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I can tell you something now that I knew a couple of weeks ago: Michael Jackson’s three kids didn’t spend the holidays with the Jackson family at their Hayvenhurst Rd home in Encino, California.
Even though Michael’s mother, Katherine Jackson, has custody of Prince, Paris and “Blanket,” the three kids weren’t with her on Christmas or New Year’s.
Instead, nanny Grace Rwaramba arranged to take the kids for an extended visit with family friends. This is contrary to reported stories that the three were with their aunt, Janet Jackson, in New York. That was a decoy story. It’s amazing how every blog from Perez Hilton to the most insignificant picked up that story on Christmas Eve and ran it without checking a single fact. Imagine what that means for other celeb blog “exclusives.”
“They were extremely happy and they had a great time,” says a source of the no-Jackson holiday. “It wasn’t a big deal Christmas with elaborate gifts. It was very humble.”
The reason? Katherine Jackson, a Jehovah’s Witness, doesn’t celebrate holidays. If the kids had remained with her in Encino, they would have been deprived, a source says, of their annual Christmas celebration. Katherine, they say, was wise enough to sign off on the visit, and allowed Rwaramba to make the arrangements.
And the word on the kids? “They seemed fine, well adjusted, they’re doing their school work. They don’t talk about Michael’s death but they do mention him.”
The word from Hollywood is that the great Dennis Hopper may be losing his battle with prostate cancer.
Hopper, 74, is truly one of our finest actors and has been for nigh on 50 years. He’s also a late bloomer.
After working hard for about fifteen years, he finally hit it big in 1969 with “Easy Rider.” The seminal counterculture film was written with Peter Fonda, and Terry Southern (who passed away a few years ago).
Hopper could have parlayed “Easy Rider” into a major career, but instead he dropped out. He didn’t really resurface until “Apocalypse Now” in 1978, when he made a splash. But again, Hopper semi-vanished. It wouldn’t be again until 1986, and David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet,” that he finally hit his stride and had a role with a lasting impression. He was already 50. In that year, 1986, Hopper also made “Hoosiers” and “River’s Edge.” It was his high water mark, and he wouldn’t do so well again until “Speed” in 1994. Still through all of, post-”Apocalypse,” he never stopped working in one way or another.
Hopper, who boasts a huge art collection, was also married five times. His first wife was the beauty Brooke Hayward, daughter of Margaret Sullavan and Leland Hayward. Hopper’s second marriage, to Michelle Phillips, lasted a week in the fall of 1970. Three more marriages followed. He has two Oscar nominations ‘ one for acting (”Hoosiers”) and for writing (”Easy Rider”). Looking back, it’s a scandal that he wasn’t nominated for “Blue Velvet,” too.
Anyway, I love this interview with Hopper from last year in which he talks about the Sixties, art, and women. Here’s to you, Dennis!
The Best Actress category has gotten very interesting suddenly.
While Meryl Streep remains the odds-on favorite for her work in “Julie & Julia,” there’s a new player in the game: Sandra Bullock.
Bullock is pulling a lot of of weight and good vibes for her role in the big studio formula hit, “The Blind Side.” Sandy has a Golden Globe nomination and a few others under her belt for her portrayal of a real life Memphis rich gal who takes an abandoned high school football player into her home. It’s a true story, but one that is hard to swallow if you give “The Blind Side” more than a few minutes of thought.
Still, Sandra Bullock is hard working and incredibly likable. And even though her character, Lee Anne Tuohy, resembles Kathie Lee Gifford down to her high heels, Bullock makes her a success. It’s not the actress’s first real acting knockout. She was excellent in both “Crash” and “Infamous,” showing the serious side of her acting chops.
But as one insider told me recently, “Sandy will be happy just to be nominated.” She’ll be a great addition to the Oscars.
However, this is Meryl Streep’s year. She made three hit films ‘ “Julie and Julia,” “It’s Complicated,” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” In each, she is towering. And despite the idea that ‘Meryl always wins,’ La Streep has not taken home an Oscar in 27 years. It was for “Sophie’s Choice.” Sure, she’s been nominated a lot ‘‘over and over ‘ but she’s also had to endure watching others swan past her.
Don’t get the impression she’s above winning. Not at all. When someone mentioned the Oscar recently, Streep supposedly responded, “From your lips to God’s ear.” I think God and the Academy are listening. Bullock aside, not to mention Carey Mulligan, Gabby Sidibe, and Marion Cotillard, 2010 is the year of Streep. You can bet on it!
