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The second book from the award-winning author of Mansion on the Hill isn’t about music, but it’s even more absorbing, inspired by a midlife crisis-induced insomnia that sets him off on a series of middle-of-the-night bike rides through the Bronx’s massive Woodlawn Cemetery.

A WEAKEND PLANNER THAT WON’T BE REMEMBERED A WEEK FROM NOW

Fred Goodman’s The Secret City Ponders Our Mortality, as Do PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, The Ramones, the Wicked Mr. Wilson Pickett and Film Critic Kim Morgan’s Sunset Gun Website
The Olympics draw to an end, as does the summer, with the final guns of August dribbling out like a garden hose not shut all the way. As we gear up for the next chapter—back-to-school, football season, the fourth quarter retail push—let’s pause for a moment to think about the past before plunging hellbent into the future. As mother nature prepares for winter, September is also a time for the renewal before the end of the year, a chance to harvest and plant for next spring. Or, you could forget these lame philosophical musings and try to get obliterated this weekend on a variety of hedonistic pursuits, not excluding some potent combination of drugs and cocktails. I mean, who’s got time to think of mortality when the buzz from the bong is enveloping our being in a cloud of smoke? Ashes to ashes and all that hoo-ha... And that’s about as metaphysical as we're gonna get…

FRIDAY (8/27)
All day- San Diego Street Scene
(Fri & Sat)
Two days $65/Single day $39.50
Friday’s line-up includes Jimmy Eat World, AFI, Social D, Dilated Peoples, Black Eyed Peas, Ludacris and many more. (www.street-scene.com)

8 p.m.
Central Park Film Festival
@ Rumsey Playfield, E.69th St. (212-310-6600):
Free outdoor movies! Tootsie, Antz, Our Town, etc. Movies screen Thurs-Sat @ 8 p.m. If you usually do the Bryant Park thing, this gets a smaller crowd. But my bedroom gets the smallest crowd. Tragic.

9 p.m.
The Dan Band
@ the Avalon (1735 N. Vine Street, Hollywood): The best cover band ever! Ask Jill about the time she threw her bra at Dan midsong & it landed perfectly on Dan’s microphone.

SATURDAY (8/28)
10 a.m. 4 p.m.
Willy Wonka Fest
@ Dylan’s Candy Bar (1011 Third Ave.@ 60th St., NY, 646-735-0078): Ride a Wonkamobile! Munch Gobstoppers! Meet an Oompa Loompa! Luscious! It will get you psyched for the new Tim Burton movie.

10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Beam Me Up Scotty … One Last Time"
@ Renaissance Hollywood Hotel (1755 N. Highland Ave., 800-686-3598): The entire original cast will appear onstage at this convention, which is a tribute to James Doohan, who’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to the actors, real life astronauts like Neil Armstrong & Walter Koenig will be on hand, too. Alert all Trekkies! Go to the website to see additional events Sun thru Tues. (www.planetxpo.com.)

All Day
San Diego Street Scene
Day 2
Saturday’s line-up includes Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, P.O.D., Cypress Hill, Blackalicious, Louque and many more.

6 p.m.12 a.m.
Asian Night Market
@ Santa Monica Municipal Airport (3223 Donald Douglas Loop S, 310-458-8591): Mongolian folk dances, flag juggling, Sumo wrestling, drinking & dancing… all on an airport tarmac. You can even take a helicopter ride. The dress code is Chinese-style. Good luck with that.

8 p.m. and 11:15 p.m.
The Killers
at the Troubadour (two shows): Come see these Vegas rockers play LA; that is if you can still swing a ticket because it’s sold out!! (www.troubadour.com)

SUNDAY (8/29)
11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Keaton Simons on 103.1
"Watusi Rodeo" show. We dig us some Keaton.

2 p.m.
In need of some new tunes? Pick up Rilo Kiley’s new CD More Adventurous

3 p.m.
Little Shop of Horrors @ The Ahmanson Theater (213) 628-2772 (runs thru Oct. 17)

5 p.m.
Marix
for margaritas & fajitas (1108 N. Flores St, West Hollywood): Rockin’ Tex Mex in Boys Town.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Tues. (8/31, 9:30 p.m) Below The Belt
(@ El Cid):
Lounge cat Johnny Fayvas monthly show featuring magic, comedy, burlesque & more.

Thurs. (9/2, 8 p.m.) Comedy @ M Bar (1253 N. Vine @ Fountain, 323-856-0036): Come see Jill perform along with a bunch of great TV comics.

