grand hotel

Warhol? Spielberg? Jagger? In the same room talking about television and radio?

nine to five

I don't know if it's a conflict of interest to ramble on about the particulars about what is I'm doing to advance myself career-wise in this city, but I guess I can say I intern for a company in which fashion and public relations are cozy bed partners. I'm learning a ton about about how both industries operate, but more importantly it leads me down the strangest paths sometimes. Somehow I found myself in Mario Sorrenti's photo studio this morning picking up a package. Which Mario Sorrenti, you say?

Kate Moss and Mario Sorrenti
photographed by Mario Sorrenti
Purple, Fall/Winter 08/09
Yes, it would be that Mario Sorrenti. Unfortunately, I did not see Mr. Sorrenti or Ms. Moss, but I did manage to get an eyeful. I could swear up and down I saw Malgosia Bela in repose in front of the makeup mirror. You know I feel about Malgosia. I was only there for a brief spell, so I couldn't glean much in terms what they were shooting for, but I did manage to catch a glimpse at the racks of Spring/Summer 09 pieces that instantly come alive in person. The murderous Prada heels? They were there. The furry Chanel heels? Yeah, those too. The Rodarte leather tights? Uh, huh. The Yves Saint Laurent cage coat? That was the last thing I was able to see before I felt the collective photo and fashion assistant's eyes escort me to the door. If only they knew my gawking was pure admiration. Oh well, maybe next time.

first look: mister lonely

"Mister Lonely"
directed by Harmony Korine
May 2, 2008 (limited release)

This looks deliciously odd.

manhattan

Donatella Versace, Woody Allen, and his wife, Soon Yi Previn
at the opening of the Versace menswear collection at Barneys in NYC

"I've been friends with Donatella for a while, and one important thing that I learned from her is to never say no to her," said Allen. "I can also claim to have many wonderful Versace cashmere sweaters in my closet."--Fashion Week Daily

photo courtesy of dlisted

the little matchstick girl

"I Know"
Jay-Z
directed by Billy Parks

Stardust, Zoe Kravitz, levitation that implies some sort of spiritual enlightenment or mild orgasm? Okay Jigga, I see you.

flashing lights: pt. 2

When we last left off at the epic madness that was Sundance, our heroes were sitting front row at the premiere of Tom Kalin's "Savage Grace." We pick up from there...

SUNDAY JANUARY 20
10:50PM The lights come up in the cramped theater and it's clear the audience is not sure how to digest this silly, poorly constructed film. The tone was caught somewhere in between uncertain incompetence and a campy Joan Crawford movie. Julianne Moore is sensational in most things, but even she can't save the sinking ship of a movie in which she has to utter lines such as, "He likes to fuck you in the ass!", after she catches her husband running away with his mistress or "You're the best.", after she and her sexually confused son make whoopee at their tony London home. I wasn't bothered by the sex or the nature of their relationship (see "Ma Mere" and see it done better), but it felt too hollow and not sure of how to expertly handle the balance between human pyschodrama and '40s weepie. Sadly Julianne Moore was not there for the Q&A, which would have made up for this mess of a movie. The young actor, Eddie Redmayne, who plays her son looks like a freckle covered Abercrombie & Fitch model (he is in the new Burberry campaign) answered questions plainly and at times with a stammer as if he was trying to convince us it was a good movie. Convince he did not.

11:45PM Scour downtown Salt Lake for a convenient store so Stephanie can get something to feel better. As if we didn't already feel like we were on another planet, we drove for what felt like an eternity in the ghost town of downtown Salt Lake until we finally happened upon a gas station. She got a Sprite and Fiddle Faddle and I got Pringles. We were on vacations, so it makes complete sense.

12:36AM Stephanie and I pass out while watching "Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency." Don't hate. It's kind of fun to watch pretty people get yelled at by the plastic surgery monster that is "America's first supermodel." Hopefully this will cure Stephanie's illness.

MONDAY JANUARY 21
9:31AM Open my eyes to the blinding reflection of the snow outside. I wipe the sleep out of my eyes and open the window to a foot of snow that fell while we were asleep. OMG!!!!

10:28AM The rental car is swamped in a big snow bank that we physically dig out with her feet and a small ice scraper. What a cold mess.

11:16AM After a delicious quick lunch at a local cafe we head to Park City and realize Salt Lake City does not shut down after such a massive snow fall, unlike Louisville that when it sees two inches of snow you would think we're on Orange alert.

1:07PM New strategy for the day: Pick a movie we want to see but stand in line for the film or two before it so our chances are greater to get in. Our college degrees are being put to some use.

