Al Franken resigned from the US Senate today. A lot of questions remain about whether and how he was railroaded from office. Not everyone agrees with this decision. I think Minnesota, especially, will regret losing such a great advocate.
Pop Star Ed Sheeran Got His MBE Today from Prince Charles at a Real “Castle on the Hill”
Pop star Ed Sheeran got something better than a Grammy Award today: an MBE from Prince Charles.
It’s not a knighthood, but it’s the first step toward getting one. To receive it, Ed had to go to a real “Castle on the Hill”– Buckingham Palace.
The MBE is quite an achievement. It’s also notable that Queen Elizabeth has turned this duty over to Prince Charles. He may yet become king.
Eminem Going Tony Bennett Duets Route with New Album Featuring Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Ed Sheeran, Pink
Eminem– Marshall Mathers to you– has a new album called “Revival” on December 15th. It seems like Em is going the Tony Bennett duets route. “Revival” features special guests Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Pink, Alicia Keys, X Ambassadors, Kehlani, and Skylar Grey. The latter, a talented singer songwriter, has also written a couple of songs on the album including the Beyonce single, “Walk on Water.”
Notable on this list is the lack of hip hop or rap guests. The only one is Phresher, who collaborates on a song called “Chloraseptic.” It’s unclear if that’s a commercial for the sore throat spray.
What’s next? Why, Eminem at Caesar’s Palace, I’d guess. A guest spot on the Hallmark Channel. A joint venture with the Food Channel. A line of dishware at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
- “Walk on Water” (featuring Beyoncé)
- “Believe”
- “Chloraseptic” (featuring Phresher)
- “Untouchable”
- “River” (featuring Ed Sheeran)
- “Remind Me (Intro)”
- “Remind Me”
- “Revival (Interlude)”
- “Like Home” (featuring Alicia Keys)
- “Bad Husband” (featuring X Ambassadors)
- “Tragic Endings” (featuring Skylar Grey)
- “Framed”
- “Nowhere Fast” (featuring Kehlani)
- “Heat”
- “Offended”
- “Need Me” (featuring Pink)
- “In Your Head”
- “Castle”
- “Arose”
Barbra Streisand Coming to Sony Music’s Rescue Friday with Stealth “Memories” Live Album
It’s not getting much advance PR, but Barbra Streisand’s releasing a live album on Friday that should take her straight to number 1.
The timing is perfect because Columbia Records is in dire need of a chart hit right now. They’ve been dry for weeks except for Mariah Carey’s Christmas album. Streisand at number 1 will give the Sony label the shot of adrenaline it needs.
Streisand’s release is “The Music, the Mem’ries, the Magic,” the live audio part of her Netflix concert that’s already airing on the TV like platform. The deluxe version contains some songs she’s rarely performed, like “By the Way” from 1975. Streisand wrote it herself for the “Lazy Afternoon” album. She’s only sung it live three times, just for this tour and album.
The album is already sitting at number 58 on Amazon without much fanfare. The last time Barbra had a new release– her “Encores” album– she appeared on Jimmy Fallon and went right to number 1. Let’s see if she turns up on late night TV next week.
Meantime, U2’s new release, “Songs of Experience,” may only come in at number 2 this Friday with sales hovering around 100,000. Great reviews, I loved it personally. But maybe it’s backlash from the “Songs of Innocence” release that was forced onto iTunes accounts. This one has so many great songs, take a listen.
Freddie Mercury Movie “Bohemian Rhapsody” Gets Director of Much Admired “Sunshine on Leith”
Freddie Mercury will still get Somebody to Love. Under pressure, Fox has hired a new director to replace Bryan Singer on “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
The new director is Dexter Fletcher, who made the much admired “Sunshine on Leith” with music from the Proclaimers. That film scored a 93 on Rotten Tomatoes with 40 reviews. It was a hit at festivals Fletcher’s only made a couple of films, and from his pictures it looks like he really needs a comb. But he has only has a couple of weeks left to film.
Singer is who knows where, doing who knows what. His career is kind of wrecked as he’s been tossed from his Fox offices. But since Fox is going to be sold, it’s doubtful he would have stayed– especially at Disney.
The DGA will have to rule about who made “Bohemian Rhapsody.” At least they didn’t have to reshoot Rami Malek’s scenes using Christopher Plummer, although that would have been interesting.
Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix Make Rare Joint Appearance for Annette Bening’s “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”
Rooney Mara was the loyal sister in law Monday night, accompanied by her boyfriend Joaquin Phoenix, as she hosted an Academy awards screening of her brother in law Jamie Bell’s ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’ at the London Hotel.
Jamie is married to Kate Mara, the equally talented actress sister of Rooney. Rooney and Joaquin are pretty Hollywood low key, although they are vocal in their support of animal rights (as are Kate and Jamie). I did not ask the Maras about the New York Giants, a painful subject, because it was a night of celebration. (Their family owns the beleaguered football team.)
The quartet was gracious and chatted with guests. Jamie’s co-star — none other than the luminous Annette Bening — brought out her own fan club that included Jane Fonda, Diane Lane, Julian Sands, Robert Towne, Francis Fisher and more.
