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Oliver’s Army Is Ready for Cannes

Roger Friedman
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Oliver’s Army Is Ready for Cannes

News from the IFP dinner for a mere one hundred or so filmmakers last night at Diane von Furstenberg’s design studio:

Oliver Stone is getting ready for Cannes and South America with “Wall Street 2” and “South of the Border.” He chatted with Sony Pictures Classics’ Michael Barker, and DVF herself…”Wall Street 2″ hits Cannes on Friday, March 14th…Josh Brolin should be in attendance, as well as star Michael Douglas…

Lovely and amazing Patricia Clarkson (pictured here) –with “Cairo Time” and only three more films in the can–brought best-bud, poet Howard Altmann, to dinner. The two often perform readings of Altmann’s work at Barnes & Noble, etc. Altmann has a new collection out from Turtle Point Press…

Joel Schumacher is prepping “Trespass,” a home invasion thriller. Casting is underway, with actors to be announced shortly…

Jake Paltrow, Gwyneth’s talented bro, is negotiating to do his second feature film this fall. Paltrow has a cameo in “Greenberg,” out now…

Gwyneth and mom Blythe Danner will not do “A Little Night Music” on Broadway. “My daughter will not leave London and her kids,” Danner explained…

Martin Scorsese is already screening his Fran Lebowitz documentary for friends. Reaction is good, and Lebowitz comes off as glibly gifted. But I hope it explains why she wrote just two books, and almost nothing in 30 years. And how she’s lived since then thanks to the kindness of friends…

The dinner honored Tatiana von Furstenberg and Francesca Gregorini, whose terrific “Tanner Hall” will be released this fall. Also in attendance: Famed director Mira Nair, actor-director Ed Burns, Amber Tamblyn, Lily Rabe, Geoff Fletcher, Annette Tapert, and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters...The whole gang proceeded to the Boom Boom Room, and for all I know, they are still there…

Katie Couric Tribute Dinner Brings Tight-Lipped CBS and CBS Execs Together

Roger Friedman
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Katie Couric Tribute Dinner Brings Tight-Lipped CBS and CBS Execs Together

Matt Lauer told me right before the annual mid year dinner for the Museum of the Moving Image last night that he wasn’t going to “roast” honoree Katie Couric.

“Just lightly grill her,” he quipped.

Well, Matt did roast Katie, and he was pretty damned funny. The dinner also honored CNN chief Phil Kent, which meant that the room was filled with folks from CNN and CBS–lots of rumors about their merger and a lot of people denying it. On the CNN side: Anderson Cooper, Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes, Wolf Blitzer. On the CBS side: “Evening News” producer Rick Kaplan, and Katie’s beau, Brooks Perlin. But no Les Moonves, which led to Lauer’s hysterical introduction.

Lauer reported that Katie had just asked him a week ago over lunch to make the toast. Lauer said he wondered why she’d waited so long, until the last minute. “I didn’t want it to weigh on you,” he reported Couric said. Then he got a letter from Moonves, thanking him for stepping in, and since so many others had turned the job down. There were also a couple of good zingers about Sarah Palin. “Katie has interviewed people who are world leaders, and who would like to be,” joked Matt, who also called the decade he worked with Katie her “Lauer Years.” “We had five great years,” he said, “although we worked together for ten!”

Couric, taking the podium, answered that she’d also been turned down by Al Roker. She said of the CBS-CNN rumor, “I’m worried I’ll have to go on a date with Larry King. Or get locked in the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”

As for the merger, Kent told the assembled diners, including members of the Scotto family–from Katie’s favorite restaurant, Fresco–really, nothing useful. “Don’t believe everything you read in the paper,” Kent said, “but everything you see on CBS and CNN.”

Madonna May Revise Duke of Windsor’s Nazi Sympathies in Film

Roger Friedman
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Madonna May Revise Duke of Windsor’s Nazi Sympathies in Film

Madonna is interviewed by director Gus van Sant in the new Interview magazine. Let’s say this now: I cannot wait to see the movie she intends to direct, called “W.E.” It promises to be smashing.

Forget reports from the UK that the script is an abomination. We now have it from Madonna’s own words.

Somewhow “W.E.” concerns the Duke and Duchess of Windsor–aka the former King Edward VIII and his American wife, Mrs. Wallis Simpson. Madonna calls King Edward “the guy” in the interview. Oh yes the guy. She says: “They’re a very controversial couple. People have lots of different notions about them. I mean, the guy, Edward, gave up the most powerful position in the world for this woman.

“But people have accused Wallis of all kinds of things. They’ve said that she put a spell on Edward. They’ve said that she was a hermaphrodite and that he was gay. They’ve said that they were Nazi sympathizers. It’s just the usual lynch-mob mentality that descends upon somebody who has something that lots of other people don’t have. They have to diminish you by saying there’s something wrong with you, or accuse you of something that they really don’t have the knowledge or the right to.”

