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Michael Jackson’s Mother Raises $2K Toward $3Mil Goal on FundAnything for Documentary

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EXCLUSIVE Really, I do not make these things up. Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine is trying to crowdfund $3.2 million on www.fundanything.com. She wants to make a documentary about Michael with a Chinese businessman named Tetsunori (Terry) T. Kunimune. He’s the CEO of something called Poly Plants, and it looks like he’s a chemical engineer. How the Jacksons select business partners should be a case study at Harvard. So far they’ve raised $2.092.

remembering michaelAnyway. Katherine writes: “Welcome, fans.  I would like to share an opportunity for you to join our circle of family and friends to celebrate the life and legacy of my son Michael Jackson.

It involves a tribute documentary film project that Michael’s children Paris, Prince, Blanket and I have been working on for a few years.  Our goal with this film is to share a positive, loving and respectful tribute to Michael, who spent his entire life sharing his gifts with the great hope of making the world a better place.

The nearly finished documentary film project is a partnership between myself and co-Executive Producer, Terry Kunimune.  It is filled with heart-warming anecdotes, rare photos from my personal collection, and many untold stories by his friends and family about Michael during some of the most pivotal moments in his life.

Telling Michael’s story from his family’s point of view needs to feature many video clips and musical moments that are an integral part of telling his life story.  However, because it is Michael, the cost to license everything is prohibitively expensive, and why I am asking you, his fans, to join our circle and help support the completion of the documentary film.

In order to show our appreciation for your support, Michael’s children and I have created a limited collection of rewards not available in stores, but made available exclusively to his contributing fans.

Please join our circle of friends and family as I remember my son, as the children remember their father, and as we all remember our Michael.  I thank you for your continued support.”

The attached art work comes from the Jacksons, aka the House of Tacky. Apparently Michael’s estate and executors didn’t know this was happening. Pass the Advil.

 

Welcome, fans.  I would like to share an opportunity for you to join our circle of family and friends to celebrate the life and legacy of my son Michael Jackson.

It involves a tribute documentary film project that Michael’s children Paris, Prince, Blanket and I have been working on for a few years.  Our goal with this film is to share a positive, loving and respectful tribute to Michael, who spent his entire life sharing his gifts with the great hope of making the world a better place.

The nearly finished documentary film project is a partnership between myself and co-Executive Producer, Terry Kunimune.  It is filled with heart-warming anecdotes, rare photos from my personal collection, and many untold stories by his friends and family about Michael during some of the most pivotal moments in his life.

Telling Michael’s story from his family’s point of view needs to feature many video clips and musical moments that are an integral part of telling his life story.  However, because it is Michael, the cost to license everything is prohibitively expensive, and why I am asking you, his fans, to join our circle and help support the completion of the documentary film.

In order to show our appreciation for your support, Michael’s children and I have created a limited collection of rewards not available in stores, but made available exclusively to his contributing fans.

Please join our circle of friends and family as I remember my son, as the children remember their father, and as we all remember our Michael.  I thank you for your continued support.

– See more at: http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/rememberingmichael#sthash.xVBkKAaL.dpuf

Welcome, fans.  I would like to share an opportunity for you to join our circle of family and friends to celebrate the life and legacy of my son Michael Jackson.

It involves a tribute documentary film project that Michael’s children Paris, Prince, Blanket and I have been working on for a few years.  Our goal with this film is to share a positive, loving and respectful tribute to Michael, who spent his entire life sharing his gifts with the great hope of making the world a better place.

The nearly finished documentary film project is a partnership between myself and co-Executive Producer, Terry Kunimune.  It is filled with heart-warming anecdotes, rare photos from my personal collection, and many untold stories by his friends and family about Michael during some of the most pivotal moments in his life.

Telling Michael’s story from his family’s point of view needs to feature many video clips and musical moments that are an integral part of telling his life story.  However, because it is Michael, the cost to license everything is prohibitively expensive, and why I am asking you, his fans, to join our circle and help support the completion of the documentary film.

In order to show our appreciation for your support, Michael’s children and I have created a limited collection of rewards not available in stores, but made available exclusively to his contributing fans.

