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Lee Grant on Marlon Brando, Overzealous Fans, and Getting Fired By Bruce Willis

Roger Friedman
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Lee Grant on Marlon Brando, Overzealous Fans, and Getting Fired By Bruce Willis

Lee Grant has finally published her memoir, and it’s a must-read. (I know this not from a publisher sending it to me, but from downloading it from amazon. Worth every penny.) The Oscar winner and multiple nominee did not work between 1954 and 1966. Why? She was blacklisted by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, Senator Joseph McCarthy and the rotten miserable Roy Cohn. That story alone is worth the price of “I Said Yes to Everything.”

I’ve pulled out a couple of anecdotes apart from the HUAC story. On Marlon Brando:

“Marlon had asked me out the year before. Picked me up on his motorcycle— thrilling— and took me to a nightclub in the Fifties on Eighth Avenue. We sat on a long leather settee, had drinks at a small black table, and silently watched a naked woman on a small black stage do artistic and lewd things with a giant cobra. Not a word exchanged. What can you say? Back on the motorcycle, holding on to his back, to my front door. I had my key out, no kiss, thanked him, opened and closed the door. Out of love.”

Winning an Emmy “Peyton Place” the TV series that brought her back to show business after 12 years:

“And I won. I won. From three nights a week Peyton Place could have gone to five. The line between the audience and the characters on the show was so fine. My character’s father died on a Friday . Saturday afternoon I drove into Santa Monica to buy shoes. I was trying them on when the clerk who was waiting on a lady nearby crept over to me. “Excuse me,” he said. “That lady wants to know, isn’t today your father’s funeral?” “Tell her,” I said, “that’s why I’m buying the shoes. I’m going to the cemetery right after I leave here.” The lady, the clerk, and I nodded conspiratorially at one another and I left.”

Lee tried to make a movie in 1997 directing Bruce Willis in “Broadway Brawler,” about a hockey player. Willis was in a bad slump at the time. He didn’t like the way the movie was going and had her fired. She was replaced, but no one would work for the new director. The $28 million feature was aborted.

Lee writes: “The problem when you are a star, when the money rests on you as an actor, is that your freedom to fail is gone. You can’t take chances. If you can’t take chances anymore, what kind of actor are you?”

Two years later, after a string of horrendous flops, Willis lucked out with “The Sixth Sense” and was back, big time.

More to come about “I Said Yes to Everything.” Let’s read it together!

Texas Gov. Rick Perry Finally Shakes Hands with President Obama

Roger Friedman
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Texas Gov. Rick Perry Finally Shakes Hands with President Obama

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas had said he wouldn’t shake hands with President Obama on an airport tarmac. Later, he rethought this statement since it was kind of disrespectful. Later Perry was caught surreptitiously greeting Obama on a receiving line. He was disguised as a donkey. If you believe this, you also believe Zac Efron is dating Michelle Rodriguez. Namaste.

David Letterman Walks Out on Joan Rivers in Gag, Everyone Takes it Seriously

Roger Friedman
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David Letterman Walks Out on Joan Rivers in Gag, Everyone Takes it Seriously

Are people really this dumb? On tonight’s Late Show with David Letterman, the host pretends to be affronted and walks out on guest Joan Rivers. CBS released an official clip that got picked up everywhere after 7pm, to promote the Letterman show. Did people really take this seriously? It was a JOKE. It was a GAG. Well, anything to pump up ratings. Joan has promoted her new book with a lot of media savvy, including walking off of CNN in a “huff.” Joan Rivers is a marketing genius, kids. Watch amazon.com and see if it helps sales. What I really think is hilarious is that I’ve known Joan since the 80s, appeared several times on her talk shows, and now her publicist refuses to put her on the phone with me. Joan, if you’re out there, fire her and call me.

Robin Thicke Scores Lowest Sales of Any Major Pop Release This Year

Roger Friedman
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Robin Thicke Scores Lowest Sales of Any Major Pop Release This Year

That’s it. The US figures are in for Robin Thicke’s “Paula”a album. He sold roughly 23,000 copies– less than Jennifer Lopez’s 33,000 debut or Mariah Carey’s in May. That’s the lowest debut week for any major pop star this year or in recent memory. The only other complete dud I can think of is will.i.am’s last album, which topped out 55,000 copies. Basically no one in the United States bought Thicke’s album or his shtick about estranged wife Paula Patton.

This is a truly extraordinary situation. Thicke debuted on the charts a year ago with 177,000 copies of his “Blurred Lines.” Something like 14 million downloads were sold of the single “Blurred Lines” which featured Pharrell, who wrote the non Marvin Gaye part of the song.

Karma is a bitch. And Thicke engendered a lot of bad karma for ripping off Marvin Gaye’s essence, if not his song. He pre-emptively sued Gaye’s family, making Thicke look worse than thought possible. Then came all the Miley Cyrus stuff, dancing suggestively with her on an awards show. And then there were stories that he was fooling, accompanied by photos.

On top of that, it turned out Pharrell had something up his sleeve: “Happy,” a song that ripped off no one, and eclipsed “Blurred Lines.”