Friday (9/3) Keaton Simon’s at Molly Malones (575 S. Fairfax Blvd.) for the "Watusi Rodeo show"

JESSE ON TOUR WITH NUMBUS IN ARIZONA
Day 1

Well, we were supposed to leave at 11, but didn't end up leaving until 2:30. We had several cars malfunction on us before we could go. We finally got on the 10 freeway at 330 after lunch. However, we sat in massive traffic and didn't get to Cabazon for two-and-a-half hours. So now its 6 o'clock and I am trying to make it to Phoenix to eat at my fave Mexican restaurant. Valle Luna is the name and they have the best mini-chicken taco basket. After cabazon it was clear sailing but we were cutting it close. The restaurant was due to close at 10 p.m. and it was pushing 9:30 and we were getting close. Then we found out that David and Adam had been pulled over for not turning on the headlights to the car. The cop let them off with a warning. Then their tired started to shred. We continued, however, to perservere and we made it on time bcuz I begged them to keep it open. I got my chicken basket, Adam and David made it safe and now its 12:15 and I'm heading to the hotel to sleep for maybe seven hours before we get ready to play at Mesa Community college. This has truly been an amazing trip and it’s only been one day... Eeeks…

Day 2
Well. It was hot as all hell and before we were more than two minutes outside we were drenched in sweat. We got to the campus, set up for about an hour and then the guys played. People were apprehensive, but a handful stayed through the whole 90-minute set. We sold about eight CDs and got really good feedback. Others said they would buy it online when they get paid. The boys got invited back for a charity in the near-future. The show itself was just OK. The guys were hot and tired from the long night the day before. Overall, it was very interesting and I am proud of the guys; they are such professionals who don't let anything stand in their way. They all sounded good, and except for a few mess-ups, I was pleased. Now I'm in Tucson to relax, work out and get ready for our trek to Flagstaff on Saturday. The guys are going campin in the Grand Canyon Thursday and Friday. That's all for now… (Jesse Beer)

IVANA’S PMS-FUELED BUZZ KILL (She ruins movie endings!)
***SPOILER ALERT***
*
De-Lovely He’s gay.
*Schindler’s List They die.
*The Brown Bunny We’d write something, but we don’t want Vincent Gallo to wish cancer on us.
*Passion of the Christ He dies.
*The Exorcist: The Beginning Something even worse will happen years later.

POPCULT TOP 10
1. Fred Goodman, The Secret City (Broadway Books): The second book from the award-winning author of Mansion on the Hill isn’t about music, but it’s even more absorbing, inspired by a midlife crisis-induced insomnia that sets him off on a series of middle-of-the-night bike rides through the Bronx’s massive Woodlawn Cemetery. The journey leads him to wondering about, then meticulously reconstructing, the lives of more than a dozen once-prominent, now virtually forgotten, late 19th to mid-20th century New Yorkers buried there. The result is an overlapping narrative worthy of such well-researched historical fictions as E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime and Caleb Carr’s The Alienist. Now-obscure figures like Long Island Railroad builder Austin Corbin, ASPCA founder Henry Bergh, NYC reform mayor John Purroy Mitchel, Italian sculptor Attilio Piccirilli, newspaper columnist Finley Peter Dunne, Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen, female flyer Ruth Nichols and leftist East Harlem Congressman Vito Marcantonio interact with notables (or soon-to-be notables) of their day. Goodman spices up the oft-bittersweet tales with imagined dialogues that illustrate his point that we’re all here for a fleeting moment before being reconciled to the dustbin of history. And while his view can be morbid, the characters come alive with conflicts that could well have been torn from current headlines. He may have started out as a music journalist, but with The Secret City, Fred has graduated to major league historian and writer. Do yourself a favor and order it right here, right now. (Roy Trakin)

