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Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Louis Dreyfus Lead the Charge at HBO’s Annual Emmy Bash

Leah Sydney
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Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Julia Louis Dreyfus Lead the Charge at HBO’s Annual Emmy Bash

The Emmys are over, and Robert DeNiro is already back in NYC.  Bob jetted in and out after the Emmys, he was nominated for playing Bernie Madoff in HBO’s “The Wizard of Lies,” but went back right after to start his first day on Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.”

Bob sadly didn’t make the mecca of all parties, the glamorous HBO party at the Pacific Design Center.  No other party comes close to topping this A list soiree and last night it really rocked as HBO picked up 29 Emmys.  Nicole Kidman, towering and radiant in red, was mobbed with well wishers as soon as she walked in.  Nicole and Keith Urban were just the most adorable and when philanthropist Barbara Davis came to say hello, classy Nicole opened up her arms with glee to greet her.  Grande Dame Barbara just has that  affect on people!  

Ben Affleck, looked happy and relaxed with  girlfriend Lindsay Shookus — a producer from the “Saturday Night Live” — sitting with Jeff Garlin and Larry David of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” —  cracking up at everything Larry said.  Larry was in good form and quite the social butterfly.  Seth McFarlane came in late and worked the room in lightning speed.  Julia Louis Dreyfus told me that it’s “the right time for “Veep” to end next season, but bittersweet.”  She was looking to see who had her statuette.  

Reese Witherspoon in a blue Stella McCartney blazer dress with her look alike daughter 18 year old Ava Phillippe told me, “it still hasn’t sunk in”  that “Big Little Lies” picked up so many awards. The series’ director Jean-Marc Vallee, who won for best direction of a drama, came in with double fisted Emmys.  Alexander Skarsgard clutched his Best Supporting Actor Emmy followed by Laura Dern holding hers with her kids Jaya and Ellery in tow. 

“Westworld” stars, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, James Marsden and Jeffrey Wright — although they got shut out — were hanging with the winning “Veep” cast. Jon Hamm hugged Sofia Vergara who later hung out with Jessica Biel (sans hubby Justin Timberlake).   CEO Richard Pepler chatted with Michelle Pfeiffer and David. E. Kelley.  The vivacious Anne Heche with her “Big Little Lies,” husband James Tupper, “Leftovers” stars, Amy Brenneman and Jasmin Savoy and the winner for “The Night Of,” partied on with Riz Ahmed, saying he would want to come back for the next installment. 

Debra Messing fielded all the “Will and Grace” comeback kudos with her typical grace-iousness.  Kate McKinnon said she was still “in shock” from her win. Producer Trudie Styler– husband Sting–  is on tour, Jaime King, Julianne Hough, Keegan Michael Key and Elise Pugliese congratulated “SNL” producer Lorne Michaels on all the show’s wins. Plus Dash Mihok, Mark Gatiss (from “Sherlock” and “Game of Thrones”) and oh so many more.  HBO’s Emmy party just cannot be beat.  It’s the most coveted ticket at Emmy season as well as it should be.

Emmy Awards: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Breaks a Record, Many Firsts Among Winners

Roger Friedman
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Emmy Awards: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Breaks a Record, Many Firsts Among Winners

Emmys: Julia Louis Dreyfus broke a record winning her fifth consecutive Emmy Award for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for “Veep.” She has two other Emmys, for “Seinfeld” (supporting) and “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (lead). But this is the sweetest– and she can win one more time, next year, which would be outrageous. And right.

“Veep” won Best Comedy Series but not best writing or directing for a comedy. Those two awards were firsts–to Donald Glover for directing his series “Atlanta” and Lena Waithe for co-writing with Aziz Ansari his series “Master of None.” They were the first African Americans ever to win those awards. Sterling K. Brown was the first African American to win Best Actor in a Drama since Andre Braugher in “Homicide.” Brown gave a Braugher a classy shout out.

HBO basically swept the Emmys, although Hulu became the first streaming service to win an Emmy for Best Drama with “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Ann Dowd gave the most moving speech when she won Best Supporting Actress for “Handmaid’s.” She’s 61 and was finally an overnight sensation five years ago when she was “discovered” in the low budget indie “Compliance.” She’s very deserving.

This Emmy show could actually win an Emmy. It was smoothly produced, highly entertaining, moved very well. There were no gaffes and the whole vibe was spot on.

