Betony, the new haute-earthy tenant in Brasserie Pushkin’s former space, didn’t entirely do away with the ornate. The chandelier is still there, as are the plush velvet banquettes. The back dining room’s concrete ceiling is etched with abstract Latin geometry, as if one of the construction workers had a Good Will Hunting moment. (Eamon Rockey, the general manager, said it came at the owner’s discretion—“he likes very opulent things.”)

The decorative posturing, which at least is tempered by some potted foliage, is more than backed up by Eleven Madison Park vet Bryce Shuman’s creations from start to finish. Pure pleasers, like the light and vinegary fried pickled ramps, or the cured pink snapper on a basil pesto, abet more challenging dishes. Flavors come in appropriated forms: cardamom is housed in a milky foam over dark chocolate ganache, tomato juice is turned to ice and “snowed” over gooseberry compote, and an asparagus pappardelle tastes of the plant with an intensity that goes far beyond the amount of spears actually in there.

Rockey, also of Eleven Madison Park, matches Shuman’s care behind the bar. An orange rind treated for two weeks with oleo-saccharum sugar tops the ice on an orange julep (“a sipper.”) An extensive beer list pulls in some beyond-rare gypsy beers, like Stillwater’s white sage Saison “Cellar Door”: an ornate herbal brew with a name like velvet.

Downtown also gains an elaborate new hang with the arrival of The Fourth, an American brasserie at the new Hyatt Union Square fit for townies and tourists alike. In keeping with the hotel theme, a helix of dangling bunk bed frames by the artist Brinton Jaecks fills a 25-foot tall dining room. Downstairs, a South American restaurant called Botequim with an open kitchen is set to open later this year. The co-ed restroom, which made for some fun exchanges, shares a door with the Hyatt’s gym. Don't steal the towels.

Del Postovet Michael William Davis serves both classics—bi-coastal oysters, shellfish cioppino, a wonderfully juicy pink salt, roasted-brick chicken breast—and more creative fare. A thick piece of hake comes surrounded by tender chunks of pork cheek. The Fourth’s burger arrives on a tomato bun with a sunnyside up egg. For dessert, the Fuller’s London Porter ice cream is as crisp and frosty as a mug of the good stuff. Fennel-sage chicken meatballs and a poached egg are available for breakfast, if the night took you upstairs. Don’t steal the shampoo.

For much of the past decade, we’ve been witness to the music industry eroding in a truly historic fashion. This tends to happen in industries when a new invention comes along to make it obsolete. Horse and buggy manufacturers experienced this with the rise of the automobile. Candle makers spiraled into poverty due to the light bulb. Even the recording industry itself replaced the “booming” sheet music industry in the mid-20th Century thanks to technology that allowed music to be recorded and sold. This allowed for a small empire to be built on records, eight-tracks, cassettes and ultimately CDs, creating unfathomably wealthy artists and executives who traipsed the globe and lived in palaces. Then MP3 technology was born, the tsunami of illegal downloads hit without warning, and worldwide recording industry revenues were cut in half in less than a decade—a loss of over 20 billion dollars.

Of course, the biggest losers in the industry’s collapse—in financial terms at least—were the musicians themselves. If record labels couldn’t make money and artists couldn’t sell their songs, how were they supposed to get paid? The real irony in all of this is that before the technology to actually record music ever existed—way back to the late 19th Century before the phonograph was invented—musicians made money through their craft in one way and one way only: they played for people anywhere they could. They played in massive concert halls and on street corners, in bars and in hotel lobbies. Music was an artist’s time and effort that gave the public an escape from their day-to-day din. The public paid for that escape, and musicians were able to make a living.

So it’s only fitting, and fantastically ironic, that technology has brought the music business full circle, back to musicians playing to their fans for their daily bread. This return has spawned a revolutionary new website called StageIt.com, which has taken the age-old model of musicians playing anywhere and brought it into the 21st Century. Thanks to streaming video and easy-to-use webcams, the concept is relatively simple: musicians who are part of the site play thirty-minute to hour-long sets at a specific time, on a specific day. Fans pay varying prices for entry into these forums, allowing them to not only have access to an “exclusive” show via webcam, but also have the ability to interact with the musicians who are playing.

