Friday, December 19, 2025
Donate
Home Blog Page 691

Review: “Sex and the City” Returns Without Samantha, “It’s Like She’s Dead,”: And Someone Actually Dies

Roger Friedman
-
0
Review: “Sex and the City” Returns Without Samantha, “It’s Like She’s Dead,”: And Someone Actually Dies

“Sex and the City” returns with “And Just Like That” without missing a beat, except, well someone is missing a beat. There’s a death, although I’ll let you figure that one out.

Let’s get to the elephant in the room, because these people do right away. Samantha, aka Kim Cattrall, is gone, and the explanation is that she’s moved to London. And consequently, Miranda tells Carrie, “it’s like she’s dead.” She is not, but it’s hammered home that Samantha is older than the rest of them– mid 60s– and that she has dumped Carrie as friend.

“She fired me as a friend,” Carrie says, explaining that since Samantha has moved to London Carrie stopped using her as a publicist. The result is that Samantha isn’t taking her calls and hasn’t spoken to Charlotte or Miranda, either. You see it’s her fault she’s not on the show. Got that?

Anyway, on to other things. Carrie and Mr. Big are very happy and live in a spectacular apartment. Can that last? There are 10 episodes. Charlotte and Miranda are still married to their husbands. Steve, Miranda’s husband, has hearing loss, and Miranda has a burgeoning problem as well. Charlotte is dealing with teen girls. Miranda has a carrot topped son who’s sex-crazy. (The actor they hired looks like he could be the real life son of Cynthia Nixon’s partner, Christine Marinoni. He’s not. But the casting is spot on.)

And then, just like that, the girls seem to know Black people. A few of them are introduced, all very stylish and well off, just like them. One of them is played by Christopher Wallace of “Hamilton” fame. Another is played by Sara Ramirez of “Grey’s Anatomy,” a fluid “they” who has a podcast about sex for which Carrie works and is paid. (People are paid to do podcasts?) And this is interesting because the podcast is far more explicit and graphic than anything Carrie has written about and she’s uncomfortable with it. You’ll see why. Later she brings this dilemma home to Mr. Big and we get to see Chris Noth do something we should not. Ahem.

“And Just Like That” will upset some fans but in the end it’s very well written by Michael Patrick King who knows his subjects and characters well. In the old days when HBO invited me to these premieres they’d show two episodes and I never really saw the rest of any season. So I might watch next week to see the fallout from this premiere, but then I think that’s enough for me of this Really Big Shoe. After six seasons and two movies I wasn’t actually curious what happened to all these people. And now that I’ve seen it, I know I was right. I was happy to leave them where they were. Since there are no ratings on HBO Max we’ll never know how the fans really felt except on social media where I expect their voices will be heard for better or worse.

“And Just Like That” is playing on HBO Max, which you have if you also have HBO.

 

Adele Las Vegas Tickets Go On Sale as Scalpers Charge $30,000 to $40,000 a Seat

Roger Friedman
-
0
Adele Las Vegas Tickets Go On Sale as Scalpers Charge $30,000 to $40,000 a Seat

Tickets to Adele‘s residency sit down at Caesar’s Palace went on sale today at Ticketmaster.

Needless to say, they sold out in minutes as scalpers using robots scooped them up and immediately put them on the resale market.

On Stub Hub, tickets are going for up to $40,000 per seat to sit in the front section. Whose fault is this? Ticketmaster, for one. Adele’s management for another. By setting no limits and participating in Ticketmaster’s “valued customer” programs they made it impossible for average fans to buy tickets. The result is a monumental scam.

read all today’s Showbiz411 headlines–click here

So much for Adele, singer for the people. She went from Chasing Pavements to paving over the fans.

On Twitter and other social media there is outrage and disappointment. But you can see the ticket prices in these screen shots. In the second shot below, those are the starting prices. In the shot above, those are for the best seats in the house.

I feel bad about how Adele’s career has turned out. She was a remarkable singer with a refreshing personality. She had the potential to really develop into an artist. Instead she’s become a money machine. The super fans are only catching up to this today. They must understand there are kickbacks all through this system. Adele is not going to go without a taste of this money. In no time she’ll be living like Elvis Presley in Vegas. It’s some racket.

