AP - Nadya Suleman apparently has bigger worries than taking care of her 14 children. Talk show host Dr. Phil McGraw says she may have to prove she can handle the load, or else have hospital officials withhold her newborn octuplets.
AFP - The severely disabled six-year-old son of David Cameron, leader of Britain's main opposition Conservatives and favourite to become the next prime minister, died on Wednesday, a party spokesman said.
AP - After a bullish staff meeting (which ended with a cheer) and before a wardrobe fitting (strictly suit-and-tie), Jimmy Fallon took time to marvel at how busy he is these days.
AP - Columbia Pictures says it is in talks with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" director Michel Gondry to replace Hong Kong comedian Stephen Chow at the helm of its adaptation of "The Green Hornet."
Columbia Pictures says it is in talks with "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" director Michel Gondry to replace Hong Kong comedian Stephen Chow at the helm of its adaptation of "The... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:36 am
Gay Asians voiced indignation Wednesday after television broadcasts of the Academy Awards in their region censored the words "gay" and "lesbian" in speeches that called for equal rights for Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 25 Feb 2009 | 11:35 am
AP - An auction of artworks and treasures collected by the late designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner has already brought in more than Â300 million ($382 million) and broken several world records and it's not over yet.
AFP - China's repeated demands for the return of relics from the stunning Yves Saint Laurent art collection threatens to dampen the finale of the three-day "sale of the century", ending Wednesday.
Reuters - The chief executives of Live Nation and Ticketmaster got a skeptical reception on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, with a leading lawmaker pressing Ticketmaster to sell a reselling subsidiary. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 25 Feb 2009 | 7:41 am
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The CW network has picked up six series to return in the fall: "Gossip Girl," "One Tree Hill, "90210," the Thursday combo of "Smallville" and... Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsEnter | 25 Feb 2009 | 7:04 am
Reuters - A legendary British explorer disappearing in the Amazon with his son while searching for a lost ancient city? For New York writer David Grann it was an irresistible mystery and one crying out to be solved. Source: Yahoo! News: Entertainment News | 25 Feb 2009 | 6:39 am
The Los Angeles Police Department is still trying to plug its leak.
The internal investigation launched last week into who provided TMZ.com with a photo of Rihanna that was taken after...
Tonight was Tamra/Gretchen, as two of the blondest blondes of Real Housewives of Orange County butted highlighted heads during the reality show...
Front Page: Ferrell, Wahlberg, Damon pitch projects -- Studios that are trying to fill 2010 release slates are weighing spec packages that would give them either an Adam McKay-directed action comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, or a drama that will reunite Matt Damon with his "Bourne Ultimatum" scribe George Nolfi.
Clay Aiken may have been dropped from his record label, but there's no need to worry just yet. The American Idol crooner has some major family connections in the music biz.
You see,...
Simon Cowell is not looking to replicate a moment like this in 100 years' time.
The American Idol judge's recent remarks to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown about planning to...
Sort of like a wayward career, Britney Spears is going to disappear into thin air—and then magically reappear, to her fans' ecstatic delight.
"Right away, she got into the...
The Killers are making a hot fuss over their former manager.
Three years after being sued for breach of contract, the Las Vegas-based band has filed a countersuit against Braden Merrick,...
Harry Potter, Iron Man. Iron Man, Harry Potter.
The final, still-untitled Harry Potter movie will open Jul. 15, 2011, Warner Bros. confirmed today, setting the young wizard up for a...
A"Slumdog Millionaire" starlet Freida Pinto, pictured on February 22, 2009, and British-Australian actress Naomi Watts are to feature in Woody Allen's next film, alongside Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins,... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 24 Feb 2009 | 11:54 pm
Last night, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London fêted the opening of the exhibition curated by famous milliner Stephen Jones. Jones has created all kinds of hats for designers like John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Westwood, and Giles Deacon. A third of the hats in the exhibition are his, a third are from the V&A collection and a third are from private collections; they include everything from a sixteenth-century jester hat to Darth Vader's helmet to My Fair Lady bonnets. The opening party was like the Costume Institute Gala for hats, and those foolish enough not to wear hats deeply regretted it, according to British Vogue; and attendees kept saying we should wear hats more often. After looking at our slideshow of the hats that turned up last night, we think you'll agree.
Steven Spielberg's long-gestating (and also just plain long) Abraham Lincoln biopic was thought to be dead at the hands of Paramount, which reportedly passed on the film last week. But no more! According to Spielberg's publicist, Marvin Levy, "Lincoln is alive and well and continues in active development ... Our plans are now to shoot the picture later this year." (No pun intended, presumably.)
Sometimes you just can't tell who your friends are. Literally.
Britney Spears' ex-admirer Adnan Ghalib is facing felony charges for allegedly hitting a process server with his...
The Treasury is understaffed, government analysts say, which is why Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has gotten off to such a rocky start. "Essentially Geithner is sitting over there by himself and does not have a staff," the head of government studies at the Brookings Institution tells ABC. Oh no! Also, he must be lonely. [ABC News]
As NPR and the New Republic debate whether newspapers are in fact worth saving at all, News Corp.'s stock is revealed to be trading 75 percent off its peak. Plus, the Hallmark Company's growing magazine and website get shut down.
• News Corp.'s stock is now trading for under $7 a share, nearly 75 percent off its peak. [LAT]
• Hallmark magazine folds, with its website, so that the company can focus efforts and resources on other, more steadily profitable interests. [FishbowlNY/Mediabistro]
• To reduce staffing costs, the Financial Times is reportedly offering employees a shortened week throughout the summer and extending their annual leave. [Reuters]
• "Why is the newspaper deemed too important to die?" asks NPR. "I don't think there's any magic about the bundle that does crossword puzzles and foreign correspondents simultaneously. I don't think that that's essential to preserve," says journalist Steve Coll. [On the Media]
• The New Republic's Paul Starr, on the other hand, says: "If we take seriously the notion of newspapers as a fourth estate or a fourth branch of government, the end of the age of newspapers implies a change in our political system itself. Our new technologies do not retire our old responsibilities." [New Republic]
Front Page: Executive getting rich film, TV production pact -- As Fox execs were still sorting out the restructuring repercussions of Peter Chernin's pending exit as News Corp. prexy, there are also plenty of questions about Chernin's lucrative film and TV production pact that will kick in as soon as he formally steps down on June 30.
