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Maybe there’s a budding super couple coming to “Days of our Lives.”
The Peacock soap got a shout out from Ryan Gosling this week during an interview for “Project Hail Mary.” He praised star Deidre Hall, especially, for her infamous Satanic possession story line.
Hall responded by inviting Gosling to the set. See below.
Now Ryan has accepted the invite. He says “Days” was his “OG acting inspiration” adding “Not Marlon Brando or On the Waterfront.”
“Days” shoots 10 months in advance. But they’ve got to write Gosling in when he gets there. Maybe he can perform an exorcism!
Little by little, the Oscars are being whittled away.
News today: starting in 2029, when the Oscars turn 101, they will move from a custom made theater in the heart of Hollywood to a dreary theater in a tacky downtown mall.
The Oscars used to presented in the Shrine Auditorium or Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The latter is a beautiful venue, a real theater with some soul.
In 2002, the show moved to Hollywood and Highland’s Kodak Theater, owned by Philip Anschutz of AEG. The theater was renamed for Dolby when Kodak mostly disappeared. And there the Oscars have thrived for 24 years.
Today the Motion Picture Academy announced the Academy Awards leaving the Dolby, which is in the center of Hollywood. Where are they going? To another much less glamorous property.
The Peacock Theater is in the middle of LA Live, a tacky mall and food court that abuts the former Staples Center aka the Crypto.com Center. The Peacock is where the Emmys are held, and the pre-Grammys event. It has no history and the charm of a big box.
Anschutz — no longer the owner of the Dolby, long story — obviously wanted the Oscars back in one of his properties. This also suggests that the Oscars Governors Ball will be held in the cavernous LA Convention Center, like the Emmys after party and the Grammys’ Musicares gala. Glamorous is not a word that comes to mind.
LA Live can be a two hour drive from Beverly Hills at rush hour. It’s as far from the hot center of Hollywood and its history as Des Moines. Shutting the whole 23 acre campus down for the Oscars should be a challenge. That is, unless the Oscars don’t mind civilians in shorts and Rush t shirts finishing their Smashburgers and wandering over to the red carpet.
AEG says it’s going to fix up the Peacock Theater — formerly the Nokia and also Microsoft Theater — to make it more acceptable to the Oscars. Maybe they will. One thing’s for certain– the Peacock has twice the capacity of the Dolby at 7,100. Maybe I’ll be able to get a ticket again. In that case, this is a good plan!
“Days We Left Behind” is such a lovely, poignant song. Paul McCartney’s voice is wistful. He’s going to have fans singing along to this beautiful piece. “Days” might be the best song he’s written in 20 years.
Trump is live now giving a rambling talk at the cabinet meeting. This is just part of the insane stuff spewing out of his head. He’s just railing against everyone. When it’s all over, the entire video will be a classic in mental instability.’
He seems to be retreating on changing the Kennedy Center’s name, adding his own. He says he can’t add “Trump” because “we’re getting sued.”
Of course, he’s had the logo changed and the sign outside. But he is being sued, and he’s angered everyone.
Trump is delusional! He just spent almost 10 minutes of his cabinet meeting talking about how he saves a little money by buying cheaper pens. Meanwhile he just spent over $30 billion on a war in Iran.
Paul McCartney’s new producer is Andrew Watt, the star who’s made great records with the Rolling Stones, and Elton John and Brandi Carlile, among others.
The new album, “The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” hits us on May 29th.
Here’s a bit from the press release on Paul’s site, plus the track titles:
The Boys of Dungeon Lane was first brought into existence five years ago when Paul met producer Andrew Watt for a cup of tea and an exchange of ideas. While playing around on the guitar during the meeting, Paul happened upon a chord that even he didn’t recognise. Undeterred and driven by his experimental nature, Paul carried on changing one note, then another, until he had a three-chord sequence, which Watt suggested they should record.
This session yielded the album’s opening track, As You Lie There. Encouraged by his new producer, Paul would flesh out the new track, playing the majority of instruments – much in the spirit of his 1970 solo debut album, McCartney. So began the journey of what became Paul’s 18th studio album credited solely to Paul.
