Thursday, December 18, 2025
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Is Robin Thicke Heading for a Huge Flop on Tuesday? Album Still Unheard, Video is Creepy

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Robin Thicke: will he squander one of the greatest set ups in pop history next week? Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” was the song of 2013, no matter how it was written or what it meant. “Blurred Lines” remains a classic pop release from its opening Marvin Gaye-ish notes. It put Thicke on the map commercially as a rock star after years of quiet critical admiration for his white R&B sound.

But failure is looming in the form of his new album, called “Paula” due on Tuesday. Almost no one has heard it. Those who have, didn’t like it. Plus, Thicke just released a creepy video in which an attractive model caresses his naked torso while he reproduces text messages from his angry wife– the same wife for whom he’s named the album. The video’s title is “Get Her Back” but it’s not clear if he wants Paula Patton to come back, or if he wants to “get her back”– as in revenge.

Could very well be the latter.

“Paula” the album does not appear so far on iTunes. Advance sales on amazon aren’t promising–the album is hovering around number 300. That’s not good. In fact, it’s very distressing. It’s the same pattern that brought us Jennifer Lopez’s failed “AKA” album.

Also, very few people have heard anything more than the single. Someone at the Daily Beast posted a negative review. Most albums are available for listening in some form at least two to three weeks before they come out. The “Blurred Lines” album followed weeks of the title track on the radio and in clubs, and it came with a controversial video. The “Get Her Back” video so far has inspired no outrage, just yawning criticism that this is not the way to persuade a wife to take you back.

One other sign that things are bad: the iTunes pre-order price is just $7.99. That’s four dollars off what it should be, and a flag that iTunes sees disaster in the offing.

Here’s the video. Honestly, the song is good. Just listen to the audio if you want to enjoy it. When Robin Thicke isn’t mimicking real R&B artists, he’s very good.

 

 

Barbara Walters Returns to “The View” After 6 Weeks, Reminds Them She’s Executive Producer

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Barbara Walters is having what they call a Field Day today. She’s been on “Good Morning America” and now she was just on “The View.” Remember, ABC News retired her six weeks ago. But now she has a special tonight, an interview with Peter Rodger, father of Elliot Rodger, the kid who killed 6 people in Santa Barbara.

Meanwhile, our “Santa Barbara” Walters reminded the audience and staff of “The View” that she’s still the executive producer of the show. It was the first thing she said when she sat down. She also invoked Bill Geddie’s name. The show was taped Wednesday. Within 36 hours news broke that the show was dumping Geddie plus co hosts Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy. The backstage fighting is said to be hand to hand.

And then there’s this Peter Rodger interview. They’ve pitched it that Rodger asked for Walters specifically, and that ABC News chief James Goldston called Walters and informed her of this. Maybe. But my guess is that Barbara campaigned and got Rodger, just to show that she’s still Barbara Walters. She’s throwing Goldston a bone in this version of the story. He has now learned you cannot outplay Barbara Walters. She’ll be on ABC until she’s 100 years old, trust me.

 
ABC US News | ABC Sports News

Frankie Valli, Four Seasons Hold at Number 1, Broadway Show Up 5% Since Film Release

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“Jersey Boys,” directed by Clint Eastwood, is a modest box office hit for a movie. In six days it’s made about $18 million and finish fifth each day. But somehow “Jersey Boys” the movie is having a golden glow effect on everything associated with it.

For one thing, the Broadway musical was up 4.8% in ticket sales last week. It’s doing better than it has in months after a long, fallow winter. Last week the show sold out 90% of its tickets and took in over $900,000.

At the same time, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons remain at number 1 on amazon.com with a greatest hits package. The soundtrack to “Jersey Boys” has moved UP to number 3 on amazon. The CD score album for the Broadway show “Jersey Boys” is back on the amazon chart. So is another greatest hits album selling for full price.

It IS 2014, isn’t it? Most of Frankie Valli’s hits came in 1961-64. The movie has reminded the world of the songs, the real reason “Jersey Boys” exists. Right now, Frankie has just four dates booked for the summer. But something tells me his schedule is about to get a lot more crowded,

 

Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Adam Levine Get It Just Right in Hit Song Packed “Begin Again”

A movie called “Begin Again” opens today in New York and Los Angeles, around the rest of the country on July 2nd. Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, James Corden (2011 Tony Award winner for “One Man, Two Guvnors”), and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine get it just right in this romantic comedy with catchy pop songs from the New Radicals.

