Scarlett Johansson

Barack Obama has really been raking in the indie cred: Scarlet Johansson, Bright Eyes, Morrissey! Add to that list Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie, who was in New York promoting his new solo album late last week when he told MTV News that he’d jumped on the bandwagon, and would be supporting Mr. Obama in the Democratic primaries.  read more »

Scarlett Johansson was born and raised in New York City, but you probably wouldn’t know it from watching this video, in which she stumps for Senator Barack Obama. In the clip, filmed at Carleton College, a small liberal arts institution in Northfield, Minnesota, Ms. Johansson speaks to a group of students in an almost pitch-perfect Standard Midwestern accent. Amid the “yuh knowas” and “makun’ likes,” she recounts the first time she met Mr. Obama, someone she calls “an incredible thinker and mind.” The 23-year-old actress was apparently so “starstruck” by the encounter that a slightly unusual greeting tumbled out of Ms. Johansson’s mouth: “I love your wife!” The presidential hopeful returned the compliment, she tells the crowd, by “paddun me on tha hayd.”

One of the people involved with the new Barack Obama song “Yes We Can” is Tatyana Ali, of Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Fakin’ Da Funk fame, who I bumped into in an elevator after Thursday night’s debate here in Los Angeles.

She predicted the song would be huge.  read more »

Oh, Scarlet Johansson. How hip are thee? Let me count the ways: You played an angsty teen in Ghost World. You appeared with the Jesus and Mary Chain at last year’s Coachella festival, singing backups on the very song that made you a star in Lost In Translation. You campaigned for Barack Obama a few weeks ago in Iowa. And now, you’re prepping for the release of your very own album of Tom Waits covers!  read more »

Woody Allen and Scarlett Johansson are together again, working on a new project that is. Ms. Johansson will make her directorial debut in New York, I Love You, according to Page Six.  read more »

In the years since Cristóbal Balenciaga launched his eponymous fashion label on Avenue George V in Paris during the summer of 1937, his maison de mode has outfitted more than a few recognizable dames. And, as an in-depth New Yorker profile from last year pointed out, Balenciaga, the company, has long depended on the celebrity of its more powerful, repeat patrons, which have included: the de Rothchilds, Paul Mellon, the Duke of Windsor, Prince Rainier, Countess Mona Bismark and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

So it was probably with no small effort that the label chose its newest public “face”—the Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly.  read more »

I guess the most popular fictitious New York nanny will continue to be the one portrayed by Fran Drescher. Oy vey!

The Scarlett Johansson vehicle The Nanny Diaries failed to crack the top five movies in the country with a paltry $7.8 million take over the weekend. In Manhattan, where the film takes place, the film did somewhat better, averaging close to $20,000 per theater and raking in enough to secure the fourth slot on the city’s top-ten list.  read more »

At the Free Arts NYC 8th Annual Art Auction Benefit at the Milk Gallery on Monday, April 23, stars discussed the power of the arts with the Transom.

"Well, just always to encourage someone to seek a creative life is wonderful," said a glowing Naomi Watts, whose dress, by Australian designer Stephanie Conley, gracefully draped her burgeoning pregnant belly. The 38-year-old actress added that she appreciates Live Arts for helping those "struggling with problems." Then she sent someone to fetch her boyfriend, Liev Schreiber--beelining for the bar--so that they could take off early.

"I grew up in a household with a lot of music, and I know that Free Arts isn't necessarily about music, but that was a huge thing for me in my life," said the radiant actress Liv Tyler, 29, who co-chaired the event with Scarlett Johanssen (a no-show). "And creativity in general, especially with my son"--Milo!--"you know, we paint or we draw and we play with Play-Doh and we dance and sing and perform things, and it's such a big part of a child's expression, and there's a lot of children in the city, even in the schools, there's no access to that whatsoever."

Does the brunette beauty have a favorite artist? "I don't! I'm terrible!" Ms. Tyler said. "I don't know that much about art, I mean, I'm very in awe of it. I mean, I love Van Gogh, I really always have, but my husband knows a lot about art and he shows me things."

In complete contrast to Ms. Tyler's delicate whisper, the stylist Rachel Zoe, 35, was practically vibrating as she hollered at friends standing at the far end of the bar.

