Saturday, October 5, 2024
Donate
Home Blog Page 144

Trump — Four Indictments, One Rape, Two Impeachment Votes– Attacks Top Six News Site, Drudge Report, And Double Oscar Winner Robert De Niro as “Failures”

Roger Friedman
-
0
Trump — Four Indictments, One Rape, Two Impeachment Votes– Attacks Top Six News Site, Drudge Report, And Double Oscar Winner Robert De Niro as “Failures”

What a fool believes:

Donald Trump is under four indictments and is currently standing trial in New York. He was found guilty of sexual assault which the judge in the case equated with rape. Trump also had two votes of impeachment while in office.

Nevertheless, he describes The Drudge Report and Robert De Niro as failures on his social media today.

De Niro has won 2 Oscars, on eight nominations, and is currently starring in “Killers of The Flower Moon,” for which he deserves another nomination. He’s extremely wealth and successful from movies, restaurants, and real estate.

Trump is upset, of course, because De Niro has been sharply critical of him in public. He spoke about against him in a widely publicized speech last week at the Gotham Awards in New York.

The Drudge Report is the sixth highest read news site on the internet. It averages 661 million views per month. Drudge is a center-right politico who Trump feels is critical of him also. But Drudge’s readers have agreed with him, and Drudge has his finger on the pulse of the electorate.

But this is how Trump sees the world. And when he’s scared, he spews epithets and deingrates like a third grader. A demented one.

Happy 50th Anniversary to “Band on the Run,” The Paul McCartney Album That Pushed the Ex Beatle into High Gear

Roger Friedman
-
0
Happy 50th Anniversary to “Band on the Run,” The Paul McCartney Album That Pushed the Ex Beatle into High Gear

Paul McCartney and Wings released “Band on the Run” 50 years ago today. This means I am 166 years old!

“Band on the Run” is probably most McCartney fans’ favorite “solo” or non Beatles album. It is mine, despite my love for “Ram” and “Flowers in the Dirt.”

When “BOTR” arrived McCartney had had some scattershot singles hits with “Uncle Albert” and “My Love.” His first “McCartney” album was clutched to fans’ breasts because it was the first record after the Beatles broke up, and had several beloved tracks like “Maybe I’m Amazed” and “Every Night.”

But BOTR was leaps and bounds past all the previous solo efforts. It was McCartney’s favorite thing– a concept album. It had a beginning, middle, and end. It also had massive hits including the title track, “Jet,” and the single “Helen Wheels” which wasn’t supposed to be on the album but was added because it was a rocker and a previous chart hit. The final track, “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five” — then a dozen years away — ended with a refrain of the title song. How cool!

The story was about a literal band on the run, on tour, escaping fans, breaking out of “jail” so to speak. It’s so consistently good you can listen to it straight through without skipping a track. The deep tracks, “Like Me Roll It” and “No Words” — are gems. The Beatles’ engineer, Geoff Emerick, produced it with McCartney, giving the album a lush feel underpinning even the rock tracks. When McCartney’s live audiences heard the intros to “Band” and “Jet,” a roar went up in stadiums. It’s still echoing through time.

There was a very good 40th anniversary box set of BOTR, but you know there has to be a 50th. So it will come on February 2, 2024 in various formats with extras– the unmixed demos of the songs. They will also be streaming which, at this point, is fine for me. But fanatics will want them.

SiriusXM 18, the Beatles’ channel, plays an excellent live version of the album’s tracks, as well.

BOTR is the linchpin of the whole McCartney solo career. A lot of terrific things came afterward, but this is high water mark. McCartney could have stopped right there, that’s how good it is, a masterwork by an already established master of popular music.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PCZuCgyqLDs%3Fsi%3D3A5rPdXTlNwiHOW5

Round Up: Wild “Saltburn” Coming to Amazon Prime Dec 22, Spotify Laying Off 1,500 People — Daniel Ek Calls Staffers “Bandmates”

Roger Friedman
-
0
Round Up: Wild “Saltburn” Coming to Amazon Prime Dec 22, Spotify Laying Off 1,500 People — Daniel Ek Calls Staffers “Bandmates”

Morning roundup:

“Saltburn” is coming to Amazon Prime on December 22nd. Emerald Fennell’s wild ride of a “Bridehead Revisited” update — as if Charles Ryder went to Brideshead and had sex with then killed all the family members — has been doing well in theaters. So this is a little bit of a surprise. “Saltburn” stars Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, and Carey Mulligan in an extended cameo. Fennell is a unique filmmaker, and this movie proves it. More on “Saltburn” coming including a review…

SPOTIFY is laying of 1,500 employees before Christmas. Even though their subscription prices keep going up, and they’ve cut back royalties to all artists except superstars, the company says it’s not making money. All, everyone you know has an account.

