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Will Smith’s Slap Has Nothing on Julia Roberts and Sean Penn in Hot New Watergate Series, “Gaslit”

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If you thought you saw the Slap of the Month a couple of weeks ago thanks to Will Smith, think again. There’s more slapping to come in “Gaslit,” the Starz Channel limited series starring Julia Roberts as Watergate era whistleblower Martha Mitchell and Sean Penn as her husband, Attorney General to Richard Nixon, John Mitchell. I won’t spoil it for you, but April has become slap-happy.

Listen, I grew up to this soundtrack. As Watergate evolved through 1972, Martha became an iconic figure, a Southern belle in DC calling reporters in the middle of the night ratting out the Republicans. John Mitchell was, as far as I’m concerned, as evil as Nixon.

Penn and Roberts are just sensational in their roles. Roberts, kind of expanding on her “Charlie Wilson’s War” character, has got the right mix of foxiness and grandness to make Martha appealing. Penn has a twinkle in his eye as he makes John Mitchell, I would guess, far more dimensional than he was in real life. What could this series have cost to have two mega watt Oscar winning Hollywood stars? The nice thing is, they are each line for line up to the challenge of pulling off an A+ show here.

This is an 8 part limited series, and the first of its kind for Starz when it comes to prestige. “Gaslit” will put them in the Emmy race, and set them up for more quality programming. So it’s all good news. Robbie Pickering created the series and wrote the episodes. Matt Ross, of “Captain Fantastic” fame, directed the first episode.

The first episode sets up a lot of characters from Watergate lore besides the Mitchells. Chief among them is John Dean, who I remember from the Watergate hearings as snot-nosed preppie who was ready to sell out anyone to stay out of jail. Dan Stevens, of “Downton Abbey” fame, plays him with a lot more panache than Dean deserves. Betty Gilpin is charming as Dean’s prospective second wife, Mo. It seems like this couple will figure big time as the series unfolds. (The Deans are alive and still together. The Mitchells had a rancorous divorce and are now dead.)

Quick kudos to Hamish Linklater, Shea Whigham, and young Darby Camp as the Mitchell’s 11 year old daughter. But there’s a lot more to come, as those of us know who lived through Watergate. And for younger people, “Gaslit” promises to be a highly entertaining education.

I’m hooked even though I know how it all turns out. The quality here is very high, and the fun is in the details.

(Watch) Lizzo Gave Two Phenomenal Performances Last Night on “SNL” Including One Introduced by Her Mom

Lizzo had a big success on “Saturday Might Live” last night. She performed two new hits. One of them, “About Damned Time,” is already at the top of the iTunes 100 and should become a radio staple.

The second song, “Special,” also got great notices from her fans on Twitter. And her mom introduced it!

As musical guest and host, Lizzo was a success. She is ready for anything. She’s got such an open, vibrant personality, the potential is there for a lot of things including movies.

Best part of the night? In her final sketch, she could not stop laughing. Ordinarily that can be annoying, but it worked for her.

Ratings will be in on Tuesday.

Warner’s 3rd “Fantastic Beasts” Disappoints in US, But the Rest of World is OK with It

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The third “Fantastic Beasts” movie from Warner Bros. did not have a fantastic weekend here in the U.S.

“The Secrets of Dumbledore” made $43 million domestically. That sounds like a lot but the prior two “Beasts” films had opening weekends significantly higher. It may be time to call it a day on this franchise.

Abroad, however, people who don’t understand English but like a good wanding went to their theaters. The film has already made $110 million internationally. They really liked it in China once any reference to Dumbledore having once been in love with Grindewald was removed — $12 million!

Japan was also a big customer — over $8 million. I’m tempted to make a joke but will refrain. (It was a good joke, too. Call me.) And in the UK, where English is presumably spoken, over $7 million worth of tickets were sold.

Very talented “Beasts” star Eddie Redmayne, who already has an Oscar, just won an Olivier (like a Tony Award) for the revival of “Cabaret” in the West End. He just turned 40. He’s got awards and he’s loaded from these films. So now what? I don’t know, but this ship has sailed. Time to put away the wands. Maybe he can be the new Q or M or X in James Bond movies. (Actually he needs some good romcoms.)

Mark Wahlberg’s Attempts at Serious Roles Flops Again: “Father Stu” 2nd Bust in a Row

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Maybe Mark Wahlberg should forget the serious acting roles.

