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Ben Stiller, Brett Ratner Look Ready for “Tower Heist”

Roger Friedman
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Ben Stiller, Brett Ratner Look Ready for “Tower Heist”

After many unofficial announcements it looks like “Tower Heist” is almost ready to go.

The Brett Ratner directed picture will star Ben Stiller and be produced by Brian Grazer.

Way back when this was embryonic, “Tower Heist” was set in Trump Tower in New York. It was going to have a mostly black cast with Eddie Murphy and Chris Tucker.

But time changes everything in Hollywood deals. Now the tower is “like the Trump Tower” but not exactly it as we don’t want to give anyone ideas. And now Stiller will head a multi-cultural cast. It’s possible Tucker, a Ratner regular, will still be part of the pack. Chris Rock might also be in the mix.

Ratner tweeted overnight that the pic was on, and Grazer was in charge. Everyone’s been waiting for a finished screenplay, so that may be done as well.

As I reported before, this won’t be just any heist movie. There’s a purpose to this project that will make the thieves heroes.

(This is just my idea for the plot: why not have the heist team kidnap “The Celebrity Apprentice” contestants and enlist their help.)

Ratner, meanwhile, is waiting for the tug of war over his TV series, “Chaos,” to be resolved. The teams are CBS and 20th Century Fox TV. The former has offered to buy out the project from Fox since they don’t seem to want to let it happen. But of course Fox doesn’t want to let it go, I am told. They’d rather just see it never happen. That’s why they call it “Chaos” I guess.

Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secy General: A Sting Fan, Why Not?

Roger Friedman
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Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secy General: A Sting Fan, Why Not?

Guess who’s a fan of Sting? Why, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon. He was front and center Wednesday night at the Metropolitan Opera House for Sting’s second show with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Secretary Moon was seen bopping to “Every Breath You Take.” Afterwards he stopped by the Belmont Room and chatted with Sting and wife Trudie Styler. Also on hand for the second big Sting night: none other than Kathie Lee Gifford and Jann Wenner, but not together…Sting tapes the CBS Early Show this morning…

Meantime, Sting and Trudie’s daughter, Coco, has a hit in the UK charts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j6VoW6vv9Y&feature=related

Happy Birthday D.A. Pennebaker, Inventor of the Music Video

Roger Friedman
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Happy Birthday D.A. Pennebaker, Inventor of the Music Video

D.A. (Donn Alan) Pennebaker turns 85 today, years young.

All those so called documentary shows that clutter TV– from the Real World to Celebrity Rehab–spring from the cinema verite that Pennebaker and his cohorts Ricky Leacock, Albert Maysles, and a few others invented more than 50 years ago.

Pennebaker broke ground in the mid 60s when he made “Dont Look Back” with Bob Dylan. Still considered the quintessential music film, “Dont Look Back” became an instant classic for its style, substance and form. You feel as though you’re actually with Dylan, Joan Baez, and friends.

A couple of years later, Pennebaker filmed “Monterey Pop,” the festival that introduced America to its new generation of pop stars from the Mamas and the Papas to Janis Joplin and Otis Redding. Each one of them became icons, as did Pennebaker.

Pennebaker also credited with making the first and most influential music video–Bob Dylan dropped cards in “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” It’s impossible to say how many times it’s been imitated.

It would be another dozen or more years before the filmmaker, with his wife (DGA Award winner) Chris Hegedus, would create the Oscar nominated “War Room.” But in between and before Pennebaker’s journeys would take him into politics with Bobby Kennedy and Jane Fonda, Broadway with Carol Burnett, roots music with the Coen Brothers, and dozens more places. His film of the making of the album for “Company,” the Stephen Sondheim musical, is really and truly legendary. His work in it with Elaine Stritch led to them winning an Emmy years later for an HBO Stritch documentary.

I had the good fortune to work with Penny and Chris from 1999-2002 on a documentary about R&B music called “Only the Strong Survive.” There are only a handful of people I’ve learned a lot from over the years (aside from parents, grandparents, and teachers). Penny is one of them. He knows the structure of film the way a great architect envisions a skyscraper.

This is not easy in documentary as there is usually no script. The whole thing is a hunch. It’s about catching lightning in a bottle and then making it behave. It’s time the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honors Pennebaker, Leacock, Albert Maysles and the men who created the format new generations of filmmakers live by.

