Adrian Grenier

Up until last night, we'd been pretty pleased with the latest season of Entourage. The show, which lamely limped along for almost two full years has gotten its mojo back by having Vincent Chase decline into the Hollywood Bargain Bin. So it was a little disconcerting to watch the latest episode, which would have even been considered terrible by Medellin-era Entourage standards. Vince and the boys spent thirty long minutes tripping on mushrooms with Eric Roberts. And while on paper that sounds awesome, we assure you, it certainly was not.

Still, the news today that HBO has picked up Entourage for a sixth season makes us happy.  read more »

On Sunday, September 7, the Moeller Snow gallery space on Bond street played host to a group of young, playfully disheveled, downtown types who had gathered there to hear the Swedish indie singer, Lykke Li perform, an event that was thrown together by Justin Kern of the Los Angeles-based boutique and event space, Not To Be Reproduced.

While guests like designer Erin Wasson and stylist Anastasia Barbieri awaited Ms. Li's performance, actress Kirsten Dunst arrived with Scott Sternberg, the designer behind Band of Outsiders for whose Saturday evening show Ms. Dunst was a model. This appearance was hardly unusual for the actress, who has become a regular at these sorts of events.  read more »

Here’s a teensy weensy spoiler about what’s ahead in season five of HBO’s Entourage, which starts on Sunday night. Johnny Drama gets the best line, and it involves the word “meth” (trust us: the crowd at the Ziegfeld theater for the premiere on Wednesday night roared). Beyond that, we’ll try not to ruin any surprises for what seems (hopefully) to be a return to what made Entourage so much fun in the first place.

When it first aired in the summer of 2004, Entourage bestowed a little La La Land glitz and glamour to the HBO landscape, which was sorely missing with the then-recent departure of the Sex and the City gals.  read more »

At the Entourage season five premiere Wednesday evening at the Ziegfield Theater on 54th Street, attendees would have been forgiven if they assumed, incorrectly, that the premiere was being filmed for some meta-meta-upcoming episode. There were screaming fans, and the boys—Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara, and Jeremy Piven—were dressed in suits, and stopped to pose for photos and sign autographs. Two episodes from season five, which starts Sunday, were screened for an audience that included several guest stars from the upcoming season—Leighton Meester from Gossip Girl, Friday Night Lights producer Peter Berg, Sopranos daughter Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and rapper Bow Wow.  read more »

Our stalkerism of Adrian Grenier and Kevin Connolly filming on the set of Entourage in Queens continues as one of you helpful readers sent us a tip.

From the comments section: 

Today [Ed: posted yesterday] they filmed in Maspeth Queens on a residential street which dead ends at Mt. Olivet cemetery. The scene was a backyard party congratulating Vincent Chase on his movie career. His 'movie mom' is in it, as is Turtles'. They talk about him starring in a Gus Van Sant film.

And according to "Amy," the blogger at Filming in Brooklyn, who originally tipped us off to the sighting, the original shoot took place in Woodside, specifically at 58-45 41st Drive.

Run, don't walk. 

The boys of HBO's Entourage are filming an episode in Queens today, according to a blog (misleadingly) called Filming in Brooklyn.

The Queens location makes sense; the show's lead, Vincent Chase, played by the curly-haired Adrian Grenier, and his buddy, Eric (Kevin Connolly), move to Los Angeles from their childhood neighborhood of Queens, New York at the beginning of the series.

The shoot, which coincidentally took place not too far from a bus stop with a promo poster for the upcoming season, was on a quiet residential block that was heavily guarded by production assistants. But the Filming in Brooklyn blogger was able to sneak her way midway down the block and observe from behind the bushes.  read more »

Although his rep denies it, Entourage actor Adrian Grenier is reportedly shopping around his own birthday, asking Hamptons clubs for up to $50,000 for the honor throwing him a party. [P6]

Ben Kingsley's co-stars in The Wackness say he had to be taught how to properly smoke from a bong. [NY Daily News]

Patrick McMullan and son Liam, were scheduled to host a party at Dune on Friday night, but the event was cancelled after the younger Mr. McMullan and his music producer, Chris Young, handed out invitations depicting them smoking pot. [P6]

Lindsay Lohan may have an 11-year-old half sister that Michael Lohan fathered during an affair while still married to Dina Lohan.  read more »

Because cases of mistaken celebrity identity can be really annoying, here follows a list of some stars—most of whom are out-of-towners—in New York over the next seven days. So if you happen to find yourself at, say, Da Silvano on Wednesday night and could swear that Tom Hanks is sitting at the next table over, you’ll know that it’s probably him. (Mr. Hanks comes to town today to promote his new film, Charlie Wilson’s War.)

