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Armie Hammer, famous being labeled a cannibal, made an announcement yesterday.
With his career in tatters, Armie posted news of either a documentary or a narrative film called “Persona Non Grata.” He announced it tonight on Instagram. He said it would be made by Josh and Benny Safdie.
What is real? No.
Hammer escaped to the Cayman Islands but is back looking for work in Hollywood. He is Persona Non Grata. As he acknowledges, no one wants anything to do with him. How will he overcome that? He’s got a podcast and has picked up parts in B films. But maybe this film will do the trick and bring him back from the dead.
The movie does sound tasty. But it’s also kind of sad that Hammer published this post. He’s going to have to get real at some point.
Reports may be premature that Anna Wintour has banned supermodel and celebrity Naomi Campbell from tonight’s Met Gala.
Why would Anna ban her? Originally it was said that Naomi looked at her funny or said something sarcastic to Anna in front of her last year. You can read it here.
Now Naomi’s rep says she wasn’t banned but declined several invitations.
Campbell is the most famous Black model or celebrity in fashion. She’s a superstar. But Wintour doesn’t care. The whole fortune of the Metropolitan Museum of Art rests on her whims tonight. But no Naomi.
The irony, of course, shouldn’t be lost on anyone. Theme of tonight’s Ball is Black fashion. It’s called “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.” Every Black celebrity who can will be there. But not Naomi.
Anna, according to reports all over the world today, doesn’t think she’s Super Fine.
I love Naomi Campbell. She speaks her mind, takes a backseat to no one. She’s an icon. Every encounter with her I’ve had (we’re not friends, just good acquaintances) has been memorably good.
Meantime, Wintour has spent the last month exploiting the memory of Andre Leon Talley. She’s running features in Vogue and writing about him as if she never fired him and he didn’t write a book about her. YouTube is flooded with videos of Andre, the legendary expression of tonight’s event, complaining about his treatment when he was alive.
You wonder why the weather is so bad today? Karma.
Many other celebs passing on the Met Ball this year. Check back later when the Halloween Parade begins.
This is tonight’s “60 Minutes” take down of Donald Trump in which one interviewee suggests a protection racket is going on from the White House.
Scott Pelley’s clearly and concisely explains what Trump is trying to do to kill The Rule of Law, and bring down law firms who have opposed him in the past.
Just watch it. “60 Minutes” is kicking ass now, rather than kowtow to the insanity.
You look at his dull, bloated face slathered in some kind polyurethane and think, What else can he do to harm us?
Now Donald Trump, determined to cut world culture off from us and vice versa, has found a new lunatic scheme.
He’s going to put a tariff on all films made outside the United States. He’s obviously not voting in Best International Feature. His rationale is that “Hollywood is dying,” which it’s not.
But maybe his Hollywood ambassadors — or imbeciles — Mel Gibson, Jon Voight, and Sylvester Stallone — have convinced him this is their diplomatic duty.
Gibson should be thrilled. His “Passion of the Christ 2” is reportedly going to shoot at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios. Additional filming locations will include ancient Southern Italian towns like Matera, Ginosa, Gravina Laterza, and Altamura. Other reported locations include Malta, Israel, and Morocco.
Has anyone told Trump that “Passion 2” will need a tariff, according to his plan?
Trump is a buffoon who posts first, and never thinks later. But imagine that phone call from Mel right now. Or from Trump’s other buddies like Dennis Quaid, Vince Vaughn, and so on?
One segment is on freezing the biological clock, with Lesley Stahl.
But it’s Scott Pelley”s report on “The Rule of Law” that will cause a stir.
This will be a searing look at Donald Trump’s major court loss this week. On Friday a federal judge permanently blocked President Trump’s executive order that targeted the law firm Perkins Coie, ruling the order was unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, an Obama appointee, issued a permanent injunction barring the enforcement of any part of Trump’s order from March, which focused on the firm’s representation of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and its work with billionaire donor George Soros.
