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Exclusive: Woody Allen Going to MARS? French Distributor Trying to Make Deal for “Rainy Day in New York” Despite Amazon Lawsuit

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Woody Allen has always been popular in France. So this EXCLUSIVE report makes sense,

I am told that MARS Films, Woody’s long time Drench distributor, is trying to make deal to release “A Rainy Day in New York” in France.

The movie, starring Timothee Chalamet, Jude Law, Rebecca Hall, and Elle Fanning among others, has been sidelined by Allen’s problems with Amazon. Ready for release, “Rainy Day” got caught in the #MeToo movement– inaccurately. The result was Amazon deciding unilaterally not to release the newest film by one of our greatest auteurs.

Consequently, Allen has sued Amazon for $68 million for failing to release “Rainy” and finish their deal which included four more films.

MARS, run by Stephane Célérier, has been Woody’s French distributor for years. Even if a small Allen film doesn’t do well in America, the French are his ardent admirers. Last year, Celerier wrote a long essay in a French magazine supporting Allen.

He wrote: “I have been shocked by the wave of hate provoked by the Woody Allen affair, particularly in the United States and on the social networks, and by the lack of rigor by certain media outlets and the pack which condemns without looking into the full facts.”

Célérier said it was time “to examine the facts with attention…That is the approach I have decided to take. Simply to get to the bottom of the truth, to understand whether I’ve been working closely with a paedophile all these years.”

“He has always in my eyes been a man of incredible intelligence as well as discreet and courteous. But his talent and his effervescent creativity don’t make a saint. The admiration I have for the man and the cineaste is real but have not influenced the steps I have taken to ask questions.”

“It seems clear to me that Woody Allen should not be classified in the same category as the sexual predators recently denounced by Hollywood and end his days as a pariah whose work should be burned,” he wrote.

“But it seems complicated today, impossible even, to stand-up for Woody Allen’s innocence without prompting violent reactions and accusations that I am sacrificing the rights of women for economic gain.”

We can debate the whole Woody-Mia saga forever. But the facts are, Woody was cleared of everything. Nothing happened. Mia Farrow has waged a PR war with him since 1992. Then her son with Woody, Ronan Farrow, who was 5 years old at the time, picked up the baton. He has been hypnotized by his mother into believing everything she says. He probably thinks Frank Sinatra is his father.

I really hope “Rainy Day” gets released in France and other smart territories abroad. If Célérier can make his deal, he will have to withstand crazy backlash PR. But I think the French are more open minded.

One last thing: every single #MeToo perpetrator has been accused by multiple victims. The only case to ever follow Woody is just this one, which was alleged during a custody battle. That’s it. And meanwhile, Mia Farrow’s brother, John, continues to serve time in a Maryland prison, convicted of actual child molestation. Mia has never addressed that subject.

Oscar Nominated Screenwriting Legend Paul Schrader Speaks Up on Facebook Now that Awards Season Is Over: He’d Still Like to Work with Kevin Spacey

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Paul Schrader is one of the great filmmakers, writers, directors of all time. But he was nominated for his first Oscar this year for writing “First Reformed,” which he directed, starring Ethan Hawke.

Indie A24 distributed “First Reformed” and apparently they told Paul– who’s only written “Raging Bull,” “Taxi Driver,” written and directed his own “Affliction”– to keep off Facebook and hold his tongue until Oscar season was over.

It’s over. PS You must see “First Reformed” however you can– in theater, on Netflix, Amazon, etc. It’s so brilliant.

Paul posted this last night to Facebook. It’s a gem:

“Hello. Last fall, after I admitted that I’d like to work with Kevin Spacey, A24 requested that I stay off from FB until award season was over. It’s over and I’m out of FB jail. What happened while I was gone? (1) saw Phosphorescent and did a conversation with Matthew Houck (2) spent Christmas eve with Glenn Close and my family in Xmas costumes (3) Jeff Berg, my agent and friend of 45 years, gave me a reception in his Pacific Palisades home for the Hollywood 70s crowd (4) Dan Smith of Italian fashion firm Isaia gave me a fabulous tuxedo–thanks! (5) ran into Spike Lee, Alfonso Cuaron, Pavel Paveloski, Bo Burnham and Barry Jenkins so often at so many ceremonies and events I never need to see them again (7) realized I didn’t really miss FB that much (8) got enmeshed in a process that made me care about awards I didn’t even respect (8) learned anew never to underestimate the power of mediocrity.”

