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Rockers Eric Clapton, Van Morrison Fail in Anti-Lockdown Effort, Song “Stand and Deliver” Sells Just 1,100 Copies

Roger Friedman
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Rockers Eric Clapton, Van Morrison Fail in Anti-Lockdown Effort, Song “Stand and Deliver” Sells Just 1,100 Copies

Eric Clapton made a big mistake recording Van Morrison’s “Stand and Deliver” song.

The anti-lockdown anthem was met with apathy, if not disgust, upon its Friday release. Over the weekend the song sold a mere 1,100 copies.

For the creators of “Layla” and “Moondance,” the total snub by the music community is a sharp rebuke to their short-sighted, nearly racist take on what governments must do to protect everyone from COVID.

The song is so nit-witty that it compares the lockdown to slavery.

Do you wanna be a free man
Or do you wanna be a slave?
Do you wanna be a free man
Or do you wanna be a slave?
Do you wanna wear these chains
Until you’re lying in the grave

Clearly, their cultural appropriation of black music all these years has turned their heads into empty gourdes. What a shame.

Most people would rather hear Adam Ant’s long ago hit, “Stand and Deliver.”

Review: Joining the Chorus of Raves for “Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung’s Beautiful, Unique Drama, the anti-“Parasite”

Roger Friedman
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Review: Joining the Chorus of Raves for “Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung’s Beautiful, Unique Drama, the anti-“Parasite”

I’m very late to the party on Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” and don’t ask me why. A hit at last January’s Sundance, it didn’t start screening until November 23rd. I think it had an Oscar qualifying run for the week of December 11th. It will really be released on February 12, 2021 on Korean New Year.

A beautiful, unique drama, “Minari” is the anti-“Parasite.” In that depicts Koreans, “Minari”‘s earnest, hardscrabble people couldn’t be more different than the greedy, avaricious, violent sorts from “Parasite.”

The story is about Jacob (Steven Yeun, from “The Walking Dead,” in an Oscar worthy performance) bringing his Korean family to Arkansas in the 1980s to farm the land. This about as American a story as you can imagine, and Chung — who wrote the screenplay — deftly bypasses cliches and still recalls all the great, tough films in this category from “The Grapes of Wrath” to “Days of Heaven.” When Jacob, his wife, small son, and teen daughter arrive to find they are living in a house on wheels, the point of their journey is made fast: the dirt is fertile, the land is rich, and Jacob is going to grow crops in his Garden of Eden.

To mix things, Chung adds Jacob’s eccentric mother in law, Soonja, played serenely for an Oscar nomination by Yuh-jung Youn. It would seem she’s a revered actress in South Korea. Here, she’s already winning awards. Soonja, as David, her precocious 7 year old grandson (Alan S. Kim, a fine little actor), says, is not a “normal grandmother.” She curses and gambles, can’t bake cookies or cook anything. She’s not warm and fuzzy. But she provides Chung with equal weight to his story of the striving farm family.

Chung has populated his Arkansas farm town with colorful folks, most especially Will Patton as the off beat farmer who helps Jacob try to realize his dream. I didn’t realize how much I missed Will Patton until I saw him on screen. He really marches to his own drum. Where does he go between high profile jobs? I’m so glad to see him back, front and center, as Paul, a religious man who is definitely hearing jazz while carrying a huge wooden cross up and down dusty dirt roads.

Chung’s screenplay is really the star of “Minari” (a Korean vegetable like parsley). I loved the people in the town who welcome Jacob’s family. There is never a negative note about “foreigners” coming to their town. There is really just love. This isn’t to say the film is shmaltzy at all, it has its tough moments. Chung just explores family, what binds couples together during extreme stress, and again, the American dream that was possible to pursue in the 1980s– and maybe even now in the Biden era.

“Minari” has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and all I can do it add to that.

PS Kudos to Emile Mosseri for his score. It should be in everyone’s top 5 this year.

Report: John Mulaney Checks into Rehab for Cocaine and Alcohol Abuse, Comedy’s Golden Boy Succumbed to Pandemic Limitations

Roger Friedman
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Report: John Mulaney Checks into Rehab for Cocaine and Alcohol Abuse, Comedy’s Golden Boy Succumbed to Pandemic Limitations

Charming and sort of brilliant comic John Mulaney has checked himself into rehab.

New York Post’s Page Six reports that Mulaney has gone into rehab in Pennsylvania for cocaine and alcohol abuse. Sober at age 23 after hard partying, Mulaney is now 38. This year he’s hosted “Saturday Night Live” twice. He recently appeared on Seth Meyers’ late night talk show, where they announced — oddly enough– that he’d joined the writing staff.

