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Rock Hall Induction Concert in Dire Straits as Group’s Leader, Mark Knopfler, Will Be a No Show

Roger Friedman
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Rock Hall Induction Concert in Dire Straits as Group’s Leader, Mark Knopfler, Will Be a No Show

The Sultans of Swing will be without their chief at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony next week in Cleveland.

Mark Knopfler, leader of the group Dire Straits, is skipping the festivities. According to a posting by Alan Clark, a member of the group, neither Mark nor his brother Dave– who was also a Straits member– is heading to the mid west. Jann Wenner must be furious since having Mark Knopfler’s performance would have been key to the taping for HBO. Whoops!

Says Clark: There’s a lot of conjecture on forums about whether the band is performing at the Hall of Fame, and if not why not, and who in the band are going to the ceremony. Well, here it is and it’s official: Myself, Guy Fletcher and John Illsley will attend the ceremony where we’ll be be performing an unplugged version of Telegraph Road, with me on harmonium, Guy on ukulele, John on banjo, and the vocal sung NOT by Stevie Wonder, as previously reported, which would, I admit, be ridiculous. No, after much deliberation we decided the best possible replacement for Mark would be the Red Army Choir, which took some organising, as you can imagine, what with the current political climate. I hear Trump swung it for us usin his hotline to Putin.  

So they’re not even performing their biggest hit, “Sultans of Swing,” on top of that. Well, at least the Cars, and Bon Jovi, will be there, as well as the Moody Blues. Of course, with Bon Jovi there’s always the issue of Richie Sambora. And it is hoped that Denny Laine, original member of the Moodys, will join them. Nina Simone, another inductee, is, sadly, gone, as is Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

BTW So what is Mark Knopfler doing these days? I found this video he made with Tommy Emmanuel for the latter’s “Collaborations” album this past January.

Original Dreamgirls Jennifer Holliday and Sheryl Lee Ralph Reunited for Project Angel Food

Leah Sydney
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Original Dreamgirls Jennifer Holliday and Sheryl Lee Ralph Reunited for Project Angel Food

Sheryl Lee Ralph, dynamic and talented as she is, reunited after 37 years with her “Dream girl” Broadway co-star, the equally stupendous Jennifer Holliday.  Diva Jennifer recently had the Hollywood Hills in rapt adoration listening to her glorious voice at Project Angel Food’s 3rd Annual Circle of Angels Garden Party at the stunning home of Tim Robinson and Bob Cohen.  The group prepares and delivers healthy meals to feed people impacted by serious illness and has a huge trove of celeb /Hollywood VIP supporters.

Sheryl was the vivacious auctioneer and cheekily commented to the well dressed crowd, “I love your shiny sunglasses-I can see myself in them, that’s why I love you all-you are my people!”  

Sheryl reminded everyone that it was “thirty seven years since “Dreamgirls” bowed on Broadway.” That prompted Jennifer to sing her signature “ Dreamgirl” songs:  “And I Am Telling You, I’m Not Going,” and “I Am Changing,” along with a gorgeous version of “The Way We Were.”  The crowd was truly in rapturous adoration.  Jennifer’s voice remains remarkable and needs to be heard way more than it have has been lately.  Somebody in power who is really smart should hitch their wagon to her star and bring her back in the showbiz spotlight where she belongs.

 

Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem Will Open Cannes Film Festival, Bringing Needed International Glamour to Red Carpet

Roger Friedman
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Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem Will Open Cannes Film Festival, Bringing Needed International Glamour to Red Carpet

The Cannes Film Festival will get a shot of glamour this season for opening night.

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, the hottest married couple of the international film world, will bring their new movie. “Everybody Knows.” It’s directed by Iranian Asghar Farhadi, a Cannes favorite whose last work, “The Salesman,” won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Farhadi’s film just previous to that, “A Separation,” also won an Oscar. And of course, Javier and Penelope each have Oscars.

Farhadi is Iranian, but “Everybody Knows” is mostly in Spanish with some English. It still doesn’t have an American distributor, but my guess would be that Michael Barker and Tom Bernard pick it up for Sony Pictures Classics before the Cannes opener. They’ve released films from Farhadi, Cruz and Bardem for a long time. Who better to do this one?

