russell crowe

RSVIP: Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks Fete "The Next Three Days"

Filed under: Events

Prepare to hold your breath and feel the seconds tick as the action ratchets up in "The Next Three Days," starring Russell Crowe and his fetching wife in the film, Elizabeth Banks, far right, who plays a convict.

Two years ago in Paris, Luxist happened to catch a small French thriller called "Pour Elle ('For Her')." The plot: Diane Kruger, a loving mother, is accused of murder and sent to jail. With no legal means left to get her out, her husband becomes involved with French criminals and creates a clever plot to break her out of prison. Kruger is ravishing in the film and speaks flawless French. When RSVIP was invited to the premiere of "The Next Three Days," a film by the Oscar-winning director Paul Haggis, a few details instantly recalled "Pour Elle." But Haggis had embellished the story and the chase scenes. Crowe plays the male lead, and Elizabeth Banks takes Kruger's role.

Olivia Wilde, wearing Celine on the carpet, who plays a mom Crowe meets on a playground, said that she had seen both features, French and American. "Diane is extraordinary in the original," said Wilde.

What's different? "Russell Crowe is one of the best living actors. My heart was pounding harder. They upped the stakes, upped the intensity."

Banks, wearing a unique black Versace getup with a clear plastic panel at her waist, also gave Kruger a nod. "Yes, I have seen the French version. Diane Kruger is great. I think she's an incredible actress," said Banks. "But we really have a totally different movie. The main thing that is different is the prison system in France. Apparently, they allow you to wear whatever you want, because she wore jeans and a sweater throughout the movie. And I'm in full prison garb . . . a serious drag. I'm not sure I'm pulling it off in a lot of scenes. She got to look much lovelier."

Tags: elizabeth banks, liam neeson, moran atias, paul haggis, rsvip, russell crowe, the next three days

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Best Cupcakes in the U.S.

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Luxist Readers have nominated their favorite cupcake bakeries and the top five are:

Baked (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Crumbs Bake Shop (New York, N.Y.)
Magnolia Bakery (New York, N.Y.)
Sprinkles (Los Angeles, Ca.)
SusieCakes (Los Angeles, Ca.)

Gallery: America's Best Cupcakes

Vote for the company you believe makes the best cupcakes. Readers' Choice Winners will be announced on March 1st.

Tags: awards-main, baked, baked new york, BakedNewYork, best bakeries, best bakery, best cupcake, best sweets, BestBakeries, BestBakery, BestCupcake, BestSweets, crumbs, Crumbs Bake Shop, CrumbsBakeShop, katie holmes, KatieHolmes, luxist-awards, magnolia bakery, MagnoliaBakery, russell crowe, RussellCrowe, sprinkles, sprinkles cupcakes, SprinklesCupcakes, susiecakes, sweets-main, tyra banks, TyraBanks

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Sprinkles: The Original Cupcake Bakery

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Los Angeles, Ca.-based Sprinkles has been nominated for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Cupcake.

Sprinkles is a favorite of Hollywood stars from Tyra Banks, Russell Crowe and Paris Hilton to Katie Holmes, Oprah Winfrey and Teri Hatcher, all of who proclaim love for the sumptuous treats. "I love Sprinkles Cupcakes," says Banks. "I am addicted to them." Ryan Seacrest is a fan, too. "These are not just cupcakes, they're a lifestyle," he says. Barbra Streisand once sent a box of Sprinkle's cupcakes to Oprah Winfrey. Oprah enjoyed them so much she ordered enough to share with her entire studio audience. Sprinkles is also known for its star topped variety served at Oscar parties.

Luxist readers describe the cupcakes this way:

"Amazingly delicious and beautiful with a variety of flavors."
"The best cupcakes anywhere! Long lines, but worth the wait. Their butter with vanilla frosting will change your life."
"The original luxury cupcake store."
"Their entire range of flavors is executed masterfully, from classics like Red Velvet to more exotic editions like chai latte. The cake is light and not too sweet with rich frostings that balance each other perfectly."

Company founders Candace and Charles Nelson opened the first Sprinkles in Beverly Hills in April 2005. People thought the couple were crazy to open a cupcakes-only bakery in the middle of "thin city" at a time with low carb mania was at its peak. Despite naysayers, they sold out within hours of opening, and sales haven't slowed since. Today, Sprinkles is known as much for its long lines and devoted fans as for its delicious cupcakes. Sprinkles is credited with inspiring a national cupcake craze as reported by the New York Times, USA Today, the Today Show and Nightline.

Gallery: More from Sprinkles

Sprinkles evokes the memory of European bakeries flooded with the smell of baked goods and awash in natural light, with a modern touch. Its cupcakes are baked in small batches throughout the day, so that they will be as fresh as possible for Sprinkles' devoted customers. The cupcakes are handcrafted from the finest ingredients, including sweet cream butter, bittersweet Belgian chocolate, pure Madagascar Bourbon vanilla, fresh bananas and carrots, real strawberries and natural citrus zests.

Sprinkles offers more than 20 tantalizing flavors (15 or so of which are on sale on any given day), from simple vanilla to creative chai latte. Topped with Sprinkles' trademark modern dots, rich chocolate sprinkles from France or seasonal sugar decorations, Sprinkles Cupcakes are perfect for occasions of any kind.

