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Jennifer Lawrence Eying Atlanta As Possible Home, Voted for “12 Years” Star

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Lawrence Eying Atlanta As Possible Home, Voted for “12 Years” Star

The best thing about this weekend: Jennifer Lawrence has been let out of shooting “Hunger Games: Mockingjay” for five minutes. Here she is, in Hollywood, with her family, probably receiving a Golden Globe award tonight for supporting actress in David O. Russell’s “American Hustle.” (The hit comedy just passed $100 million at the box office this weekend.)

Lawrence was super social at last night’s very swanky Sony Pictures party at the Polo Lounge in the posh Beverly Hills Hotel. This was one of three or four mini galas held around town (Paramount at the Chateau Marmont, CBS Films at Soho House, Sean Penn’s Haiti fundraiser at the Montage) that spread the celebrities thin. You needed a helicopter to get from place to place!

Jennifer was sporting a short haircut–a bob–and I think a desire to talk to people who weren’t trying to kill her with a bow and arrow. She and her “AH” costars Amy Adams and Elisabeth Rohm had a ball in the famed Polo Lounge, chatting away and then delighting in finding a secret path to the ladies’ room.

Later Jennifer and her mom, Karen, got into a hugely funny discussion at their table with Tom Hanks, who was there with wife Rita Wilson to celebrate “Captain Phillips.” “Are you in any films this year?” I asked Tom facetiously. He held up some fingers. “Nine!” he called back.

Jennifer told me she’s trying to decide where to live after “Mockingjay” finally finishes shooting. New York maybe? “Maybe,” said the Kentucky girl. “But I need trees and grass, I need space. I’m thinking about Atlanta. There’s so much going on there, and I can breathe.”

She also told me she’d like to take a year off after making so many movies in a row. “But I think I’d be bored.” I can tell you she would be. Jennifer Lawrence has enough energy for ten people, and let’s not forget, she’s still just 23.

PS Jennifer did give me a couple of clues about who she’s liked this season among the movie performances she’s seen. “I voted for Lupita Nyongo, she’s amazing,” the Oscar winner told me with her infectious laugh. “And of course, I voted for myself!”

 

U2 Plays Surprise Gig for Sean Penn’s A List Haiti Relief Dinner

Roger Friedman
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U2 Plays Surprise Gig for Sean Penn’s A List Haiti Relief Dinner

What a night! While Oscar parties were humming all over town, Sean Penn threw his third annual Help Haiti Home dinner — for his very successful J/P Haiti Relief Organization- at the Montage Hotel for many members of the Hollywood elite. And the big surprise, kept well under wraps: U2 playing its first gig in two years on the small stage in the ballroom.

In the audience of about 300: Charlize Theron, who’s dating Penn, with her mom, sat at the main table. She had a bad cold but still looked stone cold sexy. Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, a bearded Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, Julia Roberts, Emma Thompson, Winona Ryder, director Kathryn Bigelow, director Nick Jarecki, Pamela Anderson, Anderson Cooper–who emceed the event, as well as Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, David Spade, Chelsea Handler, Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart, Piers Morgan, Kyle Maclachlan, Balthazar Getty, and Chris Hemsworth with his heavily pregnant wife.

The highlight of the night came early. Penn and his associate Paul Holder brought from Haiti a beautiful young woman with a stunning voice. Twenty year old Anaelle Jean-Pierre had never left Haiti or spoken much English. But Holder got her a singing coach in Haiti and she learned Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

Anaelle, dressed in a red gown and a simple necklace, was brave as all get out. She walked onto the stage singing the song accompanied by guitar played initially off stage by The Edge. By the time she launched into the first verse she was joined by Edge and  Bono, a total surprise for the audience. It was almost too much for her. After receiving cheers and applause mid song, Annelle burst into tears and ran off stage.

“She didn’t know who U2 was when I asked her to do this,” Holder told me. But she did know “Hallelujah.” It was a song she’d been taught in Haiti by her school instructors. I will try and put up the video of all this on Sunday. Amazing!

After dinner, Bono and Edge returned according to sources– I had had to move on to four other studio parties– with Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen to play as U2.