“Everybody Knows” will be the first Spanish film to open Cannes since Pedro Almodovar’s “Bad Education” in 2004. Almodovar, of course, is what brought Cruz and Bardem together in the first place.

Rudy Giuliani Divorcing Third Wife, Judith Nathan After 18 Years: It Started with An Affair While He Was Mayor

Roger Friedman
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Rudy Giuliani Divorcing Third Wife, Judith Nathan After 18 Years: It Started with An Affair While He Was Mayor

Oh my gosh. Rudy Giuliani is getting a divorce from third wife, Judith Nathan, according to Page Six. What a shame! It all started 18 years ago. I should know. On April 28, 2000, I was eating dinner in Elaine’s — and it was packed. Around 11:30pm some people I knew came in and said, “You should check out what’s going on across the street at Cronie’s”– a bar on the south east side of 88th and Second. “The mayor is on a date.”

Well, the Mayor– Rudy Giuliani– was married to news anchor Donna Hanover. But he’d also already had an affair with an aide, much reported over the years. That was over, so who was the Mayor dating? Plus, just the day before he announced he had prostate cancer.

I jumped up and made my way to the front door of Elaine’s. I saw a friend by the bar who I asked to come along as a witness. This was before we had phones that took pictures.

Outside on Second Avenue, two cars — a limo and an SUV– idled in front of Cronie’s. They had city license plates. So Giuliani was really in there. We entered– Cronie’s was a dimly lit bar with a restaurant off to the side. But down the main bar a couple of people sat on stools. Parallel to them were a couple of round tables, with some mayoral staff lingering. Just past the far end of the bar, there was an alcove with a curtain. And sitting a little table was the Mayor of New York. Tucked close to him was a middle aged brunette with long hair. She was not Donna Hanover.

Guiliani’s eyes met mine. I said to my friend, “If that’s not his oncologist, he’s in big trouble.”

The owner of Cronie’s suddenly appeared. “Are you one of the mayor’s groupies?” he asked. “Groupies?” I said.

“Yeah, he has groupies.”

“Does he come in here a lot?” I wondered. “Oh yeah, all the time.”

“With that woman?”

“With her, sure, sometimes with his son.”

And that was it. We headed back to Elaine’s. When I got back, Sid Zion, a legendary novelist and lawyer, said he wanted to see what was going on. I said, “The mayor’s on a date.” Sid, wearing a trench coat, grabbed his hat, a fedora, and took my arm. But by the time we got back across the street, the Mayor and his entourage were gone.

What happened next: over the weekend I checked to see who the woman was. A couple of people helped me. When I turned in my story to Foxnews.com I was told that Roger Ailes had a deal with Giuliani not to print any negative stories. I could only write about it if someone did it first. So I flipped it to the Daily News, then reported on their “scoop.” Later Joyce Purnick of the New York Times gave me some credit, which was very nice of her.

A few days later, Donna Hanover called a press conference at the foot of the driveway of Gracie Mansion. Her marriage was over. Rudy moved out. It seemed like everyone was going to get what they wanted.

And now, it’s all over. RIP Rudy-n-Judy. I’m glad I could be there when it all began.

 

Exclusive: Al Pacino Says He Studied Videos of Joe Paterno for HBO, Says Coach Was Brilliant at Football, “Hope I Got Him Right”

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Al Pacino Says He Studied Videos of Joe Paterno for HBO, Says Coach Was Brilliant at Football, “Hope I Got Him Right”

Al Pacino plays Penn State’s heralded football coach Joe Paterno in Barry Levinson’s very fine HBO film, “Paterno,” which premieres this Saturday. The movie is so sensitive on the subject of pedophilia and child abuse that on Monday night HBO feted Pacino with a small screening and no press.

But I caught up with the Oscar winner on Tuesday night at the first anniversary of Charles S. Cohen’s re-opening of the Quad Theater in Greenwich Village. The dazzling Quad is little movie palace now thanks to Cohen, a real estate magnate who owns the D&D Building here in New York and the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles. He also captains a boutique film company that has one Oscar under its wing, for “The Salesman,” and a bevy of awards and citations for choosing quality films since his first release in 2008, “Frozen River.”

