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Rolling Stones “Lost” 28-Minute Film to be Released

Roger Friedman
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Now that we’ve gotten past the massive Beatles reissue, it’s time for the Rolling Stones.

In late November, ABKCO–keeper of all the original Stones archives–is going to release a 40th-anniversary box set of the Stones’ seminal, classic, legendary, famous live album, “Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out.”

Yes, the music is amazing. The remastered sound, created at ABKCO’s new downtown recording studio, will just blow your socks off. Not only does it include the original album, recorded at Madison Square Garden in November 1969, but it also includes the opening acts– B.B. King and Ike and Tina Turner. The latter material has never before been available.

The Stones’ portion is the original 10 tracks plus five that were never released. The latter includes a version of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” that elevates this well worn Stones classic from pop hit to fundamental part of rock history. It’s absolutely stunning.

But–and this is a big but–the highlight of the “Ya Ya”’s package is a 28-minute film put together from material shot by Albert Maysles and his late brother David. The film is going to blow fan’s minds, especially when it’s shown in some movie theaters during its week of release.

The Maysles, of course, also shot the Stones’ infamous free concert at Altamont, the one that became “Gimme Shelter.” So this 28-minute film ends with never been seen footage of the Stones and the Grateful Dead waiting on a rooftop for the helicopter that’s supposed to bring them to Altamont.

You must see Mick Jagger literally snubbing Jerry Garcia, and the Stones barely speaking to the Dead as they all wait for their ride. The irony, of course, is that the Dead organized the Altamont show but never played. The violence was already out of control. And, quite notoriously and tragically, a man was killed during the Stones’ set.

Otherwise, the footage of the Stones in this short film is nothing less than remarkable. First there’s the photo shoot for the cover of “Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out.” This includes a donkey and Charlie Watts, as well as the rest of the band on a shut down stretch of London highway overpass. It’s five years into their celebrated careers. Interestingly, Jagger takes over direction of the shoot. You can see his micromanaging and also his artistic eye at work.

What also makes the 28-minute film so extraordinary is the camera work by the Maysles and their crew. Somehow one of the camera man got behind Mick on the Garden stage. More than ever, and very organically, you feel like you’re on stage with the Stones, in the middle of the action. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

There’s also stunning footage of Mick and Keith performing as a duo in a blues number. It’s such a beautiful segment that it simultaneously speaks to their own artistry and to the death of music in the contemporary generation. Nothing and no one like this exists anymore. It’s all gone, replaced by machines, tattoos, and coked-out ingenues. You can see why Beatles reissues are holding down ten spots on the album charts now.

James Franco: Soap Opera is “Performance Art”

Roger Friedman
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James Franco, one of our hottest and most interesting young actors, joins ABC soap “General Hospital” in November for a short run.

Why? What? Franco won raves for his performance in “Milk,” awards for playing James Dean, made big bucks from “Spider-Man,” and has several big films on his release schedule.

The world is puzzling over this odd choice. One thing: he and one of the “GH” actors share a manager. But that’s not enough to push Franco onto a show that oddly mixes doctors and nurses with a low-rent “Godfather” storyline. So what gives?

Franco gives minimal explanation. He tells me, only: “It’s performance art.”

That’s it. He can’t even say why he’s chosen this soap over another. But Franco marches to a different drummer. He’s spent the last few years as a part-time academic and would be writer. He’s got a contract with Scribner’s for a book of stories. He’s in a graduate creative writing program at NYU and Columbia University. Prior to that, while he was making “Spider-Man,” he was also getting his B.A. from UCLA.

The message: he can do anything he wants. In this last year he’s also made experimental films shown at the Museum of Modern Art. James Franco, whose mother is a children’s book author and family operates a prestigious art gallery, is not going to be pigeonholed.

And, anyway, he follows in the footsteps of Elizabeth Taylor, who once appeared on “General Hospital.” Rosie O’Donnell and Carol Burnett each have made cameros on “All My Children.” Maybe Franco’s shot will inspire other name stars to drop in on soaps.

If more of the famous soap alumnus returned to their shows for a week–how about Julianne Moore to “As the World Turns” or Josh Duhamel to “All My Children”– it might save the genre from extinction.

Jackson Family Grasping At Legal Straws In Last Ditch Effort

Roger Friedman
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Michael Jackson’s family is grasping at straws if they think they “have something” on Michael’s executor, John Branca.

According to reports today, the family ‘ egged on by none other than Jackson hanger-on Brian Oxman ‘ thinks they’re going to oust Branca on some kind of technicality. Oxman claims he has some “smoking gun” about Branca being fired by Jackson in 1990 ‘ only to be rehired three years later. In 2006, after over 25 years on and off, Branca and Michael parted company. A week before Michael died, he rehired Branca.

