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Cannes 2021: Hope Springs Eternal as Famed Film Festival Plans for July, Not May, on the Croisette

Roger Friedman
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Cannes 2021: Hope Springs Eternal as Famed Film Festival Plans for July, Not May, on the Croisette

Hot, hot, hot.

Let’s hope heat and sunlight kill COVID because that will be the weather for this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The famed film fest is moving from mid-May to July 6-17 on the sunny Mediterranean. That’s because COVID is rampant right now, especially in Provence and southern France.

Will this really happen? Hope springs eternal. In the summer. the Cote d’Azur is filled with tourists on vacation. Hotel rooms are scarce and traiffque is imposible!

So how will this work? And what about the Venice Film Festival, which is two months later? Sacre bleu! Stay tuned…

Again, let me reiterate, it is HOT in July down there.

 

Billie Holiday’s Signature Song, “Strange Fruit,” Has a Strange Backstory Tying Her to Executed Spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

Roger Friedman
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Billie Holiday’s Signature Song, “Strange Fruit,” Has a Strange Backstory Tying Her to Executed Spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg

As we prepare for Lee Daniels’ “The United States of America vs. Billie Holiday,” here’s a little backstory almost no one knows.

Holiday’s signature song, of course, is “Strange Fruit.” A song about lynching, “Strange Fruit” was Billie’s original hit. As we see in the movie, singing it caused her a lot of trouble with the FBI. The song was considered subversive as it lamented the killing of black people for no reason.

The author of “Strange Fruit” wasn’t Holiday. It was a Jewish schoolteacher from Brooklyn named Abe Meeropol. He wrote the song in 1940 for his wife. A friend slipped it to Holiday, who turned it into her social cause.

If the name Meeropol is at all resonant, that’s because Abe Meeropol became famous for something else in 1953: he and his wife adopted the two sons of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, convicted spies who were executed after a harassing trial prosecuted by Roy Cohn. Yes, the same Roy Cohn who died of AIDS, and in disgrace, after being Barbara Walters’ best friend and Donald Trump’s mentor. He’s played by Al Pacino in “Angels in America.”

Talk about six degrees of separation.

PS David Margolick wrote a book about Strange Fruit, check it out.

Catch Up Review: “Never Rarely Sometimes Maybe” Is an Intimate, Indie Gem with Knockout Performances

Roger Friedman
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Catch Up Review: “Never Rarely Sometimes Maybe” Is an Intimate, Indie Gem with Knockout Performances

Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Maybe” came out literally as the pandemic hit. It went around me, over me, by me, but I don’t think I ever understood what it was. Now it’s been 10 months, and this intimate, indie gem is getting a lot of awards activity. So I watched it.

In rural, blue collar Pennsylvania, Autumn, who is 18 and a senior in high school, is pregnant. It’s possible, but never specified, that her stepfather, Ted (Ryan Eggold, from “New Amsterdam”) may have raped her or forced her into a relationship. Her mother, with some little kids in tow, is clueless. Since parental consent is required in Pennsylvania, Autumn and cousin Skylar, pocket some cash from the supermarket where they’re checkout girls, and take the bus to New York to get an abortion.

That’s about it. Except that Hittman’s direction of the two girls, Sidney Flanigan and Talia Ryder, is exceptional. You feel as if you’re on this grim, miserable journey with them. The girls are simultaneously blank faced and delivering layers of emotion as they proceed along this inevitable path. Hittman keeps them from cliches, but still follows them, almost in cinema verite, as they navigate New York and this constant, not so subtle, barrage of if not sexual violence, culture torture. There’s no situation in which they are not objectified. There’s no Gloria Steinem to help them. Their fates seem sealed, doomed, and dead ended.

This is no “Lady Bird.” There is no fun, so be warned. But it’s an accomplishment for everyone involved. You’d almost like to see a sequel to learn what happens when they get home. Except I think we know the answer.