At the Quad celebration, Pacino — who was just the subject of a month long retrospective at the Quad — welcomed old friends like actresses Brenda Vaccaro and Lois Smith, and Peggy Siegal, as well as Oscar winning screenwriter of “Precious” Geoffrey Fletcher, actors Josh Charles, Aasif Mandvi, and Kevin Corrigan. Cindy Adams, Queen of Gossip for the NY Post, was taking notes fast and furiously for a column maybe we’ll see this week.

I asked Al about Paterno, complimenting him on the performance– but really. it’s Al Pacino, of course he nailed it. Pacino said, “Look what he’s doing” — Paterno, on the field, 409 wins– “he’s not playing around. I watched a lot of videos of him to get him right. I hope I got him right. I know a lot about it,” he added– oh yes, you may remember him in Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday.”

“What’s your favorite?” Fletcher asked him.  I say “Serpico,” Pacino adds “Dog Day Afternoon, all that early stuff,” he shakes another hand. There are too many to mention.

I ask him, Did Al hear the voice over at the beginning of “Paterno” when someone calls him “The Godfather”? “I did, I did,” he said, big Pacino smile, eyes gleaming with mischief.

What’s next, I asked? “The Irishman! We finished The Irishman!” he said, still gleaming. This is Scorsese with DeNiro, Pesci, the most hotly anticipated movie of the year. And then, he’s off, back to magical Pacino land. He’s talked to everyone in the room, and now they’re all smiling, too.

 

 

Review: Shrill “Roseanne” Episode 3 Mocks ABC’s “Black and Asian Shows,” Endorses Physical Violence of Grandkids, Plus Dan May Be Dead After All

Roger Friedman
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Review: Shrill “Roseanne” Episode 3 Mocks ABC’s “Black and Asian Shows,” Endorses Physical Violence of Grandkids, Plus Dan May Be Dead After All

RATINGS UPDATE: “Roseanne” scored 15.1 million viewers last night, down about 3 million from last week’s broadcast, and 10 million from the added in viewings. More to come…

Now that we’ve come back to Earth, let’s talk about “Roseanne” episode 3 called “Roseanne Gets the Chair” in which Dan– who may actually be dead after all — steals what looks like a brand new electric staircase chair from a neighbor’s house. Hilarious, no? No.

In this episode, Dan — John Goodman, looking unwell and very squeamish about his lines — mocks ABC’s “Blackish” and “Fresh Off the Boat” with a racist swipe. I wonder if those shows are going to retaliate. “Yeah, they’re just like us,” Roseanne snidely retorts. And we’re off.

Darlene’s teenage daughter Harris is acting up, hates living with the Conners, and is rude to Roseanne. So what does grandma do? She shoves Harris’s head under the kitchen sink faucet and douses with her water. She holds her by the neck. That’ll teach her! So funny, right? It’s abuse, and cringe-worthy at the least. And oh yeah: Roseanne calls Harris a bitch.

Oscar nominee and Tony winner Laurie Metcalf as Jackie has returned to looking like an electric shock patient in this episode, jettisoning all the strides she made an as actress since she left “Roseanne” in a two minute cameo. Movie star Goodman, so beloved in quirky films, has absolutely nothing to do but spout inane crap and pretend to be Dan, who he’s playing as a ghost.

“Roseanne” is shrill, but it was always shrill. The difference now is that it’s a set up for one liners for self-righteous one liners, there’s no story, it’s just as gross as “Married with Children” used to be. Ironically, “Modern Family” follows “Roseanne” (on abc.com) and it’s the anti-thesis– smart stuff, endearing people who make mistakes and figure them out without resorting to physical violence. And it’s always genuinely funny.

PS Missing from this episode: the black grand-daughter, the cross dressing grandson, Roseanne and Dan’s son who’s married to a black woman, and any mention of the baby surrogacy.

 

 

Review: Al Pacino’s Powerful, Intelligent Performance as Joe Paterno Doesn’t Let Famed Penn State Coach Off the Hook in HBO Drama

Roger Friedman
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Review: Al Pacino’s Powerful, Intelligent Performance as Joe Paterno Doesn’t Let Famed Penn State Coach Off the Hook in HBO Drama

Saturday brings to HBO Barry Levinson’s “Paterno,” the Oscar winning director’s much anticipated snapshot of famed Penn State coach Joe Paterno at the end of his life, mired in a terrible scandal. This movie was originally going to be called “Happy Valley,” directed by Brian DePalma, with a different screenwriter and source material but also with Pacino. The latter film was canned over budget issues.

