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Alessandro Dell'AcquaPhoto: Getty Images
• Coach just opened a 9,400-square-foot store in China. They plan to grow their sales in the country by $220 million and open 50 more new stores over five years. [WWD]
• Sonia Rykiel is pulling its menswear collection, Rykiel Homme, from the market since it's really only popular in France and is losing money overall. The collection shown in Paris next month will be its last. [British Vogue]
• Roberto Cavalli spoke to students at Oxford in London earlier this week. Students asked the really tough questions, like who his favorite Spice Girl was. He dodged that one, naturally, replying, "They’re all very nice! They speak to me about karate and boys. Victoria is fantastic — she’s so nervous before she goes out and she holds my hand tightly, and then suddenly when we go out, and she becomes a star." [Fashion Week Daily]
• After he spoke to students, Cavalli held a lavish seventeenth-century dinner (with leopard tablecloths, natch) to celebrate the launch of his new wine. Yes, he makes wine now. [British Vogue]
• Three patterned sweaters Bill Cosby's wore on The Cosby Show will be auctioned off next month on eBay to benefit charity. The bidding will start at $5,000. [Reuters]
• Pierre Bergé, the dean of Yves Saint Laurent, was not elected to be in the group of people who write the French dictionary. Oh, darn. [British Vogue]
• Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway shot a scene for their latest, progressive-sounding movie Bride Wars at Bloomingdale's on Wednesday morning. Paparazzi showed up, fans followed, chaos ensued. [WWD]
• Nylon magazine had a really hard time making Mischa Barton's legs look good in her cover shoot. [NYDN]
• Whoa, have you seen these Marc Jacobs ads with Victoria Beckham? She looks like a carousel figurine. [My Fashion Life]
Courtesy of Lost-Forum.com
Carmen and Luisa like Sex and the City, even though they live in Bushwick.Photo: Nytimes.com
Ms. Cruz’s hair, piled high atop her head, is dyed burgundy and cut in front at a rakish angle. Her eyebrows are plucked thin and dyed to match. She wore skinny black jeans and gold-colored flip-flops, along with a cream-colored blazer with exposed seams and lace, embroidered at the edges with sequins and pearl white and baby blue beads.
Okay, maybe not quite like the characters on Sex and the City. Thanks for pointing that out so awkwardly, Times.
The point is this: On their epic journey of discovery, the Times discovered that women like Carmen had thoughts and feelings and relationships just like the characters in the show and the movie and that, even though these women could not afford the material stuff on the show, it was fun for them as an escapist fantasy. Isn't that unbelievable?
That the Times would put a patronizing story like this on the cover of the "Metro" section, we mean.
Sex and the Rest of the City [NYT]
(By the way, this might be the best trick yet to get viewers to actually watch the commercials.)
Octagon Global Recruiting ["Official" site]
AP - Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show" and played a conniving politician to hilarious effect in "Blazing Saddles," died Thursday. He was 81.
AP - Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show" and played a conniving politician to hilarious effect in "Blazing Saddles," died Thursday. He was 81.
AP - Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show" and played a conniving politician to hilarious effect in "Blazing Saddles," died Thursday. He was 81.
We probably won't be able to make it to the housewarming party at the new Beverly Hills residence of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes this Saturday, but we know that somewhere, someone is grappling...The old Ford still runs like new St. George Daily Spectrum - Spoiler alert: Harrison Ford is 65 years old. Your reaction to this reality, and to the fact that he's playing Indiana Jones - an action hero he originated 27 years ago and last portrayed in 1989 - may in large part dictate your reaction to this fourth ... How The New ‘Indiana Jones’ Movie Is Like A Video Game MOVIE REVIEW: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull |
Photo: WireImage
Christian Dior took down fashion ads featuring Sharon Stone in China after her comments about the earthquake being "karma" for the country's occupation of Tibet. Charlie Sheen and Brooke Mueller, who are getting married today, are trying to have a kid, if they aren't already having one. Mel Brooks is closing down his L.A.-based film-production company. Bill Murray's wife has charged him with physical abuse in her divorce lawsuit. Some fancy, rich French people had an awkward interaction in Southampton. Clinton crony Marc Rich was offered an honorary fellowship at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Tel Aviv. Alicia Keys didn't speak to anyone at a recent Seventeen magazine photo shoot in Paris because she was saving her voice for a concert later that night. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel had dinner at a hotel in South Beach. George Clooney either dumped Sarah Lawson because of her shady past or because she was too young. Henry Kissinger celebrated his 85th birthday with chocolate cake at the Mayflower Inn in Washington, Connecticut. Cindy Adams says that producers are already contemplating a Sex and the City sequel.
