Last night at Union Square Cinemas for a screening of The Amazing Spider-Man, we caught up with celebrities on the red carpet and queried, “Who is your favorite superhero?”
Surprisingly, no one went with Aquaman. But here’s who they did say. Read More
Okay, so they are not a real-life couple (we asked), but last night at Bagatelle NY , where The Peggy Siegal Company and The Wall Street Journal were hosting an after-party for Oliver Stone’s Savages (sponsored by Vitamin Water: favorite beverage of Mexican drug lords), we saw Girls‘s Alex Karpovsky and Zosia Mamet posing for pictures and totally wanted to believe that this could be a thing. Right? How cute would that be? Read More
Don’t feel bad if you were confused by the excruciatingly complicated plot of Inception: Cillian Murphy, one of the actors in Christopher Nolan’s “dream within a dream within a dream within a etc.” 2010 summer blockbuster is still trying to figure it out, he told us last night. Read More
Lady Gaga has no problem calling foul on anyone that tries to cash in on the Gaga name.
In the past, the cases have been pretty standard: the trademarks were registered after Lady Gaga’s rise to fame and have directly tried to profit from an association. But now Gaga’s cosmetic company, Ate My Heart Inc., may have found themselves on the side of a losing battle with Gaga Pure Platinum. The Albany makeup brand not only holds the trademark name, but filed it long before Stefani Germanotta transformed herself into the queen of the Little Monsters. Read More
It was an eclectic mix of (relative) youngsters at the James Hotel last night, where society fixture Kristian Laliberte hosted Refinery 29′s party for its 30 Under 30 list.
Like the assortment of goodies from Dylan’s Candy Bar available for noshing, this year’s list was a macédoine of hipsters; ranging from Saturday Night Live‘s John Mulaney to Solange Knowles, ostensible socialite Olivia Palermo, and artist Nick Poe. (None of whom, unfortunately, attended the party.)
After accepting a Stoli Vodka Hot “Firefighter” cocktail (nothing like spicy vodka to beat the heat), we sidled up to Mr. Laliberte to find out what, exactly, the criteria for the list was. And, ahem, why no journalists made the cut. Read More
“I just want to dedicate this movie for anyone who has just moved in with their girlfriends,” Mike Birbiglia deadpanned last night after the screening of his directorial debut, Sleepwalk With Me. Based on his one-man show that has been building up buzz for the past six or so years that he’s been performing it–resulting in a book, an off-Broadway show, and now a feature film– the cinematic version of Mr. Birbiglia’s story of strange sleep habits is full of pathos, comedy, and weird, weird imagery.
After premiering at Sundance, Sleepwalk was chosen to open the yearly BAMcinemaFest, an annual self-referential Brooklyn film festival in which the majority of the films feature characters suffering from New York ennui and the term “psychodrama” is used haphazardly in the blurbs. For this purpose, opening BAM’s movie week with Sleepwalk was a smart move by the festival’s organizers: it’s about a New Yorker who, for all the film’s comedy, has to deal with deeply distressing sociometry stemming from his night time behavior.
Without spoiling the plot, let’s just say that Mr. Birbiglia’s relationship comment was a tad…barbed.
But not to end the screening on a sad note, the co-host for the evening, NPR’s Ira Glass, announced a special surprise: As a giant cake decorated like a pizza was brought onstage, Mr. Glass wished Mr. Birbiglia’s a happy 34th birthday. Read More
Last night at the Core Club, employees of The New York Observer were faced with the quixotic challenge of getting their feet in the door of New York’s most exclusive coterie hotspot. The difference being that we were actually invited for Monday evening’s soiree, a party for The Commercial Observer‘s Real Estate Power 100 list. Read More
What a strange day: Despite the personnel of the Herald Square Macy’s guaranteeing us that people started camping out around the block last night in preparation for the sale of Justin Bieber’s new scent, Girlfriend, when we entered the store at 11:30 this morning, the kiosk was deserted.
“Oh yeah, it was crazy earlier… a mad rush,” one perfumer told The Observer. “But you can still buy a bag if you want.”
Curiouser and curiouser, especially because the Justin Bieber/Macy’s goodie bag included not only the latest perfume that guarantees that you are the Biebs’s girlfriend (scroll down for the scratch and sniff test to find out what Selena Gomez really smells like!), as well as his new CD, “Believe” (RBMG/Island), which won’t be released until tomorrow, BUT, IN ADDITION, the first 500 recipients of the Justin Bieber fragrance at Macy’s would get special VIP passes to the crooner’s show at the Apollo tonight.
And there were still bags for grabs when we went into the eerie deserted apartment store before noon! Read More
On June 6th, all the way out in Newburgh, New York, ten girls were having the luckiest afternoon of their lives. When Rachel DiCesare submitted her nine reasons she and her friends deserved to have a very special evening in Nine West’s “You’ve Been Prom’d” Facebook contest, her winning entry gave these lucky ladies the prom makeover of their dreams. Not only did they receive individually designed gowns to match the specifications of each girl, accessories galore, and personal makeup and hair stylists, courtesy of Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa. They also got a special guest star as well, in the form of Nine West’s new Ambassador of Culture and Noise.
A “You’ve Been Prom’d” bus had pulled up to the unsuspecting teens, depositing People’s Revolution maven and America’s Next Top Model judge Kelly Cutrone at their school, Newburgh New Academy, which was located, The Observer was told, in Orange County’s “inner city.” (This project was about giving back to less fortunate communities, after all.)
The girls shrieked in delight as Ms. Cutrone lead them to their lockers, where sparkling clutches and fashionable heels had been hidden earlier. Faintly, a janitor’s cart could be heard echoing the halls.
It was truly a moment to remember. But it wasn’t quite magical enough.
“Okay, can we have the girls open the lockers again, this time without the noise, please?” The director of the shoot had picked up the janitorial squeak. Now the girls got to rediscover the ostensibly surprise goodies in their locker. It was Groundhog Day, minus Bill Murray. Or just another day in the world of “reality” programming, where an afternoon of excitement can stretch until the sun goes down in an attempt to get the right shot. Read More
“Sea lions are covered by a fine layer of fur,” a woman announced over the loudspeaker as guests noshed on appetizers of smoked salmon and potato gratin at the Central Park Zoo Thursday evening.
“They are mammals and they eat mackerel,” The Observer exclaimed, having learned a similar speech by heart during a recent run-in with dolphins in Jamaica.
“Whoa, how did you know that?” A reporter from The Wall Street Journal asked us. We were just that good.
As part of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s 2012 gala–this year the theme was The Coasts of Patagonia, prompting more than one party-goer to ask where in the world that was–a pre-show involving the sea lions doing tricks was par the course. Read More
