Check our video player below and see the first trailer from George Lucas’s “Red Tails.” Three years or more in the making, the story of the Tuskegee Airmen comes to theaters on January 20, 2012. It’s a strange date–unless Lucas gives the film a one week tryout in December for Oscar eligibility. Otherwise, January will be filled with Oscar contenders and B movies. Which category is he saying this falls in? “Red Tails” stars Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding, Jr. The former, at least from the trailer, has a lot of speeches. The aerial stuff looks great, though. And maybe this is what we’ll need on January 20th, after “One Life to Live” airs its last show and the State of the Union address is given. Most of Hollywood will be at Sundance anyway.
Mavis Staples Is Coming to NYC on Sunday!
Who knew? Thanks to Tim Sampson of the Stax Museum and Academy in Memphis, I now know that the legendary Mavis Staples is performing in New York on Sunday at 7pm–for free, too! Mavis will be at Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors concert on Hearst Plaza at 7pm on Sunday night. Mavis and her family–the Staples Singers–are famous for their great hits “I’ll Take You There,” “Respect Yourself,” and “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me)”– all from Stax’s early 70s second run. Recently Mavis performed at the Kennedy Center with Sam Moore and a bunch of stars for the four living presidents. The Staples Singers were early inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Mavis’s show follows a great afternoon of soul and gospel music. At 3:30pm, Sampson is coming with the Stax Music Academy kids from Memphis. I like to think of Stax as the anti-Motown–the real, unvarnished soul.
When we filmed in Memphis in 1999 for “Only the Strong Survive,” the former Stax studios were reduced to a vacant lot filled with weeds. Now there’s a gorgeous, vital museum on the grounds. A music academy for kids has grown there, too. This fall, a new charter school is opening next door. The students from the academy will perform on the Plaza with Stax royalty: Vaneese Thomas, the famed singer, sister of Carla Thomas and daughter of Rufus Thomas. Vaneese is one of New York’s vocal treasures, performing with Aretha Franklin, Nile Rodgers, and producer Phil Ramone all the time. Following the kids, and before Mavis, Vy Higginsen is bringing her Gospel for Teens down from Harlem. What a day! And it’s free! http://www.lcoutofdoors.org/
“Entourage” Movie: We Told You in December 2009
I told you on December 9, 2009 that Mark Wahlberg planned to make a movie out of “Entourage” when the series ended. Here’s the clip: http://www.showbiz411.com/2009/12/03/20091203wahlberg-entourage-lovely-bones. Okay, Hollywood Reporter? That trade mag has now taken an off-handed comment from Wahlberg that he would finance the film itself, and turned it into a headline. It’s hilarious. “Entourage” will be financed by HBO and Warner Bros., just like “Sex and the City.” Here’s the deal: they are simply waiting for a script to be finished. When the script is done, and everyone’s happy, the movie will be made. It’s not like Wahlberg will have to fight the studio to get “Entourage: The Movie” made. It’s already an event and it hasn’t even happened yet.
So get a grip, Hollywood Reporter, now famous for blowing up one line non sequitirs and turning them into headline exclamations. It’s the ultimate marriage of trade reporting and US Weekly. Hmmmm…Meantime, the Hollywood Reporter’s been doing a “screening series” at the Montauk Yacht Club. No one knows why, or what purpose it serves. The space is small, and this mention is the only publicity they’ve had so far. The only celebrity who’s turned up in their WireImage pictures was a real housewife of New York. But you can always stop at Cyril’s on the way up there for a good lobster roll!
NY Times Doesn’t Like “Cowboys and Aliens,” But Makes Good Use of Word
Manohla Dargis doesn’t much like “Cowboys and Aliens” in today’s New York Times. But I give her credit for a word usage you don’t see much anymore. She used ‘adept’ as a noun, and called director Jon Favreau a ‘pop adept.’ You usually see (or hear) adept as an adjective, as in skillful. “So and so is very adept at skeet shooting,” someone might say. But a “pop adept” Is that what Jon Favreau is? Good for him, but Dargis is right. “Cowboys and Aliens” is kind of a bust. It’s been so heavily promoted over the last year, you’d think it had already been released.
What a campaign! But in the end, this weird hybrid of a western and a sci-fi thriller is neither fish nor foul. Nothing about it ever really works. And so much of it is borrowed from other films, it’s annoying. I had always thought that “Cowboys and Aliens” would be funny, with inside jokes, lots of meta stuff about film, and maybe a little goofy–like Favreau’s “Iron Man.” Alas, “CandA” is a drag. The first hour moves slowly and seriously. Is it an homage to westerns? It’s no “Unforgiven.” Is it a send up? It’s far away from “Blazing Saddles.” It’s no “True Grit,” either.