2:18PM We get our wait list numbers for Mark Pellington's "Henry Poole is Here" and decide to go to the Main St. area to gawk at celebrities.

2:20PM The great thing about Sundance is the immediate reaction the audience has to a film, good or bad. While innocently sitting on the shuttle bus carting us to Main St., some guy in a skull cap and leather bomber jacket jumps on board and shouts to everyone on the bus, "DID ANYONE JUST SEE 'BALLAST'?". The bus is silent and puzzled. "OH MY GOD THAT MOVIE WAS HORRIBLE! IT WAS SO SLOW!!!!" He continues, "I MISSED MY FLIGHT FOR THAT MOVIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE SOMEONE CONVINCED ME TO STAY!!!" Someone finally obliges him and inquires why he chose to see it. He reiterates a friend told him to see and then proceeded to explain the entire movie to the passengers on the bus with total disgust. We got off at Main St. and that guy pays dearly for missing his flight.

2:37PM My lips were expressly dry for the entire trip. I noticed a skin care place that also carried Khiel's, which I need to reup on the face wash as I ran out that morning. While paying for my overpriced, but never underused, face wash and lip balm, an intense conversation about skin care begins between the sales girl, Stephanie, and myself. They talk a lot about methods of exfoliatation, but I'm too enamored with my new lip balm to offer input. I comment on the the Evan Spray Mist and how my lovely friend Bitch, Please swears by it to which she replies with a very funny story about how her and a male friend were driving up and down Main St. in an ice cream truck over the the summer during a music festival spraying anybody and everybody. You meet the darndest people in this city.

2:40PM Our immersion in skin care has caused us to lose track of time and we must be back to the theater at 2:45 to get a ticket. That of course is not going to happen but I assure Stephanie that there were plenty of tardy people at other screenings, I see no reason why we would be turned away. As I'm commenting on how little I paid for the face was as opposed to what I pay for it in Louisville I see a throng of people spilling out of some sponsored lounge. I can't quite tell what is going on. In one swift move a tall paparazzi shoves me to the side where I fall into the side of a pick up truck, to notice about thirty or so paparazzi trailing Matthew Perry. Yes, I said Chanandler Bong. He had film at the festival and looks relatively healthy, albeit totally annoyed at the attention.

2:59PM The line is long and not looking like we have a chance to get in. We were also put at the end of the line for the late people. Dammit.

3:11PM The waiting line is never without its own drama. A rather disgruntled man in front of us is going off about how ridiculous it is to get a wait list number and if you are not back a half an hour before the movie starts, like the rules state, than you have to get in a separate line behind the wait list line. I agree but at Sundance you have to play by the rules, and this man was not having any of it. He switched lines and was asked to get back in his other line. When the announcement is made that they would not be admitting any more people the man throws his number on the ground and storms out of the tent. Bad for him, good for us. When they don't allow anyone else in, the next line starts for the next movie. We got in a new line where our numbers were in the teens, which all but guaranteed us entrance to the next movie.

5:45PM After a quick lunch and another attempt at stargazing, we head back to the Eccles Theater just in time to get in line for the premiere of Terry Kinney's "Diminished Capacity." The Sundance line wrangles begin calling people in and you better believe we got in with plenty of time to scope out the best seats and brace ourselves for the true Sundance experience.

6:12PM The anticipation was building in the massive theater (pictured above). I chose to sit in the middle and toward the back (my general preference in theaters) where we plopped down with relief and excitement. Around this time camera flashes are going off a mile a minute and about fifteen rows ahead of us the film's star Matthew Broderick and his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, duck into the theater and take their seats. Alan Alda and Virgina Madsen follow, also stars of the film. They are as short as you would expect them to be and for a festival more about the art than the glitz, they looked appropriate but casually put together. The lights go down and the movie begins.

7:55PM I suppose with any movie it's always a crapshoot as to whether it's going to be good or not and at film festival it's especially difficult to pick the movies that will last in the end, and this was a case of a movie not being bad, nor was it very good. "Diminished Capacity" follows these very vanilla movies about dysfunctional, but charmingly eccentric families that are thrown on an uncomfortable but triumphant road trip and along the way we laugh at their predicaments and hope that all will end well. It does here (which is not ruining anything), but what disappoints the most is how these actors who are usually so watchable either chew every scene they have like a cow munching on grass or sleepwalk to collect their indie cred and paychecks. I think last year was a very strong year in American cinema, but it was the studio releases or the films with sizable budgets that stood out. Where are the American filmmakers who really have something to say? An true independence voice (take that for whatever you want it to mean) is in serious need of resuscitation if this festival ever wants to call itself the preeminent independent film festival in the country. The cast was warm and funny at the Q&A, but just like that they were gone and in a way the Sundance experience was ending as well. We attended the after party for the documentary on water scarcity and privatization that our boss Gill produced. The beer was free and the people were nice but what an exhausting day it had been. Skin care, paparazzi, short famous people--it was quite the dizzying cocktail.

