Who’d-a-thunk it?
Serious, smart, sophisticated songwriter Lana del Rey has become a Valentine’s Day lingerie pin up girl.
She’s modeling items from SKIMS, the lingerie and underwear line run by polar opposite and publicity hound, Kim Kardashian, former wife of Kanye West.
Who knows? Maybe Lana will get an album of songs from the experience.
The pictures are pretty good. See below:
“Law & Order SVU” returns tonight, and it looks Amanda Rollins is back, too.
In August 2022, actress Kelli Giddish announced she was leaving the show after 12 seasons. It was clearly not her choice, just one of the typical weird budget calls at Dick Wolf Productions. Fans were not happy. Rollins exited last season only to return for the season finale.
But the “Law and Order” franchise has a history of people coming and going…and returning. It’s never the actor’s choice, believe me.
Now it looks like she’s back for Season 25. Fans will be very happy if her name turns up in the main credits tonight and not just as a guest star.
Stay tuned…
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After the Golden Globes and the Emmy Awards had trouble with ratings, the Grammy Awards are determined to do better.
The show will air Sunday, February 4th on CBS. Trevor Noah is the host.
But what are the main attractions? Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and Olivia Rodrigo have just signed on to perform. Those are BIG music stars. Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus will most certainly be next.
Who else will make it to the stage? SZA, Janelle Monae, and Noah Kahan would make sense. Jon Batiste is a certainty.
The show could use a little rock, and some make artists. Usher would be great. It’s his year, with the Super Bowl following in the next week. The Rolling Stones would be a huge get for the producers. So would Sophie Ellis Bexter singing “Murder on the Dance Floor.”
One nice surprise might be MusiCares Person of the Year Jon Bon Jovi. He’s being feted on the Friday night of Grammy weekend.
More announcements coming.
“Schmigadoon” has sung its last song, at least on Apple TV.
Show creator Cinco Paul announced on Instagram that Apple has cancelled the show after two seasons. “Schmigadoon” starred Cecily Strong and Keenan Michael Key as a couple lost in a fantasy world of Broadway musicals. A ton of Broadway and New York actors had recurring roles including Kristen Chenoweth and Titus Burgess.
The show won one Emmy award in its first season, had several nominations over its two runs. It was clever and smart, so of course, it’s gone.
Jennifer Hudson — you know, she is remarkable. She’s an EGOT. Her talk show was just renewed for its 3rd season. She’s pulling in 4 million viewers a day. Not bad!
On Monday the 22nd, JHud will bring on as a guest her boyfriend, rapper and actor Common. They’ve been together a while, so I guess they’re ready to make it public. There aren’t two nicer people! Good for them!
Years ago, JHud called me from Chicago in the middle of the night to tell me she’d just given birth. “I promised I’d give you the scoop!” she exclaimed. The baby was just being rolled into her room. I think she was delirious with friendship and loyalty.
A little over a year ago, I went to see Common in his Broadway debut in “Between Riverside and Crazy.” Surprise of surprises: Hudson was visiting him in his dressing room on an off week from her show. I should have known then she was more than just a fan! (I took the picture here— that’s the great actor Stephen McKinley Henderson.)
We should all watch on Monday. Much deserved happiness, Jennifer! Now, make a new album! We need that voice!
The legendary @common visits @IAMJHUD on @JHudShow this Monday 1/22. We are not going to miss this! https://t.co/MuaUv6WvyY
— The Princess of Soul (@princessofsoul_) January 18, 2024
This morning’s BAFTA nominations are strangely inconsistent. They are all over the place, with some Best Directors not directing the Best Picture, and vice versa.
Martin Scorsese and Greta Gerwig didn’t make Best Director. Neither did Yorgos Lanthimos. “Barbie” didn’t make Best Picture. Where is Lily Gladstone for Best Actress? BAFTA was easily impressed by pretentious “Zone of Interest” but had no interest in the first indigenous American actress to win so many prizes. (WTF?) And no Jeffrey Wright or “American Fiction”?
