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Remembering 9-11: Bruce Springsteen Gives Stirring Performance at Memorial Tribute (Video)

Roger Friedman
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Remembering 9-11: Bruce Springsteen Gives Stirring Performance at Memorial Tribute (Video)

A thin looking Bruce Springsteen performed a stirring acoustic version of his song, “I’ll See You in My Dreams” this morning at the 9-11 memorial tribute. Springsteen just wrapped his summer long Broadway show.

Meanwhile the reading of the names of the dead has continued, and is more upsetting than ever. The raw emotion of all the people who read the names and spoke in memory of their loved ones is haunting and so genuine. There are real New Yorkers, and you just love every one of them. Their lost family members and friends are heroes for real and forever.

I am so lucky. My parents survived that day on an American Airlines flight from London that landed in St. John, Newfoundland. My friends who were living across the street, and who worked in the World Trade Center, had a terrible day but lived. So many didn’t. God bless them all.

I had a beautiful view of the World Trade Center for many years. We used to joke that it was our weathervane. You could tell how bad a storm there was just looking downtown at those two enormous towers. Clouds welled up and fog overtook them when storms came in. That was made 9-11 so weird. It was bright and sunny. Just like heaven (we hope).

Drake’s Cake: Biggest Debut of the Year with “Certified Lover Boy” Streaming 600,000 Copies First Week

Roger Friedman
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Drake’s Cake: Biggest Debut of the Year with “Certified Lover Boy” Streaming 600,000 Copies First Week

Drake should bake a cake. And put candles all over it.

The Canadian born R&B rap star’s “Certified Lover Boy” sold over 600,000 streaming equivalent copies in its debut week. It’s biggest release of 2021, maybe the biggest of the last couple of years.

“CLB” is all streaming. Paid downloads were only about 37,900 according to Buzz Angle.

All the tracks from “CLB” are hits, too, streaming away individually. The top one is “Way 2 Sexy,” with nearly 400,000 copies sold. Nine more range between 200K and 350K. Not bad!

The number 2 album was Kanye West’s “Donda,” with 143K sold this past week, and a total of 459K after 2 weeks. All streaming. Ka ching!

The loser here is iTunes. Drake and Kanye fans don’t seem to care about “owning” the music. The winners are Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and even Tidal.

The other big winner of the week was lumbering heavy metal group, Iron Maiden. Their first album in six years, “Senjutsu,” sold 53,000 copies in CDs and downloads. Adele should take a look at that. She hasn’t released an album in six years, either!

 

Spielberg’s Oscar Tipped “West Side Story” Will Play in Theaters First As Disney Abandons Day-and-Date After “Black Widow” Lawsuit

Roger Friedman
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Spielberg’s Oscar Tipped “West Side Story” Will Play in Theaters First As Disney Abandons Day-and-Date After “Black Widow” Lawsuit

Disney has blinked.

Following Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit over “Black Widow” opening day and date in theaters and n Disney Plus the Mouse House has changed its tune.

Their upcoming Big Five releases will not start simultaneously on the streaming service and in theaters. They will start in theaters with 30 to 45 day windows.

The movies include Steven Spielberg’s Oscar tipped revival of “West Side Story,” plus Marvel’s “Eternals,” Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel,” “The King’s Man,” and “Ron’s Gone Wrong.” All of those will have the 45 day window before going to streaming. “Encanto’ will have a 30 day window.

Disney is doing this after Johansson surprised them with a lawsuit claiming there was no agreement with the star for streaming. She’s claiming the film made $50 million less than it should have because it went to Disney Plus.

At the same time, Disney is seeing massive success with their Marvel movie, “Shang Chi,” which has now made $120 million in two weeks playing just in theaters.

Spielberg has been critical of streaming even though his company recently made a deal with Netflix. The “West Side Story” remake is the front runner for Best Picture right now even though no one’s seen it. But its scope and importance, coupled with good looking teasers, point to a sure thing. Spielberg and Disney have also managed to get rid of the rotten Broadway remake of the musical to clear the way for the new movie. They want everyone in theaters to see what could be a key awards movie.

Disney still has to clean up the Johansson mess before it goes even further. You can bet that will come sooner rather than later.

 

 

Former Child Star Turned Producer Brian Robbins Becomes Head of Paramount Pictures, Replaces Jim Gianopolous

Roger Friedman
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Former Child Star Turned Producer Brian Robbins Becomes Head of Paramount Pictures, Replaces Jim Gianopolous

If you were a kid in the mid to late 80s, you knew Brian Robbins as a student named Eric in “Head of the Class.” It was a “Welcome Back Kotter” type show.

Now Robbins, 57, is head of Paramount Pictures. Bravo him. He worked his way up as a producer for the last 27 years, with credit after credit. Most recently he’s been the president of Nickelodeon and kids’ programming at Paramount.

