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Hilary Swank Film for Fall Has Oscar Promise

Roger Friedman
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59403592Hilary Swank ‘ a two-time Oscar winner ‘ will try again next fall to score big at the boxoffice and with critics.

Swank’s latest film, “Betty Anne Waters,” has been sold to Fox Searchlight. Directed by Tony Goldwyn, “Betty Anne Waters” concerns a sister who puts herself through college and law school to defend her brother on murder charges. Swank plays the title character, Sam Rockwell is the brother. Melissa Leo, Peter Gallagher, and Clea DuVall co-star.

Yesterday, one of the movie bloggers outrageously wondered why, after Mira Nair’s “Amelia” tanked, anyone would want to be in business with Hilary Swank. This is one of he more preposterous things I’ve read in these blogs. Swank has two Oscars (for “Boys Don’t Cry”and “Million Dollar Baby”). She’s a great young actress with a huge future. That assertion was so crazy that I called up Fox Searchlight chief Nancy Utley to see what she thought.

“We love Hilary, who wouldn’t want to have one of her movies?” Nancy said. I agree. “This movie feels very commercial. The performances are wonderful. It’s a true story, too. Betty Anne ‘ who’s alive ‘ didn’t have a high school degree. She became a lawyer. When we tested the film at previews, it went through the roof.”

So there, bloggers. “Amelia” was no dud, but it was hard to market. Everyone knew the ending, for one thing. Richard Gere was miscast, some thought. And there was no one alive to hang the marketing on.

Utley, who’s busy with “Crazy Heart” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Oscar campaigns, says “Betty Anne Waters” will be at some key festivals, then open in the fall.

Fergie Joins ‘We Are the World,’ But No Jackson Kids So Far

Roger Friedman
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59496350I gotta feeling: The gorgeous and full-throated Fergie ‘ Stacy Ferguson ‘ of the Black Eyed Peas has joined the cast of Quincy Jones’s “We Are the World 25.” The powerhouse song and video for Haiti relief debuting next Friday, February 12th during the Olympics.

Fergie did not make the recording session this past Monday, but she has since added her vocals and been filmed by Paul Haggis’s video crew. Her pea in the pod, Will.i.am, participated in Monday’s marathon session.

Fergie is only the second artist to add vocals to the record. On Thursday, Janet Jackson added hers by satellite link from Atlanta.

That’s it, then. No other artists are scheduled. As for Michael Jackson’s kids, Quincy Jones has an idea to have them read a poem by Maya Angelou at the end of the video version of the new recording. But so far nothing’s happened in that regard.

What is happening now is the process of setting up a new We Are the World Foundation, separate from the old organization from 25 years ago. That’s a good thing, too. The old charity, USA For Africa, has a lot of accounting issues and many questions to be answered.

Maybe because of that, Quincy Jones wanted the new group to be free of old baggage. “He wants complete transparency,” says a source. The board members for the new We Are the World Foundation are Jones, Lionel Richie, Wyclef Jean, Paul Haggis, Randy Phillips, and Ambassador Louis Moreno for the InterAmerican Development Bank.

Meantime, the old USA for Africa looks like it’s a little dodgy these days. Frankly, it’s surprising it’s still in business. according to its last three tax filings, USA For Africa more or less exists to pay the salary, rent and expenses of one executive, Marcia Thomas. She’s been receiving about $50,000 a year in salary, plus all those other amounts including $18,000 in travel and expenses.

USA for Africa was set up originally in 1985 to send money to Ethopia because its population was starving. But in 2008 a total of $20,000 went to grants, and ‘none of them were in Africa. A grant of $1,000 went to an Entertainment Law Student, another $9000 went to public relations. And $4,000 went to insurance ‘ presumably for Marcia Thomas.

The president of USA for Africa is a Beverly Hills ob/gyn named Dr. Lloyd Greig. When I spoke to him, he told me to call Ms. Thomas. Her phone, however, rings without answer.

Streep Vs. Bullock Could Produce a Surprise

Roger Friedman
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julijulia blindside 341 Streep Vs. Bullock Could Produce a SurpriseMeryl Streep vs. Sandra Bullock: It’s the only real race in the Oscars besides best picture.

Should we vote for Meryl, who is perfection in “Julie & Julia” as Julia Child? She hasn’t won an Oscar since 1982. She’s the best actress in the world. And she’s won a lot of awards this year.

