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Awards season is over, and yet it’s beginning again very quickly. This past year the Academy jumped ahead of the Golden Globes and announced its nominations a week early– on January 10th. Now every group wants to be first, which means January 2014 is going to be a free for all, or a mini war. Today the Directors Guild moved up to January 25th, 2014. The Screen Actors Guild already went with January 18th. That would push the Golden Globes up to January 11th, and the Critics Choice Awards to January 9th. Yikes!
So where does that leave the Oscars? They can’t go the week after the DGA– that’s Super Bowl Sunday. And the week after that is traditionally the Grammy Awards. Usually there’s a week in between the Grammys and the Oscars. But who knows? The Academy could push up by one week, or why wait at all? Why not give the Oscars out on New Year’s Day? (Just kidding.) Or, as the movies are released. (Really kidding.) I guess we’ll know soon.
But frankly, waiting a little bit for the Oscars isn’t such a bad thing. This year the movies made a lot of money in the huild up. And the whole thing paid off for everyone. I’d leave the Oscars where they are. They’re the only awards show in the movie biz that count anyway.
Exclusive: Oscar winner and oft-nominee Tommy Lee Jones is a brave man. He’s going to direct both Meryl Streep and her daughter, Grace Gummer, in “The Homesman” this spring. Streep– well, you know. Grace and her sister, Mamie, are Streep’s two current actor children. Each of them is carving out excellent careers. Grace was in “Larry Crowne,” appeared in 18 episodes of the TV series “Gigantic,” and will be in the wonderful “Frances Ha” in May, with Greta Gerwig and Mickey Sumner. She’s also done a ton of theater including the 2011 Broadway production of “Arcadia.”
Meryl and Grace will be joined in “The Homesman”–it’s title of a novel– by Hilary Swank, Mirando Otto, and Tim Blake Nelson. How do I know all this? Why, I ran into Tommy Lee Jones during the Oscars in the new Dolby Bar. We had quite a lively chat. Of course, he’d just lost to Christoph Waltz for best supporting actor after his brilliant turn in “Lincoln.” TLJ had just about had enough, I think, and was ready for some refreshment.
What was he up to next, I wondered? “Horses, and the fresh air. I guess they’re going to call this movie a western, The Homesman. It’s more than that.” By the way, he did tell me hasn’t talked to his old friend and roommate Al Gore in some time. And is he ready to take on Meryl and her daughter? “Yes. I am,” he said, which is loquacious coming from Tommy Lee Jones. It’s not his first directing assignment. In 2005 he gave us the much praised “Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.”
Oscar season is over! So what is the net-net? Besides the nominees and winners, there were plenty of other winners from this season. Not everyone gets a statue, but some people get our applause and thanks. Also, their careers move up several notches whether they’re newcomers or vets. I was going to put Nicole Kidman on here for “The Paperboy,” but she got some nominations and I wrote a whole tribute to her some time ago. PS Special mention to, like, everyone from “Lincoln” from Walt Goggins to Gloria Reuben and Michael Stuhlbarg and Boris McGiver.
12. Rosemarie DeWitt- I really think there is an Oscar coming to Rosemarie DeWitt. She’s being under-utilized. She was in a bunch of films this year including “Your Sister’s Sister” with the equally good Emily Blunt. Every director should be knocking down this woman’s door.
11. John Krasinski– He co-wrote and starred in “The Promised Land” with Matt Damon. He was biding his time in “The Office” for years. But Krasinksi reminds me of Karl Malden. There’s a lot untapped there.
10. Oscar Isaac–is about to break big time in the Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.” This year he showed some of his stuff in “10 Years” where he played rock star and sang his own hit song, “Never Had.” He also had plot turning roles in “Won’t Back Down” and “The Bourne Legacy.”
9. Ava DuVernay and “Middle of Nowhere”– When I first met Ava some years ago, she was a publicist. She wanted to be a filmmaker. “Middle of Nowhere” has an amazing cast including David Oyelowo, Lorraine Toussaint, and break out star Emayatzy Corinealdi– who should be the next Paula Patton or Halle Berry. See this movie.
