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The final season opener of “Yellowstone” screened tonight at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
It’s no secret that Kevin Costner and the show parted company some time ago. Costner’s character, John Dutton, had a lot of enemies, his exit wasn’t hard to execute.
Spies at MoMA confirmed that Dutton buys the ranch, so to speak, in the first episode. A family member does the deed but I’ll leave out the name of the culprit.
This won’t be like “Who Shot JR?” a mystery that went on for months. Viewers will learn who did it, and who Id’s the body right away.
Is it a ruse? Could Dutton be pretending to be dead only to turn up in the final episode? Anything is possible. But Costner is gone, and so is Dutton.
Costner did drop hints that he might somehow return, so maybe he’ll surprise everyone at the end. That would be amusing. But on Sunday, John Dutton is going boots up for all intents and purposes.
Costner, meantime, is busy trying to get “Horizon, Part 2” released and raise the money for parts 3 and 4. Part 1 was a box office dud, losing all of its $100 plus million for Warner Bros. as well as the $38 million Costner invested in it.
Frankly, they could be doing anything on that once popular ABC drama. No one is paying attention.
With 5 episodes this season, the show’s average rating is down 26.6% from last season. In the key demo, the fall off has been 40%.
The October 24th episode had just 2.1 million viewers. The previous week was 2 million.
The party is over. It’s lasted a long time but they’ve squeezed this thing until nothing is left. Star Ellen Pompeo is rich beyond words, and she only appears in a few episodes this season. There are only two regulars aside from Pompeo who’ve made it to the end — Chandra Wilson and James Pickens Jr. Kevin McKidd would be third on the list. They will never have to work again.
There’s a new episode tonight. The hospital has gone through everything possible. What could be left except an alien invasion?
After one hour of trading today the stock has fallen a whopping 20%.
This is despite Trump being elected in Tuesday’s debacle.
What’s causing this? Trump Media announced yesterday it lost $19 million in the last quarter. Again, this is despite adding streaming to their site. Investors are just selling off.
Meantime, the stock market itself is booming.
Maybe people realized what horrible voting decisions they made on Tuesday!
Maybe they also got the message that Trump is allowing known conspiracy theorist and philanderer Robert Kennedy Jr. to take over health administration in this country. He plans to eliminate fluoride from our drinking water and cancel vaccines. The Department of Education will also be gutted. Project 2025 will be installed, stripping most civil rights.
A lot of right wing nuts have been X-ing me with this idea: Hollywood is over.
They may be right.
To wit, a big studio movie called “Red One” starring The Rock and Chris Evans, directed by Jake Kasdan. It’s coming on November 15th.
“Red One” has been seen by 21 reviewers so far, most of whom hated it. The Rotten Tomatoes score is just 33. Red One is a nickname for Santa Claus, by the way. This is supposed to be a Christmas movie.
There are at least 12 named producers for “Red One.” Amazon MGM is just distributing it. So those producers may be in for a shock if the film loses all its money.
Film critic Ed Douglas wrote: “Possibly one of the most misguided holiday movies ever made. Instead of putting you into the Xmas spirit, it makes you feel as if you’ve just been force-fed a giant lump of coal.”
Variety’s Owen Gleiberman: “Red One could almost be the movie version of Vampire Assassin 4. It’s that busy and bumptious, that overstuffed with cheesy digital effects, that generically derivative a piece of violent kitsch.”
You may remember that short fingered vulgarian Donald Trump was already president.
During his years of 2017, 2018, and 2019 Trump broke tradition and stayed away from the Kennedy Center Honors.
He was invited, but declined.
Starting in 2017, the recipients refused to go to his White House for the customary dinner and ceremony before the TV show. Among them were Norman Lear, Carmen Lavallade, Lionel Ritchie, Gloria Estefan, and LL Cool J.
“I’m thankful he chose not to come,” said Estefan to USA Today on the red carpet of the president’s decision. “All it does is overshadow the accomplishments of people who spent a lifetime trying to do something.”
The same thing happened in the two years that followed. In 2020, because Trump had let the pandemic zoom out of control, there was no ceremony.
Similarly, the White House Correspondents Dinner was Trump free from 2017-2020. Trump hates the press and ridicules them. He’s threatened violence and lawsuits against them. So next spring’s gala — and the three that follow — will likely be held as resistance dinners.
As for the Kennedy Center Honors next month, expect Joe and Jill Biden to pull out all the stops for one last ballyhoo. A year from now things will be quite different, with Trump at home eating Quarter Pounders and watching world wrestling while the glamorous people are satisfied staying away from him.
Trump is no fan of the arts, and hates science. So if he does give out Medals of Freedom during this term they will not be to anyone deserving. In his first term, Trump gave out awards to big donors. He insulted veterans and others with his behavior on the Medal of Honor. Many people declined including football coach Bill Bellicheck, and Dolly Parton, who said no twice.
Trump was so desperate to find willing recipients for awards that he gave them to dead people — Elvis Presley and Babe Ruth. He bestowed awards on nutjobs like Jim Jordan, and right wing athletes like Mariano Rivera. In 2025 I guess Dennis Quaid, Zachary Levi, and Kid Rock will be on his list.
