Source: Variety.com - Front Page | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:47 pm

Julian Schnabel Gave the Palazzo Chupi LIFE

Photo: Stupid Famous People

Julian Schnabel breathed his spirit into the Palazzo Chupi, his pink West Village condo building. He molded its ruddy towers into his own image. He gave it life. And what does it give him? Nothing. His Gesamtkunstwerk has grown into a monster — a big, hulking, empty monster that no one wants to spend many millions of dollars to live in. Last month, Schnabel was forced to reduce the price on the upstairs penthouse of the Chupi because, as he told us, he "really wants to sell it." Today, he reduced the price on the downstairs condo to $23 million, $4 million less than its original price. And it pains him. Oh, how it pains him when he comes home to that sullen, beast of a building. He can't even talk about it, as evidenced by this paparazzi video, wherein he is unable to even summon a wan "It's Pompeii red" when a passerby asks about his "pink building." Will the Chupi ever get out of this stage?

CHUPI IN CRISIS: Palazzo Duplex Joins the Chopping Block [Curbed]

Source: Daily Intel | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:45 pm

Breaking: Mortier Backs Out of City Opera

Photo: Getty Images

New York City Opera, which was supposed to catapult into the future with a radical new general manager, a philosophical overhaul, and a vaster budget, finds itself teetering on a cliff instead. Gerard Mortier, the controversy-loving impresario who was to have taken over next September, has backed out, leaving the company’s future in a haze and its planning in disarray. It was always clear that Mortier’s plans would be expensive; he insisted from the beginning on a $60 million annual budget, a number that seemed like a stretch but not an impossibility for a company accustomed to budgets in the $40 million range. When the financial crisis caused fund-raising efforts to stall, however, Mortier and the board reached a stalemate over how extensively his plans could be trimmed. In the end, the company has scrapped his inaugural season, which was to have begun with Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and included a run of Messiaen’s huge Saint Francois d’Assise at the Seventh Regiment Armory and a revival of Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach. No substitute plans have yet been announced. The news could hardly come at a worse time for City Opera, which has temporarily vacated its home at the New York State Theater during renovations, has been presenting a truncated season of concerts, and has already had to lay off some staff.

Source: Vulture | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:44 pm

Play a Brooklyn New-Architecture Game With Us

Click through and look at these three new buildings throughout Brooklyn. Brownstoner wonders if, in what most of us would agree is their abject, crappy ugliness, they'll ever be bought amid the real-estate crash. And someone comments: "Trust me in 100 years … both … houses will be admired for their turn-of-the-21st century character … Just remember 100 years ago people mocked Brownstones as cookie-cutter mcmansions…" If you were praising these homes a century from now, tell us what features you'd point out. Let's play a Friday architecture game! [Brownstoner]

Source: Daily Intel | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:40 pm

Robin Show Killed

Photo: Courtesy of DC Comics

In a display of unbelievable restraint, a television studio has for once managed to stop itself before acting on a bad idea — the CW has announced it's scrapping The Graysons, an origins show centered around Batman sidekick Robin and his circus-performing family. According to Warner Bros., the show's "concept doesn't fit the current strategy for the Batman franchise"; Variety conjectures that Christopher Nolan himself may have been the one to pull the brakes. We're thinking WB chief Jeff Robinov probably got up one morning and thought to himself, Wait … We're making a show about Robin?! [Variety]

Source: Vulture | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:20 pm

‘Glamour’ Editor Cindi Leive Thinks Sarah Palin Was ‘Great for Women’

Photo: Getty Images

The election’s over, but Glamour editor Cindi Leive is already rooting for a Sarah Palin comeback. "Oh, I think she’s got a brilliant future," said Leive at the election party she hosted with Harvey Weinstein, Jim Nelson, and Georgette Mosbacher the other night. "Personally, I think she is a gifted politician. She’s a great communicator. She’s a magnetic personality. I don’t see how you can discount that." Leive thinks Palin’s candidacy was "great for women"; she’s even okay with that whole making-women-in-Wasilla-pay-for-their-own-rape-kit thing. "It’s anti-women, if you’re a feminist," she said. "It doesn’t seem anti-women to her. I don’t know. I’m not any more offended by her having those views than I am by any man holding those same views, and in the end, I think it’s a good thing to have more women out there with alternate political views. I just think that expands our ideas of what women are capable of." What does offend Leive, however, is "the venom with which some women have reacted to her. She has strong political views, but so do lots of men. The glee with which some women are jumping on her demise kind of turns me off. It reminds me of Martha Stewart," she went on.