Please join our circle of friends and family as I remember my son, as the children remember their father, and as we all remember our Michael.  I thank you for your continued support.

– See more at: http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/rememberingmichael#sthash.xVBkKAaL.dpuf

Welcome, fans.  I would like to share an opportunity for you to join our circle of family and friends to celebrate the life and legacy of my son Michael Jackson.

It involves a tribute documentary film project that Michael’s children Paris, Prince, Blanket and I have been working on for a few years.  Our goal with this film is to share a positive, loving and respectful tribute to Michael, who spent his entire life sharing his gifts with the great hope of making the world a better place.

The nearly finished documentary film project is a partnership between myself and co-Executive Producer, Terry Kunimune.  It is filled with heart-warming anecdotes, rare photos from my personal collection, and many untold stories by his friends and family about Michael during some of the most pivotal moments in his life.

Telling Michael’s story from his family’s point of view needs to feature many video clips and musical moments that are an integral part of telling his life story.  However, because it is Michael, the cost to license everything is prohibitively expensive, and why I am asking you, his fans, to join our circle and help support the completion of the documentary film.

In order to show our appreciation for your support, Michael’s children and I have created a limited collection of rewards not available in stores, but made available exclusively to his contributing fans.

Please join our circle of friends and family as I remember my son, as the children remember their father, and as we all remember our Michael.  I thank you for your continued support.

– See more at: http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/rememberingmichael#sthash.xVBkKAaL.dpuf

Welcome, fans.  I would like to share an opportunity for you to join our circle of family and friends to celebrate the life and legacy of my son Michael Jackson.

It involves a tribute documentary film project that Michael’s children Paris, Prince, Blanket and I have been working on for a few years.  Our goal with this film is to share a positive, loving and respectful tribute to Michael, who spent his entire life sharing his gifts with the great hope of making the world a better place.

The nearly finished documentary film project is a partnership between myself and co-Executive Producer, Terry Kunimune.  It is filled with heart-warming anecdotes, rare photos from my personal collection, and many untold stories by his friends and family about Michael during some of the most pivotal moments in his life.

Telling Michael’s story from his family’s point of view needs to feature many video clips and musical moments that are an integral part of telling his life story.  However, because it is Michael, the cost to license everything is prohibitively expensive, and why I am asking you, his fans, to join our circle and help support the completion of the documentary film.

In order to show our appreciation for your support, Michael’s children and I have created a limited collection of rewards not available in stores, but made available exclusively to his contributing fans.

Please join our circle of friends and family as I remember my son, as the children remember their father, and as we all remember our Michael.  I thank you for your continued support.

– See more at: http://fundanything.com/en/campaigns/rememberingmichael#sthash.xVBkKAaL.dpuf

Rock Hall Finally Admits Cat Stevens, Ronstadt, Hall & Oates, Makes up Award for E Street Band

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The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame years ago refused to induct the E Street Band with Bruce Springsteen. But now, after considerable leaning on from within, the Hall of Fame has had to make up an award for Springsteen’s amazing band. They’ll get a Special Merit Award, cooked up in a political backstage maneuver. It’s too little, too late.

Also in that category is make up time for a bunch of acts that should have been in long ago: Linda Ronstadt, Hall & Oates, and Cat Stevens. Better late than never.

Long time stragglers KISS also made the cut this year, as did Peter Gabriel. Nirvana made it on their first year of eligibility.

Also being inducted , for no apparent reason, are the original managers of the Beatles and Rolling Stones, respectively Brian Epstein and Andrew Loog Oldham.

Who’s still not in: dozens of producers who made hit records and created the sounds of stars in the 60s and 70s including Phil Ramone, Richard Perry, Tommy LiPuma, Russ Titelman, and Nile Rodgers.

Also artists like The Moody Blues and Chicago, Billy Preston and Mary Wells. Sting is not in as an individual artist. Bon Jovi remains locked out. So does Chubby Checker.

But the rock hall is running out of inductees. The year of eligibility for new nominees is now 1989. Music was in a fallow period for most of the 90s. In tact, it still is. The choices are getting slimmer and slimmer. This last minute concocted award for the E Street Band speaks volumes about the mistakes made in the past.