I don’t think the nominees or winners will have much impact on Oscar voting. It’s more of a curio than anything else. Somehow, Ken Loach gets nominated every year for a film no one has heard of. Not all the categories have the same number of nominees.
Remember these are the Brits. Not Americans voting. BAFTA always gives an interesting perspective on how the UK views us. “Barbie” and “Killers” are very American, something the Brits don’t warm to as a rule.
ANATOMY OF A FALL Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
THE HOLDOVERS Mark Johnson
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Dan Friedkin, Daniel Lupi, Martin Scorsese, Bradley Thomas
OPPENHEIMER Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas
POOR THINGS Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone
ALL OF US STRANGERS Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
BEST BRITISH FILM
HOW TO HAVE SEX Molly Manning Walker, Emily Leo, Ivana MacKinnon, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
NAPOLEON Ridley Scott, Mark Huffam, Kevin J. Walsh, David Scarpa
THE OLD OAK Ken Loach, Rebecca O’Brien, Paul Laverty
POOR THINGS Yorgos Lanthimos, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone, Tony McNamara
RYE LANE Raine Allen-Miller, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia
SALTBURN Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, Margot Robbie
SCRAPPER Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough
WONKA Paul King, Alexandra Derbyshire, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby
THE ZONE OF INTEREST Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
BLUE BAG LIFE Lisa Selby (Director), Rebecca Lloyd-Evans (Director, Producer), Alex Fry (Producer)
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT Christopher Sharp (Director) [also directed Moses Bwayo]
EARTH MAMA Savanah Leaf (Writer, Director, Producer), Shirley O’Connor (Producer), Medb Riordan (Producer)
HOW TO HAVE SEX Molly Manning Walker (Writer, Director)
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? Ella Glendining (Director)
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL Mstyslav Chernov, Raney Aronson Rath
ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet, Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
PAST LIVES Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW J.A. Bayona, Belen Atienza
THE ZONE OF INTEREST Jonathan Glazer
DOCUMENTARY
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL Mstyslav Chernov, Raney Aronson Rath
AMERICAN SYMPHONY Matthew Heineman, Lauren Domino, Joedan Okun
BEYOND UTOPIA Madeleine Gavin, Rachel Cohen, Jana Edelbaum
STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King, Annetta Marion
WHAM! Chris Smith
ANIMATED FILM
THE BOY AND THE HERON Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki
CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET Sam Fell, Leyla Hobart, Steve Pegram
ELEMENTAL Peter Sohn, Denise Ream
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Avi Arad, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal, Christina Steinberg
DIRECTOR
ALL OF US STRANGERS Andrew Haigh
ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet
THE HOLDOVERS Alexander Payne
MAESTRO Bradley Cooper
OPPENHEIMER Christopher Nolan
THE ZONE OF INTEREST Jonathan Glazer
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet, Arthur Harari
BARBIE Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
THE HOLDOVERS David Hemingson
MAESTRO Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer
PAST LIVES Celine Song
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
ALL OF US STRANGERS Andrew Haigh
AMERICAN FICTION Cord Jefferson
OPPENHEIMER Christopher Nolan
POOR THINGS Tony McNamara
THE ZONE OF INTEREST Jonathan Glazer
FANTASIA BARRINO The Color Purple
SANDRA HÜLLER Anatomy of a Fall
CAREY MULLIGAN Maestro
VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane
MARGOT ROBBIE Barbie
EMMA STONE Poor Things
LEADING ACTOR
BRADLEY COOPER Maestro
COLMAN DOMINGO Rustin
PAUL GIAMATTI The Holdovers
BARRY KEOGHAN Saltburn
CILLIAN MURPHY Oppenheimer
TEO YOO Past Lives
