Cafe Landtmann in Vienna: A Writer's Paradise

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Vienna has long been known as a city of fabulous social coffee houses with great desserts. It also was a meeting place for artists and intellectuals--even Trotsky and Lenin were among those famous figures who gathered at coffee houses to talk. In fact, the old cafes always had plenty of pens, paper and writing supplies. They were so amenable that many writers all but lived in them, holding meetings and even recieving mail there.

My favorite Viennese coffee house is Landtmann which was founded in 1873 by Franz Landtmann and is one of Vienna's most elegant cafes--you could even call it an institution. It's a meeting place for Austrian intelligensia and one of the most famous coffee houses in Vienna. This coffee house used to be frequented by Sigmund Freud, amongst others and is a great place for weiner schnitzel and people watching and the waiters, are dressed elegantly in black suits and bow ties. They won't rush you either. You can stay and read, write or talk for as long as you want.

Landtmann also boasts bright red leather booths, burgundy velvet uphostery and crystal light fixtures. It's like stepping back into history with it's Baroque decor and glimmering chandeliers.

Favorite dishes to check out: Weiner Schnitzel and Cuppuccino with a huge mound of whipped cream.
Location: Dr. Karl Lueger--Ring 4
A-1010 Vienna
Across from the Burg Theater.

The Vienna Opera Ball- put on your dancing shoes!

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

The famous Vienna Opera Ball is an annual Austrian society event which takes place at the Vienna State Opera in January. Together with the New Years Concert, the Opera Ball is one of the highlights of the Viennese carnival season. The dress code is evening dress, white tie and tails for men and floor length ballgowns for women.

The event is a tete-a-tete for some 5000 socialites from around the globe and the highlight of Vienna's long ball season. For those who don't know how to waltz, there's swing, foxtrot, and even an opera Ball disco in other venues around town.

Networking is another option--where better to chat up the stars from opera, theater, business and politics?

Austrian businessman Richard Lugner has attracted famous people as his guests to the ball. Among them have been Sophia Loren, Geri Halliwell, Carmen Electra, Pamela Anderson and in 2007, Paris Hilton.

The Opera Ball was first held in 1936, but was suspended during World War II. It was revived after the war, it has been held annually ever since. Competition for tickets is fierce and you can only apply for them in writing or by fax (not e-mail). And, you might have to be put on a waiting list.

Little Britain, hit British show comes to HBO.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

The BBC hit comedy "Little Britain: is saying its goodbyes to the royals and skipping across the Atlantic for the USA this fall.

According to Radar, the sketch comedy show stars Matt Lucas and David Williams and is set up like an irrevrent anthropological study of British subculture. The show premieres on HBO this month and will feature some new more American characters like beefy jocks, a child pageant contestant and her pushy stage mother and a washed up astronaut.

These two male comics are equal opportunity offenders and do riffs on homosexuals, the mentally challenged and physically disabled. Yes it's politically incorrect, but funny as hell. Also, the original British version of the show is much funnier than the American HBO series. I rented Little Britain series 1 and 2 through Netflix and had a blast watching it. LOL funny.

The series might remind viewers of the old Benny Hill show. Visit You Tube for more information on this hit British comedy which debuted on September 28, HBO 10:30p.m.

Uma Thurman to join the Muppets for X-Mas.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Uma Thurman and "Law and Order" alum Jesse L Martin have joined the cast of NBC's holiday special "Letters to Santa--A Muppets Christmas."

According to the Hollywood Reporter, "Letters," is set on Christmas eve when Kermit and company mistakenly avert three letters en route to Santa Claus, which triggers a race against time to bring a happy Christmas to the kids whose wishes were lost in the mail.

Thurman will play Joy the ticket clerk for the North Pole Airlines and is also Santa's glamorous flight attendant. Thurman and Martin join previously cast Whoopie Goldberg, Steve Shirripa, along with Kermit, Gonzo, Miss Piggy and the rest of the muppets gang. The special will feature songs by "The Muppet Movie's" write Paul Williams.

Germany nabs "Baader" for Oscars

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

BERLIN--Uli Edel's terrorist drama "The Baader Meinhof Complex" has been selected as Germany's candidate for the foreign-language film Oscar.