 

 

 

Golden Globes: The IRS Revoked Their Charitable Trust in 2011, But They Donated $1.5 Mil to it in 2012

Roger Friedman
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0
Golden Globes: The IRS Revoked Their Charitable Trust in 2011, But They Donated $1.5 Mil to it in 2012

The Golden Globes operate as a tax exempt charity. They used to have two tax exempt numbers: one for the HFPA and one for their charitable trust. Now I can tell you exclusively that in 2011, the IRS revoked the charitable trust for not filing reports for three years.

A rep for GuideStar, the organization that the IRS submits all charities to, says:

“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association Charitable Trust (EIN: 95-3735188) was automatically revoked by the IRS on July 13, 2011 for failure to file a Form 990 for 3 consecutive years. So, as of July 13, 2011, they were no longer a charity, can’t accept donations, etc.

This falls under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which says that if a nonprofit doesn’t file something with the IRS (even if it’s a tiny bit of info) for 3 consecutive years, their tax-exempt status is automatically revoked. The first list of revoked orgs came out in June 2011, and there were 275K, and it’s been updated monthly thereafter.”

Knowing this, the other entity- HFPA– submitted a form 990 for 2012 in July 2013. On it, they claim to have donated $1,570,000 to the charitable trust. This is notated in two places on their Form 990 for 2012– on page 25 and page 32. There is no mistake. The HFPA donated $1,570,000 to, essentially, themselves.

Each entity has a different EIN (Employer Identification Number), too. And they are not similar in any way.

There is no record of where the money went after that because there is no filing for the Hollywood Foreign Press Charitable Trust.

The HFPA gets its tax free status by making donations between $1 million and $1.5 million every year from the $7 million annual fee paid to them by NBC for the Golden Globes show. Dick Clark Productions produces the show. Last year, The HFPA paid over $12 million in legal fees in a long running losing battle with DCP.

By the time they made their 2012 donations public in August 2012, their IRS status for the charitable trust had been revoked for over 13 months. In fact, when they made their 2011 donations in August of that year, the revocation had already happened.

Golden Globes New Scandal? Why “Rush” May Have Knocked Out “Mr. Banks”

Roger Friedman
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Golden Globes New Scandal? Why “Rush” May Have Knocked Out “Mr. Banks”

The Golden Globes always bring a new scandal or two with their crazy membership and voting. This year is no exception. Here’s the latest story circulating around town.

It does seem unusual that Ron Howard’s “Rush” (a movie I loved) received a Globes nomination for Best Picture, Drama. The movie made no money and had no audience.

On the other hand, “Saving Mr. Banks,” with Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson, was omitted completely from the comedy/musical category. It’s a comedy and a musical with music from the internationally popular “Mary Poppins.” It’s also a big hit at the box office. It’s the opposite of “Rush.”

I am told that there was a lot of politicking among the 90 voters of the loopy Hollywood Foreign Press for “Rush.” More than usual, and it was “very personal,” says a source. “Rush” comes from Imagine/Universal. There may be an HFPA member with a professional tie to the company, I am told. “They really campaigned like crazy for Rush,” they say.

But “Rush” and “Banks” aren’t in the same category. Add to the mix “Nebraska,” a drama, appearing in the comedy section. If “Rush” had not been in the drama section, that’s where “Nebraska” would be. Putting “Nebraska” in comedy gave “Rush” an opening in drama. But it also slighted “Mr. Banks” since “Nebraska” got that spot.

Could an HFPA member be connected to Imagine? It’s not so far fetched. Most of the HFPA members would be hard pressed to produce  evidence of their being “press.” Many of them — reported in lots of places, not just here– have other jobs connected to the industry. Most of the members, when you Google them, only show up as members of the Hollywood Foreign Press. The bulk of them work for obscure, third level publications as freelancers.

In the end, though, no one could save Mr. Banks. That movie, like “The Butler,” “Mandela,” and many others were of no interest to the HFPA.

The good betting, by the way, is that “Gravity” will win Best Picture, Drama on Sunday. It’s not very complicated, features the HFPA’s two favorite stars and is blissfully short.

