On the left we have a creation from Chloe Dao (season two).Yes, it's a baby doll, but the cut and fit on the bust are impeccable. In the middle, we have a look by Rami Kashou (season four). It looks like it walked off a real runway. Très chic. And on the right is a look from Jeffrey Sebelia (season three). It's probably the best example of rocker chic from the series.Photo: imaxtree

On the left is a look by Jillian Lewis (season four). Again, this could have walked down a real fall runway. In the center is a look by Uli Herzner (season three). You forgot how lovely her collection was, didn't you? And on the right — as if we need to remind you — is a look by season-four winner Christian Siriano. We weren't a fan of some of his feathered creations, but this is one of the best looks of the series.Photo: imaxtree

Now for the fun part! On the left is a jacket by Chris March (season four), tricked out with human hair. Human hair and fashion have the same relationship as human hair and food: They're awful when mixed together. The middle gray outfit is by season-one winner Jay McCarroll. We prefer our boots without enough fur to insulate a house. And on the right is a dress by Santino Rice (season three). If that model had lifted her arms, she would have flown away. And probably landed in a medieval fashion dungeon.Photo: imaxtree

On the left is a dress by Dao. Looks like a shower liner gone wrong. In the center is a swimsuit by Mychael Knight (formerly Michael), which looks like it could have been designed by and intended for a Star Wars character. On the right is a dress by Sweat P. Someone really should have taken away her glitter and paste.Photo: imaxtree

That bow tie is solid gold. Probably.
Okay, maybe not.Photo: Getty Images

Photo-illustration: Everett Bogue; Photos: Getty Images, Retrofile/Getty Images

Photo: Courtesy of Avon

Miami and the Siege of Chicago

Norman Mailer
New York Review Books
Out July 15
$14.95

Buy

With opening-weekend Imax showings of The Dark Knight already selling out in many cities, is it worth waiting a couple of days — or waking up at four in the morning — to pay extra money and see Batman on the biggest of big screens? Or should you just see it in a regular theater, since after all, only twenty minutes of the movie are shot in Imax anyway? We asked New York's Logan Hill, who saw the movie in Imax, to debate Dan Kois, who saw it on a standard screen.

Point:
Why see The Dark Knight in an Imax theater? As P-Funk front man George Clinton once succinctly explained to us, "'Cuz that shit is motherfuckin' huuuuuge."

Imax 70mm negatives pack in the digital equivalent of 70 megapixels per frame. Place a 35mm frame over an Imax frame and it looks like a puny postage stamp mounted on a panoramic postcard. Philistine technophobes dismiss the hyperresolution afforded by this Brobdignagian camera system as a manipulative gimmick, and they are just as correct as the Victorian idiots who dismissed moving-picture technology as a fad in the 1890s. In his film 2001, no less an unprincipled carnival barker than Stanley Kubrick used this ridiculous gimmick to emphasize the vastness of space and the crystalline, antiseptic inhumanity of robotics. In The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan and his cameraman Wally Pfister kick off their film with six of the film's twenty or so minutes of Imax footage, generating menace out of an impossibly detailed but otherwise simple shot of an office tower — and making the Joker's bank heist even more startlingly immediate. It's just one of Nolan's answers to a nearly insoluble problem: How do you make men in tights believable? With Imax, you overload audiences with detail, until what's on the other side of the looking-glass mirror looks more real than what's around them. —Logan Hill



Counterpoint:

Bat Man good on normal screen! Good movie! No matter what screen! Big screen, small screen, all same! Bat Man big! Joker blow things up! Movie in color! Can see everything! Save money! See Bat Man regular screen! Not miss things! —Dan Kois




Apologies to The Onion, natch.

