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Review: “Soul” Has Plenty of Soul, In its Music, Story, Heart, A Rare Piece of Art in this Pandemic Year

Roger Friedman
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Review: “Soul” Has Plenty of Soul, In its Music, Story, Heart, A Rare Piece of Art in this Pandemic Year

A few animated films I thought could get Best Picture nods– “Wall E,” “Inside Out,” now “Soul.”

Playing now on the Disney Plus channel, I missed some press stuff for “Soul” for personal reasons and I’m glad I did. I wasn’t ready for it. But tonight I watched Pete Docter’s creation, and it’s quite brilliant. It’s one of those few contemporary movies that make you feel it was all worth it.

I wrote– erroneously– some months ago that “Soul” wouldn’t have “soul music.” It’s true, it has jazz, beautiful jazz written and performed by Jon Batiste, the great talent from the Stephen Colbert show. There are two scores, really. One is by Batiste, and the other is by the Nine Inch Nails guys, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. The whole thing is screwed up Academy-wise and I don’t know the answer. I do know they made the mistake of putting Curtis Mayfield’s “It’s All Right,” performed by Batiste, over the end credits, thus disqualifying themselves for Best Song. But…it’s the right song. So, who knows?

“Soul” is all about who you are, what you wanted to be, fulfilling your life’s dream. Don’t see it stoned, or your mind will be blown. But it’s not a lot of navel gazing or very preachy. Jamie Foxx is Joe, a jazz pianist who’s teaching middle school band. Just as he gets a chance to play with a jazz legend (Angela Bassett), he has an accident and falls into a pre-death world of gloriously inventive animation. He meets “22,” voiced with great wit and verve by Tina Fey. “22” has never found a purpose, a reason to stay on Earth, so avoids it. Joe, meantime, won’t accept death, so he and “22” find a way to sneak back to Earth, where his loved ones– including his mother (the great Phylicia Rashad)– are waiting to hear his star turn.

I’m not an animation expert, but this production sort of combines the best of Pixar and Disney. My favorite parts were heavenly characters drawn in a kind of neon with Picasso-like figures that were so fluid, I hope they’re in heaven if I ever get there.

Just as he did with “Up” and “Inside Out,” Pete Docter hits all the right notes. Adding Kemp Powers makes perfect sense. The two of them found a rare harmony. They made a classic film that will outlast all of us.

Review: Carey Mulligan’s Oscar Worthy Turn in Sensational “Promising Young Woman” is a Rebuke to all the Brett Kavanaughs Out There

Regina Weinreich
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Review: Carey Mulligan’s Oscar Worthy Turn in Sensational “Promising Young Woman” is a Rebuke to all the Brett Kavanaughs Out There

The specter of Brett Kavanaugh’s unmanly past at a frat party hangs over Emerald Fennell’s revenge fantasy, “Promising Young Woman,” as do the million microaggressions endured by girls/women finding their place in the world.

The always stunning Carey Mulligan portrays Cassie, a medical school dropout, prowling in bars at night, picking up men who see her, drunk, out of it, equating with easy prey, easy lay. Legs astride, makeup dripping, her look signals anything but control, but she’s got a trick waiting. As they undress her, she bolts up, confronts their predations and takes off, a quiet act of revolt.

And that’s just the first scene. At times “Promising Young Woman” seems dark rom com, as Cassie dates Ryan (Bo Burnham), a guy from the past her parents, the wonderful Jennifer Coolidge and Clancy Brown are relieved to see, even though she’s still spending a night or two settling scores with various men, and even women, such as a former classmate (Alison Brie) who witnessed the gang rape of Cassie’s best friend, the catalyst for Cassie’s madness.

Everyone, including a female dean, wants Cassie to get over her obsession, give in to the tired bromide, “Boys will be boys.” At an online post screening panel, Mulligan — who may very well score an Oscar nomination here — said she herself wished that things could lighten up for Cassie, that she’d end up avenged, and better off for her efforts. But, a realist, Mulligan knows: things have to go extreme for voices to matter. The film’s final scene suggests a start: Time for all the Kavanaughs of the world to man up, and apologize.

UPDATE Paul McCartney Dances a Jig as Billboard Confirms Our Prediction: “McCartney III” First No. 1 in 31 Years*

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE Paul McCartney Dances a Jig as Billboard Confirms Our Prediction: “McCartney III” First No. 1 in 31 Years*

As I told you on Friday, Paul McCartney’s “McCartney III” debuts at number 1. The numbers were confirmed by Buzz Angle on Friday.

