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Not April Fools! Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler Reunion Set for April 1st on “SVU” to Launch “Organized Crime”

Roger Friedman
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Not April Fools! Olivia Benson, Elliot Stabler Reunion Set for April 1st on “SVU” to Launch “Organized Crime”

This is not an April Fools joke!

NBC has set April 1st for the long awaited reunion of Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler.

“Law and Order: Organized Crime” starring Christopher Meloni will debut with a “Law and Order: SVU” crossover on that fateful day.

The two-hour event will begin with a new episode of “SVU” at 9 p.m. ET, followed by the debut of “Organized Crime” at 10. The crossover will reunite Meloni and “SVU” star Mariska Hargitay onscreen for the first time since Meloni departed “SVU” after the show’s 12th season in 2011.

The new series sees Stabler return to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss– maybe his wife is dead, which will open up romantic possibilities. Stabler will aim to rebuild his life as part of a new elite task force that is taking apart the city’s most powerful criminal syndicates one by one.

That Meloni is back is great news for “SVU” fans. It’s also good news for him. When he was on the show he was in constant contract re-negotiations and was always unhappy with how NBC and Dick Wolf’s company remunerated him. But time has a way of healing everything.

Now let’s get Tamara Tunie back on the show more!

Rumor: Bruce Springsteen Will Star in Super Bowl Jeep Commercial, Which Song Will Be Used? How Much Did They Pay?

Roger Friedman
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Rumor: Bruce Springsteen Will Star in Super Bowl Jeep Commercial, Which Song Will Be Used? How Much Did They Pay?

It looks like Bruce Springsteen will be the main attraction at the Super Bowl.

Reports indicate Bruce filmed a Jeep commercial in Hastings, Nebraska. It does seem like a perfect fit, doesn’t it?

The question is: which song did Jeep license for the commercial? (Not “Born to Run,” I don’t think.)

And the next one is how much did Jeep pay for this? Twenty million sounds good to me. ($50 mil for Born to Run!)

And how many Jeeps arrived at the Springsteen home?

Local reports out of Lincoln indicate that Bruce was there. His private plane was parked at the airport. A spokeswoman for Jeep-owner Stellantis, formerly called Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, confirmed to Ad Age that Jeep would run an ad in the second half of Sunday’s game.

The Associated Press also reported that a local sheriff confirmed that “a film crew shot something on the Republican River bridge south of Red Cloud and had hired a couple of off-duty deputies for security.”

Is Bruce selling out? No. There’s no touring, so there’s no income. “Letter to You” was a modest hit, but didn’t produce a huge amount of revenue. Bruce, like most rock stars, has a big payroll– all of the family, all of the E Street Band, and so on. So $20 million will go a long way to make up for no tour last year or this one.

Stay tuned!

Screen Actors Guild Awards Snub “Billie Holiday,” Revive “Hillbilly Elegy,” Chadwick Boseman Gets 4 Nominations

Roger Friedman
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Screen Actors Guild Awards Snub “Billie Holiday,” Revive “Hillbilly Elegy,” Chadwick Boseman Gets 4 Nominations

The SAG nominations are in and they’re better than the Golden Globes but still lacking. The SAG members snubbed Andra Day and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Hopefully, Academy voters will nominate Day and the movie, overcoming this terrible omission.

SAG otherwise did pretty well. Their Best Ensemble category is a precursor to the Oscars although “Nomadland” is excluded. It’s not really an ensemble piece. And they left out “The Father” and “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Too many good ensembles this year! “NOmadland” will still win Best Picture at the Oscars.

Chadwick Boseman has four nominations! Two for acting solo, two for acting in ensembles. That’s quite a tribute to him.

“Hillbilly Elegy” was revived, with Amy Adams and Glenn Close getting nominations for their work. Deserved. That movie was maligned without reason or cause.

Jared Leto continues to surprise. His work in “The Little Things” has certainly gotten attention. I was hoping Glynn Turman would get that spot.

The SAG Awards will be held April 4th and shown on TNT.

Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“Da 5 Bloods”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Minari”
“One Night in Miami”
“The Trial of the Chicago Seven”

Actor in a Motion Picture
Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”)
Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”)
Steven Yeun (“Minari”)
Gary Oldman (“Mank”)

Supporting Actor
Chadwick Boseman (“Da 5 Bloods”)
Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”)
Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Jared Leto (“The Little Things”)
Leslie Odom, Jr. (“One Night in Miami”)

Actress in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”)
Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”)
Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)

Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”)
Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”)
Olivia Colman (“The Father”)
Youn Yuh-Jung (“Minari”)
Helena Zengel (“News of the World”)

Ensemble in a Drama Series
“Better Call Saul”
“The Crown”
“Bridgerton”
“Lovecraft Country”
“Ozark”

Actor in a Drama
Jason Bateman (“Ozark”)
Sterling K. Brown (“This is Us”)
Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”)
Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”)
Regé-Jean Page (“Bridgerton”)

Actor in a Comedy Series
Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”)
Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Eugene Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”)
Ramy Youssef (“Ramy”)

Comedy Series Ensemble
“Dead to Me”
“The Flight Attendant”
“The Great”
“Schitt’s Creek”
“Ted Lasso”

Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries
Bill Camp (“The Queen’s Gambit”)
Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton”)
Hugh Grant (“The Undoing”)
Ethan Hawke (“The Good Lord Bird”)
Mark Ruffalo (“I Know This Much Is True”)

Actress in a TV Movie or Miniseries
Cate Blanchett (“Mrs. America”)
Nicole Kidman (“The Undoing”)
Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”
Michaela Coel (“I May Destroy You”)
Kerry Washington (“Little Fires Everywhere”)

Actress in a Comedy
Christina Applegate (“Dead to Me”)
Linda Cardellini (“Dead to Me”)
Kaley Cuoco (“The Flight Attendant”)
Annie Murphy (“Schitt’s Creek”)
Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”)

Exclusive Screening HERE of Oscar Isaac in Oscar Eligible Short Film, “The Letter Room,” Directed by Elvira Lind

Roger Friedman
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Exclusive Screening HERE of Oscar Isaac in Oscar Eligible Short Film, “The Letter Room,” Directed by Elvira Lind

Elvira Lind had already directed a TV series, two documentaries, and a short film when she was offered the material for “The Letter Room.” She was 8 months pregnant, but decided to take it on. Luckily, she had a good choice to play the lead role: her partner, and father of that baby, acclaimed actor Oscar Isaac (three “Stars Wars” movie, the Coens’ “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the new “Dune” and so on).

“The Letter Room” is a really wonderful character study of a good guy who is also a lonely guy. Isaac, known to the world as Poe Dameron from the final “Star Wars” trilogy, plays a prison guard who gets an interesting promotion. He’s now in charge of all the incoming mail for the prisoners, even the ones on Death Row. You’ll have to watch to see what happens when he finds something disturbing in one of the letters.

“The Letter Room” can only be seen here on this site for 48 hours through Saturday morning. It’s eligible for the Academy Awards short list for short films. Short list, short films. Oscar, Oscar.  Elvira Lind is really an up and coming filmmaker. “The Letter Room” could easily be expanded into a feature. Nice nice work.

The very cool Topic film company produced “The Letter Room.” Click here to read more about them. The film will debut on First Look Media’s Topic SVOD service this spring.

A Q&A with Elvira and Oscar is below the video for “The Letter Room” and will remain there even after the video leaves us on Friday.

RIP Real Life Anti-Vietnam War Activist, Rennie Davis, Featured in “Trial of Chicago 7”

Roger Friedman
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RIP Real Life Anti-Vietnam War Activist, Rennie Davis, Featured in “Trial of Chicago 7”

Rennie Davis has died at age 80. His wife Kirsten announced his passing on Facebook. A tumor was discovered just weeks ago.

Kristen wrote:

“The Passing of a Legend:
This is Kirsten, Rennie’s wife. I know many of you feel very connected to and inspired by Rennie. He has touched lives in ways that no one can truly comprehend, from his 60s leadership in the antiwar movement to today’s trail-blazing of a new humanity.
This morning, Feb. 2, around 2 am Rennie took his last breath peacefully at home in my arms. His body succumbed to a large lymphoma tumor of which we only learned 2 weeks ago.
He will be missed beyond words, but I know he has other grand things to do. His beingness will always be a trail-blazer and visionary forging the path for humanity’s evolution to fully wake up and enter a new paradigm of existence.

Go fly my beloved one and leave your beautiful mark once again!”

