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UK “Oscars” Snub “Selma,” Even Though Star David Oyelowo is a Brit

Roger Friedman
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UK “Oscars” Snub “Selma,” Even Though Star David Oyelowo is a Brit

 

The BAFTA nominations are out. They snubbed “Selma” completely even though its amazing star, David Oyelowo, is British. The other big BAFTA surprise was a total ignoring of Mike Leigh’s “Mr. Turner” and its star, beloved British actor Timothy Spall, who won the New York Film Critics Award. Weird.

BEST FILM
“Birdman,” Alejandro G. Inarritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole
“Boyhood,” Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson
“The Imitation Game,” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman
“The Theory of Everything,” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony Mccarten

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
“’71,” Yann Demange, Angus Lamont, Robin Gutch, Gregory Burke
“The Imitation Game,” Morten Tyldum, Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky, Teddy Schwarzman, Graham Moore
“Paddington,” Paul King, David Heyman
“Pride,” Matthew Warchus, David Livingstone, Stephen Beresford
“The Theory of Everything,” James Marsh, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony Mccarten
“Under the Skin,” Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Nick Wechsler, Walter Campbell

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Elaine Constantine (Writer/Director), “Northern Soul”
Gregory Burke (Writer), Yann Demange (Director), “’71”
Hong Khaou (Writer/Director), “Lilting”
Paul Katis (Director/Producer), Andrew De Lotbiniere (Producer), “Kajaki: The True Story”
Stephen Beresford (Writer), David Livingstone (Producer), “Pride”

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
“Ida,” Pawel Pawlikowski, Eric Abraham, Piotr Dzieciol, Ewa Puszczynska
“Leviathan,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky, Sergey Melkumov
“The Lunchbox,” Ritesh Batra, Arun Rangachari, Anurag Kashyap, Guneet Monga
“Trash,” Stephen Daldry, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Kris Thykier
“Two Days, One Night,” Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Denis Freyd

DOCUMENTARY
“20 Feet From Stardom,” Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Gil Friesen
“20,000 Days on Earth,” Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
“Citizenfour,” Laura Poitras
“Finding Vivian Maier,” John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
“Virunga,” Orlando Von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara

ANIMATED FILM
“Big Hero 6,” Don Hall, Chris Williams
“The Boxtrolls,” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable
“The Lego Movie,” Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

DIRECTOR
“Birdman,” Alejandro G. Inarritu
“Boyhood,” Richard Linklater
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson
“The Theory of Everything,” James Marsh
“Whiplash,” Damien Chazelle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Birdman,” Alejandro G. Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo
“Boyhood,” Richard Linklater
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson
“Nightcrawler,” Dan Gilroy
“Whiplash,” Damien Chazelle

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“American Sniper,” Jason Hall
“Gone Girl,” Gillian Flynn
“The Imitation Game,” Graham Moore
“Paddington,” Paul King
“The Theory of Everything,” Anthony Mccarten

“X-Men: Days of Future Past,” Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
“The Bigger Picture,” Chris Hees, Daisy Jacobs, Jennifer Majka
“Monkey Love Experiments,” Ainslie Henderson, Cam Fraser, Will Anderson
“My Dad,” Marcus Armitage

BRITISH SHORT FILM
“Boogaloo and Graham,” Brian J. Falconer, Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
“Emotional Fusebox,” Michael Berliner, Rachel Tunnard
“The Karman Line,” Campbell Beaton, Dawn King, Tiernan Hanby, Oscar Sharp
“Slap,” Islay Bell-Webb, Michelangelo Fano, Nick Rowland
“Three Brothers,” Aleem Khan, Matthieu De Braconier, Stephanie Paeplow

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (VOTED FOR BY THE PUBLIC)
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Jack O’Connell
Margot Robbie
Miles Teller
Shailene Woodley

LEADING ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Ralph Fiennes, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

LEADING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, “Big Eyes”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”
Rosamund Pike, “Gone Girl”

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
Steve Carell, “Foxcatcher”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Imelda Staunton, “Pride”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Rene Russo, “Nightcrawler”

ORIGINAL MUSIC
“Birdman,” Antonio Sanchez
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Alexandre Desplat
“Interstellar,” Hans Zimmer
“The Theory of Everything,” Johann Johannsson
“Under the Skin,” Mica Levi

CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Birdman,” Emmanuel Lubezki
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Robert Yeoman
“Ida,” Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski
“Interstellar,” Hoyte Van Hoytema
“Mr. Turner,” Dick Pope

EDITING
(Due to a tie in voting in this category, there are six nominations)
“Birdman,” Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Barney Pilling
“The Imitation Game,” William Goldenberg
“Nightcrawler,” John Gilroy
“The Theory of Everything,” Jinx Godfrey
“Whiplash,” Tom Cross

PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Big Eyes,” Rick Heinrichs, Shane Vieau
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
“The Imitation Game,” Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
“Interstellar,” Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
“Mr. Turner,” Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts

COSTUME DESIGN
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Milena Canonero
“The Imitation Game,” Sammy Sheldon Differ
“Into the Woods,” Colleen Atwood
“Mr. Turner,” Jacqueline Durran
“The Theory of Everything,” Steven Noble

MAKE UP & HAIR
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Frances Hannon
“Guardians of the Galaxy,” Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White
“Into the Woods,” Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland
“Mr. Turner,” Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener
“The Theory of Everything,” Jan Sewell

SOUND
“American Sniper,” Walt Martin, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
“Birdman,” Thomas Varga, Martin Hernandez, Aaron Glascock, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño
“The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak
“The Imitation Game,” John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Stuart Hilliker, Martin Jensen
“Whiplash,” Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett
“Guardians of the Galaxy,” Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner, Nicolas Aithadi
“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
“Interstellar,” Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley

 

Tina Fey May Have “Game of Thrones” Star as Leading Man in “Taliban Shuffle”

Roger Friedman
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Tina Fey May Have “Game of Thrones” Star as Leading Man in “Taliban Shuffle”

EXCLUSIVE It seems as though Tina Fey may have a leading man cast for her upcoming “Taliban Shuffle.” Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jamie Lannister on the HBO hit, is said to be the final choice. The film directed by Glen Ficarra and John Requa, also stars Martin Freeman (now of “Hobbit” fame) and Margot Robbie of “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Freelance journalist Kim Barker’s non fiction book upon which the film is based detailed her adventures covering Afghanistan and Pakistan–shuffling between the two countries, hence the title of the book. Coster-Waldau, who’s Danish, has recently capitalized on his “Thrones” popularity, appearing in “Mama” with Jessica Chastain and “Oblivion” with Tom Cruise.

 

 

 

 

People’s Choice Awards Loses 25% of Audience–Too Many Faux Shows Killing Audience

Roger Friedman
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People’s Choice Awards Loses 25% of Audience–Too Many Faux Shows Killing Audience

No one ever took the People’s Choice Awards. But they were always a ratings getter. Last year they were way up over 2013. The reason was that they were like a back-to-school end of the holidays event. If you wanted to, you could see some stars get dressed up and parade around as a New Years pick me up.

But now? Last night’s People Choice dropped 25% from last year. They lost 2 million viewers from their 2014 high of 10.36 million– and most of them were young. The key demo dropped from 2.4 to 1.8. Ouch! Where did everybody go?

Easy answer: People’s Choice was just preceded by two similarly inane but fun shows: The Hollywood Awards on NBC, and the People Magazine Awards– not to mention the American Music Awards. Most of the same people just appeared on those tinsel-fests. And they didn’t do so well.

The effect, obviously, was meted out to People’s Choice. How many times can you see publicist-orchestrated awards shows where there’s no surprise, everyone gets something, and none of the people deserve it? Apparently last night was one time too many.

So now we come to this Sunday’s Golden Globes, and next Thursday’s Critics Choice Awards on A&E. These at least are the real thing. The winners don’t know who won, and least there’s some drama involved.

Today, there’s a report that some advisory group is worried that the Oscars will have low ratings because most of the movies involved are independent art films. Hogwash. People watch the Oscars because they’re the gold standard. It’s how they’re produced and presented that makes the night.

The Academy’s skill is in making “moments,” and showcasing people who didn’t do the “circuit” all season. The Oscars are Hollywood’s Super Bowl. But maybe it’s time to think about the damage these other shows are doing to the interested audience. You can’t expect people to keep on test driving Hyundais while they’re waiting for the Cadillac.

