Friday, December 19, 2025
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Box Office Bosley as New “Charlie’s Angels” Won’t Fly, Sony– Despite Excellent Year– Prepares for Flop

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Call them Angels of the Mourning.

The new “Charlie’s Angels.” written and directed by Elizabeth Banks– one of our favorite people– is headed for a big flop this weekend.

Last night in previews, the new Angels made just $900,000. Predictions are for a $12 million weekend, if lucky. That’s pushing it.

The new “Charlie’s Angels” stars Kristen Stewart and two actresses no one’s ever heard of. It also a convoluted plot, with three Bosleys and who knows who is voicing Charlie. (It should have been Robert Wagner, who took over from the beloved John Forsythe.)

Stewart plays an androgynous Angel named Sabina, not Sabrina. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t fly. None of it does. The audience doesn’t want Angels who aren’t smart, sexy, women. This was never a PC organization. We want Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett. And Cheryl Ladd. All the fun is gone.

On Rotten Tomatoes, these Angels have scored a lowly 58%. There is no enthusiasm for it. But you could tell when what seems like years ago, Miley Cyrus, Lana del Rey, and Ariana Grande released the title track called “Don’t Call Me Angel.” It was met with yawns. Three superstars, no one cared. And “Don’t call me angel” is the chorus from another classic hit, “Angel of the Morning.” That should have been the song they covered.

Sony needn’t worry. They’ve had a great year with “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” the latest Spider Man movie, “Far from Home,” and coming soon is Tom Hanks in the wonderful “Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” “Zombieland” has also done very well, and “Little Women” should be a banger, with loads of Oscar nominations.

 

Taylor Swift’s Record Company Tells Her to Shake it Off, They’re Not Preventing Her from Performing Anything

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Well, there’s two sides to every story. So here’s the statement from Scott Borchetta and Big Machine regarding Taylor Swift’s massive plea from yesterday. Borchetta disagrees with Taylor’s assessment of the situation. “Lover” is still going to win lots of awards.

from Big Machine:

As Taylor Swift’s partner for over a decade, we were shocked to see her tumblr statements yesterday based on false information. At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere. Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, we have continued to honor all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.

The truth is, Taylor has admitted to contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets to our company, which is responsible for 120 hardworking employees who helped build her career. We have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward. We started to see progress over the past two weeks and were optimistic as recently as yesterday that this may get resolved. However, despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase in a calculated manner that greatly affects the safety of our employees and their families.

Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist. All we ask is to have a direct and honest conversation. When that happens, you will see there is nothing but respect, kindness and support waiting for you on the other side. To date, not one of the invitations to speak with us and work through this has been accepted. Rumors fester in the absence of communication. Let’s not have that continue here. We share the collective goal of giving your fans the entertainment they both want and deserve.

Listen to Taylor Swift’s Sure to Be Oscar Nominated “Beautiful Ghosts” from “Cats,” Read Her Plea to Music Execs to Give Her Back Her Music

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It’s not easy being Taylor Swift. She’s just released her song from the “Cats” movie, called “Beautiful Ghosts.” She will be nominated for Best Song for sure. Dammit, it’s really good.

Plus, Taylor re-recorded her great song “Lover” from her current hit album with Shawn Mendes, and it’s number 1 on iTunes. “Lover” is going to sweep the Grammys on January 26th. That’s just how it is. She’s at the top of her game.

But, you can’t have everything. She’s in a fight with her former pal Scott Borchetta and Justin Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun. They’re holding her songs hostage and not allowing her to perform a medley of past hits on the American Music Awards. This is ridiculous. Guys, let her do it. She’s going to outplay you. Seriously, this isn’t sportsman like. Just say she can’t use the live versions on a recording for one year. Dudes!

Taylor’s big issue is that she needs to do a medley of old hits on the AMAs. She has to save the “Lover” songs for the Grammys. She’s also fighting with the boys because they won’t give rights to Netflix for a documentary. Taylor of course has posted a message to them, which I will post here under the “Beautiful Ghosts” video.

Borchetta and Braun are going to lose this fight in the court of popular appeal. And Braun in particular doesn’t need the wrath of Taylor’s fans just as he’s prepping Bieber’s comeback. This will get ugly. (Braun also reps Ariana Grande, so he has her to think about, too.)

Here’s the “Cats” song. Get ready for Taylor to be big all awards season. She deserves it.