The irony here will be that Brian Oxman is involved. Oxman, who used to doze off in open court ‘ I mean, snore ‘ during Michael’s criminal trial in 2005, was fired by lead defense attorney Thomas Mesereau. Oxman’s entire connection to Michael was that he represented Randy Jackson when his brother, Jermaine, conducted a takeover of his wife and kids. Oxman was Randy’s divorce attorney. He has hung on to his slim attachment to Michael ever since, sort of the way Harold Lloyd famously hung from the clock in the movie, “Safety Last.”

The Jackson family’s constant attacks on Branca are laughable, and ironic. It was Branca who engineered the purchase of ATV Music aka the Beatles catalog for Michael in the 1980s. After his brief absence, it was Branca again who merged ATV Music with Sony’s music publishing company, got Michael $90 million, and set him up for life. Without that deal, Jackson would have been destitute ‘ and so would the Jackson family as they lived off of Michael’s largesse.

Indeed, it was only during the times that Michael was separated from Branca that he got into real trouble. And it was a stroke of luck that Michael returned to Branca this past spring. Otherwise, Jackson’s children’s interests could have been left in the hands of far more disreputable types ‘ not naming names here ‘ whose interests were purely self-centered.

No Stones, Beatles or Dylan for Rock Hall 25th Anniversary Shows

Roger Friedman
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Those very high priced Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shows on Oct. 29 and 30 are quietly adding some unannounced special guests to the already published roster.

I’m told that Van Morrison, Smokey Robinson, James Taylor, Sting, Jeff Beck, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt are among those who will pop during the two nights.

They will join Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, U2, Metallica and Aretha Franklin.

But some artists have already made it clear they will not be there: Paul McCartney will be in England, according to sources. And Bob Dylan has shows in Chicago on both nights, so that rules him out, too. I’m also told that at this point, none of the Rolling Stones are set for the shows. Billy Joel is also not making an appearance.

The two blowout shows at Madison Square Garden are an incredibly expensive tribute to something — not sure exactly what. The money derived from them goes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, which will then mete out any proceeds to the Cleveland museum at their discretion. Tickets range up to the thousands of dollars, with $100,000 VIP packages entitling the lucky fan to dinner with Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner and some of the stars.

No word yet on whether any of the members of the Who, the Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd or even Sir Elton John or any other classic R&B or country artists will attend.

But some of the artists attending the shows may be interested in this: A memorial tribute to legendary Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler will take place at noon on Oct. 30 at the DGA Theater on West 57th Street. Jerry’s kids, Lisa and Paul, are putting it together, and the memorial should feature speeches and music. Wexler produced hundreds of hits, and was the man responsible for coining the term “rhythm and blues.”

Rosie O’Donnell Frees the Handbag

Roger Friedman
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108095 ephrons rosie Rosie ODonnell Frees the Handbag
Nora Ephron, Rosie O’Donnell and Delia Ephron on Thursday (Getty photo)

Broadway and its environs were hot last night, with Tracey Letts‘ “Serious Donuts” opening to raves on one corner with Michael McKean — our old pal from “Laverne and Shirley”– minted as a new star.

Along West 43rd Street at the Westside Theater, off Broadway but right in the middle of the theater district, Nora Ephron is back. She and her equally talented sister Delia Ephron have adapted a book called “Love, Loss and What I Wore” into a fast-paced reading of zingers and poignant observations.

The cast of five women will rotate over the next 12 weeks. Right now it features Rosie O’Donnell, Natasha Lyonne and Tyne Daly; more familiar faces are lined up. It’s’ a little like the theater piece Bob Balaban directed a few years ago about people who were wrongly sent to Death Row. So I’m calling the Ephrons’ work “The Exonerated, With Handbags.”

Candice Bergen and husband Marshall Rose were front and center last night, as was Nora with hubby Nick Pileggi, Delia and a throng of Ephronistas. Candice, looking beautiful as ever, had the distinction of watching her Audrey Hepburn-like 23-year-old daughter Chloe (her father was the great, late director Louis Malle) conduct interviews for the New York Observer. “It’s my second day as an intern,” she chirped. Louis would be proud!

Also on hand: Martin Short and his wife, Nancy, plus HBO documentary czar Sheila Nevins, and the great Mary Wallace, wife of “60 Minutes” legend Mike Wallace.

Daly can do no wrong, and she was spot on as sort of the leader of the five gals who tell stories of how different clothes and accessories punctuated their lives. The way the Ephrons have set it up, the lists of garments and their fabrics read like the recipes from Nora’s classic “Heartburn.” It works.

Lyonne was maybe the biggest surprise since, despite many movie appearances scattered over the past decade — the 30-year-old has had countless well-publicized personal problems. She’s back, she looks great, and has laserlike comic timing. If she’s serious about returning to work, Lyonne should be fine.

