The great song stylist Nancy Wilson has died at age 81. Nancy Wilson was not a big chart hit maker. But she was a lovely singer who was widely respected in the jazz world. She moved into R&B and was a popular and sought after performer on TV and on Broadway. She won three Grammy awards, and hosted her own TV variety show in the mid 60s. I would liken her to singers such as Dianne Reeves, or even Norah Jones. She’s been out of the spotlight for a few years. But I expect a Renaissance today as she was a “singer’s singer.” Condolences to her family. One of the greats.
RIP Great Jazz and R&B Singer Nancy Wilson, 81, Winner of Three Grammy Awards
(Listen) Miley Cyrus Drops a Cover of John and Yoko’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” with Sean Lennon, Mark Ronson
Coming at midnight, the full version. I guess they’ll do it on “SNL” this weekend. So glad Miley has come out of her “Wrecking Ball” period. She has a great voice. I really like her “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart.”
Dropping @ midnight! #WarIsOver @MarkRonson @seanonolennon pic.twitter.com/6Ad6yrbzyP
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) December 14, 2018
“NCIS” Mess: Report that “Bull” Star Michael Weatherly Caused $9 Mil Sex Harassment Suit with Eliza Dushku
It wasn’t that long ago that we were writing about the poor treatment Pauley Perrette received before she left “NCIS” after 15 years.
A few years back I had heard about Lauren Holly’s similar treatment on “NCIS.” These shows are no country for young women, as it were.
Recently, Brad Kern, show runner for “NCIS New Orleans” was fired for mistreatment of women on the show including making racial comments.
Now it turns out that the golden boy of “NCIS,” Michael Weatherly, caused CBS to settle $9 million on another actress, Eliza Dushku, who was treated badly on his spin off show, “Bull.”
According to the New York Times, ” In front of the cast and crew, Mr. Weatherly remarked on her appearance, and made a rape joke and a comment about a threesome. Shortly after Ms. Dushku confronted the star about his behavior, she was written off the show. She believed her time on “Bull” came to a sudden end as a result of retaliation.”
Dushku went into mediation with CBS and received $9.5 million, what she would have earned if she’d stayed with “Bull” for four seasons. She’s not unlike countless actresses who are now recounting stories of careers ruined or stymied by men in power to whom they did not accede. Just today, Cybill Shepherd said in an interview that after she turned CBS chief Les Moonves down, her show “Cybill” was canceled after four seasons. The ratings weren’t great anyway. But Shepherd feels that way and she was there, not us.
The crazy quid pro quo offers at CBS about women and shows does make you question a lot of the decisions made in the last two decades.
It certainly begs the question about why some shows have been cancelled, or actresses have “exited” different series in prime time and in daytime.
The Times says that in an emailed statement Weatherly apologized for his behavior with Ms. Dushku.
“During the course of taping our show, I made some jokes mocking some lines in the script,” Mr. Weatherly said in the statement. “When Eliza told me that she wasn’t comfortable with my language and attempt at humor, I was mortified to have offended her and immediately apologized. After reflecting on this further, I better understand that what I said was both not funny and not appropriate and I am sorry and regret the pain this caused Eliza.”
Weatherly, who was once married to “Young and the Restless” star Amelia Heinle, was always considered Les Moonves’s protege. Moonves literally groomed Weatherly out of “NCIS” into a succeeding hit, “Bull.” Back in September Weatherly declined to comment about Moonves’s scandal at CBS. He told USA Today: “Not to get into any of the ifs, ands or buts about what is right or wrong and where it comes from,” Weatherly said in a recent interview. “Professionally I owe a great part of my career to the decision-making of the higher-ups at the company. It’s a complicated place to be.”
#Bull star Michael Weatherly on the Les Moonves situation at CBS https://t.co/bIam2Ru9n3 pic.twitter.com/F2OgSZsykI
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) September 20, 2018
Rock Hall Names 2019 Inductees Including Janet Jackson, Def Leppard, But Group Claims $4.7 Mil Loss on 2017 Barclays Center Show
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees for 2019 are Janet Jackson, Roxy Music, The Zombies, Stevie Nicks, Def Leppard, The Cure, and Radiohead.
Jackson, Roxy Music, and the Zombies came via the nominating committee. The others were the top vote-getters from the public vote on the RRHOF website.