Then, the aliens arrive. They are quite ugly and unfriendly. Their “hands” emerge from their stomachs–sort of like “Alien.” Mostly they’re just gross. The cowboys–Daniel Craigf and Harrison Ford–are grim. Luckily, Sam Rockwell is there for a little comedy. He’s the perfect western ‘doc.’ Olivia Wilde is just gorgeous, and much needed. But there are endless nods, from “Independence Day” to “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Too many, in fact. “Cowboys and Aliens” makes no memories of its own.
Anything positive? It was nice to see Keith Carradine. And David O’Hara is always terrific. Paul Dano — highly underused in this story. And Harrison Ford? Very adept.
Spotify: Beatles, Zeppelin Are Still Holding Out
So, have you tried Spotify? This is new the streaming music service aiming to take on ITunes. So far Spotify looks like a hit. You don’t download the music. You just pay to listen to it everywhere, on every device you own–computers, portable music players, etc. They’ve made deals with all the music labels to pay them for the privilege of “broadcasting” the music to us personally. It’s like custom radio. But not everyone is there. The Beatles, of course, are MIA. The group has an exclusive arrangement with Apple/ITunes. Their music isn’t even on amazon.com. No one knows when this deal expires–maybe in November on the one year anniversary? Steve Jobs must have paid a lot to get the Beatles because ITunes uses the group’s images to push everything. Go to ITunes now and see the cover of “Abbey Road.” Other groups missing from Spotify: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, AC DC. There are probably more. Is Spotify any good? It seems easier to use than ITunes. Also, I like that they featured Incubus’s new album on the home page. And for $4.99 a month you get the music to follow you wherever you are. This seems easier than having to upload it a cloud. Their cloud is always hovering. As Paul McCartney once sang, “There’s a shadow hanging over me.” In this case, it’s Spotify.
Aretha Franklin Mops Up Jones Beach with Historic Show
A few weeks off of rest and relaxation proved just the tonic for Aretha Franklin last night. The 69 year old Queen of Soul, newly slimmed down, sang like she was 39 and moved around the stage with more agility than most of her new young wannabe divas. Sheathed in the same white and gown she wore to her recent birthday party, Franklin shimmied and shook, told jokes, gave call outs and reminisced a bit in front a wildly enthusiastic, jam packed audience. One woman held up a sign indicating that seeing Franklin had been on her Bucket List and was now fulfilled. The nearly two hour show had just one break, after Franklin ripped through a series of hits including “Daydreaming,” “Jump to It,” and “Think.” While her exceptional band/orchestra presented a rave up of Stevie Wonder’s “Always,” Franklin got a sip of water and cooled off. Then she came roaring back and didn’t leave until the crowd was on its feet, begging for more.
She nearly stopped the show cold, though, when she said: “I guess you heard about Muhammad Ali.” The audience got nervous she was just about to announce something sad, when Franklin launched into a bit of a joke: “A flight attendant asked him to put on his seatbelt. He told her, Superman don’t need no seat belt. And now we’ve got fasten our seat belts.” Out came “Chain of Fools” and a half dozen more hits culminating in covers of Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me,” James Moody’s “Moody’s Mood,” and the most spectacular rave up of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Franklin glided over to the piano and commanded the orchestra through a churchly rendering of the Paul Simon song better even than her original recording.
By the time Franklin got to her encore of “Respect,” it was quite clear that she’d executed a memorable show in a venue where she’d never before performed. Although supermarket tabloids have her making out her last will and testament, the fact is that Franklin, a true soul survivor, is better than ever. Her voice has regained its suppleness. She’s no longer straining for notes or getting winded. If anything, she seems ready to record more and more. After the show she met with a gang from what she called her “alma mater”–Atlantic Records–Craig Kallman, Pete Ganbarg, and their new “find”–Rumer, a young Adele-like singer from the UK who’s just issued her first single, titled, appropriately, “Aretha.” She told the guys that she’s looking to hire some execs for her Aretha’s Records, which just issued her Walmart album, “A Woman Falling Out of Love.” Aretha Franklin is alive, and kicking, kids, And don’t you forget it.
