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The Lynch Mob Mentality Turns Against Meryl Streep, For No Reason: She Knew Nothing About Harvey Weinstein’s Scandals

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The lynch mob mentality has now turned against Meryl Streep. The Hollywood Reporter has this picture up, apparently someone’s making these posters that say “She knew.”

Uh, she knew nothing. Not only did she say so, but it’s true.

I wonder if this is Trump-related, since Meryl made her famous speech last year at the Golden Globes. Could Trump people be behind this? Oh yes, definitely.

Meryl Streep, like other actors, made movies at Miramax and The Weinstein Company. Like 90% of those actors, she knew nothing about what was going on. She went to the set, and made the films. She did the publicity. That’s it. I’ve no doubt if she’d known what had happened to Rose McGowan, Annabella Sciorra or anyone else, Streep would have spoken out and stopped making movies with Harvey Weinstein.

Rose McGowan has turned into a warrior, and a spokesperson, which is great. But with that comes a certain power and responsibility. Maybe it’s time to take a look at that, as well.

In UK, Two BBC Documentary Teams Racing to Be First with Harvey Weinstein Expose Film

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Britain’s BBC is falling over itself to cash-in on what it perceives as a boom industry in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

And Britain’s financially hard-pressed public – who fund the BBC – are having to pick up the very expensive filmmaking tab for the BBC’s fixation!

No less than two separate documentaries about Weinstein are being made by the BBC with two rival filmmaking teams jostling and competing to snap up exclusive interviews with former friends, colleagues, associates and alleged victims.

Just announced today there is a 90-minute film to be directed by Ursula MacFarlane, whose credits include One Deadly Weekend in America and Charlie Hebdo: Three Days That Shook Paris, and produced by Lightbox, the company founded by Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn (Man on Wire, Searching for Sugar Man) and Emmy Award-winning Jonathan Chinn (LA 92, Fantastic Lies). This film is being targeted for a brief theatrical release in order to qualify for Oscar consideration – followed by TV airings in the UK and US.

But I can reveal exclusively that the BBC’s filmmakers are already squabbling among themselves because a completely different division of the BBC – its “News & Current Affairs Department” – is also making a documentary about Weinstein via its long-running (since 1953) investigative documentary show “Panorama.”  The Panorama documentary – which has not yet been officially announced – is being produced in conjunction with PBS Frontline who will air the show in the US. It’s  being made by a young producer/director named Jane McMullen who has just two TV films credited under her own name – one about North Korea and one about Brexit.

In time-honored BBC style both films are promising to be fearlessly independent, free of any temptations to exploit the story in tabloid style and state that they won’t be starting out with any pre-set conclusions about Weinstein.  As can be told by words about Harvey Weinstein in the press releases and pitch letters being sent to would-be participants: “disgraced, sexual assault, rape, harassment, abuses of power, complicity, corrosive effects of power, impunity and exploitation”
So – no rush to judgement then, just a rush to be first!  The Panorama team hopes to premiere their film first – in April.  The Lightbox film will be later in 2018.  And I’m told the Lightbox team are mighty upset that the Panorama team will beat them to the punch and arguments have already broken out at the publicly-funded BBC about the competing films and the high costs of having two sets of BBC documentary-makers in the US on taxpayer money chasing the same story.

Review: Infamously Re-Shot “All the Money in the World” Is Better Without Kevin Spacey: Actor’s Sex Scandal Is Silver Lining After All

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I hate to say it, but the Golden Globes were right: Christopher Plummer deserves nominations for Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World.” He shot 22 scenes in 9 days, replacing Kevin Spacey, and is so good that he will up end the Best Supporting Actor race not only for the Globes but the Oscars as well.

It turns out that Spacey’s sex scandal had a silver lining. Plummer is absolutely right for a role that would have been campy in Spacey’s hands.

This movie about the 1973 kidnapping of J. Paul Getty III turns out to be the year end surprise, a devastating thriller and a winner for Sony Pictures’ Tri Star. Scott shows once again his masterful hand by making a movie twice– twice, think of it! He had to call everyone back and match up what he thought was finished material. There’s only two times that it looks fake, but no faker than anything else we’ve ever seen. Otherwise, “All the Money in the World” is kind of a miracle.