2. PJ Harvey at Knitting Factory, L.A./Patti Smith at John Anson Ford Theatre, L.A.: These two punk poetess/shaman grand dames played local gigs within a week of one another, restoring some welcome passionate sturm und angst to the current pop gristmill of peroxided princesses… and you know who you are. PJ, in particular, was at the top of her game, alternately teasing and embracing the audience on the opening "The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth." Tbe lacerating, "wash it out/wash it out" self-expiation also leads off her most recent album, Uh Huh Her, continuing the artistic maturation represented by the previous Stories from the City, Stories From the Sea. That disc's walking-in-New York song, "Good Fortune," was another in-concert highlight, with its refrain, "Like some modern-day Bonnie and Clyde/On the run again." Chanting seductively like the waif-like Jean Seberg in Breathless, PJ channels the spirit of her spiritual godmother, Patti Smith, also in town for a rare appearance. Patti and her band, especially longtime members guitarist Lenny Kaye and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty, essayed a taut, politically charged set, launched with the anti-Bush call to arms of "Jubilee," which was cheered by an adoring crowd, visibly energizing the graying, 50-something matriarch. And while the recently released Trampin’ is one of Patti's best albums in a while, it was classics like a hallucinatory "Birdland," a rousing "Free Money" and the closing benediction "Gloria," with its famous "Jesus died for somebody’s sings/But not mine" intro and clarinet climax, that brought things to an exhilarating conclusion. It was great to see Patti still doing her thing nearly 30 years on, and even better to hear her echo in successors like PJ Harvey. But the one-time promise of transforming society’s notion of female sexuality/identity seems even further away now than it did back in the late '70s and early '90s, when these two looked like the Next Big Things. Now they appear as the beloved cult figures they've become and, in retrospect, always were. (RT)

3. Six Feet Under/Entourage/Da Ali G Show (HBO): These three shows form the most entertaining two-hour slot on television, and practically anywhere else, on Sunday nights. All three are down to their final episodes of the season, and will be greatly missed. And while Six Feet Under has suffered a bit from the thirtysomething whining syndrome, its treatment of drug culture and contemporary morality has been nothing short of revelatory, refusing to make judgments, but nevertheless casting a wary eye on our ever-deepening need to escape reality. It is also one of the funniest shows on TV, with a black comic strain perfectly in tune with these absurdist times. Mark Wahlberg’s Entourage is also almost over, which is a shame, as it has truly come into its own, especially Kevin Dillon’s struggling actor Drama and Jeremy Piven’s sly agent Ari. Last week, Ari bolted his son’s birthday party to "storm Malibu," where he made memorable mincemeat of a fellow ten-percenter’s attempt to steal his clients. Finally, Sacha Baron Cohen’s trio of oblivious foreign journalist characters are wonderful malaprop-spouting creations, with a hip-hop rhythm all their own. Last week's episode featured an interview with 60 Minutes’ pompous Andy Rooney, whose image is now punctured beyond repair (at least for me) after he vainly tries to correct Cohen’s twisted syntax ("It's do, not does, and I have the books to prove it"), only to be admonished for being a "racialist." (RT)

4. Ramones Raw (Image Entertainment): The Ramones are seemingly everywhere these days, with teenage kids sporting their image on T-shirts and the band’s songs all over satellite radio. Even my 13-year-old daughter is an unabashed fan. Who would have ever thought da Bruddas’ brand of primitive, three-chord garage-rock would still be vital almost three decades later? This home movie-eyed view features video shot by drummer Marky Ramone mostly on the road, which captures the band at their goofy, wide-eyed best during their endless tours overseas, where they were worshiped as Gods in such far-flung locales as Argentina and Italy. Also included are TV appearances on the Uncle Floyd show (booked by none other than Emmy-winning producer Joel Gallen in his first industry gig), the animated Space Ghost and the old Howard Stern Show on WOR, a half-hour live concert from Italy as well as the boys cavorting with celeb friends such as Carly Simon and Drew Barrymore and running from crazed fans in South America. Gabba gabba hey… We accept you more than ever. It's only sad Joey and Dee Dee aren't around to appreciate the adulation. (RT)

5. Soul to Soul (Rhino/WEA): This DVD release of the legendary 1971 theatrical documentary about a group of contemporary soul stars who visited Ghana for a gala concert is a remarkable document. It captures such R&B, rock, gospel and jazz artists as Ike & Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, the Voices of East Harlem, Santana, the Staple Singers and Eddie Harris & Les McCann performing and intermingling with African musicians, such as the amazing witch doctor/calabash gourd player Amoah Azangeo. The show itself, organized by the country's military government, takes place in the middle of a massive oceanside edifice monument to the country’s liberation from Britain in front of a huge crowd of Africans. While the audience looks a little confused at first, by the time Pickett starts belting out, "In the Midnight Hour," it’s one giant celebration. There are some amazing scenes, including the arrival of the musicians at the airport, where they are greeted by a crowd that rivals the Beatles landing at JFK, with various tribal leaders putting on a spontaneous display of dancing and drumming, chanting, "Wicked Pickett!" as the visitors look on in amazement. There’s also a memorable scene of Tina Turner joining some African dancers whose moves echo their shared heritage. The two-disc set also includes an audio soundtrack of the event, a remarkable fusion of cultures as performers and observers alike discover their common bond. (RT)

