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Begin Again: Could Keira Knightley Follow Anna Kendrick as Movie Star with Hit Song?

Roger Friedman
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Begin Again: Could Keira Knightley Follow Anna Kendrick as Movie Star with Hit Song?

Could Keira Knightley be the next movie star with a hit single? Here’s a video of Keira singing “Like a Fool” from “Begin Again.” Last year Anna Kendricks had a hit called “Cups” from the movie “Pitch Perfect.” Something tells me Keira could have a hit– of course, the “f” word will have to be covered up.

“Begin Again” widens this weekend. It might be the sexiest romantic comedy ever without a sex scene. Everyone in it has chemistry– Keira and Mark Ruffalo, Keira and Adam Levine, Mark Ruffalo and Catherine Keener.

Just as a reminder, here’s Adam singing “Lost Stars.”

Melissa McCarthy “Tammy” Poised for 5 Day Weekend Box Office Disaster

Roger Friedman
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Melissa McCarthy “Tammy” Poised for 5 Day Weekend Box Office Disaster

“Tammy” was a hit song long ago by Debbie Reynolds, America’s sweetheart. Now it’s a movie starring Melissa McCarthy, directed by her husband, Ben Falcone. How times have changed! Tammy is no longer a starry eyed love struck young woman. In the new world, Tammy is pretty much Curly from the Three Stooges. No one wants to see this.

On Wednesday, “Tammy” opened to $6.2 million including Tuesday sneak peeks. The forecast calls for pain, to quote Robert Cray. Predictions are that “Tammy” may just hit $30 million for the Weds-Monday slot. Look, it couldn’t have been that expensive.

Anyway, it’s not like it’s a good movie. 67 bad reviews on Rotten Tomatoes? Go see “Begin Again.” Save “Tammy” for an airplane ride or Netflix. Catch Melissa McCarthy on TV for free.

Robin Thicke: “TakeOver” of ABC Produces Few Sales, Twitter Campaign Backfires

Roger Friedman
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Robin Thicke: “TakeOver” of ABC Produces Few Sales, Twitter Campaign Backfires

This has not been a good week for Robin Thicke. Yesterday he did a much ballyhooed “takeover” of ABC, appearing on “Good Morning America,” and “The View,” in New York, then flying to Los Angeles to do Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show.

This morning, his “Paula” album has not moved an inch on the two main chart indicators, amazon.com or iTunes. “Paula” languishes respectively, at 33, and at number 8.

That was Wednesday. On Tuesday, VH-1 featured an #AskThicke campaign on Twitter. That backfired completely. The questions fans asked were bitter and nasty. The negative comments are still coming in, two days later. Rarely has so much pent up anger come pouring out against a pop star. The number 1 sneer is about the rape references in Thicke’s 2013 hit “Blurred Lines.” Runner up is the stalker-ish feel of “Paula,” a mediocre album directed at his estranged wife actress Paula Patton.

On top of that, Thicke admitted in one interview that he hasn’t even spoken to Patton in four months. So it’s not like she’s calling him up and saying, “Oh Robin, the album is such a beautiful dedication to me.”

That’s because the more you listen to “Paula,” the worse it gets. Plus, the credits don’t reflect the sampled pieces of music that he included. And you know, he’s still being sued by Marvin Gaye’s family for appropriating their dad’s music and style.

And with “Paula,” Thicke has copied Gaye’s style for real. Marvin Gaye recorded an album called “Hear My Dear” in 1978 that was a cold rebuke to his divorce from Berry Gordy’s sister, Anna. The only difference was that “Here My Dear” told the truth, pulled no punches. Similarly to “Paula,” it was not a hit.

Of course, life was different back then. There was no social media. Gaye knew the album would fail, but it was part of his financial agreement with Anna Gordy.  Its followup was a disaster, too. Gaye left Motown, and had one final hit at Columbia Records in 1982 with “Sexual Healing.” His father killed him subsequently.

No, it’s unlikely Alan Thicke will do in his son. But the audience will. Robin Thicke would smart after “Paula” tanks on Monday to take a breather and get an image consultant. And just cool it with the Paula stuff. It’s time to come off the merry-go-round, or risk being thrown off.

 

 

UPDATE: Superstar Jennifer Lopez Made $8,584 This Week from CD Sales

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE: Superstar Jennifer Lopez Made $8,584 This Week from CD Sales

Here’s the update on my story from yesterday. Jennifer Lopez made approximately $8,584 last week from sales of her “AKA” album. That’s also the number of copies she sold of that CD/digital download. Artists generally $1 per sold album. So that’s what JLO made. “AKA” dropped 75% in its second week. This means that total sales didn’t cover a night out on the town for Lopez.

Meanwhile, Robin Thicke’s “Paula” album is at number 33 on amazon. On iTunes, digital only, it remains at number 8. Ouch! Nothing is happening.

Mariah Carey’s “Me I Am Mariah” is just gone, period, after five weeks.

The new kids on the block: Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Lana del Rey.

