Tuesday, October 1, 2024
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Disaster: James Franco’s Times Talk Cancelled as Accusations of Sexual Misconduct Heat Up on Social Media

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Wednesday night’s live Times Talk with “Disaster Artist” star and director James Franco and his brother, actor Dave Franco, has been cancelled.

Franco just won a Golden Globe Award for playing off beat real life loser filmmaker Tommy Wiseau. On the Globes broadcast he brought Wiseau up on stage but then cut him off from speaking. That didn’t win him any new fans. I thought it was unsuual for Franco, who is usually very generous to other actors. But maybe he knew best in that situation.

Still, there have been rumors for weeks that Franco was going to be caught up in the recent tsunami of accusations against actors regarding sexual conduct. And sure enough, on Twitter during the Globes, actress Ally Sheedy Tweeted her surprise that Franco was being rewarded with a statue given his history. She deleted it, but enough people captured the comment to make noise.

And then within minutes another actress, Violet Paley, Tweeted “Cute TIMESUP pin James Franco. Remember the time you pushed my head down in a car towards your exposed penis & that other time you told my friend to come to your hotel when she was 17? After you had already been caught doing that to a different 17 year old?”

True or not, Paley’s Tweet instigated an avalanche of accusations. Now the Times Talk has been cancelled– a mistake, I fear, because it sends a signal of guilt. Of course, Franco does have one– just one– episode in his recent past in which he wound up texting an underage girl. He explained it by saying he obviously didn’t understand how old she was.

Unlike a lot of the alleged sexual predators of recent note, James Franco comes from a close knit, solid nuclear family. I actually knew his grandmother. His late father was a lovely guy who died much too young and suddenly from a widowmaker heart attack. His mother is a writer and very cool. So all of this seems hard to believe, and I guess we’ll have to see how it all plays out. It would be a real shame if a very good career was tarnished here for no reason.

Box Office: China Opening for “Last Jedi” Half Off Mark of “Force Awakens” at $27 Mil

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WITH SPOILERS

“The Last Jedi” just doesn’t catch a break.

The Rian Johnson directed “Star Wars” eighth episode came in 2nd last weekend when it opened in China. The final take was $27.8 million.

That was  just about 50% off of the China opening weekend for “The Force Awakens.” That film started with over $52 million and went on to make $124 million total in China.

At this rate, “The Last Jedi” can look for maybe $60 million in China. That’s far off what was expected.

Historians will look back at “The Last Jedi” with some interesting theories. Do you give the people what they want and expect? Or do you just follow your own plan and say to hell with it?  Johnson delivered a good film but with a lot of downers for the ending. And the audience responded in kind.

Tina Turner, Queen, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris Among Grammy Award Lifetime Achievement Honors

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The Grammy Awards have announced their Lifetime Achievement Awards honorees.

They include Tina Turner, Queen, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, The Meters, the legendary Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine, and the late jazz great Louis Jordan.

Trustee Awards are going to Sire Records founder Seymour Stein, and the late great concert promoter Bill Graham, of Fillmore West fame.

The awards will be presented at a concert next summer which will hopefully be broadcast in the fall. Last year’s show was a huge success.

“This year’s Special Merit Awards recipients are a prestigious group of diverse and influential creators who have crafted or contributed to some of the most distinctive recordings in music history,” said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. “These exceptionally inspiring figures are being honored as legendary performers, creative architects, and technical visionaries.”

There are no accidents in life, by the way. Tina Turner is coming with a Broadway show soon. Queen has a Freddie Mercury biopic set for the fall.

Extra special kudos to Seymour Stein, who gave us the Ramones, the Talking Heads, the Pretenders, Madonna, and even Plastic Bertrand!

 

 

Movie Music Is in the Air: Phillip Glass Scores with “Jane,” Watch Andra Day, Common Perform Oscar-Buzzed Song on “Colbert”

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 Movie music is in the air.

DIANE WARREN: Andra Day and Common performed “Stand Up for Something” last night on Stephen Colbert. The song by Diane Warren is nominated for the Grammy and SHOULD be an Oscar nominee as well. Check it out.