Box Office: “Lone Survivor” Is A Smash, “August” Gets Warm Welcome

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Lone Survivor” Is A Smash, “August” Gets Warm Welcome

Peter Berg’s “Lone Survivor” is a smash hit. The Mark Wahlberg ensemble film made $14 million on Friday night. Universal should be pleased. You do wonder if they’d started earlier if “Lone Survivor” wouldn’t be more in the awards mix. It’s a terrific film. But maybe after “Battleship” tanked Universal decided to be more cautious. Berg and company went right from filming one of last year’s biggest flops to making this hit. Shows how you unpredictable filmmaking can be…

“August: Osage County” finally went into wider release. With 900 theaters, “AOC” got a warm reception. It’s going to have a nice $6mil-plus weekend. They’re off and running. “AOC” could get the SAG award next week for Best Ensemble, which it deserves. And with Oscar noms on Thursday, bigger box office could be looming.

“American Hustle” will cross $100 million this weekend. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is starting to fade. They made not cross the $55 mil line.

Go see “Inside Llewyn Davis.” Now. I command it !

 

Exclusive: Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld Consider a Broadway Debut

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld Consider a Broadway Debut

EXCLUSIVE: So what’s the “gigantic project” Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld alluded to on Reddit last week? I can tell you because Larry told me last night while we cooled our heels at Soho House LA’s big CAA party. Soho House LA is divided into two areas, the outside “patio” and the inside dining room. If you don’t get to whatever event is going on and get right out on the patio, the LA Fire Marshall shuts it down for overcrowding. So Larry (and I) and a lot of A listers wound up on the dining room side, along with Sting and Trudie Styler, Alfre Woodard, Michael Fassbender, Brett Ratner, Ryan Coogler, Steve Coogan, and many many more. It was, as they say, LOL.

Larry, whose hilarious HBO movie “Clear History” I just re-watched, told me: “I’ve written a play.” A play? For, like, Broadway? “Yes.” And Jerry would star in it? “Maybe,” he said. “We’re talking about it.” Or directing, or producing, sounds like. Don’t forget, Jerry produced and directed Colin Quinn’s one man show on Broadway.

I miss “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” I told Larry. I can’t report that he said, “Oh yes, I’m writing the new season.” I got the impression that the play– a comedy, of course– is the number 1 project on his plate. So there it is. Just a guess: Larry and Jerry could wind up debuting their play off Broadway, at something like the Atlantic Theater Company. It’s where a lot of others– like Woody Allen and Ethan Coen– try out shows.

Meanwhile: Sting and Trudie were in town to see their new grandchild.

Alfre Woodard just accepted  role in “Mississippi Grind” directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Brett Ratner is busy finishing up “Hercules.” Bill Maher is preparing for a new season of “Real Time.” I met famed cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, who shot “12 Years a Slave” and “The Place Beyond the Pines.” So you know, it wasn’t a total loss.

Eventually we got onto the patio. Here’s what I can tell you: Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux are a lot of fun. I told Jennifer, facetiously, how much I love reading about her in the tabloids. “Can you believe?” she said. “It’s all made up! How do they do it?” Note to tabs: these two are happy as clams. Clams should be so happy!

Bradley Cooper was sequestered with producer pal Bryan Burk, who works with JJ Abrams. Tim Tebow was making the rounds. He is a large human being. Tony Goldwyn and I talked about “Scandal” and how everyone loves Kerry Washington. A lot of people wanted to meet Oscar Isaac. “12 Years” director Steve McQueen looked bemused by the whole thing. Marlon Wayans (I love the Wayans family–guilty pleasure) talked about his new “Haunted House” movie. Jason Binn invited everyone to his DuJour magazine party today honoring cover star Lupita Nyongo.

Favorite moment of the night: Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. I’m glad I wasn’t on the Titanic with them. Viva la vida!

They may all still be there!

Mad Men Go Mad For Shirley MacLaine at Swanky AFI Lunch

Roger Friedman
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0
Mad Men Go Mad For Shirley MacLaine at Swanky AFI Lunch

You’d think the big stars are unimpressed with each other. But at Friday’s swanky American Film Institute lunch at the Four Seasons in West Hollywood, it was something else altogether. At the end of a two and a half hour session in a ballroom filled just the A list I found the legendary Shirley MacLaine cornered, literally, by the cast of “Mad Men.”