Levine sings, of course. But Knightley sings, too, live and into the mic for all her songs. She really sang, too. “She has more character in her voice and delivery than a trained, proper singer,” New Radicals songwriter Danielle Brisebois told me the other night at the movie’s premiere. “I’d rather hear Keira anytime.”

Danielle– yes, Brisebois– you know her as a child actor on “Archie Bunker’s Place” and as a teen on “Knot’s Landing.” She just had twins, and is married to musician Nick Lashley. She and Gregg Alexander are top 40 top songwriters who were once the New Radicals. They made on album that had two major hits– “You Get What You Give” and “Someday We’ll Know.” “Begin Again” is their follow up album 15 years later, although they’ve written lots of hits for other pop stars since then.

I was flabbergasted today by a review in the NY Times by A.O. Scott, with I whom usually agree about films. He dismissed the music from “Begin Again.” No no no Tony. “Begin Again” is full of hits. They are so good they are like a box of chocolates. And director John Carney has woven them into the movie progressively and knowingly. I’ve been writing about the music business for — dare I say it?– 40 years. Carney and crew get it exactly spot on. In fact, a friend of mine from the biz was in town and came with me the other night. And she was beside herself grinning.

For music lovers, “Begin Again” is number 1 with a bullet. Rob Morrow and Mos Def each play music execs, and they could not be more perfect in their oily but engaging presentation.

But it’s Mark Ruffalo who carries the film as Dan Mulligan, an A&R guy who has a big success, starts an indie label, then loses his way, This is a knockout performance. If they’d shown “Begin Again” at this week’s UJA Federation lunch for music execs (honoring Neil Portnow) the room at the Pierre Hotel would have gone crazy. Ruffalo is channeling about 50 people everyone knows, and he swears he didn’t pattern it on anyone in particular. If so, he’s just very very good.

Great performances too by the remarkable Catherine Keener, Hailee Steinfeld, and Cee Lo Green.

See this movie. If it makes sense to you, I’ll say this: if you liked “Almost Famous,” then “Begin Again” is for you. You know what I mean.

Soundtrack is out on Tuesday.

ABC News in Disarray with Sawyer Ousting, “View” Firings, Walters Return, Muir Promotion

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ABC News is in disarray, but it’s not too surprising. Tonight, Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy were unceremoniously dumped from “The View.” With Barbara Walters “retired,” this leaves just Whoopi Goldberg at the desk. Today’s– Friday’s– show was taped. But on Monday “The View” will return with what? Whoopi just sitting there by herself. Or all the lame ducks will be back. And it sounds like Walters’ long time producer Bill Geddie is out, too. It will be a Manic Monday on “The View.”

Meantime, Diane Sawyer was ousted from the Evening News for being, let’s face it, old. She’s 69 and had no plans to retire or leave the show. There was no reason to replace her except that ABC wants the older folks off the screen ASAP. Diane is being replaced by 41 year old David Muir, who has no business anchoring an evening newscast. He’s just young and good looking.

At the same time, George Stephanopolous, who used to be young, was passed over for Sawyer’s job. But since Muir won’t be trusted if something actually goes wrong in the world, George is now designated to report world or national emergencies at whatever time they strike. LOL. ABC is saying Muir is just being trusted to sit there and not play with any of the dials, call upstairs if war is declared.

Barbara Walters: well, she never really retired. Three weeks after her retirement “special” on “The View,” Walters scored a coup interview with the father of the Santa Barbara killer, Peter Rodger. Then she came back to “The View” to promote the Friday night interview. Clearly, as I quoted her a year ago, Barbara did not retire. ABC just wanted her 85 year old face off the air as much as possible. She and Sawyer should sue them over ageism.

What now for “The View”? Brooke Shields was who Walters wanted a year ago and couldn’t get. Maybe now she’ll join the panel. Rosie O’Donnell could come back. She tested for it in February and was great. Walters could put on a mask and pretend to be 30. Why not? I think Caroline Rhea would be a good addition. So would Lisa Ling. But no one asked me.

