Steve Martin | Observer

By Drew Grant 3/11 3:27pm

Video

Timberlake on Saturday Night Live with Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short (NBC

Justin Timberlake’s Triumphant Return to Saturday Night Live Brings Back Banned Chevy [Video]

We knew this weekend’s Saturday Night Live would be good–Justin Timberlake being to the variety show what fruit and sprinkles are to plain frozen yogurt … just something that you know will make the whole supposed treat actually delicious–but did we know it was going to be history-making? Probably not. From Lorne Michaels lifting the Chevy Chase ban to the Jay-Z duet, the return of Stefon, Andy Samberg AND the classic Festrunk brothers, Mr. Timberlake proved once again he’s the consummate entertainer: a song-and-dance man who also can also land a punchline.

Which is more than we can say for the majority of guest hosts this year. Below, the five best moments from this weekend’s show, along with our favorites. Read More

By Elise Knutsen 6/20/12 12:31pm

Shindigger

Footlights at Fifty: The Public Theater Celebrates a Half-Century With the Bard in Central Park

“We have a Shakespearean, Elizabethean temper,” Al Pacino informed a seated crowd Monday evening in Central Park. As part of its 50th Anniversary Gala, the Public Theater was honoring Mr. Pacino with an award, in the form of a prop rapier he had once wielded on stage, “I’m a little nervous,” he laughed. “I wish I had water, but I have a sword,” Read More

By Daniel D'Addario 2/01/12 4:00pm

tonight in dvr

Promising young comedian Steve Martin. (Getty Images)

Tonight in DVR: Noted Banjo Player Makes Good Movie

We’re not weary of Steve Martin, as such–we’re always delighted on the biennial occasion when he pokes his head out to seek his own shadow, and we still think he’s the great Oscar host. (Take that, Billy Crystal!) But we’re perpetually girding our loins for disappointment, knowing that his next project will very likely be Read More

By Rex Reed 10/11/11 7:21pm

movies

The Big Year is Fowl Play

The Big Year is arguably the best movie ever made about … bird watching? Yes, you heard me right. Now there’s a subject that should have them lined up around the block, fighting to get in. Maybe I’m wrong. A lot of people pay dues to join the Audubon Society. I am not one of them. Read More

By Dan Duray 7/11/11 6:23pm

Apps

Andy Warhol App Deemed Not The Best

The Andy Warhol Museum, having just named a new director, released the Andy Warhol D.I.Y. Pop app today, which allows app-happy Warhol fans to create their own works from the comfort of their iPhones. We decided to give it a spin and see how it stacks up against other apps that allow you to create mimicking works of art. Read More

By Lee Siegel 12/07/10 10:28pm

The Last Critic

Apocalypse Now!

I had something unpleasant happen to me in October. I met an old friend for lunch. Let’s call him Alan. I hadn’t seen Alan for years, not since we were the only male members of the Mahjong team in college. One day he popped up on my Facebook page, asking to friend me. I friended Read More

By Nate Freeman 12/03/10 3:15pm

Slideshow

What Twitter Taught Us: Nobody Puts Steve Martin in a Corner

Another insightful and life-affirming week in the Twitterverse! Sure, you could have spent all your time trying to digest the deluge of revelations in the WikiLeaks cables. That stuff is sort of important. But why do that when you can refresh Twitter.com over and over again, looking for those nuggets that explain the world with Read More

By Steve Huff 9/15/10 9:08pm

Good Times

Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Steve Martin?

We’re not certain there’s such a thing as too much Steve Martin. We’ve already noted Mr. Martin’s entry into the Twitter fray. Now the Times tells us that the white-haired comedian is truly a man on the move these days, what with his tweeting and giving away Read More

By The Editors 9/15/10 6:06pm

Rubric

Look What the Web Dragged In: A Senate Candidate’s SALT and Other Horrible Things Except for Steve Martin

Today the web has dragged in more signs and wonders. Signs that critics of Tea Party-backed Delaware Senate Republican primary winner Christine O’Donnell may be onto something in fearing she’s too bananas to be elected, wonders at how porn parodists ever managed to make a Human Centipede ripoff that isn’t illegal in the United States. Read More

By Sara Vilkomerson 3/08/10 6:34am

Snoozy Oscar-fest Ends Big With Bigelow!

Well, so that happened! Was it just us or were these just the most tediously boring Oscars in ages? And who should we blame? Maybe we should start with the very strange stage design, which we’re guessing was intended to be a nod to old Hollywood glamour, but felt more like an early-’70s Read More

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Justin Timberlake’s Triumphant Return to Saturday Night Live Brings Back Banned Chevy [Video]

Footlights at Fifty: The Public Theater Celebrates a Half-Century With the Bard in Central Park

Tonight in DVR: Noted Banjo Player Makes Good Movie

The Big Year is Fowl Play

Andy Warhol App Deemed Not The Best

Apocalypse Now!

What Twitter Taught Us: Nobody Puts Steve Martin in a Corner

Is There Such a Thing as Too Much Steve Martin?

Look What the Web Dragged In: A Senate Candidate’s SALT and Other Horrible Things Except for Steve Martin

Snoozy Oscar-fest Ends Big With Bigelow!

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