Times are tough, and good samaritans are hard to come by these days. Given the country's economic doldrums, theoretically we should be living in anarchy. A cinematic embodiment of these times, Wendy and Lucy is a film by director Kelly Reichardt and portrays a financially strapped traveler (played by Michelle Williams) who loses her dog. No one in the town, except for one person, seems to care about her situation. "We knew it was a downer from the start," Reichardt said at last night's Q&A session with Williams, following the opening at Film Forum. However, with the amount of buzz the film has received, one can't help but dig a little deeper for the intentions behind a film where Williams emerges as a quiet power, where the sound of trains are the sole soundtrack and the ending is left as open as the outdoors.

The New Clairvoyants: Tuning into emerging trends and future sounds, Busy Gangnes and Melissa Livaudais of Telepathe deliver experimental electro-pop to the mainstream.

Screw Charlie and screw his chocolate. Ice skaters at The Pond at Bryant Park are looking to steal the mantle of lucky winner by-way-of-hidden-ticket from that Brit brat by renting a pair of skates that may or may not contain airline tickets. Delta Air Lines is giving away a pair of (read 'em) round-trip airline tickets to any destination where their fleet flies. Each Friday through January 25, when the rink closes, one lucky skater will parlay a pair of twelve dollar blades into a really, really free flight. And admission to the pond is free, for all you cheapskates out there.

Reopened in October after an extensive reno, New York boutique hotel the Marcel at Gramercy offers five-star amenities in the realm of four-star prices, with cutting-edge modern décor and the posh Bar Milano restaurant, featuring Northern Italian cuisine upscaled for the Gramercy crowd. The hotel's facelift brings in modern minimalism in a cross between Oscar de La Renta's spring collection and the aesthetics of a lava lamp -- grandiose yet clean, with pops of olives & mustards next to futuristic metallics. Part domestic sanctuary, part club lounge, the fireplace, chandelier, and semicircular leather couch cater to cocktails and the creative set both. Co-owned by the people behind the Empire Hotel, the Marcel features five guest floors and 135 rooms, each complete with increasingly standard iPod docking stations, flatscreen TVs, and marble bathrooms.

A laptop magician transforms New York into music

The Citizen's Band founder balances theatre and politics

"Ninety-percent of puppies in kennels come from mills." So said the ethereal blue screen at last night's benefit for ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), hosted by culinary connoisseur Katie Lee Joel. The annual 2008 Shaggy Dog Gala, held at the Gehry-designed IAC building in West Chelsea, boasted fanciful hors d'oeuvres like mini pig-in-a-blankets, and a silent auction of mainly sports memorabilia -- including a neon orange soccer ball signed by Pele himself, a bundle of vintage Yankee tributes, and a photograph from 1973 of Elvis playfully greeting Muhammad Ali in a fighting stance.

From an uncommon artist

Masked wrestlers with curly mustaches and pink pirouetting tutu's are a few of Marie Losier's favorite things. In "Marie Losier OUTTAKES", a portrait of British cult icon, Genesis P-orridge (Psychic TV), we experience her vision through a music video on a '60s Scopitone (video machine) and peephole box. As a filmmaker who's collaborated with the likes of Tony Conrad and Guy Maddin, Losier's work is a remarkable a step into the avant-garde, invoking playful elements of silent cinema in a colorfully youthful tribute to the vibrant P-orridge, whose husky but sensual exterior remains striking.

The Cool Kids, former underground heroes, are currently enjoying the spoils of people catching on. Though their songs were inspired by a school of hip hop that emerged while they were still in diapers, The Cool Kids deliver more than the literal pick ‘n’ roll helping of classic hip hop wannabes. Instead they serve up concoctions as sophisticated as they are inventive, with the release of their latest EP, The Bake Sale–including the “Delivery Man” single, which is available for download exclusively via Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound. When we sat down with them in New York, we spoke about asking their mothers for money, and the struggles of coming up in the music industry. But naturally, we talked mostly about getting drunk, because isn’t that what all the cool kids are doing these days?