1. Don’t believe the trending Twitter topic: Kanye West is not dead. [via NME]
2. Yesterday Barnes & Noble launched an unfortunately-named but rather cool e-reader set to rival the Kindle: the Nook. [via LAT]
3. Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Jude Law, and James Gandolfini are largely responsible for one of the strongest fall seasons for Broadway ticket sales in recent years. [via NYT]
4. Tom Cruise’s publicist has responded to Cousin Balki’s accusations of the star’s homophobia on the set of Risky Business. [via TV Guide]
5. A bathroom run disqualified Dave Chappelle from topping Dane Cook’s record for longest set at the Laugh Factory — seven hours, 34 minutes remains the number to beat. [via AP]
Before he took the London stage in the Donmar company production of Hamlet — which opened for a limited engagement this week on Broadway — Jude Law told a reporter, “Hamlet is ‘a bit like a great song that’s been covered by a load of different singers.’” So what do the critics on this side of the pond think of his performance? Well, he’s not exactly Cat Power, but he’s not Michael Bolton either. The general consensus: he looks great. He just needs to cool it with the miming. Read More »
Jude Law — currently starring in Hamlet on Broadway — hit Jimmy Fallon last night for a segment that included fencing lessons with foam noodles and a romantic “poetry recitation” of Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface.” While it gives us no insight as to whether he can handle Act Five, Scene One, it does prove he can make anything sound good. Hamlet‘s limited-engagement run ends December 6th. [via BuzzFeed]
You’ve probably already read about Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus because it is the film Heath Ledger was working on when he died in January in 2008. A present day, fantastical morality tale Imaginarium that has nothing to do with Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, it tells the story of Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), a traveling showman who thousands of years of ago made a deal with the devil (Tom Waits) to win eternal life. Then he falls in love, and makes another deal, swapping immortality for youth. The condition? When his daughter reaches the age of 16, she becomes the property of the devil. Jude Law, Collin Farrell, and Johnny Depp all play versions of Tony, Ledger’s character, and the man who we think hopes to save her. Verne Troyer, who is also in the cast, has a rather prominent role in trailer. Read More »
1. It was Kanye West, and not Jay-Z, who showed up at the Diesel party last night. Lykke Li performed with The Roots! [via BlackBook]
2. Famed photographer Annie Leibovitz is allegedly really broke and being forced to sell all of her art because of a $24 million loan. [via Gawker]
3. Judd Apatow has signed a three-picture writer/director deal with Universal; they’re the studio releasing Funny People. [via THR]
4. You can now hear a few track teasers from 7 Worlds Collide, the Radiohead/Wilco/Marr/Finn supergroup. [via Pitchfork]
5. The mother of Jude Law’s fourth child is 24-year-old actress Samantha Burke; an official statement says he has “been nothing but responsive and supportive.” [via TMZ]
This week the internet delivers a gift in the form of Jude Law in drag, as part of an ensemble cast in Sally Potter‘s latest film RAGE. The assembled actors, and the film’s plot, are slightly confusing: Dame Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, Steve Buscemi, John Leguizamo, Dianne Wiest, model Lily Cole, and Law as Minx the supermodel are profiled on neon background performing monologues about the fickle field of fashion, dahling. IMDB describesRAGE as a murder mystery narrated via cell phone interviews shot by a young fashion blogger. Blogging: subversive! Read More »
Books: Britain’s future Poet Laureate thinks the job should be abolished. Dance/Opera: The New Yorker insinuates that some ballerinas are sluts. Design: Christoph Niemann Legos all things N.Y. — even the Gowanus Canal. Film: One extra large victory for Mo’Nique. Music: What’s behind the commercial force that is Franz Ferdinand? No, really. Television: Do we care about Sarah Jessica Parker’s ancestral history? How about Susan Sarandon’s? Well NBC certainly hopes so. Theatre: Jude Law as Hamlet makes us giggle. Visual Arts: In defense of Shepard Fairey’s use of “appropriated imagery.” Web: Celebrate Black History Month with free indie movies from Hulu YouTube!