Nancyjane Goldston, founder and CEO of the UXB, an advertising and branding agency in Los Angeles, told me recently that she sees too many job applicants who arrive in overexposing clothes. To these young people, "I think it's freedom of expression -- 'Take me for what I am or it's your loss,'" she said. She doesn't hire them: She says she doesn't have time to teach employees what to wear. "It subliminally says that you're not serious," Ms. Goldston says.
Binkley acknowledges the double standard at play for men and women in the workplace when it comes to getting dressed. Men don't have all the options women do and are less likely to wear something inappropriate to the office. Also, as Binkley noted in a previous article, men can't help but ogle and gossip about female colleagues who wear a flesh-bearing garment for a special occasion. It's not our fault that men can't keep their eyes on women's faces in these situations, but it couldn't hurt if we gave them less and less to talk about in the break room.
The 'Sex' Effect: Empowering to Some, Trashy to Others [WSJ]
 Jam! Showbiz | Danny McBride in "The Fist Foot Way." New York Times - By NATHAN LEE Fred Simmons (Danny McBride) is the type of blustery, provincial narcissist who is always putting his foot in his mouth and absolutely loving how it tastes. 'The Foot Fist Way' McBride Starring in 'Your Highness' |
Courtesy of ABC; screencap courtesy DarkUFO
Who is it? Sounds like Christian to us, but others are arguing it's Ben, Locke, or even Richard. And what's he telling Kate? That she needs to come back to the island. And who is the walrus? The walrus is Paul.
AP - The drummer for the rock group Hanson is now a first-time father.
Photo: Getty Images
It's a cowardly tactic used all too frequently in Albany, on both sides of the aisle (remember when Sheldon Silver wouldn't put congestion pricing to a vote?). By refusing to put a contentious bill to a vote, party leaders can kill measures that are outside of their agenda while protecting individual legislators from having to take controversial stances and alienate their constituents. But it effectively takes power out of their own hands, too. So when Bruno complains that Paterson has taken the Legislature out of the equation, he really only has himself to blame. The State Senate would have had their chance to voice an opinion (positive or negative) on gay marriage, were it not for Bruno.
Now Bruno has suggested introducing a Defense of Marriage Act to legally reverse Paterson's mandate. But he knows well that it will never get through the Assembly (they overwhelmingly approved gay marriage just last year, remember?). It's just another blustery move to make it seem like he is in favor of legislative process.
According to the Times, legal challenges to Paterson's order face an uphill battle. But if today's headlines are anything to go by, that won't slow the public outcry against it. After all, in politics, what you say is more important than what you do, right?
Bruno to fight gay marriage recognition [NYDN]
GAY-MARITAL DISCORD [NYP]
Gay Marriage Opponents Consider Ways to Fight New Policy [NYT]
Earlier: David Paterson Sneaks Gay Marriage In Through The Back Door
The most prominent transplant recipient, Tadamasa Goto, had been barred from entering the U.S. because of his criminal history, several current and former law enforcement officials said. Goto leads a gang called the Goto-gumi, which experts describe as vindictive and at times brutal.
The FBI helped Goto obtain a visa to enter the United States in 2001 in exchange for leads on potentially illegal activity in this country by Japanese criminal gangs, said Jim Stern, retired chief of the FBI's Asian criminal enterprise unit in Washington.
Goto got his liver, Stern said, but provided the bureau with little useful information on Japanese gangs.
In other words, Goto scammed his way into the US, promising information; got his precious liver, while dozens of others died waiting; then gave no good information! Coincidentally, the gangster's trip here for the transplant is the exact story that Adelstein had that got him targeted in the first place.
