Filmmakers are having another crack at DC Comics’ Superman, as Man of Steel has its world première, with the first non-American to play the cinematic lead, Henry Cavill.
The film had its première in New York on Monday night, with the presence of Cavill, Kevin Costner (as Jonathan Kent), Amy Adams (as Lois Lane), Russell Crowe (Jor-El), and Laurence Fishburne.
In an interview, Jersey-born Cavill says there was a great deal of affection for the character, and he sensed that when donning the Superman costume.
He also notes that it did not take long for him to win the role, with a ‘remarkably short audition process. I did one audition, one screen test, Christmas was in between, which sort of lengthened it, and I had the movie within a month and a half, and that’s unheard of as far as my experience goes … This time round, I just got lucky.’
The reboot has taken a darker, more serious tone to adapting the comic book’s origin story. The Dark Knight’s David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan were behind the latest version’s story, with Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300) directing.
Early reviews have leaned toward the positive, with some appreciating the new movie’s darker and more dramatic tone, while some have bemoaned its humourlessness. Man of Steel opens June 14 in the US.
The talk today at Lucire was the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual costume gala, and who was the best and worst dressed.
Our friends at ITN had a slightly different view to us, as we felt that Kim Kardashian let the side down with an unflattering floral-print dress. There is great maternity wear out there, but Kardashian’s look didn’t do it for us.
We’re not sure how her dress was punk, which was the theme of this year’s gala, Punk: from Chaos to Couture.
Beyoncé wore a gown with a flame motif and a long train by Givenchy, but we wouldn’t class that as the worst. Since largely every celebrity there was a punk poseur rather than an exponent of the movement, we thought it was a good interpretation of the theme while staying true to the red-carpet looks of previous Met galas. There was a sense of the DIY nature of punk even if her gown was put together by Riccardo Tisci.
Taylor Swift was am ITN favourite with her J. Mendel black silk crepe gown and crystal neckline.
However, our favourite was Sienna Miller. Miller wore a Burberry gown and studded leather jacket, and had studs in her ears and her hair. She expressed the punk spirit the closest, according to Lucire fashion editor Sopheak Seng.
Sarah Jessica Parker, another favourite of ours, wore a Giles Deacon gown, a mohawk by Philip Treacy and Christian Louboutin boots, but managed to flash her knickers—as did Madonna in a plaid Givenchy jacket. Lucire also rated Rooney Mara donned a half-sheer Givenchy, while Christina Ricci properly went punk with a Vivienne Westwood plaid gown and Harry Winston jewellery. Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour wore a pink floral Chanel gown.
Others were less punky and missed the essence of the roots of punk. Miley Cyrus and Anne Hathaway sported new blonde hairdos. Cyrus wore Marc Jacobs, while Hathaway, in Valentino, said she was inspired by Debbie Harry.
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Katie Holmes got ITN’s thumbs-up, with Holmes in a Calvin Klein halter dress by Francisco Costa. Jennifer Lopez appeared in a Michael Kors sequin-embroidered gown.
Updated May 17, 2013 at 12.46 p.m. GMT with videos from Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
In the 36 years since The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended, we’ve had snippets of information here and there: TV specials celebrating various anniversaries, articles when the release of the disappointing Mary & Rhoda TV movie appeared, and retrospectives when Mary Tyler Moore herself was presented with a SAG award. But no one, till now, has put together a tome on how the show was created and its eight-year history.
Jennifer Keishin Armstrong’s Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted and All the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic is the best researched book on the topic. Newly released by Simon & Schuster, Armstrong has talked to the surviving members of the cast and crew, including writer Treva Silverman, and producers and creators Allan Burns and James L. Brooks, as well as Moore, Valerie Harper, Gavin MacLeod and others. She has exhaustively researched period articles and even feminist conferences. But don’t expect a laborious effort to get through the 300 pp.: anyone with even a passing interest in television sitcoms, television history in general, recent American history or the media’s role in the development of feminism will find Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted an absorbing and entertaining read, tracing the origins of the show in the 1960s to the years after its final episode, told chronologically.