From this we may draw the conclusion that Madonna is going to ignore the vast historical record of the Duke and Duchess’s relationship with the Nazis and Hitler. I guess she will not include their 1937 visit to Germany as Hitler’s personal guests, and the reams of communication compiled by the FBI and British intelligence. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/jan/25/freedomofinformation.monarchy

Anyway: the Interview interview is full of fun facts including the possibility that Madonna seems to warn her employer, Live Nation, not to expect much in the way of music soon:

“I haven’t really been focused as much as I should be on the music part of my career because this movie has just consumed every inch of me. Between that and my four children, I don’t have the time or the energy for anything else.’

Live Nation rescued Madonna from Warner Music Group last year with a $125 million contract.

(My Live Nation sources say they aren’t concerned. “She just finished the second highest grossing tour of all time,” observes an insider.)

Madonna also questions how people will find out about her new DVD of a tour. “I  think I have a fan club,” she says with complete dis ingenuousness. Indeed. Madonna, according to my sources, spends a great deal of time signing autographs and merchandise in her massive West 64th St. home, and directing fan club activity.

Iron Man 2 Full of Weird Cameos, But It’s Robert Downey Jr.’s Movie

Roger Friedman
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1
Iron Man 2 Full of Weird Cameos, But It’s Robert Downey Jr.’s Movie

“Iron Man 2” hits theatres on Friday and it’s chock full of strange cameo appearances.

Oracle’s founder Larry Ellison gets to say a line and some face time. It also looks like he may have put quite a bit of money into “Iron Man 2.” Oracle is the most prominent advertiser on screen. Its logo turns up constantly. It’s worse than when Starbucks plastered its name all over one of the “Austin Powers” movies years ago. Yikes!

There are also appearances by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly. Your heart kind of sinks when you the the former, a supposedly “serious” journalist. O’Reilly is just there as a punch line.

Of course, Marvel’s Stan Lee shows up. But the saddest cameo is from DJ Adam Goldstein, who subsequently killed himself with drugs. He looks bright and happy in the film.

All that aside, “Iron Man 2,” again directed by Jon Favreau, is a lot of big studio noisy fun. It’s going to make a mint, too, when it arrives on Friday. Early word was that it wasn’t as good as the first “Iron Man.” But guess what? It’s just fine, a solid A minus I think, with a witty script from Justin Theroux. The first “Iron Man” was a novelty, and Robert Downey Jr was a surprise as Tony Stark. Now we’re used to it. But that doesn’t mean anything negative.

In fact, Favreau, Theroux and Downey have really pulled it together. Gwyneth Paltrow is back and her role is larger this time as Tony Stark’s pining love interest and assistant. Plus, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, and without a doubt Sam Rockwell are all excellent additions to the group this time around. Rockwell just about steals the movie, and he gets to dance–he’s a great improvisational dancer–on top of it. Don Cheadle also joins the cast, replacing Terrence Howard, and doing a fine job.

But “Iron Man 2” is all about Robert Downey Jr. Tony Stark has a line early in the script about life, death and redemption that really sums up Downey’s life and career. After all his personal disasters, who could have guessed that he’d triumph in the end. And he’s a pleasure all the way through. Considering the abundance of plot points and characters this time around, it’s a tribute to Downey that he keeps it all straight, and leads this crazy Chapter 2 with authority, wit and grace.

So now what? The whole movie is a set up for Chapter 3, as well as “Thor” and “Avengers” movies. You almost can’t wait to see Jackson and Johansson in “The Avengers.” When I saw Scarlett over the weekend, I said, “So now you’re a super hero.” She replied, without flinching, “I was always a super hero.” It does seem like that, seeing her in “Iron Man 2.” Quentin Tarantino‘s going to be calling her for “Kill Bill Part 3” when he sees her here!

Get ready for box office alerts all weekend. “Iron Man 2” is going to set records.

Sting’s “Soul Cages” Headed to Broadway

Roger Friedman
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1
Sting’s “Soul Cages” Headed to Broadway

The cat is out of the bag. On his blog today, Mike Fleming writes about Sting making a deal to write a musical with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and composer Brian Yorkey, of “Next to Normal.”

I knew about this weeks ago, but was waiting until the rest of the story firmed up.

I will tell you the part that Mike doesn’t have: Sting and Yorkey are going to adapt Sting’s amazing 1991 album, “The Soul Cages,” for the theater. (That album included the hits, “All this Time” and “Mad About You” as well as the title track.) This autobiographical work will likely include other songs, maybe new music, and certainly encompass Sting’s memoir, “Broken Music.”

