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I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Irving Burgie twice this year. He died today at age 95.
“Day O,” the song he wrote and made popular by Harry Belafonte, is featured in a memorable scene in “Beetlejuice” on Broadway. Irving came to the 1st performance, and to the opening night. He loved the show, and lapped up the kudos from well wishers. I was also on the nominating committee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame when he was inducted several years ago, and he remembered me from then, too.
What a life! And what legacy! Day O must be responsible for a long life. Belafonte, a worldwide treasure, is 92 himself!
Rest in peace, Irving! Daylight come and it’s time to go home indeed.
“Frozen II,” Disney’s juggernaut sequel to “Frozen I,” would have hit $300 million today, Sunday, with no trouble. Would have. But winter storms have made Disney cut its Sunday box office prediction so that the movie’s total, through tonight, is only $287.5 million.
Disney says its Sunday take will be about half of what it might have had, just $18.5 million. On Friday and Saturday, the box office was $34 and $32 million respectively. One more day like that and “Frozen II” would have melted the $300 million mark.
So they’ll have to wait a couple more days. It’s ok. Disney has too much money now, as it is. All their old box office numbers look very Mickey Mouse.
On the live action side, Disney can also crow about “Ford v Ferrari,” now at $81 million. It’s their first hit from the 20th Century Fox acquisition. James Mangold’s race car saga is probably looking at Oscar nomination, as well.
The other big hits from the weekend were Lions Gate’s “Knives Out,” starring Daniel Craig. In 5 days they’ve made $41 million, and are heading to a very swell $100 mil. Also, a nice little hit for Universal is “Queen and Slim,” with $15 million. A low budget romance and social horror film, aimed at the African American audience, and written by Lena Waithe, “Queen and Slim” stars “Get Out” actor Daniel Kaluuya. The movie found its audience instantly, and could be a break out hit a la “Get Out.” Bravo!
“Queen and Slim” isn’t the only black-audience focused film to do well. “Harriet,” with its Oscar buzzed performance from Cynthia Erivo, will hit $40 million tomorrow. Interesting that both films are from Universal (“Harriet” is Universal Focus). They get it. Movies must be inclusive.
So Jair Bolsanaro, the crazy president of Brazil, has attacked Leonardo DiCaprio and his Foundation. Bolsanaro says Leo’s group is responsible for the fires in the Amazon rainforest this past spring.
Leo denies this. He posted on Instagram: “At this time of crisis for the Amazon, I support the people of Brazil working to save their natural and cultural heritage. They are an amazing, moving and humbling example of the commitment and passion needed to save the environment. The future of these irreplaceable ecosystems is at stake and I am proud to stand with the groups protecting them. While worthy of support, we did not fund the organizations targeted. I remain committed to supporting the Brazilian indigenous communities, local governments, scientists, educators and general public who are working tirelessly to secure the Amazon for the future of all Brazilians.”
That’s very nice, and Leo’s PR probably wrote that for him. No sane person believes Bolsonaro, and I’m sure Leo’s statement is correct.
But all of this is Leo’s fault. As I’ve written for several years, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has no transparency. It files a Form 990 Federal tax return, but with no information (See below). So no one knows what it does, where the money comes or where it goes. LDF no longer lists its “team” under the About Us part of their website. Did the big staff all quit? Were they let go? And what happened to amFAR’s questionable Milutin Gatsby, who was LDF’s chief celebrity fundraiser and is now gone?
LDF is cloaked in secrecy. It gets away with this because DiCaprio hides his foundation under the California Community Foundation. So all those b.s. announcements declaring “Leo donates $100 million” to elephants or whatever, no one knows the truth. It could all be fiction. Even Charity Navigator can’t rate Leo’s foundation because it has no info. In this sense, DiCaprio might be considered quite Trumpian. Think about that.
Bolsanaro may be evil but he’s not stupid. I’m sure someone down there has figured this out, so they can accuse the Oscar winner of anything they like. If DiCaprio would turn over this tax returns, then he could be defended. Right now, we can only take him at his word. And since his foundation was dragged into the whole Malaysian public funds scandal, 1MDB, his credibility isn’t so strong these days.
Buried deep in Ohio, Donald Trump has a former rock star as a major supporter.
Eric Carmen, lead singer of the Raspberries in the 1970s, has outed himself as a Trump backer. He loves his president. Carmen is most famous for songs like “Go All the Way” and “Let’s Pretend” in the early 70s. Then, when the band broke up, Carmen was fished out of obscurity by Clive Davis. He had two big solo hits on Arista Records with “All By Myself” and “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.” Each of them were fashioned from classic music pieces by Rachmaninoff.
A decade later, Carmen scored one more hit with “Hungry Eyes” from the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack. Since then, he’s lived with cult status outside of his native Cleveland.
More recently, Carmen has been on Twitter where he picked up more contemporary rock star fans from the E Street Band family like Steve and Maureen van Zandt and Nils and Amy Lofgren. An avowed Raspberries fan, I also followed him on Twitter.