An editor at New York received the following e-mail from a PR person today, subject line: "Further Clarification Regarding Russell Simmons and Julie Henderson." There had been no previous clarification; she was mystified. And more so when she opened the e-mail.
Hello, as Julie Henderson’s publicist, I've read some unflattering blogs calling her a "high fallutin' call girl" and a "golddigger." Let's set the record straight. Julie Henderson comes from a good family. Her grandfather Samuel Henderson invented the Henderson grapefruit in the 1960’s and built an empire in Texas. She has been modeling for the past 7 years and is an accomplished Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue favorite appearing in the issue 3 years in a row.
"I don’t know what this dude is talking about," said the editor. Neither did we, but a little knowledge never hurt anyone. If ever we have to refer to Grapefruit Heiress Julie Henderson, we'll make sure to note that she is merely a falutin call girl, not a highfalutin one.
Why are Robert Pattinson and Zac Efron owed tips from Oscar organizers? Why is Chris Rock owed an apology from the Oscar press? And when the heck is Nielsen going to start folding in Web and...
GOOD NEWS, LADIES: Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green have called off their engagement. Tough break, Megan. (Us Magazine)
BUT WILL HE BE ANGRY AND GOTH FOR SOME REASON: The Spider-Man Musical with songs by Bono and The Edge will officially hit Broadway on February 18th, 2010. Pencil in the New Golden Age of Broadway to begin on February 19th, 2010. (E! Online)
PAINTING THE TOWN RED: This is by far the most in-depth, high-quality Oscars Red Carpet Review you'll find on the web. I can't believe they got that close to some of these stars! (Hecklerspray)
RIVALRY: Michael Ian Black and LeVar Burton are currently engaged in a full-scale Twitter war. And honestly, does anyone deserve a Twitter beatdown more than LeVar "Great in Roots, Next Generation, and Reading Rainbow and seems like a generally really nice dude" Burton? The answer is NO. (Michael Ian Black)
MOVE OVER DAMN YANKEES: Behold, the first song from Tinted Windows, the Pumpkins/Cheap Trick/Fountains of Wayne/Hanson supergroup. In my opinion, it is a song. (Stereogum)
• It's that time of year again, when Lindsay Lohan finds herself half-naked in front of a camera. This time, she ditched the whole Marilyn shtick and gave...
CBS Outdoor, the advertising firm that installed the Museum of Modern Art's extensive campaign in the Atlantic-Pacific subway station, believes MoMA was complicit in this past weekend's destruction of several of the ads by Poster Boy and campaign creator Doug Jaeger, CEO of the Happy Corp. But MoMA denies the charge: "As far as we're concerned, the Happy Corp is MoMA's agent and has been throughout this entire process, so to detach them now at the eleventh hour when something kind of funky happens is not an assumption that I would make," says Jodi Senese, CBS Outdoor's executive vice-president of marketing.
The museum had previously declined to comment, saying only that the destroyed ads would be reinstalled by Wednesday. But today it denied authorizing the attack. When it was suggested that actions took place with MoMA's consent, Kim Mitchell, the museum's spokesperson, responded: "That is not correct."
But CBS Outdoor isn't buying it. "They vandalized our property and they really got involved in vandalizing MTA property as well. I think it's a negative press image that they're pushing on the MTA and on us."
It's do-or-die for Mayor Bloomberg and New York City Republicans. Tomorrow morning at the Metropolitan Club, the mayor will make a personal appeal for forgiveness before the five GOP county leaders in a last-resort effort to win back their favor and secure their ballot line. The summit is billed as a "candidate screening," but it promises to be more like a tribunal. Republicans say they intend to air a lengthy list of grievances against the mayor, starting with his abandonment of the party a year and a half ago.
Bloomberg isn't one to genuflect before party honchos, but he has little other choice. On the surface, the billionaire mayor would seem to be in a strong position; he has a commanding lead in the polls over his Democratic rivals and a bottomless war chest. But the mayor's struggle for a major-party ballot line is threatening to become a fatal obstacle. Political insiders doubt that the mayor, even with his resources, could win a third term if he's stranded in ballot Siberia.
The Republican line is Bloomberg's best hope, but he may be unable to wind back the clock on his ex-relationship. One GOP chairman said today it was doubtful they would lift their ballot blockade, no matter the size of the mayor's offering: "The mayor's attitude for the last four years was 'I don't need these people.' I don't know what he can say to get the trust back. I don't see how the mayor can salvage this relationship." Still, it's hard to say if their stubbornness is a negotiation tactic or a principled stand. For all their tough talk, some GOP sources say they expect the mayor to cut a deal.
The problem for the GOP is they lack a Plan B. Party leaders acknowledge they prefer Bloomberg to any of his Democratic rivals. Thomas Ognibene, a former City Council Republican minority leader who tried but failed to foment a conservative rebellion against Bloomberg four years ago, has indicated he would seek the party's nod if the mayor is rebuffed. Republicans fear Ognibene would be clobbered by the Democrats. Supermarket, real-estate, and oil tycoon John Catsimatidis has quietly positioned himself as a billionaire Democrat turned Republican that the GOP can trust. But he's signaled he'll stay out of the race as long as Bloomberg's in the picture.
One Republican speculated that the mayor may be forced to abort his campaign if he comes away empty-handed tomorrow. That's probably far-fetched, but like the GOP, Bloomberg is running out of options.
Harriet Mays Powell and Amy Larocca weigh in on New York's fall 2009 shows. Overall, our designers impressed them this season, especially Carolina Herrera, Donna Karan, and Derek Lam. Next fall color will be big, shoes will still be scary high, and shoulders will come padded. We hope you like the eighties! Watch the video for Harriet's thoughts on mustard and more.
