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Amazon and Woody Allen Settle $68 Million Lawsuit Over Broken Contract to Release Four Movies

Roger Friedman
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Amazon and Woody Allen Settle $68 Million Lawsuit Over Broken Contract to Release Four Movies

Woody Allen and Amazon have settled their lawsuit to release four movies including “A Rainy Day in New York.” That one has made nearly $12 million in limited release abroad. I saw it last summer and liked it very much. It’s Woody’s best work since “Blue Jasmine.”

But Amazon freaked out two years ago when the #MeToo scandals broke and Woody was in appropriately lopped in with other predators. The accusations against never resulted in a legal situation, he wasn’t arrested or tried for anything. The accusations came in a custody case, were never proven. Unlike other men swept up in that scandal, Woody had one lone accusation, nothing else.

Amazon couldn’t the heat. They were in the midst of releasing his “Wonder Wheel,” which they abandoned, and then reneged on following through with the contract. “Rainy Day” was ready to go and they wouldn’t release it.

Since then, “Rainy Day” has been a success abroad and should be seen here. Woody made a new film this past summer in Spain with Chistoph Waltz and Gina Gershon. I’m sure he’s writing a new screenplay as we speak.

Woody did not marry his daughter or step-daughter. He married his girlfriend’s adopted daughter, who was over 21. They have now been together since 1992 and have two grown daughters. It is important to remember the facts. He’s a great filmmaker, one of America’s finest, and his work, his entire library, speaks for itself. I hope one day everyone in the US can see “Rainy Day” and enjoy it as I did.

New Broadway “West Side Story” to Kick Up a Fuss: No Intermission, Famous Song and Ballet Cut, Video Projections for Sets

Roger Friedman
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New Broadway “West Side Story” to Kick Up a Fuss: No Intermission, Famous Song and Ballet Cut, Video Projections for Sets

Last year, director Ivo von Hove brought his hit London production of “Network” to New York and caused a lot of talk: his show was full of video projections, people walking around in headsets, and an actual real restaurant on the stage that made absolutely no sense. On top of that, two of the characters went outside the theater and walked around with a cameraman. Oblivious New Yorkers just walked around them. Not realizing what he was doing on West 44th St. one night, I actually tapped on the insideof the window of Cafe Un Deux Trois and waved at Tony Goldwyn out on the sidewalk while he waited for his cue. He motioned to me that he was working!

Now von Hove is coming with the one of the all time great musicals of our time, “West Side Story.” I told you some time ago that his choreographer, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, is replacing the famous Jerome Robbins choreography with her own… stuff. It does feel like “West Side Story” is going to be done very “Sprockets”-esque. The difference, of course, was that “Network” was new, and von Hove’s to play with. “West Side Story” is canon on Broadway, never to be trifled with.

So far, tickets are selling very well. But here are some spoilers for people forking over hundreds of dollars.

According Vogue’s eminent theater writer, Adam Green, the show has no intermission. To make that work, von Hove has cut the legendary ballet that accompanies the song “Somewhere” (aka “There’s a place for us”). He’s also entirely cut the song “I Feel Pretty.” And just to make things more confusing, Tony, who is Polish American in the play and film, usually red-headed and freckled, is now played by tousle-haired actor Isaac Powell, who is “the son of an African American and Native American father and ‘über-Caucasian’ mother.”

Plus, there will be lots of video projection. Like “Network,” this suggests a very busy stage, perfect for the ADHD generation. Will the cast go outside, as with “Network”? This “West Side Story” will play in the cavernous Broadway Theater, at 53rd and Broadway. It abuts Hell’s Kitchen, where the show is set. Who knows? Unfortunately, the once menacing Hell’s Kitchen is now filled with sushi bars and large glass condos.

Green writes that Stephen Sondheim has signed off on all of this, and so have the estates of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins. Of course, they have nothing to lose. If the show’s a success, all the better. And if it’s not, no harm is done. Plus, Steven Spielberg will arrive in one year with his new movie version that will adhere to the traditional version.

 

Box Office: WW2 Throwback “Midway” Bombs, “The Shining” Sequel “Dr. Sleep” Snoozes, “Jojo” Was a Film that Thought It Was Funny

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: WW2 Throwback “Midway” Bombs, “The Shining” Sequel “Dr. Sleep” Snoozes, “Jojo” Was a Film that Thought It Was Funny

As predicted, this is not a great box office weekend. It should be, this is counting down six weeks to Christmas. This used to be prime movie releasing time. But with Netflix eating up the quality product, and “The Irishman”– our putative Best Picture– in just a few odd theaters, this is a weird season.