The judge wrote: “No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue in this lawsuit targeting a prominent law firm with adverse actions to be executed by all Executive branch agencies but, in purpose and effect, this action draws from a playbook as old as Shakespeare, who penned the phrase: ‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.'”
She said Trump’s order — another step in his vendetta against the government, and all of us, “violates the Constitution and is thus null and void.”
The judge’s order comes as many major law firms in got so scared of Trump that they started making onerous deals with him to avoid retaliation. Paul Weiss Rifkind and Skadden Arps are among them, causing backlash within the legal community. A protest letter was signed by dozens of the latter firm’s alumni.
Pelley will not quit investigating the corruption of the Trump government despite the ousting of the show’s executive producer — and his producer — Bill Owens. Pelley offered a seething commentary on the show last week against Paramount and owner Shari Redstone.
Redstone had reportedly complained that “60 Minutes” — currently being sued by Trump — was supposed to let her know about sensitive segments. (Pelley had just previously had a headline making interview with Ukraine president Zelensky.) It’s hard to believe she doesn’t know about tonight’s segment. The values of CBS — called the Tiffany network — and “60 Minutes” — the gold standard in news — must be upheld. Otherwise, we are cooked.
PS Scott Pelley rocks. His pieces are so well written you can listen to them on the radio and feel completely drawn in. He wasn’t appreciated when he was the anchor of “CBS Evening News.”
Netflix has just dropped its Mark Twain Prize special for Conan O’Brien. There were no press links in advance and this is why: the 90 minute show is a brutal and brilliant roast of Donald Trump.
Since Conan accepted the prize before Trump announced he was taking over the Kennedy Center there was speculation this special would be heavily edited. It’s very well edited, but no one holds back eviscerating Trump and is administration. One comic says it’s probably “the last Mark Twain prize.” David Letterman invokes “the resistance.”
There’s a Murderer’s Row of A list comics starting Robert Smigel and his Triumph the Insult Dog, the night’s narrator. Then John Mulaney has a blistering opening, calling the Kennedy Center “the Roy Cohen Pavilion for Big Strong, Men Who Love ‘Cats’.” Immediately we know where we’re going.
Some of the more vicious comments come from Sarah Silverman, who jokes she liked it when Conan was “America’s only orange asshole.” She adds that “The guy who took over loves grabbing pussy.”
Silverman, the sweetest dirty comic ever, is outdone in the mildly filthy department by Adam Sander, has unprintable things to say about Conan’s freckled anatomy.
The only way out of this when Trump hears about it today is to say he “let” O’Brien and co have one last rodeo. But that’s not going to work. This special is a rare moment to let everyone who’s endured the last 100 days finally blow off steam and feel like a weight has been lifted.
The rest of the all-Star cast also includes David Letterman, Stephen Colbert, Conan sidekick Andy Richter, Bill Burr, Tracy Morgan, Kumail Nanjiani, plus Paul Rudd, and Fred Armisen sending up Conan’s matriculation at Harvard, Trump’s sworn enemy. Nikki Glaser, who’s having quite a year, introduces an O’Brien character, The Interrupter, who’s revealed as a member of the Trump cabinet (spoiler not here).
And don’t worry, the whole show starts with something Trump will secretly love but claim to hate, the Masturbating Bear. (The Bear dances around the stage vividly.)
I’d been asking people involved in the production if any censoring of material was going on backstage. It doesn’t seem like it, although maybe one day we’ll see the outtakes. Netflix has been brave (yes, I said it) in letting this rip, the result will be Emmy nominations and maybe some wins. Stay til the end for a terrific musical finale featuring O’Brien on electric guitar playing a song Trump tried to coop during his campaigns.
PS Leave the closed captions on. One of the comics mangles a word, but the caption writer interpreted it as “Dissension.” And they say there no coincidences!
Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” had a pretty good Thurs-Fri opening night.
The result is that the Avengers are back, or at least the New Avengers.
With a total opening of $31 million, “Thunderbolts” will pick up another $40-or-$50 million Saturday and Sunday.
