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American Idol’s Randy Jackson: Adele Would Have Won “American Idol”

Roger Friedman
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American Idol’s Randy Jackson: Adele Would Have Won “American Idol”

Randy Jackson was in town today, on his way to St. Petersburg, Florida to premiere his line of watches on HSN this Friday at 10pm. The watches are beautifully designed by Randy, with Swiss movements and elegant boxes. He’s even made some automatic ones as well as quartz. I’ll tell you right now what he said about “American Idol”– he doesn’t know anything. He’s seven tracks into a new album with Mariah Carey, and saw her this week at her rented home in the Hamptons. We had lunch with a bunch of pretty fashion editors (and one other guy, from People). We talked music, mostly. He was horrified that I liked “Call Me Maybe.”

Randy’s favorite group right now is the Alabama Shakes, from Athena, Alabama. We talked about Adele. I asked him if she could have won “American Idol” had she been on his show. “Absolutely,” he said. “There’s no one else like her.” We talked about “Idol” and all the famous past winners and contestants. Randy is very proud of the show.

“Is there any other show where you can name so many of the winners and people who were on it?” he asked rhetorically, as the ten people at Hakkasan (yes, the London Hakkasan has opened on West 43rd St–I will be there a lot!) rattled off Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson–she didn’t win!, Fantasia, Chris Daughtry, and so on.

Randy’s sending a watch to “Soul Man” Sam Moore, whose album, “Overnight Sensational,” he produced. And he’s waiting to see if he and Mariah are going to be “AI” judges, and what the future holds in store. But as I pointed out, he’s the heart of “Idol.” He’s the anchor. People will come and go, but he’s got to be there. The audience expects it. I think Fox gets that, too.

Robin Williams Will Make Film Comeback as Dwight Eisenhower

Roger Friedman
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Robin Williams Will Make Film Comeback as Dwight Eisenhower

Robin Williams, one of my favorite people and a comic genius, is getting back to doing good films. The Oscar winner (“Good Will Hunting”) is joining two excellent projects. First he’s playing former president Dwight D. Eisenhower in Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” with an all star cast that includes Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, John Cusack and another Oscar winner, Melissa Leo, as Mamie Eisenhower. If “The Butler” isn’t an Oscar nominee in 2014, something will be terribly wrong. Then Williams goes into Phil Alden Robinson’s “The Angriest Man in Brooklyn.” He stars in it again with Melissa Leo (let’s hope they get along), Peter Dinklage, and James Earl Jones. Robinson, of course, made “Field of Dreams,” and wrote Carl Reiner’s brilliant “All of Me” with Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin, so we love him. Robin Williams has a crazy movie career and a crazier personal life, but we love him, too, and hope these two films bring him back with a vengeance. If he’s good as Eisenhower, we can all wear “I Like Ike” buttons again.

So Inside: Nikki Finke at War with Bret Easton Ellis and THR; THR Panders to Bert Fields

Roger Friedman
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0
So Inside: Nikki Finke at War with Bret Easton Ellis and THR; THR Panders to Bert Fields

It’s a very slow news day, “The Dark Knight” is about to slay the box office, we had hail this afternoon in lower Manhattan not quite as big as golf balls–more like Good n Plenty raining down on the city. Where was Batman to save us? Respected, established critic Marshall Fine said something critical about “The Dark  Knight” and fanboys threatened his life on Rotten Tomatoes.  So let me go on record: I loved it. Stay away from my house.

Of course, I’m in the phone book. Nikki Fine is not. She’s been hiding for a long time. “Less than Zero” and “American Psycho” author Brett Easton Ellis discovered that Nikki lives in the same apartment building in West Hollywood. He said so, and Nikki–who has no restraint whatsoever when it comes to vitriol–went after him like Ellis’s Patrick Bateman on a bad date. Ellis Tweeted that Finke called building management to complain, basically lost it. They are now at war.