Time here to tell you that this is Michelle Williams’s best work ever. She plays Gail Getty, ex wife of loser J Paul II (Andrew Buchan, brilliant job). Cut off from the Getty money, Gail becomes the hero of the kidnapping story, doing everything to get her son back from a series of kidnappers who eventually, infamously, cut off the teenager’s ear for ransom money. Mark Wahlberg has taken the smart role of his career as Fletcher Chase, a security expert who works for Getty but helps Gail in her quest.

And oh the ransom– this is like the great comedy “Ruthless People,” in which Bette Midler is taken and Danny DeVito demands from the kidnappers.  J Paul Getty didn’t want to pay the original $17 million demand, and didn’t: without the ear, Paul (Getty III) is only worth $4 million tops. The billionaire grandfather — the richest man in the world– contributes a puny $1 million while claiming poverty and buying rare art work worth far more.

Scott and screenwriter David Scarpa deserve a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay as they’ve narrowed the book by John Pearson to a well oiled machine. We can read the book for more information about the Gettys and all the other factors that played parts in this greedy family’s life. Indeed, the Gettys went on after this. Paul, without his ear, went on to have a child at age 19, the actor we know as Balthazar Getty, who is now 42. (All of Balthazar’s personal problems could be explained and excused by this movie.)

Scott and Scarpa have really constructed a beautiful piece here that never stops being involving. And a lot of that is due to Michelle Williams. She’s fully immersed here, and again, mesmerizing. Kudos also to Charlie Plummer (no relation to Christopher) as Paul, and Romain Duris as the only sympathetic kidnapper.

Does “All the Money in the World” go in Best Picture? Yes, maybe. And that shakes up a list that — by me–is The Post, Dunkirk, Lady Bird, Shape of Water, Darkest Hour, 3 Billboards, The Big Sick, Call Me By Your Name, and this would be number 9. For now. It all depends on getting out screeners and getting voters into screenings. As fae as Williams goes, I’d put her into supporting. Laurie Metcalf and Allison Janney, the leaders so far in that category, will want to knee cap her when they see this performance! (They could call in Tonya Harding for help.)

 

Donald Trump First President Since Harry Truman Not to Give Out Medal of Freedom Awards

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As the year draws to an end, Donald Trump has scored many firsts as president of the United States. Most of them are bad, unprecedented, and unbecoming to the office.

But there is one glaring difference between Trump so far and the last 70 years’ worth of presidents. Trump has not awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Medal of Freedom was established by Harry Truman in 1945. Dwight Eisenhower was less enthusiastic (he gave out a handful). But in 1961 John F. Kennedy revived the medal, and every president since then– even Richard Nixon– handed out annual medals in a ceremony.

Gerald Ford was only president for two years, but he awarded 28 different people with the Medal of Honor.

Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush held annual ceremonies.

Bill Clinton was a big fan of the Medal of Freedom, and so was George W. Bush. It didn’t matter which political office was in power. Honorees cut across parties. They came from the arts, sciences, sports, business and politics.

President Obama really loved the Medal of Freedom.

Ford said: The Presidential Medal of Freedom recognizes individuals who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, or to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

But Trump has so divided the country and devalued arts and sciences, 2017 marks the first time there have been no Presidential medals of freedom.

Indeed, the entire remaining Presidential arts and humanities council left over from President Obama resigned last summer after Trump’s incendiary comments about the Charlottesville protests.

Additionally, the White House website– www.whitehouse.gov– has no section for the arts, humanities, or sciences. The original Presidential arts and humanities council was established by Ronald Reagan in 1982. But of course, if Trump announced such a council, no one would join it except Scott Baio and Ted Nugent. And to whom would they give awards? Trump has evinced no interest in any kind of arts during his entire life– with the exception of golf.