When the sort-of supergroup Tinted Windows — Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, James Iha (!), and Taylor Hanson (!!) — first made itself known, there was but one reaction: WTF? This first single “Kind of a Girl” (plus this weird, retro promo clip) reveals Tinted Windows to be a well-manicured, kind of boring power-pop act. The bouncy “Girl” certainly sounds like the type of thing Schlesinger (a prolific songwriter who's slung similar material to the Click Five and the Jonas Brothers) would have cooked up, but the crew has wisely put pretty boy Hanson up front; Iha, meanwhile, is on crucial whoa whoa vocal duty. Wrap your mind around their existence, and enjoy.
AP - "Flannery" (Little, Brown and Company, 416 pages, $30), by Brad Gooch: Flannery O'Connor's faith-steeped fiction of a timeless Protestant South peopled with seekers and misfits long ago earned her a spot at the forefront of American literature.
If you, like us, miss Mad Men so desperately that you check the Twitter page of Sterling Cooper's photocopier every ten minutes even though it hasn't updated in three days, you'll probably be thrilled to find out that our sister blog the Cut has done an interesting interview with Janie Bryant, the show's Emmy-nominated costume designer. She gives tips on how to dress like the characters, on the off chance that you've not started doing that already. [The Cut]
Columnist Liz Smith, who has had a place in one New York tabloid or the other for 33 years, will no longer write for the New York Post, the Timesreported earlier today. Her last column will be Thursday. “Like so many other newspapers around the nation, we are buffeted by unprecedented economic gales,” wrote Post editor Col Allan to Smith in a letter earlier this month, informing her of the termination. Smith, who earned $125,000 a year from the paper, wryly observed, “I figure that without having to pay my salary, the Post will immediately go into the black.” Smith told the Times she fought her ouster, which began inexorably last year when the frequency of her columns was cut to three days a week. “I protested,” she said. “I had meetings with everybody. I carried on. Didn’t do any good. Mr. Allan is firmly at the helm of The New York Post, and I was never under the impression that I was his cup of tea.” Cindy Adams, Liz's fellow gossip columnist, is likely much more to Allan's feisty taste.
We've always liked Liz Smith. Sure, her columns were a bit dry and tended to include names of people we were too young to recognize. But that didn't mean they weren't noteworthy — and personally and on paper Smith was always genial and funny. We're glad to know that she'll still be writing her columns for syndication, and will have a biweekly gig with Variety and a contract with Parade. The 86-year-old also has a stake in the popular website wowOwow.com, where she will also continue a form of her column. If we're still working when we're that age (and, judging by our 401(k)s, we will be), we hope we're half as up-to-date as she is.
New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn is answering reader questions this week. Many aren't that exciting. A highly abbreviated example: "Q: Why do you write about clothes we can't afford all the time? A: Because no one wants to read about the Gap all day." Duh. Another: "Q: Is fashion art? A: Sometimes, slash you bore me." We just saved you two minutes of reading! But this question is entertaining:
Q. Could you maybe explain why the models are walking as if they have to go to the bathroom and why their facial expressions are furious? ... It's frightfully hard to pay attention to a garment when the model is tripping over her knees and wearing a "hate you" look.
— P.H.T., Michigan
Cathy explains that backstage designers have boards with instructions on how models should look — which can range from nonchalant and girly to tough and bossy — but some models like Jessica Stam don't seem to pay attention to those and do whatever they feel like on the runway. Also:
I don't know if this accounts for the angry looks, but we've seen waves of models from Eastern Europe and Russia in the past five years, and the complaint among editors is that they seem to have little or no personality. They're stick-figure automatons. Do I find them distracting? Not really, but I do mind that the constant turnover of new faces means that fewer and fewer models have a chance to get involved in the business and have long careers and thus build a connection with the audience.
So she went there. If we were to assess why models look so angry, we'd say it's because they have their faces poked at and their hair pulled all day in tiny rooms where they're expected to change in front of total strangers and dozens of photographers, some of them creepy. Not to mention the fact that walking down a runway in shoes today is sometimes as perilous as trying to ice skate with rollerblades. And then there's the whole matter of, uh, really low blood sugar.
Front Page: News Corp. chief may go after N.Y. Times -- Rupert Murdoch's counterintuitive quest to invest in print media helped drive away longtime lieutenant Peter Chernin.
Richter will fill the role once held by Ed McMahon, serving as the announcer for the “Tonight Show” when Conan O’Brien takes over the reigns from Jay Leno on June 1...
According to a release sent out by NBC, Richter’s new role will not be as a sidekick, but he will be involved in live and prerecorded comedy bits.
Amazing news. I was already excited to see if the new timeslot and attention would re-invigorate Conan's sketches, which -- as is little secret to the longtime fans -- have been depressingly repetitive for quite a few years now, but now with Andy back in the mix, I imagine a Tonight Show Season Pass will be making its way onto my DVR sooner rather than later. If Andy is the "Announcer," though, does this mean Joel Godard has finally settled down with his Asian male companion?
And no offense to Andy, but whatever bizarre sense of professional pride prevented him from returning earlier couldn't be nearly as embarrassing as New York Minute:
Nothing in the world causes our lady hatchery to tingle with unanticipated delight more than a tale of interspecies friendship. So when we heard that there was video evidence of a puppy and a duck falling in love with each other, we grabbed the neared roll of papie towtows, cocked one at the corner of our soon-to-be sobby eye, and clicked play.
What we saw, however, did not warm our cockles. Puppy and duck B'Fri's? Hardly. What we were witness to was an adorable puppy in China being followed around by a duck WHO IS OBSESSED WITH HIM. In nearly every scene, while the dog scampers away for his life, the sound of webbed footsteps are never far behind.
And the end of the video plays like the boat scene in The Talented Mr. Ripley... i.e.
TERRIFYING:
Duck is talented. Duck is tender... Duck is beautiful... Duck is a mystery. Duck is not a nobody. Duck has secrets he doesn't want to tell me, and I wish he would. Duck has nightmares. That's not a good thing. Duck has someone to love him. That is a good thing. Duck is crushing me. Duck is crushing me... Duck , you're crushing me. -- Pupper Smith Kingsley*
*I've lost it. Source: Best Week Ever | 24 Feb 2009 | 9:59 pm
After spending nearly an entire decade toiling in well-liked but quickly canceled TV shows, Andy Richter is going back to his roots and joining Conan O'Brien when he takes over the Tonight Show in June. Richter won't be returning to his previous role as sidekick, but will instead be serving as the show's announcer. He'll also participate in "live and pretaped comedy bits," which means we'll almost certainly be seeing his pixelated crotch.
