Good Night & Good Luck Trailer

It seems appropriate to post this trailer as I recently wrote about Robert Downey Jr. and George Clooney. In the posting about Robert, I mentioned his upcoming role in the George Clooney directed flick Good Night and Good Luck, but at the time there was no trailer available. Things change fast though and now the trailer is online. Check it out here .

Meet The Mini-Modernists

I recently read an article in the LA Times about hip, high-end furniture for kids. If you want to read it, click here . If you click through to the article you will notice that I used their headline because I just couldn't think of something better. A few headline ideas I thought up and then rejected were Luxury Furniture for Little Tots and Furniture for the Under-10 set. I can't decide what I think about this fancy furniture trend for kids. A part of me is grossed out by the idea of it, but some of the furniture is so beautiful (my fav is the stuff by David Netto who was once engaged to the actress Ione Skye and has a child with her). I find it endearing that most of the people who are designing this furniture have been inspired to do so because they had children of their own. Since I am being very Wishy Washy/Charlie Brownish about my own opinion, I will leave it up to you to form your own thoughts on the matter.

Music Crush x 2

My superstar writing partner Jessica is back with another guest blog entry. Jess knows everything about music, so her postings will often be about that, but sometimes other stuff as well. Check it out below:

Lately, I have two music crushes. First, I'm a sucker for a sensitive singer-songwriter and U.K.' s James Blunt is just my cuppa tea. His debut single, 'You're Beautiful,' is all about seeing a woman in the tube and falling immediately in love with her. *Sigh.* Even better, he strips down in the mesmerizing video. You can watch it here. Second, and I think I share this crush with half of the country, is Kanye West. His new album is excellent. I could listen to 'Gold Digger' all day. Have you heard the lyrics? Hilarious! The rest of the disc is brimming with hot hooks and powerful messages. He's giving hip-hop less gangsta violence and more substance -- and I like it! Not to mention, the guy is friggin adorable. If you want to see Kanye's website, click here or if you want to read an article about him in USA Today, go here.

Monday Trailerfest

So many good trailers online and so little time to mention them all. The first trailer is Capote directed by Bennett Miller and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener. The movie follows Truman Capote on his journey to create In Cold Blood. With actors like Hoffman and Keener and a compelling story, this one sounds good. Click here for the Capote trailer. To read more about the movie, go here . Another trailer now online is A Scanner Darkly. It is adapted from a Philip K. Dick Novel by Richard Linklater and he also directs. He is a genius in my book. Before Sunrise and Sunset are still two of the best romantic movies ever made. If you want to see the trailer, click here. If you want to read more about the movie, go here. The last trailer is Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. The story is essentially about two men (one a cowboy the other a ranch hand) who fall in love in 1963, and all the complications that come along with that. I am dying to see this movie and the trailer, looks great. If you can't handle a movie about two men falling in love, grow up! Click here to read a bit more about the movie. Speaking of men in love, the Showtime show Queer as Folk just ended after many years. The show was one of the best on TV and I am sad to see it go. My mom and stepdad loved it as well. Talk about demographics they probably didn't expect to hit. If you have never seen it, rent a season or two.

Viva Las Clooney

Imagine if you could go to Las Vegas and stay with George Clooney -- okay, now realize that is never going to happen. The closest you will get to that is that he is investing in a new Las Vegas Hotel that you an might be able to stay at someday. If you want to read about it, click here .

Beer Even A Girl Could Love

A few weeks ago I read an article in the New York Times about Lambic Beer. Lambic-style beers are dry, light and cold, with a fruity tang. The one I tasted this weekend was Lindemans Framboise. You can get it online at Beverages and More and at some Gelsons Markets. Go here to try a Lambic beer in Los Angeles.

Robert Downey Jr. On The Comeback Trail

Robert Downey Jr. is one of the greatest actors of his generation. I loved him in Less than Zero, Chaplin, on Ally McBeal and in a million other things. If you want to read a really intriguing article about him in the Los Angeles Times, click here. He is promoting Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang -- which itself is a comeback of sorts for screenwriter and now first time director, Shane Black. The movie also stars Val Kilmer. Click here to watch the trailer. Robert is also going to be seen in the upcoming George Clooney directed Good Night & Good Luck, which takes place during the early days of broadcast journalism in 1950's America. It chronicles the real-life conflict between television newsman Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee. No trailer is available for the movie yet, but if you want to read a bit more about it, click here .