So happy birthday, Penny. Here’s to another 85!

http://www.phfilms.com/

Aretha Franklin Discovers Opera American Idol at Lunch

Roger Friedman
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Aretha Franklin Discovers Opera American Idol at Lunch

Aretha Franklin is in New York on her annual holiday. And on Tuesday she got serenaded at lunch.

The Queen of Soul stopped in to Brasserie Ruhlmann in Rockefeller Center with friends for lunch and got a surprise.

“I had a wonderful waiter,” she told me. “He said, You know, I sing the same songs you do.” He didn’t mean “Respect” but Puccini’s “Nessum Dorma.”

“I told him to show me, but sing low. Instead he really opened up. And he’s very talented. You should get over there immediately.”

The waiter in question was Don Catrone. Here he is singing “Nessum Dorma” on YouTube:

The folks at Brasserie Ruhlmann are thrilled. “Everyone clapped,” the manager told me. “And she was very nice. That’s what made it special.”

And Aretha? Still tweaking her new album, looking forward to a release soon.

Mel Gibson’s PR Counter Attack Stymied by Lawyers

Roger Friedman
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2
Mel Gibson’s PR Counter Attack Stymied by Lawyers

mel Gibson‘s situation is just getting worse and worse.

I am told that his faithful (and very nice) press agent, Alan Nierob, of Rogers and Cowan, has been instructed by Gibson’s lawyers not to do anything. Period. His hands are tied. So Nierob, who’s done yeoman service fighting back for Mel in the past, is stuck on the sidelines. He can only watch as more and more awful tapes are released.

And the tapes, which are heard on Radaronline.com and YouTube, are bad. Even if girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva planned them, and she’s the golddigger everyone thinks she is, it doesn’t matter. Her project to destroy Gibson has worked. There will never be an interview he does in the future when someone doesn’t ask him about all this. No amount of mea culpas and “I was drunk” or whatever will work. And looking at the pr interviews Gibson did for “Edge of Darkness” this past winter, it’s a lose-lose situation. Gibson attacked reporters who asked about his DUI and anti-Semitic comments.

Here’s a funny You Tube video someone put together of Mel and Christian Bale, another hot head, having a conversation from their real phone calls.

I’m surprised no one’s put together a parody of Sting’s “Roxanne” called “Oksanne.” That should be next.

Sting’s Music and Politics Win Over Corporate Big Shot

Roger Friedman
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1
Sting’s Music and Politics Win Over Corporate Big Shot

Sting played the Metropolitan Opera House last night with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Branford Marsalis and Dominic Miller. The show was a success and then some.

Afterwards, at a reception on the Grand Tier, a man approached Sting and glamorous wife Trudie Styler (wearing a knockout floor length Valentino gown and an eye popping diamond necklace) and introduced himself as their new neighbor on Central Park West. “I’m Sandy Weill,” said the former head of Citigroup and American Express. The couples exchanged greetings. And then Weill told a story that anyone who doubts the power of celebrity and politics for a good cause will appreciate.

He said,”Your group was very upset with us.” The Police? No, the Rainforest Foundation. “We were doing bad things to the rainforests,” Weill said. Sting and his wife–the color drained from their faces for a second. Then Weill continued: “But we’re working with them now, and we’re doing a lot to help.”

And it’s true, to some degree. In the mid 2000s, after protests against Citigroup by the Rainforest Action Network and other environmental groups, Weill’s corporation made some efforts to improve their policies. They also  donated $100,000 to the RAN. The Rainforest Foundation could use their help, too.

But even the idea of a corporate giant being motivated by Sting’s music and Styler’s politics was a nice cap to a sensational evening. Sting’s reconfiguring of his classic songs, and some — as he said–that were forgotten gems from solo albums–has proven to be a rousing triumph. He bills the show as “Symphonicities”– a play on his “Synchronicity,” symphonies, and the many cities on the tour. But in reality, the show–with over 50 musicians–is more like the best Boston Pops show ever featuring Sting’s music and his richer than ever voice. Who knew that the blond punk king of 1979 would turn out to the showman of 2010? What a lovely surprise.

With guests in the audience like actress Christine Baranski and New York fashion guru Fern Malis, Sting played to an absolutely sold out hall. Starting with the effervescent “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” he literally almost bounced around on the stage. The orchestrations and arrangements are all upbeat and joyous, from the show-closing “Fragile”–which he dedicated to the people of the Gulf Coast–to a reworked “Roxanne,” and several songs not heard in a long long time including the James Bond like “Tomorrow We’ll See,” the lush “When We Dance,” and the country western “I Hung My Head,” which has turned out to be the hit of the shows and the accompanying new album.

