Hampton Habitués

Good News Gossip About Our Notable Friends and Neighbors

HIFF, HIFF Hurrah!
Shouting out a big-time bravo for Montauk’s Liev Schreiber, who will be honored as the Dick Cavett Artistic Champion Award recipient at the 32nd annual Hamptons International Film Festival. Well-deserved sir!

Schreiber, who has lent his name and time to a number of East End charities and other worthy organizations, joins a distinguished list of former recipients, including Mr. Cavett, Mariska Hargitay, Toni Ross, and Alan Alda. The award honors those in the creative arts who not only succeed in their field but also support the arts and artists, in other fields, such as education, related media and other arts disciplines. 

Schreiber is currently starring in The Perfect Couple, a limited series on Netflix alongside Nicole Kidman, Eve Hewson, Dakota Fanning, Megahann Fahy and Sam Nivola, whose family owns property in Springs. That fun thriller, based on a novel by Elin Hilderbrand, is set on Nantucket, but it could easily be here out east. Coming up, he’ll star in Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing. That film is about a burned-out former baseball player who gets ensnared in the criminal underworld in 1990s New York City.

A Good Thing
HIFF opens this year with R.J. Cutler’s Martha. Can’t wait for that one! Deemed the definitive documentary on Martha Stewart, the film dives deep — from the former East Hampton resident’s early start on Wall Street to her ongoing reinventions during several decades in the spotlight — and even features candid interviews with the icon herself. Even better, both Stewart and Cutler are scheduled to attend the festival this year and participate in a post-screening talkback. 

Whilst on the subject of HIFF, we’ve just got to mention that the Views From Long Island program this year will highlight IFC Films’ Christmas Eve in Millers Point, which was set and shot in Suffolk County. The feature film, which was directed by Tyler Taormina and stars Michael Cera, Matilda Fleming, and Francesca Scorsese, is about a family’s potential final gathering at their ancestral home. 

Evil Eye?
Speaking of finality, East End regular Richard Kind guest stars as a potential killer in the fourth season of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Playing an Arconia “Western Tower” resident, Stink-Eye Pete, he joins series regulars Steven Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as they try to unravel who killed beloved stunt double Saaz, played by Jane Lynch. 

Even as a might-be murderer, who doesn’t love Richard Kind? I mean really. Can’t wait to see whodunnit this season!

Drama Mama
Though she’s not technically an East Ender, we just have to give some props to Winona Ryder — who stars in the Montauk Project-inspired Stranger Things and also in the long-awaiting Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!

This latest iteration of the classic film, 30 years after the original, returns the Deetz family to Winter River after an unexpected family tragedy. Ryder, who reprises her role as Lydia, discovers that having a teenage daughter can be just as emotional as being someone’s teenage daughter. Surprise. 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice also stars Michael Keaton in the titular role, Jenna Ortega as Lydia’s daughter, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe, Danny DeVito, Justin Theroux, and Catherine O’Hara.

Spooky Stories
Sag Harbor’s R.L. Stine has done it again! His newest creepy crawler is out it’s got us shook! Now in bookstores, Spinetinglers 3: More Chilling Stories From the Master Of Scary Tales is a collection of short stories for kids ages 8 to 12 who love horror. Huzzah to Stine, whose super popular Goosebumps series has sold more than 400 million copies worldwide. The prolific author has written more than 300 books. 

Good Deeds
Lastly, shout out to East Hampton’s Jon Bon Jovi, who literally saved someone’s life last month. The rocker, who was filming a music video in Nashville, noticed a woman who appeared to be in distress on a bridge overlooking the Cumberland River. The JBJ Soul Foundation founder, who has received crisis training through that organization, ended up talking her off the ledge. Well done!