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Matt Damon must be very happy this morning. Hard, hard working, very talented, and lately verbose, Damon has not had his own major box office hit since 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum.”
But Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” — which debuted last month at the Toronto Film Festival to accolades– made $18 million last night. It’s on track for a $50 million weekend. Rave reviews abound. Damon is a serious contender for a Best Actor nomination.
His third time in space is a charm, after “Elysium”– a fiasco– and a brief appearance in “Interstellar.”
Damon’s performance as an astronaut/botanist left behind– home alone, as it were– on Mars, is just lovely, totally charming, and winning. Everyone else in the movie is excellent, too, starting with Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, and Kate Mara.
The news is good for Ridley Scott, too. He’s kind of fumfered around since reaching a high with “Gladiator” and “Black Hawk Down” 15 years ago. (The list isn’t so good– I won’t get into it, but “The Counselor,” “A Very Good Year”?) “The Martian” harkens back to his best work (“Blade Runner, “Black Rain,” “Thelma and Louise,” “Alien,” and a little gem called “Someone to Watch Over Me”).
For Roger Waters, it’s another brick through the window. He’s written another crazy anti-Semitic essay on Salon.com– which they, by the way, love to publish.
Waters, once with a group called Pink Floyd but still capitalizing on their music, has written a screed on Salon to Jon Bon Jovi and his band because they’re playing in Israel tonight.
Shalom, Bon Jovi. I hope you have a wonderful concert. Some wimp from England is not going to tell Jersey Boy Jon Bon Jovi what to do.
Roger Waters, not even a fresh divorce can make him shut his mouth. He routinely attacks artists who play in Israel, from Paul McCartney to Dionne Warwick to the Rolling Stones and Alicia Keys, among others.
I think what’s interesting is that this past week, one thing did make Waters shut his pie hole– money. He paid for a lunch to promote the concert film of his tour, called “The Wall,” where he cashes in on his past fame. I refused to attend because of his attitude towards Israel. Several others refused, as well. I’m told that there was no mention of his anti-Semitic stand or politics, just chit chat to promote the movie.
The movie of “The Wall,” by the way, will not be distributed in Israel, I am told. The Israelis are being spared Waters’ hoary take on World War II. They can listen to Pink Floyd’s greatest hits on YouTube if anyone cares. At this point, I’d be happy to hear Waters was on the Dark side of the moon.
No thinking person should buy “The Wall” when it comes out on DVD. Let’s send a statement back to Roger Waters. It makes sense now that the first line “We don’t need your education” from “Another Brick in the Wall” was written by him. Roger Waters, you absolutely do need some education. And fast.
PS It’s no coincidence that Pink Floyd’s mascot is a pig. You know something isn’t Kosher there.
Janet Jackson, welcome back. Her “Unnbreakable” album debuted today at number 1 on iTunes and number 2 on amazon.com.
This is a HUGE comeback for the youngest Jackson sister. Her last couple of albums over at Universal Music were duds. She was written off, and then took off. She got married and took a breather.
But now Janet is on tour, selling tickets. And her album is getting rave reviews. It totally backs up the tour. The single “No Sleeep” had a rocky start. But it’s been number 1 on the Billboard Adult R&B chart longer than any other single.
This is thanks to Janet’s management team, including Phil Quartararo, working “No Sleeep” at radio like crazy.
A new single, “Burnitup,” with Missy Elliot, is out now. But “Unbreakable”– produced by Jimmy Jam Harris and Terry Lewis– has a lot of potential hits.
Who looks good today? BMG Music’s Jon Cohen and his team. They licensed the album and went into business with Janet. Now every legacy star will want that deal. Cohen et al should get Gladys Knight and her team right away. Gladys’s single “Just a Little” is perfect for them.
So good news. Even if “Unbreakable” has a short run at number 1, it’s there. That’s all that matters.
Trudie Styler has been a producer for a long time now, as well as a talented stage and film actress (and political activist and fundraiser, mom of 4, young grandmother, and wife of rocker Sting). But director? At last: Styler will oversee “Freak Show,” written by P.J. Clifton & Beth Rigario and based on the book of the same name by James St. James. Celine Rattray, Styler’s partner, will produce for their Maven Pictures. What a splendid idea. (Will Sting make a Hitchockian cameo?)
