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Alex Gibney has made dozens of terrific documentaries. So has Lexi Bloom.
But Gibney says their film, “The Bibi Files,” about the corruption and crimes of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has not gotten one bite from a distributor or a streamer.
Gibney writers on Twitter:
“I want to tell a story. I was leaked never-before-seen police interrogation videos from the Netanyahu corruption case. They shed light on Bibi’s corruption – from cheap bribes to the way he has ruthlessly embarked on a forever war in Gaza. I asked Alexis Bloom to direct a film about it which she did: “The Bibi Files.” It is a scathing and coruscating behind-the-scenes look at how his venal attempts to elude judgement and stay in power have cost over 50,000 lives and are taking us to the brink of WWIII. Shocker: to date, no mainstream outlet will show the film in the US. So, we have partnered with a new outlet called http://Jolt.film, so that Americans can see the film. Jolt is an alternative that will allow independent cinema to thrive. Please check it out.”
The cozy Metrograph Theater is at the corner of Chinatown and Who-knows-where, but a lot of A-listers showed up tonight for a screening of “Wicked” with Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Peter Dinklage, producer Marc Platt, and director Jon M. Chu.
Presented a low key event in out of the way place, “Wicked” turned up the Oscar heat. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively brought a couple of their daughters. Brooke Shields popped in, so did Joe Pantoliano, famed composer Carter Burwell, and a large contingent of Academy voters.
“Wicked” may have $266 million in the bank, but now they want nominations.
There’s no doubt they will get them, too, as this group is ready to pitch in. Big Pop Star Ariana told me that despite having a lot of pop hits she loves singing Broadway showtunes. “That’s where it all started,” she reminded. I mentioned that she sampled “My Favorite Things” in one of her songs, which rocked her memory. “Well, in a way!” she said. This is the second time I met her this year, and she is totally delightful.
I was very eager to see Cynthia Erivo, who’s staring a Best Actress nod down her broom. Her Elphaba is just a straight line from her Tony Award win in “The Color Purple” on Broadway. How does she feel about being in such a huge hit, I asked? Isn’t it time for Universal or the producers to send her a big gift marking the occasion?
Erivo joked, “I’ll take an Hermes bag! A Birkin!”
Director Chu told me he’s just started editing Part 2 for release a year from now. I complained that the Wizard in these versions has gone from affable con man to really bad guy. Can’t he do anything about that? (‘Fraid not.) Chu also told me it doesn’t look like we’ll ever see a sequel to his classic comedy hit, “Crazy Rich Asians.”
“We couldn’t a script,” he said. “We had a few versions.” Nothing with Gemma Chan picking up the baton? He said, “I don’t think people want to see a story about really rich people right now. And so much time has passed, we’d have to take a lot in.”
I did tell Peter Dinklage I watched him over the weekend in “Elf.” His review: “It’s the Citizen Kane of Christmas movies. A classic.” Did he love making it? “What do you think?” he replied.
Monday night’s Gotham Awards were packed with A list stars, notching up the importance of the evening as the opening salvo for Hollywood prizes
Among the guests were Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Chastain, Timothee Chalamet, Demi Moore, and Colman Domingo.
But gender neutral nominations produced a tricky outcome. Only men won acting awards, leaving the women empty handed.
Here’s a list:
The winner for Best Feature was A Different Man.
The winner for Best International Feature was All We Imagine as Light.
The winner for Best Documentary Feature was presented to No Other Land.
The winner for Best Director was RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys.
The winner for Best Screenplay was Azazel Jacobs for His Three Daughters.
The winner for Breakthrough Director Gotham was Vera Drew for The People’s Joker.
The winner for Outstanding Lead Performance was Colman Domingo in Sing Sing.
The winner for Outstanding Supporting Performance was Clarence Maclin in Sing Sing.
The winner for Breakthrough Performer was Brandon Wilson in Nickel Boys.
The three acting winners all went to men. Big name actresses with knockout performances were completely overlooked.
Nevertheless the evening itself ran smoothly and on time, and tables at 55 Wall Street Cipriani were filled with movie stars and the top tier up and comers. The left field choice for Best Feature was the unexpected “A Different Man,” keeping the Gothams still the most important venue for indie films
Yes, 2024 is pretty much over. Hitsdailydouble.com has the countdown of albums sold.
Taylor Swift was number 1 with 6.1 million copies of “The Tortured Poets Department.” Of those, 2.8 million were actual physical CDs, LPs, and downloads. These are astounding numbers. Taylor sold almost 6 million copies of other albums this year, as well. So you can say 12 million for 2024 and not be wrong!
“Poets” sold a total of twice as many copies as number 2, Morgan Wallen “One Thing at a Time.” And just to put that in perspective, almost all of his sales were from streaming. Just 66K were physical.
Number 2 in physical sales was Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft.”
Twenty six albums sold more than 1 million copies. The rest all fell below that standard. The number 26 album was Charli XCX’s “Brat.”
