E! Online - Jennifer Aniston will be at the Oscars!
AP - Is it the shoes? Maybe not on the hardwood, but the Oscars red carpet is a different story. This is also a different kind of year.
 China Daily | Saint Laurent art auction _'sale of the century' The Associated Press PARIS (AP) - From the Picassos that graced his walls to historic artifacts and hundreds of sculptures, the artwork that inspired late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent went on display Saturday, three days before it is auctioned. YSL and Bergé's Lots are up Saint Laurent and His Art Still Make a Sensation |
AP - From the Picassos that graced his walls to historic artifacts and hundreds of sculptures, the artwork that inspired late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent went on display Saturday, three days before it is auctioned.
Reuters - Crowds stretching around the block lined up on Saturday for a look at the huge art and furniture collection of the late Yves Saint Laurent before it is sold next week in the biggest auction Paris has seen in years.
Reuters - Crowds stretching around the block lined up on Saturday for a look at the huge art and furniture collection of the late Yves Saint Laurent before it is sold next week in the biggest auction Paris has seen in years.
 Today's TMJ4 | Winter Storm Warning Issued MSNBC A winter storm warning has been issued for Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha and Walworth Counties. Everyone else will be under a winter weather advisory. Snow causes cancellations, delays at airports Snow blusters through Region |
 Newsweek | Rihanna speaks after photo leaked BBC News Pop star Rihanna has issued a statement thanking fans for their support after an alleged assault by her R&B singer boyfriend Chris Brown. Rihanna photo prompts LAPD probe Rihanna makes first statement since assault; no mention of Chris Brown |
Reuters - Graduates of Britain's top fashion design school are so focused on their art that they don't worry about finding jobs and may even regard the global recession as a blessing in disguise.
 ABC News | Oscar's comeback kid New York Daily News BY Elizabeth Weitzman Allegri/AP/AP It's right there in the title: "The Wrestler" is one man's story, plain and simple. Mickey Rourke, the sartorial 'Wrestler' Rourke admits he made mistakes |
 ABC News | Jennifer Aniston Headed to the Academy Awards E! Online I can exclusively reveal that Ms. Aniston will present an award on Sunday night with funnyman Jack Black. Whether she and boyfriend John Mayer walk the red carpet together remains a mystery. Hollywood's Über Couple Brad and Angelina get on everyone's nerves Memorable Oscar Duos |
Rihanna should have been celebrating her 21st birthday today. Instead, the Barbadian songbird is lying low in Los Angeles and staying strong.
Her camp finally broke radio silence and...
No. 2,725 and no more counting.
After 16 years, the prominently coiffed, long-limbed host of NBC's Late Night With Conan O'Brien bid farewell Friday with a star-studded and...
Jennifer Aniston will be at the Oscars!
I can exclusively reveal that Ms. Aniston will present an award on Sunday night with funnyman Jack Black.
Whether she and boyfriend...
It's not going to snag 11 Oscars, but The Dark Knight—Christian Bale and all—is nipping at Titanic's heels in the court of public opinion.
The 2008 blockbuster has...
It's been another seven-day cruise on the good ship Soup Blog, a fact-filled mission brimming with laughter, tears and magic. Let's take a look at what mattered...
AP - It helps to have fans in high places. Just ask Stephen Colbert, who has had a peregrine falcon making its nest atop City Hall named after him.
 Reuters | NYFW: 'Project Runway' finale under the tents -- and under wraps Los Angeles Times This morning at the Bryant Park tents, designer John Varvatos was sitting next to hiphop singer Akon. Season 4 winner, the fierce Christian Siriano, sat two seats away, looking balefully at the gregarious Season 1 winner, Jay McCarroll (whose ... ‘Project Runway’ Battle Dampens Fashion Week 'Project Runway': The finale of the season you've never even seen |
AP - As police probe whether one of their own leaked a picture of a bruised and beaten woman that appears to be Rihanna, the image is sparking a discussion of the impact it could have on the issue of domestic violence.
 Decider Chicago | Pop Music’s Perpetual Old Man, Now 74, Is Back on the Road New York Times Leonard Cohen at the Beacon Theater on Thursday night. The concert was the first in the United States in 15 years. By NATE CHINEN Leonard Cohen kept returning to the stance of a supplicant at the Beacon Theater on Thursday night, dropping to one knee, ... Leonard Cohen plays first US concert in 15 years Leonard Cohen takes Manhattan, again |
E! Online - Was Britney Spears trying to make a break for it? Or does some avid fan just want her to be able to run free like the wind?
After eight days of nonstop fashion shows, parties, budget woes, and free McDonald's lattes, Fashion Week fall 2009 is over. We turned to IMG senior V.P. Fern Mallis (basically Fashion Week's fairy godmother) at the Ralph Lauren show this morning for some final words before it all becomes merely a blurry neon-hued memory. "I think it’s been a great week! I think the energy and the enthusiasm and the attendance — all of it was as good as ever," Mallis said, noting the economy may be the elephant in every room, but didn't plow everything to the ground this season. "It didn’t stop Fashion Week as we know it from functioning. It didn’t stop the parties from happening, the shows from going forward, or the dinners or the entertaining."
Mallis added she didn't encounter a single person who wasn't excited about the move to Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park in 2010. But what about Anna Sui, who bemoaned the move because Lincoln Center is too far from her studio? "Anna Sui is the only one who likes to walk with the rack from her office," Mallis said.