"I have to say that I haven't seen a comic, much less a superhero comic, for a very, very long time now — years, probably almost a decade since I've really looked at one closely." [Wired]
Neiman Marcus is laying off 450 employees this week, ranging from vice-presidents on down. Last month they cut 375 jobs, and they could cut even more as they continue to restructure. [WWD]
HAIR
• A 20-year-old woman's weave stopped a speeding bullet from lodging in her head after her ex-boyfriend opened fire on her car in Kansas City. Incredible. [Daily Beauty Reporter/Allure]
• Samantha Ronson responded to allegations that Lindsay Lohan pays $500 for her haircuts: "It doesn't cost $500 to cut my hair ... Have you seen my hair? I don't even have that many strands. If for some reason I decided that I was going to throw $500 away on a hair cut I would pay for it myself, however. I have a great exchange going with my hair dresser — I make him cds, he cuts my hair. Yay! Cheap and cheerful!" [MSNBC]
FRAGRANCE
• Sienna Miller is the new face of Hugo Boss scent Boss Orange. Rachel Zoe will be glad it's not Boss Bananas. [Beauty Counter/Style.com]
SKIN
• Rihanna and Lily Allen have the same tattoo, the word "Shhh ..." printed on their index fingers. But Rihanna got hers first. [Beauty Department/Glamour]
NAILS
• The new colors from Nicole by O.P.I. are out. We like No Limits, a blackened-blue shade, but are not fans of Love Your Life, a glitter topcoat with heart sparkles. Richie Rich, forgive us. [e-Polish Blog]
It's not just politicians and TV talking heads freaking out over the financial crisis. Over in England, where hundreds of oil workers have gone on strike in recent months, police are steeling themselves for the possibility of violent protests against banks and financial institutions. In Greece last month, farmers blocked roads over falling agricultural prices. In Ireland, protesters demonstrated against higher government taxes. Last month, riots sparked by economic distress broke out in Bulgaria and Lithuania. In Iceland and Latvia, protests toppled the governments.
So far, there have been no major or violent protests in America, although this past weekend in Fort Myers, Florida, a group of wild teens did take over a foreclosed home, causing $75,000 worth of damage. While this seems highly symbolic — a foreclosed home! In the Ponzi State! Wells Fargo will have to eat it! — we suspect the act was merely enabled by, not in response to, the current economic crisis (Bud Light was involved).
But we should probably all steel ourselves for the possibility of civic unrest on a large scale in America. After all, the protests elsewhere are eerily reminiscent of the worldwide unrest that kicked off the Great Depression, when British miners and weavers went on strike, coups took place in Portugal, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Spain, food riots rocked the southeastern United States, Germany elected you-know-who and, as the historian Arnold Toynbee wrote, "men and women all over the world were seriously contemplating and frankly discussing the possibility that the Western system of Society might break down and cease to work."
That said, we didn't really cause too much of a fuss about unjust wars in foreign countries or illegal wiretapping or torture of foreign criminals. But Americans can get angry. Look what happens when they try to raise the price on our sausage.
Front Page: Universal drama based on Hasbro board game -- Universal has attached Gore Verbinski to develop "Clue," a live-action murder mystery based on the Hasbro board game that he would direct.
Now that Bush has left office, is political art becoming more accessible? It seemed that way at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center's opening party on Sunday — the first since the departure of founding director Alanna Heiss. The newly MoMA-run Queens space came out punching, with a raft of shows including retrospectives of artist Jonathan Horowitz and underground filmmaker Kenneth Anger.
Horowitz's solo debut was a quick succession of searing political indictments of everything from Reagan's handling of the AIDS crisis to the policies of the last administration. One holographic piece morphed from a slogan for Operation Iraqi Freedom into a gruesome image of a blown-apart face; a souvenir photo of the Pope was torn in half, while another of Bush was elegantly hung upside down; a photo collage paired Katie Couric's upper half with Britney Spears's infamously exposed vagina. Horowitz believes his show is part of a larger trend: "In the past ten years or so the art world has become a lot more conservative and politically disengaged and I think that's unfortunate," he said. "I think people are just more engaged and excited about the political process now."
Meanwhile, Kenneth Anger — uncannily tanned and unwrinkled for an octogenarian — said he had just finished shooting a new movie as part of a series of films the Chinese government funded on the subject of dreams. "It's called Death Dream," he said. "I filmed it in the Museum of Death, which is a collection that exists in Hollywood run by a friend of mine, and he let me photograph various objects like decorated Tibetan skulls." As for the long-anticipated third installment of his famously salacious Hollywood Babylon trilogy — a tell-all dossier of actress suicides and celebrity STDs — Anger says it may finally be published in Germany, thanks to the country's forgiving libel laws. "You can't write about Tom Cruise and Scientology and everything, because they'll come after you, they sue everybody," he sighed. "I don't want to be sued, it's just a bore."
I love Michel Gondry and I love Seth Rogen, but I'm not completely sure if they're the two names that would instantly pop into my head to bring The Green Hornet to the big screen:
"Hornet" follows the adventures of Britt Reid [Rogen], a bored playboy who inherits his father's crusading newspaper, the Daily Sentinel...
The choice of Gondry, the helmer behind off-the-beaten-path films such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "The Science of Sleep" and "Be Kind Rewind," signals that the creative direction the studio and the film's producer, Neal Moritz, are trying to take the project is one not usually associated with the usual crime-fighter movie.
I love pizza and ice cream too, but that doesn't mean I'd put ice cream on pizza and ask it to bring The Green Hornet to the big screen, you know? And not just because they're inanimate things not capable of thinking or speaking.
