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Tonight comes Abel Tesfaye’s film, “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” It debuts on Rotten Tomatoes at 17%, totally rotten.
Lionsgate had held reviews until the very last minute lest aka the Weeknd has a tsunami of bad notices.
But 30 have been registered, and they are almost all negative. The movie has a 17% rating so far. The critics have severely panned it, calling it “vapid.”
The Rotten Tomatoes Audience Meter began at 83%. But now it’s at 77% and falling.
The film — described by those who’ve seen it as a companion to his album of the same name — looks like it will be as big a loser as Tesfaye’s HBO series, “The Idol.”
The Weeknd is not a movie maker. Someone has to tell him. He wrote the film and Trey Edward Shullts directed it.
Tesfaye is a great singer, however. The “Hurry Up Tomorrow” album didn’t yield any big singles, but it has managed to sell 1 million copies, half of which came from streaming. That’s not bad. Tesfaye is also a huge concert draw.
Hot current stars Barry Keoghan and Jenna Ortega are featured in the film, which we won’t see until it streams or is on a plane.
#HurryUpTomorrow – Easily one of the worst movies of the decade, a movie that can’t even be saved by a powerhouse of a performance by Jenna Ortega. Full review soon pic.twitter.com/5UzS1Im4zj
Actually, a half hour away in Antibes, close to the Hotel du Cap, is Mamo Michelangelo.
The famous Italian restaurant is on a backstreet in Antibes, and If You Know You Know. I’ve been lucky to dine there many times in the past.
Last night the celebrity hang out hosted a dinner for Robert De Niro, Leonardo Di Caprio, and Quentin Tarantino.
Mamo — owner and chef — with his cap of blunt cut white hair — is beaming in the pictures.
And why shouldn’t he? Since his restaurant took off, he’s opened in spots in New York’s Soho, and Miami. They’re quiet gathering places for A listers. They do no publicity.
What does everyone eat? The most delicious Italian dishes. The pizzas– smoked salmon, truffles — are famous all over the Cote d’Azur.
The walls of the bar are covered in framed photos of Mamo with stars. When Clint Eastwood the sheriff in town, he ate there regularly. Al Pacino loves Mamo, who does not speak English much but has a beguiling presence, the last of a breed of chefs and hosts who are in their venue every night.
Bob, Leo, and Quentin — along with Leo’s mom and stepdad — dined together on the second night of the festival. On the first night, Leo presented Bob with his Palme d’or, and Quentin opened the festival. Hard work! They needed some R n R.
Viva Mamo!
PS People and every outlet will pick this up without credit. But remember, you read it here first!
HBO’s “The Last of Us” is having a bad time and may not recover.
This past Sunday, the zombie drama dropped by 100,000 viewers from the previous week. Total linear viewers came to 652,000.
That’s because series lead Pedro Pascal, who played Joel, was violently killed off.
Since then, the show has been turned over to Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey and her pregnant lover, Dina. They’re on a quest for revenge over Joel’s death. At the end of the episode, they beat one of their enemies to death.
This is not the series “Last of Us” fans signed up for, and this is the fallout. By following the video game the show is based on, producers chucked the male lead and put the show in the hands of the young women on horses looking for trouble. What were they thinking?
Even if Pascal asked to leave — and that’s possible considering he wants a movie career — producers should have had a plan in place. They clearly didn’t. With two more episodes left, let’s hope they think of something.
And oh yes — Joel is dead. So Pascal’s appearance in the coming attractions point to a dream. What a mess!
Bruce Springsteen kicked off the new leg of his tour in Manchester, England tonight.
Watch him rail against Donald Trump, calling him corrupt and incompetent.
Bruce says:
“The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n roll in dangerous times. In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration. Tonight we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!”
You always have to say this for Tom Cruise: he’s all in on every movie he makes. He’s as devoted to movie making as he is to Scientology. You can’t question his devotion to a project.
So when “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning” was released, and was a disappointment, he and director Christopher McQuarrie had their work cut out for them. They’d already filmed a lot of the sequel, “Dead Reckoning Part II,” during the making of the first installment. They had to go back and change the title and story to fit the first but also make something grand.
The result is “Final Reckoning,” and you can sort of see bits of “Dead Reckoning Part II” floating around in the new version (particularly in Cruise’s face and hair). “FR” is almost three hours long, now encompassing lots of well edited clips from the first 7 “Mission Impossible” movies as Cruise and McQuarrie tie up all the loose ends from 35 years of story.
If you’re worried you can’t follow the story — and it is convoluted — I will allay your fears. The screenplay carefully explains everything in dialogue and flashbacks. That’s part of what makes this installment so long. If you forgot what happened to an off screen character suddenly mentioned, you’re handed the information in a neat package.
(I also liked that McQuarrie illustrates the exposition by showing what the Mission team will do before they do it, so we can try and follow along.)
