Hollywood

MY LIAR
By Rachel Cline
Random House, 252 pages, $23

In my experience, New Yorkers tend to be bipolar when it comes to Los Angeles: Either they love it—love it!—after visiting once or twice, and quietly nurse dreams of living there at some point, or they hate it—really hate it—and look with disdain on their neighbors who secretly lust for West Coast weather and perma-tans. Often, those with hate in their bellies have actually spent time in L.A., and will warn the others: Trust me, if you lived there, if you knew what I knew, you’d hate it, too. It’s all plastic. No way, say the dreamers. How could you hate a place with so much sun, so many movies and so much good Mexican?

Until I read Rachel Cline’s My Liar, I counted myself among those with California dreams. On my few trips to L.A., I even loved the driving! But if the characters in Ms. Cline’s book are at all typical of Angelenos—and I think they’re meant to be—then, no thanks! It’s just like I’ve been warned: full of narcissists, creeps and insecure idiots.  read more »

It Takes a Pillage, Part V    read more »

Hell's Kitchen Is Too Pretty For Reality TV Hollywood screenwriter Bobby Moresco spoke in Dickensian terms about growing up Irish in Hell's Kitchen, back in the mob-ruled pre-condo era. "For me, it was the greatest life on the face of the earth," he told The Observer. "It turned into the worst life on the face of the earth." Go to story by Chris Shott. Second Avenue Subway Convert Protects First Leg of Biggest Dig Thursday's groundbreaking for the Second Avenue Subway will be a huge victory for the new chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, but the hardest part may lie ahead--finding the money to complete a project that has been abandoned twice before. Go to story by Matthew Schuerman. Council: We Want Control Of All School Sites Everyone knows signing a lease in New York City is a lot easier than buying, but that's doubly true if you're opening a new school. Ordinarily, the city Department of Education needs City Council approval to construct a new school, but council members recently discovered that schools have been opening up in leased buildings for years without anyone even mentioning it to them. Go to story by Craig LeMoult. Macklowes Mull East 57th Street Monster Tower Harry and Billy Macklowe are so busy. Two months ago they more than doubled their New York portfolio with a $7 billion buy from Blackstone. And now here comes their next prize. Introducing Craig Nassi! He wants to buy 3 million feet of Manhattan He said he's serious about Manhattan. He said he's bullish about office space in Manhattan. He said he's going to buy a lot of office towers, that's how serious he is. Welcome to New York, Craig Nassi! Go to Commercial Breaks by John Koblin. Smith & Wollensky Takes It in The Chops The rather crude talk and mere pub fare might not exactly reflect the intended high-end image of such a traditionally refined outfit as Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group. But the more relaxed vibe may represent the future of the now-beleaguered Manhattan-based brand. Go to Counter Espionage by Chris Shott. 'Money Honey,' Hubby Buy $6.5 M. East Side Townhouse Despite her salacious scandal earlier this year, CNBC's top anchor, Maria "Money Honey" Bartiromo, and husband Jonathan Steinberg are settling into domestic bliss: They've closed on a five-level townhouse on East 62nd Street, paying $6.5 million. Time Warner Chief Cedes Tribeca Summit Dominance for $2.2 M. Manhattan tycoons should have bad toupees and bad tempers and badly decorated Fifth Avenue triplexes. But Dick Parsons, the mild chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc., has sold off one of his comparatively modest apartments atop 166 Duane Street. Go to Manhattan Transfers by Max Abelson. Mutual Assured Construction In the first quarter of 2007, the Manhattan housing market notched a record number of apartment sales for a single quarter. In the same three-month period, the Manhattan office market recorded its lowest vacancy rate since early 2001. Is this simultaneous success a coincidence? Maybe. But probably not. Go to The Lab by Tom Acitelli. Cruise Decor Redefines 21st-Century Love Boats Not only are cruising enthusiasts starting younger and long before retirement, but New York City's cruise industry is booming with the 30-year master plan, according to the Economic Development Corporation. Go to Interiors by Toni Schlesinger. Ian Schrager: Viewing Studio 54 From Age 60 The man who forever placed 'boutique' before 'hotel' talks about his High Line plans, Brooklyn dreams, and why he wouldn't mind selling One Madison's clock tower. Go to The Sit-Down by Max Abelson. Deeds and Deals A Week in New York Real Estate

Fasten the safety belts: After standing ovations on the festival circuit, cult director Paul Verhoev  read more »

LOS ANGELES—On this Wednesday, April 12, some 30 people will gather in a cramped West Hollywoo  read more »

The night of April 8 is going be a big, big, BIG one for HBO.  read more »

L.A. Times May Have Dumped Grazer, But It Could Have Been Rummy    read more »

L.A. Times May Have Dumped Grazer, But It Could Have Been Rummy    read more »

On Thursday morning, Dalton Conley, chair of sociology at New York University, sent out a pair of emails, one to the Los Angeles Times and one to the office of Hollywood producer Brian Grazer. He wanted to confirm something, which he had just heard about in a voice mail from the Media Mob.

