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Donald Trump wants to end the opera component at the Kennedy Center.
He’s trying to push through a plan rename the opera house after First Lady Melania Trump.
If Congress votes for this, there is no doubt many subscribers will exit their plans.
Democrats who was still hanging tough at the Kennedy Center for the operas and symphonies simply will not pay money to sit in a theater named for the mostly absent Melania, a First Lady in name only who is considered complicit with her husband’s policies.
Maybe that’s Trump’s goal with this proposal. The Opera House can be turned into a cow palace for country music. Republicans are not known for their embrace of the finer arts.
Meantime, the wait is on to see who the new Kennedy Center board will offer as inductees for the Kennedy Center Honors. A gasp of horror is almost certain if all the inductees are right wing, Christian right, country performers, etc
Last year the announcement was made on July 18th. We are already past that point. Many artists who’ve been waiting for the Honors — like Liza Minnelli and Denzel Washington — may turn it down until Trump is out of office. One artist who could make the cut is Johnny Mathis, who’s almost 90 and seems to be among Trump’s favorites. Another could be conservative shill Lee Greenwood, whose single hit, “God Bless the USA,” is a MAGA theme song.
PS I’m told country star George Strait could be at the top of the Trump list.
So sad to hear about Ozzy Osbourne. He fought many illnesses including Parkinson’s Disease for years, with laughter and a mordant sense of humor.
Ozzy was the quintessential mad hard rocker. He became an urban legend for biting off the heads of doves or bats or something on stage. Was it true? Did it matter?
When wife Sharon put the Osbournes on MTV in a reality show, Ozzy became accessible in new ways. I had the pleasure of chatting with him quite a bit. Surprise he was a tiny fellow. And frail by the time I knew him. But he was lovely and fun.
I had never seen Black Sabbath perform until they got their Special Merit Grammy Award a few years ago. I was sitting in the front row of the Dolby Theater, and I was nervous the sound of the group performing would be beyond cacaphonous. But it wasn’t. Black Sabbath, in their way, was very musical. That’s what kept them in good stead when most bands had faded away.
Condolences to Sharon and her family. The Osbournes were a soap opera, but they were never boring and Ozzy will never be forgotten.
Here’s the line up. Lots of hype around everything. What will actually stick? We’ll see. Opening night film is Paolo Sorrentino, “La Grazia,” all Italian cast. A foreign film entry? Probably. Lots of excitement about Kathryn Bigelow, Luca Guadagnini, Noah Baumach, Gus van Sant, Julian Schnabel, Benny Safdie.
Is there an Oscar nominee in here? We’ll see.
Next up, Telluride.
COMPETITION
“La Grazia,” Paolo Sorrentino (opening film) “The Wizard of the Kremlin,” Olivier Assayas “Jay Kelly,” Noah Baumbach “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Kaouther Ben Hania “A House of Dynamite,” Kathryn Bigelow “Ri Gua Zhong Tian” (“The Sun Rises on Us All”), Cai Shangjun “Frankenstein,” Guillermo del Toro “Elisa,” Leonardo di Costanzo “À Pied d’Oeuvre,” Valérie Donzelli “Silent Friend,” Ildikó Enyedi “The Testament of Ann Lee,” Mona Fastvold “Father Mother Sister Brother,” Jim Jarmusch “Bugonia,” Yorgos Lanthimos “Duse,” Pietro Marcello “Un Film Fatto Per Bene,” Franco Maresco “Orphan,” László Nemes “L’Étranger,” François Ozon “Eojjeol Suga Eopda” (“No Other Choice”), Park Chan-wook “Sotto Le Nuvole,” Gianfranco Rosi “The Smashing Machine,” Benny Safdie “Nühai” (“Girl”), Shu Qi
OUT OF COMPETITION — FICTION