"Back in the day when she first had her TV show, there were a lot of women who just loved to hate on Martha Stewart. And on some level it always seemed like they were feeling put down by her choices. Here’s this woman who’s stenciling her mantle. It makes you as a woman feel like you’re not woman enough if you’re not stenciling your mantle. A man encounters Bob Vila and he doesn’t think, ‘Who is this A-hole rebuilding his deck? I don’t have time to rebuild my deck! How dare he tell me to do that!’ A guy would just turn the channel, you know. And women should be able to do that, too. Why do you feel like that’s a referendum on how you live your life? Women take Sarah Palin’s choices really personally. And I think that real progress for women will be when there’s just enough of us out there that you don’t feel like every woman’s behavior is some kind of referendum on you and your choices."

Source: Daily Intel | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:15 pm

Dubya Disses Liberals, Obama, With Arts Pick

Photo: Getty Images

You know how the Clinton aides removed all the W's on the White House computer keyboards before Bush moved in? This is worse: Bush has appointed Lee "God Bless the U.S.A." Greenwood to be one of fourteen regular members of the National Council for the Arts. Worse, he will be the only council member to serve for all four years of Obama's administration, advising the NEA on which artists deserve funding. Williamsburg playwrights: Start writing that patriotic country musical now! [Culture Monster/LAT]

Source: Vulture | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:08 pm

Jay-Z Mourns the McCain Campaign

Photo: Getty Images

1. Jay Z, "History"
DJ Angie Martinez gives us about half of Jay-Z's tribute to President-elect Barack Obama's historic victory. Extra credit to him for using a sung hook that sounds like it was taken from a song by Chicago's Peter Cetera. [East of L.A.]

2. Gnarls Barkley, "Mystery Man"
Cartoon Cee Lo makes for a pretty hilarious Faye Ray in this video to accompany a new track from the forthcoming Who Will Save Your Soul EP. [Ill Roots]

3. Smashing Pumpkins, "99 Floors"
On this track, from the Pumpkins' recent residence at San Francisco's Fillmore (which will be included on an upcoming DVD), Billy Corgan says he "used to know you, used to care" — and it might just remind you why you feel the same way about his band. [Stereogum]

4. Architecture in Helsinki, "That Beep (Radioclit Remix)"
Australia's Architecture in Helsinki seem to have ditched an interest in Finnish design in favor Soweto rhythms, given a little help here by Radioclit, who did the same for Vampire Weekend not too long ago. [Persona Sauna]

5. Jon Brion, "Little Person"
Brion pitches in on the soundtrack of Synecdoche, New York with this sadly yearning jazz track. [Untitled Records]

Source: Vulture | 7 Nov 2008 | 9:02 pm

The forces that shaped the etiquette goddess (AP)

AP - "Emily Post: Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners" (Random House. 445 pages. $30), by Laura Claridge: The last time your mother tried to tell you how or how not to act, did you wonder what made her believe she was right? Therein lies one of the chief enticements of "Emily Post," the new biography of the etiquette goddess from noted biographer Laura Claridge.

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 7 Nov 2008 | 8:59 pm

Kendra Flees Hef's Coop for an Eagle

Hugh Hefner's ex-girlfriend is engaged to Eagles receiver Hank Baskett.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 7 Nov 2008 | 8:41 pm

Noisy Kids Banned From Year’s Loudest Movie

Photo: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures

After the Bond producers objected to the idea of a Bond baby, theaters are banning kids from Bond screenings. According to the Daily Mail, Vue Cinemas is banning kids under the age of 18 because adults "resent children talking, texting and noisily eating in cinemas." Since 80 percent of Bond's soundtrack is packed with insanely loud crashes and explosions, we feel they picked exactly the right time to take a stand. [Daily Mail]

Source: Vulture | 7 Nov 2008 | 8:38 pm

Obama Discusses Economy, New Puppy

Photo: Getty Images

Just now, Barack Obama wrapped up his first press conference as president-elect (there was even a helpful placard on his podium that explained who he was, in case you didn't know). He's clearly not used to these. Though he called on reporters by first name (and even asked Lynn Sweet from the Sun-Times what happened to her arm — she injured it running to hear him speak at Grant Park on Tuesday night), he said "um" quite a bit and skirted around answers he was uncertain about. Still, he was surrounded by an impressive crew. His Economy Advisory Team, arrayed behind him, included Warren Buffett, Robert Reich, Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons. It was a blend of corporate, political, and academic experts.