So imagine everyone’s surprise when Carmen declared his fealty to Trump in the last week or so. He’s a hard line conservative, decrying socialism a la Trump and retweeting people like Fox News’s Jesse Watters, Seb Gorka and Charlie Kirk. He tweeted: “If you want to hate me, just know this. I love the USA, I support our brave military men and women, I support the police and firefighters, I support our President and the First Lady, I believe in civility, and I do not want to live in a Socialist country. That is what I believe.”
Since then, Carmen has been in a Twitter firefight, not just with former fans who can’t believe all this, but also with the Lofgrens. And he really loves those Trumps. Another Tweet in a response to criticism of them: “There is no excuse for that kind of sick, disrespect. The First Lady was speaking about the opioid problem while The President donated his salary to the fight against opioid addiction.”
Carmen is also against the impending impeachment and supports the Republicans who are on the House committee: “Nobody has any proof that Jim Jordan did anything wrong. All I know is what I saw during the impeachment nonsense. Jordan was a voice of sanity, along with Devin Nunes.”
He’s also traded contentious Tweets with rocker Peter Frampton: “I love your music, Pete, but I would never presume to tell you, or anyone else, what network they should watch. I respect your right to disagree with me, and you should respect my right to disagree with you. That used to be the way things worked here in the USA. Carry on.”
Carmen also raised everyone’s ire when he used a statement from Hitler’s chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels to make a point in a re-tweet:
Carmen lives near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. But if he goes to next spring’s induction ceremony, he may actually be singing “All By Myself.”
Still, now Trump has a rock star he can call for his rallies. In fact, I’m sure once his staff reads this they’ll be using “Go All the Way” as a campaign song.
All the talk of movie stars not selling movies was reversed on Thanksgiving Day.
Three well reviewed films with movie stars leading their casts did very well at the box office and point to a great box office weekend. And two of the tree could definitely wind up in the Oscar race. Daniel Craig, Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Tom Hanks– all their movies are top notch and bringing audiences into theaters.
Daniel Craig, aka James Bond, has a hit with Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out.” Craig leads an all star cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, and Don Johnson in an Agatha Christie like murder mystery that is also very funny. So far, “Knives Out” has $14 million in the bank after two full days and previews.
Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” — as I wrote a couple of days ago– has “legs.” This means it’s holding up. “Beautiful Day” has made $22 million in seven days. The film is holding steady every day and should only increase over the weekend. Hanks will be nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and the screenplay should get awards, too. This could be a Best Picture nominee.
The really great news is that “Ford v Ferrari” is already at $67 million after two weeks. Matt Damon and Christian Bale lead this cast, which also includes Tracey Letts, Jon Bernthal, and Josh Lucas. Damon is great but he has the tough role of being a sort of straight man to Bale’s colorful race car driver Kenny Miles. James Mangold’s direction is superb. The character scenes are fun, and the racing is heart pounding. This could also be a Best Picture nominee.
So I’ve finally seen Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell.” Released in July by A24, it’s made just $17.7 million in the US and a paltry $1.9 million abroad for a total of just under $20 million. This despite great reviews and a hot new star in Awkwafina, who made a name for herself in “Crazy Rich Asians.”
This, despite a 99% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, ninety-nine percent. You can’t really do better.
If you know movies or are in the business, etc you might know about “The Farewell.” But back when it was opening right after July 4th, there was a minor push for it. I was invited, but couldn’t go, to a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown without any explanation of what “The Farewell” was. Subsequently it had a nice summer run, getting up to 891 theaters around Labor Day. But it had already peaked in early August, making a whopping $969,331 on Saturday the 3rd, and then quickly dissipated.
Last week, I did see a nice article about the woman who plays the grandmother. She speaks no English, could she be an Oscar nominee for best supporting actress? I thought. I’d better see that movie some time.
Luckily, my Critics Choice screener arrived this week, and now, after a lot of hemming and hawing. I’ve watched Lulu Wang’s wonderfully charming, slyly smart movie. It can’t be a foreign film entry because it was made by Americans. Yes, it’s set mostly in China, with Chinese and Japanese actors. But it is what it is.
Let me tell you something: everyone hates Harvey Weinstein now. But in his heyday if he had had a movie like “The Farewell,” Awkwafina would be up for Best Actress, the grandmother actress Shuzhen Zhao would be in Supporting Actress, Lulu Wang would be in Best Director and Original Screenplay, and Elayna Boynton’s cover version of “Come Healing,” as well as Fredo Viola’s cover of Nilsson’s “Without You” would be playing everywhere. Alex Weston’s score would be the talk of the town.
But now’s a chance for Academy members, SAG-AFTRA voters, etc to see “The Farewell.” It’s available on streaming services, and there are screener DVDs. It seems like the PR machine in general is obsessed with “The Parasite,” but I urge everyone to make “The Farewell” a priority. You won’t be disappointed. The premise is inspired by a true story. A whole Chinese family reunites in China because their grandmother is dying of lung cancer. Only, no one will tell her. So the reunion is based instead on an ambivalent young couple getting married.