Clearing up What Phylicia Rashad Said, Meant, and How I Wrote It

Roger Friedman
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Clearing up What Phylicia Rashad Said, Meant, and How I Wrote It

Folks, I have been out of pocket all day on a personal matter. Let me clear something up. I did not misquote Phylicia Rashad. But she didn’t mean for it to be taken the way it was, and I should have punctuated better. There was NEVER the meaning in ‘Forget those women’ that she was saying to actually forget or dismiss them. She meant, ‘those women aside’– as in, she’s not talking about that, she’s talking about Cosby’s legacy being destroyed. It was conversational. Somehow this got twisted. I am really sorry if the way I presented it made it seem like either one of us was forgetting anyone. I’ve been at a hospice on and off for 10 days with a family friend of 40 years. So really, let’s all calm down. What Phylicia was doing was defending her friend and his legacy. That’s what she said, that’s what I wrote, I’m sorry if it caused her grief. And no one asked me to write this. I’m just saying it because I like and respect her.

PS I am also taking out the “Forget those women” because it was misunderstood, and not for any other reason.

Phylicia Rashad: Stop Before You Attack Her– Bill Cosby Could Be Anybody

Roger Friedman
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Phylicia Rashad: Stop Before You Attack Her– Bill Cosby Could Be Anybody

I am very dismayed by the attacks I’m seeing on Phylicia Rashad. She spoke to me reluctantly, and did not want to become part of the media grinder. She was defending her friend, and I encouraged her. Frankly, no matter what Gloria Allred, Janice Dickinson or Beverly Johnson says, everything leveled at Bill Cosby is just an allegation. There are no police records, no arrests, convictions, trials, etc.

This doesn’t mean I think he’s innocent or not guilty. (Just watch the vultures turn this way now.) But Bill Cosby deserves a defense from his friends if they choose to give one. Not only that, but Phylicia Rashad is no dummy. Some accused her of trying to save her residuals from The Cosby Show. That’s insane. There is no financial motivation. Rashad is a smart woman. She is allowed her opinion. Give her credit for defending someone she knew for a dozen years at the height of his fame.

Something I didn’t tell you– Phylicia has been asked to play Michael B. Jordan’s grandmother in “Creed,” Ryan Coogler’s updated “Rocky” movie. This means she’s Apollo Creed’s widow. What coup for Coogler and producer Irwin Winkler. Rashad has a Tony Award for Best Actress in “A Raisin in the Sun”– the 2004 production that featured Sean Combs. She is a highly regarded dramatic actress, up there with Rosemary Harris and Angela Lansbury (not as old, certainly) and Janet McTeer– in the top tier.

I do think if Meryl Streep or Glenn Close had said the same things about Bill Cosby, no would have dared criticize them.

And for those celebrities that have: just think what would happen if allegations started pouring out of the wood work about you. Regardless of truth. To be tried in public, and ruined, is something so easily done to anyone. I looked at stories about Steve Kroft today and winced.

Exclusive: Bill Cosby Co-Star Tony Winner Phylicia Rashad Speaks Out for First Time, Defends Her Friend

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Bill Cosby Co-Star Tony Winner Phylicia Rashad Speaks Out for First Time, Defends Her Friend

EXCLUSIVE It was just happenstance: I ran into Tony winner Phylicia Rashad today at Paramount’s super elegant lunch for the movie “Selma” at the Metropolitan Club. Rashad co-starred with Bill Cosby for 12 years as his TV wife– first on “The Cosby Show” and then on its sequel “Cosby” featuring Madeline Kahn. She will always be Claire Huxtable, wife of Dr. Cliff, and mother of the Huxtable family.

No one knows Cosby better than the soft spoken, smart, articulate Rashad, for whom I have a lot of respect. So far she has not said a word about the scandal that has engulfed Cosby and is systematically destroying his 50 year career and reputation.

So far.

Now, as the extraordinary “Selma” lunch– which featured a brilliant performance by Common and John Legend of their theme song, “Glory”– Rashad and I had a talk about Cosby. No less than Harry Belafonte and Ruben Santiago Hudson were hovering above us as we chatted. Let’s make something clear. Rashad, who is one of our greatest stage actresses, has kept quiet, didn’t seek me out, and even said “I don’t want to become part of the public debate.”

But knowing this she did say to me “I love him” about Bill Cosby. She stands defiantly behind him. She told me that in the years she’s known him, she has never seen the behavior alleged by the women who say they were drugged and raped, or sexually harassed.