[LAT]
• Acne is marking up to 40 percent off. You’ll also find goods by Opening Ceremony, Band of Outsiders, Hussein Chalayan, and Proenza Schouler. While supplies last. 10 Greene St., nr. Canal St. (212-625-2828); Mon.–Sat. (11–7), Sun. (noon–7).
• The Norma Kamali for Everlast sample sale continues! Items that retailed for $250 to $650 are 80 percent off (from $10 to $100). Through 6/14. 11 W. 56th St., nr. Fifth Ave. (212-957-9797); Mon.–Sat. (10–6).
• Printed tees and skinny pants from the fall/winter 2008 collection at Yoko Devereaux are only $20 to $100, which is 75 percent off retail. Through 6/1. 338 Broadway, nr. Keap St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-302-1480); Fri., Sat. (noon–8), Sun. (noon–6).
• Indie brands like Vena Cava, Antik Batik, Clu, and more are 25 percent off at Bird in Brooklyn starting this weekend. 220 Smith St., at Butler St., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn (718-768-4940) and 430 Seventh Ave., nr. 14th St., Park Slope, Brooklyn (718-768-4940); Mon.–Sat. (noon–8), Sun. (noon–7).
• Tees, denim, sweatshirts, and bags from Mishka are 50 to 85 percent off. Cash only. Through 6/1. 350 Broadway, at Keap St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Fri., Sat. (noon–8), Sun. (noon–6).
ENDING TODAY
• Felix Rey’s cheery umbrellas, bags, and belts are up to 75 percent off. 611 Broadway, at Houston St., Ste. 838 (212-780-1988); 10–6.
• Noir’s giant cocktail rings, metal-and-resin bangles, and necklaces, normally $90 to $500, are down to $5 to $70. 350 W. 38th St., nr. Ninth Ave., fifth fl. (212-244-4846); 10–7.
• The golf-inspired sportswear from the Greg Norman Collection is going cheap. Belts and accessories are $5, while skorts (yes, they still make them!) and skirts are $10. 110 W. 57th St., nr. Sixth Ave. (no phone); 10–2.
ENDING TOMORROW
• Men’s and women’s gear from Rogues Gallery, Cheap Monday, and Band of Outsiders is 50 to 75 percent off at the News. 495 Broadway, nr. Broome St., fifth fl. (212-925-9700); checks accepted; Fri. (10–6); Sat. (10–5).
• Temple St. Clair baubles and dinnerware and stemware from Missoni and Oscar de la Renta Home are up to 70 percent off. 317 W. 33rd St., nr. Eighth Ave. (718-747-1656); Fri. (9–6:30); Sat. (9–5).
• To celebrate their grand opening, Boom Boom Beauty Bar is offering bargains on Brazilian waxes $45 (normally $60) and brow shaping $12 (normally $18). 35 Seventh Ave., nr. 12th St. (212-229-2666); Fri. (11–7), Sat. (10–6).
• Heikiejarick sportswear and dress are an additional 30 percent off wholesale prices. Skirts are $30, pants are $40, and a bargain bin will offer tops and leggings at $20 each. 262 W. 38th St., nr. Seventh Ave., Ste. 503, fifth fl. (212-764-0878); Fri. and Sat. (10–7).
STARTING SUNDAY
• The Theory womenswear sale has blazers, dresses, and knits at 50 to 75 percent off. Through 6/5. 261 W. 36th St., nr. Seventh Ave., second fl. (212-947-8748); Sun. (11–5); Mon. and Wed. (10–6); Tues. and Thurs. (10–7).
ENDING SUNDAY
• Kicks from Alife are on clearance, but bring your bills — it’s cash only. 158 Rivington St., nr. Clinton St. (212-375-8116); Fri., Sat. (noon–8), Sun. (noon–7).
Courtesy of ABC
Photo-illustration (Lane Brown): ABC, MGM
Update, 9:31 A.M.: CBS is reporting that two people are confirmed dead. Three more have been pulled from the wreckage and are alive, though the extent of their injuries is unknown.
Views from a nearby building.Photo: Lane Brown.