It was the usual shenanigans last night at the 75th annual New York Film Critics Circle dinner. Untelevised, and loose, the NYFCC pretty much sucked the air out of tonight’s National Board of Review gala by honoring George Clooney and Meryl Streep, the putative Oscar winners this season.
Clooney, for his part, stole the show. First he had to give an award to director Wes Anderson for “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” He kind of wandered onto the stage at Crimson, a large restaurant nightclub on Broadway and 21st St., and gave a rambling little speech due to the solid part of dinner being delivered way later than the liquid part. He said, “I’m like Mariah Carey,’f’d-up right now,” which got a laugh considering Mariah’s similar speech last week in Palm Springs.
But Clooney was far from incoherent as he poked fun at Anderson’s typically laconic style. “Wes said he’d give the best speech in history,” Clooney announced, even better than Meryl Streep, then invoked an f -bomb to punctuate it. “Who says that to Meryl Streep?” Clooney wondered. Anderson responded by making understated remarks.
Later, when Christine Lahti was introducing Clooney for his own Best Actor award (in “Fox” and “Up in the Air“) she said she found over 11, 800,000 million entries. “Have you ever Googled yourself, George?” Lahti asked from the podium. “I Google myself every afternoon,” the actor shouted back. He came to the event with his gorgeous Italian girlfriend, Elisabetta Canalis, and mingled with everyone, not just Streep.
Clooney, in accepting his award, noted that it took two movies for him to win it. (He also reassured the audience “I’m not drunk anymore.”) He thanked Jeremy Renner for making only one movie. And chided famed movie critic Rex Reed, who, Clooney said, usually thought he “Sucked” in his films. “This is the first film that your colleague Rex Reed hasn’t said that I sucked in. I mean, you could look it up…Now he’s starting to soften in his old age. I want you to know this, Rex. I will not sleep, I will not rest ‘ at my villa in Italy, in Lake Como, Italy ‘ until you’re happy!”
It was an odd night for the NYFCC ‘ and this should be noted for future events ‘ because Best Supporting Actress Mo’Niquedidn’t show up. No one from “Precious” came to the ceremony, so the group’s chief, Armond White, announced the award and moved on. He said, tersely, “The award is hers.”
Best Supporting Actor Christoph Waltz, on his way to an Oscar also, was present and grateful. He talked about his early days as an actor in New York, and then thanked “Inglourious Basterds” director Quentin Tarantino for making his dreams come true. “Along came the master distiller of evaporating actors’ dreams,” he said.
Also on hand were actress Amy Ryan, who presented to Waltz, James Gandolfini, who accepted the screenplay award for the movie “In the Loop,” “Basterds” actor Michael Fassbender (on the verge of being a big, big deal) and Lynn Redgrave, who complained during her introduction of Streep about the poor lighting in the room.
But the real stars of the night were the gang from “The Hurt Locker,” which won Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow, and Best Feature. “The Hurt Locker” comes out this week on DVD after making only $14 million at the boxoffice. The hope is the DVD audience will swarm to it. They sure should. Actors Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie were both there, but only Renner is making the trip West this weekend for all the awards shows. Mackie is stuck in New York rehearsing a new Broadway play with Christopher Walken.
The New York Film Critics Circle also gave a lifetime achievement award to critic Andrew Sarris, who’s 81 and has influenced several generations of writers. Sarris promised to keep teaching and working until he’s 95. I believe him!
Ringo Starr is back. Well, he never goes away, and that’s a good thing.
This afternoon in Jimmy Fallon’s NBC studio, Ringo and his band — really Ben Harper and his band — debuted a couple of songs from Ringo’s new album, called “Y Not.” The songs were good, nothing wrong with them. But then Ringo took the drums and the band launched into the Beatles’ “I Wanna Be Your Man.” What can I say? It was gorgeous, it was like buttah. The Beatles’ sound is still ebullient. Jimmy Fallon kept grinning and making jokes about it being February 1964. If only.
Ringo is a spry 69.’ He’ll turn 70 this summer on July 7 at Radio City Music Hall with his All Starr Band. How does it feel to turn 70, I asked? “I look 40,” he replied. He does.
I also asked Ringo what he’d heard on the Beatles Stereo or Mono box sets that surprised him. “I never listened to the Mono box,” he said, adding, “I am Mono.” As for the Stereo box, he said that 10 years ago when the “Yellow Submarine” album was turned into 5.1 Dolby, he and Paul sat and listened to it in astonishment. “We kept saying, Who’s playing that? It was so clear!”
Frankly, the big winner in those box sets is Ringo. He never sounded so crisp and creative. All joking aside, he’s a great, great drummer.