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
EMILY BLUNT Oppenheimer
DANIELLE BROOKS The Color Purple
CLAIRE FOY All of Us Strangers
SANDRA HÜLLER The Zone of Interest
ROSAMUND PIKE Saltburn
DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH The Holdovers
ROBERT DE NIRO Killers of The Flower Moon
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. Oppenheimer
JACOB ELORDI Saltburn
RYAN GOSLING Barbie
PAUL MESCAL All of Us Strangers
DOMINIC SESSA The Holdovers
CASTING
ALL OF US STRANGERS Kahleen Crawford
ANATOMY OF A FALL Cynthia Arra
THE HOLDOVERS Susan Shopmaker
HOW TO HAVE SEX Isabella Odoffin
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Ellen Lewis, Rene Haynes
CINEMATOGRAPHY
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Rodrigo Prieto
MAESTRO Matthew Libatique
OPPENHEIMER Hoyte van Hoytema
POOR THINGS Robbie Ryan
THE ZONE OF INTEREST Łukasz Żal
ANATOMY OF A FALL Laurent Sénéchal
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Thelma Schoonmaker
OPPENHEIMER Jennifer Lame
POOR THINGS Yorgos Mavropsaridis
THE ZONE OF INTEREST Paul Watts
BARBIE Jacqueline Durran
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Jacqueline West https://c374ee9adb0ac0cad76997e31cbd9d8d.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
NAPOLEON Dave Crossman, Janty Yates
OPPENHEIMER Ellen Mirojnick
POOR THINGS Holly Waddington
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Kay Georgiou, Thomas Nellen
MAESTRO Sian Grigg, Kay Georgiou, Kazu Hiro, Lori McCoy-Bell
NAPOLEON Jana Carboni, Francesco Pegoretti, Satinder Chumber, Julia Vernon
OPPENHEIMER Luisa Abel, Jaime Leigh McIntosh, Jason Hamer, Ahou Mofid
POOR THINGS Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, Josh Weston
ORIGINAL SCORE
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Robbie Robertson
OPPENHEIMER Ludwig Göransson
POOR THINGS Jerskin Fendrix
SALTBURN Anthony Willis
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Daniel Pemberton
PRODUCTION DESIGN
BARBIE Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Jack Fisk, Adam Willis
OPPENHEIMER Ruth De Jong, Claire Kaufman
POOR THINGS Shona Heath, James Price, Zsuzsa Mihalek
THE ZONE OF INTEREST Chris Oddy, Joanna Maria Kuś, Katarzyna Sikora
SOUND
FERRARI Angelo Bonanni, Tony Lamberti, Andy Nelson, Lee Orloff, Bernard Weiser
MAESTRO Richard King, Steve Morrow, Tom Ozanich, Jason Ruder, Dean Zupancic
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE Chris Burdon, James H. Mather, Chris Munro, Mark Taylor
OPPENHEIMER Willie Burton, Richard King, Kevin O’Connell, Gary A. Rizzo
THE ZONE OF INTEREST Johnnie Burn, Tarn Willers
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CREATOR Jonathan Bullock, Charmaine Chan, Ian Comley, Jay Cooper
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 Theo Bialek, Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE Neil Corbould, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland, Alex Wuttke
NAPOLEON Henry Badgett, Neil Corbould, Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet
POOR THINGS Simon Hughes
CRAB DAY Ross Stringer, Bartosz Stanislawek, Aleksandra Sykulak
VISIBLE MENDING Samantha Moore, Tilley Bancroft
WILD SUMMON Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Jay Woolley
FESTIVAL OF SLAPS Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer
GORKA Joe Weiland, Alex Jefferson
JELLYFISH AND LOBSTER Yasmin Afifi, Elizabeth Rufai
SUCH A LOVELY DAY Simon Woods, Polly Stokes, Emma Norton, Kate Phibbs
YELLOW Elham Ehsas, Dina Mousawi, Azeem Bhati, Yiannis Manolopoulos
EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
PHOEBE DYNEVOR
AYO EDEBIRI
JACOB ELORDI
MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE
SOPHIE WILDE
Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson have signed a deal to stay on as consultants to Turner Classic Movies through the end of this year.
In June 2023, they’d joined up for a year. But Spielberg told me at last week’s 30th anniversary cocktail party at the Four Seasons that he’s very excited. “It wouldn’t have happened unless David Zaslav got excited. And that’s because of Mike DeLuca and Pam Abdy at Warner Bros.”