***********SPOILERS*********
Why the asterisk, you might ask? Not to give it away, but “Thunderbolts” is actually not the title of the movie. Go to theater to find out what’s going on. Avengers fans won’t be disappointed.
So there’s life in this thing after all. Looks like “Thunderbolts*” is not only a hit but a clever, meta idea that should whet the appetites of Avengers fans for the next trilogy with Dr. Doom and pals.
The other big story, of course, is that “Sinners” continues to be sold out and a total smash hit. I have a question, though. Why is the main character named Sammy Moore? Set in Memphis among R&B and blues, it would seem to be a tribute to the late Sam Moore of Sam & Dave. Maybe someone who knows Ryan Coogler can ask him. (I haven’t seen him since “Fruitvale Station.”)
No box office report for “Rust,” Alec Baldwin’s unfortunate movie. It’s only in a handful of theaters, and no one’s going anyway. Tell me again why they finished this movie.
Voluble, entertaining, and soimetimes concerning Jack Schlossberg has gone MIA from social media.
The JFK grandson, who posts many times a day on both Instagram and Twitter (X), hasn’t said a word since Thursday.
Actually, that post was an odd one, in which he misspelled the name of Yankee great Lou Gehrig, and never corrected it. Gehrig appeared because Jack quoted him: Lou GHERIG said “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth” SAME !! Why ? Great parents and friends, and my good health.
This Tweet sounds like a lot like Holden Caulfield and not at all the acerbic wit and biting commentary we are used to from Schlossberg.
Prior to that, Jack had posted on April 28th on both his platforms.
The grandson of our much mourned president, John F. Kennedy, wrote: LETS INVESTIGATE ALL THE ASSASSINATION PLOTS EXCEPT !!! NOT THE ONE WE STAGED LAST SUMMER”
Over on Instagram, Jack’s last was a picture of JD Vance over a plate of pasta under melting butter. He wrote: NOODLES WITH BUTTER — JD’s spirit animal
Why? Who knows?
Jack is either on a mental health break from socials, or he’s prepping his costume for Monday night’s Met Gala. He’s previously said he was boycotting the Gala, telling Anna Wintour this isn’t the time for it. Will he show up as a dandy? Even without a ticket, no one will turn him away. Now, that would be entertaining!
Donald Trump is mocking Catholics, the Vatican, and the Pope.
He posted a photo shopped picture of himself dressed as a pope, on his Truth Social.
And on the official White House account on Elon Musk’s X!
I guess his base won’t find this disrespectful to the Pontiff.
It’s Trump himself posting it, not jerks on the internet or kids or whatever.
This week, Trump was the only dignitary to wear not a black suit but a blue one that glowed under the sun in the outside funeral of Pope Francis. He looked like a fool trying to get attention at an incredibly serious moment in history.
It’s Suzanne Vega. The New York rock-pop-folk star has dropped her first album in 10 years. It’s full of hits, of course.
Vega came to us in the mid 80s after the Carly-Carole-Joni era. She was a very astute heir to the female singer songwriter genre, and she really lasted. Now she’s a prototype for Taylor-Billie-Lana and all the new players in the field.
Among Suzanne’s hits were the immortal, “Luka,” plus “Marlene on the Wall.” And she wrote “Tom’s Diner,” such a transcendent record that it became one of the most sampled records of all time.
At one point, a compilation of “Tom’s Diner” covers was released to acclaim. It included the “Tom’s Diner” version of the “I Dream of Jeannie” theme song.
Suzanne’s last album came in 2014, so the new “Flying with Angels” is a pleasant surprise. About a year ago she told me at a dinner that “FLying” was on its way. What she didn’t tell me is that it would lead with the hilarious rockin’ punk neo-B52s “Rats,” which deserves to be a cult hit, especially in New York.
“Flying” is so rich with great songs that the next single, “Chambermaid,” interpolating Bob Dylan’s “I Want You,” is just a beginning. I’m already in love with “Alley,” “Galway,” and “Lucinda.” This is not a quiet collection. It’s a happily noisy reclaiming of a crown.
