Friday, December 19, 2025
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Melania Trump Book Coming from Controversial Publisher, Will it Be Fiction or Non Fiction?

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Melania Trump is releasing a book this fall about her life.

It’s coming from Skyhorse Publishing, a publisher controversial for printing books by a cadre of notorious people who can’t find regular publishers. A number of Trump adjacent people are among them

Melania says the book will be about her life, but this might be a mistake before the election. A lot of people who know her real story, not the alternative facts, will be at the ready to leap into the press with their notes. Among them would be Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who was Melania’s press person at the White House and published her own book after leaving.

Wolkoff is probably already fact checking the book. Others will be, too.

It’s not known from the press release who Melania’s ghostwriter will be. It could be Meredith McIver, the ghostwriter who helped Trump plagiarize a Michelle Obama speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention. McIver hasn’t been heard from in years. But she still works for whatever is left of the Trump Organization.

Trump’s book will immediately be scrutinized for accounts of her upbringing in Slovenia, her modeling career there and in New York, her early life with Trump, and their marriage. Will she explain why we’ve never heard her 18 year old son’s voice? Why he wasn’t at this year’s RNC, or where he’s going to college?

Foremost, will Melania address Trump’s legal situations? That Stormy Daniels, an adult sex star, won hundreds of millions of dollars from a court after she claimed Trump slept with her while Melania was pregnant? That a New York judge gave a court victory and more millions to E. Jean Carroll, who said Trump raped her? Will she write about ripping up the Rose Garden? Or her failed Be Best campaign?

“Melania” will no doubt be a book with a lot of publicity that no will actually buy. I can’t wait!

Review: How Bad is “The Fabulous Four”? Bette Midler Left the Country to Avoid Reviews

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The review embargo on “The Fabulous Four” lifted earlier today. So far no one has filed a report to Rotten Tomatoes.

How bad is it? Well, Bette Midler left the country to dodge the reviews. First a publicist told me she’d gone, then one of her friends added the why to her absence. She hasn’t mentioned the film once on her very active Twitter account.

“The Fabulous Four” is the dime paperback version of a “Book Club” movie. It’s the latest in a series of so-called comedies about a squad of older women who go on a trip to a sunny place to reunite, bicker over old wounds, and resolve their friendships. As my colleague, Ed Douglas, observed one of them always gets stoned by accident. One has senior sex. They all re-evaluate their lives.

Bette plays Marilyn, a live wire who’s decided to remarry in her late 70s after her husband dies. She’s been making money from being an elder TikTok star, a la Nikki Haskell in real life. Marilyn’s been on the outs for decades with Susan Sarandon’s cardiac surgeon, Lou, because she thinks Marilyn stole her boyfriend years ago. (Why would they even still want to be friends?)

Midler and Sarandon look great but they are in their late 70s. So it makes no sense that the other pair of college pals in this quad are Megan Mullally (Alice) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (Kitty), who are each a decade or more younger. Meantime, Kitty sells weed for a living, which is objected to by daughter, who’s is in some kind of Christian cult. Mullally is the slut. They are the Tarnished Girls.

Mixed into this group of four is the otherwise talented Canadian actor Bruce Greenwood, who used to make silly bikini movies and then went on to serious performances in quality films. Unfortunately, he’s returned to his roots as a lothario (maybe) drawn so poorly he has no pulse. His character is part of a surprise plot twist that’s suddenly revealed, then abandoned. Just when you think the movie might take off, it sputters.

Off the women go to Key West, for no reason except Bette is getting married, and the younger gals trick Sarandon into tagging along. From then on, “The Fabulous Four” are not fabulous for a minute. This is a very pale version of Midler’s former glory in the great “First Wives Club.” There’s no script, not one original idea. It’s the worst attempt at a geezer movie since Julia Roberts and George Clooney in “Ticket to Paradise.”

I could nitpick through every page and frame, but why bother? I guess the tragedy is that in Midler and Sarandon’s cases, at least, their work opportunities have diminished over time. They are top notch — Sarandon has an Oscar, Midler has the stunning voice and great comedic timing. But they are all wasted. Wait for an airplane ride to see this turkey from middling director Jocelyn Moorhouse.

Key West and the Ernest Hemingway House do get a lot of plugs, as does TikTok which you can only hope footed the bill.