Ringo has Paul singing with him on “Walk With You,” a track on the new album, which constitutes a Beatles reunion these days. Otherwise he has Harper and friends, which was a wise move. And Ringo produced the album himself with manager/pal Bruce Sugar. His co-writers include Van Dyke Parks, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, Gary Wright, and Joss Stone. Not bad.
Someone did ask him about the “Beatles Rock Band” game, and Ringo replied, “I can’t do it. I’m no good at it.” He did admit his grandkids like to play the game.
There’s something very reassuring about Ringo these days. It’s nice to see him, even nicer to hear him. It don’t come easy, and he knows it. For my money, anything he did with Richard Perry is worth listening to, even in 2010.
Read Conan O’Brien’s statement. He’s pushing back at NBC. He’s not leaving. He just won’t do the “Tonight Show” at 12:05 a.m.
What did I tell you yesterday? “The Tonight Show” has aired at 11:30 p.m. or 11:35 p.m. since 1954. Conan’s right, essentially.
Is it a legal joust? Probably. He’s not quitting. He just won’t do what’s in violation of his agreement.
So now what? A Conan insider responded with these words: “Don’t know.” And they mean it. No one knows what the next move is’ for either Conan or Jay Leno.
What could Conan do at NBC? Primetime? Switch him with Jay? That’s not going to happen. And so even though Conan says he has no plans, the odds are now that he’ll leave NBC for Fox or whatever. I just hope he comes back to New York. His value is lost on the Left Coast.
One thing’s certain, though: Dave Letterman is having a ball. His monologue last night was brilliant. And his imitation of Jay was absolutely brilliant. So all is not lost. Yet.
The music business ‘ what’s left of it ‘ is getting ready for Grammy weekend at the end of January and there’s a lot going on.
Not the least of it is Sony selling 4 million and more copies of Susan Boyle’s debut CD. It’s like the old days! And talk about easy listening. Boyle’s renderings are the perfect backdrop to almost anything.
Over at EMI Records, beloved longtime chief Bruce Lundvall is giving up the daily grind, so to speak. He deserves a break after all this time. Bruce has been running Blue Note for 25 years. Lundvall has worked with every jazz great, and cultivated Blue Note into one of the few important labels left. He also was responsible for Norah Jones, one of the few stars with a lasting career to be created in the 00s.
Taking Bruce’s place is the phenomenal Ian Ralfini. He came to Blue Note in 2001 and re-started Manhattan Records with legend Arif Mardin. Now Ian, who is a man devoted to his acts ‘ especially Celtic Woman ‘‘takes the reins. It couldn’t happen to a better guy. It shows that EMI is not just giving up.
Meanwhile, the lawyer who guided the whole Michael Jackson executor mess this year is being honored. Joel Katz, who has really steered the Jackson camp through murky waters, is getting the 2010 Service Award from the Grammy Foundation at the annual Law Luncheon on January 29th. There should be a gold plated Advil bottle on the plaque for what Katz accomplished this past year!
P.S. Universal Music’s Doug Morris is the Grammy honoree at Clive Davis’s annual dinner this year. This means in addition to Clive’s acts, like Alicia, Whitney, and Leona, the Beverly Hilton gang will probably get a little GaGa, if you know what I mean! Clive, Doug, Bruce Lundvall ‘‘these are the last of the great music men. We’d better appreciate them while we can. And Clive’s party is the event of the year, hands down. Whitney had better be there to sing “Million Dollar Bill”!
This commences Awards Week. It’s sort of the first round leading up to the Oscars, with the Broadcast Critics Association handing out the Critics Choice Awards on Friday (VH1, 8pm). And then on Sunday, the Hollywood Foreign Press passes out the Golden Globes (NBC, 8pm).
During the week, there are two significant awards to be addressed in New York. The more realistic one is from the New York Film Critics Circle. Tonight, they honor “The Hurt Locker,” director Kathryn Bigelow, Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Christoph Waltz and’Mo’Nique. The latter, who still doesn’t get it, won’t attend. “Precious” director Lee Daniels will accept for her. Even so, the New York Film Critics are simply that, the main reviewers in the most important city. The public doesn’t attend, and there are no membership fees.
Then on Tuesday night the National Board of Review tosses a gala. For $600, you can buy a ticket to this thing. The NBR will give an award or a citation to just about every movie that come out this year with the exception of “Precious.” (They tossed Gabby Sidibe “Breakthough Performance” as a bone but otherwise ignored it.) They are giving Clint Eastwood his annual award because his archivist, Jeanine Basinger, is on their board. Eastwood gets Best Director for “Invictus“’even though even the DGA didn’t include him this year, and “Invictus” has turned out to be a disappointment. That doesn’t stop the NBR!
