Yesterday’s school-off holiday did it for “Skyfall.” The 23rd James Bond film crossed the magic line and ended the day with $101.8 million in the till. “Skyfall” is not at $529,674,538– holy cow– and the US part is only since Thursday night. Somewhere in heaven, Cubby Broccoli is smiling that his daughter and step son have done such a great job keeping his dream alive. And I said before, none of the participants will be leaving this latest episode willingly. Suddenly, James Bond is hip again. And Adele’s “Skyfall” single is holding tight at number 3 on both iTunes and amazon this afternoon. “Skyfall” is a windfall!
John Fogerty Next Rocker to Tell His Story in a Book, But Can He?
John Fogerty, the great genius behind Creedence Clearwater Revival, is ready to tell his story. But can he? Little Brown’s Michael Pietsch, the man behind all the good music books in publishing, has signed Fogerty to publish a memoir in 2014. But Fogerty’s best story is maybe one he’s precluded from telling: how the rights to his music were sold to film producer Saul Zaentz (“The English Patient”) when Zaentz bought Fantasy Records in 1967 (corrected from earlier version). Fogerty and CCR continued to record for Fantasy through around 1973. But then Fogerty, unwilling to work for Zaentz, simply stopped recording and disappeared for years.
It was only with the album “Centerfield” that Fogerty re-emerged in 1985. But then Fantasy sued– and lost– claiming that the hit from “Centerfield,” the single “The Old Man Down the Road,” was just a rewrite of a CCR song, “Run through the Jungle.” A judge said it wasn’t. There have been lots of lawsuits and settlements, but Fogerty may be precluded from writing about any of this. We’ll see.
Meantime, Fogerty can write about his early days with CCR, his amazing catalog of songs, the influence of some like “Proud Mary” and “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” his anti-war stance during Vietnam, and campaigning for Democratic candidates.
Fogerty is just the latest rocker to cash in and tell his story. Rod Stewart has a book out now as does Cyndi Lauper. Keith Richards, of course, wrote the book of all books. Carly Simon is working on her own memoir. And there are plenty more to come, I am sure.
Robert DeNiro, Who Never Left, Makes a Comeback in “Silver Linings Playbook”
Robert DeNiro has never stopped making movies and being in the spotlight. But his role in the incredibly entertaining “Silver Linings Playbook” will be judged as a “comeback.” Let’s call it a return to form instead. DeNiro has often been accused of making films not up to his standards. Whether it the “Meet the Parents” comedies, or any number of formulaic thrillers. His last great dramatic role, I thought, was in the underappreciated “Ronin” (1998).
But now he’s back as Pat Solatano Sr., Philadelphia Eagles fanatic, part-time bookie, and father of Pat Jr., who’s bipolar, played by Bradley Cooper. He’s married (to Jacki Weaver, from “Animal Kingdom). DeNiro is sort of gobsmacked by the whole thing. In Toronto, at the end of the screening of “Silver Linings” he actually teared up. As Pat, he’s one quarter of a magical ensemble (Jennifer Lawrence filling out the other corner in the square). Toward the end of the film, DeNiro nearly steals the whole thing in a scene with Cooper when he utters with poignant urgency what will become the movie’s key line: “When life reaches out to you like this, it’s a sin if you don’t reach back.”
That’s it: DeNiro will be nominated for Best Supporting Actor and may indeed win. He was still startled by this compliment last night at the Ziegfeld premiere of “Silver Linings,” walking the red carpet with wife Grace Hightower, coming back to take pictures with Cooper and director David O. Russell. Still, DeNiro was smiling. How would he feel if all this unfurled? “We’ll see, we’ll see,” he said, which is a lot for DeNiro. Later, he actually spoke to the audience before the film started and welcomed them.
DeNiro isn’t the only one who’s happy. Bradley Cooper was thrilled, too. James Lipton, of the Actors Studio, arrived at the party at the Royalton Hotel with his wife to congratulate him. Cooper is a graduate of the Actors Studio, and this is really the first film where he’s been able to show off his skills. Lipton, his former dean, is thrilled.
