Thursday, December 18, 2025
Home Blog Page 1476

Happy Birthday 90th Tony Bennett– Nice Guys Do Finish First

0

Tony Bennett turns 90 years young today. You know, he defies age and just about everything else. Frank Sinatra’s favorite singer, and now the most famous crooner of our lifetime, Tony is not only our finest singer but also a man of conscience and civility. An early supporter of Martin Luther King, Tony stood up during the Civil Rights movement and never stopped fighting for the underdog. His ear is tuned to great music and to helping people. He’s devoted to his charity Exploring the Arts. And the public school he created in Queens– the Frank Sinatra School– is a beacon of hope.

Musically, you know Tony is as contemporary as the latest pop star. His album with Lady Gaga, Cheek to Cheek, is an enormous success. The pair has toured all over the world. Tony heard what Gaga could be, just as he heard the great gift of Amy Winehouse before her tragic death. And he remains true to real jazz. His latest album, with Bill Charlap on piano, is a masterwork.

There are lots of Tony anecdotes, everybody who knows him has one. He is the most self-effacing person in the world. A few years ago he won a bunch of Emmy Awards for a TV special. I was looking for him at the after party at Disney Hall, thinking he must be in the VIP section or at some special table for winners. No, there he was, sitting with wife Susan, balancing a paper plate on his knee, sitting not in a chair but on a ledge while all kinds of people walked back and forth not even noticing him.

“Tony!” I said. “You know you just won Emmy Awards. You can sit in the VIP section.” He looked bemused. “Thanks, my friend, but I’m fine right here.”

Three summers ago I was at the recording session for his Duets album with Aretha Franklin at a studio on the West Side. It was about 100 degrees outside. Inside, Aretha had producer Phil Ramone turn off the air conditioning. It was so steamy in the studio that poor Phil was drenched in sweat. Aretha wore a sleeveless top and was cool as a cucumber. Tony, on the other hand, was sporting a full suit and tie– dark blue suit, monochromatic light blue shirt and tie. His face was redder than a stop sign.

“Tony, you can take all that off, you know. Aretha won’t mind.” She had said as much.

Tony shook his head. “No sir. I am dressed for Aretha Franklin.”

They went on and recorded “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?” It was a great success, although I don’t know how Tony didn’t pass out during the session.

Afterward, Aretha said, “We took Tony Bennett into the studio and he burst into flames!”

Here’s the video, shot on that day:

Happy Birthday, Tony! And here’s to the beginning of many celebrations!

Pop: R&B Star Frank Ocean Has a New Album! Surprise! Dropping on Friday

0

Surprise! The music biz had pretty much gone into a ditch with no sight of a tow truck.

But on Friday, Frank Ocean will drop a new album called “Boys Don’t Cry” on Apple Music. Ben Sisario got the scoop in the New York Times, and I’ve confirmed it.

The R&B sensation hasn’t released an album since his hit debut, “Channel Orange,” in 2012.

So far this year has been all about Adele, Drake and Beyonce. Kanye West thinks it was about him, but it wasn’t since not many people heard his album. If you add Ocean to this sea of music, that makes four albums that could be in Album of the Year along with David Bowie’s “Blackstar” and Paul Simon’s “Stranger to Stranger.”

The Times was tipped off to the big wave Ocean is making from social media. Frank posted a video about absolutely nothing. But at least “Boys Don’t Cry” will be on AppleMusic and not the dreadful Tidal. And maybe in a few days on Spotify et.

Jimmy Fallon on Hosting Golden Globes: Hopes to meet “HFPA before Donald Trump has them all deported”

0

Jimmy Fallon will host the Golden Globes on NBC next January 8th. Fallon immediately Tweeted he hopes to meet the Hollywood Foreign Press before Donald Trump has them all deported.”

That’s the news from Hollywood today.

“Suicide Squad” Exec Producer, Also Donald Trump’s Chief Fundraiser: “There are lots of secret Hollywood Republicans”

0

“Suicide Squad” premiered last night– David Ayer’s DC Comics rendering is pretty cool, a huge hit for Warner Bros. and leap forward into taking on Marvel Comics movies. The big time premiere at the Beacon Theater was so rambunctious that  when director David Ayer took the stage, an audience member yelled out “F— Marvel!” Ayer shouted it back, but later apologized on Twitter. Oh, it was okay. Smells like teen spirit!

Will Smith makes a huge comeback as Deadshot, and he told me it was a relief not to have an entire movie on his shoulders. “I could live my life,” he said, while shooting “SS.” Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Jared Leto as The Joker are a sizzling couple who could go on to Harley’s proposed standalone movie or the next Batman movie. (Ben Affleck makes a cameo in “SS” and there’s much talk about Gotham City and Wayne Industries.)