PS The fifth anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death did not stimulate sales of his records. Why didn’t Sony or someone call for a moment of silence on June 25th, and ask radio stations to play “Gone Too Soon”?

Lady Gaga About to Have Huge Career Change, Biggest Success Yet (Watch)

Roger Friedman
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Lady Gaga About to Have Huge Career Change, Biggest Success Yet (Watch)

Lady Gaga is officially out there somewhere, on her ARTPOP tour. But she just played the Montreal Jazz Fest with Tony Bennett, singing “Lush Life.” Watch the video below. She will blow you away. Gaga is about to have a massive success and a huge career change come September when her jazz duets album with Tony Bennett is released. I’m not sure anyone realizes what this is going to do for her. For Tony, turning 87. of course, it’s another “day at the office.” The album will make the Grammy deadline of September 30th. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wins Album of the Year in February 2015. Big, big stuff this fall for this duo. PS I am told she will be dressed “elegantly” with Bennett on tour, no eggs, no meat dresses. It’s going to be about her Voice.

WATCH

Pierce Brosnan Not Ready for Broadway, Beatles Manager Honored, Famed Acting Teacher Passes

Roger Friedman
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Pierce Brosnan Not Ready for Broadway, Beatles Manager Honored, Famed Acting Teacher Passes

Pierce Brosnan isn’t ready for Broadway. The famed Irish leading man was in New York this week for the premiere of a new film, “Long Way Down,” which co-stars Toni Collette, Aaron Paul from “Breaking Bad,” and Imogen Poots. New York philanthropist Jean Shafiroff threw a dinner for the movie at East 58th St. hot spot B & Co where I chatted with Pierce and Toni.

Brosnan, a former James Bond, seems like an excellent candidate to do Broadway– a star who’s tall, good looking and can really project his voice. “You don’t think I’d need a microphone?” he intoned. “Should it be Irish theater?” Brosnan just isn’t ready to take a break from movies. He’s got five in the can, and two more ready to roll…

Toni Collette, meantime, ends her run on Broadway this weekend in “The Realistic Joneses” so she can get back to movies. She is so good in this little film. It’s time she had an Oscar…

The Beatles manager Brian Epstein was finally honored properly someone after being dissed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Epstein was honored on Sunday in London with the unveiling of a “Blue Plaque” on the building from which he managed the Beatles between 1964-1967.  The plaque was placed on Sutherland House in Argyll Street in the heart of London’s West End – next door to the famous London Palladium – the theatre where the frenzied reaction to a Beatles appearance on a live UK TV show in October 1963 inspired the word “Beatlemania”

Special messages were read from many of the people whose lives were transformed by his work – including Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Sir George Martin.   Tributes were also paid by Pattie Boyd, Yoko Ono, Andrew Loog Oldham and many others.
The Blue Plaque salute to Epstein was organized by Britain’s prestigious Heritage Foundation whose mission is to honor the finest members of the UK’s entertainment industry.
Among those attending the salute to Epstein were 60s pop icon Dave Berry (“The Crying Game”), Lennon childhood pal and fellow founding member of the Quarrymen – Rod Davis, Epstein/Beatles associates Geoffrey Ellis and Tony Bramwell, Beatles pal and publisher of Mersey Beat magazine Bill Harry, Beatles biographer Mark Lewisohn.
Keynote speaker was humorist/producer and Beatles scholar Martin Lewis who instigated and ran the ultimately successful 15-year campaign to get Epstein into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and also the creator/host of the official Brian Epstein website.
Said Lewis: My pal Andrew Oldham (Rolling Stones manager/producer) sums it up best:  ‘The Beatles changed our lives.  Brian Epstein changed theirs…'”
FAMED ACTING Teacher George Morrison passed away this week at age 85. Morrison, with lifelong friends Paul Sills and Mike Nichols started the New Actors Workshop together in 1988. Among Morrison’s many successful students over his long, prestigious career was Stanley Tucci, Edie Falco, Gene Hackman, Ving Rhames, and Broadway “Pippin” and “Hair” director Diane Paulus…

Paul Mazursky, Brilliant Director and Actor, Dies at Age 84, Made Modern Film Classics

Roger Friedman
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Paul Mazursky, Brilliant Director and Actor, Dies at Age 84, Made Modern Film Classics

You’d have to put Paul Mazursky in the category of Robert Altman, Hal Ashby, Sidney Lumet, Martin Ritt, Alan Pakula and Sydney Pollack. The director of “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” was 84, and a giant among modern filmmakers. His “Enemies: A Love Story,” “Next Stop Greenwich Village,” “Moscow on the Hudson,” “Harry and Tonto,” and of course “An Unmarried Woman” represent a career that can only be admired.

Without these guys there would be no film business today and no American cinema. Mazursky was top of his class, and a classy guy. He was nominated for 5 Oscars, four for writing, for “Enemies,” “Harry and Tonto,” “An Unmarried Woman,” and “Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.” The 5th was for Best Picture for “An Unmarried Woman.”

