MARIAH SET TO BE A CANNES CANNES GIRL

The Cannes Film Festival welcomes all celebrities, but this year it’s going to be a little more fun than usual.

Mariah Carey is set to descend on the famous Croissette’the strip along the beach in Cannes’as star of a hot movie called ‘Precious.’

‘Precious,’ of course, was called ‘Push’ when it had a sensational debut in Sundance this year. But there was another movie called ‘Push,’ which no one will even remember by the time someone releases ‘Precious’ this fall.

By someone, I do mean’who knows? It’s a Lions Gate movie, but The Weinstein Company thought it had a deal first at Sundance. There will be some legal wrangling before the movie is released.

In the meantime, Mariah hits Cannes with thunder and lightning starting next week promoting ‘Precious’ and its popular director, Lee Daniels, previously the producer of ‘Monster’s Ball’ and the director of ‘Shadowboxer.’ Daniels has quickly established himself as a force in the industry. He also directed Mariah in the less successful ‘Tennessee.’ Other ‘Precious’ cast that should be showing up includes Lenny Kravitz.

And plenty more big names are headed to Cannes despite the bad economy. Brad Pitt stars in Quentin Tarantino‘s “Inglourious Basterds.”’ Director Terry Gilliam has Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, and Jude Law finishing up Heath Ledger’s role in ‘The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.’ The legendary director Francis Ford Coppola is going to debut his new ‘Tetro’ at the Directors Fortnight arm of the Festival with actor Vincent Gallo in the lead role.

So the Festival de Cannes begins next Wednesday, with Pixar/Disney’s ‘Up,’ a highly anticipated animated film from the people behind ‘Wall E.” And on Thursday of the following week, at the Hotel du Cap, Sharon Stone, Kenneth Cole and Harvey Weinstein come in for their annual AmFar dinner, Cinema Against AIDS, the most glittering night of the Festival, with Annie Lennox performing and Bill Clinton making a special appearance. Not too shabby!

MCCARTNEY, BONO: PAY THESE MUSICIANS, PLEASE

Yesterday I noted that in the Warner M(usic) analysts’ call, Edgar Bronfman Jr was all excited about the Performance Rights Act coursing its way through Congress right now. That’s House Bill 848 and Senate Bill 157.

Why not? If the bill passes, and radio stations are forced to pay a royalty for song play to performers, record companies’the copyright holders’will get a small percentage of the take.

But more importantly, and this is really important, the performers’who’ve collected nothing during the FIFTY years of rock and roll on radio’will receive the lion’s share of that royalty.

Right now, when you hear a song on the radio, only the writer(s) of it, and the publisher, get paid.

Under the new act, which the radio companies object to, the singers and musicians will get paid, too. All of them, not some of them.

The Bill is supported by tons of musicians like Paul McCartney and Bono, who already get paid a writers’ royalty but have rallied to support all musicians. ‘Soul Man’ Sam Moore and Judy Collins, as well as Sheryl Crow and plenty of others have already gone to Congress to plead this worthy cause.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman, Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) is a prime supporter of the bill. And so is Senator Orrin Hatch.

I’ve written about this a lot in my old column. But basically, the lack of a performance royalty is why so many older performers are forced to hit the road every year looking for audiences. While record sales may dry up when a performer is past his/her prime, their songs are still played on radio day and night. This is why Las Vegas is filled with pop stars whose records don’t sell but whose songs we love like Cher, Bette Midler, even Celine Dion.

Fifty years of free radio seems like enough: it’s time to get the Performance Rights Act passed. It’s legislation for artists who’ve been denied for too long.

STAR TREK ALREADY HAS $7 MIL IN TILL

J.J. Abrams’s reboot of “Star Trek” is set to devour Hugh Jackman in “Wolverine” this weekend.

Last night, “Star Trek” took in $7 million at advance screenings–$2 mil more than “Wolverine” did during its advance screenings last week.

Meanwhile, “Wolverine” has declined in its box office take every day since its $34 million opening last Friday. The numbers have gone down every day this week, suggesting that the fervor for metal claws has dulled.

Maybe it’s just a case of brains over brawn.

