The Apple and Stunt Rock @ The New Beverly Cinema, March 25th

Little gives an LA cinephile greater joy than to see the New Beverly Cinema booming at the start of 2008. In light of longtime owner Sherman Torgan’s sudden and untimely death last year, it seemed as though our last remaining true revival house might have hit its lowest ebb; yet from grief springs optimism, and despite losing their chief the New Bev not only experienced a banner ‘07, but dodged an imminent threat to their lease. (Hoopla!) Following extremely successful festival offerings from Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright, Peck’s bad boy of horror Eli Roth is currently in the middle of his own slate of favorites, “The Greats of Roth.”

Gitcha programs right heeeah...

The New Bev's Matt breaks from popcorn duty to crank out the BIM marks

Read on...

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Missed the Red Carpet pre-Oscars coverage this year (think we may have still been in bed when E! started airing its tedious fawning sessions with Ryan Seacrest) so we actually had to watch the show itself for a fashion fix.

There sure was lots of eye candy. Maybe it was just our new hi-def TV, but the makeup, hair and frocks worn by the likes of Jennifer Garner, Katherine Heigel and winner Marion Cottillard, not to mention all the preggo actresses (Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman) was flawless.

We've been emailing with her for a profile in the Weekly's upcoming People issue, so we might be a bit biased, but one of our favorite ensembles was Diablo Cody's leopard print Dior number, which she accented with red lips, gypsy-ish jewels and skull & cross bone earrings. It might have been too rock n' roll for some but, unlike many other stars who abandon their personal flair for the cookie cutter looks that stylists choose for them, Cody looked like herself. A very hip chick.

She's got style integrity alright. Controversy brewed this week when the Juno writer refused to allow herself to be used as a promo whore for Stuart Weitzman, who chose her to wear his most blinged-out footwear this year, a pair of diamond brooched vintage style heels valued at over 2 million smackers.

The blatant borrowing of jewels, shoes, and dresses that happens during the Academy Awards is unmitigated product placement and it's something that everyone just seems to go along with. But the Weitzman shoe thing kinda takes it to gross proportions, and Cody, who blogged about the situation on her MySpace page, was not having it when she found out what was going on.

Another edgy individual, Daniel Day Lewis looked equally comfortable and cool, with his touseled hair, hoop earrings and brown trimmed suit. So much sexier than Harrison Ford's midlife crisis stud (as seen on Barbara Walter's post-Oscar special).

Speaking of the night's programming, we will admit that funking til dawn at that Prince party everybody keeps yapping about would have been amazing, as would have Elton John's AIDS benefit bash (media credentials to that one were due a month in advance!), but then again, going out would have meant missing not only the Babawawa special (loove how Ellen Page seemed so annoyed by the seasoned interogator), but also the godhead "I F****** Ben Affleck" video on Jimmy Kimmel's Oscar night special.

If you missed it, check it out here.

Below, some pics of the Best and Worst fashion of the eve from ABC's website

WINNERS

Nobody can make this leopard change her spots.

Light as feather even with the baby bump.

Almost makes up for her trashy Grammy getup.

LOSERS

The "girls" don't look so dreamy in this one.

Just breathe...

Ghost story.

UPDATE: Just discovered that DDL wore ugly brown hush-puppy lookin' shoes, so we'll have to retract our kudos to his ensemble. Bad shoes on a dude are always a deal-breaker. But, we still think he looked unique and sexy from the waist up.

Oh, and here's a pic of the snazzy shoes Diablo dissed. Kinda look like our wedding day sandals (minus the brooches that could feed an entire country for five years).

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For a few weeks anyway... Roth, the director of Hostel, Cabin Fever and others, is programming two weeks worth of movies at the New Beverly. Roth will be on hand with guests for Q&A sessions and introductions as time permits.

Tonight is a double-bill of Torso (1973) and Pieces (1982).
And here's the rest:

February 20-21

Mother's Day
Creepshow

February 22-23

Carrie
Zapped!

February 24-26

The Apple
Stunt Rock

February 27-28

The Blair Witch Project
Cannibal Holocaust

February 29-March 1

Bachelor Party
Caddyshack

The New Beverly Cinema is located at 7165 Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles, a block west of La Brea and was programmed and run for years by Sherman Torgan, who passed away in July of last year.

