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John Travolta, Kelly Preston Still Using Dead Son’s Foundation to Give Scientology Money Tax Free

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Right after poor Jett Travolta died in January 2009 at age 16, his parents established a tax free foundation in his memory. Jett died after falling, from a convulsion. He was autistic, and his manny was a wedding photographer named Jeff Kathrein. The Travoltas always said publicly that Jett suffered from Kawasaki Syndrome and denied the autism. But then in the Bahamian police report, Travolta admitted that his son was autistic.

The foundation doesn’t give money to autism charities. It also doesn’t specify how much money gives it to individual groups on its Form 990, just the total. For 2013, that amount was $172,728.31.

The Travoltas side step not detailing where their money goes in this official document by listing the groups it donates to on its website. Is it true? Who knows? They don’t commit to it on the federal filing. Three of the key groups they’ve given money to in 2014 are Scientology fronts– The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, GRODYSH International, and the Way to Happiness. They’re mixed in with a few “name” organizations that are used as camouflage for the foundation’s real agenda.

Do read this piece on the Doman family, who run the Human Potential foundation, labeled as “quacks” right here. They’re lifelong Scientologists: http://www.sptimes.com/2004/06/22/Floridian/Anything_to_reach_Ryan.shtml

Here’s the full list:

2014
Mending Kids http://www.mendingkids.org
The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential http://www.iahp.org
Lifeflight Foundation http://www.lifeflightmaine.org
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation http://www.themmrf.org
Celebrity Fight Night Foundation http://www.celebrityfightnight.org
Never Say Never http://www.neversayneverfoundation.org
Jewish National Fund http://www.jnf.org/
The Smithsonian Institute http://www.si.edu
Futures Explored Inc http://www.futures-explored.org
BTCTE http://btcte.org
GRODYSH Int’l. Inc. http://www.grodysh.org/
BuildOn http://www.act.buildon.org/
Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation http://www.ripkenfoundation.org/
Surfers Healing http://www.ukrocharity.org
University Kidney Research Organization http://www.exploringthearts.org/
Way to Happiness Foundation http://www.thewaytohappiness.org
The Felix Organization http://www.thefelixorganization.org

Oscars: Martin Luther King Film “Selma” Will Be Shown in Entirety This Week After All

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“Selma,” the Ava Duvernay film about Martin Luther King’s world and life changing 1965 civil rights march, is ready to be seen. Duvernay mentioned on Twitter last night that the film was “locked” and would be screened in its entirety tomorrow– Tuesday– at the AFI Film Festival in Hollywood. Previously, AFI had announced a 30 minute preview of the film. But Duvernay decided to “mention” this in a Twitter exchange with executive producer Oprah Winfrey. Let’s hope the filmmakers let Paramount have a better marketing campaign when the time is right. “Selma” is scheduled for a limited run on Christmas week to qualify for the Oscars. The actual release is in mid January to coincide with the MLK birthday and the 50th anniversary of the Selma civil rights march. Everyone’s hoping for good things as this season has no other “important” movie with big ideas. David Oyelowo, one of the great younger actors anywhere, plays Dr. King.

Box Office Space Race: Huge Weekend as Disney Characters Rout Emotional Astronauts

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After months of stillness the box office was back this weekend. The two new movies of the weekend scored a total of $106 million, with Disney characters routing emotional astronauts.

Disney’s “Big Hero 6” took “Interstellar,” a three hour space opera handily. The final numbers were $56 million, respectively, versus $50 million. Not bad for either release.

“Big Hero 6” had many advantages over “Interstellar.” At half the length, it could be played more times in theaters. Also, it was funnier and a tad more understandable.

Ironically, both movies had similar plots. In “Big Hero 6,” the main character Beymax and his companion Hiro, roar through space and return not much differently than Matthew McConaughey.

The cartoon movie took the weekend, but it’s likely that “Interstellar” will gain the number 1 spot on Monday and Tuesday, traditionally big nights for adult movie going. Presumably, kids will be back in school or doing homeowork. So this could be a short lived victory.

It was a fair fight, though, as each movie was in the same number of theaters and has the same official budget– $165 million.

The Disney win has to be something of a sweet victory for Disney chief Alan Horn, former head of Warner Bros.