Obama talked about a rescue plan for the middle class first and foremost, and then addressing small businesses and floundering local and state governments. He said he plans to review the administration of the government's financial program, and talked a good deal about salvaging the auto industry. "America is a strong and resilient country," he said. "I know we will succeed." He skirted specifics about his first 100 days, however. When asked about the congratulations he received from Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he said he wouldn't respond, and added, "We only have one president at a time."

On a far more important note, he also discussed what kind of dog he was going to get for daughters Malia and Sasha. He has two priorities, he said. One, Malia is allergic to dogs so he needs one that is hypoallergenic. And two, he hopes to find one to rescue. "Our preference would be to get a shelter dog," he said. "But obviously a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me." Aw!

Source: Daily Intel | 7 Nov 2008 | 8:30 pm

‘The Office’: Schrute Farms, Here We Come!

Photo: Courtesy of NBC

Of all the tasty nuggets dished out to Office fans last night, the most delicious was the notion that Andy and Angela’s wedding will be held at Schrute Farms. (As orchestrated by Angela, of course.) The possibilities are endless. A flower girl tossing beets? Mose Schrute officiating in a T-shirt marked with “FEAR?” Remember: Schrute Farms is the No. 1 beet-related agro-tourism destination in northeastern Pennsylvania.

We’re clearly entering sweeps, because some major plotlines are starting to rev up. The Andy-Angela wedding planning reeks of Andy seeing something he shouldn’t. Michael’s mother — hinted at for years, with casting suggestions from Carol Burnett to Mary Tyler Moore — appears ready for her long-awaited debut. And, most important, we had another roadblock in the Pam-Jim relationship.

In one of those relationship cutesy things that only Pam and Jim can get away with, they’ve implanted “the world’s smallest Bluetooth” in their ears so they can just talk to each other all day from Scranton and New York. This leads to some amusing moments, but, worst, it leads to Jim hearing Pam’s art-school friend Alex — the guy from Mad Men — take her aside and implore her to stay in New York and not return to Scranton at the end of the month. The moment works because, as smarmy as Alex might be (that is to say: He’s playing the exact same role in New York that Jim used to play when Pam was dating Roy), he’s also probably right: If Pam’s going to actually follow her art career, like Jim has always encouraged her to do, she should probably stay in New York. Jim and Pam have finally gotten what they asked for. And now it’s their biggest problem. As a couple of episodes ago implied, it’s possible that Pam just wants the next thing, the thing she doesn’t have. It was once Jim. Now it could be art school. We’ll see.

And boy, it sure was great to see Kelly Kapoor back in a plotline again, wasn’t it? She’s consistently hilarious, and might be the only comedic actress on earth with the right facial reaction to someone telling her, "You cannot just say, 'I was raped' and expect all your problems to go away. Not again. You can’t keep doing that."

Source: Vulture | 7 Nov 2008 | 8:30 pm

'The B List' highlights obscure gems (AP)

AP - "The B List" (Da Capo Press. $15.95. 288 pages), edited by David Sterritt and John Anderson: The literary version of having a movie-critic friend intent on convincing you that there's a movie of which you've never heard but must see, "The B List" offers up mostly irresistible essays by the National Society of Film Critics about their favorite guilty pleasures.

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 7 Nov 2008 | 8:01 pm

Oprah's 'Mr. Man' to Be Revealed Today

Oprah will interview the man whose shoulder she cried on after Obama's victory.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:53 pm

Eagle Eye's Michelle Monaghan Hatches (E! Online)

E! Online - Michelle Monaghan's next mission impossible: surviving an ankle biter.

Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:53 pm

If All Is Right at Michael’s, All Shall Be Right With the World

In the latest installment of her column on the Huffington Post, Betsy Perry, the preeminent Voice of the Greatest Depression, the Edith Wharton of Our Time, visits Michael's on the day after the election to take the pulse of New York and thus, the world: "Treating myself and a good friend to $38 Cobb salads at Michael's was worth the price of every lettuce leaf at Manhattan's epicenter restaurant because I needed to take the pulse of the city albeit in a microcosmic way. It was my first meal of the new era — and it didn't disappoint … Every pundit from Mary Matalin and Jim Carville to Charlie Rose worked the room and though my suspicion is that most of the media seers and soothsayers will go back on the shelf for another few years one could imagine a few deals being worked on over the massive plates of french fries; Barack Obama's power broker- dealer Bob Barnett dined with the married pundits and Charlie Rose took his whole team of producers to lunch to celebrate and told me, 'the whole world is celebrating with us.' Fox mingled with CNBC and Bloomberg with CNN. All was right once more." [HuffPo, The Collected Wisdom of Betsy Perry]

Source: Daily Intel | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:49 pm

Stars go to work without bathing

One of the nice things about recording voices for an animated film, the stars of "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" say, is that you don't have to do much to get ready. The film opens Friday.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:28 pm

Michelle Obama's election outfit gets dressing down (Reuters)

Reuters - All ears were listening to President-elect Barack Obama's victory speech this week but fashion-watchers were looking closely at his wife Michelle's dress -- and the verdict was not so good.

Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:28 pm

OMG, Penn Badgley Gets Fed Up With Dan Humphrey, Too!

And yet he still makes that face.
Photo: Getty Images

Last night, at the opening of the Juicy Couture store in midtown, we plied Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley with questions about who gets killed on the show. Unfortunately, like the smart-aleck he plays on TV, he wouldn't even give us a hint. "It's a person," he said. Oh, hilarious, Penn. You crack us up. That kind of gag must be why Blake/Serena lets you come over and walk her maltapoo every now and again.

But just when we were going to dismiss Penn as a mere Dan-in-real-life, he told us that he, too, is frustrated by his character on the Greatest Show of Our Time. "I think Dan has a lot going for him, but he's his own worst enemy," he told us. "I think I'm frustrated a lot of times by how judgmental he is and rigid he is in his morals. That guy needs to loosen up. He needs to loosen the eff up." Wow! How many times have we written the exact same thing?? So, wait, what's Penn's favorite part about playing Dan, then? "Maybe the jeans," the actor told us. "He's got great jeans."

Source: Daily Intel | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:20 pm

Lionsgate cuts 8% of staff

Front Page: 41 jobs eliminated ahead of earnings report -- Lionsgate is eliminating 8% of its staff, which had grown from 350 to 550 over the past four years.

Source: Variety.com - Front Page | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:11 pm

First Sarah Palin Interview Goes to — Gasp — Fox News

Photo: Getty Images

Sarah Palin's doing it right, this time. To kick off her four-year campaign for the presidency in 2012, the Alaska governor chose Greta Van Susteren to be her first interviewer. Susteren will go up to Alaska for a week's worth of drooling interviews. Was this the right decision? Certainly. Will Sarah Palin wear lots of those warm Alaska outfits that also make her look sexy? You betcha. [TV Week]

Source: Daily Intel | 7 Nov 2008 | 7:00 pm

US video-artist pioneer Bill Viola

A stunning performance of Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" featuring a giant moving backdrop by US video-artist pioneer Bill Viola, seen here in 2004, is playing for the very last time at the Paris...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Nov 2008 | 6:48 pm

Chocolate Only a Superhero Could Resist (Fashion Wire Daily)

Fashion Wire Daily - While there are some people in the world who profess to hate chocolate, there's still very little arguing with the New York Chocolate Show, now in its 11th year, and the sheer joy a show-goer gets from its feats of chocolate engineering both edible and otherwise - "otherwise" being the all-chocolate fashion show, featuring several former "Project Runway" designers, that kicked off the three-day chocolate trade show in New York on Thursday, Nov. 6.

Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 7 Nov 2008 | 6:37 pm

A long and winding 'Road' to N.Y.

Front Page: After delays, musical 'Show' opens at Public -- It's been a long road for "Road Show." The musical from Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman has taken a tortuous path to its Gotham preem, currently in previews and opening Nov. 18 at Off Broadway's Public Theater.

Source: Variety.com - Front Page | 7 Nov 2008 | 6:25 pm

Obama calls for action on economy

Front Page: President-elect gives first press conference -- President-elect Obama said Friday that the country is facing the greatest economic challenge in a lifetime and "we're going to have to act swiftly to resolve it."