Sprinkles' famous gift box is a sleek rectangular box that holds one dozen freshly baked cupcakes. The bakery also offers a tray, produced by Heller in a variety of colors, that fits right into the gift box and can be kept to display the cupcakes.

Sprinkles also offers signature cupcake mixes in red velvet, vanilla, dark chocolate and lemon. The mixes are made from the same high quality ingredients used in Sprinkles bakeries and are complete with Sprinkle's trademark modern dots. In addition to Sprinkles shops, the mixes are sold at Williams-Sonoma's 250 stores nationwide and in Canada.

Its original store is two blocks west of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, but today, Sprinkles has six additional locations in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Newport Beach, Scottsdale and Palo Alto. More locations will be opening soon in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Denver, Kansas City, London, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.

Vote for the company you believe makes the best cupcakes. Readers' Choice Winners will be announced on March 1st.

Tags: awards-main, Barbra Streisand, BarbraStreisand, best cupcake, BestCupcake, beverly hills, BeverlyHills, candace nelson, CandaceNelson, charles nelson, CharlesNelson, katie holmes, KatieHolmes, luxist-awards, oprah winfrey, Oprah Winfrey Show, OprahWinfrey, OprahWinfreyShow, oscars, paris hilton, ParisHilton, russell crowe, RussellCrowe, ryan seacrest, RyanSeacrest, sprinkles, sweets-main, teri hatcher, TeriHatcher, tyra banks, TyraBanks

Sunday Real Estate Round-Up

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Last year developer Harry Macklowe spent approximately $60 million for several apartments to combine into one huge residence at the Plaza. Now he's reportedly quietly looking for someone who might want to pick up the 10,000-square-foot expanse. A similar-sized pad in the building has reportedly been floating a $100 million price tag to brokers.
--Diana Ross is re-listing her Greenwich estate, known as Quarry Farm, for the same $39.5 million price.
--Investor Chris Knight has finally sold Shorewood, the former Shelter Island estate of ex-Gov. Hugh Carey. He originally asked for $33 million after buying for $10 million but it now looks like the selling price is in the mid $12 million range.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--As the Real Estalker predicted last week, Veronica Hearst is selling off her co-op at 4 East 66th Street for around $30 million.
-- Bear Stearns senior managing director Bill Bamber and his wife closed in February on their new apartment at Third Avenue around 92nd Street, paying $1,995,000 million for a new two-unit, four-bedroom condo with views of the George Washington Bridge, the Triborough, and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir five weeks before the firm collapsed.
--According to city records, 23-year-old Scarlett Johansson just sold her duplex loft at 66 Leonard Street for $1,898,000, even though she paid $1,950,000 back in January 2006.

From Berg Properties Big Time Listings:
--Tony Danza has sold his five-bedroom home in Sherman Oaks area for an undisclosed price after it had been on the market for $6,150,000. It was our estate of the day last November.
--Eddie and Alex Van Halen sold their late mother's home in the Summit neighborhood in the Beverly Hills, CA postal area for $1.5 million; it was listed at $2.2 million.
--Actor Kyle Bornheimer has paid $1.25 million for a three-bedroom house in Los Feliz and has sold a home in Silver Lake for its $739,000 asking price.

From the Real Estalker:
--The charming contemporary Hollywood Hills house owned by Naomi Foner and Stephen Gyllenhaal, the parents of Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, has been reduced from a listing price of $4.2 million to $3.795 million. The listing is here.
--Sharon Stone has been trying to flip this Beverly Hills post office listing for a few years but now it's up for rent for $58,000 a month, the listing is here.
--Care to spend even more on a rental? The Beverly Hills home that has been rented by both Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe is now available for $100,000 a month. The listing is here.
--Rumor has it that P. Diddy is looking for a new house in Los Angeles.
--via the Globe and Mail, Rush lead guitarist Alex Lifeson has put his Toronto home on the market for $5.699 million Canadian. The listing is here.
-- via the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta Falcons owner, Home Depot co-founder and billionaire Arthur Blank has put his home on Tuxedo Road in Atlanta, shown above, on the market for $10.9 million. The listing is here.
----Ricky Martin has picked an island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for around $8 million. No word on which one but I'm hoping it's this former estate of the day.
--Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and family are in the south of France, reportedly holed up in Villa Maryland, Paul Allen's home in St. Jean Cap Ferrat.
--The Beverly Hills post office home of music mogul Ron Fair, has hit the market for $4.795 million. The property website is here.
--Actors John Ales and Wendy Gazelle have put their two-bedroom home in the Nichols Canyon area of the Hollywood Hills on the market for $1.247 million. The listing is here.

From WWD:
--Cornelia Guest is putting her historic family home Templeton in Old Westbury, N.Y., on the market for $20 million. The home is listed with Daniel Gale Sotheby's realty.

From UPI:
--Robert De Niro is planning to open a Japanese-themed condo and hotel complex in New York, Nobu Hotel. The building will ready in two to four years.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Actress Mel Harris has listed her home in Pacific Palisades. It's our estate of the day later today.
--Tom Arnold has listed his home in Tarzana for $2.275 million (he paid $1.95 million a couple of years ago). The property website is here.

Tags: diana ross, DianaRoss, p diddy, russell crowe, RussellCrowe, scarlett johansson, ScarlettJohansson, tom cruise, TomCruise, tony danza, veronica hearst, VeronicaHearst