Rosie, of course, is another story. Decked out in Eileen Fisher — the designer is also a punchline in the play, much to Rosie’s chagrin — O’Donnell pretty much stole the show. (Not easy to do with Tyne Daly.) She even gets to perform a part of the play that she wrote for Ephron about her own late mother — it’s wonderful. Rosie brought two of her four kids, Parker and Chelsea, ages 14 and 12, and they are the nicest kids around. Rosie’s monologue about handbags brought down the house and shows that, as an actress, she’s matured into quite a comedienne.

When the material’s good — not just the fabric, but the words — it helps.

Polanski Case: “Chinatown” Director Should Know About L.A. Law

Roger Friedman
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Marina Zenovich isn’t too pleased with Los Angeles District Attorney David Wells. Wells’s interview with Zenovich in her film, “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired,” formed the foundation of her argument–that there was malfeasance with the D.A.’s office and Judge Rittenbrand in the original Polanski case circa 1978.

Now Wells says he lied to Zenovich on film, and recants his statements. There is not a ring of truth to Wells’s new statement. If he really lied on film, he would be eligible for an Oscar. And win.

Corruption in Los Angeles law enforcement? Polanski knows all too well about it. That’s the irony. His signature film. “Chinatown,” is the ultimate chronicle.

Here is Zenovich’s statement from Zurich, where she’s filming a sequel:

‘I am perplexed by the timing of David Wells’ statement to the press’that he lied in his interview with me for the documentary “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.”’Since June of 2008, the film has been quite visible on’U.S. television via HBO, in theaters and on DVD, so it is odd that David Wells’has not brought this issue to my attention before.

‘For the record, on the day I filmed Mr. Wells at the Malibu’Courthouse, February 11, 2005, he gave me a one-hour interview. He signed a’release like all my other interviewees, giving me permission to use his’interview in the documentary worldwide.’ At no time did I tell him that the film’would not air in the United States.

‘Mr. Wells was always friendly and open with me.’ At no point in the’four years since our interview has he ever raised any issues about its content.’In fact, in a July 2008 story in The New York Times, Mr. Wells corroborated the’account of events that he gave in my film.

‘I am astonished that he has now changed his story.’ It is a sad day’for documentary filmmakers when something like this happens.’

Mary Wilson: Supreme Star Takes Manhattan

Roger Friedman
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Mary Wilson is back in town.

The Supreme with a heart has never been taken seriously as a lead singer. She was always considered one of Diana Ross’s “back up” singers.

But those in the know, know Mary has an amazing voice and a vibrant stage presence. She proved it last night at Feinstein’s at the Regency, where she’s in week two of a sold out run doing a jazz numbers mixed with a few Supremes songs.

Mary has one more show tonight, and two each on Friday and Saturday.

Looking a decade younger than her 65 years, Wilson reminisces just a bit about the Supremes, and includes a few re-arranged gems like “My World is Empty Without You” and “Come See About Me.”

But she also covers Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” sort of magnificently, as well as Sting’s “Fields of Gold” and several standards. Her earthy voice is a cross between Tina Turner and Gladys Knight, and she’s hitting notes that some of the younger divas wish they could find. Her version of Norah Jones’s “Don’t Know Why” gives the song a heretofore unknown sexiness.

P.S. Mary’s been such a hit at Feinstein’s, they held her over for an extra week. Over New Year’s she holds forth at Palm Beach’s Colony Room for a week. It’s the place to be, in that case!

Preview: Seinfeld Cast, Larry David in Brilliant Reunion Shows

Roger Friedman
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Fans of “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” know that this Sunday, worlds will collide. That’s when Larry David’s brilliant HBO show “Curb” reunites Larry with the cast of “Seinfeld.” In Sunday’s episode, self serving Larry decides to produce a “Seinfeld” reunion show for NBC as a way of getting back his estranged wife, Cheryl (Cheryl Hines).’ Logical? Don’t ask. Somehow he persuades Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Drefyus and Michael Richards to go along with him.

The story arc begins on Sunday but then lays dormant for two episodes. On October 25th, in episode six, it picks up again through episode 10. Last night HBO screened 3 and 6 for an invited audience at the Time Warner Center that included Larry David, Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld, comic Susie Essman (who plays Larry’s agent’s wife), Patricia Clarkson, Regis and Joy Philbin, Caroline Kennedy and Ed Schlossberg, Bob and Lynne Balaban, Steve Buscemi, a variety of media types including Dan Abrams, Ashley Banfield, Hoda Kotb, Dave Zinczenko, Kenneth and Maria Cuomo Cole, Kerry Washington with writer Lawrence O’Donnell, Joni Evans, and so on. It was quite a group.

More to the point: in episode 6 fans will see something never seen before ‘ David and Seinfeld together, in a scene of improvised dialogue, riffing off each other. It’s brilliant, recalling Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. In Jerry’s comic book world, it’s like watching a match up of Batman and Superman. Seinfeld told me that was exactly right. “We approached it like a meeting of super heroes.”

