By Drew Grant 2/14 3:11pm

The Ouroboros of Franco

"Hey girl."

NASCAR Grand Marshal James Franco Opens ‘Gay Town’ in Berlin

Hey ladies. You know, on this very special Valentine’s Day, you’re not looking for a dozen roses or a bear holding a box of chocolate. You’re not looking for hearts, or balloons, or even a book of homemade coupons offering “I O U = One (1) Free Massage During a Screening of Crazy, Stupid Love on Our DVD Player (Your Choice, Non-Transferable).”

No girl, what really gets your motor running (pun intended) is to have artist/actor/Grand Marshal for the Daytona 500 James Franco show you the collection for his latest installation exhibit in Berlin, “Gay Town.” Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 12/18/12 6:40pm

Moviegoing

Mr. Riley (Photo: Emily Anne Epstein)

You Don’t Know Jack: Brit Actor Sam Riley Talks Taking on Kerouac in On the Road

Filming didn’t get off to a great start for On the Road star Sam Riley, who plays narrator Sal Paradise in the adaptation of the Jack Kerouac classic. As the movie opens, Paradise’s father has just died, and fellow Brit Tom Sturridge, playing Carlo Marx analogue Allen Ginsberg, comes up and whispers a Hebrew dirge in his ear, an attempt at comfort.

There they were, two English guys still relatively early in their careers, excited to be kicking off the making of a movie that took decades to realize. And things went well for a few hours—until suddenly the clouds rolled in, the sky went black and the rain started pelting them like marbles. They took refuge from the thunderstorm in their trailer, wondering whether they might simply be sent home.

“We were laughing that it was Kerouac and Ginsberg pissing on us because they didn’t want two English guys playing them,” Mr. Riley told The Observer, sitting across a coffee table at the Regency Hotel. Read More

By Patrick Clark 8/15/12 8:00am

Cover Story

Illustration: Mark Hammermeister

Our Cheating Hearts: Honor, Integrity and Playing by the Rules are All Out of Style

“I guess I’m not as cynical as you are,” Neil Barofsky, former watchdog for the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program and presently the busiest cynic caught up in the government’s entanglement with the banking business, told The Observer.

In a time when everyone seems to be cheating—and most everyone getting away with it—we’d put it to Mr. Barofsky that there doesn’t seem to be much percentage in honest behavior. If Wall Street executives, tween idols and journalistic heavyweights are shirking the rules to get ahead, doesn’t it make sense for the commoners to do the same? Read More

By The Editors 8/08/12 12:08pm

Opening Shot

Douglas.

The Beginning of the End (of Summer)

Is there anything more beautiful than feeling the cool air of fall start to kick back up? Then again, is there anything more depressing than coming to realize in the very same moment that summer has nearly passed? Sure, we’ve spent these waning days of late July and early August complaining about the heat, but who ever wants to contemplate seasonal change? What did we really do with our summer, after all? Read More

By Foster Kamer 7/25/12 3:21pm

MEDIA BRIEFS

fort_polio

Power Lunch: Is This Another Conde Nast Roman a Clef?

Who’s the character behind the latest bit of Conde Nast roman a clef? What does Barry Diller think of his newly-owned print magazine? What constitutes superficial beauty in a place as fundamentally ugly as D.C.? Did Malcolm Gladwell cause the recession? Does he wish he did? Who is producing the most powerful journalism of the day? And will Robert take K-Stew back? Today’s Power Lunch is brought to you by the Four-Cosmo Circa 2007 Michael’s Expense Account Lunch and Towncar Combo, and offers no real answers to any of those questions. These are your afternoon media briefs:  Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 6/04/12 9:44am

awards shows

Contact.

Jodie Foster Shows Up At MTV Movie Awards

We’re not sure why, but the shy and retiring double Oscar-winner Jodie Foster showed up at last night’s MTV Movie Awards, where she presented the Movie of the Year Award to the fourth Twilight film, Breaking Dawn: Part 1. (How many of the kids in the audience do you think have watched The Accused?) At least Read More

By Stephen Garrett 5/24/12 10:07am

Letter from Cannes

On the Road

Cannes Gets Weird: The Paperboy, On the Road, and Kanye in Qatar

Nicole Kidman pisses on Zac Ephron’s face! Eva Mendes cradles a Parisian sewer troll! A nude Kristen Stewart jerks off Sam Riley and Garrett Hedlund—at the same time! Kanye West unveils the future of cinema inside an enormous white pyramid! Film festivals usually mete out their lunacy with more deliberation. This year, though, after a subdued week of world-class cinema, Cannes got weird fast. Read More