What will Mallis do with herself now that New York's fall 2009 collections have all been shown? Why, judge a new Bravo reality series, of course! Mallis will judge Fashion Show, along with Kelly Rowland and Isaac Mizrahi, who also plays host. It's Bravo's Project Runway replacement, in which designers compete for a chance to have their clothes sold at a major retailer. A studio audience will in part determine the winner. Mallis said Bravo knew her from her guest-judge stints on Project Runway and called her up to ask her to do this show. "I think they liked the credibility that I bring in a show called Fashion Show. I mean, hello?" So while she does that, we're going to go drink and collapse somewhere, hopefully in our own bed. Fall 2009, it's been real.
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: bravo, fall 2009, fashion show, fashion shows, fern mallis, industry players, isaac mizrahi, kelly rowland, new york fashion week, reality tv, show & tell
Updos are the new blowout come fall. Nearly every show teased, pinned, and sprayed hair up and away from the face. Thakoon, Rodarte, and Rachel Comey all took the traditional approach by choosing gelled side bangs with cinched-back locks. Oscar de la Renta's girls went for very old-school-looking dos, while Michael Kors opted for slick ballerina buns. And while we wondered how an updo can ever be updated, a new style emerged at J. Mendel with a double-pinned ponytail. Start thinking about your hair game-plan now, because come fall it's time to take it up a notch. Click ahead to see these and more updo styles that hit the catwalk.
Read more posts by Sharon Clott
Filed Under: alexandre herchcovitch, badgley mischka, beauty, behnaz sarafpour, brian reyes, calvin klein, carolina herrera, catherine malandrino, donna karan, fall 2009, fashion week fall 2009, j mendel, marc jacobs, michael kors, oscar de la renta, ports 1961, proenza schouler, rodarte, slideshow, thakoon, three's a trend, trends, updo, zac posen
The V-Man party at Chelsea Piers' Sky Rink was pure spectacle. Zac Posen emerged from a golden Escalade and breezed through the velvet rope wearing a broad-brimmed hat, a long suit coat, a lilac scarf, and a brocaded shirt, and that was before he took a graceful lap on the ice.
Hamish Bowles took to the rink in his outfit from earlier in the day, though he held on to the ring for dear life. Later on in the night, after lamenting a sore coccyx, he explained to us that this was only his second time on the ice, the first being sometime in the seventies, when John Curry won the Olympic gold for Britain.
A Zamboni had just prepared the rink for the night's star, Johnny Weir, when a drunk German model took to the newly smoothed ice, much to the dismay of the staff. He skated backward before wiping out in a tangle of blades, ice chips, and blond hair. (The Ford models we talked to, meanwhile, told us that they were worried about spilling on the ice because they had to get up early for the Ralph Lauren show.) But at midnight the lights dimmed, and Weir was suddenly in the middle of the ice, kneeling, wearing all black with thick crystal bracelets. He then vogued, hard-core, like House of Ninja.
Skater Oksana Baiul made an appearance, and although she told us she always wears comfortable clothing on the ice, we're not quite sure how she pulled off a body-hugging, knee-length dress. (She never even slipped.) Birdie Bell told us her outfit was inspired by Brian Boitano, which explains the out-there chiffon shirt she paired with a shaggy fur coat. But hands down the best outfit belonged to drag queen Brenda A. Go-Go, who showed us her bejeweled green underwear, which she told us was her protection from showing off the goods should she fall on the ice in her miniskirt-and-fishnet ensemble (finished off with a larger-than-life pink wig).
Kanye West walked in with Amber Rose, and we couldn't take our eyes off his mullet-nub as he chatted up Carine Roitfeld. We had to ask: What was the deal with this nub, and was he planning on letting it grow even more? He looked at us in befuddlement and shrugged his shoulders, telling us he didn't know.
Read more posts by Joshua David Stein and Nakisha Williams
Filed Under: corine roitfeld, fall 2009, hamish bowles, johnny weir, kanye west, new york fashion week, Oksana Baiul, v man, zac posen
At yesterday’s Wool and the Gang dinner at the Smile, we were glad to discover we’re not the only ones ready to lock ourselves in our apartments with a tub of ice cream and some Ambien after this week. Barneys fashion director Julie Gilhart told us that “by Wednesday, I started looking for flights: ‘How much would it cost to just fly away to the Dominican Republic? Would Turks and Caicos be cheaper?’” Somehow Wednesday had been her loony point. “I think it was just too many shows, too many presentations, too many events. It just got excessive,” she said. She’d been able to have a few drinks, but she was going home to rest up for the eight to ten appointments she’s going to today. The trip to the D.R. was just a dream, she explained. “Truthfully I can’t go, because I have to go to Milan next week. It’s too much running around. You get on a plane, you rush, you come back for one day. It’s not relaxing. You maybe just need to sit in your yard and read.” As for trends and must-haves, Gilhart offered only one specific on what you might see in Barneys this fall. “I think it will be the season of the leggings. Oh my God. How many leggings did you see walking down the runway? Bet on leggings.”
Read more posts by Jada Yuan
Filed Under: barneys, fall 2009, julie gilhart, new york fashion week, party lines, trends
Read more posts by Jeremy Kost
Filed Under: behind the scenes, exit music, fall 2009, new york fashion week, nicole richie, video
Reuters - Even with a Grammy Award win for "The Road to Escondido," his 2006 collaboration with good pal Eric Clapton, J.J.
