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I told you a couple of weeks ago that Paris Jackson was going to the Cannes Film Festival. That was certainly supposed to be the situation. She and her manager Rick Yorn were going there, and Paris was supposed to meet Yorn’s super client Leonardo DiCaprio on a yacht. But Yorn’s wife is nine months pregnant– she may have given birth by now– so he scotched the trip after debating if he could get back in time.
But there’s a lot more going on with 15 year old world wise Paris. She’s spending a lot of time with her mother, Debbie Rowe. I was first to write this a couple of months ago– that Paris wanted to live with Debbie, spend the summer at her ranch, etc. I think this is great news. A teenage girl should want to be with her mother. So far brother Prince hasn’t come around, but he will. The kids are lucky to have a living parent.
Nonetheless, there are issues. For one thing, Paris has two guardians– her grandmother and her cousin. The family court is unlikely to change that or emancipate her. Sources say Debbie Rowe is fine with that and is in constant touch with Katherine Jackson.
But there’s another player involved– Lowell Henry, the man who’s been advising Katherine for the last couple of years. He made the connection with Rick Yorn, and has plans for Paris. I am told that Debbie Rowe isn’t so keen on him. That may cause trouble. But if anyone can smell trouble, it’s Rowe.
Meantime Paris will spend the summer at the horse ranch. And it may be causing some discussion at home. She tweeted on May 27: “Can’t satisfy anyone.”
Chow, chow, chow. Or Chaough. That’s the last name of Ted Chaough, new partner of Don Draper and friends, maybe romantic interest for Peggy Olson. Kevin Rahm plays Ted, who’s brought his agent Cutler Gleason Chaough into Sterling Draper Cooper Pryce with a lot of force– and maybe to Pete Campbell’s detriment.
But what kind of name is that? Where did “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner think of this? Indeed, Chaough is a name you will not find anywhere in any listing in the United States. It simply doesn’t exist. It does look like Chat plus Cough. It’s so far not a stand in for “Chow” or shortened ethnic moniker.
Indeed, Matt Weiner, a “Mad Men” source says, totally made it up. “It sounded and looked like one of those ridiculous wasp ad men names. It’s just a writers’ joke.” Well, who knows? Maybe in the the final season Weiner will give Ted some big reveal.
Now that we’re back from Cannes, it’s time to look at the Tony Awards. And the biggest news is that “Kinky Boots” seems to be in lead over “Matilda” as new musical of the year. The Cyndi Lauper-Harvey Fierstein production is a smash at the box office. But it’s also won Best Musical from the Outer Critics Circle and the Drama League. Only the Drama Desk went for “Matilda,” a British import that is genius and admirable, but not quite in the Broadway spirit. Lets’ face it: “Kinky Boots” is fun, original by true New Yorkers, and has an eminently singable score.
On top of all that, Billy Porter is three for three as Best Actor in a Musical for “Kinky Boots.” Like the show and its score, Porter is headed for a Tony also. The sex, as Cyndi puts it, is in the heel.
So what else is happening Tony wise? For Best Play, Christopher Durang’s “Vanya” et al seems to have the edge over the late Nora Ephron’s “Lucky Guy.” But I do think Tom Hanks should be getting Best Actor for his work as Mike McAlary. Nathan Lane has been picking up awards for “The Nance” with most groups. We’ll see how that plays out. But Hanks, I thought, was superb.
Best Actress in a Play: Kristine Nielsen had the edge in “Vanya” until Cicely Tyson, age 88, turned up in “The Trip to Bountiful.” No kidding, Nielsen should be given ten statues. Everyone loves Cicely Tyson, but really, she has a lot of awards and accolades.
For Featured Actor: I say, Richard Kind in the still playing “The Big Knife.” Again, Kind has been kind enough to work and work and work, doing great things and culminating in this disarming performance. Tom Sturridge stole “Orphans,” but it’s his first time on Broadway. He’ll be back.
Featured Actress in a Musical: Andrea Martin is a wonder and a half in “Pippin,” the best revival of a musical in years. Maybe she’s using an avatar. But however she’s playing that role, a gold statue isn’t enough reward.