PS Shame on ABC for what they did to Diane Sawyer. I think her viewers will flip to Scott Pelley or Brian Williams. Sawyer should speak up, too.

Oscars: Academy Invites 271 New Members Including Eddie Vedder, Pharrell, Lupita Nyong’o and Duplass Brothers

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The Academy has sent invites to 271 new members who’ll be able to vote on the Oscars. Happy is Pharrell Williams, who’s among the music invitees. Also new winner Lupita Nyong’o, nominees June Squibb and Barkhad Abdi, indie directors the Duplass brothers, and a few of the money men who are bankrolling movies these days including Warner Music owner Len Blavatnik.

Actors
Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”
Clancy Brown – “The Hurricane,” “The Shawshank Redeption”
Paul Dano – “12 Years a Slave,” “Prisoners”
Michael Fassbender – “12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”
Ben Foster – “Lone Survivor,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”
Beth Grant – “The Artist,” “No Country for Old Men”
Clark Gregg – “Much Ado about Nothing,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Sally Hawkins – “Blue Jasmine,” “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Josh Hutcherson – “The Hunger Games,” “The Kids Are All Right”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – “Enough Said,” “Planes”
Kelly Macdonald – “Brave,” “No Country for Old Men”
Mads Mikkelsen – “The Hunt,” “Casino Royale”
Joel McKinnon Miller – “Super 8,” “The Truman Show”
Cillian Murphy – “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Inception”
Lupita Nyong’o – “Non-Stop,” “12 Years a Slave”
Rob Riggle – “21 Jump Street,” “The Hangover”
Chris Rock – “Grown Ups 2,” “Madagascar”
June Squibb – “Nebraska,” “About Schmidt”
Jason Statham – “Parker,” “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”
David Strathairn – “Lincoln,” “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

Casting Directors
Douglas Aibel – “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Immigrant”
Simone Bär – “The Monuments Men,” “The Book Thief”
Kerry Barden – “August: Osage County,” “Dallas Buyers Club”
Nikki Barrett – “The Railway Man,” “The Great Gatsby”
Mark Bennett – “Drinking Buddies,” “Zero Dark Thirty”
Risa Bramon Garcia – “Speed,” “Wall Street”
Michelle Guish – “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Nanny McPhee”
Billy Hopkins – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Disconnect”
Ros Hubbard – “Romeo & Juliet,” “The Mummy”
Allison Jones – “The Way, Way Back,” “The Heat”
Christine King – “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” “Star
Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith”
Beatrice Kruger – “To Rome with Love,” “The American”
Marci Liroff – “Mean Girls,” “Pretty in Pink”
Debbie McWilliams – “Skyfall,” “Quantum of Solace”
Joseph Middleton – “TheTwilight Saga: New Moon,” “Legally Blonde”
Robi Reed – “For Colored Girls,” “Do the Right Thing”
Kevin Reher – “Monsters University,” “Finding Nemo”
Paul Schnee – “August: Osage County,” “Dallas Buyers Club”
Gail Stevens – “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Slumdog Millionaire”
Lucinda Syson – “Gravity,” “Fast and & Furious 6”
Fiona Weir – “J. Edgar,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2”
Ronnie Yeskel – “The Sessions,” “Atlas Shrugged Part 1”

Cinematographers
Sean Bobbitt – “12 Years a Slave,” “The Place beyond the Pines”
Philippe Le Sourd – “The Grandmaster,” “Seven Pounds”
James Neihouse – “Hubble 3D,” “Nascar: The IMAX Experience”
Masanobu Takayanagi – “Out of the Furnace,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Bradford Young – “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” “Pariah”

Costume Designers
William Chang Suk Ping – “The Grandmaster,” “In the Mood for Love”
Pascaline Chavanne – “Renoir,” “Augustine”
Daniela Ciancio – “The Great Beauty,” “Il Divo”
Frank L. Fleming – “Draft Day,” “Monster’s Ball”
Maurizio Millenotti – “Hamlet,” “Otello”
Beatrix Aruna Pasztor – “Great Expectations,” “Good Will Hunting”
Karyn Wagner – “Lovelace,” “The Green Mile”