Cooper gave the Liptons his seats at the Royalton as he welcomed his friend, actress Patricia Clarkson. They were in “The Elephant Man” last summer at the Williamstown Theatre in Massachusetts. They’ll come to Broadway in the spring of 2014, they told me. Some other guests included Oliver Platt, plus Howard Stern and wife Beth Ostrosky.
It was a reunion of sorts since Beth, when she was starting out, had a small role in David O. Russell’s “Flirting with Disaster.” The director waited on the red carpet for the couple, there was a nice acknowledgement, and Russell offered to shake hands with the radio personality.But germaphobe Howard wouldn’t do it, and gave Russell a fist bump instead.
Also at the premiere: costars Weaver, Chris Tucker, Shea Wigham, Julia Stiles, John Ortiz, Anupam Kher (who came all the way from Mumbai and told Lipton he shows his acting students “Inside the Actor’s Studio”), Brea Bee, Matthew Russell (the director’s terrific 18 year old son) and our old pal Paulie Herman, who is DeNiro’s longtime friend and business associate. I’ve known Paulie for more than 25 years. He used to run the fabled Columbus Restaurant on the Upper West Side. Now he and DeNiro own Ago in West Hollywood. Paulie was in “GoodFellas” and has been in a bunch of movies. He’s got his biggest role ever in “Silver Linings” and he is memorable. Bravo!
Ann Curry Firing Costs “Today” Show Producer His Job
The New York Times is reporting that “Today” show producer Jim Bell is out. He’ll be replaced by NBC News vice president Alexandra Wallace, who will oversee all four hours of “Today.” She will also pick a day to day producer to handle the minutiae of running the jewel in NBC’s crown for the last 60 years. Wallace is the first woman ever to run “Today.” and she was put in charge by another woman, long time TV exec Pat Fili-Krushel, who came to NBC this past summer as Comcast took over the network from GE.
The reason Bell is out: ratings. The “Today” show has fallen behind “Good Morning America,” as everyone knows, for the first time in years and years. Many blame the firing of Ann Curry (or reassignment, as NBC might put it). The announcement of her departure was maybe the single worst moment in “Today”s long and illustrious history, beating even the ousting of beloved Jane Pauley years ago for its coldness.
In the scuffle, Matt Lauer took the brunt of criticism until Bell finally stepped up and put his head on the chopping block. In an interview he took responsibility for moving Curry off the show. That sealed his doom.
What will happen next is anyone’s guess. First Wallace has to pick that producer. Then the “Today” show, which has always been a class act, has to be tightened up. It’s doubtful Curry will come back. And NBC has put a lot into Savannah Guthrie, her replacement, even featuring her on election night. But the “Today” show is a forever institution, so it will recover. Meanwhile, hundreds of young teens are sleeping outside Rockefeller Center overnight to see the British boy group One Direction perform on the Plaza Tuesday morning.
Bradley Cooper Recalls His “Distinguished Work” Before “Silver Linings Playbook”: “I burned all the copies”
Editors’ Note: This article was published in November 2012. But because Google Adsense’s bots keep seeing the word ‘meat’ in the headline, they regard it as Shocking Content. So today, July 11, 2019, almost 7 years later, I’ve retitled it and recoded it. The AdSense bot must be a vegan.
by Paula Schwartz, Special for Showbiz411.com — “Silver Linings Playbook,” like David O. Russell’s last film, “The Fighter,” which was nominated for seven Academy Awards (with wins for Melissa Leo and Christian Bale), should do at least as well this Oscar season, with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence shoo-ins in the best acting category. De Niro should also get a supporting actor nod; Cooper, who plays Pat Solatano Jr., a man who is bipolar, and De Niro, who plays his father, Pat Sr., who has gambling problems, have a poignant scene where tears spring unexpectedly from De Niro’s eyes, the kind of scene the Academy loves.
The romantic drama about two people with mental health issues already won the People’s Choice Award at Toronto.
