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Beloved actor Joe Pantoliano aka Joey Pants got a big surprise when he filmed an episode of “The Last of Us” for HBO.
When he arrived on for the episode — which aired Sunday night — he didn’t realize he already knew the star from 19 years ago.
Joey and Pedro Pascal worked together when Pascal was a fledgling actor!
Their reunion was sweet despite the fact that Pascal’s character kills Joey’s in a long flashback episode.
Small world!
Sunday’s show was a respite from the sturm and drang on “The Last of Us” since Pascal’s Joel was abruptly and violently killed off in episode 2. It was all flashback to before his death. Since then, “The Last of Us” has been a slog. The whole season ends this Sunday and while I’ve been sent the episode in advance, I’m not watching it til it airs.
The NY Post has quickly deleted its online cover story from its front page.
In other words: only readers of the physical Post will see a story by “Emily Crane” featuring three doctors accusing Joe Biden of lying about the start of his prostate cancer.
The online version has been buried in the Politics section of the website and you can only find it if you look for it.
But the NY Post home page no longer carries the story. It’s been replaced by one FBI director James Comey. Until 6am, the Biden cancer story was featured prominently on the home page. The Biden story wasn’t pushed down, it was removed for easy discovery.
Maybe someone at News Corp or the Post realized that published Rupert Murdoch overcame a minor version of prostate cancer in 1999. It’s possible he’s actually offended.
Or maybe there were complaints that the story was untrue and vulgar, and that the doctors mentioned in it — Dr. David Shusterman and Dr. Steven Quay — would lose patients and customers in droves before 9am.
Dr. Shusterman, whose son is also an oncologist, is seen in a big color picture attending a cocktail party.
Shusterman wasn’t interviewed by “Emily Crane,” but a quote of his from conservative outlet NewsNation was used to make it seem like he doubted Biden’s veracity.
“The fact that we just find it at a Gleason nine is just pretty much unheard of in this day and age of medicine,” Shusterman told “NewsNation Prime.” “This is what I typically would see in a VA hospital, where a patient hasn’t had medical attention in 10 years, presents to an emergency room with bone pain, and then they find that it’s metastatic prostate cancer.”
Dr. Shusterman’s patients should have a lot of questions for him this morning.
Another doctor, Steven Quay, started yesterday on Twitter questioning when Biden was actually diagnosed. Quay, however, is a specialist in breast cancer, not prostate. He owns a medical research firm called Atossi Therapeutics in Michigan.
Crane also cited Donald Trump Jr, even though he invented in a Tweet “stage 5 cancer” and accused Jill Biden of being an unworthy doctor for not spotting her husband’s symptoms. Jill Biden is a PhD and not a medical doctor, something that eluded Trump Jr. Crane threw it in anyway.
But the vile cover story of today’s paper is now almost impossible for online Post readers to find or read. Still it’s out there on what remains of newsstands, at least for one edition until editors can undo the damage.
The Post is not alone in questioning whether Biden and his team lied about the timing of the cancer announcement. Brian Stelter and others at CNN, shilling for Jake Tapper’s new book, have made a point of i.
PS I’ve put “Emily Crane” in quotes because it’s hard to believe a human being could have written such a piece of trash. Email me at showbiz411@gmail.com if you know her.
Donald Trump has now called Joe Biden’s cancer “Stage 9.”
There is no such thing, of course. Stage 4 is the worst cancer. Donald Trump Jr. called Biden’s condition Stage 5 yesterday. They are idiots.
Trump in the video below makes Biden’s illness all about himself. He talks about passing his cognitive tests as if they are somehow equal to cancer. It’s hard to believe he passed the cognitive tests.
Blowhard. He is the deep fake.
Trump on Biden’s cancer diagnosis: “I’m surprised that the public wasn’t notified a long time ago, because to get to stage 9, that’s a long time … I did a very complete physical, including cognitive tests. I’m proud to announced I aced it.” pic.twitter.com/6mk3bGszAm
Denzel Washington got a big surprise in Cannes tonight. He was given an honorary lifetime achievement award by the film festival.
Denzel flew to Cannes from New York in between performances of “Othello” on Broadway. He’ll be back on stage Tuesday night at 7pm.
In the red carpet photos and at the presentation he looks like he’s sleep walking. No one can blame him.
Denzel came to Cannes to promote Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” a remake of an Akira Kurosawa movie called “High to Low.” So far 7 out of 8 top critics on Rotten Tomatoes love it. Rave reviews. The movie opens in August and will be an Oscar contender. Bravo!