“During quarantine, I was like, ‘Why am I going totally crazy and why am I suddenly telling my own wife my accomplishments?’” Mulaney said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” while describing how a lack of routine can negatively affect a person’s well-being. “I really needed a job.”

Mulaney not only has a solo career but a thriving comedy teaming with Nick Kroll. They starred together on Broadway in “Oh Hello,” and have a podcast based on the show.

Not being able to perform live, and being stuck inside, isn’t easy for anyone has taken its toll on so many people.

“One, I like having a boss and having assignments to do,” he added to Kimmel. “When I’m in charge of something, not so much the best thing.”

He said his psychiatrist agreed with the move.

“She said to me, ‘Without external structure, I don’t have any confidence in you thriving’ … and she would know, because I told her everything in my brain,” he said.

So we’re sending the best wishes to Mulaney and his family.

 

Amazon Drops “McCartney III” to $3.99 to Boost Sales for First Number 1 Album in 31 Years

Roger Friedman
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Amazon Drops “McCartney III” to $3.99 to Boost Sales for First Number 1 Album in 31 Years

Will Paul McCartney have his first number 1 album in 31 years?

Amazon is pitching in to make it happen. They’ve dropped the price of a “McCartney III” download to $3.99. The CD is still $13.49 and streaming is part of Amazon’s platform. But an avalanche of downloads should be enough to push “McCartney III” over the top.

Right now, “McCartney III” is number 1 on the Amazon CD and Vinyl chart. It’s number 4 on iTunes. And number 1 on Buzz Angle Music, which measures all formats.

Until last Friday, McCartney’s only competition that we knew of was Taylor Swift’s second week with “Evermore.” But then Eminem sandbagged him with a surprise release that went straight to number 1. I don’t know if Universal Music — which knew Eminem was coming — told McCartney. All three- Swift, Mathers, and McCartney — were released by Universal. You’d have thought they’d hold Eminem off. That’s what happens when you’re the number 1 record company!

So now’s good a time to get “McCartney III” — a great album– on Amazon and help make it number 1.

Grammys Exclusive: Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Adele — Performing New Music?–Said to Be on Board

Roger Friedman
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Grammys Exclusive: Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, and Adele — Performing New Music?–Said to Be on Board

James Corden producer Ben Winston has really taken Hollywood by storm.

Now that he’s taken over as executive producer of the Grammy Awards, Winston has lost no time signing VERY BIG names, I am told, to the January 31st broadcast.

Winston is said to have already brought on board the likes of Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce. They will all perform or appear in some capacity. Remember, the Grammys will be done in some virtual style. They can’t have an audience at the Staples Center. Can you imagine, though, if all these people were backstage?

But the big news is that Adele has signed on for the show. It’s unclear if she’ll be singing a new song or an old one, or performing in some kind special pairing. How about an Adele-Beyonce duet?

Trevor Noah is already signed to host, so you know the show will have witty banter. The real achievement would be doing something for The Weeknd as a signal since he was shut out of nominations. But I have every confidence Recording Academy acting chief Harvey Mason, Jr. is going to pull off a success here.

So stay tuned for the official announcements. And remember, you read it here first.

Reviews: Hilary Swank in “Fatale” and Nicole Souza in “32 Weeks” Bring Suspense and Mystery to Pandemic Winter

Leah Sydney
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Reviews: Hilary Swank in “Fatale” and Nicole Souza in “32 Weeks” Bring Suspense and Mystery to Pandemic Winter

Two offbeat twisty thriller tales, one stars 2 time Oscar winner Hilary Swank and the wonderful actor Michael Ealy. The other is a star turn by newcomer Nicole Souza.

“Fatale,” directed by Deon Taylor, is a terrific twisty, scary slasher/mystery ride. A guilty thriller pleasure, the film was penned by David Loughery and boasts the star power of Hilary Swank and Michael Ealy in a modern day “Fatal Attraction.”

The story starts with Derrick Tyler (Michael Ealy), a guy who seemingly has it all as he he co-founded a mega successful LA sports agency with his best friend Rafe (Mike Colter). Derrick lives in stunning house with the requisite infinity pool and of course the equally requisite trophy wife Tracie (Damaris Lewis).

Alas, not all is glorious in the Hollywood Hills as the marriage is rocky and Derrick feels insecure and dare he think it; shallow. Before he can fully address all of that, he goes to Vegas for a friend’s bachelor party and proceeds to have his first infidelity with needless to say, the way wrong gal, a crooked undercover cop named Valerie Quinlan (the always terrific Hilary Swank).