“This is not a concert,” StageIt founder Evan Lowenstein says, “but rather a fan experience.”

Lowenstein knows the trials and tribulations of trying to be a successful musician, as he was himself a successful musician right before technology drove the old music industry model off a cliff. You may or may not remember the identical twin brother singer/songwriters Evan and Jaron, who found moderate success through three studio albums released between 1998 and 2004, with their single “Crazy for this Girl” rising to number 9 on the pop charts. You’ve heard it and probably won’t openly admit you like it. It was through this first career that the seeds for StageIt.com were planted—the technology just wasn’t there to support it … yet.

“There weren’t web cams everywhere and streaming video wasn’t very good yet, or was way too expensive,” Lowenstein says. “So I had to sit on the idea and hope nobody else did it first.”

By the middle of last decade, when the music industry really began to crumble, Lowenstein began to explore the tech world. He began the mobile texting company HookUpFeed, which is now one of the bigger marketing platforms that allows merchants to connect directly with consumers. With the success of that company and connections in Palo Alto, Lowenstein began to learn about this brave new world and finally saw a way StageIt could exist. “I look at the internet business as an ocean,” he explains. “It’s wide open and it’s very beautiful and there are a ton of possibilities, but all of a sudden something can come up from nowhere and kill you.”

Rather than getting killed, though, StageIt is looking like a better and better idea each day as more and more people rely on streaming content for their daily entertainment, with some millennials giving up regular TV altogether. But what makes it truly revolutionary is how it could become a reliable revenue stream for musicians. One of the most frustrating things about being a musician is figuring out how to effectively connect with fans, especially between shows, tours, and albums. This platform not only makes that possible, it makes it profitable.

“The majority of a tour, you’re on the tour bus, you’re backstage, you’re stuck in your hotel room, not connecting with fans and not making money for your music. We’re about convincing artists they are going to make more money doing what they do best and have more time to have a personal experience with their most loyal fans,” Lowenstein says. “Most fans are people who have to show up to work every day—so the artists become that in a way, showing up to work for their fans.”

I check out a couple shows on the site, and while the quality varies through web cams and sound, the experience is about as unique as it gets. Fans make requests and interact with the artists, and the artists respond, making it more of a high-end Skype session with great music than a concert experience. In fact, it’s not a concert experience at all really—there’s no jostling in the crowd, no immersion in the scene with a live performance. Everything is relatively clean and controlled, as most web-based interactions usually are. Lowenstein agrees with this, saying he finds it “boring as hell” to watch a concert film on TV or on his laptop.

“We don’t sell music, we sell time and access,” he says. “This isn’t on CBS, but we’re taking you to that place CBS can’t get to—the back of a musician’s tour bus as it’s cruising down the highway, inside a hotel room while they're on the road, or in the studio when they're taking a break. It’s all live and never archived, which makes it truly one-of-a-kind.”

[More by Eli Kooris; Follow Eli onTwitter]

If there's one thing Explosions in the Sky evokes, it's all of the emotions. Every last one. Anyone who has watched Friday Night Lights will understand how "Your Hand in Mind" played at dusk over a football field is truly the easiest trigger for tears. And if you've ever gazed wistfully out a bus window in the country while listening to "Who Do You Go Home To," you know the magical power of some stirring instrumental indie rock. And although David Gordon Green latest film, the Sundance hit, Prince Avalanche isn't a philosophical tear jerker, it does possess a strikingly beautiful glowing and burnt natural landscape and some existential dilemmas, which, are always grounds for some EITS. And with composer David Wingo collaborating at the helm for the score, the tone of Prince Avalanche is set by its subtly lovely soundtrack that melds his and EITS' sensibilities.

