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Age is finally catching up with all the 60s performers in their 80s.
Now Mike Love of the Beach Boys is ill with something unspecified. He’s 85, after all.
The result is the Beach Boys cancelling the rest of their Endless Summer tour — 30 dates — through the beginning of September.
They say it’s “to recharge,” but look, 85 is an AGE. There’s no fooling around. Frankie Valli, 92, has been pulled off the road. There are some others, younger, who are getting noticed for their frailty. (Of course, not the Stones, or Ringo, or Paul!)
Wouldn’t it be nice if no one aged? Reality is getting worse and worse. A lot of people don’t like Mike Love — his cousin, Brian Wilson, sure didn’t. But he remains a central figure in the rock and roll canon. So we wish him Good Vibrations.
iTunes still doesn’t get it. When AI songs and artists hit their charts, they make no distinction.
So now we have a fake singer called Arthur Hayes. He has a “group” called Gravel Grace.
Their “song,” called “Leave the Lamp on Lord,” is number 1 on iTunes. It has 68 fake videos on YouTube. Some of them have 300,000 views.
But it’s all AI, a total fake. If you like it, fine. But you won’t see be seeing Arthur Hayes in concert.
He doesn’t exist.
Spotify recently said they would start identifying AI songs and artists. But iTunes and You Tube don’t. That’s how “records” by fake artists like Eddie Dalton became iTunes this past spring.
No lamps for Arthur Hayes, and no grace. Maybe some gravel.
Gravel & Grace has nine positions on the iTunes top 100.
Also on the chart is “Noah Nine” with three fake tracks. That makes 12, if you’re counting.
Where are they coming from? Stay tuned. They could be from that guy in Greenville, South Carolina called Dallas Ray Little. Or someone else who’s gotten their hands on an AI Program.
There’s so REAL good music that deserves those iTunes spots. This has become an embarrassment.
Also be on the lookout for something called Xania Monet. She’s NOT the great Victoria Monet, who is really real and vastly talented!
I just saw this flurry of excitement for a new Stevie Wonder album in 2027.
To quote a Stevie Wonder song “I wish.”
I immediately checked in with my Wonder insiders. They said: “He’s been working on it for three years. There’s a lot of great stuff. But is it really coming? We have to wait and see.”
Someone posted there were four unreleased tracks from “Songs in the Key of Life.”
My source laughed. “Yeah, there are hundreds of songs in the archives. You should see it. Who knows what will happen?”
I love Stevie Wonder so much, like all of us I want a new album. Stevie’s last full album, “A Time to Love,” was released in 2025 by Motown with Sylvia Rhone at the helm. It’s unclear who would shepherd a new album now, but you can bet it will be on Motown/Universal. Stevie is incredibly loyal. He flew across he country in June for Clive Davis’s funeral. When Aretha Franklin was in her final stages, he went to her bedside in Detroit. He’s a mensch!
Stevie’s last official single was a duet with Elton John in 2021 called “Finish Line,” on the Lockdown album. He also played me a cool new song years ago at Tony Bennett’s 90th birthday dinner at the Rainbow Room. This was back in 2016. When Stevie put the headphones on me, both Bruce Willis and John Travolta got in a snit because he wouldn’t let them listen.
With an $18 million Wednesday, the Chris Nolan epic is looking at $200 million either tonight or tomorrow morning.
Total right now is $181 million.
There’s no stopping “The Odyssey,” which is still selling out locations in the middle of the night.
Last night, when I went to see “The Invite” (whole other story), people were walking in for the 10pm show of “The Odyssey,” a three hour movie — plus that damned half hour of commercials and trailers.
“The Odyssey” gets one more big week before “Spider Man: Brand New Day” swings into action.
There’s a lot of overlap this year between the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.
Most of the entries look top notch, with stars like Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich and Steve Buscemi in “Wild Horse Nine,” Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in “The Bunker,” and the making of a classic film in “I Play Rocky.”
Many stars will appear at each festival, and they’re all great. But so far the competing festivals are lacking “buzz.”
Venice and Toronto are suffering from two issues each: the movies that are available, and the ones the studios are brave enough to show in advance.
What’s not on the lists is more interesting than the offerings.
Warner Bros. is not giving Tom Cruise in “Digger” to either of these festivals. The Alejandro G. Innaritu film opens October 1st. Warner Bros. looks like it’s following the path they took with last year’s “One Battle After Another,” maybe even keeping it out of the New York Film Festival. The plan certainly worked with “One Battle.” It won all the Oscars.
There’s also no sign of Joel Coen’s “Jack of Spades,” starring his three time Oscar winner wife Frances McDormand, Damien Lews, and Josh O’Connor. Maybe it will be a surprise at Telluride, or maybe we won’t see it until next year. Too bad — that would have been an event.
What Venice and Toronto have in common are top notch films with great casts, and strong filmmakers.
Florian Zeller’s “The Bunker” — which sounds a little like “The Brutalist” — stars Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Steven Graham, Paul Dano, and Patrick Schwarzenegger — the latter is in a couple of films this fall and will really get to prove himself after “The White Lotus” made him a star.
Everyone’s hoping for good things with John Turturro in “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.” Turturro is due for some awards attention after a long, stellar career.
I told you about Chris Rock’s “Misty Green” yesterday — lots of potential.
Jesse Eisenberg is already getting hyped for directing “The Debut,” which comes with Oscar winner Julianne Moore, and the great Paul Giamatti. That’s a no-brainer.
I really want to see what “Friends” star Courteney Cox is like as a director with “Evil Genius.” Cox has a lot of good will, and if she pulled this off — a complex story with a big cast — then the whole game changes.
