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Report: Zoe Kravitz Will Direct Channing Tatum in “Pussy Island,” Selling Rights at Cannes Market

Roger Friedman
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Report: Zoe Kravitz Will Direct Channing Tatum in “Pussy Island,” Selling Rights at Cannes Market

This is not an announcement from Troma Films.

Zoe Kravitz, actress and daughter of Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, is going to direct her first feature. She wrote it, too.

The movie is called “Pussy Island,” and with that title we are set up for a lot of fun in the future. And no, this isn’t “MILF Island’ from “3o Rock.”

Kravitz says that the script is about a clever waitress who sets her sights on a tech billionaire who runs Pussy Island. Channing Tatum will play the billionaire. I am not making this up.

Will “Pussy Island” turn out to be a horror film, a social satire like “Get Out” with elements of Jeffrey Epstein? Will the title remain despite Google coming to censor it any minute now?

Deadline.com says they’re selling the rights at the Cannes Market. A female lead has yet to be cast, although shouldn’t Megan Fox get this role? I vote for her.

For some reason, all weekend I was humming Elvis Costello’s song “B Movie.” Now I know why!

 

Theater: John Logan Will Try a Different Take on “The Last Ship” at Berkeley Rep with “Swept Away,” Music by the Avett Brothers

Roger Friedman
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Theater: John Logan Will Try a Different Take on “The Last Ship” at Berkeley Rep with “Swept Away,” Music by the Avett Brothers

Hmmmm…

Just a few short years ago, John Logan wrote the revised script for Sting’s musical, “The Last Ship,” which sailed on Broadway then went out for refitting in other versions in the UK, Los Angeles, and Toronto.

Now Logan has written another seafaring musical called “Swept Away,” not be confused with Lina Wertmuller’s famed movie from the 1970s. This “Swept Away” will open January 9th at Berkeley Rep, starring John Gallagher Jr. and Stark Sands. Michael Mayer is directing.

Here’s the description:

“Swept Away” is set in 1888, off the coast of New Bedford, MA. When a violent storm sinks their whaling ship, the four surviving souls — a young man in search of adventure, his older brother who has sworn to protect him, a captain at the end of a long career at sea, and a worldly first mate who has fallen from grace — each face a reckoning: How far will I go to stay alive? And can I live with the consequences?

Doesn’t this sound like “The Last Ship” moved from Newcastle, England to the Massachusetts coast?

Here’s the song “Swept Away,” from 2007.

Stephen Colbert’s Return to Full Audience: So-So Ratings and a Peculiar Appearance by Jon Stewart

Roger Friedman
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Stephen Colbert’s Return to Full Audience: So-So Ratings and a Peculiar Appearance by Jon Stewart

Does Jon Stewart really think the coronavirus was hatched in the Wuhan Lab? You might think so after watching his rant on Stephen Colbert last night. At the 4 minute mark, Stewart launches into a tirade that seems pretty convincing. Colbert isn’t sure if it’s tongue in cheek and looks a little surprised at Stewart’s take that bats are everywhere and don’t cause COVID. Stewart didn’t seem facetious, but who knows with these guys?

The ratings for Colbert’s return to a full audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater were so so, just 2.3 million people in the overnight ratings. Jon Batiste performed his new song, “Freedom.” I really like Jon Batiste, but this whole thing is very much like Pharrell Williams’s great song, “Freedom.” Too much freedom can be a bad thing, maybe.

Monster Wait: “Godzilla v Kong” Teeters On $100 Mil Domestic Box Office for 3 Weeks, May Happen Today

Roger Friedman
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Monster Wait: “Godzilla v Kong” Teeters On $100 Mil Domestic Box Office for 3 Weeks, May Happen Today

Oh, and they are thisclose.

Warner Bros. “Godzilla v. Kong” didn’t cross the $100 million line in the US on Sunday. The monster movie has waited three weeks in a row to finally send off fireworks and congrats to all involved.

What a wait it’s been! As of Sunday night the first movie to make money in the pandemic closed out its total at $99,704,232. Ouch! And that’s been going on for three weeks in a row, when the theater count started dropping.

The current theater count is down to 987.

It’s like “Godzilla v Kong” finally crossed the $100 million last night. If not, it will be tonight. Not to worry: the worldwide total including the US is around $435 million. It was a big hit. Those big boys will be back in some form!

 

RIP Elegant, Soulful Actress Lisa Banes, With Broadway, Movies, TV Resume, Killed by Hit and Run Driver in Manhattan

Roger Friedman
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RIP Elegant, Soulful Actress Lisa Banes, With Broadway, Movies, TV Resume, Killed by Hit and Run Driver in Manhattan

Kids, life is fragile. We don’t know what’s going to happen.