Now–if only Sting would make a rock album! “I’m not a rock star,” he told me recently. “I came to rock by accident.” Well, then, just an album of new songs, whatever format. Until then, “Symphonicities” is the cool pop star of a hot, miserable summer.

(photos 2010 c Ann Lawlor)

NeYo Goes Jacko on Vevo: Yoh!

Roger Friedman
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NeYo Goes Jacko on Vevo: Yoh!

The big buzz in the R&B world today is that Ne Yo, the 30 year old junior soul man, is releasing two new songs with long form videos.

This afternoon at 6pm, BET is premiering the videos for “Champagne Life” and “Beautiful Monster” on its “106 and Park” show. The videos also go up on Vevo.

Isaw the videos yesterday and even ran into Ne Yo (real name Shaffer Smith) up at Universal Music, where the entire staff of Def Jam was crowded into a conference room to hear his whole new album, “Libra Scale.” The album gets released on September 21st, nine days before the Grammy deadline. As with Ne Yo’s last CD, this one looks headed for a Best Album nomination.

Ne Yo likens the two videos–which clock in around 8 minutes apiece–to Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller.” (Michael, whom we affectionately call Jacko in headlines because it’s short and snappy, folks.) And there’s a sci fi element to the story line, which will play out in at least three more videos to songs from “Libra Scale.”

But Ne Yo is more like Marvin Gaye in this sense: he writes and plays everything. There’s no sampling or “interpolating” (the latter is my favorite word now on albums where old songs are remade anew with new titles).

I’ve been a fan of this guy for some time now. Ne Yo’s songs are strong and catchy, full of melodic hooks. There’s no X rated rap element. He leads a pack that includes Anthony Hamilton, Jaheim, and Maxwell. In a world where contemporary R&B is riddled with raps about how hard it is to be rich and stupid, Ne Yo is a shining stand out.

By the way, “Champagne Life” features a hook with the line “Toast it up”–once you hear it, you won’t be able to get it out of your head. I think Def Jam should put up posters and T shirts everywhere–it’s the tag line for New Year’s Eve 2011.

PS L.A. Reid, who I (very coincidentally) wrote about yesterday, exec produced the album. Toast him up!

Inception: Leonardo DiCaprio in Chris Nolan’s Brilliant Film

Roger Friedman
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Inception: Leonardo DiCaprio in Chris Nolan’s Brilliant Film

“Is it okay to like a film but not really understand it?”

That’s what someone asked yesterday after the afternoon screening of Chris Nolan‘s “Inception.”

The answer is yes, of course. And “Inception” is a movie you will have to see at least twice. It’s “Memento” meets Kubrick, and not easy to navigate under the best of circumstances. But this much is clear: “Inception,” which evolves at one point into three simultaneous films, is gorgeous, provocative, and mesmerizing. Does it make sense? Hard to say. Is it fascinating to watch? Definitely. You will leave the theater totally captivate and throttled by it.

First of all, it’s a film with a lot of inside jokes. Here are a couple: in the first 20 minutes, which are really nuts, Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Cobb propels out a window on a bungee cord and then repels up the side of the building. I am not sure whether this is intentional, but the whole sequence looks like it’s borrowed from the “Batman” TV series of the 1960s. Nolan, of course, directed the hit film, “Batman Begins.”

And: Marion Cotillard plays Leo’s dead wife in the movie. Cotillard also won an Oscar for playing Edith Piaf. In “Inception,” every time Joseph Gordon Levitt puts his Walkman or IPod on, it’s playing Piaf. Loudly.

The plot of “Inception” also involves something that looks like what Michael Jackson used to do with Propofol. Leo and co. knock people out with IV drugs, then explore their subconscious. It’s about dreams, and their layers. “Avatar” looks like it was made with Crayolas compared to the oil painting going on in “Inception.” Talk about 3D–the characters in “Inception” are constantly diving three dreams deep into consciousness to untangle their problems.

Early reviews of “Inception” called it genius. Then the backlash started, with some weekly reviewers ready to pounce all over it. I have to say, during the first 20 minute sequence, “Inception” requires more attention than any other film of the last 20 years. More even than “Memento,” Nolan’s masterwork. Like “Memento,” “Inception” is a puzzle, and needs time to ponder before solving. It gets so involved and complex that when Ellen Page asks DiCaprio for a plot recap–“Wait? Whose subconscious are going into?”–that the audience breaks out in a knowing laugh.