Roxy Music and the Zombies should have been in there long ago. Radiohead, in my opinion, is ridiculous. They’re like drones. But hey.
I would urge the Hall to induct Billy Preston as a sideman this year. The only artist ever listed on a record label with the Beatles, Preston is a glaring omission from the Hall. He played on so many hits, and with so many stars, and he had big hits on his own.
Janet Jackson is most welcome, and one of the hardest working people in the history of pop music.
Stevie Nicks — I do hope she has to explain on the red carpet what she did to Lindsey Buckingham. That should be a good story.
In more important news, the RRHOF’s Form 990 tax return states that they had direct expenses of over $5 million in 2017 for their annual induction dinner and concert. That left them $4.7 million in the RED for events. Revenue less expenses totally for the year was MINUS $2 million. The 2017 show was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The group’s CEO, Joel Peresman, made just over $400,000 for the year.
Broadway Review: A New, Re-worked “To Kill a Mockingbird” Has Characters Speaking Up, Drawing Conclusions, Taking Swings
This is not your momma’s Harper Lee.
Aaron Sorkin has famously re-worked “To Kill a Mockingbird,” drawing on minute parts of the original novel and reimagined a world where Calpurnia (LaTanya Richardson) speaks up to Atticus Finch (Jeff Daniels). And Atticus, who used to take Bob Ewell’s spit and wipe it from his cheek with a handkerchief, also now takes a swing at the evil father who abuses his own daughter. He’s a bit more pro-active in 2018.
Think of Atticus Finch. He’s so well known in fiction that the poster for this revival-new production-whatever that he’s featured on the poster with his portrayer, Jeff Daniels. You rarely see a poster like that. It’s Jeff Daniels as Atticus Finch, as if Atticus had been a real person. He was Harper Lee’s creation, but like Holden Caulfield and Quentin Compson, he’s fixed now in the public imagination.
Sorkin has sucked in the novel like a high speed vacuum. He’s consumed it. Not only the novel, but the Robert Mulligan movie, and the specious sequel, “Go Tell a Watchman.” After seeing “Mockingbird”last night at the Belasco, I have this idea that Sorkin is lying on the floor collapsed under a blizzard of Post Its and index cards. He knows more now about Maycomb, Alabama than anyone who was born there. He knows every corner, every minor and terciary character, whether someone sneezed and if Scout saw it. We are not worthy.
Sorkin’s “Mockingbird” is the most comprehensive study of the birds of Alabama — Finches, mockingbirds, all of them — you could hope to find. He’s picked new supporting characters from the novel to highlight, and even combined a couple. Everyone’s a little mouthier now, and there’s some explaining going on that we never needed before. That’s why this is almost three hours including intermission.
But you don’t get “The West Wing” or “The Social Network.” The pace is languid, for Sorkin. The old rat-tat-tat is missing, a good thing. He gets their cadences, and director Bartlett Sher lets everyone take their time telling the stories of Atticus, his kids, Tom Robinson and Boo Radley. Sorkin also breaks up the chronology of the book and the movie, making Tom’s trial the opening scenario and then suspending it to fill us in. Sorkin grabs us by the lapels and drags us into these people’s lives.
Jeff Daniels worked with Aaron Sorkin on “The Newsroom” TV show, so they know each other well enough. Daniels is not Gregory Peck. He lumbers on stage. He gives such a knockout performance, you’ll never think of him as anyone else. The Finch children are played by adults here– it reminded me at first of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown.” But Celia Keenan- Bolger, Will Pullen and Gideon Glick are nimble as adults conveying pre-tweens. Keenan-Bolger makes for a masterful conscience and point of view narrator. Maybe the hardest role is Bob Ewell, the villain. If you get that right, you’re in. Frederick Weller is superb.
In the movie, the black people barely spoke. Here, Sorkin has given them a lot to say, especially Tom (Gbenga Akinnagbe) and finally Calpurnia the nanny-maid-housekeeper. She is now described akin as a sister to Atticus. LaTanya Richardson bides her time, and for a while I wished she was more voluble. But Sorkin saves her for last– and in the final part of the second act we get a new Calpurnia, who speaks as an equal. Richardson is dynamite, saying all the things now that Calpurnia has probably been thinking all these years.