Rashad said:  “What you’re seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it’s orchestrated. I don’t know why or who’s doing it, but it’s the legacy. And it’s a legacy that is so important to the culture.”

Rashad dismisses claims from both Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson. “Oh, please,” she said when their names came up. She also is quick to defend Camille Cosby. “This is a tough woman, a smart woman,” she told me. “She’s no pushover.” There is no question, Rashad said, that Camille Cosby has not been complicit or looked the other way as her husband terrorized women for the last 50 years.

She said, “Someone is determined to keep Bill Cosby off TV,” alluding to people other than the women. “And it’s worked. All his contracts have been cancelled.”

We talked more about the legacy of The Cosby Show. “This show represented America to the outside world. This was the American family. And now you’re seeing it being destroyed. Why?”

She said Cosby himself is probably too proud to raise a defense. I countered that his silence reminded me of how Jerry Lewis reacted whe, after 50 years. the Muscular Dystrophy Association treated him like dirt. He refused to fight back. To quote a popular song from the 70s: “If you don’t know me by now, you will never never know me.”

So what to do about Cosby’s accusers? Rashad feels strongly that some other force is at play– for some reason, Cosby’s great strides in education, as well as show business, are being ruined so that new generations will only remember him by this scandal. And what about a defense from the man himself? “If he spoke now, what do you think the media would do with it?” Rashad asked. And let’s face it, she’s right about that.

National Board of Review: How Best Pic “Most Violent Year” May Have Had Insider’s Advantage

Roger Friedman
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National Board of Review: How Best Pic “Most Violent Year” May Have Had Insider’s Advantage

The National Board of Review will give its Best Picture award tonight to JC Chandor’s Sidney Lumet-like thriller “A Most Violent Year,” a movie that won’t be nominated for the Oscar. The movie’s stars also won NBR awards this year– very good actors whom we like a lot– Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain– but they also probably won’t be nominated. The movie’s buzz is limited to this fan group that pays high fees to mingle with stars.

The NBR is rife with problems, as I’ve noted in the past. But there’s one that stands out: a member of their inner circle and Board of Directors is also the co-president of a film company that’s been winning NBR prizes for the last few years. That’s David Laub, who runs Oscilloscope Laboratories, and is a protege of Annie Schulhof, head of the NBR.

Tonight, the NBR gives Oscilloscope 2 of the 5 mentions for Best Documentary with “Art and Craft” and “The Kill Team.” And that’s just the latest for Oscilloscope, which has done inordinately well at the NBR for a very new and tiny company. In 2013, Oscilloscope picked up a Best Documentary nod for “After Tiller.” They also picked up  a top 10 indie listing for “Mother of George.” In 2012, their cited documentary was “Only the Young.” In 2011, Tilda Swinton won Best Actress for an Oscilloscope movie called “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” which also made the top 10 list.

In 2012, one of Laub’s pals who ran Oscilloscope with him, David Fenkel, left to start another small distributor, A24 Films. Tonight, A24 picks up Best Picture with JC Chandor’s “A Most Violent Year,” a tie for Best Actor in “AMVY” with Oscar Isaac, and Best Supporting Actress with Jessica Chastain. Two other A24 Films– “Obvious Child” and “Locke”– made the NBR top 10 list of independent films. Last year they hit the list with “The Spectacular Now.”

Laub came to the NBR through Wesleyan University’s Jeanine Basinger. She runs the Wesleyan Film Archives, including the archives of Clint Eastwood. NBR gives Wesleyan $15,000 a year of its members’ money (NBR members pay huge annual dues, that’s their only qualification) so Basinger can administer those archives. And just about every year, if he has a movie or doesn’t, NBR gives Clint Eastwood an award.

In fairness, it may not be Laub doing any direct lobbying. Schulhof, already an expert in that area, could be the culprit. One NBR insider told me: “I don’t think Laub is pushing for A24 films to win NBR awards and  as Oscilloscope co-President he can’t vote for the films they distribute. I’ve never heard Laub “pushing” A24 films. That’s not David Laub. If any one was pushing the film, it would Annie.”

But to include all these A24 Films, the National Board of Review (er, fans) made some very public snubs. They excluded “Selma,” a likely big Oscar movie, and “Citizenfour,” already the winner of many awards including last night’s New York Film Critics Circle.