Perhaps the most anticipated German film of the year, the film is based on Stefan Aust's true account of the rise and fall of the notorious left wing Red Army Faction terrorist group, also known as the Baader-Meinhof gang after its leaders, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof.

"The excellent performance and realization of the story provides a view of the Federal Republic of Germany of the early 1970s without glorifying the perpetrators," said the nine member jury.

The RAF plunged West Germany into a state of seige throughout the 1960s and '70s through bombings and shootings and even joined forces with the PLO in the hijacking of aircraft.

According to Variety, the group's legacy still casts a shadow over Germany, not just due to the terror it caused but also because of the considerable support it had from Germany's liberal left--a fact that has made the story of the RAF a complicated subject for journalists, historians and filmmakers.

The picture, which premieres Tuesday in Munich, hits theaters September 25.

Keitel to Appear on Life on Mars

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Harvey Keitel has agreed to his first-ever regular TV series role, joining the cast of ABC's upcoming "Life on Mars" adaptation. Keitel is aboard to play Detective Gene Hunt, who heads up the homicide department and is known for using any means necessary to do his job.

The story follows NYPD detective Sam Tyler as he discovers that he has mysteriously time-traveled back to the year 1973 in New York City--where issues such as the Vietnam War, Watergate and civil rights movements are underway.

The hit British show, which has been recast for American TV audiences, will also feature Jason O'Mara and The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli.

Life on Mars: October 9, 2008 at 10p.m. ABC.

The Baader Meinhof Complex Debuts in Berlin

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

BERLIN--German director Uli Edel has dropped a bombshell just days before the Berlin premiere of his terrorist drama "The Baader Meinhof Complex."

In an interview with German weekly Focus, Edel said former members of the notorious Red Army Faction revealed to him the identity of the actual murderer of German industrialist Hanns Martin Schleyer.

The RAF kidnapped Schleyer in September 1977, holding him for one and a half months in an effort to blackmail the German government into releasing imprisoned members of the terrorist group. He was murdered after three of the RAF's ringleaders, including Andreas Baader, committed suicide while behind bars.

According to Variety, a number of Red Army Faction members were convicted of Schleyer's kidnapping and murder, but the indentity of the actual killer has remained a mystery.

Sarah Palin is the Buzz at the Beehive

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Sarah Palin gets her hair done at the Beehive, a tiny pink-collar haven in Wasilla, a mountain-rimmed community of less than 10,000. The Beehive, according to the New York Times, is a 1,400 square-foot ranch house that looks comfy and cozy and is like something out of the movie "Steel Magnolias."

A haircut is $30, discounted to $20 if you get the $95 color treatment. Ms. Palin's appointments were multitasking events according to shop owner Mrs. Steele. The governor would sit in full foil, checking her Blackberry, writing speeches and chatting with customers.

"She's very involved in her look and how she's perceived," said Steele in an interview. "We would talk a lot about how if she looked too pretty or too sexy, people wouldn't listen to her. How important it was for people to see her as an intelligent, smart woman. It was comical when her hair was down, how big a difference that would make, especially when she was running for governor."

Mrs. Steele started the salon in 1997 when she, a recently separated mother of two, put a salon chair in her garage and painted the interior Barbie pink. She relied on word of mouth through local congregations: "We're all really strong Christians in this shop."

Around 2000, Palin called, needing rescue from a bad color job. Back then Mrs. Steele recalled, Ms. Palin often wore her hair loose. "She'd just say,'Whatever is quick and easy, let's just roll up our sleeves and get this going."

Take-Out: The Movie

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Take-Out is a day-in-the-life of Ming Ding (Charles Jang), an illegal Chinese immigrant working as a deliveryman for a Chinese take-out shop in New York City. Ming is behind with payments on his huge debt to the smugglers who brought him into the United States. After borrowing most of the money from friends and relatives, Ming realizes that the remainder must come from the day's delivery tips.

Take-Out presents a harshly real look at the daily lives of illegal Chinese immigrants in New York City. In a social realistic style, the camera follows Ming on his deliveries through the upper Manhattan neighborhood where social and economic extremes exist side by side.