As for that plot: “FR” continues the mind bending saga of “The Entity,” an artificial intelligence program gone rogue which will destroy the planet for no apparent reason unless Cruise’s Ethan Hunt can stop it. And we are continually reminded by everyone that “only Ethan” can save the world. The hero worship is anted up as high as possible. This is amazing since Ethan never eats, goes to the bathroom, or sits down. God bless him.
A lot is made of Cruise doing his own stunts, and how he faced certain death in the process. I don’t believe much of that, but it’s a great marketing line. I seriously doubt Cruise was ever in any danger of expiring. Can you imagine the blowback, the insurance costs, lawsuits? Paramount would be wrecked for all time.
Still, Cruise is remarkably agile for 62, and very determined. No matter how McQuarrie pulled off his insanely complex, dazzling set pieces they are each to be commended. “FR” cost 400 million and it looks it. You see every penny on the screen as the three hour film is really three one hour films stitched together. Ethan is high in the sky jumping from plane to plane, also 20,000 leagues beneath the sea, on an aircraft carrier, on an Indiana Jones quest, and so on. No opportunity for action is unexplored.
The underwater sequence, which has no dialogue and is almost a movie within the movie, will get the most attention. Ethan has to go to the bottom of the ocean to find an abandoned submarine that itself is in jeopardy of collapsing. There, he can insert a gold crucifix-like key that will shut down The Entity (I think, I’m not sure, it doesn’t matter).
This sequence is typical of them all. It’s simultaneously pulse pounding and ridiculous while looking stunning. If I were a kid, I’d want Ethan’s diving suit and mask. Very cool. But all reality is abandoned since no one could breathe that long under water except for Aquaman. After the successful key turn, that’s when things get out of hand. Ethan rips off the diving suit and swims, in his skivvies, from the bottom of the ocean to the top without any help. The audience I was with chuckled quite a bit.
If there’s one place where “FR” really falters it’s in the characters’ interpersonal relationships. Despite some flirtation, Ethan and Grace — the wonderful Hayley Atwell — never go beyond the eighth grade homecoming dance. Nothing. Also, no one mentions the death of Rebecca Ferguson’s much missed Ilsa Faust, from “Dead Reckoning” and previous chapters. When another major franchise character does die, there’s almost no acknowledgment of it by the other team members.
Nevetheless, the actors infuse as much as they can to make all of this seem reasonable. Angela Bassett as the president is quietly commanding. It’s a thrill to see Janet McTeer. The MI team — Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Pom Klementieff, even Esai Morales as Gabriel, the snarling villain — put their all into it. Tramell Tillman, from TV’s “Severance,” is outstanding.
As always, what drives “Mission Impossible” is the historic Lalo Schifrin theme. When the orchestra kicks, the tension doubles. Max Aruj and Alfie Godrey have added their own companion score to heighten the theme’s effect. Kudos to them.
Is the last “Mission Impossible” with Cruise? Never say never. But at 65 or 70 it might be a stretch for even him to lasso planets or do space walks (even though Cruise wants to shoot a movie in space). They’d be smart to stop here, and return to the TV show’s much more clever tricks with someone like Glen Powell.
In the 60s, “Mission Impossible,” the TV series, was a taut spy drama built to compete with the then new James Bond movies. It was never intended to be science fiction, as it has become, with vague indescribable monsters threatening the planet. But now it reeks of L. Ron Hubbard type confrontations that make it less plausible than ever. Still, “Mission: Impossible: Final Reckoning” is a fun respite from real life, and that’s really what every great action movie should be.
PS Everyone asks about the Rotten Tomatoes rating. With qualms, I’m rating it Fresh. The craftsmanship alone is worth it.
You can watch the Mission Impossible Final Reckoning red carpet in Cannes below.
It’s star studded but reports from my spies say there’s no big party after the screening. They say, “Tom has get on a plane immediately.”
Of course he does!
The New York premiere is set for Sunday night at Lincoln Center. Also, no party. Right now, a huge structure is being built on the Lincoln Center Plaza for the red carpet. It looks like a military installation. Youtube is sponsoring the opening so Paramount doesn’t have to spend millions. Picture below video
Warner Bros. is reversing course and naming its streaming service, MAX, with its old moniker.
It’s like Classic Coke.
Now HBO Max will once again stream the shows of HBO and originals.
MAX sounded like it was something to with Mad Max, or the name Woody Allen and Tony Roberts used for each other in “Annie Hall.”
David Zaslav, the quixotic owner of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in part: “The powerful growth we have seen in our global streaming service is built around the quality of our programming. Today, we are bringing back HBO, the brand that represents the highest quality in media, to further accelerate that growth in the years ahead.”
HBO is locked in battle with Netflix, Apple, Amazon, FX, Hulu, etc for subscriptions.
Meantime, HBO is headed to some nice Emmy nominations this year for “Hacks,” “The Last of Us,” and so on despite the shows’ current seasons considered ‘off’ by fans.
CNN’s Jake Tapper is not winning over viewers or making fans right now.
Tapper and journalist Alex Thompson have instead ignited ire over their book, “Original Sin,” which claims Joe Biden’s staff considered getting him a wheelchair during the last year of his presidency. The book casts doubt on Biden’s mental and physical fitness, and says that the staff and his family covered up his declining health.