8. Samantha Barks and Aaron Tveit — So many talents in “Les Miserables.” These two are actual theater stars and the best voices in that movie. If they don’t become movie stars, something is wrong.
7. Tamara Tunie – Twenty years on “As the World Turns” and simultaneously cutting open bodies on “Law & Order”– she’s paid her dues. In “Flight,” Tamara is the moral compass and tells Denzel what’s what. She’s also great in the plane crash. I can name that Tunie. Also, did you know this? She can sing.
6. Javier Bardem, Jamie Foxx — Yes, he has an Oscar. But Javier kinda stole “Skyfall” as the kookiest villain with a lot of, hmmm, issues. He missed an Oscar nod by a whisker. Foxx also has an Oscar, but there’d be no Django without him.
5. Kerry Washington--She’s got a hit TV show with “Scandal.” But you know, they waited til she was free so she could be in “Django.” This young woman has limitless potential as a leading lady.
4. Chris Tucker— As Bradley Cooper’s charmingly nutty buddy in “Silver Linings,” Chris Tucker finally made a movie other than one with his pal Brett Ratner. And he was great. He’s a good actor. Hopefully he won’t wait too long to make another one.
3. Jennifer Ehle — in real life, she’s Rosemary Harris’s theater actress daughter. She was also Lionel Logue’s wife in “The King’s Speech.” (Remember when she found King George and the Queen Mother in her kitchen?) But Ehle almost steals “Zero Dark Thirty” as Jessica Chastain’s boss who gets blown up way too soon. She’s Streep (and Harris) caliber. I wish we saw her more often.
2. Scoot McNairy — a real find, an overnight sensation at 32. Scoot was in “Argo” (as the hostage with the big mustache), in “Promised Land” as a surly local, and stole “Killing Them Softly” as the crazy Frankie, one of the goofball hatchet men. McNairy has five movies coming this year. If he doesn’t explode in 2013, I want my money back.
1. John Goodman – A vet to be sure. But John Goodman waltzes into a scene and owns the movie. He asks us for nothing. He gets very little — no Oscar nominations, which is ridiculous. His mere appearance on screen brings joy and menace to any film. In “Flight” he’s off the charts. He holds the Hollywood side of “Argo” together. Last year he got very little notice playing to perfection the studio chief in “The Artist.” Goodman is an artist. If the Oscars won’t do anything for him, SAG should give him the Lifetime Achievement next year. All hail John Goodman!
Now that everyone has cut the Oscar show into little pieces, let me weigh in. I was at the head of the red carpet for the pre-show, in the audience and enjoying the new Dolby Bar so my perspective is different. I didn’t watch the show on a TV until tonight, when I finally got to replay it. But I’ve sat through almost 20 Oscar shows, and I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff– from Eddie Murphy’s abrupt departure when he lost, to Bill Murray trying to outplay Sean Penn, to James Franco and Anne Hathaway’s hodgepodge that went so badly.
Sunday’s show, I thought, was the most entertaining, best organized ever. It was as if Craig Zadan and Neil Meron rolled the Grammys and the Tonys into the Oscars and came up with the ultimate awards broadcast. The only thing that didn’t really work was the James Bond celebration–no Bonds. Very strange. But the producers knew that — and Shirley Bassey was simply spectacular. Her voice reverberated through that crazy auditorium with stunning drama. What a pleasure.
The other musical numbers were each spectacularly successful. Jennifer Hudson, I think, is not even close yet to being as big a star as she will be. The “Les Miserables” segment was mesmerizing– and my two picks to click from that movie, Samantha Barks and Aaron Tveit, exceeded all expectations. Adele and Barbra Streisand were each so exquisite, it’s sort of amazing that they — and all these other people- were on one stage.