Meanwhile, two Oscar bound films are doing very well at the box office and building momentum nicely. “St. Vincent” with Bill Murray and “Birdman” with Michael Keaton keep picking up more audience– deservedly. Coming also is “Whiplash,” not yet in general release. Those three, plus “Imitation Game,” “Foxcatcher,” and five more including “Grand Budapest Hotel,” should be the Best Picture nominees.

Jerry Seinfeld Says He Thinks He’s on the Autism Spectrum, plus Starbucks Turned Down His Web Series

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Jerry Seinfeld says he thinks he’s on Autism spectrum. Brian Williams did an interview with him, maybe for NBC Nightly News (I’m not sure and the NBC website doesn’t help–it’s a disaster). The Williams piece was to promote “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” Seinfeld’s brilliant web series that starts again this week.

Jerry’s most revealing comment maybe ever in his life comes during this conversation. He tells Williams he thinks he’s on the Autism spectrum. Of course, he’s highly functional, but this is all without any testing. It may be a form of Asperger’s Syndrome. Or, as they used to say, he’s socially awkward.

He may be right. In person, Jerry is extremely polite. He also seems distracted. That’s the best way of putting it. When you’re talking to him, it always feels like he’s doing something else in his head.

Of course, I’ve never forgotten standing outside the Carlton Hotel in Cannes as Jerry propelled himself on a zip line across the Croisette dressing in a bee costume for “The Bee Movie.” Amazing.

Seinfeld also tells Williams that he tried to get Starbucks as a sponsor for “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” He called Howard Schultz personally and sent him the first 10 episodes. Schultz, he says, didn’t get it. “He didn’t see the connection.” Starbucks stockholders are gasping as they hear this. Acura picked up the show and has probably sold a lot of cars because of it. Sounds like Schultz may be “on the spectrum.”

Anyway, I love Jerry. He’s unfailingly loyal. He made a little film this season of him going to see the head of Crackle, the web company that produces “Comedians.” He’s got Michael Richards, who played Kramer, as the boss, and Jerry’s best friend, “Letters from a Nut” writer Barry Marder, playing a cop. The whole thing reads like a letter from a nut, very Marderish. But that’s Jerry.

Fashion: Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban Dazzle, will.i.am Shows Off His Computer Cuff

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Fashion: not my beat. When I arrived at MoMA last night for cocktails, I didn’t know what the event was about. A publicist, worried, furrowed brow, said to me: “You’re just here as a guest, right?” I replied: “You don’t want me write about it?” “Noooo!” she said. So okay, I’m really not sure what we were doing anyway. You don’t want press? It’s cool with me.

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, two of my favorite people, happened to be there. This was very nice. We talked for a while, mostly about the sad passing of Nicole’s dad. Keith told me he’s finally on a real break before “American Idol” starts up again. The Urbans are headquartered right now in London, while Nicole shoots “Genius” with Colin Firth. She was wearing a beautiful dress, but I’m not sure who designed it and I’m not supposed to say.

The Modern restaurant was set up for dinner for 40, but we weren’t staying anyway. We were going to Amaranth on the Upper East Side, celebrating its 15th anniversary, for the birthday of my French journalist friend Dany Jucaud of Paris Match. So we had cocktails and talked to the wonderful Grace Coddington from Vogue. Anna Wintour walked by, and said a vague “hi” but didn’t stop for a nanosecond. I guess they see each other all the time. Another acting couple, Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany, were there. Bettany was talking to someone, so Jennifer and I chatted. She’s lovely as ever.

Most interesting conversation was with will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas. A musical genius, he’s also way into technology and how it helps kids. He’s just launching a wearable computer bracelet called Puls. No e. He showed me how it works as he had one on each wrist. Now I want one. Unlike Apple’s Apple Watch or the Samsung watch, this works on cellular and WiFi and doesn’t to have to be hooked up to a phone. You get the internet, you can make calls, use Apps, etc. It seems pretty light and comfortable. The interface was very easy and quick.

Will funded it himself and is making it with investors. There’s no other big company. They’re using AT&T as their carrier. Foxconn, the company that makes iPhones, etc, is the manufacturer. He is incredibly serious and articulate on this subject. Check out his foundation at http://iamangelfoundation.org

Will told me that the Black Eyed Peas big — HUGE– hit “I Gotta Feeling,” was almost a song for U2. “I was hanging with Bono, and the Edge. They asked me to help out on the album No Line on the Horizon. I was playing with this melody. But I was too afraid to actually play it for them. It was supposed to be for them. But that version sounded different.” He also says Fergie is working on her record right now, and that will be followed by a new Black Eyed Peas record. “Wait til you hear it.” he said, beaming.