Crane Collapses on Manhattan's Upper East Side [NYT]
Related: A Look at High-rise Disasters, and the City's Baby Steps to Safety
AP - Francis Ford Coppola resumed shooting his latest film Thursday after a six-day hiatus prompted by a labor complaint from the actors' union, the organization's director said. But Coppola's spokeswoman, Kathleen Talbert, disputed the information, saying in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the production "was never shut down by the union and has shot every day that was scheduled."
AP - Francis Ford Coppola resumed shooting his latest film Thursday after a six-day hiatus prompted by a labor complaint from the actors' union, the organization's director said. But Coppola's spokeswoman, Kathleen Talbert, disputed the information, saying in an e-mail to The Associated Press that the production "was never shut down by the union and has shot every day that was scheduled."
RAFT OF LIES Jack was the one who made up the cover story Entertainment Weekly - By Jeff Jensen The season finale of Lost was a major leap backward for the show, and I mean that with a big wink and much admiration for a powerful conclusion to a bold, winning season. Lost Redux: Promises to Keep, and Miles To Go Before We Sleep Lost’s Grand Finale: Time Is On Their Side |
Courtesy of the Jim Henson Company
Cryer, Macy Wear Shorts: Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, and James Spader join the cast of Robert Rodriguez's family comedy Shorts. Film will be shot Spy Kids–style by Rodriguez and will follow the adventures of an 11-year-old living in a bland suburb whose life is turned upside down. Not literally, although it is likely that at some point in the film Macy will find himself upside down, possibly in boxer shorts. [Variety]
Green Greets Your Highness: David Gordon Green will direct Your Highness, a screenplay by Danny McBride and Ben Best set to star McBride as an arrogant prince who must save his father's kingdom. Green's connection to a sword-and-sorcery comedy suggests he's pretty much done with quiet, personal art films, but we can't be certain until he signs a deal with Jerry Bruckheimer. [Variety]
King Will Be Back: Sex and the City writer-director Michael Patrick King signs a first-look deal with DreamWorks, giving the studio the first crack at his next screenplay, which King describes as a deconstructed romantic comedy. Expect Variety to claim that male DreamWorks execs would rather be dragged naked over a huge pile of thumbtacks than read the script once it's delivered. [Variety]
Strange Days: T-shirt icon turned comic-book heroine Emily the Strange is being prepared for feature-film adaptation, with the character's designer, skateboarder turned T-shirt impresario Rob Reger, drafting the story. Dark Horse Entertainment will produce; choice of director will determine whether film is animation or live-action. As far as T-shirt-to-film adaptations go, this beats the Big Johnson movie we've been terrified will get green-lit for years. [HR]
Trio Get Vain: Broadway welcomes Vanities, a musical adaptation of the regional-theater favorite about three female friends as they change from high-school cheerleaders to independent women. The show is planned for the fall after a successful run in Palo Alto and an upcoming production in Pasadena. Show will give three newish Broadway actresses a shot, starring Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol. [Playbill]
AP - The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
AP - The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Reuters - It has only gone from bad
to worse in China this spring.
Reuters - It has only gone from bad
Reuters - Every now and then a
horror film comes along that bucks the going copycat trends and
manages to scare up some unique shivers.
AP - Chicago Sun-Times lawyers are expected to respond to a motion asking for a reporter to testify at R. Kelly's child pornography trial.
AP - Surf the TV channels anywhere in America on a given weekday, and chances are you'll find a former Miami judge holding court.
AP - After word spread that Prince covered Radiohead's "Creep" at Coachella, the tens of thousands who couldn't be there ran to YouTube for a peek. Everyone was quickly denied even Radiohead.
AP - After word spread that Prince covered Radiohead's "Creep" at Coachella, the tens of thousands who couldn't be there ran to YouTube for a peek. Everyone was quickly denied even Radiohead.
AP - LOS ANGELES (AP) Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show" and played a conniving politician to hilarious effect in "Blazing Saddles," died Thursday. He was 81.
AP - The allegations of deceit in Scott McClellan's book have been a surprise not only for Bush officials enraged with the former White House spokesman but also for publishers who turned down what is now the industry's hottest release.
AP - Joseph Pevney, who directed some of the best-loved episodes of the original "Star Trek" television series, has died. He was 96.