His “Father Stu” brought in $5.7 million over the weekend. Coupled with mid week shows, “Father Stu” had the second lowest opening weekend of Wahlberg’s career.

It’s also his second bust in a row after the lowest opener on his resume, “Joe Bell.”

All together, “Father Stu” has $8 million to its name and not a very rosy future.

Even on Easter week, no one wanted to see it. And Wahlberg should be well aware now that no one wanted to see Mel Gibson either.

I’m sure Sony learned its lesson. Gibson will never become part of the Spiderverse either.

Seth Meyers On Donald Trump: “I’d rather he wasn’t around. It’s a serious thing. He’s a real thing”

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Now that Oscar season is in the rear-view mirror, Emmy season is in full swing. The shows and their stars are front and center courting voters. This past week at the Harmony Gold in Hollywood, Seth Meyers, host of NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” was there in front of a packed house for a conversation adeptly moderated by our pal Pete Hammond from Deadline.com.

Meyers currently has a bestselling children’s book called “I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared” and was asked what possessed him to write it. “Having kids, and having an ego. I’d rather read them my words. They don’t watch my show. They’re Trump supporters.” Meyers was asked later if Trump was a gift to comedians. “No not really. I’d rather he wasn’t around. I’m also not going to pretend he’s not around just because he puts me in a bad mood. It’s a serious thing, he’s a real thing. As much as some of us want to move on, we’re not going to do that till we feel like it’s over.”

Hammond asked him about Marjorie Taylor Greene recently reporting Jimmy Kimmel to the Capitol police over a joke. He quipped, “I tipped her off. Kimmel loves pranks so I thought he’d like that.” Speaking about the infamous post-rehab interview with comedian John Mulaney where Meyers was a part of an earlier intervention to save his good pal’s life, he commented “every now and then you have to create space for something like that. It’s easier with someone you know and love like John. But you do feel lucky at those times to have a platform to let something very authentic like that happen. I had Jerrod Carmichael [he recently came out as gay] on last week and had a similar feeling for someone I have such love and respect for. To share a thing like that on your show, well you feel very fortunate.”

His best memory of “SNL”? Seth recounted, “There are so many, but Stefon’s wedding with Bill Hader. We were live at the desk; I ran off to get him. I was backstage with Bill we were holding hands backstage watching the video and we both got emotional, we started crying. It was his last show, it was Fred Armisen’s and Jason Sudeikis’s last show, the previous year Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig left and I would leave a half a year later. It was the end of this special time. It was in May and I was getting married that September and I’m thinking ‘oh I’d better cry at my real wedding.’ And I did. That’s the good news.’ His best advice to young comics? “Get up on stage every time somebody asks you. Because you never know the person that could change your life will be in the audience. Be out there.”

“Late Night” is way overdue for an Emmy for Best Variety/Talk Show, by the way. Meyers’ “A Closer Look” is one of the most insightful, humorous, and well written regular segments anywhere. And unlike some other shows in that category, “Late Night with Seth Meyers” is on five nights a week, with rare weeks off for reruns.

(Watch) Sting Opens Triumphant Six Night, Sold Out Run at London’s Palladium

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Sting is back on tour and killing it.

On Friday night the former Police-man began a sold out six night run at London’s Palladium. The set is called “My Songs” and begins with an amazing version of his song, “Russians,” accompanied by a Ukrainian violinist. On social media fans are raving about the show. Sting brings “My Songs” to the US next month including a residency at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas starting in late May.

PS Note to Sting: Please add “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You” to your set list when you come to Mohegan Sun in mid May!

Mel Gibson Mocks Critics in “Father Stu” with ADL-Hitler Joke, Movie Bombs Anyway

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It wasn’t such a Good Friday for ol’ “Father Stu.”

The panned Mark Wahlberg-Mel Gibson “faith” film scored just $1.6 million at the box office. The weekend total should be around $8 million, which doesn’t indicate much faith from filmgoers.

But what many people have not gleaned is that “Father Stu,” written by Gibson’s girlfriend and baby mama, Rosalind Ross, allows Gibson to mock his critics.

You may recall Gibson’s famous 2006 arrest in Malibu for drunk driving. That’s when he told the arresting officer, who was Jewish, that “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world!”