Robbins’ appointment was announced today. He replaces Jim Gianopolous, 70, who came from 20th Century Fox and found himself in a mess when the pandemic struck. Paramount’s entire pandemic release schedule consists of “A Quiet Place, Part 2.” Everything else was sold off, postponed, or streamed. More recently, Paramount’s big family film, “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” was pulled from the schedule because of pandemic worries. (Or because it wasn’t ready.) Cliff was listed as a gala at TIFF, but that was scrubbed as well.

Gianopolous was old school and reportedly didn’t get along with Shari Redstone, who owns Viacom, the parent company. Robbins is “young” and new blood and will tackle Paramount’s problems. He’s gone to the head of the class!

 

Toronto: A Bad Night for “Dear Evan Hansen” Broadway to Movie Adaptation as Reviews are Brutal

Roger Friedman
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Toronto: A Bad Night for “Dear Evan Hansen” Broadway to Movie Adaptation as Reviews are Brutal

I’m not in Toronto, and the opening night film, “Dear Evan Hansen,” is not available digitally to press outside of Canada.

From the tenor of the reviews coming out of there tonight, I guess I know why we can’t see it– and why it’s been so difficult to screen.

The early returns are not promising. Problem one is Tony winner Ben Platt, who is too old to play high school student Evan on screen. Problem 2 is the show, which on Broadway you could get away with but in a movie the premise doesn’t work.

When I saw the musical on Broadway, I didn’t understand why it was so popular. To me, Evan — who lies to everyone about a dead kid having been his bff — was a villain. But audiences embraced him as did the people of the town he lived in. And the show took off, and won Tonys.

Tonight, Evan is being found out in Toronto. The movie seems very divisive. Will update accordingly if things get better.

One quote, from Theatermania: “Film is a different story – it’s “real” real. Evan’s actions, which we sort of shrug off after seeing it on Broadway because they’re presented with hints of ambiguity, are truly grotesque in celluloid. He’s a Machiavellian villain in a story where he’s written to be the hero.”

Alison Willmore, of Vulture: “DEAR EVAN HANSEN: If there were any chance of making this character look like something other than a monster, it rested on emphasizing his raw youth, which makes the casting of an OBVIOUSLY GROWN MAN JUST HUNCHING HIS SHOULDERS an act of sabotage that’s near avant-garde “

 

Fleetwood Mac Won’t Stop Fighting About Tomorrow, And Yesterday, and Today in Public

Roger Friedman
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Fleetwood Mac Won’t Stop Fighting About Tomorrow, And Yesterday, and Today in Public

Almost since the beginning of time, Fleetwood Mac has been fighting among themselves.

Long before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks darkened the door Mick Fleetwood, the group has been in strife. It’s amazing, in retrospect, that John McVie has stuck it out all this time. Maybe that’s because we never hear from him.

Prior to the Buckingham Nicks addition in 1974-75, Fleetwood Mac went through a bunch of players who were considered integral to the group. Peter Green, Bob Welch, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan. Anyone remember them? They were actually the guys who joined, had hits, and then either departed or were chucked out. You wouldn’t have had “Sentimental Lady,” or “Hypnotized” or “Black Magic Woman” without them.

Then Buckingham and Nicks arrived. Suddenly everyone in the band was sleeping with everyone else, and yapping about it in the press. B&N brought their own little soap opera. That was 45 years ago, and it’s still going on. Before that, I’d like to add, Fleetwood Mac was about music.

Today in the LA Times, Buckingham is still squawking about the group firing him in 2018. And Nicks is firing back, of course. If touring ever resumes, the Mac will have go to back on the road for one last big tour. The fans don’t want to hear the squabbling. They want the band to perform with all players and keep their problems to themselves. But Fleetwood Mac can’t do it. Except for singing they should keep their mouths shut.

Mick Fleetwood presents himself as a bystander to all the brouhaha. But he was there before B&N, when all those other guys came and went. And when Fleetwood Mac imploded in New York at the Musicares Person of the Year show a couple of years ago, it was Mick we saw at the after party pacing back and forth and having screaming fights over his phone. He actually seems to be the common denominator.

And so it goes. On and on. And probably into the next afterlife for all of them. It’s a total snore at this point. As it was even in 1977. This is why we brought in the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Ramones, to flush these people out. I wish we could do it again.

No Cigar: Ryan Murphy’s Monica Lewinsky Series “Impeachment” Opens Low, Fails to Score a Million Viewers

Roger Friedman
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No Cigar: Ryan Murphy’s Monica Lewinsky Series “Impeachment” Opens Low, Fails to Score a Million Viewers

“Impeachment” is impaired.

The Ryan Murphy FX series about Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton failed to score 1 million viewers on Tuesday night. The total came in at 916,000.