It’s hard to believe now just how revolutionary The Mary Tyler Moore Show was in 1970. It’s even harder to believe that it had a difficult gestation and plenty of doubt among network executives. CBS had expected it to flop after its 13-episode commitment, not take home multiple Emmys. Ed Asner could have walked away permanently after a bad audition. But it became a ratings’ winner, catching the smart, urban crowd, and the fictional Mary Richards became the first mainstream character to tell America that it was OK to be single, over 30, and independent.
Jay Sandrich’s style of directing is mentioned—he believed that actors should play to each other, rather than on stage in the theatre, performing to the audience. That, the live audience, and the use of film helped lend The Mary Tyler Moore Show a different style. The use of Evan-Picone as a sole supplier of Moore’s wardrobe also helped with realism: Mary Richards might repeat an outfit during a season, which a real working woman would. Brooks and Burns, in their own commitment to reality, sought out female writers, who were extremely hard to come by in the late 1960s and early 1970s, to give the show an authentic voice. The networks themselves had remarkably few women, with the few female executives who had broken the glass ceiling needing to leave their high heels outside the washroom so that their male colleagues knew they were inside.
Norman Lear’s remake of Till Death Do Us Part, called All in the Family, which proved more ground-breaking in pushing the envelope, is also mentioned more than just in passing. All of it is placed into the context of the social changes in the United States at the turn of the 1970s, making Armstrong’s book a particularly useful text, covering many bases.
We read about male friends writing to CBS angrily when it was implied that she had stayed over at a boyfriend’s, or even about how ground-breaking one scene was when Mary’s visiting mother, talking to her father, says, ‘Don’t forget to take your pill,’ to which both father and daughter replied, ‘I won’t.’
The team’s personal demons—Ted Knight had anxieties stemming from his slow rise to stardom, for instance, and the pressure put on Grant Tinker and Mary Tyler Moore’s marriage—are dealt with, and Armstrong successfully transplants the reader to the 1960s and 1970s as though the events were unfolding before us. The fact Mary Richards fought for equal pay but still accepted a lower rate did not endear the show fully to feminists, but The Mary Tyler Moore Show largely stayed true to not dealing with the issues of the day—rather, it would address them through character-driven plots, with one or two exceptions. On that note, it was quite unlike All in the Family, which would deal with racism or sexism head-on. Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted is better than any DVD commentary or documentary so far produced on the show. With over 300 pp., it is the definitive reference on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and to a lesser extent, its spin-offs. In terms of interest among American readers, we think it’s going to make it after all.
Armstrong has emailed Lucire with some of the events she has planned to promote her new book.
‘If you’re in New York, I especially encourage you to join us for MTM-related bar trivia to celebrate release week. There will be prizes—T-shirts, books, mugs, and free Entertainment Weekly subscriptions!’ she says.
‘So far I’ve got stuff planned for New York, DC, Chicago, Milwaukee, and LA, but I’ve still got more in the works, so if you’re somewhere else, please check my website for updates.’
Right now, those events are (please check her website for corrections and updates):
• Thursday, May 9, 7 p.m.: Mary Tyler Moore Show trivia night for Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted release. At Pacific Standard, Brooklyn.
• Monday, May 13, 12 p.m.: Mary Tyler Moore Show discussion and reading from Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted. At 92nd Street Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson Street.
• Friday, May 17, 7 p.m.: Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted reading and discussion at the Village Zendo, 588 Broadway (near Houston), Suite 1108.
• Monday, May 20, 12 p.m.: Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted reading and signing at the National Archives, Washington D.C.
• Tuesday, June 4. 7 p.m.: The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the Modern Woman discussion at Boswell Book Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• Wednesday, June 5, 8 p.m.: Sexy Feminism and Chicago Doll party, Old Town Social, 455 W. North Ave., Chicago—join us for a fundraising raffle, cocktails, and fun.
