Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Donate
Home Blog Page 2149

Mick Jagger Gives “The King’s Speech” Some Satisfaction

Roger Friedman
-
1

Awards season in Hollywood and New York is still going on for front runners “The Social Network and “The King’s Speech. ” Tomorrow night in New York, Tina Brown is hosting an A list cocktail party for the “Network” team. Hopefully, producer Scott Rudin will be well enough to attend and welcome star guests like Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue. Last night in Hollywood: an eclectic group of celebs starting with rock stars like Mick Jagger, Lenny Kravitz, and Marc Anthony and JLO, toasted “The King’s Speech” gang (Firth, Rush, Hooper) at the Chateau Marmont. The Audi sponsored get together included an invite to nominees from all 10 Best Picture candidates who’d been at the Academy nominees lunch earlier that day. Jane Fonda and Richard Perry, Renee Zellweger, “Blue Valentine” nominee Michelle Williams with bff Busy Phillips (they were on “Dawson’s Creek” together), cast members from “Glee” (Cory Montieth) and “Modern Family,” (Jesse Tyler Ferguson). Mickey and Jan Rooney, Don Rickles–yes Don Rickles!, Nikki Haskell, and Lucy Punch helped give nominee Geoffrey Rush a send off to New York where he starts his play, “Diary of a Mad Man,” at BAM on Friday night. (Rush will get a big welcome tonight in New York for his acclaimed stage performance transferring from Australia.)

There were lots of reunions, too: actor brothers Keith and Robert Carradine were on hand. And a bevy of actors who worked in classic Miramax films were there like Minnie Driver and Stellan Skarsgard (with son Alex, the hot star of “True Blood”) from “Good Will Hunting”; Timothy Spall from “The King’s Speech” and  “Love’s Labours Lost”; plus Anthony LaPaglia, Amanda Seyfried, “Lord of the Rings” guys Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan, Elizabeth Banks, Gerard Butler, Jennifer Beals, Jeremy Piven, and Brit superstar Anthony Andrews, who’s in “TKS” but is fondly remembered here for “Brideshead Revisited.”

The New Yorker Magazine Takes on Scientology in Hollywood: Bravo!

Roger Friedman
-
9

The New Yorker– venerable and respected–has taken on the Church of Scientology.

Lawrence Wright’s piece, called “The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology,” chronicles the Oscar winning screenwriter and film director’s departure from Scientology after 34 years. It’s something this reporter has written about often, not only Haggis’s exit but that of other Hollywood stars. Wright goes even further: he has actor Josh Brolin describe his brief encounter with Scientology. It scared him. Brolin–smart, respected–has taken a big chance here because Scientology is vindictive. They’ve already called him a liar less than 24 hours since his anecdote was published.

I know Josh Brolin, and he’s no liar. He says he saw John Travolta try to “heal” Marlon Brando using Scientology techniques. “It was f–ing bizarre,” Brolin said.

I told readers of this column last year that Haggis left Scientology for two reasons: their campaign for Prop 8 against gay marriage, and for their treatment of former members. Haggis told me that when his in-laws left the Church, he and his wife were told to have nothing to do with them anymore. They banned the Haggis’s child from seeing his grandparents. This went on for a year, Paul told me. The toll it took was brutal on the family. Haggis’s in laws sued to see their grandson. Finally, Haggis and his wife, actress Deborah Rennard, caved in, reunited with the grandparents, and exited Scientology. The whole story, in detail, is in The New Yorker piece.

For years I’ve written about the horrors of Scientology, right up through Kelly Preston, John Travolta’s wife, confronting me in Memphis on the night before Isaac Hayes’s bizarre Scientology tinged funeral. Preston and Tommy Davis, chief celebrity wrangler for Scientology, then went to my bosses at Fox News to complain about me. Or more. I’ve also written about Tom Cruise‘s antics, Kirstie Alley‘s Scientology based diet plan, about Davis’s wife, Jessica Feschbach, who was Katie Holmes’s “monitor” when she first was scooped up into Cruise’s world and cut off from family and friends.  I also wrote about actor Jason Beghe, and how he escaped after 14 years. And lots more. Lawrence Wright‘s piece–which is long and incredibly detailed and comprehensive–is a brilliant job and a must read.