I was thrilled to run into Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who plays Croc with a lot of humor and pathos. You know Adewale– he was Mr. Echo on “Lost” and is a very in-demand actor. His next picture is “Wetlands” and he’s got another called “Elizabeth Blue.” He told me, “It’s a great time for black actors,” which I hope is true, and it’s a great time for Adewale.

I do enjoy Jared Leto, who makes The Joker his own and moves to the beat of a different drum. He wore a gorgeous long embroidered coat on stage at the Beacon and over to the party. The coat was made by Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, who looks a little like Jared and was with him and a couple of attractive ladies at the party. “I love the coat,” I told Jared. He said, “It only cost twenty nine thousand dollars!” No sample sales.

suicide squad cageMeanwhile, the party Warner Bros. set up in Moynihan Station (the post office soon to be Amtrak) was almost as sensational as the movie and just about as well art-directed. There was a Harley Quinn tattoo parlor, and a prison cage where a Harley lookalike performed acrobatics. Samsung set up a VR salon, and there was pizza from Roberto’s in Brooklyn. No sign of our pal Viola Davis, who steals the movie as Amanda Waller, the mastermind of the Suicide Squad in a St. Johns knit top. She had to get back to LA for “How to Get Away with Murder.”

But I did have the pleasure of meeting Steve Mnuchin, who gets a separate huge “card” at the end of film as Executive Producer. (He works with Brett Ratner and James Packer in the RatPac, which financed the film.) A really affable, friendly guy, Steve also happens to be Donald Trump’s chief fundraiser. Huh? I asked  how hard it was to balance this side job with his newer Hollywood connections. Steve said, “You’d be surprised how many secret Republicans there are in Hollywood!”

Steve also said that Trump is raising plenty of money, more than enough. “It’s a unique time for an outsider to come to Washington and make a difference.”

Well, the guy is backing good movies. And this ordeal will be over in less than 100 days. We wait for a happy ending.

Just an afterthought by Paul Manafort and Reince Preibus would be good characters in the next film.

Warren Beatty to Receive Museum of the Moving Image Tribute in November

0

Rules don’t apply usually– but Warren Beatty has agreed to be saluted by the Museum of the Moving Image for lifetime achievement. The ceremony is November 2nd in New York. I’m sure Warren only agreed because his movie “Rules Don’t Apply” opens the next week. Warren hates publicity! But he’s going to have to do a little– “Rules” is buzzed as an Oscar contender. Warren is on track for Best Supporting Actor nods.

Warren will follow in the footsteps of past honorees including Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, Robert DeNiro, Goldie Hawn, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks, Hugh Jackman, Steve Martin, Julianne Moore, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Julia Roberts, Martin Scorsese, Kevin Spacey, Steven Spielberg, and Jimmy Stewart.

Michael Barker, co-chair of the museum and co-chief of Sony Pictures Classics said in a statement: “Warren Beatty helped invent the new Hollywood with the fresh, distinctly modern sensibility he has brought to his work in front of and behind the camera. He makes movies that are bold, provocative, and entertaining, and he has had astonishing and prolonged success as an actor, director, producer, and writer. He has been one of the most beloved and honored creative figures in Hollywood, and the Museum is thrilled to salute his remarkable career.”

Get your tickets now because this will be SOLD OUT by the time I finish typing.

Hamptons Saturday: Alessandro Nivola Hosts Brother Adrian’s Art Show for Heavy A Listers Damian Lewis, Martin Amis

0

adrian nivolaHAMPTONS SATURDAY Adrian Nivola‘s opening show of new sculptures at the Drawing Room in East Hampton was pretty swell. His brother Alessandro and sister in law Emily Mortimer were unofficial hosts. Damian Lewis, looking redder than usual from the sun, and Dominic West each stopped in.When someone complimented Lewis on “Homeland,” he said, “Brody is dead.” Just in case we didn’t know.

Blythe Danner brought a friend before they went off to a birthday party. Later we ran into her in front of East Hampton’s new Tesla boutique, and she told me she’s driven one at a clean air exhibition. Blythe is very cutting edge. Famed writer Martin Amis and his famed writer wife Isabelle Eberstadt also stopped in before everyone went off to a paella party in Springs.

Nivola’s works sold out fairly fast, there were red dots on most of the pieces. Adrian’s work is whimsical and captivating, likenivola sculpture Maurice Sendak sprung from his head. You want to take all the pieces home. One of them had tiny watch faces embedded in it. My favorite was this one pictured with the musical notes. I don’t think he can make them fast enough, but they are time intensive with such detail work that it takes some time.

