Casting !t: Just Kids
It was announced yesterday via MediaBistro that rock goddess and National Book Award winning author Patti Smith with be helping adapt her amazing memoir Just Kids (my Favor!te book of 2010) for the screen alongside screenwriter and Tony Award winning playwright John Logan.
If you haven’t heard (I can’t see how you haven’t), Just Kids is Smith’s memoir of arriving in New York in 1967 and the then 20 year old’s chance encounter with Robert Mapplethorpe, another 20 year old aspiring artist. It’s her story of their love, their friendship, their art and a New York few would recognize today.
So the question goes out… who would you cast as Smith and Mapplethorpe?
Kristen Stewart (age: 21) and Robert Pattison (age: 25)
Surely these two will be at the top of studio exec’s wish list. Stewart, proved that she could rock in her transformation into Joan Jett in the film biopic The Runaways and the resemblance between the two [rumored] real-life couple to the originals is uncanny. But the fit and the two megastars’ ties to the mega-Twilight-franchise may not hit audiences (or Ms. Smith) the right way.
Frances Bean Cobain (age: 19) and Ezra Miller (age: 18)
The Princess of Grunge as the Godmother of Punk? Can Miss Cobain act? Who knows? But if she can – and would want to step up into the Hollywood world, the photos by Hedi Slimane that recently were released prove she has the look – and the balls – to play Smith. I’d cast the currently almost famous Ezra Miller as Mapplethorpe against Cobain’s Smith. He has the East Village circa 1967 thing down already – and if his performance in the upcoming We Need to Talk About Kevin is as amazing as is being predicted, this could be the massive follow-up he will be looking for.
Emma Watson (age: 21) and Nicholas Hout (age: 21)
Former Harry Potter student Emma Watson seems poised for an image-crashing turn in to catapult her out of Hogwarts. I’d pair her with fellow Brit Nicholas Hout, who came to fame years ago in About a Boy and crashed his own child-star image in the amazing British take on Gossip Girl (but dirtier and better) Skins. His follow-up to that, playing the lovelorn college boy pining for a night with professor Colin Firth in Tom Ford’s A Single Man.
Jennifer Damiano (age: 20) and Eddie Redmayne (age: 29)
Perhaps the modern day Smith and Mapplethorpe might be found forty blocks north of The Village and on Broadway. Jennifer Damiano got amazing attention for her originating role in Spring Awakening. Followed by her Tony-nominated role in Next to Normal. Currently she’s starring in Spider Man. So she should be looking for a new job soon. The Mapplethorpe to Damiano’s Smith? Eddie Redmayne, the Tony award-winning star of Red and the upcoming film My Week with Marilyn.
So who do you think should be cast as Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe in Just Kids?
If he dares wear short shorts
As a straight man who enjoys the freedom of a pair of high and tight swimming trunks, I was heartened by recent news that Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick favors Speedos over “the surfer ones.” I have no problem with baggy surfer trunks, as long as you’re actually catching waves in Oahu or Malibu; but if the only thing you’re catching is sun poisoning at the Soho House pool deck, ditch the cargo-trunks. Somewhere along the line American men abandoned the more flattering trunks that prototypical manly men like Paul Newman (you know, the guy who, at age 80, could drive a car faster, pick up more women, and make better salad dressing than you in your prime) used to sport in their day, in exchange for the current crop of amorphous bathing sacks.
There’s still time to reverse the trend this summer. Check out these alternatives to the modern American monstrosities:
These Apolis Classic swim trunks ($99) are a good gateway for guys who aren’t ready to jump straight from those roomy board shorts into the world of the banana hammock. They have a slim, above-the-knee cut, but you’ll still feel fully-covered enough to play a vigorous game of paddle ball.
Once you’ve gotten accustomed to the slimmer look of your new Apolis, these retro trunks from LA-based Lightning Bolt are a logical next step. Their designs are still surf-inspired, but the 1970s cut is more Hawai’i Five-O than Jersey shore-style bro-trunks:
When you’re ready to take the plunge into full-on Daniel Craig territory, this square cut trunk from Tulio will send a message that you’re confident in your manhood, without landing you in Borat-territory.
Our Favor!te Things 2009: Kevin
Considering he saw (500) Days of Summer eight times (at last count), we’re pretty surprised that our marketing head honcho Kevin Callahan actually had time to enjoy other pop culture delights this year. Apparently he did, and apparently these were his favor!tes.