This layoff, their third this year, represents 17% of their workforce.

Owner and CEO Daniel Ek posted a long note to staff today on their website. The note follows. Ek calls his staffers bandmates. Surreal.

DANIEL EK NOTE TO STAFF, er, BANDMATES

Team, 

Over the last two years, we’ve put significant emphasis on building Spotify into a truly great and sustainable business – one designed to achieve our goal of being the world’s leading audio company and one that will consistently drive profitability and growth into the future. While we’ve made worthy strides, as I’ve shared many times, we still have work to do. Economic growth has slowed dramatically and capital has become more expensive. Spotify is not an exception to these realities.

This brings me to a decision that will mean a significant step change for our company. To align Spotify with our future goals and ensure we are right-sized for the challenges ahead, I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17% across the company. I recognize this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions. To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us.

For those leaving, we’re a better company because of your dedication and hard work. Thank you for sharing your talents with us. I hope you know that your contributions have impacted more than half a billion people and millions of artists, creators, and authors around the world in profound ways. 

I realize that for many, a reduction of this size will feel surprisingly large given the recent positive earnings report and our performance. We debated making smaller reductions throughout 2024 and 2025. Yet, considering the gap between our financial goal state and our current operational costs, I decided that a substantial action to rightsize our costs was the best option to accomplish our objectives. While I am convinced this is the right action for our company, I also understand it will be incredibly painful for our team. 

To understand this decision, I think it is important to assess Spotify with a clear, objective lens. In 2020 and 2021, we took advantage of the opportunity presented by lower-cost capital and invested significantly in team expansion, content enhancement, marketing, and new verticals. These investments generally worked, contributing to Spotify’s increased output and the platform’s robust growth this past year. However, we now find ourselves in a very different environment. And despite our efforts to reduce costs this past year, our cost structure for where we need to be is still too big.

When we look back on 2022 and 2023, it has truly been impressive what we have accomplished. But, at the same time, the reality is much of this output was linked to having more resources. By most metrics, we were more productive but less efficient. We need to be both. While we have done some work to mitigate this challenge and become more efficient in 2023, we still have a ways to go before we are both productive and efficient. Today, we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact. More people need to be focused on delivering for our key stakeholders – creators and consumers. In two words, we have to become relentlessly resourceful.

I know you will all be anxious to hear the next steps about how this process will work. If you are an impacted employee, you will receive a calendar invite within the next two hours from HR for a one-on-one conversation. These meetings will take place before the end of the day on Tuesday, and while Katarina will provide more detail on all of the specifics, please know the following will apply to all of these bandmates:

  • Severance pay: We will start with a baseline for all employees, with the average employee receiving approximately five months of severance. This will be calculated based on local notice period requirements and employee tenure.
  • PTO: All accrued and unused vacation will be paid out to any departing employee.
  • Healthcare: We will continue to cover healthcare for employees during their severance period. 
  • Immigration support: For employees whose immigration status is connected with their employment, HRBPs are working with each impacted individual in concert with our mobility team. 
  • Career Support: All employees will be eligible for outplacement services for two months.

For the team that will remain at Spotify, I know this decision will be difficult for many. Please know we are focused on treating our impacted colleagues with the respect and compassion they deserve.

Looking Ahead

The decision to reduce our team size is a hard but crucial step towards forging a stronger, more efficient Spotify for the future. But it also highlights that we need to change how we work. In Spotify’s early days, our success was hard won. We had limited resources and had to make the most of every asset. Our ingenuity and creativity were what set us apart. As we’ve grown, we’ve moved too far away from this core principle of resourcefulness. 

The Spotify of tomorrow must be defined by being relentlessly resourceful in the ways we operate, innovate, and tackle problems. This kind of resourcefulness transcends the basic definition – it’s about preparing for our next phase, where being lean is not just an option but a necessity.