"I speak Mandarin. But I'm not Chinese. I'm Korean," said Mr. Jang in an interview. "I figured I'd show up on the set and not say anything." It was only after he was told he got the part that he came clean with the film's directors about his ethnicity.

In addition to acting, Mr. Jang works full time in marketing at Google's NYC headquarters in Manhattan and is studying for his M.B.A. at NYU.

Take-Out
In Mandarin, Spanish and English with subtitles.
Coming out: Friday September 17, 2008

Kitchen Nightmares

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Where we left off. Chef Gordan Ramsay has turned things around for 10 struggling restaurateurs. And, according to TV Guide, only one of them threatened his life in the process.
What's next. Watch for a tearjerker in Michigan where the restaurant biz takes a real toll on the relationship between an ill father and his adult son.

Grimy, roach-infested kitchens and nauseating food will continue to push Ramsay's rage buttons. Ditto for some of the testy restaurant owners. "In one episode, the guy is so ungrateful, it's shocking. As a viewer, even you're going to get mad," says Arthur Smith the show's executive producer.

Kitchen Nightmares airs Thursdays at 9p.m. on FOX.

The Soloist: A True Story Starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

The Soloist tells the true story of Nathaniel Ayers (played by Jamie Foxx), a musical prodigy who developed schizophrenia during his second year at Julliard School. Ayers became homeless, playing the violin and the cello in the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Robert Downey Jr. plays Steve Lopez, a columnist for the L.A. Times who developed a friendship while writing an article about Ayers.

You can read the original newspaper article which became the basis for this amazing story on LATimes.com. Catherine Keener and Stephen Root co-star.

Sigmund and the Sea Monsters is Baaack!

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Universal has cut a deal to mount a live-action film based on Sid and Marty Krofft's 70s kidshow "Sigmund and the Sea Monsters." The deal comes after Universal and Mosaic completed production on the $100 million Will Ferrell starrer "Land of the Lost," another property that originated as a Saturday morning Krofft kidshow creation. "Land of the Lost" is set for a June release.

According to Variety, the script for "Sigmund" will be penned by Dana Gould, a writer-producer on "The Simpsons."
Sony is also developing a live-action version of "H.R. Pufnstuff," another popular kid show from the 1970s.

"Sigmund" originally ran on NBC from 1973-75, and the show was a staple in reruns on local TV stations for the rest of the decade. After the sea monster is booted from his home by his nasty brothers for being too nice, Sigmund is befriended by two friends who stash him in their clubhouse.

Hotel Sacher in Vienna: Where the Elite Meet to Eat

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

In 1876 the Hotel Sacher in Vienna was established by Eduard Sacher, son of the creator of the Original Sacher-Tort, a unique chocolate cake with a thin layer of apricot jam. In 1880, Eduard's 21-year-old wife took over the hotel and established its noble reputation. She loved cigars and little dogs and was rumored to have hundreds of hounds.

Throughout its existence, the Sacher has been a popular meeting point for the aristocracy. It's guest book has been signed by politicians, businessmen and celebrities such as the Prince of Monaco and his wife Gracia Patricia, Indira Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth II, John F Kennedy and even the pop group The Bee Gees. Artists such as Leonard Bernstein have also been frequent guests of the hotel.

The original Sachre-Tort actually became the world's most famous chocolate cake. In fact, the cake is 50 years older than the hotel. Today the Sachre Tort is exported through out the world and can even be ordered online. Every single cake is hand-made according to the original recipe, which is a well-kept Sacher secret.

A visit to the Sacher Hotel is like stepping back into history. It preserves the grand nature of Vienna's old, opulent hotels and like they say...location, location, location! It's directly across from the famous Opera House. There are 360 staffers to service 152 rooms. They'll even pick you up at the airport and score you tickets to already sold-out concerts.

Recommendation: Indulge in the "Hot Chocolate Treatment" at the newly opened spa.

Beatlemania Hits Holy Land

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Paul McCartney will be playing in Park Hayarkon in Tel Aviv on September 25th. McCartney obviously doesn't carry a grudge. According to Heeb Magazine, The Beatles were banned from appearing in Israel in 1965, when they were deemed to likely corrupt the morals of Israeli youth.

