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UPDATING SAG Awards: “CODA,” Will Smith, Jessica Chastain, “Succession,” “Squid Game” Actors, Jean Smart, Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur, Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”

Roger Friedman
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UPDATING SAG Awards: “CODA,” Will Smith, Jessica Chastain, “Succession,” “Squid Game” Actors, Jean Smart, Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur, Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”

Biggest surprise so far at the SAG Awards: The Korean stars of Netflix’s “Squid Game” won Best Actor and Actress in a Drama. Respectively Lee Jung-Jae and Ho Yeon Jung.  Gobsmacked? That’s the power of the Netflix PR department.

HBO’s “Succession”won Best Drama Ensemble, TV.

In movies, Ariana DeBose from “West Side Story” is Best Supporting Actress. Troy Kotsur, from “CODA,” is the first deaf person to win a SAG for Best Supporting Actor.

Best Actress — Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”

Best Actor- Will Smith, “King Richard”

Best Ensemble: “CODA” — Puts Apple TV Plus release in front runner position for the Oscar.

In comedy TV, Jean Smart won Best Actress for “Hacks,” Jason Sudeikis Best Actor for “Ted Lasso.” “Ted Lasso” also is Best Comedy Ensemble.

The spectacular Helen Mirren received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

keep refreshing..

Box Office: $28 Mil More for Tom Holland Movies, “Cyrano” Gets Smaller, “Dog” Has A Pedigree

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: $28 Mil More for Tom Holland Movies, “Cyrano” Gets Smaller, “Dog” Has A Pedigree

Box office:

Tom Holland racked up almost $29 million more in sales this weekend between “Uncharted” ($23.25 mil) and “Spider Man” ($5.75 million). Wherever he is, he must be happy, eating bon bons and racing Bugatti’s around his driveway.

“Cyrano,” as predicted, died a million deaths with just $1.4 million for three days– and I’ll bet that gets revised lower on Monday.

Channing Tatum was the other big winner of the weekend. Low budget, family friendly “Dog” has barked up all the right trees. Taking in $30 Million in two weeks, costing little, “Dog” is a nice set up for Tatum’s coming Sandra Bullock romantic adventure “The Lost City.” Should be a hit if handled correctly. Paramount needs it.

Jennifer Lopez’s “Marry Me” finally crossed the $20 million mark after three weeks. I hope no one bought a wedding gift.

And “Big Gold Brick’? No one knows what’s happened to this one. I also didn’t realize that on top of being a dud, it’s 132 minutes! Oy vey! We’ll see it on a plane.

 

John Mulaney Turns a Year of Lemons into Lemonade with “SNL” Triumph, Sold Out Tour

Roger Friedman
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John Mulaney Turns a Year of Lemons into Lemonade with “SNL” Triumph, Sold Out Tour

Last night John Mulaney returned to “Saturday Night Live” clear and sober. He had a triumph hosting for his fifth time. A year ago, Mulaney was getting ready to perform in clubs after two stints in rehab, the collapse of his marriage, and the revelation of his relationship with Olivia Munn.

But now he has turned lemons into lemonade. The man who hosted “SNL” last night is a 180 degree turn from the guy I saw on stage last year at City Winery in New York who brought his interventionist to the show, dressed like he was in junior high school, and told a basically very sad story to the audience hoping for laughs.

Mulaney’s hosting last night was so good it brought the whole show back to life. And it didn’t hurt Mulaney’s ticket sales for his coming tour which begins next week. Most of his shows are sold out or close to it. He has three nights scheduled for Madison Square Garden — kind of a leap from small clubs and theaters. The first two are sold, and the third should move pretty fast now that the TV audience has seen him in action.

Highlights from last night include Mulaney’s trademark Broadway musical parody, the five-timer meeting with Steve Martin, Candice Bergen, Paul Rudd, Conan O’Brien, and Tina Fey, and the final sketch of the night, a dance number with his Black girlfriend’s family. All of them were pure genius. It’s such a relief to write that John Mulaney is back.

Shout outs to the “SNL” writers who made the night sing, especially Colin Jost, Dan Bulla and Bryan Tucker.

 

 

Jennifer Hudson Wins Best Actress, Entertainer of the Year at NAACP Image Awards, “Harder They Fall” Best Picture

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Hudson Wins Best Actress, Entertainer of the Year at NAACP Image Awards, “Harder They Fall” Best Picture

The NAACP Image Awards just ended and the big winner was Jennifer Hudson. It’s the best news of a bleak week!

JHud won Best Actress for playing Aretha Franklin in “Respect.” She also won Entertainer of the Year. And she deserved each of those awards. No one worked more tirelessly during the last year. Bravo!

Netflix’s “The Harder They Fall” scored an upset win for Best Motion Picture over “King Richard.” But Will Smith won Best Actor playing Richard Williams, father of Serena and Venus Williams.