So the series hasn't aired, and we've NO idea who the contestants are, but the three Project Runway finalists walked in the tents today and we've got a look. Enjoy!
Project Runway: Contestant 1; Project Runway: Contestant 2; Project Runway: Contestant 3
Read more posts by Jessica Coen
Filed Under: bravo, fall 2009, new york fashion week, project runway, reality tv, rtw, runway
Lauren Bush and David Lauren are the first couple of any Ralph Lauren front row. But at this morning's show, David's giant boot, crutches, and (gasp) Nike sneaker distracted us from their beaming state of coupledom and general perfect-ness. "Poor David broke his ankle," Lauren told us after the show. "He just sort of stepped off an uneven sidewalk wrong. He’ll be okay — thank you, though, for asking." We don't show up for nothing! Lauren was still toting around one of her Feed bags, sales of which feed hungry children around the world. "We’re still rolling out new designs," she told us, flaunting the messenger style she was sporting at the moment. "We might go into apparel. But for now we’re still liking bags."
If you can't wait for Lauren's Feed bags to spawn clothes, her own clothing line, Lauren Pierce, will hit Barneys and Intermix in March. She describes it as a "small womenswear capsule collection," made with — you guessed it — ecofriendly fabrics. Pieces retail from about $275 to $900 and sales benefit charity. Lauren pointed us to the line's website. "I’d love your thoughts on it," she said. Commenters?
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: david lauren, designers, fall 2009, fashion shows, industry players, lauren bush, new york fashion week, ralph lauren, show & tell
Was Britney Spears trying to make a break for it? Or does some avid fan just want her to be able to run free like the wind?
A woman claiming to be Britney left three voice mails last...
Before we rehash what has been a simultaneously short/long week here at BWE.tv, just a quick reminder that I'll be Liveblogging the Oscars on Sunday night at 8 PM, so be sure to check back in!
Onto our favorite posts of the week:
Zac Posen
Christian Siriano
Calvin Klein
Phi
Isaac Mizrahi
Ports 1961
Custo Barcelona
Kai Kühne
E. Y. Wada
Rebecca Taylor
Brian Reyes
General Idea
Alice + Olivia
Tibi
Camilla Staerk
Temperley London
A Détacher
Barbara Tfank
Read more posts by Jessica Coen
Filed Under: a detacher, alice+olivia, barbara tfank, brian reyes, calvin klein, camilla staerk, christian siriano, custo barcelona, e.y. wada, fall 2009, isaac mizrahi, kai kuhne, new york fashion week, phi, ports 1961, rebecca taylor, runway, temperley, tibi, zac posen
• If this year's Oscar nominees take our advice, they'll be richer, happier, and twice as likely to be nominated next year.
• Tatiana Del Toro is the most insufferable American Idol contestant in history, and she'll be back.
• Zack Snyder's Watchmen will be a travesty. Also, you probably don't need to see it in IMAX.
• The Oscar red carpet will be overrun with adorable slumdogs.
• The Roots will succumb to exhaustion.
• Ebert and Roeper will save televised film criticism.
Bets As Probable As Kate Winslet Retiring Her "Losing Face" This Weekend:
• Interscope will receive an angry phone call from Bono.
• Conan O'Brien is doomed.
• Hugh Jackman will tell a Ricky Gervais–penned Holocaust joke.
• Americans will be horrified by Sam Mendes's penis balloons.
• M.I.A. will perform horizontally on Sunday night.
• Mickey Rourke will ditch his date the minute the Oscars are over.
• Heath Ledger's Best Supporting Actor statue will go missing.
Bets As Unlikely As a Frost/Nixon Upset:
• All of our Oscar predictions will be correct.
Filed Under: roll credits
Even after Battlestar Galactica ends its run on the Sci Fi Channel next month, it seems as if there will still be more than enough related interplanetary entertainment to take us Earthlings well...
Review in a Hurry: Don't be fooled: By 90 minutes in, Madea has still not gone to jail. Instead of screwball shenanigans or poignant insight, prolific writer/director/star Tyler Perry gives us...
Even with all the cutbacks and trimming down this week, it was hard to find a sorrier spectacle than this morning's Project Runway show. Heidi Klum started off once again expressing how sad she was that the designers couldn't come out to get their moment of recognition. And instead of having several decoy designers mixed in, only the three finalists showed collections, since, with the show not airing, there were no spoilers to prevent.
The parade of clothes included two rocker-type collections heavy on black and knitwear, and one collection of the kind of jewel-tone, girlie, draped-silk charmeuse dresses young starlets wear to Target store openings. The final rocker-wear designer showed shades of Alexander Wang with lots of black mixed with intricate knits; the designer also seemed on point with the season, presenting a lot of textured tight pants and leggings.
John Varvatos, sitting in the front row with Mark Bouwer, was pleased. "I watch the show. I'm a fan," he said. "I thought it was very intriguing to take away the personality factor. Here you're judging the clothes for what they are. You're not judging on whether you thought that guy was a drama queen or this girl did that." He liked the mysterious third designer. "I thought the knitwear in the last group was incredible. The amount of intricate work in that — that's cut-and-sewing, that was all done by hand. That was all hand-knit."