Like most hangovers, the third one is just not quite as fun as the first – and so is the consensus ofTheHangover Part III, which opened today. But that doesn't stop critics from making some hilarious one-liners about it, whether they meant to or not. Here's the funniest:

• "It is somehow even worse than the second." - FOX News
• "Mr. Chow is more than just a silly, bisexual coke head this time around. He's clearly a sociopath." - Boston.com
• "Entitled fraternity dicks return to The Hangover Part III." - The Village Voice
• "Galifianakis does hairy man child better than anyone since Robin Williams." - Total Film
• "This is nothing short of a tragedy." - Vulture
• "Mr. Chow goes full frontal. Can we ever erase the image from our minds?" - She Knows
• "SPOILER ALERT: there is no hangover." - Screen Crush

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Tequila looms large, and often not in a good way. Everyone who has reached maturity as a drinker has some truly wretched story about what they did (or don’t remember doing) under its boisterous influence. This has perhaps more to do with the way we novices, especially on the east coast, consume the spirit—it’s the shot someone hands us when we’re already too far gone, or the stealth ingredient in a margarita that was stronger than we thought. How to appreciate its finer points?

The Buddha says, "Dwell not in the past, but do concentrate the mind on the present moment." But if the past is a foreign country, it is returning now to home's loving embrace. It was but seventeen years ago (1996, to be precise) that the first Buddha Bar opened on Paris' rue Boissy d'Anglais--and as its journey since has taken it from Dubai to Dakar, Amsterdam to Evian-les-Bains, the circle is now closed, as the George V Eatertainment Group opens the City of Light's first Buddha Bar Hotel. Taking position amongst the swish boutiques along the rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, it arises as a palpable tribute to BB founder and visionary Raymond Visan, who passed on in 2010.

The new hotel is fitted into a stunning 18th Century manse (it's the brand's third lodging after Prague and Budapest), and carries on the exotic French-Orientalism that is now so familiar to millions. Rooms have free-standing, dragon-ornamented tubs and are done up in lavish crimson-purple-gold color schemes. Sexy young Senegalese chef Rougui Dia (formerly of Petrossian) presents her uniquely intercontinental cuisine at the hotel's gilded Le Vraymonde restaurant, whose series of rooms all look out onto a serene garden courtyard. Le QU4TRE lounge, meanwhile, is sure to be 2013's new fashionista magnet. There's also a B/ATTITUDE spa and Buddha Bar boutique. Buddha says "It is better to travel well than to arrive." Now we're not so sure.

[BlackBook Paris Guide; Listing for Buddha Bar Hotel, Buddha Bar; More by Ken Scrudato; Follow Ken on Twitter]

We’re still a little flabbergasted by this—we did just dispense with the Nazi Pope, after all—but apparently it’s not a mistranslation: Pope Francis (first of his name!)just told the worldthat even atheists are redeemed by Jesus Christ if they do good in this life. So you’re saying I had to wear a white Colonel Sanders suit to get first communion for nothing?

All your prayers were moot! There’s actually no reason to sing hymns! Pope Francis even cited the Gospel of Mark to make his point—takethat, fundamentalists. Between this comment and his earlier remarks condemning a global culture of money that precludes compassion for the poor, he is really angling to make some conservative heads explode. For that, we must salute him.

But I’m also really enjoying this idea that people can be redeemed almost against their will. Take someone like Ricky Gervais, who’s completely obnoxious in his atheism but gives millions to charity—how mad would he be to find out that heaven exists and he has to hang out there with the devoutly religious for eternity? Jesus saves whether you like it or not, I guess. And if you don’t, better cook up some evil deeds.

Follow Miles on Twitter here.

Photo: The Independent

Yes, I believe this is what we call a cinematic jackpot, folks. As two of cinema's most confounding, complex, and psychologically stimulating directors, David Lynch and the late Krzysztof Kieślowski made films which transcended our mere reality, sublimating into the abstract and igniting our senses and emotions in the most fascinating way. And although you wouldn't necessary peg the two together, Cristina Álvarez López has crafted a stunning video essay that weaves Kieślowski's metaphysical meditation on identity and love The Double Life of Veronique with Lynch's haunting and delirious digitally experimental masterpiece Inland Empire.

