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The 79 year old rock star is number 1 this morning on iTunes. “Swing Fever” is the name, it’s produced by Jools Holland.
Whoever’s doing the publicity is doing a good job. Rod appeared on CBS Sunday Morning yesterday and the show’s correspondent, Mark Phillips, acted like this was the first time the singer had ever recorded song classics with a band.
This is actually the SIXTH time. Rod has five albums of the Great American Songbook he’s released since 2002. The great Richard Perry produced most of them, the equally great Phil Ramone worked on some of them. The five albums, which originated with Clive Davis, have sold 29 million copies altogether.
But three cheers for Rod! His voice sounds like a good Scotch single malt, and he’s got the rhythm right. I prefer Perry’s arrangements, but Holland loves jazz and brings a comfy warmth to the proceedings.
So often CBS Sunday is on target with these music segments thanks to Anthony Mason. But very often, in all categories, they were blissfully ignorant. Still, a plug on there sells albums, and the result is Rod’s zoom to number 1.
(I mean, really, when Phillips says, “This isn’t Maggie May,” Rod should have replied, “Where have you been?”)
Best line of the segment is at the end, when Rod shows Phillips his $5 million Ferrari. Stewart says cheekily, “Sorry, I’m very lucky but I had an amazing talent, and you didn’t.”
Only 46,000 people watched the Independent Spirit Awards on You Tube yesterday.
That’s less than 10% of the people who watched Pedro Pascal’s drunk acceptance speech on Saturday at the SAG Awards.
“Past Lives” won Best Feature. Jeffrey Wright and Da’Vine Joy Randolph won Best Lead and Supporting performances, respectively. Stupid gender free awards means there’s only one award in each category. No the opportunities for the actors to win is cut in half.
The Spirit Awards long ago lost their relevance or interest. They were finally taken off of TV because the ratings had dwindled to nothing. They’re sad sign of the decline of indie filmmaking. Next year they will probably be shown on a Samsung smart watch.
But congrats to all the winners! “Past Lives” is a lovely movie. Wright and Randolph gave beautiful performances. So that’s something.
For a while there, Broadway was getting a musical called “A Star is Born.” A script was being worked on, and Bill Condon was going to direct.
This was announced in 2017.
Then in 2018 Bradley Cooper unleashed his “Star is Born” with Lady Gaga and all those songs that became hits including “Shallow.”
The movie made an astounding $463 million worldwide.
After that, the Broadway version of the original movies (there were three before the Cooper-Lady Gaga movie) just kind of drifted.
Now I’m told by sources that “A Star is Born” is back. Condon is gone. And now the musical will be adapted from Cooper’s version, complete with Lady Gaga and Cooper songs.
This sounds smart since the songs are already there, so is the plot, and the audience now thinks this is the real “Star is Born.” Well, it is, right?
No other details yet. No cast, director, or writer have been revealed. But they will be soon.
And imagine that opening night!
We probably won’t see this until 2026. But whoever is cast will become stars over night.
This is exclusive, and that means you– Deadline, Variety, THR, and everyone else! Do not use without backlink credit.
Denis Villleneuve’s “Dune Two” got quite the star studded opening night in New York at Jazz at Lincoln Center
The two main stars, Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya, were said to have taken ill and only worked the red carpet. They skipped the glam party that followed, and so did Florence Pugh.
But Villeneuve was there, introduced on stage by Stephen Colbert. And much of the rest of the cast was present including Austin Butler, Josh Brolin. Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, and Stellan Skarsgaard. The latter two play the movie’s heavies and they are terrific. Composer Hans Zimmer made the scene, too, and blushed when I told him more Oscars were coming his way next year. The score is so gorgeous and encompassing that it’s a character in the film.
Among A listers who came to see what the “Dune” fuss is all about were Debra Winger and husband Arliss Howard, Steve Buscemi, legendary rockers Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, Christian Slater, and Keegan Michael Key with producer wife Elle. Buscemi told me he’s turning up soon in an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” but no one’s told him when. So he’s just watching the series and waiting.
Of course the main guest of interest was Sting, who came with his beautiful and successful actress daughter, Mickey Sumner. You may recall that Sting played the role of Feyd-Rutha in the David Lynch 1984 original “Dune.” Naturally he wanted to meet Austin Butler, who plays Feyd now. This was arranged at the swanky after party at the Museum of Natural History. Butler, who’s soft spoken and self-effacing, was taken aback when Sting said to him, “I loved you in Elvis!”
