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Peter O’Toole, Legendary Star of Lawrence of Arabia, Dead at 81: “He Went Home to Die”

Roger Friedman
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Peter O’Toole, Legendary Star of Lawrence of Arabia, Dead at 81: “He Went Home to Die”

Peter O’Toole, one of the greatest actors of our time, is dead at 81. The legendary star of “Lawrence of Arabia” had retired recently. A friend told me this morning: “He went home to die. He just closed up. He was a very private man.”

O’Toole famously also starred in “Goodbye Mr. Chips,” “The Lion in Winter,” 2008’s “Venus,” “The Ruling Class,” “The Last Emperor,” “The Stunt Man.” and of course, my favorite, “My Favorite Year.” All are must see’s if you don’t know them. He was nominated 8 times for the Academy Award, and won a lifetime achievement Oscar in 2003. He also won an Emmy award and back to back Golden Globes in 1969 and 1970.

In addition to his movie work, O’Toole had an exhaustive theater resume, mostly in the West End, at the Old Vic in Bristol, England, and in Dublin. He never appeared on Broadway. But when he was in New York, O’Toole was a denizen of the legendary Chelsea Hotel.

“General Hospital” Beats “Young and Restless” in Key Demo, Hits 6 Year High

Roger Friedman
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“General Hospital” Beats “Young and Restless” in Key Demo, Hits 6 Year High

Somewhere in the world ex ABC Daytime chief Brian Frons is weeping. His plan to kill the soaps on ABC backfired terribly. Last week, “General Hospital”– which he almost canceled and replaced with a show about peeling onions–hit a six year rating high. The soap beat “The Young and the Restless” on CBS in the key demo, too– 18 to to 49. “GH” scored 3.3 million total viewers. In 18-49 category, GH had a 1.4 compared to Y&R’s 1.3. In total viewers in that demo, it’s even more impressive. “GH” had 50,000 more people watching the show — 880K vs. 831K for Y&R.

What’s going on? Producer Frank Valentini and writer Ron Carlivati treat every day like a cliffhanger. They brought back most of the actors kicked to the curb by Frons. Basically, they gave the fans what they wanted.

Can it be sustained? That’s another question. But good for them. Now if only ABC could get “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” back on the air now that Prospect Park Productions has screwed up their whole online effort.

Second “Hobbit” Movie Falls Short of Original’s Weekend Gross by $10 Million

Roger Friedman
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Second “Hobbit” Movie Falls Short of Original’s Weekend Gross by $10 Million

The second Hobbit movie, “Desolation of Smaug,” didn’t have a great box office weekend. Its total was $73 million, about $10 million less than the opening weekend of the original, “Unexpected Journey.”

Snow wasn’t the only issue. Bad weather certainly played a part in keeping people away from movie theatres last night. But there was also apathy to another “Hobbit” movie. There was little buzz about it.

“Smaug” had zero press from New York, for example. There was a last minute screening in New York for some cast and miscellaneous people on Wednesday. But it was at the Time Warner screening room and not even in a regular theater. That sent a signal to New York media that something was up.

Of course, “Smaug” will wear well through the holiday. It will do fine on DVD and in ultimate “Hobbit” packages. Even if it’s the weak link in the trilogy financially, Warner Bros. can just amortize it into the whole package.

 

 

Murdoch’s NYPost Today Backs Michael Moore Bush-Saudi Claims from “Fahrenheit 911”

Roger Friedman
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Murdoch’s NYPost Today Backs Michael Moore Bush-Saudi Claims from “Fahrenheit 911”

UPDATE– Paul Sperry responds: “Unger and Moore have their own agendas. mine aligns with the FBI WFO case agents and FCPD* detectives who say they’ll never forgive the Bush admin for throttling their investigation of leads back to Saudi Embassy and Bandar himself in McLean. they view the former POTUS as a traitor.”

Earlier this afternoon:
Shock: today’s Murdoch owned highly conservative New York Post features an opinion piece backing Michael Moore‘s Bush-Saudi claims from “Fahrenheit 911.” It’s the main story on the Post’s website with a huge photo and prominent placement. The story is also featured in a color block headline on the front page of today’s paper.

Moore must get a lot of satisfaction out of this. It’s only taken a decade for a conservative pundit writing in a conservative newspaper to endorse his movie.