New York ballet season ends on a classical note (AP)

Dark Knight Mania! Gary Oldman on the Good Guys

Comic books on display

Introducing Anderson Pooper

He even has the look down!Photo: Getty Images, Graydon Sheppard

Time anthology reaffirms the printed word (AP)

AP - "85 Years of Great Writing in Time" (Time Books, 560 pages, $26.95): Those of us who traffic in words for a living feel somewhat under siege these days, like a Donkey Kong machine sitting forlornly in the corner of a ramshackle pizza parlor while teenagers on the sidewalk outside play Grand Theft Auto on their handhelds.

‘The Dark Knight’: When the Superhero Movie No Longer Needs Its Superhero

Photo-illustration: Courtesy of Warner Brothers

The Dark Knight's darkness stems from a calculated decision by Christopher Nolan: to push Christian Bale's Batman into the background. To make, in essence, a superhero movie without the superhero. So what does Batman without Batman look like? And where can Nolan go from here?

From the beginning of The Dark Knight, Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman is only the fifth- or sixth-most-interesting character in his own movie. (The Joker, Harvey Dent, Gordon, Rachel Dawes, and even Alfred the butler are more intriguing onscreen than Batman.) Sure, it's not uncommon for criminals and supporting characters to be flashier than the superhero in a comic-book movie. It is uncommon, though, for the hero to serve — as Batman does in The Dark Knight — as little more than a patsy: just one of Gotham's wind-up toys, serving only to be set in motion by the Joker and sent into yet another trap. Unlike in most superhero movies, Batman isn't two steps ahead of the criminals, or even of us; instead, he's constantly behind, until even the audience can see the plots developing, and Batman's investigations making things worse.

And so throughout The Dark Knight, Batman himself is further and further marginalized, made more and more impotent. Batman can't stop the violence, can't crack the case, and his inability to comprehend the pure malevolent chaos that the Joker represents costs dozens of Gotham residents their lives. In so exhilaratingly illustrating the expression of that pure chaos — and in the dire straits it eventually puts our so-called hero in — The Dark Knight can be read as a philosophical argument against superheroes in a complicated world.

Which suggests there's not much further Nolan's gritty, realistic style of superhero flick can go. After all, you can't get much darker than a superhero movie that all but makes its superhero irrelevant. What's left? An empty Batcave.

Meet the New Guy: Wendell Lissimore

Photo: Imaxtree

Model Profile: Wendell Lissimore

For more info on your favorite models check out our Model Manual

The Two Faces of Henry Paulson

Henry: happy and sad.Photo: Courtesy of Columbia Journalism review.

The WSJ's Faces of Pain [Kicker/CJR]

Video: Tinsley Mortimer Loves Making Her Own Money

Recently Wendy Furrer interviewed Tinsley Mortimer for CNBC's High Net Worth. Because, you see, Tinsley's earning power knows no bounds. Yes, she's known for her philanthropic efforts for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the Natural History Museum, and New Yorkers for Children. But she also created her own shade of pink lip gloss for Dior and has her own clothing and Samantha Thavasa handbag line, which are all the rage in Japan. V magazine even shot her and her "posse of friends" for its "Dream Girls" issue. "I'm a Leo and I think that's what they say — they like to be in the spotlight," Tinsley says. You might think all that hard-earned cash would go to charity, but it doesn't. "I definitely do buy a lot of clothes, bags, shoes," she says. "I also do a little bit of traveling." Watch and discover more reasons to love her.

High Net Worth [Park Avenue Peerage]

Related: Tinsley Mortimer Explains the Japanese Handbag Market
How to Get Tinsley Mortimer's Face in Just Fifteen Steps

Ratatat Stage Jameson-Fueled Rock Rampage!