Exclusive: Will Smith’s Private School, Now Closed, Was $307K in the Red

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Exclusive: According to its federal non profit tax filing for 2012, Will Smith’s private school had to close down last June. New Village Academy, which taught Scientology curriculum and was run by a Scientologist, finished 2012 some $307,000 in the red.

New Village Leadership Academy was started by “After Earth” star Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith in 2008 in Calabasas, California. The school met with immediate criticism as it featured Scientology curriculum. Within a year the headmaster was fired when she wouldn’t go along with the Smiths’ plans. A new headmistress, Franca Campopiano, a Scientologist replaced her.

The school closed abruptly last July. This column spoke to one of the parents, producer Jeff Wald, a few months ago. More recently, the original headmaster gave an interview to Tony Ortega confirming the Scientology connection. One parent, entertainment lawyer Ken Hertz, who was on the board with his wife, refused to return calls.

According to the new filing, Campopiano was making $225,872 a year. Other salaries at the small private school came to $1,276.161.

The school seems like it was top heavy in debt. Total expenses in 2012 were $2, 951,570 under $3 million. Revenue was $2, 929,355– and that included $740,00 from tuition. The gap was just too wide for the Smiths–who’d already donated around $1.5 million– to make up.

Not only that: the school listed under Liabilities loans to staff, directors, trustees former and current of $1.235 million.

The school claimed net assets of (-) $307,146.

Clearly they were not teaching higher math at New Village.

“Homeland” Says Goodbye to Damian Lewis’s Brody: We Were Warned

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Our long national nightmare is over. Award winning actor Damian Lewis has left “Homeland.” His character, Brody, expired in last night’s finale.

We’d been warned. Remember: the show’s producers hinted at this at last July’s TCAs. They said Brody was expendable. And so he was.

What next? “Homeland” is renewed for another season. But it’s likely Saul and Carrie will have new terrorists to deal with. And no more romances, with any luck. “Homeland” ran aground when Lewis’s Brody and Claire Danes’ Carrie started snooping on each other, in bed. No more of that. Of course, Carrie will have Brody’s baby. Maybe the nanny will be a terrorist.

Lewis goes on to bigger and better things. Hey, maybe Danes will exit after next year. Season 5 will be Saul on his own.

I guess there’s no “Homeland” movie.

 

Beyonce Shatters iTunes Record for Fastest Selling Album– Already Near 700K in US

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Beyonce has shattered the iTunes record for fastest selling album with her fifth release, called “Beyonce.” The album was a surprise release on Friday– not on any schedules. No one knew about it in public. But with no marketing or forewarning, “Beyonce” — the singer’s best album ever, filled with actual songs and singing– just blew through iTunes. They’ve sold at least 618k copies in the US, heading quickly to 700K. The album will debut at number 1 tomorrow on all the different charts.

The genius of the Beyonce album on iTunes is that the individual tracks are not available. You have to buy the whole album. This may break what has been the killing of the album in the last ten years. The single tracks won’t be available until after Christmas. So Sony and Beyonce get the full $15.99 and not $1.29 per track. Rob Stringer and the Sony people may be changing the game here big time, and getting the business back on its feet.

Critics Choice Awards Nominees: “12 Years,” “Hustle,” “Gravity” Lead the Pack

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The Broadcast Critics have sent out their nominations for the 19th annual Critics Choice Awards. Conspicuously absent are a couple of films, like “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and “Mud.” “The Butler” and “August: Osage County” didn’t make the Best Picture list but made Best Acting Ensemble. Brie Larson turned up in Best Actress from a phenomenal movie called “Short Term 12,” which had no release at all from Cinedigm. This is a grass roots campaign. I’m very chagrined that this group, of which I am a voting member, had no love for “Fruitvale Station.” That seems criminal to me. Critics Choice Awards are on the CW Network on January 16th.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 19th ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS

BEST PICTURE

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

Saving Mr. Banks

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Robert Redford – All Is Lost

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Brie Larson – Short Term 12

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Scarlett Johansson – Her

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

June Squibb – Nebraska

Oprah Winfrey – Lee Daniels’ The Butler

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game

Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Color

Liam James – The Way Way Back

Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief

Tye Sheridan – Mud

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

American Hustle

August: Osage County

Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Nebraska

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Spike Jonze – Her

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O. Russell – American Hustle

