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Mo’Nique Speaks: What Does The Oscar Mean Financially?

Roger Friedman
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She’s been nominated for several best supporting actress awards, but talk show host and comedian Mo’Nique doesn’t care or doesn’t get it.

According to reports and sources, she’s decided to skip the New York Film Critics Awards next month. The group was going to give her an award for her excellent work in “Precious.” Now director Lee Daniels will accept on her behalf.

In the past, a few actors have missed awards shows. But they were all well established or lived outside the U.S.

Mo’Nique lives in Atlanta and has few serious acting credits. She does have a TV show on BET, and that’s where the following clip comes from. In it, she asks former Oscar nominees Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson the most pressing question about Oscar campaigning: “What does it mean financially?”

Months ago I told you that Mo’Nique wouldn’t do publicity for the movie unless she was paid. According to sources she demanded cash in envelopes, not just for her makeup artists and stylists, but for herself. For some reason, she thought these were paid appearances. Everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Lee Daniels tried to set her straight. But she missed the Cannes, Toronto and New York Film Festivals because of it. She’s also gone through several publicists.

Nothing seems to get through, which is odd because Mo’Nique seems like a bright person. But snubbing the NYFCC is a plan she should reconsider. She makes a point in that clip: she made the movie, you see her performance, what else can she do? This is a bit naive, but true fundamentally. But maybe she doesn’t understand that she’s already won this award. This isn’t the same as doing publicity.

What’s next? The Golden Globes? The Oscars? If these things don’t mean anything to her, there are plenty of actresses who will appreciate the honors, from Julianne Moore to Anna Kendrick to Vera Farmiga. Mo’Nique: fame is fleeting. Enjoy all this while you can! And keep in mind: “Precious” is a team consisting of many people, from Daniels and screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher to Gabby Sidibe, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, etc. as well as the crew and the investors.

Brittany Murphy’s Tragic Death Foretold

Roger Friedman
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It was only twelve days ago, December 8th, that actress Brittany Murphy’s husband had an incident on a flight that landed in Los Angeles from San Juan. Here’s TMZ’s record of the 911 call.

Now Murphy, 32, a bright young girl with a big future, a decent past and a terrible present is dead. She reportedly died of cardiac arrest this morning in husband Simon Monjack’s home.

More awards coverage

Murphy had been hired for a movie shooting in Puerto Rico called “The Caller.” But she was fired from the film before she even started it, and replaced quickly. There are stories all over the Internet about the couple’s drug taking, and their bad behavior in Puerto Rico.

Monjack will now have to face a barrage of tabloid questioning and maybe even the police. He describes himself as a “screenwriter” but his only real credit that anyone ascribes to him is some kind of involvement with “Factory Girl” — a movie about real-life hard-partying, chipper blonde Edie Sedgwick who eventually succumbed to her demons. It looks like Brittany has, too. It’s a terrible shame.

Murphy, it should be noted, was no slouch. She worked all the time, even if her 14-year career had devolved into a kind of B-movie marathon. She also did voiceovers and was part of the “King of the Hill” animated series.

More to come…

FLASHBACK: Brittany Murphy’s Husband Is Trouble, Producer Says, Came on Movie Set “Inebriated”

Roger Friedman
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FLASHBACK: Brittany Murphy’s Husband Is Trouble, Producer Says, Came on Movie Set “Inebriated”

Director Michael Z. Gordon was planning to go ahead with Brittany Murphy (whose real name was Brittany Anne Bertolotti) in a movie called “Shrinking Charlotte” that was set to shoot in January. Gordon told me he was nervous about working with Murphy because his staff had been in touch with the Puerto Rico production office of “The Caller.” That was the movie from which Murphy was fired two weeks ago.

But what he heard about her husband, Simon Monjack, was what gave him pause.

“Monjack came on the set inebriated,” Gordon said he’d been told. “The producers wanted to keep him away. Brittany of course defended him. And so she was let go.”

Nevertheless, Gordon liked her. He had planned, ironically, to put her in film called “Heart Stopper,” which wasn’t made. But if “Charlotte” had gone well, he had another dark comedy for her.

Monjack is not beloved in Hollywood.’I spoke to two others movie producers today who came in contact with him on’a project in the last couple of years. They described him as a “con man.” Neither had anything nice to say, but one of them warned: “He’s a dangerous guy.” According to this producer, Monjack presented himself as someone with a lot of money and had none at all. A lawsuit was settled after the film in question was made.

