Sunday, December 21, 2025
Donate
Home Blog Page 426

Trump Classified Documents Trial Will Get First Hearing on August 14th in Miami with Questionable Judge, Stumbles on TV with Fox News’ Bret Baier

Roger Friedman
-
0
Trump Classified Documents Trial Will Get First Hearing on August 14th in Miami with Questionable Judge, Stumbles on TV with Fox News’ Bret Baier

August will be dog days indeed for Donald Trump.

The first hearing in his classified documents trial has been set for August 14th in Miami Federal Court. Judge Aileen Cannon, whom Trump appointed, will be overseeing until the government asks for her recusal. Cannon already ruled in Trump’s favor earlier this year on the classified docs but was subsequently overruled.

Trump is the first former president to be indicted, arrested, and arraigned — and twice in the same year. He faces 27 counts in the mishandling of classified documents, bringing them from the White House to his homes, where he stored them in bathrooms and ballrooms accessible to anyone.

Last night on Fox News, Trump — who is already on tape admitting to having documents he could no longer declassify — made a fool of himself with Bret Baier, basically admitting to the allegations. Baier, surprisingly for Fox News — did what CNN’s Kaitlan Collins didn’t do in her Town Hall– and was very tough on Trump. He even called him out for hiring people during his presidency who’ve now all turned against him.

“Creed III” Star Jonathan Majors Gets August Trial Date for Domestic Dispute Case, Will Determine His Future

Roger Friedman
-
0
“Creed III” Star Jonathan Majors Gets August Trial Date for Domestic Dispute Case, Will Determine His Future

Jonathan Majors will have his day in court. This morning he was told August 3rd will be his moment of reckoning.

Majors has pleaded not guilty in an alleged domestic abuse case brought by a girlfriend who says he attacked her on March 25th in New York.

This trial is critical for Majors to win if he’s going to have a film career. He’s already starred in “Creed III” and “Ant Man III” this year, and has “Magazine Dreams” coming out this fall. He’s supposed to play the villain in two “Avengers” movies that have now each been pushed back a year because of this case. If he’s found guilty, Marvel will have find a Plan B. So will Disney Searchlight, which has “Magazine Dreams.”

What a terrible twist of fate for everyone involved.

Watch Donald Trump Admit Indictment Assertions About Declassifying Documents to Fox News’ Bret Baier

Roger Friedman
-
0
Watch Donald Trump Admit Indictment Assertions About Declassifying Documents to Fox News’ Bret Baier

Donald Trump has lied so much that he can’t remember which ones he’s told and to whom.

Tonight he caught in his own lies in an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier. Baier reads him the Jack Smith indictment about declassifying documents, and Trump gets so tangled up that he agrees with Baier– and the indictment. It’s a piece of tape that will certainly be used in court if we ever get that far.

It’s interesting that this happened on Baier’s watch. He’s the only objective journalist at Fox. Trump usually depends on his shill, Sean Hannity, to fix his mistakes or talk him back to a safe place. Trump’s brain must have been exploding as he realized Baier had him.

Some days you eat the Baier, some days the Baier eats you.

Sean Lennon Explains How Paul McCartney Made Last Beatles Record, NOT Using Artificial Intelligence to Create a Frankenstein

Roger Friedman
-
0
Sean Lennon Explains How Paul McCartney Made Last Beatles Record, NOT Using Artificial Intelligence to Create a Frankenstein

It’s time to dispel the idea that Paul McCartney and a bunch of Dr. Frankensteins re-created John Lennon’s voice using Artificial Intelligence for a last Beatles record.

McCartney used the expression “artificial intelligence” in a UK TV interview but he didn’t mean the thing called AI that everyone is so jumpy about these days. It was a toss off, if you will. What he meant was, he and the people involved took Lennon’s existing vocal from a late 70s demo, cleaned off all the rough stuff around it, and dropped it into a record that will also feature a George Harrison solo and Ringo Starr on drums.

The people involved includes Sean Ono Lennon, who had to give permission to use the demo for a Lennon song called “Now and Then.” Sean addressed this today on Twitter when one of his followers asked what was going on?

Sean wrote: “All we did was clean the noise from the vocal track. People are completely misunderstanding what occurred. There have always been ways of ‘de-noising’ tracks but AI just does it better because it learns what the vocal is and is able to very precisely remove everything that is not the vocal.”