Paul’s packed schedule meant that the album was recorded in tight and efficient sessions between legs of global tour dates spanning five years and alternating between Los Angeles and Sussex. With no record label pressure and no deadline, the pair were able to make the album to their own timeline and satisfaction.
The Boys of Dungeon Lane is musically eclectic and sees Paul across an array of instruments and styles showcasing his broad musicality. There’s Wings style rock, Beatles style harmonies, McCartney style grooves, understated intimacy, melody driven storytelling, character songs.
Track list:
As You Lie There
Lost Horizon
Days We Left Behind
Ripples in a Pond
Mountain Top
Down South
We Two
Come Inside
Never Know
Home to Us
Life Can Be Hard
First Star of the Night
Salesman Saint
Momma Gets By
Paul McCartney has never written a real memoir. It seems like now he’s going to sing one.
I told you two days ago that McCartney had a new album, “The Boys of Dungeon Lane.
This will be his 19th solo studio album (including Wings) since the Beatles broke up in 1970. Fifty six years of solo Paul.
Now McCartney’s announced it formally. He says: “Looking back on your life, you go, ‘Wow, did we really do that?’. All of that comes flooding back… it’s like a dream.”
Dungeon Lane is a street in Liverpool, like Penny Lane, where the Beatles grew up.
McCartney, who is almost 84, is in a reflective mood. For the last few months he’s been celebrating his other group, Wings.
But now he’ll put the Beatles’ early days before 1962 into an album. He’s only done this once before, really, with a great song called “My Ever Present Past.”
It’s likely he’ll include a song that’s never been on an album, called “In Liverpool.” (See below.)
Paul says on his website that the title comes a line in one of she songs: Speaking about Days We Left Behind, “This is very much a memory song for me. The album title, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, comes from a lyric in this track. I was thinking just that, about the days I left behind and I do often wonder if I’m just writing about the past but then I think how can you write about anything else? It’s just a lot of memories of Liverpool. It involves a bit in the middle about John and Forthlin Road which is the street I used to live in. Dungeon Lane is near there. I used to live in a place called Speke which is quite working class. We didn’t have much at all but it didn’t matter because all the people were great and you didn’t notice you didn’t have much.”
Tomorrow night and Saturday night, Paul plays the small — for him — Fonda Theater in Los Angeles. Maybe he’ll play some of the new songs.
Lyrics:
Spent my early life in Liverpool
Something I’m not likely to forget
No, no, no
People blend with places
And faces that I know, but never met
Upstairs on the bus there sits a man
He’s talking to himself, or so it seems
Listing names of old comedians
And laughing at ’em
Down the pierhead where the speakers meet
Each of them, his own imagined crowd
Giving us his version of the book
God has written
I spent my early life in Liverpool
Something I’m not likely to regret
No, no, no
People blend with places
And faces that I know, but never met
And in the street, before they built the road
Raising jam jars for a worthy cause or two
Prince the dog, with one eye to his name
Wants to follow
I spent my early life in Liverpool
Something I’m not likely to forget
People blend with faces
And places that I know, but never met
People blend with places
And faces that I know, but never met
Walking with the boys of Dungeon Lane
Aimlessly towards the cast iron shore
Swapping tales about the Chinese farm
And getting caught
Swapping tales about the Chinese farm
And getting caught
Down the sports field of the Institute
Lives Soft Sid, the harmless village fool
Greets the kids who pass the other side
Saying, “Hello, children”
I spent my early life in Liverpool
Something I’m not likely to forget
Mark Twain once said: “It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”
He knew what he was talking about.
Bill Maher is getting the Mark Twain Prize from the Kennedy Center after all.
Last week, The Atlantic broke that story. But then the White House denied it and called it “fake news.”
On his live to tape show on Friday, Maher didn’t say a word about it. He had plenty of time, too.
So what happened? The White House didn’t like getting scooped. So they labeled the whole thing as rubbish. Maher didn’t want to rock the boat since he knew the award would be announced at some point.
Politico broke the story this morning that Maher was indeed getting the award despite a contentious relationship with Trump. But don’t forget, Maher got a lot of flack last year for flying down to Mar-a-Lago and having dinner with Trump.