Michael Cohen’s Congressional Testimony Today Will Get All Our Attention: “He is a racist, he is a con man, he is a cheat”

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Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, starts testifying this morning in front of Congress. Thanks to the New York Times, we know what Cohen will say about Trump in his opening remarks:

Cohen will say:

“I am ashamed of my own failings, and I publicly accepted responsibility for
them by pleading guilty in the Southern District of New York. I am ashamed of my weakness and misplaced loyalty – of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him.
I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr. Trump’s illicit acts rather than listening to
my own conscience. I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is.
He is a racist.
He is a conman.
He is a cheat.”
Trump will be in Hanoi on his Vietnam trip, watching this live on TV. The ironies are huge. Trump got out of serving in the Vietnam War because he was rich and his daddy, Fred Trump, arranged for him to have bone spurs. Now Trump is finally in Vietnam, and his whole criminal enterprise is going to be exposed to the world.
Entertainment news will suffer. But isn’t this entertainment news? As my dear late friend Liz Smith said to me three summers ago, “Show business is politics now, honey.” She was so right.

Cannes Jury Leader Will Be Oscar Winner (Birdman, The Revenant) Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu

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The 2019 Cannes jury should be interesting. The festival has announced the leader, and it’s Alejandro Gonzales Innaritu, multiple Oscar winner for “Birdman” and “The Revenant.” He won back to back Oscars for writing and directing each of those, and leading “Birdman” to a Best Picture win.

Innaritu has also won awards for movies like “Babel,” “Buitiful,” and “Amores Perros.”

So hold on: maybe he’ll choose Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron to join him, plus Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz. They’ll make it all Mexico and Spain. It would be a great theme for Cannes! All Oscar winners and nominees from those countries. We’ll drive Trump crazy!

Add to that the very strong possibility of a new Pedro Almodovar movie called “Pain and Glory” starring Antonio Banderas and Penelope.

I’m in!

PS I’d love it if Cannes would show Woody Allen’s “Rainy Night in New York.” So would the French!

Yikes! Oscar Winning “Platoon” Producer Arnold Kopelson and “Star Wars” Producer Gary Kurtz Also Omitted from In Memoriam

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I’m getting all kinds of emails this evening about the Oscars In Memoriam– and I’m on plane!!

The Academy really really goofed. They left out Oscar winning “Platoon” producer Arnold Kopelson and Gary Kurtz, nominated for producing “Star Wars.”

Jeez Louise.

Arnold Kopelson was beloved. Beloved! He also produced movies like “The Fugitive” and “US Marshalls.” The Kopelsons are an integral part of the Hollywood community for more than 40 years. What went wrong here? You can’t believe the mail I got on this one.

Gary Kurtz not only produced the original “Star Wars” movie, now called “A New Hope,” but he also co-produced George Lucas’s “America Graffiti” with Francis Ford Coppola, his first Oscar nomination. He also produced “The Empire Strikes Back” (the second “Star Wars” movie at that time), and Monte Hellman’s classic “Two Lane Blacktop.”

Yesterday I wrote about the other glaring omissions including Carol Channing and Stanley Donen.

It seems like if we’re going to support the new, very expensive Academy Museum, then we’ve got to pay respects to the people who made the museum possible content-wise.

So I will make this offer to the Academy for next year. Free of charge, no salary, nothing– I will personally vet the In Memoriam names starting mid December right  through the morning of the Oscars– February 9, 2020. Please, let me do it. No one wants mistakes like these. And I’m happy to help.