Over at the Watermill Center we met the famed artist and director Robert Wilson, who never fails to put on a stunning outdoor show– even in 100% humidity. Artist Hunt Slonem, one of our favorite people, was dressed like a couch from the 1950s– only artists can get away with that. Jay McInerney, who had a bestseller in 1984 called Bright Lights, Big City wore blue camouflage pants. If you’re in the Hamptons, the Watermill Center is a must see place, just like Longhouse Reserve. The Hamptons are full of surprises. I took this photo of Pussy Riot’s anti-Trump installation on the grounds. Some people sat in the electric chair. We declined.

Viola Davis on Playing Brutal “Suicide Squad” Character Amanda Waller: “I’ve had enough aprons! I’ve held enough babies, so I think I’m good!”

0

Viola Davis’s career is exploding. “Suicide Squad,” her first action-packed blockbuster, based on the Super-Villains in the DC Comics, opens Friday.

 

Davis plays Amanda Waller, a U.S. Intelligence Officer who recruits super-villains for secret missions to defeat enigmatic, entities threatening the universe. She’s more badass than any of the villains she recruited. Although Waller has no super-powers, she’s the puppet master to the weird baddies who do her bidding or face execution.

 

 

Later this year Davis co-stars with Denzel Washington in August Wilson’s masterpiece “Fences,” which Washington also directed. Both actors received Tony Awards in 2010 for these roles. The likelihood is that they’ll be up for Oscars.

 

Davis also has a number of projects in the pipeline, including movies about Harriet Tubman and Barbara Jordan that will be produced by JuVee Productions, the company she formed with her husband Julius Tennon.

 

Last year Davis won an Emmy for playing Annalise Keating in “How to Get Away With Murder.”

 

Although she’s been an acclaimed actress for some 25 years, she first got singled out for her Oscar nominated performances as a grieving mother in “Doubt” (2008) and a servant in “The Help” (2011).

 

Viola Davis was at the Tribeca Film Festival in April to promote her movie “Custody,” directed by James Levine and produced by her production Company. Davis said she was excited about “Suicide Squad.” She told Showbiz411 in the green roon, “You know, hey listen, I’ve had enough aprons! I’ve held enough babies, so I think I’m good!”

 

Sunday afternoon Viola Davis attended a press conference in midtown Manhattan to promote “Suicide Squad,” along with director David Ayer and fellow cast members Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje, Cara Delevingne, Adam Beach and Karen Fukuhara also participated and seemed to be in party mode. (Kinnman said they had partied late together the night before and the group was still in party mode.)

 

 

During the press conference a journalist asked Viola Davis what she tapped into to connect with her character:

 

“I definitely want to know how you connected with that character,” Kinnaman cracked.

 

Kinnaman plays Rick Flagg, the no-nonsense officer who reports to Waller and tries to keep the Suicide Squad under control.

 

 

“Joel gave me a book called Confessions of a Sociopath and I read that book extensively,” Davis said. “It’s a confessions of a woman who’s a sociopath and one of the things I found out was that a lot of CEO’s of companies are sociopaths, people who have no guilt. If they cry they’re only crying because they feel like they’re losing control.”

 

Viola continued: “And also I tapped into Viola at eight years old, cause I can’t tap into Viola at fifty one. At eight, I could beat somebody’s ass.” (Everyone laughed.) “I could beat somebody’s ass. I was just always angry because people were always teasing me. I was bullied. And I remember that was the first story I told David when I met him. He was like, ‘Oh yeah, Viola, just tell about your childhood… I said, ‘Well David, I remember when I was eight years old I kicked a lot of ass…so there was a part of me that had to tap into that because with women, with me, I’m always apologizing. I’m shy. I’m always retreating. I never tap into my power and Amanda Waller is not that! She is unapologetically brutal!”

 

“Yeah!” Kinnaman said.

 

“Yeah, cause I had to call him pussy a couple of times,” Davis said, pointing to Kinnaman. “I had to tap into that because otherwise I would have retreated and with this movie I couldn’t retreat, so that’s what I did.”

 

“She did not retreat at all!” Kinnaman reiterated. “It was pretty much every day that me and Viola had together on set she would …she’d stand in front of the camera and just yell mean things at me… She’d be like, ‘Hey Joel, Joel! You little Bitch!’”

“And I’d go, ‘Okay, good morning, good morning,” Kinnaman sighed. “That was my experience.”