We subsequently learned about Gibson’s beliefs — and his father’s — that the Holocaust never happened, or as he put it to Peggy Noonan in a later interview: “I mean when the war was over they said it was 12 million. Then it was six. Now it’s four. I mean it’s that kind of numbers game …”

Gibson’s father also wrote for neo-Nazi publications until his death recently at age 100. To Diane Sawyer on ABC, Gibson refused to criticize his father for his anti-Semitic writings. There’s also the matter of Gibson’s privately owned church in Malibu that doesn’t accede to the Pope or the diocese and persists in the belief that “the Jews killed Christ.”

So what have Gibson and Ross done now? In “Father Stu,” Gibson gets to put the words “Hitler” and the Anti-Defamation League into one joke. According to reviews, his character observes that the main character, Stu, a boxer played by Wahlberg, wanting to join the priesthood, is “like Hitler asking to join the ADL.”

Excuse me?

So nothing has changed, you see. Gibson thinks the whole idea of his anti-Semitism remains a big joke. For the former Oscar winner to think a line like that is appropriate with his history means in mind he’s gotten away with the whole thing.

“Father Stu” is supposed to go to Netflix after its failure here. I hope they change their minds.

Liz Sheridan, aka Mrs. Seinfeld, Dies at 93 2 Weeks After Estelle Harris, aka Mrs. Constanza

RIP Liz Sheridan, who played Jerry Seinfeld’s mom memorably on Seinfeld, has passed away at age 93. This follows the death of Estelle Harris, who played George’s mother.

With the deaths of Jerry Stiller and Barney, all the parents from “Seinfeld” have gone on to their great reward. They were a devastating quad of veteran actors who gave us lots of laughs.

Sheridan had a long resume even by the time she got to “Seinfeld.” Her other unusual claim to fame was an early romance with James Dean whom she wrote about in a memoir, “Dizzy & Jimmy: My Life with James Dean: A Love Story.” Ironically, her story sort of mirrored a “Seinfeld” plot of Susan’s father having a youthful romance with John Cheever. Sheridan was also great pals with “Bewitched” star Elizabeth Montgomery.

The beauty of Liz Sheridan’s performance as Mrs. Seinfeld was that she played it seriously, not for laughs, and like Harris, she was hilarious. This wasn’t easy considering the men they played with in scenes. Barney Martin’s fuming over Cadillacs and stolen pens at Del Boca Vista only made Sheridan more intransigent in her delivery — not to mention her dealing with Uncle Leo. She made all the wild stories believable.

RIP Liz Sheridan, Estelle Harris, and all these great character actors.

Call the Priest: Mark Wahlberg-Mel Gibson “Father Stu” Has Unholy Thursday, Falls 50% on 2nd Night

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Yikes. That was over fast.

On its second night of release, “Father Stu” succumbed to a cold death with a 50% fall off from night one.

The total was just $775,000, down from $1.55 million on Wednesday.

Call the priest, close the coffin, get the pallbearers. It’s over.

Audiences have simply rejected everything about this movie on an Unholy Thursday. It’s going to a Bad Friday.

Are we surprised? There are really great faith based movies that audiences embrace as genuine. Everything about this project has the feeling of a cash-in according to reviewers who largely panned it. Wahlberg may be sincere in his intentions, but involving Mel Gibson and his babymama Rosalind Ross — the latter to direct her only feature film, no less — was a mistake. I’m surprised. Wahlberg has made mostly smart moves as a producer in the past. Here he had a tin ear.

This was also a huge error on Sony’s part after a series of recent smart successes.

Box Office: “Fantastic Beasts” Sequel Not So Fantastic in Previews, Down 33%

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This may be the end for the “Fantastic Beasts” series.

Last night, number 3, in which Dumbledore expresses his same sex love for Grindelwald, was not warmly embraced by Harry Potter fans.

The take was $6 million, down 33% from 2018’s Part 2 of the trilogy.

Indeed, “The Secrets of Dumbledore” may be ones that fans either aren’t interested in or want more in depth. Reviews are lukewarm at around 50% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The new movie also carries the baggage of author J.K. Rowling’s ignorant and inflammatory comments about trans people which have certainly turned off a big segment of the audience. The more Rowling speaks, the worse it gets, in fact.

It just may be we’ve come to the end of the line on the “Harry Potter” gravy train. It’s not like everyone didn’t make out like bandits. We’ll see what the weekend brings.

I hear Warner Bros. send out magic wands to a lot of the press. Maybe they can use them to cast a spell on the box office.