Designers
William Arnold – “Lovelace,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love.”
K.K. Barrett – “Her,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Susan Benjamin – “Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Blind Side”
Bill Boes – “The Smurfs 2,” “Fantastic Four”
Tony Fanning – “Contraband,” “War of the Worlds”
Robert Greenfield – “Priest,” “Almost Famous”
Marcia Hinds – “I Spy,” “The Public Eye”
Sonja Brisbane Klaus – “Prometheus,” “Robin Hood”
David S. Lazan – “Flight,” “American Beauty”
Diane Lederman – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Tower Heist”
Heather Loeffler – “American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Christa Munro – “Jack Reacher,” “Erin Brockovich”
Andy Nicholson – “Gravity,” “The Host”
Adam Stockhausen – “12 Years a Slave,” “Moonrise Kingdom”

Directors
Hany Abu-Assad – “Omar,” “Paradise Now”
Jay Duplass – “Jeff, Who Lives at Home,” “Cyrus”
Mark Duplass – “Jeff, Who Lives at Home,” “Cyrus”
David Gordon Green – “Joe,” “Pineapple Express”
Gavin O’Connor – “Warrior,” “Miracle”
Gina Prince-Bythewood – “The Secret Life of Bees,” “Love and Basketball”
Paolo Sorrentino – “The Great Beauty,” “This Must Be the Place”
Jean-Marc Vallée – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Young Victoria”
Felix van Groeningen – “The Broken Circle Breakdown,” “The Misfortunates”
Denis Villeneuve – “Prisoners,” “Incendies”
Thomas Vinterberg – “The Hunt,” “The Celebration”

Documentary
Malcolm Clarke – “The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life,” “Prisoner of Paradise”
Dan Cogan – “How to Survive a Plague,” “The Queen of Versailles”
Kief Davidson – “Open Heart,” “Kassim the Dream”
Dan Geller – “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden,” “Ballets Russes”
Dayna Goldfine – “The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden,” “Ballets Russes”
Julie Goldman – “God Loves Uganda,” “Gideon’s Army”
Sam Green – “Utopia in Four Movements,” “The Weather Underground”
Gary Hustwit – “Urbanized,” “Helvetica”
Eugene Jarecki – “The House I Live In,” “Why We Fight”
Brian Johnson – “Anita,” “Buena Vista Social Club”
Ross Kauffman – “E-Team,” “Born into Brothels”
Morgan Neville – “20 Feet from Stardom,” “Troubadours”
Matthew J. O’Neill – “Redemption,” “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan
Province”
Rithy Panh – “The Missing Picture,” “S-21: The Khmer Rouge Death Machine”
Lucy Massie Phenix – “Regret to Inform,” “Word Is Out”
Enat Sidi – “Detropia,” “Jesus Camp”
Molly Thompson – “The Unknown Known,” “Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer”
Cynthia Wade – “Mondays at Racine,” “Freeheld”

Executives
Adrian Alperovich
Sean Bailey
Len Blavatnik
Nicholas Carpou
Nancy Carson
Charles S. Cohen
Jason Constantine
Peter Cramer
William Kyle Davies
Christopher Floyd
David Garrett
David Hollis
Tomas Jegeus
Michelle Raimo Kouyate
Anthony James Marcoly
Hiroyasu Matsuoka
Kim Roth
John Sloss

Film Editors
Alan Baumgarten – “American Hustle,” “Gangster Squad”
Alan Edward Bell – “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “The Amazing Spider-Man”
Dorian Harris – “The Magic of Belle Isle,” “The Mod Squad”
Sabrina Plisco – “The Smurfs 2,” “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”
Tatiana S. Riegel – “Million Dollar Arm,” “The Way, Way Back”
Julie Rogers – “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl”
Mark Sanger – “Gravity”
Joan Sobel – “Admission,” “A Single Man”
Crispin Struthers – “American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”
Tracey Wadmore-Smith – “About Last Night,” “Death at a Funeral”
Joe Walker – “12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”
John Wilson – “The Book Thief,” “Billy Elliot”

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Vivian Baker – “Oz The Great and Powerful,” “Conviction”
Adruitha Lee – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “12 Years a Slave”
Robin Mathews – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “The Runaways”
Anne Morgan – “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” “A Little Bit of Heaven”
Gloria Pasqua-Casny – “The Lone Ranger,” “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”

