Thursday, September 19, 2024
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“Reagan” Movie Not One for the Gipper: Opens to Just $525K, Panned By Reviewers Allowed to See It

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Ronald Reagan’s famous line in the movies was “Win one for the Gipper!” He used it as his catchphrase when he ran for president in 1980.

But the movie about Reagan is a loser for the Gipper. Last night in previews, “Reagan’ made just $525,000.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the panned film is down to just 24%.

Of course, the reviews are from the critics who’ve seen it. Only 29 reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes have filed their reports, The average is more around 100.

“Reagan” is the only movie ever distributed by a firm called ShowBiz Direct. They’ve managed to keep the movie away from most reviewers before previews and even opening day showings to avoid an avalanche of negativity.

Dennis Quaid — who’s a Trumper in real life — stars as Reagan. Other Trumpers in real life such as Jon Voight, Kevin Sorbo, and Robert Davi are also in the cast. Penelope Miller plays Nancy Reagan. The movie is directed by Sean McNamara.

“Reagan” is likely to go to VOD pretty quickly as more popular offerings will need those theaters next week.

Donald Trump So Stuck in the 1980s His Stock at An All Time Low Today of $19.84

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Donald Trump was really a man of the 80s — all greed, money, the trampling of minorities, the poor.

So it seems apropos that his Truth Social stock hit its all time low today again. Trump Media is at $19.84.

That was the height of his career as a fascist in training.

Why would anyone buy this stock? Trump is on there today squawking about Kamala, his gag order, and making up stories like crazy. It’s the best fiction site on line!

On top of that, Trump is in trouble with the US Army for staging a self aggrandizing campaign shoot at Arlington National Cemetery. The military hates him.

Let’s see low Trump Media drops by end of Friday. It’s a referendum on this dangerous creature from the black lagoon!

Telluride Film Festival Begins With Usual Surprise List, No “Megalopolis” or “Brutalist” But Plenty of Hits

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The Telluride Film Festival began today with its usual surprise list of screenings.

Not on the list: Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” or Brady Corbett’s “The Brutalist.”

But there are plenty of hits including Sean Baker’s “Anora,” and two strong Netflix entries with “The Piano Lesson” and “Emilia Perez.”

Martha Stewart is there for her documentary, “Martha,” directed by RJ Cutler.

There will also be the debut of “Saturday Night,” Jason Reitman’s retelling of the first night of “Saturday Night Live.”

Most of these films will be at the Toronto Film Festival next week.

This has been a slow year so far. Will the festivals turn it around?

Meanwhile, in Venice, there have been positive reactions to Pablo Larrain’s Maria Callas movie starring Angelina Jolie. Best Actress will be a hot category this season!

FEATURE FILM & EPISODIC WORKS

· ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (d. Payal Kapadia, France-India-Netherlands-Luxembourg, 2024)

· ANORA (d. Sean Baker, U.S., 2024)

· APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS (d. Petra Costa, Brazil-U.S.-Denmark, 2024)

· BETTER MAN (d. Michael Gracey, Australia, 2024)

· BIRD (d. Andrea Arnold, U.K., 2024)

· BLINK (d. Daniel Roher, Edmund Stenson, U.S.-Canada, 2024)

· CARVILLE: WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID! (d. Matt Tyrnauer, U.S., 2024)

· CONCLAVE (d. Edward Berger, U.K., 2024)

· DISCLAIMER (d. Alfonso Cuarón, U.K.-U.S., 2024)

· DON’T LET’S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT (d. Embeth Davidtz, South Africa, 2024)

· EMILIA PÉREZ (d. Jacques Audiard, France, 2024)

· IN WAVES AND WAR (d. Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk, U.S., 2024)

· JEAN COCTEAU (d. Lisa Immordino Vreeland, U.S., 2024)

· LEONARDO DA VINCI (d. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon, U.S., 2024)
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· MARIA (d. Pablo Larraín, Germany-Italy-U.S.-Hungary-France-Greece, 2024)

· MARTHA (d. R.J. Cutler, U.S., 2024)

· MEMOIR OF A SNAIL (d. Adam Elliot, Australia, 2024)

· MISERICORDIA (d. Alain Guiraudie, France-Spain-Portugal, 2024)

· NICKEL BOYS (d. RaMell Ross, U.S., 2024)

· NO OTHER LAND (d. Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor, Palestine-Norway, 2024)

· ONE TO ONE: JOHN & YOKO (d. Kevin Macdonald, U.K., 2024)

· PIECE BY PIECE (d. Morgan Neville, U.S., 2024)
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· SANTOSH (d. Sandhya Suri, U.K.-Germany-France, 2024)

· SATURDAY NIGHT (d. Jason Reitman, U.S., 2024)

· SEPARATED (d. Errol Morris, U.S., 2024)

· SEPTEMBER 5 (d. Tim Fehlbaum, Germany, 2024)

· SOCIAL STUDIES (d. Lauren Greenfield, U.S., 2024)

· THE END (d. Joshua Oppenheimer, Ireland-Germany-Italy-Sweden-Denmark-U.K., 2024)