Meanwhile, Biden — despite tripping once in awhile — rides his bike like a pro, stands erect, appears fit, and alert if not slowed down.
A lot of the blame for this avalanche of attack can be laid to actor George Clooney, who wrote an op-ed no one asked for a year ago in the New York Times declaring that Biden was incompetent and should stand down in his campaign. Clooney, we’ve just learned from Tapper, was upset Biden didn’t recognize him at a fundraiser he hosted last year. (Did Clooney think Biden was home watching “ER” reruns all night?)
This followed the famous CNN debate in which Biden faltered miserably. Jake Tapper moderated the debate. What we the viewers didn’t know is that Tapper was rooting against Biden because he was writing “Original Sin” with Thompson. The worse Biden looked, the better a case Tapper and Thompson could make for the book no one knew they were writing.
Tapper’s CNN show doesn’t have great ratings to begin with, so his insistence on making Biden the scapegoat in the 2024 election loss is not going to win more viewers. As the hourly shilling of “Original Sin” on CNN continues — particularly from Brian Stelter’s embarrassing piece yesterday (see below), viewers are irate and they’re expressing this on Twitter X.
Meantime, Tapper’s subterfuge has worked well. “Original Sin” has risen to number 4 on the amazon best seller list a week before its release. Conservatives are eating it up.
Here are some typical reactions only in the last 15 minutes from presumed viewers CNN covets. They’re coming faster than the candy on Lucy’s conveyor belt.
Just search ‘Tapper’ on Twitter to find more:
I know Jake Tapper is getting a lot of hate right now, but I think we can do better. He deserves a lot more.
They are and should, drag Jake Tapper through the mud! After all is said and done, I would like Jake to feel and look like a small little man, who was ignorantly led down this path for seeking attention, since apparently, he didn’t receive enough attention as a child!
This is amazing. So Tapper and Thompson and the other Praetorian Guard members think they can do this with a straight face?? You guys/gals have to be some of the most un-self aware humans on Earth…. my God people…no shame. Pure unmitigated gall.
Today's "Original Sin" excerpt has an answer to all the liberals who ask, "Why are reporters spending time probing Biden's past when Trump is pushing a radical agenda?" This:
"Democrats deceived the country about Biden's abilities and, Clooney said, 'that’s how Trump won.' " pic.twitter.com/XINuwImlsJ
I can’t add too much more about Stevie Wonder than has been expressed all day on social media.
Isn’t he lovely?
Stevie has long been one of my idols. His run of albums from “Music of My Mind” through “Songs in the Key of Life” is legendary. So much innovation, so many great songs. He’s an actual genius.
Even after “Songs in the Key Of Life,” Stevie picked up with “Hotter than July,” the album that gave us a song I adore called “Overjoyed.” He released his greatest hits and added two classics, “Do I Do,” and “That Girl.”
I know people find “I Called To Say I Love You” too sweet, but you know, its composition is not simple. And “Ebony and Ivory” with Paul McCartney, plus “What’s That You’re Doing?” are wonderfully realized pop.
Stevie’s last album was in 2005, “A Time to Love,” was one I encouraged while Sylvia Rhone and Doug Morris really quarterbacked it. Steve was by then a towering legacy artist, and you know what that means. Even Bruce Springsteen can’t get his new records played on radio. It’s a shonda.
Stevie’s greatest legacy has been his personal march for peace and supporting the civil rights movement. He’s a practitioner of peace. He wrote “Happy Birthday” for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday holiday which he helped create. Now everyone sings it on birthdays!
When Aretha Franklin was coming to an end, Stevie flew from LA to Detroit and sat at her bedside. I know what that meant to her. They loved each other, not just because he wrote one of Aretha’s biggest hits, “Until You Come Back to Me.”
That song, and many others, preceded “Music of My Mind.” In the mid to late 60s, Stevie’s output of hits was unparalleled. My favorite was “If You Really Love Me.” Listen to it. It’s a remarkable record, composed with, again, genius. He was always ahead of the game.
A couple of years ago, I was backstage with Stevie at the Musicares salute to Motown. He was wearing the coolest shiny jacket. I said, “Stevie, I love that jacket.” He responded without missing a beat, “Do you want it? Take it.” My face flushed red. “No no no,” replied, “Thank you for the offer.” He was ready to give it to me. OMG.
Stevie is hilarious. He’s one of the best mimics of all time. He does impersonations that leave you on the floor. I’ve heard that he drives on his property. Nothing is beyond him.
Oh wait — one more thing. At the 2009 Obama Inauguration Stevie performed with Sting on the ABC special. Stevie and Sting are close friends. The backstage area was just curtained off sections for each artist. I was talking to Sting in his section when from the other side of the curtain we heard Stevie practicing “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” with his special recording machine. Sting and I looked at each other, a gog. We were witnessing history.
Happy birthday, Stevie! We can’t get through this without you!
