Thursday, December 18, 2025
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The Hunger Games 4: LionsGate Waits for Only Its Second $100 Mil Hit of the Year

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So far this year LionsGate films has released 22 films that brought in a total of $367  million. About a third of that was taken in by “Insurgent” from the Divergent series, which made $130 million. That was one home run and 24 singles or doubles.

Now they wait for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2” to make their biggest money of the year.

But most of LionsGate is low level stuff hoping to break out. “Sicario” is one of those, with $45 million. But most of the balance of their releases were disasters like Johnny Depp in “Mortdecai” ($7.7 million) or Keanu Reeves in Eli Roth’s “Knock Knock” which made $36,000. Yes, you read that correctly.

“HGMJ2” looks a little wobbly going in. Reviews were divided. It’s unclear where anyone other than hardcore “Hunger Games” fans still care about the series. The last two movies were divided out of one book, and my teen sources are a little apathetic this time around. There was none of that “got to see it” action going on.

LionsGate has lived on the “Twilight” series and “The Hunger Games” movies, mining the YA market. They’re hoping for more of that with “Insurgent” — but so far that seems like weak tea unless the next one– maybe it’s called “Detergent”– catches on big time. Kids may be burned out on dystopia.

So let the Games begin.

Adele Overtakes Bieber, One Direction Hours Before Release

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Adele is on the move. Hours before the release of “25,” the album has overtaken Justin Bieber and One Direction on iTunes. It’s already number 1 on Amazon. Adele is like a monster hurricane or blizzard gathering strength before it hits full on. Get ready.

Adele Punishes Fans, Withholds Streaming

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There will be no streaming Adele’s 25 album when it’s released tonight. Adele’s withholding streaming on favor of making fans buy the music either by download or CD. She can get away with it since pre-orders indicate sales of more than a million copies. However Adele has reaped 158 million streams of Hello, her single. She and her peeps obviously didn’t get the fees they wanted from the streamers

Let the good times roll!

Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, Marisa Tomei in “The Dinner” Now Not Directed by Cate Blanchett

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It looks like Cate Blanchett can’t possibly do everything even though we think of her as Super woman. She was supposed to direct Herman Koch’s “The Dinner” from a screenplay by Oren Moverman. But now I hear Moverman– director of “The Messenger” and screenwriter of “Love and Mercy”– will direct it himself.

Richard Gere, Steve Coogan, and Marisa Tomei will star in the adaptation of the highly regarded novel. Gere just starred in Moverman’s “Time Out of Mind.”

As for Blanchett she will probably find work as an actress, I hear she’s pretty good. Seriously, she’s in two Oscar buzzed performances right now– “Carol” and “Truth”– and she’s probably signed up for 40 more things as well.

Hopefully, “The Dinner” will go to a better distributor than Moverman’s had for “Love and Mercy”– which was botched– and “Time out of Mind,” which was a disappointment. He’s one of our best writer-directors going forward. And of course, anything with Marisa Tomei is gold, and it’s not just George Costanza who feels that way!

Sex at 70, and in the 70s: Carly Simon Blows the Lid off the Singer Songwriter Era, Names Names: Warren, Jack, Mick, James, Kris, Cat, Even Sean Connery

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Forget the story of “You’re So Vain” and who it’s about. There’s so much more to Carly Simon’s memoir “Boys in the Trees” that when it arrives on Tuesday (Nov 24) there’s going be a lot of famous people flipping through it looking for their names. Carly names them, by the way.

Never shy about being candid, Carly has written a masterpiece of a literary memoir that details her amazing and messy childhood as daughter of the founder of Simon & Schuster. When she was 8, her 42 year old mother hired a 19 year old boy to be a “big brother” to Carly’s little brother. Mother and college kid became lovers, and their affair went on for years.

Meanwhile, Carly’s parents socialized like crazy, and threw dinner parties for all their friends. One show stopping chapter details such a dinner that featured the likes of big band leader Benny Goodman, baseball great Jackie Robinson, Random House founder Bennett Cerf, tennis legend Don Budge, and Sloan Wilson, author of “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.” The ensuing mayhem sounds like a Marx brothers movie for the over privileged.