Refuge: Fox News Becoming to Former Trumpers What South America was to the Nazis

Roger Friedman
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Refuge: Fox News Becoming to Former Trumpers What South America was to the Nazis

Fox News is becoming to former Trumpers what South America was to fleeing Nazis after World War II.

When the war was over, according to the History channel, ” as many as 9,000 Nazi officers and collaborators from other countries escaped from Europe to find sanctuary in South American countries. Brazil took in between 1,500 and 2,000 Nazi war criminals, while between 500 and 1,000 settled in Chile. However, by far the largest number—as many as 5,000—relocated to Argentina. ”

There aren’t that many ex Trump administration officials. But today Larry Kudlow, Trump’s economic adviser, announced he was joining Fox Business. He’ll be a contributor and host of a weekday program.

Meanwhile, liar in chief Kayleigh McEnemy is said to be in talks with the Fox News channel to be a contributor of some kind. She can help further their fantasies that Joe Biden isn’t president and the Earth is flat.

One of Kayleigh’s predecessors, original liar Sean Spicer, is at NewsMax, the KMart to Fox’s Walmart. Kellyanne Conway is busy fighting with her daughter in public, but only Fox News would hire her as their Eva Braun.

Conservative media equals Nazi refuge. Stay tuned…

LOL: Screwy National Board of Review Goes Big For Spike Lee and “Da 5 Bloods,” Spanks “Mank,” Ignores “Nomadland,” “The Father”

Roger Friedman
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LOL: Screwy National Board of Review Goes Big For Spike Lee and “Da 5 Bloods,” Spanks “Mank,” Ignores “Nomadland,” “The Father”

The totally screwy National Board of Review named “Da 5 Bloods” best film and Spike Lee best director today.

Reliably screwy, the NBR is run by one woman, Annie Schulhof, who determines the awards after letting fans who pay huge membership fees “vote” for the winners.

Schulhof is motivated by her own operandi, which is never clear. A lot of it has to do with the annual NBR gala. But this year there is no gala unless Schulhof is charging for virtual tickets to a virtual ceremony.

The pandering to and exclusion of certain studios is always a Kremlin-esque affair with them. Choosing ‘Da 5 Bloods’ is interesting because the NBR never liked black movies or actors in the past. But “Da 5 Bloods” is from Netflix, which has the money these days. On the other hand, the NBR snubbed Netflix’s big movie, “Mank.” NBR has never liked Fox Searchlight much, so they’ve totally ignored “Nomadland,” the likely Oscar winner. They also don’t have much use for Sony Pictures Classics, hence no mention of “The Father” and Anthony Hopkins.

In documentaries, these shmegeggies ignored “The Dissident” and “Crip Camp.” Idiots.

NBR is in alternative universe. So enjoy with a grain of salt. Will anyone buy a $600 ticket to see these awards online?

Best Film
DA 5 BLOODS

Best Director
Spike Lee, DA 5 BLOODS

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL

Best Actress
Carey Mulligan, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Best Supporting Actor
Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL

Best Supporting Actress
Youn Yuh-jung, MINARI

Best Adapted Screenplay
Paul Greengrass & Luke Davies, NEWS OF THE WORLD

Best Original Screenplay
Lee Isaac Chung, MINARI

Breakthrough Performance
Sidney Flanigan, NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS

Best Directorial Debut
Channing Godfrey Peoples, MISS JUNETEENTH

Best Animated Feature
SOUL

Best Foreign Language Film
LA LLORONA

Best Documentary
TIME

NBR Icon Award
Chadwick Boseman

NBR Freedom of Expression Award
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI

NBR Spotlight Award
Radha Blank for writing, directing, producing and starring in THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION

Best Ensemble
DA 5 BLOODS

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
Joshua James Richards, NOMADLAND

Top Films
(in alphabetical order)

First Cow

The Forty-Year-Old Version

Judas and the Black Messiah

The Midnight Sky

Minari

News of the World

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Soul

Sound of Metal

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
(in alphabetical order)