 

PHILIP GLASS: Count red Hollywood hot Director/Writer J.J.  Abrams (and Angelina Jolie who brought her kids to the LA Hollywood Bowl premiere) as devout fans of “Jane,” the National Geographic’s mesmerizing documentary awards contender, directed by Brett Morgen. The film, about the trailblazer conservationist Jane Goodall, is receiving kudos worldwide.  Abrams recently hosted a screening/reception in LA.  J.J. is also a huge fan of the score by legendary composer and three time Oscar Nominee Philip Glass, who at 80 years old has never brought home the golden statue. This hopeful nomination would mark the first time that a documentary score has been nominated.  Music lovers are still peeved that the esteemed Glass did not win for his work in the acclaimed “The Hours.”  So he’s overdue to win now.  Academy, you listening?

Check out an abbreviated one minute and 19 seconds sample of Glass’s glorious score: 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=12KPzQq2FyDYU1pYLs7krLGys8fDrkGEH

Dylan Farrow Continues to Attack Woody Allen Despite HER Brother Disagreeing and Mia Farrow’s Brother in Jail for Child Molestation

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Dylan Farrow continues to attack filmmaker Woody Allen, who co-adopted her with Mia Farrow in the 1980s.

This is despite the fact that Mia Farrow’s brother, John, is serving a 10 year sentence in prison in Maryland for sexually abusing two underage boys. Dylan is using Twitter as a screed for “victims.” But she has never once addressed the victims of her uncle, the real criminal in her family.

Dylan also ignores the statements of her brother Moses Farrow, also adopted by Woody and Mia. Moses Farrow, a therapist and photographer. From Moses’s story: Moses believes that in no way did Woody sexually abuse Dylan. The molestation accusation against Woody was “calculated. Mia had a judge who seemed sympathetic to her case, she found a lawyer who helped craft her arguments, she used her influence as a mother over her own children and used it to gain favor in the media.”

Dylan’s blindly loyal fans refuse to read Moses’s statement posted this week. They also fail to see that three of the children Mia Farrow adopted are now dead. Dylan’s followers are like Trump supporters. They cherry pick their facts. It’s pretty interesting that Mia cut Moses off when he finally broke ranks and spoke to Woody Allen. His point of view or memories didn’t count. The Farrows deny Moses’s reality– and he’s a trained therapist.

 

BAFTA Nominations: Exclude Lady Bird, The Post, Get Out, But Honor Call Me, Dunkirk, Darkest Hour, Shape of Water, 3 Billboards

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BAFTA– the British Academy–has announced their nominees. They totally snubbed The Post and the very British Victoria and Abdul. They are gone. They also excluded Lady Bird from Best Picture, But remember these are British awards.

 

Best Supporting Actor

Alison Janney

Kristin Scott Thomas

Laurie Metcalf

Lesley Manville

Octavia Spencer

Best Supporting Actor

Christopher Plummer

Hugh Grant

Sam Rockwell

Willem Dafoe

Woody Harrelson

 

Original Screenplay

Call Me By Your Name

Death of Stalin

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool

Mollys Game

Paddington 2

 

Original Screenplay

Get Out

I Tonya

Lady Bird

Shape of Water

Three Billboards

 

Best Directors

Denis Villeneuve

Luca Guadgnini

Christopher Nolan

Guillermo del Toro

Martin McDonagh

 

Best Actress

Annette Bening

Frances McDormand

Margot Robbie

Sally Hawkins

Saorise Ronan

 

Best Actor

Daniel Day Lewis

Daniel  Kaluuya

Gary Oldman

Jamie Bell

Timothee Chalamet

 

Best Picture

Call Me By Your Name

Darkest Hour

Dunkirk

Shape of Water

Three Billboards

Exclusive: Paris Hilton In Love, Engaged, Planning Wedding, Aiming for 1st Baby, Has Named Picked Out

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There is no one more fun, or slyly smarter than Paris Hilton. I’ve known her and her family– dad Rick, mom Kathy, superstar sister Nicky– a long time. So it was a real treat on Sunday night after all the Golden Globe parties to run into Kathy, Paris, and Paris’s fiancee Chris Zylka at where else?– the Beverly Hilton– as I was coming and they were going home.