Season-four winner Christian Siriano thought the collections were strong, particularly both rocker-wear collections. But he couldn't stop thinking about the poor, unknown finalists. "Oh, it's horrible," he said. "It's the worst thing in the world. Because this is the end and it isn't as fun and exciting. I mean, who even knows if their families are here! And that's tough, because we got to have our friends and families." Siriano thought that maybe the lack of fanfare had led to a show that, like Marc Jacobs, was more about the industry. "This is real," he conceded. "You don't normally get to have all your friends and family, and you don't normally get to walk out before your show and say something." Still, he couldn't help dwelling on one thing. "You just don't get your bow. Which is tragic."
Watch a slideshow of the first contestant's collection.
Watch a slideshow of the second contestant's collection.
Watch a slideshow of the third contestant's collection.
Read more posts by Jada Yuan
Filed Under: christian siriano, designers, fall 2009, john varvatos, new york fashion week, project runway, show & tell
Last November, we were quite excited about Kurt Kuenne’s devastating documentary Dear Zachary, while also being blown away by the fact that Kuenne had made a funny narrative-short film that was nothing like his unbelievably sad feature non-fiction. Now, with Zachary's impending DVD release next week, we’ve decided to feature another one of Kuenne’s charmingly elaborate narrative shorts. The last one, Rent-A-Person, was a business epic in miniature; this one, Validation, is a romantic epic in miniature. We’re still blown away, but watching the films again, we’ve decided that they actually do have something in common with Dear Zachary — namely, an approach to storytelling (and Dear Zachary most definitely tells a story, albeit an unspeakably tragic and unbearably true one) that places us in a world where anything can happen, and where small moments can have grand consequences.
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: dear zachary, kurt kuenne, movies, vulture picture palace
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: Evangeline Lilly, Livelinks, Lost, The Past
You know you can't get enough of Coco, so we tip our collective hat to Jeremy Kost, who caught her backstage at Zac Posen. Behold the model doing what she does best: striking a pose. Well, more like striking 75 different poses. It's like a Coco video flipbook!
View the Zac Posen collection.
Read more posts by Jeremy Kost
Filed Under: backstage, coco rocha, models, new york fashion week, strike a pose, video
Will Wanted sweep those two sound-related categories that no one can ever tell apart? And can Auf der Strecke defeat the heavily favored Spielzeugland for Best Live Action Short? As everyone knows, Oscar Pools are won and lost in the minor categories, so you'll probably want to take special care to avoid using any of our predictions in these races.
Best Original Screenplay
Frozen River
In Bruges
Happy-Go-Lucky
Milk
Wall-E
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex
The Class
Departures
Revanche
Waltz With Bashir
Best Animated Feature
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E
Art Direction
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Duchess
Revolutionary Road
Cinematography
Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Costume Design
Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Duchess
Milk
Revolutionary Road
Documentary Feature
The Betrayal
Encounters at the End of the World
The Garden
Man on Wire
Trouble the Water
Documentary Short Subject
The Conscience of Nhem En
The Final Inch
Smile Pinki
The Witness
Pertofsky
Editing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Makeup
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Best Original Score
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Defiance
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Original Song
"Down to Earth," Peter Gabriel, Wall-E
"Jai Ho," A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
"O Saya," A.R. Rahman and M.I.A., Slumdog Millionaire
Best Animated Short Film
La Maison en Petits Cubes
Lavatory - Lovestory
Oktapodi
Presto
This Way Up
Best Live Action Short
Auf der Strecke
Manon on the Asphalt
New Boy
The Pig
Spielzeugland
Sound Editing
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted
Sound Mixing
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Slumdog Millionaire
Wall-E
Wanted
Visual Effects
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Iron Man
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: kudos, movies, oscars
Sunday night's Oscars host, Hugh Jackman, is sure to shake things up. For one thing, he's not a professional comedian like most previous hosts. For another, he tells CNN that he plans to...
The media is learning that sometimes teamwork is the best way to save oneself, so everyone is trying to get along! Except for Fox and HuffPo. But they’ll probably always be on opposite sides of the playground.
• Time Inc. and Source Interlink Co. kissed and made up, so Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue and People’s Oscar megacoverage will reach newsstands everywhere. Thank heavens! [MediaInk/NYP]
• The Times is kicking ass and taking names in D.C., where they now have a larger foreign-affairs bureau than its hometown paper, the Washington Post. [Washingtonian via Mediabistro]
• Maybe if news organizations learn to practice teamwork they will have a shot at making it in the big wide world of the Internet. [BusinessWeek via Mediabistro]
• Fox News vs. HuffPost: The Fair and Balanced network caught the website in a lie, when a Huffington Post headline claimed Fox’s John Gibson “Compares Eric Holder to Monkey with Bright Blue Scrotum.” Spoiler alert! He didn’t. [Politico]
• Hearst reportedly laid off at least four staffers at Good Housekeeping today. The publishing megahouse may be cutting their permalancers as well. But who will run the magazines? [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]
• No party for magazines this year. The Magazine Publishers of America has canceled this year’s conference. [Media Week]
Read more posts by Kathryn H. Cusimano
Filed Under: Media Deathwatch
Okay, this Robert Allen Stanford story has officially moved into territory that is so weird we kind of want to just shut off the TV and declare ourselves finished with the whole series, like we did with Heroes. But we can't, because even now we still need to know what happens.
