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Tonight on TVLand: Morgan Freeman Gets the AFI Award

Roger Friedman
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Morgan Freeman–Oscar winner and voice of god, and president of the United States in movies, gets the American Film Institute lifetime achievement award tonight. The show airs on TVLand. (My god, what happened to these shows being on CBS?) The show was taped about ten days ago at Sony Studios in Los Angeles. Our Leah Sydney was there to meet some of the guests, including Clint Eastwood, Betty White, Sidney Poitier, Rita Moreno, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew Broderick, Matthew McConnaughey, and Garth Brooks--who sings on the special. (No sign of Freeman’s “Bucket List” co-star Jack Nicholson or director Rob Reiner. They must have been out of town.)

The best encounter of the night? Eastwood telling Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds what a fan he is of his music. Babyface couldn’t believe it. No one else could believe this: Clint just strolled into the event without any handlers and mingled away. He is the coolest.

Leah reports:

The evening hosted an array of Morgan’s celebrity friends.  His close friend, and his self described “inspiration and mentor”  Sidney Poiter started the night (he was honored with the award in 1992) telling the audience, that “Morgan made his first film at the age of 50 (playing a pimp in Street Smart opposite Christopher Reeve.  He is a character actor and a real character.  He’s a prince of his craft.”

Rita Moreno, Morgan’s co-star  read a sassy poem in her own style.   She told us that she’s coming to Broadway hopefully soon with her one woman show, “Life Without Makeup.”

Sam Jackson told us that “I’m filming the Avengers now in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  It’s hot, really hot.   After that I go to Broadway to play Martin Luther King in “Mountain Top.”  And Ben Vereen told us he’s heading back to Broadway as well with, “Stepping Out With Ben Vereen.”

Betty White, Morgan’s longtime friend and co-star in 1998’s “Hard Rain,” Betty quipped, “I did that to work with you Morgan, and of course the cash, “was  accompanied by six chorus men.  She sang a take off on ‘Hello Dolly,’ Hello Morgan, with the line, “We’ve all known you also made some crap Morgan,”  then she was on a kick line with them.  Betty then turned to Clint sitting in the audience, “Clint, I didn’t know you were here.  I haven’t seen you since Carmel,” as she winked to the audience.  “Clint, you are so cute.  Call me.”  This sexy invite cracked Clint up.

Samuel L. Jackson recounted the story that he was Morgan’s understudy years ago at a play at the public theater.  “Morgan was the first one to tell me I had a future.  He also told me I’d never go on cause he would never miss a performance.”

Matthew McConaughey, his co-star in “Amistad,” told the crowd that Morgan is: “Grace, presence, voice, constitution, the attraction for you and the self respect you have for yourself.  He’s sobriety in a storm, elegance.  A man who is at home in the world wherever he is.  His appetite for life is insatiable. “

Matthew Broderick, Morgan’s co-star in Glory honored him, as well as Helen Mirren, Tim Robbins, Forest Whitaker, Casey Affleck, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Don Cheadle. Video tributes were from Chris Rock, Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, Ashley Judd and Renee Zellweger.

Garth Brooks sang Bill Withers‘s classic, “Lean on Me,” title of a well known Freeman film.

Then 81 year old Clint presented the award to 74 year old Morgan.  Clint said, “Don’t take this the wrong way Morgan, I know I’m older than you, but I grew up watching you.  I mean I really didn’t grow up until I was 40, and I would watch The Electric Company with my son.  When we did “Invictus,”everyone thought he was Nelson Mandela, he was born to play that role.  Even Nelson Mandela thought he was Nelson Mandela.  He is the greatest actor ever.  You don’t have to tell him much because he knows stuff.  Just give him a comfortable atmosphere.  I don’t know if it’s proper to love another man like I do him, this is as close as I’m going to get.”

Morgan then told the crowd, “This is hard to believe.  Where I come from in Mississippi, they call this ‘walking in high cotton.’  Acting is my heaven and tonight you told me I’m pretty good at it.  Movies unite, entertain, teach and inspire.  They touch the common humanity of the 7 billion people that call earth home. That is why the AFI is so important.  I’m proud to be an actor, although tonight you made me feel like a star.  I realize the poetry and truth of the words, ‘I am the master of my universe an the captain of my soul.’”