They were accompanied by a few friends including the great rock and roll PR man Elliott Mintz, who is the premier John Lennon exit, is ever faithful to the legendary Yoko One, and once repped both Bob Dylan and Diana Ross.

Kathy looks sensational and she is now a grandmother to Nicky’s two children. I know Kathy’s sisters are famous to reality show fans, but this grandma is the leader of the pack– very funny and full of adventure. Of course, she’s helping Paris plan her wedding to Zylka, who will star this year opposite Jessica Chastain and Kit Harrington in Xavier Dolan’s “The Life and Death of John Donovan.”

Paris and Chris are in love. Look at the pictures I snapped at 1am. “We haven’t been apart yet for more than three  hours at a time,” Paris declared. She is radiant.

So when is the wedding? “This year,”she said. “And I swear, we will have baby by the end of the year. I’m ready!”

She’s also got a named picked out. “The first one will be called London,” she said. “Boy or girl.” What if she has twins? “If it’s a girl we’ll call her…Paris!”

And what was on the agenda for Monday? “I’m flying to Chicago to close a major deal,” she said. “People think I’m an airhead, but I’ve got [dozens of lines] of jewelry and perfume.” She laughed. “They don’t know what to do.”

So hold on: 2018 is the year of Paris Hilton. And that will be fun!

 

photos c2018 Showbiz411

 

Golden Globes Get Respect at Last with Oprah, Elisabeth Moss Finally Arrives, Drake Deejays for Free

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It was a most unusual Golden Globes ceremony. The Hollywood Foreign Press is struggling to mature and be respected. Now at last thanks to Oprah Winfrey they achieved a modicum of respect. When Oprah spoke, the room fell silent. Michelle Williams’ guest for the evening, Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, literally burst into sobs. Williams and actress America Ferrara comforted her while Oprah continued. Laura Dern rushed over to help.

What I thought made the Globes look even better was this: Best Foreign Film went not to Angelina Jolie for her very good “First They Killed My Father” but to the German film “In the Fade” starring Diane Kruger. In the old days the HFPA would made sure a celebrity of Jolie’s stature would go home with a statue. This was quite a turnabout. The HFPA still has some old kooky members hanging around (it’s like after a dictatorship has fallen– some members still think HFPA means KGB). But leaps were made Sunday night.

Meantime, people met each other for the first time. Old friends celebrated. At the “Will and Grace” table, the whole cast raised glasses and clinked each time the show lost. At the “Stranger Things” table, Millie Bobby Brown– who’s become a beautiful young teen– clowned around with cast mate David Harbour after she lost, getting him to take pictures of her with a short stemmed rose in her mouth, very “Carmen.”

Allison Janney, looking dazed, accepted kudos as she made her way to the ladies’ room. Janney beat Laurie Metcalf for Best Supporting Actress in a comedy. There’s an irony there– Janney was  denied a Tony nomination last spring for her Broadway debut in “Six Degrees of Separation.” The winner last spring was Laurie Metcalf, for “A Doll’s House Pt. 2.” Now they will go up against each other for the Oscar. Stay tuned…

Nick Jonas and brother Joe Jonas had a jolly time. Once he lost, “Get Out” star Daniel Kaluuya looked like a huge weight was off him. “Now I’m having fun!” he declared. Justin Timberlake  and Jessica Biel were having  a ball. I told Justin I’d taken his instructions seriously about playing his new singe “Filthy” loud. “Right?” he said. “It sounds great loud!”

Later the parties took off like crazy. HBO celebrated big wins for “Big Little Lies” with Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Reese Witherspoon. At the Fox party, Best Actress in a Drama winner Elisabeth Moss pulled her cast out onto a landing to grab a cigarette. It was a big win for Moss. “I never won for playing Peggy [on Mad Men].” She didn’t win an Emmy for Peggy, either. She deserves it (and really, this is one Scientologist who I don’t get into it with– she’s never proselytizing and we don’t discuss it). She introduced me to her posse of terrific ladies.  Then the one time Peggy Olson said, “Come on, let’s get in there dance!”