Levinson has made the economic and economical choice of making a character study with an ensemble cast. So Pacino leads a very taut group of actors who are given their moments as real life people who played a part in the unraveling of the decades of pedophilia at the hands of assistant coach Jerry Sandusky and the coverups that took place around it.

“Paterno” highlights a young local journalist, Sarah Ganim, who led the charge along with her editor, Jonathan Newhouse. But this is not “Spotlight” redux. While Riley Keough is outstanding as Ganim, and her trajectory moves the story forward, Levinson was right to keep the reporters secondary this time. He was more interested in Paterno, considered a God at Penn State for 61 years, and his downfall. Other movies in the future could tell different views of the saga. This was Levinson’s choice and it was a smart one.

There is no hoo-hahing here for Pacino, who restrains himself from chewing the scenery (he does it well) often. This Pacino will remind you of Michael Corleone at the end of “The Godfather, Part 2,” when he realizes that it’s all been for naught. Indeed, right at the beginning of this film, voice overs are heard of people discussing Paterno. Someone actually calls him “The Godfather.”

Of course, Paterno didn’t have any one killed. But it’s pretty clear from this film that he began covering up Sandusky’s miscreant behavior as early as 1976. He looked the other way, rationalized it, permitted, enabled– why? All to win — four hundred and nine wins altogether, and to build his empire. This was without regard to Sandusky’s victims, who were mortally wounded.

Pacino’s performance is intelligent and sympathetic but don’t take that the wrong way. Levinson is wrestling with the discovery by people around Paterno how this all happened– and they had little time to do it. He died quickly of cancer two months after the scandal broke. Your sympathy is for those around him, not for Paterno. But Pacino, in keeping it dialed down, makes you invest in him just as his inner circle did, to get the answers. It’s a really canny performance.

Riley Keough is sensational as Ganim, and is joined in her efforts by Peter Jacobson as Newhouse. I really Annie Parisse as Paterno’s daughter, Kathy Baker as his wife, and Greg Grunberg as Paterno’s morbidly obese and faithful son. (I hope he was wearing a fat suit.)

The whole Penn State scandal is a mini-series yet to be made. “Paterno” simply stands as a snapshot of a moment when everything went to hell fast. It’s not a documentary. It’s a narrative film and very, very good.

The Beatles Get a 50th Anniversary Release of “Yellow Submarine” This July, All Hand-Restored with 5.1 Surround Sound Soundtrack

Roger Friedman
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The Beatles Get a 50th Anniversary Release of “Yellow Submarine” This July, All Hand-Restored with 5.1 Surround Sound Soundtrack

“Yellow Submarine” is coming back and we’re all going to live in it this July 8th. The Beatles and Apple Corps have reached a deal to release a restored version of their 1968 classic to US theaters. The classic animated film has a shiny new 5.1 mix soundtrack that presumably will be released by Capitol. (This will be the second re-working of the Submarine soundtrack.)

from the press release: “Yellow Submarine was restored in 4K digital resolution by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team of specialists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. The film’s songs and score were remixed in 5.1 stereo surround sound at UMG’s Abbey Road Studios by music mix engineer Peter Cobbin. Due to the delicate nature of the hand-drawn original artwork, no automated software was used in the digital clean-up of the film’s restored photochemical elements. This was all done by hand, frame by frame.”

Funny– the press release mentions a few artists of the time that “Yellow Submarine” is supposed to be influenced by. But it’s all Peter Max. I think they don’t say it so he doesn’t sue them. But the whole movie is a tribute to Peter Max, whose timeless work WAS the Sixties.

Anyway, “Yellow Submarine” is wonderful. See it, bring the kids, bring the grandparents.

PS The Beatles are going to capitalize on all their 50th anniversaries since the “Sgt. Pepper” box set was such a hit. We are right now in the middle of the “Lady Madonna” 50th anniversary chart run. The Beatles then recorded “Hey Jude” on July 31 and August 1st. It was released August 26, 1968, spent 19 weeks on the charts, 9 of them at number 1.