Photo: Josh Gosfield

western passage: manuel's new look

Looking for Elvis-worthy westernwear? Manuel Classic is your go-to label. But the label's spin-off line, Manuel, now in its second season, is about sophisticated citywear. The line is designed by Wilfredo Rosado, an Interview alum who spent two decades working for Giorgio Armani—work experience that's reflected in the streamlined good taste of his first, beach-ready Resort collection. Among our favorites pieces was a ruched-sleeve trench and a pair of full-legged pants made from a cotton/paper mix produced by a Japanese mill. Now that's the kind of paper pushing we like to see. For more information, see www.manueldesigns.com.

pharrell, working it

Paper cover boy Pharrell Williams (that's him swinging an oversize croc Birkin on this month's cover) took his time taking the stage at the party the magazine threw in his honor at Santos Party House last night. Although the event was billed to run from 8 to 11 p.m., the hip-hop star didn't appear until 11:15. Once on, Williams was all business. Though he hasn't seemed to mind having his picture snapped in the past (a given for anyone who attends a Louis Vuitton fashion show), he steered the crowd back to the music last night. "All right now, kids, turn off all the cameras and put them away," he said. "And put your hands in the air. Say hell, yeah!" "He's so cute," said Paper's Mickey Boardman, before leaving his handbag with Nigo to take laps around the room. "I love a party." Pause. "Fine, I love a Paper party."

The Goot’s Guide to Loving Women

This is not, we hope, part of the Goot's Guide to
Loving Women. It's just an awesome paparazzi
shot from last month.Photo: Bauer-Griffin

• Start looking early in the day: “I pop out of bed at 6:30. And I say my prayers, and every day have a little hot water and lemon, that’s my start,” Guttenberg told Morgan. “And I go take a run in Central Park.” He gets a date out of that routine, now and again.
• Take smart women to nice places: “Nothing's sexier than a smart woman,” he said after taking a Cornell grad to the Water Club. “The Goot is on the loose.”
• Use third-person catch phrases: See above. This also seems to work for Barney Stinson.

• Stay fit: “[My body] is my violin,” he told Morgan. “So I want to keep it tuned up.”
• Advertise: The Goot is working on a book about his first ten years in Hollywood. Title: Diary of a Seducer.
• Play the George Clooney card: “If I feel shitty, and someone says, ‘What are you working on,’ I’ll get really pissed off and go, ‘Yeah I’m doing a thriller with, you know, George Clooney,’" Guttenberg says. "I make myself feel better by that."
• If that fails, play the other George Clooney card: "A good gay rumor about me might not be a bad thing to start!" he said, while discussing his career. "You know, a lot of heavyweight actors are gay. And they do very well."

If you do happen to end up dating 600 women using this routine, please make sure you use protection. Three Men and a Baby may have been a gas, but nobody thought it was so funny by the time it had become Three Men and a Little Lady, eh?

Look Out, Ladies: The Goot Is Loose! [NYO]
Related: Steve Guttenberg Is Very Angry

Photographer Peter Granser Takes an Early Retirement

Peter Granser’s Paar im Pool 2 (Couple in Pool) (2000).Courtesy of Yancey Richardson Gallery

Al Reynolds 'Still Loves' Star Jones

Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood enters rehab

Kimora Lee Simmons’s Inappropriate Juniors’-Line Launch Party

Sigh.Photo: WireImage

Kimora told us at the soirée at Hiro nightclub she didn't approach designing her juniors' line any differently from her Baby Phat and KLS lines. "It has its similarities and it has its differences, but the price point and the age group is a little lower," she explained. "Though, technically, in the new line, I wear a lot of it. You're going to see these girls on the runway and you're going to say 'Kimora did that.' Because I would wear that. And my kids would wear that. So it's a very diverse line." Before we could ask if that meant she wears the same clothes as her kids, her publicist Keesha Johnson informed the slew of print reporters we had one more question. So we asked about her plans for Fashion Week. When she finished compellingly explaining to a tabloid how Djimon Hounsou and her daughters get along so well, she turned to us as her publicist tried to usher her away and said, "I'm working hard. I'll see you there, right?"

