The Woodstock Film Festival wrapped up last week but but not without a parade of stars passing through town first.
According to the Albany Times Union:
Uma Thurman, Woody Harrelson, Lucy Liu, Steve Buscemi, Vera Farmiga, Ben Foster and even Ethan Hawke [were all in attendance]. Thurman’s ex-husband wasn’t at [the screening of] “Up in the Air”; instead, late Saturday night he presented the Maverick Award to director Richard Linklater, with whom he had worked on such films as “Before Sunset” and “Before Sunrise.”
Other famous directors at the festival were Jonathan Demme, who screened his new movie “Neil Young Trunk Show” and participated in a panel discussion on music and film; Mira Nair, who was on a panel on amazing women in film (her upcoming film “Amelia” wasn’t screened at the fest); and Barbara Kopple, who has won two Academy Awards for her documentaries “Harlan County, USA” and “American Dream,” who spoke on a panel about documentary films.
One of the more entertaining panels was the actors’ dialogue with Vera Farmiga, Lucy Liu and John Ventimiglia. During that far-ranging discussion, the audience learned that Farmiga, who is perhaps best known for her role in “The Departed” and who co-stars with Clooney in “Up in the Air,” enjoys spending time with her family and raising goats and, in fact, had recently shopped for goat sperm; that Liu (”Kill Bill,” “Charlie’s Angels”) still isn’t sure if her parents really understand what she does for a living; and that Ventimiglia (Artie Buco in “The Sopranos”) has recently come to love playing the ukulele.
Perhaps the actor Steve Buscemi put it best. He was at the festival touting two new films he is in, “The Messenger” and “Youth in Revolt.”
“There are a lot of film festivals but I think that the Woodstock Film Festival really champions independent film and that’s why I like it,” he said. “For some films, festivals like this are the only way an audience will actually see it.”
You can read more about the festival and what films won on the Woodstock Film Festival’s official site.
SU Basketball Coach Jim Boeheim, Country Singer Trace Atkins and Actor/Reality Star/Holy Roller Stephen Baldwin will all be teeing off at 1 p.m. today at the Atunyote Golf Club. As part of today’s pro-am, the three celebrities will be paired with professional players for the Turning Stone Resort Championship. The proceeds from the event will
On September 23rd, former One Day at a Time star Mackenzie Phillips appeared on The Oprah Show to reveal a shocking family secret she’d kept for years. She told Oprah that she’d carried on a sexual relationship with her father, John Phillips, the founder of the Mamas & the Papas, for approximately 10 years.
On Friday, her half-sister, Chynna Phillips, also appeared on Oprah to give her side of the story. Chynna says she learned about Mackenzie’s sexual relationship with John about 12 years ago. Mackenzie told her over the phone, and Chynna says she believes her sister. “Who’s going to go out of their way to say, ‘I had sex with Dad’?” she says. Chynna added that when Mac first contacted her about the relationship she was at LAX getting ready to fly to Syracuse.
Chynna is married to actor William Baldwin whose mother lives in Syracuse. No doubt Chynna was on her way to visit the in-laws when she got the devastating news about her own family.
Last week, several celebrities were seen on the Mohawk Valley.
First, emmy-winning actress Glenn Close took time to chat with fans at Mitsuba in New Hartford. Close was in town to bring her daughter back to school at Hamilton College. One fan told the OD, “Mostly everybody in the restaurant did recognize her. There was a young boy that actually walked up to her and asked her if she was the actress.” The Damages star will return to Clinton in May for her daughter’s graduation.
There were also rumors that Michael Jordan was at the Lava Nightclub in the Turning Stone last on Sunday night. According to several sources, the NBA great was in town to watch Tiger Woods play in the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge.
Rounding out the sightings, a source told us they spotted Jamie Foxx at the Wal-Mart in Herkimer!
Have you seen any celebs in upstate NY? Let us know in a comment below!
Today Show hosts Meredith Vieira and Ann Curry visited the Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing on Lake George last week where they broadcast a potato sack race with local children, fishing and other activities live. The show was part of The Today Show’s series “Today Show Takes A Vacation” which also visited Key West and San Antonio, TX.
Kate Johnson, director of the Lake George tourism department, said the number of visitors to the area is down this summer, but the arrival of track season at the Saratoga Race Course and the national TV exposure are “certain to bring more people here.”
It has been confirmed Tiger Woods will be coming to the Turning Stone next month. His agent at IMG said he would be playing Aug. 24 in the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge. The world’s No. 1 player will join Stanford teammate Begay, former Masters champion Mike Weir and Camilo Villegas.
A year ago, the event raised $180,000 for Begay’s foundation, which supports youth sports and wellness programs for Native Americans in New Mexico and other states.
Tickets will be available through Turning Stone’s box office.
According to The Utica Daily News, Singer Shooter Jennings proposed to long time girlfriend, Drea de Matteo during a performance at the Stanley Theatre Thursday night.
Later Shooter tweeted, ”Asked Drea to marry me on stage tonight. I’m a lucky man,” he Tweeted. “I’ll never forget Utica, NY.”
De Matte, who played Adriana La Cerva on The Sopranos, has been dating Jennings since 2001. The couple have a 2 year old daughter, Alabama Gypsyrose.
Alaska Governor and one time Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin visited Auburn last weekend to celebrate former U.S. Secretary of State William Henry Seward.
Seward helped negotiate the purchase of Alaska from Russia for 8 cents per square mile in 1867 and his legacy is part of Alaska’s current celebration of 50 years as a U.S. state.
Palin’s visit was a fundraiser for Seward House, the former secretary of state’s home. She spoke at Seward House Saturday afternoon and though her comments were supposed to be apolitical, an insider told us she got very political at points, discussing the decision not to allow Alaska to accept federal stimulus funds and her view that oil drilling should be allowed in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Actor Burt Young, who played Paulie in the Rocky films, and Fedrico Castelluccio, who appeared in The Sopranos, will be the grand marshals at the Boxing Hall of Fame Parade of Champions on Sunday June 14th at 1:00 pm in Canastota. The parade will feature over 40 boxing celebrities, bands and floats. The parade marks the 20th Anniversary of the hall of fame.
Comedian Michael Ian Black, currently filming the new Comedy Central series Michael and Michael Have Issues, was in Utica a few months ago and took to his blog about the experience.
Black felt that Utica had “nothing to offer anybody.” Ironic from someone who was raised in Hillsborough, New Jersey which isn’t exactly an urban center itself.
Black went on to say, “So what you get is one of those cities that looks like I think all Earth cities will look about a thousand years in the future when we have finally annihilated ourselves and the only evidence left of our existence are the crumbling husks of our former civilization. That’s Utica – the city of a shitty tomorrow, today.”
This is a common misconception made by downstate visitors who only spend a few hours upstate and ultimately it reinforces negative stereotypes about upstate NY and the people who live here.
What do you think of Black’s comments? Are they valid?