“Deadpool and Wolverine” Upholds Marvel Tradition with Shout Out Easter Eggs to Its Creators

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Fans of Marvel comics will be losing their minds Thursday picking out all the Easter eggs in “Deadpool and Wolverine.”

So here’s a little heads up about two of them, each part of Marvel tradition. There are shout outs to Deadpool and Wolvine’s creators.

First up to look for a is a store in the background called Liefeld’s Just Feet.The scene appears in the movie’s trailer, but a lot of people might not know what it means.

Rob Liefeld is the creator of Deadpool, the Marvel comic character. He also invented some other Marvel characters, but this is the one he’s most famous for. “Just Feet” is an inside joke among Deadpool fans — Liefeld is famous for not drawing feet well.

The other shout out, of course, is to Marvel creator Stan Lee. When he was alive, Lee made a nano second appearance in every one of the movies based on his characters. Even in death he’s never missed a step. Keep an eye out for Stan. His picture is preceded by a banner serving as an ad for “Stan Lee Steemer.”

In New York, we have been bombarded for decades by ads for Stanley Steemer, a home cleaning service. Very clever.

Watch Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven for Blues Great John Mayall: “Thank you for rescuing me from oblivion”

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John Mayall has died at age 90. The British born bluesman is mostly responsible for Eric Clapton, Cream, Fleetwood Mac and dozens more musicians who rose to huge commercial success. He was their leader.

Clapton remembers Mayall here. Take a listen to Mayall on Spotify. His musicianship is an incredible legacy. The recordings sound fresher than ever. We all owe him a lot.

Box Office: “Twisters” Hits $100 Mil After 5 Days, Races to Make Coin Before “Deadpool and Wolverine”

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Universal and Glen Powell are twistin’ the night away!

“Twisters” passed $100 million yesterday after 5 days of release. The $12 mil it made pushed it to $103 million. Today is only Wednesday. Two more days like that and $200 million will be in its sights.

“TWisters” is in a hurry to make coin before “Deadpool and Wolverine” hits town. Then all hell will break loose as theaters offer shows non stop at every hour and in between. Shows are already sold out.

Meantime, “Inside Out 2” from Pixar is now the highest grossing animated film of all time.

So theaters are not dead. A friend of mine keeps asking when “Bad Boys Ride or Die” is streaming. It’s not, it’s only in theaters and is also headed for $200 million imminently. And don’t forget “A Quiet Place Day One,” at $130 million and the best of all these summer entertainments.

Yesterday we taped PBS’s “Talking Pictures” with Neil Rosen and all the panelists agreed “Fly Me to the Moon” will be popular when it streams soon. Sony should not have released it in summer blockbuster mode. But it will turn up later this year as a comedy entry for the Critics Choice Awards and Golden Globes.

Eddie Redmayne Leaving Broadway “Cabaret” in September, Adam Lambert Will Be New Emcee

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Eddie Redmayne is outta here.

The Oscar winner opened in “Cabaret” this past winter with hopes of winning a Tony award. ( I was originally told he was signed up for a year. .But his reps insist he was always leaving September 14th.)

But despite a nomination, Redmayne’s Olivier award winning London performance didn’t catch on here. He didn’t win the Tony, and his stint as the emcee of the Kit Kat club got some ribbing. I don’t know why, I thought he was terrific and many others did as well.

Now Eddie — who has movie commitments — will escape Cabaret at the end of this summer. His replacement will be Adam Lambert, famous from “American Idol” and touring with Queen. Wilkommen!

Sally Bowles will also change actors as Gayle Rankin leaves, and is succeeded by Auli’i Cravalho.

Business for “Cabaret” has been off the last couple of weeks, but that’s the same for all of Broadway. But producers spent a lot of money to remake the August Wilson Theater entirely with new seating, and the bars into period lounges. So “Cabaret” needs to find a new audience, maybe one that Lambert will bring in.

The new actors take over on September 16th.

Trump Media Stock Price Falls More than 5% As Truth Social Spews Hate and Racism

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It’s not a good morning at Trump Media.

The stock price for Donald Trump’s Truth Social is crashing again, falling more than 5.5% in the opening hour of trading.

Trump Media is down to about 30 bucks. The price went off a cliff at the opening bell.