 

 

 

General Hospital Fans: “Luke” is Not Returning– Tony Geary’s Hollywood Hills Home for Sale, Contents Were Sold This Weekend

0

GTY_anrthony_geary_jef_150727_16x9_992“General Hospital” fans who were hoping for the return of Luke Spencer– played by Tony Geary– are going to be disappointed.

A year ago, Geary left the show, retired, and moved to Amsterdam. It doesn’t look like he’s coming back to the show or the US.

Geary’s Hollywood Hills home at 7010 Pacific View Drive, is up for sale. It’s listed at $999,999. See the video below.

Over this weekend, there was a tag sale to get rid of whatever contents remained. A spy writes: “…whole house cleaned out. Very Boogie Nights 70s interior. A lot of Xmas CDs, Rosemary Clooney.. still getting over Liz [Taylor] and Bob Dylan…carpet awful…no light…”

ABC and the soap must know the score. Last week on the show one of the characters discovered what might be Luke’s desiccated body, along with positive ID of personal jewelry. No one ever dies on a soap, but this might have been their signal to the actor that they’re not amused he’s really gone.

“Ghostbusters” Beats “Independence Day: Resurgence” In Race for $100 Mil by 9 Days

0

“Ghostbusters” is some sort of perceived failure. But guess what? The Paul Feig movie crossed the $100 million line on Saturday. It took 16 days.

By contrast, another franchise film, “Independence Day: Resurgence” took 27 days to reach $100 million. And today, “IDR” is dead at $101 million. “Ghostbusters” is up to $106 million. And it still has legs.

Also at the box office: Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass came soaring back with “Jason Bourne” and $60 million for an opening weekend. They picked up $50 million in foreign territories. Not bad. That’s an easy $100 mil plus film with two sequels. That’s good news for Universal.

“Star Trek Beyond” crossed the $100 million mark this weekend, in 13 days. I kept hearing in advance this was a dud too. Far from it.

Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society” is now up to $3.9 million after three weeks. Woody’s last really big hit was “Blue Jasmine” in 2013 which went to $33 million. That may be a tough target, but we’ll see. “Magic in the Moonlight” did $10.3 million in 2014. Let’s get there first.

Conservative Icon William F. Buckley’s “Dead” 16 Year Old Grandson Trying to Get More than $2,500 in Monthly Child Support

0

Conservative writer William F. Buckley died in 2008, leaving an estate estimated at $30 million. But before he expired he made sure his “illegitimate” grandson, Jonathan, then only 5 years old, would never get a penny of it.

William F. Buckley actually wrote in his last will and testament: “I intentionally make no provision herein for said Jonathan, who for all purposes . . . shall be deemed to have predeceased me,” according to a 2008 story in the Hartford Courant and an article in Vanity Fair.

But now  “Jonathan” (not his real name since he’s technically underage) Woelfe, born in 2000, is almost 17 and wants to go to college. Jonathan’s father, writer Christopher Buckley, author of best selling books including “Thank You for Smoking,” is said to be battling the boy’s mother in Stamford Connecticut court to lower his child support to $2,500 a month. (According to reports he’s been paying $3,000 a month.)

Spies spotted Buckley in Stamford family court on Thursday.

Buckley’s most recent novel, “The Relic Master.” was published in December by Simon & Schuster. “Thank You for Smoking,” directed by Ivan Reitman, was a huge hit in 2006. It only cost $7 million and took in $40 mil worldwide.

Jonathan is the product of married Chris’s long term affair in the early 90s with Irina Woelfe, a Random House publicist. Sources say that Chris has seen the boy once, and that was probably six or seven years ago. (Buckley has two older “legitimate” children with his wife.) Woelfe only receives child support, according to reports, but told the court that the boy suffers emotionally from having no relationship with his father. Buckley said he wanted nothing to do with Jonathan.

The Buckley family — which also included Chris’s famous mother, Pat, one of the “social X rays” lampooned in Tom Wolfe’s “Bonfire of the Vanities”– disowned the child. How famous were the Buckleys? According to Vanity Fair: “His memorial service was at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, on Fifth Avenue. Hers was at the Temple of Dendur, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.”

I’m told Jonathan and his mother live outside of Miami, where she has a has a successful PR company.

I emailed Chris Buckley to get his take. He wrote: “Would really rather comment after the matter is settled. Hope you understand. After all, a child is involved.”

Maybe Jonathan could apply to the William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale, a not-for profit that had $540,000 in revenue in 2014 according to its most recent Form 990 tax filing.

Chris Buckley and Irina Woelfe will return to court in Stamford at the end of September.