Indeed, Paul Sperry’s editorial is a direct echo of a 2003 Vanity Fair story by Craig Unger, author of the book that was the underlying information for the Oscar winning movie. That book was called “House of Bush, House of Saud” and it still available for Kindle. The Vanity Fair article was called Saving the Saudis, publishing ten years ago. Here’s the link: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2003/10/saving-the-saudis-200310

Today’s piece by Sperry is shocking first because he is a conservative. But second, Sperry’s piece questions why huge portions of a Congressional report about 9/11 remain redacted– blacked out–in his piece called “Inside the Saudi Cover Up.” http://nypost.com/2013/12/15/inside-the-saudi-911-coverup/

The story could just as easily have been called “Inside the Bush Cover Up.” It’s amazing that NY Post editor Col Allan ran it, and that Rupert Murdoch would have approved it. The Post has always mocked Michael Moore, and certainly backed George W. Bush endlessly.

For conservatives, Sperry suddenly endorsing Moore and Unger and “Fahrenheit 911” has to be a slap in the face.

Sperry writes:

“President Bush inexplicably censored 28 full pages of the 800-page report. Text isn’t just blacked-out here and there in this critical-yet-missing middle section. The pages are completely blank, except for dotted lines where an estimated 7,200 words once stood (this story by comparison is about 1,000 words).

A pair of lawmakers who recently read the redacted portion say they are “absolutely shocked” at the level of foreign state involvement in the attacks.”

He adds:

“Just days after Bush met with the Saudi ambassador in the White House, the FBI evacuated from the United States dozens of Saudi officials, as well as Osama bin Laden family members. Bandar made the request for escorts directly to FBI headquarters on Sept. 13, 2001 — just hours after he met with the president. The two old family friends shared cigars on the Truman Balcony while discussing the attacks.”

Even stranger, the NY Post via Sperry is now featuring Sen. Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida. Sperry writes: “Democrat Bob Graham, the former Florida senator who chaired the Joint Inquiry, has asked the FBI for the Sarasota case files, but can’t get a single, even heavily redacted, page released. He says it’s a “coverup.”

 

*Fairfax County Police Department

Box Office: Part 2 of “The Hobbit” Faces Trouble from Snow, Smaug

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: Part 2 of “The Hobbit” Faces Trouble from Snow, Smaug

Things don’t look so good for “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.” Maybe no one knows what the title means. Anyway, smaug won’t be the weather problem affecting this movie. Snow is going to hurt its box office tonight.And that’s not good since last night “Desolation” opened to a healthy but disappointing $31 million. That’s around $6 million less than “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” or Part 1. I think the Tolkein effect is starting to wear off.

Reviews were better for Part 2 than Part 1. But that doesn’t seem to matter. Frankly, after getting seasick in Part 1 with the special way it was filmed, and the 3D, I’m done anyway. “Desolation” will finish the weekend lagging behind “Journey” but by the time Part 3 comes out, and the whole thing has been milked on DVD packages etc, Peter Jackson will be able to build extra New Zealands all over the world.

A tip of the hat to the Weinsteins, who had the original “Lord of the Rings” rights, and Michael Lynne and Bob Shaye who made the original movies at New Line.

Ex Mix: Jack Nicholson Helps Anjelica Huston Celebrate Her Book Launch in Hollywood

Roger Friedman
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Ex Mix: Jack Nicholson Helps Anjelica Huston Celebrate Her Book Launch in Hollywood

Isn’t it great when exes can be friends? Last night in Beverly Hills. superstars convened to help one of our faves, Oscar winning movie star Anjelica Huston, celebrate publication of her memoir. And who showed up but Jack Nicholson, Anjelica’s long time love before her great marriage to the late artist Robert Graham.

The party, hosted by producer Mike Medavoy and his wife Irena, was wall to wall A list: Jane Fonda and Richard Perry. Joni Mitchell. Helen Mirren. Suzanne de Passe. Tony Bill. The great artist Ed Moses. Wolfgang Puck himself and his wife Gelila. Jon Lovitz. Cheryl Tiegs. Lauren Hutton. Eric Idle. That’s just to name a few.

The party was hosted by Town and Country magazine’s Jay Fielden and publisher Jennifer Levene Bruno.

Anjelica’s wise, witty, and wonderful autobiography is called “A Story Lately Told, A Coming of Age in Ireland, London, and New York.” (Get it on amazon.) It’s the first volume of maybe two (or three) in which she recounts her take on life as the daughter of truly legendary and famed director John Huston, and granddaughter of Walter Huston. It follows her sister Allegra’s fascinating 2010 book, “Love Child,” which reads like a modern “Great Expectations.” Anjelica’s account of her childhood is just as riveting, if not more so.

I tell you all this because the Hustons in this generation turn out to be great characters themselves, smart, funny, and very talented. They’re all incredibly personable, the kind of people you’re happy to run into on the Hollywood circuit, so to speak. Anjelica and Allegra’s brother Danny is a lovely guy, a famous actor, an established leading man. Their nephew, Jack, a charmer, just received not one but two Golden Globe nominations and is starring in London’s West End production of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train.” He’s probably headed to Broadway. Not bad!

