as if to say, "Hey Carrie! Don't kick me!" (Spiridakis calls the expression, "Oohh, who dropped that butterfinger on the floor and can I have it?” Maybe we're naïve but we really don't think Charlotte would eat a Butterfinger off the floor.) Meanwhile Miranda and Samantha share the same mixed expression of pissed off and freaked out.

But perhaps the whole mess of tensions in this photo comes down to outfit envy? Maybe Carrie looks the happiest because she looks the cutest in that flouncy dress, with her long curly hair blowing in the faux breeze. Charlotte looks plain and kind of frumpy in her dress, which Spiridakis accurately dubs very "J.Crew bridal collection." Miranda is probably thinking "Why am I the only fool wearing a print?" and Samantha is grinning through gritted teeth in that red satin suit. It's very Laura Bush on Christmas. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but we don't think Laura Bush has, er, the same tricks up her sleeve as Samantha.

Very | Sex and the City [Moment/NYT]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 8:25 pm

Lohan-Ronson Club Crasher Arrested

For Lindsay Lohan and joined-at-the-hip pal Samantha Ronson, three's not only a crowd—it's an arrest. A particularly zealous fangirl was arrested at Chicago's Crimson...
Source: E! Online - Top Stories | 25 Apr 2008 | 8:20 pm

Don't Fear the River, Lower East Siders!

Downtown Brooklyn: The doctors and dentists who held on to office space in the clock-towered Williamsburgh Savings Bank building, which is going luxury housing, say they've lost 10 percent of their business owing to faulty HVAC systems, leaks, unsightly entryways, sporadic elevators, and other pesky stuff. [Real Deal via Brownstoner]
Greenpoint: When you buy into the "luxury lots in the heart of the village of East Williamsburg" — a.k.a. the wasteland south of the BQE — villagers will politely (or not) remind you to tidy up after your dog poops. [Newyorkshitty]
Lower East Side: The city is planning "community-centric" riverside pavilions for Ping-Pong, aerobics, karate, etc., right under the exhaust-choked stretch of the FDR near Rutgers Slip. Asthma with your t'ai chi, seniors? [Villager]

Park Slope: The long-unreplaced, urine-soaked wood chips in the dog run here are making all the pooches sick! How are they supposed to finish their doggie novels and get their pups into a good doggie pre-K? [Brownstoner]
Turtle Bay: Thirty-three out of 43 floors of the building whose crane devastatingly collapsed last month must be used for a medical clinic, church, or other community use, said city officials, admitting the residential project was wrongly approved. Locals hope to parlay the gaffe into capping the tower's height at its current eighteen floors. [NYP]
Union Square: An escalator's been broken in the congested subway station here for more than a year, but you can still climb it, so why block it off? That was one guy's thinking, allegedly. He apparently went cuckoo, tore away the blockage, and ran up the thing recently. [amNY]
West Village: Isn't it touchingly ironic that as buildings are torn down to make way for new buildings — in this instance, for a new Karl Fischer hotel on West 13th — the process sometimes reveals structures and signs like these dating back centuries? [Curbed]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 25 Apr 2008 | 8:03 pm

Artist Nikki Lindt Takes a Sandy Sojourn

Nikki Lindt’s characters are often crouching or squatting, negotiating their way through beachy or muddy landscapes, or they are wobbling up pretty mountain paths. Has this girl lost a contact lens? Is she exhausted? Or is she attempting to commune with nature? In Lindt's paintings, it’s never clear and it’s endlessly intriguing. Lindt’s works hang amid a three-painter show at Heskin Contemporary in midtown. —Emma Pearse

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 8:00 pm

David Beckham Felt Uncomfortable in Those Armani Ads

We would have luuuurved to be Ellen DeGeneres the other day when she had David Beckham and his hot body on the show. Naturally she makes all the gratuitous jokes about his feeling free to take his clothes off at any time. (He doesn't. Boo.) And of course she prods him about the Posh-ster. Apparently he's been trying to get her to wear sneakers for years, but she only wears heels, even when they go on bike rides with their three boys. (It's all part of bringing the kids up in the most normal way possible, riding bikes with Stiletto Mommy.) At the end of the first segment (multiple segments! We'd have melted all over our chairs), David reveals he felt quite uncomfortable posing in his skivvies for the Armani underwear ads. Aw, we never would have guessed! If you really love David and want to stare at him for another eight minutes, you're in luck.

