Sunday, December 21, 2025
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“Captain Phillips,” “Her” Take Writers Guild Awards, Send Oscars into Open Race

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The Writers Guild of America awarded two movies for their screenplays last night and sent the Oscars into an open race. Or open space. “Her” picked up a statue for Spike Jonze’s original screenplay. Billy Ray got his for adapting “Captain Phillips.” The second award was a bit of a surprise, beating David O. Russell’s “American Hustle.” Some movies, like “Gravity”and “12 Years a Slave,” were ineligible under WGA guidelines.

The Oscar race is now in for a month long scramble as every major movie has won something. There is no clear leader among all of 2013’s terrific releases. I’d say “12 Years a Slave” has the inside track. But “Gravity” has picked up director and cinematographer awards in the last week. Alfonso Cuaron is the likely Best Director.

The WGA awards took place simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles, although in different time zones. For some reason, the Guild refuses to just simulcast the whole thing so both cities can see what’s going on. So the proceedings are done in the dark. Participants are asked not to Tweet what’s going in their ceremonies, but everyone did it anyway.

Still, the New York ceremony at the Edison Ballroom, formerly the Supper Club, was a lot of laughs. Every time someone won who was in L.A. and not in the ballroom, there was good natured hissing and booing. Plenty of New York based nominees were in the house, however, including Terence Winter (Wolf of Wall Street) and Ethan Hawke (After Midnight). Presenters included Kate Mulgrew, Terry George, Archie Panjabi, Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell, Raul Esparza, “The Butler” writer Danny Strong and “House of Cards” scripter Beau Willimon.

I had a nice time with married actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola. The latter was there to accept if David O. Russell won. The three of us met Ron Carlivati, head writer of “General Hospital,” who turned out to be a lot of fun. Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker hung out with Hawke, and chit chatted with former Focus Features chief James Schamus, who received a special tribute.

No shows: Lawrence O’Donnell, Fred Armisen, and Frank Rich. Colin Quinn made for the best host of one of these things I’ve seen in a long long time. The Gotham Awards should hire him immediately for next year. A couple of his quips: “I remember when a toboggan ride in Times Square meant something else” and “How funny on the Captain Phillips DVD to have a warning about piracy…”

“Hotel Rwanda” director Terry George maybe stole the show. He started announcing nominees for one award with a fake out: “Ann Coulter for The Shit I Write Every Day.” The place went wild with lively booing and stomping. George looked at the heavy WGA award statue and said: “I always thought it should be two hands pulling clumps of hair out of a head!”

Mia Farrow Uses Close Pal Journalist in Woody Allen War: Writer of Latest Piece is Close Friend

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Mia Farrow has thrown another grenade at Woody Allen. She’s gotten daughter Dylan to accuse Woody of sexual abuse in a blog in the New York Times. It’s not in the main paper. It’s in Nicholas Kristof’s personal blog. And what Kristof says as “full disclosure” is that he’s a friend of Mia Farrow. it’s not in his preface to Dylan’s open letter, which everyone is now reading. That’s how Kristof puts it in his Op Ed piece that accompanies the blog revelation.

But Kristof and Farrow aren’t just ‘friends.’ They are close friends. Romantic? I’m not suggesting that. They travel together, Kristof writes about Farrow often, he Tweets and re-Tweets her. They are too close for him to be delivering Dylan’s accusations. There isn’t a chance that Kristof hasn’t heard complaints about Woody Allen from Mia Farrow non stop for the last five or six years. At least. Read this column from Kristof about Farrow from 2008 http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/mia-farrow-gold-medalist/

The Mia Farrow Kristof writes about is Gandhi, Mandela, and Mother Theresa all rolled into one.

Here’s a picture of Kristof and Farrow with friends at an awards show.

farrow kristof

It’s not that I don’t believe Dylan Farrow, or sympathize with her pain. I don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. What I do know is that Mia Farrow has very carefully conducted a campaign against Woody Allen since she realized “Blue Jasmine” would do well at the box office and get Oscar nominations. She went nuts when the Golden Globes decided to honor him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The campaign has been well calculated. It involved suggesting that her son Ronan might be Frank Sinatra’s kid, and not Woody’s. It’s not possible, of course. But the suggestion set off a firestorm. And now Ronan, with no background in broadcasting, has gotten a daily show on MSNBC beginning later this month. Kris Kardashian Jenner has nothing on Mia Farrow.

During the Golden Globes show, Ronan attacked Woody on Twitter, the electronic neighborhood graffiti wall. He claimed that Woody had molested Dylan when she was 7. He was largely rebuffed by the Twitter audience. Then Cate Blanchett really thanked Woody on TV when she won the SAG Award for Best Actress in “Blue Jasmine.” That must have sent Mia over the edge.

