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Justin Timberlake: New Single Goes Straight to Number 1

Roger Friedman
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5
Justin Timberlake: New Single Goes Straight to Number 1

While we were partying it up at the Golden Globes last night, Justin Timberlake released his new single. “Suit and Tie,” featuring a rap by Jay Z, went immediately to number on iTunes where it remains at this hour. Timberlake wrote on his website that the album, called “The 20/20 Experience,” will come out “this year.” The marketing plan so far seems to feature an eye chart and one of those eye-exam lens checkers.

“Suit and Tie” — no credits yet. But it’s a sweet piece of 70s soul with nice hook and melody that could fit into the KISS FM playlist if KISS FM still existed. (Thanks Infinity Broadcasting.) The Jay Z rap I could live without, and the song doesn’t have a substantial bridge–the rap seems to take its place. But it’s refreshing. I don’t know if it’s an obscure sample or “interpolation.” I’m crossing my fingers that it’s original.

One thing about Justin Timberlake: he can sing. I remember years ago at a Clive Davis pre Grammy dinner, NSync, the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears were all there. At the end of the show, all the real singers in the room got up to join in on the finale. Justin was the only one from that whole gang who got up and sang a lead R&B falsetto. He’s right with it. On “Suit and Tie” he sounds like he’s mixing up the Stylistics with echoes of Marvin Gaye. Sweet. If the whole album is like that, it will be a smash.

Google Glasses Set for Early 2014, And they Work (I Tried Them)

Roger Friedman
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0
Google Glasses Set for Early 2014, And they Work (I Tried Them)

Movie stars were all over the place this weekend. But what was the big news? Google Glasses. The internet in your eyewear is here, and it’s real. There was much talk about Google Glasses this past year. About a year ago, they were revealed, and there was talk we’d see them in 2013. I did, on Friday, at CAA agent Josh Lieberman’s annual cool cool cool party at Soho House in West Hollywood.

Two guys from Google were at the party–which was chockablock with stars from Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lawrence to Axl Rose and Bradley Cooper. The guys sat in the front dining room, far from the madding crowd, wearing the glasses and showing them to anyone who was interested. Enter yours truly. The demo reminded me of being at the 1964 World’s Fair and talking on a speaker phone. Here is the future, whether you like it or not.

Steve Lee showed me how the Glasses work. It’s very simple. There’s a speaker in them, so you give them voice directions and they look up stuff on the internet for you. A sort of slide mouse built into the right temple can guide you once the internet comes up in a transparent screen on the right lens. You can read your emails, messages, check Maps to see where you are and what’s going on around you. We didn’t make phone calls, but I do think that’s going to be in there at some point.

Some people, age 35 and up, came by and sniffed at the whole thing. And I, a little older, don’t see the point in this either. Plus I already wear glasses. (Not sure how this will work if you do wear glasses unless you’re supposed to put your prescription in them– they are really for 20/20 eyes so far.) But you will see kids and young twenties take to this instantly. And then, a new generation will only know this way of living. A brave new world.

Lee says the glasses are going to out to developers now, and should be on the market by early 2014. A starting list price would be about $1500. But you know that the price will drop once Google Glasses take off. Nevertheless, they will remain a high end purchase. “You’re not going to be seeing this for $199,” Lee joked.

But you know, like wow, man. We are getting closer and closer to brain implants and all kinds of sci fi stuff. Minority Report, here we come. Now if I could just program my DVR.

A Silver Lining for “Silver Linings”? Globes Aren’t Oscars

Roger Friedman
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0
A Silver Lining for “Silver Linings”? Globes Aren’t Oscars

The Globes are over, the winners were “Argo” and “Les Miserables.” Now what does it all mean? Not much, I’m afraid. The winners of the acting awards may very well continue on to the Academy Awards. Daniel Day Lewis has the edge over Hugh Jackman, and Jennifer Lawrence is probably leading Jessica Chastain in the lead categories.