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 7:40 pm

Richard Quest Enters Rehab

Like so many Lohans and Spears before him, CNN anchor Richard Quest has checked himself in to a drug-treatment facility. Quest accepted the deal to enter rehab in order avoid jail time for his arrest last Friday. According to The Guardian, CNN has issued a statement confirming that Quest had entered a "drug rehabilitation facility" on the orders of a judge. "At this time, CNN's primary concern is for his health and well being. We look forward to Richard returning to CNN International," the statement said.

The reporter later agreed to undergo six months of counseling in exchange for a judge’s promise to drop the charge if the therapy is considered successful when he reports back to court in October. —Noelle Hancock

CNN presenter goes into rehab [The Guardian]
A CNN Anchor Is Charged With Drug Possession [NYT]
Kinky News Network [NYP]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 25 Apr 2008 | 7:15 pm

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Hits Glorious New Low!

After a six-week hiatus, Grey’s Anatomy returned last night with an episode that solidified the show’s place in the pantheon of out-of-work-actor dumping grounds, alongside New York favorite Law & Order and that other long-running medical soap, ER (yes, it’s still on). Oh, how the guest-star quality has fallen: During season two, when Grey’s was a fresh hit, it was scoring guest stars like Loretta Devine, Kate Burton, and Rosanna Arquette.

Last night, meanwhile, in an episode basically unencumbered by plot development, Cheech Marin took a break from his children’s-book-writing career to play a cranky old man with the flu, while Amy Madigan, best known (in our minds) as Kevin Costner’s incredulous wife in Field of Dreams, showed up as Meredith’s new shrink. Also, Clea DuVall played the wife of a patient (she had a memorable turn as a bitchy art student in She’s All That). By next season, we expect to see Mario Lopez as a guy who saws off his own hand only to find his arm is filled with marbles. And yes, the last night's action hinged on a guy (Clea DuVall’s husband) with a brain tumor who provoked a bear — the brain tumor made him do it! — and his brother, who eventually died from bear-attack wounds. Oh, Grey’s Anatomy — no matter what, we’re still so happy to have you back! —Emma Rosenblum

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 7:15 pm

Seven New York's Joseph Quartana Doesn't Want You to Buy Dolce

Joseph Quartana may have spent his time at NYU studying economics and business, but he preferred running with the Parsons crowd. So it was no surprise that, after making his mark on Wall Street, he happily left banking in 1999 and co-founded Seven New York, an ultraprogressive boutique that has since become a go-to for fashionistas looking for cutting-edge design (Imitation of Christ, Gareth Pugh, Bless, Preen, Jeremy Scott, ThreeAsFour — you get the idea). As the store’s buyer, Quartana hits Paris four times a year and is the mastermind behind the store’s forward-thinking inventory; naturally, the man has an eye for what’s next. How could we not sit him down and get some tips?

Your store carries some major avant-garde labels. What influenced that choice? Is that your own style?
Not so much me personally. It’s what we’ve decided to do with the business. In the beginning we saw fashion kind of as an art form — and it is. There were some designers at the time who were just doing incredible stuff — and of course they still are today — but we just didn’t see it for sale anywhere. And we’re like, “Well, this is something I would want, and if I want it there must be other people.” So it’s kind of a niche that we sell into. And over the years we tried to offer more basic lines or lines that we thought would be more sellable, but still in the realm of cutting-edge designers, but the irony is that stuff didn’t sell well at all. It’s the basic stuff at the end of the season we end up marking down. So we decided, “Screw it. We’re going to go 110 percent full force in the direction of cutting-edge designers and apparel.” And that’s the stuff that sells brilliantly.

How do you scout for new designers, fresh talent?
It has a lot to do with research. While I’m [in Paris] I have a lot of friends that are editors or stylists and I’m friendly with other shop buyers from around the world, like Dara from Colette and Robin from Maria Louisa. We all pick each other’s brains and share opinions on the shows that we’re seeing and swap notes and stuff. So it’s that coupled with reading every cutting-edge fashion magazine out there.

What are your favorite fashion mags to read?
I love Self Service, Purple, Crash, V, i-D, — magazines in that direction.

What about advice for shoppers with a budget? How can those without disposable incomes update their wardrobe each season without going broke?
When it comes to buying basic items, like a skinny black jean or easy T-shirts or a nice jacket or blazer, I think it’s best to buy it at the end of the season when things are on sale. Because those are the items you’ll get the most mileage out of in the long term and they’ll coordinate with everything else in your wardrobe. So if you’re on a budget, wait until May and June when the department stores, particularly, go into their deep phases of markdown, you can definitely scoop up some good basics.

