By Kim Velsey 1/04 10:15am

Manhattan Transfers

Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Marshall.

It’s a Wrap! Hollywood Producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall Sell Central Park Co-op

E.T. phone home? Did Hollywood power couple Kathleen Kennedy (she earned her first production credit on Steven Spielberg’s heartwarming alien flick) and Frank Marshall become too homesick in New York? The L.A.-based producing pair has sold their pied-a-terre at 120 Central Park South and try as we might we can’t find any new purchase under their names.

Certainly the sale is not for lack of funds. In June, Ms. Kennedy left the couple’s husband-and-wife production company to become co-chair of Lucasfilm Ltd. alongside George Lucas. Indeed, if you need to bring together the big bucks and the big names for a crowd-pleasing production, Ms. Kennedy is the one to do it, having worked on not only E.T., but also Raider’s of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List and Munich. Read More

By Hunter Walker 6/08/12 12:52am

L.A. Noir

Luka Magnotta posing in front of the Hollywood Sign in a picture dated to 2007. (Photo: Flickr)

LAPD Investigating Connection Between Luka Magnotta And Hollywood Sign Killing

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the possibility accused Canadian killer Luka Magnotta was involved in a gruesome decapitation and killing where the victim’s head and hands were placed in a wooded area by the Hollywood Sign. The Observer was first to report links between Mr. Magnotta and the Hollywood Sign killing on Monday. We previously alerted police in Montreal amd Los Angeles to the potential connection on Saturday.

“Our detectives are contacting their counterparts in Canada and to see if suspect was in Hollywood at the time,” LAPD spokesman Lyle Knight told ABC News. “It’s an open investigation. Our detectives are trying too see if there is a connection.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 6/06/12 3:25am

Hoaxes

Luka Magnotta posing as James Dean in Los Angeles. (Photo: Luka-Magnotta.Deviantart.com)

Animal Activists Claim Responsibility For Videos Linking Luka Magnotta To Hollywood Sign Killing

Last Chance for Animals, an organization “dedicated to eliminating animal exploitation” has taken responsibility for posting a series of YouTube pages “glorifying” accused Canadian killer Luka Magnotta and referencing the case of a severed head found by the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles earlier this year. According to an LCA press release, these videos were made by their “special investigations unit” in an attempt to “lure in the killer, or his companions, using covert tactics often reserved for law enforcement and intelligence agencies.”

“SIU investigators immediately got to work and posted a video glorifying Magnotta, dubbing him ‘The James Dean Killer,’” the press release said.  ”A second video titled ’1 Man 1 Icon’ was produced to continue the façade using family photos of Magnotta that had not yet been featured in the press.” Read More

By Hunter Walker 6/04/12 2:10pm

L.A. Noir

Luka Magnotta posing as James Dean in Los Angeles. (Photo: Luka-Magnotta.Deviantart.com)

Is Luka Magnotta The Hollywood Sign Killer? [Update]

Could Canadian killer and infamous internet villain Luka Magnotta be behind a Hollywood murder mystery? After an international manhunt, German police say they have arrested Luka Magnotta in Berlin over ten days after he allegedly killed and dismembered a man named Lin Jun, posted a gruesome video of the crime online and mailed the body parts to the headquarters of Canadian political parties. However, The Observer has uncovered information that could potentially link Mr. Magnotta to an infamous case from earlier this year where the severed head and hands of a man were found on a wooded trail near the Hollywood Sign.

Update (6/8/12 8:37 A.M.): The LAPD has confirmed they are investigating the possibility Mr. Magnotta was involved in the Hollywood Sign killing. Read More

By Rex Reed 1/04/12 11:21am

Curtain Call

One-Shot Liz, more widely known as Elizabeth Taylor.

Come on 2011, Why Don’t You Kick Off Your Shoes?

Politically, economically, culturally, globally—except for the elimination of a few unlamented dictators and calling an end to the war in Iraq—2011 had little to offer, and delivered even less. Definitely time to say adios and begin again, with renewed optimism. But before we draw the curtain on the old man with the scythe and welcome the new kid in diapers with his brand-new year to grow, let’s lift a glass in a proper, permanent farewell toast to the folks who filed out through the exit doors in the year just ended. From no-nonsense First Lady Betty Ford, 93, to self-destructive goth singer Amy Winehouse, 27, death played no favorites in age or character. From Elizabeth Taylor, once the world’s most beautiful woman, to Cheetah, always the world’s most beloved chimp, 2011 ran the gamut in important departures. Read More

By Rex Reed 9/13/11 9:00pm

movies

Clooney.

Canada, Not Cannes: Rex Reed Reports From the Toronto International Film Festival

When fall begins, so does the new movie season, and it all happens at the 36th Toronto International Film Festival, a.k.a. TIFF. This is the biggest, friendliest, most organized film fete in the world and a launching pad for both Hollywood Oscar contenders and small low-budget independents, which in the downturn of today’s economic meltdown amounts to the same thing. The crowds seem larger than ever this year as 300,000 people beg, fight and grovel for tickets to see in seven days 336 movies made by everyone from Madonna to Francis Ford Coppola. Politely, of course. This is Canada, not Cannes. For one whole week, you say goodbye to sleep and nutrition and learn to live on pizza and Dove bars. The Scotiabank Theatre, where most of the press screenings grind out from 8 a.m. to midnight, has even installed a Burger King. Nobody says you come to TIFF to get healthy. Read More

By Rex Reed 2/16/11 1:26am

movies

Movie Review: “Unknown” is Better Left That Way

A fine actor who has played everyone from Oscar Wilde to Alfred Kinsey with great acclaim, Liam Neeson seems to have embarked on a new career of making one cheesy bomb after another. Maybe he’s bored. Maybe he just wants to soak up the money and throw in the bath mat. Maybe he needs to Read More