Venice Film Fest: “Tinker Tailor,” Clooney, Pacino, Madonna, Soderbergh
The main films for the Venice Film Festival have been announced. Venice preceeds the slightly more accessible and certainly more affordable Toronto Film Festival. And while the idea of Venice is romantic, don’t forget that their winners are often very oddball choices that are never talked about again–except in a bemused away. Nonetheless, there are a lot of much anticipated films on this list including “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.” The John LeCarre novel was a huge bestseller, and has been long in the works. A lot of people will be disappointed if the filmmakers have screwed it up.
In Competition
The Ides Of March, George Clooney (US)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Tomas Alfredson (UK, Germany)
Wuthering Heights, Andrea Arnold (UK)
Texas Killing Fields, Ami Canaan Maan (US) (second work)
Quando La Notte, Cristina Comencini (Italy)
Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese (Italy/France)
A Dangerous Method, David Cronenberg (Germany/Canada)
4:44 Last Day On Earth, Abel Ferrara (US)
Killer Joe, William Friedkin (US)
Un Ete Brulant, Philippe Garrel (France/Italy/Switzerland)
A Simple Life (Taojie), Ann Hui (China/Hong Kong)
The Exchange (Hahithalfut), Eran Kolirin (Israel) (second work)
Alps (Alpeis),Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece)
Shame, Steve McQueen (UK) (second work)
L’ultimo Terrestre, Gian Alfonso Pacinotti (GIPI) (Italy) (first work)
Carnage, Roman Polanski (France/Germany/Spain/Poland)
Chicken With Plums, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (France/Belgium/Germany)
Faust, Aleksander Sokurov (Russia)
Dark Horse,Todd Solondz (US)
Himizu, Sion Sono (Japan)
Seediq Bale, Wei Te-Sheng (Taiwan) (second work)
Surprise film
Showing Out Of Competition
Vivan las Antipodas!(documentary), Victor Kossakovsky (Germany/Argentina/Holland/Chile/Russia)
La Folie Almayer, Chantal Akerman (Belgium/France)
The Sorcerer And The White Snake (Baish Echuanshuo), Tony Ching Siu-Tung (China/Hong Kong)
Giochi D’estate, Rolando Colla (Switzerland/Italy)
La Desintegration, Philippe Fauchon (Belgium)
The Moth Diaries, Mary Harron (Canada/Ireland)
Alois Nebel, Tomas Lunak (first work) (Czech Republic/Germany)
W.E., Madonna (UK) (second work)
Eva, Kike Maillo (UK) (first work)
Scossa, Francesco Maselli, Carlo Lizzani, Ugo Gregoretti, Nino Russo (Italy)
La Cle Des Champs,Claude Nuridsany, Marie Perennou (France)
Il Villaggio Di Cartone, Ermanno Olmi (Italy)
Wilde Salome, Al Pacino (US)
Tormented, Takashi Shimizu (Japan)
Contagion, Steven Soderbergh (US)
Marco Bellocchio,Venezia 2011, Pietro Marcello (Italy) (documentary, short)
La Meditazione Di Hayez, Mario Martone (Italy) (short)
Tahrir 2011,Tamer Ezzat, Ahmad Abdalla, Ayten Amin, Amr Salama (Egypt) (documentary)
The End, Collectif Abounaddara (Syria)
Vanguard, Colleftif Abounaddara (Syria)
Evolution (Megaplex)(3D), Marco Brambilla (US)
Damsels In Distress, Whit Stillman (US) [closing film]
Paul Reiser Hits the 88s with Julia Fordham But Doesn’t Want to Stay Up Late
Paul Reiser‘s latest TV show got caught in the crossfire at NBC. But Reiser is also rising to the occasion–last night he played a gig at the Highline Ballroom with spectacular vocalist Julia Fordham. Reiser is a long time pianist and songwriter. When he heard Fordham’s amazing voice on the radio, he knew he had to work with her. The result is this mini tour–they play the Roxy in West Hollywood on August 2nd–and a whole album recently released called “Unusual Suspects.” A song from the album called “Unsung Heroes” has been adopted by veterans groups as an anthem for soldiers returning from Afghanistan. Last night, staff sergeant Kevin Gebo — on loan from the Army– was a guest on the show and played a haunting trumpet solo on a couple of songs including “Unsung Hero.”
