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Rock Hall Finally Capitulates to Ringo Starr, Snubs Sting, Admits New Group Including Lou Reed (Too Late)

Roger Friedman
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Rock Hall Finally Capitulates to Ringo Starr, Snubs Sting, Admits New Group Including Lou Reed (Too Late)

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joke at this point, so what the heck. For years they couldn’t get Ringo Starr in as a solo act. The three other Beatles are all in. Pressure was brought to bear, and now Ringo is getting a special never before given Lifetime Achievement Award. Well, no one’s denying Ringo anything; he’s Ringo.

But this shows how Jann Wenner runs this lawless group. God bless Ringo. What Wenner wants is Paul McCartney to show up and jam with Ringo so they can have something to peddle for their TV show. I hope Paul and Ringo extract a big donation from the Rock Hall Foundation (millions in assets) for a favorite charity in exchange for their participation.

The voted in inductees are Lou Reed, Green Day, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Bill Withers and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The Rock Hall is right on time, as usual: Reed, Vaughn, and Butterfield are all dead.

The Hall also is giving The 5 Royales a special award under “Early Influencers.” The doo wop group has been on the ballot for about 25 years and could never get voted in. Seymour Stein has always been in their corner. Three years ago, Steve Cropper– guitarist for Booker T and the MJs, studio sideman for groups like Sam & Dave– put together a tribute album to the group. That may have pushed it over.

Snubbed again is Sting, whose long solo career began in 1985. He also has his Broadway musical. This would have been the year to induct him (he’s already in with the Police). It’s really shameful this hasn’t already happened. Nile Rodgers and Chic were also denied entrance even though Rodgers was more a part of pop music success in the year (with Daft Punk) than ever.

Exclusive: OJ Simpson Story with Cuba Gooding Adds David Schwimmer, Paging Samuel L. Jackson

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: OJ Simpson Story with Cuba Gooding Adds David Schwimmer, Paging Samuel L. Jackson

The OJ Simpson story, as you may know, is coming to FX. Cuba Gooding Jr. is playing Simpson and Sarah Paulson is taking the role of failed prosecutor Marcia Clark. The 10 part series is Ryan Murphy’s “American Crime Story,” the next series that replaces “American Horror Story.”

But there’s more. I am told that an offer is out to “Friends” star David Schwimmer to play Simpson friend, lawyer and possible co-conspirator Robert Kardashian (yes, he left us that family of tacky, avaricious publicity hounds). If Schwimmer doesn’t commit, I’ve heard that Tim Roth has actually asked to play the part.

On top of that, the word is that Murphy wants Samuel L. Jackson to play Johnny Cochran, Simpson’s famous lawyer who coined the phrase: “If it doesn’t fit you must acquit.” No word if Jackson will take the role. An offer is also out for someone to play Kato Kaelin.

Sources say there will be no Nicole Brown or Ronald Goldman cast as the story takes place beginning on the morning after the murders. There are no flashbacks, either. It’s just everything moving forward from June 12, 1994 through the trial and Simpson’s acquittal.

Simpson, it must be pointed out, has nothing to do with the series, and won’t benefit financially. He remains in prison on his kidnapping and armed robbery charges in a separate incident.

Bill Cosby’s Wife Camille Releases Non-Statement, Doesn’t Refute a Single Claim

Roger Friedman
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Bill Cosby’s Wife Camille Releases Non-Statement, Doesn’t Refute a Single Claim

Bill Cosby’s wife Camille has released a sad non-statement to the press. She neither refutes nor denies a thing that’s been said about her husband. I feel bad for her too. Cosby has hired a spin doctor, but it’s too late. If he were innocent of at least some of the charges, he would have said so by now. He wouldn’t have waited until all academic institutions broke ties with him. Anyway, this statement somehow makes things worse– especially if she knew what was going on, or suspected, over the years.