Although I suppose if ice cream and pizza DID make a superhero movie together, I wouldn't ask questions, and I'd DEFINITELY be there opening night, so, in conclusion, this movie will be awesome. But if Joaquin Phoenix is named Executive Producer tomorrow and we quickly realize this project is an elaborate nerd-hoax, I won't be surprised. Source: Best Week Ever | 24 Feb 2009 | 8:45 pm
Today is day two of the historic auction of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé's art collection. Yesterday the auction raked in $261 million, nicely above the estimated $232 million, setting a world record for a private art sale. A cubist Picasso couldn't fetch the asking price of 25 million euros and was put on hold, but a Matisse oil, Cuckoos on a blue and pink carpet, estimated to fetch $23 million, went for $46.5 million. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the people sitting in the Grand Palais bidding on this stuff are draped in fur and eveningwear. And, we imagine, blowing their noses with money. [AFP]
A thing of beauty doesn't always sell forever.The Metropolitan Museum of Art has acknowledged closing 8 of its 23 satellite Met Stores around the country, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store at the South Street Seaport Museum earlier this year. Only one store is now open in California — at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Museum shops were shuttered in art-friendly San Francisco and Pasadena in 2008 and in Century City in 2009. Elyse Topalian, a spokesperson for the museum, says "disappointing financial performance" prompted the closing of the Met Stores after a study was commissioned on U.S. merchandising operations two years ago. She notes the museum maintains a "growing" online Met Store, and an active mail-order catalogue, which got a makeover this week. Nine Met Stores remain in the immediate New York region, among them shops at the museum's main building, Rockefeller Center, Macy's, the Cloisters, LaGuardia Airport, Newark Airport, and two Met Stores at JFK.
The 600,000 residents of Washington, D.C., are one step closer to actually getting a full voting member in the House of Representatives — instead of some weird, pseudo-powerful delegate — after a procedural vote passed the Senate today. The bill would permanently expand the House to 437 members, giving one seat to the staunchly liberal District and another to conservative Utah, just to be fair. Well, that only took 200 years. [WP]
Front Page: Net income falls 45% in last quarter -- It's a typical story this earnings season: DreamWorks Animation saw profits and revenue dip last quarter.
Christina Hendricks as Joan Holloway; Janie Bryant.
Before costume designer Janie Bryant became part of Mad Men, she earned an Emmy for her work on another highly stylized period piece, Deadwood. But it's her dead-on eye for the buttoned-up subversiveness of the early sixties that’s earned her raves from the fashion world. We caught up with the designer to talk all things Mad Men, why she can’t let go of her skinny jeans, and that pesky rumor about starting her own line.
Why do you think the late fifties/early sixties look is having such a fashion moment right now?
I think it’s a few different things: I think there used to be a real pride in dressing appropriately. And that’s something, not quite that we’ve lost, but that’s evolved with our more casual society. But if you talk to people and they’re dressed up, there’s a different stride in their step. I think also the colors, the fabrics, everything about the period is really beautiful.
What are some of your inspirations?
For every project — it doesn’t matter whether it’s contemporary or period — there’s so much research that goes on, because I really like to get into the heads of all the different characters. But for Mad Men, specifically, I collected a lot of magazines, like Ladies' Home Journal to European Vogue to American Vogue and Time and Look.
How about for specific characters?
Well, Betty Draper (January Jones) is so Grace Kelly to me. She really embodies that style. Don Draper (Jon Hamm), he’s sort of like a combination of Cary Grant to Gregory Peck, and Joan I think is Sophia Loren, Marilyn Monroe, and Jayne Mansfield.
What are your favorite places to shop?
When I lived in New York, I would always find the best stuff at the Salvation Army on 46th St. And I was obsessed with going to their fur and leather sales that they had two or three times a year. I have whole collections from them. And The Garage in Chelsea, that was another favorite, plus vintage stores on the Lower East Side, like Fab 208.
What are some tips for dressing in a Mad Men–inspired way?
I think for the women, it’s all about the waist. Pencil skirts are great, even a sheath, plus pumps, brooches, and pearls. For men, so many of the designers are making the skinny suits now, like Paul Smith, Black Fleece, who we love, and John Varvatos, and Marc Jacobs did the skinny ties.
We heard a rumor that you're launching your own line. Can you tell us more?
Well, I’m in the beginning stages of doing something, and hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later. That’s all I can say! I’m not quite ready to share it yet.
What items are you lusting after right now?
Well, I still love skinny jeans, the more high-waisted, the better. And I’m also obsessed with my Lycra leggings with a gold side zip from American Apparel — people stop me on the street and ask me about them. I'll wear them with booties and like a longer, gauzy shirt.
Who are your favorite designers?
My favorite designer has been the same for twenty years – Christian Lacroix. I love his sense of freedom and his use of color. There’s always such drama and femininity and inspiration from the past.
What do you never leave home without?
Grapeseed oil. It’s like my moisturizer — I would die without it.
What’s something every woman should have in her closet?
A great-fitting bra; it’s very, very important.
Senator Chuck Schumer is pushing back against governors who want to refuse specific portions of the federal stimulus funds. On this morning's Morning Joe, he said the package "was never intended by congress to be an à la carte menu." Additionally, in a letter he sent today to Peter Orzsag, President Obama's budget director, he contends that "no Governor should have the authority to arbitrarily adopt a select subset of the overall package." Yeah! You'll take your freaking money, support your struggling economy, and you'll like it! Of course, if you really don't want it, New York would be more than willing to take it off your hands. [Hill]
AP - Adding a third dimension to a popular 2-D classic doesn't always work, and a "Street Fighter" installment just wouldn't be worthy of the moniker without a character on the left trying to pummel a character on the right.
An Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school dancer performs along the Sambodrome on the second night of the Carnival samba school parade in Rio de Janeiro. Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 24 Feb 2009 | 7:29 pm
Portela samba school queen of the drums Luma de Oliveira(R) dances along the Sambodrome on the second night of the Carnival samba school parade in Rio de Janeiro. Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 24 Feb 2009 | 7:29 pm
Sean Penn, seen here on February 22, 2009, days from receiving his second best-actor Oscar for his work in the movie "Milk," is in talks to star in a film about ex-CIA spy Valerie Plame, Hollywood media... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 24 Feb 2009 | 7:20 pm
Photographer Mario Testino: "When I came to study in London in 1976, I moved into an unconverted floor of a hospital. A dossers’ [vagrants'] home. I didn’t have money to eat, let alone get a bus. So I have never lost the sense that tomorrow I might not have any work ... I still have mortgages and still pay wages and the way things are going in my business even I could run out of money. I don’t think I will ever have enough money. I don’t think I will ever retire. I’m 54. I’m a spender. I like spending on projects." [Telegraph UK]
Reuters - Milan Fashion Week starts on Wednesday under an economic cloud that has led to a cut in the number of catwalk shows this year and prompted a weakened Italian clothing sector to seek state aid. Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 24 Feb 2009 | 7:08 pm
Front Page: '90210,' 'Smallville,' 'Top Model' on slate -- The CW has given early renewals for the 2009-10 season to six of its signature skeins: dramas "90210," "Smallville," "Gossip Girl," "One Tree Hill" and "Supernatural," and reality mainstay "America's Next Top Model."
The pitch meeting for Crank 2:SCREENWRITER: How could we possibly top the first Crank movie?? Jason Statham was already running around having sex in public to keep his heart rate up so he wouldn't die -- are we gonna, like, have someone steal Statham's heart but then he gets a robot heart and has to keep shocking himself to stay alive or something? Right? [PAUSE] Why aren't you laughing?
PRODUCER: Hmmmmm...
(via Film Drunk, Videogum, pretty much any other site that has correct taste in movies) Source: Best Week Ever | 24 Feb 2009 | 6:50 pm
People start bidding on British artist Thomas Gainsborough "Portrait of Guisto Ferdinando Tenducci holding a partition" at the Grand Palais in Paris during day two of the record-breaking sale of Yves Saint... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 24 Feb 2009 | 6:42 pm
Reuters - Designers at London Fashion Week greeted the global economic downturn with collections that veered toward conservative necklines and tailored cuts accented with a few splashes of sparkle. Source: Yahoo! News: Fashion News | 24 Feb 2009 | 6:37 pm
Nineteen-year-old Shu Pei has become one of fashion's preferred models, though that wasn’t always the case. Two seasons ago, New York casting directors failed to connect with her. But it was a completely different story in Paris. John Galliano cast Pei not only for Christian Dior, but his namesake label, too. Karl Lagerfeld then requested her to walk in his spring Chanel couture show this past January. When she returned to New York last week, confirmations from Ralph Lauren to Vera Wang were coming in left and right. Someone has made it to the big leagues.
Front Page: Former sidekick reteams with O'Brien -- Andy Richter, who served as Conan O'Brien's "Late Night" show sidekick from 1993-2000, has signed on to be the announcer on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" when the re-consumated 11:30 p.m. NBC stalwart kicks off anew June 1.
Fashion Wire Daily - We got a big dose of soft militarism from Sir Paul Smith in London on Monday, Feb. 23, as great coats, officer's mess jackets, medallions, epaulettes and regalia all paraded down the fashion knight's catwalk in a fall 2009 women's ready-to-wear collection.
Deemed too weird for the radio in 1968, check out this song from
the new Zappa box set "Lumpy Money"
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: "Lonely Little
Girl"
For the first time in 40 years, fans of Frank Zappa and the
Mothers of Invention will be able to hear the group's classic 1968
albums Lumpy Gravy and We're Only In It For the
Money the way Zappa originally intended, thanks to the new
three-disc set Lumpy Money. Rolling Stone's
David...
Faith No More has announced its first live performances since splitting up in 1998. The band will play a series of European festival dates this summer.
Just Cavalli, spring 2009, otherwise known as the good ol' days.
The days leading up to Milan Fashion Week remind us of the drama and stress endured leading up to New York's, as designers canceled shows (Peter Som), abandoned the tents (Vera Wang), and downsized (Marc Jacobs). If we hadn't depleted our anti-anxiety meds, we'd throw a few Milan's way, because the same sorts of things are happening over there. Just Cavalli canceled its runway show scheduled for Thursday, since its licensee, Ittierre, filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month. "I have made this decision in order to protect the Just Cavalli image and its clients,” Roberto Cavalli said. Whether or not you love the clothes as much as our favorite Real Housewife of New York, Simon van Kempen, you can certainly agree that one less Cavalli show creates a serious void — like a leopard without its spots or a zebra without its stripes. And no one wants freakish white zebras walking around.
But while Cavalli's diffusion line struggles, Donatella Versace is reviving the younger, lower-priced Versus line Gianni Versace started in 1989. Versus was put on hold four years ago so the company could focus on its main line. Those items can't be selling too well these days (Versace, mind you, refuses to mark things down), so now's a great time to relaunch Versus. A capsule collection of Versus accessories will be on display in Milan on March 1 during Fashion Week, which makes sense, because handbags and sunglasses are the real meat and potatoes of luxury houses. Maybe they'll even throw in a couple of different shades of giraffe print to satiate us until Just Cavalli sorts itself out.
Former Dior designer Hedi Slimane got together with actress Lindsay Lohan for an incredible photo shoot featuring Lohan looking as sexy and smoldering as ever. Now, BestWeekEver.tv has gotten an exclusive first look at next month's cover for our favorite magazine, Bulemes Weekly... check it out!
Front Page: Director signs on to Seth Rogen starrer -- Columbia has set Michel Gondry to direct "The Green Hornet," and the studio has set a June 25, 2010, release date for the film.
I spent several minutes staring at this subway ad for Aruba trying to decide if Lewis Black had been replaced by ex-NFL coach Bill Parcells as Aruba's new spokesperson, and even after seeing the explanation, I'm still not 100% convinced:
It's part of their new ad campaign, "Aruba: We haven't won a playoff game in ten years!"
Or how about, "Aruba: Let those coaching rumors start when the Dolphins go 7-9 this year!"
Or wait, maybe it's "Aruba: The island with a 'no-nonsense' persona to win over dads, even though it's nineteen years removed from its last Super Bowl win!"
