The man who helped to invent cinema verite, DA Pennebaker, turns 94 years young today.

Pennebaker — Penny, as we call him — created the cameras, and the ideas, that led to anything we call documentary filmmaking today. An Oscar nominee with his filmmaker wife Chris Hegedus for “The War Room,” (1994) Penny received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2013. His comrades in arms were Albert Maysles and Richard Leacock. With those guys and Bob Drew, Penny was invited into the JFK presidential campaign. They made four landmark films about JFK and Robert Kennedy, as well.

And yes, today we celebrate Penny– father of 8, grandfather of (who can count), mentor and friend to so many.

Penny’s great major film achievements came with Bob Dylan’s “Dont Look Back,” “Monterey Pop,” “The War Room,” and dozens more including the great Emmy nominated film about Elaine Stritch, “At Liberty,” for HBO. I was lucky to make a film with him and Chris in 2002 called “Only the Strong Survive.”

Right now on IFC you can see Seth Meyers and John Mulaney’s tribute to Penny, a parody of his famous film about Stephen Sondheim recording the cast of “Company” with Elaine Stritch. It’s in their “Documentary Now” series and it’s priceless.

Penny’s short film of “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” taken from “Dont Look Back,” is the most copied, most revered, music video of all time.

Yes, the credits and accolades are endless. But today we just give a nod to the whole Pennebaker oeuvre. And blow out the candles with a wish for many good years to come!

There’s no business for show business like old business. The weekend box office was basically a disaster if your film wasn’t a sequel or repeating from last weekend.

“Spider Man: Far from Home” raked in another $45 million for a total of $275 million so far in two weeks of release.

“Toy Story 4”  wrapped four weeks of release with $365 million.

But new films suffered. “Stuber” took in $8 million. “Crawl” crawled to $12 million. The latter horror film, like all horror films, was made on the cheap so that’s okay. But “Stuber” was a miscalculated buddy film starring Dave Bautista from “Guardians of the Galaxy” and Kumail Nanjiani from “The Big Sick.” It may already be on airplanes.

“Stuber”‘s failure is worse because it’s from the now defunct 20th Century Fox. Disney — grooving on all its hits — just dumped “Stuber” into the abyss.

So the box office stinks but “The Lion King” roars next Friday. Regardless of critics’ carping, that movie will be a monster.

Two time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz has secretly been filming scenes for “Bond 25,” in London, reprising his evil Blofeld villain from “Spectre,” aka Bond 24.

This scoop was delivered by the Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye exclusively, then immediately stolen by every outlet possible. Deadline.com was a real culprit. (I don’t understand why they always do that!)

But it was the estimable Baz who reported that Waltz was seen waltzing around Pinewood Studios. When he was spotted, Mr. W. put his finger to his lips and said, “You didn’t see me.” Well, Blofeld lost his eye in “Spectre” so maybe Waltz had a reason to believe he’d get away with it.

Donald Pleasance, Max von Sydow and Telly Savalas were the actors who previously played Blofeld in past Bond films. Each was memorable.

Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson are certainly doubling down on villains for 25. They already have Oscar winner Rami Malek as their main bad guy, although no one knows who he plays or the course of his character. But now we’ve got two Oscar winners trying to bring down James Bond.

Of course, all I want to know is who is singing the opening song. I was first to report about Adele’s “Skyfall” several years ago. I didn’t much care for Sam Smith’s “Spectre” song even though it won the Oscar. Everyone wants Adele to return, but I hope it’s someone new– maybe Sting, or Annie Lennox, or even Chrissie Hynde. They are classics. The biggest mistake is bringing in a real newbie, like Billie Eilish. The Bond song is a big deal! Maybe Little Nas X can adapt “Old Town Road” for James!

Anyway, great scoop from Baz for the Daily Mail. We learn from the greats.

The new “Lion King” is visually stunning. So said everyone who saw the movie in Los Angeles at the premiere, and a smattering of critics in New York.

But now the reviews are being published officially, and Jon Favreau’s reboot of the beloved 1994 animated film is being panned. Critics and contributors to Rotten Tomatoes have given it a score of 57. I agree with that number.

The new “Lion King,” I am sorry to say, is grim and dark. It’s not the buoyant celebration of life created for the stage by Julie Taymor, or the vibrant colorful explosion of love seen in the original film.

Instead, this “Lion King” features live lions, cubs, hyenas, mixed with some CGI characters. Caleb Deschanel, coming off his Oscar win for the masterpiece “Never Look Away,” found only grays and blues on this run, and not the buttery yellows, violets, and reds I’ve seen on two trips to southern Africa. Indeed, nothing about “The Lion King” looks African. It looks corporate.

What a strange turn of events for Favreau and company. There was no need to remake “The Lion King” other than to siphon more money. At least with “Aladdin,” Disney could bring the characters to life from animation. But bringing jungle beasts to life is a different story. You can bring a cub to water but you can’t make him drink. Or smile. The result is that “The Lion King” feels like a National Geographic documentary with narration sort of synched to close-ups.

But these beasts aren’t being observed, a la Jean-Jacques Annaud’s “The Bear.” They’re being manipulated to “act.” Some take direction well, others not so much. I suppose in some scenes, when there are stampedes and so on, it’s exciting. But two lions just hanging around not chatting, it’s weird.

Then there’s the music. Since the animals can’t really act, they also can’t be choreographed. The great “Lion King” music is playing, Beyonce and Donald Glover are singing it, but there’s a lifelessness that can’t be ignored. The song that comes off the best is Elton John’s new closer, “Never Too Late,” because it’s over the credits. It doesn’t require watching anyone perform it.

This isn’t to say that “The Lion King” won’t be a hit. It will. People will go– for the brand. They’ll go for Beyonce’s participation. I did find Mufasa’s exit from the story moving, oddly, because James Earl Jones and Chewetel Ejiofor put all of themselves into it. And, of course, Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner make the most of the comic relief characters, Pumaa and Timon.

As for James Earl Jones, just one last word: he is remarkable. A quarter century ago he was Mufasa, and now he’s done it again. He sets up the movie. This is really acting. It’s not just that his deep rumbling baritone is comforting as maple syrup, yet still commanding. Whatever emotions there are in “The Lion King” emanate from him. He’s already received the honorary Oscar and SAG Award. Is there anything we can do for him? We are in awe, and in his debt.

The new “Lion King” is proving to be more divisive than originally thought. Early social media posts from the premiere audience, critics, and first screenings were very high on the film, calling it “visually stunning.” But on Twitter, after more scenes were released, there’s been a serious outcry against the movie. Armchair critics– who will pay to see “The Lion King”– are complaining that it looks cold, grim, and that the real lions et al seem unemotional.

That won’t stop this “Lion King” from roaring at the box office, by the way. It’s going to be a big, big hit.

Meanwhile, as we await the review embargo to lift at 12 noon Eastern: Disney seems to have yanked the original 1994 film from streaming or renting. You can still buy it on amazon or iTunes, but it’s not available to be rented. This would seem as a way to discourage comparisons between the old film and the new one. Disney’s done the same with “Aladdin” so that the Robin Williams version also can’t be casually watched. Interesting that they didn’t do this for “Dumbo.”

Some theorize that Disney has pulled “The Lion King” from renting or streaming because they’re going to have their own service soon. I don’t think so. All their other movies, plus Pixar, Marvel and LucasFilms are all available now. Again, it won’t matter. “The Lion King” is immortal.