This morning Billboard announced they’d give the album number 1 on their next chart. It’s Paul’s first number 1 in 31 years, since “Flowers in the Dirt.”

The asterisk in the headline is because McCartney’s “Egypt Station” hit number 1 in 2018, but it was sold as part of a bundle with tour tickets. “McCartney III” is number 1 on its own, a rarity these days. And in the UK, it’s also number 1 for the first time in 31 years.

“McCartney III” is that good, and deserves the accolades.

Sir Paul danced a little jig on social media to celebrate.

Lonely: Watch Justin Bieber Dance Around with a Glass of Wine While His Cook Prepares His Meal

Roger Friedman
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Lonely: Watch Justin Bieber Dance Around with a Glass of Wine While His Cook Prepares His Meal

Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin have got it maid: they shoot videos for Instagram of Justin dancing around, holding a glass of white wine, maskless, while their cook makes their meal. These two yahoos can’t even make a meal for themselves. It’s quite a wonderful scene. That poor woman with her back to us has to listen to Bieber’s music while she cuts up their vegetables. She’s invisible to them.

Soaps: “Days of our Lives” Jumps in the Ratings for Younger Audience, “Young and Restless” Craters

Roger Friedman
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Soaps: “Days of our Lives” Jumps in the Ratings for Younger Audience, “Young and Restless” Craters

In the world of soaps, now is the time to pounce if you want ratings. Kids are home from school, or they’ve been home for a long time and have nothing to do.

NBC’s “Days of our Lives” seems to have caught that wave. Ratings released Sunday night for December 14th-18th show a sharp increase in younger aged viewers. For the first time since 2006, “Days of our Lives” was number 1 among 18 to 49 year olds. NBC’s ad department must be popping Champagne bottles.

Overall, the show had an increase of 128,000 viewers from the prior week. That’s big. Head writer Ron Carlivati, the most inventive of soap writers, has hit gold.

On the other hand, there is trouble at CBS’s “The Young and the Restless.” Their ratings for December 14th-18th were down year to year by 642,000 viewers. They haven’t cracked 3 million weekly viewers in a while. There are cracks in all their demo numbers. That’s not good. Their companion show, “The Bold and the Beautiful,” is also off by over 400,000 fans year to year.

It’s time for a cliffhanger or two, I’d say!

Alec Baldwin’s Wife, Hilaria, nee Hilary, Exposed On Social Media for Severe Infraction of Reinventing Herself

Roger Friedman
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Alec Baldwin’s Wife, Hilaria, nee Hilary, Exposed On Social Media for Severe Infraction of Reinventing Herself

Hilaria Baldwin is the wife of Alec Baldwin, and mother of their five children. Somewhere along the way she gave the impression that she was from Spain. Apparently, she said so on podcasts and in interviews. She spoke with a sort of European accent. She named her five children with Spanish names like Carmen and Romeo.

Now, the long knives out on social media as it’s revealed by enemies– this is like high school! — that her real name is Hilary Hayward Thomas, comes from Boston, went to high school in Weston, Massachusetts. If she were a criminal or a politician, this might matter. But it really doesn’t. Andy Warhol (real name Warhola, from Pittsburgh) taught all of his staff to change their names, make up fantasy backgrounds. Who cares? The whole story of people who come to New York to be celebrities is re-invention.

The facts: Hilaria’s parents live now in Mallorca, Spain where they run something called International Integrators. Her father, David L. Thomas Jr. was a lawyer at white shoe law firms in Boston for two decades according to his own bio. Thomas graduated from Scarsdale, NY High School in 1967. According to the bio, he graduated from Haverford College in 1971 with a degree in…Spanish Language & Literature! So that’s where this all started. He got his law degree from Georgetown. He got a job at Ropers & Gray in Boston, then Peabody & Brown. From 1994 to 2012 he worked for a real estate company.

Obviously, Mr. Thomas likes Spain and Spanish things. Hey, I’ve been visiting Provence almost annually since 1986. This does not make me French.

Mr. Thomas’s father, David Thomas Sr., was born in Ames, Iowa and died in Arlington, Vermont. He was raised in Nebraska, where he met his wife, and they moved to Syracuse. His obituary explains this whole identity mess:

“David became a GE traveling auditor for GE, traveling extensively within the U.S. and to Argentina on audits. A few years later, he took his family to Argentina to visit places where David had lived and worked, an experience which instilled in his children a curiosity about the wider world and inspired them to become proficient in the Spanish language.”‘

For some reason, these people like Spanish stuff. Ole!