6. sunsetgun.typepad.com: Former Portland Oregonian film critic Kim Morgan has a thing for old Hollywood noir and blonde femme fatales, befitting a fascination with Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren, Catherine Deneuve, Tuesday Weld and The Bad Seed’s Patty McCormack (whom she’s been known to imitate in all her knife-wielding glory). Her blog deals with all these and more, including this week’s rant on the homophobic fear of anal sex subtext in commercial piffle such as Without a Paddle. I’ve already had my arguments with the feisty Ms. Morgan, a refreshing iconoclast in a sea of bland film reviewers whose only desire is to someday see their quotes emblazon newspaper ads. Expect the unexpected from someone ready to argue Hal Needham's Smokey and the Bandit series represents an apex of the American cinema. (RT)

7. The DC Video (Melee Entertainment): DC Shoes’ newly released DVD is the first-ever DC skateboarding video. This stunningly shot, 60-minute movie was filmed on location around the world and does an excellent job at profiling the underground sports phenomenon with a nonstop display of vicious, jaw-dropping stunts from a top-notch cast of skateboarding pros, including icons Danny Way, Colin McKay and Rob Dyrdek. A killer soundtrack of hard-rocking tunes from the likes of Metallica, Iron Maiden and Suicidal Tendencies and a very impressive, eye-catching cinematography results in more of an art-house documentary rather than your typical ESPN sports vid. Well worth a look. (j.shotsi)

8. Ciara: There’s a new queen bee in hip-hop. Meet Ciara, who has a current hit single in "Goodies," also the title of her debut Jive/ZLG album, which hits stores Sept. 28, and she’ll join a major headliner on tour this fall, but she remained coy about which one. Since it’s that time of year, the 18-year-old filled Weakend Planner’s ears about her favorite back-to-school memories. "The first outfit was a big thing for me. How you’re going to do your hair? After that, it’s like ‘who’s cute?’ It’s not good, but it’s the truth," she said. Oddly, she mentioned no celebrity crushes, but admits there are cute guys out there. Smart girl. (Valerie Nome)

9. www.lennonmurdertruth.com: The product of the demented mind of a Monterey, CA, nut job named Steve Lightfoot, who tools around that NoCal beachfront town in his van, covered with his website and festooned with warnings not to trust what the mass media has told us about the ex-Beatle’s murder. Amid talk of conspiracies by the CIA and the "Jewish-dominated" media, he pins the crime on author Stephen King (?!), who pulled the trigger, acting on orders from Nixon and Reagan, and claims Mark David Chapman was merely a Lee Harvey Oswald-type stooge thrown to the gullible public to cover it up. Next thing ya know, he’ll be telling us aliens are messing with his brainwaves. (RT)

10. Hey That’s Funny!: Comedy’s Greatest Hits! (Rhino): This two-disc set starts with Richard Pryor recalling his childhood beatings with a switch and segues into Rodney Dangerfield’s classic "No Respect" routine. Also included are such legendary bits as Billy Crystal on the adolescent id as growling dog, Ellen DeGeneres on camping out, Dennis Miller on sex and the single penis, Sam Kinison's rant on world hunger ("Why can't they just move to a place... WHERE THERE'S MORE FOOD!!!!), Woody Allen on moose-hunting, Roseanne Barr as domestic goddess, Redd Foxx on ugly people and Robert Schimmel on working out. And that’s just the first disc. The second CD features Monty Python, George Carlin, the Jerky Boys, Steven Wright, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks, Flip Wilson, Bill Hicks, Denis Leary and, best of all, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. You may quibble about these being comedy’s "greatest hits" (where’s Abbott & Costello’s "Who’s On First?" or Henny Youngman's "Take My Wife, Please"?), but it’s about as good a modern collection as a laugh lover could hope for. Great for cruising in your car. (RT)

GARAGE SALE
Little Steven's International Underground Garage Festival at Randall's Island, NY
My hat—or better yet, my paisley babushka—is off to Little Steven Van Zandt a/k/a Miami Steve of the E Street Band a/k/a Silvio of The Sopranos. Through sheer force of will, and with an iron grip on the organizational wheel, he pulled off the seemingly impossible. The first International Underground Garage Festival, all 12 hours and 45 acts of it, was held Aug. 14 under threatening skies on Randall's Island in the middle of New York's East River. The New York Times reported the turnout at 16,000, with about half of them wearing Johnny Thunders T-shirts.