“Chien 51,” Cédric Jimenez (closing film) “Boşluğa Xütbə” (“Sermon to the Void”), Hilal Baydarov “L’Isola di Andrea,” Antonio Capuano “Il Maestro,” Andrea di Stefano “After the Hunt,” Luca Guadagnino “Hateshinaki Scarlet,” Mamoru Hosoda “Den Sidste Viking” (“The Last Viking”), Anders Thomas Jensen “In the Hand of Dante,” Julian Schnabel “La Valle Dei Sorrisi,” Paolo Strippoli “Dead Man’s Wire,” Gus Van Sant “Orfeo,” Virgilio Villoresi
OUT OF COMPETITION — SERIES
“Portobello” (Ep. 1-2), Marco Bellocchio “Un Prophète” (Ep. 1-8), Enrico Maria Artale “Etty” (Ep. 1-6), Hagai Levi “Il Mostro” (Ep. 1-4), Stefano Sollima
OUT OF COMPETITION — NON-FICTION
“Kabul, Between Prayers,” Aboozar Amini “Ferdinando Scianna – Il Fotografo Dell’Ombra,” Roberto Andò “Marc by Sofia,” Sofia Coppola “I Diari di Angela – Noi Due Cineasti. Capitolo Terzo,” Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi “Ghost Elephants,” Werner Herzog “Baba Wa Al-Qadhafi” (“My Father and Qaddafi”), Jihan K “The Tale of Sylian,” Tamara Kotevska “Nuestra Tierra,” Lucrecia Martel “Remake,” Ross McElwee “Kim Novak’s Vertigo,” Alexandre Philippe “Cover-Up,” Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus “Broken English,” Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth “Zapiski Nastoyashego Prestupnika” (“Notes of a True Criminal”), Alexander Rodnyansky and Andriy Alferov “Director’s Diary,” Aleksander Sokurov “Hui Jia” (“Back Home”), Tsai Ming-liang
OUT OF COMPETITION — FILM & MUSIC “Nino. 18 Giorni,” Toni D’Angelo “Piero Pelù. Rumore Dentro,” Francesco Fei “Newport and the Great Folk Dream,” Robert Gordon and Joe Lauro “Francesco de Gregori Nevergreen,” Stefano Pistolini
OUT OF COMPETITION — SHORTS
“Origin,” Yann Arthus-Bertrand “Boomerang Atomic,” Rachid Bouchareb “How to Shoot a Ghost,” Charlie Kaufman
HORIZONS
“Mother,” Teona Strugar Mitevska “Komedie Elahi” (“Divine Comedy”), Ali Asgari “Hiedra,” Ana Cristina Barragan “Il Rapimento di Arabella,” Carolina Cavalli “Estrany Riu” (“Strange River”), Jaume Claret Muxart “Hara Watan” (“Lost Land”), Akio Fujimoto “Grand Ciel,” Akihiro Hata “Rose of Nevada,” Mark Jenkin “Late Fame,” Kent Jones “Milk Teeth,” Mihai Mincan “Pin de Fartie,” Alejo Moguillansky “Otec” (“Father”), Tereza Nvotova “En El Camino,” David Pablos “Songs of Forgotten Trees,” Anuparna Roy “Un Anno di Scuola,” Laura Samani “The Souffleur,” Gastón Solnicki “Barrio Triste,” Stillz “Human Resource,” Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit “Funeral Casino Blues,” Roderick Warich
VENICE SPOTLIGHT
“Hijra,” Shahad Ameen “Un Cabo Suelto,” Daniel Hendler “Made in EU,” Stephan Komandarev “Motor City,” Potsy Ponciroli “La Hija de la Española,” Mariana Rondón and Marité Ugás “À Bras-Le-Corps,” Marie-Elsa Sgualdo “Calle Malaga,” Maryam Touzani “Ammazzare Stanca,” Daniele Vicari
What a surprise. Matt Shakman’s first Marvel movie, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” scores on every level.
There are sharply drawn, witty characters and a production design that is outstanding for being its own character.
Shakman and co drop the whole albatross of the Marvel Universe. The Fantastic Four live in their own version of New York set in the 1960s but also very futuristic, a la the Jetsons. It’s a rare period piece set in midcentury modern context.
Think of this movie taking place in world where Times Square looks like it did in 1962 and also in the TWA Terminal at JFK (now a hotel). Production designer Kasra Farahani’s team is so attentive to little details that it’s like a wonderland for anyone who grew up in New York. (Box office should be huge here just for that reason.) The cars, the street signs, all of it is resonant. Even the cars are vintage — and the Fours’ flies! (No one — dressed in period clothes — seems surprised.)
“The Fantastic Four” is also a throwback kind of film in that Shakman has managed to work in product placements galore that don’t seem out of place. Canada Dry, 7 Up (do they still make it?) are prominently billboarded.When I saw Leighton’s, and the RKO Theater, I thought I was in a dream. I’ve included a real photo below that the designers obviously studied.
