May 22, 2013 world of men's style / fashion / grooming RSS
“Hollywood”
03/13/13
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Is Tom Cruise an Icon?

Tom Cruise

Perhaps we should be clearer: the question at hand is whether Tom Cruise is a style icon. It’s a fair question, and one we’ve found ourselves pondering for whatever reason in these slow-going post-Oscar, pre-summer-blockbuster months.

First, there are all kinds of reasons he’s not: he isn’t exactly Ryan Gosling off screen; he almost definitely relies on a stylist for the red carpet; and, oh yeah, he’s the leading member of a batshit pseudo-religious organization that may or may not run hard-labor prison camps. [Ed. Note for legal reasons: Allegedly. ]

But, but, but…

After the jump, a few reasons Tom might be an icon after all…»
 

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11/29/11
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High and Tight

Ben Affleck Is Not Justin Bieber

Ben Affleck used to be as reliably close-cropped as anyone in Hollywood—but it would appear those days are over.

Any discussion about Ben Affleck’s more recent coiffure these days seems to liken his man-mop to Justin Bieber’s, inferring that the 39-year-old A-list actor/director/father of three is taking style advice from a barely pubescent half-pint crooner (who, incidentally, is no longer rocking his own haircut).

In actuality, Mr. Affleck is starring in (and directing) the film Argo, set in 1979 and based on the true story of how the CIA used a fake sci-fi film to rescue Americans during the Iran hostage crisis—and he’s doing so alongside John Goodman and Alan Arkin. That’s about as un-Bieber as it gets, if you ask us.

Here are a few photos from the set…»
 

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11/21/11
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Filmic

Bonnie, Clyde and the Invisi-Tie

Bonnie & Clyde

Once upon a time, Warren Beatty was a pretty sharp guy. And circa 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde, he was one of the sharpest men in California—pushing the French New Wave into Hollywood, head-faking studio heads for a percentage of the gross and walking away from the movie with a cool $27 million.

So we thought we’d take a look back at the classic bank robber flick, and all its glorious gangster suits, billowy shirtsleeves and invisi-ties.

A few choice frames from Bonnie & Clyde»
 

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05/21/10
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Catherine McNeil is Watching You Right Now

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Don’t Look Now: From the picture, we’re assuming she has super strength. [Fashion Spot]

Hands Down, The Funniest Thing you Will Read All Day: Pac Man hits thirty hard, and comes clean about his long-standing speed addiction. [The Awl]

The Player: A guide to the life and style of a Hollywood power broker. [LA Times]

On the Other Foot: Tres Bien lands a Mark McNairy interview and, somehow, beats us to the “Jack of all Trads” pun. [Tres Bien]

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05/11/10
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Scene

Kempt Man of the Hour: Justin Theroux

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It’s rare that a man gets a pair of Moscots named after him, but it’s even rarer that he does it without most people ever knowing who the hell he is. For most of the 00s, he was inseparable from those glasses, usually paired with gelled hair and a serious deadpan. Look to Mullholland Drive for the kickoff, but there’s plenty more where that came from.

But lately, he’s looking a little different»

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04/28/10
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Enter the Machete

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We’ve seen this guy’s face before—adding some authentic menace to dozens of otherwise dull action movies—but after this interview, we’re ready to call him our favorite person in Hollywood.

His name’s Danny Trejo, and over the course of a few pages he drops the following fascinating tidbits: 1) He got into the acting business as a combination boxing coach/drug counselor/armed robbery consultant. 2) Before that, he was the lightweight and welterweight champion of San Quentin. 3) Before that he robbed grocery stores for a living. Also, apparently he really liked Up in the Air.

It’s the kind of out-of-nowhere story Old Hollywood used to specialize in, but it’s good to see it can still happen in the modern age—especially when it means reminding audiences what a genuine badass looks like. Better yet, he’s about to get his first starring role in the Grindhouse-spinoff Machete, and, judging from the trailer, it should be the craziest thing in theaters all year.

At least until Hobo with a Shotgun comes out.

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04/20/10
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Filmic

Goodbye, Mr. Bond

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James Bond has faced down quite a lot—highlights include solar powered ray guns, a squad of brainwashed, agriculture-destroying ingénues, and Yaphet Kotto—but the world of international finance may have been more than he could handle. With Mr. Bond’s parent studio MGM buried under nearly $4 billion in debt, the 23rd Bond movie has been put on indefinite hiatus. Which is a shame, because it sounded kind of awesome, and Daniel Craig was on quite a roll.

Of course, knowing Hollywood, it’s hard to say how long this will last, but for now things look pretty grim. Count us as shaken.

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04/20/10
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Scandals

You’re Finished in This Town

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In a business that judges impoliteness pretty harshly, we’re kind of amazed Vincent Gallo hasn’t been run out of town yet. But we’re glad because it means that from time to time, we get to hear batshit rants like this.

