Sony Pictures has had a bad summer, let’s face it. But Paul Greengrass’s “Captain Phillips” starring Tom Hanks is just what the doctor ordered. The truth story of how Captain Richard Phillips survived his boat’s 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates is going to be a box office hit and an Oscar nominee in several categories.

Hanks gives one of his best performances ever as Phillips, a very unshowy hero who kept his cool when Somali pirates boarded the Maersk Alabama cargo ship in the Somali channel. The movie is uniformly well cast and very exciting even though we know the outcome. Last night Phillips and many of his crew were on hand for the opening of the New York Film Festival.

I met and talked to one of them who lamented that five days had to be squeezed into two hours. But Shane Murphy concurred that “Captain Phillips” is pretty much spot on. It certainly conveys the terror of what happened to Phillips and his crew. But Greengrass’s direction and camera work — as in “United 93”– add elements of suspense that make the film entertaining.

Greengrass also managed to make the Somali pirates– all played by Somali actors who live in Minneapolis–less villains than victims themselves. They’re bad guys but you sort of like them. Barkhad Abdi is a stand out. So is Michael Chernus as Murphy.

Some in the jaded NYFF audience thought the film was a little rah-rah America. Usually I’m the cynic. But I really really liked “Captain Phillips.”

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Almost 16 million people watched Robin Williams’ new comedy on CBS last night. The Oscar winner and extremely funny comedian’s first TV sitcom, “The Crazy Ones,” had 15.6 total viewers. It was the second most watched show on Thursday night behind the season premiere of “The Big Bang Theory.”

Williams’ show scored a whopping 4.0 in the desired key demo 18-49 as well. Williams also brought in twice as many eyes as Michael J. Fox over on NBC (a good show by the way that should be moved to another time slot).

And Williams had two and a half times as many viewers as “The X Factor.” Simon Cowell’s competition show on Fox has 6 million fans. Sometimes it’s a little more, but basically there are 6 million regular viewers.

Completely in trouble last night was the return of “Glee.” They scored 5.17 million viewers total. They were the fourth place show in their timeslot and didn’t score so well with young people. Did Cory Monteith’s death turn off the audience? The memorial tribute show will probably get big ratings as viewers say goodbye to Finn. But after that, “Glee” may be done.

Kanye West is very angry with Jimmy Kimmel. Poor Kanye has no sense of humor. He also may be a candidate for Asperger’s testing. He’s definitely on some spectrum of something. He lunges at photographers in airports and carries on like crazy. No one will ever forget his famous telethon rant against George Bush. The funny thing is, if you meet him in a social setting, he’s very subdued.
Anyway, here’s the clip from Jimmy Kimmel last night:

Here’s the offending video:

Leah Sydney‘s party notebook still brims with interesting observations from two of the best parties of Emmy Weekend:

WRAPPING UP EMMY WEEK IN L.A.: BAFTA Los Angeles held their TV Tea on Saturday afternoon at the SLS Hotel and the Brits do what they do best, had tea, chatted and held court. Talented Brits in front and behind the camera predictably flock to the classy BAFTA events.
Of course the Downton Abbey crew Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Julian Fellowes stopped in as well as Kerry Washington, Mad Men’s Kiernan Shipka, Joan Collins, Jon Voight, who’s poised to take home Emmy gold when his “Ray Donovan” becomes eligible, Sarah Hyland, Cat Deeley, Alfre Woodard, Camilla Luddington, Jacqueline Bisset, Scott Bakula, Crystal Reed, Victoria Smurfit, Kevin Spacey and more. Kevin’s Brit cred is earned, he was the Artistic Director of the Old Vic for years and his House Of Cards is a Brit original. He, told us that, “I’m hopelessly British deep inside.”

We asked him if he was nervous about his nomination, Kevin quipped, “Nah, I’ve been thru this before.” He worked the room and literally made sure to say hello to everyone there. Downton’s creator Julian Fellowes told us that, “You Americans always do the Award thing right. Way better than we do. It’s like some sort of wedding really, I rather enjoy it. ” Julian’s “Romeo and Juliet” premieres here on Tuesday…

And HBO’s annual bash at the Pacific Design Center: The HBO after party was, as always, the place to be. Everywhere you looked, the celebs and VIPs were shmoozing and huddled together. Judd Apatow laughing with Will Arnett while waiting their turn on the food line, Stephen Merchant at the bar telling a writer for Stephen Colbert to, “please tell Stephen it’s one of my favorite shows, I never miss it.” Emmy winner Michael Douglas, Matt Damon and Steven Soderbergh chatting in the center of it all with HBO Execs Michael Lombardo and Richard Plepler.

