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Week in Culture

Heidi Klum hosts a superheroic Halloween party, Mariah Carey births a new Christmas album, and James Franco cuts off his arm on-screen. Check out more can't-miss film, TV, art, and music picks.

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Getty Images ,Dan Steinberg
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For most people, the biggest worry that comes along with Halloween every year is trying to avoid a candy overdose. For Heidi Klum, it’s finding a venue that will safely fit you and your eight-foot-tall designer costume. Just in case Klum and her husband Seal weren’t adorable enough the other 364 days of the year, they’re continuing their tradition of over-the-top Halloween parties this year at New York nightclub LAVO. Even with the bar set unbelievably high – past costumes include Lady Godiva and the Hindu goddess Kali – Klum seems to have outdone herself this year with a skintight superhero costume complete with built-in stilts. As if the supermodel needed any help towering over pint-sized Eva Longoria, who reportedly joins the likes of Jessica Alba and Christian Siriano on the guest list.

Heidi and Seal’s Halloween Party will be held on Sunday, October 31 at LAVO.

Getty Images
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While Yankees’ and Phillies’ fans are still mourning the ends of their MLB season in the Northeastern portion of the United States, the celebrating continues elsewhere with the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers battling it out in the World Series. While the Giants beat the Atlanta Braves and then the Phillies as the underdogs to make it to the championships, the Rangers conquered both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Yankees in the playoffs to secure their spot in the World Series for the first time in the team’s 50-year history. With Game One and Game Two to both going to the San Francisco Giants on their home turf, the World Series will now continue into November for only the third time ever in the MLB’s 106th champion series.

The Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants’ continue to battle in the MLB World Series. Game Four airs on Sunday, October 31 at 8:20 p.m. EST at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in Arlington, Texas.

AP Photo
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It takes more than a little confidence as an author to reinvent a story by Henry James, but veteran writer Cynthia Ozick has done just that, and with stunning results. The culmination of a career-long fascination with James, Ozick modeled her new novel Foreign Bodies after the plot of his classic The Ambassadors, re-setting it in the wake of World War II. As a long-since divorced American woman attempts to track down her missing nephew in a Paris flooded with refugees from the Holocaust, Ozick paints a meticulous portrait of her heroine’s psychological undoing all while raising moral questions that are as subtle as they can be excruciating. In a literary landscape of authors-as-celebrities, Ozick has provided a quiet but firm reminder of her status as one of the most powerful authors working today.

Foreign Bodies comes out on Monday, November 1.

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Though we are just putting away the jack-o-lanterns and still stuffing our faces with king-size candy bars, Santa is coming early this year. Mariah Carey’s comeback is officially underway—the singer has a worst-kept-secret baby with husband Nick Cannon coming in the spring and is also giving birth to an exciting new spawn this week—a follow-up Christmas album, Merry Christmas II You. The 40-year-old Grammy-winner performer released her first album in 1994 and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has since become one of Carey’s most perennially popular songs every time the holiday season rolls around. With some new original tunes and some remade classics (“O Holy Night” and “Here Comes Santa Claus”), this album is the true emancipation of Mimi. And just when you think it couldn’t get any better, there’s a track entitled, “All I Want for Christmas is You - Extra Festive.” Superfluous holiday cheer for all!

Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas II You will be released on Tuesday, November 2.

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Regardless of your feelings about the royal family, Prince Charles has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to the environment, touting causes like green energy and organic eating before either became trendy. In his new treatise on the subject, Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World, HRH scraps his typically reserved demeanor and opens with a bang, stating, “This is a call for revolution. The Earth is under threat.” It’s an appropriate start to the book, which reads as something of a manifesto, promoting a massive shift in the public mindset about our collective relationship to the earth. With a movie version already in the works Harmony is poised to be the next Inconvenient Truth, probably minus the controversy over Al Gore’s burgeoning facial hair.

Harmony: A New Way of Looking at Our World comes out on Tuesday, November 2.

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During the holiday season, is there anything better for getting in the Christmas spirit than Will Ferrell’s instant-classic Elf? Now there is: Elf with singing and dancing! In a move that is nothing short of a Christmas miracle, the movie has been adapted into a Broadway musical, opening this week in New York. With songs, dances, and a script by a team of seasoned Tony winners, the show is set to be further proof of Buddy the elf’s favorite adage, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

Elf: The Musical opens at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Tuesday, November 2.

Everett Collection
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Ah, Amy Sedaris, always looking out for our social lives, even in the midst of a recession. From the woman who brought us I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence and helpful hosting hints such as how to remove vomit stains, we now have Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People. In true Sedaris fashion the book is a mix of dark humor and actual crafts tips. As Sedaris explains, “Being poor is a wonderful motivation to be creative.” Whether it’s crab-claw roach clips or a wizard-duck costume, the book is a must-read for those of us who are craftily inclined but financially strapped.

Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People comes out on Tuesday, November 2.

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While Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake continue to make headlines though their crowns as teen royalty have since been passed on to the likes of Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber, other 1990s stars have not maintained high levels of success. But this week, former Lizzie McGuire star Hilary Duff and “Candy” singer Mandy Moore are returning to primetime with guest spots on two hit television shows. For her upcoming role on Community, Duff will channel her inner Mean Girl as Meghan, the head of a nasty clique that goes up against with the show’s regulars, Britta, Shirley, and Annie. The three girls then bond with fan favorite Abed and turn him into the ultimate bitchy co-ed to retaliate. After a half-hour intermission, you can then tune into Grey’s Anatomy, where Mandy Moore reprises her role from last season’s jaw-dropping finale as Mary. Her character returned to the hospital for the procedure she was scheduled to have that fateful day of Seattle Grace’s shooting and though she survived that tragedy, her luck seems to have run out. Thanks to Duff and Moore, this Thursday, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll have the Laguna Beach theme song stuck in your head.

On Thursday, November 4, Community guest starring Hilary Duff airs on NBC at 8 p.m. EST, while Mandy Moore returns to Grey's Anatomy on ABC at 9 p.m. EST.

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Even in the era of the iPad, some things still work better in print. Such is the philosophy behind this week’s New York Art Book Fair, a showcase for artists, publishers, and booksellers alike set to be held from November 5 through 7 at MOMA PS1 in Queens, New York. Sponsored by Printed Matter, the fair will bring together the most interesting and innovative publications in the current art world, alongside events including screenings and performances over the course of the weekend. In other words, it’s the perfect way to get your art fix and your weekly break from glowing screens all in one fell swoop.

The New York Art Book Fair kicks off on Friday, November 5.

Photo by Boru O'Brien O'Connell, courtesy of Printed Matter, Inc