UPDATE from 2016: In an “LA Minute” Movie Producer and 2 Music Producers Charged with Fraud by the SEC

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This is one for the books. In 2016 I wrote about a movie called “In an LA Minute” that had been shut down while shooting in Savannah, Georgia. It involved a movie producer and two music producers, one of whom was named Michael Flanders. The movie eventually was released last August and made a stunning five thousand and four dollars. Yes, a total of $5,004.

Three years later, the SEC has indicted all three on charges of fraud. The SEC says the three alleged con men conned investors in that movie. Ha! “L.A. Minute” was had that non starter release, no one ever knew about, most forgot about it.  I sure did.

This is where it gets good. A couple of weeks ago, Flanders had a mutual friend call me and ask if I could take down my 2016 story. It was affecting his business, and nothing had ever come of the story. Flanders himself called and asked me to take it down. My story was always coming up when someone Googled his name. As gesture of good will in the new year, I said OK, why not? I took down the story.

Imagine my surprise this evening to get a press release from the SEC. They indicted these three schmoes. They’re saying Flanders induced two people to invest money into a movie that had no other investors, then kept $28,500. It’s not even a lot of money, really. But look at the way he played me. The guy is smooth. He was lying in December 2016 when I published the original story. He certainly knew a couple of weeks ago that the SEC was going to indict him.

I hope the SEC makes their case stick.

Anyway, when you think of it, Mel Brooks was really prescient with “The Producers.”

I’ve republished the original article, and you can read the SEC indictment at the link above.

 

Lady Gaga, Queen Conquer the iTunes Charts After Oscar Performances Score with the Audience

The Oscars have been a boon to those who performed on the show.

Lady Gaga has three of the top 5 singles on the iTunes chart from “A Star is Born.” “Shallow” is number 1. Even her song “One Million Reasons” is in the top 20.

The soundtrack album to “A Star is Born” is back at number 1 as well. another version is number 5.

Two of Bradley Cooper’s songs from the movie are hits, too.

In between Queen is the filling for a Gaga sandwich. The soundtrack to “Bohemian Rhapsody” is number 2. Spots three and four are Queen greatest hits albums. “A Night at the Opera” is number 49.

Queen also has 13 singles on the iTunes top 100. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is number 7. You’d think Brian May could have been nicer when I ran into him later. Even his wife couldn’t figure out what was bugging him.

Meanwhile Ludwig Göransson’s Oscar winning score to “Black Panther” is at number 50 on iTunes. But the nominated Kendrick Lamar song “All the Stars” is nowhere to be seen. Lamar declined to perform on the show. He has a Pulitzer Prize! Isn’t that enough?

Academy In Memoriam Segment Snubbed Carol Channing, Stanley Donen, Sondra Locke, Verne Troyer, John Mahoney

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As usual, the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars has caused a trouble over who they omitted.

The most egregious error was Carol Channing. An actual past Oscar nominee, she was also a beloved entertainer. When she died, there was a real outpouring of love for her. This is where the show was tone deaf.

Also not included: the great John Mahoney, famous for “Frasier” on TV, but a movie actor with a substantial resume including “Moonstruck.”

The Academy also snubbed Sondra Locke, Verne Troyer, and Lee Ermey. Not nice. They also left out Mark Urman, who was so important for producing and distributing good films and died recently at age 66.

The worst, though, was Stanley Donen. Granted, he just died a few days ago, but in this digital age how hard could it be to drop a slide into the montage? He made “Singin’ in  the Rain,” the greatest movie musical.

It also would have been nice to use the music of Michel Legrand with the slides.

I’m sure there were  others left in the cold. Apparently, getting onto that list requires as much campaigning as getting an Oscar. One relative of someone who made the final cut told me he had to spend quite a bit of time lobbying the Academy, not to mention money on clip reels to make his point.