“The Shining” sequel called “Dr. Sleep” is in such deep repose as to almost be dead. Tracking indicated maybe a $25 million opening weekend. But with $5 million Friday night (including $925K on Thursday), the total weekend looks at $15 million maybe. Ouch.

Then there’s “Last Christmas,” which seems so…last Christmas, took in $4 million Friday and will be regifted to airplanes soon.

The WW2 adventure that no one wanted, “Midway,” has bombed and crashed, and will sputter to an ignominious end. A total of $6.4 mil for Friday (including Thursday previews) for a $125 million extravaganza is a major disappointment. Maybe somewhere around the globe it will find an audience of Nick Jonas fans.

I’ve hesitated to look again at “Jojo Rabbit.” But it’s not a popular movie. Last night Fox Searchlight jacked up the number of theaters to 802 and made just $1.13 million. I can’t imagine what the word of mouth is, but this lack of enthusiasm is an indication. “Jojo Rabbit” will not make the Best Picture category, which so far includes “The Irishman,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Two Popes,” “Marriage Story,” “Little Women,” maybe “1917,” possibly “Joker,” with a slot left for an indie film, or possibly, “Dolemite.”

Norman Lloyd Turns 105 Today, Happy Birthday! He’s The Oldest Living Member of the Motion Picture Academy

Roger Friedman
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Norman Lloyd Turns 105 Today, Happy Birthday! He’s The Oldest Living Member of the Motion Picture Academy

Norman Lloyd turns 105 today. Happy Birthday! He’s the oldest living member of the Motion Picture Academy.

Norman who? You know that Norman Lloyd starred in “St. Elsewhere,” the best TV hospital show ever, from 1982-88. He was 74 years old when he wrapped his role as Dr. Daniel Auschlander, the head of that crazy institution. If you’re too young to know what I’m talking about, Howie Mandel was in the cast. Now he hosts game shows.

Norman Lloyd has all his marbles, he’s the 8th wonder of the world. In the 1940s he was a favorite of Alfred Hitchcock. He has dozens and dozens of credits before “St. Elsewhere,” and afterwards he appeared in shows like Night Gallery, Kojak, Quincy, M.E., The Paper Chase, Wiseguy, Murder, She Wrote, The Practice, and even the current hit, Modern Family. A couple of years he did a master class in Cannes.

His most recent appearance was in Amy Schumer’s hit comedy, “Trainwreck.” Back in 2007, he was the subject of his own documentary.

So happy birthday, Norman. Imagine, he was born in 1914.

 

Perennial Soap Days of Our Lives Falls Forward for a Surprise 1 Year Time Jump on its 54th Anniversary on NBC

Roger Friedman
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Perennial Soap Days of Our Lives Falls Forward for a Surprise 1 Year Time Jump on its 54th Anniversary on NBC

NBC’s “Days of our Lives” turned 54 on Friday and did something no soap opera has ever done: they jumped forward by a year.

Using the show’s famous hour glass from its logo, inventive and award winning headwriter Ron Carlivati put together a taut script, a little Hitchockian for s soap, to build up to the show’s final, shocking moment.

I watched it tonight on the NBC website, dodging commercials for various illnesses and their quesitonable cures.

Soap operas are daffy, of course, often running very close to self-parody. One of my favorite all time movies is “SoapDish,” in which Whoopi Goldberg, the fake soap’s headwriter, utters these words more or less about a returning character who was decapitated years earlier: “I cannot write for a man without a head!”

Luckily, Carlivati can, since most of his characters have been killed, and returned, and continue to be reanimated in hilarious ways. The long dead creator of “Days,” Ted Corday, could never have imagined such craziness. Neither could the also deceased creator of so many soaps, Agnes Nixon.

But that’s what it’s like these days. So Jennifer Horton somehow fell and went into a coma. Her husband stood beside vigil. At the end of the hour, Jennifer awoke and asked how long she’d been out. “A year,” her husband said, keeping a straight face. So all the cliffhangers Carlivati stacked up during the preceding hour– lots of baby announcements, etc. One character actually said, “God saved a wretch like me.” I hope she named her baby Grace, because the whole thing was amazing. Tune in on Monday.

PS I am curious if Trump is still president on Monday, November 12, 2020. I guess only Carlivati knows.

