Friday, September 20, 2024
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“Deadpool and Wolverine” Crosses $420 Mil Mark, Looks at $650 Mil Total

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“Deadpool and Wolverine” has become the biggest Marvel juggernaut since “Black Panther.”

Shawn Levy’s MAD magazine send up of Marvel movies hit $420 million last night in the US after less than two weeks in release. Experts are saying the target finish will be around $650 million.

How many times have fans gone back to see “D&W”? It would have to be more than a half dozen. This will just go on and on until September 6th, when “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” comes in to scare it off.

Will there be a “D&W” sequel? There will be something, that’s for sure. Since Marvel has run out of ideas to propel anything forward, this kind of remix meta thing has life in it. Why not squeeze the orange until all the juice is gone?

Meantime, Levy and Marvel have just ‘revealed” all the spoilers and cameos and what they mean — even though millions of people already know them since they’ve spent so much seeing the movie. But it’s a good PR plan — tell everyone everything they already know, again!

Trump Says He’ll Be Doing a “Major” Interview with Unlikely Ally Elon Musk on Monday

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Donald Trump says on his social media that he’s getting ready for a big interview.

The interview won’t be with a journalist. It will be with a mega donor and unlikely ally, carmaker Elon Musk.

The interview will probably be on the Twitter X platform. Musk promotes right wing theories and philosophies on the money losing system. He also sponsors Tucker Carlson’s conspiracy theories among other bizarre personalities. But he’s being sued by former CNN journalist Don Lemon for reneging on their deal to host Lemon’s show on Twitter X.

Musk is a strange political bedfellow for Trump. Musk’s fortune comes from the manufacture of electric cars. Trump rails against electric cars, pushing for their demise so that gas and oil companies can prevail.

Well, on Monday they’ll break the internet, I’m sure.

Surprise Pop Star: Summer of 2024 Is All About Jelly Roll with 9 Singles in the iTunes Top 100

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Who’s the pop star of summer 2024? Taylor Swift? Chappell Roan?

Nope. It’s Jelly Roll!

The large, gravel voiced singer with tattoos all over his face has 9 singles on the iTunes Top 100.

“Liar” is at number 3. “Lonely Road” with mgk is 4. “I Am Not Okay” is at 6. At 34, “Save Me.” With Eminem, Jelly Roll is at 42 with “Somebody Save Me.” At 45 is “Dead End Road” from the movie, “Twisters.” “Need a Favor,” from 2023, is at 54. “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson is 56.

Jelly Roll’s real name is James Bradley DeFord. He’s 39 and unlikely pop star. He’s not magazine-ready physically. But it’s the voice, not to mention the engaging personality. That voice makes him, for lack of a better description, the male Adele. He can sing anything, on his own, or with anyone.

From Tennessee, Deford earned his GED in jail after a series of arrests and jail sentences for robbery and marijuana. He’s living proof you can turn your life around. What’s really cool is that when you meet him, he’s a peach. Even with those tattoos. DeFord is humble and friendly. And he’s the surprise star of 2024!

Full List for NY Film Festival Includes Sean Baker’s “Anora,” Paul Schrader’s “Oh Canada,” Brady Corbett’s “The Brutalist”

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Here’s the full list of main slate films at the New York Film Festival.

I’m particularly interested in Brady Corbett’s “The Brutalist.” The film stars Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Joe Alwyn, Alessandro Nivola, Jonathan Hyde, and Guy Pearce. It’s also a whopping 215 minutes.

62nd New York Film Festival Main Slate

Opening Night

Nickel Boys
Dir. RaMell Ross

Centerpiece
The Room Next Door
Dir. Pedro Almodóvar

Closing Night
Blitz
Dir. Steve McQueen

All We Imagine as Light
Dir. Payal Kapadia

Anora
Dir. Sean Baker

April
Dir. Dea Kulumbegashvili

The Brutalist
Dir. Brady Corbet

By the Stream
Dir. Hong Sangsoo

Caught by the Tides
Dir. Jia Zhangke

Dahomey
Dir. Mati Diop

The Damned
Dir. Roberto Minervini

Eephus
Dir. Carson Lund

Grand Tour
Dir. Miguel Gomes

Happyend
Dir. Neo Sora

Hard Truths
Dir. Mike Leigh

Harvest
Dir. Athina Rachel Tsangari

Misericordia
Dir. Alain Guiraudie

My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow
Dir. Julia Loktev

No Other Land
Dir. Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor

Oh, Canada
Dir. Paul Schrader

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Dir. Rungano Nyoni

Pepe
Dir. Nelson Carlos de los Santos Arias

The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof

The Shrouds
Dir. David Cronenberg

Stranger Eyes
Dir. Yeo Siew Hua

Suburban Fury
Dir. Robinson Devor

Transamazonia
Dir. Pia Marais

A Traveler’s Needs
Dir. Hong Sangsoo

​​Việt and Nam
Dir. Trương Minh Quý

Who by Fire
Dir. Philippe Lesage

Youth (Hard Times)
Dir. Wang Bing

Youth (Homecoming)
Dir. Wang Bing

Melania Trump Book Set for October 1st Release During Presidential Campaign, Has Few Advance Orders on Amazon

EXCLUSIVE Melania Trump announced recently she was writing the story of her life in book form.

The book is now set for publication on October 1st from Skyhorse Books, which publishes marginal celebrities who can’t get a real publisher.

The public, so far, doesn’t seem excited. “Melania” is number 9,302 on amazon.com.

The book will come out a month away from the presidential election. It could help her hand’s campaign or hurt it depending on how it holds up to fact checking scrutiny.