 

photo c2013 Alex J. Berliner/ABImages

Jingle Ball ’13: Lindsay Lohan Introduces Miley Cyrus, A Dwarf, and a Dancing Trannie Xmas Tree

Roger Friedman
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Jingle Ball ’13: Lindsay Lohan Introduces Miley Cyrus, A Dwarf, and a Dancing Trannie Xmas Tree

Jingle Ball 2013 at Madison Square Garden: Lindsay Lohan made an appearance on stage and introduced the last act of the four hour concert. Miley Cyrus appeared dressed as Santa with a bare midriff and a bikini bottom, and she danced with a trannie Xmas tree on high heels and a female dwarf wearing silver cone breast plates.

Yes, this was the same Jingle Ball that featured an appearance by R. Kelly, who notably likes young girls. There were plenty in the audience, all shrieking in such a high pitched away that dogs were coming in through the Lincoln Tunnel to see what the commotion was about.

Miley ended an evening that really ran a gamut from the sublime– like the rock group Paramore– to the awful (Bieber wannabe Austin Mahone) to the promising (Arianna Grande).

There was wild enthusiasm for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the white hip hoppers, even though I’m still not sure what Ryan Lewis does. Selena Gomez was competent if not exciting. but she did hit her stride on “I Love You Like a Love Song.”

The Jingle Ball is the annual jukebox revue of the year’s biggest hits by the pop stars who made them. If you want to capture the zeitgeist of the preteen in any year, you come to the Jingle Ball. It’s like a giant American Bandstand, and Ryan Seacrest is Dick Clark doing the introductions. Girls shriek. Parents cover their ears. Nothing has ever changed.

Some long in the tooth types are forced into the mix during back room horsetrading. Enrique Iglesias, an enigma, was of little interest to this audience. But there he was, covering the microphone a lot with his fists. It’s unclear how much of his show was live.  R Kelly is old enough to be the father, certainly, of many of the pop acts who surrounded him.

In the audience: Kelly Ripa, who got on the video feed a few times. I ran into Harry Connick Jr, wife Jill Goodacre, and their daughter, in the Food Court. People pay top dollar for these tickets, you know.

Katie Holmes — a bizarre choice– introduced the first act. Later, Jordin Sparks, Anna Kendrick and Norman Reedus also showed up on stage. The show was better when Z100’s Elvis Duran ran the show.

Disappointments: my twin 13 year old nieces and their school friend didn’t care much for Robin Thicke. His set seemed rushed, although he smiled a lot. He did a G rated shortened “Blurred Lines” that wasn’t much fun and was lost on the pre-teens.

Jason DeRulo, it was agreed, had good dancers.

Paramore is hip.

Miley Cyrus: despite her year of intended lunacy, she was just great. Miley is a puzzle sorting out its pieces. She does the raunchy thing to be noticed and seem edgy. But she is a dynamite country singer. I think she’s got a huge future that still has not been revealed. When she’s just singing, it’s a pleasure.

If she could get with serious musicians and look at good songs, that’s when Miley Cyrus will transcend. But she’s still pretty entertaining. Her show included a dancing trannie Xmas tree and a female dwarf in a silver outfit with breast cones. Hey, why not? It worked.

There were a lot of pitches for Clear Channel’s I Heart Radio, and some commercials. Meanwhile, newly renovated Madison Square Garden is just a knockout. Wow. I don’t know how they did it. But MSG now is just gorgeous. I don’t think we realized what bad shape it had been in. Congrats to Cablevision and the Dolans.

And thanks to Z100. No one was embarrassingly bad. In fact, for throwaway pop music, the show felt substantial. Fifteen thousand girls liked it. And that’s what counts.

 

 

Update: Two Time Oscar Winner Jane Fonda Gave $350,000 to Charities in 2011

Roger Friedman
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Update: Two Time Oscar Winner Jane Fonda Gave $350,000 to Charities in 2011

So. It seems that Jane Fonda is more charitable than I thought. It turns out she has a second, more funded personal foundation called the Fonda Family Foundation. That foundation, according to federal tax returns and its Form 990, gave away $350,000 in 2011 to a variety of charities. There were false claims yesterday that Fonda was not disbursing funds from her personal foundations and that she “wasn’t charitable.” The story wasn’t checked, and now it’s running all over the internet.

For the record: Fonda in 2011 donated $200,000 to Emory University; $100,000 to GCAPP; and another $50,000 to smaller charities, mostly in the Atlanta area. Considering that Fonda is not from Atlanta or Georgia, but came there as Mrs. Ted Turner for a decade, she’s been pretty damned nice to that town. In 2010, she gave Emory $150,000. In 2009, she gave them $200,000.