Review: Shia LaBeouf’s Autobiographical “Honey Boy” Hits Amazon Today, With Stand Out Performances from Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe As Well

Leah Sydney
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Review: Shia LaBeouf’s Autobiographical “Honey Boy” Hits Amazon Today, With Stand Out Performances from Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe As Well

Shia LaBeouf’s autobiographical story of his tumultuous childhood, “Honey Boy,” is out today on amazon.com Directed beautifully by the first-time feature director, Alma Har’el, the powerful, moving, brutally honest film  hits you in the gut with humor, pathos and poignancy.

LaBeouf plays his father, James, a Vietnam veteran who is a drug addict and registered sex offender. He is also a manager/chaperone to his son’s acting career, which is his sole source of income. With his PTSD, his resentment towards his son and to the world, yet with a love for his son, the complexity of the performance is astounding. Young Shia, named Otis in the film, is played with an otherworldliness by Noah Jupe (“A Quiet Place”), the older Shia in rehab is played spectacularly by Lucas Hedges. James lives in a crap motel where prostitutes are neighbors, cigarettes are a treat, being a dude instead of a father and being emotionally and at times physically abusive. And yet his son, so much older than his years because of necessity, still loves him.

All the performances ring true to the soul, are raw and 100 percent authentic.  Har’el cinematically nailed it. The fact that LaBeouf wrote it really as a form of therapy and turned it into this painful, at times horrifying, yet loving, connecting film is simply a work of art. This must be seen by everyone. Shia LaBeouf exposes the deepest most vulnerable sides of himself and the riveting “Honey Boy” deserves much awards buzz because of it.

Tina Turner’s Not the Only Soul Sister in Town: Carla Thomas Surprises DeeDee Bridgewater at WBGO Anniversary

Roger Friedman
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Tina Turner’s Not the Only Soul Sister in Town: Carla Thomas Surprises DeeDee Bridgewater at WBGO Anniversary

We were very excited this week about Tina Turner being in town. But there were other famous soul sisters making a beautiful noise this week in Manhattan.

The Queen of Memphis Soul, Miss Carla Thomas, star of the Stax Record label, surprised Dee Dee Bridgewater at Capitale on Wednesday night. The event was the WBGO 40th anniversary honoring Dee Dee and Andre Menard at the Champions of Jazz Gala.

Carla, who was featured in my film “Only the Strong Survive,” had dozens of hits alone, with Otis Redding, and with her father, the late great Rufus Thomas. A graduate of Howard University, she rarely ventures up north from Memphis. But when Dee Dee told WBGO how much Carla had influenced her, the station invited her up for the surprise event. Carla and Dee Dee even performed Carla’s great Isaac Hayes-written hit, “BABY (Baby),” featured in last year’s hit movie, “Baby Driver.”

I had lunch on Thursday before the Tina Turner show with Carla, and her sister Vaneese, who’s just released a wonderful new album called “Down Yonder.” You can listen to it below on Spotify. Vaneese — who was for years one of Aretha Franklin’s touring backup singers — is revered among music aficionados. “Down Yonder” showcases her phenomenal voice, and writing skills. She wrote all the songs on the album.

As for Carla, she’s still stylish, fun, and younger than springtime. She’s “only” 76. Her first big hit on Stax, “Gee Whiz,” came when she was just 16. Is she getting her royalties from Concord Records, which owns Stax, and Atlantic? “I think so!” she says with a twinkle in her eye. “I hope so!” We’ll be looking into that.

The Thomases and Tina Turner aka Anna Mae Bullock came from the same state but never crossed paths. Still, as Carla points out, Rufus Thomas made sure Ike and Tina got played on his famous radio station, WDIA, in Memphis. Imagine if Tina had gone to Memphis in the early 60s and met the Stax crowd! But she took her own unique path to stardom.

Tina, like Rufus and Carla– is NOT in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo performer, just with Ike from their early days.

Here’s Vaneese’s album:

 

 

 

https://www.wbgo.org/post/champions-jazz-gala-honors-andre-menard-dee-dee-bridgewater-and-40-years-wbgo

Exclusive: Ric Ocasek Was Diagnosed with Cancer Just Before His Death, Resented Estranged Wife Paulina Porizkova’s Boyfriend, Ed Solomon

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Ric Ocasek Was Diagnosed with Cancer Just Before His Death, Resented Estranged Wife Paulina Porizkova’s Boyfriend, Ed Solomon

Usually, I don’t get into this stuff. But I loved the Cars, and Ric Ocasek was a great guy with whom I had many nice conversations over the years.

