George Clooney will be saluted tonight by the American Film Institute at their annual fundraiser. The proceedings will be shown on TNT on June 21st. Julia Roberts, whose last movie with Clooney– “Money Monster”– was a disaster, will give Clooney the award. If Roberts is anything like she’s been at similar ceremonies, there will be a lot of bleeping during her speech. She drops the F word about as much as Adele.

Clooney, it is hoped, will be a big draw. The AFI needs it. According to their Form 990 for 2016, their revenue less expenses came to MINUS $262,124. Total assets were off by $2 million, from $47 mil in 2015 to $45 mil. Net assets or fund balances were down from 2015 by about $1.5 million.

On the bright side, the AFI upped their grants to individuals in 2016 to $225,000 from just $18,000 the year before. But the not for profit, so important to film students and historians, is top heavy with $16 million in salaries in 2016. (Their CEO made $567,000.) They spend just a tad more– $17 million– on education and training, exhibitions, and national programs. Independent contractors were paid around $2 million in 2016.

The AFI has two big annual events– tonight’s dinner and an annual luncheon during Golden Globe weekend, held at the Four Seasons for the 10 best movies and TV shows of the year. In 2016, they reported a net loss of $601,080. The net realized losses on investments is listed as MINUS $1.39 million.

So the Clooney event tonight is key. We’re rooting for them. Maybe Clooney and his Casamigas Tequila partners will underwrite some scholarships. Every year, AFI produces a new class of talented filmmakers whose names usually come up in awards seasons not too long after graduation.

It’s been pretty clear for a long time to fans that the DC Comics Universe in the movies, at least, is a freakin’ mess.

With the exception of “Wonder Woman,” none of the recent movies have made anyone happy. “Suicide Squad,” “Justice League,” “Batman vs. Superman” — oy vey. They don’t hold a candle to the Marvel movies, and I say this as a childhood fan of DC.

One bright spot of “Suicide Squad” was Jared Leto as The Joker. This was a big deal since Heath Ledger had been so indelible as The Joker in “The Dark Knight Returns” and won an Oscar. But he’s gone.

But instead of giving Leto a standalone movie, or one with Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, DC and Warner Bros. announced a different Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, directed by Todd Phillips. So that would mean Phoenix in that film, Leto (maybe) in another “Suicide Squad” movie. The Joker’s wild!

Now, suddenly, a Leto Joker movie is back (reported by Variety). But so is the Phoenix film. Leto is bright and colorful, Phoenix is dark and wicked. Clearly, no one at DC and WB can decide what the Joker is. This would be as if Marvel had Ryan Reynolds in one set of Deadpool movies, and Daniel Day Lewis (as if) in another.

But Marvel knows what they are, with a clear editorial focus.

DC, on the other hand, doesn’t. That’s why they ousted DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson this week. She was also head of Warner Consumer Products. Nelson was with Warner Bros. for 20 years. But she is gone, completely, after all this confusion. (And that includes the Ben Affleck-Batman situation.)

So now what? Maybe DC/WB can find someone with a passion and clear understanding of the DC Universe. So far that’s been limited to Patty Jenks with “Wonder Woman.”

And two Jokers? It didn’t work for “The Two Jakes.” (Inside joke.) It won’t work here.

It’s hard to believe, but Matthew Cullen’s very awful “London Fields” is coming to a near theatre all of us this August.

This is the film based on Martin Amis’s bestselling novel. Amber Heard stars as Nicola Six. Amber’s ex husband, Johnny Depp, is featured but not credited on the film poster. They met began their affair just before the movie started, and married when it was finished. The short marriage was as dreadful, evidently, as the film.

Shot in 2013, “London Fields” was supposed to screen at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival, but was pulled when lawsuits broke out over just how bad it was. Still, some critics saw it. They’re still being attended to (just kidding).

