The Culture Czar | The New York Observer

What's Worth Downloading on Google Books?

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:15:14 -0400

The e-reader battle rages on as Google has announced the release of more than a million public domain books in the open, ePub format. ePub is a document format that makes it easier for anyone with an iPhone, a BlackBerry or a Sony eReader to access books on mobile devices--no need for a fancy new Kindle! Google's support of ePub comes shortly after Sony's announcement that it was switching to ePub for its own...

The Russians Did Save the Art Market!

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:58:43 -0500

The auction of Yves Saint Laurent's art collection in Paris last night brought in an astounding $262 million, according to Bloomberg. In fact, the sale set records for works of seven of the major artists, including Henri Matisse's 1911 still life of cowslips in a vase titled Les coucous, tapis bleu et rose, a 1922 Piet Mondrian abstract Composition With Blue, Red, Yellow and Black, and a 1921 Marcel Duchamp readymade of a perfume...

The Observer's Own Adam Begley to Write Updike Bio for HarperCollins

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:00:08 -0500

Adam Begley, The Observer's longtime book review editor, has signed on with HarperCollins to write a biography of John Updike, who died last month of lung cancer at the age of 76. Mr. Begley sold the book through the literary agent George Borchardt, and will be edited by Tim Duggan. The publication date is set for 2011.

Speaking from his home in London, Mr. Begley said Mr. Duggan first approached him about doing a book...

Single Person's Movie: Meet the Parents

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:32:17 -0500

It's 2 a.m. and you awake with a jerk, alone in your fully lit apartment and still on the couch. On TV, the credits of some movie you've already seen a billion times are scrolling by. It feels like rock bottom. And we know, because we're just like you: single.

Need a movie to keep you company until you literally can't keep your eyes open? Join us tonight when we pass out to Meet...

Tom Cruise: The Comeback Kid!

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:27:00 -0500

A funny thing happened on the way to the funeral being held for Tom Cruise's career ... Valkyrie became a hit. Well, maybe calling it a "hit" is a bit too much. But still, the film, which was dragged through the muck for the better part of a year, grossed a respectable $153 million dollars worldwide and saw critics bending over backwards to say it was "not bad." Not bad! Couple that with his...

Facebook: Nevermind! We're Reverting to the Old Terms

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:12:02 -0500

After confronting an online uproar and a federal complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Facebook revised their terms of service early Wednesday morning, reverting to their original privacy policy. In early February, Facebook removed a portion of its terms of service that gave users the right to delete their content at any time, and the license would be null and void. They then added the rights for Facebook to keep their users’ content...

The Academy Awards Go Disney

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:38:30 -0500

We're not sure if you realize this, but the Oscars are this Sunday! We'd say they snuck up on us, but since the awards season is now longer than a pregnancy, we'd be lying to you if we did. The Hugh Jackman-hosted 81st annual Academy Awards were supposed to be cloaked in secrecy, but fortunately for us, producers Bill Condon and Laurence Mark are leaking information out faster than Scooter Libby and Dick Cheney...

Watchmen-mania at a Fever Pitch on the Internets!

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 08:30:07 -0500

That sound you hear rumbling in the background isn't your CPU tower about to explode from overuse (seriously, you should think about turning your office computer off when you go home), it's the geek stampede about to unleash itself over Watchmen. We're nearly two weeks away from Zack Snyder's "visionary" take on the groundbreaking Alan Moore graphic novel, and the internet is ripe with embargo-breaking reviews and first glimpses of the 163-minute movie. So strap...

We Love You, Hollywood's New Trend

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:25:38 -0500

Whether it's dual movies about giant asteroids hitting earth or a couple of television programs dealing with the inner workings of a late night sketch comedy show, we're always up for a good Hollywood trend. While Entertainment Weekly has already gone ahead and proclaimed mall cops as the trend of 2009, we've actually found something a little more substantial to hang our hats on. As they say, trends always come in threes anyway, right?...

