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BAFTA Nominations Revealed: Spielberg Snubbed for Director, Picture on “West Side Story,” Brits Really Snub Olivia Colman

Roger Friedman
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BAFTA Nominations Revealed: Spielberg Snubbed for Director, Picture on “West Side Story,” Brits Really Snub Olivia Colman

BAFTA is the Britsh equivalent of the Oscars. This year, because there were so many schedule changes, the BAFTAs will air in the UK hours before the Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles. The BAFTAs are less a predictor than the CCAs but they’re still fun.

The BAFTAs snubbed Steven Spielberg for his “West Side Story” remake, stunningly. No Best Picture or Director or even Adapted Screenplay for Tony Kushner.

In acting categories, the BAFTAs went local on several films not playing in the US or part of our Oscar mix. Nicole Kidman, for example, was overlooked. But so was UK fave Olivia Colman for “The Lost Daughter.” Her people let her down!

Below are the Long Lists, with x’s next to the final nominees.

BEST FILM
Being The Ricardos
xBelfast
CODA
xDon’t Look Up
xDune
House of Gucci
King Richard
xLicorice Pizza
No Time To Die
The French Dispatch
The Lost Daughter
xThe Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
tick tick…BOOM!
West Side Story

LEADING ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman The Lost Daughter
xLady Gaga House of Gucci
xAlana Haim Licorice Pizza
Jennifer Hudson Respect
xEmilia Jones CODA
Nicole Kidman Being The Ricardos
Jennifer Lawrence Don’t Look Up
Frances McDormand The Tragedy of Macbeth
xRenate Reinsve The Worst Person in the World
Claire Rushbrook Ali & Ava
xJoanna Scanlan After Love
Kristen Stewart Spencer
xTessa Thompson Passing
Rachel Zegler West Side Story

LEADING ACTOR
Riz Ahmed Encounter
xAdeel Akhtar Ali & Ava
xMahershala Ali Swan Song
Javier Bardem Being The Ricardos
Daniel Craig No Time To Die
xBenedict Cumberbatch The Power of the Dog
xLeonardo DiCaprio Don’t Look Up
Peter Dinklage Cyrano
Adam Driver House of Gucci
Andrew Garfield tick tick…BOOM!
xStephen Graham Boiling Point
Cooper Hoffman Licorice Pizza
Joaquin Phoenix C’mon C’mon
xWill Smith King Richard
Denzel Washington The Tragedy of Macbeth

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
xCaitríona Balfe Belfast
Cate Blanchett Don’t Look Up
xJessie Buckley The Lost Daughter
Ana de Armas No Time To Die
xAriana DeBose West Side Story
xAnn Dowd Mass
Judi Dench Belfast
Kirsten Dunst The Power of the Dog
xAunjanue Ellis King Richard
Kathryn Hunter The Tragedy of Macbeth
Rita Moreno West Side Story
xRuth Negga Passing
Vinette Robinson Boiling Point
Meryl Streep Don’t Look Up
Anya Taylor-Joy Last Night in Soho

SUPPORTING ACTOR
David Alvarez West Side Story
Bradley Cooper Licorice Pizza
Benicio del Toro The French Dispatch
Jamie Dornan Belfast
xCiarán Hinds Belfast
xMike Faist West Side Story
Andrew Garfield The Eyes of Tammy Faye
xTroy Kotsur CODA
Jared Leto House of Gucci
xWoody Norman C’mon C’mon
Al Pacino House of Gucci
xJesse Plemons The Power of the Dog
Mark Rylance Don’t Look Up
J.K. Simmons Being The Ricardos
xKodi Smit-McPhee The Power of the Dog

DIRECTOR
xAfter Love
Belfast
CODA
Don’t Look Up
xDrive My Car
Dune
First Cow
The Hand of God
xHappening
King Richard
xLicorice Pizza
The Lost Daughter
Passing
Petite Maman
xThe Power of the Dog
The Souvenir Part II
The Tragedy of Macbeth
xTitane
West Side Story
Zola

FILM NOT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
A Hero
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn
Compartment No. 6
Drive My Car
Flee
The Hand of God
I’m Your Man
Lamb
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World
Parallel Mothers
Paris, 13th District
Petite Maman
Riders of Justice
Titane
The Worst Person in the World

First Look: Julia Roberts and Sean Penn are Martha Mitchell and John Mitchell in Watergate Drama, “Gaslit”

Roger Friedman
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First Look: Julia Roberts and Sean Penn are Martha Mitchell and John Mitchell in Watergate Drama, “Gaslit”

If you were around in 1973-74 the only comic relief in the unfolding Watergate drama was Martha Mitchell. The wife of extremely guilty Secretary of State John Mitchell could not stop herself from picking up the phone and calling the press. We didn’t know back then how this was all going to work out. Woodward and Bernstein get all the credit for bringing down Richard Nixon. But Martha Mitchell’s continuous squawking really helped enormously.