For showtimes, ticket info, guests and late changes, check out their website: www.newbevcinema.com/

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Psych... The slide show of Project Runway's final five designer collections at Bryant Park on Bravo.com may have led us to believe there were 5 finalists up for the grand prize this year, but apparently it was some kind of runway ruse.

Former LA Weekly staffer and Club Fuck/Sin-a-matic doorgirl Sweet P was auf'd last night. Though she is a pal, we have to agree with the judges decision based on the last challenge. Peacocks offer so many audacious style options, this P's cock was much too simple.

Lucha Va Voom's Ursulina shaking her tail feathers in this great ensemble (below) is only one of a handful of directions she could've/should've gone.

According to last night's show, Chris and Rami will compete for the final spot, but the slideshow suggests they both go to Bryant Park. (Or maybe, they let 'em all show simply to keep the element of surprise?)

Time will tell, but our other theory is that they let both boys in, and our girl Mz. P wins Fan Favorite. As a special prize they let her present some designs as well.

Speaking of Lucha, it is Valentine's Day, and you wont find a more unique affair for the holiday than this lively eve of "sex y violencia."

Another sexy -okay salacious- soiree for our gay boys with or without a squeeze: Mario Diaz's new club at MJs on Hyperion, called modestly (for him), Swallow, which debuts this Friday, the 15th.

And 3 nights you'll LOVE not matter what your romantic situation may be, check out Echo Park Records' mega-bash with Guns n Bombs, The Arabian Prince (NWA), Very Be Careful, Glass Candy and many more, tonight thru Sun.. Feb. 16.

By now you’ve surely OD’d on Grammy fashion critiques (Nelly Furtado was the worst, Amy Winehouse one of the best in our book; she’s such a Tim Burton-esque character doncha think?) We actually attended the awards, but from our seat, all we could see was Chris Brown’s White Stripes homage (too much white though)…. And Brooke Hogan’s hair. Seriously.

We also saw Little Richard up close and personal as he was being wheeled out of Staples center, and whoaaaaa, talk about a monument of pancake, sequins and dippity do!

In this week’s Nightranger we give you all the scoop on the Grammy parties' gilded excesses and velvet rope messes. Also check out our new slideshow (the Grammy bash edition should be up tonight) and read the previous post for more dish from the lion's dens.
Humps and kisses...

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Few directors in any genre draw as loyal, faithful and loving a crowd as the maestro of the undead, George Romero. And they turned out in droves – the big names, the bloodied faces, and everyone in between – at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian on Wednesday night for a sold-out preview of his latest chapter of zombie lore, Diary of the Dead.

Of course, it just wouldn’t be a Romero event if there weren’t assorted audience members in touch with their reanimated side milling about; when the will-call line began to fill with mortal pallor and a variety of gaping body traumas, the zombie horde – staff members from nearby EI School of Professional Makeup, decked out in their finest work before staggering over for the screening – were quickly rounded up by the publicity team for a photo op with the man himself.

Got tickets... want brains.

Read on...

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Speaking of Project Runway (below post), this will come as no surprise to those you’ve read our past posts: we actually kinda liked drag designer Chris’s winning leopard-print number last week. His wrestler diva’s red locks and big cat look is right up our alley.

Guess we’re not the only ones. Nikka Costa worked the combo at the Black Eyed Peas benefit at Avalon last Thursday.

Across Hollywood, we found ourselves caught within a feline fashion flurry in the bathroom at club Social (formerly Hollywood Athletic Club) where DJ AM spun for another Grammy bash.

Chuggin the champs definitely makes for frequent toilet visits, and during one particularly surreal primping session, we couldn't help but notice two similarly spotted strangers next to us. The same dress might be a different story all together, but we looked like a drunken D&G photo shoot come to life (or maybe it just seemed that way because we were drunk). What else was there to do but strike a pose at that point? Meow…

While nightclub loos can be ferocious (we’ve encountered our share of bitchy bathroom babes fighting for mirror space and or stall time), we’re usually pretty jovial in the john and even make pals there from time to time.

Everyone was pretty cool like dat (suprisingly) in the crowded bathroom at Goa earlier, where Fuse TV hosted a party with a live performance by Panic at the Disco.

Though Thursday night was quite the love(cat) fest, that wasn’t the case last Friday at the People magazine mash at Avalon where speedy model types took over the laboratory with loud asinine banter (“I’m a texting slut! I’m a texting slut!”), beauty product meltdown (“Where’s my Spice lip pencil!”) and much too–long toilet stalling (they don’t call it a powder room for nothin’).