• Thursday, June 6, 7 p.m.: Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted Chicago launch party, Hemingway House and Museum, Oak Park.
• Friday, June 7: Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted reading and talk at Book Cellar, Lincoln Square, Chicago.
• Sunday, July 7, 7 p.m.: How to Write a Non-fiction Book Proposal workshop with LA Writers’ Group.
• Tuesday, July 9, 7 p.m.: Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted panel discussion: What Has Changed for Female TV Writers Since the ’70s? With Mary Tyler Moore Show writer Treva Silverman. At Book Soup, Los Angeles.
• Thursday, July 11, 7 p.m.: A dialogue and how-to discussion about pop-culture writing with Gavin Edwards, co-author of VJ: the Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave. At Pop-Hop Bookshop, Los Angeles.
Jaeger-LeCoultre is pushing its film connections this week, too, honouring Barbra Streisand at the 40th anniversary Chaplin Award Gala at the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Jaeger-LeCoultre has a multi-year partnership with the Society and recently launched its Filmmaker in Residence initiative. The partnership also covers the Society’s most prestigious annual event, the New York Film Festival, which will be held from September 27 to October 13 this year.
Present at the event were Liza Minnelli, Tony Bennett, Michael Douglas, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Stiller and Blythe Danner. Minnelli, last year’s winner, Catherine Deneuve, and actor Jeremy Irons, donned their Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso watches at the event.
Streisand received the award from former US President Bill Clinton at Avery Fisher Hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
The legendary singer, actress, producer and director has won the Grammy 15 times, and had been nominated 57 times.
The event was held one week after Charlie Chaplin’s birthday on April 16. Chaplin was the first honoree in 1972: he had spent four days in New York fêted by the Film Society of Lincoln Center at a gala event prior to heading to Los Angeles to accept his honorary Oscar. Chaplin had been in a 20-year exile in Switzerland after he was denied entry in the United States in the 1950s.
Sebastian Professional has teamed up with fashion designer Mara Hoffman, which sees a Mara Hoffman for Sebastian custom scarf given away with its latest limited-edition designer gift set.
The gift pack comprises the Sebastian Professional Volupt shampoo and conditioner, along with Hoffman’s scarf, which features bold colours and graphic prints, inspired by her own spring 2013 collection, which had a São Paulo theme. The scarf has a retail value of US$120.
Sebastian Professional lead hairstylist Thomas Dunkin says the scarf suits current trends: ‘This print is bold, beautiful and inspiring. Combine this with braids for a cool urban look or leave hair down and very natural, and tie the scarf in a bow at the crown for a more ’50s vibe.’
The choice of Hoffman, with her Brazilian-themed spring collection, ties in with Sebastian’s Urban Explorer promotion, which educates consumers on different hair trends around the globe. The gift set shows step-by-step styling tricks from Dunkin as part of the promotion.
Dunkin himself had led Hoffman’s hair styling at her spring 2013 show at New York Fashion Week.
The pack will be available from Sebastian salons across the US for US$25 from May–June 2013.
Details of Sebastian salons can be found at www.sebastianprofessional.com.
Above left Christian Dada. Above right Vivienne Tam.
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Tokyo wrapped up Sunday as cherry blossoms bloom in Japan’s capital. Over the last couple of seasons, Tokyo Fashion Week kept its target on European and Japanese buyers and audiences, but this season, it has eyed the growing Asian market, especially China. It makes sense since Chinese consumers have now become the world’s leading buyers of luxury goods.
Japanese fashion brand Christian Dada was the fashion week opener for the autumn–winter 2013–14 collections. Christian Dada’s designer, Masanori Morikawa, is known as a stage costume designer for the American pop singer Lady Gaga during her Born This Way Ball 2012 tour. Morikawa has been showcasing his signature style with a rebellious yet silent dark beauty, but this season he got inspiration from a Chinese mythological bird called the fenghuang (phoenix), which is the theme of his collection. Leather jackets and pants are mainly in black and white with blue, red and gold patterns representing the fenghuang. The most memorable moment of Morikawa’s show was definitely his signature tall boots with bird wings.
