It was probably just a coincidence that President Obama mentioned Abraham Lincoln during the debate Thursday night. But when the 90 minute slugfest was over, the first commercial that popped up was for Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln.” Daniel Day Lewis plays the 16th president. And while prior teasers didn’t look so exciting, this commercial was damn good. “Lincoln” won the debate hands down. Will it win the Oscar? That’s to be seen. But with this material, Spielberg will have a dozen or so nominations, to be sure. Daniel Day Lewis is pretty impressive (although, to be a total wag about it, he reminded me a little of Michael Richards aka “Kramer”).
Sean Connery Is Still Angry He Was Replaced As James Bond
Sean Connery is still angry that he was replaced by Roger Moore as James Bond years ago. He’s the only one of the actors who played 007 who doesn’t appear in “Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007,” a terrific new documentary about the Bond movies. Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig are all part of the film, which will begin showings on EpixHD (www.epixhd.com) tomorrow–October 5th– the 50th anniversary of the first Bond movie, “Dr. No.”
Connery may not have not participated but everyone else did–and the result is a fascinating look back at how Ian Fleming’s spy novels became movies produced by Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman- for the Connery run–Saltzman. (There are plenty of Connery clips.)
Connery, it should be noted, quit playing Bond after “You Only Live Twice” (1967). He was succeeded by George Lazenby in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” Connery returned for “Diamonds Are Forever: (1971) but that was it. Roger Moore stepped in after that for “Live and Let Die” (1973) and the rest is history. Connery returned in 1980 in “Never Say Never,” a non-Broccoli movie based on “Thunderball” and produced by a rival who’d very early on gotten the rights to that novel from Fleming.
There’s great footage of Fleming, who explains how real life incidents became key moments in the books. There’s also a detail history of the families who produced the movies, grew up on them, and how daughter Barbara Broccoli now successfully produces the films with her step brother Michael Wilson.
Even though no Bonds were available in person at last night’s red carpet MoMA premiere (sponsored by Vanity Fair and Epix), several former Bond actors made it including Robert Davi, Maud Adams, and Carey Lowell. Some other A- list names included Chris Noth, Jeffrey Wright. Kate Upton, Chace Crawford, and Solange Knowles.
Epix starts playing “EON”– also the name of the company Broccoli and Saltzman– on Friday as well as running a marathon of Bond movies now, and a bigger one next spring.
Some things Bond fans will be interested in: how the transitions from one Bond actot to the next took place, the predicament of Brosnan with “Remington Steele,” how Dalton fared, and the peculiar decades long battle between Broccoli/Saltzman and another producer who kept trying to make Bond movies on his own (hence the not so good “Never Say Never.”)
My only criticism: not much reference to the Bond music. Maybe they couldn’t clear it? I don’t know. But mostly you get Shirley Bassey singing “Goldfinger” and Carly Simon wrapping up the film with “Nobody Does it Better.” And that’s pretty good.
MSNBC Stars Maddow and O’Donnell Beating Fox News in Demos
Fox News is still the leading cable news network in the ratings. But something’s happening, a very decided shift to MSNBC among the key demographic of 25 to 54.year old viewers. On Monday night, both MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell beat their Fox competitors–Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren– in those categories. It’s not the first time that’s happened and it doesn’t seem to be the last.
On Monday, Maddow beat Hannity 476,000 to 381,000 at 9pm in that key age group. Then O’Donnell capitalized on it, and beat van Susteren at 10pm 393,000 to 360,000.
And yes, while CNN’s numbers are not good, the numbers that are unbelievably low are Fox Business News. No one is watching that network. There are fewer people watching Fox Business News than there are walking by the studio on the sidewalk. I know there are smart, likeable people on there, but realistically–what’s the point?
Meantime, in other ratings news, “General Hospital” is up, up, up on ABC since moving to 2pm and losing the godawful “Revolution” as its lead in. Cheers to the soap, which hits its 50th anniversary in April. It deserves a real renewal of two years for surviving against the odds. If ABC were smart, they’d bring back “One Life to Live,” which has sort of been merged with “GH” to satisfy angry fans. And the other component ABC is missing in the afternoons is Susan Lucci.