Was the publisher of the Times, in fact, considering killing off the upcoming special opinion section of the paper, guest-edited by Mr. Grazer?  read more »

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Conley received confirmation from both camps. Sure enough, the Times had decided to spike the entire section amidst concern about a romantic relationship between editorial page editor Andres Martinez and a publicist close to Mr. Grazer.

It was a kind of ritual offering: Told that a neighbor on Riverside Drive was forsaking the Hudson&r  read more »

The current cover of Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood Issue—the biggest wet smackeroo poss  read more »

   read more »

"I find this environment disturbing, as someone who made a film that’s been nominated&mda  read more »

Danièle Thompson’s Avenue Montaigne (Fauteuils d’Orchestre), from a screenplay by  read more »

“My mom and sister are acting like they won the lottery.  read more »

I’m totally haggard.  read more »

The diamond mines of Sierra Leone are a long way from the Hilton New York, the gaudy midtown tourist  read more »

Elena, a writer of self-help books at work on Here’s How: To Do EVERYTHING Correctly!, and Max  read more »

By all accounts—most notably the amusingly disenchanted commentaries by Caryn James, David Car  read more »

Let’s be blunt, as befits our author.    read more »

When Sundance Film Festival programming director Geoff Gilmore stood before a sold-out crowd at the  read more »

On March 17, Cobble Hill–based Web prankster Ze Frank will end his daily, year-long Internet v  read more »

Every year, the media tends to beat certain words, phrases and concepts to death.  Remember the  read more »

Dear Hollywood,    read more »

Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima has been made from a screenplay by Japanese-American fi  read more »

Bill Condon’s Dreamgirls, from his own screenplay, with music from the original production by  read more »

At the GOOD Magazine party last night celebrating the second issue of the guide for do-gooders, Albert Gore III sat down for a rare interview. The young Mr. Gore - he's 24, and goes by Albert, not Al (and never 'lil Gore') - had lots of nice things to say about GOOD, where he is the associate publisher. He also had a little something to say about his father's presidential ambitions: Al Gore's not running.

"The political environment right now is incredibly toxic," said Mr. Gore, acknowledging that he was "running the risk of repeating some of what my dad has already said." He wore jeans, a blue polo shirt and a dark blue blazer. He has blond hair and fair skin - a sort of Nordic version of dad. "There's way too much money involved. It's not one person, one vote any more. It's really one dollar one vote or something equivalent to that. The more money you have the more power you have in politics, and the type of populism that my grandfather, I guess, conducted himself with, and the same with my father - I'm not sure there's as much room for that as there was. And, I don't know, I don't plan to go into politics for a lot of the same reasons - well, I don't know all of his reasons - but I know that he has no plans to run in 2008."

In the years since Al Gore has been out of office, Al and Albert have grown tighter than ever. They spend a lot of time talking and it's not all global warming, "though that's definitely his passion," said the son. "He's one of the smartest people I've ever met in my life, he's my best friend, and he's taught me more than anyone," he said. "I think that the country would be a lot better off but selfishly I'm glad that I get to spend a lot more time with him and I'm glad that he gets more days off a year."

And he's making more money, right?

"Well, and he's working in Hollywood. He's in my neighborhood all the time. He worked very hard in the years that he was in the White House and now I get to see him all the time and I treasure every moment."

So he's definitely not running?

"Well, I guess I have to add his addendum. I think the way he always says it is, 'I don't see any circumstances under which I would run for president.'"