At the Regency Hotel in Manhattan today, director and stars of the film Jacki Weaver, Robert De Niro (who was more talkative than we’ve ever seen him), Cooper, and Chris Tucker participated in a press conference. (Lawrence, who was in New York last night for a special screening, was unavailable since she had to fly back to the film set for the next installment of “The Hunger Games.”)
Eagle-eyed audience members are sure to notice one scene between Lawrence and Cooper where there is a movie marquee that says “Midnight Train.” When asked about it, before Cooper could reply, Russell said it referred to one of Cooper’s films, “one of his most distinguished works.”
Before shooting Russell asked Cooper what he wanted on the marquee. As a joke Cooper said it should have the title of his 2008 horror film, “The Midnight Meat Train,” adaped from a book by Clive Barker. “I’m very proud of that movie,” Cooper said.
“When I show up on the set, ‘Midnight Train'” was on the marquee, and “the poster was in the entrance way,” Cooper said.
Asked whether fellow castmembers knew what it was and if they had seen the film, Cooper laughed that might be difficult, since, he said, “I own all the copies.”
There are also some nifty dance scenes in “Silver Linings Playbook” between Lawrence and Cooper. When asked if dancing came natural to him or he had to work at it, Cooper replied, “Are you making fun of me? I can’t tell.” Russell interjected that Cooper and Lawrence found “a natural groove.”
Lawrence did the “lion’s share” of the dancing, Cooper said, since he had to be on set every day and didn’t have as much time to rehearse the dance moves, choreographed by two-time Emmy nominee Mandy Moore.
“I actually do dance,” Cooper said, “I do, but I can’t tell if I’m one of those delusional dancers,” who just think they can dance, “but then Pat is not a great dancer so it’s a good thing.”
Michael Jackson: Correcting the New, and Not Very Good, Book About the Pop Star
Part 2: Randall Sullivan is just overwhelmed by his material, but gets lots of stuff wrong in his new book about Michael Jackson, called “Untouchable.” The book is panned by Michiko Kakutani in today’s New York Times.
For example, Jackson hosted a Christmas in Bahrain for friends from the U.S. (which I reported exclusively at the time). Sullivan says Michael was thrilled when “Frank Cascio and his family” arrived. Wrong. Frank Cascio never went to Bahrain. He even said so in his book this year. Michael didn’t see Frank Cascio from some time before he was arrested in November 2003 until Jackson arrived at the Cascios’ home in New Jersey (which I also reported exclusively) in August 2007.
Sullivan’s main problem is that he wasn’t there for any of it, but tried to cash in on Michael Jackson once he died. Imagine someone writing a biography of Batman and only interviewing the Penguin, the Riddler, Catwoman, and the Joker. The writer fails to speak to Robin, Alfred or Commissioner Gordon.
Sullivan’s sources are a rogues’ gallery of adversaries: Tohme, Raymone Bain, Brian Oxman, Ray Chandler (brother of Evan, uncle of Jordie), Raymone Bain, etc. Former lawyer Oxman was disbarred on July 6, 2012, which Sullivan only mentions as an aside late in his book. He needed him as a legit source.
Tohme wormed his way into Jackson’s life, and had to be excised in the final months by people who actually cared about Jackson. Apparently, Sullivan and Tohme became quite close. According to his alarming notes in the book:
“At the time, I was trying to help Tohme settle his differences with both the Jackson family and the Michael Jackson estate (and, of course, collect whatever useful information might surface in the process).”
Conflicts of interest abound: buried deep in the book is this revelation: Sullivan introduced Katherine Jackson to her new lawyer, Perry Sanders, who was also Sullivan’s friend. Then Sullivan turned around and used Sanders and his associate Sandy Ribera as sources. Sullivan even admits he gave Ribera a first draft of the book to comment on. What is going on here?
As for Tohme: I’ve never met him, but for a time I listened to his prevarications on the phone. These included that he was a doctor of some kind, and a special ambassador to Senegal. He conceded to me that he was actually not a licensed physician finally. He held on to the ambassador story.
I received this email on March 23, 2009 from the Senegal embassy in Washington DC:
Mansour,
Senegal has no Ambassador at large in that name. the Ambassadors at large
are senegalese citizen. It is possible to have alien as ambassador for a
specific reason, fight for women freedom, goodwill ambassador etc..
