Product: Million Dollar Celly

February 12, 2007July 9, 2014Leave a comment

Walking around with a chip on your shoulder because you have the dopest new celly on the block? Now you can hang your head in shame for having bought that Sidekick 3, Motorola Q, or LG Chocolate phone, because you should have copped Le Million Pièce Unique, the latest release from Geneva-based GoldVish Luxury Communications. The limited edition, 120-karat phone is assembled using 140 grams of solid gold, while the buttons and other details are finished with VVS1 top-quality diamonds. Oh yeah – it’s also criminally expensive, at a whopping one million dollars. So rock some protective eyewear to avoid being blinded by jewels and be careful if you plan to get blackout drunk – this is one phone that is just begging to be left in the backseat of a cab.
WWW.GOLDVISH.COM

Product: The Business Bib

February 12, 2007December 14, 2010Leave a comment

Video chatting in the half-suit

Part of the appeal of working from home has always been that pants are optional. But with new technologies like webcams and video-conferencing, it’s becoming difficult to rock comfortable gear to the home office. That’s why the aptly named company Business Bibs has created a new product for those who want to appear professional without actually having to be professional. Seated in front of your webcam, the halfsuit allows you to look sharp and presentable to anyone who has you on telecast, even if you’re really rocking boxers on the low.
WWW.BUSINESSBIB.COM

(ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN YRB MAGAZINE. COPYRIGHT © 2007)

Movie: The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down

February 8, 2007December 2, 2010Leave a comment

Photo courtesy of Kosmic Films

The Heizakeit Institute presents a scientific study of the hipster lifestyle, in the form of an official guide to getting down and dirty on a Friday night in the City of Angels. Part satire, part narrative and part self-described “how-to guide,” The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down is KIDS for a new generation of moviegoers who were raised on Wes Anderson films. And if you’re too busy taking psychotropic drugs and consuming copious amounts of alcohol to catch it on the big screen in March, no worries; The Guide to Getting Down will be out on DVD in May. Expect the media to be buzzing about this highly entertaining indie flick, thanks in large part to a brilliantly creative press kit that comes complete with a Ziplock bag filled with a variety of unsavory items.

WWW.BOYSANDGIRLSGUIDE.COM

Movie: The Hills Have Eyes 2

February 7, 2007December 2, 2010Leave a comment

Photo by Eric Lee, courtesy of Fox Atomic

From A Nightmare on Elm Street to the Scream trilogy, everyone knows that when Wes Craven makes a picture, it’s going to be scary. This March, the master of all things nightmarish follows up the first installment of The Hills Have Eyes (2006) with this sequel, which he co-produced and co-wrote with his son, Jonathan. In Hills 2, a group of young, inexperienced National Guardsmen travel to a desert research outpost to deliver supplies to some government scientists, only to discover that the facility has been eerily abandoned. What begins as a seemingly routine rescue mission turns into a terrifying game of cat and mouse, as the troops are hunted by the cannibalistic mutants that occupy the hills. The premise may seem less appealing than that of the first film, in which we saw the Carter family picked off, one by one, but if you’re looking to be frightened you won’t be disappointed. The Hills Have Eyes 2 drops on March 23.
WWW.FOXATOMIC.COM (ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN YRB MAGAZINE COPYRIGHT © 2007)

YRB Magazine Cover Story: Jared Leto & 30 Seconds to Mars

January 21, 2007April 22, 20142 Comments

It is a cold, gray, fall afternoon in suburban Maplewood, Minnesota, where, in just a few hours, 30 Seconds to Mars will kick off its Welcome to The Universe / MTV $2 Bill Tour at Myth Nightclub. The venue is curiously situated off a highway, betwixt a shopping complex and a cluster of chain restaurants, and the massive parking lot is already beginning to fill.

Yes, the lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars is also a successful actor. And yes, Jared Leto may still be better known for his roles in American Psycho, Requiem for a Dream, Fight Club and lest we forget My So-Called Life than for his rock band. But with a record that recently went platinum, a huge international following, and three singles and music videos in heavy rotation, it is time to get over the fact that 30STM is a band with a famous frontman.

So get the snide Jordan Catalano remarks out of your system now, and if you’re only reading this in the hopes that it will provide details about Leto’s love life, go pick up a copy of Us Weekly. But if you’re interested in the story of a remarkable band that has relied on the quality of its music rather than its Hollywood connections to earn success, then read on.

Continue reading →

Interview: Lukas Rossi & Rock Star Supernova

January 1, 2007January 6, 2011Leave a comment

: Photo by Odessy Barbu for YRB Magazine

After 15 years of struggling to make it in the music biz, Lukas Rossi is finally a household name – at least in Canada. But for the rest of us, Lukas (a Toronto native) was the winner of Rock Star: Supernova, a CBS reality show in which hopeful rockers vied to become the lead singer of a new “supergroup.” Also called Supernova, the band consists of guitarist Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns N’ Roses), Metallica’s Jason Newsted on bass, and drummer Tommy Lee, best known for his work with both Mötley Crüe and Pamela Anderson. Continue reading →

Interview: Dax Shepard

December 11, 2006November 23, 2010Leave a comment

Photo by Chris Fortuna for YRB Magazine

“I feel like the Jude Law of comedy this fall. Prepare to get Daxed-out,” says actor Dax Shepard, who stars in three movies this year – Employee of the Month, Idiocracy and Let’s Go To Prison – all released between Labor Day and Thanksgiving.

