Inside the Mind of John Malkovich

‘Wired’ Writes About Writing About Charlie Kaufman

Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, doesn't hit theaters until October, which means we have some time before the inevitable glut of wonky concept articles and reviews inspired by the filmmaker's meta-workouts. But Wired may have already outdone the competition: On their Storyboard blog, Jason Tanz, the writer working on the magazine's upcoming Kaufman profile, along with his editor, Nancy Miller, have been documenting the process's every step. Calling it "a profile of a profile" is probably pushing things a bit — it's more, we suppose, a blog of a profile — but it's still pretty cool! They've got the initial pitch e-mail, the assignment letter, video of edit meetings, details from negotiations for interview time, and all manner of inane back-and-forth e-mails ("I wonder what he's going to eat," "I think I feel pretty good about the angle," etc.). This morning, Tanz even posted his rough draft.

There are some great bits, including the nuts explanation of the plot of Synecdoche, which we'd already read and still don't really understand: "The film revolves around theater director Caden Cotard … who attempts to capture the 'brutal truth' of his own existence by staging a life-sized, real-time recreation of it. He casts an actor to play him, who then must cast an actor to play him, and so on ad infinitum." But this sort of thing is apparently what happens when Kaufman is left alone to his own devices; the pre–Spike Jonze–workshopped ending of Being John Malkovich had the John Cusack character "engaging in a puppeteering duel with the devil, who enters Malkovich's body and rules earth like a tyrant."

The Rough Draft [Storyboard/Wired]

Eye of Sauron Steve Schmidt Swoops in David Paterson’s Direction

This morning Governor Paterson questioned whether there was a racial element to Sarah Palin's derision, during her RNC acceptance speech, of Barack Obama's days as a "community organizer." From the Daily News:

"I think that there are overtones of potential racial coding in the campaign," Paterson said during the Crain's Business Forum breakfast. "...I think the Republican party is too smart to call Barack Obama 'black' in a sense that it would be a negative. But you can take something about his life — which I noticed they did at the Republican convention — a 'community organizer.' They kept saying it, they kept laughing, like, 'What does this mean?' It means that an individual — who could have gone to Wall Street and made a lot of money and then run for office because he could buy media time — chose to go back and work in programs in a neighborhood where he thought he could make a difference, and became an elected official based on his involvement right in his own community."

Go Go Gadget Governor! Have you been reading the writing of our esteemed colleague John Heileman? He made the same point this week about the racial associations that come with a term like "community organizer" for white, Republican voters. But the Lovable Guv should have known what he was getting into — it was mere hours before McCain's attack machine set its sights on him. "These comments by Governor Patterson [sic] are a sure sign of a flailing campaign that is bordering on desperation," said campaign spokesman Peter Feldman. "This is a tactic that the Obama Campaign has used before, and which McCain Campaign manager Rick Davis correctly called 'divisive, shameful, and wrong.'" Isn't it fun when white McCain allies don't let black Obama allies talk about race?

Also, wouldn't it be more fun if Barack Obama were half as feisty as Governor Paterson is?

Paterson In McCain-Palin Crosshairs [NYDN]

All-Male 'Romeo and Juliet' Bows in DC (Playbill)

1.4 million tune into 'True Blood'

Jen Mankins of Bird Likes United Bamboo, Vena Cava, and Alexander Wang

Throughout the week, the buyers from Bird, Henri Bendel, Oak, and more will tell us which runway looks they plan on stocking. In today’s installment, Bird owner Jen Mankins loves United Bamboo's palette, the Egyptian influence in Vena Cava, and Alexander Wang's sporty street styles.

United Bamboo
Miho Aoki and Thuy Pham explored a softer side of their meticulously constructed, architecturally inspired collection for spring 2009. With only the women's collection on the runway, the show was well edited and tightly focused. The color palette was gorgeous with soft pinks and nudes mixed with blues, greens, and gray. I particularly loved the wool-linen skirt suit in an edible shade of pumpkin paired with a coral silk blouse, as well as a navy-blue shorts suit that gave a whole new meaning to power dressing. The origami-pleated cotton-faille tops were airy and light, as were the gathered and twisted linen and silk dresses. Two sure-to-be bestsellers are the zebra-print linen shantung dress and the blue-and-white-striped cotton-linen front-gathered T-dress.