Apparently, Prime Minister Olmert has decided it's too late!

Israeli Pilot was a Peacenik 1927-2008

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

In 1966 an old biplane rattled to a stop in Port Said, Egypt. Out stepped Abie Nathan, a former Israeli air force pilot, who said he wanted to talk with President Gamal Nasser about making peace with his country. Egyptian authorities sent him back the next day. But Nathan's heroic gesture won the hearts of his countrymen and he came to represent the Middle East peace movement that culiminated in the 1978 Camp David agreement and 1993 Oslo accords.

In 1973, following several unsuccessful peace flights, Nathan bought a 188-foot freighter that he anchored off Tel Aviv. Turning it into a pirate radio station, he broadcast music and messages of reconciliation. "The Peace Ship is a project of the people," he declared. "We hope through this station we will help relieve the pain and heal the wounds of many years of suffering."

"Nathan was called a crackpot and a prophet," said the Associated Press. He went on repeated hunger strikes and his government jailed him several times for illegally meeting with Yasser Arafat and other leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization. But his sincerity was so quirky and appealing that he became a national treasure.

Nathan died after being left partly paralized by two strokes. Asked what he wanted carved on his tombstone, he replied. "Nissiti"--the Hebrew word for "I tried."

Joe Eszterhas Has Found God

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Joe Eszterhas' latest book is another shocker, said David Yonke in The Toledo Blade. The Hungarian born wild man, whose screenplays for Basic Instinct and Showgirls all but defined 1990s pulp culture, has found God and transformed his life.

In Crossbearer, Eszterhas recounts the moment when everything changed. Recovering from cancer surgery in 2001, he was walking alone in his Ohio neighborhood on a hot day. Already trembling as he fought cravings for booze and cigarettes, he started gasping for air when mosquitoes swarmed the tracheotomy tube in his throat. Dropping to the curb, he was sobbing when a silent prayer formed in his mind: "Please God, help me. Suddenly a deep sense of peace overcame him.

Eszterhas admits that even attending weekly Catholic Mass couldn't change the fact that he'd used nicotine and alchohol as writing aids since his teens. Now the famous author has decided never again to write about the "dark" subjects that fascinated him before. "I see a brighter side of people than I did before," he says. "I'd like to bring that out in my writing."

Paris Pulls Screenings at Toronto International Film Festival

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

According to Page Six, Paris Hilton has craftily manipulated the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival in an attempt to gain more publicity for a new docu about herself. The hotel heiress forced festival organizers to cancel two of three screenings of "Paris, Not France," which is set to premiere Tuesday. Even a press screening was cancelled.

Most movie fans assumed Hilton was unhappy with her portrayal in the documentary and had sicced her lawyers on the producers, forcing them to scale back. But Paris' rep Jason Moore told Page Six-"We wanted to create more buzz--create some hype--We felt the impact would be more extreme if we had only one screening."

"Bastards" portrayals draw fire in Germany

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

Seems you can't even be nasty to Nazis anymore. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a leaked script of Quentin Tarantino's WWII drama "Inglorious Bastards" already is stirring up controversy for scenes of vengeful Americans bashing, shooting and strangling German soldiers.

What began as an internet murmur in Berlin, went mainstream with a recent article by Tobias Kneibe, film editor of Suddeutsche Zeitung, who predicted the project could have an explosive effect similar to that of Tom Cruise's "Valkyrie," which has been savaged in the German media even though it won't hit theaters until 2009.

"All the German historians and critics who were left gasping for breath by Tom Cruise and his worthy attempts will be so shocked by "Inglorious Bastards" that they will savage it on the spot," Kniebe wrote.

Even though he personally likes the script, Kneibe said that "the collision between Tarantino-style pop culture with the themes of the Holocaust and Jewish revenge (the Bastards of the film are Jewish-American Nazi hunters), is unprecedented in Germany and its results are completely unpredictable."

Yet others aren't so threatened by Tarantino's new flick. According to the article "Most in the German industry love it that Tarantino is in Berlin. They love it that this kind of popcorn film is getting made here."

