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Michael Jackson’s New Album Finishes at Number 3 in US, But It’s an International Hit

Roger Friedman
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Michael Jackson’s New Album Finishes at Number 3 in US, But It’s an International Hit

Michael Jackson‘s “Michael” album enters the charts at number 3 this week, right behind Taylor Swift and Susan Boyle.

“Michael” sold 224,000 copies, about 25,000 less than the two women.

On the other hand, “Michael” was the highest debut album of the week according to hitsdailydouble.com. It outsold new CDs by R. Kelly and P Diddy by more than 100,000 copies. Around the world, however, Sony says it’s an international hit. (See further below.)

However, Jackson’s last album, “Invincible,” sold 363,000 copies in its first week, back on October 30, 2001.

Given the modest amount of money that went into marketing “Michael” and the huge sums wasted on P Diddy, you could say “Michael” is even a bigger hit.

What it lacks, though, is a break out hit. And the album still has not overcome the stigma of Jackson’s vocals possibly not being his–and they are.

Sony sort of screwed this up from the beginning. The version of “Breaking News” that was put on the website for streaming in November didn’t sound like Michael Jackson. It was in fact the wrong mix. This led the rabid Jackson fans to scream that they were being fooled.

It’s too bad: “Breaking News” is a great single. On the album, it’s clearly Michael Jackson singing all the way through the lead. Jackson fans are denying themselves a real treat if they think otherwise.

The real first single, “Hold My Hand,” with Akon, has not been a crowd pleaser.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but I do think Sony rushed the release. They had no marketing campaign, no focus, and a lot of negativity to overcome. If they’d waited til spring, some more thought could have gone into how to launch this CD.

“Michael” has plenty of potential singles. “Monster,” “Keep Your Head Up,” and “Another Day” are all great. But Sony’s going to have to implement some out of the box thinking to make them happen.

Around the world, “Michael” is a different story. Here’s a press release from Sony:

# MICHAEL shipped Platinum in 14 territories including the United States, UK, Germany, France (2x), Italy (3x), Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Belgium, Czech Republic (4x), Canada, Korea and the Middle East.
# The album debuted at #1 in Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Sweden.
# And on top of the # 1 album chart entry in Germany, sales of MICHAEL broke the country’s 2010’s first-week record with over 85,000 units sold.
# Opening week sales of more than 113,000 in the U.K. scored the biggest opening week for a new Michael Jackson studio album since ‘Dangerous’ nearly 20 years ago.
# In Japan, the album is the fourth Michael Jackson album to ever debut in the top 3, joining Bad, Thriller and last year’s “This Is It” companion album.
# The album is in the top five in Belgium (#2), US (#3), Japan (#3), the UK (#4), France (#4), Denmark (#4). In the US, the album shipped platinum and debuted at #3 of the Billboard Album chart with just under 230,000 copies sold.
# The album went Gold in 17 territories on arrival in Japan, China, Australia, Ireland, Austria, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand, India, Philippines and Taiwan.

“Spider Man” Is A ‘Go’ For Tonight: Union, OSHA Approve

Roger Friedman
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“Spider Man” Is A ‘Go’ For Tonight: Union, OSHA Approve

“Spider Man” is on again.

The Broadway show will skip just one performance and resume tonight.

Both Actors Equity and OSHA have cleared the show. Monday night’s accident was attributed to human error.

The show will go on, and good vibes and get well wishes are sent to actor Christopher Tierney.

Now if only local bloggers would calm down. Today someone over at Gawker really over reacted. The blog read like a transcript from “Airplane.”

“Spider Man” will open February 7, 2011 despite the naysayers.

Here’s the statement issued by Actors Equity yesterday:

“Actors’ Equity worked today with the Department of Labor, OSHA and the production to determine that the cause of the accident at last night’s performance of Spider-Man was, in fact, human error. Further protocols are now being implemented, including redundancies recommended by Equity, the DOL and OSHA, to address this situation as well as other elements of the production. Equity continues to vigilantly monitor the production for the safety of its members.”

I think the union did a pretty swift job of responding to the accident and then getting the show in line with them. Considering the emotional state of some of the press, they probably thought they were walking into some gigantic mess. Far from it.

Is Fox Searchlight Bailing on “127 Hours”? Save This Film

Roger Friedman
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Is Fox Searchlight Bailing on “127 Hours”? Save This Film

Danny Boyle‘s “127 Hours” is one of the best movies of 2010, or any year.

UPDATE Studio says it will expand release in January and renew PR efforts with gusto.