Meantime, “Othello” with its $900 tickets continues until June 8th matinee when it wraps up. That’s the same day as the Tony Awards, although the production received no nominations.
Joe Biden’s granddaughter, Naomi, is on the war path.
She’s slamming Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s book, “Original Sin” in which the authors make a case for the former president to be feeble and out of it.
It’s ridiculous. But CNN has embraced the book and everyone on the network is shilling for it. Embarrassing.
Naomi says: Put simply, it amounts to a bunch of unoriginal, uninspired lies written by irresponsible self promoting journalists out to make a quick buck.”
Meantime, not a word of concern about Biden since his cancer diagnosis from either author. And Trumpers — including idiot son Donald Jr — suggesting the diagnosis is just a cover for synpathy for Biden.
Trump Jr is so stupid, he wondered how Dr. Jill Biden, who is not a medical doctor, could have missed “Stage 5″ cancer. There”s no such thing.
Unbelievable.
Just read a copy of this silly book, and if anyone is curious for a review from someone who lived it first-hand: this book is political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class. The ones who rarely enter the arena, but profit from the spectacle of those that… https://t.co/nANtfNhEqI
Paul Guilfoyle is best known to fans of “CSI.” He’s one of those journeyman character actors you see in everything, you really like him, but there’s never any traction.
So now Guilfoyle stars in “Any Day Now,” a gem of a heist movie from Eric Aronson not really based on a true story.
In 1990, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was robbed of 13 classic paintings worth — then — $500 million. The burglary remains an unsolved mystery despite a $10 million reward. Where are the paintings? No one knows. But the empty frames where the stolen paintings once hung are still displayed in the museum.
Aronson, imaginatively, has made up characters and a scenario starting with a charismatic lifelong criminal named Marty, played by Guilfoyle. It’s the kind of character the late, great Bob Hoskins played in many films. It’s a winner.
The movie is set in Boston, with a real Boston feel for the indie music scene in 1990 that seems like it could also be 1978. Marty finds a kid named Steve (Taylor Gray) who works at the museum as a security guard and has gambling debts. Marty convinces Steve to help him rob the museum. But there are twists.
In Aronson’s mind, a rival gang of criminals interfere with Marty’s plan. Also, Aronson has given Steve a little backstory — he has a bunch of musician roommates, one of which is a version of Boston punk rocker Jonathan Richman (but 20 years younger — he even sings “Roadrunner” live in a club). Aronson obviously writes from first hand experience. It’s as genuine as “Almost Famous.”
“Any Day Now” isn’t perfect, but when Guilfoyle gets to sing the Standells’ “Dirty Water” it’s like that moment in Belfast for Jamie Dornan. Marty is a man of many layers and Guilfoyle makes the most of his nuanced past. Meantime Taylor Gray — who played Al Franken in the underappreciated Saturday Night Live movie last year, feels like he should be a star already.
“Any Day Now” drops tomorrow on Apple, Amazon, and other streamers after premiering at the Boston Film Festival followed by a short theatrical run
I don’t know why it didn’t play at festivals, and isn’t on Netflix, which ran a four part documentary about the heist in 2021 called “This is a Robbery.” All three should have come into play. But by all means, hunt it down.
Three weeks ago, “60 Minutes” editor in chief Bill Owens stepped down from his job.
Now CBS News chief Wendy McMahon, as expected, has left the building, too.
She says in a statement: “It’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It’s time for me to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership. I have spent the last few months shoring up our businesses and making sure the right leaders are in place; and I have no doubt they will continue to set the standard.”
Again, this was not a surprise. “60 Minutes” is still being sued by Donald Trump. Fierce advocates of the network do not want to settle, but Paramount owner Shari Redstone will probably cave since the company is being bought by David Ellison, whose father, Larry, is a Trump buddy.
McMahon might have had a fighting chance but she lost internal goodwill when she replaced Norah O’Donnell and an excellent CBS Evening News team with chaos.
The new CBS Evening News is a miss — and a mess. Anchored by John Dickinson and Maurice DuBois, the program is basically unwatchable. They barely cover the news of the day, and their set looks claustrophobic. O’Donnell, meanwhile, is doing gangbusters at “60 Minutes,” which wrapped their own season last night with terrific pieces.
So far no replacement has been for Owens, but I told you last month Taryn Simon is the likeliest successor.
CBS and Redstone must not settle with Trump, it can’t be reiterated too many times. ABC did this with Trump over George Stephanopolous. It was a huge mistake.
Maybe now that Journalism won the Preakness on Saturday, CBS will feel encouraged to stand its ground!