Inside the ballroom, the show kicked off with a nine-piece drum line pumping up the crowd pep-rally style. Finally, something that reminds us we're here for the kids! But things took a scandalous turn when the real music started and the models came out. Lyrics like "Honey, I like it rough, rough" and "hey motherf--ker," blasted incessantly through the speakers. The collection consisted of loose tube tops desperately in need of built-in bras, knee-high boots trimmed in fake fur, and slinky, low-back halter dresses. One unlucky model actually flashed her entire chest when her poorly fitted tube top slid down. For the grand finale the models — some clad in mighty short skirts — took spots on opposing staircases and danced with the banisters. When the largest cascade of fat silver confetti we'd ever seen burst from the ceiling, threatening our Champagne, we knew it was time to go.

Just when we thought things couldn't get any more un-teen, we opened our gift bags. Guess what was inside! Nary a trinket from the Fabulosity line, as we expected. But rather a bottle of Champagne. They may not know teens, but at least they're well versed in gift-bag therapy.—Sharon Clott

Related: Kimora Lee Simmons’s Fabulosity Juniors’ Line Unveiled
Kimora’s Somewhat-Misguided Launch Party for Her Juniors’ Line

what's new with the pr champ

We admit it, we're not above watching "Project Runway." So, as we count down to the Season 5 tip-off (tonight! Bravo! 9 p.m. EST!), we thought it only right to catch up with last season's champ, Christian Siriano, as he prepares for his first solo show in September. His new collection won't be the black puffy-sleeved garments of yesteryear. In fact, there will be no black at all. "The colors are a bit muted with some really bright colors," he says. "It's a little more sculpted, a little more clean. Lots of organza and beautiful raffia." He'll be showing them all outside of the tents in an industrial space that seats 500, with the whole thing sponsored by LG Electronics. And that's not the only thing on his plate. "I'm doing costumes for a new movie, 'Eloise in Paris,' with Uma Thurman," he says. "I'm doing a haute couture fashion show that's set in Paris in the 1920's. It's a big project, and it's going to be really fabulous." And fierce, naturally.

Carroll Gardens Graffiti: ‘Yuppie Fux Are Sitting Dux’

Photo: Aileen Gallagher

Related: The What You Are Afraid Of: A mischievous online bogeyman is haunting the dreams of New Brooklyn [NYM]

Our Favorite Fashionable Beach Accessories

We wait all year to dig our toes into the sand, pick up some chick lit, turn off our cell phones, and enjoy a little "me" time at the beach. But more often than not our moments of pure beach bliss are disrupted by sightings of women in Corona hats, melting mascara, and cotton booty shorts with words scrawled across their asses. Or guys who look like they stumbled out of a messy frat house in tattered baseball caps and rumpled college T-shirts. We're sure we're not the only ones who feel this way. So for our latest Shop-A-Matic, we scoured the city for the 149 best beach items, from hats to flip-flops to cover-ups to beauty products, and more. Just because you're at the beach doesn't mean you can't set the fashion bar high. And with a good six weeks until Labor Day, you've still got time to make a splash (har har!) at your favorite sunning spot. Here are a few of our favorite picks.

Clockwise, from top left: Smashbox bronzer, Toxi sandal, Hillsy flip-flop, Jordana hat, The Don hat, Dermalogica SPF wipes, Slow Current cover-up, and Prism hoodie.

Toxi, by Fiorentini & Baker
Price: $295
Why we like it: The little studs on this open-toe T-strap gladiator make it interesting.

Hillsy, by Vans
Price: $28
Why we like it: A men's shoe with a woven bottom. Nice touch.

Jordana, by Eugenia Kim
Price: $221
Why we like it: The rim on this women's straw hat provides ample shade.

The Don, by Original Penguin
Price: $48
Why we like it: The striped rim of this straw men's fedora adds a twist to this beach classic.

Solar Defense Wipes (SPF 15), by Dermalogica
Price: $22
Why we like it: Slip this portable pack in your beach bag (or gym bag or tiny purse!) for easy SPF application. It doesn't even give your hands with that gross, sticky feeling, either.