I met my husband, Bill Cosby, in 1963, and we were married in 1964. The man I met, and fell in love with, and whom I continue to love, is the man you all knew through his work. He is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought you knew.

A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know. It is also a portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass. There appears to be no vetting of my husband’s accusers before stories are published or aired. An accusation is published, and immediately goes viral.

We all followed the story of the article in the “Rolling Stone” concerning allegations of rape at the University of Virginia. The story was heart-breaking, but ultimately appears to be proved to be untrue. Many in the media were quick to link that story to stories about my husband – until that story unwound.

None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim. But the question should be asked – who is the victim?

(Watch) Trailer for Terrence Malick’s Latest Incomprensible Film, “Knight of Cups”

Roger Friedman
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(Watch) Trailer for Terrence Malick’s Latest Incomprensible Film, “Knight of Cups”

Here it is. The trailer for “Knight of Cups,” Terrence Malick’s latest masturbatory exploration of breathless narration laid over provocative images. It follows “To the Wonder” and “Tree of Life,” sleep aids for insomniacs. Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale look like rich Hollywood types who fight in their gated driveway while orgies go on in the background. Also, there are shots of water, and wind blowing. Malick was once a genius. He should have stopped while he was ahead. No wonder JD Salinger stopped publishing. He knew what he was doing.

Sting Makes “Last Ship” Musical Pop– Box Office Crosses $800K for First Time

Roger Friedman
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Sting Makes “Last Ship” Musical Pop– Box Office Crosses $800K for First Time

Adding Sting to his own show has done the trick. “The Last Ship” cleared $817K last week, its highest weekly box office number so far. The weekly take is up by around $300,000 and growing. The numbers should only increase through the holidays.

Sting recently announced he was extending his stay in the show through almost the last week of January. This is pretty wild since he hits the road with Paul Simon on January 30th in Auckland, New Zealand.

Meantime, tomorrow the “Last Ship” cast CD lands, with all new recordings of the show’s songs sung by the cast, as well as a bonus track of Sting performing “What Say You Meg?” Even if you have the CD Sting originally issued, the show score is different and must-have. The singers in “The Last Ship”– like Aaron Lazar, Rachel Tucker, and Michael Esper– are just phenomenal.

Novelist Michael Chabon Wrote Almost All the Lyrics to Mark Ronson’s New Album

Roger Friedman
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Novelist Michael Chabon Wrote Almost All the Lyrics to Mark Ronson’s New Album

Are you a fan of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay”? “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh”? Telegraph Avenue”? Then you’re in luck. Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon has written almost all the lyrics to Mark Ronson’s new album album. “Uptown Special” comes out January 13th from RCA.  Ronson, son of Ann Dexter Jones and stepson of Mick Jones of Foreigner, is a popular DJ and producer of Amy Winehouse, among others. He calls Chabon his favorite living writer. There are a lot of great studio musicians on the album, as well as Stevie Wonder on Harmonica. Bruno Mars helped write a couple of the song, too– let’s hope they don’t sound like the Police. Using Chabon is the most interesting idea I’ve heard in a long time.  Can’t wait to hear these songs.

 

Uptown Special Track Listing:

1. Uptown’s First Finale

2. Summer Breaking

3. Feel Right

4. Uptown Funk

5. I Can’t Lose

6. Daffodils

7. Crack In The Pearl

8. In Case Of Fire

9. Leaving Los Feliz

10. Heavy And Rolling

11. Crack In The Pearl pt. II

Broadcast Critics Nominees Surprise: Exclude “Foxcatcher,” “American Sniper”

Roger Friedman
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Broadcast Critics Nominees Surprise: Exclude “Foxcatcher,” “American Sniper”

I vote in the BFCA for the Critics Choice Awards. So I’m a little surprised that “Foxcatcher” and “American Sniper” were each excluded in the balloting. “Gone Girl” took one of their spots certainly. I guess “Nightcrawler” took the other.  It’s also a blow to Steve Carell, who deserves to be in there. Meanwhile, the Jennifer Aniston campaign is charging along. Good for her.