To recap: Earlier this week, after much pomp and circumstance, the SEC accused the flamboyant Texan financier of massive fraud, after which he reportedly went missing (and didn't even call his father). Ties to drug cartels were alleged, stories of laddish behavior were exhumed, flight plans to offshore locations were scrutinized, and charts were put together comparing him to Bernie Madoff. Then the Feds were like, "Oh this guy wasn't actually missing, he was just in Virginia and not returning our calls, and we're not arresting him because no one's done the figures proving he's fully a criminal yet. So."
And now it's come out that in the past, Stanford talked about owning an island. A very special island in an “undisclosed” location where he was working on a secret project. An island that very few people have ever seen.
Really, this is what's happening.
See, last year, Stanford told Forbes he was working with seventeen architectural and engineering firms on a massive resort called the Island Club. It would have 30 mansions on it, he said, and the largest private aviation complex in the world, with parking for 100 private jets and a marina with dock space for 30 yachts. Members would pay a $50 million deposit to get in, along with a $15 million annual membership fee. He planned to have it constructed by 2011. Where was it? An "undisclosed island in the Caribbean," the magazine said.
Now the Times is doubting the island even exists. "With hindsight, of course, there is reason to doubt some of Mr. Stanford’s claims," they say today.
But there is other evidence that Mr. Stanford has an island all his own. Court documents from early 2008 obtained by Bloomberg News, relating to a paternity dispute involving Mr. Stanford, cited his substantial real estate holdings, including an island in the Caribbean, which was not identified.
We must find this island! It's the key to the whole mystery! All we need is a giant pendulum....
Allen Stanford's Mystery Island [Dealbook/NYT]
Crazy for Cricket [Forbes]
Lost: Jack Don't Know Jack [Vulture]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: Ballsy Crimes, islands, lost, r. allen stanford, robert allen stanford, weirdness
We'd say there's no way that Burris could try and stand tall through this kind of swampy mess, but that would mean we didn't learn anything from last time. We honestly have no idea what Monday will bring.
Burris Should Resign Senate Seat, Illinois Governor Quinn Says [Bloomberg]
WH to Burris: Think Again [Politico]
Darrel Thompson Jumps Off Burris Ship [Huffington Post]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: early and often, pat quinn, politics, robert gibbs, rod blagojevich, roland burris
Fol Chen is a mysterious electropop band (the identities of the members are secret) from Los Angeles. Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune's Made, out this week on Asthmatic Kitty, is their debut album. "Cable TV" — a delightfully literal love song about a couple enjoying motel amenities together, with killer bass burbles and just the right amount of sitar — is that album’s first single. And those fit girls doing the stop-motion gyrating in the "Cable TV" video? Those are Laker Girls. Which means it’s time to step your game up, New York City indie-rock bands — we expect to see at least the Knicks City Kids in a music video by the end of March. (Bonus click: "Cable TV," as remixed by Liars.)
Read more posts by Amos Barshad
Filed Under: cable tv, fol chen, music, right click
Sure, math genius Nate Silver has already made his picks, and on Sunday night he and his computer will almost certainly be proved 100 percent correct. Even so, we wouldn't want to let that deprive you of a chance to lose $10 by betting our predictions in your Oscar pool. After the jump, our best guesses in all six major categories. And stay tuned for our picks in the unexciting categories!
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire
Technically, a small case could be made for any of the nominees (except for Frost/Nixon, obviously) — Benjamin Button has the most overall nominations, Milk could squeak by on anger over Prop 8, and Harvey Weinstein has made no secret of his willingness to commit murder if it would mean a victory for The Reader — but Slumdog Millionaire's clean sweep of the important precursor awards makes it 2008's Little Unstoppable Front-runner That Could.
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry, The Reader
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard, Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant, Milk
Even if the unthinkable happens and Slumdog somehow loses the big prize (it won't), this one will still go to Danny Boyle.
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Fact: No actor has ever won an Oscar for the portrayal of a widowed economics professor, Richard Nixon, or an old-man baby, so this one's between Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke. And as much as we'd love to hear Rourke get bleeped while eulogizing his Chihuahua, we're kinda worried today that the Academy might give it to Sean Penn.
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kate Winslet, The Reader
Will a certain six-time nominee finally be able to retire her "losing face" as most are expecting? Meryl Streep doesn't need another Oscar, Anne Hathaway seems to have lost all momentum, and Angelina Jolie never had any in the first place. There's interesting talk of a last-minute sneak attack from Melissa Leo, but we still think you'd be crazy to bet on anyone who isn't Kate Winslet.
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey Jr., Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road
Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr., Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Michael Shannon are all exceptionally gifted actors, but none of them is talented enough to hide the mortification they'd feel if Heath Ledger somehow lost. Good thing that will never happen!
Kate Winslet's promotion to the lead category for her role in The Reader makes this race the toughest major one to call. Still, Penélope Cruz was the early front-runner, and we don't think the Academy would pass up a chance to make history.
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: danny boyle, heath ledger, kate winslet, kudos, milk, movies, oscars, penelope cruz, sean penn, slumdog millionaire, the dark knight, the reader, vicky cristina barcelona
Fashion Wire Daily - Designer Christian Siriano certainly knows how to work it for the camera, and he's no slouch on getting himself cameos on shows like "Ugly Betty," which may explain why of any of his fellow "Project Runway" alumni, he's the most visible and well-positioned to become a New York fashion week mainstay.