Slow Current Cover-up, by Lilka
Price: $88
Why we like it: The bright print and scalloped hem on this silk-and-cotton cover-up offer feminine ways to top any bathing suit.

Prism Hoodie, by Quiksilver
Price: $60
Why we like it: The bright graphic print on this men's hoodie stands out from the rest of Quiksilver's beach classics. The hood is also detachable, with snaps in the front. —Sharon Clott

Boy Band Mogul Pearlman Must Pay $300M

Gap’s Patrick Robinson Is Quite the Popular Fellow

Glamour's Gap love.Photo: Courtesy of Glamour

For Nylon, style director Dani Stahl did her monthly "Factory Girl" feature at the Gap Studios on West 18th Street, crafting a pair of Avery jeans for the occasion, even getting "Gapped-out from head-to-toe" to present her pair to Robinson for approval. As for Glamour, the writer took a more Harper's Bazaar–via–Estée Lauder approach, dedicating six pages to styling Gap pieces next to a Q&A with the V.P. We never doubted Mr. Robinson's lock on denim, and after eight pages in two glossies, we still don't. So if that's what the publicists were aiming for by planting this story two places, go ahead, toot that horn. We've had our fill of Gap denim for now. See more after the jump. —Sharon Clott

Photo: Courtesy of Glamour

Nylon gets Gapped out.Photo: Courtesy of Nylon

you say olympics, we say shopping opportunity

When it comes to the Olympics, you either live for them or you make it a quadrennial mission to avoid knowing anything about them. Either way, Opening Ceremony has you covered. Founders Carol Lim and Humberto Leon are Olympics die-hards, and to celebrate this year's sporting fortnight, they're keeping the doors to their shops in New York and Los Angeles open for a 72-hour stretch. The nonstop shopping kicks off with a party on August 8, and fans of the Games can swing by at any hour for the following three days to pick up limited-edition, Olympics-themed goodies such as T-shirts co-designed by the likes of Kim Gordon and sneakers made in collaboration with Nike Sportswear. Anti-fans, meanwhile, can continue in ignorance of the athletic brouhaha by dropping in for late-night Scrabble matches and snacks. And there's a feel-good bonus: According to Leon, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Chinese earthquake relief.

comfort food meets (slightly) uncomfortable husbands

With one year left in her twenties, Ferebee Bishop Taube decided the best place to celebrate her birthday would be the Great Jones Cafe (which one guest labeled the "best place for comfort food when you're experiencing the world's worst hangover"). Joining her last night were friends Olivia Chantecaille, Maggie Betts, Barbara Bush, and Eleanor Ylvisaker, as well as a couple of the designers (Alexander Wang and Elise Øverland) the PR maven works with. A highlight was the attendance of the handsome husbands of Taube's fancy girlfriends, most of whom claim late meetings or last-minute projects when she invites them to what they tend to refer to as "those retail parties" (read: store parties and fashion events). Perhaps they had the right idea, as it did get a little sticky when the same-sex-oriented (the male sex, that is) fashion types tried their best pickup lines on the better halves: "Shall we go to the john, John?" and "I'll swim in your brook, Brooke." All was forgiven when the ribs came out, however—we even spotted some girls who look like they haven't had so much as an M&M this entire week chowing down on the pork products.

Rapper has defiant words for new album

Nicholas II, Czar of Russia, and his family

Halston Lets Its Head Designer Go

Marco ZaniniPhoto: WireImage

Halston was revived thanks to the efforts of Jimmy Choo's Tamara Mellon, Harvey Weinstein, and stylist Rachel Zoe. Things seemed to be going swimmingly leading up to the first show in February. In a revolutionary move Net-A-Porter signed on to sell Halston pieces online the day after the show walked. But Zoe's absence from the fashion show was a red flag something was awry. Then the collection received mixed reviews; critics felt it wasn't fresh enough. Speculation surfaced that Zoe, a member of Halston's creative advisory board, disagreed with Zanini about the direction of the line.