From earlier;
But botched marketing and what seems to be fear on the part of the studio is about kill this movie. I’m surprised Fox Searchlight, which won the Oscar with Boyle for “Slumdog Millionaire,” doesn’t try to solve this problem. If they let “127” go, that means three of their four releases this fall–including “Conviction” and “Never Let Me Go”–each very good films–didn’t connect with audiences. Only “Black Swan” has proved a hit.

On Thursday last week, “127 Hours” was playing in over 400 theaters. By Friday, it was in just 307 locations. The highly praised film has taken in less than $10 million since its November opening.

Now, with Oscar heavyweights coming in, “127 Hours” looks doomed. Fox Searchlight, emboldened by the success of “Black Swan,” may be cutting its losses.

“127 Hours” has suffered from a bad rep from Day 1. There isn’t a person I’ve met who doesn’t say: “I’m too scared to see that movie. I don’t want to see someone cut off their arm.”

And yet, the so called arm cutting scene– performed in real life by Aron Ralston and on screen by James Franco— is minimally and artfully shown. It comes toward the end of an exhilarating and hopeful film. Plus, everyone knows that in real life, Ralston lived, thrived and is still a hiker and extreme mountaineer.

It’s going to be up to Academy voters to save “127 Hours” and include it as one of the ten Best Picture nominees next month.

Last month I wrote about this situation on the Huffington Post. Here’s the essay:

Have movie audiences suddenly become big wusses?
Lately, everyone I know is telling me they don’t want to see James Franco cut off his arm in “127 Hours.”
“Oh, I couldn’t watch that,” is the typical response from men and women alike.
It doesn’t matter to that the scene lasts less than two minutes, is handled skillfully, and that the rest of Danny Boyle’s extraordinary film is a rocking adventure. When I saw the film at the Toronto Film Festival, I thought younger audiences in particular would flock to it. Here’s a story of survival, extreme elements, man vs. nature. And the great thing is, the real life guy who had to cut the arm off not only survived, but is a media star.
But wait: back in 2001, Hannibal Lecter carved off the top of Ray Liotta’s head and ate his brains on screen with a soup spoon. Ridley Scott’s “Hannibal” made $58 million in its first weekend.
No one said a word except pass the popcorn.
There have been seven “Saw” Movies, in six years. One of them was in 3D. They’ve made a total of about $500 million.
In one of the films, a character called Kramer was given the name “The Jigsaw Killer” (or “Jigsaw”), according to Wikipedia, “because he removed a puzzle-piece-shaped chunk of flesh from those who did not escape his traps.”
Nice huh?
It would be a shame if audiences stayed away from “127 Hours.” For one thing, they’d be missing James Franco’s much hailed performance as Aron Ralston. Danny Boyle said to me recently, “You realize that we filmed most of it on a soundstage. James could have gotten up, gone to the bathroom, gotten a sandwich, if he wanted to.”
The amazing thing about Franco’s performance is that is he so invested in it, we never once think of Boyle’s advisory. Ralston’s situation is real for Franco, and real for the audience. He cannot move the boulder that is pinning his arm to the wall of the canyon. It’s a rare accomplishment. And all Franco/Ralston’s fantasies of flight give the situation all the more tension.
And those scenes—the fantasies, the early scenes with Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn, the memories of Ralston’s parents—do a lot to alleviate the claustrophobia of the canyon. “127 Hours” is not just a movie about confinement and amputation. It’s got plenty of light and humor. Boyle – director of “Slumdog Millionaire”—is an entertainer. He keeps “127 Hours” spinning with video embellishments designed to explain the character, move the plot, and keep the audience from squirming. It’s the coolest film of the Oscar season for those reasons alone.
But really, let’s man up, people: if you can tolerate “Hannibal” or “Saw” you can “127 Hours.”
As I like to say, most actors would cut off their right arms to work with Danny Boyle, and get those reviews. For god’s sake, let’s lighten up!

Spider Man Accident on Broadway: Actor Suffers Broken Ribs, Bleeding After 26 Foot Fall

Roger Friedman
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3
Spider Man Accident on Broadway: Actor Suffers Broken Ribs, Bleeding After 26 Foot Fall

“Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” is going to need its own hospital wing at this point.

Last night, at the end of the show, Christopher Tierney, 31, a stunt double for star Reeve Carney, fell into the orchestra pit. The show’s main song is called, ironically, “Boy Falls from the Sky.”

Tierney is in Bellevue Hospital with broken ribs. He’s being watched, according to my source, because there was bleeding after he fell 26 feet.