Fashion is so focused on luxury these days. Do you think that will change? I see it already changing. We’ve been so steeped in worshipping luxury brands since 2002, and I see it shifting away from that, at least with our customers. They’re kind of over big labels — wearing big labels for the sake of wearing big labels and whatnot. And it’s good news for people like us who specialize in the smaller brands, the cutting-edge. Then again, there’s some luxury houses that I think are doing an awesome, awesome job and actually doing cutting-edge things. Like Givenchy right now, I love. Yves Saint Laurent as well, and Lanvin. All of them blow my mind. If you’re going to buy luxury, buy them. Don’t buy, like, Dolce & Gabbana.

Where do you shop, other than your own store?
Other shops like my own. In Paris I’ll shop at Maria Louisa. I’ll shop at Colette. In London I’ll shop at 2C, I’ll shop at Dover Street Market. And here in New York, I bought some things from BBlessing, Atelier. I used to like Helmut Lang a lot, but, you know, it’s not really happening anymore.

What was the first designer item you bought?
My first biggest purchase was when I was 18 and I bought this $800 Vivienne Westwood blouse for men and I still have it somewhere. It has sentimental value. I can’t throw it out.

What trends do you love for spring?
I just finished the buying for fall so my mind is on fall trends. Let me rewind for a second. I’m still kind of feeling metallics. We’re doing well with them.

What's really selling for spring? What are the big trends that you're seeing?
The funny thing is we’re having a really unusual season where everything is selling well. Usually some lines sell well and some don’t. We always do really well with giant oversize hooded sweatshirts that the girls wear as dresses. It’s kind of a staple item because at least one or two of our designers will offer some variation on it every season and they always blow out fast. Style them with skinny jeans, a legging, nice hosiery.

What trends do you wish would go away?
I don’t like the floral trend that’s happening for spring. It’s too girlie-girlie for us and for our taste. I hate the whole boho thing that’s happening again. That’s also just not us. We’re more into modern and clean sort of things, so that whole hippie early-seventies thing I really can’t stand. And it seems like it just went away two years ago and now it’s back again. It’s, like, “Ugh, go away!”

What fashion objects are you lusting after right now?
I have to say, everything that Preen did this season I really loved. That was my favorite collection hands down. They did a lot of looser silhouettes, they really emphasized blousy dresses — kind of short blouse dresses in silks and whatnot with these kind of open backs. It was just stunningly beautiful.

What designers do you love?
Raf Simons, Bernhard Willhelm hands down, Preen, Material Boys.

What designers or labels do you actually wear the most?
Probably Raf Simons. I wear a lot of Jeremy Scott, too.

What can't you live without?
There was a hiking boot that Raf Simons did that just blew my mind. When I first saw it in the showroom, I almost fainted. I was like, “Oh my God!” It’s kind of in the style of Mondrian-esque. It was this white hiking boot with primary-colored straps in red, blue, and yellow. So fucking awesome. It looks like a Japanese robot from the seventies. So we bought ten of them for the shop and I can’t wait to get mine and we have this enormous waiting list of people who can’t wait to get them. —Noelle Hancock

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:55 pm

We Know Who Dies in the ‘Sex and the City’ Movie: Latest Update

Well, ever since Cynthia Nixon recently "slipped" (perhaps after an SATC publicist "slipped" to her that under no circumstances should she float any such idea) that someone in the SATC movie dies, some of us here have hypothesized that it's Charlotte. (She's always been the prissy fourth wheel anyway!). Others of us have surmised that it's Big. (Chris Noth once said that Big, in the original, nixed SATC movie, kicked it from a coronary!) Now comes some new intel: Last night, at the opening of the Broadway musical version of John Waters's 1990 movie Cry-Baby, attendee Anne Meara, who played Steve's Alzheimer's-addled mom on the series, told us she was not in the movie. "I shot for it," she said, "but the scene was cut. I didn't have much to do." Hmmmm … so could the "one who dies" be Steve's mom? We mean, if Steve's mom hasn't died, how will they justify not showing her for only a moment … say they've stashed her away in a nice old folks' home in the Rockaways? In the series' last episode, Miranda gently pulled her away from an impromptu lunch at a streetside trash can and gave her a bath … tenderly, it seemed, though perhaps that was the last straw before Miranda Googled "New York eldercare facility." Maybe they'll just say that she died. Then that means a more momentous death has to occur. Hm, guess we're right back where we were, placing bets. You know, nobody's supposed yet it could be Carrie's gay friend Stanford Blatch. You know, it's not that uncommon for ex-porn-mag-posing boyfriends to suddenly go psycho on you late at night on a deserted Fire Island beach at high tide … we're just sayin'! —Tim Murphy

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:30 pm

‘Lost’: ‘Die Hard’ on an Island

Whoa! Seems like the Lost writers' room got awfully itchy during the strike, and when they got back all they wanted to do was blow some shit up. Perhaps that's why this week's episode didn't exactly feel like the usual moderately paced, secret-revealing drama it usually is; it felt like an action movie, with our heroes holed up, besieged by armed forces out for blood. Machine guns, executions, explosions: It was like watching Die Hard on an island! Plus, Smokey came back, and boy was he pissed.