Apples

Collective

Dear Comrades

The Mole Agent

Night of the Kings

Top 5 Documentaries
(in alphabetical order)

All In: The Fight for Democracy

Boys State

Dick Johnson is Dead

Miss Americana

The Truffle Hunters

Top 10 Independent Films
(in alphabetical order)

The Climb

Driveways

Farewell Amor

Miss Juneteenth

The Nest

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

The Outpost

Relic

Saint Frances

Wolfwalkers

George Conway Responds to Family Scandal, Posts Plea from Daughter Claudia: “I am okay. We are okay…I love my mother”

Roger Friedman
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George Conway Responds to Family Scandal, Posts Plea from Daughter Claudia: “I am okay. We are okay…I love my mother”

George Conway, father of Claudia, posted this Tweet just now. Claudia says “I am okay, we are okay.”

The Conways are America’s most visible dysfunctional family thanks to the abhorrent Kellyanne, Donald Trump’s liar in chief and worst mother in the world.

Claudia says she’s taking a break from social media, but she loves her mother. “I’m leaving social media to work on my relationship with my mother. I love my mom and she loves me.”

At issue is how a picture of Claudia, topless, wound up on Kellyanne’s Twitter account. When it was discovered, Claudia freaked out on TikTok and asked for help. Claudia is a very melodramatic teen. Kellyanne is a miserable human. And we’re getting to see the whole thing play out in public. I hope they get help from professionals. (PS George is like the hapless dad in a sitcom.)

Here’s Claudia’s latest. It feels a little like a hostage video.

@claudiamconway

please stop sending hate to my family. please. i am putting an end to all of this. i’m okay. we are okay.

♬ original sound – claudia conway

Indie Spirit Award Nominations aka Oscars Junior: “Nomadland,” “Minari,” “Ma Rainey” Lead, “One Night in Miami” Best Ensemble

Roger Friedman
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Indie Spirit Award Nominations aka Oscars Junior: “Nomadland,” “Minari,” “Ma Rainey” Lead, “One Night in Miami” Best Ensemble

The 2021 Indie Spirit Award nominations are here. They’re like Oscars Jr. or Gotham Awards, part 2. The good news is that no one has to shlep down to a circus tent in Santa Monica this year. It will all be on TV. The bad food, the overall rudeness, the swag bottle of wine you give to your cab driver on the way home, all avoided this year.

The one nomination I am really happy about is Valerie Mahaffey for Best Supporting Actress in “French Exit.” If the Spirit Awards were really independent, Mahaffey would win. Her performance is a show stopper. Glynn Turman is my choice for Best Supporting Actor, from “Ma Rainey.”

“Nomadland” will likely sweep all the big awards, making the Spirits an Oscar appetizer.

The ensemble award goes to “One Night In Miami,” which makes sense.

Best Feature
“First Cow”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Minari”
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
“Nomadland”

Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
Eliza Hittman,” Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Kelly Reichardt, “First Cow”
Chloe Zhao, “Nomadland”

Best First Feature
“I Carry You With Me”
“The 40 Year Old Version”
“The Sound of Metal”
“Miss Juneteenth”
“Nine Days”

Best Female Lead
Nicole Beharie, “Miss Juneteenth”
Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Sidney Flanigan, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Julia Garner, “The Assistant”
Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”
Carey Mulligan, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”

Best Male Lead
Riz Ahmed, “The Sound of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Rob Morgan, “Bull”
Steven Yeun, “Minari”
Adarsh Gourav, “The White Tiger”

Best Supporting Female
Alexis Chikaeze, “Miss Juneteenth”
Yeri Han, “Minari”
Valerie Mahaffey, “French Exit”
Talia Ryder, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Yuh-jung Youn, “Minari”

Best Supporting Male
Coleman Domingo, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Orion Lee, “First Cow”
Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”
Glynn Turmann, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Benedict Wong, “Nine Days”