Set aside the plot, and the story for a minute: there is much glorious staging and cinematography here, it’s more than you can expect in any sci-fi thriller. The two best sequences: one in which Gordon-Levitt shepherds a bunch of sleeping characters through weightlessness is just mind blowing. And you will love it the first time DiCaprio shows Page how to manipulate the architecture of her dreams, and she turns a city block upside down.

I hope after Friday there’s lots of discussion here about “Inception.” Add it to a list with “Shutter Island” and “The Ghost Writer” for the best films so far of 2010. It’s also the only interesting film of this summer. Get set to leave your local theater rattled. But in a good way.

George Steinbrenner Dead at Age 80

Roger Friedman
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1
George Steinbrenner Dead at Age 80

It’s hard to believe, because he was such an omnipotent figure in Yankee life, but George Steinbrenner is dead at age 80.

The obits and comments today will be something to read, and lengthy at that. No baseball owner was ever this controversial, whether he was hiring people to spy on his players or having public fights with popular managers. In his heyday he was loud, nasty, and frustrating.

But in a way what would we have done without him? When Steinbrenner bought the Yankees, they were dead. CBS and Mike Burke had killer them. It was the era of mediocre players with few exceptions: Mel Stottlemeyer, Bobby Murcer, a just arrived Thurman Munson, and dependable Roy White. Ralph Houk was the staid manager.

Steinbrenner changed all that. He ushered in Billy Martin, Dave Winfield, and Reggie Jackson, and a determination to win at all costs. Literally, all costs. But let’s not forget: before Steinbrenner came in and really got going, the Yankees were better known for Fritz Petersen and Mike Kekick swapping wives than the team winning pennants.

Most of the stories about Steinbrenner are well known–hiring and firing 20 managers, etc. He certainly made the blood pressure of Yankee fans rise and rise and rise. A terrible fight with Yogi Berra that went on for two decades will not be forgotten.The constant war with Billy Martin. And we can’t forget his two suspensions from baseball–in 1974, over campaign contributions to Richard Nixon, and in 1990, for hiring Howie Spira to get dirt–not ballfield dust–on Winfield.

You can’t sugar coat it: that’s the real George in the accompanying picture, making a point with Joe Torre.

But there was also the George Steinbrenner who was a regular at Elaine’s, and loved Elaine Kaufman like she was family. When Steinbrenner appeared at Elaine’s it was like the King of a country appeared. But he was always friendly to fans, and never failed to win over his critics once they met him in person.

It’s the end of an era, for the Yankees, and for New York.

Roman Polanski May Already Be Back in Paris

Roger Friedman
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Roman Polanski May Already Be Back in Paris

Roman Polanski may already be in Paris this morning.

According to the Geneva newspaper, Polanski left Gstaad, Switzerland immediately after being unshackled from his home arrest device yesterday. He’s been trapped in his Swiss villa since last fall.

Over the last nine months I’ve received numerous updates on Polanski, especially his mental state. Even though he completed and released an excellent film, “The Ghost Writer,” the famed Oscar winning director was often quite depressed and despondent about his future.

Now he returns to Paris and France, where he has lived most of the time since fleeing the U.S. in 1978. The odds are he won’t leave France for some time. That country does not extradite its citizens.

At the root of the Polanski release: the refusal of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office to take seriously accusations made by the original prosecutors in the Polanski case. Their assertions of malfeasance on the part of the original judge turned up on film in Marina Zenovich‘s award winning documentary, “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.” It was clear the judge lied, that he reneged on a deal, and that Polanski had every reason to fear he couldn’t trust any agreements that were hammered out at the time.

This past January Roger Gunson, the original prosecutor in the case, gave testimony about what happened in 1978 to the Los Angeles District Attorney. The DA then sealed the transcripts and refused to release them to Polanski’s lawyers– or to Swiss officials. That refusal exposed a loophole by which the Swiss were able to let Polanski go. They simply felt they didn’t have enough information to hold him.

Meantime, it will be interesting to see what Zenovich does. When Polanski was detained in Switzerland she went right over there with a camera crew. But she told me later she’d had a tough time. It’s unclear whether Polanski cooperated with her. Maybe we’ll see the fruits of her labors on HBO or somewhere soon.

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