Sunday, December 21, 2025
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Michael Douglas Posts Message of Peace from Nova Music Festival Memorial in Israel

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Oscar winning movie star actor Michael Douglas has always been a mensch.

Today he posted a message of peace from the Nova Music Festival memorial in Israel. This where Hamas brutally killed, injured and kidnapped unsuspecting Jews on October 7, 2023.

Michael’s late father, Kirk, is kvelling in heaven.

Douglas writes and says: “A peaceful Sunday to all of you! I’m in Israel at the Nova Festival Memorial, which stands for the massacre that first started this terrible war. I think over 300 people were massacred here, over a 1,000 on the 40-mile stretch that the terrorists came in. I know there’s two sides to every conflict and I respect that, but I hope that this war can come to an end quickly, and save us from hating each other for the rest of our lives. I just want to wish everybody peace!”

Bravo!

“Furiosa” Bombs Scratched Up Garfield at B.O. — Where Did All the Mad Max, Thor Fans Go?

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The box office ended with a whimper this weekend.

A cat — wise guy, purring, snarky — went beyond Thunderdome and beat “Mad Max Furiosa” by several hairballs.

“Garfield” — not the biopic of either Andrew or James — made $14 million and took the number 1 spot. “Furiosa” came in THIRD with just $10.7 million, falling a whopping 59% from last week. That’s a big surprise. Not only did “Fury Road” fans not return, but Chris Hemsworth — aka Thor — wasn’t able to open a movie.

Both “Garfield” and “Furiosa” would have benefitted from “Barbenheimer” type cross promotion — “Fur-iosa”? “Furry Road”? “Beyond Litterbox”?

Three new, small films opened modestly, with Bleecker Street’s “Ezra” doing the least amount of business with $1.1 million. “Ezra” is a well meaning, well made, but preposterously written film about a damaged man trying to save his autistic son.

Two studio films that were labeled failures — “The Fall Guy” and “IF” — are each up to $80 million, which ain’t bad. The latter has a shot at $100 million. The former is already on streaming, but $4 million worth of audience went to the theaters this weekend. Not bad!

Succession: Rupert Murdoch, 93, Marries for the 5th Time, to 67 Year Old “Molecular Biologist”

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This will be a prenup for the ages.

Aging 93 year old lizard publisher, Rupert Murdoch, has married for the 5th time.

In a chapter taken from the TV series, “Succession,” Murdoch is now hitched to a 67 year old Russian “molecular biologist” named Elena Zhukova.

Elena comes from some money, so you can’t call her a golddigger. She was married to another oligarch, Alexander Zhukov, who has his checkered past. Her daughter, Dasha, has already been married to different billionaires. Her first husband was Roman Abramovitch, the Russian oligarch. Her current husband is Stavros Niarchos III, grandson of the shipping heir. The original Stavros was famous in his personal life for being married to — among others — Charlotte Ford (daughter of Henry) and Tina Onassis (first wife of Aristotle, later husband of Jackie Kennedy).

Zhukova is identified as a molecular biologist. It’s unclear if she has a degree in gerontology, or any experience with bedpans. She probably doesn’t need one since Rupert no doubt has a staff attending to his personal toilette.

Still, the pre-nup should be boiler plate by now. It’s not that long ago that Jerry Hall, the model and ex of Mick Jagger, had the position now taken. Before that it was Wendi Deng, who had two children with Rupert. He, of course, has four adult children from his first two marriages: Prudence, Elisabeth, James, and Lachlan. Or as they’re better known, Connor, Shiv, Roman, and Kendall.

Here’s the genetic breakdown: Murdoch’s father died at 67. But his wife — the mother — lived to 103. So Mrs. Zhukova could get 10 years out of this and still be only 77 with a lovely dowry.

Send them a toaster! And a defibrillator! Mazel Tov!

Oliver Anthony, Last Year’s Million Selling Sensation, Has Almost No Sales This Year — But He Thinks It’s Funny

Last year in August, Oliver Anthony’s “Rich Men North of Richmond,” became a chart sensation.