This Fantastic Four is all about motherhood as Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby, in a star turn) and Reid Richards (Pedro Pascal, better here than in the other 15 films he’s in this season) are about to welcome a baby (named Franklin). The couple live in a futuristic building set in ’60s Times Square (think the 1964 Worlds Fair) with Sue’s flying, fiery brother, Johnny (Joseph Quinn, who looks more like a young Robert Downey Jr) , and Ben Grimm aka The Thing (The Bear’s Ebon Moss Bacharach overcoming an unwieldy costume with humor). It’s like the Real World for superheroes.
They’re a family with super powers, and they’re trying to protect themselves and their fellow New Yorkers from the evil Galactus, who wants their baby for his future evil doings. Galactus’s emissary is a now female Silver Surfer (Julia Garner, dangerous and vulnerable). Add to this crew a malevolently humorous Paul Walter Hauser, and Matt Wood as the voice of Herbie, a sort of C3PO helper to the Four.
When Galactus and the Silver Surfer attack Earth, the Four volunteer to go into outer space and solve the problem. You do wonder why no one questions why heavily pregnant Sue goes on the mission because obviously the baby will be imperiled, but no one stops her or even suggests that she stay home. Of course, trouble awaits.
There are all kinds of nice touches. The Thing is constantly chided for his comic book catchphrase, “It’s clobbering time!” A kind of Uncle Charlie who helps out with the baby, he meets a nice Jewish girl Hebrew school teacher (there’s a scene in a synagogue!) played with effortless charm by Natasha Lyonne. They look set for a sequel storyline.
What Shakman has pulled off is no small thing. He’s given these characters a satisfying environment that is clever and sweet and comforting while letting them lampoon their own comic book history. A lot of this comes from a kind of anti-Marvel preamble explaining their history coolly and concisely that doesn’t even suggest a connection to the rest of Marvel. A note at the end of the movie says the Four will turn up in the next Avengers movie, which is almost too bad because they function so well in their own magical world.
PS I forgot to add– all the Disney plugs for ABC TV using their 60s-70s logo.
Again, keep these two pictures in mind when you go to see this film. PS I wish I’d caught the names of the movies playing in their Times Square. I’m sure they will be parsed by experts.
A half hour before Stephen Colbert told Donald Trump “go f yourself,” he was beaten to the punch by a friend.
Jon Stewart, on the Paramount owned Comedy Central, did the same thing on “The Daily Show.”
Only he did it with a gospel choir.
Obviously, neither Stewart nor Colbert cares what happens next. They are right on the cutting edge of complete disaster, and are laughing about it all the way.
Will CBS Paramount just cancel both Colbert and Stewart Tuesday morning? The chances of CBS imploding over the corrupt decision to axe Colbert is turning into as much of a nightmare for the former Tiffany network as Epstein has become for Trump.
Stephen Colbert is not leaving his show or CBS quietly.
The first half hour of Monday night’s show — the first since he got the boot last week — was absolutely wild.
In the opening monologue, Colbert was vicious about CBS and Donald Trump. He was bleeped out telling Trump, “Go fuck yourself.”
When Colbert returned, he welcomed Lin Manuel Miranda and Weird Al Yankovic who said they came to support him. They launched into the Coldplay song, “Viva La Vida,” in a satire of the discovered affair at a Coldplay show over the weekend.
Then the camera swung around to show a bunch of Colbert pals pretaped in the audience including Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel, and Christopher McDonald; Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers; Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen; and John Oliver and Jon Stewart.
Colbert’s entire monologue and the follow up eviscerated Trump and CBS. He even featured an animated Trump holding the Paramount logo, and commented, “They must be having an affair!”
Thanks to Trump, Colbert will almost definitely win the Emmy Award in September for Best Talk show. His speech will be the highlight of the night. He was absolutely brilliant tonight.
But how long will CBS let this go on? Colbert is under contract through next May. But will the network let him attack them every night for 10 months? Or will they just pull the plug and eat the loss?
That’s not the actual line from “Hamlet,” but it’s the one everyone remembers.
Everyone also remembers when Mariah Carey ruled the charts in the 90s with hip hoppish songs lifted or sampled from other material. Her voice and image overcame the songs’ deficiencies.
But it’s 2025 now. Mariah is 56 years old. The big audience moved on from buying her music — except for the Christmas song — a long time ago.
And yet, she persists. A new album called “Here for It All” is coming in September. This is despite the utter failure of a first single called “Type Dangerous,” which seemed like a parody of a Mariah Carey record.