Last year Zaslav — new to the company — was transferring TCM to his Discovery side of the company. There were some upsetting headlines. But then the super directing trio intervened. DeLuca and Abdy took TCM over to Warner Bros. Now there’s a revival for the revivals.
Not only did Spielberg come to the party, so did a masked Paul Thomas Anderson. Plenty of guests came over from the annual AFI luncheon, also at the hotel, including Brian Cox, Margot Robbie, Quinta Brunson, Charles Melton, Rian Johnson, and eminent legendary producer George Stevens, Jr . One of them was veteran actress and acting teacher Diane Baker, who was a staple on TV in the 60s and played the mother of Brooke Smith in “The Silence of the Lambs.”
There was even a surprise appearance by four decade “General Hospital” star Kin Shriner. (Everyone wanted to meet him.)
There were plenty of announcements about TCM coming up including a rare appearance coming up by filmmaker, writer, director Elaine May. (See below.) There’s also a new franchise, called “Two for One,” with prominent filmmakers co-hosting a double-feature of their choice each Saturday night. Special guests will include Scorsese, Spielberg, and Anderson, as well as Spike Lee, Patty Jenkins, Olivia Wilde, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Ethan Hawke, Todd Haynes, Maggie Gyllenhaal and more.
TCM will continue to celebrate a different star every month, including Marlon Brando and Lauren Bacall on what would be their 100th birthdays, as well as Eva Marie Saint, on her 100th birthday. Other stars featured throughout the year include Debbie Reynolds, Bela Lugosi, Ruth Roman and Gregory Peck. In addition, TCM will spotlight special Fox stars including Marilyn Monroe, Tyrone Power and Victor Mature.
And circle January 26th. The whole night on TCM is turned over to legendary filmmaker Elaine May. They’re going to show four of her movies in a row with wrap around interviews conducted by her famed producer and long time friend Julian Schlossberg. Elaine, 92 years old, a recent Tony Award winner, never does interviews!
The movies will be, in order, a documentary about Mike Nichols and Elaine May, then “A New Leaf,” “Mikey and Nicky,” and “Ishtar.” That should run til 4am, and they’ve left out my favorite movie, “The Heartbreak Kid.”
PS All the TCM hosts were present too — not only Ben Mankiewicz and Dave Karger, but I got to meet Film Noir expert Eddie Muller! A highlight of the weekend!
additional reporting by Leah Sydney
One of the surprises of Sunday’s Critics Choice Awards was the winner of Best Song.
Almost everyone assumed that Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” from “Barbie” would be the winner. Billie and brother Finneas showed up, were very enthusiastic, and also felt like they were on the fast track.
But the winner was “I’m Just Ken,” written and produced by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt. But it’s also performed in the Greta Gerwig film by star Ryan Gosling.
At the dinner before the show started, I asked Ryan if he would take the Oscars stage if he and the song were nominated. You see, at the Oscars, only two songs from one movie can be nominated. A third “Barbie” song, by Dua Lipa, is the dark horse.
Gosling seemed skeptical until I reminded him that novelty songs sometimes make the cut. One example is “Blame Canada,” from the movie “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.” It was a big on the 1999 Oscars performed by Robin Williams, although lost to the Phil Collins song from “Tarzan.”
Ryan wouldn’t tell me if the Oscar producers had already asked him to perform “I’m Just Ken.” He’s waiting for Academy Award nominations next week. But he didn’t say no. He fully expected Eilish to win the CCA.
When “I’m Just Ken” did win on Sunday, I went by his table and said, “I told you so!” He shook his head and pointed back to me: “You did!”
My guess is, we’ll be seeing Ryan Gosling return to his musical roots — Mickey Mouse Club, “La La Land” — on March 10th at the Dolby Theater.
Donald Trump on today’s proceedings in the new E. Jean Carroll defamation. Remember, he’s aleady been ordered to pay her $5 million for the first defamation.