In this teaser from “Gaslit,” Julia Robert looks and sounds sensational as Martha. Sean Penn is John Mitchell, a reprehensible character. I’m looking forward to seeing this. A little surprised that two big movie stars wound up on the Starz Channel, but every dog has its day I suppose. Robbie Pickering, of “Mr. Robot” fame, created this series. It begins on April 24th.

UPDATING LIVE Spotify Stock Price Goes Off Deep End After Session Trading, More Rockers Defecting

Roger Friedman
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UPDATING LIVE Spotify Stock Price Goes Off Deep End After Session Trading, More Rockers Defecting

keep refreshing…Spotify stock is cratering…

Broadway: Michael Jackson’s Kids, Prince and Paris, Came to Opening Night of “MJ The Musical”

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: Michael Jackson’s Kids, Prince and Paris, Came to Opening Night of “MJ The Musical”

Broadway is not the same these days. You can’t go backstage after a premiere, and there are no parties. It’s all COVID related.

In the case of “MJ The Michael Jackson Musical,” they have to protect the cast.  When Omicron swept through in December, “MJ” missed holiday performances.

But last night — postponed from July 2020– the show finally opened. And a lot of interesting people turned up.

Primary among them were Michael’s eldest children, Prince and Paris. (I didn’t see Blanket aka Bigi, I’m not sure he was there.)

The Jackson Estate was there in full force, starting with John Branca and Karen Langford. They worked hard to make this happen. If I think back to the early and 2000s, this has been a long road for them.

Sony Music was well represented by Rob Stringer, the head of Sony Music, and Sylvia Rhone, president of Michael’s label, Epic. Doug Morris, formerly the head of Sony Music, and now a key investor/producer of “MJ,” was on hand as well.

Celebrity wise, the great Brenda Vaccaro was sitting next us in a beautiful, luxurious shawl/cape, loving the show. Tamron Hall was in the house, so was Fox5’s Rosanna Scotto and Rev. Sharpton. I also ran into James Bond impresaria Barbara Broccoli, who’ll be very happy Thursday morning when “No Time to Die” garners some BAFTA nominations.

Come to Broadway! Wear a mask! Bring your vaccine card! And see these shows, from “MJ” to “Company” to the forthcoming “The Hangmen,” a play I’ve been waiting for for three years!

 

Former “The View” Producer Bill Geddie: Whoopi Will Be Fine, “But there’s something bigger at play here”

Roger Friedman
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Former “The View” Producer Bill Geddie: Whoopi Will Be Fine, “But there’s something bigger at play here”

Bill Geddie was the original producer of “The View.” He was there for 17 years. Now he’s weighing on Whoopi Goldberg’s situation. She was suspended by ABC for two weeks after insisting the Holocaust wasn’t about race. Whoopi refused to apologize when literally everyone complained. On “Colbert,” on Twitter, on “The View” on Tuesday she just kept doubling down on her position while at the same time saying she appreciated hearing all sides, including the Anti-Defamation League. What was she thinking? This is unlike her. Whoopi is not anti-Semite. But she seems to have gotten caught up in her own rhetoric and won’t let go of it.

I met Bill Geddie many times. He was a straight shooter. This is what he said today on Facebook.

Now ALL of Crosby, Stills, and Nash Join Neil Young In Asking to Remove ALL Their Music from Spotify

Roger Friedman
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Now ALL of Crosby, Stills, and Nash Join Neil Young In Asking to Remove ALL Their Music from Spotify

First it was Neil Young.

Then Graham Nash joined in. David Crosby was in sympathy with them.

But now Stephen Stills has jumped on the bandwagon and they ALL want ALL their music taken off Spotify. They’re supporting Neil Young, who started this whole thing, Joni Mitchell followed, with Nils Lofgren, India Arie agreeing too.

On Crosby’s Twitter feed, he posted their shared statement. Hey, the result may be a detente and reunion for this supergroup. They’re finally on the same page.