Embracing this leaner structure will also allow us to invest our profits more strategically back into the business. With a more targeted approach, every investment and initiative becomes more impactful, offering greater opportunities for success. This is not a step back; it’s a strategic reorientation. We’re still committed to investing and making bold bets, but now, with a more focused approach, ensuring Spotify’s continued profitability and ability to innovate. Lean doesn’t mean small ambitions; it means smarter, more impactful paths to achieve them. 

Today is a difficult but important day for the company. To be very clear, my commitment to our mission and belief in our ability to achieve it has never been stronger. I hope you will join me on Wednesday for Unplugged to discuss how we move forward together. A reduction of this size will make it necessary to change the way we work, and we will share much more about what this will mean in the days and weeks ahead. Just as 2023 marked a new chapter for us, so will 2024 as we build an even stronger Spotify. 

– Daniel

Box Office: Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour Movie Has Under Estimate $21 Million Weekend, Holdovers Holds Over

Roger Friedman
-
0
Box Office: Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour Movie Has Under Estimate $21 Million Weekend, Holdovers Holds Over

Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour movie was supposed to make between $22 million and $24 million. It came in at $21 million, which is $72 million less than Taylor Swift’s concert movie made in its opening weekend.

Just because Renaissance wasn’t a Swiftian hit doesn’t mean anything negative about her or the film. But the Swift release is a novelty that can’t be compared to anything else. Beyonce is still Queen of the Beehive.

Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” went to VOD and still made over $1 million this weekend in theaters. If it had not gone to VOD, that number would be doubled. With Critics Choice nominations and others coming soon, “The Holdovers” will get a lot of attention. It would have been the perfect holiday movie considering it’s set at Christmas. But there’s no patience on the part of studios anymore. Too bad.

Both “Wish” and “Napoleon” are pretty much dead. Only the morbidly curious are going to see them at this point. “Priscilla” is also the opposite of all shook up. It’s living in heartbreak hotel, with no room service.

The box office is a cold place these days. Even Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie is kinda over at $176 million. The audience has been saturated. I guess AMC wants to leave it in theaters through New Years but the hoped for $200 million line will not be crossed.

Exclusive: Barbie and Ken Will Reunite as Danny and Debbie Ocean’s Parents in New Heist Movie from the Director of the “Austin Powers” Movies

Roger Friedman
-
0
Exclusive: Barbie and Ken Will Reunite as Danny and Debbie Ocean’s Parents in New Heist Movie from the Director of the “Austin Powers” Movies

UPDATED A couple of months ago it was revealed that “Austin Powers” director Jay Roach was going to make an “Ocean’s 11” prequel. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling — Barbie and Ken — would reunite for the heist movie.

Now I can tell you exclusively that the title of the planned film is “Oceans.” That’s because Gosling and Robbie will play the parents of Danny Ocean, the character played by George Clooney in Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13.

The Oceans (I don’t know their first names) will teach son Danny and daughter Debbie (Sandra Bullock) how to steal from the rich in this new caper. The Oceans will have a team to help them, of course.

The new movie will be set in the 60s, which is ironic since the original “Ocean’s 11” with Frank Sinatra, the Rat Pack, et al was released in 1960.

My sources say “Oceans” will set up the more modern “Ocean’s 11” trilogy, not to mention “Ocean’s 8” which starred Bullock and a team of women. (There’s still no “Ocean’s 9,” but who knows!) No word on who’s going to write the new film, but David Levien and Brian Koppelman would be excellent candidates after doing such a good job with “Ocean’s 13.”

The whole idea for “Oceans” comes from the great chemistry between Robbie and Gosling in “Barbie.” And while there is no “Barbie” sequel yet, I am assured that one is inevitable once director Greta Gerwig makes her “Chronicles of Narnia” film. We can count on it.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. threw a swanky party last night for “Barbie’ in Hollywood at the rooftop restaurant of the Pendry Hotel. Guests of honor included Gerwig, co-writer (and husband) Noah Baumbach, stars Gosling and Robbie, plus singer Billie Eilish, her brother and co-writer Finneas, and soundtrack producer Mark Ronson.

Gerwig — I think — will be finally get a DGA nomination and or an Oscar nomination for directing after her extraordinary work on “Ladybird” and “Little Women.” The “Barbie” movie is a director’s film with a specific vision completed realized. “Barbie” is almost certainly headed to a Best Picture nomination, as well.