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Eric Singer and David O. Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Spike Jonze – Her

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Tracy Letts – August: Osage County

Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubezki – Gravity

Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis

Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska

Roger Deakins – Prisoners

Sean Bobbitt – 12 Years a Slave

BEST ART DIRECTION

Andy Nicholson (Production Designer), Rosie Goodwin (Set Decorator) – Gravity

Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator) – The Great Gatsby

K.K. Barrett (Production Designer), Gene Serdena (Set Decorator) – Her

Dan Hennah (Production Designer), Ra Vincent (Set Decorator) – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Alice Baker (Set Decorator) – 12 Years a Slave

BEST EDITING

Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers – American Hustle

Christopher Rouse – Captain Phillips

Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger – Gravity

Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill – Rush

Joe Walker – 12 Years a Slave

Thelma Schoonmaker – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Michael Wilkinson – American Hustle

Catherine Martin – The Great Gatsby

Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Daniel Orlandi – Saving Mr. Banks

Patricia Norris – 12 Years a Slave

BEST MAKEUP

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Rush

12 Years a Slave

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Frozen

Monsters University

The Wind Rises

BEST ACTION MOVIE

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Iron Man 3

Lone Survivor

Rush

Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Henry Cavill – Man of Steel

Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man 3

Brad Pitt – World War Z

Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Gwyneth Paltrow – Iron Man 3

BEST COMEDY

American Hustle

Enough Said

The Heat

This Is the End

The Way Way Back

The World’s End

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Simon Pegg – The World’s End

Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Sandra Bullock – The Heat

Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha

Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said

Melissa McCarthy – The Heat

 

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE

The Conjuring

Gravity

Star Trek into Darkness

World War Z

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Blue Is the Warmest Color

The Great Beauty

The Hunt

The Past

Wadjda

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

The Act of Killing

Blackfish

Stories We Tell

Tim’s Vermeer

20 Feet from Stardom

BEST SONG

Atlas – Coldplay – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Happy – Pharrell Williams – Despicable Me 2

Let It Go – Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez – Frozen

Ordinary Love – U2 – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake/Oscar Isaac/Adam Driver – Inside Llewyn Davis

Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey – The Great Gatsby

BEST SCORE

Steven Price – Gravity

Arcade Fire – Her

Thomas Newman – Saving Mr. Banks

Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave

NOMINEES BY PICTURE FOR

THE 19th ANNUAL CRITICS’ CHOICE MOVIE AWARDS

12 Years a Slave – 13 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Actor / Chiwetel Ejiofor

Best Supporting Actor / Michael Fassbender

Best Supporting Actress / Lupita Nyong’o

Best Acting Ensemble

Best Director / Steve McQueen

Best Adapted Screenplay / John Ridley

Best Cinematography / Sean Bobbitt

Best Art Direction / Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Alice Baker (Set Decorator)

Best Editing / Joe Walker

Best Costume Design / Patricia Norris

Best Makeup

Best Score / Hans Zimmer

 

20 Feet from Stardom – 1 Nomination

Best Documentary

 

The Act of Killing – 1 Nomination

Best Documentary

 

All is Lost – 1 Nomination

Best Actor / Robert Redford

 

American Hustle – 13 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Actor / Christian Bale

Best Supporting Actor / Bradley Cooper

Best Supporting Actress / Jennifer Lawrence

Best Acting Ensemble

Best Director / David O. Russell

Best Original Screenplay / Eric Singer and David O. Russell

Best Editing / Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers

Best Costume Design / Michael Wilkinson

Best Makeup

Best Comedy

Best Actor in a Comedy / Christian Bale

Best Actress in a Comedy / Amy Adams

 

August: Osage County – 4 Nominations

Best Actress / Meryl Streep

Best Supporting Actress / Julia Roberts

Best Acting Ensemble

Best Adapted Screenplay / Tracy Letts

Before Midnight – 1 Nomination

Best Adapted Screenplay / Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke

 

Blackfish – 1 Nomination

Best Documentary

 