Jennifer Aniston to Appear on 30 Rock.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

The rumors are true! Jennifer Aniston is returning to the NBC Thursday night lineup for a guest appearance on "30 Rock." She plays Claire Harper, " a free-spirited, 'Fatal Attraction' like stalker." This former roomate of Tina Fey's character Liz Lemon, blows in from the Windy City and sets her sights on Liz's boss Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).

Says Fey in an interview, "Jennifer is not only incredibly lovely to have around, she also has what the young people would call 'mad skills.' We are very excited that she's joining our show."

This could possibly put Aniston back in the Emmy race according to Tom O'Neil of the Gold Derby. Jen's new movie "Management" will be screening this week at the Toronto International Film Festival and she was also spotted having lunch with Woody Allan and his wife Soon Yi at Madeo restaurant in West Hollywood last week.

American Swing to debut at Toronto Film Festival

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

"American Swing," a documentary that focuses on the excesses of the 1970's, screens on Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film follows the rise and fall of Larry Levenson, a Coney Island ice-cream seller who in 1977 turned the basement of an Upper West side hotel into a merrily public sex club named "Plato's Retreat."

From "American Swing," of which Magnolia Pictures is the prospective distributor--we learn that Mr. Levenson had big aspirations. One was to have sex with every woman in New York City.

The producer of the flick, Mathew Kaufman said his subjects, men and women alike, talked freely before the camera about the famous swinging club. "I found them to be wistful," Mr. Kaufman said. Evidently there were no snobby velvet ropes. Beautiful people and the not-so-beautiful power players and suburban nobodies all writhed and partied on the same sticky mats.

These docus and others at this sprawling 10-day film festival opening on Thursday--are likely to rouse some serious nostalgia for the New York of the 1970s. There will also be a film about the making of "A Chorus Line."

Utilizing exclusive interviews with former patrons, employees and family members, "American Swing" brings this little known epic of sex and excess to the big screen for the first time.

The Terminal Spy: A True Story of Espionage, Betrayal and Murder

By: Vickie J. Rubinson
Book Review

The sensational London murder of former Russian security services officer Alexander Litvinenko might appear to be merely another in a long series of mysterious sudden deaths of dissidents and journalists who have criticized Russian president Vladimir Putin. But in an important respect, Litvinenko's murder stands apart.

He alone was poisoned by polonium, a lethal weapon produced almost exclusively in Russian government nuclear facilities. Who was Litvinenko and what made him worthy of a nuclear assassination--especially considering the monumental stakes of such an attack on a naturalized British citizen on British soil?

On November 1, 2006, Alexander Litvinenko sipped tea in London's Millennium Hotel. Hours later the Russian emigre, who was sharply critical of Russian president Vladimir Putin, fell ill and was rushed to the hospital. Fatally poisoned by a rare radioactive isotope slipped into his drink, Litvinenko issued a dramatic deathbed statement accusing Putin himself on engineering his murder.

In The Terminal Spy, award-winning journalist Alan Cowell makes the frighteningly convincing case that Litvinenko's murder was much more than an effort to silence an enemy of the Kremlin; it was an act or nuclear terror meant to signal Russia's flagrant hostility toward the West and quite possibly, a new cold war.

Owner of Russian opposition website killed.

By: Vickie J. Rubinson

An opposition Internet news site owner in Russia was fatally shot on Sunday soon after being detained by police and his colleagues called for a rally to protest his death.

Magomen Yevloyev is one of the most high profile journalists to be killed in Russia since investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead near her Moscow apartment in 2006, provoking condemnation of Russia's record on media freedom.

According to Reuters, Yevloyev was a vocal critic of the the Kremlin which has been accused by opponents of crushing dissent and free speech. A lawyer for the website--which survived repeated official attempts to close it down--said police met Yevloyev at the steps of the aircraft after he flew into an airport, put him in a car and drove him away.

"As they drove he was shot in the temple. They threw him out of the car near the hospital," lawyer Kaloi Akhilgov told Reuters by telephone.

A posting on Yevloyev's website called on "all those who are not indifferent" to his killing to gather for a demonstration.
"A preliminary investigation is being carried out into the incident as a result of which M. Yevloyev was killed," said Vladimir Markin, a spokesoman at the Prosecutor General's Office in Moscow.