Oscars: After All That the Ratings Went Up 6 Percent Without a Host, or Kendrick Lamar, or Involving “Real People”

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There was no host, we know that whole story.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar, nominated for Best Song for “All the Stars,” wouldn’t perform for any of the stars. The reason? “He wanted to make it all about Black Lives Matter,” said one source. The other, he wanted a huge stage production. His “song,” as turns out, can’t just be performed on a stage, simply.

There was no involvement with “real people”– no one got pizza or cookies, or whatever. There was no wading into the audience for selfies.

It was just a clean, economic Oscars. And surprise! The ratings went up. Six percent. More people watched than in many years.

One definite help: the Grammy-ing of the show. Queen opened with Adam Lambert replacing Freddie Mercury. (If only someone had replaced Brian May. He’s quite unfriendly in person.) Also increasing interest were Bette Midler, Jennifer Hudson, and obviously the pairing of Lady Gaga with  Bradley Cooper.

This year, 29.6 million people watched, up from 26.5 million last year. And last year was down down down from prior years.

In Hollywood, success means that’s the way it will go next time. So next year, when the Oscars air two unholy weeks earlier on February 9th, expect no host, a big rock band or Beyonce opening the show, and a very efficient set up. No more yada yada. Just cut to the chase.

Oscars (Full List of Winner) Wouldn’t Have Brought John Lewis to LA for Nothing– They Knew “Green Book” Would Win

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Donna Gigliotti did a kick ass job producing the Academy Awards. The show moved fast, the performances were all memorable, and no one noticed the absence of a host.

But they could easily have asked Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph to host the show. They were phenomenal.

At some point in every Oscar show you know where things are heading. When “Green Book” won Best Screenplay, that was the first indication they had Best Picture. But also, when legendary congressman John Lewis came to present the “Green Book” clip, I knew the movie had won. You don’t just drag John Lewis to the Oscars for nothing. That’s no fluke.

I’ve been covering the Oscars for a long, long time. This was the most inclusive, multi-cultural it’s ever been.

The biggest surprise, of course, was Glenn Close losing to Olivia Colman for Best Actress. What does Close have to do to get that statue? I am hopeful she will make the movie musical of “Sunset Boulevard” ASAP. She will win hands down, trust me.

I spent quite a bit of time in the bar off the side of the stage. WHen Mahershala Ali won, there was thunderous applause. When Close lost there was a gasp that sounded like a wind tunnel. During Lady Gaga’s performance with Bradley Cooper, you could hear a pin drop. When “Green Book” won, there was cheering.

PS “Green Book” is a wonderful film. It’s an accurate memoir of a friendship between Tony Vallelonga and Don Shirley. The anger toward it is misguided and fabricated. They save each other, in the end. It’s exactly what a Best Picture should be– something that has a Big Idea. Would the naysayers prefer these two men had never met? It’s utterly ridiculous.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk” (WINNER)
Amy Adams in “Vice”
Marina de Tavira in “Roma”
Emma Stone in “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz in “The Favourite”

Best documentary feature

“Free Solo” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill (WINNER)
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening” RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim
“Minding the Gap” Bing Liu and Diane Quon
“Of Fathers and Sons” Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert
“RBG” Betsy West and Julie Cohen

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

“Vice” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney (WINNER)
“Border” Goran Lundstrom and Pamela Goldammer
“Mary Queen of Scots” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks

Achievement in costume design

“Black Panther” Ruth Carter (WINNER)
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Mary Zophres
“The Favourite” Sandy Powell
“Mary Poppins Returns” Sandy Powell
“Mary Queen of Scots” Alexandra Byrne

Achievement in production design

“Black Panther” production design: Hannah Beachler; set decoration: Jay Hart (WINNER)
“The Favourite” production design: Fiona Crombie; set decoration: Alice Felton
“First Man” production design: Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Kathy Lucas
“Mary Poppins Returns” production design: John Myhre; set decoration: Gordon Sim
“Roma” production design: Eugenio Caballero; set decoration: Barbara Enriquez

Achievement in cinematography

“Roma” Alfonso Cuaron (WINNER)
“Cold War” Lukasz Zal
“The Favourite” Robbie Ryan
“Never Look Away” Caleb Deschanel
“A Star Is Born” Matthew Libatique