Davis was a member of the Chicago 7, an anti-Vietnam war activist who was integral to the movement to stop the war. In Aaron Sorkin’s movie “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” he is played by tony winner Alex Sharp.

Rennie’s full Wikipedia entry tells the whole story. What a shame he was taken so abruptly, but at least he got to see the  movie’s success and a whole new generation learn about his commitment to change.

Golden Globes Dilemma: 7 Films Were Black-centric, Not 1 Made It Into Best Drama Category

Roger Friedman
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Golden Globes Dilemma: 7 Films Were Black-centric, Not 1 Made It Into Best Drama Category

At least 7 films I’ve screened this winter were Black-centric with Black casts and/or directors. And they don’t include the Asian-centric “Minari,” a knock out, wonderful film. Actually, all 7 of the others were top notch, had award winning performances and featured the very best filmmaking of the year.

They were:

Malcolm and Marie
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Judas and the Black Messiah
One Night in Miami
Da 5 Bloods
Miss Juneteenth

And not one of them, not 1, not any, were nominated for Best Drama by the Golden Globes yesterday. That really poses a dilemma. Because the whole last year has been devoted to Black Lives Matter. And coincidentally, Black Films mattered. They were being made and readied for presentation.

None of the filmmakers could have known the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were to galvanize the world. The films were already on the way. But now they’re here, and they were rejected– rejected — by the Golden Globes.

These are well reviewed films, with good to excellent reviews. They are as good or better than any of the five films the Globes chose, from Nomadland to The Father, Mank, Promising Young Woman, and The Trial of the Chicago 7.

In fact, if I were picking the top 5 dramas, only Nomadland and the Chicago 7 movies would be definite. The three others would go into the bottom 5 of 10. I’d add most certainly have Ma Rainey, Minari, and One Night in Miami in that top 5. The others would round out the top 10. So this is a conundrum. How did the Globes go so wrong? How were they so deaf to the reality of the year’s releases? And speaking of deaf, what happened to The Sound of Metal?

And as I wrote yesterday, how awkward will it be for the Hollywood Foreign Press to have Spike Lee’s children handing out awards, but his “Da 5 Bloods” and its star, Delroy Lindo, not to mention Spike, not be part of the show?

Maybe it’s time for the Globes to have a more open dialogue about their selection process.

UPDATE: Morgan Wallen Canceled? Records Selling Faster Than Ever Despite “N” Word Scandal and Record Company “Suspension”

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE: Morgan Wallen Canceled? Records Selling Faster Than Ever Despite “N” Word Scandal and Record Company “Suspension”

Earlier today I did write that country singer Morgan Wallen’s career was in flames and that he’d been cancelled.

Wallen was depicted on a TMZ video using the “N Word” while shouting at some buddies. Immediately his record company suspended him, Country Music Television said he couldn’t be on their shows, I Heart Radio denounced him. It was assumed that Spotify and other streaming services would remove his music.

Well, it’s a few hours later and guess what? Morgan Wallen is bigger than ever. He has the numbers 1, 3, and 4, 5 and 8 singles on iTunes, actually most of the top 100 are his singles with fourteen — 14 — more floating around. Fans downloaded his records all day.

His two albums are numbers 1 and 2 on iTunes. There’s another one at around number 12.

And Spotify didn’t drop him or do a thing. He’s right there, streaming away. And ALL his videos are playing away on YouTube.

 

WATCH EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE OF OSCAR ISAAC SHORT FILM THE LETTER ROOM HERE

Wallen was roundly criticized by fellow country artists like Maren Morris, Mickey Guyton, and Kelsey Ballerini. But you know what? Wallen’s fans don’t care. To them, it’s all much ado about nothing.

And what does Big Loud Records mean when they say they’ve “suspended” him? He’s still records, and he’s getting paid. What exactly is his punishment? Less beer?

Here’s the TMZ video once again. Morgan’s critics are just pissing in the wind. In country music, this kind of behavior is admired. He’s gonna sell a ton more product this week, watch what happens.

 

Ratings Update: Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell Continue to Eviscerate Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham Monday & Tuesday

Roger Friedman
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Ratings Update: Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell Continue to Eviscerate Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham Monday & Tuesday

The cable news ratings are in for Monday and Tuesday this week, and they’re not good for Fox News.

On Monday, Rachel Maddow took Sean Hannity to the cleaners. She had 3.7 million viewers at 9pm on MSNBC. Hannity at 2.992 million over at Fox News. That’s a difference of 700,000.

