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Review: Bob Dylan’s “Shadow Kingdom” Streaming Event is an 80th Birthday Legacy Concert– And In Very Good Voice

Roger Friedman
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Review: Bob Dylan’s “Shadow Kingdom” Streaming Event is an 80th Birthday Legacy Concert– And In Very Good Voice

Bob Dylan’s live streaming event is going on right now.

“Shadow Kingdom” is pre-taped, at veeps.com. Filmed in gorgeous black and white, the video vignettes include “Watching the River Flow,” When I Paint My Masterpiece,” “Forever Young,” “Wicked Messenger,” “Tombstone Blues,” It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” “Most Likely You Go Your Way,” “Queen Jane,” “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” “Tom Thumb’s Blues,” and other Dylan classics.

He also included “What Was It You Wanted,” from a later album, 1989’s “Oh Mercy.” It’s a very supple version and beautifully accessible. It might be my highlight of this little show. (It was last heard, once, in 1995.)

Dylan hasn’t played “Forever Young” in a concert since 2011. It’s maybe his most covered song, probably one of his most valuable copyrights. He’s not stupid. More generations will record it now.

(The 13 songs are so beautifully re-arranged that even Shazam doesn’t know what they are!)

The director is Alma Ha’rel, who directed Shia LaBeouf’s “Honey Boy” feature and many music videos and commercials. Cinematography from Lol Crawley, but no one is LOL. Beautiful work. The black and white is sumptuous.

Bob is in unusually good voice, and the music production is sensational and rich. I would guess “Shadow Kingdom” will be released as an album and a DVD at some point. In the meantime, it’s on veeps.com for 25 bucks today and tomorrow. I was happy to pay for it.

The show is billed as “The Early Songs of Bob Dylan,” which would indicate there will be more one hour specials like this, for the same price.

PS Since I’m writing this on the fly, Dylan fans who also enjoyed recent Legacy release with George Harrison will adore the 50th anniversary mix of “All Things Must Pass.” Their song, “If Not For You” sounds fresher and more alive than ever.

 

SET LIST
When I Paint My Masterpiece

Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine

Queen Jane Approximately

I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight

Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues

Tombstone Blues

To Be Alone With You

What Was It You Wanted

Forever Young

Pledging My Time

The Wicked Messenger

Watching the River Flow

It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue

KPoop: Korean Boy Band BTS Has Their First Real Flop with “Permission to Dance” A Sales Disaster UPDATED

Roger Friedman
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KPoop: Korean Boy Band BTS Has Their First Real Flop with “Permission to Dance” A Sales Disaster UPDATED

WEDS MORNING: Total is up to 178,000. That’s it. There are a lot of questions about how “Permission” is being listed as number 1 anywhere. The fact is, it’s number 14 or 15 on iTunes.

MONDAY MORNING update: Total sales through Saturday are 161,000 all in. Downloads (included) are 46,400. The song is number 19 on iTunes.

 

EARLIER BTS may stand for Better Luck Next Time.

After a string of hits including recent ones like “Butter” and “Dynamite,” K Pop group BTS has pooped out.

Their new single, “Permission to Dance,” has seriously flopped. After one week, it’s number 17 on iTunes.

According Buzz Angle Music, “Permission” has been denied everywhere. Total sales including streaming are just 150,000. That includes 45,000 paid downloads. Most of the sales are streaming, and they are minor compared to other hits on the charts this summer.

Compare that number also with the single, “Butter,” released in May. “Butter” has sold 1 million copies so far, including 207,000 downloads.

But “Permission” may have come out too soon on heels of “Butter.” It’s also a rare failure for factory like songwriters Ed Sheeran and Johnny McDaid, who’ve had hits with Justin Bieber and others. Sheeran has a hit himself right now in the top 5 called “Bad Habits,” which typifies his own bad habits in songwriting. (Sheeran is still dodging a lawsuit over one song by the Marvin Gaye estate.)

What’s next for BTS? Stay tuned…

Box Office: $31 Million for Warner Bros. Studio Store Branded “Space Jam 2” Starring LeBron James with Negative Reviews

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: $31 Million for Warner Bros. Studio Store Branded “Space Jam 2” Starring LeBron James with Negative Reviews

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how bad a movie is, or how brazen it is in promoting brads.

“Space Jam 2: A New Legacy” made $31 million this weekend despite terrible reviews. Basketball legend LeBron James stars in the sequel to the clever original from 1996 with Michael Jordan.

The new “Space Jam” scored a 31 on Rotten Tomatoes, and that was being kind. Most reviewers described it as not a movie but a trip to the Warner Bros. studio store. The corporate branding is over the top, sucking the charm out of the original premise.

“James’s natural charisma should allow the film to soar but he’s bogged down by an avalanche of distracting cameos, from Gremlins to Game of Thrones,” wrote the UK Observer.

“Just a Warner Bros ad with LeBron James and Looney Tunes characters as its spokespeople… a designed-by-algorithm shambles,” said another.