Anthony’s backwater redneck songs — all released independently — became an overnight sensation, especially among country music fans.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to know who Oliver Anthony was — and to exploit him. Even Donald Trump tried to co-opt Anthony, but the singer shied away eventually.

(Anthony had said yet if he still supports the convicted 34 time felon.)

Anthony went on to sell millions of records in 2023.

This year alone, to date, “Rich Men” has sold the streaming equivalent of 660,000 copies.

But like any fad, Oliver Anthony went the way of all things. He refused to play ball with record companies, and eventually the spotlight turned away from him.

Now Anthony is spoofing himself with an Instagram post. He says he’s signed with a major label in a video. The camera pulls away to reveal it’s all a joke, and that his new label chief is his very cute dog, dressed in a suit.

All joking aside, however, Anthony will have to live on last year’s sales forever. His current album, his only album, called “Hymnal of a Troubled Man’s Mind,” has been a dud. Luminate reports that the album, released in March, has sold just 2,777 copies in hard sales. Including streaming, the number bulks up to 105K. Anthony is a contrarian, and obviously doesn’t care. He just plays his gigs to his fans and he’s happy with that result. In a way, it sounds like a good life. His staff is composed of his dog, and he looks happy.

Dreary Box Office Points to Record Low Weekend as Garfield the Cat Battles Mad Max Again

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Sad to say, it’s a dreary weekend at the box office. The weekend is probably going to be a record low point.

There were allegedly four new indie releases, but none of the companies have released numbers from last night so far. I think we know what that means.

Back among the big guys, “Garfield” and “Furiosa” are tied for total grosses at $41 million through today. Neither of them is a success. I would say, having met with some box office people last week, that they are crushing disappointments.

Like “The Fall Guy,” “Furiosa” should have been a hit. Is this the end for Max Max? Or was it the casting? Anya Taylor Joy maybe shouldn’t have been expected to open a movie. When Charlize Theron did “Fury Road,” she already had an Oscar. She was a NAME. Anya isn’t there yet.

One bright spot: Paramount’s “IF,” was a slow starter but has hung in there with families. They’re up to $72 million. It’s still unclear how much steam is left, but so far we haven’t had to write IF-Not.

Trump Social Media Freak Out: Compares Himself to Jesus, Says He’s a Political Prisoner

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What happens to a person who’s convicted of 34 felony counts?

Why, they unravel. Donald Trump is currently comparing himself to Jesus on social media.

He writes: “I AM THE POLITICAL PRISONER OF A FAILING NATION, BUT I WILL SOON BE FREE, NOVEMBER 5TH, AND MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” He adds: WE WILL FIGHT FOR OUR CONSTITUTION—THIS IS LONG FROM OVER!”

He posts scripture (from the Bible, a book he’s never read) See below. He’s posting comments from his right wing pals like crazy Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick, who insists: “The Judge is absolutely corrupt.”

Trump has contrition, no apology, no sense of the meaning of his July 11th sentencing. He says his fund raising has soared since the verdict. Frankly, if you give money to a man convicted of 34 felonies and dubbed a “rapist” by another judge, you are just not bright. You’re an idiot.

Trump’s posted scripture tonight:

Taylor Swift’s Mega Album “Tortured Poets” Takes 6th Week at Number 1, Beating Billie Eilish, twenty one pilots

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The numbers are in. Taylor Swift has taken the number 1 spot on the album chart for the SIXTH week.

“The Tortured Poets Department” wracked up 177,000 in sales mixing CDs, LPs, and streaming. The album beat Billie Eilish’s new album for a second week in a row. “Hit Me Hard and Soft” came in at around 149,000.

Taylor didn’t win everything. twentyone pilots’ album, “Clancy,” sold 139,000 copies. And get this: 110,000 of those were hard sales — CDs, downloads, etc. So the Pilots outsold Swift, whose album count was 42,444.

On the chart and on the rise: a singer named Chappell Roan, who my niece tells me is the big deal right now. Her album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess,” sold 27,000 copies this week and has been on the chart for a couple of weeks. It’s unclear who her label or publicist are. I emailed someone and they didn’t respond.

Jennifer Lopez Bad Year Just Got Much Worse: Tour Cancelled After Anemic Sales Following Album Flop

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I did predict this would happen.