Facebook's New Terms: We're Gonna Use Your Content However We Want to and Keep it Forever [UPDATED]

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:04:32 -0500

If you aren't already, you might want to be extra careful about what you post on Facebook. The site recently revised some critical words in their terms of service agreement which some claim allows them to use your pictures, videos, updates, or whatever else you post on the social network however they want to, for as long as they want to, even if you delete your profile.

UPDATE: Mark Zuckerberg wrote a response to the...

The Week in DVR: Redford, Newman, Harold and Kumar Make it Movie Week!...Plus, Conan's Last Late Nights

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 10:50:29 -0500

Monday: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
As part of their "31 Days of Oscar," Turner Classic Movies is pulling out all of your dusty old favorites this month. So here's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, one of those movies where everything clicks into place like a tumbler in a lock. William Goldman's Oscar-winning screenplay is tight and effortless; Robert Redford and Paul Newman do it all with their patented brand of...

Long Out-of-Print Cheever Story Will Be Serialized Next Week on FiveChapters.com

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:35:47 -0500

A long out-of-print short story by John Cheever that was first published in the 1943 collection The Way Some People Live will appear in serialized form next week at the Web site FiveChapters.com.

The story, which is included in a forthcoming Library of America collection, is called "Of Love: A Testimony." It came to Dave Daley, the editor of FiveChapters.com, by way of Cheever’s son Ben, who told him about The Way Some People...

Jonah Hill Gets Seven-Figure Deal, Enters Wilderness

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 08:38:21 -0500

Apparently when Jonah Hill goes to sell a screenplay, he comes prepared with a full complement of talent. Universal Studios has reportedly paid the Superbad star seven figures for The Adventurer's Handbook, a script he co-wrote with his friends Matt Spicer and Max Winkler, and the plan is for the film to co-star Mr. Hill and Jason Schwartzman while being directed by The Lonely Island's Akiva Schaffer (who you might know as "the guy...

Opening this Valentine's Day Weekend: Camp Crystal Lake is for Lovers! Plus, Clive Owen Fights a Bank

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 08:33:49 -0500

As the Hollywood box office machine chugs along (in case you were wondering, Paul Blart will hit $100 million dollars this weekend; expect the rain of frogs to follow shortly thereafter), we've found ourselves concentrating on larger issues besides film revenue. Like: Is anyone actually buying this Joaquin Phoenix thing? His whole "I'm-retiring-from-acting-to-become-a-rap-star-and-Casey-Affleck-is-going-to-film-it" shtick has already been pretty much debunked. And, more importantly, with the exception of his Fleet Foxes-like beard, did any of...

Get Ready to Rock With Sonic Youth

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:17:26 -0500

Happy Thursday! Pitchfork has breaking details about Sonic Youth's highly anticipated 16th studio album and followup to 2006's Rather Ripped: June 9 release date; title is The Eternal (as in, Sonic Youth has been around for an eternity and they are eternally cool!).

The Eternal will be the first album by the band, newly signed to Matador Records, to be released on an indie label since its landmark 1988 LP, Daydream Nation. Guitarist Thurston...

After Months of Negotiations, Steve Rubin Becomes 'Publisher At Large' at Random House

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:24:45 -0500

When Markus Dohle announced the restructuring of Random House back in December, one knot left untied was the fate of Steve Rubin, who had been with the company, in one capacity or another, for more than 20 years. His most recent job there, as president and publisher of the Doubleday Broadway Group, was eliminated as part of the restructuring, and for a second there it looked like another one of the industry's most visible...

Christopher Nolan's Next Film Will Not Star Batman

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:39:48 -0500

Fresh off his completely ridiculous snub from the Academy Awards (not that we're still bitter), Christopher Nolan is ready to make another picture. And if you had selected "sequel to The Dark Knight", you lost! The director and his Dark Knight studiomates, Warner Brothers, have agreed to what Variety calls a "whopping seven figure deal" on Inception, an original screenplay that Mr. Nolan wrote and plans to direct. The science-fiction flick is described as...