TUESDAY JANUARY 22
10:37AM Woke up just in time for the Oscar nominations. Jason Reitman getting best director, really? "Diving Bell" not getting best picture, really? A technicality preventing Johnny Greenwood from getting a nomination, really? Kathy Bates having nothing better to do on a Tuesday morning, really? Okay, I can believe that one, but more importantly it's a clear showdown between the bad boys and the badder boys. Will it be "There Will Be Blood" or "No Country for Old Men"? I get excited just thinking about it.

12:15PM Our flight is at 2, so after lunch a quick trip to Urban Outfitters was needed followed by the discovery of Forever 21 Man. I've only read about this, never seen in it person. It's as crowded and overwhelming as the women's store, and just as cheap in price and quality, but I see striped sweaters and military inspired jackets and I cannot resist. I make it out alive with a very French-looking striped sweater fit for Albert Finney at the beach in Stanley Donen's "Two for the Road" (that movie keeps coming up again and again for all things style related).

1:04PM I hate waiting for a flight. You're in a small seating area trying not make eye contact with anyone as everyone reads their gossip magazines and munches on the candy they purchased at the nearby magazine shop. Things took a turn for the worst at this point. Stephanie was not feeling well and I received about ten text messages informing me that Heath Ledger had died. I wasn't sure how to handle either situation, so I hoped that my traveling partner would get well soon and the news was untrue. A quick phone call before the flight departed and it was true, Heath Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment by his masseuse. He seemed to be really coming into his stride with films such as "Brokeback Mountain", "I'm Not There", and his last role as The Joker in the upcoming Batman movie. What a terrible loss and Stephanie wasn't doing much better.

6:19PM The plane ride was not an easy one. Stephanie felt terrible the entire time and the turbulence in the last hour stirred up my stomach and made me feel nauseous. We arrive in Nashville where similar to Louisville, the air is dense and dirty but refreshing and not 7,000 feet above sea level. I'm glad to be back home.

The rest of the story is full of bowel movements, vomiting, serious re-hydration, and me taking a Greyhound to get home, but that's of no importance when I think back about my Sundance experience. It was cold, exhausting, and not at all what I expected, which is the charm and allure of Sundance. A weekend of complete privilege and luck, I can't think of any other moment in my life in which my love for film, celebrity obsession, and all things that are wrong and right with those worlds, have collided and given me such an intense feeling of elation and enrichment.

the wild party

I managed to survive my birthday weekend, so pardon the loose ends of recent entries that I will tie up this week. Things to look forward to: wrap up of New York Fashion Week, reviews of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" and "Southland Tales", part 2 of my Sundance escapades, and how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

Until then, this should hold you over as I catch up on some needed rest..

"Trembled Blossoms"
dir., James Lima

i only watched for the commercials

Am I the only one that thought this was the oddest Super Bowl commercial ever?

Since when is Naomi Campbell a dancer? Why have a dance off with lizards? Why "Thriller"? Odd. Odd. Odd.

get on with it!

courtesy of tmz

You've heard about it. Dear old desperate Sean Young made an ass out of herself at the DGA Awards this weekend. She screamed in French while Marion Cotillard was making a presentation. She burst into song during a video montage celebrating "Michael Clayton." And then she heckled Julian Schnabel during his acceptance speech for his directing certificate for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Her shenanigans were more than likely the result of too many Cosmopolitans or whatever she had to drink because she was soon ejected and has now voluntarily checked herself into rehab.

If you think I'm making all of this up. There is video of a visibly miffed Schnabel that is fantastically sad to watch. You know it's bad when Julie Chen puts you on blast.

By the way, Joel and Ethan Coen won the DGA, Robert Elswit won the ASC Award for his incredible work on "There Will Be Blood", and "No Country for Old Men" won the Best Ensemble Award at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.

This award season is getting more and more bizarre.

all filler, no killer

While doing some reading about the Batman inspiration behind Hot Chip's latest video for "Ready for the Floor", I stumbled upon this:

Seriously. Can this be real?

aint nobody

Yes, that would Chaka Khan on the drums.

separated at birth?