Monjack had other problems besides drinking and interfering with Murphy’s career. He is a walking legal time bomb. For one thing, the British citizen was arrested a month prior to his marriage to Murphy in May 2007 because his visa expired. The tabloids speculated that he married Murphy to avoid deportation.

Then there’s the money: According to public records, Monjack has been the defendant in several lawsuits. In 2006, Coutts and Company, a British bank, received a court judgment against him of $470,132. In 2005, right before he met Murphy, Monjack and his girlfriend were evicted from their New York apartment for $7,025 in back rent. There was a similar incident in 1997 in Los Angeles.

More interestingly: in November 2007, six months after marrying Brittany, Monjack was chased into Los Angeles Superior Court by his ex-wife. British writer and TV personality Simone Bienne claimed that Monjack had never paid her the $50,000 she’d been due in their 2006 British divorce. The court awarded her the money in U.S. dollars plus fees and interest.

More to come…

A Tiger Woods Movie? It’s ‘Nine’

Roger Friedman
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Want to see a movie about the Tiger Woods scandal? You can, right now. It’s Rob Marshall’s “Nine.”

If you haven’t figured this out yet, then dig it: Guido, the film director in “Nine” played by Daniel Day-Lewis, is Tiger. His wife, Louisa, played by Marion Cotillard, is Elin.

And then it gets interesting.

Guido’s main mistress, Carla, is played by Penelope Cruz. She’s the Rachel Uchitel, let’s say, of Guido’s story.

And then as the women in Guido’s life pile up around him – Kate Hudson’s Stephanie, Nicole Kidman’s Lilli, etc. — you see the parallels. Want to know how Tiger juggled all those gals? Just watch Guido.

Of course, Tiger isn’t a good actor, which is how he’s found out. Even when Guido’s backed into a corner, he manages to lie his way out of it. And Guido even has a prostitute in his background — Saraghina, played by Fergie. The similarities are endless. Unfortunately, “Nine” takes place in 1965, before text messaging and cell phones. If Guido were faced with so much media technology, he would have been caught long before.

But just think: In the movie, Carla would do well to sell her story to the tabloids. And Stephanie already writes for Vogue. But back in 1965, sex was less venal. Those girls in the movie actually love Guido. Tiger’s posse was out for blood before they even met him.

Still, if I were Tiger, sitting in my Florida media room, wondering what to do next, I’d ask for a “Nine” DVD to get some instructions. Fast.

Robert Downey Jr.: ‘Iron Man’ Sequel in ‘Tweaking Stage’

Roger Friedman
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59168465Robert Downey Jr. celebrated his second chance at a career last night with “Sherlock Holmes.” He was a happy man, who also toasted his Dad ‘ director Robert Downey Sr. ‘ who’s back after an illness.

Junior was aglow not only about his recent success in “Iron Man” and the premiere of “Sherlock,” but also about his father. “We don’t burn out, us Downeys, we just take breaks,” said Robert.

Robert Senior is the famed director of “Putney Swope” and and several other early indie films. He told me he’s got a new script that he’s just finished and almost has the financing in place. He’s also got Alan Arkin and a couple more actors ready for filming it. Mostly, though, at 73 he looks like he’s in good shape and grateful to be back on track.

As for Robert Junior, he told me that “Iron Man 2″ is shot and wrapped, but the work has just begun to polish the Jon Favreau-directed sequel that also features Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, and Sam Rockwell. “The last one was so good, this one has to better,” Downey told me. “Everyone will be gunning for us this time.” Downey also told me that he’s proudest of the work he did on “Due Date,” a Todd Phillips road comedy he just finished with Zack Galfianakis and Michelle Monaghan.

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Meanwhile, the “Sherlock” premiere buzzed with Bruce Willis showing off wife Emma, Eva Mendes quietly sitting in the audience with a female friend; plus Matthew Modine, Matthew Settle, and “Soprano” Vincent Pastore hidden in the crowd. Director Guy Ritchie brought along son Rocco, who’s his spitting image. Co-star Jude Law made a quick swing through the Metropolitan Club, then dashed out, begging off early because he was appearing on “Good Morning America” the next day.

The gala was also notable for being the last of the season and boasting at least ten of New York’s most famous party crashers. No one knows the names of these people, we just call them by their physical description. At one point, the older lady with the short gray hair and patchwork jacket got a big plate from the buffet and plopped down at the main table with co-star Eddie Marsan. She ate in peace, unfettered, while various stars and execs flowed around her. Soon she was joined by the young version of Professor Irwin Corey, a guy who told me he “wrote about the theater.” There were plenty more. Someone should make a movie about them!