In supporting, Christoph Waltz was a surprise, but he’s affable and foreign (the Hollywood Foreign Press likes that), plus “Django” is newish compared to the movies that offered the other supporting actors–DeNiro in “Silver Linings” and Hoffman in “The Master.”

There’s still a chance for either of the those other two, and even for Tommy Lee Jones– although the look on Jones’s face during the Globes show was priceless. He is not amused, considering his knockout work in both “Lincoln” and “Hope Springs” this year.

We do know that Anne Hathaway is waltzing away with Best Supporting Actress in “Les Miz.” Even with some hope for Sally Field’s wonderful performance as Mary Todd, the Hathaway train seems to be rolling. Field is such a sport that she doesn’t seem to care, is just enjoying the whole thing. She’s really an example of how to be a leader among Hollywood stars.

I still think the film that most benefits from everything that happened this weekend is “Silver Linings Playbook.” This Friday “SLP” finally expands to 2,500 theaters. It’s languished on the back burner in very limited release and then limited release, building great word of mouth and picking up lots of awards attention. But “SLP” still has a low profile. So many Academy voters have to said to me about it, “I still have to watch it. I hear it’s great.”

With a longer than usual period for voters to watch and consider movies, this may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Most Academy voters have already been deluged with Lincoln, Argo, Les Miz and Zero Dark Thirty. Silver Linings, for many, will be their “new” movie and last one watched in a long campaign. It may also seem the freshest. DeNiro is said to be on board for some campaigning. You never know. If “SLP” has a great weekend coming up, there may be shifts in the winds.

Basically, it’s all about the Screen Actors Guild. Their Best Ensemble Award will be the most indicative of how things will go on Oscar night. The SAG Awards is a two hour show, on a Saturday night, and usually not so important. But with a wide open field, SAG is going to find itself very popular this year.

Globe Parties: Les Miz Cast Celebrates, Mad Men Meditate

Roger Friedman
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0
Globe Parties: Les Miz Cast Celebrates, Mad Men Meditate

By the time the Golden Globes were over, the whole Beverly Hilton was bursting to party. On the 6th floor of the Hilton leading to the roof, I was nearly run over by the cast of “Les Miserables,” all of whom were in high spirits after their big wins in the Comedy/Musical category. Anne Hathaway led the charge down a narrow passage into the party carrying her Globe and smiling wildly. Director Tom Hooper and star Hugh Jackman were next, followed by co-stars Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried, as well as Sacha Baron Cohen with wife Isla Fisher.

“Les Miz” is a coup now for Universal Pictures chief Ron Meyer and his lieutenants Donna Langley and Adam Fogelson. It’s been a long time since Universal won anything, and now they can boast of a $200 million plus box office plus lots of shiny gold statues. For Hooper it’s also a real vindication after some tough reviews and a snub by the Academy Awards. The director of “The King’s Speech” looked a little exhausted at this point. “It’s been a long haul,” he said, recalling the very first screening on November 24th at Lincoln Center. Meanwhile, the Universal party was also home to “Zero Dark Thirty” director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, who lost the Globes but finished their first wide release weekend at number 1. Today they head to London to launch “Zero Dark Thirty” in the U.K. Even though Bigelow makes serious movies, she has a good sense of humor. I asked how she liked Tina Fey’s joke about the “torture” of being married once to “Titanic” director James Cameron. It was the hit of the night. “It was very funny,” Bigelow conceded.

For a second Hugh Jackman showed us his Globe statue and said, “This is so great I can’t tell you.” And then we headed down to Club 55 in the basement of the Hilton, where HBO was literally teeming with celebrities from the casts of “Girls” and “The Newsroom” to miscellaneous stars like Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt to Jeff Garlin of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and Steve Buscemi of “Boardwalk Empire.”