Regular recapper Emily Nussbaum was out this week, so the Vulture staff put our heads together and recapped it ourselves. We can't match Nussbaum in thoughtfulness, but we can surpass her in stupid jokes.

The Present: Stomach Pains and Head Shots
Jack's got a pain in his gut that just won't go away, and it isn't made any better when a body washes up on the beach, identified by Twitchy Jeremy Davies as the ship's doctor. An improvised Morse-code conversation with the freighter reinforces the notion of the island as a place out of time; though Davies tries to pass off the freighter's reply as reassurance, Bernard knows Morse code and reveals that the ship has actually responded that the doctor is still on the ship and is fine. Jack demands to know if the ship ever intended to rescue the castaways at all. "No," Davies admits.

Meanwhile, Team Locke hunkers down for an attack. Sawyer, dodging gunfire, runs to grab Claire, only to see several unimportant Others redshirts shot down and Claire's house blown up in a, we'll admit, fairly terrific explosion. The kind of explosion that no one could survive! Except Claire, who is woozy (and still sad — "Charlie?" she dazedly asks) but okay. A team of mercenaries appears with Alex, demanding that Ben come out; a tortured Ben calls their bluff and watches in horror as the lead mercenary shoots Alex in the head. This scene made us realize that Ben is at his most interesting when he's wrong, which is only 1 percent of the time, instead of the other 99 percent of the time when he knows everything. We guess that's why this episode will be his Emmy clip.

Resolute Ben is back soon, though, as he heads into a secret chamber and — it seems — unleashes Smokey the Island Security System on the team of mercenaries. In some truly fantastic moments, Smokey comes barreling through the jungle like a train, and we get the usual tree-crunching, screaming, ineffectual gunplay, etc. One mercenary almost makes it away, but a tendril of smoke grabs him and pulls him back into the fray. Nice!

Team Locke runs into the jungle. Locke, Hurley, and a haunted Ben head off to Jacob's; Claire, Sawyer, Aaron, and Miles head for the beach.

The Future: Death at a Funeral
A parka-clad Ben lands on his back in the middle of the Tunisian Sahara. After a little action-movie skullduggery to overcome horsemen with machine guns, Ben makes his way to Tikrit, where he finds a grief-stricken Sayid in the funeral procession for his wife. Ben tells him he knows who killed Nadia and shows him a photo of a man speeding in a car in Los Angeles just three blocks away from where Nadia was killed. Charles Widmore is responsible for her death, Ben tells Sayid, and they hatch a plan. After Sayid pumps Widmore's assassin full of bullets, he asks Ben, "Who's next?"

London. ("London, England," as the subtitle hilariously insists on specifying.) Ben sneaks into Charles Widmore's penthouse apartment for a visit. We have to admit we were thrown by this scene, which was so talky and ridiculous, but eventually we liked it — it was like every absurd scene you've ever seen where the hero and the villain encounter each other in a public place, and the hero can't do anything, but they banter and sparks fly and whatnot. Like that scene where Marky Mark and Martin Sheen chat with Jack Nicholson in The Departed. Except this one was a canny and confusing inversion of the cliché, with us still not really knowing who's the hero and who's the villain, and Ben unable to act for reasons we don't understand — "We both know I can't do that," Ben says when Widmore asks if he's there to kill him. Ben can, however, make a threat: "I'm going to kill your daughter." Then he turns around and leaves.

What We Know Now:
• It's confirmed: The Freighter Folk never intended to rescue anyone. Also, Jack is hurting bad. (The coming attractions for next week's episode suggest he has appendicitis.)
• Sawyer has turned into quite a little den mother, between rescuing Claire and fighting on Hurley's behalf. It's adorable!
• Sayid and Ben are in this fight against Widmore for basically the same reason. "Once you let your grief become anger, it'll never go away," Ben tells him. "I speak from experience." Too late!
• More than ever before, Ben is part James Bond, part Beaker.

