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NY Film Critics Awards: They Get it Mostly Right (and White) with Redford, Blanchett, Leto, Lawrence

Roger Friedman
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NY Film Critics Awards: They Get it Mostly Right (and White) with Redford, Blanchett, Leto, Lawrence

The New York Film Critics got it mostly right– and white– choosing their award winners today. They did pick Steve McQueen for Best Director of “12 Years a Slave,” but didn’t give that movie Best Picture or award any of its actors. They also sort of skipped right over “The Butler” and “Mandela.” They awarded “Fruitvale Station” Best First Feature, which is better than nothing.

The group’s choices for the best actors are, I think, three for four with the ultimate Oscar outcome: Cate Blanchett, Robert Redford, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence. I love JL, but I do think Best Supporting Actress will go either to Oprah Winfrey or Lupita N’yongo.

David O. Russell’s “American Hustle,” a movie I loved, won Best Picture. Russell is going to benefit from “Silver Linings Playbook” not getting the big awards last year. He’s going to get a lot of love on the splash back.

Could the NYFCC have been edgier? Yes. But they want stars at their proceedings. And they may have cut the idiotic National Board of Review off at the pass with these choices. When the NBR’s supreme high commanders make their fandecisions tomorrow, I still say they will err toward “Gravity” and other Warner Bros. fare. George Clooney will be presented with a virgin at their ceremony in January.

Best Film
American Hustle

Best Actor
Robert Redford, All Is Lost

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

Best Director
Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle

Best Foreign Language Film
Blue Is The Warmest Color

Best Supporting Actor
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Best Animated Film
The Wind Rises

Best Screenplay
American Hustle

Special Award
Frederick Wiseman

Best Cinematography
Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis

Best First Film
Fruitvale Station

Best Non-fiction Film (Documentary)
Stories We Tell

 

Billy Joel to Play One Show a Month for Rest of His Life at Madison Square Garden

Roger Friedman
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Billy Joel to Play One Show a Month for Rest of His Life at Madison Square Garden

Billy Joel is going to play one show a month for the rest of his life at Madison Square Garden. He already has four shows scheduled, plus New Year’s Eve. But at a ceremony today at the Garden, GOVERNOR Andrew Cuomo–yes, the Governor– came to help announce this new unprecedented residency. What is this all about? I don’t know. Billy obviously has a lot of spare time on his hands. Can he fill the Garden with that many shows? Probably. I think it could go on for two years. ‘Forever’ is a long, long time. In time I’m sure he’ll add guest stars, etc. And he has plenty of songs. Sign me up!

James Gandolfini Widow: “I Keep Expecting Him to Come Through the Door, Come Home”

Roger Friedman
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James Gandolfini Widow: “I Keep Expecting Him to Come Through the Door, Come Home”

It was emotional night for the family of James Gandolfini. The late actor received a special lifetime achievement honor at the Gotham Awards, presented by his pal Steve Buscemi. Gandolfini’s widow Deborah and his son Michael accepted the award graciously with a brief Thank you. Michael’s mother was present as were Gandolfini’s sisters. They are still in shock a bit, and don’t know what to say to the suggestion that Jim might pick up some awards for his excellent work in “Enough Said.”

After the show, Deborah showed me pictures of baby Lily, who is cute as a button. She told me none of it seems quite real. “I keep expecting him to come through the door, come home,” she told me of Gandolfini, who died this past summer unexpectedly.

The Gotham Awards, held at Cipriani, were even weirder than usual this year. I don’t understand why this show isn’t scripted– and why they can’t hire a decent host. This year it was Nick Kroll, who bombed like every comedian before him in prior years. The audience was so poorly behaved that “The Butler” director Lee Butler launched into a tirade when no one would pay attention to his introduction of honoree Forest Whitaker.

“I began to get angry at white people,” Daniels said in his speech, which got some people to shut up. Whitaker spoke beautifully.

But aside from Daniels’s melt down, the Gothams made no sense. Why was Cate Blanchett in the Best Actress category with a lot of young women from real indie movies? Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine did not belong in these awards. And why was 12 Years a Slave included? It’s from Fox Searchlight and was nicely funded.