Here’s a sample of fan reaction from Twitter:

American Film Institute Chooses Top 10 for 2021, Gives Special Award to Oscar Buzzed “Belfast”

Roger Friedman
-
0
American Film Institute Chooses Top 10 for 2021, Gives Special Award to Oscar Buzzed “Belfast”

The American Film Institute delivered their own top 10 today. going heavily to Netflix and big name directors. “Belfast” isn’t on the list because it’s not American. But they’ll give it a special award. (One will also go to archival doc “Summer of Soul”.)

The AFI isn’t an indicator of anything, and it’s surprising they went for a couple of these titles. But mostly, with the exception of the exceptional CODA, they went for big name diectors: Joel Coen, Jane Campion, Paul Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro, Steven Spielberg. They snubbed Aaron Sorkin and his “Being the Ricardos,” a much better film than a couple there. But it’s all very political. And no Ridley Scott, despite making two movies as good as any up there– “House of Gucci” and “The Last Duel.” Kudos to Lin Manuel Miranda on “Tick Tick Boom!”

CODA
Don’t Look Up
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
Tick, Tick… Boom!
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story

For TV, the AFI gave a special award to Netflix’s “Squid Game” and avoided all shows on broadcast networks. Not even “This is Us” or “Blackish” made the list. There was no new season of “The Crown” or “Mrs. Maisel.”

HACKS

MAID

MARE OF EASTTOWN

RESERVATION DOGS

SCHMIGADOON!

SUCCESSION

TED LASSO

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

WANDAVISION

THE WHITE LOTUS

While “Sex and the City” Premieres at MoMA Tonight, Candace Bushnell Is On Stage Downtown

Regina Weinreich
-
0
While “Sex and the City” Premieres at MoMA Tonight, Candace Bushnell Is On Stage Downtown

The new Kim Cattrall-less “Sex and the City” debuts tonight at the Museum of Modern Art with a big party.

But downtown, last night, its creator, Candance Bushnell, was on stage at the Daryl Roth Theater in Union Square. She opened her one woman show “Is There Still Sex in the City?” to a sold out throng of applause and ovations.

Bushnell wrote the columns in the old New York Observer that became the basis for “Sex and the City.” She invented Carrie and Mr. Big, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte. It was her New York that they cavorted in.

Now she’s got a one woman show called “Is There Still Sex in the City?” Last night, celebrities like Brooke Shields, Andrew McCarthy, Martha Stewart, Brenda Vaccaro, and so on made the scene. Even Darren Star was there. He was the producer who helped Candace turn the columns into the HBO sitcom. He’s mentioned in the one woman show.

Did he mind? “Not at all,” replied. “She invited me. And I was happy to be here.”

It’s unclear if Bushnell will have time to make it to MoMA tonight, but her show lets out at 9:30pm. HBO should welcome her with open arms, after all.

Will Candace watch a Samantha-less “Sex and the City”? It’s hard to say, although she can get it, like we can, on HBO Max. But in her play the only reference to the characters she invented is when she refers to personal pals as “My Carrie,” “My Samantha,” etc.

Stay tuned… Review to follow…

Ratings: The People’s Choice Awards Lost To “Facts of Life”/”Diff’rent Strokes” Live Reboot

Roger Friedman
-
0
Ratings: The People’s Choice Awards Lost To “Facts of Life”/”Diff’rent Strokes” Live Reboot

Did anyone care the People’s Choice Awards were on NBC last night? No. The ridiculous, low level competition for D celebrities and below fetched just 3.22 million viewers, about what a soap opera gets during the day. (I didn’t even remember it was on.) It’s a stupid show, and it’s time to get rid of it.

The People’s Choice was beaten handily by “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” which featured A list actors recreating “The Facts of Life” and “Diff’rent Strokes.” The live presentation was clever, smart, and fun — all the things The People Choice isn’t.

Still NBC won the night because “The Voice,” which preceded the awards show, scored around 6.6 million. And counterbalanced, the ABC sitcom that followed “Live,” called “Abbott Elementary,” about teachers in an elementary school, dropped to 2.79 million. Why in the world would you put a show about teachers in a K-6 school on at 9:30pm? Huh? Aren’t kids all asleep at that hour? Wasn’t that the time for something sophisticated? I mean, in network terms?

Crazy.

