Sergio Says! Musings from Cosmo (And Beyond…)

by The Daily Front Row

A plethora of screenings are keeping Cosmo‘s Sergio Kletnoy from some much-needed R&R, but he doesn’t seem to mind the star-saturated madness too much! Read on for another exciting week in the life of Joanna Coles’ right hand man.

Monday
This evening FilmDistrict with The Cinema Society and Grey Goose hosted a screening of Spike Lee’s latest gruesome tour de force Oldboy. The theatre was packed like a can of sardines, amongst them: Geoffrey Rush, Paul Haggis, Vincent Pastore, Phylicia Rashad, Nichole Galicia, Ellen von Unwerth, Montego Glover, Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon, Olivier Theyskens, June Ambrose, Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Jessica Stam as well as the film’s stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen and Michael Imperioli. Oldboy is Lee’s take on a 2003 Korean film by the same name, about a man (Josh Brolin) who was kidnapped and locked into solitary confinement for 20 years without a reason or an explanation. When he’s finally released back into the real world, his only mission in life is to find out why, and obviously take out revenge. A modern day game of clue and cat & mouse with oodles of blood, murder, vengeance, and a twisted plot that will have you mind-f***** for days. This is the type of film that needs your undivided attention from start to finish, despite of the blood, sex & violence. It’s raw, gruesome and thought-provoking. It left me grasping for air and probably a week of nightmares (thanks, Cinema Society!) At Oprah’s “Next Chapter” interview last week, Spike Lee told the almighty O he wanted to be remembered as a storyteller. He should also add groundbreaking, innovative, rebellious and important to that title. Get your popcorn and don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Tuesday
Once again, my plans to veg out after work were shattered! There’s no way I could have turned down an invite from one of the greatest actors of our time, right? I ended up at Paris Theatre for The Weinstein Company and The Cinema Society premiere of Philomena starring the great Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. You know it’s going to be an excellent film when you find yourself sitting amongst Harvey Weinsten, Valentino & Giancarlo Giammetti, Mariska Hargitay, Emily Mortimer, Jane Curtin from one of my fave childhood shows Kate & Allie, Carla Gugino, David Byrne of Talking Heads, Olivier Theyskens, Candy Pratts Price, Hal Rubenstein, Alex Lundqvist and Sean Young. The film tells a story of a lovable and strong lady (Dench) who grew up in a convent in Ireland, had a child out of wedlock (which was taken away from her) and 50 years later decided to look for him with the help of a journalist (Coogan). Together they embark on an adventure to the U.S. of A. to find this child. The deep and twisted story takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, which ends where it begins, at the convent. Dench is truly the epitome of an actor! She is a queen who in the span of her career been nominated for over 135 Film, TV and Theatre awards and won 40 of them. No matter the role, you believe her, love her, cry with her, and adore her. I’m not ashamed to admit that I did all four. The after party was held at The Skylark and with a Qui Tequila cocktail named Philomena in hand I searched for the Dame with no luck. Who was I kidding, Judy is way too busy to hang with mere mortals, she was probably at the Royal Palace polishing her crown…

Wednesday
What a day. I was tying loose ends for THE BOSS’ bazillionth trip to DC, her dinner for Orange Is The New Black author Piper Kerman, and prepping for Cosmo’s first-ever CFDA Fashion Careers Summit taking place this weekend. Between all of that, I had a visit from two amazing musicians and one of my fave reality stars! First up, Sweden’s super talented Erik Hassle, whose masterpiece “Hurtful” has been burning up my iPod since 2010. He’s toured with Mika, dueted with Ellie Goulding and written some amazing songs, including one for a major pop star which I cannot talk about. Think love child of Wilson Picket, Simply Red and Drake… aka a white boy with major soul. His latest single is called “Talk About It” and it’s amazing! Next up: another Swede, named Elliphant, who (mark my words) is going to be HUGE! Katy Perry is a huge fan, she signed a recording contract with the biggest producer in pop Dr. Luke and can only be described as the best of what Rihanna, Santigold, and M.I.A. have to offer. Her two singles “Music is Life” and “Down On Life” are huge pop anthems and I cannot wait for everyone to discover this super talented bad girl. The cherry on top was stepping out for a coffee and running into Real Housewife of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks (the classy one). It was a meeting of the minds. Who knows, maybe I’ll get a guest spot on the show…

Thursday
This evening at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall The Weinstein Company with Mercedes-Benz, South African Airways & DeLeón Tequila hosted the premiere of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. With one of my fave people in the world, Taylor Tomasi Hill, as my date we had prime seats amongst Harvey & Bob Weinstein, daughter of Nelson Mandela-Zindzi, Tony Bennett, Rosario Dawson, Michael Strahan, Gayle King, Regis and Joy Philbin, Ashanti, Victor Cruz, Al Sharpton, Anja Rubik, Zac Posen, Pat Cleveland, June Ambrose, Sean Young, Fern Mallis, Prince Albert’s daughter Jazmin Grimaldi, Cinema Society founder Andrew Saffir and of course the stars of the film Idris Elba and Naomie Harris. While yapping with Taylor before the film I spotted one fourth of The Stones, Ronnie Wood, with his wife Sally, who ended up sitting right in front of us. Of course I completely lost my train of thought! With a living legend sitting in front of me how was I going to pay attention to the film? Fortunately, the story was beautiful and captivating. The only time I got distracted was when Ronnie started puffing on an electronic cigarette. So badass, he’s not a member of the most famous rock ‘n’ roll band on earth for nothing! Everyone knows the story of Mandela and his fight for freedom and equality, but to see it on film was truly an emotional experience. I doubt there was a dry eye in the house and as the credits came on (which happen to feature a brand new mid-tempo love song from U2 called “Ordinary Love”) the audience got out of their seat for a thunderous standing ovation. It was by far my favorite flick of the year, a labor of love for everyone involved and the finished product is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. We left the theatre inspired, and before heading down to Stone Rose Lounge for the after party, Taylor and I stopped Ronnie to profess our love for the The Stones. He couldn’t have been nicer, even put his arm around me when I asked for a photo, Taylor took three shots, and we headed down to the party. When I finally looked at the film roll all three shots were dark and blurry. You could kinda tell it’s me and Ronnie, but it could also be any guy with a messy hair do and some dude wearing a baseball cap. Lesson learned, always take a selfie no matter who it’s with, especially if the other choice is Taylor taking your photo. xo

Friday
“Gorilla G-Mix Remix” by Bruno Mars with R. Kelly & Pharrell

“What Now” by Rihanna

“The Art Of Letting Go” by Mariah Carey

“Mirror (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPiahVVqadw) by Ellie Goulding
“Y.A.L.A. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4VQoP2_eL4) by M.I.A. x The Partysquad x KENZO
“Hard out here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0CazRHB0so) by Lily Allen
 

“Mirror” by Ellie Goulding

“Y.A.L.A.” by M.I.A. x The Partysquad x KENZO

“Hard Out Here” by Lily Allen

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