The Wha? Factor:
• Where was Ben before he landed in the Sahara? He was wearing a sweet parka and his arm was hurt. A meat locker? A refrigerated hovercraft? The Frozen Donkey Wheel?
• Why doesn't Jack or someone just punch Twitchy Jeremy Davies until he explains some stuff? He wouldn't last long! It would be like the old Tootsie Pop commercial: "One … two … three … (Crack!) Three."
• Are all the remaining episodes this jam-packed now that they're stuffing eight hours of action into five hours of TV? We hope so!
• Why is it that some people can die and some can't? Also, how old is Charles Widmore? Is he basically Satan?
• We would still like to know how Smokey works, and when we can buy him for our house — like the Slomin's shield, but dramatically more effective.

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:30 pm

Morrissey

The British singer Morrissey, seen her in 2006 and who was recently at the centre of a dispute with a music magazine over his apparent views on immigration, has helped bail out an anti-racism festival...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:26 pm

'Blade' Star Could Score 'Club Fed'

Wesley Snipes' life in prison may not be too shabby, experts say.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:14 pm

Lindsay Lohan's Got a Brand-new Ad

We've never thought of Lindsay Lohan as a vintage girl, but apparently Visa has. The credit-card company signed LiLo to be the face of its new pop-up shop in London called Visa Swap. Yes, our brow is furrowed, too. Visa? Clothing store? Lindsay Lohan? It's like veggie burgers, you see: They taste a little off at first, but then when you think about it, you realize they're actually delicious. Like a veggie burger, Visa Swap is kind of delicious. Customers donate clothing to the store beginning June 21 for three weeks in exchange for points credited to a Visa card. The weekend of July 19 they can go back to the shop and spend their points on the whole lot; unsold items go to charity. Lindsay Lohan was shot in vintage clothing for the Visa Swap ad campaign, and her photos come out in June. We don't know why, but we're envisioning her in black and white wearing an old cowboy hat and fringed vest. We bet she even posed without all the legwear she loves so much. Now that's sacrifice.

Fashion Scoops: LINDSAY'S ETHICAL SWAP [WWD]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:10 pm

Pete Wentz Sufficiently Convinced of John Mayer's Legendary Status

"Back in the day, Eddie Van Halen played on 'Beat It,' and I don't believe he was in the video. And we were trying to think about who is a contemporary guitar guy who's going to go down as a legend." —Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz on recruiting guitar legend John Mayer to play on their Michael Jackson cover [MTV]

"Anthony Lane is a very witty, very funny writer — and he doesn't know shit about movies." —former Village Voice film critic Nathan Lee [Rotten Tomatoes]

"I like the one I made for the show that says Half Centaur, which would imply that I am half-centaur. So let's say that my dad is half-human and half-horse and my mom is all human, and then if you look at me I just look like a regular human because the horse gene was recessive on me." —30 Rock writer Judah Friedlander on his self-designed trucker hats [NYO]

"According to the rules of our show, a communication between sat phones is not affected by temporal distortion, but if you were to send a radio broadcast and/or a telegraph message, it would be affected by temporal distortion. That's the scoop for Popular Mechanics and Popular Mechanics only." —Lost producer Carlton Cuse [Popular Mechanics]

"He played a vampire and was nominated for an Oscar. I played a vampire and took most of my clothes off." —Scott Speedman on not being able to bond with Willem Dafoe about playing vampires [BlackBook]

Source: Vulture -- Entertainment, Music, Culture, Theater, Movies, Art -- New York Magazine Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 6:00 pm

Giullermo del Toro to Direct 'the Hobbit'

Guillermo del Toro is directing "The Hobbit" and its sequel, New Line Cinema announced Thursday. The 43-year-old filmmaker will move to New Zealand for four years to make the films back-to-back with executive producer Peter Jackson.
Source: FOXNews.com | 25 Apr 2008 | 5:57 pm

Shia LaBeouf Smoking Charges Dismissed

Can someone get Shia LaBeouf a light? A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has dismissed an unlawful smoking charge against the "Transformers" star.
Source: FOXNews.com | 25 Apr 2008 | 5:51 pm

Sorry, God, Your Church Is Going Condo

It’s kind of comforting to know that even God is powerless when it comes to the whims of New York real estate. A church in Brooklyn yesterday cleared out its inventory of 211 corpses that had been buried in its crypt to help pave the way for a luxury condo complex. The 109-year-old United Methodist Church in Bay Ridge is scheduled to be demolished in May. The guy who’s fighting to save the house of worship? Councilman Vincent Gentile. Of course that would be his name.

"It's a sad day for all those ancestors of the church, whose bodies were at rest, to now have to be uprooted, disturbing their eternal peace in the name of residential development," Gentile tells the New York Post.

Protesters and members of the congregation say that those 211 corpses would be rolling over in their graves (if they were still in them).