When Tierney fell he was not flying. “This had nothing to do with aerial stuff,” says my source. “He was on the big ramp that rises 14 feet. We’re trying to figure out how he fell.” Tierney was harnessed and tethered. But it’s clear from a video that the tether snapped and Tierney free fell right off the ramp.

“Spider Man” usually doesn’t have a Monday night performance, but this week’s schedule was altered by the holidays. There was no performance set for tonight away. There are two tomorrow. And Tierney does have an understudy.

Right now, OSHA is at the Foxwoods Theater conducting an investigation.

Still, this latest mishap has shaken everyone in the company. Not only that: an audience member was illegally filming the entire show last night. Videos are popping up on the internet. An eight second clip can be found on the New York Times website. (On cnn.com you have sit through a 30 second commercial before seeing their interview with audience members.)

“We’re doing things in the dark here,” says a source, “and that makes it more difficult. The theater is a dangerous place.”

Carrie Fisher’s Next Book, “Shockaholic,” About Getting Shock Treatments

Roger Friedman
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Carrie Fisher’s Next Book, “Shockaholic,” About Getting Shock Treatments

Carrie Fisher–one of the funniest, nicest people ever–gets a bunch of showings on HBO starting on Thursday of her brilliant one woman show, “Wishful Drinking.” Check the hbo.com website for times.

At the recent premiere of “Wishful Drinking,” Leah Sydney caught up with Carrie. It wasn’t easy. The guests included mom Debbie Reynolds, and pals Jane Fonda and Richard Perry, and Beverly D’Angelo, as well as her extended family: one time step mom Connie Stevens and her kids by Carrie’s dad, Joely Fisher and Tricia Lee Fisher. Many people might not know this, but it was Carrie who fixed up Perry and Fonda in the summer of 2009. They’ve been going strong since.

The once and future Princess Leia has published many books including “Postcards from the Edge” (also a hilarious movie), and “Surrender the Pink.” Her next one, she says, is called “Shockaholic.” It’s about getting shock treatments. Seriously.

“Wishful Drinking” is a lot about Carrie’s relationship to her famous parents, Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. Sadly, Eddie died just before the HBO movie started its run. Carrie says she and her dad had had a very good relationship for the last four years.

“I’ve always had a good relationship with him, but not a familial kind of relationship in a way. It was when I stopped expecting him to act like a regular Dad  and  I took care of him. So you have to figure out what relationship to have with who. That was the way to be with my Dad.  Dad was a very childlike man. So I took care of him.  And I loved how he loved me.  He was very dear at the end.  I liked being needed by him. I do miss my father.  He was excited about this and he would have liked to see this.”

Carrie says that her Dad “never had the skill set to survive that my Mom has. My mother knew how to make use of whatever was there. Eddie did not know  how to do it.” She remains very tight with Debbie.

“We couldn’t live next door to each other if we weren’t close-you can’t fake that.  My mom is amazing. She’s 78.  She’s a powerful, powerful being.  In a way that my father never was. Life mowed him over more.”

Madonna: $2.5 Million to Kabbalah, $10K to Jewish Big Brothers and Sisters

Roger Friedman
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Madonna: $2.5 Million to Kabbalah, $10K to Jewish Big Brothers and Sisters

Madonna Louise Ciccone Penn Ritchie so wants to be Jewish, right? She was born Catholic, and has never converted to Judaism. She wants everyone to call her Esther. She goes to fake Jewish services. Her stage set includes projections of Hebrew letters.

As the year ends, we can tell you that in 2009 Madonna spent a lot of money on being sorta Jewish. She donated a total of almost $2.5 million to Karen and Phillip Berg’s Kabbalah efforts: $2.25 million to Raising Malawi, the Kabbalah fronted organization run by the Bergs’ son, Michael, and sharing everything corporate with the Kabbalah Center of Los Angeles.

Madonna also donated $200,000 to Spirituality for Kids, aka SFK or Success for Kids. That’s the Kabbalah Center curriculum that recently attempted to get into the New York City public school system but was rebuffed.

On the other hand, Madonna gave only $10,000 to an actual Jewish organization: Jewish Big Brothers and Sisters.

This is all listed in the latest federal tax filing for Madonna’s Ray of Light Foundation. http://tinyurl.com/237qe3g

All told, Madonna gave away about $2.9 million in 2009. Most of it went to Kabbalah-centric efforts. The rest included $400,000 to the Los Angeles chapter of the Red Cross, and smaller donations–$10,000 to-$15,000– to the T.J. Martell Foundation (the cancer research fund in the recording industry), and to a health group in Maryland and the Boston Conservatory.