In truth, the movies that did belong– like Fruitvale Station and Short Term 12– got awards. Fruitvale received Breakthrough Director for Ryan Coogler and Breakthrough Actor for Michael B. Jordan. Brie Larson won Best Actress for “Short Term 12.” But that film was otherwise overlooked. Crazy.

And don’t get me started about an appearance by outgoing mayor Mike Bloomberg. His Bloomberg News just laid off 47 writers and killed its art coverage completely. Who’s he fooling? Bloomberg spent Sunday in Bermuda playing golf while four people died in a train derailment in his city. But he made it to Cipriani on time.

Here are the Gotham winners. I have no idea what the audience award means. What audience? And how did all those disparate movies wind up in one category? Thanks to director Mira Nair, who kept me entertained during the evening at our table. And it was nice to run into Isaiah Washington and his wife. He got a raw deal on “Grey’s Anatomy.” I’m glad he’s making a comeback.

Here is the full list of winners:

BEST FEATURE Inside Llewyn Davis Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, directors; Scott Rudin, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, producers (CBS Films)

BEST ACTRESS Brie Larson in Short Term 12 (Cinedigm)

BEST ACTOR Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)

BINGHAM RAY BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR Ryan Coogler for Fruitvale Station (The Weinstein Company)

BREAKTHROUGH ACTOR Michael B. Jordan in Fruitvale Station (The Weinstein Company)

BEST DOCUMENTARY The Act of Killing Joshua Oppenheimer, director; Signe Byrge, Joshua Oppenheimer, producers (Drafthouse Films)

AUDIENCE AWARD Jake Shimabukuro: Life on Four Strings Tadashi Nakamura, director; Donald Young, producer (Center for Asian American Media and PBS)

EUPHORIA CK SPOTLIGHT ON WOMEN FILMMAKERS LIVE THE DREAM GRANT Beneath the Harvest Sky Gita Pullapilly, director

 

Lady Gaga ARTPOP Flop Deep Discounted to Stay on Charts

Roger Friedman
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Lady Gaga ARTPOP Flop Deep Discounted to Stay on Charts

What to do when your album isn’t selling? Try giving it away, almost. Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP has been such a dud that amazon.com has been deep discounting it like crazy. The CD sells for $6.99 and the MP3 download goes for $4.99. Albums cost $6.99 back in 1975, if you’re keeping count.

By comparison. Amazon sells Katy Perry’s “Prism” CD for 15 bucks, Britney Spears’s new “Britney Jean” for $11.99, Eminem’s hit “MMLP2” for $16.88, and the new One Direction collection for $19.46.

Lady Gaga’s $4.99 download isn’t exceptional, but it’s about as low as you can go without just tossing the albums in a recycle bin.

Meanwhile, iTunes has left ARTPOP at a full price of $14.99. It’s dropped to number 20 after three weeks.

The amazon sale helped ARTPOP stay in the overall Top 10 this past week and even increase sales a bit according to the hitsdailydouble chart. Last week ARTPOP sank 81% after one week, so Universal Music had to do something.

Broadway: Kinky Boots Breaks Record, Popular Press Agent Leaves, Pippin Recoups

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: Kinky Boots Breaks Record, Popular Press Agent Leaves, Pippin Recoups

A big Broadway day: over the weekend Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein’s “Kinky Boots” broke a house record at the Hirschfield Theater. They took in almost $2 million from Thursday- Sunday. Tony winning “Kinky Boots” is booming. They’re going to have an excellent Christmas holiday season. Everybody say yeah!