Single Person's Movie: Children of Men

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:32:29 -0500

Need a movie to keep you company until you literally can't keep your eyes open? Join us tonight when we pass out to...

How Will Grey's Anatomy Get Rid of T.R. Knight, Anyway?

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:33:31 -0500

By now you've no doubt heard the completely unsurprising news that Katherine Heigl and T.R. Knight are going to leave Grey's Anatomy at the end of the current season. James Pickens Jr., better known as the Chief of Seattle Grace hospital, spilled the beans to US Weekly during this past weekend's NAACP Awards luncheon, but Michael Ausiello over at Entertainment Weekly reports that Mr. Pickens might have spoken out of turn ever-so-slightly. While it...

The Lonely Island Gets On a Boat, Releases Album

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:24:46 -0500

When he first became a cast member on Saturday Night Live, Andy Samberg was easy to dismiss as nothing more than the watered down love child of Adam Sandler and Jimmy Fallon. Hell, his name even sounded like "Sandler"! (We can't be the only ones who called him "Andy Sandler" during his first year, can we?) But something happened before everyone could type cast Mr. Samberg into irrelevancy: he found a niche. While no...

Steve Ross and Lisa Gallagher Out at HarperCollins Amid Major Restructuring

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 11:20:01 -0500

HarperCollins announced a major restructuring this morning that will see the four-year-old Collins division folded under the jurisdiction of Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham.

Lisa Gallagher, the head of the William Morrow group, has also been laid off, and the division will move under Avon publisher Liate Stehlik.

Much more on the ramifications of this soon. For now, the memo from HarperCollins number two Michael Morrison.

MEMORANDUM

February 10, 2009

Noah Baumbach Hires Mumblecore's Meryl Streep, Readies Greenberg

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:41:52 -0500

Despite our dislike for so much of Margot at the Wedding, particularly the final thirty minutes, count us amongst the very many fans of Noah Baumbach. But with the exception of a bizarre short film that he directed for Saturday Night Live last year, Mr. Baumbach has been in relative hiding since 2007 (we guess that adaptation of Claire Messud's The Emperor's Children for Ron Howard is taking longer than he anticipated.) So we're...

Is Seth Rogen a Movie Star?

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 08:34:21 -0500

We've been pretty hard on Seth Rogen during the last six months. Pineapple Express failed to live up to our expectations (though admittedly, those expectations might have been pitched too high); Zach and Miri Make a Porno was an utter train wreck (though admittedly, that had more to do with Kevin Smith than anything Mr. Rogen had control over); and The Green Hornet has been a mess from jumpstreet--a bad idea all-around that may...

Random House Prevails in Battle for Diane Keaton's Memoir

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 11:44:18 -0500

A long competition over Diane Keaton’s memoir, which compelled some of New York’s busiest editors and publishers to clear their schedules last week and fly to Los Angeles to meet the actress, drew to a close Friday night.

The winner—sorry HarperCollins, Ecco, and Little, Brown—was the flagship imprint of Random House. David Ebershoff, who has edited Norman Mailer, Gary Shteyngart, and Charles Bock, will work with Ms. Keaton, who intends to write...

The Grammy Awards: Or How Carrie Underwood's Voice and M.I.A's Belly Stole the Show

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 08:28:56 -0500

We didn't plan on watching the 51st Grammy Awards (see the winners here), but all the glitz and ridiculousness simply sucked us in. This show was so humongous that U2 was the opening band! Let's put it this way: pop chanteuse Katy Perry got lowered onto the stage in a 20 foot-long banana before she sang her drive-by lesbian hit "I Kissed a Girl" and it still wasn't the most bananas thing we witnessed...