Watch a slideshow of United Bamboo’s spring 2009 collection.

Vena Cava
The Egyptian-inspired collection from design duo Sophie Buhai and Lisa Mayock was simply stunning. They have taken their expert draping and love of whimsical details to a beautiful new level of sophistication. I loved the offbeat pairing of long and lean silhouettes in silk twill with cropped and shrunken leather vests and jackets and the quirky combinations of colors like marigold, pistachio, and rust. Every cool girl will be in line to get her hands on one of the black Egyptian-beaded collars. The sleeveless tropical wool power suit and the printed silk shirtdress worn over buttery-soft brown leather leggings were amazing. The skeletal silver jewelry from Jill Platner was a perfect match to the pyramid embellishments and embroidered hieroglyphs. And I want every pair of their new shoe collection for Via Spiga! Especially the studded high-heel suede mules.

Look at a slideshow of Vena Cava’s spring 2008 collection.

Alexander Wang

The throngs of pushing, adoring fans made this show feel more like a rock concert than a fashion presentation. And Alex knows how to please the crowds with sexy, tough, sporty street styles for urban grunge girls. Miami-inspired tropical pastels popped against black leather and heather-gray jersey. And just to make sure the looks didn't get too casual or candy-coated, each was paired with his rock-and-roll fringed and pierced, sky-high platform heels. He always makes amazing knits, and this season they took shape in the form of distressed drop-needle cardigans and chunky intarsia crew-neck cover-ups. I will definitely be ordering the oversize silk jumpsuit in a black-and-white composition-notebook print and lots of the fringed sweatshirts, in napa leather and gym gray cotton.

View a slideshow of Alexander Wang’s spring 2009 collection.
Watch a video of Alexander Wang’s spring 2009 runway show.

Billy Baldwin: Patrick Darling Is a Democrat!

The real-life political affiliations of the Baldwin brothers may be fairly common knowledge, but on Dirty Sexy Money, on which Billy Baldwin plays Senate hopeful Patrick Darling, it's never been revealed which side of the aisle he'd sit on if he won. But, last night, at the release party for DSM's first-season DVDs, at the Edison in Los Angeles, Billy was able to sidestep the ABC spoiler police for a minute and tell us that his character, the oldest son of the Darling clan, is a Democrat: "I was on the set the other day and — they’re going to be mad at me for saying this — we’re doing a scene of the election returns, and I’m standing there with Peter Krause, and all of a sudden they have all these video monitors all over the headquarters, and it comes up on screen like they’re projecting winners and losers," he told us. "And the percentage is 51 to 49, and [my name] comes in with a blue border and a 'D' above it, and my opponent's comes in with a red border and an 'R' above it. And I turn to Peter and I go, 'How about that? I’m a Democrat.'"

He continued: "I had been asking for six months! 'Is Patrick a Democrat or a Republican? Will somebody please tell me because I need to know?' And they said, 'Well, the network’s not sure about how heavily they want to get into the politics, so we’re not sure. We’re not going to commit yet.' And that’s sort of what you’re up against in television.” (When we caught up with executive producer Matthew Gross later at the party’s absinthe bar, he tried to keep Patrick’s political affiliation a secret, saying, “I don’t think we’ve announced whether he’s one or the other.”)

According to Baldwin, though, this is pretty much par for the course: “When you do a movie, you get the script four months in advance, you talk to the writers, you talk to the director, you set all this backstory and subtext — how many siblings did my character have? And is he college-educated? And were his parents divorced? And was his mother an alcoholic? You do this whole process to prepare. In television, you get the script for episode seventeen of season three, and they start talking about the homosexual affair you had when you were a sophomore in college. Whose idea is that? If you had told me in the very beginning, before the pilot, that I had a gay affair, it could’ve changed everything." Maybe he'd have ended up a Republican!

‘Marie Claire’ Gets Its Own Reality Show

A reality series about Marie Claire is in the works for the Style network. Running in Heels will offer an "unprecedented" look at what goes on behind the scenes at the magazine. And if there's one magazine you know you're dying to get a behind-the-scenes look at, it's Marie Claire, right? The New York Observer reports:

The magazine states that Running in Heels will "show life at Marie Claire through different sets of eyes, from senior level staffers to interns." … One interesting tidbit: "Cameras will capture the 24/7 demands of their roles at the magazine and, through private video confessionals, viewers will learn how the interns cope with their jobs, their superiors and each other."

