AP - Drew Barrymore chose a real balancing act for her directing debut. She does it on wheels, directing and acting alongside "Juno" co-star Ellen Page in "Whip It," a rowdy tale of roller-derby women.
AP - The critics savaged Jay Leno's prime-time experiment. Viewers gave it the biggest audience for an entertainment show since the "American Idol" finale in May.
AP - The critics savaged Jay Leno's prime-time experiment. Viewers gave it the biggest audience for an entertainment show since the "American Idol" finale in May.
 Telegraph.co.uk | Kanye phones Swift to apologise BBC News Rap star Kanye West has called to apologise personally to singer Taylor Swift for interrupting her winning speech at the MTV Video Music Awards. The musician stormed the stage in New York to tell the crowd Beyonce should have won best female video ... West calls Taylor Swift after 'View' appearance What's with all the public outbursts? Three-day cycle of news about Kanye-Taylor feud is finally over |
 Los Angeles Times | So-called 'Life' New York Post IF history is any indication, dramas about the fast-paced glamour world of New York models have been about as big a hit as short, fat girls are on the runway. And the Ashton Kutcher-produced "The Beautiful Life: TBL," premiering tonight on The CW, ... 'The Beautiful Life' thin on vision CW's model series 'Beautiful Life' struts its vapid stuff Review | 'The Beautiful Life: TBL' might just surprise you |
 Telegraph.co.uk | KidsPost: Today's News - Harry Potter Attractions at Universal ... Washington Post -- You've read the books and seen the movies, so what's next? A Harry Potter theme park, of course! Officials confirmed Tuesday that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, first announced in 2007, will open in the spring at Universal Orlando Resort in ... Witching hour with Harry Potter Universal's Harry Potter park to include Hogwarts Harry Potter theme park set for 2010: All aboard the Hogwarts Express! |
We seriously thought we were seeing things at Narciso Rodriguez on Tuesday night. First we thought we saw Rhea Perlman. We were wrong. Then we thought we saw the actress who plays the younger sister on the television version of 10 Things I Hate About You. Wrong again. Then we thought we saw Rhea Perlman once again. We continued to be incorrect about Rhea. Then we were sure we saw Courtney Love.
Oh, wait. It was Courtney Love. And if she turns up dead tomorrow, we can think of several suspects — namely, every single person sitting in her general vicinity. Because Courtney Love is the runway-show version of someone who talks, texts, and does yoga during a movie. She quite literally did not shut up the entire show. In addition to providing her boy toy with a running commentary — including a rather loud “What’s UP with THAT?” directed toward a perfectly innocuous dress — Courtney fidgeted the whole time. She played with her earrings. She messed up her hair. She waved her arms around. She pointed, both at the models and at people in the audience. She bobbed her head, not entirely in time to the music. After the show was over, she enfolded a woman she may or may not have known into an lengthy and tender embrace, demonstrated how difficult it is to walk in a straight line, and slushily informed a reporter that the show “rocked.” We found this entire display, if not entertaining, at least highly diverting. But the woman sitting next to her was visibly annoyed, and only got angrier as the show continued, perhaps because Courtney’s incessant moving around was blocking her view of the clothing. Had the show had two more looks, we fear they might have come to blows. Our money would have been on Love, for the record.
Although Courtney acted like she was the only person in the room, this was not technically accurate. In addition to all the people, you know, working — like Anna Wintour, with son Charlie in tow, and Carine Roitfeld, sporting majorly enviable shoes — we also saw Emmy Rossum, sporting a seriously complicated hairdo, as well as designer Tory Burch, who looked adorable in a pink Narciso. A few seats down from Courtney sat Jessica Alba, who is extremely, extremely blonde right now — so blonde, in fact, that we’re crossing our fingers it’s for a role rather than a life choice. Not only is it unflattering, but we feel duty-bound to warn her that tonight doesn’t seem like the best time to risk being mistaken for Courtney Love.
Read more posts by The Fug Girls
Filed Under: courtney love, fashion week spring 2010, jessica alba, narciso rodriguez, new york fashion week, new york fugging city
You'd better apologize to Matt Damon tonight, Jimmy Kimmel.
Because otherwise, the very-much alive movie star might unleash hell on you, the way he did on your sidekick Guillermo,...
It took a long time for model Siri Tollerød to get her hair done at Diane Von Furstenberg this week, and Jeremy Kost patiently shot the entire process, from the initial few braids to a near-Medusa look. Watch the time-lapse footage, get three stylists, and repeat at home.
Read more posts by Jeremy Kost
Filed Under: beauty, behind the scenes, diane von furstenberg, models, siri tollerod, video
Read more posts by Harriet Mays Powell and Doria Santlofer
Filed Under: fashion week spring 2010, five things, marc by marc jacobs, mulberry, narciso rodrigez, new york fashion week, rodarte, vera wang
Every year, the tech and production crews that make Fashion Week happen stage their own runway show. The event, a block away from the tents at Bryant Park, is known as the “House of Paul.” We sent Ben Widdicombe to check out this year’s line, which one participant sheepishly described as “recycled.”
Read more posts by Aileen Gallagher
Filed Under: fashion week spring 2010, house of paul, new york fashion week, walk offs
Today, when Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession was "technically" over, we were cautiously relieved, because we do tend to think Bernanke is right, not just because he has a beard, but because he is actually really intelligent. If he's right, and the economy has halted its horrible, backward-sliding trajectory, then we all have reason to celebrate. But we can't lie: A part of us also feels a little bit wistful about saying good-bye to the recession. As you may know, we had our own name for the Worst Recession since the Great Depression: the Greatest Depression. We called it this not because it was more severe than the Great Depression, but because it was so much better. We don't say that to make light of the hardships people suffered: We know a lot of people lost their jobs, or had their savings diminished by ruthless Ponzi-schemers, mortgage brokers, and greedy pension-fund investors. But on the bright side: There was never a time when banks barred their doors or ATMs ran out of cash (though it was close). There were no breadlines. And while many people did lose their McMansions, others lucked out: like the homeless people who were able to move into luxury condos. But the thing we loved best about the Greatest Depression was that for a moment, at least, it scared us straight. The idea that we could lose everything caused many of us to reevaluate our lives and consider what we really needed, what was really important. Now, hopefully, that will never happen again. And so, without further ado, we present you with our video ode to the Greatest Depression. Never forget!