 

 

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 20th ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Nightcrawler
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken
Whiplash

BEST ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton – Birdman
David Oyelowo – Selma
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

BEST ACTRESS
Jennifer Aniston – Cake
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice
Robert Duvall – The Judge
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game
Emma Stone – Birdman
Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
Mackenzie Foy – Interstellar
Jaeden Lieberher – St. Vincent
Tony Revolori – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Quvenzhane Wallis – Annie
Noah Wiseman – The Babadook

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Into the Woods
Selma

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay – Selma
David Fincher – Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Inarritu – Birdman
Angelina Jolie – Unbroken
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

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

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
The Imitation Game – Graham Moore
Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Theory of Everything – Anthony McCarten
Unbroken – Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson
Wild – Nick Hornby

BEST CINEMATOGRAPY
Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert Yeoman
Interstellar – Hoyte Van Hoytema
Mr. Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION
Birdman – Kevin Thompson/Production Designer, George DeTitta Jr./Set Decorator
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Adam Stockhausen/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Inherent Vice – David Crank/Production Designer, Amy Wells/Set Decorator
Interstellar – Nathan Crowley/Production Designer, Gary Fettis/Set Decorator
Into the Woods – Dennis Gassner/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Snowpiercer – Ondrej Nekvasil/Production Designer, Beatrice Brentnerova/Set Decorator

BEST EDITING
Birdman – Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
Boyhood – Sandra Adair
Gone Girl – Kirk Baxter
Interstellar – Lee Smith
Whiplash – Tom Cross

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero
Inherent Vice – Mark Bridges
Into the Woods – Colleen Atwood
Maleficent – Anna B. Sheppard
Mr. Turner – Jacqueline Durran

BEST HAIR & MAKEUP
Foxcatcher
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Into the Woods
Maleficent

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Edge of Tomorrow
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

BEST ACTION MOVIE
American Sniper
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Edge of Tomorrow
Fury
Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Tom Cruise – Edge of Tomorrow
Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Brad Pitt – Fury
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow
Scarlett Johansson – Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy
Shailene Woodley – Divergent

BEST COMEDY
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
St. Vincent
Top Five
22 Jump Street

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Jon Favreau – Chef
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Bill Murray – St. Vincent
Chris Rock – Top Five
Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Rose Byrne – Neighbors
Rosario Dawson – Top Five
Melissa McCarthy – St. Vincent
Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
The Babadook
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Interstellar
Snowpiercer
Under the Skin

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Two Days, One Night
Wild Tales

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Citizenfour
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Last Days in Vietnam
Life Itself
The Overnighters

BEST SONG
Big Eyes – Lana Del Rey – Big Eyes
Everything Is Awesome – Jo Li and the Lonely Island – The Lego Movie
Glory – Common/John Legend – Selma
Lost Stars – Keira Knightley – Begin Again
Yellow Flicker Beat – Lorde – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

BEST SCORE
Alexandre Desplat – The Imitation Game
Johann Johannsson – The Theory of Everything
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez – Birdman
Hans Zimmer – Interstellar

D’Angelo Releases His First Album in 14 Years! Best Sly Stone Album Prince Never Made

Roger Friedman
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0
D’Angelo Releases His First Album in 14 Years! Best Sly Stone Album Prince Never Made

“Black Messiah” is the first new album from D’Angelo since “Voodoo” in the year 2000. It was released to Spotify and iTunes at midnight, and it’s on the Red Bull Academy website. Is he even on a label anymore? (Yes, RCA.) D’Angelo, whose real name is Michael Eugene Archer, has made the best album Prince never made via Sly Stone. The first single or any single is “Really Love” and it’s great. What a nice Chanukah present! We may see d’Angelo on Jimmy Fallon this week, as Questlove seems to be very involved with the album.