Richard Roeper wrote in the Chicago Sun Times: “I’ve never seen anything like it. I also hope to never see anything like it again, and I wish I could unsee what I HAVE seen. ”

And yet, the movie — made by middling director Malcolm Lee, of “Soul Men” infamy — beat “Black Widow” on its second weekend. What that suggests is parents who are at wit’s end in the pandemic hit the “Space Jam” theaters in lieu of daycare. Does this mean “Space Jam 3” is coming soon? Undoubtedly.

If you watch “Space Jam 2,” which can be seen at home on HBO Max, the only interesting part of it is picking out all the images from 70 years of Warner Bros. movies and TV shows, from “Harry Potter” and “The Sopranos” to “The Wizard of Oz” and “Casablanca.” You’ll also see Gandalf, Frodo Baggins and Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings” movies.

And that, in 2021, is entertainment!

 

 

Mariah Carey Hawking Line of Christmas Products Like Ornaments and Candy Cane Colored Twine for $49.99

Roger Friedman
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Mariah Carey Hawking Line of Christmas Products Like Ornaments and Candy Cane Colored Twine for $49.99

All Mariah Carey wants for Christmas is for you to fork over some dough. (It’s tough out there when you have that triple A lifestyle.)

That’s why Mariah, who can’t perform live right now and isn’t selling CDs, is moving into merch big time.

She’s hawking a line of Christmas products starting now with the holidays five and a half months away.

On Lootcrate.com you can order Mariah’s Christmas box for $49.99.


Her LootCrate contains ornaments and gifting essentials “like baker’s twine and exclusive gift labels to holiday baking treats like an exclusive cookie plate.”

The twine, I guess, can be used for lots of things besides wrapping gifts. Not included are Mariah’s Christmas records, the sales of which now account for 99% of her business all year.

Also not included: any of Nick Cannon’s new children.

Is this why Mariah left RocNation Management? Was Jay Z asking her not to do this? Well she had a vision of cash, and all that it was meant to be.

 

Cannes: Nothing for Sean Penn, “French Dispatch,” Adam Driver, Only American to Win is Caleb Landry Jones (Who, Some Might Ask?)

Roger Friedman
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Cannes: Nothing for Sean Penn, “French Dispatch,” Adam Driver, Only American to Win is Caleb Landry Jones (Who, Some Might Ask?)

The Cannes Film Festival is finis.

And the winners are– no Americans, at least none who walked the red carpet to great fanfare.

There was nothing for Sean Penn, Wes Anderson, Adam Driver, etc. None of the big stars who got the PR splash from the US picked up a trophy.

But one American did win. Most people don’t know him, but the film community does. Caleb Landry Jones. He won Best Actor for Justin Kurzel’s “Nitram,” an Australian film. The red haired, freckled actor is known for roles in “Three Billboards” and “Twin Peaks” (the newer one), and appeared to great acclaim in Rod Lurie’s “The Outpost.”

“Nitram (Caleb Landry-Jones) lives with his mother (Judy Davis) and father (Anthony LaPaglia) in suburban Australia in the Mid 1990s. He lives a life of isolation and frustration at never being able to fit in. That is until he unexpectedly finds a close friend in a reclusive heiress, Helen (Essie Davis). However when that friendship meets its tragic end, and Nitram’s loneliness and anger grow, he begins a slow descent into a nightmare that culminates in the most nihilistic and heinous of acts.”

Catastrophe! Cannes Prize Winners: Spike Lee Accidentally Announces Palme D’or Winner “Titane”

Roger Friedman
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0
Catastrophe! Cannes Prize Winners: Spike Lee Accidentally Announces Palme D’or Winner “Titane”

Apparently, Spike Lee gave away the name of the Palme D’Or winner by accident ahead of time– “Titane,” directed by Julia Ducournau. The second woman to ever win.

The Grand Prix winner ex-æquo is Asghar FARHADI for GHAHREMAN (HERO)– tied with Juho KUOSMANEN for HYTTI N°6 (COMPARTMENT n, 6)

The Award for Best Director goes to ANNETTE by Leos CARAX. (Quite surprising. LOL)

The Award for Best Screenplay goes to HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke and TAKAMASA Oe for DRIVE MY CAR

The Jury Prize winner ex-æquo is HA’BERECH by Nadav LAPID

The Jury Prize winner ex-æquo is MEMORIA by Apichatpong WEERASETHAKUL

Renate Reinsve wins best actress at #Cannes2021 for “Verdens Verste Menneske”

The Award for Best Actor goes to Caleb LANDRY JONES in NITRAM by Justin KURZEL

The Special Mention of the Jury for short film goes to CÉU DE AGOSTO by Jasmin TENUCCI

The Short Film Palme d’or winner is TIAN XIA WU YA by TANG Yi

Winner of the Camera d’Or for best first film is MURINA, directed by Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović

Italian director Marco Bellocchio has been given a Lifetime Palme D’or.

