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Son of Legendary Actress Patty Duke Found She’d “Endorsed” FCC Anti-Neutrality–A Year After She Died!

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Actor Mackenzie Astin is the brother of Sean Astin. Their mother was the great Patty Duke (real name Anna Pearce).

MacKenzie has Tweeted FCC chairman Ajit Pai that he’s found three endorsements of the new anti-net neutrality law on line– more than a year after she died.

He writes: “Hey, @AjitPaiFCC, today my mom would have turned 71. But she didn’t. Because she died in March of 2016. Can you please take the time to explain to me how she made three separate comments in support of ending #NetNeutrality more than a year after she died?”

Stay tuned…

Sony Music’s Columbia Records Throws Away New Barbra Streisand Album, Sells Just Under 12,000 Copies

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The word ‘Columbia’ does not appear anywhere among the top 50 albums this week, or last. Columbia Records, Sony Music’s main label, has no albums on the charts and hasn’t for some time.

So you’d think a Barbra Streisand album of her singing her hits live, from a Netflix special, would have merited some action. Streisand’s 2014 release, “Partners,” sold 196,000 in its debut week.

Last week, I got excited that ‘Streisand will save Sony.’ But I was also evidently in this evaluation.

As of now, Streisand’s “The Music, The Mem’ries, The Magic” has sold fewer than 12,000 copies. And those were sales plus downloads. There wasn’t enough streaming to count into the total.

For some reason, the album was more or less a stealth release. Streisand as well as Sony did nothing for it. If they didn’t care for it, why put it out at all? The only reason could be to fulfill Streisand’s Columbia contract as yet another release.

All in all, peculiar to say the least.

 

Ed Sheeran Releases ANOTHER “Perfect” Duet, This Time with Andrea Bocelli: Who’s Next?

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First there was just Ed Sheeran singing “Perfect” on his “Divide” album.

Then a couple of weeks ago he released a new duet version with “Beyonce.” Now both the original and Beyonce’s duet are at the top of the charts.

Today Ed released a new version with Andrea Bocelli, arranged by his classical musician brother Matthew Sheeran.

Who’s next? Will this become a cottage industry? Is this Sheeran’s way of getting back at the Grammy Awards for ignoring him this year? Sheeran, it’s reported, will not appear at the Grammys since they snubbed him. But he will likely turn up at the special Elton John salute taping at MSG January 30th for play on CBS this spring. Sheeran is managed by Elton’s Rocket Entertainment.

Maybe an Ed-Elton “Perfect” duet is next? And so on and so on. It would be pretty good marketing to have a “Perfect” album of duets.

Eminem Sounds Like a Guest Artist on “Revival,” His Own Soft Boiled Egg of An Album

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Eminem fans must be scratching their heads right now.

On his new soft boiled egg of an album, “Revival,” Marshall Mathers sounds like a guest star not the primary artist.

“Revival” features Ed Sheeran, Alicia Keys, Skylar Grey, X Ambassadors, Pink, and Khelani. They’re all singing and playing and acting like Em has made a cameo on their records.

There are also many credited samples of other material, it’s hard to find Eminem in the mix. The final track, “Arose,” credits Barry White, Bette Midler’s “The Rose, and Rufus Thomas. Is there anyone he forgot?

The problem is that Eminem, presented with the Trump era and so much to rap about, doesn’t seem to have any idea what he’s doing. He’s rich, middle aged and still complaining about the same things that made him a young star. He’s a rebel without a cause when there are now so many actual things to rebel against.

It’s too bad: a new generation of fans may come to “Revival” because of all those guest stars and not for the real Eminem. They’ll think of him as a talk show host introducing pop star acts. Next stop: Caesar’s Palace.

“Star Wars” Burn Out? “Last Jedi” Thursday Night Box Office Falls Short of “Force Awakens” by $12 Million

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It’s good news and who knows what news for Disney and Lucas Film this morning.

Last night, “The Last Jedi” scored $45 million in preview shows around the US. That’s the second highest Thursday preview opening ever, behind “The Force Awakens,” so that’s good news.

But the WTH news is that “The Force Awakens” did $57 million on its Thursday previews two years ago. In between there was “Rogue One” with a $29 million preview Thursday last year.

So what the heck? Is there “Star Wars” burn out with movies three years in a row? Could be.

Otherwise, “Jedi” picked up $60 million in international box office over the last couple of days.

Disney/Lucas Films wants a $200 million plus blockbuster break all records weekend. Now it’s unclear if “Jedi” can do that as it’s running 25% behind “Force.”

Believe me, “Star Wars” fans, you don’t want to miss this one. This is the Big One.

Disney Buys Fox Movies & TV, Gets Potential Oscar Winners, Nominees and Films For Adults At Last

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Disney is buying 20th Century Fox today for $52 billion. They get the movie and TV studio but not Fox News or Sports, or the 20th lot at Pico and Motor in Century City.