Reuters - Elizabeth Berkley, of
"Showgirls" and "Saved by the Bell" fame, has joined the sequel
to the 2001 cult movie "Donnie Darko."
Reuters - Every now and then a
horror film comes along that bucks the going copycat trends and
manages to scare up some unique shivers.
Reuters - Country singer Julianne Hough,
whose debut album opened at No. 3 on the U.S. pop chart this
week, took the scenic route to Nashville.
E! Online - We probably won't be able to make it to the housewarming party at the new Beverly Hills residence of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes this Saturday, but we know that somewhere, someone is grappling with a very difficult problem.
E! Online - The cultural phenom that had us all slurping Cosmos and sporting tutus and Jimmy Choos (okay, not all of us) finally sashays into theaters after a four-year wait. This stylish NYC romance delivers, especially for voracious Sex addicts—but isn't a 142-minute running time overcompensating?
Reuters - Counterculture icon
Emily the Strange, a symbol of female empowerment and
anti-conformity, is headed to the big screen with her four
mysterious cats.
E! Online - Harvey Korman was always good—if not better than most—for a laugh.
E! Online - Harvey Korman was always good—if not better than most—for a laugh.
AP - Like the island where so much of the action takes place, "Lost" giveth and it taketh away. Flashes of illumination for its viewers are routinely undone the next moment by bewilderment.
The cultural phenom that had us all slurping Cosmos and sporting tutus and Jimmy Choos (okay, not all of us) finally sashays into theaters after a four-year wait. This stylish NYC romance...
Reuters - HBO's voters turned out
in modest numbers for the cable network's acclaimed TV movie
"Recount" on Sunday night.
Recovery is going to be the only thing on Toni Braxton's to-do list for a while.
The Flamingo Las Vegas announced Thursday that the remainder of the R&B diva's shows at the...
How much would you pay for one of Bill Cosby's old sweaters?
Say, $5,000?
Three of Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable's distinctive Cosby Show sweaters are being auctioned off on...
Also, Clay is way looking like Ellen DeGeneres lately.Photo: People.com
Aiken's reps had no comment for People. Perhaps they are as speechless as we are.
Clay Aiken Is Going to Be a Dad [People]
Related: The Happy Hickster [NYM]
Can men alone make a hit of The Incredible Hulk? Will women stay away? And, by the way, does a box-office expert ever get asked questions like that?
"That never comes up," says...
AP - No one has mastered the look of spelling bee despair better than 10-year-old Veronica Penny.
Photo: Getty Images
Earlier: Video: Women on Women at the Gracie Awards
Harvey Korman was always good—if not better than most—for a laugh.
The Emmy-winning actor, best known for his rib-tickling antics on The Carol Burnett Show and one of Mel...
David Cook isn't performing at a full boil just yet, but he still blazed quite a trail through this week's singles chart.
Although Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" is still...
Britney Spears is still not ready for prime time.
The Los Angeles court commissioner overseeing the "Gimme More" singer's conservatorship case deemed Spears' condition...
When in treatment, every day you just have to put one foot in front of the other. Especially if you need to "Walk This Way" night after night.
Steven Tyler has confirmed he...
Well, that's one way to show the measure of a man.
Clay Aiken is expanding the ranks of the Claynation by one, expecting a child with music producer Jaymes Foster this...
Oh Hedi…Photo: WireImage
Related: Hayes Peebles
Hayes Peebles’ MySpace Page
Photo: Getty Images
I said, in short, this is your candy store, if you don't want me to run this, I'm not running it, and I'm not leaking it, but at minimum you should know the story's out there. And the guy's answer was, thanks for thinking of us, here's our official denial, please report it and whatever your sources tell you, just please make clear that none of your sources are within the company (baseball was, and is, extremely touchy about when a team is, or isn't, "officially" for sale, and woe betide the owner who makes a deal before the "officially" kicks in). So I ran the Dodgers-Are-Unofficially-For-Sale story (with the "the sources aren't NewsCorp" caveat taking almost as long as the story itself) and everything was swell.