So this ought to give Elle's Stylista a run for its money. And since former Elle editor Nina Garcia is now at Marie Claire, Anne Slowey can pretty much eat her dust, right? As long as Garcia's included in the series, that is. "There's sure to be lots of drama to interest viewers," Marie Claire editor-in-chief Joanna Coles says. Season two ought to be especially good after everyone sees their colleagues talking smack about them and things really get dramatic.

Marie Claire Jumps on the Reality Show Train [NYO]

Schnabel’s Schunny Mexican Schpread

Julian Schnabel is fairly secretive about his sojourns to Mexico: "The last time I surfed was in Mexico, but I'm not telling you where," he told an interviewer earlier this year. But just recently, a reporter from the Guardian was walking down the beach in Troncones, a place where the Schnab has been schpotted, when he happened upon what might have been his Mexican lair. How did he know it was his? He just knew:

We are moderately confident we identified the home of artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel while on our way to a natural tide pool surrounded by rocks and filled with bright blue tropical fish. It wasn't just the faultlessly tasteful house, and the faultlessly tasteful sand castle in front of it. There were also the orange hammocks slung gracefully below a palm leaf palapa — an open-sided thatched hut — decorated with similarly coloured glass buoys which, for me at least, conjured up images of Schnabel's film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

It all sounds magical. Although we don't get how the sight of the house conjured images from the movie for this guy. For us, it conjures an image of the Schnab, naked but for a loincloth, supine in a hammock and surrounded by locals who fan him with giant banana leaves. Obviously.

The Loveliest Beach In Mexico [Guardian]

Own a zoo? New memoir proves it really is possible (AP)

AP - "We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Change Their Lives Forever" (Weinstein Books, 261 pages, $24.95), by Benjamin Mee: We may have studied animals, we may love animals. We may hate zoos, we may love them. But who can actually claim to own one?

PETA’s Back and After J.Lo

Yes, the fun-loving, sign-waving gang was back today, braving the torrential rains to accost showgoers. At least this time they went after a designer —Dennis Basso — who actually uses fur in his show. (Did anyone see a lick of animal skin in DKNY's collection? Us neither.) Well, it seems PETA's trying a new approach — bruising the celebrity ego. Something tells us this tactic will work about as well as throwing paint on A-Dubs. But you keep trying, PETA. We could all use the distraction.

Related BREAKING: PETA Hits DKNY (Update)
See a slideshow of the DKNY collection.

Weak dollar could be a hit at NY Fashion Week (Reuters)

Reuters - A weak U.S. dollar may be the hit accessory at fashion shows in New York this week, luring British and other European buyers and offering newer designers a chance to impress U.S. retailers hoping to buy locally.

Brilliant Chris Marker Films Come Out of Hiding, Onto DVD

Since almost none of brilliant and reclusive filmmaker Chris Marker’s work is widely available, documentary distributor Icarus Films should be lauded for somehow gaining permission to release four of Marker’s films on DVD. The most intriguing of them is the 1993 documentary The Last Bolshevik, about the Soviet Union filmmaker Aleksandr Medvedkin and his 1934 silent film, Happiness. Marker’s subversive, informed voice-over and Medvedkin’s petulant manner make it a meeting of cinematic minds that’s rare for its intellectual heft and force.

John Sutherland Chickens Out, Will Not Eat His Copy of ‘The Enchantress of Florence’!

Back in April, reviewing Salman Rushdie's most recent novel in the pages of the Financial Times, book critic John Sutherland — even though he admitted to not understanding its plot — made this bold promise: "If The Enchantress of Florence doesn't win this year's Man Booker I'll curry my proof copy and eat it." Today, however, after the Rushdie-less Booker short list was announced, Sutherland reneged: "I vowed — publicly — to curry and eat my proof copy of The Enchantress of Florence if it didn't win. It won't. And I won't. So there." Shameful! We suppose we could understand if he were backing out of eating a tough, chewy stitch-bound hardcover first edition — but this is a soft-cover proof copy! Those things are delicious!

Of Medicis and Mughals [FT]
A historical year for the Booker prize [Guardian]

Earlier: Booker Prize Short List Announced!
Booker Prize Long List Announced; Can Anything Beat ‘Netherland’?