The result is Dylan’s painful “open letter” in Kristof’s blog this afternoon. She supplied a picture, too. The letter is pointed at Blanchett– what if this were your child? Mia has turned Woody into Zelig after his fall from grace. She learned a lot from that movie. Once a celebrity is accused of something, it won’t go away. And with the internet, it’s even worse.

Choosing Kristof for the ‘hit’ was a bad idea. He is not at all objective. He’s Mia’s pawn in this endless chess game. If she and Dylan were serious, they would have gone to someone totally impartial, someone they didn’t know.Farrow and Kristof have traveled together to the Sudan, they’ve appeared together often, there are numerous accounts of them together that can be found easily.

If the Farrows had been serious, they could have filed a police report, or a lawsuit. But they chose a quick ambush, a sucker punch, a swift attack during Oscar season. If Dylan is telling the 100 percent truth, she could have told it last fall, or next spring, or three years ago, or during the release of a Woody film that didn’t matter so much, like “To Rome with Love.”

It’s too bad because Dylan’s pain and Ronan’s Tweets are all lost in Mia’s obvious manipulations.

Oscars: Decision to Rescind Best Song Nomination Based on Broken Rules, Nothing Else

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I’m so glad the Motion Picture Academy just sent out this statement about their decision to rescind the Best Song nomination for “Alone Yet Not Alone.” It had nothing to with whether it came from a Christian movie. It was all about the composer breaking the in house rules– rules he knew very well.The Academy would consider any kind of song. But the composer in this case sent out an email to voting members identifying himself. You’re not supposed to do that. The songs are supposed to be considered on their own merit, not on whether you know the songwriter. He blew it. Otherwise, “Alone” might have made the cut without issue if people liked it enough. Now, he’s alone.

Here’s the statement:

The Board of Governors’ decision to rescind the Original Song nomination for “Alone Yet Not Alone,” music by Bruce Broughton, was made thoughtfully and after careful consideration.  The Academy takes very seriously anything that undermines the integrity of the Oscars® voting process. The Board regretfully concluded that Mr. Broughton’s actions did precisely that.

The nominating process for Original Song is intended to be anonymous, with each eligible song listed only by title and the name of the film in which it is used—the idea being to prevent favoritism and promote unbiased voting.  It’s been a long-standing policy and practice of the Academy—as well as a requirement of Rule 5.3 of the 86th Academy Awards® Rules—­­to omit composer and lyricist credits from the DVD of eligible songs that are sent to members of the Music Branch.  The Academy wants members to vote for nominees based solely on the achievement of a particular song in a movie, without regard to who may have written it.

Mr. Broughton sent an email to at least 70 of his fellow Music Branch members—nearly one-third of the branch’s 240 members.  When he identified the song as track #57 as one he had composed, and asked voting branch members to listen to it, he took advantage of information that few other potential nominees are privy to.  As a former Academy Governor and current member of the Music Branch’s executive committee, Mr. Broughton should have been more cautious about acting in a way that made it appear as if he were taking advantage of his position to exert undue influence. At a minimum, his actions called into question whether the process was “fair and equitable,” as the Academy’s rules require. The Academy is dedicated to doing everything it can to ensure a level playing field for all potential Oscar® contenders—including those who don’t enjoy the access, knowledge, and influence of a long-standing Academy insider.

John Legend, Mary J, Marc Anthony Shape Up; Michele Lee Welcomes Liza, Clive

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“There is too much going on in this city.” That’s what Lou Palumbo of Elite Security told me last night outside the Hammerstein Ballroom while hundreds of Howard Stern fans braved the cold weather and a phalanx of undercover cop cars went sailing by in another direction. New York! It’s just crazy and we love it!

David Pecker’s American Media threw quite an A list Super Bowl party last night at Cipriani 42nd St. for Men’s Fitness and Shape magazines. The humongous former bank vault was filled to the edges with plenty of A-listers from Gina Gershon to Gayle King to Lara Spencer, not to mention model Petra Nemcova who was there to raise money for her Tsunami charity. She was introduced by Pecker, whose speech energized the crowd!

No less than  three superstars — Mary J. Blige, John Legend and Marc Anthony — performed hot hot hot sets, too, rocking the house. John’s gorgeous wife Chrissy Teigen led the cheering when her husband did his emotional version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark.” Ice T and wife Coco, Stacey Keibler, Stephen Colbert, and Harvey Weinstein were just some of the other guests. Katie Couric even popped in for a bit.

Supermodel Iman Chanel and a beautiful model girlfriend really danced themselves into a frenzy for Marc Anthony. Marc pretty much stopped the show when they approached the stage. Oh to be a Latin rock star!

