R&B star Frank Ocean- nominated for Grammy Awards this year for his album “Channel Orange”–wound up in a brawl last night with Chris Brown, sometime boyfriend of Rihanna who famously beat her up in February 2009. Both sides are claiming the other started it, although Brown has the much worse reputation and not much sympathy anywhere. Ocean Tweeted this morning that he wished his Bernese mountain dog, Everest, had been with him. This is a picture of such a dog. I am really glad he doesn’t look Rihanna after her fight with Brown. Ocean says he cut his finger and now won’t be able to play with two fingers at the Grammys. He’ll probably win Album of the Year for “Channel Orange.” Once again, as in 2009, Brown will a Grammy pariah.
“Downton Abbey” Bests “Homeland” at SAG Awards, Lady Sybil Gets Ready for Hollywood
WITH SPOILERS Well, well. If, like me, you can’t stand to hear one more person mention “Homeland,” the win at the SAG Awards last night for “Downton Abbey” was really a vindication. As the third season of the UK costume drama brings darkness to the Crawley family, they at least finally got a reward for top notch work: Best Ensemble, Drama. And that’s what they are, of course, the very best ensemble even as some members of the cast are being written off. Last night, just as “Downton” won its award, Jessica Brown Findlay, the cherubic and politically minded Lady Sybil. bid farewell to the show. Her illness? Death by contract–actually eclampsia.
The “Downton” actors only committed to three seasons up front, and a few of them are jumping ship, hoping to become big stars. Dan Stevens — aka Matthew– exits at the end of this season while he’s on Broadway in “The Heiress” with Jessica Chastain. Matthew is starting to give a comic cross eyed look during every scene, as if he’s in a Zucker-Abrams parody of “Downton,” so maybe it’s best Matthew meets his maker rather sooner than later. This is not “Downtown Abbey,” quite.
Lady Sybil was already off camera quite a bit, and her character wasn’t as well defined as Mary or snippy Edith. Findlay-Brown is not disappearing, however. She’s got a bunch of films in the can already including including Akiva Goldsman’s “Winter’s Tale,” set in New York in the 1800s.This is based on Mark Helprin’s wonderful novel. Colin Farrell is her co-star.
Findlay Brown has a great agent in Esther Chang at WME, who also represents Dan Stevens and Lady Mary, Michelle Dockery, Findlay Brown is also managed by Susan Bymel, who I think we can agree has done a pretty fair job with Anne Hathaway. No, even as the Crawleys mourn Sybil they may take solace in the fact that she’s left them for the bright lights of Hollywood.
PS Just looking at pictures from last night of “Downton”‘s Mrs. Hughes, Phyllis Logan, was quite glamorous, It made me a little sad that Mrs. Hughes is total fiction–but shows you what a good actress Logan is– as well as the rest of that terrific ensemble.
“Argo”: A Best Picture Without a Best Director or Best Actors?
Ben Affleck’s “Argo” won the SAG award for Best Ensemble tonight. It’s now set up to win the Oscar for Best Picture in a unique way–without a Best Director or any acting prizes. That be a first. Even though “Slumdog Millionaire” won without actors, its director–Danny Boyle–got the nod. And although movies do win Best Picture without their directors, the directors are at least nominated.
But this year, lacking the Directors Guild nominees for a cheat sheet, Academy members omitted three of the five Best Picture nominees’ directors– Kathryn Bigelow for “Zero Dark Thirty,” Ben Affleck for “Argo,” and Tom Hooper for “Les Miz.” They also left out Quentin Tarantino for “Django Unchained.” Only David O. Russell (“Silver Linings Playbook”) and Steven Spielberg (“Lincoln”) made sense. The other three–Ang Lee, Benh Zeitlin, and Michael Haneke don’t really correspond with the Best Picture nominations.
The SAG winners for acting were spread out among three films– Best Actor and Supporting Actor for Lincoln went to Daniel Day Lewis and Tommy Lee Jones. Jennifer Lawrence was Best Actress for Silver Linings, and Anne Hathaway was Best Supporting Actress for Les Miz.
