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Chris Rock Comes Out Swinging in Netflix Special, Takes on Will Smith Slap, Brutally Attacks Jada’s Public Cheating

Roger Friedman
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Chris Rock Comes Out Swinging in Netflix Special, Takes on Will Smith Slap, Brutally Attacks Jada’s Public Cheating

Chris Rock eviscerated Will Smith tonight on his Netflix special.

In one hilarious hour, Rock — on stage live in Baltimore — waited til the end of the hour and then went crazy making fun of Smith, the Oscar slap, and everything that happened last year.

The show was brilliant, touching on a number of subjects, but everyone was waiting for Rock to address the slap business. At the very end, Rock said, People asked him why he didn’t retaliate against Smith on stage? Rock paused and said, “Because I have parents.I was raised! And you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people!”

And then he dropped the mic. End of show. Standing ovation.

Smith went brutally into Jada Pinkett’s public cheating on Will, calling him a Bitch over and over but quoting others. When Will and Jada heard this, they must have hit the ceiling! “None of us have been interviewed by the person who cheated on us on television.” He said, “She hurt him way more than I did!…And who’s he hitting? Me!”

Rock said of Jada, “She started it, I finished it.” He also said, “I was Emancipation just to see him get whooped!”

Rock also revealed –he said for the first time — that he asked his daughter Lola’s private high school to kick her out. It was public that she’d been expelled because she’d gotten into trouble. But Rock says she and his family only learned tonight during the show that he’d been the one to go to school and told me to do it. He wanted her to learn something.

If true, it may be a tough few days in Rock’s family.

The set touched on being Woke, on trans and homophobic biases, and so on. A particularly astute part of the monologue concerned the Kardashians, especially late Robert Kardashian who defended OJ Simpson.

What Chris Rock did with this live set — which will be quoted all day tomorrow — is completely take his career and position in the comedy hierarchy to a new level. He ‘went there’ on every subject, was brutally unafraid to address any subject including a harsh look at the difference between dating 25 year olds and 45 year olds. The set was raunchy but not off color, he used the F word and N word a lot, but in a kind of benign way.

Grade A+

Jamie Lee Curtis Skipping Oscar Nominees Dinner: She Can’t Be Everywhere, Everything All at Once

Roger Friedman
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Jamie Lee Curtis Skipping Oscar Nominees Dinner: She Can’t Be Everywhere, Everything All at Once

Jamie Lee Curtis finally got nominated for an Oscar at age 64. She’s campaigned all over town like she was running for president.

But Jamie Lee knows voting for the Oscars is over on Tuesday. There’s nothing else she can do.

So on Thursday, Jamie Lee tells the Hollywood Reporter, she’s skipping the Oscar nominees dinner. Why? It starts at 7:30 and she goes to bed. “You know there won’t be food til 9,” she says in this clip.

The party is over.

PS I have no doubt Angela Bassett will be there.

Will Academy Voters Rubber Stamp Spirit Award Winner “Everything Everywhere,” or Be Actually Independent?

Roger Friedman
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Will Academy Voters Rubber Stamp Spirit Award Winner “Everything Everywhere,” or Be Actually Independent?

Yes, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” won a lot of Spirit Awards today. Around 10,000 people watched the Spirit Awards show on YouTube, which is not a lot.

“EEAAO” won Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, Screenplay. It was not unexpected. It’s definitely the right movie for these awards.

But now what? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is not Film Independent, It’s a Big Deal. Will the members merely rubber stamp the Spirit Awards, or bring something new to the table? That’s the question now as Oscar ballots are due back on Tuesday.

It was true today as I wrote earlier this week that the cast of “EEAAO” is very likeable. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the movie. Michelle Yeoh is gold. Ke Huy Quan is bubbling over with gratitude. The Daniels are clearly innovative directors.

But if you watch “All Quiet on the Western Front,” you see cinema writ large, “the way movies used to be.” “Elvis” is the American story. “The Fabelmans” is a gorgeous memoir from a blockbuster director. “Top Gun Maverick” is the popular choice, for sure.

Meantime, this Spirits Awards show should keep them off TV forever. Poorly written, not funny, often tone deaf and just mean this show headlined: Don’t Watch Us.

Also, it’s like a bad Emmy Awards. So much TV– not indie but fully financed by corporate Hollywood. What are some of these shows and people doing in an Independent showcase? Quita Brunson won for “Abbott Elementary” produced by Warner Bros for Disney. She said it best. She was surprised! The whole TV part is ludicrous.

Also ludicrous are the gender-free categories. All the actors nominated today had genders, and I’ll bet if they were honest they’d say the same thing: you’ve cut their chances in half. It’s absurd.