Kobe Bryant’s Favorite Actors and Actresses Are…

Roger Friedman
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It’s Oscar season, and everyone has an opinion!

But lo and behold, who was at the premiere of Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes” last night? Why, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant! He came as the guest of producer Joel Silver, and hobnobbed a bit first at Alice Tully Hall and then at the Metropolitan Club on Fifth Avenue. The club made an exception for Kobe on the dress code, too. They usually don’t allow sneakers, and sort of insist on a jacket if not a tie. (Tip of the hat to Paula Schwartz of the Carpetbagger for picking up’ on this.)

Kobe was truly nice, accessible and ready to talk. At the party, we chatted for a bit about basketball, and he promised to be nice to the Knicks the next time he played them. (The Lakers play the Nets on Saturday, and no Knicks until January 22.)

Anyway, Kobe suddenly said to me, “I’ll tell you who my favorite actresses are!” Okay. It’s so great when stars do the interview for him. He said, “First, Hillary Swank. Her focus is amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. She’s my favorite.” And he’s met her too. Second: “Kate Winslet,” Kobe declared. I asked him if he’d seen “The Reader,” in which Winslet is very naked. “Yup! Hannah Schmidt!” he said enthusiastically, referring to Winslet’s character.

Kobe’s favorite actors? “Robert De Niro, for all his characters,” he said. “And Johnny Depp.” He told Paula while I was listening that his Oscar pick this year was “Invictus” ‘ Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman.

He also told me that he thought Tiger Woods would survive his scandal. We didn’t get into Bryant’s past scandal, but he survived and surpassed it. So maybe he knows what he’s talking about.

The basketball superstar also took lots of pictures with fans, especially Giacomo Sumner, the 14-year-old son of Sting and Trudie Styler. The latter was sort of the instigator for “Sherlock Holmes,” hooking director Ritchie up with star Robert’ Downey, Jr. Bryant also got a kick out of meeting the movie’s female star, Rachel McAdams.

Serious Men Like ‘Sherlock’; Sam Moore’s Award; ‘Nine’ Reasons; Barbara Beats Oprah

Roger Friedman
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> Yesterday there was a lovely lunch for the Coen Brothers‘ “A Serious Man” at the Monkey Bar. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Billy Crudup co-hosted it. Lots of nice people showed up, like James Schamus. The food and talk were great. Only: no Coens. Where were they? Many reasons were muttered, something about working somewhere on something. Flash forward to the “Sherlock Holmes” premiere: there’s Joel Coen with his 12-year-old son, Pedro. Did he know there had been a lunch for the film? Joel shrugged. Well, Pedro loved “Sherlock.” And “A Serious Man,” if you read the screenplay (published by Faber) is really terrific. Joel and Ethan will be in the heavy running for Original Screenplay. Let’s just hope they show up …

> Sam “Soul Man” Moore and newsman Charles Osgood are each getting honored in February by AFTRA with lifetime achievement awards. Also getting awards are Robin Roberts of “Good Morning America,” the cast of “Sesame Street,” and Spanish-language artist Juanes. Maybe Osgood can convince his producers to do a piece for “CBS Sunday Morning” on Moore, the last of the great soul men who’s still working, touring and recording. Moore just wowed Madison Square Garden with Bruce Springsteen at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame anniversary show. You can see it on HBO…

> Barbara Walters‘ “10 Most Fascinating People” show actually beat Oprah’s “Christmas at the White House” special last week in the 18-49 demographic. Go figure. Here are the stats:

Most Fascinating People 09:’ 3.1 (12/9)
Oprah Special:’ 2.9 (12/13)
Matt Lauer Special:’ 1.4 (11/26)

How did Barbara win? Well, she named Michelle Obama “Most Fascinating Person” and interviewed her. But instead of sticking around the White House, Barbara threw in a bunch of freaks: Jon & Kate, Glenn Beck, Lady GaGa, Adam Lambert, and Sarah Palin. Freak Show won over Earnest Holiday Special. All Barbara was missing were the OctoMom and Tiger Woods’ harem! As “Send in the Clowns” goes: “Maybe next year…”

> Nine reasons to see “Nine”: 1. Penelope Cruz is very hot. I’m sorry, she is. And very funny. … 2. Marion Cotillard is now a major movie star. If she chooses to, she can be Natalie Wood or Audrey Hepburn, a total crossover from France. … 2a. her song, “My Husband Makes Movies.” … 3. Daniel Day-Lewis is not a great singer, but he is mesmerizing as Guido. He’s the most seductive since 1988’s “Unbearable Lightness of Being.” … 4. Judi Dench is a hoot. She humanizes the whole film. … 5. Kate Hudson is channeling her mom, Goldie Hawn. Dressed in ’60s garb, Kate looks like she’s in “Laugh In.” Wonderful. … 6. Rob Marshall’s long shots of DDL as he tries to escape from Guido’s producers. … 7. Ricky Tognazzi is so good as Guido’s producer that you think he’s real. He’s just a famous Italian actor, son of the late star Ugo Tognazzi. …’ 8. Nicole Kidman looks and sounds like Dusty Springfield, and her song is a hit. … 9. Fergie. You will not get “Be Italian” out of your head for days. And you’ll have an unconcious desire to go to the beach.