-- Spencer Morgan

• Way better than any MLB or NFL or NBA award, REBNY's Rookie Salesperson of the Year award has gone to Corcoran's $25-million-woman, Julie Pham. It took six seconds for Ms. Pham's Web site to boast about her new honors. [The Real Deal]
• Warhol's artful seaside Montauk estate, once listed for $50 million, may be going to J. Crew's CEO for less than $30 million. But don't weep for Warhol's estate. [NY Mag via Curbed]
• Bonus PR Release of the Month: Ever wonder what age-old material makes for a "Uniquely Beautiful, Durable & Environmentally Safe" add-on to the wealthy New Yorker's home? It's 2-inch planks of solid bamboo, of course! Click below to read more about the marble of the Green Era. (And it's from Hollywood!)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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It seemed, on that hot, hazy spring day in 1974, as though the entire population of Nashville had tu  read more »

Not much to give thanks for this Thanksgiving, but it’s a good time to play catch-up.  read more »

Posterity, and many high-end critics, seem to have simultaneously arrived at the general proposition  read more »

Outside the valet station of L’Ermitage hotel in Beverly Hills on a recent evening, the actor  read more »

Outside the valet station of L’Ermitage hotel in Beverly Hills on a recent evening, the actor Jame  read more »

Posterity, and many high-end critics, seem to have simultaneously arrived at the general proposition  read more »

Competition is heating up between two of the city's biggest tanning salons. Hollywood Tans plans to open its fifth Manhattan location in January at 1789 First Avenue (between 92nd and 93rd Streets)--the company's second such pseudo-sun center on the Upper East Side.

Hollywood's new 2,000-square-foot radiation-plex more closely encroaches on the turf of rival Beach Bum Tanning, whose 24-hour 3,100-square-foot pigment palace sits less than 10 blocks away at 86th and Lex.

Not to be outshined, Beach Bum will unveil its fourth faux-soleil venue in Manhattan the same month on 14th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)--less than 10 blocks from Hollywood's Washington Square-area facility.

"Competition just makes us all stronger," said Beach Bum VP James Oliver.  read more »

Not to mention brown-oranger.

- Chris Shott

• For $250 per hour (or $450 per room) decorators named microdesigners (aka accessorizers) will rearrange your Fifth Avenue apartment's "household knickknacks." It's all the rage, so now there are enlightening community college classes teaching tablescaping. (WSJ)
• The Voice's Best of NYC issue lists Astor Place Tower as "the best example of a building that never should have gone up." Plus, Clinton Hill's Broken Angel Building is "the best home turned hot movie set." Hot? Does VV know the ancient place suffered a horrendous fire this month? (Village Voice)
• Japan's Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa are working on their dizzy new New Museum. If you spend too much time staring at the stacked-box framing on Bowery below Houston, it might just freak you out. (Curbed)
• America is finally stealing New York's celebrity real estate secrets. But is every urban (or suburban) development with a Hollywood (or sub-Hollywood) name attached to it a roaring success? There's been failure for Ivana, George and Brad--but victories for Martha, Shaq, Nikki, Andre and Steffi. (Forbes, via The Real Deal)
• In this uncertain and turmoil-filled world, it's nice to know that hip Americans still enjoy buying a Parisian pied-a-terre or two. Paris' statistics are convincing: prime real estate sells for $645 per square foot, compared to $1,900 in Manhattan (and $2,300 in London). But be warned that the French co-op boards aren't fun, and chic neighborhoods still have chic prices. (International Herald Tribune)
- Max Abelson  read more »
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My Uncle Was Real Flyboy   To the Editor:    read more »

Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia, from a screenplay by Josh Friedman, based on the novel by J  read more »

Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia, from a screenplay by Josh Friedman, based on the novel by James  read more »

“Using every threat, contract, and influence I could muster”: That’s John Huston i  read more »

“Using every threat, contract, and influence I could muster”: That’s John Huston in his 1980 a  read more »

Her shoes should have warned him.  read more »

It’s a bird! It’s a plane!  read more »

It’s a bird! It’s a plane!  read more »

Her shoes should have warned him.  read more »

WHICH TABLOID reported a false rental price for an ex-Beatle's ex?

Today's Page Six reports:

Heather Mills can thank her ultra-rich Hollywood pals for her quality time in the Hamptons this past weekend--she had the use of a stunning oceanfront home in Amagansett and didn't pay a dime for it, Page Six has learned. Earlier this week, it was reported that Mills was shelling out close to $80,000 for a weeklong Hamptons rental so she could be near Beatrice, her 2-year-old daughter with Paul McCartney.

It was reported, was it? And where might it have been reported?

Mills, who usually calls Britain home, is shelling out $80,000 a week to rent a posh East Hampton pad located near estranged hubby Paul McCartney's retreat, where he has been vacationing with their 2-year-old daughter, Beatrice.

-New York Post, Sept. 4

Dick Zanuck was on the phone from London, where he’s in pre-production on a Tim Burton–d  read more »

Dick Zanuck was on the phone from London, where he’s in pre-production on a Tim Burton–directed  read more »

Johnny Drama: What a great character!  read more »

If part of Hollywood’s appeal is the lure of the artificial—not the entirety of its appe  read more »