Jeff Daniels, his wife, Kathleen, Hollywood legend Jane Fonda and boyfriend Richard Perry (famed record producer of hits by Carly Simon, Rod Stewart, and Ringo Starr) and Sam Waterston were all having a fine time, while elsewhere a stunning  Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban were chatting with everyone. Kathleen Daniels  was busy telling Jane Fonda all about her family’s adventures renting a house in the Hollywood Hills after leaving their spacious abode in Michigan. Practical Fonda said, “I could live anywhere. When I was a girl we lived on a ranch and I rode a horse to school.”

But it was the “Girls” group that was causing the most excitement as literally everyone was climbing around to meet Lena Dunham, who won Best Actress in a Comedy and Best Comedy. Before “Girls” Dunham had a hit indie film called “Tiny Furniture.” That’s how it all started. She told me she’d like to do another film as soon as she can take a break from “Girls.” And she had high compliments for Adam Driver, who plays her boyfriend and also has a small part in “Lincoln.”

And Jeff Garlin told me he’s filming a stand up comedy special for Netflix in March, and waiting for Larry David to start another season of “Curb.” And Jon Hamm – who just finished the sixth episode of the sixth season of “Mad Men” – said Larry’s upcoming HBO movie—in which Hamm is featured—is hilarious. Hamm has one more season of ”Mad Men” to go before he takes off as a leading man in movies. And Westfeldt, always a delight, is busy, she told me, working on plays right now. Let’s hope she gets back to movies soon. Her “Friends with Kids” was a pretty terrific indie comedy last season.

Some other stars at the HBO party included Sean “P Diddy” Combs who was not his usual jovial self, and Mel Gibson, who remains a pariah despite attempts to seem human last night.

 

Sacha Baron Cohen: Golden Globes President Tried to Ban Him From Show

Roger Friedman
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2
Sacha Baron Cohen: Golden Globes President Tried to Ban Him From Show

Exclusive: Catherine Zeta Jones just presented the clip from Best Picture nominee “Les Miserables” on the Golden Globes. But she wasn’t supposed to. And the person who was looked pretty unhappy from his seat.

Sacha Baron Cohen, who performs “Master of the House” with Helena Bonham Carter in “Les Miz,” was the actor selected by the film’s company to present their film. But I can tell you that Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Dr. Aida Takla Reilly despises Cohen and refused to allow him on the show.

I’ve known this for several days, and confirmed it will all parties. The backstage fight over this was bitter, and went all the way up to NBC and Dick Clark Productions. At one point, it was confirmed that Cohen had been reinstated. But when Zeta-Jones appeared–someone who had nothing to do with the movie– even Cohen looked disappointed. Later in the show Cohen was thrown a sop–and got to introduce the Best Animated Films.

The history of this is that Reilly has disliked Cohen ever since he sent two scantily clad girls to the HFPA offices to promote “The Dictator” last year. Reilly tried to ban Cohen from all HFPA press conferences. This summer, the story goes, and Reilly confirmed to me, she visited Kazakhstan, the country lampooned by Cohen in “Borat” several years ago. When she returned she decided that Cohen had maligned that country so badly he didn’t deserve to be on the Globes.

The idea of the HFPA censoring an actor because of his art, I think, speaks to the hypocrisy and unprofessionalism of the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Golden Globes.

In the end, “Les Miz” and Universal prevailed, if only because NBC is part of Universal. Otherwise, Cohen might not have appeared at all.

Argo Gets Best Picture, Daniel Day Lewis Best Actor, Jessica Chastain Best Actress

Roger Friedman
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0
Argo Gets Best Picture, Daniel Day Lewis Best Actor, Jessica Chastain Best Actress

The Golden Globes have rolled to an end, with Daniel Day Lewis winning Best Actor for Lincoln, Jessica Chastain is Best Actress for Zero Dark Thirty, and Ben Affleck is Best Director for Argo. Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook (Comedy), and Hugh Jackman won Best Actor for Les Miz (Comedy).