Arriving around 4 p.m. to the strains of the Pete Best Band, I was checking in backstage with Mark Satlof of the fest's PR firm Shore Fire Media when I spotted guest MC Edd "Kookie" Byrnes. I bum-rushed the former 77 Sunset Strip star for his signature on my treasured copy of his 1993 autobiography Kooky No More, which Byrnes proudly showed off to fellow 15-minutes-of-famer Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore.

I took up a position on the flat, muddy field in the vicinity of the Robert Christgau family and settled in for the long haul. Unfortunately, I'd already missed the first 33 sets—each only five to 15 minutes long—by such geezer garage greats as the Creation, Chocolate Watch Band, Electric Prunes and Davie Allen & the Arrows; as well as those of their eager ’90s descendents the Shazam (Louisville, KY), Caesars (Sweden), Swingin' Neckbreakers (Trenton, NJ), Boss Martians (Seattle, WA), Stems (Australia), Paybacks (Detroit, MI) and Mooney Suzuki (NYC, NY).

Meanwhile, the original punk-era garage revival—sparked circa 1975-76 by Greg Shaw's Bomp label and Lenny Kaye's classic Nuggets anthology—was represented by the Fleshtones, Lyres, Fuzztones and Chesterfield Kings, all of whom I missed as well. But that still left 12 acts and a helluva a rockin' good time for a mere $20 advance ticket—yep, you read that number right. Said price included big-screen video projection and a technicolor-costumed line of shapely female go-go dancers (including, briefly, Drew Barrymore) on a raised platform at the rear of the stage.

Nancy Sinatra fronted a large, horn-laden band with Clem Burke of Blondie on drums and veteran L.A. sessioneer Don Randi on keyboards. Her Vegas-flavored set kicked off with "Tony Rome," the theme from one of daddy Frank's less-celebrated motion pictures; closed with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (natch), and sandwiched in newly recorded songs by Morrissey and Thurston Moore. The Romantics were better when I saw them at Hurrah in 1978, but Wally Palmar & Co. showed spirit and solid musicianship in a 20-minute set that closed, inevitably, with "What I Like About You."

The Dictators, restored to full strength with the return of guitarist Scott "Top Ten" Kempner, wowed the hometown crowd with a stadium-strength onslaught highlighted by the day's true anthem, "Who Will Save Rock & Roll?" Both singer Phil May and guitarist Dick Taylor of the Pretty Things may be closing in on 60 (or past it already), but I quite enjoyed their brand of psych-tinged r&b, especially the closing rave-up "L.S.D."

Big Star with Alex Chilton played and sang "September Gurls" and "In The Street" in a very competent but somewhat mechanical fashion. Seventy-five year-old Bo Diddley was suffering a cold and played sitting down, but he took more chances than most by mixing reggae and rap (!) in with his sacrosanct standards of the mid-’50s. The Raveonettes played two songs in 10 minutes and were gone, due to the increasingly doubtful weather. (The persistent drizzle didn't turn to rain until the festival closed at around 9:30 PM, nearly an hour ahead of schedule.)

HITS readers may decide for themselves if just two original members (not including the drummer or the lead guitarist) should allow a present-day band to be called the New York Dolls. But with masterful, glammed-up front man David Johansen and rhythm guitarist Sylvain Sylvain leading the charge, and ex-Hanoi Rocks bassist Sam Yaffa subbing for the late Arthur "Killer" Kane (who died of leukemia only weeks before this show), the Dolls turned in a truly memorable performance. They rampaged through "Personality Crisis," "Private World," and Bo Diddley's "Pills" before turning reflective on a medley of "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" and "Lonely Planet Boy." It made for a touching tribute to the band's four (!) deceased members: Kane, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, and Billy Murcia.

The Strokes aroused the antipathy of certain audience members who just couldn't accept their appearance between/equation with the Dolls and the Stooges. At one point between tunes, singer Julian Casablancas told us that "I'm a shallow guy"--a quality I find reflected in his bland lyrics and lackadaisical delivery. But the playing was tight and forceful throughout--and over the past 35 years, I've had to endure much worse while waiting for the act I came to see. (Anybody remember It's A Beautiful Day, Iron Butterfly or Aorta?)