Kieślowski’s universe is a gnostic universe, a not-yet-fully-constituted universe created by a perverse and confused, idiotic God who screwed up the work of Creation, producing an imperfect world, and then keeps trying to save whatever can be saved by repeated new attempts—we are all “Children of a Lesser God.” Although they may appear to belong to the premodern space, such gnostic speculations often serve as the theological foundation of the postmodern exploration of alternative realities and cybergames—as in the New Age “cybergnosticism.”

My advice, in the face of such hallucinatory brilliance, is that you hang on. Don't peg Lynch as an elitist -- this is a guy who recently parked himself and a live cow at a Los Angeles intersection to tout Dern for an Oscar. See him for what he is: an artist following his own maverick instincts and inviting us to jump with him into the wild blue.

Why do you make fun of New Jersey? In many ways, they're on the cutting edge. Take, for example, consumer advocacy in the field of drinking. A great article by Christopher Baxter in the Newark Star-Ledger made me smile from ear-to-ear this morning. Authorities in the Garden State have been working on "Operation Swill" for a year, sending investigators out to find out which bars were passing off cheap booze as premium brands and pocketing the difference in price. The results are in, and the list of cheaters is long, featuring many big franchises. Namely, an Applebee's in Kearny, a Ruby Tuesday in Bridgewater, and no fewer than 13 T.G.I. Friday's. WTF, TGI? According to the story, "The investigation began as a result of complaints, confidential informants and new technology used to test liquor covertly purchased at the establishments by detectives." It's that last part that made my ears perk up: "new technology used to test liquor." Where can I get some of this technology? Can I buy it from the Russians? The North Koreans? The Chinese? I've got to have it, because I think I've found my life's calling.

Some people in the comments section of story are going on about this being a waste of resources. Those people are wrong. Not only is this a fraud perpetuated on consumers, it's also a tax violation, with bar owners claiming liquor expenses well beyond what they actually pay. And I reckon that the producers of those top shelf bottles wouldn't want to be misrepresented. It can damage their reputation. It's not like those investigative resources would otherwise be used to go after Wall Street misdeeds. Might as well use those gumshoes for something that affects your life every day.

But more importantly, it's something that only an official government agency can look into. Think you're being short-changed on a drink at a bar on a Friday night? Go ahead and complain. At best you'll be ignored. At worst, you're tossed out of the place because you're "drunk" and "acting belligerent." In the eyes of the cops who show up, bar management's always in the right, even if the bouncer leaves you within an inch of your life. Self defense, officer. Sure, I have six inches and 100 pounds on the guy, but he was intoxicated, and I was afraid.

Of course I can see how this happens. Passing off cheap booze as expensive has to be the most tantalizingly easy way for a bar to line its pockets, since so few people can actually taste the difference between Johnnie Black and Jim Beam, especially in a cocktail. But it's a crime all the same, and just because some people enjoy a belt or two after work doesn't make it right to take advantage of them.

And so, this drink-analyzing technology. I want it. It's probably been around for a long time in some form. I've been told that for decades, Coca-Cola has similarly employed teams of people who analyze samples of drinks served as Coke at restaurants to ensure that they're not instead Safeway-brand cola product. Maybe it's the same deal. Let's find out where they get it. I'd like to see whole armies of drinkers deployed to bars with little handheld test kits, just to keep them honest.

I applaud New Jersey authorities and give a big wag of my finger to these unscrupulous bar owners. Bad bars, bad bars, what you gonna do? What you gonna do when they come for you?

[BlackBook New York Guide; More by Victor Ozols; Follow Me on Twitter]

When Washed Out, a.k.a. Ernest Greene, chillwave’s reigning maestro, finally released Within and Without, his first LP, it was something like relief. Seemingly everyone with ears had been relaxing to the max with his prior releases, and we craved a longer work to luxuriate in. Now, with a brightly saturated teaser for his new album, Paracosm, he’s got us salivating for more all over again.