Butler and I talked about his speaking voice, which sounded nothing like Elvis Presley in “Dune Two,” nor does it carry over into his real life. He said, laughing, “People are obsessed with it, I don’t know why!”
Josh Brolin, who plays Gurney Halleck, told me all about shooting “Dune Two” in real desert sand. “It was like a hundred and fifteen degrees out there,” he said. Which was harder playing Gurney in this movie or Thanos in the Avengers movies? “This one,” he said. “Thanos was a lot of green screen. This was real.
It sure is real, and it looks it. Villeneuve has bested himself from his first “Dune,” which was released in October 2021. This second chapter was set for release last fall, but Warner Bros. wisely held back because of their other big entries like “Barbie” and “The Color Purple.” They were smart since “Dune Two” is a natural Best Picture nominee in the coming season in all categories. It’s the rare sci fi movie that is also a piece of art, with well drawn characters and a definitive screenplay. You could actually watch it before seeing “Dune One” with very little explanation.
For Brolin, the film is a reunion for him and pal Javier Bardem from when they appeared in another Best Picture, “No Country for Old Men.” The film also offers meaty roles to Walken, Skardgaard, Rebecca Ferguson, and Charlotte Rampling.
But the kids will be focused on newly minted movie stars, Chalamet and Zendaya. The latter didn’t show up in “Dune One” until the very end, which we all lamented. As “Two” picks up from the first movie, Zendaya’s Chani is right there to help Chalamet’s Paul on his quest to avenge his family and fight for control of sandy desert planet Arrakis.
Just to explain: Arrakis was the original and for a long time sole source of the Spice Melange, which was vital for space travel. (In every story like this there’s something Spice, or Kryptonite, for example, that good guys must protect from the baddies.)
Anyway: Paul’s father was killed in Chapter 1, now he must lead the heroes against House Harkonnen to gain control of the Spice. There’s a lot of full out warfare between the two sides, mostly in the desert, in a lot of sand, endless Lawrence of Arabia sand that involves futuristic flying machines, lots of colorful explosions, and gigantic, menacing sand worms.
All of this would be silly — Lynch’s movie kind of was — if nor for Villeneuve and his Scar winning cinematographer Greig Fraser taking this whole project very seriously. No expense been spared to present Arrakis as anything less than Titian paintings. Every bit of the production is stunning. If the desert in “Ishtar” looked so good, no one would have noticed the rest.
But the rest, here, is the physical production, and the comportment of a cast that is acting at a high level. Chani and Paul become quick lovers, and announce their loyalty to one another. You know that’s going to become a problem as Paul takes on more and more responsibility. Chalamet is dazzling in a different way than in “Wonka,” his current movie hit. Once “Dune Two” hits he will really be a Movie Star at age 28. His range now is considerably extended, and “Dune Two” offers him a lot of colors to play including rage and romantic hero.
Again, all of this happens thanks to a production design team that has worked magic. “Dune Two” is the best looking sci-fi adventure in eons. Viileneuve and Fraser were obviously confident because they had such extraordinary palette of ideas to play with.
So get ready: “Dune Two” is going to be a real blockbuster that will resonate far and beyond its release next week. And yes, there will be a Part Three to wrap this all up.
Everyone’s talking about the weird bit on the SAG Awards last night with Billie Eilish and Melissa McCarthy.
McCarthy insisted Eilish sign her forehead with a Sharpie while they were presenting an award. It was sketch that no one liked, wasn’t funny, and didn’t work — like most of this god awful show.
Melissa– please, you are a terrific actress. Don’t ever agree to anything this again.
But no one is talking about what Billie and brother Finneas told the Netflix red carpet person about their new album.
“It’s finished,” Finneas announced. “It’s done.”
So we should be seeing album number 3 — that’s 3 since 2019, Adele — pretty soon. Universal will likely let Taylor and Beyonce, and RCA will let Timberlake get their releases out of the way first.
Will the new album include “What Was I Made For?”. The Grammy winning, Oscar nominated hit is the O’Connells’ biggest thus far. But maybe it will just wait for a Greatest Hits package.
This is all good news. Katy Perry’s obviously working on something. This is a productive year, except for Adele. The music needs more releases by big names, and pronto!
“Bob Marley One Love” won the box office weekend, handily.
The total is now up to $71 million, so $100 is in its sights. Good deal. Every little thing will be alright, indeed. This is really a case of giving the people what they want. Paramount delivered.