He added as a response to another follower: “I shouldn’t speak too much on this yet but I’ll just say the track turned out beautifully and I think everyone will be very happy.”

Indeed, it’s not that different than what was done in the 90s to create “Free as A Bird” and “Real Love,” two then-new Beatles recordings made using Lennon demos.

Clearly, Sean is on the process and likely Dhani Harrison is, too. The bigger question is what will the new “Now and Then” be part of — a new album of outtakes? A fourth Anthology? An insider at Apple would only say that so far there are no plans, but I sense that may not be true.

Stay tuned…

HBO Will Cancel “The Idol” Because Viewers Hate It, According to Their Twitter Posts — But Network Still Denies It

Roger Friedman
-
0
HBO Will Cancel “The Idol” Because Viewers Hate It, According to Their Twitter Posts — But Network Still Denies It

HBO viewers hate “The Idol.” They say so on Twitter.

Last night’s episode, which was only 45 minutes but featured several scenes of kinky sex, really upset them, too. I don’t know how many are left. Last week’s episode had only 135,000 sets of eyes on the HBO channel. Tomorrow we’ll find out the actual numbers for last night.

Here’s a sampling of opinions.

HBO’s The Idol Episode 3 Was Only 45 Minutes Long, and Most of It Was Soft Core Porn for Juveniles

Roger Friedman
-
0
HBO’s The Idol Episode 3 Was Only 45 Minutes Long, and Most of It Was Soft Core Porn for Juveniles

These days, a cable or streaming drama should run close to 60 minutes an episode. Recent HBO shows like “Succession” and “House of the Dragon” followed that formula. After all, there are no commercials. We paid for a subscription.

But tonight’s episode of “The Idol” ran just under 45 minutes. We can be grateful for that, actually. Most of it was soft core porn for juveniles.

In the first twenty minutes there were several sex acts including The Weeknd’s Tedros performing cunnilingus on Lily Rose Depp’s Jocelyn in the back seat of a moving vintage Lincoln Continental. The most offensive part of this was the defiling of a great American automobile.

The next section was a dinner scene in which Tedros got Jocelyn to admit her beloved late mother used to hit her with a hair brush so hard it broke her skin. So he orders Jocelyn to bring the hairbrush so he can hit her while they are having sex. The idea is also raised of putting the photo of Jocelyn with ejaculate on her face on the cover of her new album. Tedros is all for it.

Was there a plot? Yes: Tedros is playing a mind game with Jocelyn, taking over her life and career, getting rid of her inner circle. We know this because everyone talks about it but no one does anything about it.

The worst part of “The Idol” is not porn. It’s that someone writing this crap thinks this is the music business works. In this scenario, no one making records has a work ethic of any dignity or integrity. There are no actual musicians involved. It’s just a game, with a lot of hazy-shot sex.

I don’t know what it’s like for The Weeknd making records. Maybe this is his experience. But it’s certainly not that of any one who’s successful. Yes, there are parties and drugs, etc. But mainly it’s people trying to make music and get it released and marketed. If what happens on “The Idol” were the norm, the radio would be be just white noise.

While “The Idol” was ending, HBO was showing the last two episodes of Succession on another channel. It’s hard to believe these two two things could exist in the same realm.

Rep Says Famed Music Producer Quincy Jones, 90, Is “Fine” After Hospital Call, Still Planning Hollywood Bowl Shows This Summer

Roger Friedman
-
0
Rep Says Famed Music Producer Quincy Jones, 90, Is “Fine” After Hospital Call, Still Planning Hollywood Bowl Shows This Summer

TMZ reported with their usual alarm that Quincy Jones was taken to the hospital this morning in Los Angeles.

But his rep Arnold Robinson tells me that Q, who is 90 and feisty. is “fine.” Listen, at 90 it’s amazing if you’re not at the hospital once a week!

The famed producer of Michael Jackson landmark albums, conductor of Frank Sinatra’s orchestra, and so much more is planning two shows at the end of July at the Hollywood Bowl to commemorate his 90th birthday (which was March 14th).