"It's like rape" in the "name of greed," said Kathleen Walker, who heads a committee fighting to save the church from bulldozers. "I wouldn't buy a condo there; who would want to live above an ex-crypt?"

Well, that depends. How much are they going for? Hell, we’ll live in a coffin if the price is right and utilities are included. And at least you’d know for sure that all the wood is original. —Noelle Hancock

Grave Insult [NYP]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 25 Apr 2008 | 5:45 pm

The greatest magazine covers of all time?

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 5:36 pm

Breaking: Strike Threatens to Shut Down Bloomingdale's Flagship

If you've been meaning to go to Bloomingdale's on 59th Street, you may want to take care of that this weekend because the store may shut down next week if workers strike. We just learned from WWD:

Bloomingdale’s and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Local 3, which represents about 2,000 workers at the store, have been in talks since February 14. The discussions pertain only to the 59th Street flagship.

“The negotiations are continuing today and over the weekend and as long as they need to,” said a spokesman for the store. “Bloomingdale’s and Local 3 have a long history of resolving difficult issues that inevitably rise between them.”

The store hasn't shut down since 1965. The union of 2,000 workers hasn't set a strike date, but its contract expires on Wednesday, April 30. A spokesperson for Bloomingdale's believes the issues will be resolved and a strike will be averted. Fingers crossed. We're not the only ones with some serious spring shopping to take care of.

Bloomingdale's Flagship Threatened by Strike [WWD]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 5:22 pm

'Scud Stud' Arthur Kent Suing Over Footage in Tom Hanks Film

"Scud Stud" Arthur Kent, a Canadian reporter made famous for his reports on Iraq's Scud missile attacks on Saudia Arabia is suing Universal Studios for allegedly using some of his footage in the film "Charlie Wilson's War" without his consent.
Source: FOXNews.com | 25 Apr 2008 | 5:20 pm

Buyouts Not Enough? ‘Times’ Newsroom Braces for Clearance

MEDIA
• Pink slips will be dolled out at the New York Times. The "Metro" desk is rumored to be taking the brunt of the burden. [NYP]
• So it looks like MSNBC sort of stretched the truth about not inviting The Hills' Heidi Montag to the White House Correspondents Association dinner. [Radar]
• Very Elle debuts, giving Amber Valletta prime cover real estate, while "It" girls Chloë Sevigny, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Elizabeth Jagger are inside. [WWD]

FINANCE
• Bill Miller's fund has hit a recent cold streak. Is the hero investor worried? Nah. Every time he's been down, his rebound has been even bigger. [WSJ]
• Ford shocks Wall Street by turning a profit. [NYT]
• Is Microsoft getting sick of fighting with Yahoo? [WSJ]

LAW
• Is Brown Harris Stevens anti-children? A couple sues the prestigious real-estate firm over its alleged bias against families with kids. [NYT]
• The hottest thing in private-equity buyouts? Lawsuits. [DealBook/NYT]
• Yesterday it was an e-mail in the Clear Channel case. Today, it's instant messages in an SEC investigation. Moral of the story: Beware of technology. [WSJ]

REAL ESTATE
• As if we needed further proof that the subprime situation is bad, foreclosures in New York City are up 50 percent. [Curbed]
• Meanwhile, the foreclosure wave has even spread to Greenwich. [NYT]
• Don't worry, kids, CBGB space owner John Varvatos has punk tastes. [NYT]

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 25 Apr 2008 | 5:00 pm

Tom Ford Wants You to Be Okay With Penises

Let's talk about naked men and penises. That first sentence made you feel uncomfortable, didn't it? The image above these words you're reading is probably making you uneasy, too. But Tom Ford doesn't want you to feel that way. In fact, he devoted an essay to the subject of male nudity in the spring/summer issue of Britain's GQ Style. He explores why looking at and talking about naked men makes us so uneasy. Why, he asks, is it "gay" for another man to comment on another man's figure, when women can freely tell other women their boobs look great? Like women, men notice how members of their sex look, Ford explains. But "it's so uncomfortable for us to fit 'masculine' and 'beauty' together. So we tend to avoid the issue entirely," he writes. Fascinating. He provides many more Fordulous answers to equally pressing queries. Enjoy our exercise in pretending we got to interview him.

But, Tom, why do you objectify women more than men in your ads?

"As much as I've tried, it has been consistently harder to get images of nude men onto magazine pages and billboards than it has nude women. In a society where images of brutal violence are consumed during breakfast, the male nude is one of our last taboos. There's a double standard at play here: magazines that are happy to fund ads featuring an artfully lit female nude will balk at an image of her male counterpart."