Strange Name, But Cool Music

Death Cab for Cutie is lucky I am writing about them because they sing a song about how much Los Angeles sucks (it is on their CD called The Photo Album). I mean I know Los Angeles is not that great, but still, do I need to hear a song about it? The bottom line is that regardless of their bad judgment, they are a really good band. Click here to read an article about them going from indie status to mainstream in Newsweek or here to see their website.

Is Emilio Estevez Making A Comeback?

I like Emilio Estevez as much as the next guy, probably more so because I had a huge crush on him in his St. Elmo's Fire days, so I was excited, but a little shocked that Demi Moore and Anthony Hopkins are planning to star in an RFK biopic that he wrote and hopes to direct. If you want to read more about it, click here or here . All I can say is go Kirby! If that doesn't make sense to you, don't worry about it. A new posting will be up soon with an obscure reference that does make sense to you :)

If You Want To See Your Name In Print...

Sixteen authors, including Stephen King, Rick Moody, John Grisham and Dave Eggers, are offering readers the chance to have their name in their upcoming books. Readers can bid on the opportunities in an eBay auction created to raise money for The First Amendment Project. The auction will run from September 1 to 25.

Punky Has A Baby & Haley Joel Grows Up

If you want to see what Haley Joel Osment from the Sixth Sense looks like now, click here (scroll to the second picture). Another piece of random information about former child stars, Soliel Moon Frye (know to most as Punky Brewster) had a baby girl. Her name is Poet. Not a big surprise, I mean with a name like Soliel, did you think she would name her kid Jennifer? Read about the birth here.

Reality Bites The West Wing

I love Janeane Garofalo. I just read last week that she is going to be doing a few episodes of West Wing this year. Click here to read about it. She starred in The Truth About Cats And Dogs with Uma Thurman many years back, but it is still one of my favorite movies ever. If you have never seen it, you should rent it! It is true that I have always identified with her, she is short, I am short, she has dark hair and pale skin, I have dark hair and pale skin, she is self-deprecating, I am self.. well, you get the picture, so my opinion might seem biased, but she is very talented, so make sure to watch.

Is This A Sign That I Am Immature??

I am at an age where I really should not be watching MTV anymore, but I guess I am immature because there are a few shows that I just can't seem to tear myself away from. Laguna Beach is a reality show about teens in Orange County. It has often been dubbed the real OC. I must say that the kids on this show seem just as rich, crazy and spoiled as the kids on the fake OC show on Fox. The other show that it literally makes me sick to watch, but I can't change the channel is My Super Sweet Sixteen. The girls featured on this show are all having outrageously decadent and expensive parties. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that these kids are the most entitled, rude and narcissistic I have ever seen.

Jake Trailerfest

There are a bunch of cool trailers online right now. A couple of the trailers I really like star Jake Gyllenhaal. No surprise there, as I think he is a truly amazing actor. The first one is the trailer for Jarhead. The movie is based on Anthony Swofford's book of the same name. Jarhead is directed by Sam Mendes, who directed American Beauty among other things -- so really how can you go wrong? The other trailer is for Proof. John Madden who directed Shakespeare in Love helms this flick that is based on David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize winning play. Jake stars with Gwyneth Paltrow, Hope Davis and Anthony Hopkins.

Battle of the Bands

This little feature on AOL Music is fun and clickworthy -- if you've got 3 seconds to fill. The site is matching up stars from Pop, Indie and Classic Rock, pitting them against each other for us to decide who would win in a battle royale. Today, Ashlee Simpson and Hilary Duff are in the ring. My money is on Ashlee, since Hilary's new teeth will definitely make her skittish. By the way, this posting is from my writing partner Jessica who always finds cool stuff to send me. Be on the lookout for more postings from her.

Penguins Marching To Big Documentary Box Office

March of the Penguins is an adorable movie. It is sweet, entertaining and at 84 minutes short enough for even someone without much of an attention span. Here is the review. I also saw an interesting article about the guy who wrote the narration, so if you want to read that click here. Who knew that you could have box office gold without paying a big star millions of dollars, but instead sending someone out to the freezing cold to film penguins.

Six Feet Under Gets Buried

Six Feet Under finally earned the title last night when the finale aired. The episode was sad, touching and hopeful all at the same time. The best part about the episode is that at the end you got to see how all of the characters will eventually die. Even though at times the show veered off into places that I didn't connect with as much, for the most part, I think that it was a complicated, innovative and interesting show to watch. Click here if you want to read a review of the final episode, but don't do it unless you are not planning to watch or you have watched it already, as it contains some spoilers. If you don't want to read the review yet, here is an article with all of the cast members that I liked.