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: business, mcmansions, misery, recession, the greatest depression
Read more posts by Katie Goldsmith
Filed Under: fashion week spring 2010, max azria, mickey rourke, new york fashion week, reliable sources
Kanye West had issues with George W. Bush, but it's Barack Obama who's put the rapper on the presidential s--t list.
And it's not for interrupting that health-care...
Marc Jacobs
Though it didn't quite top last year's eighties-inspired collection, the critics gushed over Marc Jacobs's frilly, frothy spring show. Cathy Horyn of the Times admiringly called it a "free-spirited attack of fashion," declaring, "The show had that D.I.Y., homegrown quality that looks right." After watching a week-long parade of "more party dresses than seems reasonable," Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune appreciated Jacobs's creative streak, asserting that the show was "exceptional for its imagination, its attention to detail, and its lyrical vision." WWD deemed it a "masterfully audacious collection," and The Wall Street Journal called it "juicy and surreal." Despite unanimous praise, a few critics grappled with the collection's wearability. It was "not easy streetwear," noted Fashion Wire Daily (albeit "very beautiful"), and British Vogue agreed that "there wasn’t much here that wouldn’t look out of place anywhere other than a runway." Still, for his smart tailoring, unlikely accessories (fanny packs, anyone?), and theatrical flair, "Marc Jacobs is the kind of designer whose talent gives you chills," British Vogue sighed.
Watch a slideshow of the Marc Jacobs collection.
Carolina Herrera
Carolina Herrera's basket-inspired collection befuddled most critics, who found it variously "overwrought," "hackneyed," and "heavy-handed." Many contrasted the collection with Herrera's trademark elegance; the discrepancy "confound[ed]" WWD. "A heaviness pervaded the collection," assessed Cathy Horyn of the Times, who — along with Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune — was particularly troubled by a pair of beaded shorts. Most agreed that the evening gowns were the low point. "There was a clunkiness" to some of the familiar evening looks, noted Style.com, while Godfrey Deeny of Fashion Wire Daily sniped that they were "half baked and yawningly executed." After all, "what woman wants to spend thousands on a big-event gown to look like a basket case?" pondered WWD.
Watch a slideshow of the Carolina Herrera collection.
Zac Posen
Zac Posen's neon, party-ready collection was a little too flashy and fantastical for most critics' tastes, though some appreciated its youthfulness. Cathy Horyn spotted some "sweet and wearable" dresses in the mix, but "Mr. Posen just makes everything too complicated," she complained. (She felt the clothes looked as though they had been doused "with a wand of lip gloss.") "[It] is difficult not to see Zac Posen the brand as needing a reality check," asserted Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune, and British Vogue agreed that Posen "took things a bit too far" with a series of "garish" dresses trimmed in rainbow fringe. Some of those zany combinations "may not be the easiest sell," allowed WWD, but it still found the kitschy show "quite charming." Style.com liked it best, declaring that Posen's clothes "felt more youthful and looked like a lot more fun" than past collections. But while the party-ready embellishments may mesmerize on the runway, "it's hard to see what these showy effects really add to the clothes," Horyn concluded.
Watch a slideshow of the Zac Posen collection.
Read more posts by Lauren Murrow
Filed Under: carolina herrera, fall fashion week, marc jacobs, spring 2010, the other critics, zac posen
Friends Yolanda Torrubia and Javier Bone-Carbone (she’s a lawyer, he’s a production designer) are in for Fashion Week from Spain. Yolanda describes their look as “rebel punk,” but that’s not quite what Javier’s bespoke clothes suggest. Watch the video to see where he got those riding pants.
Read more posts by Jonah Green
Filed Under: fashion week spring 2010, new york fashion week, video look book
• Openings: Tony and Marisa May's San Domenico reopened today with a new name (SD26), and in a sprawling new location (on East 26th Street); the new Oceana officially made its debut today, too; and opening on Thursday is Ed's Chowder House, Jeffrey Chodorow and chef Ed Brown's seafood venue in the Empire Hotel space that used to house Chodorow's Center Cut steak place.
• John McDonald and Josh Picard are partnering with nightlife king Serge Becker and dividing Chinatown Brasserie into two new venues. [TFB, Eater]
• A list of restaurants "where models, editors, designers and all things fashionable converge" during Fashion Week, according to the Times. [NYT]
• Rumor has it SushiSamba may take over the old Merkato 55 space. [GS]
• Minetta Tavern plans to start serving brunch on the weekends soon. [Eater]
• Marion's on the Bowery is going Mexican by way of Dumbo. [VV]
• A Frank Sinatra-branded line of wine is now available. Yes, one of the vintages really is called "Come Fly Away With Me." [Luxist]
• Once Tavern on the Green changes hands, its two public restrooms will no longer be open to the public. Try the nearby bushes instead. [NYT]
AP - Fashion for spring is back in black.
Kanye West and Taylor Swift have negotiated a truce. Phew! It took two blog apologies (IN CAPS!!!), one Leno apology, a View appearance and President Barack...
Check out the arm tattoos at Rodarte, the massive necklaces at Vera Wang, and the lopsided hats at Donna Karan in our latest runway slideshows from spring 2010 New York Fashion Week. Don't miss our latest backstage and details galleries, too.
Rodarte
Max Azria
Vera Wang
Badgley Mischka
Brian Reyes
Pamella Roland
Halston
Malandrino
Marc Jacobs
Donna Karan
Thakoon
Rad Hourani
Julian Louie
Sophie Theallet
Tony Cohen
Chris Benz
Michael Angel
Alice + Olivia
Twinkle
Sachin and Babi
DETAILS
Zac Posen
Carolina Herrera
Zero + Maria Cornejo
Donna Karan
Sophie Theallet
Tuleh
Carlos Miele
Tracy Reese
Thakoon
Tony Cohen
Custo Barcelona
BACKSTAGE
Donna Karan
Carlos Miele
Zac Posen
Jill Stuart
Marc Jacobs
Carolina Herrera
Read more posts by Amy Odell
Filed Under: fashion shows, fashion week is here!, new york fashion week, spring 2010
Project Runway's product placement got more interesting last night when the Weinstein Company finalized a seven-figure deal to pick up A Single Man. The directorial debut of actress-sniffing fashion designer Tom Ford, the film recently won Colin Firth the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival for his performance as a gay British College professor in Los Angeles, still devastated by the death of his partner seven years earlier. As you can see in the trailer, the film takes place in 1962 (it's like Mad Men with better eyeglasses!); numerous beautiful young men court Firth, and even Julianne Moore takes her best shot. Look out, Matthew Weiner.