L.A. Fashion Week Just Might Turn A-List

The last Los Angeles Fashion Week featured shows by Lauren Conrad, the Pussycat Dolls, and Nicky Hilton. Needless to say, such events are neither the recipe for a fashion capital nor a draw for top buyers and editors. IHT reports:

"Anytime I attended a show during L.A. Fashion Week, I never saw buyers or any business being done," said the Los Angeles designer Pamela Barish. "There are lots of publicists, some L.A. press and B-list celebrities who want publicity and free clothes."

But now L.A. Fashion Week has an opportunity to take a different direction since IMG, which produces L.A. Fashion Week, is breaking with its sponsor of five years, Smashbox Studios, after October's Fashion Week. Public-relations executive Jennifer Gross, who puts on an annual emerging-designers showcase in L.A., said the "good celebrities" won't go to the "overcrowded party circus" found at Smashbox. Furthermore, it's an hour away from L.A.'s downtown fashion scene. We do hope, though, that if L.A. organizers embrace this opportunity to take Fashion Week in a different direction, Lauren Conrad still gets to be a part of it. Just because she's the very fiber of our being.

L.A., a scene that's seen better days [IHT]

Artist Neil Campbell Excellent at Painting Circles

Neil Campbell’s merry dots are more than just dots. They are measurements of harmony, painted on the wall by Campbell, who intuits where peace and love are coming from the gallery’s soul. Sure, it sounds like your hippie interior decorator talking, but this is what feng shui looks like in the world of contemporary art. Be transported at Marianne Boesky Gallery through October 4.

McCain Campaign Could Give a Damn What Heart Has to Say About Anything

Last week, Heart members Nancy and Ann Wilson vigorously denied they had sold the McCain campaign the rights to their song "Barracuda," which the campaign has been using at events as a homage to Sarah Palin's high-school basketball nickname, they say, and more generally to get across the idea that their campaign ROCKS. "We ask that our song 'Barracuda' no longer be used to promote her image," they told Entertainment Weekly. However, apparently the campaign does have all the correct licenses, or so they say, and they've issued a resounding "Suuuuuuuuuck it" to the sisters Wilson. No, they didn't exactly use those words, but they played the song again today in Ohio, and you just know that's what McCain adviser Steve "I bleed through my nose when I am angry" Schmidt said to his aides when they relayed Heart's request to him, after which he promptly busted out some Jimi Hendrix–esque moves on his air guitar.

McCain and Palin once again play 'Barracuda' [CNN]

Marc Jacobs: She Wore A Chinese Ribbon (Fashion Wire Daily)

Fashion Wire Daily - John Ford, for whom, ironically, character and not attire mattered most in the creation of his canon, would have loved the latest collection from Marc Jacobs , a wacky yet wonderful vision that recalled a Sunday afternoon walk to service in a prairie town; albeit one were the churchgoers boasted tailors with a sophisticated understanding of Chinese embroidery and enough money to pay for large quantities of passementerie.

`W' actress: Laura Bush's beauty isn't appreciated (AP)

AP - Elizabeth Banks, who portrays Laura Bush to Josh Brolin's George in the upcoming film "W," considers the first lady an underrated beauty.

Bergdorf Goodman Interested in Posh’s Frocks

Posh Spice has been very selectively showing the new collection of fancy dresses she designed to media and buyers during Fashion Week. And someone important is interested in them! Bergdorf president and CEO Jim Goodman said his store is "taking a hard look" at Victoria Beckham's new line of evening dresses. So take that, naysayers! Maybe they'll take off after all. [Fashion Inc./Portfolio]

Tiny Fey, Amy Poehler Satisfyingly Hilarious in ‘Baby Mama’

We’ll refrain from saying that Baby Mama wasn't the laugh fest it should have been, because our expectations for Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are next to those of a crazed stage mom. The movie is in fact packed with satisfying vulgarities (“Excuse me, can I just spray a little Pam down in that area before the baby comes out?”), slapstick chuckles (Poehler maniacally throwing a trash can at some dirtbag’s car), and a baby-hunger plotline that made us roll our eyes only once. The DVD has tons of extra features, including a suspense-enshrouded alternate ending, deleted scenes, SNL behind-the-scenes, and a making-of.