No clips yet, Hold on til the morning…

from the press release, thanks to RCA:

“‘Black Messiah’ is a hell of a name for an album. It can be easily misunderstood. Many will think it’s about religion. Some will jump to the conclusion that I’m calling myself a Black Messiah. For me the title is about all of us. It’s about the world. It’s about an idea we can all aspire to. We should all aspire to be a Black Messiah. It’s about people rising up in Ferguson and in Egypt and in Occupy Wall Street and everyplace where a community has had enough and decides to make change happen. It’s not about praising one charismatic leader but celebrating thousands of them. Not every song on this album is politically charged (though many are) but calling this album Black Messiah creates a landscape where these songs can live to the fullest. Black Messiah is not one man. It’s a feeling that, collectively, we are all that leader.”

Eric Garner’s Killer Cop Daniel Pantaleo: NYPD Settled Cases with 2 Others, Another Is Pending

Roger Friedman
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1
Eric Garner’s Killer Cop Daniel Pantaleo: NYPD Settled Cases with 2 Others, Another Is Pending

This isn’t a scoop, per se. It’s been written about before, but not much. Indeed, the New York Times has never mentioned the names Darren Collins or Tommy Rice at all since NYPD office Daniel Pantaleo killed unarmed father of six, Eric Garner, in a chokehold last July. What happened to the Times? They are not the paper of record anymore.

Pantaleo killed Garner in June. But he’s been in hot water before regarding bad arrests and black victims. In 2012, he wrongly arrested Collins and Rice. He and several other officers stopped their car on Staten Island for no reason. Then they strip searched Collins and Rice, humiliated them by playing with their genitalia.

Collins and Rice’s lawyer told the Staten Island Advance that Pantaleo lied about seeing crack and heroin in plain view on the back seat. The truth was their driver had drugs in his pocket, it was later discovered. He took a plea deal. The cases against Collins and Rice were dropped. They sued the NYPD and won $15,000 apiece.

According to the lawsuit Pantaleo and another cop “pulled down the plaintiffs’ pants and underwear, and touched and searched their genital areas, or stood by while this was done in their presence.” At the 120th precinct,  Pantaleo participated in another strip-search, and forced Collins and Rice “to remove all of their clothing, squat, cough and lift their genitals.”

Nice huh?

Pantaleo still faces a lawsuit from Rylawn Walker, whom he arrested even though Walker contends he was doing nothing suspicious. He was caught up in a drug bust nearby and claims Pantaleo lied about him having drugs. The case against Walker was dropped.

So this is Daniel Pantaleo, who a grand jury couldn’t get a verdict against and prosecutors made sure went free. The Times has never not once reported these cases, despite the fact that the city is now teeming with protests and marches.

 

“Annie” Remake is Going to Bomb, But Not Because of Sony Hack or Racist Emails

Roger Friedman
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1
“Annie” Remake is Going to Bomb, But Not Because of Sony Hack or Racist Emails

Just a little FYI: “Annie” is going to bomb, and it won’ t be because of the Sony hacking or racist emails. I just saw an item somewhere that said Sony’s Amy Pascal is going to meet with Al Sharpton so that blacks won’t boycott “Annie.” Huh? Listen, “Annie” has a 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. The reviews are scorching. It’s supposed to be god-awful. If people stay away, it’s because they don’t want to sit through it.

Why is it so bad? They gave a musical to a writer-director who’s never made a musical and has no background in it. Will Gluck directed “Easy A,” a very good movie. Aline Brosh McKenna wrote “The Devil Wears Prada.” Neither of these people is Rob Marshall or Bill Condon. Hello?

Want to see a great movie version of “Annie”? Rob Marshall directed one for TV in 1999, written by Irene Mecchi (“The Lion King”). Kathy Bates, Victor Garber, Audra McDonald and Alan Cumming starred in it. That version was totally smart and enjoyable, and won a boatload of awards. It was far better than the original movie directed by John Huston. Check it out. Here.

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