 

Titled “Don’t Know What Else to Do”
Guys – It’s been announced recently that the American Music Awards will be honoring me with the Artist of the Decade Award at this year’s ceremony. I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year. Additionally – and this isn’t the way I had planned on telling you this news – Netflix has created a documentary about my life for the past few years. Scott and Scooter have declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project, even though there is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film.
Scott Borchetta told my team that they’ll allow me to use my music only if I do these things: If I agree to not re-record copycat versions of my songs next year (which is something I’m both legally allowed to do and looking forward to) and also told my team that I need to stop talking about him and Scooter Braun.
I feel very strongly that sharing what is happening to me could change the awareness level for other artists and potentially help them avoid a similar fate. The message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished.
This is WRONG. Neither of these men had a hand in the writing of those songs. They did nothing to create the relationship I have with my fans. So this is where I’m asking for your help.
Please let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this. Scooter also manages several artists who I really believe care about other artists and their work. Please ask them for help with this – I’m hoping that maybe they can talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote. I’m especially asking for help from The Carlyle Group, who put up money for the sale of my music to these two men.
I just want to be able to perform MY OWN music. That’s it. I’ve tried to work this out privately through my team but have not been able to resolve anything. Right now my performance at the AMA’s, the Netflix documentary and any other recorded events I am planning to play until November of 2020 are a question mark.
I love you guys and I thought you should know what’s been going on.
Taylor

Dupont Should Come Unglued After Audiences See Todd Haynes’s “Dark Waters” with Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway

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Dupont will no longer be a Teflon corporation after audiences see  Todd Haynes’s memorable scary “Dark Waters,” opening November 22nd. Mark Ruffalo stars as the corporate lawyer from Cincinnati who took down the company and won a $670 million settlement for rural West Virginians who were poisoned by the company when they put something called C-8 in Teflon.

Yeah, the Teflon in our pans. It turns out everyone in the world is infected in some way now, it’s far worse than just the local farmer. Now they’ve removed C8 from Teflon, but the damage has been done.

Feeling nervous? “Dark Waters” is a call to arms directed by Todd Haynes, who usually deals with more intimate films. But activist Ruffalo discovered the story of how Rob Billot working for Cincinnati law firm Taft– who usually worked for the bad guys– saw what was happening and decided to do something about it. He learned how babies were being born deformed, people worked with Teflon were dying of cancer, farm animals were losing their minds and expiring at alarming rates.

“Dark Waters” premiered Tuesday night at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater with a swell, old fashioned dinner at Lincoln Restaurant. Focus Features has a winner in this descendant of “Silkwood” and “Erin Brokovich” with all-star cast that includes Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Pullman, Bill Camp, and Mare Winningham.

Everyone showed up except for Hathaway (on bed rest waiting for baby number 2). More on her in a minute. It was Ruffalo, an environmental activist, who pulled this project together. Remember Haynes is better known for his character pieces. But he also made a movie years ago with Julianne Moore called “Safe,” in which no one was safe from chemicals. In a way, he’s return to an old interest and done a smashing job. This might be his most commercial movie.

Ruffalo plays  lawyer Billot, who’d just made partner at a white shoe law firm Taft when his Parkersburg, West Virginia grandmother sends two local farmers to him. All their cows are dead or going mad, everyone is sick. A massive amount of data has already been compiled and hidden by Dupont, which knows what’s happening and won’t do anything about it. Selling frying pans is more important.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire went Billot, who had a young family and dwindling financial resources. The case against Dupont went on for years, but luckily Billot had the help of his firm and two older lawyers (Tim Robbins and Bill Pullman, in roles that used to be played by Josef Sommer and Donald Moffat) who support the cause.

“Dark Waters” plays like a procedural in the mode of “Silkwood” or “Erin Brockovich.” Haynes and co. keep it simple and honest, with tremendously subtle work from a supporting cast that includes Bill Camp and Mare Winningham. Oscar winner Anne Hathaway starts slow as Mrs. Billot but comes through with (as usual) with stark authenticity.

In a season of gangsters, Hollywood cowboys, papal friendship, and alienated villains, we need “Dark Waters,” a David vs. Goliath tale that affects all of us in real life and once again exposes corporate greed. Billot deserves a medal for what he’s done. Haynes, Ruffalo et al should get their recognition for bringing the story to the screen.

 

Harry Styles New Album Hedging Bets for Number 1 Debut: Each Tour Ticket, T Shirt Will Come Bundled with CD

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Everyone had better read the fine print for the Harry Styles album, “Fine Line.”

To hedge their bets and make sure “Fine Line” has a BIG number 1 debut, Styles’ team is doing ticket bundling. To wit: every tour ticket sold and every t shirt sold on line comes with a CD of “Fine Line.”

Tour tickets go one sale November 18th, so this way a big pre-sale will build up for “Fine Line” prior to its December 13th launch. When album sales are counted on December 20th, “Fine Line” will be bloated with all the extra CDs that came through this bundling scheme.