I was at a dinner party with Lisa Banes on May 29th up in Westchester. She was a guest, as always, at Clive Davis’s annual Memorial Day gathering. I remember thinking how swell she looked, so elegant and regal, as always. The first time I’d seen her was way back in 1984 when she starred on Broadway in Wendy Wasserstein’s hilarious comedy, “Isn’t it Romantic.” At the dinner party I thought, wow, she doesn’t age.

A few days later, crossing Amsterdam Avenue at 64th St., a broad stretch of road that runs behind Lincoln Center, she was hit by a scooter driver. It was a hit and run, as the drive didn’t stop. Now he or she on that scooter has caused a death. Lisa Banes is gone a couple of weeks before her 66th birthday.

After “Isn’t it Romantic,” for which she received a Drama Desk nomination, Lisa never stopped working. More recently she appeared in the hit film “Gone Girl” as Rosamund Pike’s mother. She was a constant presence on TV, from “Madame Secretary” to “One Life to Live.” She was a recurring player on shows like “Royal Pains” and “Nashville.” She had a great career doing the thing she loved: acting. If you needed someone regal, classy, sophisticated, you called Lisa Banes. And she was needed all the time.

Condolences to her family and friends. Lisa will be much missed. This is a terrible loss. Let’s hope all those cameras on Amsterdam Avenue that spew out annoying tickets can do some good and bring her killer to justice.

Oh, Lorde! “Royals” Singer Fails to Chart with Weak “Solar Power,” First New Single in Four Years

Roger Friedman
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Oh, Lorde! “Royals” Singer Fails to Chart with Weak “Solar Power,” First New Single in Four Years

Oh Lorde!

Just a few years ago the pop tart from New Zealand was the talk of the town with her hit single, “Royals.”

That song was everywhere and earned the then 17 year old a Grammy Award even though “Royals” sounded like a one off event. But the single sold and sold.

But Lorde’s follow up was a sales flop despite a mysterious Grammy Award nomination for Album of the Year for “Melodrama” in 2017.

Now, four years later, at the ripe old age of 24, Lorde returned with a new single, “Solar Power,” that has proved to be another disappointment. “Solar” Power was released last Thursday and so far has sold just 6,200 downloads and a total of 37,800 copies including streaming.

“Solar Power” has failed to chart, hitting number 130 on Apple Music’s streaming list, and is nowhere to be seen on Spotify’s top 50.

You may think this is odd for a 24 year old who was so big just 7 years ago. But once you start a pop career, you’re forever connected to the time table of teens and young adults who’ve formed your fan base. You can’t take four years off. Your fans are in high school, where they are forming their allegiances. It’s possible Lorde’s ship has sailed as a record seller.

Lorde isn’t the only teen act having issues. Billie Eilish, so hot in 2019, has released four unremarkable singles in a row this year while awaiting her second album on July 30th. Nothing has worked. Eilish, unlike Lorde, has not stopped releasing music. But she abruptly changed her image from slacker to femme fatale and confused her base. It remains to be seen if they’ll return for the album release, and if Eilish will try yet another single before July 30th.

Tricky stuff this is pop biz.

Lin Manuel Miranda Issues Mea Culpa as “In the Heights” Film is Under Attack from Latinx Community

Roger Friedman
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Lin Manuel Miranda Issues Mea Culpa as “In the Heights” Film is Under Attack from Latinx Community

Until it was released, Jon Chu’s “In the Heights” looked like it was going to be a big hit.

Then, it was released.

Over the weekend, the film was a huge disappointment at the box office with just $11.4 million. The soundtrack album sold only 5,600 copies on Friday and Saturday including streaming, CDs, and paid downloads.

First there was apathy toward “In the Heights.” Then came hostility. The Latinx community is angry with the musical’s creator, Lin Manuel Miranda, because they feel that dark skinned Latinx people are not represented well in the film. An article in The Root states the complaints, which are aplenty on social media.

Miranda has responded on Twitter. He says in the future he’ll try and do better. I’m no expert on this, but one question might be: Why did an Asian American direct a Latinx project? Wouldn’t a Latinx director have been more sensitive to these issues?

Miranda, who’s as sensitive and “woke” as anyone, Tweeted:

“I started writing ‘In the Heights’ because I didn’t feel seen. And over the past 20 years all I wanted was for us — ALL of us — to feel seen. I’m seeing the discussion around Afro-Latino representation in our film this weekend and it is clear that many in our dark-skinned Afro-Latino community don’t feel sufficiently represented within it, particularly among the leading roles.”

He continued:

“I can hear the hurt and frustration over colorism, of feeling still unseen in the feedback. I hear that without sufficient dark-skinned Afro-Latino representation, the work feels extractive of the community we wanted so much to represent with pride and joy. In trying to paint a mosaic of this community, we fell short. I’m truly sorry. I’m learning from the feedback, I thank you for raising it, and I’m listening.”