Hilaria’s mother, Kathryn Hayward MD, was an internist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Now Hilaria– she likes to call herself that instead of Hilary– and Alec– who by the way was born Alexander Baldwin– are defending themselves on Instagram and Twitter. I say, why bother? No crimes have been committed, and no money was solicited based on the idea that Hilaria was a Spaniard. I’ve met her several times, and she was just about as nice as she could be. And maybe she makes a great paella. There are worse things!

Box Office: “Wonder Woman” Sequel Scores $16.7 Mil, Exceeds Expectations Despite Mixed Reviews and Limited Theaters

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Wonder Woman” Sequel Scores $16.7 Mil, Exceeds Expectations Despite Mixed Reviews and Limited Theaters

It’s not a great movie and it can’t play in a lot of locations. But “Wonder Woman 1984” is a hit, nonetheless.

The sequel to “Wonder Woman” from 2017 made $16.7 million in theaters this weekend despite some states, like New York and California, not being open at all. It’s the highest box office total opening weekend of any movie since the pandemic started.

“WW84” even did better than Warner Bros.’ last big release, “Tenet,” right before Labor Day. Of course, the Patty Jenkins movie was easier, if less interesting, to figure out than Christopher Nolan’s. But that’s another story.

Meanwhile, HBO Max is showing “WW84” at the same time to people who have no access to theaters or are too timid to go into them. So right now we should consider the Gal Gadot super hero flick a big hit even if it has only a 65 on Rotten Tomatoes and a lot of bad reactions on social media. The audience went to see it, that’s all that matters.

“WW84” has a total of $85 million worldwide from theaters, which ain’t bad. Warner Bros, plagued by the plague, can breathe a little easier now.

Also new at the box office, two Oscar-centric films: Tom Hanks in “News of the World” and Carey Mulligan in “Promising Young Woman.” They should have been day-and-date to streaming, they’re top notch and will play very well in home theaters this winter.

Review: Tabloid Book Writer Ed Klein’s Son Throws Dad Under the Bus, Reveals His Grisly Suicide Attempt in New Book

Roger Friedman
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Review: Tabloid Book Writer Ed Klein’s Son Throws Dad Under the Bus, Reveals His Grisly Suicide Attempt in New Book

I guess Ed Klein should be proud of his son, Alec. The elder Klein has made a living writing nasty tabloid books about the Clintons, the Obamas, and even Katie Couric over the last few years. He’s feasted on the retelling and imagining of stories about Jackie Onassis. All his sources are anonymous and there have been scandals about their authenticity.

Once, unimaginably, Ed Klein was editor in chief of The New York Times Magazine. But that was some 30-plus years ago. Klein’s last book, in 2017, was called “All Out War: The Plot to Destroy Trump,” published– like his last several books — by right wing group Regnery Publishing.

Now comes the revelation from Alec– who has his own scandal, I’ll get to that in a minute. In his book, “Aftermath,” Alec reveals that his father tried to kill himself in a most grisly way– by taking 100 pills and putting a plastic garbage bag over his head. He didn’t die. He wound up in rehab.

Alec felt that his father did it because he, the son, was about to be interrogated at Northwestern University over dozens of #metoo accusations. Ten women had signed a letter to the University accusing the younger Klein of sexual harassment in different forms.

“I figured my father was so humiliated by my sudden fall from grace, the public skewering, the way it brought shame to the whole family and all of our ancestors, he couldn’t bear it…”

Alec Klein was drummed out of academia and Northwestern after the accusations and allegations against him were revealed. “Aftermath,” in which he tries to plead his case, comes from a Christian publisher because, of course, both Kleins, he says, found Jesus. (Alec explains that his mother was Japanese, all his father’s wives were Christian, and he’s not really Jewish anyway since his mother wasn’t.)

Ed Klein’s tabloid books are full of gory stories about his subjects, told second or third hand, not always attributed, many questionable. It’s the low end of biography, somewhere below Kitty Kelley, even. So it seems only right that his own son, disgraced in academia, gets to reveal the father’s suicide attempt not once but several times in “Aftermath.” He also says that Ed Klein kidnapped him and his sister when they were children, taking them away from the Japanese mother, forcing her — his words, all — “into destitution.” What a family!

That’s enough, right? I’d skip this book. In honor of Ed Klein, pick up a copy of Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land.” See what humans are really like.

By the way, Northwestern University spokesman told their own publication:

“Northwestern is aware of the pending book release by Alec Klein. The University investigated the allegations against him thoroughly, following established procedures designed to ensure fairness to all parties. The decisions of some Northwestern students to come forward with their complaints undoubtedly were not easy ones, and we commend them for having had the courage to do so.”