Meantime, the UK Guardian newspaper is claiming that “Paula” has sold only 530 copies in Britain. That’s right– five hundred and thirty.

The good news: There’s only one place to go from here and that’s up.

Jimmy Fallon’s Neil Young Gets to Play with Crosby, Stills and Nash (Watch)

Roger Friedman
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Jimmy Fallon’s Neil Young Gets to Play with Crosby, Stills and Nash (Watch)

Jimmy Fallon’s Neil Young finally got to play with the real with Crosby, Stills and Nash last night on the Tonight show. The song was “Fancy” by current pop star Iggy Azalea. (Not to be confused with Rhoda Dendrum.) I’ve gotten so used to Jimmy being brilliant that I haven’t written about him in a while. The show remains top notch. Great backlighting for Crosby.

and here’s “Neil Young” with Bruce Springsteen:

“Boyhood” with Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Filmed Over 12 Years, Joins 2015 Oscar Pre-List

Roger Friedman
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“Boyhood” with Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke, Filmed Over 12 Years, Joins 2015 Oscar Pre-List

An original work, “Boyhood” directed by Richard Linklater is a masterpiece. It’s funny and sad, it’s about life, and it’s entirely accessible to people of all ages. Young, old, in between can appreciate it at different levels. And of course, you’ve read that Linklater filmed it over the course of 12 years, tracing the lives of a fictional family he created. The trick is, you feel like you’ve lived their life and vice versa.

Last night the film premiered at the Museum of Modern Art (which Ethan Hawke excitedly called the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art) to massive ovations and applause. The director and cast were there, as well as lots of real “New York actors” like Bob Dishy, Dana Ivey, Tovah Feldshuh, Lois Smith, Joel Grey, and Rutanya Alda.

Over the moon was “Orange is the New Black” star Taylor Schilling, a major contender for an Emmy award next month.

Everyone sat through the two and half hour film rather spellbound. Linklater has taken a simple, elegant original idea and created magic. There isn’t exactly a plot to “Boyhood.” In fact, you know the plot. A young couple get pregnant, marry, have a second child and break up. The husband is a Peter Pan  who is likeable. The wife wants more for her life and her kids, a boy and a girl who are about 6 and 8. And so we follow them over 12 years, from the boy’s first grade to high school graduation.

There are no kidnappings, murders, random acts of violence or super heroes in capes.

Linklater simply captures the nuances of life as it rushes by, in linear order. The idea is to live in the moment and try not to forget what’s happening to you, or what’s happened. But time flies, for the audience and the viewer. You think of your own life constantly while watching “Boyhood.”

The real and the fictional are so entwined that later, at the party, we quizzed Arquette about what she thought might have happened to a character who drops out of the story never to be seen again. We were all very happy to see the young actress who played the character turned up. Of course, it’s not real. But you like the people in “Boyhood” so much, from the beginning you want nothing bad to happen to them.

I’m going to tell you more about “Boyhood” this week.  It opens in New York and LA on Friday, then goes wide the following week. “Boyhood” joins “Foxcatcher,” “Whiplash,” “Begin Again,” and “Grand Budapest Hotel” on the early Oscar list.  If this were 1975, Pauline Kael would be raving about Linklater in The New Yorker. Smart people would be lined up around the block to see it. I hope by some miracle that happens now.

Miley Cyrus TV Special Twerks Just 2 Million Viewers, Finishes Dead Last of 12 Shows

Roger Friedman
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Miley Cyrus TV Special Twerks Just 2 Million Viewers, Finishes Dead Last of 12 Shows

Has Miley Cyrus already worn out her welcome? On Sunday night NBC put aside two hours for a Miley special based on her “Bangerz” tour. The results were not heartening. Miley had just 2 million viewers. Only 700,000 of them were between 18-49. The rest, I would guess, were younger than 18 since no one older than 50 could possibly be interested.

And it’s not like it was a low viewing night. But Miley’s special came in 12th for the evening behind everything else on broadcast TV. Twelfth. It does sort of suggest that the only people who wondered if she was twerking were asleep or had the set tuned to NBC by mistake.

More amazing since Miley has 18.2 million Twitter followers who were fed reminders before and throughout the show. Apparently all that social networking didn’t move anyone to click the remote in her favor. Lesson learned? I think so.

What’s the problem? The Bangerz theme ran its course months ago, Miley is over-saturated, everyone is sick of the wrecking ball, the Terry Richardson pictures, and so on and so forth. It’s time for Miley to get some home schooling, take a nice break, and leave the stage for a little while. And when she comes back, it has to be something fresh.

Paul McCartney Animated Film a “Go” as Rocker Resumes Tour After Illness

Roger Friedman
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Paul McCartney Animated Film a “Go” as Rocker Resumes Tour After Illness

Paul McCartney is back, in a big way. I can tell you EXCLUSIVELY that while Sir Paul was recuperating from his recent illness he moved plans forward for his animated film. I told you about this project almost exactly three years ago.

Since then, a couple of things have happened. I’m told that producers Michael Lynne and Bob Shaye have received a finished script that everyone’s happy with.