There were no donations to any AIDS groups, or to anything to do with music education or indigent musicians from MusiCares to the Grammy Foundation or even the local New York public school that her daughter attends–unless of course the donations were made outside the Ray of Light Foundation.

According to Forbes, in 2009 Madonna “had the fourth highest-grossing tour of 2009, bringing in $6 million a night and $138 million overall.” She earned about $56 million personally.

The Unwatchable Films: “Somewhere,” “I Love You Phillip Morris”

Roger Friedman
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7
The Unwatchable Films: “Somewhere,” “I Love You Phillip Morris”

It’s hard to say which is worse, but “Somewhere” and “I Love You Phillip Morris” are among the top 10 worst films of 2010.

“Somewhere” is a waste of a lot of talents, but mostly that of director Sofia Coppola and star Elle Fanning. It’s hard to say what effect at all it has on Stephen Dorff. I think he was this year’s Mickey Rourke going into the project. Not much changes for him coming out of it.

In Coppola’s fourth film, after “The Virgin Suicides,” “Lost in Translation,” and “Marie Antoinette,” the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola chooses the least important subject of all time: a self-obsessed, drifting 38 year old C movie star who’s living in the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood. He’s living there on someone’s dime, driving a (presumably rented) Ferrari, and doing nothing but getting laid a lot and sleeping in.

Into this torpid existence comes his 11 year old daughter, beautifully played by Elle Fanning, younger sister of Dakota. Like her sister, Elle Fanning is delightful and disarming. Coppola only shines when she’s working with Fanning. As with Scarlett Johansson and Kirsten Dunst, Coppola really works well with young women. If Fanning had not shown up in “Somewhere,” it would have been nowhere.

Does such a person as Dorff’s Johnny Marco exist? Oh sure. Is it of interest to anyone aside from Sofia Coppola? I don’t think so. For a movie star, Johnny is oddly sexless. Even the blond twins who wrangle stripper poles in his room seem strangely removed from any reality. The only edginess or danger in “Somewhere” is that the studio accountant might call and ask for receipts. I’d rather watch a whole season of “Entourage.”

Yes, “Somewhere” won the Venice Film Festival. And now you know why Venice is sinking.

As for the long postponed “I Love You, Phillip Morris”: it is entirely unwatchable. Jim Carrey long ago abandoned a serious career with “Cable Guy” and “23.” It’s painful to watch him in this dreadful, weird disaster. Whoever reads scripts for him or does development should be fired. Ewan MacGregor: who knows? No one’s ever accused him of a normal career trajectory. Even fast forwarding didn’t help here. These filmmakers were given money, credit, and energy to make a film, and this is what they came up with. Geez, Louise. There are people starving in China.

Ronnie Spector Is Still Rocking: Concert Triumph at BB King’s

Roger Friedman
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0
Ronnie Spector Is Still Rocking: Concert Triumph at BB King’s

Last night, Ronnie Spector stole our hearts again.

At her 10th annual Christmas show at  BB King’s on 42nd St., Ronnie rocked the house. She was definitely in the “zone” as she and her band put on a sublime nearly two hour show.

Peppered with Christmas hits from her new album and from her Phil Spector days, Ronnie didn’t leave out hits like “Baby I Love You,” “Be My Baby,” and “Walking in the Rain.”

She is in fine form still at age 67, and cute as a button. Her voice, her sound, is a national treasure. Wow. Whoa-oh-oh-oh indeed. When she opens that mouth, a unique musical instrument is presented.

Ronnie did not sing Billy Joel‘s “Say Goodbye to Hollywood.” We were a little disappointed, and told her so backstage in her dressing room. So what did she do? She belted it out right than and there, in front of friends movie producer Diane Sokolow, Woodstock founder Michael Lang, and filmmaker Barbara Kopple–and yours truly. Barbara filmed it for posterity on her IPhone. I’ve died and gone to heaven.

Our Yoda of music, Jim Bessman, will have a complete report from Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love‘s respective Christmas shows at BB King’s on Monday.

Weirdest Movie of the Year: Joaquin Phoenix’s “I’m Still Here”

Roger Friedman
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2
Weirdest Movie of the Year: Joaquin Phoenix’s “I’m Still Here”

So what was the weirdest movie of 2010? I’m not saying worst–there were many far worse for many reasons–but Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix‘s “I’m Still Here” was the weirdest, most unnecessary project imaginable. It was a hoax that didn’t quite work.

The two actors, very talented, are also brothers-in- law. Affleck is married to Joaquin’s sister, Summer. Affleck is a little more industrious in his career; Joaquin, with two Oscar nominations behind him, seems to be drifting.