Jon Hamm, Elizabeth Moss, Christina Hendricks, and Matt Weiner surrounded MacLaine just before she exited the room and were taking pictures with her on cell phones as if they were on safari. MacLaine was loving it. Hendricks said, “I’m not proud. This is once in a lifetime!” It was very funny.

MacLaine had just helped close out the lunch by giving a dynamite toast to the ten movies and ten TV series cited by the AFI as the best of 2013. In one not-so-large dining room we sat with everyone from (movies) 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Fruitvale Station, Gravity, Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, Saving Mr. Banks, Wolf of Wall Street– and (TV) The Americans, Breaking Bad. Game of Thrones, The Good Wife,, House of Cards, Mad Men, Masters of Sex, Orange is the New Black, Scandal, and Veep.

Yep: so imagine a fancy cafeteria with 30 round tables containing Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Sandra Bullock, Martin Scorsese, Emma Thompson, Bruce Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams. Oscar Isaac, Bryan Cranston, Kevin Spacey, Michael Seen, Julia Louis Dreyfus. And that’s just a sampling.

AFI president Bob Gazzale opened the lunch by reminding this group that “no one had to pay for a table.”  Verizon underwrites the lunch. All connections were very clear.

So yes, you had all kinds of people who didn’t know each other– like the Mad Men and MacLaine– meeting, greeting, hugging and air kissing for the first time. It was a reunion with far flung correspondents– like former Sony chief Sir Howard Stringer, who came in from London (he’s on the AFI board), and Barkhad Abdi, the amazing Somali actor from Minnesota who almost steals “Captain Phillips” away from Tom Hanks. “Phillips” screenwriter Billy Ray was introduced to “Man Men”‘s Moss, and this reporter suggested Peggy Olson for Ray’s HBO adaptation of “The Last Tycoon.” We’ll see how that works out!

This is how the lunch works: first TV jury member Rich Frank reads what are called the “rationales”– or why each show was chosen. Then movie jury leader Thom Mount reads his “rationales.” These are accompanied by clips from all 20 winners. The clips are short and punchy, although the one for “Breaking Bad” seemed extremely long. That’s because whoever cut it obviously loved Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” and used most of the song.

When that’s over, Gazzale introduces the legacy Hollywood star who’s been chosen for the toast– this year, MacLaine, who spoke off the cuff and was poetic and funny: “I remember what it was like to live in chaos that you turn into order,” she said of her stunning career. She joked about her past life experiences: “This is the nicest reception I’ve had in the last 500,000 years.”

Justin Bieber Movie Drops 960 Theaters to Just 77 After 2 Weeks

Roger Friedman
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1
Justin Bieber Movie Drops 960 Theaters to Just 77 After 2 Weeks

This is the last item I will probably write about Justin Bieber’s “Believe.” A total flop, the infomercial is dropped today from 1,037 theaters to just 77. That’s after two weeks of box office receipts that basically produced $6 million. Even Bieber’s hottest fans were apathetic after the first couple of days.  The film’s take drops every day. It averaged $40,000 a day the last few days, and will probably dribble down to nothing over the  next week. I’m not even sure why it’s remaining in any theatres, but it must be contractual. So that’s it. #RIP.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth) will Announce Oscar Noms with Academy Prez

Roger Friedman
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Thor (Chris Hemsworth) will Announce Oscar Noms with Academy Prez

The Oscar nominations announcements are going to be pretty cool. The one and only Thor, Chris Hemsworth, will read the nominations with new Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs on January 16th. The big moment comes at 5:30am Pacific, 8:30am Eastern on the morning of the Critics Choice Awards live show later that day on the CW network. Isaacs, a long time pr and marketing star in Hollywood, is shaking things up at the Academy and bringing it into the 21st century very nicely. Hemsworth will throw down his hammer, and in five minutes our lives will changed forever. Not really, but it sounds dramatic. Between now and then, watch Christopher Guest’s “For Your Consideration” to get a fuller understanding.

