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Honorary Oscars to Cicely Tyson, “Mission Impossible” Composer, And a Spielberg Trio: Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, Marvin Levy

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Sometimes the Academy gets it right.

The Lifetime Achievement Oscars, known as the Governor’s Awards, been announced and they are very, very good.

Legendary actress Cicely Tyson, 91, who continues to amaze, is top of the list.

Composer Lalo Schifrin, the man who gave us the “Mission Impossible” music and dozens of other scores, is next.

And then will come a trio very associated with Steven Spielberg. Kathleen Kennedy — now head of LucasFilm– and Frank Marshall, whose credits are a resume of the best films since 1976– will get the Irving Thalberg Award. Start clapping now. Their clip reels will take two days.

Joining this group is our dear pal Marvin Levy, Spielberg’s publicist since “Close Encounters.” He’s the first publicist to receive an honorary Oscar, and it’s much deserved. Marvin– who worked on all the Amblin, Dreamworks, etc movies, many of which Kennedy and Marshall produced– is beloved.

Nicely done, governors.

Ethan Hawke Makes His Masterpiece: “Blaze,” a Sundance Favorite, Is Like a Down and Dirty “Crazy Heart”

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Ethan Hawke is a man for all seasons– actor, director, writer. He’s got a couple of well earned Oscar nominations, too. I’m always interested in what he’s up to, and now he’s made his masterpiece. “Blaze,” a complex, beautifully wrought sort of down and dirty version of “Crazy Hearts,” opens locally this week and nationwide next week. You don’t want to miss it.

Hawke directed and co-wrote with Sybil Rosen, a nice Jewish girl from the South who 30 years ago hooked up with an unknown genius country-blues star named Blaze Foley. It’s no spoiler that Foley died in 1989 at age 39 but because we never really knew him on a national level, his story unwinds as a riveting character study. He’s the guy who didn’t make it, but left behind the legend. A little better known was his comrade in arms, Townes van Zandt, who also died young (1997, age 52) but not before recording up a storm.

Rosen essentially was a Joyce Johnson, Jack Kerouac’s girlfriend who went on to become a famed writer and editor. Rosen wrote a memoir, published in 2008, of her time with these guys, called “Living in the Woods in a Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley.” Ethan Hawke was smart enough to make it into a movie. It’s only taken a decade. The cost is under $2 million. It looks like ten times that at least thanks to cinematographer Steve Cosens. Everyone’s going to want to know how he and Hawke did it.

The actors are newcomers and novices. Ben Dickey, who won a special prize at Sundance, makes an astonishing debut as Blaze, a Charles Bukowski-esque larger than life country blues man way way way ahead of his time– of everyone’s time. Everyone’s going to be asking about Foley now, and Dickey may have some answers. He will wipe you out.

Another wonderful debut comes from Charlie Sexton as heroin-addicted Townes van Zandt. Sexton could be Sam Shepard’s younger brother or Harry Dean Stanton’s son. I have no doubt he will get a couple of Best Supporting Actor nods out of this from the Gotham and Indie Spirits (if the latter can let go of their Oscars wannabe addiction). Sexton is a well known veteran musician who’s toured a lot with Bob Dylan and David Bowie in years past. Watch out for him.  Alia Shawkat, granddaughter of the late journeyman TV actor Paul Burke, also makes an impressive turn as Rosen herself. Josh Hamilton, always an MVP, is their steadfast sidekick.

But it also comes down to Hawke, who just “got” this. Lightning has struck. The chemistry was right. The screenplay fully explores each character and gives depth to people who are not so easy to access on the face of it. Sometimes I wondered if they were living in 1980s Austin or 1930s dust bowl, they are so isolated from the go-go world of Reagan yuppies. But they lived on their own grid, and Hawke has electrified it. So nice to see some real cinema. Again, find this movie, because ads won’t be obvious.

Ratings: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Doc Scores Great Numbers, “RBG” Beats Hannity Special, “Better Call Saul”

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Better call RBG.

The documentary about Supreme Court Justic Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a hit for CNN on Monday night.

The two hour film, eligible for Academy Awards, pulled in 1,725,000 viewers. That’s more than “Better Call Saul” on AMC and close to Rachel Maddow sized numbers.

The excellent two hour movie showed what a real Supreme Court Justice is supposed to be, not the mishegos we’re seeing on TV since then.

“RBG” handily beat a Sean Hannity special on Fox News, which drew 1,352,00 viewers. “RBG” also did double Hannity’s key demo score with a .23. In the over 50 crowd, “RBG” had a 1.25.

Famed NY Art Dealer Mary Boone Pleads Guilty to Filing False Tax Returns One Year After Scamming Alec Baldwin in Painting Switch

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Wow. It’s big news in the New York and worldwide high end art world.