The result is this pseudo-mockumentary meta kind of thing for which Phoenix bloated himself with milk shakes, grew a Hasidic beard (he resembles my old from the Lower East Side tenement landlord), and developed a permanently stoned look (not hard).  The real over the top detail: sunglasses that are Scotch taped together.

Phoenix announced in 2008 he was retiring from acting to become a rapper. Affleck follows him around as he makes a planned, fake appearance with Dave Letterman, and hounds P Diddy to become his rap record producer. Diddy is such a bad actor that he gives away the whole thing when they at last meet. He telegraphs it more than Western Union. By the time Joaquin gives his first rap performance, the audience is way in on the joke.

When Phoenix isn’t ranting, he has to come in to contact with other people. Those people aren’t so good at keeping the secret themselves. Is this “Borat”? Is is a satire of reality TV? Is it a tribute to Andy Kaufman? Does anyone care? Not much.

One thing that “Joaquin Phoenix” the character seems to be in is pain. If you could make it through this nearly two hour session of boredom, you’d see him visit his father, John Bottom , at what looks like the famous Florida cult in which Bottom and his wife, the former Arlyn Sharon Dunetz, now aka Heart Phoenix, raised their kids. It’s where “Joaquin Phoenix” goes to drown himself. Is he re-embracing the cult? Or indicting it? Who knows?

The boys spent money dough on this, and it does show that Casey is a pretty good director. Making an actual movie might have been better use of all resources, but hey–they’re young, they’re rich, and haven’t got much else to do, apparently. The real Phoenix will rise again, unless he wants to be Marlon Brando for this generation, stay fit, and live an island, occasionally saying weird things in public. It’s definitely more tantalizing than playing the Hollywood game, which I think Joaquin doesn’t care about anymore.

But there are other, more productive ways to show that than just goofing off. Look what Paul Newman did for charity, or Robert Redford, or even lovable Betty White with pets.

PS Kind of more interesting is that Phoenix, who is 36, has had a minder or male nanny for most of his life named Larry McHale. He’s in the movie. And Antony Langdon, brother of Liv Tyler’s ex husband, Royston, the brothers from a failed Brit rock group called Space Hog, follows Joaquin around and occasionally exposes himself. They’re the “Entourage” part of the story, except without the wit or irony.

Spider Man on Broadway Creator Julie Taymor Speaks

Roger Friedman
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Spider Man on Broadway Creator Julie Taymor Speaks

Exclusive:

Julie Taymor is not concerned about postponing the opening of “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” from January 11 to February 7, 2011.

“We’re happy about it,” Taymor told me last night in an interview. And why not? Even in previews, as a work in progress, “Spider Man” is a hit. It’s playing at 98% capacity, taking in almost $1 million a week.

The creator of “The Lion King” on Broadway and the Oscar nominated movie “Frida” says that with the holidays and cast absences, there were only “17 hours left to work until January 11th. It wasn’t enough time.” The show is putting on 8 performances a week as they make changes. It’s a little like building a house while people are living in it.

On Wednesday night, Taymor installed part of a new ending to the $65 musical. It won’t all be in until next Wednesday, December 23rd.

“We just got Natalie Mendoza back as Arachne,” she said, after Mendoza’s concussion. “She was out 17 days. We can’t throw it all on her at once. We’re also training the cover for her understudy. And we’re getting [star] Reeve Carney‘s alternate ready. It takes time.”

Now that most of the flying is in place, Taymor says the focus is on improving the book. “Every day we make changes, and you can see some of them now. But changes in our show often involve computers, programming. It’s not like here’s a new line, say this tonight.”

Taymor is trying to stay away from the vitriol expressed by some in the press. At the same time, she wonders why her $65 million musical is getting more of it than say, a $150 million movie flop. There are plenty of those right now. Sixty five million dollars, for a movie, would be considered cheap by many studio heads.

“We’re only going to have about 67 previews,” Taymor said. “A real Cirque du Soleil show tries out for 18 months and has false starts.”

Taymor promises that even by next week, audiences will see the fruits of their labors: more flying at the end of the show, much clarifying of the story in the second act, and a new breathtaking Spider web cast by Arachne around Spider Man. “You’re going to see Arachne more as the villain of the second act,” Taymor said. “But we had to wait until Natalie came back.”

Also, Bono and Edge from U2 will be back shortly from their U2 tour. They’ll determine if new songs need to be written. But Taymor says they will not be using any existing U2 hits other than the fun poke at “Vertigo.” “It’s all new,” she insists. “This isn’t an adaptation of a movie, like most musicals these days. This is all totally original, from scratch. “

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