My friend Jenny Lumet and I love to go to mindless movies. The last one we attended was “Hot Tub Time Machine”. We laughed our butts off.

Because it’s summer, we have a great selection to choose from. Tonight’s flick was “Iron Man 2”. We both agreed that Robert Downey, Jr. has gone from dissipated to hot and we wanted to bathe in his hotness.

We met at Ollie’s, the crazy Chinese restaurant that we are very suspicious of. We love that they never get the orders straight and, for some reason, the food arrives about 2 seconds after ordered. Tonight’s mishaps included my Moo Shu pancakes that went flying off to another table because we turned down the brown rice we hadn’t ordered. Luckily, I got them back before the woman they were set in front of dove in. Then the waiter delivered two Sprites when we had ordered Diet Cokes. ... Read More

The Modcousin really did it this time. He’s the biggest Ricky Gervais fan and was determined to catch his NYC show. Unfortunately, the price of tickets was rather steep, so it seemed a distant dream. He was bummed. Then, alas, Ricky pulled a fast one. He not only added another show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden (site of the original show), but also added two shows at Hunter. The Modcousin thinks it’s because Gervais lives near there. The Modcousin is such a FAN that he knows such details about Ricky. And yes, that makes me uncomfortable. And should make Ricky uncomfortable.

Anyway…

The point is that, because of the sudden glut of shows, many many scalpers were royally fucked. When the Modcousin sussed this out, he dragged me to the Garden, intent on getting a real bargain. And he ... Read More

In the latter half of the eighties, a very hip theatrical company named Naked Angels came to be. Some of the members were/are Rob Morrow, Gina Gershon, Fisher Stevens, Merrill Holtzman/Jack Merrill (he changed his name between then and now), Kristen Johnston, Matthew Broderick, Marisa Tomei, Joe Mantello, a mess o’ Parkers (Pippin, 
Sarah Jessica, Timothy Britten), Ron Rifkin, Lili Taylor, Nancy Travis, Jon Robin Baitz, Patrick Breen…

They garnered their first bit of infamy because another member of their troop was JFK, Jr., whose desire for a theatrical career was as well known as his mom Jackie’s aversion to it. Though Jackie won, John John fed his thwarted ambition by being the MC at the many Naked Angels benefits. In fact, the first time I ever saw Kennedy’s future Mrs. was at one of those splashy benefits, where she was planted on his lap during much of ... Read More

I had absolutely NO interest in seeing “This Is It”. For those of you who have had no contact with pop culture over the last few months, this is the film made from footage shot during the rehearsals for Michael Jackson’s proposed and controversial upcoming fifty-date residency in London.

I thought this would just be one of those interesting looks at how a show is put together, much like the very entertaining “Every Little Step”. “Every Little Step” showed the casting process involved in creating the latest version of “A Chorus Line”, interspersed with film and interviews from the original cast and show. As much as I enjoyed that documentary, I was so over the whole Michael Jackson death circus, I really had no tolerance for anything more. However, the darling Bryan Bantry asked if I’d like a couple of tickets and, being the whore that I am, ... Read More

HONORARY CHAIR:
Rhonda Ross

DATE:
Thursday, November 12, 2009

LOCATION:
Metropolitan Pavillion, 125 West 18th Street, NYC.

TIME:
6:00pm

TICKET PRICES:
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS: $250, $500, and $1,000

TABLES: Starting at $2,500.

AFTER-PARTY:
$50 (From 10:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. Includes open bar and dancing)

CONTACT:
Email: info@heartsofgold.org
Phone: (212) 206-1461


ABOUT THIS EVENT:


Hearts of Gold, a not-for-profit organization that improves the lives of New York City's homeless mothers and their children, will present its 13th annual Fall Fundraising Gala, “It’s A Love Thing,” on Thursday, November 12 at 6:00 p.m. at Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street. The event will feature co-Mistresses of Ceremonies Soledad O’Brien, Anchor and Special Correspondent for CNN and Goodwill Ambassador for Hearts of Gold, along with “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s” Tamara Tunie, also an accomplished producer and director as well as a member of Hearts of Gold’s esteemed Advisory Board.

The family-friendly evening will include a cocktail reception and ... Read More

The only way to get through Fashion Week is by exercising careful selection and achieving balance. Do not go to everything you can go to and find other things to do.

When I first went to shows as a member of the audience (I had always been backstage before because I was running the music), I was obsessed. I wanted to go to every show and every after party.

When I had a column in “Paper” magazine, I really had to pack everything in so I could report on all that was hot and groovy. The weird thing was that the shows I really got the biggest kick out of were the Ladies Who Lunch shows: Oscar, Blass, Carolina… The workmanship was extraordinary. Without having to dazzle with a SHOW, they just made you swoon from sheer beauty. Sometimes things veered a bit into the Bar Mitzvah/Mother-of-the-Bride netherworlds, but it was still ... Read More

“9” is a darkly cute/ cutely dark post-apocalyptic animation film that is a sock puppet-ish take on “Transformers” with a very “Nightmare Before Christmas” feel (Tim Burton is one of the producers and Danny Elfman provides “themes”).

This good-vs.-evil tale is so engrossing and the action is so suspenseful, one might think this is one to take the kiddies to. If the kiddies in question are of a sensitive nature, this might be a bit much. Then again, we all survived that really twisted Disney fare, so who’s to know? Do out-of-control machines battling sock puppets…excuse me…”stitchpunks”… who are forced to lead an existence only Anne Frank could relate to equal a good thrill to the imagination or fodder for tots scared witless?

As for adults, I would recommend this highly. Voiced by Elijah Wood (as “9”), John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau ... Read More

“Taking Woodstock” is a nice relaxing flick that is so laid back, it’s positively Zen. Capturing more the reality of the times than the myth, it gives the viewer the iconic festival from the viewpoint of what most of the attendees actually experienced. To fault this movie for not taking us into the action, either as up- close audience members, onstage performers or backstage movers and shakers is ridiculous. Considering the amount of people who showed up verses those who could actually see clearly what was going on onstage or backstage, why would anyone think that the majority had the chance to experience either?

Have you ever been to a giant festival? Imagine if that giant festival lost control of itself and had neither the room nor the facilities nor the provisions necessary to satisfy the attendees? Imagine if, finally, anarchy reined and the gates were ... Read More

I like Adam Goldberg’s work…if you’ll excuse the pun on one of his own creations. REALLY. I’ve liked him in movies, on “Entourage” and on talk shows. He does deep, tortured, brooding and menacing really well, but there’s also a sense of humor and intelligence about him.

It was because I like Goldberg so much that I went to see a screening of the movie “(Untitled)”. In addition, it didn’t hurt that Vinnie Jones was also featured: He’s always fun. Lately, I’ve been VERY selective about going to screenings because I’ve taken to seriously questioning whether the movie sounds like something I would want to give over that much time to. I wish I still had the fire in my gut to discover the small gem, but I’ve gone to enough screenings to know these small gems are very very few. In addition, the ... Read More

SHORT VERSION: Yes, it’s totally worth it. Buy your tickets now.

LONG VERSION:

Nearly two years ago, I phoned Michael Musto and asked him if I could be his date when “West Side Story” had its Broadway revival. At the time, he laughed that I was putting in my request so early because he hadn’t even heard about a “WWS” revival. However, the more he thought about it, the more he agreed that it was a good idea. He could think of at least one other person who might be interested and might ask, so I had circumvented that sticky situation. He told me I had to keep reminding him because he had once promised someone they could come with him to a play and then forgot and took someone else. When the original person asked him when they were going, Musto was ... Read More