It’s a great way to have a huge debut on the charts. The following week, the fall off is usually around 80%, but the pay off is worth it. You’ve had that week of publicity touting the number 1 chart debut. In this case, it will even be better because the chart counting mechanisms shut down from December 20 th til January 4. The actual numbers will be lost in the miasma of Happy Holidays.

The first self titled Styles album opened with 229,000 copies, so obviously Sony and Styles’ team will be looking to top that. This way, it’s insured. The question will be whether or not the album sales hold up, like Taylor Swift’s “Lover,” or if they drop quickly. It will all go back to the individual tracks, and if they take off on their own on iTunes and Spotify.

“Ford v Ferrari” Starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale Races to the Screen with Big Ideas About America, Friendship, and Cars

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“Ford v Ferrari,” much buzzed for Oscar nominations, is coming this Friday. Among racing movies, it’s a winner, with a compelling central story about Henry Ford’s team vs. Ferrari, very American. But it’s really about Ford’s famous Carroll Shelby (you know his name from the Mustang) played with stolid charisma by Matt Damon vs. his own driver, eccentric and endearing Ken Miles (Christian Bale).
At a screening this week, director James Mangold had a lot to say about his central characters of Shelby and Miles. “It was these unique characters and also a way that a lot of us in filmmaking relate to the struggle of these characters and that we, too. like Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles are trying to convince large corporations to do something they haven’t done before that costs a great deal of money, but the whole thing works.”
Also on hand were actors from the movie Josh Lucas and Jon Bernthal. The big stars, Damon and Bale, are tied up making movies.
“Unlike the drivers,” said Mangold, “We don’t die, but if our gambles don’t pay off, we do magically disappear. And so, that is kind of the struggle that also fascinates me and it was kind of analogous in all our worlds, I’m sure many of your worlds, whether they’re filming or otherwise.”
Added Mangold, “It made me think about making movies because of the unique friendships I’ve made making films, and they’re the kind of friendships that I felt like I could represent on screen with these characters, which are friendships made of doing something, not hanging, not drinking, not watching, not talking, but that you actually get together and make something happen together.”
Directed at audience members who are not, like me, into racing movies, Mangold said, “The last thing I wanted to say about racing, for those of you who are nervous or just bragging here going, ‘I don’t like that shit.’The thing is that what I didn’t discover, so that I can share this with you, is that it is a really interesting world with its own language, with a beauty, with a kind of logic that transcends just cars. And what we did, and what we tried to do, you can be the judge is do something they ever can do when they’re at the races or on TV, which is get inside these characters heads, get inside the cars, understand why they’re slowing down, why they’re pulling over, why they’re getting ahead… You never know that when you’re watching red and yellow whips on some screen with a bunch of jackasses talking about it, but you do know in this movie hopefully.”
“Ford v. Ferrari” sounds like a lawsuit. In other countries, the movie is called “Le Mans 66.” Either way, it’s a pulse-raiser.   Shelby (Damon) and the British driver Ken Miles (Bale) battle corporate interference and the laws of physics to create a revolutionary car for Ford Motor Company that will take down the dominating race cars of Enzo Ferrari at the Le Mans race in France, which lasts a startling 24 hours. It’s as much a buddy movie as a racing film. Set in 1966, the movie is very much a period piece and a throw back to the wonderful, solid films of that era. (Also sure to nab an Academy-Award supporting actor not is Tracy Letts, who is terrific as Henry Ford II, continually living in the shadow of his legendary father.)
Bale has the flashier role of Shelby, a nonconformist with an out-of-control temper who didn’t like playing by corporate rules or any rules at all for that matter. Bale has transformed himself again, from the roly-poly Dick Cheney he played in his last role he’s now all wiry and sinewy as the tightly-wound Shelby. “Ford vs. Ferrari” is a terrific ride for 2 1/2 hours that seems to fly by. The final hour is the Le Mans race and Mangold has welded the CGI seamlessly into the exciting race sequences that will have you literally glued to your seat, whether you’re a racing enthusiast or not.

Harry Styles Getting the Big Money Push to Super-Stardom: World Tour Set for 2020 Behind New Album

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There’s a fine line between star and superstar. Harry Styles is getting the big money push now to turn into the latter.

Even though his first album did so-so, Harry’s last tour was a success. The former One Directioner proved he had the stamina to take it on and be in good spirits: no scandals with sex or drugs. No Justin Bieber-esque breakdowns.

And so today Styles has announced a world tour beginning next April. It’s called the Love Tour, designed to follow release of his new album, “Fine Line,” which comes out Friday, December 13th.