Review: John Lithgow, Ann Dowd Shine in Clever Clever Reboots of “Facts of Life” and “Diffrent Strokes”

Roger Friedman
-
0
Review: John Lithgow, Ann Dowd Shine in Clever Clever Reboots of “Facts of Life” and “Diffrent Strokes”

Jimmy Kimmel had this idea to reboot Norman Lear’s old shows a few years ago, and they did it brilliantly with “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.” (Marisa Tomei as Edith Bunker was brilliant.) They called it “Live in Front of a Studio Audience” and it was just that, live.

They came back  tonight, live again, with “Facts of Life,” and “Diff’rent Strokes,” lesser shows certainly but like those others, tied together like adjoining rooms. Someone had the bright idea to cast adults as the kids in both shows and it worked.

The headline is that Ann Dowd, who found success a little late, just killed as Mrs. Garrett aka the actress Charlotte Rae. She was note perfect, as was the biggest star of the evening, John Lithgow, as Mr. Drummond. Lithgow actually shared a scene with Snoop Dogg. Now our lives are complete. John Lithgow is a national treasure. Dowd’s wig should win a prize. She wore it proudly, like a crown.

In “Facts” we had Jennifer Aniston, Gabrielle Union, Allison Tolman, and the impeccable Kathryn Hahn as Blair, Tootie, Natalie and Jo. Special appearances by Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and the much missed-as-an-actor Jon Stewart, who should die his hair dark again immediately. The script isn’t sophisticated but it fell together because of all these talented people. Jennifer Aniston, my hat is off to you. When she said “I’ll be there for you,” at the end it was a lovely Easter egg.

“Diff’rent Strokes” worked almost as well, hindered by a creaky script and no one playing the late Dana Plato. Snoop Dogg was the surprise, with Damon Wayans and Kevin Hart playing the kids. (Kevin Hart is really small as it turns out, shorter than Ann Dowd.) Everyone was fine, but it was Lithgow and Dowd who really made this part. And the last line, from Hart, about Snoop’s character smelling like weed, was another happy Easter egg.

In between the producers of this thing gave us very clever commercials, sort of meta parodies and new promos for ABC shows made to look like they were from 1982. Jennifer Beals and Alfonso Ribiero deserve a lot of credit. I loved the Kraft singles.

But where was Nancy McKeon of “Facts of Life”? She was the only living original cast member who didn’t show up. Even worse, no one mentioned her. But Kimmel and crew get mucho kudos, and Norman Lear, almost 100 years old, should be on Mount Rushmore. Norman, we’ve got to have “Maude” next. I’m starting to think Cate Blanchett is the way to go.

Nicely done. Grade: A

PS No one really missed any lines, either. There were a couple of funky moments, but pretty good for people who don’t perform live regularly.

 

Review: Lots of Stars in a Modern “Mad Mad World” — DiCaprio, Streep, Lawrence, Hill Find the Ham

Roger Friedman
-
0
Review: Lots of Stars in a Modern “Mad Mad World” — DiCaprio, Streep, Lawrence, Hill Find the Ham

A while ago Adam McKay moved from Will Ferrell movies like “Anchorman” to political and social satire like “The Big Short” and “Vice.” He’s had a mixed results. But McKay is not droll like Armando Iannucci of “Veep” fame, and he’s not nearly as shrewd as Stanley Kubrick, whose “Dr. Strangelove” is the template for the kind of films McKay would like to make.

And now we have “Don’t Look Up.” which comes thisclose to getting it right but goes wrong because satire is a very slippery slope and drollness is something you have to control.  I think McKay’s biggest problem is too many stars. Leonardo Di Caprio and Jennifer Lawrence actually rein themselves in. But the rest of them– even Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, and so on do not. There’s a lot of wink wink hamminess to this thing, the elasticity breaks early on, and then McKay is at a loss.

Not that “Don’t Look Up” isn’t a funny and dangerous idea. Lawrence and Leo are astronomer scientists who spot the comet and report it immediately. They’re brought to the White House for a meeting with Streep as a Trumpian president and Hill as her son, chief of staff who’s an idiot. Leo and Jen are kept waiting and waiting while there are birthday parties going on and other chicanery.

Finally. in a scene I liked, they explain the dilemma. Is it 100%, Streep asks? Scientists can’t guarantee anything so they say more like 98%. Streep replies, “Let’s say it’s 70% and not worry about it now.”

But from there, things swing out of control. Leo’s Dr. Mindy is shown as a quiet, serious happy family man. But when he meets Blanchett on the set of a TV show he jumps into bed with her. Like Streep, Blanchett is wearing odd makeup or prosthetics that give her a sharp, unattractive look. Streep should have known better with McKay. Mike Nichols would have pulled her in. There’s just too much goofiness to make this stick.