Second: Offers are out to directors, and one will be named before the end of the summer. Originally, Tony Bancroft (“Mulan”) was rumored, but he may not be the choice after all.

McCartney and wife Nancy were in the Hamptons as Paul readied for the resumption of his “Out There” tour in Albany on July 5th. Sources tell me Paul’s illness– a viral infection — was definitely “serious.” But by all accounts the Albany show was a huge success. The forever Beatle continues his killer concert schedule. He is not to be missed.

Today McCartney is releasing a video for a song called “Early Days” from his “New” album. It’s too bad someone involved with that album couldn’t have chosen an actual catchy single like “Looking at Her.”

Johnny Depp is featured. Why? I do not know.

 

Oscar Winner Diane Keaton Wanted for Cafe Carlyle Gig–And She Wants to Do It

Roger Friedman
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Oscar Winner Diane Keaton Wanted for Cafe Carlyle Gig–And She Wants to Do It

I can tell you right now that when Rob Reiner’s “And So It Goes” opens on July 25th, everyone’s going to be talking about one thing: Diane Keaton’s amazing performances singing standards with a jazz band.

On Sunday night at Guild Hall in East Hampton, the star studded audience went nuts for Keaton. This included co-star Michael Douglas, his wife Catherine Zeta Jones, no less than  Barbra Streisand and James Brolin, Bob Balaban and wife Lynn, Joy Behar, plus the film’s director Rob Reiner.

Later, over at the ever popular Nick & Toni’s for a post screening dinner, famed rock promoter Ron Delsener came straight up to the dazzling Keaton. “I want to book you into the Cafe Carlyle,” he announced. “You’ll sell the place out!”

Keaton sputtered, “Okay,” not realizing at first to whom she was speaking. When she finally figured out what was going on, she was thrilled. The Cafe in the Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue is home to Woody Allen’s New Orleans jazz band, Elaine Stritch and countless other stars. The late great Bobby Short made it famous.

Keaton brought her son and daughter with her to the premiere– her son is obsessed with pop star Jason Derulo, among others. The kids were with her on Saturday too when she signed copies of her latest book, “Let’s Just Say It Wasn’t Pretty.” The signing attracted so many people to BookHampton on Main Street that they spilled down the block and mixed with the guests at the opening of designer Lisa Perry’s hot new boutique.

Meanwhile back at the screening, Clarius Entertainment’s William Sadleir introduced Reiner, and told us all about his new company’s plans to make movies for adults that aren’t franchise sequels featuring super heroes. Reiner told the crowd when he hired Keaton, she told him she just doesn’t really act, she just what she does.

That’s not exactly so. Keaton and Douglas, as well as the terrific Frances Sternhagen, newcomer Sterling Jerins, “Rocky” star Andy Karl, and Annie Parisse make more out of Mark Andrus’s screenplay than anyone could imagine. If you want to know what real stars can do, watch Keaton and Douglas together. They are luminous.

PS The Reiner movie resurrects a great record, “Both Sides Now,” written by Joni Mitchell and re-recorded by its original hit making singer Judy Collins. Ka ching!

 

 

Frankie Valli Gives “Jersey Boys” Movie No Help on PBS Fourth of July Special

Roger Friedman
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Frankie Valli Gives “Jersey Boys” Movie No Help on PBS Fourth of July Special

Friday night could have been fireworks for the movie “Jersey Boys.” The Clint Eastwood film, currently in theaters, might have benefited from its real life protagonist Frankie Valli plugging it on PBS’s Fourth of July special live from Washington DC.

Alas, this was not to be.

Valli, who doesn’t like the movie, and has stayed away from its premieres, kinda screwed Clint and company very neatly. He opened his three song set to a national audience with a very long version of the theme from “Grease,” a song that does not appear in “Jersey Boys.” He followed it with “Let’s Hang On,” which is featured only in a medley on the “Jersey Boys” soundtrack. In between he gave in and sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”

He did not sing any real Four Seasons hits from the movie or even mention it. No “Rag Doll,” “Sherry,” or “Walk Like a Man.” Ouch. If anything would have helped “Jersey Boys,” this would have been it. The silence was deafening.

This was not just a snub to Eastwood and the movie, but also to his long time songwriter Bob Gaudio. Only “Can’t Take My Eyes off You” was co-written by Gaudio. “Grease” was written by Barry Gibb. “Let’s Hang On,” a minor Four Seasons hit, was a rare tune without Gaudio’s credit.

Valli has played it cool with “Jersey Boys.” He didn’t come to the premieres in New York or L.A. The given reason was that his estranged wife, Randy, was very ill. But that doesn’t jibe with this reality: Frankie and Randy were married exactly 30 years ago on July 7, 1984. He’s been trying to divorce her for 10 years, filing in 2004. Their divorce is more than contentious. This past May, an appeals court ruled that they would have to split a life insurance policy that Frankie had put in Randy’s name. Earlier, a court had ruled it belonged to Randy only.

They are still not divorced.

During the course of the divorce, in 2011, it was revealed that Frankie makes about $500,000 a month from the Broadway show and touring companies. Maybe that’s why he sings “Let’s hang on/to what we got.”

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