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R&B Star Chris Brown Looks for Trouble with New Album: Duets with Infamous R Kelly And Dead Ex Aaliyah

Roger Friedman
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R&B Star Chris Brown Looks for Trouble with New Album: Duets with Infamous R Kelly And Dead Ex Aaliyah

Chris Brown has never recovered from his 2009 brawl with Rihanna. The last five years have been spent in and out of jail, in front of judges, getting into fights, and recently hosting a VMA pary where rap celeb Marion “Suge” Knight was shot six times.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all comes the track list for Brown’s new album, called “X,” and due any minute. Is he going to class it up, overcome his bad rap, and get smart for a change? No way.

Among the tracks is a duet with R. Kelly, the only more infamous R&B artist around. Kelly, a prolific songwriter, has a bad history with the law concerning underage women. In 2008 he was acquitted on 14 counts of videotaping himself with an underage girl.

So now you have Brown, in and out of jail, and court, performing with Kelly. On top of that, Brown also resurrects Aaliyah from the dead for a duet. You may recall that Kelly and Aaliyah were briefly married– she was 15, and underage– and the marriage was annulled.

It’s unlikely even with these controversies that Brown will get much action with the new album. The shadow of the Rihanna incident hangs over him. Bringing R. Kelly and Aaliyah into the mix doesn’t seem like the answer. But this guy just takes the rough road whenever he can.

Denzel Washington’s Son Among New Class at AFI Film Institute

Roger Friedman
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Denzel Washington’s Son Among New Class at AFI Film Institute

When the new American Film Institute season starts today, the class will have at least one legacy student. I’ve heard that Malcolm Washington, son of Oscar winner Denzel and his wife Pauletta, is embarking on a career as a filmmaker. Malcolm was a high school and college basketball player with an eye on cinema. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in May 2013.

Malcolm isn’t the first kid who’s come to AFI with a starry provenance. The class of 2014 included Pixar chief John Lasseter’s son Bennett and John de Menil of the famed de Menil art collector family.

In past years, the school also boasted John Kerry’s daughter Alexandra, Karl Malden’s granddaugher Cami Starkman, Jace Alexander (son of Jane Alexander and writer Robert Alexander), Charlie McDowell (Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen are the parents) and even Bette Midler’s performing artist husband Martin von Hasselberg.

When the Conservatory opens today, the new class will get a nice perk– an early screening of AFI grad Ed Zwick’s new film “Pawn Sacrifice” starring Tobey Maguire, Peter Sarsgaard, and Lily Rabe.

Broadway: Neil Patrick Harris Exits “Hedwig” and Box Office Plummets

Roger Friedman
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0
Broadway: Neil Patrick Harris Exits “Hedwig” and Box Office Plummets

There may be a musical out there called “Hedwig and the Angry Producers.” Tony winning star Neil Patrick Harris has left “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” at the Belasco, with “Book of Mormon” star Andrew Rannels taking his place. Rannels may be fine in the role, but the box office has plummeted since the change went through.

Last week, “Hedwig” sold about one thousand fewer seats than it had the week before, or any week of Harris’s run. A look at the graph on Playbill’s site is comparable to a stock sell off or a heart patient suddenly losing his vital signs.

The box office take dropped by whopping $648,738 after averaging a million dollars a week since May 4th.

It’s no surprise that Hollywood stars attract audiences. But this is the problem now every year on Broadway. The stars come in and open for Tony season and leave as soon as it’s over. Only real Broadway people stick around whether or not they win awards.

“Hedwig” probably isn’t that expensive to produce, so it’s possible it can survive without the Neil Patrick Harris effect. And Lena Hall, who won Best Supporting Actress, is still there and still rocking the house.

TV Ratings: Emmy Awards Lose Almost 2 Mil Viewers in Move to Monday

Roger Friedman
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TV Ratings: Emmy Awards Lose Almost 2 Mil Viewers in Move to Monday

The ratings are in. The Emmy Awards lost 1.8 million viewers by moving from a Sunday to a Monday. The key demo was also down to 4.2 from 4.9. Last year when CBS ran them on a Sunday the ratings were a huge total 17.6 million total viewers.

On Monday night it was 15.8 million. NBC is thrilled because Monday night’s show was the second highest since 2006. But listen, really, 1.8 million people didn’t watch the show carrying over from last year.

The move to Monday hurt, in the deadest week of summer when everyone is still away. And the show was a rerun basically of 2013 with similar winners. You gotta love how they spin it, though. It takes creative thinking. Or magical thinking.

The Emmys are in a tough spot, though. So many “TV shows” now air of network, it’s hard to organize the process. Not just Netflix, but PBS and BBC America, PBS, plus of course HBO and Showtime have diffused the audience. But really, once a show or an actor wins, that should be it. This business of “Modern Family” every year is ludicrous. And Jim Parsons, year after year? Come on.