A couple of weeks ago I’d heard about Ric’s will, and that he’d cut third wife Paulina Porizkova out of his will. Even though they were still not divorced, he wanted to make it clear he was through with her.

He did cut his two older sons out of the will as well. They were from his first marriage.

More importantly, I was told that Ric had been diagnosed with cancer after his heart surgery. He knew he was very ill. That he’d survived the heart surgery didn’t matter. At 75 years old, he didn’t have long to live.

Nobody had ever known that Ocasek was 75, by the way. He’d shaved five years off his age when The Cars first broke back in 1977. He’d gotten a late start as a rock star.

So it does seem Ric got the last laugh on Paulina by cutting her out of his will. But not all the laughs. I’m told that when they bought the Gramercy Park townhouse, it was Porizkova who put up the money. She will get back from the sale what she put into it.

Ric was also furious with Paulina by her relationship with boyfriend Ed Solomon. Despite Porizkova’s claims that they were all one big happy family, it was not the case. One source who I spoke with laughed about Paulina’s story about how she brought Ric cookies the night before he died. “Who brings cookies to a man that sick? What is going on there?” says a source.

Paulina’s relationship with Solomon wasn’t known to the public, but Ric knew it. And I’m sure he saw Twitter exchanges like these and wasn’t pleased.

Can people really die of a broken heart? Not really but my source feels he did.

Constance Wu Gets Her Wish After Last Spring’s Debacle: ABC Cancels “Fresh off the Boat,” This Will Be Its Last Season

Roger Friedman
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Constance Wu Gets Her Wish After Last Spring’s Debacle: ABC Cancels “Fresh off the Boat,” This Will Be Its Last Season

“Fresh Off the Boat” is sunk. ABC has cancelled the series are six seasons. This one will be its last.

Last spring, when the sitcom was renewed, star Constance Wu expressed disappointment. She wanted off the boat because of a burgeoning movie career in “Hustlers” and “Crazy Rich Asians.”

Wu wrote on Twitter: “F–ing hell. So upset right now that I’m literally crying. Ugh. F—.”

She backtracked after ABC obviously went batshit crazy. But that wasn’t enough. Wu’s punishment– and to the cast and crew — was early cancellation.  The show’s finale will be in February 2020.

“Fresh off the Boat” was never a great ratings hit, but it brought Asian Americans to the screen, which is important.

Ironically, Wu’s co-star, Randall Park, works all the time in film and TV, and never had any issues with being on the series.

Wu’s next movie is called “Low Budget Ethnic Movie,” which I guess is a comedy that will try to cash in on “Crazy Rich Asians.” As for an “Asians” sequel, that remains up in the air after a pay-parity flap between the screenwriters.

 

Box Office: Looming Weekend Disasters For “Midway,” “Doctor Sleep,” “Last Christmas” After Weeks of “Joker” Success

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Looming Weekend Disasters For “Midway,” “Doctor Sleep,” “Last Christmas” After Weeks of “Joker” Success

Let’s face it, everyone got used to “Joker” killing it at the box office.

But looming in the distance was this weekend, with disasters coming from three studios.

Warner Bros., Lions Gate, and Universal will all take it on the chin this weekend after last night’s dreadful previews.

Warner’s “Doctor Sleep,” billed as a sequel to “The Shining,” made just $1.5 million last night. Apparently, it put everyone to sleep. Indeed, sleep cliche titles will be the game of the weekend. “Doctor Sleep Like an Ambien at Box Office” would be cute. How about “Pillow Talk”? Or “Doctor Sleep Is a Snore”?

Universal picked up $575,000 last for “Last Christmas,” a gigantic insulin overdose starring two of this year’s hot performers– Emilia Clarke from “Game of Thrones” and Henry Golding from “Crazy Rich Asians.” It looks like a bad Hallmark presentation. This goes straight to TV, maybe to Hallmark.

And “Midway”– from Roland Emmerich– why was this movie made? Does anyone care? Just $925,000 in previews? With a $125,000 budget, “Midway” is going to get strafed. There are a lot of seriously nice actors, all talented, including Woody Harrelson and Patrick Wilson, with singin’ Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Aaron Eckhart, and so on. But why oh why? Think “Red Tails.” These movies look goofy now. Go to TCM for the real ones if you’re crazy World War II adventure.

Meantime, a great movie, “The Irishman,” continues to sell out its tiny theater run in anticipation of heading to TV. This is an upside down season!

 

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