(RF: No one mentions this, but I will: Morgan Freeman came from New York theater. And in the early 1980s, his big break was appearing on NBC’s soap opera  “Another World” with Joe Morton, Petronia Paley, and the late Howard Rollins, Jr. Losing the New York soaps is going to have a bigger impact on prime time TV and the movies than anyone realizes. But that’s another story.)

Clarence Clemons Passes Away At Age 69

Roger Friedman
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Clarence Clemons, Bruce Springsteen’s magnificent sax man, has died at age 69.  This column was first to report last Sunday night that Clemons had suffered a massive stroke. At the time my source said that the situation was dire. But you always hope things are going to work out. According to reports, Clarence had two brain surgeries to relieve the pressure in his head after the stroke, but nothing worked. Reports during the week weren’t much more hopeful, with some saying that the paralysis Clarence suffered on his left side was severe and that he’d have to re-learn everything he’d known. It didn’t sound like he was making a recovery.

Here’s the thing about the E Street Band, which has zillions of devoted fans who can argue their merits for weeks at a time. In the end, the sound of that band came from Clarence Clemons. When Bruce Springsteen released “Greetings from Asbury Park,” he certainly established himself as a premier singer songwriter ready to inherit the mantle from Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and Paul Simon. But when Springsteen released “The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle,” suddenly his intentions were clear. This was an R&B band that combined that poetry.

The music, thanks to Clarence’s horn, was now elastic. He gave it swing. “Rosalita” is now a concert favorite but when it first was heard it was nothing short of magic.  Proceeding into “Born to Run,” Clarence–I mean, it’s him on the cover with Bruce–is the signature sound beyond Bruce’s voice. The band is great, Steve vanZandt is a genius, etc. But suddenly the whole mission is defined, and you wait to hear that clarion call to know what’s coming–it’s The Big Man.  There’s a hint of it on”Spirit in the Night,” but by the time “Thunder Road” is done, the Clarence Clemons sound is established like a national landmark.

And what an irony, that as Clarence’s life ends, his sound is heard on Lady Gaga’s “Born this Way”–he did for her what he did for Bruce. And he was never on “the edge of glory.” He was right in the center of it.

Rest in peace, Clarence. You will not be forgotten.

 

Billy Joel Salutes Garth Brooks, Says He’s Happy Not Working

Roger Friedman
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Billy Joel is the most frustrating artist I know. His last album, “The River of Dreams,” is almost twenty years old. Billy doesn’t care. He told me last night at the smashing Songwriters Hall of Fame induction dinner and show that he’s happy doing nothing. Cold sober, Billy — one of our great talents– told me that his double hip replacement surgery has been such a big success that he doesn’t want to work. “I was in pain for so long. Also, I walked with a limp. Now I know why. I’m so happy that I feel like doing nothing.” Billy told me that he’s just not in a mind to write songs. He’s happy working on instrumental pieces. “I’ve written a lot of hymns,” he said.

So Billy does still like to play the piano and perform. He came to the Songwriters to induct pal Garth Brooks–and then joined Brooks at the piano playing and singing Garth’s song. “Shameless.” He sported a black cowboy hat. “That’s a cool lid you got on,” said a surprised Brooks.

It was the usual historic night at SHOF, the best music night of the year save for Clive Davis’s pre-Grammy dinner. Highlights included Sam Moore and Bill Medley–the soul man and the righteous brother–performing “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” as a tribute to legendary songwriting husband and wife Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Boz Scaggs and honoree Allen Toussaint did three of the latter’s song including “What Do You Want the Girl to Do?” which had an elegant, elegiac quality that showcased the intimacy of the evening. Trisha Yearwood sang a medley of Bacharach and David songs to honor Hal David. “Sopranos” star Dominic Chianese serenaded the crowd of 700 people with “It Was A Very Good Year,” then introduced the 92 year old author, Ervin Drake, who must be showering in the fountain of youth.

There was a lot more: Leon Russell performed “A Song for You” and was inducted. This is a big year for Leon. Dwight Yoakam inducted him and performed Russell’s Carpenters hit, “Superstar.” Chrissie Hynde started the night, wearing a chic yellow jacket covered in black squiggles, over jeans, boots and a tshirt. She sang “I’ll Stand By You” as a tribute to songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, who in turn performed an eccentric version of their Madonna hit, “Like a Virgin.” Kelly, who thanked his many ex wives, has a falsetto that could lead the Stylistics. They thanked Chrissie for showing up for them, coming in from London. They made a veiled reference to Madonna, who has snubbed them in the past even though they wrote her biggest hit. They also wrote “True Colors” for Cyndi Lauper, and “Eternal Flame” for the Bangles.