It’s hard to imagine how this all play out. Last year, the Twain award went to Conan O’Brien. He and all his guests on stage devastated Trump. Will that happen again? Will guests be advised not to to address the elephant in the room? Will Trump attend the show?
Maher, in an embargoed statement in the forthcoming Kennedy Center announcement, said: “Thank you to the Mark Twain people: I just had the award explained to me, and apparently it’s like an Emmy, except I win.”
“I’d just like to say that it is indeed humbling to get anything named for a man who’s been thrown out of as many school libraries as Mark Twain,” he joked.
There’s a lot of anticipation for a movie coming next Friday, April 3rd.
That would be “The Drama,” starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, two very popular current stars.
Fans think the A24 film is a rom-com since no reviews have been published yet. (I haven’t seen it.)
But now TMZ is reporting that the movie is anything but funny. At its center is a dark story that relates to school shootings, apparently.
“The Drama” is written and directed by Kristoffer Borgli, who credits are all indie movies with an edge. He’s never directed big stars with a lot on the line.
At the same time, A24 — which just had a hit with “Marty Supreme” –is known for cutting edge movies that don’t necessarily gain a wide following. They’ve had challenges this year with several small films including “How to Make a Killing,” “Eddington” and “Pillion.”
How will “The Drama” be met with by audiences? Will the subject matter be a turn off? Hard to say. But “The Drama” is much darker than audiences for Zendaya’s “Spider Man” or Pattinson’s “Twilight” might realize. For Zendaya, who’s also starred in film about cannibalism, this is a daring choice.
The longtime chief of the Cannes Film Festival has always been able to turn grapes into wine.
Fremaux is a specialist at getting big name American studio films for the red carpet on the Croisette. They balance out international films and a few indies.
But this year, Hollywood has slowed down, and now Cannes must confront reality.
Directors like Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan are either not ready to show their films during the second week of May, or are holding back for marketing reasons.
Spielberg will not show “Disclosure Day,” which opens less than a month later. Nolan has not finished his epic “The Odyssey,” featuring an all star cast.
Tom Cruise’s new film, “Digger,” directed by Alejandro Innaritu, will also not be offered.
Cannes can only hope now for Joel Coen’s “Jack of Spades,” starring Josh O’Connor, Frances McDormand, Lesley Manville, and Damian Lewis.
But that’s not much. There’s some talk of James Gray’s “Paper Tiger,” starring Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, and Miles Teller. But Gray has never really had a big, popular or even award winning hit.
Cannes can make it on the foreign films, but not alone. The buzz comes from American movies and stars. So far, the only star of note who will be at the festival is Barbra Streisand, but only to pick up her honorary Palme d’Or prize for lifetime achievement.
During the last heyday, stars like Nicole Kidman, Sharon Stone, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, turned the town into a frenzy.
One big problem for Cannes was the downfall of Harvey Weinstein. Hated now for his private life and crimes, Weinstein brought a buzz to the festival like no one else. Whether he was unveiling a Quentin Tarantino movie, or introducing “The Artist” — which went on to win Oscars — Weinstein lit up the Croisette. In the eight years he’s been gone, no one has stepped up to take his place as a showman.
Strangely enough, ABC has renewed “Grey’s Anatomy” for its 23rd season.
The low rated show once again evades cancellation despite having been over a long time ago.
Unfortunately, as the budget shrinks, someone to go. This time that would be Kevin McKidd and Kim Raver, who play Owen and Teddy. The former arrived in Season 5. The latter came in Season 6, took a break, and then returned.
But like Rocky Carroll in “NCIS,” their tenures put them on the chopping block.
Still, Ellen Pompeo, James Pickens Jr., and Chandra Wilson remain from the original 2005 season.
McKidd and Raver are lucky that “Grey’s” isn’t killing off their characters. They can return for guest spots, unlike many of the show’s former players. “Grey’s” has a reputation for snuffing out contract players.
How this show could still be on the air remains one of the burning questions of TV land. This year, so far, the series is up 1% in the ratings but down almost 13% in the key age demo. The average weekly viewership is 2.2 million, just a little higher than “General Hospital,” which airs during the day.