Trudie Styler’s “Up Against It” is a romantic comedy that marks the producer-actress’s debut with narrative film. It sounds great with Antonio Banderas, Irish star Eva Birthistle, and Forest Whitaker leading the A list cast.
We already know Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine” is going to be entertaining. Sam Rockwell, John Malkovich, and Steve Buscemi are the stars. We’d like to see it now, please, just from the trailer.
Casey Affleck is back as a director, with “Company,” starring starring Nick Nolte, Adelaide Clemens, Ben Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy.
But really big stars and directors? With “The Odyssey” already the blockbuster of the year, there’s not a lot of oxygen for small, quirky films. And with Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” come and gone, it’s hard to say if any other “event” releases are going to light up the season.
But let’s hope there’s a big surprise in the pack! I’ve seen it happen, especially at Toronto, anything’s possible!
David Letterman has reposted a clip of his interview with legendary TV producer Peter Lassally. You can see it below.
Lassally was a towering figure in television. He worked side by side with producer Frank DeCordova on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” beginning in 1969. When he left in the 1980s, it was to oversee David Letterman’s “The Late Show” on NBC. He also worked on The Late Show with Craig Ferguson.
In Letterman’s clip he and Lassally recall the night Dave’s staff were introduced to Carson, and what happened next.
Gracie Abrams’ new album will be number 1 by Friday, and much deserved.
But the catchiest pop song by a female singer songwriter this summer isn’t from Gracie, or Taylor, or Sabrina, or Billie, or any of the other powerhouse pop stars of 2026.
It’s by the OG confessional pop singer-songwriter, Carly Simon.
Long before any of today’s stars were a gleam in anyone’s eyes, Simon broke onto the scene with the ethereal “That’s the Way I Always Heard it Should Be.” The whole nature of the song — so personal and relatable — launched Carly into the stratosphere.
She followed that one quickly with “Anticipation,” another radio hit that has also lasted for eons in the canon of pop music.
Within a year came “You’re So Vain,” the Richard Perry-produced blockbuster that featured Mick Jagger on background vocals. The fight over who the song’s subject is remains to this day. (It could easily be about a contemporary star, from Timothee Chalamet to Leonardo Di Caprio to Harry Styles.)
Now comes “Howl,” which is so catchy that two listens and you’re in. Carly sounds as contemporary as any singer out there. “Howl” should be added to every Adult Contemporary playlist ASAP. It’s a perfectly shaped piece of pop. The refrain, “Call Love a Liar,” should be on T shirts.
Next Friday, Simon releases another single, called “Peaches,” which is right in season. The samba like effect is mesmerizing.
Then on the 14th comes her first new album of original material in 18 years. “Comes in Waves,” is a knockout, and some of the songs will have fans guessing about the subjects like crazy.
Sacha Baron Cohen is bringing back his “Ali G” character for the first time in 20 years.
Or as Ali G himself says, “20 decades.”
Cohen’s got two “Borat” movies under his belt, but this is the first time he’s the director.
Was he able to pull the wool over people’s eyes again? In the past, so called normal citizens were fooled by Borat or Ali into doing foolish things.
You’d think the world would be wise to this by now, but there’s always some poor sucker somewhere in the midwest who doesn’t have a clue what’s going on.
Last time, in the 2nd “Borat’ movie, it was Rudy Giuliani who was duped by actress Maria Bakalova playing an escort. Remember? She got an Oscar nomination, too!
No word yet on the cast for “Ali G: Who Iz I.” But Cohen usually doesn’t repeat actors from movie to movie.
This trailer for Chris Rock’s “Misty Green” says a lot.
Rosalind Eleazar — from TV’s “Slow Horses” — is about to become a big star, maybe even an Oscar nominee. She plays the title role in a comedy about a once-hot actress trying to restart her career (always a good subject, see: Pamela Anderson in “The Last of the Showgirls”).
You can already see the potential. And just think — the category is wide open because it’s the only one “The Odyssey” isn’t in unless Anne Hathaway goes for lead.
If you thought Odessa A’zion or Mikey Madison had a shot, then you’ll see it with Eleazar, who’s relatively unknown but jumps off the screen in the trailer.
Also big news: this is the first movie for Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya since 2022’s “Nope.” It’s great to see him back!
I’m not surprised about Chris Rock. In 2014 he made a terrific movie called “Top Five.” See it and tell me if you don’t agree. After the way he was treated at the 2022 Oscars, it would be some vindication to see him in the awards mix this year!
By Friday, “The Odyssey” will have made a stunning $200 in its first week of release.
I told you in my review last week that “The Odyssey” was an event movie, like “Titanic.”
The difference is, “Titanic” was released for Christmas. This is the middle of July!
Screenings of Chris Nolan’s epic are selling out in the middle of the night. The audience wants to see it in IMAX or 70MM at least. They will wait until they can grab a ticket. Amazing.
One way you know that it’s become a phenomenon is the groundswell of parodies, memes, and videos on social media. There are hundreds of them, as well regular viewers fighting over interpretations of Homer. Homer! Dead almost 3,000 years, should be on the cover of People!
Also, the crazies are chiming in with their bonkers criticisms. Elon Musk says he’ll make an AI version by the end of the year that’s “more accurate.” I think that’s code for no Black or trans actors because “The Odyssey” is FICTION. He doesn’t seem to get that part. You could make “The Odyssey” with characters dressed as fish, or the “Mad Men” era. It’s like Shakespeare. It’s open to interpretation.
Last night, “The Odyssey” made $21 million — on a Tuesday, during a tornado watch. Incredible.
Now just wait — that actor who plays the Cyclops is going to start asking for more money. Odysseus’s dog will get an agent at CAA. You’ll see!