Fashion Wire Daily - American fashion's leading showman, Zac Posen, put five pianists and as many pianos on his catwalk Thursday, Feb. 19, in the Bryant Park tents, when he presented his vamp and camp fall 2009 collection.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs batted back at CNBC's Rick Santelli's revolution rant yesterday by invoking a Mean Girls–worth amount of passive aggression. Santelli only had this little outburst, Gibbs patiently explained to the network, because he was just not smart enough to know what was going on. "I feel assured that Mr. Santelli doesn't know what he's talking about," he said. "But I also think it's tremendously important that for people who rant on cable television to be responsible and understand what it is they're talking about."
Which is why he'd be happy to help him with some after-school tutoring:
"I would be more than happy to have him come here and read [the mortgage plan]," he continued. "I'd be happy to buy him a cup of coffee. Decaf."
Ha! No, but look, that Santelli guy doesn't have the interests of common Americans at heart. For all we know he's not even American:
"I'm not entirely sure where Mr. Santelli lives or in what house he lives. But the American people are struggling every day to meet their mortgage, stay in their jobs, pay their bills, send their kids to school, hope they don't get sick or somebody they care for gets sick and sends them into bankruptcy."
Incidentally, does anyone know exactly where Santelli lives? Gibbs is just wondering.
White House Responds To Santelli's Outburst [TVNewser/Mediabistro]
Earlier: Rick Santelli Calls For Revolution
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: business, cnbc, finance, mean girls, rick santelli, robert gibbs, Talking Heads
Reuters - If fashion shows are staged to publicize designers, what then to make of the "Project Runway" show on Friday that presented the designs of the hit television show finalists under a veil of anonymity?
A 30-year-old man struggling with heroin addiction committed suicide in Prospect Park last night, after warning in a Facebook status update that it might occur. The onetime aspiring model and actor posted the following message the night before his body was found:
Paul Zolezzi is born in San Francisco, became a shooting star over everywhere, and ended his life in Brooklyn... And couldn't have asked for more.
His mother told the Daily News that Zolezzi had been on a downward spiral since the end of an engagement about a year ago. "I would say that people get so lonely, so delusional, that all they want to do is be remembered," Stephanie Zolezzi explained over the phone from California. "He probably wanted to be remembered in a big way, to do it dramatically — that's what drugs will do to people." His friends, unaware of his true intentions, left comments on his status update throughout the next day.
Facebook status update becomes suicide note for aspiring Brooklyn model, actor Paul Zolezzi [NYDN]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: holy crap this is brutal, paul zolezzi, sad things, suicide
Disappointing! The impartial organization signaled its displeasure with President Obama's performance so far in a press release today, pointing out that he'd "campaigned on the promise of bipartisanship and said he wanted Republicans to vote for his stimulus package." Oh, did you really, Obama? Then why didn't a single House Republican end up voting for it? The RNC is saddened by your hollow lies. [PR Newswire]
Read more posts by Dan Amira
Filed Under: barack obama, politics, republicans, rnc, sitmulus
Broken Embraces is the latest feature film from Pedro Almodóvar, the world's 24th greatest living film director (or, at least, so sayeth Entertainment Weekly). Although the film opens in Spain a little less than a month from now, American audiences will have to wait until November to soak up what looks to be another in a long line of classic collaborations between the director and his muse, possible Oscar winner Penélope Cruz. This stunningly beautiful (and entirely wordless) teaser trailer flickers through a variety of scenes of the cast vigorously and passionately embracing each other, all set against a mysterious and somewhat haunting orchestral score. Suffice to say, we can't wait.
Broken Embraces [Trailer Addict]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: Broken Embraces, Pedro Almodovar, Penelope Cruz, Trailer Mix
Well, it's that time of year again: OSCAR TIME! Sunday night, the 81st Annual Academy Awards will air live on ABC at 8:00 PM. And you know what that means: BestWeekEver.tv's Third Annual Oscars Liveblog!
I'll admit, this year's Oscars leave a little to be desired... namely, good movies. Sure, we're pulling for Slumdog Millionaire like any other Westerner, and it will be nice to see Kate Winslet give yet another breathlessly surprised speech (spanx-related? probs.), it feels like this year's ceremony is missing some "buzz." And you know what a lack of buzz inspired? HILARIOUS LIVEBLOGS.
So please, suffer alongside me on Sunday night. Perhaps I'll photograph myself in a gown thawing out Costco mini-quiches and we can all have a good laugh. Let us know who you're rooting for in the comments.
We love it when Us accidentally reveals how much it loathes the celebrities it covers. Like with the subtle clause following this quote from Brad Pitt: "'You put yourself out there in a film, you lay it on the line, and that's what you believe your job is. Then there's this whole other entity you get sucked into, this publicity machine that you have to go and sell your wares,' adds the actor—who volunteered to shoot Angelina Jolie apparently breastfeeding in W magazine around the time Button hit theaters." Oops. Did Us say that out loud? [Us]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: brad pitt, celebrities, ink-stained wretches, The Most Important People In The World, underminers, us weekly
Are you one of those hard-to-please viewers who finds Ben Lyons's trenchant film criticism on the new At the Movies okay, but too ... thumbless? Great news! Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper are apparently plotting a return to television. Responding to a reader-submitted question, Ebert casually slipped this line into today's edition of his weekly Answer Man column: "Another chapter to this saga will begin when Richard and I shortly announce a new movie review program." We're not sure how any of this will work, since Ebert, technically, can no longer speak. Even so, this is the best news we've heard all week.