Best Screenplay
“Bad Education”
“Minari”
“The Half of It”
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
“Promising Young Woman”

Best First Screenplay
Kitty Green, “The Assistant”
Noah Hutton, “Lapsis”
Channing Godfrey Peoples, “Miss Juneteenth”
Andy Siara, “Palm Springs”
James Sweeney, “Straight Up”

Best Cinematography
Jay Keitel, “She Dies Tomorrow”
Shabier Kirchner, “Bull”
Michael Latham, “The Assistant”
Hélène Louvart, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
Joshua James Richards, “Nomadland”

Best Editing
“I Carry You With Me”
“The Invisible Man”
“Residue”
“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
“Nomadland”

Robert Altman Award
“One Night in Miami”

Best Documentary
“Collective”
“Crip Camp”
“Dick Johnson Is Dead”
“Time”
“The Mole Agent”

Best International Film
“Bacurau”
“The Disciple”
“Night of the Kings”
“Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time”
“Quo Vadis, Aida?”

Piaget Producers Award
Kara Durrett
Lucas Joaquin
Gerry Kim

Someone to Watch Award
David Midell, “The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain”
Ekwa Msangi, “Farewell Amor”
Annie Silverstein, “Bull”

Truer Than Fiction Award
Cecilia Aldarondo, “Landfall”
Elegance Bratton, “Pier Kids”
Elizabeth Lo, “Stray”

Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
“Atlanta’s Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children”
“City So Real”
“Immigration Nation”
“Love Fraud”
“We’re Here”

Best Scripted Series
“I May Destroy You”
“Little America”
“Small Axe”
“A Teacher”
“Unorthodox”

Best Female Performance in a Scripted Series
Elle Fanning, “The Great”
Shira Haas, “Unorthodox”
Abby McEnany, “Work in Progress
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, “Never Have I Ever”
Jordan Kristine Seamón, “We Are Who We Are”

Best Male Performance in a Scripted Series
Conphidance, “Little America”
Adam Ali, “Little America”
Nicco Annan, “P-Valley”
Amit Rahav, “Unorthodox”
Harold Torres, “Zero, Zero, Zero”

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
“I May Destroy You”
Ensemble Cast: Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Wruche Opia,
Stephen Wight

Triumph: Jane Fonda to Receive Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award for Acting, Activism, Philanthropy

Roger Friedman
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Triumph: Jane Fonda to Receive Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award for Acting, Activism, Philanthropy

Triumph!

Jane Fonda will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award from the Golden Globes on February 28th. The two time Oscar winner will be honored for her acting, activism, and philanthropy.

I’m so pleased for Jane, whom I’ve known since 1982. She is an American hero who has always stood up for what she believes in, whether or not it was popular. She’s also endured severe criticism in many cases, and never backed down.

Bravo, Jane!

“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association takes great pride in bestowing the 2021 Cecil B. DeMille Award to Jane Fonda,” said HFPA President Ali Sar. “For more than five decades, Jane’s breadth of work has been anchored in her unrelenting activism, using her platform to address some of the most important social issues of our time. Her undeniable talent has gained her the highest level of recognition, and while her professional life has taken many turns, her unwavering commitment to evoking change has remained. We are honored to celebrate her achievements at the 2021 Golden Globe Awards.”

I’ve not always been a fan of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but this is maybe the best thing they’ve ever done. Kudos.

Jane has managed to do it all. She’s been a famous daughter, wife, mother (of great kids and grand kids), activist, actress, sex symbol, and friend. She has a wide circle of very enthusiastic fans, friends, and supporters.

Past Cecil B. DeMille winners include Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bridges, Robert De Niro, Audrey Hepburn, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Sophia Loren, Sidney Poitier, Steven Spielberg, Denzel Washington, Robin Williams and many more.