 

Disney May Not Be Thrilled with Scientology Using Their Typeface, Artwork on Party Invites

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Fantasia-disneyscreencaps.com-2363Disney– in the process of buying Fox– may have some other things to worry about. A Scientology group in Orlando, Florida used their type face– called Waltfont–and other art images specific to Disney on invitation to cult members.

Some people may think of Disney as its own cult, but the different kind. With Disney you pay a lot of money and just have a good time– as opposed to Scientology, as well documented by now in books and on TV.

For the “Orlando Ideal Org,” the group sent out an invite that looks just like something official from the Mouse House. waltograph-font-3-original The Disney type face– which was based on Walt Disney’s signature– is trademarked but versions of it exist all over the web for free. The one pictured to the right is called Waltograph.

Still, it’s probably not a good idea for Scientology, which has the opposite values of Disney, to make materials that suggest they have something to do with the family friendly company. Indeed, Scientology is known for separating families to the point where they’re not allowed to speak to each other. scientology disney looking adPlus, Disney World is in Orlando, and the company may not be thrilled if this causes confusion.

 

 

You’ll Never Guess Which Fleetwood Mac Star is Raking in Big $$$ from a Car Commercial

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All of a sudden, a certain song is being played on TV seemingly all the time. It’s on the radio, too. It makes you think of Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold at WallyWorld and has the cheesy nostalgia of the 80s.

The commercials are for Honda, for all their vehicles. And the song is annoying to the point where I was trying to remember what it was and who wrote it.

So you’ll never guess which member of Fleetwood Mac is responsible for giving us a simpering jingle called “Holiday Road” from the movie “National Lampoon Vacation” franchise. Why it’s Lindsey Buckingham. Seriously. Lindsey Buckingham.

It’s hard to believe that the man who wrote so many great songs for that esteemed group also created this hideous earwig. It’s even more unbelievable when you realize he wrote the truly great song “Go Your Own Way” which is now being used for a pharmaceutical commercial. In other words, Buckingham is making HUGE bucks right now off of TV commercials.

When Fleetwood Mac is honored by MusiCares next month in New York, we’ll have to ask him about this.

Milstein Properties Says Lincoln Plaza Will Be Renovated and Restored as a Theater

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At the end of last week there was a big uproar that Milstein Properties — owned by Howard Milstein– would end the 30 year lease of Lincoln Plaza movie theaters at 62nd and Broadway. Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, run by Toby and Dan Talbot, had been in business at that site since 1981. (Prior to that, the “real” Lincoln Plaza Cinema, known as Cinema Studios, was a few blocks north on West 66th St. Woody Allen featured it in “Annie Hall.” It’s where he pulls Marshall McLuhan out of the line.) The Talbots have a long, important history in showing indie films on the Upper West Side.

cinema studiosNow Deadline is reporting that Milstein plans to shut down, renovate and restore the theaters. But Milstein doesn’t say if he’s giving it back to the Talbots for independent films or letting someone else run it or whatever. I think the Milsteins panicked when their names and pictures suddenly became public. There have been so many cases of landlords shutting businesses and mollifying protesters by saying they’d come back later. It rarely happens.

Here’s the Milstein statement, according to Deadline: “Milstein Properties built 30 Lincoln Plaza in 1978, we are long-term members of this community and have played a central role in nurturing this special theater. There is vital structural work needed to repair and waterproof the plaza surrounding the building that cannot be completed while the space is in use, and will begin now that the cinema’s lease has expired. At the completion of this work, we expect to re-open the space as a cinema that will maintain its cultural legacy far into the future.”

Who knows what will happen? I’ll believe it when I see it. I remember when the guy who bought the famed Cedar Tavern on University Place said that. It’s a nail salon now.

For old times’ sake (shot in the lobby of the old Cinema Studios– it’s a Century 21 clothing store now):

Ed Sheeran’s Grammy Revenge: He Has the Top Three Singles on iTunes, and Number 7 as Well

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Ed Sheeran was snubbed big time by the Grammy Awards, which gave him one nomination and omitted him from Album, Record, and Song of the Year.

So karma is a bitch. Right now, Sheeran has the top three singles on iTunes. He also has number 7. Success speaks volumes.