What about Seth MacFarlane? Considering how subversive his humor is, I was surprised how much he was trying to be Bob Hope. He also has a very good singing voice. Some of the material was way off base– Mark Wahlberg and Ted were off base (who came up with that?) and the “Boob” song was not to everyone’s taste. But Oscar shows are full of cringe-worthy moments. These were no worse than ones in the past.
There’s a new crew at the Academy– Hawk Koch, Dawn Hudson, Christina Kounelias and Jasmine Madatian. They worked like dogs for months, and turned the whole Oscar experience into something modern and lively. I loved it, and so did the audience. The ratings were up, which was the payoff. And Michael Douglas said something to us at the Vanity Fair party that kind of summed it up. He remarked: “Some of the people who’ve never been here before, like the foreign film nominees, told me they were surprised how warm the show was. That we’re like a family.”
Douglas was right. It came across. Bravo.
PS Everyone sang live. Quite an accomplishment. Watch the videos. Crazy good. Lisa Kasteller, Jennifer Hudson’s publicist, was kind of agog later. She said she’d been in the wings with Jennifer– “And then she just went out and sang like that. It was amazing. Like it was nothing.” And the audience went nuts.
One more thing: maybe all the snarky stuff is because for once the dresses were all hits. Our favorites in person: Jane Fonda– hands down the best–followed by Jennifer Lawrence, Jennifer Garner, Naomi Watts, Nicole Kidman, and Salma Hayek.
And best tuxedos? Both Daniel Day Lewis and Alan Arkin were cleaned up and put in smashing penguin suits by hot New York menswear designer Domenico Vacca. His regular suits, ties, and shirts are much desired, and very, very ‘in.’
Here’s an episode they could address on “The Newsroom”: what happens when a “real” news program is beaten by two fake news shows? That’s what’s happening right now. Fox News’s Greta van Susteren, who’s on at 10pm, is being beaten by Comedy Central’s “Daily Show” with John Stewart and Stephen Colbert– two fake news shows. GvS is being trounced.
And for that matter, so is all of MSNBC and CNN, by two humor shows that send up the news but at the same time sort of deliver it. Of course, the other Fox News shows–O’Reilly, Hannity, etc– are ahead of the comedy offerings.
And dead last among all these offerings is CNN’s Piers Morgan, which has grown on me over the last few months. CNN is slightly down as it retools, but it’s too early to make any evaluations there. MSNBC’s entire slate– Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, et al — are several hundred thousand viewers behind Stewart and Colbert every night.
And Greta? It just could be that after being battered for three or four hours by the Fox News pontificating, one more show– Greta’s–is just too much. Instead, viewers are turning to comedy.
“SealTeam Six” and “Zero Dark Thirty” each told different perspectives on the killing of Osama bin Laden. Now I am told by sources that there is a film deal moving forward for Phil Bronstein’s cover story in Esquire about the man directly responsible for ridding the world of Osama bin Laden. The saga of the unidentified shooter– the man who actually carried out the killing of bin Laden–has made headlines.
In Esquire, “The Shooter”– one of the famed Navy Seal Team Six– claims that he returned to the US to find he would have no insurance or other benefits. This was in part due to his own early retirement. His real name is not revealed.
But the story took off like wildfire. My sources say a production company called Zulu 7 have secured the rights to Bronstein’s work. They’ve also signed the rights to the life story of The Shooter himself. The Shooter can’t be reached, and the Zulu 7 principals– Paul Bernard and “A.K. Waters”–declined comment. Interestingly, Waters may be a pseudonym for someone with deep background connections. “AK Waters” was the name of Bruce Willis’s Special Ops commander in the 2003 film “Tears of the Sun.”
If the saga of “The Shooter” goes into acceptable script form, you can only imagine the directors and actors fighting to make this movie. So stay tuned. “Zero Dark Thirty” has been a hit at the box office with a female protagonist. But “The Shooter” will be quite a different story– and more poignant as it will flesh out a backstory for this man and his family.
Who should play the Shooter? Willis himself maybe? Woody Harrelson? Jeremy Renner? Justin Bieber?