 

 

NY Film Critix Award Brings Out the Stars: Bill Murray, Jon Stewart, Marion Cotillard Light Up the Night

Paula Schwartz
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NY Film Critix Award Brings Out the Stars: Bill Murray, Jon Stewart, Marion Cotillard Light Up the Night

“Not working is awful. At least if you’re a painter you can paint. But you can’t walk around the room acting. It’s obscene and embarrassing.” That’s what “Mr. Turner” star Timothy Spall said last night as he picked up his Best Actor Award from the New York Film Critics Circle. The annual dinner, at Tao in the Meatpacking District, was full of stars and bon mots and none of the craziness of last year from the peanut gallery.

A very well groomed and quieted Bill Murray sat through the whole dinner and ceremony, Jon Stewart made a surprise appearance, Marion Cotillard provided some real Hollywood glamour, and there were surprise speeches from folks like Kyra Sedgwick, Rose McGowan, John Lithgow, Bob Balaban and so on.

But it was the night of “Boyhood,” which won Best Feature, Best Director (Richard Linklater), Best Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette) and even a shout out from the lovely Ms. Cotillard from the podium. Ethan Hawke, one of the stars of the movie, presented to Linklater and got in a funny swipe at critics, since that was what the dinner was all about. He said, “Manohla Dargis [in LA Weekly, 1998] once wrote about me, “Richard Linklater seems to achieve the impossible: He makes Ethan Hawke bearable.”

The annual dinner is usually a chance for some actor to recall a nasty review from the legendary Rex Reed, who was not in attendance. Wallace Shawn, the famed actor and director, told me the last time he’d been at a NYFCC dinner “it ended with violence” and had something to do with John Simon, the notoriously combative critic for New York Magazine. Ah, those were the days.

Patricia Arquette, who’s on her victory lap leading up to the Oscars for Boyhood, was very mysterious about the movie and her character. After having played the character for the 12 years of shooting the film, Arquette said there was “one thing” that didn’t add up in her head. “Every year when we came back, it was on my mind,” she said. “But I won’t tell you what it was.” She recalled her famous grandfather, Cliff Arquette, Charley Weaver from “the Hollywood Squares” game show, in her speech.

notes from the red carpet:

Damien Chazelle, the director of “Whiplash,” said that his next film, which he will begin shooting in the fall, again stars Miles Teller, this time as a jazz pianist. He said it was going to be a “full fledged musical in the style of “The Bandwagon,” “Singing in the Rain,” and “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.” “A love story musical about two artists in LA so the tone will be very different but similar kind of theme as ‘Whiplash.’ How do you balance life and art?”

“Whiplash” star JK Simmons, who won Best Supporting Actor is tipped for an Oscar nomination (if not win):  “It’s really been notable the offers that have been coming my way and how early in the process they’re coming my way. I’m attached to a film, a big budget film, that doesn’t even start until late July and usually I’m the guy they hire a week before the cameras rolls.”

Christopher Miller and Phil Lord, the writers-directors of “The Lego Movie,” which the New York Critics named best animated film, said  they’re not used to this kind of love from critics for their “22 Jump Street” movies starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. “People have a little bias against comedy,” Miller told me. “They might be biased against wiener jokes also,” Lord added. The next Hill-Tatum caper is in the works despite the critics they told me. “There’s some crazy ideas out there for the next 23 Jump Street,” Lord told. “Our friend Rodney (Rothman) is working on the script. We’re having fun thinking of it. But it’s early days.”

Ellar Coltrane, 19, the real life kid from “Boyhood” who may or may not decide to be an actor going forward wishes reporters would stop asking him a particular question on the red carpet. “I get asked about a girls a lot and that makes me uncomfortable. Thanks for not asking.”

Linklater, who’s always charming and talkative with the press, told me he’s still “processing” all the award nominations and prizes “Boyhood” has racked up. As for the format, a film made over 12 years in yearly increments, “ I had to kind of create the form to tell this story. That was the only way to articulate these ideas about growing up and parenting and life at the time and that was the movie that was in my head.”

Linklater says he hasn’t ruled out continuing the film past where it stops– a “Boyhood 2.0” that would follow Coltrane, “The 20’s are interesting. Certainly you could. I’ve done it with other films. As they get older it just gets deeper and richer so who the hell knows. It’s a little soon to think about that.”

