I did tell you that Mariah would perform on the Billboard Music Awards, and that she’d sing a medley of “Vision of Love” and “Infinity.” And she did. She did a great job. Lowering the key is the answer to her problems.
Mad Men Ends with a Finale That Will Have Fans Complaining, of Course
I will try to write around actual spoilers. “Mad Men” has ended. Fans will complain, but there will be no scuffle as there was with “The Sopranos.” It’s hard to get around Twitter. But basically, the final song is actually the perfect grace note to the show as a hole. If you’re Matthew Weiner, you can’t win.
Don happy, Don dead, Don what? Of all the characters his is the hardest to wrap up. Everyone else gets satisfying endings, although Betty’s final scene is so chilling I don’t know what people are going to say.
Stand out moments are “Person to Person” calls Don has with Sally and with Peggy. Kiernan Shipka should get an Emmy for this and last episode. Utterly amazing. She has quite a future. Don and Peggy also have an amazing moment.
Would I have chosen this ending for Don? No. But I accept it. Did I think time was wasted? Yes. But it’s the writer’s choice. He created the show.
Special guest star: Helen Slater, once known as Supergirl.
Not in the show: Henry Francis, Ted Chaough, Megan.
More later…
Mad Max Director Joins Twitter to Thank Fans, Hint at Sequels
Here’s George Miller’s first Tweet. “More Max to come”:
Hello Twitter!
Thanks for all the kind words written and said about the film.
We had a lot of fun making it..and there's more Max to come.
— George Miller (@GMillerMax) May 17, 2015
10 Minute Standing Ovation: Cate Blanchett Goes for Rare 3rd Oscar in Lesbian Drama “Carol” as Cannes Swoons
Cate Blanchett may be on her way to a rare third Oscar. The movie she opened at Cannes tonight, Todd Haynes’s “Carol,” just received a 10 minute standing ovation at its premiere. “A good ten minutes,” says a source. “Carol” co-stars Rooney Mara in a lesbian love affair that isn’t graphic but subtle and incredibly riveting according to reviews. Harvey Weinstein will release it in December. From the responses, it does seem that “Carol” is a sure Best Picture nominee, with Blanchett going for Best Actress. Mara may be put in Supporting so they don’t cross each other out. Haynes will get his second Best Director nomination. Bravo to Christine Vachon, who has toiled long and hard producing his films. She deserves an Oscar for being the unseen hand behind so much good art.
Box Office: “Pitch” Perfect With $70 Mil, Sings Loud Over “Mad Max”
“Pitch Perfect 2” turned out to be more post-apocalyptic than “Mad Max: Fury Road” this weekend. Despite excellent reviews, the Charlize Theron-Tom Hardy “Max” finished third for the weekend behind the gleeful singers of “Pitch” and “The Avengers: Age of Ultron.”
“Pitch” did $70 million, while “Max” did $44.4 million.
I did see “Mad Max” last night, and loved it. It’s gorgeous, too– amazing cinematography, plus set design over the top. The actors make their characters– who don’t have much dialogue or back story per se, worth watching. Especially fun are the supermodels on the run as a Greek chorus including Zoe Kravitz, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough (in real life daughter of Lisa Marie and granddaughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley), Courtney Eaton, and Abby Lee. Nicholas Hoult is a stand out. He must have had a lot of fun shooting the film!
For director George Miller, “Fury Road” with $44 million is a total boffo success. He can easily make two more of these with Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy. Warner Bros. gets a nicely rebooted franchise out of it. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Banks scored with “PP2” and should have no trouble making a third one before this franchise goes to TV.
What a nice weekend for summer studio movies!
Box Office: “Pitch Perfect 2” Turns “Mad Max Fury Road” into Apocalypse with Stunning Victory
Critics loved “Max Max: Fury Road.” It has a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Warner Bros. did a great marketing job with it. But fans didn’t pour into theaters last night to see it. Even putting Charlize Theron into the starring role and pitching the new Max as a more women-friendly action movie didn’t help. Last night’s take suggests a middling $40 million plus weekend. I’m surprised. Maybe they should have had a New York premiere.
Meantime, our old pal Elizabeth Banks has directed a huge hit. “Pitch Perfect 2” will finish the weekend in the 60 millions. Wow. Huge. Banks got a lot of good notices although the movie had a 67% from critics. Universal scored big time here. Elizabeth, gorgeous and smart, gets a whole second career. Brava!
Also happy to see “I’ll See You in My Dreams” with Blythe Danner and Sam Elliot scored a 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. Opened this weekend in New York and L.A., should expand to other citiies, wonderful gem of a film. See it!
Janet Jackson Announces Her Comeback in Video Post on Twitter: New Music, New World Tour
“I’ve been listening. Let’s keep the conversation going.” Janet Jackson has posted her comeback announcement. Fans will be thrilled. (So am I.) Over moody music that sounds a little like “Pillow Talk,” Janet says there will be new music, a world tour, a new vision.” Janet’s been AWOL for a while since she married Arab billionaire Wissam al Mana–8 years her junior– in 2012. If that marriage is over (and likely is if she’s coming back) that will be her third. My guess is she reconnects with L.A. Reid at Epic, where Mariah Carey and some other well known divas are having reunions. Janet’s DefJam career has expired after a couple of flop albums. Welcome back Janet!