 

 

Review: “I’m Your Woman” Is a Terrible Title for a Terrific Film that Shows Rachel Brosnahan Won’t Always Be Mrs. Maisel

Roger Friedman
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Review: “I’m Your Woman” Is a Terrible Title for a Terrific Film that Shows Rachel Brosnahan Won’t Always Be Mrs. Maisel

Julia Hart’s “I’m Your Woman” is the best movie with the worst title of the year. I don’t know what anyone was thinking about letting this very cool B movie starring Rachel Brosnahan, aka Mrs. Maisel, out into the world under this rubric. But what can we do?

Luckily, “I’m Your Woman” appears on Amazon Prime, we don’t have to send you to a movie theater. Everyone who sends a gift has Amazon Prime. So you can see that Brosnahan will not be consigned to history as Midge the comic, though we love her to pieces. She’s an actress with a big future.

“I’m Your Woman” is a film noir sort of, it reminded me of John Dahl’s great movies, “The Last Seduction” and “Red Rock West.”  It’s a bit of pulp fiction, the best kind, the kind I could watch all day.

Brosnahan is clueless Jean, or maybe she has some clues and takes time for us to figure that out. She knows Eddie, her husband, is a criminal. He delivers to her a large baby with no explanation, and says, it’s yours. She takes it, and names the boy Harry. But two minutes later she and Eddie are separated. He’s crossed someone in some organization. Cal (the excellent Arinze Kene) comes to collect her and Harry and move them to a safer location somewhere in Pittsburgh. (Yes, this is all taking place in bleak Pittsburgh in the 70s, I think, from the soundtrack.)

Jean and Harry relocate to the safe house only to find it’s not so safe. Eddie has a lot of secrets including that he was once married to Cal’s present wife, Teri (also great Marsha Stephanie Blake). She also meets their son, Paul, and the grandfather, Art, played by the all-too-welcome Frankie Faison. Eddie’s enemies are coming, and Jean needs their help to fend them off. As it turns out, Jean is a quick study, a fast learner, and we’re happy to go along with her for the ride.

Julia Hart is the daughter of famed screenwriter James V. Hart (“Contact,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” etc) and the wife of her producer Jordan Horowitz (“La La Land”). She’s got movies in her blood, and you can feel it in “I’m Your Woman.” Her characters are savvy and smooth. (They’re also well dressed, but that’s suspense of disbelief.) This film moves, and never looks back. It has no hype at all, and deserves some.

Chart UPDATE: Paul McCartney Lands Number 1 Spot with “McCartney III” in Pure Sales, Beating Taylor Swift and Eminem

Roger Friedman
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Chart UPDATE: Paul McCartney Lands Number 1 Spot with “McCartney III” in Pure Sales, Beating Taylor Swift and Eminem

Here’s an update on the album chart fight for the week that ended last night.

Paul McCartney has landed at number 1 on the charts in terms of pure sales with 58,000 copies of “McCartney III.” These numbers come from Buzz Angle, which counts streaming, CDs, and downloads. In terms of the latter two, Paul outsold Taylor Swift and Eminem to get the number 1 position.

“McCartney III” is also the top seller at amazon.com in CD and Vinyl. It’s also their number 1 download thanks to discounting.

Taylor Swift’s “Evermore” sold 38,700 CDs and downloads. Eminem’s “Murder” sequel did 29,100 copies.

In total sales, according to Buzz Angle, “Evermore” did 96,200 copies including streaming. Swift came in first with McCartney and Eminem in a photo finish for number 2. Eminem had more streaming than McCartney. Fans wanted to own “McCartney III” more than passively play it.

Billboard, the mothership of charts, will probably declare McCartney number 1 over all because they’ll count in everything: CDs, vinyl, streaming, downloads. Also, it’s a better story to declare “McCartney III” Paul’s first number 1 in 31 years. That’s what they’ve already said on the British charts.

For Sir Paul, it’s big big success, a huge Christmas present. “McCartney III” was really marketed beautifully, top to bottom, all the PR, the way the fan club sales worked, the different colored vinyl for sale, all of it. Kudos for a job well done! If we ever get back to converts, and Paul wants to do another tour, he’s got about a half dozen songs from “McCartney III” that he can throw in and the fans will know them.

Just a note to @Vevo: maybe you shouldn’t have a Burger King commercial for the “Baconator” tacked to the front of Paul’s video for “Find My Way” on YouTube. He’s an arch vegan. After watching the commercial, I may become one too!

 

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