Anyone would be thrilled, over the moon, to have his credits. “Blume in Love” with George Segal, is a little gem. His version of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” with John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands is out of this world. “Alex in Wonderland,” a Hollywood satire with Donald Sutherland, caused a sensation when it was released.

Mazursky was also a fine actor. He has 76 credits on the imdb, from “thirtysomething” to “2 Days in the Valley.” As writer and director and actor he was a risk taker, an original, a forceful voice. He was also a kind and lovely guy with whom I had many chats over the years. He will be sorely missed.


Pop Stars Go Bust: Robin Thicke Follows Mariah Carey, JLO Into Sales Abyss

Roger Friedman
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Pop Stars Go Bust: Robin Thicke Follows Mariah Carey, JLO Into Sales Abyss

Yikes! It’s worse than I thought. Robin Thicke’s “Paula” album opened on iTunes today at number 8, and at 76 on amazon.com. That’s after his dreary appearance on the BET Awards this past weekend.

(By the way: this is for real time sales today. The number 1 album last week, just about to be announced, is from our favorite contemp pop balladeer Ed Sheeran.)

What a difference a year makes. “Blurred Lines” was last year’s ubiquitous song of the summer. The album didn’t sell that well, however. The total so far is just over 731,000 copies– not even a million although the single sold over 14 million digital copies.

But “Paula” looks doomed unless Thicke’s all day adventure tomorrow on ABC– “GMA,” “The View,” and “Jimmy Kimmel”–can stimulate sales. But the video for the first song is so weird and awful, and the lack of real build up for this release, spells a sales disaster come next Monday. After Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez’s failures, this is another misstep for the record biz this summer.

What does this all mean? For Thicke it means that without a real dance hit, and no Pharrell to help him, he’s squandered all the good vibes he got from “Blurred Lines.” He’s obviously turned off his base of female fans– already angry about the “rape” connotations from “Blurred Lines” and its X rated video. On “Paula” he pretty much admits to serial cheating on Patton. That’s not a way to woo a female audience.

For Carey and Lopez, it’s different things. Carey seems genuinely besotted with her kids and maybe just doesn’t care about chart positions right now. Lopez should take a cue from Janet Jackson and bow out gracefully now. Mechanized, tricked up music has run its course for those two.

 

As for Robin Thicke convincing Paula Patton to re-start their marriage, I don’t know: will it work if the record is a flop? I don’t think so unless she feels bad for him. Cue the puppy dog eyes.

Broadway: 2Pac Musical “Holler” Gets a Bad Rap, DeNiro Still With “Bronx Tale”?

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: 2Pac Musical “Holler” Gets a Bad Rap, DeNiro Still With “Bronx Tale”?

It’s pretty much curtains for the 2Pac musical “Holler If Ya Hear Me.” Billboard prematurely announced the show was closing, which sent everyone into a tizzy. But the facts are there: “Holler” was down 18.5% last week from the previous week. It’s playing at 39% capacity. Last week’s take was just $159,571. I really liked this show, but why in the world was it opened after the Tony Awards? Couldn’t it have waited until the fall? Any why reconfigure the Palace Theater? Why not open off Broadway and build some buzz?

Why, why why? “In the Heights” started on 37th St. and then made its way over. Anyway, it’s all over but for the rapping. PS Aside from the 2Pac stuff, the show reminded me of a musical from the early 70s called “Inner City.” The great and not oft-remembered Linda Hopkins starred in that and won a Tony Award.  “Inner City” also closed quickly…

…Chazz Palminteri is readying a workshop of his “A Bronx Tale” musical this summer, from August 4th to the 27th. It’s unclear whether or not Robert DeNiro is still the director since he’s not listed anywhere in the materials I saw. Alan Menken wrote the songs with Chazz. Tommy Mottola is one of the producers. “A Bronx Tale” was already a DeNiro directed movie. Then Chazz brought it to Broadway as a one man show. Good material can be turned into any form. Next, “A Bronx Tale” will be a sweater! (Just kidding.) This could be a surprise hit next spring!

…”The First Wives Club” is back. The musical version of the hit movie has been under construction, it seems, since 1932. That’s at least when I feel like I started writing about it. Now Linda Bloodworth-Thomason is taking over. She, of course, created the TV series “Designing Women.” The show will appear in a new form next winter in Chicago. The music is from Holland-Dozier-Holland, the Motown legends, although that’s problematic. (We’ll wait and see what happens.) “First Wives Club” was also at one time a website for women that went along with this thing. That’s long gone. If this version is any good, I want to see Jan Maxwell, Donna Murphy, and Audra McDonald as the wives. Audra can play the Bette Midler part, and Norm Foster can be her husband. Otherwise, fuhgeddaboutit…

 

Adam Levine “Lost Stars” Here’s the Full Video from “Begin Again”

Roger Friedman
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Adam Levine “Lost Stars” Here’s the Full Video from “Begin Again”

Here’s the full lyric video for “Lost Stars” from “Begin Again” performed by Adam Levine. Best song of the summer. An actual song! There are 10 more of these on the soundtrack. Written by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois of the New Radicals!

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