Britney Spears Goes on the Offensive, Decries Those Who Never Supported Her Suddenly Giving Public Endorsements

Roger Friedman
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Britney Spears Goes on the Offensive, Decries Those Who Never Supported Her Suddenly Giving Public Endorsements

Britney Spears has taken to Instagram to warn off Johnny-come-lately’s– to her plight. She’s not interesting in those who never supported her suddenly showing up now to take her side. I guess she’s not impressed by recent posts from her fellow boyband-era singers, etc railing against her conservatorship. She’s really not into her own father making statements questioning the conservator. Really, Jamie Spears should just come in, hand the judge the so-called keys to the kingdom, and get out of Dodge while he can. This isn’t going to end well for him.

Britney writes:

There’s nothing worse than when the people closest to you who never showed up for you post things in regard to your situation whatever it may be and speak righteously for support … there’s nothing worse than that !!!! How dare the people you love the most say anything at all … did they even put a hand out to even lift me up at the TIME !!!??? How dare you make it public that NOW you CARE … did you put your hand out when I was drowning ???? Again … NO … so if you’re reading this and you know who you are … and you actually have the nerve to say anything about my situation just to save face for yourself publicly !!! If you’re gonna post something …. Please stop with the righteous approach when you’re so far from righteous it’s not even funny …. 🖕🏼🖕🏼🖕🏼 and have a good day !!!!! PS if you’re reading this today and you can relate …. I’m sorry because I know what it’s like … and I send you my love 💋💋💋 !!!!

RIP Elliot Lawrence, 96, Won 9 Emmy Awards, 1 Tony, Jazz Composer, Big Band Leader, the Bernard Herrmann of Soap Operas

Roger Friedman
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RIP Elliot Lawrence, 96, Won 9 Emmy Awards, 1 Tony, Jazz Composer, Big Band Leader, the Bernard Herrmann of Soap Operas

The composer, jazz musician, big band leader, Elliot Lawrence, died on July 2nd at age 96. He won 9 Emmy awards in his lifetime and a Tony Award. (He was nominated twice.)

Lawrence was musical director for 10 Broadway shows including “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying,” “1776,” and “Bye Bye Birdie.”

Because of his amazing resume, he would probably laugh that I’m citing this, but he was what I would call the Bernard Herrmann of soap operas. From the mid 70s to the mid 80s he was the composer and music director for the Procter & Gamble soaps, “The Edge of Night,” “As the World Turns,” “Guiding Light,” and “Search for Tomorrow.”

Here’s a great interview with Lawrence.  

Working like Hermann with a little Henry Mancini thrown in, Lawrence what might be the quintessential soap theme for “The Edge of Night.” Gothic and mysterious, the theme stood on its own as a little work of genius. Contemporary to it was his update for “As the World Turns.”

Here’s the link to his official obit.

First, listen to his “real” work, like this beautiful jazz composition from 1958

and “Elevation,” his jazz hit collaboration with Gerry Mulligan

and then who knew that soap operas would benefit from his musicianship?

RIP Beloved Rapper Biz Markie, 57, “Clown Prince of Hip Hop,” Hit it Big with “Just a Friend”

Roger Friedman
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RIP Beloved Rapper Biz Markie, 57, “Clown Prince of Hip Hop,” Hit it Big with “Just a Friend”

Biz Markie, aka Marcel Hall, was a late 80s hip hop smash. A groundbreaking character in rap, he hit it big with “Just a Friend,” and never went out of style. He died today at age 57 from complications from diabetes. Condolences to his family and friends.

amFAR Cannes Guests Stingy? Watch Sharon Stone Call Them “Cheap MF’s” During Gala Auction

Roger Friedman
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0
amFAR Cannes Guests Stingy? Watch Sharon Stone Call Them “Cheap MF’s” During Gala Auction

It looks like Sharon Stone worked her tushy off on Friday trying to get the Eurotrash crowd at the amFAR Cannes event to pony up some dough.

VAriety’s Ramin Setoodeh posted a video of Stone calling the crowd “cheap motherf***kers” when no one responded to the offer of some coutour dresses for $200,000.

How much did amFAR actually make Friday night? We may never know. Their last tax filing, for 2019, shows that at their most recent Cannes dinner– in May 2019– they spent nearly $7 million in expenses to put on the freak show by the Mediterranean. Over $1.8 million was just for entertainment.

Last night’s entertainment was Alicia Keys, who sang four songs and didn’t fly over on her own dime. She came first class courtesy of amFAR, like all the other celebs who had to be brought in from the US.

In the old days, Harvey Weinstein would have a bunch of movies in Cannes, and keep the actors around for the amFAR night. But those days are over. All the big movie stars leave now after their movies premiere, so the amFAR event now has to be constructed out of whole cloth. The evening has almost no connection to the Cannes Film Festival, it doesn’t even take place in Cannes, but in neighboring Antibes.

In 2018, the group filed notice that they finished the year in the red, just as they did the year before, when expenses were calculated against revenue. And still they paid millions in salaries to their top executives.

amFAR brought back Sharon Stone this year to run the auction because they know she has a way with the audience. But if she was calling them “cheap mfers,” it might have been like getting blood from a…stone. With the pandemic, the high cost of travel, inflation, and worldwide uncertainty maybe no one wanted a collection of 30 couture dresses. Shocking.

Thanks to Ramin and Variety for posting the video.

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