Saturday, December 20, 2025
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Disney’s Tom Hanks “Pinocchio” Not Going to Theaters, Won’t Qualify for Oscars (Trailer)

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“Pinocchio” is coming, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks.

Remember, these two powerhouses had a huge hit with another family movie, “The Polar Express.”

So why is the Maus Haus releasing “Pinocchio” just to Disney Plus on September 8th and not to theaters? Isn’t this the perfect film for theaters? And also, if they want to qualify for the Oscars, “Pinocchio” has to be released in theaters. Hello?

There’s a great cast too, including Cynthia Erivo, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Keegan Michael Key, and Luke Evans.

Something is very odd about all this.

Snoop Dogg Mystery: Cancels All Shows Set for Europe This Fall, Just Finished Dates Here

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Snoop Dogg has mysteriously cancelled the rest of his shows for 2022.

The 15 or so dates were all in Europe and Scandinavia, the UK and Ireland. He said in a posting to social media yesterday that his US dates will go on, but he has none as far as I can tell. He just completed a few in California.

So what’s going on? Illness? Passport problems? We don’t know. Maybe he’s got plans with BFF Martha Stewart. Whatever it is, let’s hope it’s not serious.

Both Sides Now: Judy Collins Unveils Chic New Hairdo at Clive Davis’s All-Star Holiday Dinner

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There was plenty to talk about and plenty of people to talk about it with at Clive Davis‘s annual Memorial Day dinner in Westchester Saturday night.

Among the guests bubbling under an Andy Warhol portrait of Aretha Franklin were Tony winner Adrienne Warren (from “Tina, The Musical)” — wearing spectacular heels gifted to her by Trudie Styler — to “Jersey Boys” actor Erich Bergen. famed Motown songwriter and performer Valerie Simpson, TV and movie star Brenda Vaccaro, Chrysalis Records founder Terry Ellis, MSNBC star Ari Melber, Republic Records chief Monte Lipman (he gives us, you know, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Drake, Taylor Swift, Jack Johnson) and wife Dr. Angelina Davis, Broadway powerhouse producers Barry and Fran Weissler, entrepreneur and filmmaker Nikki Haskell, NY radio personality Michael Riedel, and the amazing Barbaralee Diamondstein-Spielvogel who, like Davis, is 90 and doesn’t stop going as a New York living landmark, historian, preservationist, and philanthropist.

(How, as my mentor Liz Smith used to say, did I get into this room?)

That’s a lot of heavy hitters. But you know, then there was Judy Collins, the superstar songbird of our lives, with husband Louis Nelson, who only designed the Mural Wall for the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington. (This summer he’s unveiling a major update to the Wall in DC.)

We’ve loved Judy for decades, since she made Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” a massive, lifelong hit. Her voice sounds like a flight of angels on her many other hits including Leonard Cohen‘s “Suzanne,” Sondheim‘s “Send in the Clowns,” and her new album (should be in the Grammy race this winter) called “Spellbound.”

Collins kind of took the party by storm Saturday night. Gone were her trademark locks of silvery blonde hair, replaced by a a very chic pixie cut. The gang was abuzz. Judy’s hair has always been as iconic as, say, Tina Turner’s. Collins explained, “This is my off stage hair and I’m thinking of keeping it.” She got applause from everyone in earshot! And she wasn’t even singing! (Judy, by the way, performs at the Leonard Cohen documentary premiere June 12th at the Beacon Theater.)

Oh yeah, and Clive: he was in France for several days on a top secret mission, returned to New York on Wednesday, took a group around the isle of Manhattan on a cruise Friday night, hosted the Saturday dinner, and a Sunday brunch and barbecue, and talent show in his screening room.

“Clive,” I said, asking naively, “Aren’t you tired?”

Clive’s response: “I am.” Then he added: “But the show must go on!” And then he screened a new documentary about his long, storied career with a special audio mix of all his hits by Mark Ronson.

As you do.

