This is your president on steroids. Sixteen tweets between 6 and 7 am. More since. And he has the nuclear football. I know I feel safe. No one is in charge. Make American Goofy Again.
Regal Theatres Royal Pain, Finally Admit They’re Shutting Down Until Further Notice Starting Thursday
Over the weekend, the Times of London reported that Regal Theaters, via their company Cineworld, were shutting down.
At first the company hemmed and hawed and said they were “considering” the move. But the reality was, the Times was right, and they were closing their doors, lowering their projectors, and unpopping the popcorn.
Today they announced it’s all over. Regal had been closed from mid March through July, then re-opened. So it’s not like their closing is a surprise, just how badly they handled it. In all 536 theaters in the US will close, 127 in the UK. Total jobs gone: 45,000.
But they have few movies to show. And when “No Time to Die” was moved to next April, they were finished. “We are like a grocery shop that doesn’t have vegetables, fruit, meat,” Cineworld CEO Moshe “Mooky” Greidinger said in an interview. “We cannot operate for a long time without a product.”
My thanks to all the Regal execs in Knoxville and Chattanooga who refused to return calls or emails on Friday night. It’s unclear if they’re losing their jobs.
Donald Trump Speaks from the Hospital, Revealing that “Real School” is a Place without Books or Contemplation
Donald Trump thinks “school” is a place without books. “This is the real school, not read the book school,” he said during the short video he made in his hospital room before exposing his Secret Service agents to his COVID. He put them in a sealed SUV and drove around outside Walter Reed hospital so he could feed his ego in front of his “fans.” (Their mental acuity is certainly in question.)
This statement about school says it all. Trump thinks books are for losers, and suckers. He “went to school” but as we know, read nothing. He still reads nothing, that’s apparent from this whole weekend. An actually intelligent person would have considered this debacle of a hospital stay as a chance to catch up on some reading. Not Trump. He faked photographs showing he was “working”– signing blank pieces of paper– and couldn’t detox from attention for five minutes.
He will survive COVID, return to the White House, claim that it’s easy to survive, make lots of really stupid statements, and hopefully return to Mar-a-Lago on January 21st as a civilian dodging lawsuits and indictments.
Tony Nominated Actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd Murdered in Atlanta, Acted in Many Spike Lee Movies and TV Shows
Keep refreshing…
Spike Lee has announced on Twitter and Instagram that actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd was murdered last night in Atlanta. Byrd was 78 or 79 years old.
UPDATE FROM THE ATLANTA PD: On Saturday, October 3rd, 2020 at 1:45 am, officers were dispatched to 2257 Belvedere Ave on a person injured call. Upon arrival, units located a male lying unresponsive at the location. Grady EMS responded to the scene and pronounced the male deceased from multiple gunshot wounds to the back. The victim was later identified as Thomas Byrd. Homicide detectives responded to the scene and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. The investigation continues at this time.
Byrd was nominated for a Tony Award in 2003 for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” He’s appeared in at least 8 Spike Lee films including “Clockers” and the “She’s Gotta Have It” TV series. Byrd has many other screen credits as well.
Spike writes: “I’m So Sad To Announce The Tragic Murder Of Our Beloved Brother Thomas Jefferson Byrd Last Night In Atlanta,Georgia. Tom Is My Guy,Here Below You See Him As The Frightening Character Errol Barnes In CLOCKERS. Brother Byrd Also Did His Thang In My Joints- CHI-RAQ,SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS, RED HOOK SUMMER,BAMBOOZLED,HE GOT GAME,GET ON THE BUS,GIRL 6 And CLOCKERS. May We All Wish Condolences And Blessings To His Family. Rest In Peace Brother Byrd.”
From the imdb: Born in Georgia, Byrd earned a bachelor of science degree in education from Morris Brown College and later received a master of fine arts degree in dance from California Institute of the Arts. He has starred in numerous regional stage productions including the San Diego Repertory Theater’s award-winning performance of “Spunk”. He has also starred in “Home” by Samm-Art Evans, “Two Trains Running”, “The Piano Lesson” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” at the Alliance Theater, “Flyin’ West”, “Hamlet” and “Miss Evers’ Boys” at the Indiana Repertory, and in other productions of “Flyin’ West” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and at the Long Wharf Theater.
“SNL” Season 46 Premiere Up a Whopping 89% Over Last Year with Chris Rock, Megan Thee Stallion and Pent-Up Fans
“Saturday Night Live” returned last night for its 46th year and scored a whopping 7.77 million total viewers.
How big is that? It’s up 89% from last year’s premiere with Woody Harrelson, which had 4.1 million viewers. That’s the average for last season, 4 million fans per show, with the exception of Eddie Murphy’s now Emmy winning hosting night. That was an event, and the result was 163 million viewers in a show that also featured Lizzo.
This year’s Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, was the musical guest last night with Chris Rock as host. They were each excellent, and Megan was on point politically. Her production was top notch.
It wasn’t a great show, though. The cold open was too long. Jim Carrey has to find his Joe Biden; I prefer Jason Sudeikis. The first couple of sketches were lame, especially the “Edith Puthee” one. It was infantile. The nicest moment of the 90 minutes was Kate McKinnon’s farewell to RBG.
What accounted for the huge ratings? Several things. Pent up demand for a laugh. The curiosity of how the show would handle the political chaos of the last week. The guest stars, of course, who are incredibly popular.
A special nod to Chloe Fineman’s parody of the “Drew Barrymore Show.” She calls Drew her “queen” on Twitter, but the sketch was a little more biting than that. Drew and her show are insufferable. Fineman has found that already. Barrymore is so loaded on being upbeat that she’s already Tweeting how much she loves it. I don’t want to be there when she crashes.