Who stole the show? Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. They made “Nine to Five” in 1980. That’s 37 years ago! Runners up: Norman Lear and Carol Burnett, and Cicely Tyson.

HBO 29 Netflix 20 NBC 15 Hulu 10 (!) ABC 7 FX 6 Fox 5 Adult Swim 4 CBS 4 A&E 3 VH1 3 Amazon/BBCA/NatGeo/ESPN 2

Jann Wenner Gives Up, “Rolling Stone”– the Last of His Magazines– Up for Sale

Roger Friedman
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Jann Wenner Gives Up, “Rolling Stone”– the Last of His Magazines– Up for Sale

Rolling Stone is up for sale. Jann Wenner’s last magazine is going on the block following sales of US Magazine and Men’s Journal to American Media.

Of course, Rolling Stone has been whittled down to nothing after its heyday in the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties. Mostly out of touch, Rolling Stone stopped representing any generation a long time ago. But once, a long time ago, it was so important.

Wenner Media has been pretty much destroyed by lawsuits following its disastrous University of Virginia rape story– a rape that never happened and a story that tainted many innocent people.

Last year sold off 49% of Rolling Stone to BandLab, a tech company. But apparently that cash infusion was not enough to save the magazine. The New York Times first reported the story tonight.

It will be interesting to see if Wenner can keep his strangehold on the Rock and Roll Hall of Foundation now. He’s used his influence with Rolling Stone to get friends in and keep enemies out. Much of the nominating committee comes from Rolling Stone. Now what?

Emmy Awards: Elisabeth Moss, Sterling K. Brown, “Veep,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus Sets a Record, Nicole Kidman, Riz Ahmed, Donald Glover, John Oliver, “Big Little Lies, “SNL,” John Lithgow, Kate McKinnon, Laura Dern

Roger Friedman
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Emmy Awards: Elisabeth Moss, Sterling K. Brown, “Veep,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus Sets a Record, Nicole Kidman, Riz Ahmed, Donald Glover, John Oliver, “Big Little Lies, “SNL,” John Lithgow, Kate McKinnon, Laura Dern

An excellent show. Stephen Colbert didn’t go too far with the anti-Trump stuff, no one did. But the vibe was right– a celebration of how TV has matured quickly. The quality of the nominees and winners was very high, and the audience could certainly relate to them. Let’s hope the ratings were good!

Outstanding Drama Series– “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Lead Actress, Drama Series– Elisabeth Moss, “Handmaid’s Tale”

Lead Actor, Drama Series– Sterling K. Brown, “This is Us” NBC– he’s going to be a movie star– and he cites Andre Braugher– so classy!

Best Limited Series– “Big Little Lies” HBO

Outstanding Comedy Series– “Veep” HBO

Lead Actress, Comedy– Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep” — breaks a record HBO

Lead Actor, Comedy– Donald Glover, “Atlanta”

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama– John Lithgow, “The Crown” (Netflix)

Best Actor in a Limited Series– Riz Ahmed, “The Night Of”

Best Actress in a Limited Series– Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies”

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy– Kate McKinnon “SNL” She thanked Hillary Clinton for “her grace and grit.” Classy.

Best Supporting Actress in Limited Series or Movie– Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”

Best Directing– Comedy– Donald Glover*, “Atlanta”   *first black person to win for directing a comedy

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series– “Saturday Night Live”

Outstanding Writing, Drama Series–  Bruce Miller, “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy– Alec Baldwin, “SNL” meaning “SNL” has won everything it was nominated for.

Directing, Drama– Jean Marc Vallee, “Big Little Lies”

Best Supporting Actor, Drama, Limited Series– Alexander Skarsgard, “Big Little Lies”

Writing for Variety Series– “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”

Supporting Actress, Drama Series– Ann Dowd, “Handmaid’s Tale”  and she really deserves it. Good for her!

Writing, Comedy Series– Aziz Ansari, Lena Waithe*, “Master of None” *first black woman ever to win an Emmy for writing.

Least Annoying Reality Show — “The Voice”

Directing, Drama Series– Reed Morano, “Handmaid’s Tale”

Writing for Limited Series or Movie– Charlie Brooker, “Black Mirror”

Directing for Variety Series– “SNL” Don Roy King

Outstanding Variety-Talk Series— John Oliver “Last Week Tonight”

 

 

keep refreshing…

Emmy Swag: Can’t Live Without It Plus Where Else Do See Bruce Dern, John Savage, and Marilu Henner in One Place?