Christina Ricci as Katrina Van Tassel in "Sleepy Hollow"andJayne Wisener as Johanna in "Sweeney Todd"

Does Mr. Burton have a fetish for Kewpie doll faced girl-women with invisible eyebrows?

age of aquarius

While I was getting my oil changed this morning I flipped through the pages of the high society publication Town & Country. I don't think I've ever read it because it seems completely removed from everything I'm find interesting(it's too glossy in its depiction of the privileged and powerful). However, I did find myself fixated by the horoscope section devoted to predictions and possible outcomes for this year. Mine just so happened to be dead-on, almost freakishly so. Aquarians, pay attention, you might learn something:

"Relax, take a deep breath, and unclench your jaw. This year is going to be a breeze after the planetary pummeling you’ve just been through, and a bright new era of your life is dawning."

"You meet challenges head-on with cool logic and objectivity. You probably don’t even realize how stressed-out you’ve been. But there’s no question that the adverse influences of Saturn, Neptune and Mars during the past two years have been grueling. Indeed, the personal and professional uncertainties you’ve been fielding have not only put you through your paces, they probably would have sent less sturdy members of the zodiac round the bend."

"Professionally, 2008 will be a particularly upbeat and rewarding period, when you successfully establish yourself in new venues or brilliantly consolidate your present position. Your newly found confidence and poise will be apparent to all, and you’ll be the one everyone turns to for expert advice, or when the going gets tough. What’s more, with Jupiter on course for your birth sign in 2009, your achievements of this year are setting the stage for a particularly star-studded career cycle."

"Private retreats and getaways (you may find yourself particularly attracted to mountainous regions) will be superbly enjoyable and restorative, especially in early January, mid-July and late December. Any altruistic endeavors or worthy causes that piqued your interest and attention last year are likely to become a more central part of your life, and you may be playing an increasingly major role in your favorite charitable organization."

That last part is especially true because I can officially announce that through the benevolent powers that be at Gallery NuLu (you know who you are), I'm attending the Sundance Film Festival for a couple of days. Parties, ski bunnies, swag, film--what more could I ask for?

Click here for more.

get it while it's hot!

What happens when NYC indie rock group The Walkmen and the fashionable singletons of "Sex and the City" converge? Don't ask why but I wish they would have reenacted Carrie exclaiming, pun intended of course, "Okay, you don't have to Challah!", in response to a frazzled and squealing Charlotte, who was preparing a traditional Jewish dinner for her possible and traditionally Jewish husband Harry Goldenblatt. However, hearing these masculine, deep voices worry about what they're going to wear to a Dolce & Gabanna party or kvetch about man problems at Yankee Stadium, all the while merrily laughing at the absurdity of it all, is satisfactory enough.

Click here to listen.

do the dance

"D.A.N.C.E."
Justice
Live on Jimmy Kimmel Live

This is beyond brilliant.

first look: beowulf

"Beowulf"
dir., Robert Zemeckis
2007

This R-rated trailer still does not get me excited about this potential mess. Why does Zemeckis feel it necessary to make his actors look like video game versions of themselves? Why does Angelina Jolie think she can pull off vaguely European accents? Why is this his follow up to "The Polar Express"? So many questions for a movie that looks positively empty and bloated on studio dollars.

can't tell me nothing

A good reason to reconsider mixtape Kanye. Once again Mr. Galifianakis amuses and delights.

And for shits and giggles:

the ice storm in hollywood

Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Victoria Beckham, David Beckham, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Will Smith at the Beckham's Welcome to L.A. Party
Do you suppose they have key parties?

This picture makes me very suspicious that the answer might be a resounding yes.

warm leatherette

Daniel Radcliffe in the August 2007 issue of Details


Let's just say I'm glad my subscription to this publication ran out. Awkward.

sippin' on bacardi

i love mojitos, but i cringe every time this commercial interrupts my daily intake of cable and reality-based television. bacardi's latest spot for mojitos reminds me of that bizarre slow-motion trance dance sequence in the "matrix" movie, and not in a good way. a mojito is such a refreshing and sexy drink that you would think bacardi would come up with something a little more creative and daring. it's beyond cliche to see a liquor commercial with toned and plastic-looking models engaging in a social environment with their cocktails in tow. perhaps it's the miami club theme that really bothers me. i also hate the music and wiggle dance i think they want us dopey consumers to begin practicing in the clubs. well, bacardi not only do i not enjoy your commercial, i think you're "mojito dance" is stupid and has nothing to do with the drink.

where are all the decent commercials?