Or Sandra Bullock: lots of fun, very friendly, very real. This is probably her one shot at an Oscar, playing a Kathie Lee Gifford lookalike. I’ve always had a thing for Sandra Bullock, but her high-water mark was in “While You Were Sleeping.” She’s a B-plus comedienne. She makes a lot of movies of varying quality. Witness “All About Steve,” which she made in the same year as “The Blind Side” and “The Proposal.”

More awards coverage

We won’t get into it too much here, but “The Blind Side” is really a terrible movie that has clicked with audiences for all the wrong reasons. But Sandy has also won some awards, almost going toe-to-toe with Streep as the season has progressed.

What might happen? Well, a few years ago Daniel Day-Lewis and Jack Nicholson were in such a battle. DDL was in “Gangs of New York.” Jack was in “About Schmidt.” They alternated winning award after award. And who won the Oscar? Surprise! Adrien Brody for “The Pianist.”

aneducationmulligan Streep Vs. Bullock Could Produce a SurpriseIf Streep and Bullock cancel each other out, look for Carey Mulligan to pull off an out-of-left-field win for “An Education.” There’s also a slight chance in such a scenario that Gabourey Sidibe would wind up winning for “Precious.”

Is this really happening?

The fact is, Streep should win. While everyone admires Bullock’s pluck, Streep is the actress of our time. And it’s not like this is a career nod. She embodies Julia Child. The strength and depth of her performance is even more noteworthy because Child was parodied so much in the past. For years people imitated Child via Dan Aykroyd on “Saturday Night Live.” The high-pitched voice, the cutting of the finger. This was Aykroyd. For Streep to have overcome that re-created Child, that is the demonstration of her remarkable abilities.

Then, again, there is the Golden Globe. Bullock won it for “The Blind Side.” The Academy is not disposed to ratifying Globe choices. And the actors’ segment of the Academy tends to go for the real thespian. In that case, Streep would be it.

Say tuned…

Michael Jackson’s Doctor to Be Arraigned on Monday

Roger Friedman
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conradmurray1 Michael Jacksons Doctor to Be Arraigned on MondayTMZ’s long week of predicting, nay, demanding, the arrest and arraignment of Dr. Conrad Murray has come to an end.

Despite the Web site’s wacky hourly announcements about Dr. Murray’s legal situation, Michael Jackson’s alleged killer will actually be formally charged on Monday in Los Angeles.

How do we know? Because the LAPD and District Attorney have each sent out a press release with the info. That takes the mystery out of it! Dr. Murray will be arraigned at the Airport Court on So. La Cienega on Monday after charges are filed with the DA.

My favorite part of this story was TMZ’s insistence that the LAPD and DA were having a “feud.” It was hilarious.

A friend of mine on the inside says, “Sorry. No feud. No agreement ever was made with Murray attorneys about a surrender. No one at LAPD ever wanted a perp walk or even mentioned it. That and most of the other stuff that has been going out has been simple horse hockey.”

But this is the nature of unsourced hourly blogging. It’s terrible and funny. So much energy wasted on nothing.

And what will happen? Dr. Murray will plead not guilty. The DA will ask for bail, which Murray will offer. He will await trial for involuntary manslaughter. Much is already known. He’s admitted to giving Michael the Diprivan/Propofol that killed the singer. He also allegedly was on the phone with his girlfriend — babymama No. 7 — while Michael was “out.” So the defense will have to prove that his administration of the drug was right and proper. Good luck, Dr. M.!

Exclusive Pictures From ‘We Are the World 25′

Roger Friedman
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Life in a fishbowl: Rock stars brave the heat for "We are the World 25"

Life in a fishbowl: Rock stars brave the heat for "We Are the World 25"

Here are just a few photos taken by Martin Aiono during the taping on Monday of “We Are the World” 25th anniversary for Haiti.

Off their Rockers: Maroon 5's Adam Levine and Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas

Off their Rockers: Maroon 5's Adam Levine and Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas

It’s still a mind-blowing memory of 80 stars all in one place, working hard and fast to get this job done. The windowless studio got so hot that air conditioning had to be pumped in from a temporary rig set up at the last minute. I overheard one assistant who ran to the A-list talent coordinator Tisha Fein, yelling, “We need fans!”