Rupert Murdoch unloads the part of his business that he never had any feel for, and begins downsizing his empire. He holds on to the press control he so relishes. But he’s off the red carpet.

What Disney gets is a lot for that $52 billion. Already a powerhouse with their own animation, Marvel, Pixar, and LucasFilm, now Disney obtains something out of its reach for a long time: serious movies for adults.

In “big” Fox it gets Stacey Snider, who’s a great studio head, along with Steven Spielberg’s movie “The Post” with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. Disney could wind up with this year’s Oscar winner.

But they could also have the Oscar winner with one of the films from Fox Searchlight, the part of Fox that makes and distributes consistently good movies. Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula have done a masterful job. This year they have “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” in the Oscar race, each heading for Best Picture nominations.

Disney has long coveted some way of making those kinds of quality movies with live people in them and no comic book characters, etc. They had Miramax years ago but let it leave in 2004. Now they will be players in a nice new arena.

And of course, Wolverine and the X Men will be reunited with Marvel.

There’s a lot more synergy, and certainly the whole streaming issue will now be to their advantage with the Fox libraries of movie and TV shows.

As far as the Fox lot goes, who knows what the Murdochs will do with it? They’re sitting on a ton of movie sets and memorabilia. It’s not clear whether all of that will move to Burbank. Maybe Rupert will convert the lot back into a residential neighborhood. It’s the end of an era, to be sure.

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Opens at 7pm Tonight With Great Reviews and A Couple of Huge Spoilers That Will Shock Audience

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“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” will open tonight (Thursday) at 7pm in hundreds of locations. It contains a couple of spoilers that fans will have to restrain themselves from revealing. One of them is HUGE. and may disturb old fans. Another is pretty big, but it’s the nice kind.

The Rian Johnson directed episode 8 of the 40 year old series has a 94 on Rotten Tomatoes. There are only 11 negative reviews, and those people have been sent to Alabama to work for Dou Jones as unpaid interns.

Will “The Last Jedi” clear $200 million this weekend? I do think it’s possible as it is an ending as much as it is a continuation. Lots of fans will see it twice, including yours truly. And here’s a mini spoiler: Justin Theroux is in the movie. You find him, pay close attention.

Wrap Up: Salma Hayek Says Harvey Weinstein Said He’d Kill Her, Tavis Smiley Booted from PBS, Morgan Spurlock Confesses to…Stuff

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Just so we’re all caught up when we wake up Thursday…

TAVIS SMILEY is gone from PBS. Whatever he did, it was bad, and now, like Charlie Rose, he is over at PBS. What did he do? Variety says Smiley was investigated and “The investigation found credible allegations that Smiley had engaged in sexual relationships with multiple subordinates, sources said. Some witnesses interviewed expressed concern that their employment status was linked to the status of a sexual relationship with Smiley. In general, witnesses described Smiley as creating a verbally abusive and threatening environment that went beyond what could be expected in a typical high-pressure work environment. Several expressed concerns about retaliation.”

So his next gig will be interviewing Charlie Rose and Matt Lauer.

SALMA HAYEK, an actress who is one of those really great people you meet in showbiz, wrote an Op Ed piece for the New York Times recalling Harvey Weinstein’s sexual, social and business misdeeds against her. This was all around the making of Julie Taymor’s movie “Frida,” which Hayek says Weinstein didn’t want to make with her. She says he took advantage of her, made her film a love scene naked with another woman, and so on. Hayek recalls an absolutely true story about a physical scuffle with Weinstein, Taymor, composer Elliot Goldenthal. She also says Weinstein threatened that he’d “kill her.” Weinstein issued a statement denying it all, as follows:

Mr. Weinstein regards Salma Hayek as a first-class actress and cast her in several of his movies, among them “Once Upon a Time in Mexico,” “Dogma,” and “Studio 54.” He was very proud of her Best Actress Academy Award nomination for “Frida” and continues to support her work.

While Jennifer Lopez was interested in playing Frida and at the time was a bigger star, Mr. Weinstein overruled other investors to back Salma as the lead. Miramax put up half of the money and all of the P&A; the budget was over 12 million.  As in most collaborative projects, there was creative friction on “Frida,” but it served to drive the project to perfection. The movie opened in multiple theaters and was supported by a huge advertising campaign and an enormous Academy Awards budget.

Mr. Weinstein does not recall pressuring Salma to do a gratuitous sex scene with a female costar and he was not there for the filming. However, that was part of the story, as Frida Kahlo was bisexual and the more significant sex scene in the movie was choreographed by Ms. Hayek with Geoffrey Rush. The original uni-brow used was an issue because it diverted attention from the performances. All of the sexual allegations as portrayed by Salma are not accurate and others who witnessed the events have a different account of what transpired.

Ed Norton, who was Ms. Hayek’s boyfriend at the time, [worked with Mr. Weinstein on the rewrite of the script in Mexico] did a brilliant job of rewriting the script and Mr. Weinstein battled the WGA to get him a credit on the film. His effort was unsuccessful to everyone’s disappointment.