Achievement in sound editing

“Bohemian Rhapsody” John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone (WINNER)
“Black Panther” Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker
“First Man” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“A Quiet Place” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“Roma” Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay

Achievement in sound mixing

“Bohemian Rhapsody” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali (WINNER)
“Black Panther” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin
“First Man” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis
“Roma” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and Jose Antonio Garcia
“A Star Is Born” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow

Best foreign language film of the year

“Roma” Mexico (WINNER)
“Capernaum” Lebanon
“Cold War” Poland
“Never Look Away” Germany
“Shoplifters” Japan

Achievement in film editing

“Bohemian Rhapsody” John Ottman (WINNER)
“BlacKkKlansman” Barry Alexander Brown
“The Favourite” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
“Green Book” Patrick J. Don Vito
“Vice” Hank Corwin

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Mahershala Ali in “Green Book” (WINNER)
Adam Driver in “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott in “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell in “Vice”

Best animated feature film of the year

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (WINNER)
“Incredibles 2” Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle
“Isle of Dogs” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
“Mirai” Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Clark Spencer

Best animated short film

“Bao” Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb (WINNER)
“Animal Behaviour” Alison Snowden and David Fine
“Late Afternoon” Louise Bagnall and Nuria Gonzalez Blanco
“One Small Step” Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
“Weekends” Trevor Jimenez

Best documentary short subject

“Period. End of Sentence.” Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton (WINNER)
“Black Sheep” Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
“End Game” Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat” Skye Fitzgerald and Bryn Mooser
“A Night at The Garden” Marshall Curry

Achievement in visual effects

“First Man” Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm (WINNER)
“Avengers: Infinity War” Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick
“Christopher Robin” Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould
“Ready Player One” Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy

Best live action short film

“Skin” Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman (WINNER)
“Detainment” Vincent Lambe and Darren Mahon
“Fauve” Jeremy Comte and Maria Gracia Turgeon
“Marguerite” Marianne Farley and Marie-Helene Panisset
“Mother” Rodrigo Sorogoyen and Maria del Puy Alvarado

Original screenplay

“Green Book” written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly (WINNER)
“The Favourite” written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
“First Reformed” written by Paul Schrader
“Roma” written by Alfonso Cuaron
“Vice” written by Adam McKay

Adapted screenplay

“BlacKkKlansman” written by Charlie Wachtel and David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee (WINNER)
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
“If Beale Street Could Talk” written for the screen by Barry Jenkins
“A Star Is Born” screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper and Will Fetters

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Black Panther” Ludwig Goransson (WINNER)
“BlacKkKlansman” Terence Blanchard
“If Beale Street Could Talk” Nicholas Britell
“Isle of Dogs” Alexandre Desplat
“Mary Poppins Returns” Marc Shaiman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” music and lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt (WINNER)
“All The Stars” from “Black Panther” music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe
“I’ll Fight” from “RBG” music and lyrics by Diane Warren
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” music by Marc Shaiman; lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” music and lyrics by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody” (WINNER)
Christian Bale in “Vice”
Bradley Cooper in “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe in “At Eternity’s Gate”
Viggo Mortensen in “Green Book”

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Olivia Colman in “The Favourite” (WINNER)
Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma”
Glenn Close in “The Wife”
Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Achievement in directing

“Roma” Alfonso Cuaron (WINNER)
“BlacKkKlansman” Spike Lee
“Cold War” Pawel Pawlikowski
“The Favourite” Yorgos Lanthimos
“Vice” Adam McKay

Best motion picture of the year

“Green Book” Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, producers (WINNER)
“Black Panther” Kevin Feige, producer
“BlacKkKlansman” Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, producers
“Bohemian Rhapsody” Graham King, producer
“The Favourite” Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos, producers
“Roma” Gabriela Rodriguez and Alfonso Cuaron, producers
“A Star Is Born” Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor, producers
“Vice” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, producers