By Delphine Barguirdjian 8/16/12 10:30am

As Seen in SCENE

Andrew Saffir in the screening room of the Tribeca Grand Hotel, photographed by Sophie Elgort

Mr. Popular: Andrew Saffir

Commanding the foot of the red carpet, Andrew Saffir greets his guests the only way he knows how, with that warm and endearing smile of his, and a hint of excitement peeking through the lenses of his wire eyeglasses. There to personally welcome each arrival—announced by the unmistakable cloud of flickering flashbulbs—he only occasionally jumps onto the carpet to get in a few shots with his friends.

Flashing his trademark smile, Saffir is posing with the actors, editors, directors, producers, supermodels and socialites who consistently turn up at the screenings and after parties hosted by Saffir and the company he founded, the Cinema Society.

The occasion is a screening of the gritty, NC-17-rated dark comedy Killer Joe and the guest list is as star-studded as it is distinct. Actors mingle with directors and designers, editors hover at the bar with models while socialites laugh with photographers. Matthew McConaughey, Gina Gershon, John Stamos, Ethan Cohen, Stefano Tonchi, Terry Richardson and Nicky Hilton have all turned up at the cozy screening room of the Tribeca Grand Hotel for Willliam Friedkin’s flick about a family’s plot to have their mother murdered to cash in on her life insurance. But star-studded crowds are something Saffir is used to. In fact, standing in front of the audience to introduce the film, Saffir is as calm and collected as a host throwing an intimate dinner party for friends in his own home. Read More

By Drew Grant 8/14/12 1:15pm

party talk

Shia LaBeouf (Patrick McMullan)

Shia LaBeouf Loved That His Lawless Co-Star Tom Hardy Was ‘Too Big to Be Sexy’ as Bane

“You’re amazing,” Shia LaBeouf was heard wooing a young woman last night at the top of McKittrick Hotel, at the after-party for the The Cinema Society and Manifesto Yves Saint Laurent screening of Lawless. “You’re incredible. You’re an astronaut!”

“Did Shia just call that lady an astronaut?” a friend of The Observer asked, confused. If everyone was a tad difficult to understand, we understood, as Lawless had also starred a marble-mouthed Tom Hardy doing an American accent. The actor was regrettably absent from the screening–he was shooting Mad Max in Australia, we were told–which ruined our chances of doing our spot-on Bane impression for him. His loss.

Instead, we called over the hyper-maniac, hyper-masculine Mr. LaBeouf, whom  Harvey Weinstein had praised earlier in the evening as being the love child of himself, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Read More

By Drew Grant 3/21/12 11:48am

Party Reports

The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection host the after party for "The Hunger Games"

Alan Cumming’s Views on The Hunger Games at The Cinema Society Premiere

What happens when you are on the ground with scraped knees, shards of broken glass, and adrenaline coursing through your veins? Well, if you are Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games, you might have to power through the hallucinations of a tracker jacker in order to stay alive. In the Boom Boom Room at the top of The Standard, where Calvin Klein and Grey Goose hosted the after party for The Cinema Society’s premiere of the highly anticipated film, the stakes were much lower. And the celebrities so much shorter in person! Read More

By Drew Grant 3/20/12 2:42pm

Party Report

7 Photos

Giorgio Armani & The Cinema Society host a screening of "Intruders"

The Cinema Society’s Intruders Premiere: Clive Owen Doesn’t Like Horror Movies, Stars in Them

Last night, The Cinema Society held a screening of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo‘s (28 Weeks Later) new monster flick, Intruders at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. While models screamed in their seats and Clive Owen quickly slipped out the back door as soon the credits began, we sat back and enjoyed the psychologically scary film about a man with no face. Read More

By Drew Grant 3/14/12 11:37am

Party Report

9 Photos

Premiere of Tribeca FilmÕs DETACHMENT hosted by American Express & The Cinema Society

Cinema Society’s Detachment Premiere: Sad Film Leads to Happy Drinking with Adrien Brody


Last night The Cinema Society, along with American Express, hosted Tribeca Film’s dark drama, Detachment. The movie, starring Adrien Brody, James Caan, Lucy Liu, Marcia Gay Harden, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, and breakout teen Sami Gayle, marks the first major non-documentary by director Tony Kaye since American History X (which he famously tried to take his name off of because of his fight with New Line Cinema). Read More