Features

Three Easy Steps to Comedy Stardom

If Andy Samberg’s slapstick comedy Hot Rod becomes a hit, he’ll be the first movie star to get his start as a viral-video sensation. But will the American masses pay $11 to spend two hours with that guy from Saturday Night Live whom they met for three minutes on the Internet?

The Sad Hatter

The extravagantly embellished life and tragically overforeshadowed death of Isabella Blow, enthusiastic muse and fashion kingmaker.

Intelligencer

Al & Mike Get Friendly

Will it make Hillary, Obama jealous?

Introducing Mr. Amy Sacco

Engaged to Italian surgeon.

Pony Herpes Threat Whacks Polo-ers

No rubbing noses, horses!

Platt’s No Yankees Fan

He just plays one on TV.

Is Playland Cursed?

No, say officials who don’t ride rides.

It Happened Last Week

Mother Nature cooked up a heat wave to celebrate last week’s 30th anniversary of the ’77 blackout, but GOP front-runner Rudy Giuliani was feeling hot under the collar.

Brooklyn Tan

Not everybody has a beach house to go to. A random survey of pasty sunbathers in Williamsburg’s McCarren Park.

Off the Bus

John McCain’s ex-strategist takes the blame for the campaign’s failures.

Rat Trick

Inventor of rodent-repulsing trash bags says bears, bees are next.

Columns

The Power Grid

Why McCain’s campaign went off the rails�and why the other GOP presidential candidates will miss him.

Strategist

Best Bets

A (relatively) wipeout-proof skateboard and other products for the beginning X-Gamer.

The Midsummer Wardrobe Refresher

Here, affordable, versatile outfits you can go buy on your lunch break.

Great Room

A rustic cabin that makes up in style what it lacks in running water.

Look Book

How the staff of the Strand dresses for work.

Restaurant Review

Yet another barbecue joint disrespects New York tradition by not being terrible.

In Season

In its endlessly prolific bounty, zucchini can often seem more like a curse than a blessing.

Hotels

Finding decent rooms�with bathrooms and everything!�for less than $200 a night.

Real Estate

Buyers lose their shirts in Fire Island.

Movers

West Villagers may be up in arms over artist Julian Schnabel’s decision to paint his West 11th Street condo project shocking pink, but Madonna may actually be a fan.

Outrageous Amenity of the Week

This week, we inaugurate a regular feature devoted to the increasingly elaborate offerings of condo developers.

CULTURE

Don’t Call David Adjaye a Starchitect

David Adjaye, the star British architect who survived an architect’s worst nightmare.

The Movie Review

The new Hairspray gets better as it goes along; Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller play off each other brilliantly in Interview.

I Made It, But It’s Not My Movie. I Swear.

Though the credit reads �Harry Kirkpatrick,� Alec Baldwin is none too happy that his directorial debut Shortcut to Happiness is seeing the light of day. Others know that pain.

An Afternoon in Chelsea: Which Shows Are Worth the Sweltering Slog?

Mobile paintings and other current Chelsea highlights.

The Theater Review

Douglas Carter Beane’s Xanadu, in quotes.

Influences: 50 Cent

Who does 50 Cent look up to?

The TV Review

Lili Taylor and Holly Hunter prove worthy of their new vehicles.

The Kill Point

The Kill Point bucks a trend. Hostage shows have not fared well as series television. The combination of claustrophobia and suspense seems to wear everybody out.

Mad Men

Jon Hamm stars as a hotshot creative director at a New York advertising agency that is equally eager, in 1960, to sell cigarettes and Richard Nixon.

Cable TV’s Non-Eyebrow-Raising Issue

TV is providing a much-needed showcase for mature actresses. Which is great, right? But there’s just one problem. And it has to do with Botox and plastic surgery.

The Week

Tappers’ Delight

Find your inner Gene Kelly in the park.

New and Improved

Premieres may be scattered throughout the year, but there’s no time like the Lincoln Center Festival to catch refreshing guest ensembles playing their newest work.

New Jersey and You, Perfect Together

Hoboken’s great indie-rock club brings in a pair of acts you’d otherwise have to see in a huge festival crowd.

Ice Cream Rules!

Enough with the fro-yo. Get your frozen dairy the way God and the FDA intended it to be�with at least 10 percent milk fat.

Hog Wild

Has New York gone barbecrazy? Below, the next wave of rib joints to hit town.

Mass. Migration

Broadway moves to Massachusetts come summertime�getting into swing this week with the Williamstown Theatre Festival, which runs through August 26.

Up From Zero

Highlights from the UndergroundZero Festival, the downtown group Collective: Unconscious’s alt-theater showcase.

Sitting Pretty

New twists on an old genre: Artists give portraiture a second look.

Departments

Comments: July 23, 2007

Readers sound off on Katie Couric, cancer, and more.