Ellis Tweeted: “Nikki Finke: the hectoring, threatening, vaguely litigious e-mails she sent to our buildings owner and management was a truly awful thing…” Listen, Brett that’s nothing if Nikki is mad. Anyway, Nikki is busy venting at The Hollywood Reporter over a story they wrote about Warner Bros.’ Barry Meyer leaving his job running the studio. Today, Finke writes: “‘The Hollywood Reporter has really hurt their credibility. I don’t understand how they could write that stuff. It isn’t true,” Time Warner told me.”‘ You understand, all through this rant, it’s “Time Warner told me”–the whole company is now a speaking person. It’s a source at, or a spokesman for–it’s Time Warner, like a first and last name. There is such a person, and Nikki knows them. I have the screen capture. This is so awesome. Time Warner must be one of the Warner brothers.

Of course, it’s The Hollywood Reporter, which is a weird website, and a very expensive looking magazine said to be losing zillions of dollars. Its owners, Guggenheim Partners, just bought the Los Angeles Dodgers. I’m told the G’s want out now, and are looking at other big properties with a little more zip. But while they wait, THR today hits another low, forget about insulting Mr. (or Miss) Time Warner. They run a diary of Bert Fields’ weekend solving the Tom Cruise divorce case. He’s very busy with it, flies to New York secretly, but still has time to dine with Dustin Hoffman, see his new movie, and read poetry to his lovely wife, art dealer Barbara Guggenheim. Reading this caused me to use the last nausea patch in my medicine cabinet, and put it behind my ear before I fainted. Tom Cruise is so lucky to have this Renaissance man on his team, a man whose name turned up more times in the Anthony Pellicano federal indictment than the word “and.” If only the government had known Bert reads poetry to his wife!

I do feel bad for Brett Easton Ellis. He’s a nice guy. I knew him in New York. I can’t imagine where he and Nikki live–there are only a couple of luxury buildings suitable for them in West Hollywood. I’m thinking Empire West or Sierra Towers. Both buildings are stuffed with stars, many older and retired who don’t want to run their own homes. Do these people know all this is going on? What do they say in the laundry room? For years I stayed in Empire West. The late Suzanne Pleshette ran the building unofficially. My friend Julia Phillips, also gone, once set fire accidentally to her bedroom. It was the talk of the elevator for weeks. Bert Fields has represented Nikki Finke in the past, which is why she was the only entertainment journalist in the Modern World not to write a word about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. So Nikki and THR actually have something in common–they both love Bert Fields. Maybe Nikki can get Bert to come read some poetry to Brett. A Haiku perhaps. Or a limerick.

And this is why I write about Hollywood from New York. And just in case you were wondering, Julia Roberts lives across the street from me, and Daniel Day Lewis is around the corner.

PS I didn’t know what photo to run with this story. So that’s a picture of R&B great Mavis Staples, who’s appearing Friday at Lincoln Center in a tribute to the late great Curtis Mayfield with the Roots and the original Impressions. If you’re here in NYC, don’t miss this show.

Madonna London Show Panned by Press, Booed by Fans

Roger Friedman
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Madonna London Show Panned by Press, Booed by Fans

Madonna had a tough time performing in Hyde Park last night in London. First of all, it was raining, which never makes for a good show. Second, she was roundly panned by the newspaper critics and booed by fans who left early. Part of the problem: the show is heavy on songs from the flop album “MDNA” and light on the hits. Note to Madonna: this is contrary to what anyone will tell you in 2012. Roger Waters is performing Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” in stadiums. Paul McCartney does his Beatles and Wings hits. Sting is only hits, either symphonic or rock versions.

But Madonna can’t be told anything. Also, she doesn’t own the publishing rights to much of her early catalog, and doesn’t emphasize it anymore. The Evening Standard, Guardian, and Daily Mail were among the papers that thrashed her. They also quoted fans who said it was the worst show they’d ever seen and that they didn’t recognize the songs.

Here’s the set list. She sang 7 hits only, including a non hit called “Celebration” that’s supposed to replace “Holiday” a song with the refrain “Celebrate, it will be all right.” But Madge didn’t write “Holiday,” so it’s gone. I won’t be seeing Madonna at Yankee Stadium, but if I were going, I’d like to hear “Beautiful Stranger,” “Into the Groove,” “Isla Bonita,” “Borderline,” even the cacophonous “Music.” When Madonna goes to fake Yom Kippur services at the Kabbalah Center this fall, she’s going to have a lot to atone for.