Les Miserables is Best Comedy or Musical, and Best Drama is Argo.

Jodie Foster came out, admitted what everyone in Hollywood and most of the world has known for years- she’s gay. It’s not big deal. But good for her.

I can’t say I’m surprised that Argo won the Golden Globe. First of all, I said right along that both “Lincoln” and “Silver Linings Playbook” were too American for the Golden Globes voters. They don’t care about American history and don’t understand football. On the other hand, they love Ben Affleck and “Les Miserables” is the perfect international movie.

Will this have much effect on the Oscars? No. In fact, the Academy tends to vote against the Globe winners. The real barometer of the Oscars comes on January 27th at the SAG Awards. Whichever movie wins Best Ensemble will take home Best Picture at the Oscars.

But for now, it’s great because the directors of “Argo” and “Les Miz” were shut out of Oscar nominations. However eccentric the Golden Globes voters are doesn’t matter. The wins are psychological boosts and were needed at exactly this moment.

 

Les Miz Wins, Ben Affleck Is Best Director, Jodie Foster Comes Out

Roger Friedman
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0
Les Miz Wins, Ben Affleck Is Best Director, Jodie Foster Comes Out

Golden Globes: Hugh Jackman won Best Actor for Musical/Comedy for “Les Miz.” And the movie won Best Comedy or Musical. Ben Affleck won Best Director for “Argo,” which marks an amazing turnaround since the Oscar winning co writer of “Good Will Hunting” at one point made the worst movie ever — “Gigli.”

But the big moment tonight will be remembered as Jodie Foster’s Lifetime Achievement Award speech–she came out, in a way, and admitted that she was gay, kind of, in an emotional, rambling speech that was brave, in a way, and very cool. Good for her. Foster seemed nervous that her career would be over, but that won’t happen. She’s a two time Oscar winner, and beloved in Hollywood. Anyway, everyone there knew it for years. It doesn’t matter.

“Girls” won Best TV Comedy, as expected.

Golden Globes: Tarantino, Anne Hathaway, Game Change, Christoph Waltz Among Winners

Roger Friedman
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2
Golden Globes: Tarantino, Anne Hathaway, Game Change, Christoph Waltz Among Winners

Quentin Tarantino picked up Best original Screenplay for “Django.” Add that to Christoph Waltz’s win for Best Supporting Actor, and you have something interesting going on…

“Amour” wins Best Foreign Film. The HFPA members are old enough to relate to it. Claire Danes wins Best Actress for “Homeland.”

Anne Hathaway just won Best Supporting Actress from “Les Miz.” She gave a lovely speech with a great nod to fellow nominee Sally Field.

UPDATE: “Homeland” actor Damien Lewis just won Best Actor, Drama Series. Claire Danes will win Best Actress. “Homeland” will win Best Drama Series. Yawn! Maggie Smith and Don Draper should team up against those people…

“Game Change” and its star Julianne Moore just picked up more awards at the Golden Globes after winning Emmy Awards last fall. Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor in a film for “Django Unchained.” Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are doing great at poking fun at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. But there’s more. Coming….

“Downton Abbey” Creator Dubbed “Rock Star” Among Movie Stars

Roger Friedman
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0
“Downton Abbey” Creator Dubbed “Rock Star” Among Movie Stars

So you get about a thousand people stuffed in the main ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel in West Hollywood. Half of them are movie or TV stars, from Daniel Day Lewis to Jon Bon Jovi, from Sally Field to Anne Hathaway, and everyone wants to meet one guy only: Julian Fellowes, creator of “Downton Abbey.”

The occasion was the annual afternoon “tea” thrown by BAFTA/LA, once a sleepy get together and now the must-be-seen-at event of Golden Globe weekend. And really, getting through a room choked with celebrities from Jacqueline Bisset (herself looking like a rock star) to SAG president Ken Howard, as well as “Silver Linings Playbook” director David O. Russell, stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, all the “Les Miz” gang including Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne and director Tom Hooper, not to mention triple hyphenate Ben Affleck, and regal bearing famed actress (and director now too ) Diane Baker–is not easy.