The great show was produced by Linda Moran and Phil Ramone, with lots more too: Chaka Khan, who missed rehearsal, wandered in and belted out “I’m Every Woman,” after getting her award from that song’s co-author Valerie Simpson. Jerry Ragovoy (“Time is On My Side,” “Piece of My Heart”), Sire Records founder Seymour Stein, famed producer Russ Titelman, and Bernie Taupin were among those in the audience. Skylar Grey performed a medley of hits by John Bettis, who was honored for his long resume including three hits with the Carpenters (“Yesterday Once More”).

And PS there were many shout outs through the night to Bill and Tani Austin, owners of Starkey Hearing, for their incredible charitable work around the world. Leon Russell even dedicated his award to them.

 

photo c2011 Showbiz411/Ann Lawlor

Broadway “Spider Man”: At Least Two Romances in Cast

Roger Friedman
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I told you yesterday (and Page Six must have read it) that “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” stars Reeve Carney and Jennifer Damiano are a couple in real life, too. Well, why not? As I said yesterday, these “Spider Man” actors have been stuck together like lab rats for a year. During the spring, they rehearsed one show for three hours a day and then performed another at night. Romance has infected the cast like the poison spider that bites Peter Parker. Also a couple are the principal understudies–I’m told Matthew James Thomas, who alternates for Carney, and Kristen Martin, who understudies Damiano, are hooked up. Meantime, the “Turn off the Dark” soundtrack has hit amazon, and it’s pretty interesting. Bono and The Edge perform the very Wh0-like song, “Picture This,” with Carney and Damiano on secondary vocals. Same for Bono and Edge on an alternate version of “Rise Above.” Edge also is featured playing guitat on “Sinisterio,” although it seems to have to the old lyrics–“set yourself on fire” has been reworded in the actual show so as not to inspire self-immolation. P.S. Another column got this wrong: T.V. Carpio, who plays Arachne, did make it into Bono’s private party-within-a-private-party- within- a- party on opening night. She only went outside the big blue curtain to say hello to friends who weren’t allowed in.

Media Mogul David Geffen Wasn’t “Born Yesterday”

Roger Friedman
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David Geffen is a busy man. He’s obviously too busy to watch an entire play. Last night he left the revival of “Born Yesterday” at the intermission. Geffen, accompanied by a handsome young man, tore out of the theater at the break, jumped into a highly polished large new black Mercedes with a female driver at the wheel, and sped off into the night. Maybe he didn’t like the snacks. He couldn’t not have enjoyed the performances of Nina Arianda, Robert Sean Leonard, and Jim Belushi. The whole cast is top notch, and Arianda steals the show as Billie Dawn, the part originated by Judy Holliday and then made fresh again by Madeline Kahn.

This edition of “Born Yesterday,” directed by Doug Hughes and with a gorgeous set by John Lee Beatty. The show may close soon–business is so-so and dependent on half price ticket sales. A better press push and some advertising might help. It would be great if audiences started flocking to the Cort Theater to see great –and funny — work done. The play, of course, was written by the legendary Garson Kanin. David Geffen may have left, but actor Stephen Spinella-– of “Angels in America” fame–was sitting right next to us, and loved it. What’s not to love? See Nina Arianda now, so you can one day say, I say Nina Arianda in “Born Yesterday.”

PS At least Geffen stayed until the intermission. Barbara Walters walked out of “Spider Man” a half hour into its first act on Tuesday night. Is this a trend?

Woody Allen Must Think He’s Time Traveled — to 1977

Roger Friedman
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In “Midnight in Paris.” Owen Wilson time travels back to Paris in the 1920s. The film’s famed director, Woody Allen, must think he’s time travelved– back to 1977.

Woody--75 years old–hasn’t been this popular since he released “Annie Hall” in 1977. He may think he’s time traveled back to that era. His “Midnight in Paris” has now earned over $14 million in the U.S., and $32.2 million worldwide. At the rate it’s going, “Midnight in Paris” will be Woody’s biggest hit ever. Ever. Who’d-a thunk it? Even with “Vicki Cristina Barcelona” and “Match Point” in Woody’s recent group of films, nothing prepared anyone for this. Owen Wilson is no doubt a help. But it’s the movie itself– people love “Midnight in Paris.” It’s Woody’s first ever across the board crowd pleaser.