Transgression
The Prayer Overture: Act of Contrition
(with Kalakan) (with excerpts from “Lekhah dodi”)
Girl Gone Wild
(with samples from “Material … more)
Revolver
Gang Bang
Papa Don’t Preach
Hung Up
(with samples from “Girl Gone Wild”)
I Don’t Give A
Prophecy
Best Friend
(video interlude; with samples from “Heartbeat”)
Express Yourself
(with excerpts from “Born This … more)
Give Me All Your Luvin’
Turning Up the Hits
(video interlude; with samples … more)
Turn Up the Radio
Open Your Heart
(with Kalakan) (with excerpts from “Sagarra jo!” by Kalakan)
Masterpiece
(with Kalakan)
Masculine/Feminine
Justify My Love
(video interlude)
Vogue
Candy Shop
(with samples from “Ashamed of … more)
Human Nature
Like a Virgin
(with samples from “Evgeni’s … more)
Celebration
Nobody Knows Me
(video interlude)
I’m Addicted
I’m a Sinner
(with Kalakan) (with excerpts from “Cyber-Raga”)
Like a Prayer
Celebration
(with samples from “Girl Gone Wild”)

 

Katie Holmes Should Be Nervous About Tom Cruise’s Sister Visiting with Suri

Roger Friedman
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1
Katie Holmes Should Be Nervous About Tom Cruise’s Sister Visiting with Suri

If I were Katie Holmes, I’d be a bit apprehensive about Tom Cruise’s visit with six year old Suri at the Greenwich Hotel. Why? Tom has brought with him his sister Cass Mapother, the Scientology homeschooling teacher who instructed Nicole Kidman’s kids, Connor and Isabella, away from their mother. Cass was also one of Katie’s “minders” during her wilderness days with Cruise. She was the one who appeared with her mother at the Armani fashion show in 2007 and threw herself between me and Katie before I could speak to her. (I often wonder how much of this period Holmes remembers.) Cass Mapother is married to Greg

Capazario, a long time Scientologist who runs one of their sketchier activities, Criminon. (This for the indoctrination of prisoners in jails.) These people are hardcore in the cult, and not exactly the sort of people who would tread lightly around poor little Suri. Cass Mapother’s first husband took Scientology courses 20 years ago before he left her. Their child remained behind (just like Cruise and Kidman’s kids) and became a serious Scientologist. Cass Mapother was seen in pictures yesterday at the Greenwich Hotel bearing gifts of toys for Suri. Caveat emptor, Suri.

Even though Katie Holmes has enrolled Suri in a Catholic school, let’s never forget Tom’s exchange with Diane Sawyer. To wit; there are Catholic Scientologists and Jewish Scientologists. “But we,” Tom said, “are Scientologist Scientologists.”

Cass Mapother, by the way, by all accounts is also on her third marriage with Capazorio. She’s been registered with Scientology under three different names. During her second marriage in the 1990s, she worked feverishly up the Scientology ladder. She completed about 40 “courses” between 1994 and 2005.

 

Movie Academy Elects Six New Governors, Brings Back Tom Hanks, Michael Mann

Roger Friedman
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Movie Academy Elects Six New Governors, Brings Back Tom Hanks, Michael Mann

News from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. There are six new governors. Tom Hanks and Michael Mann return. Bill Condon is added.

Beverly Hills, CA – Six first-time governors have been elected to the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – Dante Spinotti, representing the Cinematographers branch; Lisa Cholodenko, Directors branch; Dick Cook, Executives; John Knoll, Visual Effects; Scott Millan, Sound and Bill Condon, Writers. In addition, seven incumbents were reelected and three other motion picture professionals will return to the Board after a time away.

Returning to the board after a hiatus are Michael Mann, Directors; Arthur Hamilton, Music; and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers. Mann previously served from 2000 to 2006. Hamilton most recently served from 2008 to 2011, he has served a total of 33 years. Kennedy was on the board from 1994 to 1997 and again from 2002 to 2011.