And dancing is exactly what was happening at the chic Netflix party at the fancy shmancy new Waldorf Astoria, just built next to the Beverly Hilton. Up on the top floor, none other than Drake decided to deejay for a couple of hours. The place went wild. The room we were in was all red. Live arms stuck out of a curtained wall offering Champagne flutes and desserts from white gloved hands. They  were still going strong at 2 am.

 

photo c2018 Showbiz411

 

Complete List of Golden Globe Winners: Is “Three Billboards” the Oscar Winner? Not So Fast

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Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards” won Best Film-Drama last night at the GoldenGlobes. Each of that film’s actors– Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell–won awards as well as McDonagh for screenplay. Is it now the defacto Oscar winner? I’ll have more to say shortly but the answer for now is “no.”

Movies

Best Motion Picture – Drama
“Call Me by Your Name”
“Dunkirk”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” *WINNER
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
“The Disaster Artist”
“Get Out”
“The Greatest Showman”
“I, Tonya”
“Lady Bird” *WINNER
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jessica Chastain, “Molly’s Game”
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” *WINNER
Meryl Streep, “The Post”
Michelle Williams, “All the Money in the World”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Tom Hanks, “The Post”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour” *WINNER
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Judi Dench, “Victoria & Abdul”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird” *WINNER
Emma Stone, “Battle of the Sexes”
Helen Mirren, “The Leisure Seeker”
Best Director
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water” *WINNER
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk”
Ridley Scott, “All The Money in the World”
Steven Spielberg, “The Post”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Steve Carell, “Battle of the Sexes”
Ansel Elgort, “Baby Driver”
James Franco, “The Disaster Artist” *WINNER
Hugh Jackman, “The Greatest Showman”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Hong Chau, “Downsizing”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya” *WINNER
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Armie Hammer, “Call Me by Your Name”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” *WINNER
Best Original Score in a Motion Picture
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
“The Shape of Water” *WINNER
“Phantom Thread”
“The Post”
“Dunkirk”
Best Original Song in a Motion Picture
“Home,” “Ferdinand”
“Mighty River,” “Mudbound”
“Remember Me,” “Coco”
“The Star,” “The Star”
“This Is Me,” “The Greatest Showman” *WINNER
Best Screenplay in a Motion Picture
“The Shape of Water”
“Lady Bird”
“The Post”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” *WINNER
“Molly’s Game”
Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language
“A Fantastic Woman”
“First They Killed My Father”
“In the Fade” *WINNER
“Loveless”
“The Square”
Best Animated Film
“The Boss Baby”
“The Breadwinner”
“Ferdinand”
“Coco” *WINNER
“Loving Vincent”

TV

Best TV series – Drama
“The Crown”
“Game of Thrones”
“The Handmaid’s Tale” *WINNER
“Stranger Things”
“This Is Us”
Best performance by Actress in a TV series – Drama
Caitriona Balfe, “Outlander”
Claire Foy, “The Crown”
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Deuce”
Katherine Langford, “13 Reasons Why”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale” *WINNER
Best performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Drama
Sterling K. Brown, “This is Us” *WINNER
Freddie Highmore, “The Good Doctor”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”
Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Best TV series – Musical or Comedy
“Black-ish”
“Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” *WINNER
“Master of None”
“SMILF”
“Will & Grace”
Best performance by an Actor in a TV series – Musical or Comedy
Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”
Aziz Ansari “Master of None” *WINNER
Kevin Bacon, “I Love Dick”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Eric McCormack, “Will and Grace”
Best performance by an Actress in a TV series – Musical or Comedy
Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”
Alison Brie, “Glow”
Issa Rae, “Insecure”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” *WINNER
Frankie Shaw, “SMILF”
Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
“Big Little Lies” *WINNER
“Fargo”
“Feud: Bette and Joan”
“The Sinner”
“Top of the Lake: China Girl”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Robert De Niro, “The Wizard of Lies”
Jude Law, “The Young Pope”
Kyle MacLachlan, “Twin Peaks”
Ewan McGregor, “Fargo” *WINNER
Geoffrey Rush, “Genius”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jessica Biel, “The Sinner”
Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies” *WINNER
Jessica Lange, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Susan Sarandon, “Feud: Bette and Joan”
Reese Witherspoon, “Big Little Lies”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Alfred Molina, “Feud”
Alexander Skarsgard, “Big Little Lies” *WINNER
David Thewlis, “Fargo”
David Harbour, “Stranger Things”
Christian Slater, “Mr. Robot”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies” *WINNER
Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Chrissy Metz, “This is Us”
Michelle Pfeiffer, “The Wizard of Lies”
Shailene Woodley, “Big Little Lies”