Jim from “The Office” Makes Intense Masterwork Film, Scores a Rare 100 Among Critics, Draws Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Justin Theroux to Premiere

Roger Friedman
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Jim from “The Office” Makes Intense Masterwork Film, Scores a Rare 100 Among Critics, Draws Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Justin Theroux to Premiere

John Krasinski is in the hearts of many as likeable but snarky Jim Halpert from “The Office.” He’s playing Jack Ryan in the Amazon TV series starting this summer. He’s tried directing– I really like “The Hollars” with Margo Martindale- but hasn’t broken through in movies yet. But now Krasinski– who’s married to actress Emily Blunt– has thrown us a curve ball. He’s re-written, directed and stars in  a little masterpiece called “A Quiet Place” opening on Friday.

This is a tour de force. His friends must know because they turned out in droves last night for the New York premiere. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively walked the red carpet, then went to dinner with Krasinski and Blunt while we watched the 85 minute slice of perfection at AMC Lincoln Square. Justin Theroux stayed for the screening. So did Doug Liman, director of “Edge of Tomorrow” and “Made in America.”

The after party was over at Lincoln Restaurant, where Peggy Siegal holds her Oscar Q&A’s in the winter. Classy. Stanley Tucci was there because he co-starred with Emily in “The DEvil Wears Prada” and also he married her sister, Felicity. They’re expecting their second child but sat through the movie. Felicity said, “I know it was pretty brave.” They all loved it.

“A Quiet Place” has a 100 on Rotten Tomatoes, 47 positive reviews. The number will drop. Someone will be the spoiler. But there’s nothing not to like. “A Quiet Place” is one of those rare gems, masterwork that I think movie buffs will study. It’s an ode to Hitchcock, but it’s also totally original.

It’s not just luck. Krasinski has been working toward this writing screenplays (“The Promised Land”) and directing a character driven family story that pre-figures “This is Us” (“The Hollars”).  Like Jim, Krasinski was not not going to stick around the office selling paper. He had bigger things up his sleeve.

“A Quiet Place” doesn’t look like it came cheap. Krasinski used the best crayons in the box. All the below line stuff– cinematography, editing, production design, lighting– is top notch. Marco Beltrami wrote what should be an Oscar nominated score, which is most important since the music is a character. You see, there is barely any dialogue in this film. It’s basically a silent movie. A very noisy one. There’s an alien–Krasinski told me he designed it with ILM– that looks like several million bucks. It is very scary.

The story (based on a screenplay by Bryan Woods and Scott Beck) We meet a family on the run in the woods. We’re told they’re 89 days into something –some kind of alien invasion has wiped out their town and almost everyone in the world, we glean from headlines. These aliens use sound to kill their victims. So the family– unnamed but according to the credits their name is Abbott– must be silent. Any noise will bring their deaths. There’s a mother (Blunt), father (Krasinski), and three children. The daughter is deaf (Millicent Simmonds from “Wonderstruck,” outstanding) so think about that turn in the story– the aliens are hunting for sound, she hears no sound. There’s a reason for all this, I won’t give it away.

The plot: they want to survive. They’ve made it this far. Then something happens. We jump ahead a year. The mother is nine months pregnant. They’ve found asylum on an abandoned upstate NY farm. But the aliens are not far away.

But can you imagine being silent this whole time? Not a word. One false move and your life could be over. Krasinski instills that in us from the opening– I’ve never seen an audience stiffen up so quickly. Right away, you see the filmmakers are not playing games. The audience last night was itself silent for longer than I can remember in any movie. You could hear people breathing. Or chewing pop corn.

“A Quiet Place” is a horror film the way “Psycho” or “The Birds” is– it’s transcendent. It’s about family and loyalty as much as it’s running from the specter of death, and having some hope you’ll make it out alive. The family, that is. Not the audience.

 

 

Adele is Now an Ordained Minister, Married Two Of Her Best Pals in L.A. Backyard Last January

Roger Friedman
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Adele is Now an Ordained Minister, Married Two Of Her Best Pals in L.A. Backyard Last January

Adele is keeping busy in Los Angeles, her new home. (She’s rented a mansion high above the Hollywood Hills.)

She’s just revealed that in January she became an ordained minister and married two pals in her backyard. The guys were British chat show host Alan Carr and long term partner Paul Drayton. It was a secret but apparently Carr talked about it on his show today.

Now that Adele has this outfit, maybe she can start recording new songs. Her mega hit album, “25,” is starting to gross moss. It’s time for some new music, Adele.

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