Carly is keen to remind us that she wasn’t a “rich girl” at all. As I wrote in a 1989 story about her family, her father sold Simon & Schuster for a paltry amount to the Marshall Field company in 1944. When he tried to buy it back years later, his former partners and friends screwed him. He died very much a broken man in 1960 at age 61.

But the real stories that will light up the music and movie bizzes are Carly’s recollections of her climb to the top as a leading chanteuse, the Taylor Swift of her day (only better educated). Before marrying James Taylor in 1972, Carly’s dance card was full: Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens. Marvin Gaye stuck his tongue down her throat. She had a long dangerous flirtation with Mick Jagger, who sang back up on “You’re So Vain.”

She was wise and in control when it came to sex:

In the wake of Jack, I was gently passed around, as if in a fraternity, not the first woman to experience this and not the last, either. Beginning with Bob Rafelson [The Monkees, Five Easy Pieces], his brother Don, [film producer] Pierre Cottrell, and [bestselling author] Michael Crichton, it felt like a club…where you had to please the man just below in order to graduate to the next. I didn’t feel unappreciated, though I was always aware I was giving myself away too cheaply. In
college I had read Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa, which described sex as natural, guilt free, and causing no deep feeling or rivalries. Could sex be casual, or was it reserved exclusively for two people who had dedicated themselves to a lifetime together, as my own mother had spuriously tried to instill in my brain?

More? There’s a LOT more. Just wait. It gets better…

Grammy Hall of Fame Pick Great 2016 Inductees Including Songs-Albums by Grateful Dead, Carole King, Billy Preston, James Carr

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The list is out of the 2016 Grammy Hall of Fame Inductees. There are tons of great choices, from the Pretenders’ first album to Goffin-King’s “The Locomotion” to Roberta Flack, the O’Jays, the Grateful Dead, and even the Andrews Sisters.  But I am most happy about James Carr’s “Dark End of the Street,” a seminal R&B ballad written by Dan Penn and Chips Moman. James Carr died a footnote, but he remains a shining star. The song, and its writers, are very deserved of all awards.


2016 Grammy Hall Of Fame Inductees

AMERICAN BEAUTY
Grateful Dead
Warner Bros. (1970)
Album

THE BASEMENT TAPES
Bob Dylan and the Band
Columbia (1975)
Album

“BOOM BOOM”
John Lee Hooker
(John Lee Hooker)
Vee-Jay (1962)
Single

“CELEBRATION”
Kool & The Gang
(Robert Bell, Ronald Bell, George Brown, 
Eumir Decodato, Robert Mickens, Claydes 
Smith, James Taylor, Dennis Thomas,  
Earl Toon, Jr.)
De-Lite (1980)
Single

“COLD SWEAT—PART 1”
James Brown and the Famous Flames
(James Brown, Alfred Ellis)
King (1967)
Single

“THE DARK END OF THE STREET”
James Carr
(Chips Moman, Dan Penn)
Goldwax (1967)
Single

“DON’T SIT UNDER THE APPLE TREE (WITH ANYONE ELSE BUT ME)”
Andrews Sisters

(Lew Brown, Sam H. Stept, Charlie Tobias)
Decca (1942)
Single

ELLA AND LOUIS
Ella Fitzgerald And Louis Armstrong
Verve (1956)
Album

“THE FAT MAN”
Fats Domino
(Dave Bartholomew, Antoine Domino)
Imperial (1949)
Single

FIRST TAKE
Roberta Flack
Atlantic (1969)
Album

FLEETWOOD MAC
Fleetwood Mac
Reprise (1975)
Album

“FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY”
The O’Jays
(Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff,  
Anthony Jackson)
Philadelphia International (1974)
Single

“HEART OF GLASS”
Blondie
(Deborah Harry, Chris Stein)
Chrysalis (1979)
Single

“I LOVE ROCK ‘N ROLL”
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
(Jake Hooker, Alan Merrill)
Boardwalk (1982)
Single

“THE LOCO-MOTION”
Little Eva
(Gerry Goffin, Carole King)
Dimension (1962)
Single

LUSH LIFE
John Coltrane
Prestige (1961)
Album

“MARGARITAVILLE”
Jimmy Buffett
(Jimmy Buffett)
ABC (1977)
Single

MILES SMILES
Miles Davis Quintet
Columbia (1967)
Album

PRETENDERS
The Pretenders
Sire (1980)
Album

RANDY NEWMAN
Randy Newman
Reprise (1968)
Album

“ROCK ISLAND LINE”
Lead Belly
(Traditional)