What becomes clear this Sunday and even more obvious later: “Seinfeld” and “Curb” are unlike each other. What’s sort of amazing is watching how the Seinfeld Four become enmeshed in fictional Larry David’s world, or rather victimized by it. The Larry David “character” of “Curb” lies, manipulates, and maneuvers through life. We’ve never really seen him work. Now we see him trying to produce the “Seinfeld” reunion and in the process, have to deal with these actors who once starred on his hit show. (It’s very meta-meta, too, since it’s actors playing parts of actors who once played parts. Yikes!)

Already in the first two episodes this season, “Curb” has moved into a hyper gear. It’s super charged with ideas, weaving semantics throughout, exploring situational absurdities. They are literally piling on. Last week, Larry man-hugged an acquaintance reluctantly and broke the guy’s reading glasses ‘ dangling on a cord ‘ by accident. The man wants to send him a bill for repairs. A debate ensues about the hug that turns into one of many existential plays within a play.

Now David and Seinfeld add the four actors from the original show, and it’s like a quadruple ping pong match. In episode 6, Jerry and Larry (who is part Jerry and part George) are working in an office at a desk, trying to write. An absurd plot begins with their secretary, leading the men to describe each other’s strong suits and weaknesses. It’s marvelous, not to be missed. Forget “30 Rock.” This is what the Emmy was invented for. Don’t miss’ a word of it.

And P.S.: Meg Ryan ‘‘star of comedies from the late 80s and early 90s ‘ has an uncredited cameo.

“Precious” Star Mo’Nique: Publicist Quits As Actress Refuses to Cooperate

Roger Friedman
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After promising she’d be there, BET talk show host and comedienne Mo’Nique will not be attending Saturday’s New York Film Festival premiere of “Precious.” And her publicist of two weeks has just quit as well.

You may recall I wrote a story last week in which everyone connected to the film swore she’d be there. Well, it’s not happening. Cited by me and everyone else who’s seen the film as a possible Oscar nominee, Mo’Nique just doesn’t get it or doesn’t want it. She’s missed the Cannes and Toronto film festivals, and has done virtually no press for “Precious” since she appeared at the Sundance Film Festival last January.

The ostensible reason for this absence is that her BET talk show starts next week and she’s taping shows. But she’s not taping on Saturday or Sunday, so that dog doesn’t hunt. And the first show, for Monday, is in the can.

I did tell you that Mo’Nique has gotten herself a reputation for demanding money for showing up to promote “Precious.” It’s a first in Oscar history.

Last week I spoke to one of her representatives, who said, “It’s just supporting actress. It’s not lead, is it?” What the heck! It would be nice if someone close to Mo’Nique will explain her behavior soon. Otherwise, her “cinch” Oscar is about to fade away.

“Precious” will go on and be just fine without Mo’Nique. Gabby Sidibe is a likely Best Actress nominee, and Mariah Carey’s extraordinary performance as social worker Mrs. Weiss could land her in Best Supporting Actress ‘ Mariah will be thrilled with a Supporting nom.

Meanwhile, Mo’Nique’s publicist of two weeks, Tresa Sanders, has just quit. Sanders ‘ whose experience includes’Mary J. Blige and other hip hop divas ‘ came on to help Mo’Nique with her talk show and with “Precious.” She quit yesterday after trying to explain why Mo’Nique wasn’t coming to New York.

Comcast Wants NBC Cable Units; Secret Plans From 2005

Roger Friedman
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NBC for sale? You betcha. I reported it in February 2007 in my old column. You can read it here.

The fact is, the secret plans were drawn up in 2005-2006. When I published that column, Jeff Zucker was on his way in, and Bob Wright was on his way out. And now several outlets are reporting that Comcast is kicking the NBC tires. What they want, specifically, are Bravo, USA, Syfy and Oxygen — not necessarily NBC or Universal Studios.

But Comcast ‘wasn’t the only conglomerate interested ‘in NBC Universal, according to the 2005 plan. Time Warner would have come in as well to to take the film ‘portion, and kept the ‘Universal banner and Focus Features. Warners would have also gotten NBC, and assimilated NBC News and MSNBC into ‘CNN.

“If Jeff Immelt can get the money from Comcast, he’ll take it,” says an NBC insider.

There is nothing worse right now in TV land than the Jay Leno debacle on NBC. Leno, a great comedian, has been stuffed into a box without holes. He can’t breathe. The audience doesn’t want him at 10 p.m. They want hourlong dramas, and not just the ones produced by Dick Wolf. Where is the 2009 version of “Hill Street Blues,” “St. Elsewhere,” “LA Law,” “ER”? Jay’s show may be cheaper to produce, but at what cost?

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