(For those keeping score at home, that would be a TRIPLE OH-SNAP) Source: Best Week Ever | 24 Feb 2009 | 5:20 pm
A visitor looks at paintings by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso(R) and Dutch painter Rembrandt during the exhibit "Picasso and the Masters" in Paris in January 2009. The exhibit opens in London on Wednesday... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 24 Feb 2009 | 5:12 pm
The following video questions everything I thought I knew about dogs: I didn't know they could smoke (this is mostly fictional, people) and I definitely didn't know they could make noises that barely sound like the word "mama" but their owner would shrewdly claim that they're saying "mama" thus making them famous. This dog goes two-for-two:
(Joke that was too sh*tty to put above the video so I'm burying it here -- Maybe this dog is a hip-hop artist and this is his token mom-tribute song on his second album?) Source: Best Week Ever | 24 Feb 2009 | 5:00 pm
In BWE.tv's never-ending quest to find the worst title puns imaginable, might I throw in this doozy, seen on the train this morning... move overBetter Off Ted, and may we present:
Sometimes, the books just write themselves.
(Cue comments from people who have read this book and love it.) Source: Best Week Ever | 24 Feb 2009 | 4:53 pm
Front Page: ABC holds strong with 'Bachelor,' 'Beauty' -- ABC put it all together last week, riding improved numbers for the Academy Awards and series highs for "The Bachelor" and "Lost" to its strongest delivery in more than a year.
Diminishing gigs, rising costs still threaten city's signature
sounds.
In February 2006, just six months after Hurricane Katrina
decimated New Orleans, Mardi Gras marched on. The storm and its
devastating aftermath crippled but didn't kill off the city's rich
culture: musicians trickled back in, Krewes — the groups that
put on lavish parades — threw slightly smaller roving
parties. Right now, the fourth Carnival since the storm is in full
swing
(check out the sights from this year's event), but the
music scene — so central to New...
Two years after the Cowboy Junkies' last studio effort "At The End of Paths Taken," guitarist Michael Timmins tells Billboard.com the Canadian band is hoping to have a new album out in late 2009 or early 2010.
Chrisette Michele says she had a realization about relationships that lead her to name her upcoming sophomore album "Epiphany." The set, which comes on the heels of her Grammy win, is due on March 31 via Def Jam. The first single, the Ne-Yo-penned title track, enters at No. 78 on the R&B/Hip-Hop songs chart this week, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
Britney Spears' father Jamie Spears testified for nearly 90 minutes about why he felt a long-term restraining order should be issued against three people, including the singer's former manager and an ex-boyfriend.
Coldplay, Kings of Leon, Jack Johnson and a reunited Midnight Oil lead the star-studded line-up for Australia's March 14 bushfire and flood benefit concerts, to be held simultaneously in Sydney and Melbourne under the Sound Relief tag-line.
Avant-garde artists Yoko Ono, seen here in Warsaw last year, and John Baldessari will be honoured with career Golden Lions at this year's Venice Biennale for having "revolutionised the language of art,"... Source: RSS feed - channel BNImagesEnter | 24 Feb 2009 | 2:51 pm
On Monday night, CNN's Larry King had an exclusive interview with actor George Clooney, who returned from the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan and just finished meeting with Vice President Joe Biden.
Madonna has donated clothes to the orphanage where her adopted son used to live.
The 50-year-old singer sent a box of clothes, books and toys to the Home of Hope Orphanage Centre in Malawi, where David Banda, now three, lived before Madonna adopted him in 2006.
The package - which also included autographed copies of the star's children's books 'English Roses' - had a label on it saying "From David Ritchie to friends at Home of Hope - Malawi."
A source said: "These are clothes David can no longer use, they say he is quite a big boy now so he cannot use most of the clothes Madonna bought him immediately after he was adopted.
"The children were excited to receive the clothes."
Director of the orphanage Lucy Chipeta said they had received the parcel but refused to confirm it was from Madonna, saying: "We have lots of friends across the globe who send us stuff from time to time."
The orphanage looks after about 500 children.
David's father Yohane Banda decided his son should live there when he was one month old, after his mother Marita died from complications relating to childbirth.
Madonna found David through Raising Malawi, a charity she set up, when she was in the country helping build another orphanage. Source Source: Lepaparazzi - Celebrity News and Gossip Blog | 24 Feb 2009 | 2:39 pm
'Watchmen' received its world premiere in London's Leicester Square last night (23.02.09).
Stars of the film including Matthew Goode, Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Carla Gugino, director Zack Snyder and co-creator Dave Gibbons walked down a special yellow carpet for the event.
Jackie believes the current world political climate makes the film - which follows a group of costumed, crime-fighting vigilante superheroes who are outlawed from using force and integrated into normal society - extremely relevant.
Jackie - who plays one of the central characters, Rorschach - told BANG Showbiz: "I had to gaze into the abyss for months and months to get into the mindset of this character.
"I think he has affected me more than I realised. Especially with everything that's going on with the world, I can just see how the self centered behaviour is excused and justified.
It's weird, it's like a little piece of his cynicism has travelled with me "It's weird, it's like a little piece of his cynicism has travelled with me."
'Watchmen' is an adaptation from an award-winning comic book series.
The special effects laden, big budget film has been in the making for a number of years, with the project stalling at several stages of production.
Alan Moore, the creator of the comic book series, distanced himself from the film.
However, co-creator and original illustrator of the comic books Gibbons is happy with the end result.
He said: "Less than a week ago I saw the finished thing. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it absolutely lifted me.
"I think it faithfully represented the drawing, detail and the composition of the comics but even more than that it's got the weight of it, the moral ambiguity of the original. I think it's amazingly on message."
The 'Arrested Development' star - who married talk show host Ellen DeGeneres last year - says rumours she is having in vitro fertilisation (IVF) are "completely made up".
She said: "There's a story around right now about me that could not be further from the truth. The IVF story. That was just completely made up."
It's not the first time the 36-year-old actress has been the subject of pregnancy rumours.
She added to US TV show 'Access Hollywood': "The baby thing comes around annually. I find once a year whether I deny it or not. It doesn't make any difference."
Well, I don't know what she's going to ask me! I mean, really on the spot. You know? No, it'll be really fun. I think she'll go pretty easy on me. But a rumour Portia is pleased to confirm is her upcoming appearance on her wife's daytime talk show 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'.