Now I’m waiting for some others of their ilk to chime in, like Jackson Browne. No pressure, but it would be something if Browne or Bonnie Raitt or Don Henley lined up with this cause.

Jeff Zucker Ousted at CNN, Over Long Time Open Secret Affair, Katie Couric Wrote About It In Her Book

Roger Friedman
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Jeff Zucker Ousted at CNN, Over Long Time Open Secret Affair, Katie Couric Wrote About It In Her Book

Listen, there’s no one from the milk man in East Hampton to the janitors at CNN’s various headquarters who is “stunned” that Jeff Zucker was having an affair.

The CNN chief’s relationship with his publicist, Allison Gollust, is about a decade old. That’s how long I feel like I’ve been hearing about it.

Sources have been talking about Zucker and Gollust since they were at NBC together. In January 2013, Zucker came over to CNN from NBC. A short time later, Gollust joined him as head of PR. In September of that year, she was promoted to Chief Media Officer.

Do the math.

In 2018, Zucker and his wife Caryn, officially threw in the towel on their marriage of 21 years that produced four kids. But the Zucker divorce was messy and loud in the Hamptons. Even the Jack Russell terriers were barking about it.

So when Radaronline.com ran a story back on January 4th about Zucker and Gollust I was surprised. It seemed like old news to a lot of us. But the Radar story coming in this #metoo environment, on top of all the other big shot execs who’ve been toppled by various scandals, the time was ripe. Plus, the pair has built up a fairly good sized troop of enemies. That’s the formula for disaster.

Katie Couric wrote all about Zucker and Gollust in her recent memoir. It was right there in the open but no one wanted to deal with it. When Zucker set up Couric’s talk show at ABC, Couric recalls in “Going There”:

At a certain point Jeff made a huge push to bring on Allison Gollust. When we worked together at NBC, she and Jeff cooked up ever bolder ways to draw attention to TODAY and later to Jeff himself when he moved to Entertainment. They were joined at the hip. The problem was, we’d already hired a PR person for the show. There really wasn’t a role for Allison. Jeff asked me to meet with her anyway. One weekend when I was out in the Hamptons, I went over to her house and told her what I’d already told Jeff— that we had the communications piece of it covered and there just wasn’t a job there. What we needed were talented producers. ABC was paying Jeff and me a ton of money; I was also an EP of the show, and my name was on it. I felt a certain responsibility to spend the money wisely and have some real agency in the decision-making. I had to wonder why Jeff was angling so hard to bring Allison on board. She and her husband and kids had moved into the apartment right above Jeff and Caryn’s— everyone who heard about the cozy arrangement thought it was super-strange. By that point, Caryn had become a close friend and it made me really uncomfortable. “I don’t want to force myself on you,” Allison said reasonably that day in the Hamptons. She seemed disappointed, but that was the end of it.

(Sort of. Not really.)

So keep in mind, CNN has known about all this for NINE years. There are no surprises.

 

 

Rock Hall Nominees for Induction Include Carly Simon, Eminem, Lionel Richie, Eurythmics, Pat Benatar, Duran Duran

Roger Friedman
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Rock Hall Nominees for Induction Include Carly Simon, Eminem, Lionel Richie, Eurythmics, Pat Benatar, Duran Duran

The list of nominees for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of ’22 include many who’ve been overlooked in the past.

That list starts with Carly Simon, who should’ve been in a long time ago. Simon is one of the holy trinity of female superstar singer songwriters that also includes Joni Mitchell and Carole King. Carly’s hits include “You’re So Vain,” “Nobody Does it Better,” and “Coming Around Again.” She won an Oscar for “Let the River Run” from “Working Girl.” It’s absolutely ridiculous that such an influential and successful performer isn’t in the Rock Hall. Let’s hope this year changes that.

New to the nominees list is Eminem. He’ll likely get in on the first ballot.

The Eurythmics are on the list. Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart should be a no brainer. Also up from this era, Duran Duran. It’s going to one or the other. I say Eurythmics.

Pop superstar Lionel Richie, who has nothing to do with rock and roll, may also enjoy an easy time of it. He’s very popular and has lots of hits. But rock? Doesn’t matter.

Pat Benatar, Dionne Warwick, Dolly Parton, the MC5, and the New York Dolls have all been on the list in the past but didn’t make it. Benatar is actually a rock act. Dionne is pop R&B and has influenced so many singers and performers. Dolly is beloved but she is country.