Needless to say, Olbermann was fired shortly after. He later heard that it was because of the Dodgers story. Not one to miss a good jab, though, he ended his e-mail to TVNewser with a classic self-referential thrust. "As to the 'crazy' part, he had to pay me $800,000 for the rest of 2001, and lord knows how many tens of millions I've helped MSNBC take out of his pocket ever since," he writes. "So: who's crazy?"
Eh, we bet Bill O'Reilly could have come up with a better kicker.
Olbermann Responds to Murdoch's "Crazy" Remark [TVNewser/Mediabistro]
Photo: iStockphoto
MAKEUP
• Bobbi Brown will release a moisturizing lip balm for $18 called Yogi Bare, named after Yogi Berra. Dudes can use this one, too. We'll call it "baseball beauty." [Bella Sugar]
FRAGRANCE
• Because we specialize in useful info over here at the Cut: Elizabeth Arden bought Liz Claibourne, Inc.’s fragrance licenses, including Juicy Couture, Usher, and Curve by Liz Claibourne. [Cosmetic News]
• On Sunday, Jo Malone launches the Vitamin E Body Treatment Scrub, which costs $75 and helps boost skin elasticity. Just $75! [Style.com]
• Elemis is launching Maximum Replenish Night Cream, a follow-up to their sell-out Pro-Collagen Oxygenated Night Cream. It’s supposed to regenerate skin. Why they don't call it "magic goo" is beyond us. [British Vogue]
Okay, hands: this time, with feeling!Photo Illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images, iStockphoto
Once, we came to commend your album. Then, we came to proclaim your genius. And now, we come to speak in our own defense. Our words, our offerings to you (laid at your altar, and yours alone, though we suppose Dave Sitek deserves some credit), have been turned against us. Cruel online world! Yesterday, reading Stephanie Zacharek on Salon, our mouth went dry, heart palpitated in an unusual and disturbing manner, and eyes began darting wildly as we came across this loathsome passage:
"Anywhere I Lay My Head" hasn't been unilaterally trashed by critics; it has received some favorable reviews, one in Pitchfork among them. But there have been plenty of potshots, too. In April, New York magazine's Vulture blog ran a short item about the album with the snarky headline "Confirmed: Scarlett Johansson Makes Best-Ever Album by an Actor."
Would but we had a pitchfork at hand, with which we might pursue our terrible accuser!
Let us be clear, Scarlett, since our (obviously unread) blog article was not: The greatest album by a member of the Screen Actors Guild is a very fine album indeed. But this injustice, the perversion of our words, is not all. The writer then goes on to make claim on you and your album, to argue its merits as if that were not our exclusive domain. Herewith, we present her more salient points — followed by similar points, enclosed in parenthetical marks, that we ourselves made nigh on ten days ago.
But I'm here to make a confession: I like "Anywhere I Lay My Head," and if Johansson "can't sing" — a claim that's debatable anyway — she is at the very least part of a long, proud tradition of actors who "can't sing" and who have nonetheless made wonderful, or at least extremely enjoyable, records.
(Our words: But even if it mattered that Johansson is not, technically speaking, a dazzling singer — has that ever mattered for Madonna? Or any emo band in history? — we'd still find the idea of Sitek rescuing Johansson from her own worst impulses lame.)She's not attempting to reinvent [the songs], only to reimagine them — which is not that different from what an actor does when he or she is called upon to interpret a role.
(Her definitive role, in Lost in Translation, made a strength of her weakness, which is her opaqueness, that air of inaccessibility … It is those instincts and independence of spirit that she called upon in making Anywhere I Lay My Head, and it is her reserved, easy way that redefines the music.)
Johansson is already a beautiful, successful young movie star — we don't want her to be able to sing too, do we?
(She's too pretty to be a talented musician!)
We cannot bear to go on. Scarlett, we beg of you: Remember who first rushed to your defense, and who, like you, has suffered at the tap-tap-tapping fingers of those eager to cast aspersions on one's most sincere impulses.