Q is for Quality: Quincy Jones gets in the middle of it

Q is for Quality: Quincy Jones gets in the middle of it

No one complained, though. And everyone was a team player, including 83-year-old Tony Bennett, who stood in the studio for five hours, never took a break or a snack. His manager/son Danny was worried about him, but Bennett characteristically soldiered on.

Ececutive producer Randy Phillips really pulled this extravaganza off. What a year he’s had: Phillips also shepherded the Michael Jackson film “This Is It” after Michael’s sudden death. Contrary to a wrong report yesterday, Phillips assembled the talent with the respected Fein based on requests from artists to participate after clearing their names with Quincy Jones. Of special pride was the inclusion of Motown great Gladys Knight. “She has to be there,” Jones told me a few days earlier. And so she took a “midnight train” from Las Vegas to be there.

Chorus Kids: Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Tony Bennett

Chorus Kids: Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Tony Bennett

Hard at Work: Lionel Richie and producer Quincy Jones

Hard at Work: Lionel Richie and producer Quincy Jones

Pictures C2010 Martin Aiono for Showbiz411

Jeremy Renner: The Best Actor Who Could

Roger Friedman
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59454605“Hurt Locker” star Jeremy Renner hit New York this week with a thunderclap. On Tuesday morning he and co-star Anthony Mackie were on the “Today” show when word came that Renner was nominated for an Academy Award ‘ best actor. He and Mackie embraced. Back in September 2008, when “The Hurt Locker” debuted at the Toronto Film Festival, it was an indie film with no budget. The actors had no publicists. The whole thing was a crap shoot.

Now Mackie is rehearsing on Broadway for a major play. And Renner did “Letterman” and some other shows. I ran into him last night at the Greenwich Hotel having drinks. He’d just been at dinner up at Elaine’s with his manager Beth Holden and publicist Sue Patricola and the famed Bobby Zarem. When the waitresses at the Greenwich realized who he was, they fetched Renner his favorite drink: Woodford Reserve mash bourbon. It went down smooth. He was joined for a bit by Oscar Isaac, from the upcoming “Sucker Punch” and “Robin Hood.” Isaac just found out his long-awaited “Agora” opens in May.

A year ago, Renner was on a short-lived TV series that followed “Lost” and no one remembers. “The Hurt Locker” was still mostly unknown to everyone. Now he’s a star. He just finished “The Town,” directed by Ben Affleck, with Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall and Blake Lively. It sounds like a winner.

What did he do before this? In 2002, he played Jeffrey Dahmer in a feature film. Don’t hold it against him. No one knew he’d be an overnight sensation after 15 years in the business.

David Brown Dies at 93, Etcetera

Roger Friedman
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Life is about the living, But in the last couple of weeks, a few people other than the great J.D. Salinger have passed on, and we’re going to miss them terribly.

David Brown was 93 and a great film producer. He was married to Cosmo’s legendary Helen Gurley Brown. David was a dapper dresser and a witty man who I knew from his long list of credits and lunches in the old ‘ the real ‘ Russian Tea Room. He produced “Jaws” for Steven Spielberg with Richard Zanuck, and then went on to countless successes. I really got to know him when he made Lasse Hallstrom’s Oscar nominated “Chocolat.” David loved that movie. It was sort of his heyday, around age 82. He also produced “Angela’s Ashes,” “Along Came a Spider” and the Broadway musical of “The Sweet Smell of Success.” David was part of the rare breed who made you feel good to be a New Yorker and around showbiz. A lot of people loved and admired him. He will be missed…

…Robert B. Parker was the famous Boston mystery writer who gave us the eminently readable “Spenser” series. I knew him in the 1980s. He was a terrific writer, a gregarious family man, and a real Bostonian. I remember those early books, like “Looking for Rachel Wallace” and “Ceremony” as if it were yesterday. Too soon. My condolences to his wife Joan and his two sons…

And Laura Hruska was not a celebrity. But she founded the Soho Press with my friend Juris Jurjevics in the mid-80s. I was sorry to read of her passing at age 74. She was a lovely, delightful person with a great eye for literature and new writing, and a passion for publishing that many seasoned vets in the biz lacked. A lot of indie writers owe their careers to her…

Grammy Round Up: Real Soul Delivered, Many Parties

Roger Friedman
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A few last thoughts on the Grammys, for better or worse.

