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The British actress rose to fame with the “Downton Abbey” TV series.
Since then, she’s been on numerous TV shows and in movies. She’s pretty nice in real life, too.
Now Dockery gets the spotlight as Lady Mary in the final “Downton Abbey” trailer. She even gets wooed by Alessandro Nivola. Meantime, Paul Giamatti comes from New York to tell the family he’s lost all their money in the 1929 stock market crash.
How will it end? Will the Crawleys move to council housing? Stay tuned! The movie, written and directed by the mighty Julian Fellowes, opens September 12th!
Donald Trump may ask for tariff on “F1” if someone explains to him slowly.
The Brad Pitt race car movie is almost a foreign film.
Pitt, the huge American movie star, is the only US actor in the main cast.
Director Joseph Kosinski has surrounded Pitt with top notch actors from the UK and Europe.
Of course, Javier Bardem is Spanish, and Kelly Condon is Irish. But Damon Idris is British as is Tobias Menzies. Pretty much the whole credit roll after that is not American.
Even cinematographer Claudio Miranda, an Oscar winner, is from Chile.
The set must have been like the United Nations. And the funny thing is, because of Pitt, you think of “F1” as an American story of an unlikely comeback by a hero who gets a second chance.
And that, my friends, is what Hollywood is all about. It’s also a good reason “F1” may have more appeal outside the US box office. Keep checking those “foreign” countries.
When HBO’s “The Gilded Age” finished its second season, the ratings weren’t bad.
The linear numbers averaged around 500,000 an episode, a little lower than the first season. Still, it was a talked about show with an all star cast and a great writer in Julian Fellowes.
Last week, season 3 debuted and HBO trumpeted 2.7 million viewers on all devices including pigeons. But the linear number was only 430,000.
Tonight, season 3 moved on to its second episode, and frankly, the show deserves more eyes. As Fellowes said to me at the premiere party, it took two seasons to set up the characters. Now we have favorites and know who to root for — and how the characters will react to certain situations.
“The Gilded Age” — set in 1883 New York — has a big cast, composed largely of Broadway actors, and the best trained thespians Fellowes could round up. Christine Baranski is kind of the captain of the team, playing the haughty old money matriarch, Aunt Agnes. She’s to this show what Maggie Smith was to “Downton Abbey” — snooty, but open minded, and ready with a zinger.
As the story shapes up, Aunt Agnes is likely going to battle with new money Mrs. Russell across Fifth Avenue. The former’s orphaned niece (Louisa Jacobson) is on track to marry the latter’s son (Harry Richardson). They’re the Downton equivalent of Mary and the poor, late Matthew Crawley. Carrie Coon is so good as Mrs. Russell, we can look forward to some throw down soon.
Two things about the first two episodes. One is, we’re seeing more of the story Peggy (Denee Benton) and her family. They’re Black, but Aunt Agnes doesn’t care as she’s hired Peggy to be her secretary. Peggy is on her way to a big writing career. Also, her mother is played by Audra McDonald. At one point tonight, Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, and McDonald were all in the same scene. Broadway fans’ heads must have exploded.
The most interesting story is about Agnes’s cousin, Aurora Fane, whose husband is trying to leave her for another woman. Aurora — played by Tony winner Kelli O’Hara — is terrified — in 1883 — that the divorce will destroy her socially and financially. Her husband is not very sympathetic. O’Hara is really conveying the fear of defeat. I haven’t watched ahead but I hope the tables will turn in her favor — even if it means keeping the rotten husband.
We haven’t a good American soap opera in a long time. And the good news is, you can just watch “The Gilded Age” on cable, no smart TV stuff. Just like the old days. It was a show made originally for NBC but they were too thick to show it. So now it’s on HBO, where smart people watch TV.
More to come…
PS Always keep your eye on the downstairs staff with a Fellowes production. Ben Ahlers is the footman with an invention that will either succeed or he’ll be exploited by the wealthy. And the great Kristine Nielsen — hilarious on Broadway — plays the German cook. I’m waiting for to roll her eyes, and for O’Hara, McDonald, and Donna Murphy to break out in song.
You heard that Anna Wintour is giving up the daily editing of Vogue magazine.
Wintour is ascending to Editorial Director of Conde Nast (except for The New Yorker). At 75, she’s leaving the grunt work to others.
The new editor of Vogue will report to Wintour, who will veto everything, but still be able to carve out some kind of reputation on her own.
Who will take this job? The good betting right now is on Chloe Malle, 39, the editor of vogue.com. She’s the author of the new Vogue digital cover story about the marriage of amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and his voluptuous wife, Lauren Sanchez.
You have to think if Chloe could put up with those people, Wintour is a walk in the park!