To their credit, DiCaprio and Lawrence do their best to keep straight faces while everyone else falls apart. They warn the others the world is coming to an end unless they do something. No one listens, and Streep, Blanchett et al are coopted by an Elon Musk type played by Mark Rylance who decides to mine the comet for diamonds and gold before it hits the Earth. Lawrence points out that it will all be worthless if they’re dead, but again, no one listens.

And so things devolve from there. “Don’t Look Up” is very long, and has not one but two add-on endings like a Marvel movie that are unnecessary at that point.

Climate change is the main target here, although I couldn’t help thinking that COVID is, too. We were warned, and did nothing about it. The president just exacerbated a bad situation. So “Don’t Look Up” could work on many levels. But after hitting a one note joke over the head it several times I think it implodes. If only Iannucci had gotten this script, he would have been a lot subtler, snarkier, and devastating. Barry Levinson hit those sublime notes in “Wag the Dog,” without nudging us every 10 seconds. And McKay himself did it in “Anchorman.” But “Don’t Look Up” does not stand up.

Report: Netflix’s Satire “Don’t Look Up” Budget Includes $55 Million for DiCaprio, Lawrence

 

1971 50th Anniversary Albums: Carly Simon, Harry Nilsson, and Today, Paul McCartney and Wings

Roger Friedman
-
0
1971 50th Anniversary Albums: Carly Simon, Harry Nilsson, and Today, Paul McCartney and Wings

We just had the 50th anniversaries of two important, landmark albums: Carly Simon’s “Anticipation” and Harry Nilsson’s “Nilsson Schmilsson.” The former album launched the title track, which has become a rock and radio staple, along with some other great Carly tracks like “Legend in Your Own Time.”

The Nilsson album, produced by Richard Perry, was a blockbuster with three hit singles: “Coconut,” “Jump into the Fire,” and “Without You.” The latter remains one of the greatest produced singles in Top 40 history, an all time classic. Perry would next produce Carly Simon’s “No Secrets” album and give us another all time great, “You’re So Vain.”

“Without You,” by the way, was written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans of Badfinger, the group signed to the Beatles’ Apple label. Next week is the 50th anniversary of their landmark album, “Straight Up,” produced by George Harrison and Todd Rundgren, containing two more classics, “Day After Day” and “Baby Blue.” Earlier, Paul McCartney had written and produced Badfinger’s hit “Come and Get It.”

The solo Beatles were very much involved in everything in 1971. In May Paul McCartney released “Ram.” And a few months later, on December 7th, 1971, came the first Wings album, “Wild Life.” Paul and Linda and Denny Laine went around the UK in a van, popping to clubs to play impromptu gigs. There was little marketing, and no singles. If they’d made an effort, they might have had hits with two songs on that album, “I Am Your Singer,” and “Some People Never Know.” But “Another Day” was still a hit, and so was “Uncle Albert.” So no singles.

The song, “Dear Friend,” was written by Paul to John bemoaning the Beatles’ divorce. He writes about in his new “Lyrics” double volume memoir.

Happy 50th, “Wings Wild Life.”

There’s also a song called “Tomorrow,” which had at least FM hit written all over it. This means that Paul had written “Yesterday,” “Another Day,” “Every Night,” and “Tomorrow.” The Beatles also had “Last Night” from the “Help!” album. Later he would write “Daytime Nighttime Suffering.”

 

All-Star “Don’t Look Up” Cast Reveal Secrets: Meryl Streep Thought Being Called ‘the GOAT’ Really Meant She was a Goat

Leah Sydney
-
0
All-Star “Don’t Look Up” Cast Reveal Secrets: Meryl Streep Thought Being Called ‘the GOAT’ Really Meant She was a Goat

The all-star cast of Adam McKay’s “Don’t Look Up” had their premiere on Sunday night at Jazz at Lincoln Center, followed by a press conference on Monday. Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio and a heavily pregnant Jennifer Lawrence obviously had a good time making the send-up satire about a comet heading to Earth that will cause complete destruction.

The biggest take away from the press conference: Hill referring to Streep as “the GOAT” in text messages to the three time Oscar winner. Meryl, not hip to all the current lingo, though he was calling her an actual ‘goat.’