Already signed up to perform are Jennifer Hudson, George Benson, Patti Austin, Angelique Kidjo, John Mayer, Ibrahim Maalouf, and Siedah Garrett. More names will be coming, I’m sure. Just to go through Quincy’s catalogue will take at least two nights! (Stevie Wonder? Chaka Khan? Where are the Brothers Johnson? We’ll see.)

So we’re sending best wishes to irascible, immortal Q, as he is called by family, friends, and admirers.

Box Office: “The Flash” Finds Little Traction with $55 Mil Three Day Weekend, Aiming for $64 Mil Outing

Roger Friedman
-
0
Box Office: “The Flash” Finds Little Traction with $55 Mil Three Day Weekend, Aiming for $64 Mil Outing

“The Flash” had a tough good weekend.

Total for three days (plus previews) is $55 million, which is lower than the hoped for $60 million.

With tomorrow, the four day weekend will be over $64 million. The $100 million mark is not coming any time soon..

Andy Muschietti’s comic book action film is fun and funny. There are lots of Easter eggs. By now you know George Clooney makes a cameo, and there are plenty of other cool clips and references to older DC Comics movie and TV stars. Warner Bros. says the audience is skewing older. But people of all ages will dig it. For someone as ancient as myself, the nods are a pleasure. Younger people will certainly like Ezra Miller and Sasha Calle.

Whatever happens next for the DC Comics universe, this chapter ends on a high note. Since tomorrow is a holiday, go see “The Flash’ and get a big bucket of popcorn!

Box Office: Asteroid City, Star Studded, Crashes To Earth with Declining Numbers All Weekend, Low Audience Score

Roger Friedman
-
0
Box Office: Asteroid City, Star Studded, Crashes To Earth with Declining Numbers All Weekend, Low Audience Score

“Asteroid City” has crashed to Earth.

The latest outing for Wes Anderson started strong on Friday with $350,000 in 6 locations.

But on Saturday that number fell to $250,000 and today they’re expecting just $190,000.

Word of mouth isn’t there, and the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes reflects that: just 50%.

Anderson’s last effort, “The French Dispatch,” made only $16 million. This one may not get there at this point.

The audience — even die hard fans of Anderson’s twee tales — may have just tired of the same thing over and over again. Long since passed are the days of his films with real stories and a few characters. Remember how charming “Bottle Rocket” and “Rushmore” were? Then came “The Royal Tennenbaums,” Anderson’s effort to bottle JD Salinger. “The Life Aquatic” made no sense, but Anderson was forgiven. He had a good then with a few films that were totally the same in style: “Darjeeling Limited,” “Grand Budapest Hotel,” and “Moonrise Kingdom.” (There was also my favorite, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” with Noah Baumbach.)

But enough is enough. “Isle of Dogs,” animated, never caught on. “French Dispatch” was a puzzlement.

Luckily, there’s word that Anderson’s next one may be a more slimmed down drama about a father and a daughter. There’s also a 37 minute short, though, again stuffed with stars, which will come first. (I don’t know where these “shorts” — like Pedro Almodovar’s “Brokeback Mountain” tribute- are supposed to play.)

Hope springs eternal! We’ll see when the Asteroid goes wide this Friday is there’s a bigger more enthusiastic audience.

Disney’s Pixar Has Another Box Office Dud with “Elemental,” Opens $20 Mil Lower Than Failed “Lightyear”

Roger Friedman
-
0
Disney’s Pixar Has Another Box Office Dud with “Elemental,” Opens $20 Mil Lower Than Failed “Lightyear”

Something has gone very wrong at Disney’s Pixar.

Once the gem of animation, Pixar has found itself on the wrong side of a losing cartoon war.

“Elemental.” their latest, opening Thursday and Friday to just $11.5 million, The three day weekend will come to around $30 million. (I thought Elemental was a cheese, frankly.)

This one follows on the heels of recent losers like ‘Lightyear,” and “Turning Red.” As much as everyone knocked “Lightyear,” it had a $50 million opening weekend. So that’s a drop of 50% according to my calculator.

Red is the operative word here, as these movies are losing money and not attracting audiences. Their best movie in years, “Soul,” won Oscars but had no theater life because of the pandemic.

Pixar is betting on “Inside Out 2.” to get things back to their previous level of success. But that’s not until a year from now.

1...425426427...2,324Page 426 of 2,324

Hollywood to the Hudson

Company

Trending

Categories

© Showbiz411.com