Read more posts by Logan Hill
Filed Under: trailer mix
While we're all breathlessly chronicling spanking-new fashion, Slate's DoubleX is exploring the business of older clothes, the discarded items from last season or last decade that wind up in resale or consignment shops. And business is booming. Take, for instance, the scene at Chanel consignment specialist A Second Chance: "Chanel purses — tiny python clutches, massive ‘80s quilted power bags, and last season’s models — crowd the walls. A web of chain belts dangles by the cash register. On the left is a display case stuffed with gold and interlocking C’s. Since the recession, the number of consignors has dramatically risen. 'A lot of women are consigning, they want the cash. And I have new clients, women who wouldn’t have considered secondhand before.'" [DoubleX]
Read more posts by Jessica Coen
Filed Under: consignment, retail, second chances
Stacey Bendet showed off her Alice + Olivia collection for Spring 2010 on Saturday evening in a raw gallery space in the meatpacking district. (How raw? So raw that wooden boards had to be placed over the metal grates on the floors so that a socialite or celeb in 7-inch heels wouldn't be maimed at the show.) The all-female French rock band Plastiscines performed; the crowd included the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Jared Leto, Nicky Hilton, Mena Suvari, Shenae Grimes, Kristin Cavallari, AnnaLynne McCord, and Tinsley Mortimer. Party-hopping reporter Douglas Marshall struck up a conversation with Nylon style director and girl-about-town Dani Stahl, Nylon publisher Jaclynn Jarrett, and Eleanor Ylvisaker, a co-founder of Earnest Sewn and the denim brand's former PR queen.
Q: All of you go to a lot of shows and parties during Fashion Week. Any Fashion Week survival tips? What gets you through it?
DS: Sunglasses.
EY: Um, I don't know. Sleep maybe?
JJ: Champagne and high heels.
Q: Now that we're taking about high heels, I have a question for you, Dani. No offense to present company, but you seriously have the best legs on the scene in New York City.
EY: YES! Best ever!
Q: You're always showing them off, which is good because you have to accentuate your best asset. What's your secret?
DS: I don't take elevators.
EY: It's true. She's scared of elevators so she walks up the stairs all the time.
Q: What floor do you live on?
DS: I live on the fifth floor.
EY: By the way, there is one pair of legs out there that can compete with hers. You should see her mother's legs!
Q: Okay, so what if you had a meeting on like the 27th floor of a building?
DS: It depends on how much I really want to go to the meeting. It also depends on whether the building will allow me to take the stairs.
Q: What's the highest you've ever climbed for a meeting?
DS: 55.
Q: You climbed 55 flights? What was the meeting?
DS: I shot the Dove/Gossip Girl campaign and I had to be on the rooftop of the Palace Hotel.
Q: What time do you have to start to get there in time?
DS: It doesn't take as long as you think. Just think of a StairMaster. It's really the same amount of time as working out and listening to a song a couple of times on an iPod.
Q: That's a good point.
JJ: It is a good point because when you use the StairMaster at the gym, it often tells you that you climbed, like, 45 floors at the end.
Q: True! But what sort of shape are you in when you finally get up to, say, the 55th floor? If you did that on a StairMaster, it could be messy.
DS: I have a "regrouping minute" when I have to stop sweating and start breathing.
Q: So you don't have an editorial assistant that meets you at the top with wet towels and water?
DS: Yea, right.
Q: Okay, maybe not in this economy.
JJ: That's not true. You can get an unpaid intern to do it for free.
DS: That's right. They'd do it because they love me so much.
Q: Any Fashion Week highlights so far?
EY: Well, we saw Charlotte [Ronson] yesterday.
DS: We love Charlotte. And Alice + Olivia today.
Q: Are you all friends with Stacey Bendet? I can't imagine that you are not.
DS, EY, JJ: Yes!
JJ: [sarcastically] But we don't really like her.
Yesterday in the Industry post, we alerted you to the existence of Blakroc, a collaboration between the Black Keys and a whole bunch of rappers. Would you believe us if we told you that the first single features Mos Def (but only on the chorus) and Jim Jones (on all the verses), that it was called “Hoochie Choo,” … and that it was sort of good? Mos’s punch-drunk (drunk-drunk?) croon is awesomely near-indecipherable and, combined with the vaguely ominous “la-la-la” of the backing track, is just about enough to make Jones’s predictably rote lines perk up. It works because the Black Keys realize their place here is in the background, wisely offering up a soft groove easily dominated by the emcees, rather than forcing themselves into an awkward 50-50 partnership. But as it stands, the best thing about the project is still Damon Dash’s explanation of how it came together, which begins with, “My assistants … were going to a Black Keys concert for their birthday and I wasn’t invited … ”
Read more posts by Amos Barshad
Filed Under: black keys, jim jones, mos def, music, right-click
We had a moment with True Blood's Lynn Collins this afternoon at Max Azria. It happened just as Mickey Rourke was brought out to his seat and people collectively lost their minds. As photographers, reporters, and total yahoos alike swarmed, we were shoved nearly into Lynn's lap. She smiled; we smiled. We rolled our eyes, she rolled her eyes. We exchanged "Isn't this CRAZY?" looks. We love her now, even if she was wearing crazy black sparkly gloves.
Speaking of crazy, Mickey Rourke looks as satisfyingly nutty as one could hope. Thanks to the mass hysteria, we couldn't tell if he was wearing his trademark velvet slippers, but he was working a gaudy polka-dot pocket square and ... well, we cannot in good conscience say he was "working" his hair, but it certainly was attached to his head. VO5, Mickey. It will change your life.