I had such a nice talk with Renee Zellweger on Sunday night at the Oscars– I had no idea the internet was buzzing with all kinds of ridiculous crap about her. I’ve read that she was drunk, and that maybe she’d had some massive Botox injections. I’m pretty surprised. Renee is one of the nicest actresses, very down to Earth, and always a lot of fun.
I ran into her and her newish boyfriend, blues guitarist Doyle Bramhall II, toward the end of the show. They were leaving the Dolby Theater, walking hand in hand. If Renee was drunk she should get an Oscar for playing sober. It never crossed my mind that she was anything but happy. Her face also looked completely normal. And believe me, I’ve seen some distorted faces in this town.
Bramhall is the son of the late Doyle Bramhall senior, himself the legendary guitarist who died in 2011 at age 62. Doyle II is 44 and plays in Eric Clapton’s band among other gigs. He’ll be on Eric’s tour this spring, and at the Crossroads concert at Madison Square Garden. Doyle is from Texas, like Renee, and just a year older. They seem like a good match.
Renee told me she has a lot coming up: a TV series she’s writing and producing, a new film in the works, and maybe a play in London’s West End next fall. The Oscar winner may have been exhausted and hungry–as everyone was–after four or five hours in the Dolby. It’s not a place very conducive to personal enjoyment. The food situation is always an issue–it’s terrible. And the drinks? Bar access is minimal. And the main players are watched so no one is over-served. Bloggers and Tweeters do have over-active imaginations, however!
The Oscars? So yesterday, so Sunday. At the hottest Hollywood boite, Craigs, on Melrose, it was back to business on Monday night. On Sunday Craigs hosted George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s party for Ben Affleck and “Argo.” While Vanity Fair held down the largest number of A listers, Craigs was still hopping.
Last night– Monday–it was back to normal for the restaurant that’s inherited Morton’s old Monday night notoriety. Clarence Avant celebrated his birthday with Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie, and a big round table of friends. Sisters Jackie and Joan Collins took over their regular corner booth with Joan’s husband Percy Gibson and their own group of friends.
Meanwhile, Elton John’s managers, the beloved Eddie (Edwina) Barbis and husband Johnny, dined with U2 manager Paul McGuiness and MGM legal eagle Lori Silfen. That’s a lot of gossip to be generated in one room. McGuiness said he’s headed to the TED conference in Long Beach, where Bono will speak about world poverty. He was very vague about a new U2 album so I came home and put on The Joshua Tree.
PS Everyone is hung over or just exhausted. The people who went to Madonna’s “Celebrities Who Will Never Get Oscars” party in the middle of the night mostly talked about the loud rap music and the insufferable traffic snarl. Strike a pose!
Here’s the video — a mini film– for David Bowie’s new single, “The Stars Are Out Tonight.” Bowie returns with a new album, his first in more than 10 years, on March 12th. There’s a huge amount of interest in this album, called “Where Are We Now,” enough to drive up pre-orders like crazy. And this single is excellent. Bowie is in great voice. Tilda Swinton stars in the film directed by Floria Sigismondi.
For years and years LaToya Jackson tried to make money off of her famous brother Michael. Nothing worked, even though La Toya tried publoishing books, making records, and appearances. She wrote critically of Michael, too. But now she’s figured out a way to get money from Michael even though he left her nothing in his estate. La Toya is the agent-manager for Michael’s 16 year old son Prince. She’s just cut a deal for him to be in the CW revival series of “Beverly Hills 90210.”
Maybe the trade papers don’t realize that Ja-Tail is LaToya’s company. She also cut the deal for him to be on “Entertainment Tonight.” So LaToya will now be taking commissions on Prince’s work. Soon will come deals for Paris. Michael didn’t want his kids to work as children. He famous resented losing his own childhood, and feared the same for his kids. But he’s dead, and his wishes apparently matter not at all to the Jacksons.
I am told there’s a proposal making the rounds once again for some kind of reality show featuring Jacksons which Ja-Tail is likely behind. It never ends.