So now what? Argo won SAG, the Producers Guild, the Critics Choice and the Golden Globe for Drama. Three weeks of Academy voting now commence. Voters will have to decide if this all makes sense, or not. The Oscar race isn’t over, but it’s certainly more interesting than ever.
PS Some questions from the SAG Awards– I did think Mary Tyler Moore was coming back to present to Dick Van Dyke. He did her the favor last year. She was missed. And where was Tommy Lee Jones? Ditto Joaquin Phoenix, although Daniel Day Lewis spoke so graciously about him.
SAG Awards: Argo Wins Best Ensemble: Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Hathaway
SAG awards are being given out in Hollywood right now. Argo is on its. way to best picture Oscar now that it’s won Best Ensemble. Jennifer Lawrence and Daniel Day Lewis are Best Actors. Supporting actor awards have gone to Tommy. Lee Jones for Lincoln and Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables. Modern Family won Best Ensemble for a TV comedy. Dick van Dyke just picked up his lifetime achievement award. Keep refreshing for updates.
Ergo, “Argo”? Ben Affleck Film Wins Producers Guild, Along with “Sugar Man,” “Homeland”
Ben Affleck’s “Argo” won the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday night for Best Picture. If “Argo” wins the Screen Actors Guild tonight, it will be on track for the Oscar. If it doesn’t, then it will still be the prime contender for the Oscar vs. whichever other film wins. We’ll see. Meanwhile “Searching for Sugar Man” won Best Documentary and “Homeland” and “Modern Family” won for Best TV Series, respectively Drama and Comedy. “Wreck it Ralph” was Best Animated Film. Special awards went to Bob and Harvey Weinstein, and to J.J. Abrams. Other winners included HBO’s Game Change and Bryant Gumbel’s Real Sports; The Amazing Race; and PBS’s American Masters.
Our intrepid LEAH SYDNEY reports from the Beverly Hilton very late Saturday night that Mark Gordon, president of the PGA, started the night off with a music video of various VIP producers– including Mark, Paula Wagner, Mike DeLuca, Norman Lear, Larry Gordon, Shonda Rhimes, Russell Simmons and Academy president Hawk Koch, lamenting how hard it is to produce– to the music of “Do Re Me.” Lear, 90, and game for anything funny, was shown sitting on a toilet and snorting lines of cocaine.
Chris Tucker was one of the first presenters out of the gate. Chris said, “I thank all the Producers who made me rich. Harvey Weinstein, Mike De Luca, everyone. Everytime I’m in my Ferrari I think of you. ”
J.J. Abrams was then presented with the Normal Lear Achievement Award in Television by Jennifer Garner. J.J. Was humbled by the award, so much so he said, “What the hell has happened to our standards?” He went on to play homage to Norman, explaining that as a child his favorite show was”All In The Family,” and that he “realized the the mythic status I created for him as a kid, doesn’t hold a candle to the man himself.”
Bradley Cooper presented the Stanley Kramer Award to the talented “Bully” producers Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen. Lee thanked Harvey Weinstein for, “Championing this film and being a mentor to me.”
Working Title partners Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan were given the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures by Anne Hathaway. British Eric said, ” Thirty years ago, we were trolling the streets of Soho, which has served us in good stead in Hollywood.”
LL Cool J gave the Visionary Award to Russell Simmons. HBO’s and Playtone’s “Game Change” was once again a big winner, garnering The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television.
Robert De Niro introduced Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez who were giving the Milestone Award to Bob and Harvey Weinstein. De Niro said, “Bob and Harvey have been my neighbors for 20 years in Tribeca.” After lauding their charitable work, De Niro quipped, “They have enormous hearts, enormous personalities, well they’re just pretty enormous. They’re are always the toughest guys in the room. But I’m not afraid of them.” After a beat De Niro quipped: “Harvey said it was ok that I said that.”