If the name James St. James rings a bell, it’s because he wrote the book that became the movie “Party Monster” starring Macaulay Culkin as Michael Alig. Alig was one of the Club Kids in New York. He killed Angel Melendez in 1996 and went to jail until his parole in 2014.
“Freak Show” sounds like a lot more fun, about a teen named Billy Bloom described as “smart, funny, cultured, artistic kid who loves to dress up in wildly imaginative and fabulously flamboyant ensembles. Determined to be himself, he’s not going to change his ways, even if it means braving it out among the bullies at his new high school.”
Styler has already produced several small terrific films including Dito Montiel’s “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” which introduced Channing Tatum and Shia LaBeouf (in film), as well as exec producing Guy Ritchie’s “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch.” She and Rattray brought Catherine Hardwicke’s “Miss You Already” to Toronto with much success. She will bring her savvy and edgy style to the picture. Look for an indie hit here.
I must say I am surprised. Sam Smith was so hot earlier this year, I thought his James Bond theme song for “Spectre” would go through the roof. And one week this morning– Friday– “Writing’s on the Wall” soared to number 1 on iTunes.
But one week later, the “Spectre” song is really a bust. It’s number 38 on iTunes, 112 on amazon, and not streaming on Spotify’s US top 50 chart. It is number 8 on the Spotify global, and around 24 on the UK Spotify chart.
On the UK iTunes, the song is number 2. It was briefly number 1.
Basically, “Writing’s on the Wall” has not charted the wall Adele’s “Skyfall” did. Or any of the Sam Smith singles this year.
But, you know, plenty of singles aren’t charting that have been available for a week. Janet Jackson’s “Burnitup” with Missy Elliot, and Lady Gaga’s “Till it Happens to You” aren’t doing much of anything. I am surprised, especially about the Gaga. It’s not easy out there.
TV EXCLUSIVE “Empire” is such a big hit that of course, everyone wants a spin off. But history shouldn’t repeat itself: When “Dynasty” took existing characters and spun off “The Colbys,” it was a disaster. The new show lasted one season. Its theme music was later repurposed for “Star Trek.”
Now I’m told that Lee Daniels is casting a pilot that will feature four young women who are aspiring pop stars. This sounds like an “Empire” spin off, as a record company would be involved. It’s called “Star.”
The ladies’ names in this show are Star, Cotton, Alexandra, and Simone. They’re 18-20 years, black, white, and mixed, and one of them is, naturally, transgender.
What could be interesting is if the four girls gel, and become a singing group that makes records in real life– sort of “The Monkees” become Destiny’s Child. That’s a whole other income stream for everyone, especially Sony Music.
Daniels isn’t diluting “Empire” to make this pilot. “Empire” writer Danny Strong isn’t involved. Instead, Daniels’ writer on the show is Tom Donaghy, whose credits include “The Mentalist” and a Rob Morrow show I guess I missed called “The Whole Truth.”
Michael Moore has finally made a deal for “Where to Invade Next.” The doc which got raves in Toronto will be released by the new company formed by former Radius chiefs Tom Quinn and Jason Janego. They are teaming with Alamo Drafthouse Founder and CEO Tim League to form a new company.
In a statement, Quinn, Janego and League stated: “Together with Michael Moore and his extraordinary new film we hope to remind Americans they have the inalienable right to laugh, especially in an election year. We’re thrilled about our new label and can’t think of a better film or filmmaker to launch with.” The company name and details of the new venture will be revealed at a later date.
Quinn and Janego had had Radius at the Weinstein Company, where they won an Oscar for “20 Feet from Stardom” and released a lot of good documentaries. They said they were leaving TWC to do bigger films. But now it seems like they’re doing the same kind of films, just elsewhere. Ironically, it was Harvey Weinstein who got Moore his biggest success with “Fahrenheit 911.”