One thing “Star Trek” has over “Wolverine”: you want to see it again almost as soon it’s over. Fans are going to return at least once to find “easter eggs” that are hidden in the film.

“”Wolverine” has few of those easter eggs. Its ending has already been reported, and Aint-it Cool-News website let loose earlier this week that Patrick Stewart, of “X Men” fame, makes an uncredited appearance.

So it’s off to the races, with “Star Trek” looking to do what damage it can before next Friday, and the release of Tom Hanks in “Angels and Demons.”

SPECTER: RAISED FUNDS A WEEK BEFORE CHANGE

Senator Arlen Specter must have really been on the fence about changing political parties’right up to the end.

On Monday, April 21st’one week before he announced his shift from the Republican party to the Democratic party’Specter had a fundraising lunch in New York.

The lunch was hosted by Wilbur Ross, owner of private investment group W.L. Ross (part of Invesco, an even bigger major global investment firm) at the Algonquin Hotel on West 44th St.’ The lunch took up the largest banquet room, on the 2nd floor of the fabled hotel.

Ross, who was once married to New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey, has been a regular contributor to Republican candidates like John McCain and Rudolph Giuiliani.

As a political donor, Ross has a lot in common with Specter: According to public records, Ross gave to Democrats during the Clinton years, then switched to Republicans during the Bush administration. Invesco also contributes heavily to Republican causes.

In 2005, Wilbur Ross, Jr. was ranked #347 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans. He has been heavily invested in the coal and steel industries in Specter’s state, Pennsylvania, over the years. His returns have been plentiful, too, in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Major Republican donors were said to be in attendance at the lunch. It’s unknown how much money, if any, was raised. But one guest said afterward that he was ‘shocked’ when, a week later, Specter switched sides.

Neither Ross nor his press rep has responded to calls or emails. Specter’s office pointed out that in his announcement on April 28th the Pennsylvania senator said he’d return any campaign funds to disgruntled supporters. So far, according to reports, several donors have made the request including fellow Congressmen.

FRIENDS SAY SITUATION IS MORE DIRE THAN THOUGHT

Farrah Fawcett, a sex symbol, icon, cultural symbol, and great lady may not live to see the finished documentary about her battle with cancer.

I;m told that Fawcett’s days may really be hours, and that she is gravely ill–moreso than previously thought. That’s the reason her son Redmond was allowed to visit her last week. But even now, the situation is dire.

At the same time, her best friend, Alana Stewart, is racing to finish their documentary about Fawcett’s fierce fight against what started as rectal cancer. The documentary is set to air next Friday, May 15th, on NBC. Friends and loved ones are praying that Fawcett will be able to see the broadcast, but at this point it’s unlikely.

In the last few days, I’m told, ex partner Ryan O’Neal has stepped in and taken over all of Fawcett’s business, etc. The couple was never married, and always had a tempestuous relationship. Aside from son Redmond, who’s had tremendous legal and substance abuse problems, the couple also produced a short lived funny sitcom together called “Good Sports.”

Fawcett, of course, came to prominence in “Charlie’s Angels” in the mid 1970s. Not since Marilyn Monroe had there been a Hollywood starlet who appeared with the force of a cultural A bomb. Her poster hung in every young boy’s bedroom in the world–and many young girls, too. Her haircut lives to this day.

Fawcett was married at the time to Lee Majors, but they were soon divorced. Her career would always be underscored by “Charlie’s Angels.” but she eventually had two more serious credits– a TV movie called “The Burning Bed,” and a Broadway play called “Extremities.” Each of these did much to shore up her reputation away from sexy crime fighter Jill Munroe. She also had a string of successes at the time with TV Movies, playing in succession Nazi hunter Beate Klarsfeld, photographer Margaret Bourke White, and poor little rich girl Barbara Hutton.

Farrah was nominated four Emmy Awards, six Golden Globes, and an Indie Spirit Award in 1997 for her work in Robert Duvall’s “The Apostle.”

Life is strange, isn’t it? Beautiful, vital Farrah is 62. John Forsythe, who was the voice of Charlie, turned 91 last January.