Leah Sydney
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Emmy Swag: Can’t Live Without It Plus Where Else Do See Bruce Dern, John Savage, and Marilu Henner in One Place?

We caught up with one of our favorites, actor John Savage, at Doris Bergman’s Eight Annual Emmy Style Lounge & Party at Fig & Olive, hosted by BuyWine.com and Skinside.  John, so well known for war themed films such as “The Deer Hunter,” “The Onion Field,” and “Salvador,”  flew in from Italy, where he did two movies back to back.   He also just finished location shooting in Costa Rica for another Vietnam themed movie,  “The Last Full Measure“ with Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda, Amy Madigan, Christopher Plummer, Bradley Whitford and Michael Imperioli.  

John explained the resurgence this genre, “Vietnam –themed films are likely due to the current feeling that we should not be militarily involved in foreign conflict.”   John also cheekily added,  I  usually don’t go to these, but my friend Doris does a lot for charity.” (This one benefited Wednesday’s Child.) John and other celebs, including the always busy Marilu Henner, Brigitte Nielson (looking radiant with a mini entourage) “Ray Donovan’s” Steven Bauer, Maria Conchita Alonso, Bruce Dern, Denise Boutte from Tyler Perry’s “Meet The Browns” and more got gifted with the top lifestyle, beauty, fashion and pet products.  Highlights were the always classic and Hollywood popular Art Lewin’s bowties and socks, Twisted Silver’s funky, stylish jewelry, My Saint My Hero’s unique, lovely bracelets and Christy Aaron’s Pampered Pet Playhouse Resort & Spa, fun doggie stuff and her CJ’s Pet Staycation along with homemade treats.

Others brands included Abingdon Co. Timepieces, The Dry Bar, Montrose Regenerative Cosmetics & Laser Center, Curlifornia, Hair Swell, Chef Elliott’s Red Velvet Bourbon Bundt Cakes & Signature Spices, Olympia Luggage, USA, Spa Girl Vodka, Hashtag Hooker, Signature Innovation Group Men’s Wear, Hint Water, Sue Wong Couture & Fragrance, Jeanne Vixen Jewelry, Reema Beauty, Burger Time, Single Dress, Kaya Di Koko, Single Underwear for Men, Mascarpone Cheesecake by Chef Turok, Rock Your Hair, Marriagemindedonly.com, Sunless Beauty, Purad’or, Miradryla.com, “Loaded Dice Films’ “Wheels” DVDs, Astrologer Kelly Surtees, and VIP gift bags provided by Buy Wine.com.  Doris Bergman once again has the go-to suite for Emmys!

List of Tonight’s Emmy Nominees: Who Will Win, Who Should Win

Roger Friedman
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List of Tonight’s Emmy Nominees: Who Will Win, Who Should Win

Here’s the nominations list for the main categories tonight. Bold faced for who will win, italics for who should win. PS Last year’s ratings for the Emmys were terrible. If the show gets very anti-Trump and includes none of the actual network shows that people watch, the ratings will tank again. Just sayin…I’ll be updating here and on Twitter @showbiz411

Drama Series
“Better Call Saul” (AMC)
“The Crown” (Netflix)
“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)
“House of Cards” (Netflix)
“Stranger Things” (Netflix)
“This Is Us” (NBC)
“Westworld” (HBO)

Comedy Series
“Atlanta” (FX)
“Black-ish” (ABC)
“Master of None” (Netflix)
“Modern Family” (ABC)
“Silicon Valley” (HBO)
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” (Netflix)
“Veep” (HBO)

Drama Actress
Viola Davis (“How to Get Away with Murder”)
Claire Foy (“The Crown”)
Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
Keri Russell (“The Americans”)
Evan Rachel Wood (“Westworld”)
Robin Wright (“House of Cards”)

Drama Actor
Sterling K. Brown (“This Is Us”)
Anthony Hopkins (“Westworld”)
Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”)
Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”)
Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan”)
Kevin Spacey (“House of Cards”)
Milo Ventimiglia (“This Is Us”)

Comedy Actor
Anthony Anderson (“Black-ish”)
Aziz Ansari (“Master of None”)
Zach Galifianakis (“Baskets”)
Donald Glover (“Atlanta”)
William H. Macy (“Shameless”)
Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”)

Comedy Actress
Pamela Adlon (“Better Things”)
Tracee Ellis-Ross (“black-ish”)
Jane Fonda (“Grace and Frankie”)
Lily Tomlin (“Grace and Frankie”)
Allison Janney (“Mom”)
Ellie Kemper (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”)