Meanwhile: tonight is Michele Lee’s last of three shows at 54 Below. Liza Minnelli, Clive Davis, and Sandra Bernhard have been just some of her guests. The TV, Broadway and movie star has had quite a success at 54 Below. I expect we’ll see her back soon. Michele should be in a musical comedy pronto. She is simply sensational mixing Joni Mitchell with Cy Coleman and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “As If We Never Said Goodbye.” She’s also charming as all get out.

Chris Christie Gets Muted Applause at Howard Stern Sirius Radio Birthday Gala

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So many headlines from the Howard Stern Sirius Radio 60th birthday gala. First was the appearance of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. He received muted applause when he entered, and almost nothing when he left the stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom. One insider told me as Christie first came on: “We were afraid he’d be booed.” This was more like indifference. All the rowdy applause and cheering of past public appearances was absent. The mood was vastly different. Christie must have known that.

But that was the only awkward moment in a four hour party that really was a smash hit of an evening. Stern broadcast on his Sirius channel from 6 pm to 10:30pm, doing his radio show with Robin Quivers from the Hammerstein stage. Jimmy Kimmel was sort of an extra master of ceremonies. And the guests were just one after another either very funny or musical stars.

By far the most interesting moment was a 30 minute– yes, half hour– sit down interview live on stage with David Letterman. I’m hopeful Sirius will release the clip. Howard was so impressive, and he got a masterful session done with the usually taciturn Letterman. And the subject seemed more than willing. Not only that, but Kimmel served as sort of a second banana, and Letterman interacted with him nicely.

Dave and Howard covered many topics including Letterman hanging out with Johnny Carson early in his career. They got to politics. Howard asked him if he’d ever voted for a Republican. Letterman replied: “Not that I know of.”

Dave also revealed to Howard that he did not attend Larry “Bud” Mehlman’s funeral. He did say he spoke to Jay Leno once in the last few years– when Jay announced his second departure from the Tonight Show. Dave indicated that he still holds a grudge against Jay from the old days.

This interview alone may be Howard’s finest hour. You could tell he really was invested in being serious, if not Sirius. Letterman rose to the occasion.

Other guests included the musical performer ones– House band Train, plus Rob Zombie, Adam Levine — playing without Maroon 5, John Mayer, Dave Grohl, John Fogerty, Steven Tyler sans Aerosmith but with Slash. Plus there were some terrific parody songs– by Rosie O’Donnell, and by Sarah Silverman with Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks. Adam played “Purple Rain” with Train; it was the first time I’ve seen him solo without his group. Jon Bon Jovi got a huge ovation for a spectacular “Wanted Dead or Alive.”

Jimmy Fallon did some dead on impersonations for Howard. Bryan Cranston stopped by, as did Lena Dunham from “Girls.” Cyndi Lauper and husband David Thornton were in the audience, as was Barbara Walters (no idea why), Sandra Bernhard, the great comedy writer Alan Zweibel, Patti Smythe and John McEnroe, plus Katie Couric and Louis CK, Fred Armisen, David Spade, Johnny Knoxville, Zach Braff, and Robert Downey Jr. with wife Susan (and a lot of unpleasant security) among others.

The funniest stuff came from Joan Rivers and Jeffrey Ross, who turned their segment into a Friars Roast. I can’t reprint any of it.

No one seems to know if Sirius will market a DVD of the evening but they should. Kudos to Scott Greenstein for pulling it off.

Tim Tebow Mocks His Lack of NFL Contract in Super Bowl Commercials (Watch Video)

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Tim Tebow has no NFL contract and maybe that’s a good thing. At least in these first time ever T Mobile ads for the Super Bowl. Clever idea– T Mobile has no contracts and will buy out of yours. Tebow is similarly challenged. If only there were some correlation between dropped balls and dropped calls. Or players not receiving signals, and phones not… Well, T Mobile customers, we get the idea.

UPDATE: Carly Rae Jepsen Has Not Lost Plagiarism Law suit

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UPDATE AND CORRECTION: Jason Graham, attorney for Allyson Burnett, tells me: “TMZ’s story is not accurate. The court did not order anything and there is nothing to report about this case at this time.”

Earlier:
So far , Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen are not the Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell of this generation. And Scooter Braun is no David Geffen. With Bieber in legal trouble in three separate locales, Braun needs no more trouble. But yesterday his client Carly Rae Jepsen, discovered by Bieber in Canada, lost a major plagiarism law suit.

Jepsen, famous for “Call Me Maybe,” was found guilty of lifting someone else’s song for “Good Times,” a hit she recorded with the group Owl City. Jepsen, the Owl City writers, et al have been ordered to pay Ally Burnett over $800,000 for her song “Ah It’s A Long Song.”