It will be her first time on the popular programme and she is very nervous.
She said: "Well, I don't know what she's going to ask me! I mean, really on the spot. You know? No, it'll be really fun. I think she'll go pretty easy on me."
Britney Spears' father has branded her ex-manager a "dangerous predator".
Jamie Spears made the comments while giving his testimony at a Los Angeles court on Monday (23.02.09), where he was attempting to maintain a restraining order which keeps Sam Lutfi away from Britney.
Jamie - who is co-conservator of Britney's personal and professional affairs - said: "When Lutfi was in so-called control, she'd lost everything - her kids and career. I believe he's a predator, I believe he's very dangerous to her and causes her a lot of anguish and disbelief. We've asked him to go away before, and now he's coming back. We just want the man to go away. Just leave us alone."
Jamie also insists he will do everything in his power to keep Britney's ex-boyfriend paparazzo Adnan Ghalib away from the 27-year-old singer. The concerned parent - who now runs every aspect of Britney's life, including monitoring her phone calls - also claims the pop star's security team recently confiscated a pre-paid phone which was given to her by Sam and Adnan.
In court papers, Sam denies he has been harassing Britney.
He claims the singer has been contacting him via text message, even though she is forbidden to do so by a court order.
The former manager admits he has passed messages to Britney via her hairdresser, but insists they were not harmful.
However, Jamie claims he has received several threatening messages from someone known as 'citygalin310' and is adamant they are from Sam. The hearing will resume on Wednesday (25.02.09).
AP - When Sony announced the PlayStation 3 at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo, its centerpiece was a breathtaking chunk of footage from a game called "Killzone 2." The clip, which showed a squad of troopers descending on a city and battling alien forces, was so dramatic that many viewers questioned whether the game itself could possibly live up to it.
Fashion Wire Daily - One of the biggest names in the U.K. season is Marios Schwab, a singularly inventive young designer whose fall 2009 collection staged Monday, Feb. 23, in London, was the latest example of anti-functionalist experimentation in volume and form.
Movie ticket sales are way up in this down economy. Seem counterintuitive? Observers say struggling people are looking for a $10, two-hour escape. The recession also is likely to affect the types of movies being made. Based on recent successes, there's evidence to suggest studios will continue to focus on comedies and action films.
AP - British designer Paul Smith threw together feathers, fedoras and forest greens for an outdoorsy feel as he unveiled a 2009 collection at London Fashion Week on Monday.
A three-day auction of art and furnishings that belonged to the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent is seeing sale prices far exceeding estimates, with dollar amounts almost as spectacular as the range of items being sold.
The Los Angeles Police Department is still trying to plug its leak.
The internal investigation launched last week into who provided TMZ.com with a photo of Rihanna that was taken after...
Clay Aiken may have been dropped from his record label, but there's no need to worry just yet. The American Idol crooner has some major family connections in the music biz.
You see,...
Simon Cowell is not looking to replicate a moment like this in 100 years' time.
The American Idol judge's recent remarks to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown about planning to...
Sort of like a wayward career, Britney Spears is going to disappear into thin air—and then magically reappear, to her fans' ecstatic delight.
"Right away, she got into the...
The Killers are making a hot fuss over their former manager.
Three years after being sued for breach of contract, the Las Vegas-based band has filed a countersuit against Braden Merrick,...
Harry Potter, Iron Man. Iron Man, Harry Potter.
The final, still-untitled Harry Potter movie will open Jul. 15, 2011, Warner Bros. confirmed today, setting the young wizard up for a...
Sometimes you just can't tell who your friends are. Literally.
Britney Spears' ex-admirer Adnan Ghalib is facing felony charges for allegedly hitting a process server with his...
Why are Robert Pattinson and Zac Efron owed tips from Oscar organizers? Why is Chris Rock owed an apology from the Oscar press? And when the heck is Nielsen going to start folding in Web and...
• It's that time of year again, when Lindsay Lohan finds herself half-naked in front of a camera. This time, she ditched the whole Marilyn shtick and gave...
From the 
Nothing in the world causes our lady hatchery to tingle with unanticipated delight more than a tale of interspecies friendship. So when we heard that there was video evidence of a puppy and a duck falling in love with each other, we grabbed the neared roll of papie towtows, cocked one at the corner of our soon-to-be sobby eye, and clicked play.
What we saw, however, did not warm our cockles. Puppy and duck B'Fri's? Hardly. What we were witness to was an adorable puppy in China being followed around by a duck WHO IS OBSESSED WITH HIM. In nearly every scene, while the dog scampers away for his life, the sound of webbed footsteps are never far behind.
And the end of the video plays like the boat scene in The Talented Mr. Ripley... i.e.
TERRIFYING:
I love Michel Gondry and I love Seth Rogen, but I'm not completely sure if they're the two names that would instantly pop into my head to 
Adrien Brody
Kate Winslet
Valentino
Jake Gyllenhaal and Penelope Cruz
John Legend
Slumdog Kids
Speaks for 'tself
Dennis Hopper
Mick Jagger
Christine Taylor
Mr. Winslet
Tilda Swinton
Joe Pesci
Gwen Stefani and Madonna
Random Indian Attendee
Mickey, Brad and Ange
Ben Stiller
Will Smith
Natalie Portman
Heath Ledger's Joker
Josh Brolin
Josh Brolin
Dermot Mulroney
Featuring Hugh Jackman
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Diablo Cody
This Lady
The Girl From Ladybugs
Judd Apatow, Leslie Mann, Jon Hamm & Jennifer Westfeldt
Hugh Jackman
Anil Kapoor
Mickey Rourke
Elle Macpherson
Joan Collins and George Hamilton
Person on the Receiving End of This Look
Chevy Chase and Guest
Penelope Cruz
Justin Long and Ginnifer Goodwin
Brian Grazer
Hugh Jackman with a Baby Body
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Heidi Klum
Rachel Griffiths
Demon Spawn
Sophia Loren
Slumdog Cast
Sean Penn
Robert Pattinson's Guest
Seriously, I'm sorry.
Please God Yes, Robert Downey Jr.
Queen Latifah
Robert DeNiro
Philippe Petit