By Mr. Weinstein’s own admission, his boorish behavior following a screening of “Frida” was prompted by his disappointment in the cut of the movie—and a reason he took a firm hand in the final edit, alongside the very skilled director Julie Taymor.

MORGAN SPURLOCK, director “Super Size Me” and lots of other documentaries, decided to come clean rather than wait for NY Times reporters with Tiki torches to come after him. He says he was once accused of rape, that he settled a sexual harassment case in his office with a woman he allegedly verbally abused, that he’s cheated on both of his wives and every woman he ever knew. I’ve known Morgan professionally for a long time but I didn’t know, as he writes in the blog post, that he’s “consistently been drinking since the age of 13? I haven’t been sober for more than a week in 30 years.” That is really awful, and I hope he can resolve that before things get worse. But it does explain why he was throwing up all those Big Macs in “Super Size Me.” I can’t imagine mixing alcohol with that crap.

The New York Times also has three women accusing Russell Simmons of rape, they’ve coined the term “the rape room” in their story about the Spotted Pig Restaurant, toppled the careers of chef Mario Batali and restaurant owner Ken Friedman (absolutely no relation). I’ve probably missed a few. And it’s only Thursday morning.

Also, Rose McGowan says Harvey Levin of TMZ is essentially blackmailing her. She wrote on Twitter last night: Help! I’m being harassed by @HarveyLevinTMZ He is hanging something over my head. He is on HW’s payroll. -Levin, you motherfucker, I’m trying to stop an international rapist. WTF have you done with your scumbag life? Back the fuck up.”

Indeed.

Shock Snubs from Screen Actors Guild Award Noms: Streep, Hanks, Spielberg, Daniel Day Lewis OUT, New Generation IN

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The SAG Awards have snubbed Steven Spielberg’s “The Post” and the stars in it– Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. It’s a shock. They also smacked down Daniel Day Lewis in “Phantom Thread.” This really says a lot about the new make up of SAG. Wow. This totally changes the Oscar prognostications. Best Ensemble winners at SAG usually win the Best Picture at the Oscars. But now Lady Bird, Mudbound, The Big Sick, Three Billboard Outside Ebbing Missouri, and Get Out are the top 5. Holy moly.

 

Motion Pictures:

Best Actor: Daniel Kaluuya, Gary Oldman, Timothee Chalamet, James Franco, Denzel Washington

Best Actress: Judi Dench, Saoirse Ronan, Sally Hawkins, Margot Robbie, Frances McDormand

Best Supporting Actor: Steve Carell, Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins, Sam Rockwell, Willem Dafoe

Best Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, Laurie Metcalf, Mary J. Blige, Hong Chau

Best Ensemble:

Get Out

Lady Bird

Mudbound

Three Billboards

Big Sick

 

Television

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

The Crown
Game of Thrones

The Handmaid’s Tale
Stranger Things
This is Us

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

black-ish
Curb 

GLOW
Orange is the New Black
Veep

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This is Us
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
David Harbour, Stranger Things
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
Claire Foy, The Crown
Laura Linney, Ozark
Elizabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Sean Hayes, Will and Grace
William H. Macy, Shameless
Marc Maron, GLOW

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Alison Brie, GLOW
Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
Julia Louise DreyfussVeep
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
Jeff Daniels, Godless
Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies
Geoffrey Rush, Genius
Alexander Skarsgaard, Big Little Lies

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange, Feud: Betty and Joan
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Betty and Joan
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series

Game of Thrones
GLOW
Homeland
Stranger Things
The Walking Dead

Bon Jovi, Moody Blues Finally Make Rock Hall, with The Cars, Nina Simone, and Dire Straits

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame finally got with the program and is inducting the Moody Blues to their hallowed institution. It only took 30 years.

The Moody Blues are joined by Bon Jovi, The Cars, Nina Simone, and Dire Straits. Sister Rosetta Tharpe was named as an Early Influencer.

Bon Jovi is significant because they’ve been eligible for some time but overlooked. Jon Bon Jovi was so angry at Jann Wenner he pulled all the group’s memorabilia from the Hall in Cleveland.

Dire  Straits and The Cars represent the late 70s and New Wave music, which Wenner has no interest in. But he’s also stuck because acts who deserve induction are dwindling to a few now. In what is a tragic irony, Wenner still hasn’t managed to get the J Geils Band in. It’s a mark of his warped personal cruelty.

The two women who are inducted were legends of different value. They are also deceased. Nina Simone was wonderful but really had nothing to do with rock and roll. Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s special mention as an Early Influencer was no doubt thanks to Seymour Stein, the last real authentic member of the nominating committee. Sister Rosetta must be smiling since probably no one who attends the show next April will have heard of her.

Still not in and bypassed yet again: a long list of people.

The ceremony will take place in Cleveland.