December 16, 2002 Issue
Cover Story
Gangs Up
It took Martin Scorsese 30 years to complete the film that first took hold of his imagination in the seventies, when he picked up Herbert Asbury's juicy pop history The Gangs of New York. Over the years, Scorsese steadfastly refused to downsize the sweeping epic he'd always envisioned: a New York City creation myth with the marquee names—Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz—to match. Still, some wonder: Are audiences ready for a long, brutal movie about nineteenth-century gangs? Plus: Greg Donaldson on the state of New York's street gangs.
Features
Bye, Bye Bagel
Weight-conscious New Yorkers (and who among us isn't?) used to believe that while diets came and went, some things were constant: Whole grain equalled healthy, and bacon was about as bad as it gets. Suddenly, the tables have turned, and the Atkins diet -- which embraces protein and fat and considers carbs the enemy -- is taking the town by storm, igniting a passionate debate among diet tribes. Throwing a dinner party? Don't even think about serving pasta.
Thoroughly Modern Morris
Outspoken, flamboyant, and irresistibly watchable, Mark Morris was always the lovable bad boy of contemporary dance, a choreographer who had more in common with ballet god George Balanchine than with the modern masters. Now he oversees one of the best-kept (and best-looking) companies in the dance world from his own $7 million state-of-the-art center, where they're readying his Nutcracker riff, The Hard Nut, for its first New York performance in nine years. And he's even cut his trademark mane.
Columns
The City Politic: Michael Tomasky
The people who loved Bloomberg because he wasn't a typical liberal Democrat now fear he's . . . a typical liberal Democrat
The Culture Business: Simon Dumenco
The triumph of digital cable and TiVo is creating a new New York culture of high-brow cocooning
Best Bets: Rima Suqi
From holly lights to handmade stockings, stuff to make your Christmas bright
Sales & Bargains
Toasty turtlenecks
Travel: Tara Mandy
Cool cabanas and a hip new Chelsea hotel
Critics
Movies: Peter Rainer
Jack Nicholson is full of Schmidt; Analyze That is worse than This
Dance: Laura Shapiro
The Nutcracker's evergreen thrills
Theater: John Simon
Man of La Mancha's meager music; Paul Newman's Our Town is one long fade-out
Art: Mark Stevens
At MoMA, ingenious drawings trapped in a postmodern prison
John Leonard's TV Notes
Television shows reviewed by John Leonard: An Evening With the Dixie Chicks, Rocks With Wings, I Was a Teenage Faust , and more.
Underground Gourmet: Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite
Marvelous Moroccan with no gimmicks at La Maison du Couscous
NEW!
Naked City: Amy Sohn
A night on the town with three connected guys
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