Members-at-Large
Peter Becker
Jeff Dashnaw
Kenneth L. Halsband
Jody Levin
Tom MacDougall
Chuck Picerni, Jr.
Spiro Razatos
Mic Rodgers
Kevin J. Yeaman

Music
Kristen Anderson-Lopez – “Frozen,” “Winnie the Pooh”
Stanley Clarke – “The Best Man Holiday,” “Boyz N the Hood”
Earl Ghaffari – “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Steve Jablonsky – “Lone Survivor,” “Ender’s Game”
Robert Lopez – “Frozen,” “Winnie the Pooh”
Steven Price – “Gravity,” “The World’s End”
Tony Renis – “Hidden Moon,” “Quest for Camelot”
Angie Rubin – “Pitch Perfect,” “Sex and the City”
Buck Sanders – “Warm Bodies,” “The Hurt Locker”
Charles Strouse – “All Dogs Go to Heaven,” “Annie”
Eddie Vedder – “Eat Pray Love,” “Into the Wild”
Pharrell Williams – “Despicable Me 2,” “Fast & Furious”

Producers
Jason Blumenthal – “Hope Springs,” “Seven Pounds”
Dana Brunetti – “Captain Phillips,” “The Social Network”
Megan Ellison – “American Hustle,” “Her”
Sean Furst – “Daybreakers,” “The Cooler”
Nicola Giuliano – “The Great Beauty,” “This Must Be the Place”
Preston Holmes – “Waist Deep,” “Tupac: Resurrection”
Lynette M. Howell – “The Place beyond the Pines,” “Blue Valentine”
Anthony Katagas – “12 Years a Slave,” “Killing Them Softly”
Alix Madigan – “Girl Most Likely,” “Winter’s Bone”
Paul Mezey – “The Girl,” “Maria Full of Grace”
Stephen Nemeth – “The Sessions,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”
Tracey Seaward – “Philomena,” “The Queen”
John H. Williams – “Space Chimps,” “Shrek 2”

Public Relations
Larry Angrisani
Nancy Bannister
Christine Batista
Karen Hermelin
Marisa McGrath Liston
David Magdael
Steven Raphael
Bettina R. Sherick
Dani Weinstein

Short Films and Feature Animation
Didier Brunner – “Ernest & Celestine,” “The Triplets of Belleville”
Scott Clark – “Monsters University,” “Up”
Pierre Coffin – “Despicable Me 2,” “Despicable Me”
Esteban Crespo – “Aquel No Era Yo (That Wasn’t Me),” “Lala”
Peter Del Vecho – “Frozen,” “The Princess and the Frog”
Kirk DeMicco – “The Croods,” “Space Chimps”
Doug Frankel – “Brave,” “WALL-E”
Mark Gill – “The Voorman Problem,” “Full Time”
David A. S. James – “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” “Megamind”
Fabrice Joubert – “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax,” “French Roast”
Jean-Claude Kalache – “Up,” “Cars”
Jason Katz – “Toy Story 3,” “Finding Nemo”
Jennifer Lee – “Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Baldwin Li – “The Voorman Problem,” “Full Time”
Nathan Loofbourrow – “Puss in Boots,” “How to Train Your Dragon”
Lauren MacMullan – “Get a Horse!,” “Wreck-It Ralph”
Tom McGrath – “Megamind,” “Madagascar”
Dorothy McKim – “Get a Horse!,” “Meet the Robinsons”
Hayao Miyazaki – “The Wind Rises,” “Spirited Away”
Ricky Nierva – “Monsters University,” “Up”
Chris Renaud – “Despicable Me 2,” “Despicable Me”
Benjamin Renner – “Ernest & Celestine,” “A Mouse’s Tale (La Queue de la Souris)”
Michael Rose – “Chico & Rita,” “The Gruffalo”
Toshio Suzuki – “The Wind Rises,” “Howl’s Moving Castle”
Selma Vilhunen – “Pitääkö Mun Kaikki Hoitta? (Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?),”
“The Crossroads”
Anders Walter – “Helium,” “9 Meter”
Laurent Witz – “Mr. Hublot,” “Renart the Fox”