A questionable home robbery follows as well as Valerie’s source of pain that she wants to right is revealed. Val wants to settle the various scores in her life using her badge and Derrick, along with his loyal ex-con cousin (Tyrin Turner) as covers. Sure there are a couple of holes, but logic be damned! The R &B and hip-hop score adds to the over the top energy of this fast paced story. “Fatale” is a glorified B movie done exactly right, watchable and wildly entertaining.

Lionsgate will release “Fatale” on PVOD Jan, 8th.

“32 Weeks” is a terrific Indie film written and directed by Brian Cavallaro. A complex tale that tells the story of a young woman Cole (played wonderfully by Nicole Souza) with amnesia as a result of a mysterious car accident, it’s been 32 weeks since that fateful night. With a new boyfriend Simon (Scott Bender) and ex she can’t forget, Cole is struggling, with the help of friends and a therapist, to recover those forgotten 8 months piece by tortuous piece. A violin teacher, Cole finds comfort in music and in a record store which helps her put the painful parts of those sketchy months together. Part love triangle, part thriller, there is also a deeper emotional resonance about the film, which includes emotional and physical abuse. The last part of the film surprises in a truly suspenseful way. You root for Cole each step of her saga; the film making is adept and engaging. “32 Weeks” is most definitely a worthy watch.

“32 Weeks” can be found on Amazon Prime, Google Play, YouTube Movies, VUDU and itunes.

Peter Jackson Unveils Footage from his Beatles Documentary “Get Back,” with Unseen Shots of Linda McCartney and Billy Preston

Roger Friedman
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Peter Jackson Unveils Footage from his Beatles Documentary “Get Back,” with Unseen Shots of Linda McCartney and Billy Preston

Peter Jackson unveiled footage this morning from his Beatles documentary “Get Back,” based on 56 hours of unseen film from Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s original “Let it Be” film. What strikes me about the footage is that you see Linda McCartney, for one thing. For another, Billy Preston — the Fifth Beatle, who played in the rooftop concert and was credited on the “Let it Be” album — is also finally seen. Lindsay-Hogg cut him from the finished film.

The point of all this is to show that the group was having fun. After all, they made “Abbey Road” after this film and album were completed. So they didn’t dislike each other, which was what the “Let it Be” film sort of depicted. Whatever vibe Lindsay-Hogg got during filming translated into a rather dour film. Jackson’s film really shows John Lennon laughing, dancing, and looking happy during the recording — something you don’t get a sense of in “Let it Be.”

With Paul and Ringo releasing new music this week, with Sean Lennon interviewing Paul about John on the radio, there’s a lot of harmony in the Beatles world right now. We really needed it.

It will be interesting to see Jackson’s film juxtaposed to the original next August.

Media Madness: How a So-Called Journalist Destroyed Her Life Over Evil Martin Shkreli is Lighting Up Twitter

Roger Friedman
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Media Madness: How a So-Called Journalist Destroyed Her Life Over Evil Martin Shkreli is Lighting Up Twitter

The craziest story I’ve read in some time is by Stephanie Clifford in, of all places, Elle.com.

Clifford writes about a so-called journalist for Bloomberg named Christie Smythe. For six years she covered the trials of Martin Shkreli, the evil miscreant who raised prices for the Epi Pen to insane levels, spent $2 million on a Wu Tang album, and is now serving time in jail.

Smythe, who was married and had a good job, good life, blew it all up because she “fell in love” with Shkreli. And get this: they’ve never actually been together, or had a physical relationship, and he is currently not even speaking to her. But she divorced her husband, ruined her career, and her reputation, all for a man who is loathed by much of the world.

And in the Elle piece, Smythe is styled for fashion, wearing crazy expensive clothes. I’m not a shrink, and I didn’t know her before this, but I’d say she’s lost her mind completely. It’s sad, and frightening.

Among Shkreli’s horrors: he raised the price of a drug called Daraprim, used for a type of parasitic infection that can be life-threatening, by 5,000 percent.

Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday for defrauding investors out of more than $10 million. Shkreli had faced up to 45 years behind bars for mismanaging money at his hedge funds, according to the judge. He’s a con man, a fraudster, a crook.

But Smythe has so lost her mind, she tells Clifford that because she’s given this interview to Elle, Shkreli has dropped her completely. Clifford asked Shkreli about Smythe and he responded through his lawyers: “Mr. Shkreli wishes Ms. Smythe the best of luck in her future endeavors.”

Twitter, meantime, has exploded among media writers, especially women, who can’t believe this happened– also that it took Bloomberg so long to fire Smythe, was totally compromised by her subject. But this sort of thing occurs, I guess. A couple of years ago we learned that Laura Poitras, who made a film about Wikileaks and Julian Assange, had fallen into a relationship during production with one of Assange’s crazier minions. Poitras, who’d won an Oscar the year before for “Citizen Four” about Edward Snowden, immediately lost all credibility.