Gebo usually plays with an outfit called Pershing’s Own Ceremonial Band, and performs “Taps” at an average of 8 funerals a day at Arlington National Cemetery. He’s only 28, so it’s a heavy burden, but he does it with aplomb. Anyway, Fordham was sensational as always, mixing her new Reiser songs with favorites like “Happy Ever After”– rewritten to reflect support for Japanese earthquake help–and her masterworks like “Stay” and “Manhattan Skyline.” Reiser, meanwhile, told me he’s loving his new side career as a musician but is having trouble staying up late. “I can’t believe how exhausting this has been,” he said, yawning, around 1am. It’s a long time since he’s done late night comedy clubs. How about his pal, Jerry Seinfeld? “Are you kidding? He’s in bed by 8,” joked Reiser.
Sean Penn, Frances McDormand Flick Still Has No US Distributor
“The less we say about it, the better” is a line from David Byrne’s Talking Heads song, “This Must Be the Place.” That’s also the title of the Paolo Sorrentino movie starring Sean Penn and Frances McDormand, two Oscar winners. But “This Must Be the Place,” which debuted in Cannes, can’t seem to find a US distributor. It’s set to open in France on August 24th, with dates also posted for other European cities. But so far no mention of a domestic deal. The film is also not turning up at other festivals. Will it become a cult classic? Penn plays a kind of Ozzy Osbourne/Marilyn Manson type rocker who was popular in the 1980s but lives like a semi recluse in Ireland. McDormand is his understanding but prickly wife. Then he gets a call from Brooklyn, of all places. His Holocaust survivor father has died. Penn jets to the Orthodox funeral, appearing in full make up etc. From there he decides to hunt down the Nazi who tortured his father during the war. Along the way he runs across Byrne, who performs the title song ebulliently. If this movie sounds weird and awful, it’s not…it’s just very odd and kind of fascinating. No word on what will happen. There was some buzz at Cannes that The Weinstein Company was interested, but nothing panned. It might be too weird to have movies with Penn and by Madonna in the same season, anyway.
Sting Gets Classy, Snazzy Box Set for 25th Solo Anniversary
Believe it or not, Sting is celebrating 25 years as a solo artist this fall. While his original run as leader of The Police lasted just a few years, his solo career has been more than four times longer. Manager Kathy Schenker and producer Rob Mathes have assembled an amazing collection of four discs–three of his best studio work and one devoted to live performances called “Rough, Raw and Unreleased.” The DVD comes from Sting’s 2005 show at Irving Plaza in New York, and has never before been issued. The package arrives on September 27th, right before Sting’s 60th birthday on October 2nd. (Yes, he actually looks like that at 60. Grrrr.)Â There’s also rumors of some kind of celebration tied to the birthday that should be quite memorable.
And there’s also rumblings that work has progressed significantly on the Sting musical, loosely based on his album, “The Soul Cages” and written with “Next to Normal” Pulitzer Prize winner Brian Yorkey.
Here’s the track listing for “Sting: 25 Years.” All the tracks are beautifully remixed for state of the art sound:
Disc One:
1.   If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
2.   Love Is The Seventh Wave
3.   Consider Me Gone
4.   Moon Over Bourbon Street
5.   Fortress Around Your Heart
6.   Bring On The Night (Live)
7.   Driven To Tears (Live)
8.   I Burn For You (Live)
9.   Be Still My Beating Heart
10.   They Dance Alone
11.   Englishman In New York
12.   Fragile
13.   We’ll Be Together
14.   Sister Moon
15.   Secret Marriage
Disc Two:
1.   All This Time
2.   Mad About You
3.   Why Should I Cry For You?
4.   The Soul Cages
5.   When The Angels Fall
6.   If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
7.   Fields Of Gold
8.   Seven Days
9.   It’s Probably Me
10.   Shape Of My Heart
11.   When We Dance
12.   I Hung My Head
13.   I Was Brought To My Senses
14.   You Still Touch Me
15.   I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying
Disc Three:
1.   A Thousand Years
2.   Desert Rose
3.   Ghost Story
4.   Brand New Day
5.   Send Your Love
6.   Whenever I Say Your Name
7.   Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing)
8.   Soul Cake
9.   The Hounds Of Winter
10.   Next To You
11.   We Work The Black Seam
12.   The Pirate’s Bride
13.   Never Coming Home
14.   Russians (Live)
15.   The End Of The Game (Live)
Disc Four: Rough, Raw & Unreleased: Live at Irving Plaza
1.   Message In A Bottle
2.   Demolition Man
3.   Synchronicity II
4.   Driven To Tears
5.   Heavy Cloud, No Rain
6.   A Day In The Life
7.   Voices Inside My Head/When The World Is Running Down
8.   Roxanne
9.   Next To You
10.   Lithium Sunset