De Niro added the best line of the night, referring to “Silver Linings Playbook”:Â “When they came to me about a movie about mental illness I thought, which brother do they want me to play?”
Rodriguez then gave his tribute. “When Bob believes in you as a filmmaker, he believes in you all the way. ” Quentin then added, ” The trajectory and my filmography would not be the same without the Weinstein brothers, particularly Harvey. But I bring Bob in whenever I need him at just the right time. As far as I’m concerned , they are the only game in town. It’s their studio, they’re paying for it and when you’re on the right side of that, it’s pretty fucking good.”
Bob Weinstein spoke first and was quite funny. “There isn’t a chance in hell that I would be accepting this award without my brother Harvey. I know that’s true because Harvey just told me that five minutes ago.” He went on to thank Rodriguez and said, “We’ve made 12 movies and if Ari Emanuel [head of WME talent agency] doesn’t get in the way, we’ll make 12 more.”
Bob then paid tribute to his brother by saying, ” You are the greatest partner and mentor I could ever have and you’re a genius at producing. And like all geniuses you can be murderous to live with. I have followed your lead and if I were a betting man, I’d bet we’ll have fight before the night is over, but we’ll make up before the morning comes.”
Harvey recounted when he and his brother went to Cannes for the first time and actually snuck in the Palais to see a movie. Harvey thanked Quentin and De Niro by saying, ” Bob has done more for the city of New York than any other person I know.” Harvey paid tribute to his parents, his daughters and his wife Georgina, “my love of my life.” Harvey ended his speech by saying, ‘I occasionally have taste, but for every movie we greenlight and it doesn’t work, well it’s the marketing departments fault.”
“Searching For Sugar Man,” won fhe Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures. “Homeland” then won The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama. “Modern Family” then won The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy.
“Argo” won the Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. Ben Affleck told the VIP crowd that, “I’m humbled by this and not even in the PGA.” Someone yelled out, “you are now!”
Box Office: “Silver Linings” Kicks “Zero Dark Thirty,” Hansel and Gretel Hunt Number 1
An odd turn of events: playing in 300 fewer theaters, “Silver Linings Playbook” is now outdrawing “Zero Dark Thirty.” Friday’s box office shows “SLP” moving ahead of “ZD30” and maybe breaking into a winner’s run around the track. “SLP” just crossed the $60 million line, and looks like it will make it to $75 million without too much trouble.
TWC waited two months to open it wide, leaving it mostly in a few hundred theaters. I was constantly running into people who’d never heard of it. No more. If “SLP” wins Best Ensemble tomorrow night at the SAG Awards, then look out. Even if it loses, it’s still got a huge amount of good will. I feel like this movie has triumphed in spite of the odds. Alas, I did tell you about in September, from the Toronto Film Festival.
Elsewhere, “Hansel and Gretel: Vampire Hunters,” or whatever it’s called, is number 1 and the week’s throwaway junk food movie. All the Oscar nominees are doing well–“Lincoln,” “Les Miz,” “ZD30,” “SLP”- which should mean that the February 24th Academy Awards show will be a big ratings getter. People care about these movies more than they have in years.
Sundance Snoozer: Steve Jobs Biopic Gets Lukewarm Reviews as Fest Ends
I told you a few weeks ago: when they announce that a movie is closing a film festival, it’s no good. It usually means a big star has been thrown a bone, mostly to try and keep people around through the awards ceremony. That’s just the way it is, and so it is, with Ashton Kutcher in “jOBS.” Not that Ashton is big movie star. He is, in the most traditional sense, a celebrity who was very affable on a likeable TV show (“That ’70s Show”). He also married well, if briefly (Demi Moore, cursing herself now). Ashton is also not bad in his Nikon commercials.
But great actor he is not. And so “jOBS” closes the 2013 Sundance Film Festival to very lukewarm reviews. Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire–all give it middling notices, pointing out that it’s a paint-by-numbers effort. And Ashton is cited in Variety as one of its least appealing ingredients.