Yorkey has already traveled with Sting to his place of birth in Newcastle, England, met his relatives and friends, seen all the landmark spots that appear in Sting’s songs and writing. What comes out of these trips and meetings should be quite wonderful, but we won’t see the fruits of it for some time. First, Sting has to complete his symphony tour this summer, play the Hollywood Bowl on June 15th and the Metropolitan Opera on July 13th and 14th.

There’s also the matter of the Rainforest Foundation concert at Carnegie Hall on May 13th with Elton John and Lady GaGa. The next morning, Sting kicks off the Today show concert series on Rockefeller Plaza. Whew!

youtube.com/watch?v=2vAQx1y1CcE

Tony Awards Snub Morticia, Gomez But Cite Rhoda, Frasier

Roger Friedman
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3
Tony Awards Snub Morticia, Gomez But Cite Rhoda, Frasier

Rhoda Morgenstern has finally gotten her great citation. Valerie Harper, very deservedly, has been nominated for a Tony Award for Lead Actress in a Play, in “Looped.”  It’s a nice vindication.

She won’t win; that distinction will go to Viola Davis, in “Fences.” But still: Harper is in pretty swell company, with Laura Linney, Linda Lavin, and Jan Maxwell.

And Frasier Crane, aka Kelsey Grammer, is in for Lead Actor in a Musical, with his colleague Douglas Hodge in “La Cage Aux Folles.”

But there’s no love from the Tony’s for “The Addams Family,” a critic proof musical that’s making millions even as we sit here snapping fingers to the TV theme song. Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth were each skipped over, as was the show. Go figure: the rotten score by Andrew Lippa did get nominated. In “Full Disclosure”: it shouldn’t have.

Also completely overlooked: last fall’s “A Steady Rain,” which had very good performances by Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. That’s too bad, because Craig especially deserved it.

But the rest of the Tony nominations are in sync with the prior Outer Critics Circle, which turned out to be a good predictor. The OCC remembered Jude Law for “Hamlet” and cited Jan Maxwell twice. So did the Tonys. The kooky Drama Desk, however, simply nominated everything — just to cover themselves.

This year’s Tony Award show on CBS–Sunday, June 13th–should be pretty good. In addition to Harper and Grammer, the other well known faces will be Jude Law, Liev Schreiber, Scarlett Johansson, Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Catherine Zeta Jones, Angela Lansbury, and so on. Lots and lots of stars should produce some good ratings. Maybe Green Day will appear for “American Idiot.” Cool.

PS The original musical category is a mess. “American Idiot” is in my opinion the Best New Musical. But its director, Michael Mayer, wasn’t nominated. Instead, the most deserving director of a Musical who was nominated should be Marcia Milgrim Dodge. She made the revival of “Ragtime” important and moving. She reinvented the show entirely from its original laborious production.

Lynn Redgrave: A Tragedy

Roger Friedman
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1
Lynn Redgrave: A Tragedy

Lynn Redgrave could actually boast that her Oscar nominations were three decades apart. She made an indelible impression in 1966’s “Georgy Girl” and was up for Best Actress. In 1999, she was back at the Oscars for Supporting Actress in “Gods and Monsters.” Just three years before, in 1996, she came ever so close with an outstanding performance in “Shine.”

Her dozens and dozens of roles also included a couple of unique ones: she was featured in Woody Allen’s adaptation of “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex.” And she played the title role as Xaviera Hollander in “The Happy Hooker.”

And that was just her movie work. She also had three Tony nominations for Best Actress in a Play.

In 1981, Redgrave had an Emmy nomination when she took over Glenda Jackson’s role in the TV version of “House Calls.”

While her sister Vanessa may have been known for more “serious” work, Lynn Redgrave held her own with the best. She could do anything, from comedy to drama to the absurd. She could be absolutely hilarious on screen or stage. Devastating in fact.

In person, Lynn Redgrave was never less than a delight. She held her head high during a period of crazy personal turmoil when her husband turned out to be a bona fide rat.

I do remember Lynn, Vanessa, and Natasha Richardson all at the premiere of “The White Countess” in 2005–in which they all starred for Merchant-Ivory. What a grand, fun night. How very sad to lose so many people talented people–Lynn, Natasha, Corin Redgrave–too soon, and in such a short time. It’s our loss.

New Michael Jackson Album May Pose Legal Problems

Roger Friedman
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20
New Michael Jackson Album May Pose Legal Problems

The newly discovered Michael Jackson album I told you about –exclusively–yesterday may pose some legal problems.

The album was recorded by Michael in the fall of 2007 with Eddie Cascio at his home in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. No one knew about it until earlier this year. Cascio, 28, is the second oldest son of longtime Jackson friends Dominick and Connie Cascio, Michael’s surrogate family.