But then, there’s Fellowes, with his wonderful wife, and “Downton Abbey” star Michelle Dockery (Mary Crawley), the heroine of the British TV soap opera. It’s not like Fellowes hasn’t been here before. “Downton” is largely informed by an Oscar nominated film directed by the late Robert Altman and written by Fellowes called “Gosford Park.” And Fellowes also wrote the recent HBO film, “The Girl,” starring Toby Jones and Sienna Miller as Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren.

And yet: everyone wants to talk to Fellowes. Actress Lorraine Toussaint and director Ava Duvernay (“Middle of Nowhere”) literally jump out of their seats as Fellowes nears them on a tour of the room. “Wait!” they cry. “Has anyone told you about your big following in the African American community?” Toussaint asks him. Fellowes is thrilled. “You’re a rock star,” Toussaint tells him.

At the same time, Sally Field and her 25 year old son Sam Greisman are glowing. “I’m in love with your show,” the double Oscar winner and “Lincoln” nominee announces.

And so it goes. Here are some “Downton” mini spoilers: Mary will have a new romance in Season 4 after surviving a tragedy. The actress who played Sybil wouldn’t come back, which is why she meets her demise in Season 3. Lady Edith, a manipulative little shrew, has “major” stories in Season 4.

And what of Lady Mary? Michelle Dockery is so lovely in person that you can’t stand it. She wins the female award for Gobsmacked Celebrity Who Can’t Believe the Fuss That’s Being Made over Them. (Christoph Waltz wins the male award.) Dockery has just finished a feature film, “Non Stop,” loaded with stars. But unlike some of her “Downton” colleagues, she’s smart enough to stay with the landmark show until it’s done.

I ask Fellowes if he ever thinks of “Upstairs Downstairs.” I suggest that if the Crawleys ever visit London they could socialize with the Bellamys, the fictitious family from that show.

“In fact,” Fellowes offers, “I almost killed off two Crawley cousins, Peter and James, on Titanic. But I couldn’t do it because the first Lady Bellamy went down with that ship. And it didn’t make any sense to do it.”

 

Tom Cruise Under Attack; “Jack Reacher” Falls at Box Office

Roger Friedman
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2
Tom Cruise Under Attack; “Jack Reacher” Falls at Box Office

Ton Cruise is having a bad, bad Sunday. He’s on the cover of both the New York Post and the New York Daily News– and it’s not for his current movie, “Jack Reacher.” Both papers are part of an organized publicity campaign surrounding a new book by Lawrence Wright about Scientology.

The book, called “Going Clear,” will be published later this week in the United States although publishers in several countries–starting with the United Kingdom–have cancelled it possibly because of legal fears or intimidation.

Reading reports of “Going Clear” today, I’m surprised that much of the Cruise information comes from other places–like from this column or from Maureen Orth’s groundbreaking story months ago in Vanity Fair about a young actress whom Scientology tried to match-make with Cruise.

Both papers detail the audition process in 2005 for new wives that led Katie Holmes to become the third Mrs. Cruise. I published numerous exclusive stories about all that in 2005, about Holmes’s “abduction” by Cruise, her cutting all ties to family and friends, and subsequent close monitoring by Scientology lackeys. Since the Wright book’s publisher, Knopf, refused to send me a copy of the book last week, and Wright wouldn’t talk to me, I have no idea about attributions. We’ll have to wait until the book actually comes out.

With Holmes “freed” and Cruise keeping a low profile, the timing of “Going Clear” is unfortunate. His movie “Jack Reacher” took a tumble this weekend, although it’s still made $72 million domestically. Frankly, he’s not bothering anyone. But his behavior over the last decade dogs him nonetheless.

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