The reelected governors are Tom Hanks, Actors; Jim Bissell, Designers; Rob Epstein, Documentary; Mark Goldblatt, Film Editors; Leonard Engelman, Makeup and Hairstylists; Rob Friedman, Public Relations and Bill Kroyer; Short Films & Feature Animation.

Fourteen of the Academy’s 15 branches are represented by three governors, who may serve up to three consecutive three-year terms. Terms are staggered so that each branch elects or reelects one governor each year. The Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch is represented by a single governor.

At the end of 2011, Directors Branch Governor Paul Mazursky stepped down from his seat on the Board.  Lisa Cholodenko was elected to complete the 2 years remaining on Mr. Mazursky’s term and Michael Mann was elected to a new three-year term.

Governors who were not up for reelection and who continue on the Board are Ed Begley, Jr. and Annette Bening, Actors Branch; John Bailey and Richard Crudo, Cinematographers; Rosemary Brandenburg and Jeffrey Kurland, Designers; Kathryn Bigelow, Directors; Michael Apted and Michael Moore, Documentary; Jim Gianopulos and Robert Rehme, Executives; Anne V. Coates and Michael Tronick, Film Editors; Charles Fox and David L. Newman, Music; Gale Anne Hurd and Hawk Koch, Producers; Cheryl Boone Isaacs and Marvin Levy, Public Relations; Jon Bloom and John Lasseter, Short Films and Feature Animation; Curt Behlmer and Don Hall, Sound; Craig Barron and Richard Edlund, Visual Effects; and Frank Pierson and Phil Robinson, Writers.

Labor Day Telethon Reduced to 3 Hours, Jerry Lewis Completely Erased

Roger Friedman
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Labor Day Telethon Reduced to 3 Hours, Jerry Lewis Completely Erased

Despite a change in the production team, and a change among its executives, the Muscular Dystrophy Association is continuing to make strange choices. The annual Labor Day telethon will be reducted to just three hours this year, down from six last year, and the old 21 hours that so became a part of Labor Day traditions. The show, now produced by R.A. Clark, son of the late Dick Clark, has not announced its hosts yet. But on the MDA website there is no longer a history page, or any mention of Jerry Lewis.

Lewis, rudely dumped from the show and MDA last year, served over 50 years as MDA’s champion and spokesperson. There is now nothing left of all those years of blood, sweat, tears, shrieking, crying, inveigling, etc. It’s all been swept away.

Last fall, after the scandal of Lewis leaving and the show being downsized, MDA got rid of longtime exec Gerald Weinberg and fired their TV production team. There was a glimmer of hope that MDA would reinstate Lewis or at least do something kind for him, or apologize. But it does seem that ship has sailed. All of MDA’s good will has been squandered, which is a great tragedy for Jerry’s kids and all the kids who’ve thrived because of the organization.

I wrote on March 19th in Forbes.com (now all obliterated thanks to that website’s shortcomings):

Fans of Jerry Lewis are still smarting from his ouster last year as chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The ouster included his unceremoniously being dumped as host of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon after around 50 years of service. What we didn’t know until recently: Gerald Weinberg, the man responsible for Lewis’s public drubbing, was himself retired very quickly and quietly from MDA after last fall’s telethon. A press release went out and got little notice that Weinberg, who was making nearly$400,000 annually as the head of MDA, was retiring at the age of 82. http://www.bizjournals.com/prnewswire/press_releases/2011/12/12/NY21368

But insiders tell me Weinberg was fired. And MDA is looking for a new chief. There’s more: Lewis doesn’t talk much about what happened. At the 92nd St Y last Friday, an audience member asked him, “How does anyone fire Jerry Lewis?” Lewis responded: “Easy!” Jerry cried. “Very easy. If Jerry Lewis has a  problem with the leadership, and the leadership can change that”– that. meaning Lewis. And now the leadership is gone, too.

For Lewis, Weinberg’s end is probably too little, too late. The telethon used to run 21 hours over Labor Day weekend. Last year, it was cut to six hours. This September, it will be reduced to a three hour show. Very quietly, after Weinberg was retired, MDA brought in a new producer, R.A. Clark, Dick Clark’s son. “The entire production team from last year was fired,” says a source. Some Lewis loyalists are hopeful that MDA will make peace with Lewis and ask him to return for a real send off. But a friend says he’ll never do it. “He’s done.”