I ran into Catherine Deneuve, still stunning at age 71. She lamented about New York traffic and spoke mostly in French.

All this happened, and I don’t know why. I told Grace Coddington I was going to the famous Amaranth, and she said, “I’m a downtown girl.” Anyway, the veal Provencale was delicious.

Oscars: Add Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain to the Acting Lists for “Violent Year”

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I don’t know how it will work for Jessica Chastain this year. Can she be nominated for everything? Eleanor Rigby, Interstellar, and A Most Violent Year? (Were there others? Throw them in.) Chastain is one of the few actors who you know all the hype is right on. She’s got it in hand. In JC Chandor’s excellent “Violent Year” she’s startingly simply because she’s not the good girl. She’s really good at being a bad girl, a sort of Carmela Soprano in training.

And then here’s Oscar Isaac, Al Pacino-esque in the best possible way as Abel Morales, circa 1981, in over his head as a wanna Tony Soprano. He keeps trying to get out but they just keep pulling him back in. Oscar finally made his name in “Inside Llewyn Davis,” but this performance really stands him in good stead. He’s a movie star.

“A Most Violent Year” is Chandor’s movie but it’s a tribute to Sidney Lumet and “Prince of the City” and “Serpico” and so on. Abel’s been trying to run a clean (legal) oil business. But his wife is cooking the books. His enemies are stealing his trucks and his oil as if they were stage coach robberies on the 59th St. Bridge. Alessandro Nivola is an oily business partner (he’s great, too). Albert Brooks is his long suffering consigliere.

This is the year of Lumet. I hope he’s watching from heaven. Everyone wants to make a Sidney Lumet movie. Chandor has, with a touch of James Gray. The film itself has some small problems. But you overlook them because there’s momentum to the story and the people —  however morally flawed—are appealing. I hope distributor A24 puts some oomph into campaigns for Chastain and Isaac. They’re revelatory here.

PS Tons of great New York actors, plus Ben Rosenfeld (about to break big) and David Oyelowo (already huge).

“Big Hero 6” or “Interstellar”? Brilliant 90 Minute Cartoon Takes on 3 Hour Space Opera– with Similar Plot

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This is a major box office weekend: Christopher Nolan’s three hour space epic “Interstellar” cost $200 million and is supported by two major studios– Paramount and Warner Bros. It stars four Oscar winners (McConaughey. Hathaway, Burtsyn and someone else I’m not supposed to mention), as well as a nominee (Chastain). It’s made by a famed director (Nolan). “Interstellar” is breathtaking and confounding. Everyone has high hopes for it. But it’s not a slam dunk. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 71% from critics.

And then there’s “Big Hero 6” from Disney Animation Studios based on a little known Marvel comic and looking like a Pixar movie. It’s animated. The voices are not really famous. Scott Adsit, very genial from “30 Rock”  as a minor character, is the voice of BeyMax, an expressionless sort of Casper the Ghost made of white vinyl and stuffed with electronics. Ryan Potter, a total unknown, is Hiro, the hero (get it?). The film has an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In a strange coincidence, the last 20 minutes or so of “Big Hero 6” sums up the “Interstellar” plot maybe unintentionally. But if you see both movies, it’s clear. “Big Hero 6” is half the length of “Interstellar” and a lot of fun. It’s perfect for parents who want to take their kids because it’s written on a couple of levels. It’s very very clever.

Of course, the spoiler this weekend is James Marsh’s “The Theory of Everything.” Oscar worthy performances by Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as Stephen Hawking and his first wife, Jane, offset some of the film’s deficiencies. It’s a must-see. Focus Features keeps sending me emails about private screenings they’ve had with celebrities. The tone is “We had this event and you weren’t good enough to be invited.” They are hilarious. But I’m going to ignore this and push on for these wonderful actors.