But I don’t know this Mr. Tohme.
Fatoumata B. NDAO
Counselor
Health, Environment & Education
Embassy of Senegal
Sullivan doesn’t like this piece of information. He says in his notes that I “found someone” with the Embassy who didn’t know Tohme. He says he’s seen Tohme’s Senegalese passport, with the words ‘special ambassador’ written in by the country’s dictator, er, president for life. Well, I have the email chain from the embassy. And unless Sullivan can i.d. the handwriting of the president, I think there’s a problem.
“Untouchable” is full of assumptions. And to get away with it, Sullivan admits to them in the back of his book. He writes: “I acknowledge that the long plastic surgery section in this chapter could be described as interpretive, perhaps even as opinionated. It was the result of nearly three years of research and dozens of conversations with people who knew MJ. The point of view is my own, but it’s an informed point of view.” Huh? He wrote a 700 page book but doesn’t have the facts. His informed point of view, plus 3 bucks, will get you a copy of the National Enquirer.
I do take particular exception with Sullivan’s intent to throw Michael’s long time friend and manager, the late Frank DiLeo, under the bus so to speak. DiLeo was a complex man, certainly. But he loved Michael and vice versa. Early on Frank was cheated out of millions that he could have made from Thriller and Bad.
After he and Michael split, Frank’s life was full of financial difficulties. As others grew rich from his projects, he struggled. Now Sullivan, taking Tohme’s side, thinks he can paint DiLeo as a villain to Tohme’s hero. I won’t allow it. Frank knew a charlatan when he saw one, and he disliked Tohme from the start. Now Tohme gets to exact his revenge against a dead man– and Sullivan is only too happy to help in exchange for his “exclusive” interview.
Also wrong, wrong, wrong: Frank DiLeo had open heart surgery at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles on March 21, 2011. He did not “check into a hospital in Pittsburgh.” Frank languished in coma at Cedars Sinai for three months until he was moved to a facility in Pittsburgh.
And there’s more that Sullivan gets wrong, like how the story broke that Jackson and his kids stayed in New Jersey in the summer and fall of 2007–there’s the story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312120,00.html. What Sullivan has done is chop up a lot of pieces he’s found in research, mash them together and put them in a blender on high speed. The result is something that tastes and smells bad.
Music: Adele “Skyfall” Single is Back; Law & Order SVU Has a Singing Medical Examiner
“Skyfall,” the James Bond theme song from Adele, is back. You may recall that we had the Adele single first, and it debuted a couple of weeks before the movie opened in the UK. “Skyfall” went straight to number 1 on iTunes and amazon, and had a strong run before waning a bit. But now that the movie has finally opened here, “Skyfall” is back. It’s up to number 4 again on iTunes and 3 on amazon. It could easily go back to Number 1. Expect “Skyfall” to be the Oscars’ Best Song in a Motion Picture. “Skyfall” was Adele’s first release since her “21” album, which is still selling on the charts almost 2 years and nearly 10 million copies later. Everyone is hoping to see Adele on the Academy Awards next February…
Last week, Tamara Tunie, who’s played the long time medical examiner on “Law & Order SVU,” made her singing debut at Feinstein’s at the Regency. Tunie is also well known for her 20 years on and off on “As the World Turns.” She’s currently featured prominently with Denzel Washington in “Flight.” Tunie’s husband, Gregory Generet, is a well known and beloved crooner. No one really knew Tamara was a warbler, too, but it turns out she a long history with musical theater, knew Cy Coleman, loves Sondheim, and knows her way around a jazz ensemble. Full throated with an Anita Baker-esque range, Tunie wowed the crowd for two shows. Among her fans: Diana Ross and Berry Gordy’s singer daughter Rhonda; upcoming “Motown” musical star Marva Hicks (she’s going to play Berry G’s sister Estelle); and Gretchen Cryer, mother of Jon, and the great star of the legendary “I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking it On the Road.”