Sound
Niv Adiri – “Gravity,” “The Book Thief”
Christopher Benstead – “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “Gravity”
Steve Boeddeker – “All Is Lost,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Beau Borders – “Million Dollar Arm,” “Lone Survivor”
David Brownlow – “Lone Survivor,” “The Book of Eli”
Chris Burdon – “Captain Phillips,” “Philomena”
Brent Burge – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey”
André Fenley – “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” “All Is Lost”
Glenn Freemantle – “Gravity,” “Slumdog Millionaire”
Greg Hedgepath – “Frozen,” “The Incredible Hulk”
Craig Henighan – “Noah,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
Tony Johnson – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “Avatar”
Laurent M. Kossayan – “Red Riding Hood,” “Public Enemies”
Thomas L. Lalley – “Mr. Peabody & Sherman,” “Star Trek Into Darkness”
Ai-Ling Lee – “Godzilla,” “300: Rise of an Empire”
Stephen Morris – “Monsters University,” “Fruitvale Station”
Jeremy Peirson – “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Looper”
Mike Prestwood Smith – “Divergent,” “Captain Phillips”
Alan Rankin – “Iron Man 3,” “Star Trek”
Oliver Tarney – “Captain Phillips,” “Philomena”
Chris Ward – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey”

Visual Effects
Gary Brozenich – “The Lone Ranger,” “Wrath of the Titans”
Everett Burrell – “Grudge Match,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Marc Chu – “Noah,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
David Fletcher – “Sabotage,” “Prisoners”
Swen Gillberg – “Ender’s Game,” “Jack the Giant Slayer”
Paul Graff – “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Identity Thief”
Alex Henning – “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Hugo”
Evan Jacobs – “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” “Olympus Has Fallen”
Chris Lawrence – “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Gravity”
Eric Leven – “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2,” “The Twilight Saga: Breaking
Dawn Part 1”
Steven Messing – “Godzilla,” “Oz The Great and Powerful”
Ben Matthew Morris – “Lincoln,” “The Golden Compass”
Jake Morrison – “Thor: The Dark World,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Eric Reynolds – “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire”
David Shirk – “Gravity,” “Elysium”
Patrick Tubach – “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”
Bruno Van Zeebroeck – “Lone Survivor,” “Public Enemies”
Tim Webber – “Gravity,” “The Dark Knight”
Harold Weed – “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” “Star Trek”

Writers
Chantal Akerman – “A Couch in New York,” “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce,
1080 Bruxelles”
Olivier Assayas – “Summer Hours,” “Irma Vep”
Craig Borten – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Scott Z. Burns – “Side Effects,” “Contagion”
Jean-Claude Carrière – “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” “The Discreet Charm of
the Bourgeoisie”
Steve Coogan – “Philomena,” “The Parole Officer”
Claire Denis – “White Material,” “Beau Travail”
Larry Gross – “We Don’t Live Here Anymore,” “48 Hrs.”
Mathieu Kassovitz – “Babylon A.D.,” “Hate (La Haine)”
Diane Kurys – “For a Woman,” “Entre Nous”
Bob Nelson – “Nebraska”
Scott Neustadter – “The Spectacular Now,” “(500) Days of Summer”
Jeff Pope – “Philomena,” “Pierrepoint – The Last Hangman”
John Ridley – “12 Years a Slave,” “Undercover Brother”
Paul Rudnick – “In & Out,” ”Jeffrey”
Eric Warren Singer – “American Hustle,” ”The International”
Melisa Wallack – “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Mirror Mirror”
Michael H. Weber – “The Spectacular Now,” “(500) Days of Summer”
Terence Winter – “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”

Associates
Matt Del Piano
Joe Funicello
Robert Hohman
Paul Christopher Hook
David Kramer
Joel Lubin
David Pringle
Melanie Ramsayer
Beth Swofford
Meredith Wechter

Adam Levine Summer: July Wedding, Hit Singles, and a Movie Career

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Last night, John Carney’s “Begin Again” played through the roof at its premiere downtown at the SVA Theater. Then stars Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, James Corden, and Adam Levine headed further downtown to party at the Bowery Hotel.