Asch (1942)
Single

“SHE’S ABOUT A MOVER”
Sir Douglas Quintet
(Doug Sahm)

Tribe (1965)
Single

“SHE’S NOT THERE”
The Zombies
(Rod Argent)
Parrot (1964)
Single

“THIS TRAIN”
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
(Traditional)
Decca (1939)
Single

“(WHAT DID I DO TO BE SO) BLACK AND BLUE”
Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra
(Harry Brooks, Andy Razaf, Fats Waller)
Okeh (1929)
Single

“YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL”
Joe Cocker
(Bruce Fisher, Billy Preston)
A&M (1974)
Single

*songwriters of singles in parentheses

Adele Pre-Orders Break A Record, Sony Thinking 2 Million in Sales Is Possible

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Adele is making records and breaking records. Hitsdailydouble reports that pre-orders for “25” are at 500,000, with 100,000 of those coming from Amazon. Sure enough, “25” is number 1 on the Amazon album chart. It’s number 2 on iTunes, but that will change on Friday at 12:01 am.

Last night at Radio City Music Hall, a friend of mine from Sony proposed that Adele could sell upwards of 1 million copies in her first week of sales for “25.” This person then said, “Maybe 2 million, we don’t know.” Wow. This after Justin Bieber and One Direction combined sold 1 million albums this past week. The record biz is back! For now!

Adele currently has all three of her albums on the iTunes top 10, quite a feat. And clips from last night’s show are all over YouTube. Still, I expect the December 3rd NBC special to be highly rated. You want to see the whole hour cut together properly.

Review: Adele’s “25” is a 10, or More: A Triumphant Collection that Recalls The Greatest Singers

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Adele’s “25” is a 10. Well, we knew that. “Hello” already has its fans and it’s number 1 everywhere. But “When We Were Young” is so deliciously constructed with a gorgeous hook that we’ll be hearing it every day for the the next ten years. I imagine Tobias Jesso’s stock will rise on Friday like on Apple’s on the day of a new iPhone release. This is maybe the best new song by anyone in years.

While “21” became a touchstone, and sold millions of copies, the songs on “21” are unexpectedly great. Their selection reminds me of how Clive Davis curated records for Whitney Houston. What a beautiful job Adele and her team have done finalizing the 11 main songs (I don’t yet have the extra songs on the Target edition.)

Somewhere in heaven, Dusty Springfield is smiling. Somewhere in England, Alison Moyet isn’t getting credit for laying this groundwork. But here goes– “25” ranges from startling and new to comfortable as a warm slipper. With this album you can drink Champagne, then switch to hot cider.

“Send My Love (to Your New Lover)”– a Max Martin special with a tropical feel. Someone has to study this man’s brain. How can he write in so many genres? And successfully? A good second track following “Hello” heavy and light at the same time.

“I Miss You” brings in Paul Epworth, Adele’s main collaborator through her career. It’s just the two of them– he’s playing everything.  An odd choice for the 3rd track. A bit of a speed bump. The only song on the album that needs time. Someone listened to Joni Mitchell’s “Hissing of Summer Lawns” album a lot.

“Remedy” is spare and also full of hooks, co-written with Ryan Tedder. This guy is one of our great songwriters, like John Legend, or Rob Thomas. Someone needs to record a cover album of his songs. OneRepublic is fun but it doesn’t do him justice, it sort of hides him.

“Water Under the Bridge” shows that “Hell0” co-writer Greg Kurstin does know how to make a song move– there will be dance remixes. This is a catchy song, an understatement. You don’t want it to end. A potential number 1 single.

“River Lea” is a modern gospel number from Danger Mouse that mines Adele’s lower register and finds her blissfully in an R&B groove.

“Love in the Dark” — is a big soap opera, and you can already imagine the hardcore fans singing along in darkened theaters and weeping

“Million Years Ago” — also spare, accompanied by guitar, co-written with Greg Kurstin again, recalls a lot of Sixties ballads from “Yesterday When I Was Young” to “Windmills of Your Mind.”