Mary Boone, one of the great, famous art dealers, has pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to lying to the IRS and filing false tax statements. In 2011, she claimed a loss of $52,521 when in fact she made $3.7 million.

Now she has to pay restitution of $3,097,160, which represents the additional tax due and owing as a result of Boone’s filing of false individual and corporate income tax returns for the calendar years 2009, 2010, and 2011. The US Attorney says she “engaged in similar tax fraud schemes for the calendar years 2009 and 2010.  In all, Boone caused the IRS losses totaling over $3 million, not including penalties and interest.”

Boone, 66, could face six years in prison.

Last year, in a separate scandal, Boone was sued by Alec Baldwin over a painting he said he bought but was delivered something else. Baldwin paid $190,000 but got over $1 million in damages from Boone. Ouch!

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in the release:  “Mary Boone, a Manhattan art gallery owner, admitted to cheating the U.S. tax system by blatantly lying about her expenses and playing a shell game with bank accounts to hide her true assets.  While tax evasion may seem like a victimless crime, it isn’t; all Americans must pay their taxes.  And as Boone has learned, tax laws are not abstract.”

IRS-CI Special Agent-in-Charge James D. Robnett added:  “Operating a Manhattan art gallery did not entitle Mary Boone to evade paying her taxes.  It is a felony offense that carries severe consequences.  By falsely claiming millions of dollars of personal expenses as business expenses, Ms. Boone cheated all Americans, since law abiding citizens are expected to pay their fair share.”

Mary, honey, we all go through this. Stop taking cabs. Sign up for VIA. Get rid of Showtime and some of those other channels you don’t watch. Try the generic brands. I just got eyeglass lenses at Costco. I love them! Shop at Century 21. You can do it!

Gwyneth Paltrow Company Goop Settles Civil Suit Over “Jade Eggs,” Will Pay $145K in Fines, Refund Unhappy Customers

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Reality has finally caught up with Gwyneth Paltrow and her GOOP company.

They’ve settled a civil lawsuit with the Santa Clara County, California District Attorney’s office over their $66 Jade vaginal eggs and a similar $55 Rose Quartz Egg.

Goop will pay $145,000 in fines, and return money to disgruntled customers.

According to a release from the DA’s office, the party is over for Paltrow to be making wild claims about her crazy products. “The judgment includes provisions prohibiting Goop from: (1) making any claims regarding the efficacy or effects of any of its products without possessing competent and reliable scientific evidence that substantiates the claims; and (2) manufacturing or selling any misbranded, unapproved, or falsely advertised medical devices.”

Goop “advertised that the Jade and Rose Quartz eggs — egg-shaped stones designed to be inserted vaginally and left in for various lengths of time — could balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles, prevent uterine prolapse, and increase bladder control. Goop advertised that the Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend, a blend of essential oils meant be taken orally or added to bathwater, could help prevent depression.”

Maybe Paltrow could get back to acting. She’s one of the few Oscar winners of the last 25 years not to even be nominated again. She’s become more known in recent years for overpriced products, quacky medical ideas, and lunatic sayings like “conscious uncoupling.” It’s almost as if she’s remaking her father’s beloved TV show, “St. Elsewhere.”

TV: On Returning Kevin Spacey-Free “House of Cards,” Frank Underwood is Most Seriously Dead

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Frank Underwood is dead.

Just like Roseanne Conner, Frank has met his maker thanks to a scandal involving the main actor of a TV series.

In this case, it’s “House of Cards.” Since we last saw Frank, played by Kevin Spacey, he’s gone six feet under. His wife, Claire (Robin Wright) visits him in grave which already has a tombstone.

Spacey was written out of the show for its final season after Spacey became accused of many sexual infelicities.

Roseanne Barr will be killed off her show when it resumes in October because a racist tweet.

 

UPDATE Billy Crystal Ignores Friars Club Scandals Including Sex Harassment Suit, Will Accept Icons Award

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UPDATE SEPTEMBER 13TH, 7PM: Billy Crystal will ignore the scandals at the Friars Club, and accept the Icon Award in November. Let’s hope Federal Agents aren’t in the audience.

EXCLUSIVE Billy Crystal is such a good guy. I’m told he’s almost agreed to host some kind of awards show for the Friars Club this fall.

But good guy Billy lives in Los Angeles, and doesn’t know what’s going on at 57 East 55th St. No one’s told him about the raid by federal postal inspectors on the Friars headquarters on Valentine’s Day 2017. He also doesn’t know about the settled sexual harassment suit brought by a former receptionist.