“Ghostbusters 3″: Director Reitman Says Next Generation Is Coming

Roger Friedman
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“Ghostbusters 3″: Director Reitman Says Next Generation Is Coming

Who you gonna call? “Ghostbusters,” that’s who.

Director Ivan Reitman confirmed for me yesterday what Sigourney Weaver recently alluded to an interview for her movie, “Avatar.” Reitman says a script for “G3″ is being worked on now, and all signs point to some ghost-busting for 2010. The new story combines the original characters with new ones, including Sigourney’s kid with Bill Murray, Oscar.

Reitman’s telling comments to me came about during a lunch at the legendary ‘21 Club’ for his son, Jason, whose own movie, “Up in the Air,” is up in the awards stratosphere. Dad Ivan produced for son Jason, which led to an exchange of teary eyed speeches from the two guys. They each reminisced about how Jason was talked out of going to medical school by Dad.

“It was the first time a Jewish father ever told his son not to become a doctor,” Jason said. “I knew he was a storyteller,” Ivan recalled. And it’s a showbiz family: Jason’s beauteous twentysomething sister Catherine is a working actress with a lot of credits, just about ready to have her breakthough.

All this family love was expressed in front of a cool crowd, too, including “Up in the Air” costar Anna Kendrick, who’s getting a lot of awards for her work in the film, plus famed director Sidney Lumet who came with his award-winning screenwriter daughter Jenny (she wrote “Rachel Getting Married” is and working with Jason on a new film), Barry Levinson, Tony LoBianco, Tovah Feldshuh, Bob Balaban, Dan Abrams, Arianna Huffington, Jean Doumanian, Johnnie Planco, and Forbes magazine editor Tim Ferguson, who’s also the uncle of “Nine” and Black Eyed Peas star Stacey “Fergie” Ferguson.

“She never shied away from performing as kid,” said Uncle Tim.

And there was maybe a ‘21′ first: a Kosher meal served to Orthodox Jewish rapper and recording star Matisyahu, aka Matthew Miller of White Plains, New York. Producer Bonnie Timmerman is working on a film project with him, and brought the extremely tall performer with her. They may have to rename ‘21′ ‘ ‘18′.

P.S. Lumet ‘ director of so many classics from “Serpico” and “Prince of the City” to “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” ‘ has just finished the screenplay for his next film, called “Getting Out.” He’s got Russell Crowe in mind, he says, for the lead. Sidney Lumet and Russell Crowe is a combo everyone would love to see happen. Russell, give Sidney a call!

SAG Awards Are the Real Oscar Omens

Roger Friedman
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Here are the five SAG Award nominees for what they called Best Ensemble. This really means Best Picture: “Nine,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Precious.” “Inglourious Basterds,” and “An Education.”

The shock: “Up in the Air” is not in that group. The certain Oscar nominee thus becomes “Number 6″ for the Academy Awards. That’s okay since there are ten slots this year.

But what’s important to note is that the five chosen by SAG are where the minds of the Academy voters are right now. Of course, Academy nominations aren’t read until February 2nd. A lot could change in that time. But history notes that SAG and the Academy are quite similar in membership. And where SAG goes, the Academy is usually right behind it.

The group that should be most embarrassed by all this is the National Board of Review. Their exclusion of “Precious” has rendered them completely irrelevant. It has these SAG noms, and plenty more from the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes.

Two SAG omissions: Daniel Day Lewis’s wonderful Guido from “Nine.” I think DDL may be getting shorted out because he just won for “There Will Be Blood.” And Marion Cotillard, for “Nine,” as well. She also just won, for “La Vie En Rose.” And Julianne Moore in Supporting for “A Single Man.” She’s a definite Oscar contender. I don’t know who she would knock out of the SAG list, but Moore’s “Charley” is one of the great creations on film in 2009.

Also: no love for the Coens’ “A Serious Man.” This is such a great cast, I was certain it would get Best Ensemble. There are tons of gems in that film, from Fred Melamed to Amy Landecker, Sari Lennick, and of course, Michael Stuhlbarg.