Fug Girls: Kelly Osbourne, Dog Sitter

In the last few days, we've witnessed the transformation of Petra Nemcova. From her be-hatted, banged appearance at DKNY, where no one recognized her; to Diesel, where she lost the hat and took out her boobs and was slightly more identifiable; to this morning at Matthew Williamson, where she actually slicked back her bangs. Her pretty face unobscured, the photogs finally went as wild for her as if it were her first appearance. Expect someone to be making an appointment for bang extensions sometime this afternoon.

Kelly Osbourne joined the fray to support her fellow Brit. For someone who gets constant flack about her size, Kelly is super petite in person, but in a healthy way. So dial it down, haters, before she gets a complex. She chatted intermittently with Joy Bryant and a bored-looking Leigh Lezark, who came in toting a giant Starbucks cup. We feel you, dude.

Daisy Lowe sat on K.Osb's other side, again toting the small, fluffy white dog she brought to Alexander Wang. At first, we were like, "Okay, seriously, what kind of ass brings a dog to a fashion show?" But then we noticed that the dog was watching the show, following the models with his head and panting happily. By the end, we could no longer resist its cuteness. Besides, anyone who brings a dog to the show raises the possibility of it leaping onto the runway to chase the models and, as fans of amusing fashion chaos, we approve. In fact, by the end of the show — even after Kelly DID have to help keep the exuberant little guy from leaping onto the runway — we were pretty much cooing and plotting how to gank him and take him home with us.

The final boldfaced name to show was Julia Stiles, who was potentially the last person we expected. "She's … KINDA pretty," we overheard one reporter sniff to another. Regardless of what they thought, Petra Nemcova was totally enamored. The model and the Ten Things I Hate About You star gabbed animatedly, and at one point looked as though they were exchanging numbers. A Fashion Week love match! It never would have happened if Petra had held on to that hat.

Sean Avery’s ‘Vogue’ Internship to Become a Movie

Sean Avery and Lauryn Flynn's celebrity styling company might be kaput, but that doesn't mean they can't make a movie together. Oh, yes — that's what they're doing. Lauryn, Burberry's director of celebrity services, will co-produce a movie currently in development at New Line Cinema about Sean's fashion-industry adventures as a star hockey player, including his Vogue internship. But we haven't even told you the best part, which is the genre of the film: romantic comedy. We can see it now: Sean has his eye on a sexy but underhanded editor who misrepresents herself to win his heart. Meanwhile, a nerdy, nice girl who's really pretty behind her glasses longs to steal his attention from Nasty Nancy. Humorous antics ensue when the nerdy girl takes a trip to the fashion closet and finds sexy Sean posing shirtless for MensVogue.com. All hot and bothered, she hilariously bumps into stuff and spills coffee! (We don't know why we're not the screenwriters, either.)

Flynn brought the idea to her brother, a producer who worked on Journey to the Center of the Earth and is producing the Avery flick. Stan Chervin has been hired to write the screenplay. And Sean would like you to know that being into fashion doesn't make him a pansy. "I think it's great to be into something that you care about," he tells The Hollywood Reporter. "But I'm still an athlete who likes to beat the crap out of people." Amen.

New Line producing Avery film [HR]
Related: The Diary of ‘Vogue’ Intern Sean Avery

'The Fly' opera features nudity, so-so score

40 Hotter Than 20? Maybe, H'wood Proves

'Intensely readable' books nominated for prize

'Fringe': 'Indiana Jones' Meets 'X-Files'

'Spore' turns evolution into an adventure (AP)

AP - Will Wright is one of just a handful of celebrities in the world of computer game design. Like his contemporaries Shigeru Miyamoto (the Mario series) and Sid Meier ("Civilization"), he has a level of prestige similar to, say, Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese in Hollywood.

'Fringe' repeat offers sneak peek

'Dark Knight' may be tough sell at Oscar time

Lynne Spears: Britney Lost Control in '99

Jury will decide Oscar tug of war

Is 'Disturbia' a Carbon of 'Rear Window?'

Boys to Men: New Kids Back on the Block

FOX411: Edwards Affair: Did Elizabeth Know More?

Madonna Dedicates 'Like a Virgin' to Pope

Comedy takes a fresh angle on student life

Report: Usher, Wife Expecting Second Child