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Musicares has chosen their next Person of the Year, and the winner is…
Mariah Carey.
Mariah will be honored at the January 30, 2026 gala in Los Angeles two nights before the Grammy Awards.
A bunch of performers will be asked to get up and sing Mariah’s songs as a tribute to her.
The Person of the Year is usually someone philanthropic. Mariah did have a summer camp for kids a few decades ago. I’m sure she’s been very charitable since then.
“We are honored to recognize Mariah Carey as this year’s MusiCares Person of the Year, a true creative force and once-in-a-generation talent,” said Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy and MusiCares. “Her artistry and her voice have helped shape the sound of our times. We look forward to celebrating her remarkable career on this very special night.”
Mariah insists she has no sense of time, but she better be down at the LA Convention Center by 7pm or that show will go one forever.
Mariah’s most recent album, “Here for It All,” was released by the new Gamma Records, created by Larry Jackson and funded by Apple Music. So at least deep pocketed Apple will make a big donation to this absolutely worthy cause!
PS Not hosting the evening — Nick Cannon or Tommy Mottola.
I met Jacob Elordi last night at the premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein.”
He’s brilliant in the film as the Monster, and will be getting plenty of awards attention and raves.
Elordi, 28, made a splash in the movie “Saltburn” a couple of years ago. Next up is “Wuthering Heights.” He’s on the rumored shortlist for playing James Bond.
So what about “Euphoria,” the HBO show that changed his life? He’s just returned and wrapped Season Three.
Is that it? He told me: “For me it is. I don’t know what they’ll do next.”
Elordi, Zendaya, and Sydney Sweeney have all become movie stars because of “Euphoria.” They’re also all much too old to play high school students anymore.
Elordi — charming and articulate in person, and very tall — led me to believe all three are done with Sam Levinson’s Emmy winning TV series.
A reboot with new, younger cast members? Why not?
I did ask Elordi about his TV dad, played by Eric Dane. Dane — who did Emmy level work on the series — was diagnosed with ALS a few months ago and is now battling the disease bravely.
“He’s my heart,” Jacob said, seriously. We are all rooting for Eric Dane. God bless him.
When you see Elordi in “Frankenstein,” you’ll know what the fuss is all about. He’s the real deal. We’re going to be seeing him for a long time.
The awards season is making itself known quickly now.
We already have top Best Picture contenders in “One Battle After Another,” “Sinners,” and “Marty Supreme.”
Now add Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” which could be the wildly talented director’s second Best Picture after “The Shape of Water.” It’s certainly got the most heart, even when the relationships appear twisted and on the edge of collapse.
Last night’s premiere at New York’s Paris Theater and following at the new spectacular Tiffany store on Fifth Avenue was a major success.
You think you know Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” pretty well by now, even lampooned by Mel Brooks so perfectly in “Young Frankenstein.”
But del Toro’s vision is something else again, a richly textured heartfelt retelling of the story of the monster — played with pathos by Jacob Elordi — and its passionate creator, Victor Frankenstein, in a knockout performance from Oscar Isaac.
Tamara Deverell’s production design alone is reason for settling down into sumptuous sets framed in Dan Laustsen’s color drenched cinematography. Alexandre Desplat’s lush score should be heard in symphony halls.
Isaac and Elordi enact what turns out to be a poignant if violent father-son relationship. The doctor — abused by his cold father (Charles Dance) as a boy, sets out to make his monster from pieces of dead victims. Once he does, the monster only wants love and companionship despite being treated worse than any animal.
So we get two versions of their story, each from their perspective. The doctor’s POV is a fever dream as he endeavors — with the help of an instigating Christoph Waltz — to create his horrifying vision. The flip side is the empathetic story of a creature who longs for acceptance.
There are plenty of well drawn supporting characters in this rollicking narrative. Felix Kammerer is Frankenstein’s sympathetic younger (and much more loved by their father) brother. Mia Goth is Elizabeth, who makes an emotional connection with the creature as she uncovers the horrors of Victor’s intent. David Bradley steals the show as a blind man who accepts Frankenstein wholly, and breaks his heart.
del Toro et al say there is almost no CGI, everything we see is real (except, I hope, for the rats which are so bold they look like they’ve been trained in the New York subway.)
del Toro certainly has a stunning resume, from “Pan’s Labyrinth” to “Shape of Water,” “Pinocchio,” “Nightmare Alley.” and so on. But this is the pinnacle of his career, a big screen breakthrough that must be seen in the largest format possible. (Netflix knows that, which is why it’s rolling out in theaters before hitting their platform.)
What a thrilling season. After last year’s sort of desultory and grim offerings (still having nightmares about “The Brutalist”), 2026 — or that is, 2025 — is shaping up pretty nicely.