Over the weekend, The xx's Night + Day festival series, a curated day of live acts organized in the wake of their most recent album, hit Berlin's Spreepark. The day featured performances from Mount Kimbie, The Chromatics, Mykki Blanco and, of course, The xx themselves. But the highlight of the set, via this video from Hannah Marshall (and shared by Pitchfork), came when the headliners brought out a special guest, rising British R&B star Jessie Ware.

The xx launched into what appeared to be a medley of internationally beloved French house classics from the late '90s and early oughties. The xx kicks things off with an interpretation of Modjo's "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" in the typical, subtle, moody xx style. Then, they bring on Ware, who brings power and light to Stardust's "Music Sounds Better With You" and busts this medley wide open. The rest of it goes on rather pleasantly, but for Ware's entrance alone, it's worth a watch and a listen.

I'm not quite sure what world I am living in, but when it comes to Elijah Wood, whenever I hear his name, my mind immediately wanders to Flipper or The Ice Storm or The Faculty, as if the past decade or Lord of the Rings Trilogy never existed. But as we've seen Wood transform from a big-eyed child star to a vaguely creepy, vaguely older looking dude, he has begun to take on darker and more disturbed roles from Wilfred to Sin City. But now, with the remake of Bill Lustig’s 1980 horror thriller, Maniac, Wood is taking his freakish side to a bloodier level.

A 21st century Jack the Ripper set in the present day, MANIAC is a reboot of the cult film considered by many to be the most suspenseful slasher movie ever made. Frank (Elijah Wood, in a tour de force performance) is the withdrawn owner of a mannequin store, but his life changes when young artist Anna appears asking for his help with her new exhibition. As their friendship develops and Frank’s obsession escalates and the number of victims increases, it becomes clear that Frank is far more dangerous than he seems. With a pulsating electronic score by Rob, the film is an intimate, visually daring, psychologically complex and profoundly horrific trip into the downward spiraling nightmare of a killer and his victims.

With a frothy strawberry margarita in one hand, a bacon-Vermont cheddar cheeseburger in the other, and your eyes fixated on the crystalline-lit Brooklyn Bridge and East River, one thing is clear: Watermark Bar is now open, and summer may commence. OK, sowe haven't yet made it to the June 21st-summer solstice, but we can sure act like we have.

Watermark's opening on Pier 15 at South Street Seaporttriggers the beginning of several different sensory experiences:

• One glance across the 3,500-square-feet of waterfront cherry-red bar stools and boats sailing across the river – and it hits you that oh my gosh you actually live in this city.
• The seamless transition from Magic Hat beer to a creamy chocolate, Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone thanks to the neighboring Cones Café.
• Floor-to-ceiling windows separating the indoor/outdoor options allow for maximum suntanning and cover from those sunny summer rains.
• Debating moving to Brooklyn after drinking four-too-many watermelon cocktails while gazing at the Brooklyn Bridge and majestic Dumbo… but then realizing you don't like kale.
• Spicy Buffalo chicken fingers.

Follow Bonnie on Twitter here.

Do you watch Workaholics? You should, because its trio of stars, Anders Holm (left), Adam DeVine (center), and Blake Anderson (right), represent the most talented comedic trio since Janet Wood and Chrissy Snow invited Jack Tripper to share an apartment in Three's Company. Working in an ages-old plot context--boyish college dropouts share a house and work in a soul-deadening office--every episode nonetheless feels completely fresh, speaking to our times in a way that recalls the awkward-yet-cathartic truths revealed in movies like Office Space. Yes, modern life is a drag, but only if you take it seriously.

Blake, Adam, and 'Ders deliver performances that seem effortless, in large part because they--along with the characters' drug dealer, Kyle Newacheck--are the lead writers on the show. As such they've invented their own language--pornography isn't porn, it's "pornog," and a blowjob is a "blowj"--and embody an attitude of contemporary hedonism that's refreshingly bereft of introspection. They'll gladly abandon any shred of dignity to get the jokes right.