What Billy really doesn’t know is that the Friars Club is drowning in red ink. I have their 2017 financial report issued by Reardon Accountants on May 24, 2018. The first warning sign in the report should send up red flags at the IRS: We did not audit or review the financial statements nor were we required to perform any procedures to verify the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by management…

“…Management has elected to omit substantially all of the disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. If the omitted disclosures were included in the financial statements, they might influence the user’s conclusions about the Company’s financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.”

What the???

The settlement with Rehanna Almestica, the receptionist who sued for sexual harassment, must have been huge. Almestica claimed that Friars’ celebrity wranger Bruce Charet regularly made sexually explicit phone calls to her and that the Friars Club fired her after she complained.

So it’s not surprised that under Expenses in the Reardon report, the Friars listed $3.8 million for Employee Compensation and Benefits. This number was considerably higher than both their revenue from the restaurants in their club house ($2.3 million) and dues from paying members ($3.2 million). The Friars claimed a net loss “before termination expense and legal and professional fees– extraordinary” — for 2017 of $559,832.

When this report was prepared in May, there was no mention of a pending lawsuit from former employees for over $300,000, recently reported in the New York Post.

The Friars National Association, a 501 (c) 3 charity, has not filed a form 990 tax return, by the way, since 2015.

As for contingencies, the report includes a note from the Club at least conceding they are being scrutinized by the Feds: “In connection with the investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York which commenced in 2017, legal counsel as informed management that the Friars National Association Inc nor any of its officers, directors, or employees have been accused of criminal conduct. The Club has cooperated constructively with the authorities. Legal counsel has not seen proof of criminality in its investigation and believes criminal charges are not a likely result.”

The group concedes in the report that they’re also under a New York State tax audit for the period of March 1, 2013 to August 31, 2015– during which they staged their hugely unsuccessful Lincoln Awards (which incurred $1.6 million in unspecified expenses and was put together by group exec Bruce Charet, the subject of Almestica’s lawsuit.

There’s no response yet from Billy Crystal, but I’m sure he’ll be happy to see all this in black and white before he agrees to pitch in– no matter how good a guy he is.

“Fear” on the Rise: Bob Woodward Take Out on Trump White House Number 1 A Week Before Publication

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Tuesday was a crazy day in almost every respect thanks to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But the bigger news is that Bob Woodward’s evisceration of the Trump White House, called “Fear,” is number 1 on amazon in hardcover and Kindle a week before its publication.

The excerpts in the Washington Post, followed by Trump’s denunciation, and the revelation of the taped phone call between Woodward and Trump– all of it has sent the book soaring in pre-sales.

Release date isn’t until next Tuesday.

Woodward’s book comes on the heels of Michael Wolff’s bestselling “Fire and Fury”– which will return as a paperback in January with new information and updated revelations after the mid term elections.

Since then we’ve also had the Omarosa and Sean Spicer books– each flops after brief sales flares. But “Fear” is going to be the big one, and its publication will likely have consequences we can’t even predict. So hold on!

Respect! Aretha Franklin Honored with Detroit Amphitheater Tribute, Replacing Name of 18th Century Slave Owners

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Detroit’s Chene Park on the Detroit River is no more.

Detroit’s City Council unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday that will rename Chene Park in honor of the late Aretha Franklin. Chene Park will now become Aretha Louise Franklin Amphitheater. What an amazing tribute.

Detroit mayor Mike Duggan announced his intention to make the change at Aretha’s funeral last Friday.

Chene was originally named for a French slave owner Charles Chene, who lived from 1732-1805. He was the original owner of the land. The change is long overdue, and incredible honor.

Chene Park started out as a small stage where people sat on blankets along the river. Now it’s a thriving entertainment center with a beautiful setting. It’s also not far from the luxury apartment complex where Aretha died on August 16th.

“Aretha Louise Franklin was a life-long Detroiter, internationally beloved and acclaimed musician, and inspiration to multiple generations of music-lovers,” the resolution reads. “Her well-known support and activism towards advancing civil rights and women’s rights is a legacy that mirrors the ideals of the City of Detroit and its residents.”

The park was the site of a monumental free concert last Thursday night in memory of Aretha that featured Jean Carne, Sarah Dash, a brilliant dance number from Aretha’s famed choreographer friend George Faison, Regina Belle, the Four Tops and others.

“Coyote Ugly” Star Piper Perabo Among Those Arrested for Protesting at Kavanaugh Hearing

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Piper Perabo, maybe best known for the movie “Coyote Ugly,” tweeted this afternoon that she was arrested at the Brett Kavanaugh hearing for peaceful protest. The charge was civil disobedience. Right on! Perabo starred in the USA series “Covert Affairs” from 2010-2014. She has several movies in the can and some in pre-production. Good for her!