Next up for Woody, besides his Rome movie, is a one act play that will run with one-acters by Elaine May and Ethan Coen. I’m told that Woody’s and Ethan’s plays will share casts because of their large sizes. Marlo Thomas is still set just for Elaine May’s contribution. John Turturro, a Coen buddy, directs all three under the name “Relatively Speaking,” next fall on Broadway. By the way. if you’re enjoying all the great little moments in “Midnight in Paris”: at the Tony Awards, Nina Arianda, who plays Michael Sheen‘s odd wife, told me that she and Sheen just improv’d their whole bit, especially Arianda’s character’s propensity for saying French words twice because she thinks she’s mispronounced them. Genius!

Sony Music: Doug Morris Arrives July 5th, L.A. Reid Follows

Roger Friedman
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Doug Morris won’t officially take over at Sony Music until July 5th even though his contract says July 1st. This has to do with prior commitments for the July 4th vacation. Then, just as I told you on March 16th, L.A. Reid follows and joins Morris to run Epic Records. Right now Reid off with the “X Factor” crew judging contestants. Meanwhile, elsewhere at Sony, Peter Edge is expected to run the RCA end of things, while Tom Corson still presides at the company. Basically, Universal and Sony have swapped staffs, with RCA-J-Arista’s Larry Jackson having already moved to Interscope. What fun! Artists will go back and forth. It’s expected that Mariah Carey, upon releasing her last album at Universal, will head back to Sony with Reid. There, she can rejoin her old catalog, Confusing? Sure. That’s why we love it! And meanwhile, Sony has the lead in the race between the two companies with Adele being the hit of the year. And yes, maybe, Sylvia Rhone will turn up somewhere at Sony after leaving Universal Motown recently. It’s all in the game, as Tommy Edwards once put it so succinctly. Meanwhile, no one says a word about Rick Rubin.

Lady Gaga Falls to Number 2, Sales Drop Another 38%

Roger Friedman
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It looks like Lady Gaga’s amazon sale really exhausted her audience. “Born this Way” sold only 105,000 in its second week. It dropped 38% from the previous week according to hitsdailydouble.com. That put it at Number 2, behind Adele’s “21” album. This is quite stunning since some Universal record execs I spoke to on Monday thought they’d hit at least 125,000. But “Born this Way” has already gone through four singles, and none of them except the title track ever got breakthrough attention. The amazon did two days of 99 cent sales, and the basic audience for Gaga bought the album–an album they would have bought anyway for $11.99. Of course, many point out that amazon paid the full wholesale fare on those albums and took the loss. But not really. Amazon scored by bringing new customers into their stores and to their Cloud service. The loser is indeed Lady Gaga and Interscope. “Born this Way” isn’t going to have “legs.” Instead of spending a year or six months on the charts, it’s headed to an eight week flameout. Meantime, the Broadway score album for “The Book of Mormon,” now the Tony winning Best Musical, came in at number 3 in its debut with 58,000 copies sold on smallish Razor & Tie. Not bad.

Oscar Shocker: Academy Says Best Picture Could Be Five to Ten Nominees

Roger Friedman
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Here’s a little shocked from the Motion Picture Academy. They said tonight that they won’t guarantee the Best Picture category will have 10 nominees. They’ll just guarantee five, and that whatever comes after in the voting has to meet a minimum number of votes. This means that there could be 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 nominees in that category. And no one will know how many until the nomination announcements are made. So in the past, people with films in contention could tell during the announcements if they were in or out based on alphabetical order. You also knew that five, and then more recently, ten, titles would be announced. Now after seven titles, the presenters could just say, “That’s it.” EKG machines, defibrillators and ambulances will have to be standing by at many homes then when the Oscar nominations are made on January 24, 2012. I suspect the Percocet supply in Beverly Hills will be drained since it’s 5:30 in the morning. Here in New York, concierge doctors will be on call.

Here’s the press release:

Beverly Hills, CA (June 14, 2011) – The governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted on Tuesday (6/14) to add a new twist to the 2011 Best Picture competition, and a new element of surprise to its annual nominations announcement.  The Board voted to institute a system that will now produce anywhere between five and 10 nominees in the category.  That number won’t be announced until the Best Picture nominees themselves are revealed at the January nominations announcement.