Yesterday I wondered in this space if Michael’s recordings with Cascio would be covered by his estate’s recent $200 million deal with Sony. I thought maybe not, since no one knew about the tracks at the time of the deal.

But things could get sticky between the Jackson estate and Cascio. I am told that Cascio has engaged a top music entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles, Don Passman. And sources do say that Cascio is “covered,” whatever that means. There’s no word on whether Jackson–who used to put his “M” signature on anything in front of him–signed a piece of paper with Cascio.

There will be some tough questioning by the estate over who wrote the songs Cascio recorded, and whether Michael was their author or co-author. I’m told that may be “covered” as well by copyright registrations.

Indeed, two days after Jackson died–on June 27, 2009–Cascio filed a copyright claim along with Michael Jackson and another songwriter for something called “MJ Songbook.” The filing is just for lyrics. An earlier filing. from March 2008, is labeled “JPEC Collection.” The song titles in each collection are not specified in the Library of Congress’s database, but it’s possible that Cascio updated his 2008 filing after Jackson died to reflect the superstar’s contribution to  material Cascio had already written–and wisely registered.

What everyone who’s heard the tracks agrees on is that Michael Jackson’s vocals sound great. At the time, Jackson was getting good sleep, and lots of Italian homecooking from the Cascios, who are restaurant owners. It was probably the best time Jackson had had since his November 2003 arrest.

Meanwhile, executor John McClain–who’s had health problems— is going through some 60 other unreleased tracks, selecting what he thinks are the best ones for a Jackson album to be released this fall by Sony.

McClain is not considered a Clive Davis, really, in the business. But he helped Janet Jackson, whom he grew up with, start her career at A&M Records. And he briefly co-managed Michael in the early Nineties with Trudy Green. McClain, unlike Jackson intimates Frank DiLeo and John Branca, has so far not heard the Cascio tapes, I am told.

“He’s resisting it,” says a source, while he’s busy sorting through those 60 tracks.

Is Travis Garland the Next American Idol? Sort of?

Roger Friedman
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0
Is Travis Garland the Next American Idol? Sort of?

Here’s a name we’re going to get used to, fast: Travis Garland.

The 20 year old singer songwriter is about to get a big push now that’s he’s split from his group NLT.

Garland is now being managed, sources say, by Joe Simpson–father of Jessica and Ashlee. And also co-managed or co-something by gossip blogger and wannabe record mogul Perez Hilton.

The result of all this is that Travis is said to be appearing on “American Idol” possibly on May 18th. Is this really happening? I think so. Why not? Justin Bieber is a pop star, so anything can happen. Plus, Garland seems like he might actually be talented. Plus. Joe Simpson is an interesting guy. He’s made a lot of money with Jessica and Ashlee. When I ran into him in Washington, he was wearing a platinum and diamond men’s bracelet, cufflinks, watch, the whole thing. Tasteful bling. He’s not fooling around.

Joe has been telling people that Travis is the next Justin Timberlake. Again, why not? Justin isn’t doing anything really, and his fanbase is aging. Bieber isn’t going to replace him. So, enter Travis Garland. Let the starmaking machinery begin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei4ZoLIbIak

Oliver Stone Sets South American Dictators (Er, Presidents) Film Tour

Roger Friedman
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Oliver Stone Sets South American Dictators (Er, Presidents) Film Tour

Oliver Stone is a busy man. On Friday, May 14th, he’ll debut “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps” at the Cannes Film Festival.

But he won’t be sticking around Cannes for long.

Stone will take his documentary about South American dictators, called “South of the Border,” to Madrid on May 18th for its worldwide premiere.

Ten days later he’ll show “South of the Border” in Caracas, Venezuela, to film buff and evil dictator Hugo Chavez and other officials at a premiere in that country.

From there, Stone will be all over South America with the film, described as a “political road movie.”  The tour includes the “first-ever film premiere” in Cochabamba, Colombia. (A red carpet always seems more official with machine guns!)

“South of the Border” features “intimate conversations” according to a press release with Chávez, Evo Morales (Bolivia), Lula da Silva (Brazil), Cristina Kirchner (Argentina), as well as her husband and ex-President Néstor Kirchner, Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), Rafael Correa (Ecuador), and Raúl Castro (Cuba).

So far, there are premieres set for each of these countries except for Cuba. But that’s the one–should it occur, and why not?–that would be the hot ticket.

The presidents of these countries will no doubt have controversial, anti-American things to say, many of which will then be ascribed to Stone himself. But I want to hear every word these guys have on their minds. “South of the Border” should be powerful and memorable, to say the least!

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