Any quibbles are minor. Sorkin has added quite a bit of joking around. Some of it seemed a little sit-comy. A couple of routines that landed in punchlines almost threw off his rhythm. But as a woman sitting next to me said at intermission, the story is so awful, you need a little relief every now and then. I’ll go with that.
Cool Clint Does it Again: Eastwood’s “The Mule” Enters the Oscar Contest Late, But the 88 Year Old Director Has Another Hit
Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” opens Friday with little fanfare, nearly forgotten in the rush by Oscarnosticators to crown “A Star is Born” or “Roma” movie of the year.
And yet, Clint, who is 88, gets the last laugh. “The Mule” is funny and sad, with terrific performances, a strong central story, and high commercial appeal. If only anyone had seen it before the awards marathon…But still, there’s time for the Academy Awards, and I urge all the pundits and voters to take “The Mule” seriously.
Clint plays Earl Stone– this is inspired by the New York Times Magazine article “The Sinaloa Cartel’s 90-Year Old Drug Mule” by Sam Dolnick. Nick Schenck wrote the screenplay. A bad father and husband, Earl (Leo Sharp in real life) is the life of the party but has always neglected his family. He’s estranged from his daughter (played very well by his real daughter, Alison Eastwood) and his ex-wife (Dianne Wiest in a Best Supporting worthy performance). He’s never been a provider, and as we meet him he’s being foreclosed on.
With his belongings packed into his truck, a down on his luck Earl is approached to be a drug mule for “the cartel” because he loves to drive and needs the money. He will move drugs between his home in Illinois and Mexico. Earl is the perfect decoy since no one will take an old man seriously. His main contact is played (with bemusement) by Ignacio Serrcichio, who works for a drug lord (Andy Garcia). Clifton Collins, Jr. turns up later as Garcia’s successor. Meanwhile, DEA agents are trailing Earl– specifically Bradley Cooper and his boss, Laurence Fishburne.
Clint’s Earl is wily and funny. He’s a little like Clint’s character in “Gran Torino,” not a true racist but more of a curmudgeon who doesn’t stop himself from using the N word at least once until he is upbraided. Earl is not a caricature nor is he a meant to be a joke. Eastwood is sly and not stupid, by any means. He sees Earl as a rebuffer of all people, and certainly a questioner of authority– but also one with street smarts. Earl is a quick study. He learns fast, which is how he’s survived.
Eastwood and Schenck were also smart to build quite a bit of self-effacing humor into Earl. So Clint is winking at the audience a little bit, too. And then there’s Eastwood’s direction. There’s a lot of air in “The Mule.” You’re seeing a master at work. He’s in no hurry but then again, he’s got everyone on their toes. His scenes with Cooper and Serricchio are a pleasure.
So are Clint’s scenes with Dianne Wiest. She has two Oscars and nothing to prove. But Wiest finds a place for her Mary, and by the time she exits the stage you’ve come to love her. Clint always installs strong actresses as points of reference. I’ll bet he’s sorry he waited so long to play with Wiest.
Someone on the net made a crack yesterday about the music in “The Mule” saying it was the best thing about the movie– Arturo Sandoval composed the score. Sure, it’s terrific. I also loved the Toby Keith song at the end– and the ending itself is enhanced by it. It just fits perfectly, let’s see it join “Shallow” and “I’ll Fight” and the Poppins song at the Oscars.
I know that when I called Malpaso Productions two weeks ago, they said they’d just finished post-production. “The Mule” comes late to our little game. But audiences are going to love it. And critics should, too. Clint Eastwood makes it look easy. It’s not. It takes a lot of work to pull off this sleight of hand. We should never take it for granted.
Rachel Maddow is KILLING Sean Hannity in the Ratings: 600K Lead Monday, 900K Lead Friday
QUICK UPDATE: Rachel beat Hannity on Tuesday this week also. Wednesday ratings will be in tomorrow. She and Lawrence O’Donnell are like Batman and Robin!
They must be freaking out at Fox News.
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow is literally KILLING Sean Hannity at 9pm.
On Monday Maddow had a 600,000 viewer lead. On Friday she was at 900,000.
All last week Maddow took Hannity to the cleaners. She’s pulling the MSNBC line up with her, too. On Fox, Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson are suffering.