The Stooges blew us all away. Love or hate him, you simply can't take your eyes off Iggy Pop. Behind him, Ron Asheton (guitar), his brother Scott a/k/a "Rock Action" (drums), and ex-Minuteman Mike Watt (bass) made a huge, hellacious noise on songs from The Stooges (1969) and Funhouse (1970). In the course of their hour-long closing set, Iggy climbed atop the amps; attacked one of the large mobile cameras filming the show; and successfully demanded of the security staff that a couple dozen enthusiastic audience members be allowed on stage.

If the festival had a consistent weak spot, it was due to the breakdown (after about the first hour) of the much-touted revolving stage. This mechanism, if functioning, would have allowed for a seamless change-over. Instead, it became necessary to kill some time between sets. This task was left to not only Steve Van Zandt but also such dubious VIPs as Tony "Paulie Walnuts" Sirico (announcing that "I don't really like this kind of music!") and Kim Fowley (spreading his singular brand of bad vibes at major rock festivals since 1969).

Hey, Steve: Let's do it again next year, OK? (Andy Schwartz, [email protected])

TRAKIN’S PICKS TO FLICK
Hero (Miramax)
Premise:
Asian box office smash and Best Foreign Language Film nominee from China is based on the true story of a martial arts champion recruited to stop a plot by three assassins to kill the emperor of China. Being presented in this country by Quentin Tarantino.
Stars: Jet Li, Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung
Director: Zhang Yimou
(Raise the Red Lantern, Shanghai Triad)
Thumbs Up: Trailers look visually spectacular, with action going beyond Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Thumbs Down: Why has Miramax waited almost two years to release it? And is the public still fascinated by the genre as they were?
Soundtrack: None
Website: www.herothemovie.com

The Brown Bunny (Wellspring Media)
Premise:
Professional motorcycle racer sets out on a road trip from New Hampshire to California, haunted by memories of his lost love, culminating in a lengthy and graphic oral sex sequence with her when they reunite in L.A.
Stars: Vincent Gallo, Chloe Sevigny, Cheryl Tiegs
Director:
Controversial Buffalo ’66 director Gallo’s follow-up caused an uproar at the 2003 Cannes (Roger Ebert called it the worst film in the history of the festival) with its explicit sexuality and will go out with the dreaded "X" rating. Caused an uproar after a billboard went up on Sunset Blvd. depicting Sevigny going down on Gallo.
Thumbs Up: Any film hated by so many must have something going for it.
Thumbs Down: Do you want to encourage Gallo to keep making films?
Soundtrack: Limited edition indie release includes music by Chili Pepper guitarist John Frusciante, Gordon Lightfoot, Ted Curson and Jackson C. Frank
Website:
www.brownbunny.net

Vanity Fair (Focus Features)
Premise:
Based on William Makepeace Thackery’s novel about a lower-class girl who uses wit and guile to make her way through 1820’s London society, where she’s forced to become governess at a remote country house after she’s unable to get her best friend’s brother to marry her.
Stars: Reese Witherspoon, James Purefoy, Eileen Atkins, Jim Broadbent, Gabriel Byrne, Bob Hoskins, Jonathan Rhs Meyers, Natasha Little
Director:
Indian Mira Nair (MonsoonWedding, Mississippi Marsala, Salaam Bombay!, The Perez Family)
Thumbs Up: All-star cast in classic tale, with Witherspoon seemingly perfectly cast as Becky Sharp.
Thumbs Down: Will Witherspoon’s modern girl play in the 19th century?
Soundtrack: Decca Records album features score by Mychael Danna, tracks by Sissel, Custer LaRue, Hakim and Shankar Mahadevan/Richa Sharma
Website:
www.vanityfairmovie.com

NEAR TRUTHS: SPRING BLOOMS
Here come the big guns. (3/28a)
THE COUNT: COLDPLAY IS HOT, COUNTRY'S COOKIN' IN THE U.K.
The latest tidbits from the bustling live sector (3/28a)
CITY OF HOPE TAPS MARCIANO FOR TOP HONOR
This year's philanthropic model (3/28a)
TRUST IN THE TOP 20
Hip-hop is no longer hibernating. (3/28a)
UMG BROADENS SPOTIFY OFFERINGS
Sir Lucian and Daniel are in harmony. (3/28a)
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
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