The Week in DVR: Life on Mars, Whedon's Dollhouse, Cheadle's Best

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 11:25:23 -0500

Monday: Be Kind Rewind
If you can't wait until Sunday to see the Michel Gondry–directed episode of Flight of the Conchords, check out his most recent, enjoyably lo-fi film. Two video store clerks (the excellent Mos Def and grating Jack Black) remake movies like Ghostbusters and Rush Hour 2 using household products, cardboard and some forced perception. Be Kind Rewind's greatest strength is its brevity. This thing is light as meringue; you can...

Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt Do Battle on Thursday Night

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:39:34 -0500

We don't usually get all wrapped up in the comings and goings of celebrity couples, but when it comes to Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt we make an exception. With apologies to Brangelina, could there be a better-looking match? We all know Mr. Hamm as the smooth-as-silk Don Draper, but for those of you who aren't cyberstalkers like us, his longtime girlfriend is nothing to sneeze at. You might remember Ms. Westfeldt as the...

Opening this Weekend: The Date Movie to End All Date Movies! Plus, Dakota Fanning Times Two and Steve Martin Goes French

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:32:52 -0500

A funny thing happened during the month of January … Hollywood figured out a way to make some money—a lot of money. Contrary to popular belief, January wasn't the coldest month on the fiscal calendar for studio executives, as no less than eight (!) movies opened with more than $19 million in ticket sales, and, overall, a record $1 billion (!!) was accrued at the box office. (At least we know Hollywood doesn't need...

Single Person's Movie: Transformers

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:25:57 -0500

It's 2 AM and you awake with a jerk, alone in your fully-lit apartment and still on the couch. On TV, the credits of some movie you've already seen a billion times are scrolling by. It feels like rock bottom. And we know, because we're just like you: single.

Need a movie to keep you company until you literally can't keep your eyes open? Join us tonight when we pass out to Transformers [starting...

Lost Reveals Getting Easier to Spot

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:20:58 -0500

Maybe because we're such big fans of Lost we expect too much. Because despite dwindling ratings (dirty little secret of 2009: Lie to Me is doing better on Wednesday nights than Lost), plenty of people seem to be onboard with the direction the show has taken. Even last night, the best episode of the season and an unqualified success--finally some focus and balance between the storylines!--we had some issues. We won't even bother restating...

Talk Nerdy to Me: RAMcakes Compete to be Daily Candy's 'Don Juan of the Database'

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 11:56:36 -0500

"Ladies, start your hard drives." Daily Candy has announced the finalists for its Get With the Programmer contest, a search for the "Don Juan of the Database," which was first announced late last month. Nominees were submitted by Daily Candy readers. They announced the finalists today and the "RAMcake" with the most votes will be announced on February 13th, just in time to snag the guy for a Valentine's Day dinner. And both the...

Viking Books Continues Buying Streak With Seven-Figure Plouffe Deal

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:49:58 -0500

The auction for David Plouffe's account of the 2008 campaign has ended, and the winner is Viking Books. According to the AP's Hillel Italie, who first reported news of the deal this morning, the Penguin Group imprint is paying Mr. Plouffe a sum in between $1.5 and $2 million dollars. Robert Barnett, the Washington lawyer who brokered the deal, told the AP in an interview that Viking beat out 16 other imprints for the...

Hey, John Carpenter! Have You Thought About Retiring?

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:47:38 -0500

This has been the slowest news week (entertainment-wise) in recent memory, so a story about John Carpenter making a horror movie with Amber Heard seems like something earth-shattering, even if it totally isn't. The director will guide the Pineapple Express actress in The Ward, a scary flick about a young girl who gets trapped in an old mental institution and gets chased by a nefarious ghost. (Seriously? Didn't that movie just come out last...

Can One of Google's Ex-'Creative Maximizers' Make a Travel Site Fly?

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:55:59 -0500

Dorothy McGivney found her job at Google on Craigslist when she was 23 years old. The Long Island native worked for the Internet’s most influential company at their New York office for six years as a "Creative Maximizer," which meant she analyzed the ads that ran on Google and made them more effective. Eventually, she'd become a manager and represent Google in lectures and conferences, speaking about their products and ad strategies. But Ms....