American fashion magazines don't show breasts like European ones do. Do you think nude phobia is a uniquely American problem?

"In Sweden or Japan, or other places … casual nakedness at the sauna or the bath house is part of daily life, but in the places that I call home, the fear factor around nudity seems to be rising. I have always found it ridiculous that, in America, if I wanted to run an ad of a woman with bare breasts I had to retouch her nipples. Now why would a woman's bare breasts, created as nature intended, be more shocking than a bizarre pair of breasts with absolutely no nipples? What could be more perverse?"

So tell us the damn truth about being a woman.

"Women have long been objectified in our society; images of beautiful female forms are everywhere. Go to a dinner party and women are wearing tiny dresses, exposing their legs and baring their toes in high-heeled sandals. They're basically naked, with a little bit of draping over their body. Think of how tough it must be to be a woman in our culture. Women are constantly judged by their bodies and the size of their breasts."

But, Tom, what if we lived in a world where penises were breasts?

"Imagine … if our suits were entirely designed to show off our penises. Imagine if contemporary fashion demanded that you left your cock hanging outside your trousers, with perhaps just the head trussed up in a tiny pouch like a dick bra. Everyone would see our cocks all the time, in the same way that fashion features women's breasts."

Tell the ladies why male nudity is so very different from female nudity.

"Women may have a hard time understanding this, but imagine if, when they were dressing for a party, their breasts looked great, and then, just as they were stepping out of the taxi to enter the restaurant, their breasts withered to a sad, wrinkled little things. Perhaps the unpredictability of the penis can make us nervous about taking our clothes off."

But the models in this photo shoot look so comfortable!

"[I]t was almost impossible to find non-professional models to volunteer for the photographs on these pages. The result is a mix of models, actors and ordinary guys … [M]ost of the straight models who showed up had their pubic hair completely shaved; some artistry on the part of the hairdresser was required to get the natural look we wanted."

But you make clothes, Tom. Gorgeous ones, too. Why are you championing being without them?

"With a more natural relationship to nudity, we might also be freed up to find each other a lot more fascinating. There's an equality to being naked; the fewer clothes and accessories a person wears the less you judge them, and the more you notice their truest traits, like their eyes or their charisma, their great hands or their one-of-a-kind hair or, most importantly, their personality and character. As much as I love clothing, it gives us one more layer to hide behind."

Masculinity Stripped Bare [GQ Style (not online)]
Related: Tom Ford Plays With Naked Men [NYM]
Tom Ford After Sex [NYM]

Source: The Cut - New York Magazine's Fashion Blog | 25 Apr 2008 | 4:50 pm

Shirley Temple Black breaks her arm

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 4:46 pm

The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra says it wants to keep Sir Simon Rattle

The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra said on Friday that its musicians wanted to extend the contract of British conductor Sir Simon Rattle, seen here on April 22, 2008, following speculation they wanted to...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 25 Apr 2008 | 4:44 pm

Can Obama Brush His Problems Away?

It wasn't that long ago that Barack Obama was sitting pretty, destined to cruise to the nomination — practically worshiped as the savior of American politics. Now, although he's still likely to win the Democratic-primary battle, he's been wounded by scandals, been forced to go negative, and had his electability questioned. He's even losing in the popular vote, if you believe Hillary Clinton's math. (She counts Florida where the candidates didn't campaign and Michigan where Obama wasn't even on the ballot. She could also beat him in basketball if he was hog-tied on the sidelines, but would it be something to brag about?) What are the difficulties Obama faces going forward, and how can he prove himself and quiet his doubters?

• Howard Fineman has some suggestions for how Obama can repair his image, including describing more vividly his roots and defending the mainstream legitimacy of city opinion. He also needs to understand the importance of symbolism. [Newsweek]

• John McCormick reminds us that Obama's elitism issue isn't being helped by his demeanor on campaign trail, where he often seems like a college professor. [Chicago Tribune]

• Dan Balz says Obama can prove his detractors wrong with a strong showing in Indiana, thereby proving that he's able to win over those pesky working-class white voters. [Trail/WP]

• Similarly, John F. Harris and David Paul Kuhn think Obama will face tough questions about his electability if he wins the nomination without winning in Indiana. By winning Indiana, he can show that those states he won with broad coalitions, like Wisconsin and Virginia, weren't merely early aberrations. [Politico]

• Ben Smith writes that the Obama campaign doesn't see much of a problem at all. They're going to continue with the same plan that they've been using all along, and they're not worried about his problems with working-class whites. [Politico]