Bravo!

Spider Man Musical: Told Not To, the Critics Review it Anyway

Roger Friedman
-
3

The New York Times, trade papers Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, as well as USA Today and Bloomberg News, all disregarded the set opening date of “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” and reviewed it tonight.

The opening had been set for tonight after several postponements. The new date was March 15th. But all three publications said enough was enough, and went ahead with reviews.

Only Elyse Gardner in USA Today “got it.” She wrote that “Turn off the Dark” was really an old fashioned musical at heart.

Variety’s review was mixed, at best. Steve Suskin took issue with the “book” or plot, and the musical score.

David Rooney in The Hollywood Reporter was less kind. He really lacerated the show.

It’s unclear whether other publications–even the New York tabss–will now follow lead and review “Spider Man.” I can tell you that this ambush was just that, and unexpected. I happened to be with one of the show’s producers, Norton Herrick, at the premiere tonight of a movie he backed called “Vanishing on 7th Street.” (Very creepy, cool, post apocalyptic horror film.) Herrick was gobsmacked when he got the news of the reviews.”That’s not right,” he said. You betcha.

It does seem from the trade reviews that what’s really galled the critics is that “Spider Man” is a hit. It’s the second highest  grossing show on Broadway, right behind “Wicked.” Lately it’s been outselling even “The Lion King.” The reviewers want to make a case that it’s all about curiosity. They think audiences are coming to see a train wreck. Quite the opposite: if the show were so bad, word of mouth would kill it. Honestly, people really like “Spider Man.” And frankly, why not? The sets, costumes, and aerial arrangements are fantastic. Seventy five percent of it works. And by March 15th, when reviewers are really supposed to review it, “Spider Man” should be up around 90%. That’s better than a lot of Broadway shows.

Aretha Franklin Will Send Video Message to Grammy Awards

Roger Friedman
-
4

The great and legendary Aretha Franklin, contrary to crazy web reports, is not appearing live on stage at Sunday’s Grammy Awards. Miss Franklin, if you are new to this planet, travels by bus. She does not fly. She rarely travels west of the Rockies, and she’s still recuperating from her winter illness. So she’s taped a video message that will be played during the show for her fans–who are everyone, really. She is fine and dandy. She will look a lot thinner, I think, than in her last public outing. But she is healthy. There will be a tribute to her on stage, which there should be every year. But it’s not a send off. Aretha will be back, and soon!

Paul Simon New Song, “The Afterlife,” Premieres

Roger Friedman
-
1

Paul Simon’s second new song from his forthcoming album has popped up on the internet at http://stereogum.com/632822/paul-simon-the-afterlife-stereogum-premiere/mp3s/

“The Afterlife” comes from the album, “So Beautiful, So What” which Concord releases on April 12th. It follows “Getting Ready for Christmas Day,” which we heard last month–follows it also on the track listing and musically. It does seem like “So Beautiful So What” might be a theme album–yikes–very much agains the tide in these days of downloading singles.

Here are some of the lyrics:

“After I died and the makeup had dried/ I went back to my place /No moon that night, but a heavenly light shown down on my face/Still I thought it was odd there was no sign of God just to usher me in/Then a voice from above sugarcoated with love said, “Let us begin”

You got to fill out a form first/
And then you wait in the line”

Paul Simon is the greatest American lyricist of the pop era, maybe ever. I can only hope that this album is marketed right, and that the public responds, that the standard of understanding hasn’t been so diminished that Simon isn’t embraced as he should be.

Huffington Report Sold — or Just Returns to– AOL? And Who Will Write for Free Now?

Roger Friedman
-
2

The Huffington Post was sold to AOL for $315 million. But wait–didn’t they just return to where they started? While readers’ comments everywhere this morning lament the corporate takeover of HuffPo, they may be missing the point. The guy who’s been running HuffPo from the beginning, Ken Lerer, former PR flack for David Letterman, came from AOL in the first place. He was Executive Vice President of AOL for quite a while. So let’s not kid ourselves when Arianna Huffington and Tim Armstrong say he just called her up one day out of the blue. Their connection was cemented a long time ago.