Over the course of 39 minutes, Mr. Gallo manages to mortally insult Steven Soderbergh, Martin Scorcese, Wes Anderson, Abel Ferrera, Spike Jonze, Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola, Eric Roberts, Dennis Hopper, Honda, and the Directors Guild of America. To be honest, it’s pretty rough going—and decidedly ungentlemanly throughout—but it should be a cautionary tale of what an out-of-control ego can make you sound like.

A word to the wise: If you find yourself trash-talking the director of The Godfather—who, coincidentally, gave you your most recent starring role—you may want to reconsider yourself as a human being.

On the plus side, he has nothing but nice things to say about Mickey Rourke.

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02/08/10
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Good Idea

The Lifer

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By all accounts, Rip Torn has been having a pretty rough February, but we wanted to take a moment to appreciate why we care about him in the first place, and why we hope he’s doing all right.

It’s hard being a Hollywood lifer, but Mr. Torn pulls it off better than just about everyone, which is one reason he’s spent the last few years as a go-to curmudgeon for comedies. Don’t be fooled; he’s a whole lot cooler than that. For one: he’s friends with both Harry Nilsson and Miles Davis—which is quite a feat by any standards.

For firsthand proof, we’d suggest the Larry Sanders Show, where his producer Artie was both a career peak but quite possibly the perfect specimen of the showbiz fixer. One particular high note: He describes his beloved Glenlivet by saying, “When you die and go to heaven, you’ll say hello to God, and when God says hello, this is what you’ll smell on his breath.”

But only in moderation…

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09/30/09
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LinkOut

Penelope Cruz Cannot Be Tamed by Writer-Directors

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Cruz Control: Ladies and gentlemen, the best reason to see Nine. [Vanity Fair]

Let’s Go Make a Picture: When Hollywood starts being compared to Detroit, you know things are getting bad. The good news? At least Coraline was a hit… [Thompson on Hollywood]

Man Up: A discourse on masculinity, courtesy of the internet. [This Recording]

The Daily Nudes: There is no problem that cannot be solved by nude calendars. [NY Daily News]

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05/19/09
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Object

On the Big Screen

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We’re not sure how the Brits at Belstaff became Hollywood’s coat-makers of choice, but they’ve done a better job than anyone in California could have. This particular item was whipped up for Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, and we’d say the combination of the oversized fur collar and the European slant of the pockets place it above anything you might have seen in Benjamin Button.

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04/17/09
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Good Idea

A Beard Too Good for this World

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Time for another entry in our ongoing series on the taxonomy of beards.

Imagine you’re a creative type unbound by dress codes and only the thinnest pretense of nine-to-five regularity. You’ve met with some early success—people even started throwing the word “genius” around—but it scared the suits, and you’ve spent the rest of your career being suffocated by unimaginative businessmen, the stolid nature of the entertainment industry and the ultimate venality of the world.

Look on the bright side: While your existence may be plagued with self-doubt, your facial hair problems are pretty much solved.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we present the Stifled Genius Beard.

Perhaps further explanation is required»

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02/12/09
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Filmic

Kept at Bay

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Anyone who’s seen an action movie in the last ten years can probably recognize the work of Michael Bay—our particular favorite would be The Rock which, along with Armageddon, has the honor of being the unlikeliest Criterion edition we’ve come across—but now that he’s the recipient of everything from fake screenplays to a fake twitter persona, it might be time to dig a little deeper into the enigma that is Mr. Bay.

Luckily, some hapless assistant on the western coast has spent their morning uploading all of Mr. Bay’s commercial work onto Vimeo, with an almost unbelievably pretentious title card at the beginning of each spot. If you were looking for the core of the Bay aesthetic, this is pretty much it. Let the car commercials begin!

See our favorites after the jump, including the timeless “Aaron Burr”»

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02/04/09
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Scandals

Baleful

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Angry outbursts never look good, but we’re going to have to call this one as fair play. Or at least not obviously foul.

A true gentleman would have exercised a little more politeness, but frustration is just a byproduct of passion, and passion is always a good thing. Hundreds of actors would have let a few slips from the crew slide, and in the process accepted less from the movie and less from themselves. Much as the gossip press wishes it were otherwise, there’s no shame in caring about what you do.

Even if it means getting a little unkempt.

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01/22/09
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Object

Seeing Straight

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It’s hardly news that fashion is cyclical, but frametop glasses were the last thing we expected to come back into style. Costume designers in Hollywood have been using them as shorthand for the creepy loner type for at least 15 years. We can’t help but suspect Thom Browne…

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01/20/09
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Golden Age

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One of the startling things about Old Hollywood photographs is how comfortable all the stars are with elegance. Gary Cooper made his living playing tough guys, but when he put on a suit, he didn’t forget details like the pocket square, and he didn’t fall into knee-jerk simplicity. He wasn’t afraid to dress up.

We’ve gushed about Cooper before, but this time we got a little better peek at his wardrobe. The pic comes from an exhibit at the International Center for Photography, spanning from 1923 to 1937. We aren’t surprised Cooper made the cut. During those years, he may have been the most glamorous man in Hollywood.