“I’m trying to hold space both for the indelible pride in the movie we made and be accountable for our shortcomings. Thanks for your honest feedback. I promise to do better in my future projects, and I’m dedicated to the learning and evolving we all have to do to make sure we are honoring our diverse and vibrant community.”

 

Eric Clapton and Van Morrison, Adamant Anti-Vaxxers, Announce Tour Dates: Will Fans Endorse Their Stand?

Roger Friedman
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Eric Clapton and Van Morrison, Adamant Anti-Vaxxers, Announce Tour Dates: Will Fans Endorse Their Stand?

Now that 600,000 are dead from COVID, rock stars want to get back on the road and make some money.

The only way they can do that is if fans are vaccinated for shows in arenas and stadiums. But will you pay $200 to a rocker who is adamantly anti-vaccination?

Both Eric Clapton and Van Morrison have been very publicly against the vaccination. Yet now they’ve each announced tour dates for the US. Will you go into a large crowd to see either one of them and risk getting sick? That’s their question.

Clapton has been giving interviews in which he says he was sick for three weeks after his first shot, and recommends people skip it. He recorded a song written by Morrison called “Stand and Deliver” in which he compared the lockdown to slavery.

Clapton, of course, fails to mention his years of heroin addiction and other substance abuse. He’s a gifted rocker but a little short sighted about why didn’t feel well after getting his vaccine.

Morrison has also had his share of problems with alcohol and drug dependency.

But the lockdown — still in place in many parts of the world — was meant to protect people from illness. It certainly is not comparable to slavery. That’s the most ridiculous thing ever said about the coronavirus, and there have been plenty of ridiculous things said.

With Van Morrison, there’s also the prospect of his shows being entirely devoted to his current album, which has about 18 songs in which he whines about one thing or another. He also has a song called “They Own the Media,” which has been interpreted by many as anti-Semitic.

So you decide. Clapton and Morrison are classic rock artists whom we all love, or loved, before they lost their minds during the pandemic. I think it’s pretty ironic that they want thousands of people to crowd venues after insisting no one get the vaccines or observe lockdown regulations. Me? I’m happy to listen to “Moondance” or “Layla” at home until all the variants have been cured or stopped.

PS Unlike Rolling Stone, I will not again show you the video for “Stand and Deliver.” It’s a public health hazard and very irresponsible. Get vaxxed if you haven’t!

Actor John Gabriel. Emmy Nominated for Playing Seneca Beaulac on “Ryan’s Hope,” Dies at 90

Roger Friedman
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Actor John Gabriel. Emmy Nominated for Playing Seneca Beaulac on “Ryan’s Hope,” Dies at 90

Actor John Gabriel, who was Emmy nominated for the soap “Ryan’s Hope” in the 1980s, has died at age 90.

John played Dr. Seneca Beaulac, who had maybe the best name ever in soaps. He was one of the show’s leading men, a good guy at the hospital who did some sketchy things in his personal life. Fans loved him.

In real life, Gabriel was married to wife Sandy, who’d been on “All My Children” for years. They have two adult daughters.

Also in real life, I got to know John a little bit over the years when the Gabriels attended various screenings and premieres. He was a lovely guy, a gentleman, with lots of stories about his days on tons of prime time shows including his years on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” playing sportscaster Andy Rivers.

“It is with an unspeakably heavy heart that I share the news of my father’s passing,” Andrea, 42, posted to Instagram. “John Gabriel was my hero, my role model, and my champion, but above all, my daddy … I will love you forever.”

 

RIP Ned Beatty, Versatile Actor, Oscar Nominee for “Network,” Known for “Deliverance” Debut

Roger Friedman
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RIP Ned Beatty, Versatile Actor, Oscar Nominee for “Network,” Known for “Deliverance” Debut

Ned Beatty, the versatile and talented actor, has died at age 83.

Beatty was known for his movie debut in “Deliverance” with Burt Reynolds in 1973, but went on to decades of memorable roles from playing Lily Tomlin’s husband in Robert Altman’s “Nashville” to playing John Goodman’s flawed father on “Roseanne.”

Beatty appeared on Broadway in the 2004 revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” opposite Ashley Judd and Jason Patric, as Big Daddy. He debuted on Broadway in 1968 in “The Great White Hope,” playing many different supporting roles opposite James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander.

An actor of uncommon intelligence and wisdom, Ned Beatty also had two Emmy nominations, and one Golden Globe nomination for a wonderful film he toplined called “Hear My Song.”

His Oscar nomination was in 1977 for Paddy Chayefsky’s “Network.”

Ned Beatty’s trademark was to make the audience trust him. He exuded empathy and kindness in every role. He will be sorely missed.

 

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