And dont even get us started on the attention whores in the VIP section. We do let the claws come out a bit about those in this week's Nightranger though. Check it out tomorrow...

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More fashion critique from New York Fashion Week and The Grammy’s (which we attended) to come today, but for now, check out the designs of the final five Project Runway contestants- all of whom got the opportunity to showcase a collection (remember when it was just a lucky trio?) this year, with no less than Posh Spice as a judge.
We’re digging Rami’s stuff and of course our girl Sweet P’s sexy looks. Christian’s creations have been faves on the show but we’ve seen the goth glamour girl chic he showcased at Bryant Park one too many times. (Hey, is this kid so "That’s Pat” from SNL or what?).

Anyway, if you’re one of those self-restrained types who has to wait til the show airs so you can be shocked and awed, don’t click this link but if you’re a spoiler whore like moi, check it out.

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Grammy week... Fashion week (in NYC)...the writers strike... Britney... There so much to do and watch and bitch, uh write, about.... Our new year's resolution was to blog more and go to the gym more, but February's already half way through and we haven't jumped on the treadmill yet. Sigh...

We may not ever be able to catch up on the cardio, but there's nothing to prevent us from condensing all the blogs we wanted to post, making it a regular feature and pretending that was the plan all along! So here goes: our new monthly survey of the hot and the not, the yum and the dumb, the shit and the pits (and we're not talkin about Brangelina) in the world of style.

THE PITS
-Okay we commend what H&M is trying to do here, but c’mon already. How many more “message” tee projects (not to mention celebs spewing didactic declarations in stark B&W ad campaigns) can the pop culture landscape take? This has soooo been done before, and better (Red).

-Love Diablo Cody’s bite, and admire her own rocker chick style, but the greasy hair, hoodies, headbands, and even hamburger phone (Defamer is obsessed) in her hit flick JUNO? Not cute, even when impish Ellen Page is donning them. This one has become an unwitting trend-setter. Except for the whole giant belly part.

-The MAC Air. Just got a new MacBook Pro and we're lovin; it. Admittedly, Apple’s new weightless wonder looks cool, but it also seems flimsy and unsubstantial. Girth has its merits sometimes...

THE SHIT

☺ EatSkeet.com. Most of the blogs out there make us feel icky and voyeuristic, but that’s not the case with this fun site (created by LA DJ Skeet Skeet). Viral videos, free music mix downloads (other contributors include The LA Riots and Cisco Adler) and a behind the scenes look at the spin-ster lifestyle make Skeet sweet.

☺ Our toddler loves music, so we take her to as many music events as we can. We just went to First Fridays at the Natural History Museum this past Friday, for example and A-Trak rocked it. But even the place’s surrounding rooms were too loud for tiny ears. So what’s a music freak with a lil one to do? Well, we're taking a cue from the Gwens (Stefani and Paltrow) and get these noise reducing headphones. Coachella here we come!

☺ Nightranger! And by the way, starting this week, we’ll be giving you a weekly Slideshow so you can actually see the entire flurry of fabulousness and filth for yourself every week. Here on the Style Council blog, look for more fashion oriented shots and of course, nots!

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We love retro fashion references as much as (maybe more than) the next wear-bear, but the regurgitation coming out of New York Fashion week this season is ridiculous.

Cobrasnake's crusty slacker scene aside (see previous post), the 70's and 80's aren't just serving as inspiration these days, they are blatant blueprints.

Case in point this colorful Betsey Johnson frock.

Photo: Imaxtree.com

We kid you not, we had almost the exact same babydoll back in the 80's (anybody over 30 remember BJ'S tattoo print?) and when we look at photos from that time it's downright painful (okay, the big hair didnt help). We loooove Betsey and have a ton of her clothes, but we don't need to see this ever again, and the thigh highs really take it over the top.

In other Betsey news, Rolling Stone is gonna be revealing all about the insane meltdown had by another B. in one of Johnson's Valley area boutiques last month.

Sad, even without the bad clothes.

Look for more random NYC fashion week critques soon, and see New York's magazine comprehensive coverage here.

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Mark "The Cobrasnake" Hunter hit NYC's Fashion Week and returned with pictures of runways, parties, ingenues and behind the scenes looks at what happened.

All photos by Mark "The Cobrasnake" Hunter

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