Giving the people what they didn’t want: “Drive Away Dolls” did less than projected with just $2.4 million. People so didn’t want to see this movie. Now I’m curious to see it one day. The Friday total was $1 million. Today’s projected take is half of that. This means that word of mouth kept getting worse.
Wim Wenders’s “Perfect Days” was released and did little business. I haven’t even received a press release about it, although “Perfect Days” has good reviews with a 96 on Rotten Tomatoes. Neon Pictures has already snuffed out Ava Duvernay’s “Origin” and Michael Mann’s “Ferrari.” What happened to this company? They certainly put all their eggs in the “Anatomy of a Fall” Basket. And that one has not even made $5 million after 19 weeks!
Very subtly, Streisand shouts out the Jews who invented Hollyood, who were forgotten by the Academy Museum when it opened. She also talks brilliantly about the art of making films, and cites a recent French film as her current favorite.
“Oppenheimer” won Best Ensemble at the SAG Awards tonight, virtually guaranteeing it Best Picture at the Academy Awards next month. The Christopher Nolan epic also won Best Actor and Supporting Actor for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.
Lily Gladstone won Best Actress. Da’Vine Joy Randolph won Best Supporting Actress. They are all headed to the Oscars.
Here are some notes from the often embarrassing show tonight. The only thing that worked was the In Memorian, which included everyone and was done tastefully.
EARLIER The SAG Awards are badly written and very weird. But they’re on Netflix right now, and the TV side is being given out.
Barbra Streisand wins Lifetime Award. She gave a great speech.
As for the TV Awards, the surprises were Best Actor and Actress in a Drama series.
Best Ensemble Drama: “Succession”
Best Ensemble Comedy: “The Bear”
“The Bear” is winning comedy acting for Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edibiri. Pedro Pascal just won won Best Actor in a drama for “The Last of Us.” This means the “Succession” actors split their votes.
Best Female Actor in a Drama: Elizabeth Debicki– beats Sarah Snook! Forgot to say anything about Princess Diana
Male Actor in a Miniseries or Limited Series: Steven Yeun, “Beef”
Female Actor in Miniseries or Limited Series: Ali Wong, “Beef”
FILM:
Best Ensemble: “Oppenheimer”
Best Actor: Cillian Murphy, who the announcer called “Chillean”
Best Actress:Lily Gladstone!!!!
Supporting Actress Winner: Da’Vine Joy Randolph — she’ll win the Oscar now
Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. — wear black tie please!
The good news is “Bob Marley:One Love” is heading to $65 million this weekend and looks like it’s going to have long legs. Paramount can only be thrilled.
The film about the reggae and political legend has mixed reviews. But the music is carrying it to success just as it did with the Freddie Mercury and Elton John movies.
That bodes well for forthcoming films about Linda Ronstadt, the Bee Gees, and Michael Jackson.
On the downside: Ethan Coen’s “Drive Away Dolls” is roadkill at this point. The road trip comedy has made $1 million in a full day of release. Odds are the weekend will come to $2.5 million all in. Audience score is down to 36%, which means no one wants to see it unless forced. Could this be headed to Peacock quickly? Makes sense.
PS Academy voters– I was reminded that the way voting works, always put your absolute favorite choice at number 1 on the ballot. Don’t save it for number 2 or 3. For example, don’t think Lily Gladstone is so popular that you can make her number 2. Put her right at the top along with Paul Giamatti, Robert Downey Jr, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. And best movie? I guess “Oppenheimer” is coming in for the sweep.
This may be the costliest album project in history.
Jennifer Lopez’s new release, “THis is Me…Now” is dead on arrival.
Hitsdailydouble.com says it sold just 21,011 copies in its first week including 4,200 CDs or paid downloads, and 16,000 streaming equivalent sales. “Now” debuts at number 28!
Lopez says she sunk $20 million of her own money into the album and the Amazon.com short film that accompanies it.
The film has been panned everywhere. Amazon.com will release it next week. So far there are no reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
Lopez made a lot of the fact this was about her marriage to Ben Affleck twenty years after they parted as lovers. This was a mistake, as most listeners just wanted some good dance songs. But the album is a bore, and Lopez’s thin voice doesn’t help. “Now” has not launched any hits on the singles charts, either.
But who would be the audience for this? Kids don’t care about JLo, certainly not in videos about ostentatious weddings. Older people — the fans who may see her in concert — just want to hear her original hits, in whatever augmented form they were made. Lopez is better off sticking to Netflix movies, like Adam Sandler. Formulas work great, and you’ve already got a paid crowd.