On the scene last night: famed artist/film director Julian Schnabel, whose next film, “In the Hand of Dante,” stars Oscar Isaac; Sandra Bernhard, getting ready for her run of shows during New Year’s Eve week at Joe’s Pub. And the great British actor, Mark Strong, about to open on Broadway with equally ferocious Lesley Manville in “Oedipus.”
Since Taylor Swift dropped her album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” she’s had a lock on the Spotify top 12 songs.
All of the tracks from the album filled the top spots, creating a monopoly or an actual wall of sound.
But all good things must come to an end, and so they have. The wall of sound has been breached, and Swift’s reign of Taylor has come to an end.
Songs by Olivia Dean, Sombr, and two from K Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack have now all moved into the top 13, pushing out two “Showgirl” songs. The Swift spell is broken.
Meantime, the single, “The Fate of Ophelia,” has been usurped at number 1 on iTunes by Charlie Brown. “The Great Pumpkin Waltz” by jazz legend Vince Guaraldi, released in 1966, is at the top of the chart. Peanuts has scared off Taylor Swift!
One of the most anticipated movies of the year hits theaters this Thursday night.
“Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” stars the very popular actor from “The Bear,” Jeremy Allen White, giving a sensational, passionate performance as Bruce Springsteen circa 1982. Already a rock star, Bruce is depressed and questioning his career. He’s a year away from putting together “Born in the USA,” the album that will change his life. (JAW is worth the price of admission.)
In the meantime, he’s holed up in the woods writing his “Nebraska” album. Manager Jon Landau — Jeremy Strong — is his main emotional support, and he’s got a cute girlfriend played by Odessa Young.
But “Nebraska” is not an E Street Band album. It’s Bruce, alone, telling song stories acoustically. Even his record company, Columbia, is not keen on putting it out. They can’t predict that 40 years later, “Nebraska” will be considered an important work of art.
Publicity? Disney/20th has Springsteen and JAW booked on Kimmel this Thursday night, but nothing else this week. I’m crossing my fingers this will be a performance and not just an interview.
“Deliver Me from Nowhere” at theaters is looking a little iffy right now, more so than I would have thought. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a positive but not stunning 67% among 44 critics. That’s not a lot of reviews, which raises the question of how the movie was shown to my colleagues around the country. Is Disney/20th waiting til the last minute?
Advance sales are not booming. There are no sell outs yet for preview shows except for a couple of instances in Bruce’s hometown area in New Jersey. In New York, there are plenty of tickets at AMC Lincoln Plaza — one of the great barometers. Ditto in Los Angeles where Century City Plaza and AMC Santa Monica 7 and other signal theaters have plenty of tickets.
A lifelong Bruce fan, I loved “Deliver Me from Nowhere” just as a great movie about the creative process. It’s not like I’m a great fan of “Nebraska,” although I’m anxious to hear “Electric Nebraska,” the never before released E Street band version which drops on Thursday night. But director Scott Cooper and the aforementioned actors have made an authentically compelling movie that I recommend without hesitation to everyone.
If Sabrina Carpenter hadn’t sung on “SNL” Last night, there would have been nothing to watch.
The show, which Carpenter hosted and was the musical guest for, was otherwise dreadful. It also began 15 minutes late because of a college football game.
You can tell how bad things were from the two minute, thirty second closing. Kenan Thompson isn’t in the picture, Colin Jost is standing out of frame, Mikey Day is making faces on the left.
The new writers simply aren’t funny. They are also not writing for Kenan or Mikey, and little for Chloe Fineman.
James Austin Johnson’s Donald Trump was stuffed into the middle of the show, in a terrible skit with “children.” He was a bright light in a dismal situation.
The episode had almost no politics except for Johnson’s cameo. The sketches had no edge. They were dull and rounded off.
The new writers are clearly emphasizing the new cast members and ditching the veteran players. Much missed are Heidi Gardner and Ego Nwodim.
Carpenter, a bright light, struggled to be a good host. But there was no buzz in the air considering she’s an incredibly popular singer with enormous hits.
This was also the first time in over two years that “SNL” had no cameos from outside stars or former players. There was some gossip that Taylor Swift would show up, but that fell flat.
Better shows are coming, with hosts like “Top Gun Maverick” stars Miles Teller and Glenn Powell, and comedian Nikki Glaser, with musical guests Brandi Carlile, Olivia Dean, and Somber (Sean Boose).
But the writing has to improve, and the cold opening must be a political jolt for the whole show. The opening sketch last night was so awful I thought we’d joined the program somewhere in the middle.
Look at this closing, though. You know things are bad when they have two minutes and thirty seconds to vamp at the end.
She wore a piece from her new underwear line on her face last night at the Academy Museum Gala.
Kim, who along with her mother has an entirely new face, decided to cover it up with panties. Maybe her new face hasn’t settled in yet. So this was a wise decision.
Of course, Kardashian was really mimicking old costumes worn by her ex husband, Kanye — Where is He Now? — West. Kanye is busy probably busy warding off lawsuits from investors in his failed bitcoin, so a mask is always a good choice.