Chinese-born designer Vivienne Tam held a special runway show during Tokyo Fashion Week to celebrate the 15th anniversary of her brand in Japan. Tam presented the same collection she first showed at New York Fashion Week for the lunar New Year. Chinese calligraphy added unexpected twists in her latest collection in a modern and punk-like way, which successfully engaged with the fashion-savvy Japanese audience.
Johan Ku, a Taiwanese designer, presented his signature knit collection. This season, Ku revealed the sexiness of a woman’s silhouette, with the theme of Anna, the female lead in the 1992 movie Damage. Unlike his last several collections, this season was full of pieces that showed off plenty of skin using holes, fringes, and asymmetric necklines. They all look randomly placed but are well calculated, demonstrating Ku’s skill of knit-work, boosted since his last collection.
Japanese veteran designer Hiroko Koshino was one of the highlighted designers at Tokyo Fashion Week, presenting her collection on the last day. She also eyed the growing Asian market as she presented her new “east meets west” look. In her collection, Floral Memories, it was not just flower-patterned dresses that walked down the runway. Her floral inspiration was everywhere: from texture of fabric, colour choice and make-up, to draping and rounded silhouettes on each of her looks. The natural phenomena of flowers were represented in an artistic form, rather than the romantic image which many designers use.
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Japan has been investing a full effort to shift its gear towards marketing its brand outside the country, especially to the growing Asian market. There are still criticisms that Tokyo Fashion Week is marketing internally, while the fashion-savvy audience in Japan is interested in street fashion, which they call ‘real clothes’, as opposed to high fashion from the runway. Tokyo Fashion Week continues to tackle those challenges, and the next several seasons will be key to turning things around, to become a new trend-setting global destination.—Yuka Murai, YM Biz & Media
Japan Fashion Week Organization
Above left Johan Ku. Above right Hiroko Koshino.
Yuka Murai of YM Biz & Media is a correspondent for Lucire.
Updated March 28, 2013 at 10.56 a.m. GMT with The Delivery film and other highlights
James Bond star Daniel Craig has helped launch the Range Rover Sport in New York City with a drive through Manhattan, revealing the car to a celebrity audience that included former American football player Michael Strahan, Yasmin Le Bon, Zara Phillips, MBE, and Jade Jagger, at Skylight at Moynihan Station on 8th Avenue.
The drive is part of a short film called The Delivery, broadcast live by Land Rover at www.newrangeroversport.com. The Delivery was directed by Jonathan P. B. Taylor, who most recently worked on A Good Day to Die Hard. It followed the journey of the new Range Rover Sport from Solihull to Manhattan, before it was driven by Craig over Manhattan Bridge to Moynihan Station.
Craig drove the earlier Range Rover Sport in his second Bond film, Quantum of Solace, but was also attracted to working with the company because of its connection to the charity SAFE, of which he is a patron. Among other things, SAFE uses mobile street theatre and community programmes to help effect social change in third-world countries.
Jaguar Land Rover says it chose New York for the launch as it sells more units in the US than in any other global market. New York is the car’s best selling city.
The new Sport is no longer based on a Discovery, but has a new platform based around the company’s aluminium architecture, lightweight suspension design and chassis technologies. It was developed alongside the latest Range Rover but JLR claims that 75 per cent of the Sport’s parts are unique to it.
It can be specified with occasional seating for sixth and seventh passengers, again appealing to the US market. The power seats can be folded to leave a flat floor.
The new V6 diesel is 420 kg lighter than the outgoing model, while carbon dioxide emissions have been reduced to 194 g/km.
The exterior design is more muscular and purposeful than the Range Rover presented last year, and some might say it is better balanced. It is positioned between the Range Rover and the smaller Evoque.