Answer Man [Roger Ebert via Cinematical]
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: ben lyons, comebacks, movies, richard roeper, roger ebert
According to a Marist poll, the mayor's approval rating is 52 percent at the moment. It's the lowest the number has been since 2005 (he was at his worst in early 2004), but the numbers still say he'd beat any Democratic opponent if an election were held today. [Marist]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: mayor bloomberg, mayoral race, politics, the third terminator
As Time, Slate, and just about everyone else has pointed out, the director-writer-actor-cross-dresser-non-Oscar-nominee Tyler Perry, whose Madea’s Family Reunion took home $30 million in its opening weekend, may be a Hollywood outsider, but he connects to a vastly underserved audience of mostly middle-class African-Americans. He releases his movies independently, through Lionsgate, because major studios won’t produce his religious-themed scripts, and Perry refuses to edit out his Christianity. (“If you don’t want my God here,” he has said, “you don’t want me here.”) But Perry’s movies are better known for their strange hodgepodge of slapstick, Mommie Dearest–style melodrama, and big-name African-American stars (Angela Bassett, Maya Angelou, Jill Scott, Janet Jackson) than for their moralist parables. In Madea Goes to Jail, opening today, the titular heroine saves a fellow inmate from prostitution and junkie-hood. We've taken the occasion to analyze how closely five of his top-grossing earlier movies stick to scripture — or, more to the point, do not.
The Family That Preys
What happens: Longtime friends from opposite backgrounds try to reconcile their differences.
Biblical lesson: "Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor." Corinthians 10:24
Blasphemy Factor, 6 out of 10: Even Perry doesn’t seem to believe his social-climbing characters can be saved: Extramarital affairs plague both families, one leading to an illegitimate child; Kathy Bates spends most of the movie saying vicious things like, “My family has been known to prey on the weak,” then (unconvincingly) asking for forgiveness.
Daddy's Little Girls
What happens: A single-parent mechanic reclaims his daughters from an abusive ex-wife.
Biblical lesson: "Let us not lose heart in doing good." Galatians 6:9
Blasphemy Factor, 9: The protagonist is a convicted rapist, and the only person who prays regularly dies fifteen minutes into the film. The real lesson: Get a good lawyer.
Diary of a Mad Black Woman
What happens: A cheating husband throws his wife out of the house.
Biblical lesson: "Lust ... gives birth to sin." James 1:15
Blasphemy Factor, 3: The dumped wife allows her ex keep all the money and property — that’s forgiveness, we guess. Points off for kicking a corpse at a funeral.
Why Did I Get Married?
What happens: Four couples reevaluate their marriages on vacation.
Biblical lesson: "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing." Proverbs 18:22
Blasphemy Factor, 1: One case of unspecified venereal disease that’s promptly cured, and the dirtiest word is “trick.” Characters ask Jesus to save their love lives — and it actually works!
Madea's Family Reunion
What happens: A family heals its tensions at a church wedding.
Biblical lesson: "Take refuge in the Lord." Psalm 118:8
Blasphemy Factor, 9: The most lurid Perry film: Rampant domestic abuse, rape, pedophilia, and two threats of murder. Not a perfect 10, because the family matriarch rings a bell to usher in Christian salvation and they all dance to “We Are Family.”
Read more posts by Paul Schrodt
Filed Under: daddy's little girls, diary of a mad black woman, impieties, madea goes to jail, madea's family reunion, movies, the fmaily that preys, tyler perry, why did i get married
Okay, how cool* is this? According to Curbed, an English developer commissioned a design for 401–403 Greenwich Street, a spot that is currently a handful of brick row houses. In place of those, architect Joseph Pell Lomardi has envisioned a tall house made entirely of glass bricks and glass carvings. Apparently, he spent six months working with engineers on how to ensure the damn thing wouldn't shatter (Curbed already made the requisite "no stone throwing allowed" joke). It must be tricky, as the location is right near the windy Hudson, and the structure would abut brick buildings on either side. But the plan is for the space to contain two retail locations and eight loft apartments separated "with obscure glass partitions." The design has already been submitted to the community board and has yet to face the Landmarks Preservation Commission (it's in the Tribeca West Historic District). We really, really hope this building gets built, because it's totally near our office and we really like peeping at rich people's apartments in our spare time. Now we don't even have to worry about the shades being drawn!
World's First Glass-Brick Building Proposed for Tribeca [Curbed]
401-403 Greenwich [Joseph Pell Lombardi]
*By cool, obviously, we mean terrifying and embarrassing and we would never live there.
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: and you thought the recession was the end of decadence, real estate, real estate porn, vu.
Guess what? It's Rihanna's birthday!!! Happy Birthday, Rihanna! Hope you're enjoying the leaked photo of your assault hitting the web and the subsequent police investigation into how the photo leaked and everyone hounding you for answers about what happened and your feelings towards Chris Brown and where to go from here!
This brings me to my question for this fine Friday afternoon:
What was the worst birthday you ever had?
I'll go first (feel free to have this playing while you read).