Dax is perhaps best known for his role as a field agent on the first season of MTV’s celebrity prank series, Punk’d, but how does a dude with a degree in Anthropology from UCLA wind up getting paid to make Justin Timberlake cry on national television? Continue reading →

Shopping: Jewcy Couture

November 16, 2006January 6, 2011Leave a comment

Dust off the menorah and get ready for Bubbe’s homemade latkes, because Chanukah is just weeks away. And now the Chosen People have their very own online marketplace: Jewcy.com. Naturally, as members of the media we are also Jews, but even shikses will adore a pair of undies that say “A Great Miracle Happened Here,” or the Jewcy signature tee (available exclusively through their website), which depicts an Orthodox Jew playing double dutch with several little black girls – how precious! Other offerings include everything from tchotchkes like the Moses action figure – after all, he is the original superhero – to a Yiddish translation of Curious George. Trust us: Everyone wants a Chanukah gift from Jewcy – even your mom, who still wishes you’d settle down and marry a nice Jewish girl/doctor already.

WWW.JEWCY.COM

Movie: Borat

November 1, 2006January 6, 2011Leave a comment

Fans of HBO’s Da Ali G Show have waited more than two years for some new material from the brilliant mind of Sacha Baron Cohen. And this November, audiences around the country are lining up to see the new full-length feature film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

The movie has everything you’d expect from Cohen’s mustachioed alter ego, the brutally un-PC Borat Sagdiyev. From beginning to end, Borat is filled with casual allusions to incest and rape, embarrassing interviews with unsuspecting politicians (including right-wing nut job Alan Keyes – or as Borat describes him, “a real chocolate face”), unenlightened remarks about women, homosexuals, and of course, Jews (though in real life, Cohen himself is a practicing Jew). While the film does drag at times – even Borat loses some of his mystique after an hour-and-a-half – on the whole, Cohen manages to pull it off. Continue reading →

Product: p.i.n.k. Vodka

September 2, 2006January 6, 2011Leave a comment

Way back when, you could simply head to a bar, order a vodka on the rocks and call it a wrap. But these days, there are so many different liquor choices it’s enough to make your head spin even before you’ve had a drink. Thanks to new p.i.n.k.-brand vodka, now you can have your 80-proof, super-premium vodka and drink it, too. Sip it straight,or test out such original recipes as “p.i.n.k. My Ride.” Not only does p.i.n.k. Vodka claim to be the “world’s perfect party spirit,” but it’s also infused with caffeine and guarana, so you can ditch the Red Bull mixer, or other, um, “means” of staying energized all night.

WWW.PERFECTPARTYSPIRIT.COM

Interview: Nick Cannon

June 16, 2006November 23, 2010Leave a comment

Photo by Robert Chamorro for YRB Magazine

He arrives at Universal Motown’s artists lounge rocking dark denim, a gray hoodie and a N.Y. Yankee’s hat and jacket – never mind that he’s from the Left Coast. Ever the dignified baller, he doesn’t seem to be a man of excess. Today, at least, he wears only two pieces of bling – an iced out watch and a relatively modest gold chain – and it’s all he needs. He is, after all, Nick Cannon, and at just 25-years-old, he has already conquered the worlds of stand-up comedy, television, film, music and even fashion, after he “kinda’ just purchased” the PNB clothing line. It’s enough to make even the most ambitious among us feel like slackers. It seems that anything you can do, Nick Cannon can do better, and he probably already has. Continue reading →

Interview: Jamie Kennedy

May 2, 2006November 23, 2010Leave a comment

Best known for his work in The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, the Scream movies and Malibu’s Most Wanted, actor Jamie Kennedy is now trying to add Professional Rapper to his resume. In his new reality show, Blowin’ Up (which premieres May 16 on MTV), Kennedy and friend Stu Stone (a.k.a., “Stu the Jew”) will try to convince everyone – from veteran members of the hip-hop community to Jamie’s agents and even his parents – that they have what it takes to be rappers. I sat down with Jamie to discuss Blowin’ Up and his quest to get a record deal and release a “quadruple triple platinum album.” Continue reading →

Product: Bong Vodka

May 2, 2006January 6, 2011Leave a comment

Whether spilled or swigged, nothing sucks more than getting too close to dirty bong water; even if it’s that same grimy, brown, bacteria-filled water that sets the bong apart from other, less refined methods of toking up. But thanks to musician/designer/artist Jimi Beach, now there’s finally a way to drink from a bong without gagging: fill it with premium vodka. Produced in Holland, Bong Spirit Vodka is sure to be a big hit – at least until it becomes legal to import, umm, other things from the Netherlands.

WWW.THEINVODKA.COM

Interview: SNL’s Andy Samberg

April 2, 2006January 6, 20111 Comment

Photo: Seth Kushner for YRB Magazine

Ever since Jimmy Fallon and Will Ferrell bade farewell to Saturday Night Live, the weekly sketch comedy show has been driven by veteran cast members like Darrell Hammond, Tina Fey, Chris Parnell and Amy Poehler. But with the remarkable success of the SNL Digital Short “Lazy Sunday,” which aired last December, a rookie cast member has been catapulted into the spotlight: Andy Samberg, 27.

Unless you’ve been in a coma for the last few months, you’ve probably seen the two-and-a-half minute rap video, which follows Samberg and Chris Parnell as they quench their “snack-attacks” with pink frosted cupcakes from New York’s famed Magnolia Bakery, load a backpack with Mr. Pibb and Red Vines purchased with less-than-crisp $10 bills at the local deli, and cab it to the Upper West Side to catch an afternoon showing of The Chronicles of Narnia. Continue reading →