I asked Greta what her kids — who are 4 and 1 — think of mom as a moviemaker.

She said: “Harold, my 4 year old, said when Barbie was over, Is that it? Like, ‘you’re done with this filmmaking now, right?’ Little does he know!”

Jennifer Lopez Lurks in Audience for Ben Affleck, Award Worthy Riveting “Air,” First Cast Q&A Since Actors Strike Ended

Roger Friedman
-
0
Jennifer Lopez Lurks in Audience for Ben Affleck, Award Worthy Riveting “Air,” First Cast Q&A Since Actors Strike Ended

The first time the “Air” cast got together since the actors’ strike, Jennifer Lopez was in the audience.

JLo played it cool on Thursday afternoon while her husband, Ben Affleck, took to the stage for a Q&A with Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Jason Bateman, and Marlon Wayans in attendance. Scott Mantz moderated the panel for the Critics Choice Association at the Four Seasons Hotel.

(Full disclosure: I was flown out for this and a celebration of Amazon Studios’ films this season. I never do this kind of thing, but “Air” was already one of my top five picks of pics this year. And I got meet “Saltburn” director Emerald Fennell.)

JLo didn’t ask any questions, and she may have unnerved Ben, who kept dropping his mic — not in the snark way but for real — during the session. “Air” is kind of a dark horse this Oscar season. It came out in the spring in theaters, made $50 million, went to Amazon Prime, and then got caught it in the no-promo strike. But it’s an Aplus film, with standout performances from Matt Damon (who was not there, but gives a sensational performance) and Davis, who steals every movie she’s in.

Marlon Wayans surprised me. I do think of him only as doing comedy, from “In Living Color” to “Scary Movie” and that kind of thing. He’s turned into a thoughtful actor, however. He plays the low key basketball coach and civil rights hero George Raveling (now 86 years old) who was an important adviser to a young Michael Jordan. When aske about the influence of Michael Jordan and his sneakers, Wayans told us he was routinely beaten up for his Air Jordans as a kid in New York. So making the movie was a big deal for him.

There’s much discussion of the main line of dialogue in “Air,” written by Alex Convery: “A shoe is just a shoe until someone steps into it.” That line is spoken by Damon’s Sonny Vaccaro in his pitch to Jordan’s parents (Davis and her real life husband Julius Tennon play the couple).

In the end, it was Deloris Jordan who made the fateful deal that married Nike to Michael Jordan. And we learned during the Q&A that it was Davis who improvised a version of the tag line in her key conversation as Deloris with Damon on screen. Davis says, “A shoe is just a shoe until my son steps into it.” In any season, Davis’s delivery of that line would and should earn her an Oscar nomination. (Damon, too, for his stop-the-movie speech.)

Our Q&A suddenly got turned up a notch when Davis, who does not love these panels, passionately spoke about Doloris Jordan, Nike, and race. Listening to her deliver an impromptu philosophical speech was like hearing a kind of modern Shakespearean monologue.

“The movie,” she said, “is about the power of dreams.” She spoke about the way she conveyed Deloris, who does a lot of listening to Nike executives who don’t take her power or influence seriously. But Damon’s Vaccaro gets it. Davis said, as a Black woman, “You’re always negotiating being seen.” She wins that negotiation hands down when she gets Nike to give her son a royalty on every sneaker sold.

“Air” is directed by Ben Affleck, who also stars in the film as Nike founder Phil Knight. Even though Affleck’s “Argo” won Best Director a few years ago, I’m not if he’s taken seriously as a director. This may be because he’s also a Star and a regular presence in the tabloids. But listening to him discuss the making of “Air” should impart to all Oscar voters that the director of two other top notch films as well — “Gone Baby Gone,” and “The Town” — knows what he’s doing, and he’s here to stay.

PS Hoping to get a video of Viola at the Q&A and will update here.

Box Office: Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour Movie Has Disappointing Opening, Looks at $23 Mil Weekend

Roger Friedman
-
0
Box Office: Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour Movie Has Disappointing Opening, Looks at $23 Mil Weekend

Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour movie will not approach Taylor Swift numbers.

Opening night including Thursday previews came to just $11 million. Another $12 million is likely tonight and Sunday, bringing the total to $23 million.

You can see the trend already. There are a couple of sold out shows in the major markets. But otherwise Beyonce is not drawing her fans to movie theaters, and certainly not the same as Swift.