It takes brilliant actors to come off as such idiots, and when I come home drunk, there's no better show to stumble upon in those hazy moments before bed. Which is why it was such a pleasure to see the guys performing as the Wizards last night on Conan. With "Straight Outta Mordor," the actors prove that not only do they know comedic timing and physicality, they can rap too. Lonely Island, watch your back. Check out "Straight Outta Mordor" below, and then go set your DVR.

[Related: The Stars of Workaholics Recall Their Most Drunken Nights; More by Victor Ozols; Follow me on Twitter]

If you're still busy bemoaning the fact that you're not at Cannes this week, at least you can find solace in the fact that tomorrow kicks of the beginnings of Memorial Day Weekend. Perhaps the occasion means nothing for you but time to relax, or perhaps it means endless BBQs and first trips of the season to the beach—but regardless of your holiday preferences, what it does mean is a three-day vacation with ample time to head down to the cinema and catch up on some classic you've let slip through the cracks, alongside of the most best films of the year thus far. So if the allure of escaping into The Hangover III or Fast & Furious 6 is not something you're looking to succumb to, this weekend does mark the premiere of Before Midnight—which wouldn't be so important had we all not been waiting nine years for it. But whether you're into catching up on Celine and Jesse's legendary romance, dancing through the pain with Frances Ha, or looking for a little murderous adventure, there's something for everyone this weekend at the movies. Enjoy.

Superhero movies live and die by their antagonists. The Dark Knight haunted with its amoral, deranged evil in Heath Ledger's Joker. Jack Nicholson's equally creepy but decidedly goofier and more charming Joker enraptured audiences decades before. The Avengers' Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, may be more popular than his brother Thor, and has inspired countless works of fan fiction from his enthusiastic admirers. And now, Michael Shannon, best known for playing dark and intense characters on Boardwalk Empire, in Revolutionary Road and a somewhat terrifying interpretation of the infamous Delta Gamma letter, has a chance to join this pantheon of excellent comic-book-movie rials as General Zod in the upcoming Man of Steel.

It's not exactly accurate to call this interpretation of General Zod a "villain," and both Shannon and director Zack Snyder have said otherwise. Zod is just trying to do what's right for his home planet of Krypton and will stop at nothing to do what he thinks is best. That doesn't mean he's any less ruthless or destructive in his tactics, of course, given the film's most recent trailer. In it, Shannon, as Zod, demands Earth hand over Superman in 24 hours, or he will begin unleashing holy terrors on the place.“Your world has sheltered one of my citizens. He will look like you, but he is not one of you,” he warns. “To those of you who know of his location, the fate of your planet rests in your hands." Then there are some explosions, and at one point Superman (Henry Cavill) looks like he's getting buried under a hill of skulls. That does not seem pleasant at all. Watch the trailer below.

”

For those unfamiliar with the term, "hashtag rap" refers to a delivery device in rap where the MC, instead of using "like" or "as a" in setting up a simile, just cuts straight to the word for emphasis. It's a common tactic especially in the world of battle rap, where lines like these (usually "I'll put [x] in a box") have become endlessly parodied clichés in and of themselves. In "Semicolon," their latest video for YouTube Comedy Week, the Digital Short veterans of The Lonely Island riff on the concept, with most welcome help from Maya Rudolph and Solange, who makes cheesy lines like "We run the game/Umpire/we chase the night/Young Squire" sound ever so smooth.

Of course, within about 30 seconds of watching this video, those familar with the rules of grammar will notice that The Lonely Island and Solange are using the semicolon incorrectly. Instead of using the punctuation mark to separate two independent clauses, they use it to separate an independent clause from a word for emphasis, the typical job of a colon. And, as Slate's David Haglund points out, there area few other errorsin need of a copy edit. But maybe that was the point of it all, to elaborately disguise a treatise on the futility of living your (that's "your," not "you're") life as a pedant and feeling better about yourself because of it in the middle of a spoof of hashtag rap. That's probably overthinking it, but if that was the intention, then good job, Andy Samberg and collaborators.