Favor!te Film: (500) Days of Summer. Because “this is not a love story.” Because in the hands of actors less talented than Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel the movie could have taken an entirely different direction, but what they do in it is remarkable. Because I want to live in Tom Hansen’s apartment. Because of this.
Favor!te Concert: Nirvana, Live at Reading. Because very rarely can you be transported back in time and witness something amazing happen.
Favor!te Album: Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown. Because five years ago Rolling Stone wrote “Tell the truth: did anybody think Green Day would still be around in 2004?” and Green Day not only proved their importance then with American Idiot but far-surpassed it in 2009 with 21st Century Breakdown. Because seeing Billie Joe Armstrong in concert is a religous experience. Because What’s the latest way that a man can die / Screaming hallelujah? Because even though Billie Joe has a son in high school, you still believe him when he tells you how mom and dad will never understand.
Favor!te Book: The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, Reif Larsen. Because every now and then you can get completely lost in the mind of a book’s character and forget that he doesn’t actually exist. Because Reif Larsen has created an inventive forms of storytelling. Because the interrior looks like this.
Favor!te Art-type thingy: Hamlet. Because Jude Law made the funny lines actually funny. Because he didn’t over do “To Be or Not to Be.” Because the scene of Polonius’s murder was the best version I’ve ever seen. Because in my opinion Getrude is the toughest role to have and Geraldine James was incredible in it. Because the costumes and set decorations were brilliant in their simplicities. Because it snowed on stage. Because I’m a Hamlet snob so for me to like it as much as I did, it must be good.
Favor!te Fashion: Hoodies. Because a hoodie under a blazer is warmer than a winter coat. Because 2007 was the last time GAP made a decent hoodie. Because 2007′s hoodies are now perfectly worn-in.
Favor!te TV Show: Gossip Girl. Because I lost a little faith after Seaon 2, but Season 3 has more than made up for it.
Favor!te Blog/Website: HTMLGiant. Because it contained the Best Essay of 2009: Blake Butler‘s “James Joyce does not exist.”
Favor!te Real Housewives: Dina Manzo and Caroline Manzo from Real Housewives of New Jersey. Because they are thick as thieves.
Favor!te Twitterer: @God. Because, well, he’s God.
Favor!te You Tube Video: When Pandas Attack. Because this is the video proof that underneath all that fur, pandas are mean fuckers.
Bonus:
What are you most excited about for 2010? Emile Hirsch’s Hamlet may surprise a lot of people. Ed Westwick as Heathcliff and Gemma Arterton as Cathy in a new Wuthering Heights. And I still have high hopes for Shutter Island.
Who do you most want to smooch on New Year’s Eve? Patricia Highsmith. Because “My New Year’s Eve Toast: to all the devils, lusts, passions, greeds, envies, loves, hates, strange desires, enemies ghostly and real, the army of memories, with which I do battle — may they never give me peace.” – Patricia Highsmith, January 1, 1947. 2:30 am.
The New Must-Have Do
As far as defining moments in hair go, there are just a few hair-idols from the world of television who have changed the look of women across the globe. First there was the Farrah: the flipped out, bouncy hairstyle worn by Farrah Fawcett on “Charlie’s Angels” in the ’70s. Then in the ’90s, there was the “Rachel,” a layered, ultra-angled look named after Jennifer Aniston’s character on “Friends.”
And now, we have “Gossip Girl hair.” According to The New York Times, the new must-have hair style is: extra long, ultra-shiny blond with a mussed-up tussle frolicking through the ends, as inspired by Blake Lively, the 22-year-old actress who plays Serena van der Woodsen on “Gossip Girl.” Those coveted tresses are all about extremes — extremely blond, extremely long, and extremely tousled. The NYT article speaks to the popularity of the cut, but also how expensive it is to maintain, calling it “aspirational.”
As if there’s a part of Gossip Girl’s designer couture, Upper East Side lifestyle that isn’t.
O…M…Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl has finally returned to Monday nights and we couldn’t be happier (did you catch last night’s episode?!?) But if the once a week episodes still aren’t enough to cure your GG cravings, then be sure to check out Anna Sui’s new line for Target. The 19 looks are inspired by Gossip Girl’s four female leads – Serena, Blair, Jenny, and Vanessa.
But be quick! Rumor has it the clothes are already sold out online. So stores are your best bet for scoring these Gossip-worthy clothes.
Until next time It-listers,
XOXO