The night before my 21st birthday, I was in Pittsburgh while on winter break from college, and I was on my cell phone with a friend for about twenty minutes, holding the phone to one ear and holding my other ear closed with my finger, and when I got off the phone, I realized that I suddenly couldn't hear out of my left ear.
(Thrilling story continues after the jump...)
Even after a couple minutes passed, I felt like I was wearing an earplug in my left ear and couldn't do anything to restore sound normally -- I also couldn't listen to people without getting immediately annoyed, and I almost had trouble walking from the weirdness of the ear-equilibrium (Ed. Note - I am a badass). I then drove to a pharmacy to pick up earwax-removal medication, went home, used it (meaning, titled my head for an hour and waited for it to work) but it had absolutely no effect.
So the next morning at 6:00 a.m., on my 21st birthday, I had to get my dad to take me to the frickin' hospital emergency room to have them look at my weird earwax mishap. We waited an hour and a half to see someone, filled out a million forms (I kept getting extra bitter every time I filled out my birthdate) and even got an "oh... I guess happy birthday!" from the well-meaning nurse.
I then proceeded into a room to have a nurse stick a sharp plastic instrument into my ear well past that point where your body goes "holy sh*t, nothing should ever be in this ear, ever," for several minutes, digging deeper and deeper and causing the greatest single pain I have ever experienced. When that was over, for good measure, she did the other ear two for bonus torture, and after a tidy four-hour birthday morning jambaroo, I was on my way.
Afterwards, my aunt surprised us with tickets to the Penguins' afternoon game, which we went to and saw them lose to Montreal 9-0. I then returned to my home and went to bed in the early evening, at no point going near a legal drink.
Anyone else want to top that? Go for it in the comments. 
AP - "Project Runway" taped its sixth-season finale Friday, but something was missing: the finalists.
AP - The fashion crowd was rolling up the New York runways on Friday, headed to Europe to continue the previews of designers' fall collections.
As the RIAA has taken the fight to rid the world of unscrupulous music pirates overseas, now comes word that the leak of U2's less-than-thrilling new LP was caused not by some eye-patch-wearing BitTorrent swabbie, but rather by the people hoping to make a buck off distributing the album. You see, in a misguided effort to get ahead of the curve, Forbes.com reports that the Australian arm of the Universal Music Group accidentally began selling digital tracks from No Line on the Horizon on Tuesday. While it only took them two hours to realize their error, by then their blunder had already been plundered (like how we worked that pirate reference in there?). Better luck next time, fellas.
What The U2 Leak Says About Music Biz [Forbes.com via Rolling Stone]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: Interscope, Leak of the Week, Pirates, U2, Universal Music Group
In 2007, the city doled out $500,000 for an old ferry it hoped to use as a shuttle between Manhattan and Governors Island — $250,000 less than the Martha's Vineyard and Woods Hole Steamship Authority was asking for. Score! But later, when city officials actually plopped it in the water, they realized the damn thing wasn't seaworthy, and it would take $6 million to repair. Uh, well, thanks a lot for that, Massachusetts. You think because you're so cool up there, with your health care and your gay marriage and your decriminalized pot, that you can just con states with no money into buying bad ferries? Jerks.
But the city has a plan to recoup all those taxpayer dollars. It's put the ferry up on eBay, where an astonishing 34 bids have pushed the price to ... $14,800. Okay, so we're not going to get that money back. At the very least, though, it'll be amusing to see how the auction's winner figures out how to pick up the 200-foot steel ship they just bought. But if any of those bids are from the Martha's Vineyard and Woods Hole Steamship Authority, we're going to be so pissed.
State sinks $500K into bad boat [Times-Union]
Read more posts by Dan Amira
Filed Under: ebay, ferries, massachusetts, Smart Purchases
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For Rolling Stone's cover story on Taylor Swift, writer Vanessa Grigoriadis tailed the 19-year-old country-pop star as she jetted from L.A. to New York and back to her Nashville home, chatting candidly about her quick rise from karaoke competitions to the national spotlight. Grigoriadis opened up about her time with Swift for our story behind the story, and shared some undiluted interview from their conversations, where Taylor revealed her taste in boys and how... |
Move over, Dirty Sexy Money and Women's Murder Club -- apparently, ABC has begun to truly embrace its status as the network for shamelessly (but hilariously) bad show titles, because their latest endeavor into title-world is an absolute gem:
BETTER OFF TED
The title is some unholy network-executive force-f*ck of 80s classic "Better Off Dead" and the playful stupidness of "Good Luck Chuck," all married together in one nice, tidy title that I refrained from posting about because I assumed it had to be on Lifetime, a channel which has been officially disqualified in the running for Worst Title on Television after Side Order of Life.
Just so I don't seem like I'm tearing down without creating, I've come up with 15 show titles that would have been slightly less stupid and lazy than Better Off Ted (please leave your own in the comments):
15. A Fish Out Of Walter
14. No Big Dale
13. Two Peas In A Rod
12. Can't Teach An Old Doug New Tricks
11. Waste Not Walt Not
10. Don't Get Mad, Get Steven
9. Like Taking Candy From A Bill-by
8. A Stitch In Tim Saves Nine
7. Built Like A Rick Sh*thouse
6. Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Will
5. Keep Your Friends Close And Your Ernie Closer
4. Any Tom, Dick, Or Barry
3. Four Score and Seven Mike Ago
2. Laughter Is The Best Ted-icine (SPIN-OFF!!!!)
1. The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Phil Itself
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