Blue is the Warmest Color – 2 Nominations

Best Young Actor/Actress / Adele Exarchopoulos

Best Foreign Language Film

 

Blue Jasmine – 2 Nominations

Best Actress / Cate Blanchett

Best Original Screenplay / Woody Allen

 

The Book Thief – 1 Nomination

Best Young Actor/Actress / Sophie Nelisse

Captain Phillips – 6 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Actor / Tom Hanks

Best Supporting Actor / Barkhad Abdi

Best Director / Paul Greengrass

Best Adapted Screenplay / Billy Ray

Best Editing / Christopher Rouse

 

The Conjuring – 1 Nomination

Best Sci-fi/Horror Movie

 

The Croods – 1 Nomination
Best Animated Film

Dallas Buyers Club – 3 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Actor / Matthew McConaughey

Best Supporting Actor / Jared Leto

 

Despicable Me 2 – 2 Nominations

Best Animated Film

Best Song / Happy – Pharrell Williams

Ender’s Game – 1 Nomination

Best Young Actor/Actress / Asa Butterfield

Enough Said – 4 Nominations

Best Supporting Actor / James Gandolfini

Best Comedy

Best Actor in a Comedy / James Gandolfini

Best Actress in a Comedy / Julia Louis-Dreyfus

 

Frances Ha – 1 Nomination

Best Actress in a Comedy / Greta Gerwig

 

Frozen – 2 Nominations

Best Animated Film

Best Song / Let It Go – Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez

Gravity – 10 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Actress / Sandra Bullock

Best Director / Alfonso Cuarón

Best Cinematography / Emmanuel Lubezki

Best Art Direction / Andy Nicholson (Production Designer), Rosie Goodwin (Set Decorator)

Best Editing / Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger

Best Visual Effects

Best Actress in An Action Movie / Sandra Bullock

Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie

Best Score / Steven Price

 

The Great Beauty – 1 Nomination

Best Foreign Language Film

 

The Great Gatsby – 3 Nominations

Best Art Direction / Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator)

Best Costume Design / Catherine Martin

Best Song / Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey

 

The Heat – 3 Nominations

Best Comedy

Best Actress in a Comedy / Sandra Bullock

Best Actress in a Comedy / Melissa McCarthy

Her – 6 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Supporting Actress / Scarlett Johansson

Best Director / Spike Jonze

Best Original Screenplay / Spike Jonze

Best Art Direction / K.K. Barrett (Production Designer), Gene Serdena (Set Decorator)

Best Score / Arcade Fire

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – 5 Nominations

Best Art Direction / Dan Hennah (Production Designer), Ra Vincent (Set Decorator)

Best Costume Design / Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor

Best Makeup

Best Visual Effects

Best Actress in an Action Movie / Evangeline Lilly

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – 3 Nominations

Best Action Movie

Best Actress in an Action Movie / Jennifer Lawrence

Best Song / Atlas – Coldplay

 

The Hunt – 1 Nomination

Best Foreign Language Film

 

Inside Llewyn Davis – 4 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Original Screenplay / Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Best Cinematography / Bruno Delbonnel

Best Song / Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake/Oscar Isaac/Adam Driver

Iron Man 3 – 4 Nominations

Best Visual Effects

Best Action Movie

Best Actor in an Action Movie / Robert Downey Jr.

Best Actress in an Action Movie / Gwyneth Paltrow

 

Lee Daniels’ The Butler – 3 Nominations

Best Supporting Actress / Oprah Winfrey

Best Acting Ensemble

Best Makeup

Lone Survivor – 2 Nominations

Best Action Movie

Best Actor in an Action Movie / Mark Wahlberg

Man of Steel – 1 Nomination

Best Actor in an Action Movie / Henry Cavill

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – 1 Nomination

Best Song / Ordinary Love – U2

 

Monsters University – 1 Nomination

Best Animated Film

 

Mud – 1 Nomination

Best Young Actor/Actress / Tye Sheridan

 

Nebraska – 6 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Actor / Bruce Dern

Best Supporting Actress / June Squibb

Best Acting Ensemble

Best Original Screenplay / Bob Nelson

Best Cinematography / Phedon Papamichael

Pacific Rim – 1 Nomination

Best Visual Effects

 