Watch Viola Davis' Doubt Performance Online

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 07:43:28 -0500

If you're tired of listening to Christian Bale eviscerating Terminator Salvation cinematographer Shane Hurlbut for distracting him during a shot (and honestly, you shouldn't be, because it is the most insane thing ever), we've found another way for you to spend your lunch hour. The New York Times has been kind enough to post nearly all of Viola Davis' Oscar nominated performance from Doubt on their website. (Unfortunately there's no embed code, but you...

Angelology Author Goes With Molly Stern; Gets a Million Dollar Movie Deal

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:29:37 -0500

Last week The Observer reported that Danielle Trussoni, author of the memoir Falling Through the Earth, had sold her debut novel, Angelology, to Viking Books, and was trying to decide which editor at the Penguin imprint she would rather work with. There were two gunning for the privilege: Molly Stern, who oversees all fiction at Viking, and Pam Dorman, who is in the early stages of starting her own eponymous imprint there. Ms. Trussoni...

Zaydes Say The Darndest Things: Web Site Lets Alter Kakers Crack Wise

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:24:05 -0500

Old people are funny. It's true. For proof, check out Old Jews Telling Jokes.

Launched in late January, the site was cooked up by Sam Hoffman, a New York-based shorts director who's also served as an assistant director to Wes Anderson, Woody Allen, Tim Robbins, Brian DePalma and others. It is exactly what you’d think it is: online videos of 60-plus-year-old Jews telling their best jokes. The short portraits are shot in a...

Hot Tickets: Throbbing Gristle at Brooklyn Masonic Temple; On Sale at 3 p.m.

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:03:01 -0500

We hear via Brooklyn Vegan that Throbbing Gristle, the pioneering avant-garde/industrial/post punk band formed in England in the mid-1970s, is playing New York City for the first time ever on April 16 at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple. They're also scheduled alongside The Cure, My Bloody Valentine and Paul Weller for day three of the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. a few days later. As Prefix points out, Throbbing Gristle,...

Amazon Now Taking Submissions for Second Annual 'Breakthrough Novel' Contest

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:13:01 -0500

Amazon and Penguin Group USA announced this morning that from now until February 8th they're accepting submissions for their second annual Breakthrough Novel contest. Like last year's champion, a Brooklyn-born fellow named Bill Loehfelm who wrote a thriller called Fresh Kills, the winner of this year's contest will receive a $25,000 book deal from Penguin.

To reach that mantle, you must get past several juries, starting with the chorus of Amazon's Expert Reviewers and...

Super Bowl XLIII Recap: One Good Quarter, One Good Commercial, One Michael Cera in a Loincloth

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:28:33 -0500

That turned out to be quite a game, huh? After nearly putting us to sleep through the first three quarters, Super Bowl XLIII lived up to its moniker with a fourth quarter that will most certainly be described as "for the ages." Meanwhile, from a viewing standpoint, the coverage was bloated, distended and rough around the edges. … Y'know, a typical Super Bowl. The highlight of the three-hour pregame show, Matt Lauer's interview with...

The Week in DVR: Don Draper Visits 30 Rock, Woody Wins With Wiest, Our Favorite Bond

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 09:45:18 -0500

Monday: Chuck
Now that Hugh Laurie and his dreamy blue eyes (so much brighter in HD!) have moved to Mondays at 8, we're pretty much resigned to the fact that Chuck won't be around for a third season. But! Rather than get down in the dumps about its inevitable ouster, we'll enjoy the show while we can. The push for Chuck's first new episode of 2009 has been relentless, most likely because it's...

Super Bowl XLIII Preview: Forget the Game, What About the Movie Trailers?

