By Arlene B. Isaacs 12/14/12 5:40pm

Mariska Hargitay with guests at the Me&Ro Holiday Event Benefiting her charity Joyful Heart Foundation yesterday after the awards. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Honoree Mariska Hargitay Tearfully Remembers Mom and Hints at Broadway Dreams at Annual Muse Awards

Last Thursday, more than 1,100 people packed the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Midtown for the 32nd Annual Muse Awards of the New York Women in Film and Television. This wasn’t your typical ladies-who-lunch affair, as a dazzling gaggle of silver screen honorees were acknowledged for their “outstanding vision and achievement.”

The Observer  has attended many a high-powered New York City event, but at this one the atmosphere seemed a bit more genuine with enthusiasm and pride. And no wonder, given how deserving those honored were. Awardees filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson, Kim Martin of WE TV, Lucy Liu and Mariska Hargitay were all celebrated for being women who have persevered, not only having achieved professional success, but having demonstrated commitment towards improving the lives of others. For an industry famed for its self-indulgence, celebrating these women for the opposite was a welcome change.

Debra Zimmerman, executive director of nonprofit Women Make Movies, received the Loreen Arbus award. Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 12/13/12 8:00am

The Eight-Day Week

Lucy Liu

To Do Thursday: We Love Lucy

We thought ladies’ lunches were the province of the warmer months—when you just can’t wait to sneak away from the office (or the manse) for a cool glass of white wine and some cursory salmon destined to be left uneaten—but the Muse Awards are proving us wrong. This ceremony honoring women in the entertainment industry Read More

By Rex Reed 3/13/12 7:33pm

movies

Brody.

Detachment: Rancorous Portrayal of Noble Profession Lectures Incoherently and Fails Narrative 101

Detachment is the latest curiosity from London-born singer-songwriter-painter-film director Tony Kaye, whose first film, a violent exposé of neo-Nazism called American History X, caused a minor sensation in 1998. This one is about a month in the life of a different kind of tortured, alienated soul—the substitute teacher. It opens March 16 but like a flight to nowhere, it’s already available for preboarding on television, where you can catch it anytime on Video on Demand. Read More

By Meredith Bryan 8/08/08 4:18pm

The Fashion Industry Wants a Piece of Olympics Pie

It’s the most fashionable Olympics ever! The fashion industry–usually more well known for lack of nutrition than for athleticism–is now angling for a piece of the Beijing Games. Ralph Lauren outfitted the entire U.S. team for both the opening and closing ceremonies; Lucy Liu posed for an "Olympics"-themed spread in Harper’s Bazaar in which she Read More

By Simon Doonan 10/30/06 12:00am

Proust Positive! My Marcel Party Makes Major Waves

At the risk of sounding a bit elitist and foppish, I must confess that while Madge was trying to save Malawian infants, I spent most of last week attempting to conjure up the ghost of Marcel Proust.

Faced with the challenge of concocting an event to launch the new Lanvin men’s collection at Barneys, I Read More