Hampton Habitués

Reading is Fundamental

Perfectly cast, and in the perfect cast, Bridgehampton’s Bob Balaban positively shines in The Chair. The new Netflix show, which revolves around a group of English professors at a fictional university, also stars Sandra Oh as the titular character, plus Jay Duplass, Nana Mensah, Holland Taylor, and David Morse. 

Playing tenured fuddy-duddy Dr. Rentz, Balaban brilliantly captures the old school ivory tower mentality, and plays the part with panache. We predict that this is one of the roles that will head to the top of the talented actor’s best-remembered character list, which also includes memorable stints on television shows Seinfeld, Friends and The Politician and films Gosford Park, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. 

We’re excited to see that he’s also going to be in The French Dispatch by frequent collaborator Wes Anderson. Starring a huge cast of top-notch actors — including Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Tom Hanks, Timothée Chalamet, Ed Norton, Jeffrey Wright, Elizabeth Moss, Benicio Del Toro, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Christoph Waltz, Frances McDormand, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Liev Schrieber, Anjelica Huston, Jason Schwartzman, Henry Winkler, Margot Robbie and more — the film is said to be a “love letter to journalists.” We sure like the sound of that!

Breakfast Treat

Jerry Seinfeld has also been keeping himself busy. The East Hampton resident is planning on heading back up on stage, starting December 11 at Foxwoods in Connecticut, to resume rescheduled dates from his 2020 live comedy tour. 

He’s also set to produce, direct and star in the Netflix comedy Unfrosted, which was inspired by one of his standup bits about Pop-Tarts.

“How did they know that there would be a need for a frosted fruit-filled heated rectangle in the same shape as the box it comes in, and with the same nutrition as the box it comes in,” he joked during his last Netflix special 23 Hours to Kill.

As fun as this film sounds, we’re even more excited to see that Netflix will start streaming episodes of classic Seinfeld later this year. Giddy up!

Trick or Treat

Just in time for Halloween — also, how crazy is it that we’re now about a month away from that holiday — The Addams Family is back with another kooky, mysterious, and spooky adventure. The Addams Family 2 will be shown in theaters starting October 1. 

The animated feature, produced by Sagaponack resident and Tee and Charles Addams Foundation Director Kevin Miserocchi, stars the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Kroll, Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton, Wallace Shawn, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Bill Hader. On this outing, the whole clan hits the road in their haunted camper for a full-on frightful family adventure. Scary fun! 

History Sails On

Someone else who’s hoping to see a bit more travel in his future is the actor-turned crypto billionaire Brock Pierce. The former Mighty Ducks child actor, who seemed to have hit every major East End benefit and bash this summer season, just dropped a few dimes to save an historic Portuguese ocean liner. 

Paying $1.9 million for the storied ship MV Funchal, the investor says he has already hired nearly 200 workers to refurbish the vessel and turn it into a hotel and museum. In the 1970s, the ship was chartered by the State of Portugal to operate as the official “Presidential Yacht,” for President Américo de Deus Rodrigues Tomás. It will be permanently stationed in Lisbon. 

Artistic Ending

Finally, a farewell to painter Chuck Close. The photorealist and abstract portraitist was a well-known figure on the Hamptons art scene. Most memorably, Guild Hall in East Hampton displayed 28 of his pieces during “Chuck Close: Recent Works” back in 2013.