…We’re sad to say goodbye to Michael Hartman. The eternally youthful press agent has decided to wrap up 20 years of his press company, The Hartman Group, and head home to Texas. Michael and his husband are going to start a family, and Michael’s joining the famous Amy’s Ice Creams in Austin, Texas. The Hartman Group was one of the great bastions of civility on Broadway. Michael’s integrity and honesty made him a pleasure to work with. His staff is terrific. I hope to see them in new jobs quickly along the Great Black and White Way…

…The Diane Paulus revival of “Pippin” has recouped its initial investment. The show is a hit, and one of the most enjoyable uplifting experiences in Broadway history. Paulus goes on now to help “Finding Neverland” to Broadway. And “Pippin” will be a Weinstein Company movie in the next couple of years…

Oscar Race Waits for 3 Hour “Wolf” With Anticipation and Antipathy

Roger Friedman
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Oscar Race Waits for 3 Hour “Wolf” With Anticipation and Antipathy

Is “The Wolf of Wall Street”  any good? Martin Scorsese has delivered a three hour movie, and the entertainment press won’t see it until Friday. By then we’ll have had awards announced by the New York Film Critics Circle and the National Board of Review, er, Fans (they’re a paid membership non professional group).

Last week, Scorsese screened the film for Paramount execs and friends with a dinner afterwards at ’21’. Over the weekend, Paramount screened “Wolf” for members of the Screen Actors Guild in Los Angeles. It’s hard to say what’s going on here exactly. “Wolf” will be a box office hit. But is it Oscar material or just outrageous, over the top fun?

So now we narrow down the lists without really knowing much about “Wolf of Wall Street.” So it has to stay out of the mix for now. Here’s what I like going into the week.

Best Picture: 12 Years a Slave and Gravity are cinches. So are August Osage County and Philomena. Blue Jasmine remains solid. American Hustle is too good to be left off the list. That’s six films right there. I am still hanging in for The Butler, Nebraska, and Inside Llewyn Davis. That’s nine. The toss ups are Saving Mr. Banks, which isn’t the cinch some think it is, and Dallas Buyers Club. That’s eleven. On the outside: Wolf, plus Lone Survivor, and Her, a movie I really adore. That leaves out Mandela, although not Idris Elba. All is Lost is lost, but not Robert Redford.

Best Actress: Easy peasy. Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Sandra Bullock. Strong sixth place goes to Amy Adams for “American Hustle.”

Best Actor: Without Leo the list is still rough and tumble: Chiwetel Ejiofor and Robert Redford are the killers. Bruce Dern comes in right behind them. Then what? I like Forest Whitaker. And Oscar Isaac. But Matthew McConnaughey is hot. And Idris Elba gave a “towering performance” according to the New York Times. That begs the question about Tom Hanks, whose performance in “Captain Phillips” is as good as anything this two time Oscar winner has done.

Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto probably has it sewn up from “Dallas Buyers Club.” But there’s Tom Hanks again, from Saving Mr. Banks. And Michael Fassbender from 12 years. Will Forte from “Nebraska.” Barkhad Abdi from “Captain Phillips” is also strong. I also liked Bobby Cannavale from “Blue Jasmine,” David Oyelowo from “The Butler,” and who knows? George Clooney may sneak in from “Gravity.” And don’t forget Chris Cooper’s beautiful work in “August Osage County.”

Best Supporting Actress: Oprah, Oprah Oprah. You can’t beat that performance in “The Butler.” But there’s Lupita N’yongo from “12 Years.” Octavia Spencer and Melonie Diaz from “Fruitvale Station.” June Squibb from “Nebraska.” Sally Hawkins in “Blue Jasmine.” Jennifer Lawrence from “American Hustle.”

Stay tuned, kids. It’s going to be wild couple of weeks.

 

Box Office: “Catching Fire” Ablaze With $296.5 Mil In 10 Days, $573 Mil Worldwide

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Catching Fire” Ablaze With $296.5 Mil In 10 Days, $573 Mil Worldwide

What a weekend for “Hunger Games: Catching Fire.” A $74 million weekend in the US brought its total to $296.5 domestic in just 10 days. Including the US, worldwide “Catching Fire” has $573 million. Here’s a funny idea: may be now Lions Gate will peel off a couple million from that extraordinary success and re-release George Tillman Jr’s “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete,” its highly praised only other current release. Imagine the good press! Just a thought…

The bulldozing effect of “Catching Fire” masks the reality of another new release, “Homefront,” written and produced by Sylvester Stallone, with Jason Statham starring and featuring the unlikely presences of James Franco and Winona Ryder. The widely panned movie took in just less than $7 million. Good night, and good luck.