More tomorrow…But what a nice turn for Cyndi Lauper. She and Madonna started around the same time. Lauper, unlike Ms. Ciccone, was a serious composer and musician. She had to wait and fight for recognition. Her story is really the moral of “slow but steady.” A Tony victory for “Kinky Boots” will be a sweet vindication. I just hope the Tony committees and the Theater Wing realize what a damn good writer she is. I always send everyone back to Lauper’s “Hat Full of Stars” album — a lost gem from 20 years ago…
You can only depend on the kindness of strangers in Cannes. That would be, for us, the Protocol office run by Pascal Marchesi and the press office which is reigned over by Christine Aime. I don’t know how I would managed in Cannes without them. For the most part, the movie publicists are worse in Cannes than anywhere else. They lie, they ignore, they fabricate. They don’t care that in the fall, when these movies open, you will remember how much more difficult they made your life when time was tight, nerves were frayed, and deadlines were getting closer. They could all take lessons from the Cannes Festival and the people who work there, lessons in civility and dignity and humor.
Others could take lessons, too. One of the anticipated films this year was James Toback’s “Seduced and Abandoned,” a non fiction film of interviews and observations which the director shot last year in Cannes. It will on HBO this fall and was sold around the world for theatrical release. On the night it premiered, socialite songwriter and ex-American citizen Denise Rich was kind enough to host a dinner and after party on her yacht, called Lady Joy. The yacht is moored in the main marina, alongside many others which are rented out by the night for various parties. I’ll get back to that in a minute.
On Lady Joy, dinner guests included Toback, his wife and son, and many others such as the film’s producer Michael Mailer, son of the late Norman, and a steadfast Toback supporter for years. Jeff Berg of Resolution Agency was aboard, as was the famed British pop star Cliff Richard, American rocker Grace Potter, international jetsetter-writer-producer Taki Theodoracopolous aka “Taki,” plus the film’s backers Larry and Michelle Herbert, and Alan and Marla Helene. Alec Baldwin and pregnant wife Hilaria stopped by the red carpet for a photo op (they were exhausted from travel.) Paris Hilton came to the party. It was a low key elegant night masterminded by New York press whiz Norah Lawlor.
And then real life crashed in: from the boat next door, called the Perla Blu, a racket of disco and electronic dance music hit us like a drenching thunderstorm. A bunch of Eurotrash clubbers, who had nothing to do with the film festival, started up their entry plank. The music was so loud that no one could hear anyone on Lady Joy. The revelers were Italians, wealthy, and simply didn’t care. It was war. Taki, the epitome of European aristocracy, knows how to talk to the hoi polloi. Or so he thought. He went next door and reasoned with the family renting the Perla Blu. Could they turn their din down for five minutes so speeches and toasts could be made reasonably. They turned him down flat. The Italian father then sent his children out on their terrace to make faces and cause trouble. It was unbelievable.
If you ever hear of someone trying to rent the Perla Blu, think twice. Even the Cannes police couldn’t convince them to quiet down. Later, the Lady Joy deejay, satsfied that all of the guests on his boat were dancing, turned up his own volume. I could hear the whole thing from the Croisette, to which I had escaped. And it was nice to see Denise, who is living abroad now but is all-American no matter what.
Rain, rain, rain. Most of this year’s Cannes Film Festival was rained out. Parties were ruined or canceled. Almost no one went out to Paul Allen’s yacht on the tender for a late night party, lest they get drenched to and fro. Goldie Hawn made it out there with son Wyatt and two friends. The publicist in charge said the party was “more intimate” this year. This was code for “no celebrities.” After all, Steven Spielberg had his own yacht. Roberto Cavalli had one. So did Len Blavatnik, where Harvey Weinstein entertained stars and financial backers. Who needed Paul Allen?
Same for Johnny Pigozzi. The lumbering giant and Italian heir always gives an afternoon party at his villa behind the Hotel du Cap. Guests came and went quickly when they realized what they were up against: a potential tsunami.