From Variety: “…precisely that familiarity with Jobs, who reached iconic status in the years before his death, that often undercuts the effectiveness of Kutcher’s carefully judged performance. Despite the superficial physical resemblance between actor and subject, enhanced by thick glasses, longish hair and an impressive attempt at vocal mimickry on Kutcher’s part, the illusion never fully seizes hold.”
Hollywood Reporter said it was “passably entertaining” and “somewhat like a two-hour commercial covering the first 20 tumultuous years of Apple’s development…”
Nonetheless, “jOBS”–the small j is meant to mimic the small i in iPod–will be released in April by Open Road, and I wish them well.
EXPLORE SHOWBIZ411: http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/01/24/scientology-sued-over-never-opened-money-pit-100-million-building-in-florida
Jessica Chastain “Mama” Does 4 Times the Business of Arnold’s “Last Stand” in 6 Days
Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking a beating at the box office. And it’s not from robot or android or massively muscled rival. Petite red headed Jessica Chastain, star of “Mama,” is thrashing Arnold’s “Last Stand.” The horror film starring the Oscar nominated actress from “Zero Day Thirty” has done more than four times the box office business of Arnold’s return to the screen. In the same six day period, “Mama” has made over $34 million. “The Last Stand” has done about $8.3 million. It does seem like poetic justice that Schwarzenegger, notoriously not nice to women, is meeting his match from a serious, gifted actress. By the looks of things, “The Last Stand” will fade after this weekend, while “Mama” and “Zero Dark Thirty” will continue to rule the box office. Plus, Chastain is still doing swell on Broadway in “The Heiress.” Good for her!
“Django” Action Figures Sell for Thousands on Web Despite eBay Ban
I broke the story on Tuesday that you could buy the banned “Django Unchained” action figures on eBay for thousands of dollars. This morning eBay pulled all of the “Django” dolls auctions. But you can still find the action figures all over the internet thanks to Google. Bonanza.com is offering a 5 piece set for $1000. ToyWhiz.com sells the individual pieces for $209.00 apiece.
Here’s the original story from January 22: http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/01/22/updated-django-dolls-pulled-from-stores-sell-for-thousands-on-black-market
Meantime amazon.com is offering three pages of possibilities to buy all the dolls. One outfit is selling a collection for $6,999. Crazy, huh? And really offensive. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B009I6S6Y4/ref=dp_olp_0/179-7415620-5419422?ie=UTF8&condition=all
Big Reveal on “The Office”: Comedy Takes a Page from “Real World,” Other Reality Shows
I’m glad I happened to be home and saw “The Office.” To be honest, I’ve missed a lot of the post-Steve Carell era. But “The Office” is coming to an end soon, and tonight they had a big reveal. Remember when I told you a few weeks ago that the fake documentary was going to be seen at last? Tonight, right at the end of the show, “The Office” stole a page from shows like “The Real World” in which a reality show player makes contact with the film crew. Pam burst into tears after a fight with Jim over the phone. And suddenly the camera man who’d been recording Pam (for nine years?) stepped into the frame and comforted her. He told his fellow crew mates to turn off their cameras– for the first time.
The actor was not a nobody. He was Chris Diamantopolous, who most famously played Moe in the remake of “The Three Stooges.” The cameras went off, and the show ended. What does this mean? Is the camera guy going to come between Jim and Pam, the show’s romantic center? (Doubtful.) Also, tonight’s show marked the second (I think) appearance of Ben Silverman, who was the original executive producer of “The Office” and briefly–and badly–ran NBC programming before selling his TV production company to Elisabeth Murdoch. He has a new company, Electus, funded by Barry Diller.
So “The Office” begins it story arc to bring the show to an end. Carell has said he’s not coming back for the finale, which is just fine. The remaining gang is very capable. And the opening bit about Dwight being sent on a goose chase that Jim devised years ago but forget about was pretty funny.