Though American retailers didn't have a voracious appetite for Halston, items sold out on Net-A-Porter. Asian and European retailers also responded favorably. Last month London's Selfridge's opened an 800-square-foot in-store Halston boutique. Halston's CEO even told WWD at the opening party for the store that the brand planned to branch into sunglasses, swimwear, jeans, and candles (go figure).

So will Zanini's collection walk in September? Will Zoe sit front row? Will Halston candles infiltrate Upper East Side townhouses? The suspense mounts.

Quick Hook at Halston: Creative Chief Zanini Said to Be Out at Label [WWD]

Music Review: The Grascals' experience shows on CD (AP)

AP - The Grascals, "Keep On Walkin'" (Rounder)

Omar Sharif(R) and Adel Imam(L) in a still from the movie "Hassan and Morkos"

A bowl of the Korean traditional dish Kimchi

'CSI' Star's Life in Crime Coming to End

elton's got flava: goodbye yellow brickle road, to be exact

Fashion-crowd crooner and rose-colored-sunglass wearer Elton John has his own honorary ice cream. The multi-flavor mélange is best enjoyed, we suggest, in small doses.

With only one collection under his caftan, creative director Marco Zanini is reportedly out at Halston. Does this mean we can look forward to owner Harvey Weinstein's design debut?

We reported on the staycation trend last month, but for those of you really into the idea of keeping it local, here are some ideas for taking it to the next level.

Silly Boys at the "Step Brothers" Premiere (Fashion Wire Daily)

Fashion Wire Daily - If something works, why not do it again?

Pete Doherty and his band played a taut and focused set at Montreux

Michael J. Fox Set to Star in FX Series

no joke: what lipstick says about batman's bad guy

With all the early Oscar buzz surrounding Heath Ledger's performance in the highly anticipated new Batman movie, all eyes will be on the Joker when "The Dark Knight" hits theaters this week. But if the comparisons between the late Mr. Ledger's portrayal of the comic book supervillain to Jack Nicholson's "Clown Prince of Crime" from 1989's "Batman" starts to enter film-nerd territory, know that there is an easier way to decipher the differences. Plain and simple: Their makeup is different—and according to Poppy King, color expert and author of "Lessons of a Lipstick Queen: Finding and Developing the Great Idea that can Change your Life," that's all you need to know in order to unlock the distinctions between the characters' inner psyches.

Jack Nicholson

The Mouth: "Nicholson is the power woman's Joker," Poppy says. "He way overdoes the lip liner—very eighties."

The Man: "Although he appears to be so put-together, underneath those magnificently painted lips is a debauched and unfettered lust for power. He is so vain that he has lost any sense of right and wrong, and his desire to control and a longing for approval turn very ugly and psychotic."



Heath Ledger

The Mouth: "Heath is the post-post-feminist's Joker. He is so deconstructionist with his red lipstick, it almost comes right back around to the Renaissance!"

The Man: "He has a total disregard for society and his red lipstick style is indicative of his desire to shock. It's an unmistaken visual reference to his bloodlust and his loss of sanity that seeks for nothing other than revenge on normality. He uses his lips to denote the primitive urge for man to attack his fellow man, and his lips show no shame or pretense in that."



For less psychotic adventures in red lipstick, www.lipstickqueen.com has products and application tips.

kimora fabs up the mass market

"In this economy, the way that things are going right now, I really demand that all my divas young and old look fabulous. And I don't want them to spend their last dime doing it," Kimora Lee Simmons explained at last night's launch of her new Fabulosity line for JCPenney at Hiro. The juniors sportswear collection, a decidedly non-bank-breaking collaboration between Simmons and the retail giant, hits stores this week, just in time for a little (frugal) back-to-school shopping. Tees, knits, denim, and outerwear will all be available in-store and online, priced from $29 to $108. And though she cops to a penchant for YSL and Vuitton, not to mention a major thing for bling, Simmons insists that she readily identifies with her target audience. "I totally wear it," she says of the new line.