The most pleasant dinner was aboard the Saint Nicolas, where Jeff Berg’s Resolution Agency hosted a party for Roman Polanski. It was filled with A listers, and stars. The boat hummed with a good vibe. Actors Adrien Brody and Christoph Waltz, who’d been in recent Polanski movies, were aboard. If only someone had seen “Mad Men” the night before– but it wasn’t possible. We’d have known that Sally Draper, age 13, was reading “Rosemary’s Baby” back in 1968. Polanski’s classic movie of the novel would have been released just then. A year later, Polanski’s life would be shattered when Charles Mansom murdered his wife Sharon Tate. Nothing for Polanski would ever be the same.
But do watch and listen to Polanski in “Seduced and Abandoned.” It’s his best video interview ever and one that should resonate with an audience that only knows him for scandals and headlines. This is a great filmmaker, still working at 78 despite obstacles that would have been formidable to anyone else.
Let’s just say there will not be a fourth installment of “The Hangover.” This weekend, the third and final installment of this one note joke rang in a grand total of $54 million– that’s starting back on Thursday with four days through Sunday. The last episode, “Hangover II,” had an opening weekend of $86 million. The fans are gone. They can not only smell a rat, they can read about it: “Hangover III” scored a miserable 21% on rottentomatoes.com. Even the junketeers and bloggers who are courted and fed to get nice notices didn’t like it.
I never saw this new movie so I don’t know if it ended with everyone dying, or whatever. But seriously, there will be no fourth episode. Bradley Cooper is now a movie star, and an Oscar nominee. He’s done. The others will go into other comedies, and probably back to TV in some smart shows. In the fall, Michael Douglas, Kevin Kline and Robert DeNiro will headline “Last Vegas,” the senior version of “Hangover,” and that will bring the whole concept to an end. (Women got “Bridesmaids.”)
There’s always room for vomiting, trashed rooms, blackout sex, and miscellaneous animals wandering around, so you know someone will come up with a new twist on all this in three years. “The Hangover” is just “Animal House” with a bigger budget. I look forward to the next iteration. But for now, say goodbye to this gang. Their core audience has, too.
News today that Angelina Jolie’s aunt, Debbie Martin, died at age 61. Usually the passing of a celebrity’s relative wouldn’t merit much discussion. But in light of Angelina’s recent reveal of a double mastectomy, her aunt’s death is the more poignant. Angelina’s mother died at age 56, in 2007. Her mother’s brother, Raleigh, died in 2009, of cancer. And now the last of the three siblings is dead of breast cancer.
In six years Angelina’s closest adult blood relatives have all passed away from cancer. Angelina’s mother’s side of her family is one generation after another of people not living into their 50s. It’s quite shocking and no doubt preys on her. I am impressed however that her Dutch-French family tree can be traced back pretty far into history. http://www.wargs.com/other/voight.html
It’s no wonder that she had the genetic testing and then took steps immediately to prevent the illness getting to her. We think of Angelina as having been around a long time. But she’s only 37, too young to lose so much of a family. It has to be devastating. What she’s done for her own kids, for herself, and her “husband” (as it were) is incredibly courageous– not the least because she’s considered a sex symbol. Condolences to her on the death of her aunt.
Sunday night’s “Mad Men” episode– “The Better Half” — was a game changer, especially if parts of it weren’t a dream. Let’s assume that what happened between Don and Betty was not imaginary. Yikes. And Peggy and Ted? Where did that go? At least Peggy gets out of that apartment house and ditches Abe after stabbing him– what a great way to write him out. Plus Megan is finally confronting Don.
Things are explicit instead of implied as “Mad Men” hit episode 9. If there are only four episodes left of this season, then starting back with number 5, “For Immediate Release,” a certain torpor has lifted. Betty was suddenly hot and sexy again in the episode 8, with no explanation of how she shed her weight or that storyline. That’s fine. It’s as if January Jones has been let out of purgatory. And in “The Better Half” we got Roger actually acknowledging his child with Joan. (Not like Pete and Peggy and their baby.)