Limited Series
“Big Little Lies” (HBO)
“Fargo” (FX)
“Feud: Bette and Joan” (FX)
“The Night Of” (HBO)
“Genius” (National Geographic)

Limited Series Actor
Riz Ahmed (“The Night Of”)
Benedict Cumberbatch (“Sherlock: The Lying Detective”)
Robert De Niro (“The Wizard of Lies”)
Ewan McGregor (“Fargo”)
Geoffrey Rush (“Genius”)
John Turturro (“The Night Of”)

Limited Series Actress
Carrie Coon (“Fargo”)
Felicity Huffman (“American Crime”)
Nicole Kidman (“Big Little Lies”)
Jessica Lange (“Feud”)
Susan Sarandon (“Feud”)
Reese Witherspoon (“Big Little Lies”)

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
John Lithgow (“The Crown”)
Jonathan Banks (“Better Call Saul”)
Mandy Patinkin (“Homeland”)
Michael Kelly (“House of Cards”)
David Harbour (“Stranger Things”)
Ron Cephas Jones (“This Is Us”)
Jeffrey Wright (“Westworld”)

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Ann Dowd (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
Samira Wiley (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)
Uzo Aduba (“Orange Is the New Black”)
Millie Bobby Brown (“Stranger Things”)
Chrissy Metz (“This Is Us”)
Thandie Newton (“Westworld”)

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin (“Saturday Night Live”)
Louie Anderson (“Baskets”)
Ty Burrell (“Modern Family”)
Tituss Burgess (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”)
Tony Hale (“Veep”)
Matt Walsh (“Veep”)

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Kate McKinnon (“Saturday Night Live”)
Vanessa Bayer (“Saturday Night Live”)
Leslie Jones (“Saturday Night Live”)
Anna Chlumsky (“Veep”)
Judith Light (“Transparent”)
Kathryn Hahn (“Transparent”)

Television Movie
“Black Mirror: San Junipero” (Netflix)
“Dolly Parton’s Christmas Of Many Colors: Circle Of Love” (NBC)
“The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks” (HBO)
“Sherlock: The Lying Detective (Masterpiece)” (PBS)
“The Wizard Of Lies” (HBO)

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Bill Camp (“The Night Of”)
Alfred Molina (“Feud: Bette and Joan”)
Alexander Skarsgård (“Big Little Lies”)
David Thewlis (“Fargo”)
Stanley Tucci (“Feud: Bette and Joan”)
Michael K. Williams (“The Night Of”)

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Judy Davis (“Feud: Bette and Joan”)
Laura Dern (“Big Little Lies”)
Jackie Hoffman (“Feud: Bette and Joan”)
Regina King (“American Crime”)
Michelle Pfeiffer (“The Wizard of Lies”)
Shailene Woodley (“Big Little Lies”)

Toronto Film Fest: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” with Frances McDormand for People’s Choice Award

Roger Friedman
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Toronto Film Fest: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” with Frances McDormand for People’s Choice Award

The TIFF People’s Choice Award has gone to Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” starring Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell. Each of the actors moves up in the Oscar prognostication race for this Fox Searchlight indie. McDonagh previously wrote and directed the great “In Bruges” with Ralph Fiennes. A number of his plays have been produced on Broadway. But this is his biggest achievement so far. Bravo!

First runner up was “I, Tonya” with Margot Robbie playing conniving ice skater Tonya Harding. Second runner up was the peachy “Call Me By Your Name.”

The Grolsch People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award goes to Joseph Kahn’s “Bodied.” The second runner-up is Craig Zahler’s Brawl in Cell Block 99. The first runner-up is James Franco’s “The Disaster Artist.”

The Grolsch People’s Choice Documentary Award goes to Agnès Varda and JR’s “Faces Places.” The second runner-up is Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” The first runner-up is “Long Time Running” directed by Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas De Pencier.

TIFF doesn’t offer acting prizes but there were plenty of excellent performances in Toronto this year. My favorite included Jessica Chastain and Idris Elba in “Molly’s Game,” Judi Dench in “Victoria and Abdul,” Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston in “The Upside,” Sally Hawkins in “The Shape of Water,” Michael Stuhlbarg in “Call Me By Your Name,” and Willem Dafoe in “The Florida Project.”