Cannes Report: Sharon Stone AWOL from amFAR, Sylvester Stallone Shows His Paintings (Including One of Michael Jackson)
Here’s the report from Cannes, where I am not in attendance this year but hearing a lot from everyone: Sharon Stone will not be at Thursday’s amFAR annual snake dance for Eurotrash in Antibes. Stone has an on again, off again relationship with the amFARians.
This year, her absence is explained by a movie shoot in Los Angeles for a film called “Mother’s Day,” a series of vignettes with Susan Sarandon, Laura Dern, and Christina Ricci. I’m told Natalie Portman was supposed to take her place at the auction podium, but she probably won’t stay as long as Thursday because her film didn’t get great reviews. Cate Blanchett may be persuaded to participate as her film, “Carol,” opens tonight.
Tonight in Nice, at the Modern Art museum, there will be an exhibition of paintings by noted artist Sylvester Stallone, followed by a VIP dinner.Among his works are this featured interpretation of Michael Jackson.
Last night, Stallone skipped the annual dinner at the Eden Roc (Hotel du Cap) hosted by man for all seasons Charles Finch. Stallone dined downstairs at Eden Roc, while a bevy of stars who are in town chowed down including Portman and Naomi Watts.
So far, only the Woody Allen movie has impressed the English speaking crowd on the Croissette. Gus van Sant’s movie was booed, and Natalie Portman’s was met with indifference. Todd Haynes’s “Carol” is going to be big tonight, and there’s hopeful talk of Denis Villeneuve’s “Sicario” with Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio del Toro. Hope springs eternal at Cannes.
UPDATE: Natalie Portman’s publicist says she can’t stay away from her child so long, her movie has premiered and she must go home.
“Mad Men” Sorta Sequel: Amazon Greenlights “Good Girls Revolt” Pilot About Women at Newsweek in 1970
This could not be better timed. Two weeks ago, Joan — in her fiery exit speech– told the head of McCann Erickson that the women at Newsweek (this was 1970) had revolted and demanded to be treated as equals to the men. This really happened in 1970. Forty six women filed a sexual discrimination suit against Newsweek. It was considered an uprising and a key moment in the women’s rights movement.
And now Amazon has greenlit a new series pilot, produced by Lynda Obst– based on the book “Good Girls Revolt.” The book was written and published recently by Lynn Povich, sister of Maury, a long time journalist and someone I remember fondly as being the only normal person when MSNBC.com started operations. She was at Newsweek at the time and was one of those women.
I had no idea Lynn had written this book, or that it would be the “sequel” to “Mad Men.” What a coincidence that Joan (Christina Hendricks) mentioned the Newsweek incident in that episode. She should be the star of that series. Everyone would watch. Congrats to Lynda, a great producer.
But times don’t really change. In 1994, new management at New York magazine fired all the women over the age of 40Â by fax. Most of them had been there from Day 1. Good times!
Report: Rupert Murdoch’s Son, Company, NY Times, PBS Anchor All Gave Money to Clinton Foundation
Politico.com reports that all the wealthy media barons have given money to the Clinton Foundation including James Murdoch, New Corp, the New York Times, the Washington Post, conservative group Newsmax, Reuters news service, Google, publisher Harcourt-Houghton Mifflin (which doesn’t have a pot to piss in), Time Warner, a Disney relative, NBC and its parent Comcast, Hearst Corporation, AOL Huffington Post. The only media outlet missing is Highlights for Children. And not to be outdone, they got money from the Golden Globes so Bill would come on the show and present “Lincoln” in 2013– on NBC, which also gave him dough. Even the owner of Politico gave money. Everyone had a reason.
$1,000,000-$5,000,000
Carlos Slim
Chairman & CEO of Telmex, largest New York Times shareholder
James Murdoch
Chief Operating Officer of 21st Century Fox
Newsmax Media
Florida-based conservative media network
Thomson Reuters
Owner of the Reuters news service
$500,00-$1,000,000
News Corporation (now 21st Century Fox / News Corp)
Parent company of Fox News Channel and Fox Television
$250,000-$500,000
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publisher
Richard Mellon Scaife
Owner of Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
$100,000-$250,000
Abigail Disney
Documentary filmmaker
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Howard Stringer
Former CBS, CBS News and Sony executive
Intermountain West Communications Company
Local television affiliate owner (formerly Sunbelt Communications)
$50,000-$100,000
Bloomberg L.P.
Discovery Communications Inc.
George Stephanopoulos
ABC News chief anchor and chief political correspondent
Mort Zuckerman
Owner of New York Daily News and U.S. News & World Report
Time Warner Inc.
Owner of CNN parent company Turner Broadcasting
$25,000-$50,000
AOL
HBO
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Presenters of the Golden Globe Awards
Viacom
$10,000-$25,000
Knight Foundation
Non-profit foundation dedicated to supporting journalism
Public Radio International
Turner Broadcasting
Parent company of CNN
$5,000-$10,000
Comcast
Parent copmany of NBCUniversal
NBC Universal
Parent company of NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC
Public Broadcasting Service
$1,000-$5,000
Robert Allbritton
Owner of POLITICO parent company Capitol News Group
$250-$1,000
AOL Huffington Post Media Group
Hearst Corporation
Judy Woodruff
PBS Newshour co-anchor and managing editor
The Washington Post Company