Chris Rock, Netflix Coming for “SNL,” Will Smith Tonight in Overlapping Historic Live Comedy Show

Roger Friedman
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Chris Rock, Netflix Coming for “SNL,” Will Smith Tonight in Overlapping Historic Live Comedy Show

A year ago, give or take, Chris Rock wound up in one of the two or three biggest Oscar moments when Will Smith charged up out of his seat on live TV and slapped him, hard. It was a hit, followed by Smith cursing him out after returning to his table.

The result was Smith being banned from the Oscars for 10 years, and having his career seriously wounded.

Tonight, Chris Rock gets his revenge with the first ever live comedy special on Netflix. Rock will be performing from Baltimore at 10pm for anywhere between 90 minutes and two hours. Netflix is wrapping the comedy show with a live lead-in show. But it’s the after show that’s most interesting. Following Rock’s Baltimore blast, Netflix will offer a live wrap up with former “Saturday Night Live” stars Dana Carvey and David Spade, who have a new podcast series.

Netflix is taking on “SNL” for the first time. The 48 year old sketch show has a new episode on NBC tonight at 11:30pm. The unlikely host is NFL player Travis Kelce with musical guest Kelsey Ballerini. Either NBC didn’t see the Rock Netflix show coming, or did and figured they’d just concede the ratings this week. But I’ll be surprised if “SNL” doesn’t dip below 4 million tonight. Advantage: Rock.

And PS a small but notable irony not lost on anyone: Chris Rock spent three seasons starting out at “SNL” from 1990-93.

Box Office: “Creed III” Scores Knockout Friday with $17 Mil, Heading to Unexpected Overperformance

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Creed III” Scores Knockout Friday with $17 Mil, Heading to Unexpected Overperformance

“Creed III” defied expectations on Friday night.

After making $5.4 million in previews, the third part of the post-“Rocky” trilogy earned another $17 million last night. Total so far is $22 million.

At this rate, “Creed III” would end tomorrow with $54 million. That’s waaaay over the top estimates of $39 million that were coming in on Thursday. And that’s with pretty bad weather everywhere including the North East.

Sylvester Stallone really made a mistake on this one. I told you last year that the “Rocky” producers left a spot in the film for him to play his original character. But he refused. He continued to fight with Irwin Winkler over rights to the “Rocky” series even though it made him rich beyond description. Stallone sold the rights to Winkler in 1976, not realizing there would be 7 “Rocky” movies and the “Creed” spin off. Stallone was also supposed to write and stat in a new “Rocky” movie but seems to have declined by being obnoxious in public toward Winkler.

The big winner here is Michael B. Jordan, a teenager actor on “All My Children” who made a huge film debut in “Fruitvale Station” with Ryan Coogler directing, followed Coogler into “Black Panther” and “Creed,” and now directs a hit feature. The other winner is Jonathan Majors, who will come out of “Creed III” a bona fide movie star.

China Beach Star Dana Delany Remembers Tom Sizemore, Says “He Wanted to Be De Niro”

Roger Friedman
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China Beach Star Dana Delany Remembers Tom Sizemore, Says “He Wanted to Be De Niro”

Emmy winner Dana Delany was there in 1989 when Tom Sizemore — who died Friday at 61 — broke out on her Emmy winning series, “China Beach.” As Sizemore went through decades of scandal– drugs, jail, trials, divorce, all kinds of accusations and allegations — she always held a soft spot for him.

As “China Beach” hit (he was there for Season 3) he also started popping up in movies. First was “BOrn on the Fourth of July.” Over a decade he appeared in more and more hits like “Saving Private Ryan,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Heat,” and so on. But by the mid to late 2000s, he was a tabloid wreck, constantly getting headlines for the wrong reasons.

Sizemore was, for a while, a character actor you looked forward to seeing on screen. But starting around 2009 his legal and personal problems killed his mainstream career. He started appearing in dozens of straight to video B movies. His one comeback was briefly in 2017 when he recurred on the “Twin Peaks” revival. But he could never overcome the Wild Man image. Dating “Hollywood Madam” Heidi Fleiss didn’t help.

Delany writes on Twitter, showing pictures of the actor when he was young: “This is the Tom I choose to remember. So young & full of dreams. He wanted to be DeNiro. I said, but why? You’re already Richard Burton. In many ways, he was.”

Rest in peace.

Bad Omen? Jonas Brothers “Wings” Clipped as New Single Bombs — And it Took Ten (10) People to Write It!

Roger Friedman
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Bad Omen? Jonas Brothers “Wings” Clipped as New Single Bombs — And it Took Ten (10) People to Write It!