“With the help of PricewaterhouseCoopers, we’ve been looking not just at what happened over the past two years, but at what would have happened if we had been selecting 10 nominees for the past 10 years,” explained Academy President Tom Sherak, who noted that it was retiring Academy executive director Bruce Davis who recommended the change first to Sherak and incoming CEO Dawn Hudson and then to the governors.

During the period studied, the average percentage of first place votes received by the top vote-getting movie was 20.5.  After much analysis by Academy officials, it was determined that 5% of first place votes should be the minimum in order to receive a nomination, resulting in a slate of anywhere from five to 10 movies.

“In studying the data, what stood out was that Academy members had regularly shown a strong admiration for more than five movies,” said Davis.  “A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit.  If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn’t feel an obligation to round out the number.”

If this system had been in effect from 2001 to 2008 (before the expansion to a slate of 10), there would have been years that yielded 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 nominees.

The final round of voting for Best Picture will continue to employ the preferential system, regardless of the number of nominees, to ensure that the winning picture has the endorsement of more than half of the voters.

Other rules changes approved by the Board include:

In the animated feature film category, the need for the Board to vote to “activate” the category each year was eliminated, though a minimum number of eligible releases – eight – is still required for a competitive category.   Additionally, the short films and feature animation branch recommended, and the Board approved, refinements to the number of possible nominees in the Animated Feature category.  In any year in which eight to 12 animated features are released, either two or three of them may be nominated.  When 13 to 15 films are released, a maximum of four may be nominated, and when 16 or more animated features are released, a maximum of five may be nominated.

In the visual effects category, the “bakeoff” at which the nominees are determined will expand from seven to 10 contenders.  The increase in the number of participants is related to a change made last year in which the number of films nominated in the visual effects category  was increased from three to five.

Previously, the Board approved changes to the documentary feature and documentary short category rules that now put those categories’ eligibility periods in line with the calendar year and thus with most other awards categories.  The change means that for the 84th Awards cycle only, the eligibility period is more than 12 months; it is from September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011.

Other modifications of the 84th Academy Awards rules include normal date changes and minor “housekeeping” changes.

Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees.  The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors for approval.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.  The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Bono, Man of the People as Long as He Picks the People

Roger Friedman
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And so the “Spider Man” after party meant what seemed like thousands of people tried to jam into the Bowl Mor lanes on West 44th St. The queue ran up the block from BowlMor to the corner of Broadway. Ah, for the days when Broadway premieres were at Tavern on the Green or Sardi’s. This was what is called in polite society a ‘Rat f—.’ Once inside Bowl Mor, the story became so much more intriguing.

There was, of course, a private space that required a red wrist band. If you could make it in, you might find members of the cast or crew. But a turn around the bend showed a different set up– a large blue curtain that walled off a private party within the private space. This was for Bono and The Edge, who’d earlier entertained former President Bill Clinton, Matt Damon, Robert DeNiro, Jay Z, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a dazed looking Steve Martin and a few other dignitaries in a private room over at the Foxwoods Theater. Now here they were, again choosing entrants like Cindy Crawford, and rejecting others.

Interestingly, the producers of “Spider Man” were not in the blue-curtained room. Michael Cohl and his people were camped out in the main private space, in front of the blue curtain. Beyond the curtain, it’s unclear really who Bono and Edge were so hot to be with, although it was more about keeping people than having them in.

At the theater there many celebs, most of whom did not attempt to enter Bowl Mor of left shortly after arrival: Jimmy Fallon, Trudie Styler, Julian Lennon, Regis and Joy Philbin, Lou Reed, Spike Lee, Glen Hansard, John McEnroe and Patty Smyth. Gayle King. Helena Christensen, Liam Neeson, director Fred Schepisi, Harvey Weinstein, Sir Howard Stringer, Ben Vereen, Amy Irving, Jane Rose, Lesley Stahl (who had some kind of confusion about her tickets) and Joan Hamburg were a few of the names.

Before the show: Shelley Lazar, the great rock impresario who everyone loves, slipped and fell on the stairs in the orchestra section. She may have broken her wrist. Ron and Ellin Delsener offered to accompany her to the hospital because they’re great people. Here’s hoping Shelley’s ok.

During the show: Barbara Walters got up and left during the first act. It was quite a scene because she took her two seatmates with her. Then the seatmates, two women all dolled up, returned ten minutes later with Walters. She had turned off the dark.

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