· THE FRIEND (d. David Siegel, Scott McGehee, U.S., 2024)

· THE OUTRUN (d. Nora Fingscheidt, U.K.-Germany, 2024)

· THE PIANO LESSON (d. Malcolm Washington, U.S., 2024)

· THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (d. Mohammad Rasoulof, Germany-France-Iran, 2024)

· THE WHITE HOUSE EFFECT (d. Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk, Pedro Kos, U.S., 2024)

· WILL & HARPER (d. Josh Greenbaum, U.S., 2024)

· ZURAWSKI V TEXAS (d. Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault, U.S., 2024)

SHORT FILM IN MAIN PROGRAM

· A SWIM LESSON (d. Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, U.S., 2024)

· ALOK (d. Alex Hedison, U.S., 2024)

· THE TURNAROUND (d. Kyle Thrash, Ben Proudfoot, U.S., 2024)

Kenneth Lonergan, this year’s festival Guest Director, presents the following film selections:

· ARCH OF TRIUMPH (d. Lewis Milestone, U.S., 1948)

· BARRY LYNDON (d. Stanley Kubrick, U.K.-U.S., 1975)

· DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (d. David Lean, U.K.-Italy-U.S., 1965)

· GRAND HOTEL (d. Edmund Goulding, U.S., 1932)

· MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (d. John Ford, U.S., 1946)

· A SUDDEN GLIMPSE TO DEEPER THINGS (d. Mark Cousins, U.K., 2024)

· ¡CASA BONITA MI AMOR! (d. Arthur Bradford, U.S., 2024)

· CHAIN REACTIONS (d. Alexandre O. Philippe, U.S., 2024)

· HER NAME WAS MOVIOLA (d. Howard Berry, U.K., 2024)

· MADE IN ENGLAND: THE FILMS OF POWELL AND PRESSBURGER (d. David Hinton, U.K., 2024)

· NOBU (d. Matt Tyrnauer, U.S., 2024)

· RIEFENSTAHL (d. Andres Veiel, Germany, 2024)

· THE EASY KIND (d. Katy Chevigny, U.S., 2024)

UPDATED “Reagan” Movie Starring Dennis Quaid Panned, 31% Score on RT: “Communicates Very Little,” “Hamfisted,” “Disingenuous”

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Reviews are coming for “Reagan” starring Dennis Quaid as Ronald Reagan and they are not great. Rotten Tomatoes has it at just 31%. Ouch!

Ty Burr writes in the Washington Post: “The faithful for whom “Reagan” was made aren’t likely to see that it’s a hagiography as rosy and shallow as anything in a Kremlin May Day parade. As pop-culture propaganda — popaganda, if you will — the movie’s strictly for true believers. As history, it’s worthless.”

Quaid is quite good in the new horror film, “The Substance.” But as Reagan he sound horrible.

Slant Magazine says: “The film’s treatment of its subject is belligerently hamfisted, disingenuous, and incurious”

Keep refreshing…

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Opens Venice Film Fest to Muted Reviews: “Storytelling sprawls all over the place”

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Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” opens the Venice Film Festival today.

Reviews are muted. Top critics on Rotten Tomatoes from Vanity Fair, The UK Times, and other UK publications panned it.

US reviewers don’t seem to like it much, describing it as “fan service.”

Burton’s visuals are always fresh and innovative. But the story seems to leave a lot to be desired beside Jenna Ortega as Winona Ryder’s daughter confronting Michael Keaton’s character.

What worked in the first movie was the dead couple upstairs — Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis — who were squares battling the demon. This version appears to lack that juxtaposition.

I was really excited about “B2” but it may be somewhat of a letdown.

Golden Globes Get Controversial Comic for Host: Nikki Glaser Might Have Trouble Restraining Herself

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The Golden Globes are back on January 5th, 2025.

The host will be hot comic Nikki Glaser, who may have trouble restraining herself from poking fun at the crowd, or at the Globes themselves.

Glaser is very popular right now because she’s unafraid of criticism. So this should be something.

Brad Pitt-George Clooney Film “Wolfs” Off Sony Schedule, Disappears from Social Media, Ticket Systems

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“Wolfs” is premiering at the Venice Film Festival September 1st. Only problem is, it’s no longer a theatrical film.

It seems like Sony has pulled “Wolfs” from its release schedule.

It’s also not available for advance ticket sales on Fandango.

The George Clooney-Brad Pitt buddy movie was supposed to play in theaters for one week beginning September 20th before going to the Apple TV platform.

Originally it was supposed to have a longer theater run. But now it’s not going to play in theaters at all. It will just head to Apple on September 27th.

“Wolfs” seems to have gone totally wrong despite having two huge movie stars.

There’s nothing for it on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. All that remains of it on social media are the trailers on YouTube.

With less than a month to go, you’d think there would be some sign of promotion for a September 20th movie.

“Wolfs” would have marked the first non Spider Man movie directed by Jon Watts in a decade.