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:11:09 -0500

We all know the old adage that most people only watch the Super Bowl to see the commercials. Fair enough; but that will especially be true on Sunday, as Super Bowl XLIII sees the Pittsburgh Steelers battle the Arizona Cardinals in a matchup that seemed about as believable before the season started as whatever time-travel shenanigans are happening on the current season of Lost. Seriously, the Arizona Cardinals? Nothing says Super Bowl like a...

Opening this Weekend: Liam Gets Angry, Renee Gets Cold and Yet Another Horror Movie!

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:16:15 -0500

Fresh off a wide(r) release and 10 Oscar nominations, Slumdog Millionaire seemed positioned perfectly for the backlash that goes hand-in-hand with having front-runner status. But did anyone expect it to happen so soon? This week, stories splashed all over the Internet claiming the child actors in the film didn't receive adequate compensation for their performances and were still living in complete squalor in the slums of Mumbai. Uh-oh! Not to worry, says director Danny...

Updike in Springfield: Author Recalling His Appearance on The Simpsons

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:17:53 -0500

Here's one more tribute to John Updike, who died yesterday at the age of 76: "Insane Clown Poppy," The Simpsons episode in which Mr. Updike made a cameo (along with Tom Wolfe, Stephen King, and Amy Tan).

In the book Updike in Cincinnati (Ohio University Press, 2007), the author explains how he came to appear on the show in 2000:

I used to watch The Simpsons faithfully until they changed the hour when it...

Vanessa Mobley Leaving Penguin Press

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:56:34 -0500

Vanessa Mobley, one of the top book editors in New York, is leaving The Penguin Press, where she has worked under publisher Ann Godoff since 2006.

Several sources said it was her own decision.

Ms. Mobley, widely thought to be among the most talented 30-somethings in town when it comes to editing non-fiction, has worked with writers such as Samantha Power, Caroline Elkins, Clay Shirky, and Matt Bai. In the past year, she has...

'80s Nostalgia Alert! A-Team Movie Going Forward

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:35:50 -0500

If you have a problem... if no one else can help... and if you can find them... maybe you can buy advanced tickets to see... The A-Team. After what seems like years of gesticulations, 20th Century Fox is finally going full-steam ahead with a big screen adaptation of the cult 80s television show, which is expected to hit theaters during the summer of 2010. Director Joe Carnahan will replace the once-attached John Singleton at...

John Updike Dies at 76

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:26:23 -0500

John Updike died today at the age of 76 after a battle with lung cancer. Paul Bogaards, the executive publicity director at Knopf, confirmed the news just now. He said there are no details about services yet but that they would made available later today.

My, What High Definition Blue Eyes You Have!

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:42:52 -0500

So! We've had this sort of thing for House for awhile now. We know, we know, the episodes are formulaic -- crazy weird disease with no one knowing what to do! Forty-five minutes to almost kill the patient tying to find out what's wrong before the answer is found through Dr. House's sheer brilliance in the last 11 minutes!--and we happen to know that there is no such shiny hospital called Princeton-Plainsboro (nor can...

Release: Becky Saletan Joins Riverhead Imprint of Penguin as Editorial Director

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:55:59 -0500

A statement just went out from the Riverhead imprint of Penguin Group USA that Becky Saletan is joining the team as as Editorial Director, a position from which she will acquire and edit "a broad range of narrative nonfiction, in such areas as science, travel, natural history, current affairs, the environment and food, as well as literary fiction."

Ms. Saletan, who resigned early last month from her position atop the troubled publishing company Houghton...

Aiming for 'The Right Kind of Stupid': Twitter Explained to The New York Times

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:32:54 -0500

Today, The New York Times' Deal Book blog noted a TechCrunch article that reports on Twitter's call for more venture capital funding. Everybody's favorite micro-blogging platform is reportedly signing a term sheet with at least one venture fund, valuing the San Fransisco-based firm at $250 million. Last June, the company raised $15 million from Spark Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Union Square Ventures and Digital Garage.

Twitter has long been a fascination of The Times....