Source: Variety.com - Front Page | 7 Nov 2008 | 6:01 pm

Pixton logo

Vancouver-based Pixton.com is a website that lets anyone be a cartoonist and share what they think of others' comic creations. Pixton has evolved quickly from featuring characters with stick arms and legs...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:16 pm

Beach Boys Help Raise Money at Hurricane Ike Benefit in Galv

Concert raises over $40,000 for the United Way of Galveston
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:15 pm

Shigeru Miyamoto

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo's prolific game creator, plays a violin with new software called "Wii Music" during the annual Nintendo conference in Tokyo in October 2008. Miyamoto talks little about his life...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:10 pm

Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrates "Wii Music"

Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto demonstrates the new game "Wii Music" during a Nintendo E3 media briefing at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California in July 2008. Miyamoto, creator of Donkey...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:10 pm

A professional drummer demonstrates the new game "Wii Music"

A professional drummer demonstrates the new game "Wii Music" at the Nintendo E3 media briefing in Hollywood, California in July 2008.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:09 pm

Japanese video game giant Nintendo unveils "Wii Music"

Japanese video game giant Nintendo unveils "Wii Music" for the company's video game console "Wii" at the annual Nintendo conference in Tokyo in October 2008. Music-themed videogames are multiplying so...
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:09 pm

A suite set up to play Activision's "Guitar Hero III"

A suite set up to play Activision's "Guitar Hero III" in January 2008 in Beverly Hills, California.
Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 7 Nov 2008 | 5:09 pm

Chris Rock rolls with 'Funeral'

Front Page: Comedian set to star and co-write remake -- Chris Rock is set to star and co-write "Death at a Funeral," a re-imagining of the 2007 comedy, for Screen Gems and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment.

Source: Variety.com - Front Page | 7 Nov 2008 | 4:40 pm

CBS, ABC top Thursday ratings

Front Page: NBC's comedy block cools off some -- CBS edged out ABC for the demo lead on Thursday, a night that saw NBC's comedy block cool off some and allow the Eye and Alphabet to gain ground in the middle hour. CBS won the night as usual in total viewers, led by "CSI."        

Source: Variety.com - Front Page | 7 Nov 2008 | 4:19 pm

Diane von Furstenberg, the Wonder Woman

On the surface, the similarities are striking; they were both princesses born in the 1940s in a foreign land. Young and beautiful, the long-haired brunettes soon fell in love and followed their men to the United States where they built a reputation for steely determination and strength.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Nov 2008 | 4:12 pm

Review: New 'Madagascar' entertaining

Something feels strangely familiar about Alex the lion in "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," and it's not just because we moviegoing humans met that animated animal, voiced by Ben Stiller, just three years ago in the original "Madagascar."

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Nov 2008 | 3:31 pm

Jobless rate bolts to 14-year high

Front Page: Unemployment rises to 6.5 percent in October -- The nation's unemployment rate bolted to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000 jobs were cut, far worse than economists expected and stark proof the economy is deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace.

Source: Variety.com - Front Page | 7 Nov 2008 | 3:25 pm

Using jazz to change kids' lives

Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis knows how important education is for youth, but what feeds their minds and souls, he says, often lies beyond traditional classroom walls.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Nov 2008 | 2:10 pm

Review: Cast brings 'Role Models' home

"Role Models" shouldn't work as well as it does. The plot is formulaic and the script took six writers. But thanks to Paul Rudd, Seann William Scott and Jane Lynch, the movie provides a lot of unexpected laughs.

Source: CNN.com - Entertainment | 7 Nov 2008 | 12:53 pm

Report: Jim Morrison for Governor? 'Doors' Star Mulling Opti

Val Kilmer says current Gov. Bill Richardson says he 'could be a great governor'
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 12:25 pm

"Doubt" provocative, and possibly unfair (Reuters)

Reuters - "Doubt," John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer-winning play and now a movie version he has directed, tackles the subject of pedophilia and paranoia in the Catholic Church in a subversive and perhaps even an unfair manner.
Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment Reviews | 7 Nov 2008 | 11:46 am

Fox 411: Oprah Leaving Broadcast TV?

Oprah is reportedly going to leave King World when her contract ends in 2011, but it doesn't mean she won't be broadcasting elsewhere.
Source: FOXNews.com | 7 Nov 2008 | 11:15 am

Cigar Smoke Wafts Into Children's Movies

Health groups are fuming at Hollywood's continued taste for smoking.
Source: ABC News: Entertainment | 7 Nov 2008 | 10:56 am