Globes Saturday Night: Marvel Super Heroines Are It Girls, CAA Still Partying, Kit Harrington Stalked in NY, Liev Arrives Late

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Despite protestations, the Golden Globes threw off enough heat for dozens of parties Saturday night in Hollywood. Everyone’s wearing black — it’s like the Beatles song, “Baby’s in black, and I’m feeling blue” except not so much…

For example, tonight the big talent agency CAA is having its annual bash at the Sunset Tower Hotel after the show. Wait– didn’t they cancel that party? No. They canceled their pre-Globes party on Friday night, which was like an appetizer to the banquet. No, despite #MeToo and #TimesUp, CAA will rock on beginning at 8pm. I did ask someone there about this. “We made a big donation to TimesUp,” they said. So the actresses who were angry with CAA over reports that they aided and abetted some misconduct will likely show up at the Big Party tonight, with their political activist companions. Hollywood soldiers on.

Elsewhere: Showtime insisted to me that they were not having any kind of bash — they only have 5 GG noms, none for my beloved “Billions” — and only one for “Twin Peaks: The Return” — which cost $58 million and no one watched. But they partied on not so stealthily at Sunset Towers (yes, this is party central) in the big event space with some of their stars. Liev Schreiber, caught in the snow in NY and then rattled around by Delta Airlines all day (he Tweeted about it), didn’t show up til 10:30pm. The party was over. The party they weren’t having. One report said they were sweeping up when he arrived.

“Game of Thrones” star Kit Harrington showed — looking no worse the wear after his NY bar dust up– up among dozens of stars for Sean Penn‘s annual Haiti fundraiser at Milk Studios. James Taylor performed a few songs, Leonardo DiCaprio‘s mom came to see him get an honorific, Brad Pitt looked like a movie star and was very accessible. I asked him, “Are you going to be around tomorrow?” He replied: “Yes, I am.” I meant at the Globes. He seemed like I was asking if he wanted to hang out. But he is not going to the Globes since his two ex wives will be there– Angelina and Jennifer. Brad, I wish I could hang out with you, but I have to go to the Globes! (I’m sure he’ll find some pals to watch the show with!)

MOST FUN SATURDAY: The W magazine annual It Girl lunch hosted by Lynn Hischberg and Stefano Tonchi at AOC Restaurant. Among the guests were my old friends Tracee Ellis Ross (now of “Blackish” fame) and Abigail Spencer of “Timeless” (back on NBC). It was great to see them. Every year Lynn and her team find the best and brightest women in town — also most attractive. And every year they seat me with a hot group. This year three of the four ladies I was “assigned” to are connected to Marvel: Olivia Holt from “Cloak and Dagger,” Alexandra Shipp from “X Men” movies, and Chloe Bennett from “Agents of SHIELD.” (Our fourth was the delightful Maika Monroe.)

So I asked them all the same question: are you disappointed you can’t use your super powers in real life? The answer from all three was “Yes!” Chloe Bennett said she forget she wasn’t her character, Skye.  “I was mugged– or a guy tried to mug me last week in West Hollywood and take my phone. I just got real big, like a bear, and started screaming at him like I was an Agent of SHIELD. He actually got scared and jumped back in his van! It was crazy. I’ll never do that again!”