UK Report: Regal Cinemas Shutting Down in Britain, Maybe US, Too, Loss of Movies and Also Big Charitable Giver
The Times of London is reporting that Cineworld, the company that owns Regal Theaters, is shutting them down in the UK and possibly the US, as well.
The move is a shock since they closed in March and April when the pandemic began, but re-opened where they could in July. But with New York, New Jersey, parts of California and Florida still shut, they may have had no choice.
In New York, Regal has over a dozen sites including Times Square and Union Square. None have been been open since March or April. Regal E Walk in Times Square is a magnet movie going location. It would be devastating to lose it. Ditto Union Square.
The Times of London says that the moving of the James Bond film, “No Time to Die,” was the reason Cineworld decided to shut down for good. They have no major studio movie coming, and no people to fill the seats.
In the US Regal operates out of Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tennessee. They are incredibly charitable. The Regal Foundation has been giving away an average of $5 million a year to groups in Tennessee mostly and some in other states. It would be a shame if that money dries up too. They seem really serious about it.
I’ve tried reaching out to some executives. If I hear anything, there will be an update.
In Video from Hospital Trump Calls Treatment “Miracles Coming Down from God,” He’ll Beat “This Corona Virus or Whatever You Want to Call It”
Donald Trump sent out a four minute video address on Twitter from Walter Reed Army Hospital. Despite having COVID and no doubt against doctor’s orders, he sent out a video calling his treatment “miracles from God.” He doesn’t believe in science or scientists. He thinks his medicines come from God. Okay, he is crazy. We know that. He also said he’ll beat “this Coronavius or whatever you call it.” Well, that’s what we call it.
Trump wants to reassure everyone that nothing is wrong. But actually, something is wrong. It’s unclear if we’ll get a true account of it for him, or if it will have to be leaked out like everything else.
See below, I don’t think he’s wearing pants.
Cue: “Smiling Faces Sometimes” by the Undisputed Truth.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 3, 2020
Donald Trump Tweets Twice from Hospital Within Last Hour, Or Who Is It Then? Ivanka? Jared? Stephen Miller?
Someone is Tweeting from Donald Trump’s account. Is it him?
Seems impossible since he’s no doubt flat on his back with IVs in his arm. He’s also, according to reports, extremely fatigued, running a fever, and has possibly been on oxygen.
So who is it? Ivanka? Jared? Stephen Miller, visiting from his planet?
One way you know it’s not him is that he calls the virus “the plague.” The real Trump would call it “China Virus.” or “Peking Plague.”
Maybe it’s the same person pretending to be Herman Cain on his account. Cain died a few weeks ago, but he doesn’t stop.
COVID Catch Up: Chris Christie Has It, Press Conference Goes Very Wrong, Timeline of Trump’s Illness Makes No Sense
Was Donald Trump sick at the debate on Tuesday? Is that why he was so out of control and out of sorts? Is that why he didn’t take a COVID test before the debate? Did he suspect it? Did his team know it?
And if it wasn’t Tuesday, but Wednesday, hours after the debate, is that when he started receiving treatment?
Today’s press conference at Walter Reed Army Hospital went spectacularly wrong when doctors started making pronouncements of 48 and 72 hours, not understanding how many days ago that was, or did they? Before the press conference was over, there was, as Vanity Fair likes to say, pandemonium.
On top of that, did they lie about Trump’s actual present condition? As soon as the press conference was over, reports surfaced that Trump was a good deal more ill than revealed.
And morbidly obese Chris Christie is COVID positive, because he was at the SCOTUS announcement last Saturday. One by one, everyone who was there has gotten sick.
To paraphrase the late great Jimmy Breslin, this is the Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.
Songs of the day: “Sideshow” by Blue Magic, “Lies” by Paul Revere and the Raiders, “Instant Karma” by John Lennon
Go to 36:30 for this mess:
Surprise! Jon Bon Jovi and Band Have Made the Best Album of their Long Career with Rocking, Intimate, Personal “2020”
You know what they say: who woulda thunk it? But Jon Bon Jovi and his band have made what I think is the best album of their long career.
The title is “2020” and it’s topical, personal, intimate. On top of that, it’s a collection of great rock songs — rock, not pop — and well made individual songs without a dud in the bunch. Starting with the opening track, “Limitless,” and powering right through to the end.
Even better: Bon Jovi wrote this album. He was a couple of collaborations with John Shanks, but otherwise the songs have single bylines. No committees, teams, no Max Martin or any of that stuff. It’s Jon Bon Jovi really at his best. Don’t forget, a lot of the Bon Jovi Big Hits were written by others, like Desmond Child’s “Livin’ on a Prayer.” There’s nothing wrong with that. But “2020” seems like an apt title because it’s not just the year, it’s also about seeing everything clearly.
“Limitless” is a very optimistic opener– life is worth the risk, get up, get dressed, let’s go. Life is limitless. A pandemic wake up song. But then “Do What You Can” addresses our reality:
Tonight they’re shutting down the borders
And they boarded up the schools
Small towns are rollin’ up their sidewalks
One less paycheck comin’ through
I know you’re feelin’ kinda nervous
We’re all a little bit confused
Nothing’s the same, this ain’t a game
We gotta make it through
It’s a punch, but what follows, in track three, “American Reckoning,” is Bon Jovi writing his Paul Simon-Dylan-Springsteen best, and it’s a gut punch:
America’s on fire
There’s protests in the street
Her conscience has been looted
And her soul is under siege
Another mother’s crying, as history repeats
I can’t breathe
The rest of the album goes this way, and to their credit the band supports the lyrics to all the songs with a strong foundation of melodically textured catchy reprises. There’s also a great radio single with “Beautiful Drug.”
Bon Jovi the band is what, 40 years old? 35? Nice to hear them at their peak.