Trump Media Stock Falls Below 20 Bucks in Continuous Drop Following Arlington Cemetery Altercation, Re-indictment

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Donald Trump’s Trump Media stock broke the $20 mark this morning, falling below that crucial marker. Trump is now involved in having had an altercation at Arlington National Cemetery where his staff got into a fight with their during a wreath laying event. Trump was also re-indicted by Special Prosecutor Jack Smith yesterday. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris’s campaign is soaring. Keep refreshing…

Barron Trump May Be Going to Cornell’s Dyson School: Named for GOP Super Donor, Donald Trump-Rudy Giuliani Crony

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EXCLUSIVE Almost all college students are on campus for the fall session this week.

But one is missing: Barron Trump. The 18 year old has yet to turn up anywhere. A lot of people are asking questions. It’s hard to hide a 6 foot 7 inch young man and his Secret Service attachment.

The strong betting is on Cornell University in upstate Ithaca, New York. This is an excellent spot to stash someone you want to get out of the way. Unless students sell him out, Barron would be safe from much scrutiny in Ithaca. If he were to go to school in Manhattan, however, it would be a press free-for-all.

Why Cornell especially? The word on social media is that Barron would go to the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management.

According to the Cornell website “Today,” the Dyson School is internationally renowned for its expertise in food and agricultural economics, management, environmental and resource economics, and international and development economics.”

It’s not an actual school, but a part of the  Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. It was born with a $25 million donation from John Dyson (class of 1965) in 2010, who named it in honor of his father.

Dyson, a rabid Republican, is former chairman of the New York Power Authority. How devoted is he to the GOP? This year alone Dyson — who also owns a winery — has donated $500,000 to the Senate Leadership Fund PAC, a Republican super fund. John Dyson named the school after his late father, Charles, who donated $5,000 to Cornell in 1962 to get him started.

Dyson has donated millions to Republican causes and candidates. On December 29, 2020 he gave $350,000 to the Georgia Victory Fund, which pushed the Big Lie about voting in that state, and supported then Senator Kelly Loeffler. She lost to now-Senator, Democrat Raphael Warnock in 2021. On December 9, 2020– three weeks before Dyson’s massive donation — Loeffler refused in her debate with Warnock to admit Donald Trump had lost the election.

Dyson is now chairman of Millbrook Capital Management. But he’s also a crony of Rudy Giuliani. From 1994 to 1996 he was one of Rudy’s deputy mayors. From 1996 to 2002, Dyson held a part-time position of Chairman of the Mayor’s Council of Economic Advisors.

During his short time as deputy mayor, Dyson got into trouble in The Bond Buyer– according to the New York Times — for using the word “watermelon” in discussing whether to hire a company owned by a black woman to market New York City’s bonds. He said, the city’s Comptroller “ought to know the difference between a bid and a watermelon.”

Dyson, of course, apologized the next day.His critics were skeptical. He said: “If someone takes this as a racial comment, I’m sorry for that. I apologize for anybody who felt that. I think my record of 20 years in public life shows that I’m not racially motivated one way or the other.”

But according to the Times, earlier in 1994, Dyson got into trouble from a memo he’d written to Rudy and Deputy Mayor Peter J. Powers after a newspaper article asked whether they were capable of running a diverse city. “Do not worry,” he wrote. “Two white guys have been running this city of immigrants for over 200 years.”

Who better to make sure Barron is protected and isolated from controversy during his college years than John Dyson? Barron, get your number 2 pencils and three hole punch ready. Cornell is waiting.

Hamptons: Vance Arrives with 30 Vehicle Parade, Emhoff and Clinton Quietly Raise $1.5 Million

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Every politician wants Hamptons money.

Not from the celebrities, but from the Wall Street gang and old money crowd.

On Sunday, I got a call from people leaving the Hamptons that a gigantic cavalcade of black cars, helicopters, motorcycles and and even a helicopter were causing a scene coming into Southampton on Route 27.

That was blowhard JD Vance, making a spectacle of himself heading into a fundraiser thrown by Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets.

“You can’t believe what’s going on here,” my friends said. “Thirty cars! Everything is stopped!”

Meanwhile, very subtly, soon to be First Gentleman Doug Emhoff and former President William Jefferson Clinton were welcomed to a private estate in Sag Harbor last night.

Spies tell me Emhoff and Clinton made for a fun tag team, taking pictures with lots of well heeled locals after making erudite speeches. Emhoff called his wife, Kamala Harris, “a joyful warrior.” Clinton joked that he’d much prefer to be First Gentleman than President.

Hillary Clinton, who was on the invitation, demurred after testing positive with COVID.

Organizers expected to net $750,000. They wound up taking in twice as much, $1.5 million.

No celebrities, per se. But Clinton’s small team included Hillary’s chief, Huma Abedin. “She was a like a ghost,” said a source. “But she was watching.”

Emhoff is getting high marks on the road, charming audiences. The other candidate’s spouse, Melania Trump, is even more of a cypher however. She may be packing up Barron’s trunk for his college stay, which most now say is Cornell University in upstate Ithaca. He has to be stashed somewhere. More to come… Look for Melania to be a regular visitor in Ithaca!