Jennifer Lopez has cancelled her summer tour. In reality tickets were not selling. JLo’s reasoning is to spend time with her family.

JLo’s album, “This is Me…Now” was a flop, which caused tickets not to move. Also a bust was her streaming full length video. But it was the album having no singles that caused the whole project to fall apart.

Lopez says she invested $20 million of her own money which presumably is now down the drain. This is no reason to be happy or snarky or to gloat. A lot of people’s lives are affected by this cancellation.

On top of that, there’s her current Netflix movie, “Atlas.” Even though Netflix says it’s number 1 among their viewers, the reviews were dreadful. And it’s not in any theaters.

There are two problems with JLo, professionally speaking: for the album the concept was wrong and no one wrote a decent song for her. For the tour, she needed a strong opening act to draw customers. She cannot do it alone.

Of course, there’s the whole marriage with Ben Affleck crumbling at the same time. You have to feel bad for her. 2024 has been a wipe out so far. She’s smart to take the summer and figure out what’s next. And believe, there’s plenty left, JLo is a brand name. She will be back!

PREVIOUSLY:

Jennifer Lopez’s Really Bad Year: New Netflix Movie A Critical Disaster with 9% Rating After Album, Video Flop

Convicted Felon Donald Trump Squeals on Social Media: Stormy Daniels Pay Off was “Legal Expense”: “I did nothing wrong!”

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Donald Trump is squealing this morning on social media. After being convicted on 34 counts of felony fraud for paying hush money to Stormy Daniels, this is what Trump has to say: “My bookkeeper called a “Legal Expense,” on the “tiny” description line of the Ledger, a “Legal Expense,” openly paid to my lawyer, at that time a fully accredited one. I was not involved in that designation, but what else would you have called it? It was, in fact, a LEGAL EXPENSE. That is the so-called “CRIME.” On top of that, I wasn’t allowed by the judge to use, in any form, the standard RELIANCE ON COUNSEL DEFENSE (ADVICE OF COUNSEL!). My lawyer, at the time, did virtually everything on the NDA (NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT), and I assumed that what he did was correct. I did nothing wrong, and frankly, there was nothing done wrong – NDA’s are standard, commonly used, and LEGAL. MAGA2024! WITCH HUNT! IF THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ME, IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE!” He has no remorse or contrition. He seems unaware of what happens next: sentencing on July 11th. His appeal process will keep him out of jail. But what Republican in their right mind would vote again for this person?

“Twin Peaks” Season 4 Looks Like It’s Coming with David Lynch Announcement on “June 5”

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Director David Lynch says on Instagram he has a “big announcement” coming on “June five.” Not June 5th. Very Twin Peaks-ish. Surprisingly, it wasn’t shouted for the hearing impaired.

This is posted to a Twin Peaks account, so we’re not so dumb. It seems like Season 4 is on the way, like it or not.

Here’s the thing: Season 3 was completely incoherent. Kyle Maclachlan played Cooper in different multiverses, or something. Naomi Watts was in there. So was the late Don Murray. I hate watched it, and it got no ratings on Showtime.

So what now? Only Maclachlan is left, really, and he now has totally white hair (which could be a cool look). Pretty much everyone else is dead or retired. The only episode of interest in that season was psychedelic hallucination in Episode 8, a sci-fi origin story set in 1945 with the explosion of the atomic bomb. The episode had nothing to do with the rest of the season, but explaining “everything.”

What could a “Twin Peaks” season 4 look like? Paramount Plus no doubt wants it as an IP, branding thing. They don’t care if it’s good or bad or makes sense. Just a couple of weeks ago, there was some talk of Season 4 when a producer said in an interview:
“I personally hope there will be more. As for the intention, I don’t know. I know that David has more ideas for another season, but I don’t know about Mark.”

She was referring to co-creator and producer Mark Frost, who gave a vague statement in April. But Machlaclan posted a strong photo of himself recently standing in front of a Twin Peaks like forest, so who knows? The answer is Lynch. If they have done it, or will do it, a new season has to make more sense than the last one. I refuse to go through that again.