Anthony Anderson won Best Actor in a TV Comedy for “Blackish.” Issa Rae won Best Actress for “Insecure.”

Paula Patton presented an award. Why isn’t she a huge star?

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle made an appearance to get some honorarium. They donated a bunch of money from their Archewell Foundation and now they’ll give a joint award every year.

The NAACP Image Awards had a glaring omission in their In Memoriam section. I don’t know if it was on purpose, but they left out the great Sidney Miller, king of Black radio, who died recently at age 89. Here’s the link to the New York Times obit, which ran A MONTH late. Disgraceful. But more disgraceful that the NAACP forgot him.

PS Mary J Blige performed on the show, and she was sensational.

Exclusive: Justin Bieber Expected Monday in San Jose for 2 Shows That Aren’t Exactly “Sold Out”

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive: Justin Bieber Expected Monday in San Jose for 2 Shows That Aren’t Exactly “Sold Out”

Justin Bieber is expected in San Jose, California Monday for the first of two shows. He plays there on Monday and again on Wednesday. Because of all his cancellations, these dates will launch his “Justice” tour.

The SAP Center Arena in San Jose has an official capacity of 17,562 if needed. For Bieber, this number was not required. A total of 12,000 sears were put on sale for Justin’s shows. I’m told of those, 10,000 were sold to somebody, either ticket buyers or scalpers who resold them.

But Bieber is recovering this weekend from an obviously bad case of COVID-19. He missed all shows this past week because of it. No one is clear whether or not he’s been vaccinated, although all the fans who attend his shows must show proof of getting their shots.

A regular Bieber show has the 27 year old dancing and jumping around, two things — besides singing — that require healthy lungs. Let’s hope he’s feeling better and is ready for the week. After the two San Jose shows he has one more in Sacramento on Friday. Then he can take the weekend off and prepare for next Monday, March 7th and Tuesday the 8th in L.A. at the Staples, er, Crypto.com Center. (It’s a very leisurely schedule, really, for a young pop star. Why, in my my day…)

Better eat some of those peaches, Justin!

Surprise! Omen? Apple Plus’s “CODA” Wins NAACP Award for Best Indie Film, Has One Black Actor

Roger Friedman
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Surprise! Omen? Apple Plus’s “CODA” Wins NAACP Award for Best Indie Film, Has One Black Actor

Here’s a shock that may be an omen for Sunday night’s SAG Awards.

Last night “CODA” won Outstanding Independent Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards. There is exactly one Black actor in “CODA.” Getting the Image Award is a BIG deal.

“CODA” could surprise everyone and win the SAG Best Ensemble Award, and Troy Kotsur could win Supporting Actor. And then all bets are off for the Oscars.

I told you about “CODA” in January 2021 when it wowed everyone who watched it at Sundance. It’s the dark horse film of this year, and could very well go all the way.  “CODA” is from Apple TV Plus, which paid a record $25 million for it.

That the Image Awards didn’t look for a Black film is very interesting. “CODA” cuts across even race.

There have been a slew of Image Awards handed out this week. Tonight comes the final, live show at 8pm on BET. Let’s pay close attention.

Other movie awards last night went to Regina King, Supporting Actress for “The Harder They Fall,” Daniel Kaluuya, Supporting Actor for “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Also Outstanding Documentary (Film) “Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power” and “Encanto” Outstanding Animated Motion Picture.

 

Friday Box Office: “Cyrano” Loses By More Than a Nose with Just $470K Opening Night

Roger Friedman
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Friday Box Office: “Cyrano” Loses By More Than a Nose with Just $470K Opening Night

Which headline is best here? “Cyrano Loses By More Than A Nose”? Or “Cyrano Comes Up Short”?

Either way, “Cyrano” starring Peter Dinklage as Monsieur DeBergerac and Haley Bennett as Roxanne, has finally been sneaked into theaters by MGM/United Artists and gone to its death. The Friday take was just 470,000. Audience was composed mostly of the morbidly curious.

This “Cyrano” is a bad movie featuring a very good lead performance by Dinklage. The ads do not indicate it’s a musical because it’s a terrible one with songs that should never have been sung or written. They were composed by the Dessner Brothers from the not entirely successful rock group The National. Dinklage’s wife, Erica Schmidt, then staged this thing way off Broadway a couple of years ago, with Dinklage and Bennett. Then Bennett’s boyfriend, Joe Wright, was brought in to direct it for the movies.

“Cyrano” was as doomed as the romance it involves: shown at festivals last fall, it should have been released before the end of the year. When that didn’t happen, some thought Valentine’s Day would make a little sense. But MGM/UAR was looking for its third strike, or fourth, I can’t remember. Already “Flag Day,” “Respect,” and “Licorice Pizza” have been swallowed whole by the yawning gap of the theatrical crisis. Why not this one, too?