Rihanna Getting 1980s Type Money for Album Launch–Taking Fans, Press on Jumbo Jet to 7 Cities
It’s been a long time since a record label or sponsor spent money on anything. But Rihanna is getting the old time 1980s type money to launch her newest album, called “Unapologetic.” A bunch of sponsors including HTC and Microsoft have been lined up to put Rihanna, some fans, and “over 150 press from 82 countries” on a Boeing 777. This Magical Mystery Tour will include seven shows in seven days in seven countries. The tour stops are November 14- Mexico City; November 15-Toronto; November 16-Stockholm; November 17-Paris; November 18-Berlin; November 19-London; November 20-New York. After that, you’re on your own. No word on whether Chris Brown will come along for the ride, or whether Rihanna will actually speak to anyone on the plane. It sounds like a set up for
LOST, the Celebrity Edition. Anyway, this will cost a bundle.
Lance Armstrong Erased From LiveStrong Foundation Completely
The erasing of Lance Armstrong is now complete. First it was the seven Tour de France victories. Then it was his involvement in cycling. Now it’s his foundation, LiveStrong, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Armstrong, disgraced, is now officially out of LiveStrong according to an announcement today. He’s already been removed from the LiveStrong website. There’s no vestige of him at all except for an entry under “Our Founder.” That’s the only place you’ll see a picture of Armstrong. Under “Who Are Are” his name has disappeared from the board of directors and the Leadership Team. There also used to be a yellow banner on the site announcing LiveStrong’s connection to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. There’s no reference at all to Armstrong on LiveStrong.com. All of it is gone, gone, gone. Armstrong was actually kicked out of the foundation a couple of weeks ago, but now it’s official.
PS If I contributed to that foundation, I’d like a lot of questions answered. See below.
Read more:
Rupert Murdoch: No Tweets on Election, But Now He Likes “Law Abiding” Hispanics
Rupert Murdoch has been Tweeting away since Election Day. But so far he has said not one word about the election, Obama, or Romney. How incredibly curious. What has he been interested in? Petraeus, the economy and immigration. Murdoch now thinks there should be sweeping immigration laws to allow existing “law abding” Hispanics to remain in the U.S. He’s obviously read the stats on who voted for Obama and who didn’t vote for Romney and wants them as subscribers to The Daily. He’s also having a lot of fun with the BBC scandal. I’ve told you before: Murdoch is restraining himself from saying anything against Obama, not with the phone hacking scandal still hanging over his head. He must be going crazy.
Here are the Tweets:
Rupert Murdoch @rupertmurdoch
BBC mess gives Cameron great opportunity to reshape and improve. And listen to non LibDem cabinet colleagues.
Rupert Murdoch BBC mess gives Cameron golden opportunity properly reorganize great public broadcaster. Fast inquiry to Include both critics and supporters.
Benghazi hearings next week without two principals – Hillary and Petraeus. Hillary deserves break, but next week in Australia?
Petraeus tragedy. Probably greatest general since Patton, or even earlier.
Now BBC will probably split editor-in- chief and Director General jobs.Would be much better. Guess FT Hislop real sleeper candidate.
2012-2016 changes. Iran gets bomb, china begins major reforms, US crash as bond market revolts, N Africa explodes, etc. What next?
Right! Newsnight did not specifically give name. Left to twitter.
Editor- in- chief apologises and pleads total ignorance. Press having field day! What are editors for?
BBC getting into deeper mess. After Savile scandal, now prominent news program falsely names senior pol as paedophile.
Petraeus affair has not been a secret for months. Must be more to story.
Petraeus will deny any mystery. Still certain was induced to prevent embarrassing evidence at next weeks’s hearings. not idle speculation
Petraeus resignation. Timing, everything suspicious. There has to be more to this story.
Hillary to spend most of next week in Australia, while O hides Iran attack on drone until after election. What next?
Election comment. Republicans have to ignore 5 per cent nativists, embrace hispanics, welcome best Asian and European graduates.
Must have sweeping, generous immigration reform,make existing law- abiding Hispanics welcome. Most are hard working family people.