Ridley Scott, the man behind the likes of Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator and Robin Hood, has officially ventured into new and, er… well-worn territory, with a take on Hasbro’s iconic Monopoly boardgame. Luckily, the mystery protagonist will not need to wear a top hat, mustache or spectacles — it will be a modern day dramedy, after all. Scott has cryptically said the film will focus on the role of greed in society: “The most amusing thing about Monopoly is it can turn your benign aunt or your benign sweet little grandmother into a monster,” Scott told Hasbro. And while we’re not convinced of the “Untitled Monopoly Project’s” merit, check out our casting predictions for the film after the jump. And no matter how ridiculous, feel free to share your own predictions in the comments below.
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The Associated Press has published a very specific report on the status of Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff’s two estates, one in Manhattan and the other in Palm Beach, Florida. Barring Yan Pei-Ming‘s 7-foot watercolor portrait of Mr. Madoff, which scared visitors away from the David Zwirner booth at the Armory Fair this spring, what in the world would old Bernie approve to decorate his lair? Actual reporting, plus our recommendations, after the jump. Read More »
In a piece on Double X today, Sarah Bilston eulogizes chick lit, arguing that the genre was an early-aughts lark, no longer compatible with America’s newly blighted economy. But is chick lit dead, or is it simply in need of a budget makeover? Bilston predicts: “In the next months and years, expect to see plots that turn on overcoming repossession and job-loss, not shopping and sex.” What about the books that built the foundation of Manolo’s, cupcakes and engagement rings on which chick lit stands? We decided to get out our red pen and edit a few chick lit classics to better reflect our current financial climate. Read More »
Today at Flavorpill, we bought our tickets to go see the new Johnny Depp movie, Public Enemies. We got extremely nervous about the proposed ban on Vicodin and Percocet. We thought mayors all over America should install these cool benches so that dog pee doesn’t keep killing all the urban trees. We were sad that we already bought our tickets for the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, because now it’s being offered in IMAX (but only if you live in New York, LA, or Chicago). We got excited that Entourage, Dirty Sexy Money, and The Real Housewives of Atlanta will all return to TV with new episodes this month, and had our minds blown at the idea of twin Bachelors. We said goodbye to Molly Sugden, whose work on Are You Being Served? made her a gay icon. We were jelaous of Isabel Kaplan, a 19-year-old James Ellroy wannabe. And finally, we were mad at IMDb for demoting writers to “Additional Details” section of the page — but not quite as mad as Nikki Finke was.
Today at Flavorpill, we were sad to hear that Farrah Fawcett lost her battle with cancer; ABC and NBC will broadcast dueling tributes. We decided that we would never, ever purchase these oddly erotic light fixtures. We were excited to find out that Tim Burton’s new Alice in Wonderland movie will actually be a sequel to the original! We were blown away by the design for this new museum that looks like it’s floating on a cloud — unfortunately Zaha Hadid’s “spaceship” library didn’t get the same reception in Seville. We got excited about this new John Travolta and Jonathon Rhys Meyers movie after seeing le poster here. And finally, we wanted to get our hands on one of these WWIII Propoganda posters. We want the whole set!
We guess this has been making the rounds for a while, but we’re just seeing it now (which probably reveals something about our financial savvy). You can search for Bernie Madoff’s victims and clients at madoffmap.com — we kid you not. Amazing.
After a drunken brunch at Enid’s, we noticed this near the corner of Metropolitan and Union Avenue. Anyone know the street artist behind it?
The Daily Beast’s Judith H. Dobrzynski has the exclusive scoop on Brandeis University’s financial crisis, and in an surprising twist of events she’s pointing the finger at none other than Bernie Madoff — at least indirectly.
In case you haven’t been following this tragic story, the short version: Word leaked last week that the cash-strapped university was going to shutter the Rose Art Museum and sell off its entire collection — which is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and contains pieces by Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Morris Louis, Matthew Barney, Cindy Sherman, and Richard Serra among others — to cover their budget shortfall.
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1. Proof that all things Hollywood — even the Bernie Madoff scandal — can be connected to Kevin Bacon. This is because he is magical. [DB]
2. You can thank a bunch of exercise-happy tourists and 250 hours of feverish pedaling for the blazing 2009 sign in Times Square tonight. You can also thank them for how congested the streets of New York are this week. [Wired]
3. Diablo Cody will be live Twittering her new TV show, United States of Tara here starting on January 18th. Can you imagine David E. Kelley doing that?
4. Relax Muggles: In spite of what you might have read elsewhere, the Harry Potter franchise is not going the way of Narnia. Now put away that fake wand. [/film]
5. MTV’s new Hills spinoffs Bromance and The City both turned out to be ratings bombs, so there’s no need to DVR them. If you haven’t watched the latter yet, save yourself an hour and read Richard’s self-proclaimed puff piece on Gawker. [THR]