The Past – 1 Nomination

Best Foreign Language Film

Philomena – 2 Nominations

Best Actress / Judi Dench

Best Adapted Screenplay / Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope

Prisoners – 1 Nomination

Best Cinematography / Roger Deakins

Rush – 4 Nominations

Best Supporting Actor / Daniel Bruhl

Best Editing / Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill

Best Makeup

Best Action Movie

 

Saving Mr. Banks – 4 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Actress / Emma Thompson

Best Costume Design / Daniel Orlandi

Best Score / Thomas Newman

Short Term 12 – 1 Nomination

Best Actress / Brie Larson

 

Star Trek into Darkness – 3 Nominations

Best Visual Effects

Best Action Movie

Best Sci-fi/Horror Movie

Stories We Tell – 1 Nomination

Best Documentary

This Is The End – 1 Nomination

Best Comedy

 

Tim’s Vermeer – 1 Nomination

Best Documentary

 

Wadjda – 1 Nomination

Best Foreign Language Film

 

The Way Way Back – 3 Nominations

Best Young Actor/Actress / Liam James

Best Comedy

Best Actor in a Comedy / Sam Rockwell

The Wind Rises – 1 Nomination

Best Animated Film

 

The Wolf of Wall Street – 6 Nominations

Best Picture

Best Acting Ensemble

Best Director / Martin Scorsese

Best Adapted Screenplay / Terence Winter

Best Editing / Thelma Schoonmaker

Best Actor in a Comedy / Leonardo DiCaprio

 

World War Z – 2 Nominations

Best Actor in an Action Movie / Brad Pitt

Best Sci-fi/Horror Movie

The World’s End – 2 Nominations

Best Comedy

Best Actor in a Comedy / Simon Pegg

Harvey and Bob Weinstein Finally Reunited with Miramax Through New Deal

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Harvey and Bob Weinstein are finally being reunited with the company they founded, Miramax. They lost the name and their library to Disney several years ago. Disney sold the company to Colony Capital and a group of investors who didn’t know what they were doing, and drove the treasured library into a hole. Now Colony’s smart Thomas Barrack has made a deal to let the Weinsteins run the company and the library, and restore to its original luster.

Now the Weinsteins can make TV series from some of their original hits, including “Good Will Hunting” and “Flirting with Disaster.” They can also take pride in getting back– at least by license– the name they came up with which was dedicated to their parents, Miriam and Max. Miriam Weinstein made a statement today congratulating her sons.

Miramax had several Best Picture winners and nominees including The English Patient, Chicago, and Shakepeare in Love (winners) and Good Will Hunting, Gangs of New York, The Cider House Rules, The Aviator, and Chocolat.

This year the Weinsteins are back in the Oscar game with August: Osage County, Philomena, The Butler and Mandela.

 

Olivia de Havilland Wins Feud with Sister, Outlives Her to Age 97

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Olivia de Havilland and Joan Fontaine were Oscar winning sisters who didn’t like each other. According to Hollywood lure, they stopped speaking to each other at least 40 years ago over who was more successful. Yesterday, Fontaine finally surrendered, and died at age 96. That leaves de Havilland the winner at 97.

de Havilland’s Oscars came in 1947 and 1950, for The Heiress and To Each His Own, respectively. She had three other Best Actress nominations.

She also won the New York Film Critics Circle back to back in 1948 and 1949, for The Snake Pit and The Heiress. Her resume also lists Golden Globe wins and the National Board of Review.

She played Melanie in Gone with the Wind, her most famous role in her most famous movie.

Fontaine only won one Oscar, in 1941, for Suspicion, and was nominated two other times. Fontaine also won the New York Film Critics. She was even nominated for an Emmy Award for the soap opera “Ryan’s Hope.'”

Fontaine’s death this weekend was one of three Hollywood stars who passed away. Peter O’Toole, the great British actor, died at 81. And Tom O’Laughlin, star of the “Billy Jack” movies, but not exactly a “star” in the sense of Fontaine and O’Toole, died at 82.