The good news is that Mickey's phenomenally damaged locks have not dampened his mojo. The place was a starlet buffet and that man filled his plate. We saw him embracing and/or chatting up everyone from Katrina Bowden (seeming just as dimly bratty as she did at Christian Siriano's show) to a refreshingly casual-looking Estelle to Fern Mallis to Lucy Liu, who refused to speak to reporters but cheerfully hugged the Rourke.
Parenthetically, we will never understand why celebrities not currently embroiled in some kind of awkward scandal refuse interviews when they've already agreed to be photographed in the front row. Liu looked predictably gorgeous, but zipping her lip did her no favors. "Forget it! Who cares about her, anyway?" we heard at least one rejected reporter grouse to another. Our thoughts exactly.
We did, however, care about gymnast Nastia Liukin, who was seated very early and almost wholly ignored by the press. She seemed so lonely down there all by herself that we very nearly ran over and struck up a conversation with her ourselves. Luckily, Nastia was not forced to endure our overtures. She very quickly made friends with one Mr. Mickey Rourke. Just don't date him, girl. You've got enough on your plate.
View a slideshow of the Max Azria collection.
Read more posts by The Fug Girls
Filed Under: estelle, front row, katrina bowden, lucy liu, lynn collins, max azria, mickey rourke, nastia liukin, new york fashion week spring 2010, new york fugging city
The stress of preparing for his Dancing With the Stars debut is starting to get to Tom DeLay.
Or to his feet at least.
The ex-congressman revealed via Twitter today that he has...
AP - The blues can take many forms.
Those who read Cormac McCarthy's The Road, history's bleakest-ever book, probably remember the part where a father finds, and gives to his son, the world's last remaining Coke. In John Hillcoat's forthcoming movie adaptation, the soda isn't the only real-life product to make an appearance. Movieline's Seth Abramovitch reports today that, at a screening in Toronto, the sight of camera-facing bottles of Vitaminwater elicited groans from the audience. When we saw the film a couple weeks ago, we also watched Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee enjoy Cheetos, Spam, and Silk soy milk in an underground shelter while they hid from hunting cannibals. It didn't really distract us that much; we were just surprised to see companies bravely allow the use of their products in a movie in which characters seem just as happy to eat bugs and people.
At TIFF: The Road [Movieline]
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: john hillcoat, movies, product placement, the road, your ad here
Mayor Bloomberg was present at Matt Damon's wedding — in fact, he was "the only guest," Damon reminds the Times today, at what was "a really special, private moment." Now Hizzoner's scored himself a role in Damon's new movie, which filmed today at City Hall. How did these new besties meet? "All young sex symbols know each other," Bloomberg told the paper. Duh. [City Room/NYT]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: matt damon, mayor bloomberg, the most important people in the world
Is there anyone out there — besides us and Choire Sicha, that is — who is willing to stand up for Kanye West? We already know President Obama's thoughts on the matter, but up until this point, the hip-hop community has remained largely mum. However, that silent spell was broken yesterday by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, who was asked for his opinion on the single greatest controversy of this or any other time, during an interview on Canada's Much Music channel. Now, it's not as if 50 and Kanye were besties to begin with; remember their (largely manufactured) beef back when both of their records were set to come out on the same day? Anyway, it turns out that Curtis is firmly siding himself on Team Swift, going so far as to add, "I wish he would try to come and take one of my awards; I'd black his eye in front of everybody." Where we come from, them's fightin' words!
Enjoy Another Helping Of Hate, Kanye! Courtesy of 50 Cent [Perez Hilton]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: 50 cent, beef, kanye west, mtv, taylor swift, tv, vmas
 New York Daily News | Whitney Houston says she is 'drug-free' Reuters LOS ANGELES, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Singer Whitney Houston said in an interview aired on Tuesday that she is drug-free as she embarks on a career comeback, and that her faith guides her through her ongoing fight to stay clean. ... The TV Watch Whitney Houston, on Oprah, Tries for Candor Whitney's daughter wants singing career Whitney Houston: God Keeps Me Off Drugs |
AP - An unrelenting sorrow swirls through "Aftermath," a collection of remembrances by people without a country.
Big news for golf aficionados who also happen to be closely following the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. As Reuters reported last week, ex-Lehman CEO Dick Fuld gave up his membership at the Blind Brook Country Club in Purchase following his fall from grace last year. Our trusted source for all mogul-related golf news now tells us that Blind Brook isn't the only club that no longer has the pleasure of Fuld's company. He's also abandoned his membership at the Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale. Clearly, the situation has gone from bad to much, much worse.
By a 240 to 179 largely party-line vote, the House of Representatives has passed a rather tepid resolution expressing disapproval of Joe Wilson's now-famous "You lie!" outburst. The resolution states that Wilson's conduct "was a breach of decorum and degraded the proceedings of the joint session, to the discredit of the House." Before the vote, Wilson stood and said that "there are far more important issues to this nation than what we are addressing now." Minority leader John Boehner called it a "witch hunt" and "partisan stunt" that could set a dangerous precedent. "My goodness, we could be doing this every day of the week," he claimed. Speaker after speaker on the GOP side mentioned that Wilson is "a good man" who has children in the military, which hardly seems relevant. South Carolina Democrat James Clyburn, a leading proponent of the resolution, insisted that the vote was about "the rules of this House and reprehensible conduct." Interestingly enough, Wilson would have been acting totally within the rules had he simply shouted that Obama's message was a "disgrace to the country."
Read more posts by Dan Amira
Filed Under: congress, joe wilson's war, politics
You've seen their (skanky, preppy, dorky, and tranny) throwback outfits; now see ladies of Sex and the City as they shoot scenes for the movie's sequel on New York's streets. These pictures, taken yesterday, show the women unguarded — and better-dressed.
Read more posts by Nick Catucci
Filed Under: sex and the city, sex and the city 2, slideshow, vulturazzi
AP - The exclamation point in the title is your first clue that Steven Soderbergh's intentions are more than a little askew with "The Informant!"
Let's think about this: Kanye West party-crashes Taylor Swift's Video Music Awards acceptance speech to rail about the results of a category, Best Female Video, in which he wasn't even...