Meryl Streep didn’t get Best Actress ‘ they gave it to Carey Mulligan of “An Education” ‘ but Meryl will be there because her movie, “It’s Complicated,” was given Best Ensemble. “Up” will get Best Animated Feature, so Disney will buy a table. But where does that leave Fox Searchlight’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox“? Fox Searchlight has no other nominees, which means “no table” to the NBR. So they’re giving Wes Anderson “Special Achievement in Filmmaking.” What is the special achievement? Isn’t “Mr. Fox” just another animated film? But doesn’t it also star ‘ wait for it ”George Clooney and Meryl Streep? And won’t they be there anyway? Eureka!
Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien are in the worst PR mess of all time.
It almost doesn’t matter how they got here ‘ that’s another story ‘ but here’s how they can get out of it.
On Sunday, NBC cancelled the “Jay Leno Show,” which no one watched anyway. They’ve invited Jay back to 11:35 p.m.. That’s the “Tonight” show, no matter what they call it. Since Steven Allen started it in 1954, the “Tonight” show was broadcast at that hour after the local news. So Jay is back in charge, which only leaves one problem: Conan.
O’Brien signed on for the “Tonight” show. Under the new plan, he would essentially be doing his old show, only a half-hour earlier. He might ask, like us, what’s the point in that? In order to do the “Tonight” show, Conan and his staff had to leave New York after many years. Families were uprooted, there was a lot of upheaval.
The truth is, Conan was better suited to New York. He’s edgy and quirky. He’s smart. He has East Coast written all over him. In L.A., he’s a fish out of water. He’d be better off coming back, and restarting whatever he does from New York.
Interestingly, much of what’s happening is coming out of New York. This is where Jeff Zucker is, and this is where Lorne Michaels is. NBC has always been bipolar. The News Department, the Today show, and Saturday Night Live are on the East coast. Prime time television is on the West. Rarely did the twain meet. But Michaels also has “30 Rock” under his aegis, which has only increased his power on the West Coast. If anyone’s in a position to broker a peace and calm every one down, it’s him. He’s also got Jimmy Fallon to worry about. (Fallon joked last week that soon he’d be doing his show opposite infomercials.)
In the end, Conan may have no choice but to stay and do his best work at midnight. ABC doesn’t need him now, with “Nightline” flourishing again. Fox is a dicey choice; they’ve never had success in talk shows, from Joan Rivers to Chevy Chase to “The Wilton North Report.” They run local news at 10pm on most stations, followed by a half hour of syndicated reruns on local stations. By 11:30, their earlier, stronger audience from 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. has drifted off.
The real winners here are television production companies, and the dozens of actors who have been unemployed this season because NBC had no dramas at 10 p.m. All the hospital, doctor, and lawyer shows, cop shows, and nighttime soaps will now flood the banks of 10 p.m. There’s talk of yet another “Law & Order” ‘ “Law & Order: Altoona” is still to come ‘ set in Los Angeles.
Two words: Just fine. “American Idol” is not dependent on its judges anyway. It’s all about the talent. The judges are merely trimming.
For years Simon has been abrasive and cruel. It won’t be hard to find a replacement. There are plenty of embittered former record execs dying to take that spot.
“AI” will be smart to rely more on Randy Jackson in the 2011 season. He’s a musician, a producer, and he’s signed acts to labels. Randy is like “AI’s” secret weapon. Notice how he stays out of the madness when Simon is fighting with this one and that one. Randy is the judge to whom everyone will turn once Simon is gone.
And my guess, take it for what you will: Paula will be back. “AI” is very publicity-mad about headlines. When Simon exits, it’s not out of whack to predict a huge Paula return. They will do it for consistency, if nothing else. And by that time, Ellen DeGeneres will be bored and return to her own show.
One guy they might try out this season, if only as a guest judge: Desmond Child. The songwriter-producer of many, many hits would be just professional enough and a little bit flamboyant. Like Kara DioGuardi, he has the resume. And anyway, how about a night of “Livin’ La Vida Loca” and “Dude Looks Like A Lady”?
It was the usual shenanigans last night at the 75th annual New York Film Critics Circle dinner. Untelevised, and loose, the NYFCC pretty much sucked the air out of tonight’s National Board of Review gala by honoring George Clooney and Meryl Streep, the putative Oscar winners this season.
Ringo Starr is back. Well, he never goes away, and that’s a good thing.
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