The Academy Museum gala looks like it was otherwise a classy affair, with plenty of celebrities dressed very nicely. And the host of the red carpet, a British comedienne named Amelia, showed that she’s not afraid of getting a chest cold.
Only in Hollywood, kids, only in Hollywood. I love how the people there tolerate this moronic family.
It was a good time, unknown time for Ethan Hawke this weekend at the box office.
Hawke wears a mask and scares people in “Black Phone 2,” which topped the list with $26.5 million. You won’t see it, I won’t see it, but horror fans did, and that’s the point. My friend, Perri Nemiroff from the website Collider, saw it, and she loved it. So there.
“Black Phone 2” pays the bills so Hawke can do high quality Richard Linklater films like “Boyhood” and his trilogy with Julie Delpy. Their “Blue Moon” is the opposite end of the spectrum from “Black Phone 2.” Just in limited release this week (the actual numbers got screwed up), “Blue Moon” is a must-see film for people who don’t want to be frightened but love cinema.
It’s a whiff for a bunch of other stars including Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, and Dwayne The Rock Johnson.
Roberts stars in “After the Hunt,” which made $1.55 million and heads off to Amazon Prime soon. Roberts has not made an enjoyable “Julia Roberts” type movie now in more than a dozen years. New audiences would have to work hard to find “Pretty Woman” or “My Best Friend’s Wedding” or even “Erin Brockovich.”
“The Smashing Machine” starring Johnson will wrap up its short run with about $12 million tops. No one wanted to see it, and no one has seen it. Strangely enough, director Benny Safdie and Johnson are undeterred by this calamity and are making another movie together. How do they find investors?
“Kiss of the Spider Woman” vanished entirely over the weekend. On Friday, Roadkill Attractions reported a total of $1.3 million over an 8 day period. Neverthless– and this was weird — Lopez was still doing major press this week, like Howard Stern’s radio show. Did no one tell her this wouldn’t help? Maybe she just likes publicity for no purpose. “Spider Woman” will lose most of its theaters this coming Friday, and head off to video on demand for 20 bucks or so.
Keanu Reeves also had a rough ride over the weekend. His “Good Fortune” crumbled like a fortune cookie with $6.2 million. Seth Rogen and Aziz Ansari are involved, too. Forgettable airplane stuff. Keanu remains on Broadway in “Waiting for Godot,” a mixed bag but a heroic effort.
Still doing very well: “One Battle After Another” and “Roofman,” each proof that good movies can make money if the audience approves and tells their friends. Whew! What an old fashioned concept!
Of all celebrity deaths — Robert Redford, Gene Hackman — just one has hit us like a depth charge.
A week ago, Diane Keaton, beloved actress and many other things, left us at 79 years old. She was an absolute delight. For a celebrity never to have a bad word said about them is a rarity. But Keaton lit up every room.
Keaton’s family says she died of pneumonia, which I’m sure is true. But I can tell you see suffered from a rare form of dementia that came on quickly and attacked her amazing brain. Her mother had also suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, so it was somehow genetic. But what a mean end of a great life.
There are lots of tabloid reports about Keaton’s final days. I know that close friends visited her and she did not necessarily recognize them.
I can tell you exclusively that Keaton spent her last months in Palm Springs, California. She stayed — with family and caregivers — at a very discreet place called Smoke Tree Ranch. The Wall Street Journal once described the rest as “so exclusive people barely know it exists” and “a western fantasy land.”
Smoke Tree Ranch actually sounds like heaven. You can read its whole, long history here. It seems like the most Diane Keaton place in the world, serene and nostalgic. I’m glad she got some peace there.
Keaton lived her life on her own terms. She was a maverick. She’ll be remembered for “Annie Hall,” “Reds,” “Baby Boom,” “Something’s Gotta Give,” and so on as the classiest of all our modern stars.
Mariah Carey’s first album in seven years is dead after three weeks.
“Here for It All,” which should have been a hit, is off the charts. Gone. DOA.
The album has sold 69,000 copies including streaming since its release on September 26th.
Of those, about 31,000 were actual CDs, LPs, and paid downloads.
Carey, who used to sell millions of album, has been relegated to status of legacy performer whose old music lives on but her new material is ignored.
It’s too bad because she’s never sounded better, and the songs on the album are pretty catchy.
But “Here for It All,” didn’t even get attention from her famous fan club, the Lambs. It’s her worst selling album in a 35 year career.
But the whole thing has blown up. Coincidentally, Jennifer Lopez — Carey’s arch rival — has seen her new project, the movie “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” buried at the box office.
This is No Country for Middle Aged Stars.
Carey did a week of TV appearances, but they were all interviews, no singing of the new songs. So while her presence was registered, no enthusiasm was drummed up for the music.
Luckily, Christmas season is six weeks away, and Carey will back back promoting her evergreen hit, “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