We combed through Ta-Nehisi Coates’s excellent New Yorker profile of the enigmatic rapper MF Doom hoping to find some juicy look-how-weird-this-guy-is stuff — and we totally did! Apparently, Doom is writing a song about the 200-pound chimp who attacked a Connecticut woman earlier this year … and it's told from the chimp's perspective (as should be expected, Doom is strictly pro-chimp: "It's still the fact of shooting a monkey. What is this disrespect for life?"). Also, in no less impactful news, Doom is finally working on the much-discussed sequel to Madvilliany, his 2004 collaboration with Madlib, considered by many critics, a majority of the Internet, and at least one of your Vulture contributors to totally be the best thing ever. And as if that wasn't enough, according to a potentially baseless rumor, Doom is also going to collaborate on an album with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek. [NYer (subscription required), You Ain't No Picasso]
Read more posts by Amos Barshad
Filed Under: chimps, crazy people, mf doom, music
The Eagle bombshell has landed.
Kendra Wilkinson's football-playin' hubby, Hank Baskett, has been released from the Philadelphia Eagles in advance of the team's second game...
Leave it to Ryan Reynolds and Scarlett Johansson to finally be spotted out in public together—and we can't even see their faces! Ry and ScarJo took a wild ride on Reynolds'...
Seriously, this is why you should tune in to the Sports Section, because that kind of objectivity is just not something we're capable of here on Daily Intel. [The Sports Section]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: juan martin del potro, sports, tennis, the sports section, us open
Yesterday, Whitney Houston came clean on the drugs and her relationshop. Today, she opened up about Michael Jackson.
In part two of what Oprah Winfrey has touted as her Greatest....
Intel Chris will fully admit that he's outnumbered in the DI Control Room over whether the voice in this audio file, obtained by TMZ, is actually the president calling Kanye West "a jackass" during an off-the-record conversation with ABC News. It's not that I don't think Obama said such a thing, or that I think TMZ is not capable of scoring such a scoop (they definitely are), it's that this particular recording doesn't sound like the president. It sounds like a mimic whose voice is modulated higher, the way a comedian would mock Obama's tone for stylistic effect. I'm probably wrong, but what do you guys think? [TMZ]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: barack obama, celebrities, early and awkward, kanye west, politics, tmz
At a Q&A at the Brooklyn Book Festival on Sunday, Sloane Crosley revealed that HBO, which last year optioned the social-butterfly-publicist-essayist's book, I Was Told There'd Be Cake, has hired her to write the pilot. How is she adjusting to screenwriting? "I'm still mastering Final Draft," she says, "and by 'mastering' I mean I just ordered it off Amazon."
Read more posts by Boris Kachka
Filed Under: and eating it too, books, i was told there'd be cake, sloane crosley, tv
We've been covering the controversy over Brooke Astor's estate for over two years now. And though a lot of the publicly released evidence and testimony is pretty damning to Anthony Marshall regarding his mother's late-in-life alterations to her will, we're not willing to dismiss the fact that the octogenarian deeply loved his legendary mother, in spite of it all. In the end, it doesn't make a difference either way in the trial, really. Which is why it's probably wise that that's the last-ditch plea his lawyers are making after weeks and weeks of damaging testimony over Marshall's treatment of her. "Underlying this case is the love of Brooke Astor for her son, Tony Marshall," one of Tony's lawyers argued today. "Make no mistake about it. Brooke Astor loved her only son, Tony Marshall. Tony Marshall loved his mother."
We're not on the jury, so we'll never know the whole story about what happened between the two of them — and there's lots of evidence on both sides. But we know what we heard, over two years ago, when we listened to Marshall's eulogy at his mother's funeral. And that was a boy, aged and tired though he was, who loved his mama.
Lawyer says Astor loved her son and was competent [NYP]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: anthony marshall, astor trial, brooke astor, today in astor-ia
Read more posts by Lane Brown
Filed Under: kanye, music, president obama, taylor swift
Fashion Week’s in the spotlight, but it’s the opening of the art season, too, with 110 galleries throwing open their doors just since Thursday. Chelsea is crowded, suspense high — is anybody buying art these days? — and the party palette is black. (All those colorful fashion types are missing.) We recently spotted art-worlders Robert Storr, Thelma Golden, Robert Longo, and, at Tony Shafrazi’s gallery, pretty much everybody else. After a few dozen shows and one chat with Salman Rushdie, here’s what we came away with.
1. Artwork has shrunk. Lots of artists are doing work they — or their dealers — hope collectors will pick up, cash-and-carry, like candy bars at the supermarket checkout line. Kehinde Wiley, Raoul de Keyser, Kara Walker, and many others showed more-portable art.
2. Sex still sells. Or draws eyeballs, at least. While most viewers gave two seconds to everything before moving on, Moscow painter Dasha Shishkin’s vivid golden sex scenes at Zach Feuer won long gazes and much discussion.
3. Art loves Hollywood. And vice versa. Dennis Hopper’s exhibition at Shafrazi blended both crowds. Matt Dillon and Sean Penn posed in front of Hopper’s photographs of Rauschenberg, Lichtenstein, and the twentieth-century art-world elite. Video monitors poking out of the wall at angles screened Hopper movies. (Larry Gagosian even dropped by the after-party at Indochine.) “I like the show, and there are already pieces I think are very special — the Paul Newman photograph, and the Andy Warhol holding the lily,” Salman Rushdie told us. Nonetheless, he’s probably not buying. “I collect contemporary Indian art,” he said.
4. Wool scarves are the new sunglasses. Posers who used to wear the latter indoors have switched to unnecessarily donning the former.
5. Big names sell big names. By Sunday, a trio of the Chris Ofilis at David Zwirner gallery were sold, at $140,000 apiece, and three others had reserves. Mary Boone had red dots on seven works at her salute to gallery director Ron Warren (although we hear sometimes that meant “not for sale”). One of the few younger names to chart a sale was Mika Rottenberg, best known for her barnyard video installation at the last Whitney Biennial.
6. Governors Island is on the map. Many were overheard asking folks whether they’d been to the once-abandoned park, now an art-world headquarters for the month. Elaborate events or performances by Robert Wilson, curator Renee Riccardo, Creative Time, the Bruce High Quality Foundation, and the government of the Netherlands all premiere on the island this week or next.