Advance quotes on the amazon order page come from a rogue’s gallery of nitwits including Kellyanne Conway, Dana Perino, and Nikki Haley. There’s also a quote from Brigitte Macron, First Lady of France, that looks unauthorized and has nothing to do with the book.

Melania will likely not be telling the story of how her husband cheated on her when she was pregnant, with an adult porn star, or that Trump lost a hush money to case to that woman. She will not be addressing his consequent 34 count felony convictions, or how she started modeling in Slovenia and met Trump while he was married to Marla Maples. She will not talk about where she lives, why she has nothing to do with Trump’s campaign, or where her son is going to college.

Can’t wait!

Ryan Reynolds Pitches in with Strangely Humorous Video to Promote Wife Blake Lively’s New Film (Watch)

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Ryan Reynolds, his mother, and Hugh Jackman have made a strangely humorous video plug for Blake Lively’s new movie.

Lively is star of “It Ends with Us,” releasing Thursday night. It co-stars Brandon Sklenar. Ryan and co have a lot of fun with him as faux interviewers on a movie junket.

Reynolds — who knows how to market a movie — is very nice to Lively since his own “Deadpool and Wolverine” will eat “It Ends with Us” at the box office this weekend. But at least they’re all having fun. Mrs. Reynolds is a good sport!

PS Do Jackman and Reynolds live together? They’re in promos 24/7 for something or anything!

Grammy Awards Get the Squeeze on CBS as Network Adds American Music Awards for May 2025

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The endless procession of awards shows on CBS just got longer.

The network has now added the return of the American Music Awards to its schedule for May 2025. This is will be just a few months after the Grammy Awards, considered the main legit show for the music biz, in late January.

There won’t be an AMA this year. Instead, CBS will air a two hour special about them in October, celebrating their 50th anniversary.

The AMAs come from Dick Clark Productions, which now also give us the revived Golden Globes on CBS. Dick Clark Productions also has the Billboard Music Awards, which are set for November on streaming.

The announcement was made via The Hollywood Reporter, whose company owns Dick Clark Productions, as well as Variety, Billboard and other publications.

For all time, the Grammys were considered the crown jewel equivalent of the Oscars, Tonys, and Emmys — hence the acronym EGOT. They’ve always been on CBS, and in the past an artist who performed on the AMAS– which used to be in November on ABC –was not allowed to sing or play on the Grammys.

But that was all under executive producer Pierre Cossette, who had very high standards and made the Grammys into a legacy. But now CBS has turned the Kennedy Center Awards, which air in December, into their kind of Grammys, stuffing them with music acts. CBS also broadcasts the Tony Awards in June, and this year they started to make the turn toward the Grammys as well.

If only there was enough new music to support all this Grammyfication. But there isn’t. Music sales this month, for example, are the lowest ever. The charts are crowded with multiple releases by just a few acts: Taylor Swift and Zach Bryan top the list with six and three of the top 50 right now, and Morgan Wallen with two albums. At least half of the top 50 is composed of albums more than a year old.

Federal Judge Rules: “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly”

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Google has made life so difficult for anyone with a website that today’s ruling will not get any sympathy.

Judge Amit P. Mehta of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said in a 277-page ruling that Google monopolized internet search and online advertising.

The party is over.

“Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Mehta said in his ruling.

The judge did not come up with a solution to this dire situation, so there will be another trial to determine what punishment they deserve — and how the internet will change.

You can read the stories on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and other sites. But what they lack is the personal aspect of what’s been going on. Google has made it impossible for businesses to thrive. They’ve operated capriciously, and to detriment of readers and consumers.

This is just the beginning.

“House of the Dragon,” Ratings Deprived, Flames Out at HBO, Will End with 4th Season in 2026

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HBO’s “House of the Dragon” will end with season 4 in 2026.

The network announced today that season 3 will be filmed shortly for 2025, followed by a quick ending.

Last night season 2 ended with a whimper despite all the dragons breathing heavy and promising to wreck Westeros.

“House of the Dragon” has had anemic ratings and reviews all this season. It’s averaged 1.2 million viewers a week on HBO, which has stopped sending out ratings reports.

The show simply has no traction. I’m surprised they’re actually doing a third and fourth season. They could have stopped last night and no one would have noticed. Instead of a big cliff hanger, the episode just fizzled.

There are many problems with the “Game of Thrones” spin off. It’s almost impossible to follow, and nothing happens. Unlike “Thrones,” there are no relationships, no sex, nothing compelling. The dragons are more interesting than the people.

HBO has plans for more “Thrones” spin offs. But they’re expensive, and without huge numbers, they can’t be done.

Not a surprise.

Meanwhile, HBO came roaring back today with 6 second teasers for “The White Lotus,” “The Last of Us,” and “Sex and the City.” They’re all hits, Time to get back on track!

Lucille Ball Son Desi Arnaz Jr. Surfaces in Rare Picture Posted by Sister Lucie

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Desi Arnaz Jr was once a white hot supermarket tabloid subject.

He starred with his mom, Lucille Ball, in a TV show. (His dad was the great actor singer producer Desi Arnaz, creator of “I Love Lucy.”)

Desi Jr. had affairs with loads of starlets including Patti Duke. For a while he and Patti thought he was her son’s father (Sean Astin).

Desi was even part of a chart topping boy band called Dino, Desi, and Billy.

But he’s been largely MIA for decades.Now sister Lucie has posted a couple of pictures of him on her Instagram. If it weren’t for the Methuselah beard, Desi would look pretty good for being only 71. He looks 91 instead.

I guess Desi had a wild life and likes being “recalcitrant,” as Lucie describes him. Lucie, meantime, continues to tour, sing, and perform.

Baba-loo!