Director Cullen sued the producers, who’d taken the film away from him and re-cut it to try and make sense of the whole thing. (Cullen was asked to re-submit new versions but never did, according to reports.) According to a 2015 review in The Guardian, nothing worked in the producers’ resuscitation.

Theo James, Cara deLevigne, Jim Sturgess and Billy Bob Thornton co-star. Martin Cullen makes an inauspicious feature film directorial debut after transitioning from music videos. He’s very nice. I met him at the Spirit Awards this year. He lent me his wrist band so I could go use the Porta-Potty.

It seems like Marc Urman’s Paladin Films has the honor of distribution.

 Here’s the trailer, which is considered Not Suitable for Viewing at Work or in a Public Place:

The word on Bradley Cooper’s remake of “A Star is Born” is that it’s great.

We sure hope so! The first trailer is very promising. Last night at the “Oceans 8” premiere, the folks from Warner Bros. were very excited.

Look at this trailer- Bradley Cooper is a country singer! Gaga is rocking. This could really up end the Oscars in the best way! They even sing together– and Gaga is her real self, Stefani Germanotta. It looks like they used her real backstory as an aspiring songwriter. Very smart.

You can’t not like “Ocean’s 8.” It’s not possible. The cast is so perfectly full of the best people, and they just want to have fun: Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett anchor the plot of this caper comedy directed by Gary Ross, but it’s Anne Hathaway who steals the show, with Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, and James Corden punctuating the story with perfect supporting roles.

There’s even a cameo by Elliott Gould from the original “Ocean’s” movies but no other big stars like George Clooney or Matt Damon, even though they were rumored to be in it. (In fact, Clooney’s character seems to have been decisively removed for now from this iteration–his character is said to be dead.)

Warner Bros. knows they have a hit with “Ocean’s 8.” They threw a big old fashioned swanky premiere last night starting with a screening at Alice Tully Hall followed by a lavish party at the Metropolitan Museum’s Temple of Dendur. That’s because “Ocean’s 8” is also about stealing a $150 million Cartier necklace from the Met Ball. (Good product placement!)

Interesting: Anna Wintour is mentioned in the movie but is seen for a nano second. Maybe she was scared off by her disastrous involvement in “Zoolander 2.” But there has been almost zero of the expected synchronicity between the movie, Anna, Vogue and the Ball.

There are plenty of other fun cameos in “Ocean’s 8” and it’s worth staying for the closing credits to see all the people who play themselves at the movie’s re-staging of the Ball. Ross also used several “older” actresses from New York to play a pivotal plot point including Marlo Thomas, Dana Ivey, Elizabeth Ashley and Mary Louise Wilson.

But back to the party, where Rihanna wore Givenchy, Sarah Paulson was in all plastic Prada, Helena Bonham Carter, Bullock, and Blanchett were shining stars. Anne Hathaway’s dad, Gerry, was overcome with pride for Anne and thrilled for his MIA wife (Anne’s mom) Kate who’s getting raves in Cape May right now playing Erma Bombeck in a one woman show. Bonham-Carter told me her life has been a “nightmare” lately (divorce from director Tim Burton) but she’s back now–can’t wait to see her in more movies.

Bullock is the leader of the “Ocean’s 8” gang as Debbie Ocean, and she helped organize the movie. But when I congratulated her, she was so gracious to the “Ocean’s” original producer, the late Jerry Weintraub. “It’s all about Jerry, he did it,” she said. Sandy and Cate had a long confab, which is how I got the photo here. I asked Cate how she liked being head of the Cannes jury this year. “It was hard work,” she said. “But I think I had a great group on the jury.” Blanchett, who is Australian, has finally settled in the UK outside of London with husband Andrew Upton and her boys, after a year of globe trotting.

“Ocean’s 8” is going to be a big hit– we need it– it’s fun, refreshing, and cool. And there are just enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seats. Sequels– oh yes, we’ll have “Ocean’s 9” and “Ocean’s 10”– there is plenty of potential!

All photos c2018 Showbiz411