Elsewhere, awards season can’t come fast enough for a trio of potential Oscar nominees. “12 Years a Slave,” “Nebraska,” and “All is Lost” need the publicity buzz generated this by the respected New York Film Critics Circle and the faux award entity National Board of Review.

The big art house success of the weekend: “Philomena” starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan. Everyone loves “Philomena.”

I’m still guessing the latter group will go for “Gravity” in a big way since it has all their ingredients for success including Warner Bros. and George Clooney. Plus, it’s easy to understand. “12 Years a Slave” seems more NYFCC than NBR, which mostly ignored “Precious” and “Dreamgirls” when they were around.

NBR also gives lots of honorary awards so big stars come to their event and studios pay for tables. If Robert Redford doesn’t win Best Actor, they’ll give him a Special Achievement thing. Same for “Gravity” director Alfonso Cuaron. The NBR will also find some way to get praise to “August Osage County” because Clooney produced it.

 

 

“American Hustle” Director David O. Russell: “I Think Women are Smarter Than Men”

Leah Sydney
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“American Hustle” Director David O. Russell: “I Think Women are Smarter Than Men”

At the American Hustle Screening Friday night at the DGA in West Hollywood. Guests included Harvey Weinstein, Sally Kellerman, agents and VIPS.  It was quite literally a “packed house.” Long lines of people wanting to see David O. Russell’s newest film formed outside. Unfortunately, many were turned away.

“Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner moderated the Q and A panel afterwards, which included writer/director David O. Russell and actors Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Elisabeth Rohm.

Sally Kellerman told me: “Amy’s speaking about David is the way I spoke about Altman.  They are similar filmmakers.  I was blown away by this film.  I just loved every second.” 

Here are some notes from the Q&A:

Weiner: “I just saw the movie with the rest of you.  What an attentive audience.  And no one is hungry and leaving.  This movie is really amazing.  I felt like I was in the period like ‘Dog Day Afternoon,’ or ‘Falcon and the Snowman.’  It wasn’t kitschy.  I just loved it.”

Russell: Having you moderate Matt is a treat for me.

Weiner then asked what was most important to him as a director?

Russell: Nothing is greater than the trust I have with my actors.  Without that trust risk and heart of the actors we don’t have a movie. They’ve all done things they have never done before.  I mean Jeremy singing “Delihah” is priceless.

Weiner: They should trust you.  These are killer parts.  And the music is spot on. How did Christian [Bale] come aboard?

Russell: Christian and I were interested in the bigger ideas. That we all have to believe our own narrative, that everybody is living that invention of themselves.

Cooper: The great thing about David is the form of collaboration.  His script is pained over and beautiful, but it’s also inspired that day, it’s written one way and then we move it deeper and deeper.  I love that and I hunger for that as an actor. To me it’s the best way to make movies.

Renner: David writes scripts so well.  Shooting a scene, there are no rules.  David is a storyteller that focuses on character.

Amy Adams: We’re all actors and actresses pretending in life from one moment to the next.  It’s all depends on how well we do it.  My character was hard for me to play; she was on the edge emotionally. She’s in the midst of survival.

Russell: I’m very into strong women characters (prompting applause.) It all started with Amy in ‘The Fighter,’ I do think women are smarter than men.  They express their intelligence, which comes out in a way that totally baffles men.  That’s in the movie.  Jennifer does her logic as only she can it and comes out as crazy but it’s all truthful.

Weiner: The honestly of the movie is that everyone has a reason for what they’re doing; it’s such a textured film.  I didn’t know what was going to happen because the people are so real.  A lot of people surviving.  Everybody has two characters going on.

Matt: You guys got it right.  God bless New Jersey; it’s the most interesting place.  And Robert DeNiro, how great was he?  I mean we have seen him kill a million people.

Russell: Jersey is  a treasure trove.

Weiner: What’s  is our cultural obsession with criminals?  I love me my criminals.

Russell: I’m interested in the hearts of these people, they weren’t just gangsters.  They were trying to live and love their lives.