The number 1 single is Eminem’s “River” which is really Ed’s “River” with Em rapping all over it. But it’s his song.

Numbers 2, 3, and 7 are all “Perfect”: the original single, the Andrea Bocelli symphonic version, and then the duet with Beyonce.

Sheeran’s Grammy snub, like the one a couple of years ago for Justin Timberlake, will go down in the annals of bone headed moves. But Sheeran can just laugh it off.

 

Actor Jason Priestley Deletes Tweets Claiming He Hit Harvey Weinstein at a Hollywood Party in 1995

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UPDATE: Priestley writes extensively about his very bad drinking problem in his 2014 memoir. He’s been in and out of rehab, crashed cars, been arrested. If the Weinstein episode did occur, it is NOT even alluded to in the memoir. So, please.

EARLIER Just to catch you up: overnight, “Beverly Hills 90210” actor Jason Priestley claimed he “punched Harvey Weinstein in the face” in a series of Tweets. The incident occurred, he said, in 1995 at the Miramax Golden Globes party. Priestley thought he was being removed from the party. When he queried Weinstein, the movie mogul said he didn’t have to leave and that they should talk about. That’s when Priestley took a swing at Weinstein, he says.

The Tweets have now been removed. They exist only in archive and re-Tweets. But think about it: why was Priestley being asked to leave the party in the first place? And if Weinstein told him it wasn’t so, why did Priestley hit him? It makes no sense.

Weinstein’s been revealed to have done terrible things to women. But some of these subsidiary stories don’t make sense. Someone named Tara Strong started this on Twitter, saying she thought maybe Weinstein had hurt Priestley’s career as retribution. Really? Jason Priestley was a middling TV actor. His claim to fame was “Beverly Hills 90210.” He was never really in movies, and certainly not in the category of Miramax actors. So let’s get a grip here. Brandon Walsh was never going to  deliver the King’s Speech.

Nest thing you know, Ian Ziering is going to say he was blacklisted from being in “Chicago.” Come on everyone.

 

Box Office: “Star Wars” Blockbuster $220 Mil Weekend Still Falls Short of “Force Awakens” As Series Reaches “End”

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“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is a huge hit, with a $220 million weekend (including $45 million from Thursday night).

That’s a massive take for Disney, but remember: “”The Force Awakens” took in $247 million two years ago. That’s a difference of $27 million. That’s a lot of money since no movie on the box list this weekend made that much by a long shot.

With this movie, “Star Wars” reaches a chapter ending. Of a long chapter. J.J. Abrams will have to really pull a Porg out of his hat to make Episode 9 special since the original “Star Wars” now consists just of C-3PO and R2D2. And by 9, they’ll be reminiscing in a nursing home.

It should be noted that “Jedi” fell off every day over the weekend in steep decline after the first Thurs-Fri rush: FRI – $104.8M (incl $45M THU pre-shows) SAT – $64M (-39%) SUN – $51.3M. That’s not a good omen at all.

Indeed, there were a couple of real disappointments at a lower level this weekend. Fox’s animated “Ferdinand” did just $13 million. It cost around $115 million. Even if holiday traffic picks up, that doesn’t bode well for Fox Animation in light of the Disney merger. I’m sure there’s going to a big kerfuffle over what Disney Animation does with the Fox animators. It won’t be pretty.

Then, James Franco’s “The Disaster Artist” became an actual disaster over night. This odd cult comedy dropped 59% after a very impressive debut last weekend. Not even Franco’s hosting of “SNL” helped bring in business. In fact, that might have hurt things. “The Disaster Artist” evidently soaked up its audience right away.

Maybe you’re like me. I never heard of Tommy Wiseau or his bad movie “The Room” before “The Disaster Artist” was unveiled. The whole thing seemed like an inside joke among stoners. Franco is a good director who continues to choose strange material. “The Disaster Artist” is pretty much over.

For A24, this means they can get back to “Lady Bird,” a movie everyone should see and has that famous 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. So far “Lady Bird” has underperformed. Maybe A24 will refocus their efforts.