Since FX is not pay cable but on most cable systems automatically, this is a very low number. “Impeachment” didn’t come close to other Murphy series like “The People vs. OJ Simpson.” Another Murphy series, “Feud,” about the tug of war between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, started with 2.26 million viewers for example.

It’s not like the acting isn’t very good on “Impeachment.” Beanie Feldstein as Monica and Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp are doing top level work in their roles. The rest of the cast is just fine.

But “Impeachment” suffers from lack of objectivity. And lack of sex. At this point, the world knows the story of Monica and Bill Clinton, at least the official version. But with Lewinsky producing an authorized version of her story, we are getting more white wash than Whitewater. We’re not learning anything new about what brought Monica to this point, what she thought. We knew Clinton was a dog. But we’re not getting an new significant insights.

As “Impeachment” rolls along, things will not change. As much fun as it is to see all these people– and to see Paulson transform herself — where is that cigar wrapper? Where is the depiction of what actually happened in that White House? But I doubt it’s just Lewinsky’s fault. We’ll never see that story on a TV network, not one owned by Disney.

Toronto Review: “The Score,” with Songs by Johnny Flynn Scores with Naomi Ackie, Soon to Play Whitney Houston

Roger Friedman
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Toronto Review: “The Score,” with Songs by Johnny Flynn Scores with Naomi Ackie, Soon to Play Whitney Houston

First Toronto film: “The Score,” written and directed by Malachiy Smyth, with songs by Johnny Flynn. And it’s a score. A plus.

TIFF isn’t offering any big films on their digital service and everyone is complaining. We don’t even get “Dear Evan Hansen,” opening the festival tonight. Most of the digital films are only available in Canada, if at all.

So I tried “The Score,” and loved it. A musical like “Annette,” except coherent, funny, beautifully made. Everything “Annette” was not, “The Score” is.

The performers are a trio– Johnny Flynn, who wrote the songs, Naomi Ackie*, who should be a star, and Will Poulter in a breathtaking performance. Imagine, three young sexy people who can act and sing, with terrific songs, catchy and well composed, and well sung, that fit in a plot that makes sense. I’ll take it!

Mike and Troy are low level gangsters, very low level, and they drive to a meeting at a faraway roadhouse (in rural UK). Gloria is their waitress. Troy and Gloria set eyes on each other and are in love. Mike, the “mastermind,” is waiting to consummate some kind of deal involving $20,000 in cash stashed in the boot of their Range Rover. A few others come and go, all excellent, but the story centers on these three.

Day changes to night, there are songs and a lot of smart talk. Smyth has written a lovely screenplay that must have been a play first and could be again. He’s opened it up for film. But the camera work and lighting are so good, and the actors are so surprising, that for 90 minutes you’re going to stick with it and care about all these people. Plus, there are a couple of plot twists to keep you on your toes.

So kudos to all these people. I saw Flynn off Broadway in “The Hangman,” and he was just sensational. He’s been in a few other things but is still unknown to Americans. Too bad. He should have a bigger career here. Poulter has also worked a lot, but this is the best thing he’s done.

TIFF may not be showing us big deal films, but “The Score” is a film festival find, which is really what it’s all about.

Since I’m in New York, if someone connected to this film wants to talk to me, I’m at showbiz411@gmail.com

 

*Naomi Ackie, I’m told, is playing Whitney Houston in the biopic, “I Wanna Dance with Somebody.” Now I have every faith in that performance.

 

Watch Nicole Kidman’s Commercial for AMC Theaters Welcoming Moviegoers Back

Roger Friedman
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Watch Nicole Kidman’s Commercial for AMC Theaters Welcoming Moviegoers Back

AMC Theaters wants us back in their seats. So they’re spending $25 million on a promo campaign to get us excited. And they’ve made their first ever commercial, with Oscar winner and multiple nominee Nicole Kidman. If Nicole says come back, we’re going back!

RIP Michael Constantine, Legendary Character Actor, Great Star of “Room 222” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”

Roger Friedman
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RIP Michael Constantine, Legendary Character Actor, Great Star of “Room 222” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”

Michael Constantine is the legendary character actor who played the ultra sympathetic principal on “Room 222” back in the day. He won an Emmy Award for his work there in 1970. Thirty two years later he was a star again as the father in “My Great Big Greek Wedding.” He died yesterday at age 94.

Constantine whether young or old always made his characters seem wise and understanding. He was also very funny. He was Greek American but really he was all American, born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1927. But he always seemed like an old soul, and in touch with his roots. He was the kind of journeyman actor that makes Hollywood work. He was in every TV show, and you’d always say, That guy, I love that guy.

Constantine also had his own short lived series in 1977, called “Sirota’s Court.” Before “Room 222” he was in dozens of series in the 60s, too including “Perry Mason,” “Gunsmoke,” and both “Dr. Kildare” and “Ben Casey.”

Rita Wilson, who produced “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” posted a lovely tribute to Constantine on Instagram. I include it here.

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