7. The youth are out in force. Openings were packed with teenage types who have a newfound respect for art. Or were in search of free beer. But we’ll take what we can get.
8. The recession isn’t juicing creativity. Not, at least, on gallery walls. We saw lots of black squiggles on white. A LOT of black squiggles on white. Which only made Maya Lin’s 52-foot-long undulating hill of wood at Pace Wildenstein more memorable.
9. Gallerists should stick to the ground level. With so many shows to see, collectors skipped virtually any art you had to take an elevator up to see.
10. We miss the fashion people.
Read more posts by Alexandra Peers
Filed Under: art, chelsea, galleries, the browse
 Washington Post | 'The Lost Symbol' is a roaring ride San Francisco Chronicle "The Lost Symbol" (Doubleday, 509 pages, $29.95), by Dan Brown: Could 1514 AD be just an important date in the age of Leonardo, Machiavelli and Copernicus? Is Eight Franklin Square just the address of another ... Dan Brown novel hits stores under pressure to sell EW review: Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol' Brown stirs more suspicions into thrill ride |
Fashion Wire Daily - Vera Wang titled her Spring 2010 collection "Partying with Poiret," referring to early twentieth century French designer Paul Poiret, who emancipated women from constrictive undergarments with loosely draped dresses and pants. "Poiret, not literally, but in my heart, like the way he partied all the time and he loved to throw parties," said Wang after the show in her bright white boutique in downtown New York on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
Anyone who sat through Inglourious Basterds likely experienced a similar thought at some point during the film: “Wow. Kevin Kline looks uhmuhmuhmayzing.” But that actor, friends, was not in fact Dave star Kevin Kline, but rather British actor and BWE.tv’s 9th Hottest Man in that Movie Michael Fassbender, who has immediately shot to the top of our list following this photoshoot in Sunday’s NY Times Style Magazine.
For God’s Sake, look at this man. This is the best thing to happen to Kevin Kline’s career since the movie Dave.
Speaking of the movie Dave – a personal favorite of both myself and Dan’s — your two BWE.tv bloggers got into a heated discussion about our upcoming Cast of Dave Halloween Costume. Ahead, we give you the IM conversation that spurned this genius idea. Consider it a DVD Easter Egg to this post, in that it’s completely useless. Unless, of course, you love the movie Dave, in which case…
Michelle: Upcoming post: “You’re Telling Me This Guy Is Not Kevin Kline in Dave”
Dan: Two Dave jokes today*
Michelle: I know
Michelle: It’s my go to
Dan: Man, you go to that movie like Dave falls back on his economist friend Charles Grodin
Michelle: HAHA
Michelle: I’m eating gourmet sandwiches with my DVD copy right now
Michelle: It’s actually sad how many times i’ve seen that movie
Dan: I think most people have seen it way more than they expect or want to, even though it’s good
Michelle: That would be a great Halloween costume
Michelle: I’ll be Sigourney Weaver as the first lady singing “Annie”
Dan: hah
Dan: Dave in the shower
Michelle: HAHAHA
Michelle: I’m srsly dying loling
Dan: Ben Kingsley vice president with spear
Michelle: lololololol
Michelle: Ving Rhames eating a sandwich in a mock turty neck
Dan: Group costume!
Michelle: I’m sorry but if we got people to dress up like the cast of Dave
Michelle: People would
Michelle: DIE
Dan: People = You
Dan: haha
Michelle: haha
Dan: One person as the lonely high-fiving schoolchild
Michelle: HAHAHAHAHAHAH
Michelle: A little black boy
Michelle: learning how to read
Michelle: wait
Michelle: that might have been a different movie
Dan: no he was learning to read
Michelle: yay
THE END.
*For the record, my other Dave joke was regarding this photo. And if you need it to be explained to you… chances are this entire post didn’t make sense to begin with.
AP - "The Lost Symbol" (Doubleday, 509 pages, $29.95), by Dan Brown: Could 1514 A.D. be just an important date in the age of Leonardo, Machiavelli and Copernicus? Is Eight Franklin Square just the address of another nondescript building in northwest Washington, D.C.?
Probably! HBO took the first necessary step in this process when they filed trademark-registration papers that would allow them to extend this brand into the world of video games. With any luck, gamers will have the option to play as Eric, at which point frustrated True Blood fans will finally have the option of using him to off Bill once and for all. [CinemaBlend]
Read more posts by Mark Graham
Filed Under: fangbangers, hbo, true blood, tv, video games
AP - Ace Frehley "Anomaly" (Bronx Born)
Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick, better known as Chuck the Bassmaster, has apparently received a new tattoo: one of a feather quill. In our experience, this type of body branding means one of three things:
1. He's hoping to link himself to the tradition of historical literary Lotharios that began with Petronius Arbiter and continued through the Marquis de Sade.
2. He realized he was never going to have biceps, and knew he had to have something on his arms for people to look at. See: Lee, Tommy, and Jolie, Angelina.
3. This is fake, and we are all suckers. See: Patridge, Audrina, and Your Drunk Girlfriend, Cancun.
Westwick Gets Fugly New Tattoos [Oh No They Didn't]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: ed westwick, gossip girl, the greatest show of our time
I’m rarely at a loss for words in reaction to even the most soul-crushingly pointless gossip stories, but sometimes, a story is so far beyond even having enough of a point to joke about its pointlessness, the quotes in the story literally enter my body through my nostril and numb my brain to a halt:
Hair ye, hair ye: Kate Gosselin has a new hairdo!
The 34-year-old mom of eight — whose asymmetrical hairdo has been widely buzzed about — showed off a wavy new look on her second day guest co-hosting ABC’s The View Tuesday.
“Isn’t it cute?” she said.
The style was spur of the moment, she admitted.
“The girls back there” did it, she said, referring to the ABC show’s hair stylists. “Ooh, baby!”
My Reaction:
James McDonald, the 56-year-old head of New York–based investment-advisory firm Rockefeller & Co, a board member of NYSE Euronext, and until recently, of the beleaguered CIT group, died of a single gunshot wound this past Sunday. Authorities discovered his body near a strip mall in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. So far, it's unclear whether McDonald was a casualty of the recession or had other reasons to kill himself — although Reuters notes he was "a perfectionist who drove himself and his employees hard." Police are investigating. [Reuters]
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: business, james mcdonald, nyse, rockefeller and company, sad things, suicides
AP - As the baseball season grinds toward the World Series and another football season rears its helmeted head, a man's thoughts turn to fashion.
