NEW YORK: In the disheveled backroom of an East Village restaurant, Kristen Stewart is sarcastically motivating the French director Olivier Assayas for a photo shoot.
“You’re in America now, dude,” Stewart jokes. “We’ve got to sell the s--- out of this movie.”
Stewart, a blockbuster veteran at 26, is well acquainted with the demands of movie promotion. But with Assayas, she has found a freedom from such concerns. She and the director have forged an unlikely but formidable bond that has resulted in two highly acclaimed movies, both made in Europe, far outside of Hollywood jurisdiction.
They are an odd pair: She, a rebel A-lister from Los Angeles who has become one of the movie’s most exciting and uncompromising actors; he, a demure Parisian whose layered, cerebral films teeter between reality and fiction.
What makes them click? They chuckle.
“I’m not sure,” said Assayas. Stewart nodded. “That’s the main question,” she said. “I don’t know. We like each other.”
Their latest film, “Personal Shopper,” is full of mysteries, too. It is a ghost story, set in a contemporary world of texting and Googling. In the film, which opened Friday, Stewart plays a twin whose brother has just died. Her day job is shopping in Paris for a stuck-up celebrity, but a series of strange encounters make her believe a spirit (her brother?) is contacting her.
“Personal Shopper” follows their previous “Clouds of Sils Maria,” also a singularly enigmatic movie in which Stewart played support staff (an assistant to Juliette Binoche’s theater actress) to a more famous character. (The part earned Stewart a Cesar, the first American to win the French award.) But by stepping into characters out of the spotlight — and into films outside of Hollywood convention — Stewart has never been so much herself on screen.
“I could be making movies about Kristen being a movie star or whatever persona any actress has on social media,” said Assayas. “But what interests me is the person. So I throw the burden of celebrity on someone else, so she can be free of it.”
“Maybe for the next one I could play a famous actress,” joked Stewart.
Stewart and Assayas find a groove in the shadow of celebrity
Stewart and Assayas find a groove in the shadow of celebrity
6 planets will parade across the night sky at the end of February
NEW YORK: Six planets are linking up in the sky at the end of February, and most will be visible to the naked eye.
It’s what’s known as a planetary parade, which happens when multiple planets appear to line up in the sky at once. The planets aren’t in a straight line, but are close together on one side of the sun.
Skygazers can usually spot two or three planets after sunset, according to NASA. Hangouts of four or five that can be glimpsed with the naked eye are less common and occur every few years. Last year featured lineups of six and all seven planets.
When will they be visible?
On Saturday, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye if clear skies allow. Uranus and Neptune can only be spotted with binoculars and telescopes.
What time is optimal for viewing?
Go outside about an hour after sunset and venture away from tall buildings and trees that will block the view. Look to the western sky and spot Mercury, Venus and Saturn close to the horizon. Jupiter will be higher up, along with Uranus and Neptune.
How to know if you’ve spied a member of the parade?
“If it’s twinkling, it’s a star. If it is not twinkling, it’s a planet,” said planetary scientist Sara Mazrouei with Humber Polytechnic in Canada.
The parade should be visible over the weekend and in the days after. Eventually, Mercury will bow out and dip below the horizon.
At least one bright planet is visible on most nights, according to NASA.
Glimpsing many in the sky at once is a fun way to connect with astronomers of centuries’ past, said planetary scientist Emily Elizondo with Michigan State University.
Ancient astronomers used to make sense of the universe “just by looking up at the stars and the planets,” Elizondo said, “which is something that we can do today.”