Forever yours,
Nick Catucci
Can Scarlett Johansson sing? [Salon]
Courtesy of THINKFilm
We don't have a lot to add to Jezebel's skewering of this casting move, in which a role that could have been played perfectly well by a black actress is given to a white one instead. But we do wonder — why Mena Suvari? We could almost understand this kind of move if you were trying to land an Oscar winner or a box-office draw (say, Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl). But Mena Suvari? She's a fine but not great actor; her name puts zero butts in seats. So why not cast one of the many fantastic, underused black actresses with a fame level roughly equivalent to Suvari's?
We would love to have seen, say, Viola Davis, or Sophie Okonedo, or Gina Torres, or N'Bushe Wright, or Sanaa Lathan, or Anika Noni Rose take on this part. (We came up with that list in like twenty seconds, by the way, so presumably professional casting directors could do even better.) Any one of these women likely would have been just as good as Suvari, would have resulted in a box office no worse than the meager box office this movie is likely to have anyway, and the whole thing wouldn't make potential audience members like us — who would otherwise be interested in a crazy-creepy-sounding thriller like this — totally queasy.
Why Cast A Black Actress In Your Movie When You Can Get Mena Suvari In Cornrows? [Jezebel]
Blockbuster plots in-store downloads [HR]
It's a male!Photo: Shanna Ravindra
If, however, you remain a label whore and the knockoffs just don't cut it for you (which we totally understand — that kind of label validation really is a mood booster), but feel you really should tighten your belt a bit, remember the biggest difference between the real and knocked-off items is the price. Marc Jacobs's business partner, Robert Duffy, explains:
“No one wants to pay $500 for a pair of flip-flops,” Mr. Duffy said, sounding more like a consumer advocate than a luxury-brand kingpin. “Sometimes I’ll walk past a store and see that, or see rubber boots for $500, and it disgusts me. I know what it costs to make them.”
So bargain-hunt, you men. Bargain-hunt.
Penny Pinching Looks Great [NYT]
Chelsea: In addition to building new bike lanes on other streets around the city, like in Williamsburg and Long Island City, the city will extend that much-talked-about Ninth Avenue bike lane from 23rd Street to 33rd Street. Wow, ten more blocks of safety before you have to start risking your life again. [Streetsblog]
Dongan Hills: Council member James Oddo (that's right, the one who told the Borat-like fake interviewer to "get the fuck out of my office") is now busting developers in this part of Staten Island for building driveways that are too steep. Don't mess with this man — he'll drink your milk shake every time! [AllWaysNY]
Governors Island: When it opens to the public this Saturday, there will be a fancy-shmancy polo match there...just like in the old days! [NYT]
Gowanus: Could the area's new hotels turn into by-the-hour "hot-sheet" joints if the bottom falls out of the city's tourist boom? What perfect places for Slope parents to go to feel naughty while they leave the kids with the Caribbean nanny! [Brownstoner]
Harlem: Alexander Hamilton's house, which is being moved to St. Nicholas Park, is currently perched in the air over Convent Avenue. We smell an art installation: Flying Federalist Homes of Our Founding Fathers! [Curbed]
South Bronx: St. Barnabas Hospital here is the site of a real-life ER-type show now airing on the Discovery Channel. Cool! [Talk Bronx]
Williamsburg: Poor Katalin Pota, the woman who played Tony Soprano's housekeeper. First, she was viciously hurt while trying to protect a friend from New Jersey underworld thugs (in real life, we mean!), now she's being kicked out of her Billyburg home owned by the guy who built a wall through his Borough Park mansion to separate himself from his wife. Did you catch all that? We're not sure we did. [NYDN]
Photo-illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images, iStockphoto
Burberry Prorsum, Lanvin, Roberto Cavalli.Photo-illustration: WireImage (Campbell), Imaxtree
Trend Les Copains, Dolce & Gabbana, Balmain.Photo Illustration: WireImage (Campbell), Imaxtree
The Gracie Allen Awards [NYM Video]
"Right now, I'm probably saying something totally ill-advised."Photo: WireImage
I'm not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice, the bad things happen to you?