MAD Magazine Sends Up Apple’s New Misbegotten Maps
You may be aware that Apple jettisoned Google’s beautiful maps for a new app of their own–an app of maps that turned into mishaps. Apple’s maps, as everyone knows, are a mess. So MAD magazine — I wasn’t even sure they still existed–has published its own version of Apple maps as its new cover. The map in question is a parody of Saul Steinberg’s famous “New York” cover–which I live by as a map of the world. Everything is wrong, which is just about right in a Mad, Mad world. Apple, meantime, has issued an apology on its website. They also suggest downloading Google’s maps app for iPhones and iPads as it’s no longer available on those devices. You have to go back and get it yourself. All this would be incredibly damaging except– I finally held an iPhone 5 in my hand. It’s light as a feather and very enticing. But I’ll stick with my Blackberry Bold and Samsung Galaxy IIs for now.
Mumford and Sons: 600,000 Copies Puts Them At Number 1
Wow! Mumford & Sons’ “Babel” sold 600,000 copies last week. It won the number 1 slot on the charts, handily beating new releases by Green Day and No Doubt by miles. Those groups did 140,000 and 120,000 respectively with new CDs. For No Doubt, the lower number wasn’t very good. Plus, the reviews of the album aren’t so hot. “Push and Shove” is terribly unfocused. Mumford & Sons’ previous album was coast in the tide, and dragged up to number 10 because of all the hoopla. Good for them. Daniel Glass’s smallish Glassnote Records deserves kudos for making all this happen. Meanwhile, Michael Jackson’s “Bad25” collection is still selling well, and Adele’s “21” remains in the top 10–while it waits for the “Skyfall” single on Thursday night.
John Travolta and Olivia Newton John Make Xmas Album for Personal Charities
Yes, this is a frightening picture. But it’s really of John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. They’re making a Christmas album and donating some of the money to their personal charities. Universal Music is releasing it. I’d rather have needles stuck in my ears for Christmas, but I know some people will enjoy this. Featured are Barbra Stresiand, Kenny G, and Tony Bennett. Chick Corea, a fellow Travolta Scientologist, also made the cut. Some proceeds will go to the Jett Travolta Foundation, which I’ve already written about. It’s John’s way of sending tax free money back to Scientology. Merry Xmas!
http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/07/11/jett-travolta-foundation-10-percent-goes-to-scientology
Little Steven Reuniting the Original Rascals For Theatrical Show
Little Steven van Zandt is doing the impossible! He’s reuniting the Rascals, the original Rascals, for a theatrical show. “Once Upon A Dream” will happen December 13, 14, and 15th at the Capital Theatre in Portchester, New York. The Rascals were MEGA stars of the late 60s, and the only white R&B act on Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler’s Atlantic Records. You know their hits– “Good Lovin,” “Groovin,” “I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore,” “People Gotta Be Free,” “It’s a Beautiful Morning,” and “How Can I Be Sure?” among them. Their greatest hits album, called “TimePeace,” was a bestseller for years.
The project is being funded on Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevenvanzandt/the-rascals-once-upon-a-dream-reunion-shows?ref=live
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qhacXBK3fQ
Steve writes: “”To do justice to the Rascals importance, I’ve written a show for them
that is just as unique as they are. It’s called “Once Upon a Dream”.
It’s a combination of a Rock Concert and a Broadway show that will
include their own live performance by the original four Rascals – Felix,
Eddie, Dino, Gene, and be complimented by filmed segments and news
footage and will be a show that they can take all over the country….
“The show will be an uplifting inspiration for you fans that have
been waiting all these years, praying for a Rascals comeback, and
those of you who are younger will get a real taste of the ’60’s you
missed the first time around. Me and Marc have invested our time, money, and blood these last few years for this idea and now we need you to bring it home. Not one dollar that is contributed will go into anyone’s pocket, or be commissioned in any way, every dollar will go into the production making it as good as it can be, as great as the Rascals deserve….So that’s it. The Rascals are coming back. We have been looking for other investors but nobody has any vision anymore. Frankly nobody believes in this dream except me, Marc, Peter and you. The production will be as big as you make it. On behalf of the Rascals Thank you.”
Adele “Skyfall” Clip Leaked–Lyrics As Scooped Here First
A bit of “Skyfall,” Adele’s James Bond theme, has been purposely leaked by someone (Sony?) onto the net. I’m putting it here because it’s the same song I heard last week, and the lyrics are as I wrote in several columns exclusively. The whole track comes on Thursday, at 7pm, on Adele’s website. See our past columns about Adele and “Skyfall”– Adele Skyfall Lyrics – James Bond Exclusive. And wait til you hear the whole song!