McDormand, an Oscar winner for “Fargo,” joins many of the aforementioned ladies in the race for the Oscar– Dench, Chastain, Emma Stone (for “Battle of the Sexes”), Hawkins plus Nicole Kidman in “Killing of a Sacred Deer.”

McDormand is always a funny choice because she doesn’t campaign, can’t accept compliments, doesn’t like interviews or interviewers, and I don’t think cares one way or another. When she won the Tony a couple of years ago she was almost locked out of the theater (accidentally) right before she was announced. And yet she is absolutely brilliant in anything she does. What can you do? Just watch her in “Almost Famous” or “North Country” or “Olive Kitteridge.” Amazing.

Liz Taylor and Richard Burton Survived “Cleopatra,” Can JLaw and Darren Aronofsky Overcome “Mother!”???

Roger Friedman
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Liz Taylor and Richard Burton Survived “Cleopatra,” Can JLaw and Darren Aronofsky Overcome “Mother!”???

Meeting on Hollywood sets is fairly common for stars and their directors. Superstar Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence met director Darren Aronofsky when she went to shoot his intellectual horror film “Mother!” But will they be able to outlast the movie’s negative—actually scathing—reviews and bad box office? That’s a tough one. “Mother!” not only garnered F from audiences on CinemaScore over the weekend, veteran critic Rex Reed called it “the worst movie of the century.”

Most of the A list couples who meet on movies only stay together if the movie is a hit. One example of a couple who soldiered on after a huge flop is Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz. Their 2011 “Dream House,” directed by Jim Sheridan, turned out to be a nightmare. It made just $21 million despite Weisz’s previous Oscar and Craig’s James Bond fame. What saved them? A hit run on Broadway in Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” two years later softened the blow. As far as anyone knows, they are still together.

And maybe the most famous example of a couple who made it past the blame phase of a movie’s failure were Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Their ten year marriage took place just after “Cleopatra” was one of the biggest failures in Hollywood history. “Cleopatra” was such a disaster it almost bankrupted 20th Century Fox. Luckily, no matter how badly “Mother!” shakes out, Paramount and Viacom will continue to make movies.

But most of the time, romance fades when success is eluded. Tom Cruise saw it happen twice—first with Nicole Kidman on “Eyes Wide Shut” and then with Penelope Cruz on “Vanilla Sky.” The experience of the original “Flatliners” was so bad that Julia Roberts literally left Kiefer Sutherland waiting at the altar. And of course, “By the Sea” was so polluted that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie – who directed the film they co-starred in—had the biggest split of the last decade.

Horror of Horror Films: Stephen King’s “It” 2nd Weekend $60 Mil Makes 8 Times As Much as “Mother!”

Roger Friedman
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Horror of Horror Films: Stephen King’s “It” 2nd Weekend $60 Mil Makes 8 Times As Much as “Mother!”

Horror of horror films: Stephen King’s “It” made $60 million its second week.

That’s EIGHT times as much as Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother!” made– just $7.5 million. That’s a half million dollars less than the low estimates from Paramount.

“Mother!” has a published price tag of $33 million. But that seems low given that Lawrence and Javier Bardem are Oscar winners, that’s she’s a huge box office star, and the cost of shlepping everyone around.

Not only that– Paramount rented out Radio City Music Hall for its premiere, flew everyone in, put them up, and had a swanky party (no press allowed so I don’t know what they served).

Let’s say $60 million.

It’s heartbreaking for my pals at Paramount who did everything they could to market this movie. They really worked it, too, god bless ’em. And choppier waters are ahead with the disappointing George Clooney movie “Suburbicon” and Alexander Payne’s smallish “Downsizing” waiting in the wings.

But both of those should do better than “Mother!” I mean, this was not much more than the Nicolas Cage movie “Vengeance,” which made just $5,000.

Kevin Hart Implies He’s Being Blackmailed Over Affair While Wife is Pregnant

Roger Friedman
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Kevin Hart Implies He’s Being Blackmailed Over Affair While Wife is Pregnant

Now we know why Kevin Hart was laying low last Saturday and didn’t come to Toronto for the premiere of “The Upside.” The downside is he implies on Instagram that he’s being blackmailed over an extramarital affair. His wife is pregnant, too. Bad timing. He writes: “Sending so many apologies to my wife & kids. I gotta do better and I will. I’m not perfect and have never claimed to be …I love you all.”

A really fast talker, let’s hope Kevin can talk himself out of this one. Yikes. The picture I added is from Kevin’s Instagram account, taken over Labor Day weekend. I think that says it all.

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