Everything is a win for the audience. We’re treated to another culture which turns out to be more similar to our own than we would have guessed, to the struggles accepting aging, families drifting apart, and young people facing the future away from their ethnic homes. Awkwafina is not the glib character from “Crazy Rich Asians,” but much more grounded. All the Chinese actors are lovely. Shuzhen Zhao, whether she gets a nomination or not, is a pleasure. She’s 75 and she’s been acting since she as 16. For us, starting at Sundance last January. she’s an overnight sensation!
And PS, there’s a little twist at the end of “The Farewell,” that no one should give away. But it will make you smile.
By the way, who IS Elayna Boynton and why isn’t she a big star? With all the crap on the radio, this woman remains unknown.
and listen to her sing the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody”
Back in 2013, when no one knew what “Frozen” was or who Elsa was, Disney’s then new animated feature didn’t hit $200 million for 33 days.
Today, “Frozen 2,” the sequel, will cross that line after just 7 days.
The original “Frozen” made only $400 million during its theatrical release in the US. The sequel already has half that amount in just a week.
Worldwide, “Frozen 2” will cross the $500 million mark this weekend. And it’s just getting started.
And it’s not just the movie that’s killing it. The soundtrack albums are number 1 and number 2 on iTunes, that’s the regular and deluxe. The latter has 46 tracks! Two songs from the album are on the singles charts, as well, although neither of them threatens to be as ubiquitous as “Let it Go.” One of them is called “Into the Unknown.” Read into that what you will.
So Disney needn’t wait for the new “Star Wars” movie to celebrate. They’ve got the whole world eating out of their hands, apparently.
This is ironic since I always thought “Frozen” was reference to Walt Disney himself, in the after life. But that’s another story!
This might be the most expensive commercial in eons. Xfinity (Comcast) got Steven Spielberg to agree to let them make a short sequel to “ET: The Extra Terrestrial,” one of the most successful and beloved films of all time.
In the short video, Elliot–still played by Henry Thomas– is revisited by ET. He introduces his kids and his wife to his old pal. The video repurposes scenes from the movie so that ET seems like he’s newly interacting with Elliot and his family. ET says: “Ell–eeee–ott,” and Eliott responds, “You came back!” ET is thinking, “For money, I am always available. Who has the streaming rights?”
The original film was released in 1982, was nominated for Best Picture, and made a zillion dollars around the world.
If you’re wondering how this came about, Xfinity is the trade name for Comcast Cable, which also owns Universal Pictures, which owns “ET.” They simply looked around said, How can we plunder our catalog? For Henry Thomas it was cool since he was recently arrested in Oregon for a DUI. He should have phoned home for a ride before getting behind the wheel!
Is this the beginning of this sort of thing? Will Richard Dreyfuss be revisiting “Close Encounters” next? Please god, no. But with James Dean returning to the movies after 64 years, I guess anything and everything is possible.
Madonna is like a sturgeon this Thanksgiving. She’s cancelled her Boston dates– three shows– due to physical injury.
She writes on Instagram: “Please forgive this unexpected turn of events. Doing my show every night brings me so much joy and to cancel is a kind of punishment for me but the pain I’m in right now is overwhelming and I must rest and follow doctor’s orders so I can come back stronger and better and continue the Madame ❌ journey with all of you.” -Madonna
Live Nation has confirmed that shows scheduled for November 30th, December 1st and 2nd at The Boch Center Wang Theatre are cancelled due to doctor’s orders.
Madonna has been on tour since mid September when she launched the Madame X concerts in Brooklyn at the Howard Gilman Opera House at BAM five days later than planned. She cancelled shows there, too, when her knee blew out. This time she’s not specifying what went wrong. She just finished her shows in Los Angeles, where she started a day late, cancelling her originally planned opening night. Now she’ll skip Boston entirely and move on to Philadelphia December 7th.
Meantime, the “Madame X” album hasn’t sold much beyond its original sales, around 125,000 copies since its release on June 14th. Copies of the album are automatically bundled with the concert tickets.
Beyond asking for a doctor’s note, it’s hard to say whether Boston was cancelled because of illness or slow ticket sales. The Madame X tour has done well but it’s never sold out. There are plenty of tickets available in Philadelphia. Nevertheless, the tour has to be grueling for Madonna no matter what shape she’s in. Even the most fit 61 year old would be exhausted. But she’s trying something different, and trying to stay relevant. So, good for her. Get well soon!
The once mighty “Empire” is shrinking, and fast, like something you put in the dryer by mistake.
Last night’s installment of the record biz soap opera scored just 2.4 million viewers,. That’s down about 28% since the season debut two months ago. It’s also their lowest rating ever. The season premiere was 3.3 million.
The key demo was even worse. The demo change in the age group 18-49 was down a whopping 16.6% from last week. Young viewers simply tuned out.
It’s hard to say which show is doing worse– “Empire” or “The Walking Dead.” Each of them is draining viewers very quickly.
Another show that’s lost its mojo is “The Conners,” which is drifting below 6 million viewers every week since its season debut. Now comes word they’re casting for Dan’s half brother, who would be younger than Darlene.
But no mentions the Conner kid who has simply disappeared, Jerry Garcia Conner. He didn’t come back even when Roseanne died. His absence remains as much a mystery as Jussie Smollett’s on “Empire.”