Streep said: “I thought well  that’s kind of cute I am kind of an old goat.  And then Jennifer told me in the photo sho0t this morning that means.  I didn’t know.”

The audience responded with laughter.

Hill was visibly taken aback.  “Meryl, “ he pleaded, “ You didn’t know?  It means the greatest of all time, the greatest actor of all time and that’s you!”  Meryl then explained her thoughts on it.  “Well he’s so familiar with me now, and my  mother used to refer herself an old goat and she was so cool.”

Hill told the audience:  “She is the coolest.  Oh my god.  I’m actually spiraling right now For 26 hours you thought I was calling you a goat. My therapist is going to be getting quite the phone call.  Working with you is a dream come true.  I’m bull shook!”

There were other discussions on stage.

McKay talked about how much he admired the films Network, Ace In The Hole, Office Space, Wag The Dog and the like. Jonah   quipped, “You also talked a lot about “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. ”  McKay shot back, “A lot of people know that at this point, it’s not a reveal now,  that Alvin is really an interpretation of the cultural revolution of Mao Tse Tung. So yes that was a touchstone.”

After the laughter died down in the room, Leo was asked about his climate advocacy for all these years and how it wove into his portrayal.  “It was about breaking the third wall.  The level of tension that Adam created with the comet coming in a specific time frame.  As a scientist that I play, to be sitting on this pulpit not being listened to or heard. I’ve spoken to a lot of scientists like Michael, the character I play, who feel like everything they say is marginalized, they’re not listened to. That’s one of the big reasons I wanted to do the movie.  I felt I had too.  To all those people out there who are speaking the truth.  And yet there are all these alternative facts, we don’t know how to deal with bad news. That’s the amazing hat trick Adam pulled off here with the tone of this movie.  He encapsulated all of that.  As ridiculous as some of this stuff seems.  We were shooting riots the same day they were storming the capital. As absurd as some of this seems, it is reality.”

Lawrence: “It was cathartic, watching this play out in real time was so emotional.  I don’t recall ever making a movie that was so important, fulfilling and devastating.

Jonah paid tribute to his friend Leo’s talent, which then Adam shot back, “Well Jonah, if Meryl is the goat is Leo the llama?” To which Jonah so quick on his comedic feet said, “likely to love acting more awesomely. “!

Meryl said she enjoyed working with McKay. She said: “Adam  is funny and deft and has a humanistic ambition that’s big and willing to go out on a limb and risk being earnest about something, which is so not cool.  And I love him for that.  It’s the other step that the artist takes if he wants too.  He doesn’t step back. I felt honored to be there.  And Jonah, well he made it his job to try and make me break up and ruin my takes and he succeeded.  I kept laughing through the movie it was all so unprofessional which just added to my anxiety that I just retire and get the fuck out of the business!  So that was it!“

Jonah then chimed in again, “I was so grateful to her for accepting all this psychotic stuff. Adam allowed us to have the kind of freedom to bring all of this in. “

DiCaprio raved about working with Lawrence. “There is a once in a generation talent that defines their craft and she’s it.  After I saw her in Winter’s Bone, I couldn’t’ wait to see her legacy, there is nothing that she does on screen that isn’t truthful and amazing.” (Meryl agreed and said, “you’re the beating heart of this movie.”) DiCaprio continued, “I remember us speaking early on and I told you, ‘remember you are the Meryl Streep of your generation.”  Jonah of course added, “Jenn can do anything and you still love her.  That’s so fucking hard to achieve. She can tell the truth and you just want her to win.”

Lawrence was having none of the praise. Hearing all this mushy stuff, she joked:  “That was worth every penny.  I had to mortgage my house, but it was worth it!”

 

Shock: Nick Cannon Announces Death of 5 Month Old Son Zen from Brain Cancer

Roger Friedman
-
0
Shock: Nick Cannon Announces Death of 5 Month Old Son Zen from Brain Cancer

Nick Cannon announced today the tragic death of his youngest son, Zen Scott Cannon, 5 months old. Zen died of brain cancer. Cannon has six other children including two with Mariah Carey. Zen’s mother is Alyssa Scott, and was the fourth of four children born in the last year. Everyone including this column made fun of Nick for fathering so many children by so many different women in a short time. But this is just awful. Sending condolences to everyone in Zen’s extended family.

1...690691692...2,323Page 691 of 2,323

Hollywood to the Hudson

Company

Trending

Categories

© Showbiz411.com