Alexander Stuart

Banksy's Charlie Brown/Charlie Burn on a building in LA - Photograph: Banksy.co.uk Without doubt, the one thing that most makes me want to watch the Oscars this year is British artist Banksy , whose wonderfully anarchic and entertaining documentary (he is either its subject, its co-creator, or both - or more) Exit Through The Gift Shop is hopefully a shoe-in for Best Documentary. Aside from my feelings about this year's crop of movies in general - more on that in a moment - when did the Oscars last have any sense of the unexpected, of something really interesting and unusual possibly happening? Banksy - a mysterious, identity-concealed street artist (of sorts - his works now sell for six figures and he storyboarded and directed a stunning opening sequence for The Simpsons ), whose work is akin in spirit to the upheaval caused by the "hacktivist" group Anonymous - may or may not appear at the Academy Awards ceremony in some form or another. (I'm sure he w

As a break from the mix of disturbing and encouraging news from the Middle East (see my Twitter feed in the left sidebar) - and, for that matter, the Midwest (um, Wisconsin - may the GOP back down and recognize social realities) - here is an absolutely hilarious review of the upcoming movie Red Riding Hood , from my favorite newspaper, The Guardian. Okay, so it's not actually a review of the movie - it's a review of the trailer!  The Guardian does this from time to time...and frequently makes me laugh out loud. Red Riding Hood trailer: life in the hood ain't so Grimm If you go down to the woods today, ladies, it seems you're more likely to get lucky with your fella than meet a cross-dressing wolf... Amanda Seyfried as Red Riding Hood Fairytales have always played a vital function, offering strict morality lessons that help to mould each generation of children into well-developed adults. However, now that they're primarily being used to sell subscription

Ease into the weekend with one of my all-time favorite Mos Def songs, Umi Says...just incredibly cool and wise and beautiful.

The WOW Suite, W Hotel Hollywood Hudson, who is six, loves hotels. It started in London, when we stayed there a couple of years ago at a hotel on Curzon Street called the Washington Mayfair. He loved the room, he loved the elevator, the doorman, the front desk, the location - everything about it. Recently, we needed to drive into Hollywood from Topanga and Hudson wanted to try out the wifi on the netbook Santa generously brought him at Christmas. We thought about where to go - Starbucks seemed too obvious - and Charong suggested the new W Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. (We used to live not too far away in Laurel Canyon.) So along with our two year old daughter, Paradise, we all visited the spacious and very cool bar/lounge/lobby area of the W, which features a wide circular staircase and vast Swarovski crystal chandelier, a "bridge" suspended by (I'm guessing) steel wires and a kind of Moroccan-inspired lounging area with plenty of cushions. Hudson got to u

Photo credit: David Jenkins World Wildlife Fund Canada Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! If you haven't sent a card yet, it's not too late - try the World Wildlife Fund's free Valentine WWF E-cards. And please donate to the WWF , I've been a fan since I was a child.