One note: Bob Balaban, the gifted character actor, picked up more nominations for the Lifetime film he directed, “Georgia O’Keefe.” He got a raft of Golden Globes, too. Balaban last year had tons of awards with the Doris Duke movie for HBO, “Bernard and Doris.” You may recall that it was Balaban who was the driving force behind Robert Altman’s award-winning “Gosford Park.” Bravo!

“Nine” Is Fine, But Daniel Day Lewis Won’t See It Again

Roger Friedman
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Rob Marshall’s exquisitely crafted movie musical, “Nine,” finally premiered in New York last night. It opens on Friday.

One person who saw it at the Ziegfeld premiere but won’t be coming back: star Daniel Day Lewis. “It was nerve-wracking” he said later of sitting through the premiere and watching the movie. What made him so nervous? He declined to say. But frankly, DDL makes a very convincing Guido Contini. He has nothing to worry about. And at the big party later at cavernous M2 in West Chelsea, DDL was accessible and fun. He posed for pictures with well wishers and entertained wife Rebecca Miller’s famous actress aunt, Joan Copeland, younger sister of the late Arthur Miller. DDL also got to meet legendary crooner Tony Bennett, who declared “Nine” a “masterpiece.”

Still: “That’s the one and only time I will do that,” Daniel told me, even though the audience loved him, loved “Nine,” and the ladies in it so much that they were applauding the musical numbers before they ended.

And in the audience were all the cast with the exception of Sophia Loren, who was working in Rome.

Penelope Cruz even brought boyfriend and rumored fiancee Javier Bardem, who was originally going to play Guido but backed out after his role in “No County for Old Men” exhausted him. Her favored director and pal Pedro Almodovar was also on hand.

Kate Hudson, looking like a million bucks and happier than ever without baseball star Alex Rodriguez, was accompanied by mom Goldie Hawn. When I mentioned to Goldie that Kate’s performance was reminiscent of her own on “Laugh In” back in the day, Goldie laughed and said: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!”

Fergie ‘ Stacey Ferguson ‘ of the Black Eyed Peas ‘ brings down the house in “Nine” with the movie’s showstopper “Be Italian.” Each of her parents were there, as was husband Josh Duhamel. Fergie’s dad, who owns a vineyard in beautiful Santa Ynez, California ‘ “Sideways” country ‘ was very excited about the film. He said “Fergie’s been in three movies. In each one, she gets killed. So she calls me up and says, Guess what? I’m in a movie and I don’t get killed. But what does play? A prostitute!”

Fergie is so good in “Nine” that, you read it here first, she’s going to get offers to play Broadway in a musical. Forget those Black Eyed Peas ‘ and their monster hit, “I Gotta Feeling.” Once you hear her in “Nine,” it’s clear the world is her oyster.

I also like the fact that Fergie looked so elegant with dark hair and a beautiful white Marchesa gown. When I first met Fergie years ago she came to events in hip hop regalia, with an exposed flat midriff and teased blonde locks. Grown up and married, Fergie took the microphone last night at the M2 party, made a short funny speech and introduced the new video of her and Kate Hudson making the video for “Cinema Italiano,” the Best Song nominee from “Nine.” (It was written for the movie.) Fergie announced to the crowd, “I met all those amazing women with this movie, and we’re all friends now!”

And in the crowd, both at the Ziegfeld and M2 ‘ “Nine” director Rob Marshall, other cast members Dame Judi Dench (who took a lot of good natured ribbing from Harvey Weinstein during introductions at the Zeigfeld), Nicole Kidman (whose hubby Keith Urban played Nicole’s hometown Sydney last night), and Best Actress nominee Marion Cotillard ‘ with boyfriend Guillame Canet, as well as Oliver Stone, Tommy Tune (who directed the original “Nine” on Broadway), Tobey Maguire, the Olsen twins, pop star Madonna and daughter Lourdes, Donald and Melania Trump, Bob and Lynne Balaban, Emmanuelle Chriqui (from “Entourage”), Denise Rich, and Kimora Lee Simmons and Oscar nominee (from “In America” and “Amistad”) Djimon Hounsou.

“Nine” got 10 nominations from the Critics Choice Awards (airing January 15th) and the Golden Globes gave it five more (January 17th). When the Oscar nominations are announced on February 2nd, expect a raft more for DDL, Cotillard, Cruz, and Marshall, not to mention all those technical categories and Best Song. It’s the one big, grand, glamorous entertainment of this winter.

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