With Weinberg gone, salaries at MDA still remain pretty healthy. One million dollars is divided among the five remaining senior staffers. And according to the MDA’s most recent Form 990, for 2010, three board members got nice inside deals for work done: Edward Nigro ($214,050 for real estate renovations), Steve Farella  ($219,207 for PSA Placements), and Daniel G. Fries ($314,285for Pension Actuarial Services). Jerry Lewis got nothing.

Macy’s Knows the Heights of Its Celebrity Pals

Roger Friedman
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0
Macy’s Knows the Heights of Its Celebrity Pals

Macy’s is shooting a commercial for its fall campaign in the next couple of weeks. They need SAG extras to play the celebrities who are attached to the department store as celebrity endorsers. Luckily they know the height of all these people, In case you’re wondering, Justin Bieber has not grown much. He’s about the height of Tom Cruise according to Telsey and company’s casting notice:

CAMILLA ALVES 5 ft. 8 – 5 ft. 10in. (claim to fame–being Mrs. Matthew McConnaughey)

MARTHA STEWART 5 ft. 9in.

DONALD TRUMP 6 ft. 2in.- 6 ft. 3in.

SEAN COMBS 5 ft. 9 – 5 ft. 11in.

TAYLOR SWIFT 5 ft. 10in.

JUSTIN BIEBER 5 ft. – 7in.

CARLOS SANTANA 5 ft. 9in. 5 ft. 10in. – Shoulder length black hair.

Elton John Describes His 1990 Rehab in Extraordinary New Book

Roger Friedman
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Elton John Describes His 1990 Rehab in Extraordinary New Book

Elton John has written an extraordinary new book about his life. It’s a not a kiss and tell and not how he recorded “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” or dressed up like the Statue of Liberty on stage. It’s how he came to terms with being gay and what made him an AIDS activist. I remember when we were teenagers and suspected something was up with Elton–it was during his heyday, when no rock stars were gay. We knew he was flamboyant, but could never quite put it together. Here’s a small excerpt about his time in rehab, how it changed him. Get this book! It’s called “Love is the Cure.” I downloaded it from amazon.com Kindle because to wait for a publisher’s copy might mean me sitting here until Tisha B’av. It’s only $14.99, and the proceeds go to Elton’s AIDS foundation, so it’s well worth it.

“My time at Parkside Lutheran was as challenging as it was transformative. The first days were especially difficult. When you deprive your body of cocaine after having used very much and very frequently, as I had, the craving for it is inconceivably enormous. I went through bouts of extreme anxiety and irritability. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t think about anything but my own misery. This was compounded by the fact that I had stopped using not just cocaine but everything I had self-medicated with: the booze, the food, the sex. I was depressed and alone. I felt sick and weak and foggy. Needless to say, the first stages of rehab were among the most trying periods of my life. The most important part of my time in rehab was that, to all with whom I interacted, I was not Elton John the rock star. I was just Elton. Elton the addict. For years I had thought that my station in life provided me with the tools I would need to help myself. I thought I was somehow uniquely situated to overcome what other people could not.

“How wrong I was. From the moment I walked into that hospital, the playing field was leveled. We were all the same. Suffering, struggling addicts who wanted to get better but didn’t know if we could. We were all people who had made bad choices and seen the consequences, but then made the same choices despite ourselves. And we had done so again, and again, and again. The truth of it all was that simple: no matter where we had come from, what we had accomplished or failed to accomplish, what our life experiences had been up to that point, we were all the same. And none of us would get better without asking others for help. The path to recovery wasn’t a straight one, by any means. I remember quite clearly, on many occasions, wanting desperately to run away.