Next: HuffPo was sued last November–the same time that Arianna and Tim say they began talks–by two consultants who claimed they gave Huffington and Lerer the idea for a blog involving liberal Democratic views. Reports in November questioned why the consultants had waited so long, and why they filed at that exact moment. More: also in November, maybe coincidentally, Michael Perlis, of Softbank Capital, the investment firm behind HuffPo, left SoftBank to run Forbes Media. According to this morning’s San Francisco Chronicle, Softbank along with Greycroft Partners (Alan Patricof) and Robert Pittman (one of the founders of MTV) put $10 million in HuffPo over two rounds of funding.

See if you can follow this: before Tim Armstrong ran AOL, he was at Google and also chairman of the board of Associated Content, that firm that regurgitates news anonymously for the web. He was succeeded by...Michael Perlis.

But the real winners may be Oak Investment Partners, who put $25 million into HuffPo at a $100 million valuation. They own 25% of the Huffington Post.

What does the sale of HuffPo mean for real people? One thing I’ve never understood–that name writers “blog” for the site for free. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of them. Will they still be blogging or editorializing for free now that AOL owns the site? What would be the purpose of that? When it was just Huffington Post, blogging for them seemed cool and insidery. But AOL pays writers–even if it’s a little bit–for their work. Why shouldn’t they pay all those free contributors to HuffPo? But AOL, it would seem, wanted HuffPo for that blogger model–lots of contributors, no money out. It remains to be seen if that volunteer network will hold.

Peas Please But Christina Goofs, Prince Skips, Celebs Flood Super Bowl

Roger Friedman
-
3

What a Super Bowl weekend. Prince did what he always does, and canceled a concert at the last minute, leaving everyone high, wet, mad in the Dallas snow. Maybe he checked the two existing federal tax filings for the Goss-Michael Foundation, for which he was supposed to play: the George Michael (the singer) charity finished in the red both in 2007 and 2008. So Prince skipped playing for $1,500 a ticket. Music stars fared unevenly at the Super Bowl. The Black Eyed Peas, Slash, and Usher were all terrific, I thought, during the halftime show. Fergie and Slash were exciting on “Sweet Child O Mine”; she really the greatest voice and has to sing more, not rap. On the other hand, Christina Aguilera looked nuts and sounded worse as she mangled “The Star Spangled Banner.” It was more like the Star-Splattered Banner as she forgot a key line, mashed two others together, and screeched all over the place. Just sing the song, Christina. it doesn’t require a triple somersault!

And then there were the celebs. everyone from Randy Jackson, Ron Howard, and John Travolta to Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher–the latter was spotted sitting just above George W. and Laura Bush. Our spy on the scene, Norah Lawlor, ran into the Yankees’ Mark Texiera, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, Owen Wilson, Steve Bing, Condoleeza Rice, and Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart. And everyone in the world got to see Cameron Diaz stuffing something into the mouth of boyfriend Alex Rodriguez. Let’s hope it was fat free–we’re just a few weeks from spring training.

Sony had all three of its stars from the almost-released “Just Go with It” there to plug the movie–Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler, and Brooklyn Dekker.

There are lists everywhere on the web of other, more shall we say B listers. Fox imported its “Glee” cast, and Ryan Seacrest with girlfriend Julianne Hough. Also, “X Men” star Hugh Jackman with wife Debra Lee–in pictures, Hugh–who’s bulking up for his next film–is straining through his sport jacket. The best news: that Michael Douglas looked so fit in his commercial and in person. Good work, Michael. Keep getting better!

Exclusive: Harvey Weinstein Doc Premieres This Friday in Toronto

Roger Friedman
-
2

A Harvey Weinstein documentary timed with the Oscars. Hmm… Good or bad thing? According to filmmaker Barry Avrich, it won’t be bad. Expect no scandals or controversies from “The Harvey Weinstein Project” when it’s screened at the end of this week in Toronto. The film then goes to HBO Canada with an airing on February 21st. Avrich tells me that IFC Films plans a late April-early May release here in the States. For the film, Avrich interviewed tons of industry people including Harvey’s original Miramax team including Meryl Poster, Mark Gill, and Eammon Bowles.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are seen in archival footage, but otherwise there are no big actor stars. Martin Scorsese (who had successes with Harvey on “The Aviator” and “Gangs of New York”), Mike Medavoy, novelist John Irving (many Oscar nominations for the excellent version of “The Cider House Rules”), James Ivory (“A Room with a View”) was an early Miramax home run) and the late George Hickenlooper (the ill-fated “Factory Girl”) are the only marquee names. Some journalists who’ve written about Weinstein are there, like The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta and the New York Times’s David Carr.