“All I Ask” — the Bruno Mars track. Another ballad, rich with piano, a nice hook, and ready for hankies. Greg Phillinganes’ piano is memorable.

“Sweetest Devotion” — written with Paul Epworth, ends the album proper with a big old fashioned album track (remember those?)– it’s grand and epic, and moves (thank goodness, since we’ve just had a couple of ballads). This is the way to close, on a high note, singing along. Perfect. This song could be three minutes longer, by the way. Bring it on in a special edition.

 

 

 

Adele Rocks Radio City Music Hall in Historic Concert on Eve of Having Best Selling Album

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Adele rocked Radio City music Hall tonight in her first concert in four years. She performed for a sold out crowd that included Donald Trump, Chris Christie, Daniel Day Lewis with son Gabriel Kane, Bradley Cooper and date Irina Shayk, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Colin Jost of “Saturday Night Live”  and David Schwimmer.

Lorne Michaels, whom Adele credits with breaking her on “Saturday Night Live,” produced the show for NBC. It will air December 14th. Jimmy Fallon warmed up the audience for a couple of minutes, and then Adele took the stage.

Her set lasted a little over an hour. She was funny and sweet, and her voice soared. She is now the greatest singer of her generation and this generation, with an instrument that still needs to be tested on ballads and standards. But her set was fine, starting with her current hit “Hello” and including past hits like “Chasing Pavements,” “Set Fire to the Rain,” “Someone Like You,” and the theme from “Skyfall,” which was magnificent.

As earthy and salty as she is, Adele excels at melodramatic songs. She knows a good soap opera, and is sort of a contemporary Mary J. Blige. But she also knows melody, and her newest hit, “When We Were Young,” is poised to be tremendous. Considering that she hadn’t sung in public in years, and is just breaking in the new songs, that’s saying a lot.

“I’ve been dying to do a f—ing show,” she said in one of her many Eliza Doolittle moments of the evening. Even in a glittering gown, there is no changing Adele. Some of the show will have to be bleeped. “This is for TV,” she advised the audience, “don’t pick your nose.” She called Bruno Mars, who wrote a song with her, “cool as f-ck.”

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Maybe she needs the humor to keep herself from getting too bowled over by what’s going on. We haven’t had a singer like this since Whitney Houston or Barbra Streisand. As Adele has progressed from “19” to “21” to “25,” she’s making a legend in her own time. And now we know what happened to “23”– she said that “Skyfall” was Bond 23, and she was 23 at the time, so that project fulfilled that missing number for her.

Just a word on the video projection: Adele, you see, cannot be confined to a video screen. So Michaels and his staff just projected her over the entire Radio City proscenium, using the video screen as an insert. The effect was mesmerizing.

adele writ large

I did run into a friend of mine from Sony before the show. Apparently, “25” is on track to sell more than a million copies in its first week– maybe closer to 2 million. Extraordinary in a time when the music business seethes apathy toward most artists. But Adele is real, and the audience knows it. There is no artifice. When she plays the guitar, she makes excuses in advance– and then plays it very well. She’s connecting on a very basic level, unlike almost all the female performers of her age group whose shows seem like they were scripted within an inch of their lives.

So, onto the album release this week and “Saturday Night Live” and record setting sales. Brava!

 

P.F. Sloan, Writer of “Eve of Destruction,” “Secret Agent Man,” Dies at Age 70

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P.F. (Phil) Sloan, the singer songwriter responsible for songs like Barry McGuire’s “Eve of Destruction” and Johnny Rivers’ “Secret Agent Man,” has died at age 70. He had had pancreatic cancer.

Sloan was a popular figure in Nashville, and a legendary figure in the Phil Spector world as part of the famed and legendary Wrecking Crew. He also wrote the guitar into for the Mamas and the Papas’s “California Dreamin’.”

Sloan also wrote the original singles for the Grass Roots pre-“Midnight Confessions.” Jimmy Webb also wrote a song called “PF Sloan” inspired by Sloan, and covered by many artists including Jackson Browne, Jennifer Warnes, and the Association. Sloan and Steve Barri were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2014.