PS Clive has a very cool big secret, but I’m not allowed to share it yet. Just wait…

Yes, “Top Gun Maverick” Sets Memorial Day Record, Best Ever Opening for Tom Cruise, No It’s Not an Oscar Movie

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Yes, Tom Cruise has finally had a $100 million opening weekend. He’s also set the record for Memorial Day weekend.

No, “Top Gun Maverick” is not an Oscar movie.

“Maverick” through today has $156 million in the bank in the US. Yesterday’s record was set at $124 million. Overseas, there’s another $124 million at least. The worldwide total is heading toward $300 million.

No one expected less, folks. This is not a surprise. Paramount spent around $50 million to get it there.

“Maverick” will make at least $500 million worldwide. It sets up the star and the studio for the two “Mission Impossible” movies coming 2023 and 2024.

However, “Maverick” is not a Best Picture nominee. Tom is not a Best Actor nominee. The planes might get nominated. Jennifer Connelly could get a nod for looking great. But “Maverick” will be a hit with the Critics Choice Awards and maybe the Golden Globes, if they return. The People’s Choice Awards will love it. But no big Oscars. It’s a really great action movie, which is fine thing. Let’s appreciate it for what it is.

By the way, Cruise is still the celebrity leader of a dangerous religious cult. It’s called Scientology and his participation has been well documented. He also, as far anyone knows, hasn’t seen his 16 year old daughter in years. They’re “disconnected” because she’s being raised outside the cult.

Reality bites.

LA Story: Cybill Shepherd, Nile Rodgers, and Siedah Garrett Topline Nancy Davis’s Annual Race to Erase MS Gala

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Nancy Davis just does not stop in her quest to find a cure for MS, which she was diagnosed with at the age of 33.  She told us at the recent ‘29th Annual Race to Erase MS Gala’ at the Fairmont Century Plaza that, “We [the Center Without Walls that she founded] haven’t given up.  We’ll give up once we find a cure.  We have 22 drugs on the market now to stop the progression of MS, which is pretty much a miracle.  It’s not by accident, so many of the same people have come every year, giving us their time and talent throughout these years and we are finally back in our original ballroom; it’s wonderful to have the synergy back! ” 

Tommy Hilfiger has been involved for many years and he put on an inspiring ‘Adaptive Fashion Show’ where models of all abilities showcased his collection.  Nile Rodgers & Chic (who just landed in LA from London only hours earlier) rocked the packed room.  Cybill Shepherd, being her sassy fun self, spoke at the podium as her daughter, Clementine Ford, has MS.  She noted, “That diagnosis of my daughter Clementine was one of the most difficult days of my life, but she’s doing great right now and I have two grandchildren.” Cybill proudly showed her jacket with Elvis’s picture on the back, calling him her former “paramour.”

The shining star of the night was Nancy Davis of course, flanked by her husband respected entrepreneur Kenneth Rickel and their lovely twin daughters, Mariella and Isabella.  Nancy’s beloved 90 year old mom, Barbara Davis, maybe the last doyenne of Los Angeles, didn’t come because of COVID concerns.  

Nancy Davis and family. All pictures courtesy of Getty Images

Nancy Davis noted from the podium that  “As Marie Curie was quoted, ‘Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so we may fear less.’ When I was diagnosed 30 years ago with MS and told there would never be a cure, that I had what was called a hopeless disease, my instinct was to search for answers, to understand, to fear less. As a young mother of three, I had become fearless, with so many hopes and dreams for my future, obliterated with one doctor’s visit. I’m so grateful that I didn’t listen to the hopelessness and took a path of hopefulness.”

At the end of the night, in what has become a poignant and hopeful tradition,  singer/ songwriter Siedah Garrett (who wrote Michael Jackson‘s “Man in the Mirror” and had a hit duet with the King of Pop) led the crowd, along with Nile Rodgers, Greg Phillinganes and Nancy singing “Lean On Me.”  Attendees included Kathy and Rick Hilton, Garcelle Beauvais, Frances Fisher, Ed Begley Jr, Joely Fisher, Greg Germann, Katie Cassidy, Victoria Justice, Vanna White, Vivica A. Fox, Taryn Manning and more.  The 29th Annual Race To Erase Gala raised over 1.4 million.  Bravo to the indefatigable Nancy Davis! 

Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein Movie Will in Black & White, and in Color

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“Maestro” is the biopic of composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, starring and directed by Bradley Cooper. Carey Mulligan plays Bernstein’s wife, Felicia. Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke co-star.

We got pictures from the set today and guess what? The movie is in both black & white, and in color, just like “The Wizard of Oz.” Cooper plays Lenny as a young man and an older one, and looks pretty convincing in each.

Could this finally be Netflix’s Best Picture? No less than Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are executive producers. If this isn’t it, I’d say throw in the towel. “Maestro” will get a release and a huge Netflix Oscar campaign later this year.

 

“Harry’s House” Robbed by “Top Gun” Soundtrack as Box Office Hit, Lady Gaga Single Goes to Number 1

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“Harry’s House” has been robbed!

After one week in release, Harry Styles’ new album rocketed to number 1 last week and sold half a million copies by last Friday.

But fame is fleeting. The new number 1 on iTunes is the soundtrack to “Top Gun Maverick” which features Lady Gaga’s hit single, “Hold My Hand.” The single is number 2 on iTunes. (It would be number 1 but Kate Bush’s old hit, “Running Up That Hill” is at the top spot thanks to inclusion in “Stranger Things” Season 4.)

The “Top Gun” soundtrack is not only number 1 it’s also number 3 with a special expanded edition. And the only original “Top Gun” soundtrack album has returned, and gone to number 4 featuring the painful Berlin hit, “Take My Breath Away.”

Over on amazon, “Maverick” is number 5, where Harry has stayed in Style at numbers 2 and 3 with his regularly priced CD and his $31.97 LP.

(Video) Stranger Things Season 4 Opens with A Massacre of Children, and a Warning from Netflix Because of Uvalde

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It’s not like Netflix needed any more trouble this month.

“Stranger Things,” Season 4 opens with a 9 minute sequence in which all but one of the children being tested in the Hawkins Lab by Dr. Brenner is massacred. In light of the Uvalde, Texas killings, this is poor timing to say the least.

Netflix has added a warning to the start of the episode. But even so, if you watch it. and it’s free on YouTube for all to see, it’s quite startling. There’s also the suggestion that “11” (Millie Bobby Brown) is responsible for the killings. The Duffer Brothers could not have known that Uvalde would happen, but the scene is very graphic. There have been plenty of other school shootings before this season was filmed. I guess no one thought this would be a bad idea.

The rest of “Stranger Things” has dropped on Netflix, and it’s very, very long. Each episode is the length of a movie. I was happy with the end of Season 3, but you know, why stop there when you can milk something til it’s exhausted?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=9BRSFiRExz4

Top Gun is Top Movie: “Maverick” Scores Record Memorial Day Weekend Numbers — and Then Some

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If you’re keeping track, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” was the Memorial Day king up til now. The Johnny Depp blockbuster scored $114 million over three days, and $139 million over the four day weekend in 2007.

But now we welcome “Top Gun: Maverick,” which cleared its first hurdle today and will take the second one tomorrow.

Right now the three day total is $124 million, ten million more than “Pirates.” At that rate, the four day total should come in around $150 million. Yowza! Add to that $124 million that’s already come in from other stops around the world.

Woody Allen to Publish First Collection of Stories, Essays in 15 Years Including 10 New Pieces

Some good news: Circle June 7th. That’s the day Woody Allen will publish his first new collection of stories and essays in 15 years.

I’m very excited to report about “Zero Gravity,” which will include uncollected pieces from The New Yorker plus 10 new ones composed especially for this book. Fans of Woody’s earlier humor collections like “Without Feathers,” “Getting Even,” and “Side Effects” will be as thrilled as I am to hear this news.

Some of the titles include “Buffalo Wings Woncha Come Out Tonight,” “When Your Hood Ornament Is Nietzsche,” and “Growing Up in Manhattan.”

Woody has made 49 films including two recent ones, “A Rainy Day in New York” and “RIfkin’s Festival.” He’s written a 50th film which he hopes to shoot in Paris soon, and has a play in the works as well.