Will Ferrell’s “Anchorman 2” is Hilarious Fun As It Mocks (Among Other Things) Fox News

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At last we saw “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” the best marketed movie of 2013. No kidding. “A2” and Will Ferrell have a sizeable tie-in to Dodge, the result being a ton of trucks sold this fall thanks to the relentless pitches on TV. There’s also a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and a Scotch (from a real Scottish distiller) tied to the movie.

You’d think from all the huckstering that “A2” would be sort of not too good. And yet, it’s absolutely hilarious. It’s stupid, goofy fun, and much needed as the year draws to a close and the ‘Oscar movies’ crowd theaters and columns. “Anchorman 2” is a much needed relief.

Last night’s premiere from Paramount Pictures was one of the most innovative of the season. Instead of going to the Ziegfeld, Paramount chose the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side. No less than journalist Bill Kurtis of Chicago and CBS, with his booming voice, not only introduced the movie but also narrated it. Clever. Will Ferrell and most of the cast sat through the screening, which included friends, family, some press, and contest winners. Ferrell and director Andy McKay must have known they had a hit. They were confident enough to stick it out.

The cast includes Steve Carell, Christina Applegate Kristen Wiig, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Meagan Good, Fred Willard, James Marsden and David Koechner. In the audience: all of the above, plus producer Judd Apatow, Hoda Kotb, Rosanna Scotto, Steve Doocy from Fox News, actor Matthew Rhys, and soap opera producer Bradley Bell with Democratic fundraiser wife Colleen Bell. The Bells and the Ferrells are good friends.

Then on to the Cipriani 42nd St party, where a dee jay spun records suspended from the ceiling on a platform. That was a first. “What if he has to go to the bathroom?” asked one observer. We never got the answer. The room was beautifully redecorated for the occasion into conversation pits instead of tables. Actor Edward Norton got into such a serious chat with Kristen Wiig we were afraid she’d never come out of it. So we slyly interrupted.

Around the room, each and every cast member was holding forth. Will Ferrell somehow let himself be overtaken by lines of strangers waiting to say hi and take pictures. He complied with every one of them. Steve Carell told me he was glad Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher” had been postponed. “Can you imagine doing the publicity for both of the movies at the same time?” he asled. In “Foxcatcher” he plays a murderous wrestling coach. In “Anchorman” he’s the goofy weatherman who gets lots of laughs. These two things do not go together.

“Anchorman 2” gets its laughs from the characters, who are even better drawn here than in the first movie. And while it spins out of control into lunacy with dozens of “surprise” cameos (Kanye West, Sacha Baron Cohen, Tina Fey are among those all in one scene), the movie has a quasi serious side as it questions what is news anymore.

The movie sends up Fox News and Roger Ailes’s earlier America’s Talking channel via CNBC. For anyone who’s worked at Fox or watched it, the message is clear as Ferrell’s Ron Burgundy becomes a flag waving patriotic sensationalist with tons of graphics on screen and empty stories about heroes, pets, and other inane subjects. I’m not sure if News Corp understood this as there is a big paid plug for the New York Post, Fox News’s cousin, in the middle of the movie.

All that aside, “Anchorman 2” should be a big hit. It’s rude, a little raunchy, loud, and non-stop funny. I left wanting to see it again. That’s a good sign.

Stallone on New Movie “Grudge Match”: Nobody wants to see another boxing film, especially when you’re approaching 160 years old”

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Sylvester Stallone says when he was approached to make “Grudge Match,” a boxing movie with Robert DeNiro, he thought “it was absurd.” At a press conference this week in the snazzy Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York, Stallone–who made “Cop Land” with De Niro in 1997–said: “Nobody wants to see another boxing film, especially when you’re approaching 160 years old.”

(“Grudge Match” opens Christmas Day from Warner Bros.)

Stallone was joined at the press conference by DeNiro, along with co-stars Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin and Kim Basinger. Director Pete Segal and producers Billy Gerber and Michael Ewing also took part.

De Niro and Stallone play two retired boxers, local Pittsburgh fighters whose heyday was in the early 80’s; they were once fierce opponents with neither box having that last decisive win. De Niro’s character is a sleaze, but a fairly successful businessman (De Niro). Stallone plays a decent but dour guy, who is now a steel worker and low on funds. A fast-talking, unscrupulous boxing promoter (Kevin Hart) coaxes them out of retirement for one last fight.