That’s $550,000 to a school that isn’t even her alma mater.

At Emory, the Jane Fonda Center is described thusly: The Jane Fonda Center’s mission is to advance scientific knowledge about adolescence with an emphasis on adolescent reproductive health. We also seek to disseminate information and strategies for risk reduction and healthy transitions to adulthood.

I don’t think there’s an another Oscar winning actress who can lay claim to such an achievement.

Coen Bros’ Star Oscar Isaac, Joan Baez Lead Showtime Special Saturday Night

Roger Friedman
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Coen Bros’ Star Oscar Isaac, Joan Baez Lead Showtime Special Saturday Night

You may think the Coen Brothers’ documentary that goes with “Inside Llewyn Davis” is about the past, folk music, and the very early ’60s. It isn’t. It’s about the future. Remember, I went to this concert at Town Hall in New York back on September 29th. Now we see the concert as part of a larger film called “Another Time, Another Day,” which starts airing on Showtime this Sunday.

Even though no one says it, the show’s revelation is Oscar Isaac, the star of the Coens’ wonderful “Inside Llewyn Davis.” He performs solo and with several of the other acts. Far more than just evoking sixties folk, Isaac has sort of risen up via the movie a borderline music star of now.

When I talked to him the other day after his Golden Globe nomination, I asked Oscar about his evolution as a musician. Even though he’d written some songs, and had one on the “Ten Year” soundtrack last year, Oscar had really not blossomed definitively. Suddenly, with “Inside Llewyn Davis,” he’s blasted off.  My guess is we’ll hear an album of his own music soon while he continues his already burgeoning acting career.

“Another Day” is a beautiful, riveting music film. The long list of featured players are absorbed with playing folk and country-blues from the past. But watch all of them–this movie is about the astonishing number of talented young — and old– musicians who are the most vital part of the contemporary music scene. I am not talking about the fast food junk embarrassingly served up by top 40 radio. You know who they are. They are not musicians. They are products.

In the film, just as in the concert, we are introduced to people who we don’t see in the commercial music arena. They’re no different than groups like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, who were very popular in the 1970s. That poor group would be eaten alive now. In “Another Day” you will fall in love with Chris Thile and the Punch Brothers, the Avett Brothers, Rihannon Giddens from the Carolina Chocolate Drops and so on. I didn’t realize how much I liked them all until I saw them again.

Of course, we have some well known names too: Joan Baez, Marcus Mumford, Patti Smith, Gillian Welch, Jack White among them. You don’t want to miss Baez rehearsing “Joe Hill.” It’s rather extraordinary. For my money, Patti Smith’s segment, singing the folk standard “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” is one the most profound performances I’ve ever seen. It’s amazing that Patti, who startled everyone back in 1975, just grows and grows as a massively brilliant musician and entity.

(Some people are on the cutting room floor, oddly: Elvis Costello, Bobby Neuwith, and John Goodman doing intros. I hope they’re on the DVD.)

Other favorites: The Punch Brothers’ a Capella “Banks of the Royal Canal,” Baez and Mumford on “Country Blues,” and my favorite group of the night–a revelation– Lake Street Drive singing “You Go Down Smooth” to a Motown backbeat. I’m hopeful this is a group to watch in 2014. They’re coming to Brooklyn later this month and the show is already sold out.

 

Beyonce Releases Unscheduled Surprise 14 Track Album on iTunes–and It’s Very Good

Roger Friedman
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Beyonce Releases Unscheduled Surprise 14 Track Album on iTunes–and It’s Very Good

Beyonce surprise! Today, Friday the 13th, arrives a surprise new album from R&B pop star Beyonce. It wasn’t on any schedule. But here is is, a well kept secret. There’s no album art to speak of– just a plain black cover. The album is called “Beyonce” but Sony is calling it “The Visual album” because in addition to 14 new tracks there are 17 videos. Among the guest artists are Drake, Frank Ocean, and of course, Jay Z. Plus the couple’s baby, Blue Ivy, makes an appearance.

The songs seem to feature Beyonce’s voice for a change, and they also sound like they were actually composed instead of sampled. All the credits aren’t available yet. “Pretty Hurts,” “Heaven,” and “Blow” already sound promising. This is the second surprise iTunes album– that kid, whathisname, has one coming out as well. Beyonce beat him to it.

The album is available until December 20 as a collection, then turns into just 14 singles on iTunes. I’ve no doubt a CD will emerge due to “popular demand” at some point. Watch Beyonce liven up the moribund Christmas charts starting right now! Hats off to Sony’s Rob Stringer for pulling a good ‘fast one’!

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