10:11 pm update: In after hours trading, DJT has dropped another 8% to $32.97.
EARLIER WEDS: Yeah, yeah. Trump won the election.
You’d think the price of his Trump Media stock would have shot up.
Alas, it didn’t.
Trump Media did open at $44.35 this morning at 9:30am. But it closed the day at $35.92.
All the posturing and crazy hate on Truth Social didn’t help.
But readers, you don’t care, I think? You didn’t care about 34 felony convictions, or being labeled a rapist by a judge, or the judgements against Trump, or the other federal cases which will never be tried. What about mass deportations? Nah. Or the threat of fluoride being removed from our drinking water? Or no vaccines?
So, the fact that Trump Media reported a quarterly loss of $19 million today means nothing. He’s still a great businessman! Unless, of course, you invested with him!
Is John Dutton killed off in the first episode of season 5.2 of “Yellowstone”?
That’s the rumor. Tomorrow night, “Yellowstone” screens for press after the remaining cast does a day of interviews.
So far, there are no press screening links for the show which returns on Sunday to the Paramount Channel.
That’s a bad sign for the show. Paramount Channel is keeping it under wraps to surprise viewers. Otherwise, they’d be pushing reviews now for big ratings come Sunday.
There will be a premiere tomorrow night at the Museum of Modern Art followed by a small party. The guests will likely be asked not to reveal any spoilers.
But Costner is gone. He’s not appearing in Season 5.2 at all except in flashbacks.
How will Dutton leave the show? Shot? Heart attack? Just disappear? I guess we’ll see. Meantime, Costner is still flogging a head horse with his “Horizon” movies even if no one wants them.
Originally Lions Gate had it set for April 2025. Now it’s moving to October 3rd, 2025.
The reason could be reshoots. It could also be for the Oscars in 2026.
“Michael” stars his real life nephew, Jaafar Jackson, son of Jermaine Jackson, with Nia Long, Laura Harrier, Miles Teller and Colman Domingo rounding out the cast.
Antoine Fuqua is the director, although he’s never made a movie with so much music. The Michael Jackson story is also rife with issues. Do they include all the scandals? Or concentrate on the career and music legacy?
The scandals are numerous. They include the 2005 trial — Michael was acquitted — to the 1996 settlement with Jordan Chandler, hyperbaric chamber, Bubbles, marriages to Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe, etc.
The Jackson Estate is approving everything. They made wise decisions with the Broadway show, “MJ,” which just covers the period around “Thriller” and leaves out the messy stuff. But the movie may prove to be more problematic. So a delay will buy them some time.
PS The scandals don’t matter. The music has outlasted everything.
Sting led his Broadway cast of “The Last Ship” through a semi-private show last night at 54Below.
The Tony nominated score in concert was supposed to serve as a 10th anniversary tribute to raise money for Project ALS. One star of the original cast, Aaron Lazar, has been diagnosed with the condition.
Many of the original cast and orchestra showed up to two packed performances back to back at the beautiful space below Studio 54. The remarkable Fred Applegate, Rachel Tucker, Sally Ann Triplett, and Shawna Mahic were among those who flew in on their own dime from far flung places, ready to put on a show.
But a couple of the leading men were tied up with other projects. Who took their places at the last minute? Sting, of course. The international rock star wound up singing more than half the show he wrote more than a decade ago. It was an unexpected treat.
Sting explained to the crowd that the men were AWOL. Otherwise, he cracked wise, “I don’t need this much fucking attention!”
He opened the show with “All This Time,” and later crooned “Dead Man’s Boots,” “The Night the Pugilist Learned How to Dance,” “Jock the Welder,” and most notably, “What Say You, Meg?” — the brilliant number sung by Lazar in the show. On a video piped into the room, Lazar recounted how Sting came to him during previews and said, “I wrote a song for you.” They went with musical director Rob Mathes into a rehearsal room, where Lazar’s mind was blown. “What Say You Meg?” is now a classic. Hearing Sting himself sing it last night was a slice of nirvana.
Mathes was the music supervisor last night, and the show was directed uniquely by Tom Ridgely. It’s not easy to fit a whole Broadway show with a big cast into a small space and onto an even smaller stage, but Ridgely did it by placing a sizeable chorus of singers on the other side of the room, nestled among the audience. The result was a spine tingling sonic wonder.
What a night! Broadway veteran Fred Applegate led the finale of the title song with great poignancy. Fred came in from his semi-retirement in California with his wife and son, Ethan, who sang with the chorus. (Note: Fred is always available, he says, for the right role!)
And Sting? What can you say? He’s in the middle of his 3.0 Tour but took a pause to put on the night. His voice is one of the wonders of the world, it just gets better and better. His sense of humor and spontaneity never fail him, either, as the night had one or two “flubs,” but he rolled with the punches. Listening the score, “The Last Ship” seems ready for a revival at maybe Encores! The songs — even the ones that were cut — are a melodic miracle.
Here’s Aaron Lazar from the original show, followed by clips from last night:
