Steve Martin

Everyone knows Steve Martin has managed to evolve from Jerk to man of letters. But is the comedian- turned- actor- turned- humorist - turned novelist - turned memoirist's next act as the screenwriter of blockbuster action films? If not, his "story by" and producer credit for Don Cheadle's war on terror flick Traitor sure is baffling.

Yesterday, Eric D. Snider of the Web site Cinematical, explained how Mr. Martin came to lay the foundation for the movie:

[A] terrorism thriller about Muslim extremists and FBI investigations? Even with the understanding that 'typical Steve Martin' territory extends much further than the casual fan might realize, this was not typical Steve Martin territory.  read more »

After appearing in Scarlett Johansson's music video, Salman Rushdie says that acting is an "itch that needs scratching." [Vulture]

Don't call that thing wrapped around Miley Cyrus a bed sheet! It's a "duchess satin stole, Champagne, specially made," says Vanity Fair. [Radar]

Sting likes to tight-rope walk in his garden in England. [P6]  read more »

On Friday, April 25, Redbelt, a riveting David Mamet cops-and-con-men drama set in the world of professional jujitsu, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The cool table at the after-party, held at the Honey nightclub on West 14th Street, included Mr.  read more »

Baby Mama opened the 7th annual Tribeca Film Festival last night at the Ziegfeld Theater, and the temple of Hollywood in New York was packed full of celebrities tramping a red carpet that snaked down 54th Street almost to Sixth Avenue.

It was a comedy-loving crowd, judging from the laughs that started even before the film did, during the pre-movie Tribeca Film Festival promo short about a man as a film junkie (it’s actually funnier than it sounds), and when the lights went up you could see the proof: Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Lorne Michaels, Chris Kattan, and Molly Shannon were all there to bask in the easy charms of Tina Fey's slight comedy.  read more »

 

Over the weekend, the first new episode of Saturday Night Live to air since the end of the writers’ strike posted the show’s highest ratings since Feb. 4, 2006, easily topping seven million viewers, Variety reports. SNL hadn’t broadcast since the fall, which made Saturday’s show—the first in four consecutive weeks of new SNL episodes—with Tina Fey as host (see above), guest appearances by Mike Huckabee (he was on Weekend Update, too) and Steve Martin (who, coincidentally, hosted the Feb. 4, 2006 episode), and a musical performance by Carrie Underwood, a highly anticipated event.  read more »

BORN STANDING UP: A COMIC'S LIFE
By Steve Martin
Scribner, 207 pages, $25

… Enjoyment would have been an indulgent loss of focus that comedy cannot afford. —Steve Martin

Being funny isn’t fun. At the height of his great success as a stand-up comedian (crowds of 45,000), Steve Martin suffered from depression, exhaustion and the loneliness of the road. In 1981, at the top of the roller coaster, he walked away, into the movies. And into writing for them, and for The New Yorker, among other things. He’s very good at it; he’s a pleasure to read. But this memoir, one suspects, is something of a magic act. As if Steve Martin had reached into his magician’s top hat and instead of a rabbit, pulled out “Steve Martin.”  read more »

In retrospect I think that I failed to understand a couple weeks back when my wife said that George Clooney was her type. My wife is good on personalities, and we were talking about actors so I started testing her on types. Spencer Tracy. "Short, angry, pugnacious." Humphrey Bogart. "Wounded. Secretive." Steve Martin. "Ironic, overly sensitive. He would be closest to you." De Niro. "Unfortunately he's become a bloviator."

George Clooney. "He's my type."

Then this week we watched two George Clooney movies. First Syriana, about which I blogged below. I think its ideas are appalling in their simplicity and uselessness. Of course my wife loved it.

Two nights ago we watched Good Night and Good Luck. I could just see my wife loving it. After it was over, she said, "It wasn't slick. It was naive in a good way. It got people to care about something they would never care about usually. George Clooney has got all this power in Hollywood now and he's using it for good things."

I really disliked the movie. It was naive and heroic about corporate life. Its manner was pedestrian and earnest. I said to her, "Why is Murrow such a hero? He isn't. The guy was mainstream, and yes a force for good generally. But when he went after Joe McCarthy it was 1954, and McCarthy was already a laughingstock. The only good thing about the movie is they didn't cast McCarthy, they used real footage. He looks like Satan and he's crazy. Other people had already taken the big risks before Murrow."

My wife got upset. She said, "You're like that gospel according to Judas but the other way: You are taking something that's good and heroic and spinning it to be bad and obvious."

I went to two encyclopedias to prove my point. They were inconclusive.

While I am sure I'm right, I don't know that I can win this fight. This morning I heard my wife talking about me on the phone: "He doesn't understand, every woman is in love with George Clooney." Later, I had to drive with her somewhere. I said, "O.K. In two words, What is George Clooney's type?"

"Not you."

I had to wheedle a while before she came out with: "Low key, cool, straightforward and handsome. And a little bit simple."

I'm counting that last adjective as a victory.

Gidi Dar’s Ushpizin, from a screenplay by Shuli Rand, has emerged as the strangest yet still e  read more »

Gidi Dar’s Ushpizin, from a screenplay by Shuli Rand, has emerged as the strangest yet still enter  read more »

In the sudden plethora of faceless film stars with more publicity than talent, Claire Danes is a shi  read more »

Steve Martin, apparently the guest of honor with his velvet suit and powdery skin, thanked the small  read more »

On my last birthday, I decided to buy a parakeet.  read more »

After walking up the oyster-hued carpet leading to the Council of Fashion Designers Awards at the Ne  read more »

Not to find a clown sweet and funny is close to heresy, I guess.  read more »

To the casual observer, the annual publishing extravaganza known as Book Expo America seems like jus  read more »

Near midnight, Pacific time, on March 23, actor Ryan O'Neal pulled Dr.  read more »

November 7 -- Steve Martin will host the 75th Anniversary of the Academy Awards next year, the show'  read more »

O.K., it's official: The National Book Awards are publishing's version of the Oscars, right down to  read more »

Upoc, a wireless messaging service that distributes text andvoice info to cell phones, has a popular  read more »

Get used to the word "magic"; you'll be hearing it a lot as the grosses for Harry Potter and the Sor  read more »

Mall , by Eric Bogosian. Simon & Schuster, 246 pages, $23.hopgirl , by Steve Martin.  read more »

Raúl Ruiz's Time Regained , from a screenplay by Gilles Taurand and Mr.  read more »

A Mild and Crazy Guy"Comedy is not pretty," Steve Martin said a long, long time ago.  read more »

Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez's The Blair Witch Project represents the ultimate triumph of the  read more »

Most Likely to BombSuffering through Never Been Kissed and The Out-of-Towners on the same day (or an  read more »

It will be sacrilege to many, but I'm beginning to see David Mamet as the Andy Warhol of theater.  read more »