Timothy Spall, who got the top acting prize, arrived the earliest of any of the celebrities so he could do the red carpet. Then he dashed out to do a Q&A to promote “Turner.” He arrived in time for the reception. He’s a lot attractive and now a lot slimmer than he was in Mike Leigh’s “Turner.” He plays the title character, J.M. W. Turner, for which he also received the best actor prize at Cannes. In contrast to his beautiful landscape paintings, Turner was uncouth, practically feral; he often grabbed women and grunted instead of speaking. When I told Spall he was much more attractive than his movie roles he replied, “That’s just as well because Turner was a bit of a gargoyle.’’

 

with reporting from Roger Friedman

photo of Bill Murray c2015 Paula Schwartz

 

UPDATE: Sting’s Musical “The Last Ship” Will Close Despite Best Efforts to Keep it Going

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE: Sting’s Musical “The Last Ship” Will Close Despite Best Efforts to Keep it Going

EXCLUSIVE Sad to report that “The Last Ship” will close on January 24th, when Sting makes his last performance. Valiant efforts were made to keep the show alive, but it was not to be. Even with the box office increasing over the last two weeks, it just wasn’t enough. Hopefully, various voting groups like the Tonys, Outer Critics, and Drama Desk will consider “The Last Ship” for Best Score and Fred Applegate as Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. Sources say producer Jeffrey Seller made the announcement at the end of tonight’s show to cast and crew. If you can, get over to see “The Last Ship” before it sails away. It was a strong show with a beautiful score and a tremendously talented cast.

“The Last Ship” is one many casualties this Broadway season. The revival of “Sideshow” didn’t last, either. In short order, a lot of others, including the hit revival of “Pippin” and the Tony winner “Once” will be gone.

Broadway is not for the faint of heart, or shallow of pockets. Sting and “The Last Ship” were neither. Sting was completely committed to the show, and invested all of his time and energy. He even waived his songwriting royalty. He was at the show every single night from rehearsals to previews and through the opening. When the box office didn’t take off, Sting joined the show to promote ticket sales. This worked, to some extent. But not being able to hit the million dollar mark in any week was a death knell.

For example: “Motown: the Musical” is closing after almost 18 months. The show is doing very well, but not well enough. Producers will take it to London, scale it back so it costs much less to produce, then bring a cheaper version to Broadway. Maybe they’ll have 3 Tops instead of 4, the Jackson 4 instead of 5, and so on.

 

Kennedy Center Under New Management: This Week’s Lincoln Awards Presented by Recently Convicted Fraudster

Roger Friedman
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Kennedy Center Under New Management: This Week’s Lincoln Awards Presented by Recently Convicted Fraudster

America is a great country. One minute you’re paying $100 million to the US for racketeering. The next you’re sponsoring awards for vets at the Kennedy Center.

On Wednesday, the new Kennedy Center, under the direction of David Rubenstein, is hosting the Lincoln Awards. They’re brand new. And they’re using Bruce Springsteen as a lure. All the other honorees are deserving people, not celebrities. The show is being taped with lots of guest stars including Aloe Blacc, Arturo Sandoval, Gavin DeGraw,  Harvey Keitel, Jerry Lewis, Rhiannon Giddens, and comedian Rob Riggle among others. It’s supposed air on March 4th, if Rubenstein can make a deal with a network or syndicator.

And who’s underwriting this thing? One Leonard Wilf, real estate magnate and co-owner and vice chairman of the Minnesota Vikings. Mr. Wilf and his cousins, Zygi and Mark, settled a 21 year old case in State Supreme Court in New Jersey only 16 months ago in September 2013. They were ordered to pay over $100 million to people they defrauded two decades ago– and kept up their defense for that long. (The Wilfs are appealing the judgment.)

Judge Deanne Wilson– of State Superior Court in Morristown NJ — ruled in August 2013 that the Wilfs blatantly cheated their partners, Josef Halpern of Brooklyn and Ada Reichmann of Toronto, out of more than 20 years of revenues from two apartment complexes in New Jersey.

Judge Wilson really despised the Wilfs, too. She cited their “bad faith and evil motive.” She declared in court that the trio “robbed their partners.” She added: “I do not believe I have seen one single financial statement [from the Wilfs] that is true and accurate.”

On the Wilfs’ website, www.skylinedevelopers.com, there are no bios on the About Us page. Just blank spaces underneath the names. President Lincoln would be so proud.

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