So, pedants and self-identifying grammar fascists, you should probably beware this video as it will either make you into a victim of trollbait or frustrate you to no end, depending on your interpretation. But, if you enjoy deliberately wack wordplay, kinetic typography and/or the presence of Solange Knowles in anything, you will enjoy this video. Watch.

Memorial Day Weekend is just days away. Do you have plans yet? You could do the typically debauched thing, eating, drinking, dancing, and carousing, all for your own pleasure. But if you head out to Ruschmeyer's in Montauk, you could do all of those same things, but for a good cause. Two good causes, actually. On Sunday, May 26, the grown-up summer camp-themed resort is hosting an event called the Rockaway Plate Lunch Truck Yard Party, and it kicks off Ruschmeyer's summer-long series of Reggae Sundays parties. A percentage of the proceeds will go to support two charities, the Rockaway Plate Lunch Truck, which works to "fill plates and build spirits" with a food truck staffed by top New York restaurants, and Waves for Water, which provides clean water for those without access to it. They're both noble causes, and it won't hurt a bit to support them, as this party's hosted by Mike D (of the legendary Beastie Boys) and designer Robert McKinley, while the tunes will be provided by DJ's Mike D, Stretch Armstrong, and Tito Cruz. You like reggae? Good, because you'll get your fill with a irie set by the Easy Skanking Band. And you thought skanking was hard.

The event is open to the public and there's no admission fee, so you can just roll on by any time from 6-9pm and get your groove on. And if all that dancing makes you a bit peckish, there'll be food from the Smile team. Eat, drink, and be charitable.

[Related: BlackBook Hamptons Guide; Listing for Ruschmeyer's; BlackBook 2013 Hamptons Pre-Preview; The Hottest Hamptons Hotels for Summer 2013; More by Victor Ozols; Follow me on Twitter]

On May 22, 1959,Steven Patrick Morrissey first graced the planet with his dispair. Also known as "The Pope of Mope," Morrissey's angsty lyrics have been moving his millions of diehard fans since the 1980s, when he fronted equally ridiculously popular Brit act, The Smiths. Whether you love to hate or hate to love him, the dude's got talent. He's also showcased some interesting swag over the years, which is why there's no better time than now to present six of his best looks from the last two decades. You'll see that he's definitely not as eccentric as his BlackBook birthday slideshow predecessor,David Bowie, but there are enough pompadours and chest hairs here to get the job done. Enjoy!

1. Theultimatecome-hither pose, no?

2.Thiswas definitely at the height of his hair's, well, height:

3. Hate him or love him, Moz was a babe back in the day. Who looks better in ared, v-neck cardigan?

4. Moz's thing is wearing really busy tops that slightly expose his chest hair,like so. (Fun fact: I was at this show! Sure, they werenosebleed seats, but still!):

5. Not a shit was given this day. He's all like, "Yes, I'mwearingthe world's most annoying tablecloth. Jealous?":

6. Let's be honest: no onelovesMorrissey more than Morrissey. Happy Birthday, boo!

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been acting for most of his young life. And in that time, he's gotten quite a film ducation, having worked with everyone from his pal, the wonderful Rian Johnson to Gregg Araki, Christopher Nolan, and Steven Spielberg, taking on a varied array of roles, swiftly moving from young actor on the rise to one of the most sought after men in Hollywood. But only naturally, after being in the industry so long, JGL caught the filmmaking bug himself and this October, we'll see his first stab at writing and directing his own full-length feature, Don Jon.

As a juiced-up sexual comedy, the film tackles one man's struggle between the allure and satisfaction of fantasy and the vulnerability and intimacy of reality. As a young bachelor bartender focused on nothing more than his cars, his family, getting ladies, and working out, when he meets the girl of his dreams his world suddenly gets thrown off-kilter. Starring in the film himself alongside Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, and Tony Danza, JGL now gives us the first taste of his feature with a energetic trailer for Don Jon.