"It was the sale of the season. When a seminal Warhol — one of the artist’s first silk-screen paintings — came on the block at Sotheby’s auction of contemporary art on Wednesday night, the auctioneer, Tobias Meyer, opened bidding at $6 million and was stunned when a bidder instantly doubled it. The price rose at breakneck speed as five collectors vied for the classic image, '200 One Dollar Bills.' It ended up selling for $43.7 million (including fees to Sotheby’s), more than three times its high estimate of $12 million. The buyer, whom Sotheby’s refused to identify, bid by telephone through Bruno Vinciguerra, the company’s chief operating officer. Sotheby’s would also not identify the seller, although people familiar with the collection said it was Pauline Karpidas, a London-based collector." (NYTimes)
"‘Nobu, Nobu, I want Nobu!' Kate Gosselin wants to go to Nobu. She’s got a night away from her eight kids—also her co-stars on the hit reality series Jon & Kate Plus Eight—and a reporter is offering to take her out on the town. 'I want sushi!' Kate says, leaning back in an armchair in her suite at the Essex House hotel overlooking Central Park, checking her BlackBerry, popping gum. But Laurie Goldberg, senior vice president of communications at the Learning Channel, which airs Jon & Kate, doesn’t think Nobu’s such a great idea. Kate cried on the Today show this morning, answering questions about why she’s still wearing her wedding ring ('for them,' she said of her children, sniffling), and this afternoon she told People, 'I am so emotionally spent' (from her husband’s behavior, which has included philandering with the daughter of the plastic surgeon who gave Kate her tummy tuck), and so it might not look good for her to be out enjoying herself at a hot spot. 'You’re like a prisoner,' Kate says of her newfound fame, annoyed. Kate, who in the first season of Jon & Kate, two years ago, appeared on-screen as a dowdy, sweatpants-wearing mama hen, is now looking very much the celebrity—from her tanned, trained body to her curiously asymmetrical blond hairdo, now so iconic as to be the model for a popular Halloween wig. Her phone rings. 'Oh, it’s Kelly'—Ripa, of Live with Regis and Kelly—Kate says, holding up a French-manicured finger, signaling for us all to be silent. She’s going on the show tomorrow morning. She and Kelly gab. 'Hiya!'" (VanityFair)
"Playboy Playmate Sara Jean Underwood Visits. Howard (Stern) said they had Sara Jean Underwood coming in .. Sara said she went to college for a few years but she still doesn't know what she wants to do for a living. Howard asked her what she did when she got to L.A. He read that she dated Ryan Seacrest. She said that she was dating that guy at the time. She said she's really not into the Hollywood scene. She said it's all about going to fancy dinners and stuff and that's just not her. She said that it was always a big to do when they'd plan to go out so she wasn't into that. Howard said he would take her out one on one and not with a group of people. Sara said she just wasn't feeling that whole thing .. Howard said Sara deserves to have all of the attention when you go out to dinner. Howard said maybe the guy is so full of himself that she's just a piece of meat to him. She said she didn't feel that way. She said Ryan likes to have a group of people to entertain. Howard read that they would go to dinner and he'd tell her that he had to sit in a certain seat because it was his good side. She said that it was kind of a joke and he would do that joking around. Howard asked if she ever made love to him. She said no. Sara said they were dating on and off for like 2 years. Howard said there's something wrong with him if they didn't do it." (Marksfriggin)
"STORMY DANIELS, a 30-year-old adult film star with more than 150 steamy flicks to her name, is getting set to heat up Louisiana's 2010 Senate race. Daniels, the star of Operation Desert Stormy—in which she plays a CIA agent who fights terrorists while wearing Army-fatigue booty shorts—says she plans to toss her G-string in the ring (although she hadn't officially announced her candidacy as of press time). We asked the Baton Rouge native why she wants to forgo porn for politics .. Q: You're referring to Senator Vitter's link to a Washington, D.C. escort service . . .A: I'm not one to judge someone's sexual activity, but what annoys me is that he's so hard-core 'family values,' and he puts his wife and kids out there, saying he's a Christian family man. Then he's caught up in a prostitution scandal. He's a hypocrite. Q: How much will your résumé be a factor? A: It's actually starting to work in my favor—I have nothing to hide. A sex tape of me isn't going to pop up and shame me; there are 150 of them at the video store." (MarieClaire)
"Mike Huckabee is the dark horse no longer. In a poll released last week of potential 2012 Republican candidates, Huckabee led the list with 40 percent of voters overall and 71 percent of Republicans who would seriously consider voting for him, followed by Mitt Romney (39/65 percent), Sarah Palin (33/65 percent), Newt Gingrich (29/60 percent), Tim Pawlenty (18/32 percent) and Haley Barbour (15/26 percent). He has the highest rated weekend cable political show, he’s just published a new book, his PAC is flush and he’s on the stump campaigning for Republican candidates. All that sends him to the top of my picks for the 2012 field." (TheDailyBeast)
"The Savannah Film Festival, now in its 12th year, shows great films that -- unlike some film festivals -- are actually open to the public. The festival took place October 31 through November 7 and was hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design. It featured 12 student films, 22 professional films, panels, gala screenings and award ceremonies. Here are some of the highlights. Opening night kicked off with a special screening of The Messenger starring Ben Foster and America's favorite pothead, Woody Harrelson. The Messenger is a considerable departure from Woody's last foray onto the big screen, Zombieland, and centers around a returning Iraq's solider transition back into the world. SCAD President Paula Wallace presented Woody and Ben with an Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award. Patricia Clarkson, who looked smashing, received an Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award for her work in Woody Allen's, Whatever Works. Hugh Dancy and Jeremy Renner were both given the Spotlight Award. Dancy won for the romantic comedy Adam, about a man with Asperger's syndrome trying to fit in. Renner was honored for his work in The Hurt Locker, the story of military bomb squad technicians. After a screening of Valentino, The Last Emperor, Michael Fink, dean of SCAD's school of fashion, hosted a Q&A with Vogue's Andre Leon Talley and director Matt Tyrnauer. A gaggle of Georgia gays came out for this one! With all the handkerchiefs fluttering in the theater you would have thought there was a swine flu outbreak!" (Papermag)
"MGM may be the best known logo in the entertainment business, but the company seems headed for another possible garage sale. Several sources say they expect that MGM will essentially be auctioned off within the next few weeks. This would mean that a major, such as Time Warner, could buy the MGM-UA library while another entity might acquire the logo, and yet another deal could be made for United Artists. Sources speculated that Kirk Kerkorian, who has already bought and sold MGM twice, might buy the logo once again. Last summer Harry Sloan was bounced as MGM's CEO and Stephen Cooper, a specialist in restructuring companies (Krispy Kreme was one of his projects) started meeting with bankers with the aim of restructuring some $3.7 billion in debt. There was speculation that the combined assets of MGM may now yield as little as $1.5 billion in the present market. The various equity owners of MGM, including several private equity firms, have already written down their $5 billion acquisition, which closed in 2004." (Variety)
No comments:
Post a Comment