Prince Returns September 30th with 2 Albums of New Tasty Funk

Roger Friedman
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Prince Returns September 30th with 2 Albums of New Tasty Funk

Prince is back! Well, he never left. But on September 30th he’ll release 2 new albums especially 4 U. “Art Official Age” is described as a classic Prince album. “Plectrumelectrum” is with his group 3rd Eye Girl. They’ll each be on Warner Bros Records, which he once declared was holding him hostage. Then he made a nice new deal with them earlier this year and everyone’s happy again. PS September 30th is the Grammy deadline. Maybe that will mean something…

A lot of these tracks are floating around the internet already. Here’s “Funknroll” from the Arsenio Hall show:

The track-listings for ‘ART OFFICIAL AGE and ‘PLECTRUMELECTRUM’ are as follows:

ART OFFICIAL AGE

ART OFFICIAL CAGE

CLOUDS

BREAKDOWN

THE GOLD STANDARD

U KNOW

BREAKFAST CAN WAIT

THIS COULD BE US

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE

affirmation I & II

WAY BACK HOME

FUNKNROLL

TIME

affirmation III

PLECTRUMELECTRUM

WOW

PRETZELBODYLOGIC

AINTTURNINROUND

PLECTRUMELECTRUM

WHITECAPS

FIXURLIFEUP

BOYTROUBLE

STOPTHISTRAIN

ANOTHERLOVE

TICTACTOE

MARZ

FUNKNROLL

Emmy Awards: Just Like Last Year, “Breaking Bad” and “Modern Family” Win

Roger Friedman
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0
Emmy Awards: Just Like Last Year, “Breaking Bad” and “Modern Family” Win

So glad I was away for the Emmy Awards. The same shows, the same people, etcetera, etcetera. “Modern Family” was Best Comedy over “Veep.” Ridiculous. “Breaking Bad,” now off the air, won Best Drama over “Mad Men” and a bunch of good shows that weren’t even nominated. Oy vey.

Actors: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Allison Janney, the guy from The Big Bang Theory, the other guy from Modern Family. Bryan Cranston won Best Actor for Breaking Bad, and Aaron Paul was Supporting Actor.

Bryan Cranston will now be nominated for the Nobel Prize (he also won Best Actor at the Tony Awards this year). His best work, as dentist Dr. Tim Watley, on “Seinfeld,” remains under appreciated.

Aside from Seth Meyers and the Robin Williams tribute, no one can be criticized for thinking they’d seen last night’s Emmy Awards before. Once a show resonates in the ratings and with Emmy committees, it’s in for life. But woe to those that are passing fancies, like “Mad Men,” “Homeland” and “House of Cards.” When the committees turn cold, there’s no looking back.

I hereby bestow awards on the gang from “Mad Men,” who will end their official run at this time next year with whatever they’ve already received. Jon Hamm at least had nominations. John Slattery was totally screwed over and over. But that’s the way the Emmy cookie crumbles.

PS Congrats to Julianna Margulies.

Watch Billy Crystal’s Beautiful Emmy Tribute to Robin Williams

Roger Friedman
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0
Watch Billy Crystal’s Beautiful Emmy Tribute to Robin Williams

Perfect. The best part of the Emmy Awards.

Watch Beyonce and Jay Z End Summer with a 16 Minute Commercial, Not a Divorce

Roger Friedman
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0
Watch Beyonce and Jay Z End Summer with a 16 Minute Commercial, Not a Divorce

It was all a hoax. Congrats to the publicists, and to the NY Post for going along with it. As i said many times, the Beyonce-Jay Z “divorce” rumor was cooked up for concert ticket sales and it worked like a charm. Last night the couple ended the summer with a 16 minute commercial on MTV followed by hugs, tears, and kisses. Maybe they were a decoy for Mariah and Nick. But the Carters aren’t splitting, never were. Solange gets back in the elevator. It’s all good. What a fool believes…

Gandhi Director Sir Richard Attenborough Dies at Age 90– Won 2 Oscars

Roger Friedman
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Gandhi Director Sir Richard Attenborough Dies at Age 90– Won 2 Oscars

Oscar winning director Sir Richard Attenborough, whose movies included the much awarded “Gandhi” and “The Sand Pebbles,” has died at age 90.

Known to his friends as “Dickie,” Sir Richard also directed “Chaplin” with Robert Downey Jr., the movie version of “A Chorus Line,” and the 1977 classic “A Bridge Too Far.” He won kudos also for “Shadowlands” with Anthony Hopkins and “Cry Freedom,” with Denzel Washington and Kevin Kline.

Attenborough started as an actor, and was prolific. He appeared in dozens of films and British TV series, including “Jurassic Park,” plus the feature “Dr. Dolittle” and the Cate Blanchett “Elizabeth.”