After the jump, some other stars in town to push a little flesh this week.  read more »

Ecological consciousness has become so big, so fast in the past two years.  read more »

Entourage star Adrian Grenier’s mom Karesse was on the phone, talking about her son’s st  read more »

"Can you tell us what the fuck that movie was about?" asked a leggy blonde. She was at the afterparty for the premiere of Pretty Persuasion, a dark teen dramedy in the fine tradition of Heathers. "We walked in halfway through."

Hmm, let's see. There's a sprinkling of underage sex, a generous dose of the word "kike," references to bestiality, and some timely—and no doubt, thought-provoking—allusions to the War in Iraq. The Transom was told this was provocative, cutting-edge stuff—although, it should be noted The Transom had just sneaked out the other day for a matinee of The Aristocrats and wasn't about to find itself shocked by some naughty words.

And yet...

"We were offered a lot of money by other distributors if we cut out the ending and made it more of a Mean Girls scenario," said producer Carl Levin, not without a touch of pride. We asked if he was a member of the tribe.

"Yes," Mr. Levin laughed. "And I wrote some of the anti-Semitic jokes in the script!"

The film stars Evan Rachel Wood as Kimberly Joyce, a nastier, dirtier incarnation of Reese Witherspoon's calculating teen queen Tracy Flick. Seducing a lesbian newscaster, Kimberly croons: "I could never give up men. I like cock too much. But sometimes, I just need a woman's touch."

Ms. Wood turns 18 in September. "I'm all for owning your sexuality," she told us. "But I think my sexuality isn't quite like Kimberly's. I couldn't find myself in her at all."

Maybe that's a good thing. Kimberly spouts lines like "Get lost, you unkempt miscreant!" and orally services several characters of both genders. She accuses a mild-mannered English teacher of sexual assault, betrays her best friend and tells a Muslim girl that Arabs are the "worst race to be." Comedy!

The afterparty, featuring Twinkies as hors d'oeuvres, was held at Slate Plus Lounge in Chelsea. Hangers-on shot billiards in the club's pool hall while the few celebs in attendance stayed put in the V.I.P. area, which was set off by a glittery bead canopy and lit by hanging halos.

We were thrilled to find Jonathan Silverman there. The lovable shlub from TV's The Single Guy and star of both Weekend at Bernie's and Weekend at Bernie's II, Mr. Silverman told us he is betrothed—"Look at that, the engaged guy!"—and is working on several independent films.

"I just did a pilot for Jerry Bruckheimer," he said. "Right now it's the only thing that Jerry Bruckheimer has ever touched that didn't turn into something."

In a more secluded corner sat Adrian Grenier, who isn't a movie star but plays one on TV. The Entourage star smiled sheepishly as a bevy of girls swooped in to pose for pictures. He wore a forest green T-shirt and plain jeans.

"I think it's significant the film takes place in L.A. They're so affected there," he said. Mr. Grenier's a city boy: he grew up in New York and attended LaGuardia High School, studying theater and dance. For now he's back in Manhattan, "living and shooting a short film, Euthanasia. One of the characters is modeled after Evan Rachel Wood." She couldn't do the film herself? "She's too big! She blew up!"

We bid Mr. Grenier bon soir. "Be nice, be nice," he said, batting those big ol' lashes. Hmm?

We asked director Marcos Siega about the film's more offensive moments, such as the slurs aimed at minorities and Jews. "Some people are gonna hate it, but what are you gonna do?" Mr. Siega shrugged.

What are you gonna do indeed? Pretty Persuasion's positive lessons about diversity had already been confirmed for The Transom moments earlier. Upon entering the club, we'd noticed two young women eyeing us from afar. As we walked past, one girl turned, made eye contact, and said with a smile:  read more »

"You were great!"

"Thanks!" The Transom chirped, realizing we'd been mistaken for a dark-haired Jewish boy in the film. We didn't have the heart to explain that, despite The Transom's fairly Semitic features, not all the chosen people are the same. —Michael Grynbaum

Wednesday 20th Growl …. Well, at least the tourists are enjoying our fair humid city ….  read more »