“Sesame Street” will have a 56th season. On PBS and Netflix.
The streamer is rescuing the famed learning show, putting it on their platform and giving PBS day and date access.
This is an implicit endorsement for pubic broadcasting which will probably drive Trump insane this morning.
The streamer is providing a new, qualified headwriter and has suggested some format changes.
But otherwise, “Sesame Street” will look mostly the same and continue to do what Trump doesn’t like — educate!
It’s a win win!
The move to Netflix is also a slight rebuke of Warner Bros. Discovery. HBO had picked up rights to “Sesame Street” in 2015 and it ran there until last year. In December, however, HBO dropped the show and it was in limbo.
“Sesame Street” is so popular around the world that it can’t even be summarized here. It was created by the Children’s Television Workshop, which also produced The Electric Company.
The show was the brainchild of Joan Ganz Cooney, who is now 95 years old, along with Lloyd Morrisett Jr. The original music was by Joe Raposo, who wrote the smash hit, “Sing,” for the show. Jim Henson’s Muppets launched from the series that taught kids to read, spell, do some math and pick up the first steps of history.
Hundreds of celebrities have performed on “Sesame Street” over the last almost six decades. Expect Netflix to help funnel many many more, in addition to the central cast and of course Big Bird.
At around 1:30am Eastern time, Donnie went on the war path announcing he would “investigate” celebrities who drew fans to Kamala Harris rallies.
It’s been six months since the election. This is what Trump is worried about.
The current president is jealous that Bruce Springsteen, Oprah Winfrey, and Beyonce endorsed Harris and helped raise money and attention for her campaign.
He writes, screaming in ALL CAPS:
“HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN’T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION? WHAT ABOUT BEYONCÉ? …AND HOW MUCH WENT TO OPRAH, AND BONO???”
This is another attempt to divert attention from the news that his family is earning billions while exploiting the White House, that ICE thugs are kidnapping people, and that he’s offered not a word of solace or help to the people of the midwest who were just ravaged by tornados.
Am I sorry to miss the Cannes Film Festival this year?
No.
Everyone’s favorite festival has picked up a negative vibe despite many Americans and loads of celebrities. The buzz is not happening. That’s a surprise.
So far, it’s been hard to find a film everyone likes just a little bit. The big news is that Mubi, the small distributor of “The Substance,” just paid $24 million Lynne Ramsey’s “Die My Love.”
The movie has mixed to good reviews. With just 17 critics posting, the consensus is that Jennifer Lawrence lights up the screen in a film that no one can agree on. Sounds like Demi Moore in “The Substance.” Robert Pattinson also stars. The Hollywood Reporter gave the cast a nice party sponsored by Longine’s.
Some big ticket films have arrived with distributors already involved. But Focus’s Wes Anderson movie, “The Phoenician Scheme,” is getting roasted by critics on first look. Anderson has not changed course as his films have gotten more and more self indulgent. A24’s “Eddington” with Joaquin Phoenix et al is sitting at 69% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Some good news: Richard Linklater’s “Nouvelle Vague” got swell reviews. A tribute to French new wave cinema, the little gem is — a la Woody Allen — black and white, and in French. Voila! It needs a distributor. Linklater’s last film, “Hit Man,” would have been a box office hit but Netflix kept it on the platform.
Also, Kristen Stewarts’ “The Chonology of Water” got high marks — 92% so far. It’s also looking for a US distributor.
Meanwhile, the party scene has been very blah evidently. Vanity Fair skipped its annual party at the Hotel du Cap Eden Roc despite so many stars hanging around town. The magazine’s editor, Radhika Jones, is out and no one’s been named to take her place. Circulation is minimal. They also blow their cash wad on the Oscars.
The Hotel — one of the great stations of wealth and privilege in the world — must be pretty sore that they lost that booking as well as a much downsized dinner organized by London flack Charles Finch — at a small restaurant in town — for Benicio del Toro in “The Phoenician.” (Celebrity guests were Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding, who’s still dating De Niro’s ex-daughter-in- law.)The great era of the big Finch soirees at the famed hotel is over. Now they wait for the Eurotrash to wash up with amFAR later in the week.
I know everyone hates him now, and a lot for good reason (obviously), but Cannes swung under Harvey Weinstein. His enthusiasm for the place, its history, and films gave Cannes a buzz it hasn’t regained. His sense of showmanship upped everyone’s game. Alas, there’s obviously much less money to go around, and Netflix — which isn’t allowed to show movies at Cannes — stays quiet. Will the fun ever come back? I’m glad I was there when it was hot!