“I didn’t want to have Gwyneth Paltrow gushing about how great a guy Harvey is,” Avrich told me. Weinstein himself is not interviewed, although Avrich said, “We have a cordial email correspondence.”

Avrich also says the film will have no impact one way or another on Harvey’s Oscar run with “The King’s Speech.” “There’s absolutely nothing that he would take offense to. It’s just the story of the only mogul who became a brand.”

Between Avrich’s film and the Vanity Fair profile that just came out, it looks like February 2011 is going to be a good news month for New York’s most famous movie man.

SNL: Dana Carvey and Pals Come to Rescue, plus Justin Bieber (Hmmmm)…

Roger Friedman
-
4
SNL: Dana Carvey and Pals Come to Rescue, plus Justin Bieber (Hmmmm)…

Dana Carvey (a pleasure to see) brought a reluctant and kind of icy Mike Myers with him, plus Jon Lovitz, to try and save “Saturday Night Live” from its torpor. I’m not sure it worked, or anything can. This season has been a disaster, and it just gets worse and worse. The additional cast members, whose names no one knows or cares about, are just terrible. The “vets”–Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Bill Hader, Kristin Wiig, Kenan Thompson–are over it, as they say. The stand out sequence, toward the end, was the “Regis” parody–dead on, actually and very funny. “Wayne’s World” returned with Carvey and Myers, who riffed on the title of “Winter’s Bone” for the Oscars. Oy. The best moment in the whole show comes at 1:31 on your DVR, at the very end, when Myers folds him arms and stands way to the left of the screen. Jon Lovitz tries in vain to engage him. Myers mouths “how are you?” then backs away. Then one of the new cast members tries to speak to him, and Myers signals that he can’t speak, as if he has laryngitis.

Two more things about SNL: Justin Bieber, smaller than Dana Carvey’s teen sons, and wearing girl’s red rain boots with inch high platforms. He did not sing on the show. Even in his “Church Lady” scene with Carvey, he didn’t even hum. I always say, singers want to sing. Look at Steven Tyler on “American Idol.” He’s ready to break out into song at any moment. (Jennifer Lopez is not.) I hope Bieber’s movie makes him a lot of money, and that he manages to save and invest it. The clock is ticking.

And the James Franco bit on “Weekend Update” was actually pretty funny. “I like having jobs!” the guy says, as he handles the cue cards and cleans the desk. Whoever played Franco got it.

PS Linkin Park: good timing, six months after their album came out. Talk about marketing.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/213306/saturday-night-live-church-chat

WGA: “Mad Men” Named Best Drama, and Best Episodic Series

Roger Friedman
-
0
WGA: “Mad Men” Named Best Drama, and Best Episodic Series

“Mad Men” won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Drama. Series writer Erin Levy also won for Best Episodic Drama–an award for a specific episode.

Series creator Matthew Weiner accepted the award, ironic since he still has no deal to do a fifth season of the popular, award winning show.

Weiner joked, “We thought you forgot about us.” He then brought up all the writers for the show. Weiner was referring to the fact that HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” has lately been picking up all the drama awards for television. Indeed, “Boardwalk Empire” won the award for Best New Drama.

“Modern Family” won Best Comedy. “The Social Network” won Best Adapted Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. “Inception” by Christopher Nolan won Best Original Screenplay.

Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock joked that the WGA Awards are so obscure, guests have to pay for their own parking. Well, that’s the story of writers in Hollywood, isn’t it? There would be no movies or TV without them, but writers are always third class citizens.

1...2,1482,1492,150...2,322Page 2,149 of 2,322

Hollywood to the Hudson

Company

Trending

Categories

© Showbiz411.com