After he thought about the question of being in the movie, Stallone said DeNiro called him at home. “We talked a lot about it with the studio heads and they convinced me that I was completely wrong.”

For his part, De Niro said, “I liked the idea of us doing it. And so that was it.”

The movie has a lot of poignant things to say about aging and last chances. Was that the draw in making the film?

“Well I’ll start off and you just jump in whenever you want Bob,” Stallone said. “You know what I mean?”

“Okay,” De Niro replied dryly.

Stallone said, “I thought, oh here we get to prove that you don’t have to be crawling around at a certain age, that you’re obliged to start winding down. It’s kind of like going against trend. Plus, if you still have something to prove, and I think a lot of people as they reach 60 and above, they go, you know what? I have some unfinished business but unfortunately life does not afford you the opportunity to go back and kind of like right the wrong. This is the beauty of fantasy and imagination.”

These characters, Stallone said, have a chance to “correct a moment in their life that will make their life somewhat feel fulfilled. So that’s the fantasy and that’s why I thing the empathy comes in with the audience, and if you can follow that and also look good.”

“And actually, just in the training aspect, Bob, he trained a lot. It was hard,” Stallone said. “Why don’t you tell them about it.”

The production notes say, and the director repeated, that De Niro worked out relentlessly and lost 35 pounds.

De Niro said briefly that he worked out with the same trainer as Stallone has had for the past 10 years, who also happens to be a fighter.

A journalist asked Stallone and De Niro the crazy question of whether they’d trade in their Academy Awards for a legitimate boxing championship.

“It’s a tough sport, tough professionally, and actually being in the ring with a couple professionals I made the right choice,” Stallone said. “No, there’s not a chance because it’s great to be able to interpret it and try to get the feelings. For example, when you meet a Mike Tyson or any of these fellows there’s so much drama going and to be able to play that but then get rid of it and not live with it the whole time because it’s a very heavy, heavy traumatic psyche these guys live,” Stallone said.

“Even though I did say to Bobby, once you’re in the ring, your Oscar is not going to help you in here.”

De Niro laughed, quietly, “I have great respect for fighters because it is what it is. It’s a tough sport and you pay a price. And if you really want to do it you do it. I’m an actor. I’m not a fighter.”

Journalists wanted to know more about their training.

“I couldn’t wait to fight him,” Stallone said, “I’ve been dying since ‘Raging Bull.’ He’s crossed the line. This was extraordinary and he’ll tell you about his aspect of it – in of course in a shorter amount of time.”

Stallone added, “We had to train. This is like if you were casting the lead in ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ or ‘Swan’ ballet and you don’t get to see your lead dancer until the curtain goes up. She was training in Idaho on her own. So what happens? He had to work on the East Coast; I had to work on the West coast. We couldn’t get together. So by the time we got in the ring together I’m going, ‘Oh god, I hope he looks good. I hope he can punch.’ Because we didn’t know, so this was really difficult, usually with Rockies it’s five-six months preparation with the guy. Every day you’re working. We didn’t have that opportunity. That’s why this is pretty extraordinary enough to give him a little credit for his professionalism.”

De Niro’s version: “We had this trainer, as I said, the one Sylvester’s worked with for a long time, and I didn’t lose 35 lbs. I lost maybe 20 or something like that. We worked for a couple of days, and we worked it out. He made it all happen.”

Hart complained, “I was pissed off because I actually worked out and I never got to take my shirt off.”

“That’s true, he was working out every day,” Stallone said.

“That took me for a loop,” Hart whined. “He promised me a semi-nude scene and it didn’t happen at all so I was basically wasting my time with my trainer in North Dakota.”

Alan Arkin, who gets sprung from a nursing home in the film, spends most of his time in a motorized chair. Did that require any training?

“Did I need a trainer?” Arkin asked, incredulous. “I worked with a trainer for months!”

A few beats later, “No, I got in there and I turned the thing on and it went,” Arkin said.

“Really? It was that simple?” Stallone asked Arkin.

“It was that simple.”