Hollywood Stars Sign Petition for Israel, from Schwarzenegger to Stallone and More

Roger Friedman
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Hollywood Stars Sign Petition for Israel, from Schwarzenegger to Stallone and More

Here’s the list signed far by the Creative Community for Peace.
We, the undersigned, are saddened by the devastating loss of life endured by Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza. We are pained by the suffering on both sides of the conflict and hope for a solution that brings peace to the region.

While we stand firm in our commitment to peace and justice, we must also stand firm against ideologies of hatred and genocide which are reflected in Hamas’ charter, Article 7 of which reads, “There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!” The son of a Hamas founder has also commented about the true nature of Hamas.

Hamas cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities, nor can it be allowed to hold its own people hostage. Hospitals are for healing, not for hiding weapons. Schools are for learning, not for launching missiles. Children are our hope, not our human shields.

We join together in support of the democratic values we all cherish and in the hope that the healing and transformative power of the arts can be used to build bridges of peace.

Michael Adler
Avi Arad
Tom Arnold
Jeff Astrof
Craig Balsam
Gary Barber
Roseanne Barr
Elana Barry
Jonathan Baruch
Aaron Bay-Schuck
Lainie Sorkin Becky
Steven Bensusan
Adam Berkowitz
Greg Berlanti
Jordan Berliant
Mayim Bialik
Joshua P Binder
Todd Black
Michael Borkow
Scooter Braun
Dan Brecher
Eric Brooks
Dan Bucatinsky
David Byrnes
Omri Casspi
Josh Charles
Etan Cohen
Joe Cohen
Marc Dauer
Craig David
Donald De Line
Matt DelPiano
Josh Deutsch
Minnie Driver
Jack Dytman
Lee Eisenberg
Doug Ellin
Diane English

Dan Erlij
Ron Fair
Dave Feldman
James Feldman
Patti Felker
Sam Fischer
Erica Forster
Gary Foster
Doug Frank
Bryan J. Freedman
Geordie E. Frey
William Friedkin
Daryl Friedman
Michael Fricklas
Jeremy Garelick
Ran Geffen-Lifshitz
Andrew Genger
Jody Gerson
Risa Gertner
Jami Gertz
Gary Ginsberg
David Glick
Jonathan Glickman
Evan Goldberg
Gil Goldschein
Tony Goldwyn
Nate Goodman
Marc Graboff
Kelsey Grammer
Trudy Green
Adam Griffin
Iris Grossman
Phil Hacker
Sanaa Hamri
Adi Hasak
Ned Haspel
Andrew Hurwitz
Kathy Ireland
Bill Jacobson

Neil Jacobson
Jonathan Jakubowicz
Nathan Kahane
Adam Kaller
Zach Katz
Ryan Kavanaugh
Ron Kenan
Larry Kennar
Kevin King-Templeton
Michael Kives
Courtney Kivowitz
Patrick Knapp
Amanda Kogan
Steven Kram
Erik Kritzer
Peter Landesman
Eriq La Salle
Sherry Lansing
Estelle Lasher
Michael Lasker
Keili Lefkovitz
Carol Leifer
Avi Lerner
Colin Lester
Ben Levine
Susan Levinson
David Levy
Shuki Levy
Linda Lichter
Jonathan Littman
David Lonner
Benji Madden
Joel Madden
Bill Maher
Joshua Malina
Rob Markus
Orly Marley
Ziggy Marley
Bill Masters

Barry McPherson
Brian Medavoy
Jeff Melman
Scott Melrose
Jeffrey D. Melvoin
Rina Mimoun
Michael Morales
Alan Nierob
Michael Nyman
James Packer
Scott Packman
Amy Pascal
Donald S. Passman
Brett Paul
Linda Perry
Richard Plepler
Rob Prinz
Dan Rabinow
Dean Raise
Bruce M. Ramer
David Ready
Ivan Reitman
David Renzer
Hanna Rochelle
Seth Rogen
John Rogovin
Lena Roklin
Zvi Howard Rosenman
Bill Rosenthal
Phil Rosenthal
Brian Ross
Michael Rotenberg
Rob Rothman
Robert Rovner
Susan Rovner
Haim Saban
Nancy Sanders
Mark Schiff
Steve Schnur

Jordan Schur
Sam Schwartz
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Adam Schweitzer
Scott Siegler
Ben Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Martin Singer
Aaron Sorkin
Steve Spira
Sylvester Stallone
Norman Steinberg
Gary Stiffelman
Gene Stupnitsky
Eric Suddleson
Nick Styne
Danny Sussman
Traci Szymanski
Nina Tassler
Adam Taylor
Mitch Tenzer
Fred D. Toczek
Michael Tolkin
Jonathan Tropper
Paul Wachter
Nina Wass
Avi Wasserman
Steven Weber
Bernie Weinraub
Jerry Weintraub
David N. Weiss
Alan Wertheimer
Ron West
Nikki Wheeler
Bryan Wolf
Sharon Tal Yguado
Pete Yorn
Rick Yorn

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