UK performer Kate Bush, devoid of US hits, is a dark horse candidate. Others on the list include Fela Kuti, Rage Against the Machine, Devo, Beck, A Tribe Called Quest, Judas Priest.

The final list of nominees comes in May. Here’s one of my Carly faves. She set the standard for cool, ironic lyrics.

Broadway: “MJ” Michael Jackson Musical Opens to 3 Standing Ovations, Happy Audiences, and Cranky Critics

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: “MJ” Michael Jackson Musical Opens to 3 Standing Ovations, Happy Audiences, and Cranky Critics

The Michael Jackson musical, “MJ,” opened on Broadway last night to standing ovations and cheering during the show, an extremely enthusiastic, and cranky critics looking for a reason to pan it.

Top to bottom, “MJ” is a high end jukebox musical with terrific songs, dancing, performers who deserve better than to be dismissed for snark.

The show covers Jackson’s life from the Jackson 5 through the 1992 rehearsals for his Dangerous tour. It stops there because after that Michael’s life became overwhelmed with accusations of child molestation, pay offs and settlements, general weirdness, and a tragic end. Do you want to see that in a musical? Or do you want to see his insanely good, still very popular hits woven into a story? This is not “Sweeney Todd” and it doesn’t have to be.

If Michael were alive, of course, he couldn’t get away with this. As a journalist who covered him, I’d be all over it. But Michael is dead.  His story is over. He was never convicted of anything. He was acquitted in 2005 of child molestation and kidnapping. So he leaves a clean record. He became incredibly eccentric, but this photo shows him working and still regimented as an artists. And the hits, and the famous dancing.

Director Christopher Wheeldon and dramatist Lynn Nottage have created a very entertaining piece of theater that hints at Michael’s problems and issues, but concentrates on the music. The cast, led by Myles Frost, is terrific. Frost has never appeared before on Broadway, but he swoops and sways like Michael at the peak of his career. He’s got the falsetto and middle range og his singing down, too. His performance I’d compare to Adrienne Warren’s Tony Award turn as Tina Turner. Frost is fully committed and it shows.

Derek McLane’s sets are superb. “MJ” is set in a rehearsal hall, but there are set pieces –like the Walking Dead of “Thriller– that are spine tingling. “Bad,” “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” are all there, as are songs like “Human Nature” that come alive on stage. And all this work leads up to a stunning finale of “Man in the Mirror.”

A few shout outs– to Quentin Earl Darlington, who plays Joseph Jackson as well as “Rob,” director of Michael’s tour, and a pretty convincing chief Zombie. And to Ayana George, who I cited in a previous column, with a spectacular voice. She plays Katherine Jackson and Tavon Olds-Sample as teenage to young 20s Michael.

“MJ” is a photograph, a moment in time. If you want a drama, with a courtroom setting, that’s a different show. If you want that, read all my old columns. I could tell you a different story, but it’s not this story. This is the story of music everyone still loves, especially well constructed. Celebrate this talent on Broadway.

 

Review: “And Just Like That” Ends with An Actually Pleasant 10th Episode, Miranda Colors Her Hair

Roger Friedman
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Review: “And Just Like That” Ends with An Actually Pleasant 10th Episode, Miranda Colors Her Hair

The 10th and final episode of “And Just Like That,” the HBO Max series extension of “Sex and the City,” is actually not unpleasant. It took 10 tries and a fictional year to get an episode that wasn’t cringe worthy or unhappy.

Kim Cattrall does not appear in the show, although Samantha Jones is mentioned. Carrie texts her in London, and there’s a thawing of their relationship. If you’re into fantasies, then this is for you.

The big news is Miranda, Cynthia Nixon, colors her hair. She restores it from the old lady grey she’s been saddled with all season. Not that grey is bad, but they went the extra mile to make her look old.

The central plot of this episode is a “They Mitzvah” for Charlotte and Harry’s transitional daughter, Rock. This includes a non binary rabbi. Kristin Davis and Evan Handler could be spun off into their own show and I wouldn’t mind. They are the most enjoyable part of the show.

No one is naked, there’s no sex act, everyone can relax. Mr. Big’s voice is heard as a whisper in Carrie’s mind. Carrie does go to Paris and, dressed like someone who dropped acid during a haute couture moment, revisits their old haunts. I mean, really, even in Paris, if you saw a woman dressed like this standing on a bridge at night, you’d called the gendarmes.

Will “And Just Like That” return? I think so. It ends on a high note this time, so there’s hope for the future.

The last episode drops on Thursday.

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