Mariah refuses to use her voice in a fruitful way, or attempt actual songs. She lives in a world that ended 20 years ago, her Jermaine Dupri era. She’s using her super powers for evil, not good, and it’s not working.
“Here for It All” is coming from a new company called Gamma, which has the backing of Apple. LA Reid is producing, so the 2005 vibe is not going away.
The album drops September 26th. Expect a few days of hype — Mariah giving wacky interviews — and a short surge in sales as her fan club buys up multiple copies. Been here for it all, done that.
The next single is “Sugar Sweet.” Many cavities will have to be filled.
Benson Boone is finding out about the “sophomore jinx.”
The follow up to his “Beautiful Things” album — “Fireworks and Rollerblades” — which has sold 2.2 million — has been a bust.
“American Heart” sales have been heart-breaking. Just 42,144 downloads and CDs. A total of 282,172 copies including streaming. Fans did not flip out for “American Heart,” although Benson flipped, and flopped. The album is now at 39 on iTunes top albums.
Meanwhile, “Beautiful Things” — with over 9 million copies sold (including 2.6 million downloads) — remains in the iTunes top 10 this week. It won’t go away, more than a year after its release. It seems to grow stronger by the week while Boone’s new singles are met with apathy.
“Beautiful Things” has turned into Boone’s “Call Me Maybe,” and a lot of other one-off hits that lodge on the radio and the charts permanently. Why? Who knows?
“American Heart” was released with a full heart, based on Boone’s initial success. But the songs were few — 10 — and seemingly pedestrian pop. None of them caught fire. And now they will vanish while “Beautiful Things” just keeps going.
The same may be happening to the current number 1 single, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary.” The song and the album are indeed ordinary, but the single has stuck like crazy and pulled along an album that is not memorable. Warren should learn a lesson from Benson Boone if he’s planning another record.
Boone is 23 and has made a fortune from the first song. He’s also toured like crazy, doing acrobatic flips that make the audience go crazy. How long can he keep that up? He’ll have to come back with a third album that shows actual musical skill or he will wind up in carnivals. We don’t want that to happen, do we?
The 2025 Toronto International Film Festival selections are here.
Particularly interesting is a film called “Nuremberg,” about the famous trial of Nazis. It’s directed by James Vanderbilt, member of the Gilded Age Vanderbilts, a cousin of Anderson Cooper. Among his credits are writing two “Spider Man” movies and two installments from the “Scream” franchise. “Nuremberg” stars Rami Malek, Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, and Richard E. Grant.
Hot on the list is Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” with Oscar Isaac, Jacob Elordi, and Christoph Waltz. Apparently, this is Netflix’s shot at an Oscar this season. The advance buzz has been excellent.
Lots of other films including one by Scarlett Johansson, another by Alex Winter of “Bill and Ted” fame. Winter will be on Broadway this fall in “Waiting for Godot” with Keanu Reeves. (Yes, really.)
I’m looking forward to “Ballad of a Small Player” starring Colin Farrell and Tilda Swinton, directed by Edward Berger (“Conclave”).
2025 Galas (in alphabetical order):
* previously announced
*A Private Life | Rebecca Zlotowski | France North American Premiere
Adulthood | Alex Winter | USA World Premiere
Driver’s Ed | Bobby Farrelly | USA World Premiere
Eleanor the Great | Scarlett Johansson | USA North American Premiere
Eternity | David Freyne | USA World Premiere
Fuze| David Mackenzie | United Kingdom World Premiere
Glenrothan| Brian Cox | United Kingdom World Premiere
Good Fortune| Aziz Ansari | USA World Premiere
*Hamnet | Chloé Zhao | United Kingdom Canadian Premiere
*Homebound| Neeraj Ghaywan | India North American Premiere
*John Candy: I Like Me | Colin Hanks | USA World Premiere
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery | Ally Pankiw | Canada World Premiere
Every day Donald Trump pushes a diversion away from the Epstein scandal.
It really is like throwing uncooked pasta against the wall to see what sticks.
Rosie O’Donnell citizenship? That’s so one week ago.
Today, Trump is huffing and puffing for the Washington Commanders to change their name back to the Redskins. If they don’t, he’ll punish them. Same for the Cleveland Guardians, back to the Indians.
Offensive? Yes, that’s the point. Will this make people stop talking about the Epstein files, and Trump’s allegiance to the dead child trafficker? No.
Donnie, try harder! What a moron. He’s so interested in pigskin because it’s so like his.