A judge ruled that the two songs were similar enough. The ruling says that Jepsen et al had plenty of access– meaning that Burnett’s 2010 release was known well enough publicly that they could have nicked it.

Other than “Call Me Maybe,” Jepsen’s never managed to land another big hit. She is currently joining the cast of “Cinderella” on Broadway for 12 weeks. That’s what one hit wonder pop stars do when they see their recording careers ending.

For Braun, this news is the latest blow to his teetering empire. He’s now turning his attention to other female pop acts– Tori Kelly and Ariana Grande- and away from Bieber and Jepsen.

The NY Post’s Richard Johnson followed up on my line yesterday, and reported that Bieber is spending $1 million a month.

How long before Bieber — like Michael Jackson– realizes the money is gone and starts asking questions?

And where will Jepsen and her co-defendants get $800K to pay Burnett? This is going to get interesting…

Beatles: Today is the 45th Anniversary of the Rooftop Concert, Final Live Performance

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January 30, 1969– today is the 45th anniversary of the Beatles’ famous ‘rooftop concert’– their final performance together. The concert, so to speak, happened on the roof of Apple Records at 3 Savile Row in London. It was a surprise show and it lasted 42 minutes until the London police shut it down. You used to be able to see all of it in the “Let it Be” movie, which has never been released on video tape or DVD. Apple’s Jonathan Clyde told me over last weekend that “Let it Be” will be released one day, but that it’s “taking time.”

The rooftop concert was notable also because the only keyboard player was Billy Preston. Paul, John and George all played guitars. Ringo was on drums. On the five tracks — “One after 909,” “Dig a Pony,” “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “Two of Us”– it was only Billy on keyboards. He also famously played on “Get Back.” On the single and the album Billy was credited — so it was “The Beatles with Billy Preston.” That’s the only time in the Beatles history that another musician was identified on their record.

It’s unclear if Billy was ever paid for his work at the time. But he was a clear presence on both “Abbey Road” and “Let it Be,” playing organ and keyboards.

Kevin Spacey to Receive Museum of Moving Image Award

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Kevin Spacey is hot again. The two time Oscar winner will receive the annual lifetime achievement honor from the Museum of the Moving Image on April 9th in New York. Spacey, star of Netflix’s “House of Cards,” follows a long list of luminaries from Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise to Robert DeNiro, Goldie Hawn, Alec Baldwin, Dustin Hoffman, Hugh Jackman, Steve Martin, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Jimmy Stewart, Julia Roberts, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg.

The MMI dinner is a little like a clean Friars’ Roast, with many friends of the honoree getting up to give funny toasts. When the star is relaxed, this can be a lot of fun. When Tom Cruise did it, the toasters were constrained and the speeches were a little mechanical. The Spacey dinner should bring out the cast of “House of Cards,” and maybe some previous co-stars from movies like Annette Bening and Peter Gallagher (“American Beauty”) and from Broadway (Mercedes Ruehl, etc). If we’re lucky maybe Spacey will do his Johnny Carson imitation. It’s dead on and hilarious.

Adele, Jennifer Hudson, Taylor Swift Working on New Albums Maybe for This Year

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Adele’s first two albums were called “19” and “21.” Taylor Swift wrote a song on her “Red” album called “22.” They were all related to age. But will either or both of these singers come up with new albums in time to make numerical logic of their titles? Adele, “23”? Swift, “24”? We’ll see.

Sources tell me that Adele is back to work on a new album to follow the mind blowing sales of “21.” She’s been writing songs with Diane Warren, who could craft a tune out of a cereal box. Warren would be a good collaborator for Adele, helping her structure ideas. For this new album, Adele has to come up with a single as big as her two key hits, “Chasing Pavements” and “Rolling in the Deep.” A source tells me “Adele is working with a lot of writers, not just Diane.” Sony is hoping for a new album at least by the fall if not sooner.

Taylor Swift left the Grammys without statues on Sunday. But her “Red” album was a major hit and spawned many singles including “I’m Never Breaking Up with You Again.” Swift is also back to work now, with an eye on the fourth quarter. She’s likely partnered up again with Max Martin, the songwriting and producing machine from Sweden who can also concoct a top 10 hit out of thin air.

Meanwhile Jennifer Hudson’s new album will arrive in mid May, not mid March as previously thought. Jennifer just released a video and new single for “I Can’t Describe.” She told me the album is a little retro, with heavy emphasis on songs (remember them?) with melodies and hooks. She actually sang some of a potential hit called “Pretty Years” to me during a lull in the rehearsals Saturday for Clive Davis’s show. Wow. I do think JHud has still not had her biggest records. They’re coming. She has the best voice of her generation, hands down.