It is 62 mm longer than the outgoing Sport, but the wheelbase has been increased by 178 mm—the overhangs have been shortened to give it more muscular proportions compared to the previous model. At 4,850 mm, it is shorter than other seven-seater SUVs and E-segment saloons, says the company. The drag co-efficient has dropped to 0,34.
Connectivity includes Stolen Vehicle Tracking and a high-bandwidth wifi hotspot can be installed. An optional head-up display is available. Other features include lane departure warning, automatic high-beam assist, and a Wade Sensing feature that provides information on depth when driving through water.
Land Rover said it had set out to create the most capable Range Rover ever, one which would be agile on-road, but unbeaten by its rivals off-road.
In a release, Land Rover Global Brand Director John Edwards noted, ‘We’ve taken ride, handling and agility to another level for Land Rover to deliver a truly rewarding, sporting drive, together with unmatched luxury, capability and versatility.
‘Building on the success of the recently launched flagship Range Rover, the new Range Rover Sport also employs a vast array of new technologies which help to transform its performance, refinement and all round capabilities.’
Again recognizing its clientèle, the wheel sizes range from 19 through to 21 inches.
Suspension is fully independent, with double wishbones at front and multi-link at the rear. Wheel travel is 260 mm at the front and 272 mm at the rear; ground clearance has been increased to 278 mm. Land Rover’s Terrain Response 2 system selects the most suitable terrain program.
A hybrid diesel with 169 g/km carbon dioxide emissions will follow, but at launch, the Sport has a supercharged five-litre V8 developing 510 PS, and a three-litre diesel developing 292 PS. Three- and 4·4-litre diesels will be added in 2014.
Above, from top Michael Strahan. Yasmin Le Bon. Daniel Craig and SAFE’s Nick Reding. Jade Jagger. Zara Phillips, MBE. Sienna Guillory and Jamie Chung. Thierry Henry. Below More shots of the new Range Rover Sport.
Top MAC’s new Mineralize Rich Lipstick promises the same high quality as the company’s other lines. Above Chloé is offering free engraving for its Signature fragrance this weekend, but only at Selfridges.
If you’re in the UK, Chloé and Selfridges have teamed up to offer free complimentary engraving for Mother’s Day, but only this weekend (March 9 and 10). With any purchase of a Chloé Signature fragrance (30 ml and above), you can receive free engraving in store.
Shiseido, meanwhile, has won an award at the the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the second consecutive year. The announcement by the Ethisphere Institute, an American think-tank, was announced on March 6, awarding companies that have best practices in ethics and corporate social responsibility, not unlike the Medinge Group’s earlier Brands with a Conscience awards.
The ceremony took place in New York.
MAC Cosmetics, meanwhile, have three new releases. For the eyes, the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot range (bottom), still with its highly pigmented colour and pearlized finish, has a new creamy formula that dries more quickly. Suggested retail price is NZ$44, with the 242 Shader brush at NZ$68. The Paint Pots hit retailers on March 11.
On March 18, MAC’s Mineralize Moisture SPF 15 foundation (below) becomes available, featuring shea butter, emollients and conditioning extracts. MAC says the combination of powders has an ‘optical blurring effect’ that helps even the skin tone. The foundation, with 18 shades, retails for NZ$75 each, and the 130 Short Duo fibre brush at NZ$90.
Completing the MAC releases, also due on the 18th, is its Mineralize Rich Lipstick line, which the company says is larger in size and has a mineral moist complex for hydration. There are 12 vibrant shades, each retailing at NZ$58.
In the 36 years since The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended, we’ve had snippets of information here and there: TV specials celebrating various anniversaries, articles when the release of the disappointing Mary & Rhoda TV movie appeared, and retrospectives when 
Sebastian Professional has teamed up with fashion designer Mara Hoffman, which sees a Mara Hoffman for Sebastian custom scarf given away with its latest limited-edition designer gift set.
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