“The Better Half” was plot driven for a change. It didn’t have the great metaphors of “The Crash,” with all the mother issues and Sally’s realization at age 13 that she knows nothing about her father. But “The Better Half” did have kind of a David Lynchian feel at the summer camp. That was intriguing. Still, we do know more about Don now, especially his pillow talk with Betty.
And Matthew Weiner is starting to show the crime element in New York circa 1968 that would go on for the next dozen or so years. How many times were there ambulance sirens in the background tonight? This was the New York pre-Ed Koch and during the financial decline that culminated in 1975.
Finally: what does Bob Benson want? And wasn’t it a hoot when Roger called him Bunson? There’s more there than meets the eye.
Great episode. Who wants to make a bet that Betty gets pregnant with Don’s baby? Hmmm…maybe it was just a dream…
The 2013 Cannes jurors have spoken. “Blue is the Warmest Colour,” a lesbian love story nearly three hours long with scenes of graphic sex, won the Palme D’Or. “Inside Llewyn Davis,” from the Coen brothers, won the Grand Prix. Bruce Dern and Berenice Bejo won Best Actor and Actress respectively. “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “Nebraska” are set up as major Oscar contenders now. This may knock out the chances for Robert Redford’s “All Is Lost” because just so many of these films are going to make it to the finish line. Cannes 2013 is hereby declared over.
SECOND UPDATE: 11:55am EST: Crazy yes. But I am hearing June Squibb, the 78 year old actress who stars with Bruce Dern in “Nebraska” is in the mix strongly for Best Actress at Cannes. Is it possible? If so, it’s rockin’ news. Squibb appeared Jack Nicholson’s wife in Alexander Payne’s “About Schmidt” in 2002. She hadn’t worked much until then, but has been busy ever since. She’s lovely in “Nebraska.” The drama continues…
UPDATE: Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Inside Llewyn Davis” is winning something. Lead actor Oscar Isaac is flying back to Cannes right now from another stop in Europe. Also Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska” is being talked about.
Keep refreshing for updates: It’s around 2:30pm in Cannes, and everyone is waiting for word from the Cannes jury about the award winners for the Palme D’Or. It’s a little like watching for smoke from the popes. The word this afternoon is that Michael Douglas has been told he did not win Best Actor for playing Liberace in “Behind the Candelabra.” The movie debuts tonight on HBO. Both Douglas and Matt Damon are superb in the Steven Soderbergh film. They will definitely be getting Emmy awards and Golden Globes. It’s s ahame the jurors didn’t choose him. Don’t miss this premiere tonight on HBO.
So: who will get Best Actor? Bruce Dern could nail it for “Nebraska” or Oscar Isaac for “Inside Llewyn Davis” if the jury wants an American. Otherwise, there are several solid choices among the non Americans including Matthieu Amalric in “Venus in Fur” and “Jimmy P.” The latter was a terribly uninteresting movie, but Amalric is a popular choice.
One movie that is probably getting some kind of award: “The Past” (“Le Passe”), an Iranian film directed by Asghar Farhadi. that had a lot of support. Star Berenice Bejo has been asked to come back to Cannes from Paris, according to my sources. Either the film or Bejo could be winners. Bejo, of course, starred in “The Artist” and is married to that film’s director, Michel Hazanvicius.
Remember Dominique Strauss-Kahn? Aka DSK was alleged to have raped a New York hotel maid in 2011. The French politician and head of the IMF and his wealthy wife Anne Sinclair stayed in Tribeca and became a cause celebre. Eventually they returned to France and separated. In the last couple of months, director Abel Ferrara shot a movie about them starring Gerard Depardieu and Jacqueline Bisset.
So: DSK turned up on the red carpet in Cannes on Saturday night with his new girlfriend. The movie was Jim Jarmusch’s vampire flick, “Only Lovers Left Alive.” DSK and Myriam L’Aouffi, 45, who’s in public relations for French television, did the whole number. My friends still in Cannes say they created quite a buzz, and not in a good way.
DSK and Sinclair are not divorced, as far as anyone knows. And one of his former girlfriends is publishing a book about DSK. He’s the Anthony Weiner of France in that his story is not disappearing. Waltzing up the red carpet in front of press from a hundred countries doesn’t help either.