Weiner: This movie is very romantic.  A lot of pathos and personal habits in there.  These characters had a whole life, which we got to check in on.

Russell: Their emotional world interested me.  The theme of re-invention I love.

Cooper: David doesn’t settle. He gets home runs.  He always strives for magic.  There is no set like David’s set.

 

Paul Walker and Driver Bonded Two Years Ago Over Car They Died In

Roger Friedman
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Paul Walker and Driver Bonded Two Years Ago Over Car They Died In

Reports say that the driver in the Paul Walker crash was former race car driver and banker Roger Rodas, who was 38 years old. Rodas was a wealth management executive for Merrill Lynch-Bank of America.

From the Merrill Lynch website, there is an irony: the pair “bonded” when they met two years ago over Rodas’s Porsche GT3, the car in which they ultimately perished.

It was at the track of a California race club that Walker met his Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor, Roger Rodas of The Rodas Group. The two struck up a conversation when Walker noticed Rodas driving a Porsche GT3 he had previously owned. Soon the two were racing side by side, as when they teamed recently with two professional drivers in a pro-am 25-hour endurance race in Thunder Hill, Calif.

As their friendship developed, Walker occasionally asked Rodas for financial advice, and they began working together formally as client and Financial Advisor in 2007. The first item on their agenda was reorganizing Walker’s portfolio, a hodgepodge of personal investments. Rodas suggested a diversified, relatively conservative portfolio of stocks, bonds, cash and alternative investments, aimed mostly at preserving capital. And because an actor’s income is sporadic, each time Walker completes another film, he and Rodas meet to re-evaluate his financial strategy to help make sure his long-term goals stay on track.

Meanwhile, Rodas helped Walker find a creative solution for maintaining his passion for cars and racing without having them become a financial burden. Maintaining and transporting his fleet requires several full-time professionals, and Walker had been funding the operation out of his own pocket. Rodas suggested an alternative: that Walker create an incorporated race shop that is bonded and insured, and that brings in income by also doing work for other drivers. “Paul said that what he saved in expenses covered all of his racing costs last year,” Rodas notes.

Meanwhile: many stories overnight noted that the event Walker and Rodas were at was a fundraiser for Philippine typhoon survivors via a charity Walker started with Rodas. But so far, Reach Out Worldwide LLC, according to its Form 990 for 2011, hadn’t actually disbursed money to anyone. It was holding $607,000 in assets.

Paul Walker, Star of “Fast and Furious,” Dead at 40 in Car Crash: “Speed Was a Factor”

Roger Friedman
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Paul Walker, Star of “Fast and Furious,” Dead at 40 in Car Crash: “Speed Was a Factor”

Paul Walker, handsome and enigmatic star of the “Fast and the Furious” movie series, died yesterday afternoon in a car crash in Santa Clarita, California. He was 40 years old. Walker and a friend perished in friend’s Porsche Carrera GT after attending a fundraiser for the Philippines typhoon survivors. TMZ has an interview with one of his friends who tried to save him from the wreck.

Here’s the Facebook announcement. https://www.facebook.com/PaulWalker/posts/690316711002596. Walker leaves behind a 15 year old daughter. Condolences to his family and many friends.

The LA Sheriff’s Department has issued this statement: “Patrol deputies from Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to a report of a traffic collision at approximately 3:30PM in the 28300 block of Rye Canyon Loop, Valencia, on Saturday, November 30, 2013.

When they arrived, deputies found the vehicle engulfed in flames. The Los Angeles County Fire Department responded, extinguished the fire and subsequently located two victims inside the vehicle. The victims were pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause of the collision is under investigation. The Coroner’s Office will determine the identities and the cause of death of the victims.”

All together, Walker had made five of the six “Fast and Furious” movies, with a seventh one just completing production. (He wasn’t in the third installment.) The series kicked off in 2001 and was very popular. Otherwise, his movies comprised direct to video action films including three in 2013 alone– Vehicle 19, Hours, and Pawn Shop Chronicles. He had a cult following from those films and a massive number of fans around the world.

His longest running co-star, Vin Diesel, posted this on Twitter:

 

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