Cue YouTube infamy, Chinese outrage, formal apologies from Dior China and Stone, and a serious drop in Stone's income. And as if it weren't bad enough that she suggested the deaths of tens of thousands of people were karmic retribution for China's policies regarding Tibet, we're not so sure Stone, who claims to be a practicing Buddhist, even understands what the hell she's talking about when it comes to karma. So we called in an expert: Matthew Reichers, an instructor at the Chakrasambara Buddhist Center. He concurs that Stone shouldn't necessarily be spouting off about karmic justice: "Karma is a deeply hidden phenomena," he says. "In order to understand the specifics you have to be a fully enlightened being — so not even a renowned person like Sharon Stone would understand." Heh.
So Stone might not be enlightened enough to truly comprehend that of which she speaks — but even so, how does karma work? "Karma is essentially a special instance of the law of cause and effect, whereby all of our actions function as causes and the experiences we have are the effects," he explains, sounding mellow enough to lure us into his meditation center. "So generally the experiences we have in this life would arise from karma, and the karma we have arises from the experiences we had in previous lives."
As for whether this could be applicable to the Chinese state's actions toward Tibetans, Reichers is skeptical. "The only way you could say that is if those killed in the earthquake had in past lives engaged in actions that had specifically caused the lives of Tibetans to be destroyed. If you're claiming it's about the treatment of Tibetans, then it has to be about the past actions and lives about all the people who were killed in the earthquake." So basically, Stone would be suggesting that all the quake victims were in past lives Chinese who killed Tibetans. And that's "highly speculative and not really based on anything — no one would know such a thing," Reichers concludes. Moreover, Buddhism has an earthquake clause: Everyone has the karma to die in a natural disaster, whether you've been involved in controversial state policies or not.
With that in mind, we have to wonder about Sharon Stone's past lives. If the rules follow, she was once a harried LVMH executive in a thankless job doing damage control for a mouthy spokeswomen. —Jessica Coen
Dior Drops Actress for China Remark [NYT]
Photo: NYP.
Lawyers for Stuart Sugarman, who claims that last year he was attacked in an Upper East Side gym by a fellow spinner after he whooped excitedly during class, explained that a spinner, at the height of cycling, achieves an ecstatic, trancelike state, what they called "the zone." Whooping, they said, is not only normal, but encouraged.
According to the Post,
The lights are dimmed, music throbs, and the instructor leads the class in call and response — "Are you ready? I can't hear you!"
Spin instructor Mark Selden was called in to testify. "There are times," he told the courtroom, chillingly, "when 50 people will respond in harmony."
Eventually, Sugarman himself took the stand to answer questions about his participation in the bizarre ritual known as spinning. Red faced and limping, according to the Times, he faced the jury stoically:
"Are you psyched?" an assistant district attorney, Brigid Harrington, asked Mr. Sugarman, in an effort to explore his mind-set during spinning class."I am," Mr. Sugarman said.
God, we can't wait for Law & Order to get hold of this story.
Grunt and Center [NYP]
Grunting in East Side Gym Class Leads to Hospital, and to Court [NYT]
Earlier: Spinning Classmates Face Wheels of Justice
Christy!Photo: Courtesy of Escada
"At the end of the Nineties, there was a [supermodel] overdose and people wanted to see actresses, but maybe the fact that actresses don't really have a real relationship with fashion is driving [their return]," mused agent Didier Fernandez at DNA Models, which represents Evangelista, Nadja Auermann and Amber Valletta. He also suggested "people are starting to wake up" to the value, both in the emotive and bankable sense, of these iconic women.
For example, L'Oréal's profits increased 20 percent since Linda Evangelista started appearing in their ads eighteen months ago. A Louis Vuitton spokeswoman pointed out that a recognizable face is necessary to make people stop and look at an ad. It's true — though we might go gaga over Sasha Pivovarova, it's likely not too many people outside of the industry will know who she is.
And the supers aren't just sweeping ad campaigns. Rumor has it they'll appear in a fall issue of Italian Vogue.
The Old Is New Again: The 'Supers' Hold Sway In Europeans' Fall Ads [WWD]
Photo: Imaxtree
Model Profile: Viktoriya Sasonkina
For tons more information and beautiful editorials, click through the Model Manual.
AP - French fashion house Christian Dior said Thursday it has dropped Sharon Stone from its Chinese ads and released a statement from the actress apologizing for saying China's earthquake may have been bad karma for its treatment of Tibet.
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