The Jonas Brothers had a big moment in 2019 with their song, “Sucker,” and their album, :Happiness Begins.” They were on top of the world again after Nick had had solo success and Joe scored with “Cake by the Ocean.” The Jonas Brothers were hot on radio and the charts.

But time marches on and waits for no one. What happened next was Nick released a new solo album called “Spaceman” in 2021. It didn’t sell, even with a launch on “Saturday Night Live.” It just went cold overnight. “Spaceman” moved around 185K units according to Luminate.

Joe Jonas, eminently likeable, never capitalized on “Cake.” That single was one of those rare one-off monster hits you always have had in your head. It was exuberant. But Joe and his group, DNCE, were not meant to last.

So now what? The Jonas Brothers have a new album coming in May called “The Album.” They launched it on February 24th with a new single called “Wings.” Well, those have been clipped. “Wings” sold 82 copies according to Luminate — even though it took 10 people to write it– yes, ten including the three J Bros. And this is despite “White Lotus” star Haley Lu Richardson (Portia) starring in the video that got 3.4 mil views. “Wings” is already gone from the iTunes top 100.

This is a bad omen for “The Album.” There had better be careful marketing or trouble will be right at the door. The Jonas Brothers are so appealing, and welcome everywhere in the pop world. What’s gone wrong? I don’t know.

Michael B. Jordan “Creed III” Punches Up $5.4 Mil Preview Night, Giving Studio First Hit in a Long Time

Roger Friedman
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Michael B. Jordan “Creed III” Punches Up $5.4 Mil Preview Night, Giving Studio First Hit in a Long Time

Before last night, MGM-United Artists hadn’t landed a punch in a long time except for “No Time to Die.” They blew “Till,” “Respect,” “Licorice Pizza,” and plenty of other good films.

Now UA is lucky to still have the old “Rocky” franchise thanks to producer Irwin Winkler. That includes the “Creed” movies. Last night, “Creed III” — directed by Michael B. Jordan, its star, and featuring new It Guy Jonathan Majors — racked up $5.4 million at the box office. That’s nearly $2 mil more than “Creed II.” It’s a hit!

“Creed III” will exceed $30 mil at the weekend box office, establishing both Jordan as a director and Majors as a star. Winkler is already on the Mt. Rushmore of producers.

Clash of the Cannes Party Titans: Graydon Carter to Reclaim Social Crown from Vanity Fair with Warner Bros. Gala

Roger Friedman
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Clash of the Cannes Party Titans: Graydon Carter to Reclaim Social Crown from Vanity Fair with Warner Bros. Gala

It’s not just movies causing a stir in Cannes this season.

When the venerable festival returns in mid May, there will be a clash of the party titans!

Graydon Carter is finally taking off the gloves and reclaiming his role as Chief Gala Guru. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Carter will host a glittering all star gathering at the elegant and historic Hotel du Cap Eden Roc on May 23rd celebrating the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. His partner in this is Warner Discovery’s David Zaslav.

Carter invented the Cannes party years ago when he was editor in chief of the real Vanity Fair, not the one that puts TV stars on the cover of the Oscar issue. Now he’s got his lively subscription based Air Mail, which has a lot of the old VF writers and covers everything of interest — unlike the new VF.

Meanwhile, the new VF will likely have its – or what used to be Graydon’s — party as well, maybe on the Saturday before AirMail/Warner’s and maybe still at the Eden Roc. Celebrities now use VF’s parties as green carpet photo ops, then move on to private dinners. The upcoming VF Hollywood party will be just like that, teeming I guess with streaming stars.

Me? I’ll hang at the bar at Antibes watering hole Mamo, where the stars sneak off to every night during the festival.

Wayne Shorter, RIP, Founder of Weather Report, Played with Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Famous for “Aja”

Roger Friedman
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Wayne Shorter, RIP, Founder of Weather Report, Played with Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Famous for “Aja”

The legendary and amazing saxophonist Wayne Shorter has died at age 89. His beautiful sounds are stamped into our culture. from his work with Miles Davis and Art Blakey, to being a founding member of Weather Report. What a rich, mellifluous, trademark sound!

I didn’t know who Wayne Shorter was until 1977, when I turned 20, and Steely Dan released their seminal album, “Aja.” In the middle of that title track, which weighs in at 7 minutes and 52 seconds, comes an instrumental break the likes of which had never been heard in a “pop” record.

I can remember the first time I heard it. It was thrilling. It sent me and a generation of teens who’d grown up on the Beatles, soul, and classic rock back to find everything Wayne Shorter had ever played on. From then on, his place in jazz and rock history was cemented and writ large across the sky.

There are plenty of great obits appearing now, with far deeper insights into Shorter’s jazz work. But here is what I will always remember him for. Thank you, Wayne Shorter.

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