Adam Levine? The Maroon 5 lead singer makes his acting debut in “Begin Again,” the most charming romantic comedy of the year. A little spoiler: Adam’s character Dave Krohl, is a snake of a rock star who buys into his own PR. And the name– unintentionally (?) sounds like a real rock star, Dave Grohl.

Adam brought his super model fiancee to the premiere last night. Her name is Behati Prinsloo. She is not Jewish. Behati brought a friend with her who was her near-duplicate. They were lovely, gangly, other-worldly. It’s so good being a rock star. Adam and Behati are getting married at an “undisclosed location” around July 19th.

But the real summer of Adam Levine is tied to his terrific acting and singing in “Begin Again.” There should be a big hit single from the movie, called “Lost Stars.” When the soundtrack hits on July 1st, I command every radio station in America to play it. This is the kind of hit radio needs.

“Lost Stars” should be the song of the summer.  It’s written by the New Radicals’ Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois. Danielle’s famous musician husband, Nick Lashley, known for playing lead guitar on Alannis Morisette’s hit singles. Nick wrote the instrumental score for “Begin Again.” If these guys don’t get Oscars and Grammys for this work, some thing is really, really wrong.

How did they get involved with “Begin Again”? “A friend introduced Gregg to director John Carney,” Danielle told me last night. Who was that? “Bono.” Oh yeah, just him.

As for Levine, he has a new Maroon 5 single out called “Maps.” The new Maroon 5 album will be released on September 2nd. Then “The Voice” starts up again. Behati may not see him again until March 2015, so the honeymoon had better be good!

“Begin Again” opens Friday in New York and L.A., then goes wide on Wednesday July 2nd.

TV: “CSI: Cyber” Adds Characters to New Show Starring Patricia Arquette

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The new “CSI: Cyber” already stars Patricia Arquette, Gil Bellows, and Torrey Devito among others. But the cast must be growing, as word went out today that Carol Mendelsohn and co have more characters to cast.

For Arquette, it’s going to be quite a summer between filming “CSI: Cyber” and starring in Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood”– the latter is released next month and will be an awards magnet in the fall. She and Ethan Hawke are outstanding in that wonderful film.

For “CSI: Cyber” Arquette’s lead character will be joined by a leading man named Elijah, in his 30s, a CSI Unit Supervisor. He’s described as an “action junkie” who is “ruggedly sexy, smart and dreamy. He is the most liked man at the FBI, all the guys want to hang with him and all the girls want to sleep with him.”

There’s “Dia,” in her mid 20s-early thirties, who’s supposed to be “beautiful, smart, she is a bad ass and
won’t put up with any bullshit from anyone. Everyone thinks she’s rich, but she’s a blue-collar girl who grew up in DC.”

More characters, as I am told: Steve, in his mid 40s– “Career FBI insider, politically savvy, shrewd networker”…

Daniel– Early 30s, A social introvert. “To see him, the last thing you’d think is FBI Agent. But behind the computer, he’s a stone cold node killer. This is one human eyesore you don’t want to cross.”

Any ideas who you’d like to see on this show? Let me know…

Facebook Employs Almost No Black People, Very Few Women

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Facebook– my enemy, as I do not understand the oversharing– is an almost all white company, full of men. According their own data, they employ almost no blacks and very few women. http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/06/building-a-more-diverse-facebook/

Sixty nine percent of the Facebook workforce is men, only 31% is women. Black people account for either 1% or 2% of the Facebook employees, if at all.

In other words, everyone at Facebook is Mark Zuckerberg or someone else from “The Social Network.”

There are a few Asians mixed in, but not too many.

Are we surprised? Not really. Are we saddened? Yes.

 

 

Jennifer Lopez Sells Shocking 33K Copies of New Album in First Week

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So much for “AKA.” Jennifer Lopez’s new album sold just 33,815 copies in its first week and finishes at number 6. Just to compare: Lana Del Rey sold over 181,000 copies of her “Ultraviolence” and came in at number 1. Brit newcomer Sam Smith had 170K fans by his debut album. Ironically, all three CDs come from Universal Music Group. Even Willie Nelson outsold JLO with his new collection. Further down the chart, among veteran acts, Mariah Carey sold just over five thousand copies of “Me I Am Mariah.” And the Michael Jackson album “Xscape” had just 15 thousand customers last week, down 35% from the previous week.