This weekend, Styles will host and be the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.” That is BIG. It’s the second big marketing move, after his Labor Day Rolling Stone cover, announcing the intention to fill the space left by Justin Bieber when he semi-retired, and to take up the age range left by Justin Timberlake.

Sony is betting a lot on Harry Styles even though the first single from his new album, “Lights Up,” was not a huge seller. Its numbers break down to just 30,000 in paid downloads but boom up to a total of 345,000 including streaming. Spotify shows “Lights Up” with 94 million streams, making it his fifth most popular song on that platform. But the label must be enthusiastic about what we haven’t heard from “Fine Line,” to think that its songs are strong enough to support a huge world tour.

And so into the pop world, Styles will threaten to become his generation’s star, a sort of Leonardo DiCaprio of pop since the singer has also proven he can act seriously (see “Dunkirk”) and be naturally funny (“SNL”).

Even better news is that on the North American leg of the “Love” tour his opening act is the best “older” singer songwriter around, Jenny Lewis. She’s 43, and has never really gotten her due. A favorite of Elvis Costello, a close pal of Bill Murray, Lewis once fronted a great group called Rilo Kiley. Her songs are an absolute pleasure, and this will bring her to a wide audience.

 

Rumor Scotched: “Days of Our Lives” Longtime Star Kristian Alfonso Says “We are still here, you heard it here first, we are not going anywhere!”

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I told you yesterday I didn’t think that TV Line story about “Days of our Lives” rang true.

Long time star Kristian Alfonso posted to Instagram today with headwriter Ron Carlivati. She says, quoting today’s date, “We are still here! You heard it here first, and we are not going anywhere!” She looks a lot better in this video than she does on the show, btw.

Oscars: “Little Women” and “Bombshell” Will Bring Much Needed Last Minute Influx of Females to Awards Season

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This year’s Oscars? So far it’s been high testosterone. There’s Tarantino, Di Caprio, and Pitt from “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Then you’ve got “The Irishman,” with Scorsese, De Niro, Pacino, Pesci, and pretty much no women. Ditto “Two Popes,” “Dolemite,” “Ford v. Ferrari,” and so on.

Where are all the girls? The glaring lack of women in film this year may be why so many arm chair pundits have tried to float a balloon for Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers.” This is not an Oscar performance, but for a minute there, JLo had the stage to herself.

But now we’re warming up. Two really great movies with ridiculous review embargoes star and feature lots of terrific ladies who will soon fill up slots in lead and supporting categories.

“Little Women,” directed by Greta Gerwig, is girls girls girls. Saoirse Ronan leads a phenomenal cast including Laura Dern, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson and even Meryl Streep. Ronan is lead, Pugh is in supporting, Gerwig could be a Best Director nominee. The whole gang will be Best Ensemble at SAG. The cast should play “The Irishman” on Family Feud.

“Bombshell” is Jay Roach’s terrific film about the Roger Ailes-Gretchen Carlson scandal at Fox News. Charlize Theron is lead as Megyn Freakin Kelly, Nicole Kidman is supporting as Carlson, and Margot Robbie nearly steals the show as a composite female victim of Ailes’s lechery. This group also works as an exceptional ensemble. And I’d rather see “Hustlers” in ensemble rather than single out one performer.

So the women are here, we just had to wait for them. And let’s not forget Renee Zellweger as “Judy,” Cynthia Erivo leading “Harriet,” and Alfre Woodard searing in “Clemency.”

End of “Days”? Probably Not. Soap Opera Cast Released from Contracts as Producer Fights with NBC

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Is it the end of “Days”? Probably not.

But “Days of our Lives” executive producer Ken Corday has reportedly released his entire cast from their contracts. It’s part of his negotiating ploy with NBC. No one knows better how to cheap out a negotiation like Corday, who puts no money on the screen. He once killed off all his characters.

Corday is in talks with Sony and NBC to renew the show for a 55th year. It can’t be going well, since Corday recently unsuccessfully sued Sony TV, his partner, for promoting another show, “The Bold and the Beautiful,” over his in international territories. He lost that fight.

Corday films six months in advance, so he has enough shows to go through the summer. When he makes his deal, he’ll hire back the cast for less money if he can. But it’s likely this will all get sorted out. He recently invested in an app for the show, and this week got a lot of publicity for a time jump in the series’ story line.

But who wants to live like this? It’s not pleasant for the actors or crew. I suppose in the end Corday will have to give in. Without “Days,” he has no standing in Hollywood. His parents created the show in 1965. It’s his whole life.

What a soap opera! TV Line first reported this news.