Reasons? For one thing Truth Social has turned from a Biden and judge bashing site into pure hate and racism against Kamala Harris. The posts are frightening, and telling: why would anyone invest in such misery?

Second, Trump seems to be waffling on his VP choice, JD Vance. There’s a feeling that Vance can’t do the job after making such a horrendous impression in his early speeches. If Trump is up against Kamala Harris and one of four different mid western, experienced governors or senators, what does Vance offer? Could Trump replace him?

Every day, the Trump Media graph looks like someone with a dying EKG or a tree being chopped down. Ouch!

K’naan, “Wavin’ Flag” Singer Songwriter, Makes Film Directing Debut at TIFF with Murder Mystery

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K’naan is the extraordinary Canadian-Somalian songwriter who made headlines in 2009 with the song, “Wavin’ Flag.”

The record became an international hit when Coca Cola used it for the 2010 FiFA World Soccer Games. K’naan’s album also became a hit and he was established around the world.

Now K’naan has the hottest indie movie coming to the Toronto Film Festival. He wrote and directed “Mother Mother,” which has just been added to the TIFF Discovery section of International films. Among its listed producers are writer-directors Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman. CAA is behind it. I sense good things are happening here.

Also added to TIFF Discovery films are movies from Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Denmark, Greece, India, Italy, Kosovo, Nigeria, Romania, Somalia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, and Ukraine.

Chloe Sevigny stars in a remake of the French film, “Bonjour Tristesse.”

Watch Timothee Chalamet in First Look as Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown”

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After so much publicity while it was shooting, we now see a trailer for Timothee Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown.”

James Mangold directs the story of a young Bob Dylan coming to New York and taking the world by storm.

Elle Fanning and Edward Norton co-star. Chalamet looks like he’s been a little Bernstein-ed in the trailer. That’s not his own nose.

But who cares? Mangold knows what he’s doing, and the music speaks for itself. At least they didn’t call the movie, “The Mighty Quinn”!

Donald Trump Still Pursuing “Dynasty” Star Catherine Oxenberg 34 Years After She Denied They Dated

Back in 1990, People magazine reported that Catherine Oxenberg, a star of the legendary TV soap “Dynasty,” called rumors about her dating Donald Trump “a complete joke as far as I’m concerned.” She added: “I hardly know the man.”

Oxenberg is 62 years old now, but that hasn’t stopped Trump. On his Truth Social today, he suddenly plugged her 2018 book about her daughter getting mixed up with a sex cult.

Trump wrote, out of nowhere: “Catherine Oxenberg is a remarkable woman who has written an incredible book, “Captive: A Mother’s Crusade to Save Her Daughter from a Terrifying Cult.” To parents across this Country, and around the World, Catherine is a powerful example of unconditional Love – NEVER GIVE UP! She is a true inspiration to us all.”

Since he posted his endorsement, no one has bought a copy of the book. It’s number 144,930 on amazon’s best seller list.

But why this sudden interest in Oxenberg? It seems she contributed $50,000 to the gofundme page established for Corey Comperatore, the fire chief who was killed when Trump was shot at the Butler, PA rally.

“My heart breaks for the families of the victims and for the tragic loss of life. May God bless them and hold them close as they grieve,” Oxenberg wrote. She’s a firm right winger, all in on Trump despite her comments in 1990. It’s unclear if she made the donation because of his shooting or because she was moved by Comperatore’s story.

Oxenberg is loosely related to various royal families across Europe. She had her daughter India with convicted drug smuggler William Weitz Shaffer. India later became part of the NXIVM sex cult.

Oxenberg was married for 9 days to late great movie producer, Robert Evans. After that she had to children with Casper van Dien, a B movie actor most famous for the cult film, “Starship Troopers.” She’s currently married to private equity banker Ellis Jones, Chairman of Wasserstein & Co, the firm left behind by late financier Bruce Wasserstein. He sits on a number of boards, according to his bio, including Lazard (Freres), and Harry & David, the bagel and fruit company.

Oxenberg was no Meryl Streep, but she worked a lot in television in the 1980s starting “Dynasty.” She appeared on “The Love Boat,” and then famously made an erotic thriller called “Sexual Response,” in 1992. Her last featured role was in 2015’s “Shartopus vs. Whalewolf.”

Since 2018, she’s made money from several projects concerning the sex cult.

It’s amazing she didn’t speak at the Republican Convention.