Director Paul McGuigan’s lovely film hits all the poignant right notes in his endearing tale of the real life romance of a the struggling young actor Peter Turner (his memoir is the basis of the film,) and famed actress Gloria Grahame, a legendary Oscar winning star who struggles with illness at the end of her career. Both actors are wonderfully bittersweet and affecting in their star-crossed lovers roles. Elvis Costello’s song, ‘You Shouldn’t Look at Me That Way,’ is a standout. No less than Vanessa Redgrave also shines as Gloria’s mother with Julie Walters just lovely as Peter’s Mum. Sony Picture Classics releases the film on December 29th.
Bon Jovi, Moody Blues Top Fan Vote for Rock Hall: Will Jann Wenner Listen? Or Ignore Them?
Not much can save the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame from being a joke at this point. The nominating committee lives in a dreamland controlled by Jann Wenner. It’s the last thing Wenner actually owns after his publishing company has been sold off for scrap.
But now the fans have voted on the Hall’s site for who they think should be inducted next spring. Their top three choices: Bon Jovi, the Moody Blues, and Dire Straits. I agree with them. Will Wenner get the message? Or will he just ignore the vote? (He’s done it before.)
Maybe someone can talk some sense to him. Meanwhile, Jon Bon Jovi gets the last laugh. I’m thrilled.
Almost 20 Years Later, Edward Norton Will Start Shooting “Motherless Brooklyn” in February 2018
“Motherless Brooklyn” may he happening at last.
Actor Edward Norton will direct a movie “based on characters from Jonathan Lethem’s novel” from Norton’s own screenplay. Shooting begins in February 2018.
This project was announced in 1999 with Brett Ratner as a producer. It was mentioned again in 2014 as a ‘go’.
Now Ratner is gone and in his place are producers Gigi Pritzker, Bill Migliore, and Rachel Shane.
This is the novel’s synopsis from Amazon. It reads like a Sidney Lumet movie scripted by Jay Presson Allen. By the way, a real ‘essrog’ or etrog, is an inedible citrus fruit used on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, in case you were wondering. It’s usually accompanied by the Lulav.
The story: Lionel Essrog is Brooklyn’s very own self-appointed Human Freakshow, an orphan whose Tourettic impulses drive him to bark, count, and rip apart our language in startling and original ways. Together with three veterans of the St. Vincent’s Home for Boys, he works for small-time mobster Frank Minna’s limo service cum detective agency. Life without Frank Minna, the charismatic King of Brooklyn, would be unimaginable, so who cares if the tasks he sets them are, well, not exactly legal. But when Frank is fatally stabbed, one of Lionel’s colleagues lands in jail, the other two vie for his position, and the victim’s widow skips town. Lionel’s world is suddenly topsy-turvy, and this outcast who has trouble even conversing attempts to untangle the threads of the case while trying to keep the words straight in his head.
A First: Critics Choice Awards Nominate Non-Binary Asia Kate Dillon as Best Supporting Actor in “Billions”
Asia Kate Dillon, an actor whom I just love from Showtime’s “Billions,” has scored a first: a non binary actor who was born a woman and nominated as Best Supporting Actor from that show by the Critics Choice Awards.
Dillon prefers to use the singular “they” pronoun, which isn’t grammatical but hey– we’re in new territory here. They plays Taylor, the genius assistant to Damian Lewis’s Bobby Axelrod on the show. Dillon is not the only nominee from “Billions.” The great Paul Giamatti scored a Best Actor nomination, as well.
For some reason “Billions” doesn’t get much love from awards groups. It’s one of my all time favorite shows and I know it has a big following. Lewis, Giamatti, Malin Akerman, the show itself, all deserve a lot of awards and nominations.
Dillon comes to “Billions” from “Orange is the New Black,” so they are not unknown. But Dillon is just terrific on “Billions,” a real breath of fresh air. So Bravo, in any category and any pronoun!
John Travolta Says of John Gotti, Convicted for 5 Murders: “I found there were a lot of good will gestures on his part…there was a very humane part to him”
The spin is on for John Travolta’s “Gotti” movie, which Lions Gate sold back to its owners (including some incredibly disreputable ex-cons).
On Deadline.com, Travolta opines: “I found there were a lot of good will gestures on [Gotti’s] part…there was a humane side to him.
On April 2, 1992, John Gotti was convicted on all charges: five murders, conspiracy to murder loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion.
What people forget: “The Godfather” was based on fiction, a novel by Mario Puzo. The novel had real life influences, but the Corleones, their friends and enemies, were made up. They didn’t really exist.
John Gotti was real. The murders, the crimes, all happened. There were really victims, real life people. There is no happy or even poetic ending.
Gotti’s Wikipedia page will tell you the rest. John Gotti is not an anti-hero. He was a demented criminal. To spin it any other way is insane.
As for the “Gotti” movie, whoever puts money in it now has to accept the 38 producers, including the Fiores and Fay Devlin, not to mention other people who invested in it, like the estate of Marty Ingells, who feel ripped off.