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Well, Universal put in the time, and now it’s paid off. “Halloween Ends,” the final chapter in the 40 year Halloween franchise, hit a home run last night.
Preview screenings brought in $5.4 million. Or as we like to say, the movie scared up a fright! (Those cliches won’t be used again.)
Jamie Lee Curtis has been everywhere doing everything all at once. Let’s hope she has a nice piece of the ‘back end.’ (No, this isn’t a cannibal movie.) “Halloween Ends” can add on a nice $25 mil this weekend.
Ringo thought he was negative the other day and his tour was back on. Alas, he says now he’s positive again, and the whole tour is cancelled.
I’m so glad I saw him when I did a few weeks ago. Ringo is a legend, and a hero. Wishing him all the best getting well. This does sound like he got Paxlovid, everyone gets COVID again, it seems, after taking the drug.
But you know what? He’ll get buy with a little help from his friends.
It may not be time yet to open the Champagne, but we’re making progress. Donald Trump is having a very, very bad week.
Today the January 6th committee voted unanimously to subpoena him. They want him right in front of them. He won’t come, but it’s a big gesture and they know it.
Also today, the Supreme Court ruled against his request to allow a special master to review classified government documents that were seized from his Florida residence during an FBI raid in August. Ouch!
Yesterday, a judge ruled that Trump must submit to a deposition in the defamation case filed against him by journalist E. Jean Carroll. She says he raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid 90s. The deposition will be next week. Trump won’t answer anything, but the humiliation is worth it I hope his young son and grandchildren get the message.
So we don’t have him in jail yet. But all this will make for quite a time on the campaign trail. How can his followers not see how all this is adding up?
Movie fans love a great set up where two legacy stars take each other on. Think “Heat” with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. Nothing could be better.
Now comes “Paradise City” pitting bald, waddling John Travolta against bewildered Bruce Willis, his lines edited together. It’s the anti-“Heat.” It’s very sad. These two were never on the level of that other pair, but they were in “Pulp Fiction” together, and technically “Look Who’s Talking.”
Travolta has made D film after D film, so that’s nothing new. Bruce is being exploited by his family. And this is the result.
It doesn’t seem possible, but “The Conners” has a new lease on life.
The “Roseanne” spin off spent its last two seasons at 9pm on Wednesdays. “Roseanne” always aired at 8pm, and indeed the show was the perfect anti-family show for the family hour. “The Conners” played its first two seasons also a 8pm, where it was a hit.
But then in season 3 ABC changed their day and time. The show dropped by well over 500,000 viewers. It wasn’t just the change of day but the time. “The Conners” was far from cutting edge. It’s a family show, you know, about a family with kids. But ABC sacrificed it for the miserable “Goldbergs.”
Then a funny thing happened. Jeff Garlin was forced off “The Goldbergs.” The show spiraled because he was the only reason to watch it. “The Goldbergs” is a bore. Their ratings dropped. So ABC switched “The Conners” and “The Goldbergs” this year. “The Conners” ratings are back, averaging 3.5 million viewers. Maybe it’s me, but the show seems relieved. It has a new lease on life.
I hadn’t watched “The Conners” for quite a while, but when I didn’t have the Yankees to worry about last night, I tuned in. Jackie — the great Laurie Metcalf — had gotten unwatchable last year, Yet, now she has her own house set, a normal husband (Nat Faxon as Neville, the brother of Dan’s new wife, Louise). Metcalf has better writing, it seems, too. She’s no longer substituting twitches for dialogue. Maybe her Emmy winning turn on “Hacks” shook up the staff.
Darlene and Becky are the same, although they’re spatting less and acting like loving — but still acerbic — sisters. Last night’s show didn’t give much to John Goodman, but I’m sure he’ll be back in the center ring by next week.
And that 3.5 million — it suggests there’s life left in this crowd. Season 6?
Bruno Mars has told Rolling Stone that he and Anderson Paak are withdrawing their 2021 release, “An Evening with Silk Sonic,” from Grammy consideration this year.
That’s very brave of them since the single from that album, “Leave the Door Open,” already won Best Record last year. The single was released before the Grammy deadline on September 30, 2021 so it was eligible for last winter’s Grammys. The album came out in November, so it could be be up for awards this year.
But let’s face it. Silk Sonic getting nominated now would be a little weird. And Bruno and Paak probably aren’t interested in performing the old songs on an awards show. They’ve got their statue. Why not just sit out the competition and have a good time?
“We truly put our all on this record, but Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year,” Bruno said. “We hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party. Thank you for letting Silk Sonic thrive.”
The Grammy race is underway with nominations coming next month. There’s a lot of speculation about the Album of the Year nominees. Some pundits are hoping to position another Beyonce vs. Adele deathmatch as both divas released records this past year.
But Beyonce’s “Renaissance” was not much after all. Total sales failed to reach the 1 million mark. The magic number so far is only 816,000. “Renaissance” was just not as popular as Beyonce or her record company would have liked.
So Adele may not have to worry about Beyonce at all. Indeed, Adele’s real competition is coming from within her own company. Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” is really the success story of the year. Sony has sold 1.8 million copies. Plus the lead single, “As It Was,” has been a monster hit. And the second single, “Late Night Talking,” is doing very well. If I were Adele, I’d be more worried about having to lease space in “Harry’s House.”