Elton John sold 847,000 copies of his “Diamonds” box set. It sells for between $25 and $50 in different iterations. So he really cleaned up. Other big legacy albums were Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours,” Bob Marley’s and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s greatest hits sets.
Beyonce sold 1.3 million copies of “Cowboy Carter.”
Taylor is headed to sweep the Grammy Awards at this point. Her sales alone guarantee it. There’s no escaping her. She’s a phenom on all fronts.
“Days of our Lives” has been on the air for 60 years, so it’s not implausible that the older actors are dying off.
This week the show is a tribute to Bill Hayes, who passed this year at age 98. He was on the show for 50 years. Last year it was John Aniston.
A couple of weeks ago, actor Drake Hogestyn died much too young at age 71 from pancreatic cancer.
Today the show announced that Wayne Northrop, who played the same role as Hogestyn before he left the show, has passed after battling Alzheimer’s for six years. He was 77.
Northrup, married for 40 years to “General Hospital” star Lynn Herring, was wildly popular in the 1980s as Roman Brady. He and Deidre Hall’s Marlena Evans were a hot couple when soaps were at their zenith popularity. He left to appear on nighttime’s “Dynasty,” but returned a couple of times after Hogestyn took over the role. (Don’t ask.)
“Wayne was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s 6 years ago. He took his last breath in the arms of his family,” said Herring in a statement. “We wish to thank the most caring and amazing place, The Motion Picture and Television Home for taking such great care of him. Wayne touched so many people with his sense of humor and wit. A husband for 43 years, the best dad ever to his two boys, Hank and Grady, and a rancher who loved his cows and was a friend to many.”
Condolences to all the fans, friends, and family. Alzheimer’s is insidious. We are still far away from a solution.
In truth, “Yellowstone” could just have ended tonight. The cops and family are closing in on Jamie.
Instead, they have to pad out three episodes. So tonight they killed off a good character for no reason. It had nothing to do with the plot. But Colby was killed by a horse right after he told Teeter he loved her.
So the fourth episode of season 5.2 was incredibly boring. The first 11 minutes was a discussion of horses. Aside from the cops’ visit to Jamie, and Kayce threatening Grant Horton, the soccer coach assassin, nothing happened. Food was made, a glass of whiskey was thrown in a fire place.
Next week, who will get killed? Taylor Sheridan is running out of cast. This is sad conclusion to four and a half seasons of excitement. Even the trailer for next week looks dull. But they will stretch again until two week from now.
Let’s just wrap this up and call it over. Beth and Rip can move to “Knots Landing” and start over.
Total box office after 11 days is $262 million. That’s right over the rainbow.
But “Moana 2” has made almost as much in just 6 days: $221 million. “Moana 2” will pass “Wicked” in a day or two at this point.
The box office is booming!
“Gladiator II” has soared to $111 million.
All those designer popcorn buckets are being sold, as a result!
Oscar contenders “A Real Pain,” “Anora,” “Queer,” and “All We Imagine as Light” are doing well, too. “Conclave” made almost $600K this weekend despite being the number 1 movie on VOD.
A lot of records have been broken, and audiences are back in theaters. Now, that’s a happy Thanksgiving.
“Yellowstone” ratings rose a bit last Sunday after Sarah got taken out by assassins.
That’s just two weeks after John Dutton — aka Kevin Costner — bought the ranch. Sarah had ordered his hit and made it look like a suicide. But last week her accomplice got rid of her, too.
“Yellowstone” linear numbers went up by about 300,000 viewers to 6.29 million. They’re down about 3 million from Season 5 Part 1.
There are only three episodes left of the series. The actors have been letting it known in interviews that the final episode is the end, and that’s it. All signs point to Jamie (Wes Bentley) either being killed or the ranch being blown up, or something really bad happening.
Cheryl Hines: we figured out weeks ago that she didn’t care if husband Robert Kennedy Jr. cheated on her, had a “digital affair,” or wanted to “impregnate” a journalist.
She obviously didn’t care that he’s an off the wall conspiracy theorist who threw in with Donald Trump. After all, Trump won! And “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is gone. What else could Hines do but join the MAGA crowd?
Now’s she’s shilling some beauty product. She’s put up a video of Kennedy taking a shower in the background of her infomercial. Why did anyone ever think this woman had a brain? Kennedy is currently seen in a viral video interview in which he says his addiction to heroin made him a better student at Harvard.
Because as “Cheryl David,” she was the ballast to fictional Larry’s buffoonery. But in fact, she is complicit. When the internment camps go up, and the deportations begin, when vaccines are stopped and fluoride is removed from drinking water, Cheryl can go sell them her crap. If only we could hear Suzie from “Curb” go after her. That’s a season I’d like to see!
“You can’t take a shower!” The MAGA grift runs deep. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears in a promotional video showering to help his wife Cheryl Hines hawk self-care products. Get ready for four years of this. pic.twitter.com/nephQ674Rv
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