Chloe is the daughter of famed actress Candice Bergen, and the late great director Louis Malle. Bergen is best known for “Murphy Brown” and for playing a Vogue editor on “Sex and the City.” Malle counted among his masterpieces “Au Revoir Les Enfants” and “My Dinner with Andre.” (I knew Louis, and he was a spectacular person.)
Chloe Malle is married and has two children. She’s worked her way up at Vogue, and has made the website an actual hit. Unlike VanityFair.com, Vogue.com has seen an increase in traffic, no small feat these days. Chloe has made lemonade out of lemons.
Obviously, Chloe’s Hollywood connections are strong. Also, she’s never flaunted her impeccable background, choosing to be low profile. And that can’t be easy considering her parents.
I’m told if Chloe wants the job, it’s hers. Anna will conduct another fake job hunt, as she did with Vanity Fair, and then realize the right choice is in her own backyard!
PS Candice is such a good writer — Chloe should hire her to write a column immediately!
“F1” is Brad Pitt’s biggest opening ever, with $56.6 million in the US and $144 million worldwide.
IMAX is the bulk of the viewing everywhere. Even in China, where “F1” took in $9 million, IMAX sold out. All large format theaters did well. They accounted for almost half the box office.
Each of the top 10 locations in the US were IMAX. I told you, there were many, many empty screens in conventional theaters.
The international market saved the day. The $88 million take was just what Warner’s needed. The biggest market was the UK, with $9.2 million.
The other news: Is that enough? “F1” cost $200 million. It won’t get to break-even for a long time. Of course, Apple paid for it and they have so much money from iPads and so on they won’t think about it. In a month, “F1” will hit Apple TV, and that’s all they care about.
Will there be an “F2”? Unlikely, but the plot could be they drive backwards on the track!
In other areas, Universal is still booming with “How to Train a Dragon” — $19,4 million for the weekend. But the studio’s “M3GAN 2.0” horror film was a bust with $10 million.
“Elio” will set a record for lowest grossing Pixar movie of all time.
“Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning” is hanging in there, trying to get to $200 million. They got a little sad publicity over the weekend from the death of composer Lalo Schifrin.
When the new, very good “Superman” movie opens, you might notice something missing: Warner Bros.
Gone is the Warner shield that opens all their movies. It was at the head of such Warner/DC movies as “The Batman,” “Justice League,” “Man of Steel” and “Batman vs. Superman,” for example.
But not anymore.
But in the new James Gunn world, “Superman” comes from DC Comics only. You won’t see the Warners badge until the very end of the end of the movie’s credits.
This seems to be a new branding effort in the James Gunn-Peter Safran era of DC movies. Marvel doesn’t blast Disney in fans’ faces. Same will now go for Warners.
Gunn and Safran are doing everything they can to distance their new movie from all the previous Warner/DC movies, many of which failed miserably. With “DC Comics” as the presenter, a drawing of the original Superman from the comic books at the head of the movie, they’re sending a clear signal to fans: this is different.
As Bugs Bunny would say, “That’s all, folks!”
Your choices, your actions, that’s what makes you who you are. #Superman – Only In Theaters and @IMAX July 11. Watch the official trailer now and ❤️ this post to get updates from @Superman before it hits theaters. pic.twitter.com/OR0F8Ob2bQ
The masterful singer songwriter, age 83, has been felled by back pain. He says it’s unmanageable, so he’s canceled two shows in Philadelphia– tonight and tomorrow.
Simon just played a triumphant week of shows at New York’s Beacon Theater that couldn’t have been better. But we all know what back pain is like. It’s more than anyone (except maybe one person in Washington) deserves.
Better that Paul rests up. He’s got a big west coast tour starting July 7th that will take him to Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and so on. He can always circle back to Philly later this year.
Speedy recovery, Paul!
PS These classic rockers and soul singers are road warriors. Dionne Warwick last night –she’s 84. Ringo is out there touring at 85. The Stones are 300 years old and making a new album for a 2026 tour. Judy Collins doesn’t stop doing shows at 85. And there are more. We are the luckiest generation.
At the Apollo last night, the sold out audience kept murmuring “She’s 85,” “She’s 86.”
Let’s not push it. At 84, she still as a lot of spunk, and we love spunk. She also has a killer voice that has aged like fine whiskey and still retains it timber.
To close the Apollo for one year (renovations), Dionne — who her start there decades ago — put on a special three hour show of songs, stories, and wry jokes mixed with video clips and testimonies from friends like Clive Davis, Elton John, Smokey Robinson, Valerie Simpson, and an admiring Alicia Keys. Her son, Damon, serves as interviewer, they sit on a lovely looking couch (the kind “Frasier” would have), and there’s a top notch band. (Her other son, David, sings with her and has clearly inherited the family gene.)
In the audience were Broadway types like Tony winner Andre DeShields (who’s known her forever), and Seth Rudetsky.