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/61944280″ iframe=”true” /]
Exclusive: “Miss Pettigrew” is Coming to Broadway as a Musical
Exclusive: throw another film title into the Broadway mix. I’m told that Focus Features is dabbling in its first Broadway musical. They’re turning “Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day” into a tune fest for the Great White Way. “Miss Pettigrew,” which didn’t totally work as a movie– it made $12 million– starred Frances McDormand and Amy Adams, and was directed by Bharat Nalluri (he’s since been sent back to series TV).
The stage version will be written and possibly directed by Robert Harling, of “Steel Magnolias” fame. Songs are being written by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, the duo from the very witty “The Drowsy Chaperone.” John Lyons, still with Focus after making several classy movies there, is said to be in charge of the production.
Will it work? Who knows? As long as everyone’s met the financial backers in the flesh (see the “Rebecca” scandal), and gotten cashier’s checks up front, “Miss Pettigrew” might live for more than a day this time!
Arnold Schwarzenegger Brings “Total Recall” to the Four Seasons
Scene: the Grill Room at the fabled Four Seasons on East 52nd St. A few celebrities like Dr. Ruth Westheiomer, Fox News’s Roger Ailes, HBO’s Richard Plepler, and “Soprano’s” actor Frank Vincent have shown up for the book party celebrating Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Total Recall” memoir. The party is given by American Media’s popular Men’s Fitness and Shape magazines.
Peter Petre, who wrote the book for Arnold, is there with writer wife Ann Banks, who helped with the editing and research. Peter’s agent, Kathy Robbins, comes with her book editor husband Richard Cohen. David Pecker, head of AMI, is beaming. He introduces Arnold to the crowd as an old friend. Years ago Pecker met Arnold when took over Weider Publishing from Arnold’s mentor Joe Weider and made the magazines into glossy, readable, popular successes. The guests include an impressive group of many heavy hitters advertisers including Keith Frankel, Director & CEO, Vitaquest Naomi Whittel, Founder, CEO, Reserveage Mike Indursky, CEO, Bliss Spa Stone Roberts, CEO, Roberts Langer and Shape Advisory Board Member Jorge Cosano, Manager, L’Oreal Richard Weber, Chairman & CEO, HBO Bill Boraczek, SVP, Sally Hansen Global Marketing Robert Kindler, Vice Chairman, Morgan Stanley Dan Flores, Senior Vice President, Avenue Capital Group Rob Givone, Investment Manager, Davidson Kempner Capital Management Andy Russel, Founder & Partner, Trigger Media. They love Arnold.
Also mingling: Tara Kraft, VP, Editor In Chief of Shape; Mike De Medeiros, Editor In Chief of Men’s Fitness; David Jackson, EVP, Group Publisher of American Mediaand Pam Madden, Associate Publisher Marketing, American Media.
Schwarzenegger takes to the podium high above the crowd on the mezzanine, and looks down at the crowd. But then he speaks. I have never heard Arnold speak before, except at the dreadful 2008 Republican Convention. This is different. He is totally charming. He’s also very funny. The speech is rehearsed, but so well that it seems spontaneous. You think, if he’d been born on U.S. soil, he would have been elected president.
After the speech, Arnold is very approachable and extremely friendly. He keeps an eye on my attractive brunette companion, however. He’s not stupid. He said that while he was governor he did not miss the movies or acting. “When I’m doing one thing, I’m doing it,” he said, “I’m not thinking about anything else.” He said he’s very proud of his kids. I mention son Patrick is acting. Arnold says, “He’s going to UCLA, he’s studying business, but he’s acting, and he’s –” Arnold mimics lifting weights– “getting in shape.” Then he says: “And Katherine was just on with Anderson Cooper!”
“Total Recall” is a hit tonight. It’s the third or fourth bestselling non fiction hardcover book on amazon.com. Arnold shook my hand. It is one big paw. He flashed a smile. And he was gone.
AMI and S&S give everyone a copy of the book and magazines. The book, by the way, is very heavy–700 pages. Maybe as part of Arnold’s fitness program, you can use it for exercise during reading breaks. But you’d need two, one for each arm! “Total Recall” curls!
Meanwhile over at Fresco by Scotto for a quick dinner, I saw “Melrose Place” actor Andrew Shue and (His wife, girlfriend?) having dinner with Susan Rice, US Ambassador to the United Nations. How weird is that? I don’t know if she knows how much Billy used to cheat on Allison.