Mick Jagger and Laura Dern to their right seated at a table together together while Mick’s pal Boardwalk creator Terence Winter then joined in. Seth MacFarlane laughing it up with Bill Maher. Stunning Jane Fonda and Richard Perry doubling up with David Mamet and Rebecca Pidgeon. Aaron Sorkin then joined that esteemed group. Jeff Daniels, as on cue, then came in with Emmy in hand, prompting them all to stand up and clap. Jeff said so all could here, “Aw, come on, ok stop, ok louder!”

To their right, the Game of Thrones hunk Kit Harrington congratulating Veep’s Tony Hale on his win, as Peter Dinklage looked on and agreed. True Blood’s Stephen Moyer and wife Anna Paquin and their co-star Sam Trammell all hobnobbing with winner Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy.

In the back the Girls crew were having their good time, Allison Williams and Lena Dunham with Modern Family’s Julie Bowen. Boardwalk Empire winner Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne chatting with Judy Greer and Real Time’s Producer Dean Johnson. Julia Louis Dreyfus accepting her kudos from Cheryl Hines. Vera Farmiga and Newsroom’s Kelen Coleman chatting next to Julia.
The list goes on and on. HBO always gets it right on screen and with their events.

A third major film has been moved out of Oscar competition this fall. Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher” starring Steve Carell has been yanked from the schedule by Sony Pictures Classics. The reason? Like “Grace of Monaco” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” it just could not be ready in time. Now all eyes are on George Clooney and his “Monuments Men,” a film that also shot late into the spring and early summer. Believe me, everyone is crossing fingers that it too won’t suffer the same fate.

The elimination of “Foxcatcher” may also be a key signal in the Sony universe. The company had a lot of failures this year, with “After Earth,” “White House Down,” and “Elysium.” They simply can’t afford for “Foxcatcher” not to be right. Their only Oscar entry will be David O. Russell’s “American Hustle,” set in the 1970s and concerning the ABSCAM scandal. Sony is going through personnel changes in their marketing department, so they may have decided to put the brakes on until everything is just right.

All these films moving to 2014 will make scheduling very interesting. January is usually a month when movies get “dumped.” February 2014 will be light because of the Olympics. This means that April-May-June is suddenly going to be bursting with releases. And Cannes will be eyed as a big launching pad.

Mariano Rivera, the most successful closer in baseball history, made a classy exit tonight from a magnificent career. After 1,173 strike outs and 19 seasons with the New York Yankees, Rivera came in to pitch in the 8th inning and for a little of the 9th this evening. It was one of those historic moments at Yankee Stadium, made even more emotional because the great pitcher Andy Pettite also made his final appearance in Yankee Stadium tonight and got a long ovation.

Rivera’s final moments really showed what a real leader and inspiration he has been. The first great moment was just before the game ended, when Derek Jeter and Pettite came out to the mound to walk him back to the dugout. Rivera, 43,  fell apart, and for a few minutes it was tears and hugs all around as the entire crowd of more than 50,000 fans clapped, cheered, and sang Rivera’s name. Imagine that this man has saved the Yankees time and time again from everything short of a dinosaur attack or a tsunami. They relied on him when they had no business to, and he always unfailingly came though for them. You’d be crying, too.

The second great moment was after the game, when Rivera went out to the mound by himself. It was almost slow motion. He sort of kicked around the mound for the last time. Then he picked up some dirt, scooped it up in his hands, his souvenir from the place where he had spent so much of his adult life. It was absolutely poetic in the way only baseball can be more than any other sport. Was he thinking of the rain, the heat, the cold, the tight score, his batters who weren’t helping him? He waved once more and the crowd just went wild. And an era ends. It’s the last time we’ll ever hear “Enter Sandman” played at Yankee Stadium.

Thank you, Mariano. Thank you so much.