In our experience, when the "Oncoming Train" indicators say that the next subway car is coming in twenty minutes or longer, the sign is in error, not the train. As in, don't give up hope. [Jenny8Lee/Twitter]
Read more posts by Chris Rovzar
Filed Under: neighborhood news, stand clear of the closing doors, subway
You've probably heard that these are grim times for Condé Nast. Editors and publishers may be asked to cut spending by 25 percent, further layoffs are expected in the coming weeks, and several other magazines may shuttered entirely. If you're anything like us, you've probably been sitting at home asking, "What can I do to help?" Obviously, you could subscribe to one of Condé's magazines. But let's be honest: A $10-a-year subscription to Glamour isn't going to exactly turn the ship around. One much better way to deliver a few bucks to Condé's bottom line: Consider purchasing one of the fine, overpriced items on sale in the Condé Nast store! Last week, The New Yorker started selling wristwatches featuring the magazine's mascot, Eustace Tilley. But there's plenty more to choose from. A few suggestions below.
1. The New Yorker's "Eustace" watch
"Water-resistant and backed with stainless steel, our New Yorker watch is sure to keep you on schedule and smiling."
Price: $49.95
2. Bon Appétit's Kitchen Technology Center
"No more digging through index cards or stopping to turn cookbook pages with greasy fingers!"
Price: $429.99
3. Gourmet Greeting Cards
"Send them to friends, keep them for yourself, or (best of all) give them away along with batches of homemade cookies."
Price: $34.95
4. Golf Digest Swing Simulator and Analyzer
"You will receive incredibly accurate, completely objective, totally scientific analysis of each swing you take."
Price: $1,499.99
5. Domino Book of Decorating
"Not ready to let go of your favorite source of decorating hints and how-to advice? Domino: The Book of Decorating captures the best ideas from the magazine you loved in a single volume."
Price: $19.95
6. Men's Vogue Lapel Pin designed by Michael Bierut
"A portion of the proceeds go to Puppies Behind Bars, a charity that trains inmates to raise puppies to become service dogs for the disabled and explosive detection canines for law enforcement. "
Price: $10.00
MTV VJ Sway did a stellar job this weekend, helming the MTV coverage of the 2009 Video Music Awards with aplomb. And, having myself met the man, he remains one of the most likable guys in the entire Viacom Corporate Structure (Along with all the hundreds of other likable people in it! /shameless.ass.kissing).
But who knew that Sway was more than just the soothing, friendly face of the MTV Network? Check out who’ll be using a Marge Simpson-like hair net over his signature headwrap tomorrow:
No sarcasm intended, this is probably the most exciting thing to happen at work for all of 2009. “Carribbean Fish”?!?! Me right now:
Maybe you already knew about this website, which illustrates sex positions that can be performed while wearing the Snuggie, the full-body fleece blanket that reached Flowbee-level ubiquity in 2009. Or maybe you didn't want to know, because it is repugnant and vile and opportunistic. Either way, we're sorry, our pain is your pain. [Snuggie Sutra] Related: Check out images from the Snuggie Fashion Show, from our hardworking friends at The Cut.
Read more posts by Jessica Pressler
Filed Under: gross things, slankets, snuggies, vile things
Here is something that will bring you hours and hours of soulless joy! MTV Buzzworthy points us in the direction of Atom.com’s surprisingly accurate Kanye West Apology Generator. It’s kind of like an old school Mad Libs turned MAD LIBS YEEZY!!!!
Here is the one we generated: Kanye West’s long overdue apology to Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. You don’t even wanna know what this guy did on the set of See No Evil, Hear No Evil… (ps this previous link is not to be missed.)
Feel free to post your own Kanye West Apology in the comments.
Another way you can tell the recession has ended (in addition to hearing it from the chairman of the Federal Reserve, of course): When you start seeing articles with headlines like "How to Buy Your Own Private Jet." Too soon for this sort of thing? Maybe, but prices are down 25 to 50 percent, according to Barron's, "so planes are (relatively) cheap!" Emphasis on "relatively." Naturally. [BusinessInsider, photo]
It’s 2 PM, and HBO is offering up QUITE THE QUANDARY. They have pitted together 2 of history’s finest films: Jack Nicholson’s Death Overture The Bucket List on HBO and Sandra Bullock’s 1995 Future Guesser The Net on HBO2:
I LITERALLY HAVE NO IDEA WHICH ONE TO WATCH. Though if Dan’s Bucket List review is any indication, I’d probably be better off watching the hit Star Trek spin-off “Data Not Available”.
Before you even go there, please do not recommend Proof of Life at 2:45, a movie which I deigned as living Proof of Sh*t after seeing it in the theaters.
What would you guys do if stuck in such a situation? The Bucket List or The Net?
After 19 weeks and 74 witnesses for prosecution, it looks like the Brooke Astor trial may be near its end. The defense began its closing arguments yesterday, and they continue today. The approach that Frederick P. Hafetz, Anthony Marshall's lawyer, is taking as he wraps up his case: Exploit the idea that jurors were needlessly forced to endure the painfully long trial. Instructing jurors to ignore the "diversionary evidence" and "keep their eye on the ball," Hafetz offered up a very simple approach for jurors to take: "You could say, 'Case closed, what were we doing here for all these weeks?'" [NYT, NYP]
Looks like just about anybody can show at NY Fashion Week these days. And by anybody, we of course refer to Real Housewife of Atlanta and professional weave-puller Sheree Whitfield, whose clothing line has been decades in the making.
You might recall the drama surrounding “She by Sheree”, beginning last season when the line’s debut party was postponed because the samples looked like they were made by blind Vietnamese children with a hint of vertigo. Her clothing line was the fashion equivalent of the Jews building the Nazi railroads: Complete sabotage. And that feeling of failure stuck with Sheree, all the way up until this season when fellow housewife Lisa showed her own fashion line with a huge, warm reception. You could see the jealousy slowly eating away at Sheree’s mannish face. She had a lot to prove to these girls and the world. And so she did, in New York, with a real life professional runway show.
And for God’s sake, LOOK WHO SHOWED UP! Geordi La Forge’s gay brother!
But the real question: How were the clothes?
Not bad, if the look you’re going for is “Down On Her Luck Meth Whore”:
You know Lisa is laughing her ass off right about now. The clothes were nothing short of a Forever 21 clearance rack, including shiny jumpsuits and poorly made satin skirts. The Ghost of Michael Kors is poo pooing this entire atrocity.
Check out She by Sheree’s debut below.
Spanish soccer team Real Valladolid has a live trick-performing bear as their mascot. I hereby congratulate them for winning the Sports Championship of Awesome.
(via Deadspin)
Kelly Ripa getting a hot dog with son Joaquin ... Karolina Kurkova walking in Tribeca with fiance Archie Drury ... Agyness Deyn riding her bike to Bar Pitti ... Bar Refaeli walking near Bryant Park ... Kate Gosselin arriving at her hotel ... Shia LaBeouf riding a motorcycle while filming scenes for Wall Street 2 on Park Avenue ... Kim Kardashian walking with Jonathan Cheban in Midtown ... Jude Law talking on his cell phone outside, and later hanging out with friends in the West Village ... Megan Fox getting out of an SUV in front of Rockefeller Plaza ... Kim Cattrall walking on the Sex and the City 2 set ... Hugh Jackman unloading an SUV ... Rosie Perez waving to the crowd at the US Open ... Mary-Kate Olsen walking in Tribeca ... and Leighton Meester walking in the meatpacking district with her stylist Logan Horne.
This new ad for Windows 7 is already an early contender for both “Most Patronizing Commercial of 2009″ and “Commercial You Get Sick Of The Quickest This NFL Season” (not counting those Coors coaches-audio things, which already earned that Lifetime Achievement Award.)
If Windows dumbed this down any further, it would literally be a Teletubby telling Pikachu that Windows 7 is tickles and happy:
Here is Dolph Lundgren, He Man and Master of Our Universe, keeping his Lundgrenness in check with a work out on a rainy day in London. Nothing to see here, folks… save for an ass as hard as a diamond.
Also, dare I suggest Lundgren is looking a little Gordon Ramsey-ish in these pics? What is it about London that makes blonde men look like hot shar peis?
(*Pretty sure this is code for “sex” in South America.)
Yesterday afternoon, while in the midst of planning for the VH1 Divas Coverage this Thursday night (where I’ll be live-blogging from the second row), I remembered that the U.S. Open Men’s Final was beginning, a day late no thanks to the crappy weather in New York last week. I casually turned on CBS to find the match between arguably one of the best tennis player’s in history and consecutive 5 time U.S. Open Champion Roger Federer, and some new, poor bastard across the court who goes by the name Juan Martin Del Potro. Say his name with me, won’t you? Juan Martin Del Potro. Kinda makes you feel like this guy, doesn’t it?
But just who is this JMDelP character who would almost certainly be obliterated by the animatronic Federer? Measuring in a 6′6″ tall, he’s a handsome gentleman with a mature, well-bred face, sinewy caramel logs for arms, giant, Road Runner circle feet, and a determined will. Also, he’s only 20 years old, making this last sentence possibly illegal and worthy of a sex offenders registry. It became clear that rooting for this Argentinian wunderkind was the only way to go.
And root for him I did, in my dark office, until nearly 8:30 PM when the epic match finally came to an end. If you thought the players were exhausted after 4 hours, imagine how I felt, having just shouted out so many f bombs that the maid who came to collect the garbage thought I was literally in the throes of a Tourettes meltdown. It seemed impossible that Del Potro would win, given the fact that I had never even seen, much less heard of his handsome face. But in the 5th set, game tied, you could see Federer basically giving up. Sometimes you get to a point when you win so many times that winning again ain’t no big thang. Trust me, I should know: I am a professional blogger.
Then it happened: Del Potro beat Roger Federer in the fifth set. The Earth shook as his humongo body dropped to the court and began sobbing. It was an amazing moment. He climbed into the stands and collapsed in tears on the shoulder of his equally handsome coach. (No, really, is this how Argentina rolls?) Watching this giant hot man child cry tears of exhaustion and joy was easily one of the most rewarding things this lil’ lady has ever witnessed. It was like the end of Rudy, only with a giant testosterone wolf-faced totem pole in place of the delicate Sean Astin.
Ahead, video of his spectacular win, and him being denied speaking his native tongue at the trophy ceremony.
But what on Earth did this Del Potro sound like? On to the awards ceremony. Federer accepted his fruit platter with a beady-eyed grace we’ve come to expect. Now it was Del Potro’s turn. In broken English reminiscent of one of our other favorite Spaniards, the luminous Ricky Ricardo, Del Potro told us he “didn’t have words to ’splain” how he was feeling. He then asked to say something in Spanish… and was denied. WTF, old man with the microphone? As my blood began to boil and the geriatric Dick Edberg continued to ramble, Del Potro again asked if he could say something in Spanish. The kid had just had his biggest win ever — LET HIM PLEASE SAY SOMETHING IN SPANISH. It’s one of those moments you really wish Kanye “Mic Jacker” West was there to set things straight.
Here is video of both the win and the awards ceremony. If you missed it, 1. your major loss and 2. watch it to remember what it feels like to be on top of the world.
Del Potro will be at the Niketown in midtown Manhattan today at 1 PM. Debating wearing my favorite shoes and paying him a visit.
Fashion Wire Daily - All the world is circus, or at least it is in Marc Jacob's universe these days. Pale faced clowns, modernist Geisha gals, Fellini femme fatales and a saucy high wire troupe all appeared in his latest collection, presented Monday evening, Sept. 14, in New York.
Fashion Wire Daily - Donna Karan's Earth, Wind and Fire
Renata Espinosa
September 14th, 2009 @ 8:32 PM - New York
"The mood of the atmosphere" was how Donna Karan summed up the inspiration for her Spring 2010 collection, which she showed in her West Village studio and show space on Monday afternoon, Sept. 14 in New York.
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