Evan Rachel Wood in a new movie & a Green Day video

Evan Rachel Wood is a great actress. I loved her on Once and Again. Even though the movie Thirteen was a bit hard to take, she was wonderful in it. She is currently starring in Pretty Persuasion directed by Marcos Siega. If you are curious about the movie, click on this review . Evan is also in the latest Green Day video called When September Ends, so if you want to check it out go to www.greenday.com and then click on videos (sorry, it won't let me link right to the video section). I have to admit, I do think that the lead singer of Green Day is kind of cute in that angry, brilliant, musically talented sort of way.

WAS THERE A BIG DEMAND FOR THIS??

I just read in the New York Times that the first issue of Men's Vogue will be coming out in September. Was there a huge demand for this? Teen Vogue was ridiculous enough, I mean how many ultra rich snobby kids that can afford to buy Chloe and Marc Jacobs are there to read such a thing. If it is succeeding it is because many things these days, but most especially magazines, are becoming all about what we aspire to be and have, NOT about what we can actually afford. I will say that once I read the article about Men's Vogue and looked at the images of a few of the articles from the first issue, I kind of thought it looked interesting. I will buy the first issue because George Clooney is on the cover and that is reason enough. If you want to see the article click here. If you don't already have a NY Times user name and password, you will need to get them to read this, but they are free. The content on the NY Times site is pretty great and free for the current week, so it is worth doing. Once you are logged in, you might want to check out the review of violinist Josh Bell's recent performance. I know that seems like an odd thing to mention in this posting about Men's Vogue, but I adore his boyish, gifted, violin playing self and I couldn't think of a good transition.

LAUGHS WITH A SIDE OF SARCASM

If you haven't ever read any of Joel Stein's columns, you are missing out. He has written for a bunch of magazines (TIME, EW), but he now writes a column on Sunday for the LA Times. The target of his humor is often himself. He has a dry wit and is self-deprecating, so if you aren't into that, go read people magazine or something. The LA Times finally made their content free, so if you want to read the column from last Sunday to see what you think, click here.

IF YOU HAVE TIME TO WASTE AND LOVE MOVIES

There are a million great sites about movies online, but it is hard to figure out which ones are worth your precious time. From time to time, I will highlight a few that I think are interesting. If you like Kevin Smith as a director or are just desperately curious what goes on in his daily life, go to here. Also, Cinematical is a good general site that contains information about everything movie related. Yesterday, for instance, Cinematical linked to an article about the dorky kid in ABOUT A BOY who isn't so dorky anymore. If you want to read that article, click here.

DON'T BE AFRAID, THESE TIES ONLY LOOK MEAN

I recently read about Jared Paul Stern's Skull & Crossbones Ties. I am not sure why, but I like them. They are a good alternative to your basic preppy tie. These ties still look respectable, but just have a tiny bit of an edge. The edgy, brooding, brilliant, talented, glasses wearing guy I hope to marry someday would definitely think they were cool. By the way, if anyone knows a guy like that, please let me know and/or hook me up.

I WILL NEVER FIGURE OUT WHY THIS SITE MAKES ME LAUGH SO MUCH

Anyone who knows me at all is aware that I love all animals, but most especially cats. When I first heard about this site, I was all ready to get mad about cats being uncomfortable for the sake of entertainment. As it turns out, I am not as much of a softie as I thought because the site makes me crack up.

HAVE SOME TIME TO WASTE?

If you have some time to waste, completely pointless online games are good. One my favorites is ALCHEMY. Be careful though, I have one really smart friend who is into hard puzzles and games who is kind of addicted to it.

TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG

So you might be wondering who is Karen and why is she blogging?? I am not so sure I have the energy for my entire life history, but basically I am an aspiring writer and personal assistant in the entertainment business. I am currently working on my second script, looking for representation and oh BY THE WAY, a new job. If you know a great actor or director who is looking, let me know at karengoldstein@gmail.com. I have a tendency to e-mail and IM people things that I think are interesting, so I thought maybe I should make it easier on myself and just have a blog. I have debated the question TO BLOG OR NOT TO BLOG and I guess the existence of this blog provides you with my current answer.

FILE THIS UNDER I CAN'T HELP BUT CLICK

My first posting. Wow, this is a ton of pressure. Oh well, here goes. Last week someone sent me a link to this site about celebrity babies and I just can't stop looking at it. I can't fathom why it interests me, but what can I say, I am looking for a job, procrastinating about writing and it is a good distraction.