EXCLUSIVE George Clooney added lots of excitement to the 15th anniversary screening of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Tuesday night at the New York Film Festival where he joined cast members Tim Blake Nelson and John Turturro, along with directors Joel and Ethan Coen, on the red carpet.
But he skipped the swanky after party at the Landmarc Grill. And he disappointed gossip fans who were hoping he and wife Amal, married one year, would have baby news.
Oh brother, where art thou?
John Turturro walked the carpet with his son, who looks like a younger version of his dad and is just as tall. (Turturro stars in another film screening at the New York Film Festival, the excellent Italian movie “Mia Madre,” directed by Nanni Morretti.) Turturro recalled “Oh Brother,’ which was his fourth time working with the Coen brothers, did okay but didn’t win awards although critics talked about the cinematography. “The CD really carried it,” Turturro told me, “A lot of the Coen Brothers movies grow with time.”
Joel Coen was unusually talkative and charming on the carpet – his brother Ethan darted off after a few interviews with television crews. Joel Coen told me he doesn’t generally watch their old movies because he sees too many things he’d have done differently. “This is a rare exception,” he told me of his plans to sit through the film. Of making ‘O Brother,’ he recalled that, “The experience of it was quite joyful. Whenever we do a movie with a lot of music in it it’s always the case, even it can be a funny movie or it can be frankly kind of darker movie like ‘Inside Llewyn Davis,’ but if there’s music in it it’s a joyful experience to make. It’s the music really which I remember mainly.”
Clooney, who looked handsomer than ever if a lot greyer than when the movie first came out, provided all the razzle-dazzle and excitement on the carpet. He had scruffy grey fuzz on his face and wore an elegant black suit and shirt and joked to a similarly dressed man with a television crew that they must have gotten the same memo.
Clooney was charming and joked around with journalists on the red carpet as he usually does.
To a question about his wife Amal, who wasn’t on the carpet but joined him for the screening, he told a journalist he was a “creature of habit” and if left to him would just go down the street to the same sushi bar four nights in a week for dinner but “she says that’s not going to happen.”
Clooney is now making his sixth Coen brothers film, “Hail, Caesar!” and he was asked how the directors had changed since he first worked with them. “They’ve gotten very hard to deal with because they’ve won Oscars and things,” he cracked. “They’ve changed. You can see it by the clothes they wear, by how different they’ve become, and they tend to hit people now which I find really horrible.”
I told Clooney I covered the premiere of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” at the Ziegfeld 15 years ago for the New York Times and recalled talking to his uncle, who was from Kentucky, and helped George with his Southern accent. “He was my voice coach,” he laughed.
I asked the actor about some of his memories of making the film. “I was thinking about that, what were the most amazing moments. There were some shocking moments. I remember we were out in the middle of a field, the field where we were running in the movie, when we heard that John Kennedy Jr.’s plane was missing, and I remember we were out in the middle of nowhere and we all knew something really terrible had happened. Those are those moments that you say you know exactly where you were. Then I think about moments like with Charles Durning where he’s dancing on the stage, this great hefty beautiful hoofer of a guy jumps up on stage and just starts dancing, one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in my life. The energy he had at 70, that he just loved doing what he did. It was a great experience all the way around.”
The American Music Awards are like the 7-11 of the awards business, disposable and forgettable. So much so that this year, several of the nominations will be announced on SnapChat on October 13th. If you’re too old to know, Snapchat is the disappearing ink of the current teen generation. Here now, gone in thirty seconds.
The AMAs have also decreed that Joe Jonas and Charlie Puth will announce some of the nominations on “Good Morning America” on October 13th. I know you’re thinking, who? Puth is a good little up and coming singer who probably wouldn’t get a Grammy award, so he’s opted for the AMAs. Jonas is the brother of Nick Jonas, who’s had a couple of singles this year that also probably aren’t Grammy material.
As AMA “nominees” and then “winners” are selected in a darkened room in Encino or over margaritas in Tecate at dawn, Puth and Nick Jonas are likely multiple entries in all categories. If they do well, they will advance to the Dick Clark Productions’ other awards shows this season.