As for Adele, her “30” album had a big start and a quiet finish. She got one big hit out of it– “Easy On Me” — and sold about 2.7 million copies in the last year. After a disastrous PR deal on those Weekends with Adele– all cancelled — she’s got a fresh slate starting soon. She actually plays a show on Saturday, February 4th, the night before the Grammys. After that show Adele will be placed in a Ziploc bag and carried on a cashmere pillow by dragons from Westeros to the Staples Center Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles where she’ll feed on Sony Music interns raised only on Johnny Mathis records until showtime.
Will there be a spoiler in the group like this past year’s win by Jon Batiste? Yes. That would be Bad Bunny, whose “Un Verano Sin Ti” has outsold everyone with 3 million copies. He’s massive international hit, and could very well steal the whole deal. He’d be the first Puerto Rican act to do so. Remember, you heard that here first.
Lea Michele has proven to be everything producers hoped for with her arrival at “Funny Girl.”
Last week, the musical revival had its biggest week since its opening in April, and definitely all summer. The turnaround is miraculous.
Even better is that last week “Funny Girl” entered the 100% club — it played at 100% of its capacity or possible sales. Only four shows did that last week including “MJ The Musical,” “Moulin Rouge,” and “Phantom of the Opera.” The latter is closing at the end of the year, which is spurring ticket sales.
But not even Hugh Jackman in “The Music Man” hit the magic 100 last week. Neither did “Wicked” or “The Lion King,” two perennials. They all hit 99 percent.
So congrats to the producers of “Funny Girl,” who I hope didn’t sell their souls to the Devil or anything that extreme. They suffered through a horrible opening and summer and have survived!
Next month, Sam Moore is listed as the credited guest artist on at least two tracks on Bruce Springsteen’s new album. In five decades, Bruce has never had a track that read “featuring so-and-so.” So it’s a big, big deal.
And a nice birthday gift for Sam, who turns 87 today. A legend from Sam & Dave, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Grammy winner, singer for presidents, Sam has seen it all. And sung it all. His vibrant voice is heard somewhere every day around the world on his hits like “Soul Man,” “Hold On I’m Coming,” and “I Thank You.” If you’re in the supermarket and listening to the radio above, Sam’s magnificent voice cuts through the air as its own instrument.
It hasn’t changed. “I’m making my gospel album right now,” Sam told me from his home today via telephone. “It’s something I have to do.”
I met Sam in 1999 when he agreed to let us follow him around for a documentary called “Only the Strong Survive.” Now he’s on Bruce’s album of the same name (a tribute to another R&B giant, Jerry Butler). Sam is the only shouted out name still alive from the Arthur Conley classic, “Sweet Soul Music.” Everyone is gone — Wilson Pickett, James Brown, all the greats. Some of Sam’s Motown buddies are still around, like Stevie, Smokey, and even Berry Gordy– but Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, all left us early. We are so lucky to still have Sam (with a lot of thanks to his super wife, Joyce).
Happy Birthday, Sam! Can’t wait to hear you on Bruce’s new record!
Hey– and here’s a nudge to Atlantic Records– Sam has no star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Can you imagine who’d show up for that installation?
PS I love that picture of Sam with Eddie Murphy. Eddie asked Sam to perform at his Kennedy Center Mark Twain Awards ceremony a few years ago!
Barbara Davis, the classiest most indefatigable lady in Hollywood, turned 92 this weekend and she co-hosted her beloved Carousel of Hope Ball the day before her birthday. It’s her 36th year of hosting the event, she started the Barbara Davis Center or Diabetes in Denver more than 40 years ago along with her husband, the powerhouse Marvin Davis.
The reason was personal for both, their daughter Dana Davis, who was the co-host along with her mom, was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of seven. Barbara recounted the story that when she told her husband Marvin Davis that their daughter was afflicted, he didn’t miss a beat and said, “well fix it then.” That’s exactly what she’s been doing along with Hollywood’s A-listers over the years. This recent one was no exception.
Diane Keaton was honored with the “Brass Ring Awards,” and the crowd enjoyed performances by John Legend, who was solo at the piano and just sensational, his rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in The Dark” was sensational. Andy Grammer and Deborah Cox were equally as terrific. Howie Mandel hosted the event. Diane talked about the need for the center and then focused her gaze on Barbara. “Barbara, I adore you, I love you. You are such a spectacular woman. You are the inspiration and I’m so fortunate to call you my friend.”
Numerous Barbara friends came out including Clive Davis, Powerhouse WME Co-Chairman Richard Weitz, Ed Begley Jr and his lovely daughter Hayden, the icon Berry Gordy, Jimmy Jam and his wife Lisa Padilla Harris, Linda Thompson, Loretta Devine, AnnaLynne McCord, Kathy and Rick Hilton, Barbara’s daughter Nancy Davis, her husband Kenneth Rickel and their daughters Isabella and Mariella, Barbara’s son Gregg Davis and many more. Barbara thanked her dearest friend Clive Davis, who was also on the production team and called him “the most brilliant man I’ve ever met.”
We agree! George Schlatter and his lovely wife Jolene were also a part of the team as was Quincy Jones. The evening celebrated Barbara Davis and all she has accomplished. Brava to her!