On Tuesday, Maddow continued her winning streak with 3.557 million. Hannity was at 3 million.

Maddow’s success translates directly to her following show on MSNBC, “The last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.” On Monday O’Donnell had 3.1 million viewers. Ingraham had just 2.076 million. Yikes!

It’s all downhill for Fox News at night. Their only bright spot is Tucker Carlson, who’s outscoring MSNBC’s Chris Hayes at 8pm. Apparently Tucker “tucks in” Fox News viewers who go to sleep when the nutty formerly bow-tied blowhard ends his hour of conspiracy theories and fake news.

We still have three more nights this week. Stay tuned!

 

 

 

Cancelled: Newly Minted Country Superstar Morgan Wallen’s Career Up in Flames After TMZ Catches Him Using “N Word”

Roger Friedman
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Cancelled: Newly Minted Country Superstar Morgan Wallen’s Career Up in Flames After TMZ Catches Him Using “N Word”

Morgan Wallen was like a shooting star. The newly minted country singer saw his double album fly up the charts over the last month like an Apollo rocket. “Dangerous: The Double ALbum” had sold 104,000 copies since January 8th– 678,000 including streaming. Amazing. It’s number 1 on iTunes. His 2018 album is number 2. His singles are all over the pop chart.

Wallen even performed on “Saturday Night Live” after having to postpone his original appearance because he’d been exposed to COVID. But he was invited back and had a big success.

But now it’s all compost. TMZ caught Wallen using the N word on Sunday, yelling to friends as they left his Nashville home.

As a drunk Wallen says goodbye to his pals, a TMZ spy captures him telling someone to watch over a guy in his group. He says … “take care of this “p****-ass mother******” — and then goes on to say, “take care of this p****-ass n*****” …

Now his record company, Big Loud, has suspended him. Republic Records/Universal, which distributes Big Loud, has publicly criticized him. Radio stations are dropping his music.

Wallen apologized. “I’m embarrassed and sorry. I used an unacceptable and inappropriate racial slur that I wish I could take back,” he said in a statement to TMZ on Tuesday. “There are no excuses to use this type of language, ever. I want to sincerely apologize for using the word. I promise to do better.”

Nevertheless, Cumulus Media, iHeartMedia, Spotify and Apple Music are said to be removing his music from various playlists, although he’s still on Spotify.

Wallen’s PR people must not know what to do. His Twitter account is still active but there’s no mention of this incident. Ditto Instagram. They better do something fast.

Here’s the TMZ video.

Stop Joel Maisel’s Real Life Brothers From Building an Offending Too Large Tower in Greenwich Village

Roger Friedman
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Stop Joel Maisel’s Real Life Brothers From Building an Offending Too Large Tower in Greenwich Village

Time moves slowly in public hearings. But February 16th is the date for a hearing of New York’s Landmarks Commission regarding an eye sore of a tower planned to be built near Washington Square Park. The developers are the real life brothers of Joel Maisel, actor Michael Zegen.

Josh and Marc Zegen own a real estate development company called Madison Realty Capital. They’ve applied to the Landmarks Commission to demolish two small historic structures at 14-16 Fifth Avenue and 8th St. and replace them with a luxury tower. The Zegens bought the buildings a couple of years ago and emptied the affordable rental apartments. They would be replaced with apartments for billionaires.

From the the Village Preservation Society: “The plan to demolish the 172 year old historic former townhouses at 14-16 Fifth Avenue in the Greenwich Village Historic District, and replace them with a high-rise tower, has returned and will be heard before Community Board 2’s Landmarks Committee on Tuesday, February 16 at 6:30pm.

“We strongly oppose this plan, which would involve the demolition of two altered but incredibly historically significant landmarked townhouses which were home to some of the greatest industrialists, artists, writers, actors, philanthropists, and jurists of the last two centuries and were key to the development of our neighborhood and our city. The proposed high-rise replacement, while decreased in size from prior 367 ft. tall and 21/story 244 ft. tall versions (the new version is 19 stories; we do not yet know its height or design), is nevertheless completely inappropriate. Most importantly, demolition of historically significant structures in landmarked areas should NEVER be allowed.”

Click on the link to register for the February 16th meeting. And HERE.  Tell them Midge sent you.

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