Any McQueen comparisons are purely coincidental…

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12/01/08
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Art Threat

Motion Pictures

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Our favorite bowtie-glad pop artist is expanding into yet another field. Not satisfied with fantastic gallery work and the occasional high-fashion collab, Takashi Murakami is getting his Pixar on. Or should we say, his Miyazaki.

His latest project is an animation and film studio dedicated to the characters he’s produced. The trailer for the first major animated film kaikai & kiki debuted at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary art this year, and he’s already gone as far as setting up office space. Apparently he has a bit more faith in the economy than Mr. Hirst.

See the trailer and a few of Murakami’s economic musings»

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09/29/08
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The Hustler

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Paul Newman has seen a lot of ink since passing away on Friday, but we can’t help but add a little more. It’s hard to think of a more endearing movie star, or a more stringently moral one.

He was also the last star of his kind, bridging the gap between Old Hollywood’s contract players and today’s twenty-million-dollar free agents. More than James Dean or even Marlon Brando, Newman shaped the movies he was in around his own persona, the loveable, beatific loser. He made Hollywood more concerned with the heels of the world and less comfortable with the folks who run things, whether that meant the prison guards of *Cool Hand Luke* or the corrupt judges of *The Verdict*. There have been other movie stars—even other outsiders—but one way or another, they’ve all been copies of the same genuine article.

A few more pictures of Mr. Newman»

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08/29/08
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Scene

Pepsi Rejects

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Feast your eyes on this clownish couple, but be forewarned before clicking to enlarge the picture: they’re so plastered with logos we got acute conjunctivitis just looking at ‘em. Underneath all the claptrap you might recognize NASCAR nuggins Jeff Gordon (right), and a certain Mr. Pharrell Williams, who has won the adulation of the style set despite the fact that he dresses like an 11-year-old Japanese kid with ADD and way too much disposable income.

The painful-to-look-upon pair posed the other night at a Hollywood party for the Pepsi 500, the yearly race held at the end of the NASCAR season at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Despite the similar getups they were not in fact there as a couple; Gordon was accompanied by his hot model/actress wife Ingrid Vandebosch. At least he has good taste in something.

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08/22/08
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Shelf Life

Dapper Deities

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*Photo courtesy of Steidl*

A precious glimpse at one of the world’s most incredible photo collections from the golden age of Hollywood is to be found in Robert Dance’s opulent new book, *Glamour of the Gods*. The pix are all from the archives of John Kobal, who was one of the first to collect studio portraits of stars like Greta Garbo, Marlon Brando, Marlene Dietrich, Humphrey Bogart, Grace Kelly and Rita Hayworth, realizing they’d one day be equally important, if not more so, than the movies they made.

Above is Clarence Sinclair Bull’s incredibly elegant study of Gary Cooper, done for MGM in 1934, one of our favorite photos of all time. Further evidence, as if we required any, that they don’t make movie stars—or even photographs—like they used to.

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12/18/07
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Bear Markets, Robot Kicks and Global Warmers

Belstaff

**Leather Fetish**: Half of Hollywood’s A-list (the good half) are in Belstaff. Good for them. [WWD]

**Emerging Market**: Watch out, the luxury industry is going to pin you down and sell you diamonds. [WSJ]

**Big Daddy**: Adam Sandler pairs a questionable mohawk with even more questionable Knicks game shorts. [She Knows Best]

**Defender of the Universe**: Rebok’s Voltron collection combines to form… a pile of shoes. [Uncrate]

**Do Women Who Find Ferrari Drivers Sexy Contribute to Global Warming?**: You know, we hadn’t really thought about this one. [Wired]

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Style: some people have it, and some neighborhoods really have it. To show you what we mean, we’ve partnered with Cadillac to present Style Shifters—a five-part, in-depth look at what the hippest gents in some of the country’s coolest neighborhoods are wearing now. Our intrepid photographers have roamed the streets in search of the most stylish guys around. Herewith, a few photos of what they found...

New York

Brooklyn

Williamsburg

Williamsburg, Brooklyn is home to some of the country’s best bars, coolest restaurants and, of course, some of the best menswear shops in the world. Naturally, you’ll find more than a few stylish individuals perched outside those locations (and no, not all of them are Billyburg hipsters). See what we mean below...

On The Streets: Brooklyn

  • Carl Mateo, 32 Brand Ambassador for Silly Hats Company Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.

    Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.
  • Michael Benin, 28 Frontend Developer of UrbanDaddy Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.

    Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.
  • Michael Benin, 28 Frontend Developer of UrbanDaddy Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.

    Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.
  • Michael Benin, 28 Frontend Developer of UrbanDaddy Lives: Greenpoint, Brooklyn
    What We Like Vivamus ipsum est, feugiat vitae commodo et, dignissim at orci. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Aliquam iaculis faucibus urna, sit amet pellentesque.

    Sed tempor tincidunt augue, nec faucibus mi mattis vitae. Donec urna massa, molestie eget facilisis nec, pellentesque a enim.
California

San Francisco

Mission District
May 1

Oh, and up next: we take a peak at another handsome-as-hell neighborhood, the Mission District in San Francisco. Stay tuned...

Kempt
Style Shifters
Cadillac