“Soul Man” Sam Moore – whom I’ve known and worked with over the last decade — turns 75 this October. He put on a sizzling show at the LA Convention Center, the official Grammy party, with Brenda Russell, starting around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday night. A thousand people or so crowded through the main ballroom and pressed up against the stage. It’s rare for anyone to hear an unaugmented singer, no synthesizers. Just real music, the Earth Wind and Fire horns, Ivan Bodley’s funk assemblage. It’s all real.

Sam just opens his mouth and this gorgeous R&B rainbow of a voice can go high, sustain notes and then sweep low. At least two people rushed by me, saying, “He still has it!” The set list comprised “Soul Man” and some Sam & Dave hits, the blues number “I’ve Got News for You,” and a rave up on Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally.” Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler must have been smiling in heaven. Pickett, too.

Sam Moore is the last great R&B soul star. He deserves a Kennedy Center award and his own star on Hollywood Boulevard. I can’t be objective. Sam practices a dying art. And he is very much alive…

Many other parties: All the rappers wound up at a bar called Guys and Dolls…LA Reid did a dinner at Cecconi’s…Warner/Atlantic ‘ despite what seems to be a new scandal in house ‘ boogied on…So did EMI, at the new W Hotel, suddenly making a comeback thanks to the Beatles and some new releases…I felt like I ran into EMI’s new leader, Elio Leoni Sceti everywhere over Grammy weekend. He seems like he’s enthusiastic and wanting to have successes…Bravissimo!…

Still ‘Lost’ and Hoping for a Compass

Roger Friedman
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lost1 Still Lost and Hoping for a Compass“Lost” is back. We’re obsessed with it and also a little bored.

*SPOILERS*

We now know John Locke is the smoke monster. Huh? He’s also dead. His dead body is on the ground but Locke is walking around.

He’s not Jacob. Jacob is dead but he’s talking to Hurley. That’s nice of him. Jacob is dead, but talks. Juliet is dead, but she’s really dead. I think that’s because she’s on a new series.

Desmond and Charlie come and go. Desmond and Jack have marks on their necks. Jack’s father’s body is missing. Maybe. Because Jack and everyone else are now on two tracks: After Oceanic 815 has successfully landed in Los Angeles, and back on the island.

Missing from the flight: Shannon. Boone says he couldn’t help his sister out of a bad relationship, Maggie Grace must have been unavailable.

I like that Miles is still around. I miss Charlotte. I’m sorry Daniel Faraday is dead. He’s the only one who knew what was going on.

Since all the Jacob stuff started, Ben seems to know a lot less than he used to. Too bad. He’s been diminished.

How many times can Jack, Kate, and friends be taken hostage by people they’ve never seen before in a fully built community? This time, it’s a temple. Did the Dharmans and the Others all not know about the Japanese guy and the hippie? Will the stewardess get revenge on everyone for driving her crazy on that flight?

And is the island really the Lost City of Atlantis? Or are all these theories and questions just all wet?

Fifteen more episodes. And I’ll be watching every one.

Russell Crowe in ‘Robin Hood’: Dark, Violent and Very ‘Gladiator’

Roger Friedman
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Untitled Robin Hood AdventureLife is funny.

I was planning to write about Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” today, a new film that opens on May 14th with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

Then I ran into Kevin Costner at LAX. He was on his way to Nashville to play some music with his band. He looked great, like a movie star. A long time ago he was Robin Hood, very tongue-in-cheek and action-adventure. Costner was criticized for his accent, but the movie was a popcorn hit.

Now comes Crowe and Scott. I am told they’ve been screening the new Robin Hood for insiders. Everyone likes it. Universal is counting on a big hit leading into Memorial Day.’ Certainly the main actors at least have accents to begin with.

But wait: Does the public want a dark, brooding Robin Hood who takes Sherwood Forest seriously? Robin Hood movies and TV shows are always fun. The Ridley Scott movie doesn’t sound like fun from what I’ve been told. It’s dead serious. “I don’t know if it will make money,” says a source. “But it will be respected. It’s dark, violent and very Gladiator.”

“Robin Hood” started out as “Nottingham.” Many scripts came and went, and along with them, many millions of dollars. The shooting script was revised a lot while the movie was being shot. Crowe is prone to clashes with Scott. The rumors fly! Something tells me Universal won’t let anything but a blockbuster be the final release. Some good news: the supporting cast is said to be excellent. They include William Hurt, Mark Strong, Mark Addy, Oscar Isaac, and Danny Huston.

Costner, meantime, takes his band through Europe from mid February through the end of March. Check his Web site for details.

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