You can bet that another big AMA participant will be Sam Smith, fresh off his Grammy wins last spring. The November 22nd date of the show will fall one month after the release of the James Bond movie “Spectre.” Smith’s theme single, “Writing’s on the Wall,” which seems like a non hit at this point, will seem like a hit there.
Remember: those who perform on the AMAs are not invited to perform on the Grammy Awards. So don’t expect a big Taylor Swift turn out on the AMAs. She’s got to save herself for February, when “1989” should sweep.
Where in the world is Mort Zuckerman? The publisher of the famed 96 year old New York Daily News has been MIA in public for some time now, a head scratcher to be sure. His newspaper is dissolving before our very eyes. Yet Mort– who loves the limelight– has vanished.
Zuckerman, 78, put the Daily News up for sale last February. He was last photographed in mid June at a New York book party. In July, the New York Post ran a story about Zuckerman turning over the sale of the News to his nephews. (Who even knew he had had nephews?) Zuckerman declined to comment. Always a hands on businessman, the Montreal born billionaire and real estate tycoon was suddenly delegating his legacy. Because real estate mogul is not what he wants to be remembered for– pundit, diplomat, publisher is the correct epitaph.
Zuckerman appeared weekly on “The Mclaughlin Group,” a syndicated Sunday political show, until July 31st. He hasn’t been on the show since then. In what seems like his final appearance, Zuckerman — oddly– makes a strong case for Texas governor Rick Perry’s presidential run.
Yes, Rick Perry, who ended his campaign six weeks later on September 11th. He wasn’t a serious candidate. He was barely in the race. The usually astute Zuckerman said on the air(*see video below): “But let me just say, the man whom I think is going to emerge and surprise everybody is Governor Perry of Texas. I was just witness to his performance and he was phenomenal. He was very knowledgeable, very forceful, had a great sense of humor. He is an underestimated candidate.”
The day after the McLaughlin Report aired, Zuckerman issued a statement that he would not be appearing at the East Hampton Artists-Writers softball game. It was the first time he missed the game since 1993.
Three weeks later he called off the sale of the Daily News after there were no takers. The News had been for sale all spring and summer. All through that time Zuckerman made no comment. A few days later, on August 26th, the News shocked the city by putting out its grisliest and most tasteless front page ever. The paper used photographs of the murder of Virginia TV reporter Alison Parker, plus used video of the shooting on its website. Twitter blew up with outrage. Zuckerman, a man of taste, would never have permitted such a thing in the past. Was he going downscale to capture the Post audience? Would that get him a sale?
Zuckerman, for all the hubbub, remained silent.
And then on September 11th, the same day Perry folded his campaign, an announcement from the News: editor in chief
Colin Myler was leaving, and returning to London. Myler– who’d been in the job for three years–an eternity at the News– and Zuckerman had been tight. But with the sale off, and layoffs coming, Myler was expendable. The memo came not just from Zuckerman but was co-signed by William D. Holiber, CEO of the company.
Silence and absence from Mort Zuckerman. A New York Times story a few days ago actually did quote Zuckerman about the Daily News’s shift to digital, although it’s unclear how the quote was issued. It was well crafted at any rate: “It’s a younger audience and that’s what advertisers want. If people don’t want horses and buggies anymore and they want to ride in automobiles, then you better damn well get into the auto business.”
That’s pretty much all that Mort Zuckerman has said as dozens of well known Daily News writers, reporters and editors have left the building. Mike Lupica is pretty much gone. David Hinckley, Jim Farber, Bill Madden, much of the sports section, gone. There is serious doubt that the News will continue to be a seven day paper as the feature, news, and sports sections have been gutted. Word is that the digital edition will aggregate news from other sites, leaving the famed Daily News an empty husk of what it once was.
And Mort? The man who dated Gloria Steinem, attended first nights in tuxedos, traveled the world to meet leaders and captains of industry?
PS Zuckerman’s byline has run in US News & World Report and the Wall Street Journal, as well. But I’m not counting those as appearance. Back in the day, Harold Evans used to write Mort’s editorial every week for US News. Authorship under the Zuckerman byline is fungible at best.