Jane, who’s a sensational 83 years young, celebrated her 80th birthday by raising $1 million for each of her nonprofits, the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential, and the Women’s Media Center. She also serves on the Board of Directors and made a $1 million donation to Donor Direct Action, an organization that supports front-line women’s organizations around the world to promote women’s equality. For the last couple of years, Jane has been leading the charge on Fire Drill Fridays, a national movement to raise public awareness of the urgency of the climate crisis. Her latest book, “What Can I Do? My Path From Climate Despair to Action,” details her personal journey with the movement and provides solutions for communities to combat the climate crisis. It was released last fall via Penguin Press.

American Film Institute Made a Mistake Omitting “Billie Holiday” Movie, Andra Day in Oscar Buzzed Performance

Roger Friedman
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American Film Institute Made a Mistake Omitting “Billie Holiday” Movie, Andra Day in Oscar Buzzed Performance

There’s an embargo on reviewing “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” until February 19th. I’m not sure why. Usually that means a movie isn’t so good, and they’re nervous.

I’m not allowed to review it until then. But I can tell you that the American Film Institute made a big mistake omitting Lee Daniels’ film from its top 10. Maybe their argument is that “Billie Holiday” technically falls into 2021. But it’s eligible for this round of Oscars, and by god, it’s going to be there.

Andra Day sails into the Best Actress top 5. I can’t tell you too much except what’s public: this is the R&B singer’s first movie, which is extraordinary. She will be in the company of Frances McDormand, Viola Davis, and Carey Mulligan, I feel, which isn’t to say anything negative about the many fine performances by actresses this season. But it would be folly to  ignore this one.

How lucky are we to have this surfeit of amazing work for the 2021 Oscars?

So I wait to tell you more on February 19th. “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” comes to Hulu on February 25th. It was supposed to be with Paramount. I do hope there’s a theatrical release of some kind. And remember, this is not a review. I haven’t really told you anything. On February 19th there will be so much to say!

PS I just read that Andra Day lost 40 pounds to play this part. I felt her pain! But it was worth it. I hope she had a banana split when this film wrapped!

 

And of course we all know Andra’s big hit, “Rise Up”:

Call Clamor: Clive Davis Hosting the Zoomiest of All Zoom Parties with Everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Cher, John Legend to Nancy Pelosi

Roger Friedman
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0
Call Clamor: Clive Davis Hosting the Zoomiest of All Zoom Parties with Everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Cher, John Legend to Nancy Pelosi

Yes, people are fighting to get on a Zoom call this Saturday. It’s the first of Clive Davis’s two pre-Grammy events. Usually Clive throws his party at the Beverly Hilton on the night before the Grammys– which was supposed to be this coming weekend.

But the Grammys moved to March 13th because of the pandemic. So Clive’s having two parties via Zoom, and the first one is this Saturday at 8pm. When the party is live in Los Angeles, the crush to get an invite is overwhelming. So now, the crush is going crazy to get in on this Zoom call. Unbelievable.

This Saturday, the program will be part live and part taped. Davis will be interviewing a bunch of rock stars, show past performances from his blockbuster parties, and performances no one has ever seen. The artists involved include Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Sean Combs, Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys, Barry Gibb, Earth Wind & Fire, Gladys Knight, Jennifer Hudson and John Legend.

At least.

On the call, if you can get on, will be Cher, Tony Bennett, Dionne Warwick, Joe Walsh, Martina Navritilova, Ben Platt, the aforementioned Rod Stewart, plus Nancy Pelosi, Cardi B, Offset, Quincy Jones, Megan Thee Stallion, Cyndi Lauper and H.E.R. Nancy Pelosi, you ask? She and her husband, Paul, come every year, and they are always my favorite guests.  I also totally expect Joni Mitchell, who loves this party, and the great record producer Richard Perry. My fear is that — since it’s all virtual– the number of celebs will be frightening.

More to come, as they say, because Clive is going to break Zoom with this thing. And then he’s going to do it again on March 13th.

Can I send you a link? No. Clive’s head of security, Bill Mancini, will come and break my computer if I try it!

 

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