One reason for this is that she doesn’t have a great social media relationship. Beyonce is a great singer but not a warm, interactive personality. Swift’s fans are like cult members. Beyonce’s regard her as standoffish royalty. She gave no interviews for the film and ignored the press on the red carpet.

Beyonce also isn’t selling albums particularly, which Swift has now sold over 400,000 just this week.

Still, “Renaissance” has a 100% rating among a few critics on Rotten Tomatoes — few have seen it. It also a 100% audience approval. So at least fans are enjoying it.

Susan Sarandon in Crisis Management Mode Posts Apology for Anti-Israel Hate Comments After Career Freefall

Roger Friedman
-
0
Susan Sarandon in Crisis Management Mode Posts Apology for Anti-Israel Hate Comments After Career Freefall

Oscar winning actress Susan Sarandon has gone to DefCon 5. She’s in a spin control crisis management frenzy after making pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel comments that sounded awfully antisemitic.

At a rally in New York, Sarandon said American Jews would now feel what American Muslims had experienced — i.e. hate. She was immediately dropped by United Talent Agency. Her career may have imploded.

Now she’s posted an apologia to Instagram. It’s clearly composed by a crisis counselor. Will this be enough to save her? Sarandon has always been outspoken, no matter how misguided. She’s passionately ignorant of the consequences. But is this a walk back? Or a plea for a rope to get her out of this quicksand?

“Recently, I attended a rally alongside a diverse group of activists seeking to highlight the urgent humanitarian crisis in Gaza and call for a ceasefire. I had not planned to speak but was invited to take the stage and say a few words.

Intending to communicate my concern for an increase in hate crimes, I said that Jewish Americans, as the targets of rising antisemitic hate, ‘are getting a taste of what it is like to be Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence’. This phrasing was a terrible mistake, as it implies that until recently Jews have been strangers to persecution, when the opposite is true. As we all know, from centuries of oppression and genocide in Europe to the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, Jews have long been familiar with discrimination and religious violence which continues to this day.

I deeply regret diminishing this reality and hurting people with this comment. It was my intent to show solidarity to the struggle against bigotry of all kinds, and I am sorry I failed to do so.”

Taylor Swift Sold More than 400K Albums This Week, More Than the Rest of the Top 50 Combined

Roger Friedman
-
0
Taylor Swift Sold More than 400K Albums This Week, More Than the Rest of the Top 50 Combined

Taylor Swift Taylor Swift Taylor Swift.

It’s like a mantra.

The pop singer and entrepreneur sold more than 400,000 albums this week in the top 50.

She sold more than the rest of the top 50 combined.

You would think all her fans had all her music by now. But they persist in buying more, and definitely streaming more.

One problem is lack of other product. Nothing is hot beyond Swift. Many artists are just MIA or AWOL or both. Or if they’re putting out product they’re either not promoting it or not catching on.

Meantime, Rolling Stones shows up as a culprit in this apathy. They just issued their top 100 songs of the year. Most of them no one cares about or has heard of. The biggest hit of the year, Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers,” is number 12. Rolling Stone used to be the music bible, dictating taste. Now it just repels its audience.

PS About 12 of the top 50 are Christmas albums. And despite looking hot on the daily charts, Cher and Dolly Parton evidently didn’t sell that much this week in their second run. Bewildering.

Beyonce Renaissance Tour Movie Scores $5 Mil in Previems, Aims for $30 Mil Weekend

Roger Friedman
-
0
Beyonce Renaissance Tour Movie Scores $5 Mil in Previems, Aims for $30 Mil Weekend

Beyonce saw the money Taylor Swift made from her Eras Tour movie and said, wisely, I want that.

Last night, Beyonce’s Renaissance Tour concert movie collected $5 million in previews. The expectation is for a $30-$35 million weekend.

This film do the same numbers as Swift, but it will do very well. The Eras tour movie was a phenom because it was first, a novelty. Renaissance Tour, also released straight to theaters by AMC Theaters, will likely do a third of the business.

But if Renaissance takes in $100 million, it’s a hit. And it fills a gap at theaters at the perfect moment. Imagine if Beyonce actually promoted it with an interview. But she’s press shy and likely won’t.

1...143144145...2,130Page 144 of 2,130

Hollywood to the Hudson

Company

Trending

Categories

© Showbiz411.com