“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

I have two words for the Women’s Movement: Christine Quinn! During the Golden Age of Hollywood women were heralded and revered but with that era long gone, women needed new roles models if they were to ever break from the confines of their traditional place in society. When Bella Abzug, Betty Freidan, Gloria Steinem and Helen Gurley-Brown entered the cultural landscape, there seemed to be hope for the role of women in politics and media that made the tireless work of the Suffragettes begin to finally pay off. Then Helen Reddy roared, Joan Baez claimed her place in the cosmic… Read More »

Everyone’s Best and Worst of the Year lists are out and I am left scratching my head. The thing is: everyone is entitled to their opinion, so who gives one particular shit what one particular person is saying? I recently wrote about The New York Times reviewer Manohla Dargis who I never agree with. What makes her Best List any better than mine? I am equally opinionated and probably ten times funnier, which gives me a leg up on whose opinion should matter. Humor takes smarts, but I digress. The following films are on many Best Lists and my reasons… Read More »

Manohla Dargis loved the movie Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz. Need I say more? That has to be one of the worst movies of the year, yet, to Manohla, she compares Diaz to the bouncy, screw-ball comedy actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood, which is not only sacrilege, but simply not true.… Read More »

Resort has become my favorite collection cycle since the fashion industry realized the value of this critical, transitional shipping period, and more importantly, key press moment. Throughout June, the 2012 Resort collections have made headlines to a fever pitch. Yesterday, Salvatore Ferragamo presented one of my favorite ready-to-wear collections this year, resort or otherwise. Creative director Massimiliano Giornetti conceived the collection with old-world glamour in mind, a nod to the Golden Age of Hollywood when Salvatore first made his name designing shoes for the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren.The collection is simple, elegant, and screams luxury. The company… Read More »

Jean Harlow has been the Star of the Month on my favorite television channel TCM. I have been a long-time fan of Dinner At Eight, which put the actress over the top in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Watching these Harlow films has been a visual delight, between the sets and the gowns by Adrain, but besides that, it is the first time that I got to see how amazing Jean Harlow was as an actress. Granted, the penciled in eyebrows are somewhat distracting or disturbing even, but MGM was keen on shaving off eye brows in order to re-frame… Read More »

Not too long ago, I reported on the new fragrance, Lolavie by Jennifer Aniston, The Sweet Smell of Celebrity. Though she surely is not the first, and clearly not the last movie star to multi-task while branding, this disturbing trend has taken another bow with a celebrity men’s fragrance, called The Secret by Antonio Banderas. Gee, I thought The Secret was a spiritual quest for garnering wealth. Perhaps it still is…but in case…just for Antonio…as opposed to the betterment of mankind. Seems like the new scoop is, in order to be famous, you have to be brand-able. Well, I said… Read More »

Remember when the Oscars meant something? Families would gather round their one television set, snacks piled high. It was the signature event of the movie industry, when actors still held a mystique because they were so inaccessible. Their lifestyles were imagined rather than paraded for the media, only few would speak out in support of injustices or charitable causes and we were kept at arms length from knowing too much what went on behind closed doors. Boy has that all changed. Now, we know so much about everyone that is nominated for each award, that by the time the Oscar… Read More »

What is the deal with nominating ten films for Best Movie for an Academy Award? They needed to add those extra five like I am going to the moon. Sure, they talked on and on about the Golden Age of Hollywood and that they had ten nominees. Yoo hoo, that was when Hollywood was churning out hundreds of movies a month. Of course there were ten nominees. Let’s not compare apples to oranges here. Just because Hollywood is having a blockbuster year, does not make the equivalent of the films comparable to the days of yore. Shall we compare notes?… Read More »

Not many New Yorkers, or humans, for that matter, will have had the pleasure, or rather, the great fortune of seeing Cate Blanchett in A Streetcar Names Desire. The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) was lucky enough to feature the production, directed by Liv Ullman at the BAM Harvey Theater, the coolest venue. I have long been obsessed with great actresses. It started as a child when I happened to notice Bette Davis’ eyes peering from the television screen in Dark Victory. With the blink of those eyes, my life changed. Bette Davis was my first obsession, followed by food,… Read More »

Men, we’ve come a long way since Fred Astaire and the Golden Age of Hollywood, when slicked-back hair, a clean-shaven face, spats, a top hat and tails were in vogue. Today that combination sounds more like a costume than a reality. Through the years our wardrobe has become much more casual, hair lengths went from the top of the ear down to the middle of the back, while beards and mustaches adorned our faces in countless variations. Fred was Elegant Chic and now we have Casual Chic, a term that is readily bandied about. This look could even be a… Read More »