Oscars Alert: Editing Nominees from Guild Sharpen Academy Awards Picture

Roger Friedman
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Oscars Alert: Editing Nominees from Guild Sharpen Academy Awards Picture

It’s just like when you go to the eye doctor and he/she says, How about this lens, this another one. Slowly the picture comes into focus. Now the Eddie Awards nominees have been announced for the editors who actually shaped the best films of the year. Mix these names in with the DGA noms and and SAG choices, and Producers Guild. Frankly, for comedy film, just hand the Eddie to Thelma Schoonmaker. She edited “The Wolf of Wall Street” under the craziest and most frantic circumstances. And still, when you see her, she’s the picture of calm. I think the woman drinks in secret!

NOMINEES FOR 64th ANNUAL ACE EDDIE AWARDS

 

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (DRAMATIC):

 

12 Years a Slave

Joe Walker

 

Captain Phillips

Chris Rouse, A.C.E.

 

Gravity

Alfonso Cuarón & Mark Sanger

 

Her

Eric Zumbrunnen, A.C.E. & Jeff Buchanan

 

Saving Mr. Banks

Mark Livolsi, A.C.E.

BEST EDITED FEATURE FILM (COMEDY OR MUSICAL):

 

American Hustle

Jay Cassidy, A.C.E., Crispin Struthers & Alan Baumgarten, A.C.E.  

August: Osage County

Stephen Mirrione, A.C.E.

 

Inside Llewyn Davis

Roderick Jaynes

 

Nebraska

Kevin Tent, A.C.E.

 

The Wolf of Wall Street

Thelma Schoonmaker, A.C.E.

 

BEST EDITED ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

 

Despicable Me 2

Gregory Perler, A.C.E.

 

Frozen

Jeff Draheim

 

Monsters University Greg Snyder

                  

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE):

 

20 Feet from Stardom

Douglas Blush, Kevin Klauber & Jason Zeldes

 

Blackfish

Eli Despres

 

Tim’s Vermeer

Patrick Sheffield

 

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY (TELEVISION):

 

American Masters: Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train a Comin’

Stephen Ellis, Gordon Mason & Phil McDonald

                                                                 

American Winter

Aaron I. Butler

 

The Assassination of President Kennedy

Chris A. Peterson

 

BEST EDITED HALF-HOUR SERIES FOR TELEVISION:

 

30 Rock: “Hogcock! / Last Lunch”

Meg Reticker / Ken Eluto, A.C.E.

 

Arrested Development: “Flight of the Phoenix”

Kabir Akhtar & A.J. Dickerson

 

The Office: “Finale”

David Rogers & Claire Scanlon

 

BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:

 

Breaking Bad: “Buried”

Skip MacDonald A.C.E. & Sharidan Williams-Sotelo

 

Breaking Bad: “Felina”

Skip MacDonald A.C.E.

 

Breaking Bad: “Granite State”

Kelley Dixon, A.C.E. & Chris McCaleb

 

Breaking Bad: “Ozymandias”

Skip MacDonald A.C.E.

 

The Good Wife: “Hitting the Fan”

Scott Vickrey, A.C.E.

 

BEST EDITED ONE-HOUR SERIES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL TELEVISION:

 

Game of Thrones: “The Rains of Castamere”

Oral Norrie Ottey

 

Homeland: “Big Man in Tehran”

Terry Kelley, A.C.E.

 

House of Cards: “Chapter 1”

Kirk Baxter, A.C.E.

 

BEST EDITED MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE FOR TELEVISION:

 

American Horror Story: Asylum: “The Name Game”

Stewart Schill, A.C.E.

 

Behind the Candelabra

Mary Ann Bernard

 

Phil Spector

Barbara Tulliver, A.C.E.          

 

BEST EDITED NON-SCRIPTED SERIES:

 

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown: Tokyo

Nick Brigden

 

Beyond Scared Straight: “The Return of Hustle Man”

Rob Goubeaux, A.C.E., Mark S. Andrew, A.C.E., Paul J. Coyne, A.C.E., Jennifer Nelson, Martin Skibosh, Trevor Campbell

 

Deadliest Catch: “Mutiny on the Bering Sea”

Josh Earl, A.C.E.  Alex Durham, Rob Butler

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