• Chris Cillizza looks at Obama's current argument to the superdelegates, which is that he does in fact have better prospects against John McCain than Clinton does. Besides noting his appeal to Independents and Clinton's high negatives, he touts a slew of favorable polling data, though he conveniently leaves out Florida and Ohio. [Fix/WP]

• Charles Krauthammer says the real threats to Obama's candidacy are his associations with Reverend Wright, Tony Rezko, and William Ayers, and that Obama's only response to the legitimate questions about his character has been to dismiss them as "distractions." [WP]

• Ed Morrisey agrees with Krauthammer, saying that Obama is the one who wanted to run not on his experience but on his judgment. Now the door is open to how he used his judgment in associating with figures like William Ayers. [Hot Air]

• Vaughn Ververs writes that Obama just needs to run out the clock without making any grievous missteps (Reverend Wright reemerging on PBS tonight, meanwhile, won't help). The superdelegates will need much more "fuel" — that is, more scandals — to overturn Obama's pledged-delegate lead. [Horserace/CBS News] —Dan Amira

Related: How Much Worse Will the Democratic Race Get?

For a complete and regularly updated guide to presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain — from First Love to Most Embarrassing Gaffe — read the 2008 Electopedia.

Source: Daily Intelligencer - New York Magazine | 25 Apr 2008 | 4:30 pm

Britney, Paris Hilton Blasted for Pet Care

An author is blasting Britney Spears and Paris Hilton for impulse pet buying in a new book, the New York Post's Page Six reports.
Source: FOXNews.com | 25 Apr 2008 | 4:16 pm

Yoko Ono Sues Over Use of 'Imagine' in 'Expelled'

Yoko Ono is suing the producers of a movie that challenges the concept of Darwinian evolution, saying they used the song "Imagine" without her permission and led the blogosphere to accuse her of "selling out."
Source: FOXNews.com | 25 Apr 2008 | 3:54 pm

Ready to Roll: 'The Hobbit' Gets a Director

"Pan's Labyrinth" director Guillermo del Toro to direct "The Hobbit" and sequel
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 3:49 pm

Bill Cosby: Blacks Have Become Nonchalant About Drugs

Bill Cosby says apathy among some black Americans about violence, drugs, profanity and teenage sex has sunk to a level of asking someone to "pass the salt."
Source: FOXNews.com | 25 Apr 2008 | 3:30 pm

Stars Don't Know How to Act ... With Women

Shia LaBeouf and Daniel Radcliffe's woes a symbol of celebs' dating problems?
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 2:53 pm

De Niro, Pacino get an offer they can't refuse

"This is an event in world history," is how Hollywood producer Avi Lerner proclaimed the news that Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were to star in his new film.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 2:52 pm

Students Angered Jerry Springer Chosen for Commencement

Law students at Northwestern University are furious that the school chose Jerry Springer as its commencement speaker, according to reports.
Source: FOXNews.com | 25 Apr 2008 | 2:51 pm

Hide the Sofa! Cruise Back on 'Oprah'

Tom Cruise will return to "Oprah" three years after his couch-jumping antics.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 2:48 pm

A scene from the film "Four nights with Anna"

A scene from the film "Four nights with Anna". Polish film-maker Jerzy Skolimowski returns to the Cannes next month with his first feature in almost 20 years, joining other East European directors picked...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 25 Apr 2008 | 2:47 pm

First Sparks, Now Keys Cancels Concerts

Like opener Jordin Sparks, Alicia Keys has been forced to rest her vocal cords.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 2:12 pm

Carmen Electra engaged

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 2:03 pm

Bond stuntmen stable after crash

Two stuntmen filming a scene for the new James Bond movie were recovering Friday after they were involved in an accident on the shores of Italy's Lake Garda, a spokeswoman for the production company said.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 1:49 pm

Pop Tarts: Kim and Reggie's Racy Way of Saving Water

Kim Kardashian has joined Tinseltown's struggle to nurture Mother Nature, and she and her NFL beau Reggie Bush are making a super-steamy contribution to conservation.
Source: FOXNews.com | 25 Apr 2008 | 1:41 pm

Carmen Electra Engaged to Musician

The 36-year-old actress is engaged to musician Rob Patterson, Electra's publicist, Brit Reece, said Thursday.
Source: FOXNews.com | 25 Apr 2008 | 1:24 pm

'Harold and Kumar' is smokin' -- sometimes

"Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle," a stoner comedy that became a cult favorite on DVD, was a slacker quest movie -- as wonderfully oxymoronic as that sounds. Now the pair is back for more of the same in "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 1:18 pm

Reports: Fallon to succeed Conan

Read full story for latest details.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 25 Apr 2008 | 1:04 pm