“Two separate times, I came awfully close to doing just that. It didn’t merely seem like the easier path; it categorically was. I could have left, been on a plane back to London, and been back in my room, with the relief that would come with the buzz of cocaine and a drink. If not for Ryan [White] and Hugh [Elton’s boyfriend at the time], I would indeed have run away. Thank God I stayed. Over time it did get easier. I could feel a genuine transformation happening inside me. I was working hard at it, and I could feel myself changing. Every day of staying sober was a challenge, but it was invigorating to feel that I was regaining control over my life, my direction, my choices. And I’d say the biggest driver of my progress was the overwhelming kindness of the strangers I met in rehab. People were remarkably helpful.”

Occupy Batman: Dark Knight Rises Has Echoes of Dickens and Zuccotti Park

Roger Friedman
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0
Occupy Batman: Dark Knight Rises Has Echoes of Dickens and Zuccotti Park

Director Christopher Nolan says “The Dark Knight Rises” is all about Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities.” But it’s really also “Occupy Gotham City” as Selina Kyle aka Catwoman tells Bruce, “A storm is coming” and he’s not going to like it as the disenfranchised of Gotham City revolt against the wealthy–like Bruce, in stately Wayne Manor. “The Dark Knight Rises” had a glittery New York premiere last night with most of the cast–except Michael Caine–assembled and accounted for at AMC Lincoln Square followed by an elegant party at the New York Public Library (decorated, I am told, to look like Wayne Manor.)

At the premiere: Gloria Steinem (who was married to star Christian Bale’s father, David, before his untimely death), Ron Howard, Russell Simmons, Donald Trump, Hailee Steinfeld (from “True Grit”), rocker Chris Daughtry, Zoe Jackson (daughter of Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson), and Tom Hathaway, Anne’s brother, who just landed a web series satirizing the media from the 1950s. Hathaway brought her fiance, Adam Schulman, his parents, her parents, her brothers, and all her college friends from Vassar. Their group was the hit of the night.

What can I tell you? “The Dark Knight Rises” is quite a movie. I saw the IMAX version last night, which is wide-wide-wide screen, and something to behold. Gotham City–New York with dollops of other things cut in–looks magnificent. Saks Fifth Avenue has a prominent commercial plug–it’s the only thing left standing after villianous Bane (Tom Hardy) and his band of violent 99 percenters wreck havoc on the city. I can’t give too much away –but feh on David Letterman, I don’t know what he was talking about. Let me put it this way: Nolan gives his “Batman” trilogy a suitably emotional and hopeful epic ending worthy of the “Lord of the Rings” finale. No one will be disappointed. and there are several ‘lump in the throat’ moments in the last third of this 165 minute movie.

Some people on the screen I was happy to see aside from the main actors: Matthew Modine as Gotham City’s police captain, Tom Conti as Bruce’s friend during the long middle act, and Jillian Armanente (from “Judging Amy”) who gets to give away a major clue and spoiler toward the end of the film. Modine is sensational as Deputy Police Commissioner Foley.

The primary cast is outstanding. Christian Bale gets more face time as Bruce Wayne than in the two prior films, and is more nuanced and sympathetic than ever as Bruce Wayne. The film is somber, and there aren’t many laughs, so Anne Hathaway is a welcome relief as Selina aka Catwoman. As she’s done in films like “Rachel Getting Married,” Hathaway is expert at conveying humor in dramatic moments. Her Catwoman/Selina is as good as Heath Ledger’ Joker–she nails Selina’s grappling with being very very bad and also sort of adoring Batman. Julie Newmar and all the other Cat-women will be proud.

The best part of Nolan’s movie is that it feels real and honest. There’s very little CGI, there’s a lot of action, and even when it’s physically impossible it feels real. The script has many references to the first two films — including a cameo by Liam Neeson and a photograph of Maggie Gyllenhaal. There’s no Batmobile to speak of, but there are plenty of vehicles including a flying machine called The Bat and Catwoman’s motorcycle, which reminded me of Batgirl’s bike from the old “Batman” TV series.

Is Warner Bros. finished with “Batman”? Not by a long shot. A sequel is set up as this film comes to a close, and there is every indication that a successor has been chosen for Christian Bale. I asked him at the premiere how he felt to pass on the cape and cowl. “I haven’t passed it on yet!” he cried. No, he gets to keep them at least through the box office run of “The Dark Knight Rises.”

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