Here’s what Trump wrote today on Truth Social: “The Judge in the Trial that I am attending today is a totally biased and hostile person—The same Judge that we had in the first trial, which my lawyer asked me not to attend because of the fact he thought the case was so ridiculous and demeaning (and easy to win!) to a former President. In retrospect, I should have been there to watch how unfair and partisan this “Judge” was. The whole New York System is RIGGED against me because of the fact that I’m not only a Former Republican President, but also am the leading Republican Candidate, and beating Crooked Joe Biden, BY A LOT. This case is another example of Election Interference at a level never seen before. Even E. Jean Carroll’s Lawyer is a Democrat Political Operative, and this whole Hoax was funded and conceived of by Reid Hoffman, George Conway, and many others in the Democrat System of Thugs (Perhaps at conflict with Carroll’s testimony this morning).”
So contrition is not coming into play here. The Judge also threatened to throw Trump out of court.
Judge Lewis Kaplan: “Mr. Trump has the right to be present here, but that right can be forfeited and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive and if he disregards court orders. Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial. I understand you are very eager for me to do that, I know you would because you just can’t control yourself in this circumstance.”
Trump reportedly replied: “I would love it.”
Then he potentially re-defamed Carroll again at a press conference.
Trump: “It was a very interesting day. As you probably noticed. It’s a big story that the witness today, the person I never knew, I never had anything to do with. It’s a totally rigged deal. This whole thing is rigged. Election interference. But this is a person I had no idea…who she was and nor could I care less. It’s a rigged deal. It’s a made up fabricated story.”
More to come…
Last Thursday my old friend Bennett Miller –a really accomplished director movies like “Moneyball” and “Foxcatcher” — invited me to his photo exhibit in Beverly Hills. I went to support Bennett. I had no expectations of seeing anything but the photos at the Gagosian Gallery.
What happened was maybe routine in Hollywood but not in New York: an influx of A list names came pouring through the big white box on North Canon Drive. First up was Chris Rock, followed by a bunch of people I recognized including Zachary Quinto, Edward Norton, and Catherine Keener (who starred in “Capote” for Miller), not to mention LucasFilms prez Kathleen Kennedy.
And then there was Brad Pitt. Seeing Brad Pitt in person, not at a movie premiere, is like finding a rare zebra on the African delta. He looks just like Brad Pitt, only better. Remember he was there because he starred in “Moneyball.” With him was his girlfriend, whose name I didn’t know until I shook her hand, Ines de Ramon. She could be a model. Maybe she is. She was also incredibly nice and normal despite being so beautiful. She’s a brunette, and I thought had a slight accent. (It was noisy in there.) She and Pitt were so much better looking than normal human beings, it was hard to remember Miller’s excellent photos were the reason for being there.
Another Oscar winner, Adrien Brody, strode by. He and Brad got into a discussion. As I turned around, in came Oscar winner Jon Voight with his son, James, and some friends. Voight and I have radically different politics, but we like each other a lot. We did a ‘mug’ — a male hug — and immediately caught up on this and that. Also loosely floating around in this group were Lou Ferrigno, Jr. and someone I had never met: Britney Spears‘s ex husband, Sam Ashgari.
They all went to meet Brad and co. as I stepped away. I didn’t see it, but Pitt and Voight — formerly father and son-in-law — had a brief and friendly encounter. A few people had their pictures taken with Brad. Ashgari was completely cool, courteous, and low key. He didn’t use Britney’s name to get anything. He and I talked for a bit and he couldn’t have been nicer.
I left thinking, Nice people. A Hollywood night. No headlines other than so many interesting people. No one had an awkward time. Everyone had a good time. Sorry. No duels called for the next morning.
Afterwards, Brody (with Georgina Chapman), Quinto, and some of the others went to a private dinner. I heard Al Pacino was one of the guests which made sense since his baby mama, Noor Alfallah, had been at the exhibit. I did not speak with her, but others did, and there were no altercations.
As for Brad and Ines: some fansite emailed me, not believing they were dating or together. I can’t imagine having time to speculate on that or care much at all. But that’s the way celebs and fans dance their pas de deux.
Photo courtesy of Lawlor Media