Complete total insanity.

Los Angeles Film Critics Give Best Picture to Small Axe, a Series of Five Films for TV Directed by Steve McQueen

Roger Friedman
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Los Angeles Film Critics Give Best Picture to Small Axe, a Series of Five Films for TV Directed by Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” is a series of five films made for British television. So the Los Angeles Film Critics decided they were, together, the Best Film of 2020. Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland,” the actual best film of the year, was their runner up.

Well, it’s going to be that kind of year for the critics groups in various cities. Yesterday we had the New York Film Critics anoint “First Cow,” a very small kind of depressing film as their Best Picture. And so it goes.

The LA Film Critics made pretty good choices in the acting departments: Chadwick Boseman is Best Actor and Glynn Turman as Best Supporting Actor in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” I told you those two were going to clean up. The NY Film Critics put Boseman in Supporting. Go figure.

Carey Mulligan in the fascinating and entertaining “Promising Young Woman” is enlivened choice as Best Actress. They went for Youn Yuh-jung in “Minari” for supporting actress.

This means that “Small Axe”– comprising five films– had no acting prizes. Yet it was Best Picture. Please. “Small Axe” isn’t even eligible for the Oscars.

The movie I thought the LA Critics would go for, “Mank,” yielded one award, for Production Design.

“Time” won Best Documentary, as I predicted, and will win the Oscar. It will be the second movie in a row produced by Barack and Michelle Obama to win the Oscar for Best Doc. No kidding.

Best Picture

Winner: SMALL AXE

Runner-up: NOMADLAND

Best Director

Winner: Chloe Zhao, NOMADLAND

Runner-up: Steve McQueen, SMALL AXE

Best Actress

Winner: Carey Mulligan, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Runner-up: Viola Davis, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

Best Actor

Winner: Chadwick Boseman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

Runner-up: Riz Ahmed, SOUND OF METAL

Best Documentary

Winner: TIME

Runner-up: COLLECTIVE

Best Screenplay

Winner: Emerald Fennell, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

Runner-up: Eliza Hittman, NEVER REALLY SOMETIMES ALWAYS

Best Animation

Winner: WOLFWALKERS

Runner-up: SOUL

Best Supporting Actress

Winner: Winner: Youn Yuh-jung, MINARI

Runner-up: Amanda Seyfried, MANK

Best Supporting Actor

Winner: Glynn Turman, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

Runner-up: Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL

Editing

Winner: Yorgos Lamprinos, THE FATHER

Runner-up: Gabriel Rhodes, TIME

Best Production Design

Winner: Donald Graham Burt, MANK

Runner-up: Sergey Ivanov, BEANPOLE

Best Music/Score

Winner: SOUL

Runner-up: LOVERS ROCK

Best Cinematography

Winner: SMALL AXE, Shabier Kirchner

Runner-up: NOMADLAND, Joshua James Richards

Best Foreign-Language Film

Winner: BEANPOLE

Runner-up: MARTIN EDEN

The Douglas Edwards Experimental Film Award

Winner: John Gianvito’s HER SOCIALIST SMILE

New Generation Award

Winner: Radha Blank, THE 40-YEAR-OLD-VERSION

Career Achievement Award

Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Harry Belafonte

Legacy Award

Norman Lloyd

SNL: Alex Moffat, Most Underrated Cast Member, Takes on Joe Biden, Plus Maya Rudolph Is Player of the Season

Roger Friedman
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SNL: Alex Moffat, Most Underrated Cast Member, Takes on Joe Biden, Plus Maya Rudolph Is Player of the Season

Alex Moffat, the most underrated player on “Saturday Night Live,” took on Joe Biden last night with great success. Moffat is often in sketches with his comedy partner, Mikey Day, and sometimes turns up on Weekend Update as the WASPy yachting guy. He should keep doing Biden, even though I miss Jason Sudeikis!

Maya Rudolph’s return to “SNL” this season has been the greatest thing ever. Not just her Kamala Harris, but everything she does. Of course, her musical turns are wonderful. Her late mom, Minnie Ripperton, is smiling in heaven.

Kristen Wiig was a wonderful host, appearing in many sketches, always an original. Dua Lipa disappointed me. It seemed like she was lip synching. She’s over produced, even if she was singing live.

Colin Jost made it seem like the show wasn’t returning until after the Inauguration. Really? A month off? Maybe they can find Aidy Bryant and Cecily Strong during the break.

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