Mary Tyler Moore is Alive and Well, But Chuckles the Clown is Still Dead

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Mary Tyler Moore, the beloved actress, is alive and well in Connecticut, thanks. She’s thriving with her long time husband Dr. Robert Levine. MTM somehow trended over night on Yahoo as “Mary Tyler Moore death.” It was either a hoax or a bobbled interpolation of the death of an actor from her show, Richard Schaal. The 86 year old actor was married to Valerie Harper, who played Rhoda, during the MTM golden years. He was a droll, funny actor who had many memorable characters including Howard Arnell and his twin brother Paul, each of whom Mary dates– regrettably. Schaal will be sorely missed.

Also still dead is Chuckles the Clown. Cited as maybe the best of all the amazing “Mary Tyler Moore Show” episodes, “Chuckles Bites the Dust” remains absolutely stunning. David Lloyd–the famous father of “Modern Family” and “Frasier” writer Christopher Lloyd (not the Christopher Lloyd  from “Taxi,” another series written by David Lloyd)–wrote a show that should still get a Pulitzer Prize. It’s the high water mark for all TV comedies. Watch  it now without interruption. The mix of high and low humor, satire and philosophy is just beautiful.

And as Chuckles used to say: “A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.”

I hope Mary Tyler Moore is having a great day.

Stevie Wonder Launches a Tour of the Great American Album, “Songs in the Key of Life”

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If you think that the early to mid 1970s brought the Golden Era of pop music, then there is one crowning achievement: Stevie Wonder’s 1976 double album (plus an EP) “Songs in the Key of Life.” It’s the culmination of What’s Going On, Tapestry, Still Crazy After All These Years, Band on the Run, and Blood on the Tracks.

So Stevie Wonder launched his tour last night at Madison Square Garden playing the album, with a large orchestra run by Greg Phillinganes– who’s also on the original album–from start to finish. That’s all four sides (remember albums?) plus the four songs on the spillover EP. Stevie had so much music that there was literally a single in the sleeves with the “etcetera” of the collection. The single included “Saturn,” sung gorgeously last night by resplendent  special guest star India Arie (one of the many singers Stevie has launched — including Chaka Khan and Sheryl Crow).

In the audience: Whoopi Goldberg, Paul Shaffer, Spike Lee and god knows who else. MSG was as packed as it could be, not an empty seat anywhere. It was also the most multi-racial crowd I’ve ever seen there, a real rainbow. Stevie Wonder cuts across race, color, class, age.

Stevie told me when the show was over: “It was an  emotional night for me.” Well, he led this orchestra and singers– including daughter Aisha–through this unbelievable set of hits that also cut across genres. There is jazz (“Sir Duke”), R&B (“I Wish”), funk (“Black Man”), lush ballads (“Knocks Me Off My Feet”), social commentary and near-classical (“Pastime Paradise”).

The whole thing crests with a phenomenal dance-Caribbean disco combination of “As (Always)” and “Another Star.” The album also contains Stevie’s masterwork “Isn’t She Lovely.” You kids don’t know this, but he didn’t release it as a single because radio wanted a 3 minute edit of the 6 minute piece. Stevie refused.

To watch Stevie Wonder on stage is really a lesson in genius. You will never see this again. He is the captain of this vast ship, and he never loses focus. His voice is strong and more on key than ever. Plus, he tells a lot of jokes. He also advised us that he is not having triplets– as reported in the tabloids. He brought out his youngest child, she’s 2 and cute as a button. Stevie preached gun control, also, and introduced a Sandy Hook family.

“Songs in the Key Of Life” runs about 80 minutes– because there were four sides, and records could only accommodate 20 minutes of music per side. Stevie and the embellished them with jazz riffs and showed just how well constructed the songs are. You just marvel at how the poured out of his head. And thank god they did.

Martin Short will Replace Nathan Lane in Broadway Smash “It’s Only A Play”

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Good news. “It’s Only a Play” will extend beyond January 4th even though Nathan Lane is leaving the hit. Martin Short will replace him in the lead role of James Wicker, opposite Matthew Broderick. There was a fear that the hilarious Terrence McNally revival would close if they couldn’t find a replacement. As it is, Short has replaced Lane before in “The Producers.” “It’s Only a Play” averages $1.3 million a week right now, like a musical more than a play at the box office. It wasn’t like the producers could just shut it down. Maybe Lane will return one day. But for now it’s Martin Short, and he’s just great.