Dionne appears in a cream colored pants suit and top that looked like they were made of cashmere. Her short, cropped hair has turned white, so the whole package seems like a dessert.
But don’t undersell Dionne. She’s no cream puff. As her Twitter followers know, Dionne has sharp elbows. She’s not pulling any punches in her recollections of growing up as part of the family gospel group, the Drinkards, or finding her way to Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who wrote her foundational songs like “Walk on By,” and “I Say A Little Prayer.”
Don’t worry: there is plenty of mention of her aunt, Cissy Houston, and her cousin, Whitney. Whitney’s brother, Michael, was a guest star in the audience.
Warwick recalls playing the South for the first time, and the surprise of facing segregation. At a stop in South Carolina on tour with Sam Cooke, she was told to face the white audience, with her back to the Blacks. She did just the opposite. She also caused mischief at a segregated diner, where — after being sent to a crummy corner away from the white customers — she ordered the entire menu and then changed her mind, leaving the diner on the hook
The local law enforcement may still be looking for her.
But here she is, a living legend, six time Grammy winner, two of which were for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (1969, 1971), picking up the baton from Ella Fitzgerald, the only other Black woman to win before her.
In the first half of last night’s show — which was expanded to double the usual length because of the occasion — Dionne sang just two songs: “Don’t Make Me over,” the title of the evening, and “I Say A Little Prayer.”
When she returned from a 20 minute break, she was ready for the eager fans. In a stunning run, with her unique vocal styling, Dionne ran through a set of hits including “Walk on By,” “Heartbreaker,” “I’ll Never Love this Way Again,” “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose,” “Alfie,” “Windows of the World,” and “That’s What Friends Are For.”
A bittersweet (and rather racist) story about “Alfie”: for the UK release, producers used Cilla Black, because she was “British,” (meaning White) and not Dionne, whom the songwriters wanted. For the US release, Cher sang “Alfie,” again not Dionne. (She was American, had plenty of hits, but…) As Warwick notes, 42 people covered “Alfie” before she got to it and made it a hit. But her version is not in the movie.
This was 1965-66, when Shirley Bassey was toplining with “Goldfinger” in the UK. But she was British. Read between the lines. (She also shows a UK album cover (see below) of her first album, depicting her as a white girl. Boy, were they surprised when Dionne showed up!)
Dionne used to host variety shows back in the day, with aplomb. She is so natural on stage, directing herself, and speaking to the audience, she could have an afternoon talk show. But she’s a singer first, and her sense memory has only made her more present than ever. What a treat. She says the Apollo has asked her back in a year for the re-opening, and I can’t wait.
PS Go to Instagram to see more pictures @showbiz411
I don’t know why but the trades are all excited that Apple is having its biggest opening ever with “F1.”
That’s nice, but the Brad Pitt race car movie isn’t a special flower or an art film. It’s a $200 million movie starring a Big Movie Star, and it’s in very wide release.
The reality is that “F1” has had a $25 million opening including Thursday and prior screenings. Friday brought in just $15 million on its own. So Apple and Warner Bros. is looking at a $55 million weekend.
For Apple, that’s fine. If this were a Warner-only movie, people would be jumping out of windows. If “Superman” does that, expect real July 4th fireworks aimed at Burbank. (It’s going to be much much bigger, don’t worry. Hint: it’s really good.)
“F1” is lagging behind on the track. Apple/WB is going to need a big Saturday. Word of mouth should be good since audiences since its has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes from actual customers. So there’s interest and recommendation. The critics number, however, has dropped to 83%, but that’s plenty for this kind of movie.
Brad Pitt is fine. He has an Oscar, and he probably gets paid on the gross, not the net. He also has a vineyard, and a young beautiful girlfriend, and he wakes up every day as Brad Pitt. So don’t cry for him, Argentina.
As I predicted, Benson Boone’s sophomore album is a terrible flop.
“American Heart” sold just 60,000 copies in its debut. Half of those came from streaming.
Boone previously had — and still has — enormous hits with his single, “Beautiful Things,” and the album “Fireworks and Roller Blades.”
Each of those remain high on the charts more than a year after release.
But after “Beautiful Things,” the acrobatic Boone couldn’t muster another radio hit.
For this album, he’s struck out four times with singles that went nowhere.
“American Heart” is currently number 9 on iTunes but that chart updates slowly.
Boone and his team overestimated his prior success turning into a solid follow up. “American Heart” is pedestrian at best, and very short with just 10 songs at 30 minutes length. Not really a moment in music.
It may be time for Benson to put a shirt on, stop backflipping, and take his career seriously.
Meantime, Barbra Streisand’s new “Partners 2” duets album is at number 2. Bruce Springsteen’s $250 box set, “Tracks II,” is number 4. It retails around $250.