"I grew up with it," she said of Art. "My parents are collectors, so I came up with it since I came out of the womb. It's important on every level-for education, for culture, for understanding pop culture, it's history, I mean, it's everything, it's a huge influence."
Perhaps not so much on socialite Tinsley Mortimer, flying solo in a white dress, who chatted for a bit with Derek Blasberg and his mini-me pal, former Vogue-temp Lyle Maltz, before making like Ms. Watts and leaving (Liev-ing?). Ms. Mortimer said that she was not giving any interviews "tonight."

How about tomorrow, then?

APRIL 23, 2007

It’s hard to imagine a juicier hostess situation than Scarlett Johansson and Liv Tyler helming the Free Arts N.Y.C. art auction at the Milk Gallery. Giant nightclub gal Amy Sacco helped put this thing together, so you know it’ll have some pizzazz!  read more »

Claude Chabrol’s The Bridesmaid ( La Demoiselle d’Honneur), from a screenplay by Pierre Leccia a  read more »

Claude Chabrol’s The Bridesmaid (La Demoiselle d’Honneur), from a screenplay by Pierre L  read more »

In the annual festival of humidity, it’s hot enough without so many dismal movies polluting th  read more »

The New York Times is reporting that Scarlett Johansson recenlty dropped $1.95 million on a Leonard Street condo.

Built in 1901, this former textile building was converted to condos and brought in some notable tenants; including, Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Ms. Johansson's duplex loft includes 22-foot ceilings, Tuscan walls, Brazilian cherry wood floors, and double-height windows.  read more »

Corcoran brokers Daren Herzberg and Julie Pham had the listing.

- Michael Calderone

“Proof is one of my favorite movies and Gwyneth gave one of the best performances I’ve e  read more »

“ Proof is one of my favorite movies and Gwyneth gave one of the best performances I’ve ever see  read more »

"The slender Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers (from "Bend It Like Beckham") has widely spaced blue eyes, slightly flaring nostrils, and a flattened upper lip—he can look pensive or brutally calculating at will.
[...]
"Scarlett Johansson wears her blond hair up, which brings out the oval shape of her face and the soft beauty of her features, and she, too, has an unusual upper lip, curved and fleshy, and a low, smoky voice." - GAME PLAYING, by David Denby, The New Yorker, January 9, 2006.

"Chiyo, lips painted in a crimson circle, does attain a surpassing chic, but her paramount desire, which is to preserve her virginity for the highest bidder and then become the mistress of a handsome married gent (Ken Watanabe) who was once nice to her as a little girl, isn't very attractive psychologically, and provides little that we can root for." - BEASTS AND BEAUTIES, by David Denby, The New Yorker, December 19, 2005.

"Joaquin Phoenix, who plays Cash in the bio-pic 'Walk the Line,' is a remarkable-looking actor, with deep-set blue eyes, a long chin, and a scarred upper lip that serves as a nice equivalent to Cash's crags and creases." - RINGS OF FIRE, by David Denby, The New Yorker, November 21, 2005.

"Bill Murray has strong cheekbones, a lordly crest of hair, and thin lips that he presses together in an act that suggests self-containment more than disapproval." - LONERS, by David Denby, The New Yorker, August 8, 2005.

Related: "Sally, who always disconcerted me because she was lushly beautiful, and in dark auburn colors, like the one model in the fashion magazine who did not conform to cliché, Sally with her soft lips and lustrous head of reddish-brown hair had never said anything that was the least bit interesting..." - Great Books, by David Denby, 1997, p. 168.

"One of Shapiro's students, Francesca, a tall young woman with ripely rosy lips and a head of tousled hair, spoke English so well, with so little accent, that I had hardly noticed she was Italian." - ibid, p. 238.  read more »

—Matt Haber

Up to here with aliens, action-comic heroes, chocolate factories and pimps who want to be rap stars,  read more »

Up to here with aliens, action-comic heroes, chocolate factories and pimps who want to be rap stars,  read more »

Meet Zooey Deschanel, reluctant dauphine of the Sundance Film Festival!Ms.  read more »

Film Critics CircleSpoofs Itself  read more »