(July 2009)
Movies + TV
60 Seconds with Chris Kattan
Photograph courtesy of Kerry Monteen/IFC Got a minute? SNL alumnus and funnyman Chris Kattan sounds off about his upcoming IFC musical mini-series Bollywood Hero (which premieres August 6), growing up Zen, and why you should never ask him to do the Roxbury head bob. Q: In Bollywood Hero, you play a character named Chris Kattan, whose personality is based on your own. Is his frustration about not getting leading-man roles in America a feeling you can relate to? A: That's the character. Why would I think that I could be that guy on the motorcycle and get the girl
see more
Food + Drinks
Ice Cream Sandwiches are Back
Photograph by Brad Bridgers Combine cookies with ice cream and you have something doubly delicious—at least in theory. In practice, though, you often end up with a mushy dessert that relies on musical-truck nostalgia for its appeal. But when the best pastry chefs in the business pair gooey truffle cookies and freshly churned ice creams, the dream is realized. If only your grade-school summers had tasted this good. JJ Goode The Best Restaurants for the Two-for-One Dessert DENVER: Rioja Eric Dale makes the tastiest PB&J you've ever had: He stuffs two peanut-butter shortbreads with Concord-grape gelée and chocolate-glazed peanut-butter
see more
Style News
ARMANI SUNGLASSES
Giorgio Armani ($295), giorgioarmani.com. Photograph by Brad Bridgers. In the late seventies, an up-and-coming Italian designer was asked to create Richard Gere's wardrobe for American Gigolo. The slouchy, sexy, wearable suits he invented revolutionized men's tailoring, made the film a sartorial sensation, and turned Giorgio Armani into a household name. Thirty years later, Il Maestro, as he's known in Italy, is still applying his signature aesthetic to everything he touches, like these sunglasses. They bear the Armani hallmarks of sophistication, modernity, and universal appeal—which means you'll look good whether you're wearing them in Connecticut or on Capri. Courtney Colavita
see more
Music
DANGER MOUSE AND SPARKLEHORSE, DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, Dark Night of the Soul It takes an odd pairing like Gnarls Barkley's beat maven and surrealist singer/songwriter Mark Linkous to create love songs this sparse and spooky—and it will take some Internet savvy to track the album down. Consider the airy vocals from guests like David Lynch and the Strokes' Julian Casablancas your payoff. Matt Hendrickson READ MORE: The Matt Wilson Quartet leaves its mark The Fiery Furnaces are an indie-rock tornado San Francisco's music scene
see more
From the Slaughterhouse
It's Kurt Vonnegut meets The Hangover; John Steinbeck meets Milk. Check out our weekly posts from Slaughterhouse 90210 for highbrow insights that may just make some sense of some of our guiltiest pleasures. "She had no tolerance for scenes which were not of her own making." —Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth Photograph courtesy of Filmmakermagazine.com
Books
STIEG LARSSON, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson [Alfred A.Knopf, $26] This follow-up to the megaselling potboiler The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo gives the genre of Arthur Conan Doyle (arson, implausible plot turns, forgotten twins) a 21st-century face-lift, adding lots of sex and substituting a female computer hacker for Sherlock Holmes. Timothy Hodler READ MORE: Tim Thornton makes you wish his protagonist wasn't fictitious Jeff Johnson's badass persona Chris Anderson on the history of consumer giveaways
see more
Q&A
THE ANSWER MAN
Photograph courtesy of John Baer The Answer Man may remind you of another movie—one in which Jack Nicholson tells Helen Hunt she makes him want to be a better man and they win Oscars. But fear not: First-time director John Hindman manages to make his story fresh, thanks to a misanthropic turn by Jeff Daniels. Daniels plays the best-selling author of a self-help guide called Me and God, who is, unbeknownst to his legions of fans—surprise, surprise—a reclusive, spiritually bankrupt jerk. The prescription is, of course, a beautiful, understanding woman (Lauren Graham), but Hindman adds gravitas to this well-worn
see more
60 SECONDS WITH AMANDA BLANK
Courtesy of Shane McCauley Got a minute? The white-girl rapper talks about her first solo album, I Love You (out 8/4), sex, and why she won't be copying Mandy Moore anytime soon. Q: What's it like waiting for your first solo album to come out? A: I feel a little excited and nervous—I think probably all the feelings anybody would have, you know? I'm a little antsy. I feel like I've got to keep myself busy. Q: What was the process of actually making the album like? A: I made enough songs for, like, three albums. Oh my God,
see more
Design
Trend: Trompe L'Oeil
Photograph courtesy of Baukeknottnerus.nl Sight gags have had a place in décor since ancient Pompeians painted fake doors onto walls to make their houses seem bigger. Now that digital printing has made trompe l'oeil all the more convincing, designers are returning to the classic form of visual deception—with a modern slant, of course. Monica Khemsurov On days when you don't have time to straighten your bedroom, this curtain (seen above) gives the illusion of a serene, spotless, and stylishly appointed space. Curtain by Bauke Knottnerus, starting at $3,250, baukeknottnerus.nl Photograph courtesy of Moroso.it Given the wood-grain texture and rigid-looking
see more
Music
THE FIERY FURNACES, I'M GOING AWAY
The Fiery Furnaces, I'm Going Away [Thrill Jockey] Brother and sister Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger are an indie-rock tornado, crafting challenging songs with jazz piano, piercing guitar, and Eleanor's poetry-fueled vocals. Where the results were heavier, almost Zeppelin-esque, on 2007's Windy City, this album is sunnier pop. But the effect is the same: contented exhaustion. Matthew Hendrickson The Fiery Furnaces in concert READ MORE: San Francisco's music scene The Matt Wilson Quartet leaves its mark The Dead Weather's rollicking debut
see more
The Daily Details Continues