Why? Fox News continues to ignore reality and promotes Donald Trump’s agenda. Or they just bypass whatever is really happening. Even their viewers must turn to a real discussion. Crazy.
Let’s see how Fox News addresses Michael Cohen’s sentencing today. They will probably concentrate on Hillary’s emails.
SAG Awards Go Very Commercial with Nominations for Movie Casts, Bypassing Indie and Art Films
The SAG AWards nominations have been announced. Emily Blunt has two nominations, for lead in “Mary Poppins Returns” and supporting in “A Quiet Place.” Bravo!
But a few people have been left out, notably Nicole Kidman for “Destroyer” and Ryan Gosling and CLaire Foy for “First Man.” Ethan Hawke didn’t make the grade for “First Reformed.”
More notably– no ensemble or cast nomination for “If Beale Street Could Talk” and nothing for Regina King, widely seen as the lead candidate for Best Supporting Actress.
The cast award– formerly Best Ensemble– went to very commercial movies, big hits like “Black Panther” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” This is a seachange. New SAG voters aka new Academy voters are using their ballots to endorse winners. This is a Trump effect. Where are the indie films?
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:
Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”
John David Washington, “BlacKkKlansman”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:
Emily Blunt, “Mary Poppins Returns”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:
Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
Timothee Chalamet, “Beautiful Boy”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:
Amy Adams, “Vice”
Emily Blunt, “A Quiet Place”
Margot Robbie, “Mary Queen of Scots”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:
“A Star Is Born”
“Black Panther”
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Crazy Rich Asians”
“The Voice” Scandal: Backlash Against Star Judge Adam Levine as Teenagers are Allowed to Compete Against Adults — And Win!
I know I may sound naive, but why are teenagers competing against adults on “The Voice”?
Currently the show has four underage girls performing to win on the popular NBC show and one boy. They are Reagan Strange, age 14; Sarah Grace, age 15; Emily Hough., age 16; Mercedes Ferreira-Dias, 17; and Anthony Arya, 16.
The result has been mayhem this week as star judge Adam Levine eliminated an adult male, DeAndre Nico, who is 22, in favor of 14 year old Strange. Strange couldn’t sing live because of a cold or the flu. Nico sung like a star. But Levine decided he had to protect Strange (what a name– we needed her in the 80s), and dismissed Nico.
The social media audience, the live audience, and his other judges (Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson) were very upset. So was Nico. It was quite weird, too, as Nico is poised for a career, and Strange is ready to take tests in 7th grade, at best.
I’m not an expert on “The Voice.” Maybe this happened before. But it does seem as though these children– they are children– are being put in an unnecessary situation. Couldn’t there be a “Voice, Junior”? Isn’t this the equivalent of a beauty pageant, a la Jon Benet Ramsey?
Plus, the teens’ voices are certainly not as developed the singers in their 20s or 30s, nor do they have the emotional heft.
Levine, who hasn’t won a “Voice” competition in 6 seasons with one of his team players, ironically lost big time. After he threw out Nico, the audience voted out Strange. Now Levine, who is held as the star judge, has no players in “The Voice” finale.
Nico, meantime, needs a manager and a record label contract ASAP.
Broadway Tony Award Chess Game: “Network” With Bryan Cranston’s Sizzling Performance Extends til Next April, Goes Against “To Kill a Mockingbird”
This does not come as a surprise.
“Network,” with Bryan Cranston’s sizzling star performance, has extended its run on Broadway through next April 28th, which also happens to be the deadline for Tony Award eligibility.
Cranston should get the Tony, but he will be in a tight race with Jeff Daniels, who opens tomorrow night in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Daniels also gives helluva performance, if not quite as electric. It’s a quieter turn, but just as powerful.
The Tony Award race for Best Actor in a Play has thus become a chess game among producers. What fun!
Both plays are must-see, with lots of supporting performances, too worthy of awards. What’s even more interesting is that both plays can win. “Network” is adapted from its movie, but it’s never been a stage play. “Mockingbird” would appear to be a revival, as it’s been produced before. So they could each win unless producer Scott Rudin insists that Aaron Sorkin’s reworked take on Harper Lee’s material is new. Then we’ll have a quite a fight on our hands!
And that’s what will likely happen. Even though it’s Harper Lee’s characters and plot, “Mockingbird” is listed as a play by Sorkin.
So who will outspend to win the Tony?