Gossip Central

The Whistleblower: Know Your Enemy

In Cowboys and Aliens, the enemies are horror fantasy monsters with a nod to James Cameron's classic creations down to their gooey mitts. In The Whistleblower, they can be government officials, policemen, friends and relations, evil in human form. 

Based on the real life story of Nebraska cop Kathy Bolkovac, who gets a job with an international peacekeeping force in post-war Bosnia, the new movie is a thriller in which some members of the U.N. and U.S. State Department collude with contractors in the lucrative trade of human trafficking. Just doing her job, Bolkovac played by Rachel Weisz in the film, simply can't stop the violence against women committed by the men who are there to keep them safe. 

Dominic Cooper in The Devil's Double

Mamma Mia's pretty boy, Dominic Cooper, turns ugly-twice-- portraying the evil Uday Hussein, Saddam's sadistic psychopath son, as well as Latif Yahia, the Iraqi army lieutenant tortured into service as his body double. In sharp Armani suits, Cooper maintains a brutal edge for Iday, an enraged wounded soul for Latif. This accomplished performance, the first Oscar worthy Best Actor of the year, begs the question, can an Academy Award go to a portrait of a despicable character? Yes, Forest Whitaker won for his deft portrayal of Idi Amin. 

The Shoemaker / Shakespeare in the Park: The Problem Plays

In an old fashioned shoemaker's shop, to the sounds of opera from an antique radio, Danny Aiello sits head in hands. A woman (Alma Cuervo) barges in to say, I need a new sole. The pun signals: this shop strewn with shoes and old photos on the walls including one of an iconic pile of bones is a holy sanctuary in Susan Charlotte's play, The Shoemaker, at the Acorn Theater, directed by Antony Marsellis. An ambitious effort that also features a pair of pumps, a young woman caught in the drama of 9/11, and a voice from Holocaust era Italy (Michael Twaine), The Shoemaker is about, as the playwright said on opening night, walking out the door.

Hamptons Journal: Alec Baldwin Takes the Heat

Guild Hall's John Drew Theater was packed on Friday night for the second film in the documentary series HIFF Summerdocs: Page One: Inside the New York Times. This fine glimpse at newspapers in the digital age so fits the Zeitgeist with the huge to do about ethics in journalism generated by the British tabloid scandal, that the film's main character, David Carr has become a television pundit facing off on Charlie Rose and other shows since the time of this documentary's June premiere at Lincoln Center. At a pre-screening reception at the Maidstone, Carr said the medium of television is not natural for him. “I'm just surviving.”

Summer Love: Friends With Benefits

Summer may be a time to chill, but when it comes to movies, some like it hot. The romantic comedy, Friends With Benefits, may sound smart and snappy with sex that sizzles, but in the end, the message is old fashioned: never let her go. 

Do I hear Ezio Pinza crooning in the background? Well no. Friends With Benefits has a booming soundtrack that had me begging for silence. But it also winks at the classics like It Happened One Night. Are Justin Timberlake (as Dylan, an online art director) and Mila Kunis (as Jamie, a head hunter, no pun intended) this generation's Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert? 

No Shrinking Snow Flower: Wendi Murdoch in Southampton

Just before she became all the rage on the news, backing her husband Rupert in hearings about the British tabloid scandal, famously diverting the path of a cream pie, Wendi Murdoch was interviewed in Southampton on Saturday at a private screening of a movie she co-produced with Florence Sloan, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. 

Mandela Day: Media Fest at the Four Seasons

Morgan Freeman, the actor who portrayed Nelson Mandela in the movie Invictus, defined heroism at a luncheon of luminaries in television, theater, journalism, and film at the Four Seasons on Monday, July 18. The occasion: the 93rd birthday of Nelson Mandela, perhaps the most heroic man of our time for his 67 years of public service, his insistence on justice, equality, and dignity, his work to end apartheid, freeing both blacks --and thereby whites in South Africa. And what gift did “Madiba” want most for this celebration? 

Hamptons Journal: A Day at the Beach Minus the Beach

The Ross School gym was decked out as a lounge with plush sofas as “The Diva of Haiti,” Barbara Guillaume took the stage singing in jazzy Creole. The well-heeled crowd swayed enjoying quail eggs and grilled cheese washed down with fine champagne. Liev Schreiber, Fisher Stevens, and hosts Maria Bello and Mariska Hargitay shook hands and posed for photographs at this elegant fund-raiser brunch hosted by WeAdvance.org, GlobalDirt.org, and Plum Hamptons Magazine. “The Hamptons for Haiti Brunch” was dedicated to filling the enormous gap for medical aid, education, and other humanitarian causes for the people of Haiti. 

Good Hair Day

Hair is back! 

The quintessential Age of Aquarius rock musical with its antic tribe, tie-dye tees, frayed jeans, mega frizz and naked joy, seems only to perfect with age. Having had a triumphant, award filled revival at the Delacorte in Central Park and Al Hirschfeld Theater on Broadway in 2009, now the show's touring company will run for ten-weeks at the St. James Theater. I wouldn't miss it.

Of course Hair plays well for me, takes me back to that exuberant/ fearful time defined by Vietnam, when burning draft cards seemed the only sane course of action. But does it work for a younger age? I wondered what my 21 year old daughter would make of these flower children whipped into a frenzy, singing of sex, drugs, and freedom, whose trips high and low can quickly turn tragic. Then the clownish Berger fluffs his luxurious mane and strips to a fringed g-string, sticking his rump into the faces in the first row. She asks, Mom, did you know people like this? 

Love, Above All: Thank Heaven for Little Girls

Opening this week, Life, Above All, a film set in a small South African township, was the closing night feature of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Lincoln Center in June. Beautifully shot and wonderfully acted particularly by two young girls who had only the experience of singing in the school choir before being tapped for this project, the film offers a rare glimpse into a community ravaged not only by HIV/AIDS but prejudices that prevent addressing the problem.