In DeBergerac’s famous play, Cyrano was the object of ridicule because of his long nose. So why not change that to Dinklage’s version being mocked for his lack of height? I’ll tell you why: because of Dinklage (and others) working hard for respect with vertical challenges, were are now sensitive to that issue. The nose thing always worked as a device and would have again. But now in this film we’re just uncomfortable about everything. (Dinklage is such a star, we never think of his height, only his stature.)

MGM/UA seems to have enough money to buy movies with star names, but not movies that are fully cooked. There’s something off about all of them: “Respect” showed none for Aretha Franklin. “Licorice Pizza,” no one understood the title. Now this one was unable to scale any heights. And “Flag Day” was never rung up the pole.

And still Amazon waits to buy the company or merge with them, but the FTC stands in their way. It may be for the best.

Dick Wolf Moves to Re-organize “Organized Crime,” Chris Meloni’s “Law & Order” Disaster

Roger Friedman
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Dick Wolf Moves to Re-organize “Organized Crime,” Chris Meloni’s “Law & Order” Disaster

Dick Wolf has finally stepped up and done something about “Organized Crime.”

Showrunner Ilene Chaiken is out. Barry O’Brien, who joined the show in November, will take over. His recent credits include running “Castle” for a season and writing for “CSI Miami.”

Chris Meloni’s “Organized Crime” chapter of “Law & Order” is sinking in the ratings because it’s not a show. It’s an idea that has gone wrong. Meloni looks awful and week after week Elliot Stabler is involved in a convoluted mess concerning Dylan McDermott’s Richard Wheatley. The whole “Law & Order” formula has been thrown out in service of a mess.

It can only be hoped that O’Brien has been developing a new blueprint with fleshed out characters and idea who Elliot is supposed to and what  the heck he’s doing. The show’s weaknesses were made even more apparent Thursday night when real “Law & Order” returned from oblivion and had 2 million more viewers than “OG.”

I thought when they announced “OG” that Stabler and a crew would be chasing all kinds of mobsters of different ilks. Instead, it was a show about a vendetta. And who are the people Stabler works with? What is their relationship to each other? It’s time to organize “Organized Crime.”

Deadline.com first reported Chaiken’s exit.

 

Oscar Isaac Makes One of His Few Really Bad Movies with “Big Gold Brick,” Panned by Reviewers

Roger Friedman
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Oscar Isaac Makes One of His Few Really Bad Movies with “Big Gold Brick,” Panned by Reviewers

Oscar Isaac has either made critically acclaimed films and/or financial hits. He rarely makes a mistake in his choices. Those would include Madonna’s “W.E.” and Dan Fogelman’s “Life Itself.”

Isaac’s had two highly regarded hits in just the last year: “Dune” and “The Card Counter.” He’s also had a hit on HBO with “Scenes from a Marriage.” He has a hotly anticipated Marvel mini series coming called “Moon Knight.”

Today a film dropped that almost no one has heard of featuring Isaac. It’s called “Big Gold Brick,” directed by Brian Petsos. Ouch! There are only 21 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and they are mostly pans. The rating average is 24%.

Glenn Kenny wrote: “Unlike many other film enthusiasts turned filmmakers, Petsos hasnt figured out anything useful to do with his influences.”

Variety said: “Despite piling on character details and plot developments, “Big Gold Brick” is beset by torpor, in large part because every new incident is untethered to the ones that preceded and follow it.”

New York Times: “The title of this perfectly well-appointed production is apt: “Big Gold Brick” looks all right but it truly just sits there.”

One day maybe we’ll find out how Isaac, whose credits include “A Most Violent Year,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” and three “Star Wars” movies, found himself in a movie with Megan Fox and Lucy Lawless.

 

 

Justin Bieber Tour Falling Apart, Singer Still Has COVID, Cancels Fourth Show, Set for Saturday in Tacoma

Roger Friedman
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Justin Bieber Tour Falling Apart, Singer Still Has COVID, Cancels Fourth Show, Set for Saturday in Tacoma

Justin Bieber cannot get any Justice.

The singer’s Justice tour is falling apart. He’s just cancelled his fourth show, this one set for Tacoma on Saturday. Bieber has COVID still after several days.

Bieber’s COVID is attributed to his attending a Super Bowl party on February 13th. But now with him obviously not improving quickly, the question is Was he ever vaccinated? It seems unlikely.

Bieber isn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier, we know that. He’s also devoutly religious and follows some extreme ideas. It’s possible he thought he’d be tracked by the government or something. The result is a loss of millions in so many ways.

Next tour date is Monday in San Jose, California. Does he know the way to San Jose? We’ll find out over the weekend.

seriously– get well soon, and get vaxxed!

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