Stay tuned…

JESSICA SIMPSON GETS A SECOND CHANCE

Jessica Simpson is on the cover of Vanity Fair. You would think for June that Vanity Fair would bestow such an honor on an actress from a big summer movie, someone who’d earned such an honor.

But let’s face it: VF, like all magazines, is a dogfight for circulation. Oscar winners aren’t going to cut it. Simpson is a stroke of genius: she’s just tabloid enough to bring in new readers, and attractive enough to make the cut.

She’s also borderline enough that the magazine sidesteps its usual puff piece attitude and is a tad rougher on this celeb than they’ve been to others in the recent past. But Simpson and her manager dad Joe can take it. There’s nothing here we haven’t heard before about either of them.

The fact is, the Mario Testino pictures are sensational. And no matter how you slice it, this girl is not going anywhere. She’s young, hot, and she can sing. She’s also got a famous football player boyfriend. Jessica Simpson is going to be around long after we’re gone!

So kudos to her pr team. Getting the cover of VF is a coup. And VF shows its savvy: by turning her into an icon apart from the other US Weekly cuties, the magazine has probably scored a circulation triumph for itself. Everybody wins.

PS All this talk of who’s fat and who isn’t: glass houses, folks. That’s all I’m sayin’…

JANE FONDA GETS HER TONY NOMINATION

It only took 40 years, but Jane Fonda has a Tony nomination this morning. She was nominated for Best Actress in a Play for “33 Variations.” This is the best news I’ve heard in a long time. Fonda not only deserves it, but she could win. And she’s in a formidable category, with two theater heavyweights–Janet McTeer and Harriett Walter from “Mary Stuart”– and two Hollywood favorites — Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis from “God of Carnage.”

Fonda emailed me today she’s particularly proud of the other four nominations for “33 Variations” including the set designer Derek McLane. His set for the Beethoven archives is dazzling.

The Tony nominations are otherwise mostly expected. There are other a couple of surprises and snubs, though. The Tony nominators completely ignored “Irena’s Vow” and actress Tovah Feldshuh–this was a mistake, I feel. The play is wonderful, and the audiences love it.

On the other hand, the Tony’s were kinder to “Pal Joey” and “Guys and Dolls” than those shows deserved. The group also didn’t do a lot for “West Side Story,” snubbing the men from the show while rewarding only the ladies.

But 2009 has been great on Broadway, better than in years and years. CBS may finally have a hit Tony show in the ratings come June 7th, what with all the familiar Hollywood faces who’ve held forth this spring. In the end though expect lots of wins for “Billy Elliott,” nominated deservedly for 15 awards. It’s going to clean up!

‘STAR TREK’ REVIVED: SIZZLING, SEXY, AND COOL

The new “Star Trek,” movie directed by J.J. Abrams of ‘Lost’ and ‘Mission: Impossible 3’ fame, is buoyant, sexy and cool. It’s hard to imagine, but Abrams has completely revived a moribund movie idea, reinvented it and pointed in a direction no man has gone before.

Well, maybe once before: this is akin to what happened with ‘Spider Man 2.’ The new ‘Star Trek’ is a revelation.

I saw ‘Star Trek’ with an audience last night in a big theater. When you see it this way, this weekend, you’ll be thrilled: there is lots of spontaneous applause, laughter, and communal ‘uh-huhs’ as Abrams and crew reference the original TV series and the best of the early ‘Star Trek’ films.

It helps that they’ve cast it perfectly, because this is the story of all the ‘Star Trek’ characters before we met them on the Enterprise in 1967. What a genius idea, and how clever as the characters assemble one by one: Spock (Jeremy Quinto), Captain Kirk (Chris Pine), Bones (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Chekhov (Anton Yelchin) and Sulu (John Cho).

There are even some unusual choices for peripheral characters. Winona Ryder makes a welcome appearance as Spock’s mother. Ben Cross, from ‘Chariots of Fire,’ plays his dad. (Jane Wyatt and Mark Lenard played them originally on TV.) Tyler Perry makes his acting debut outside of his own films as an admiral.

Abrams et al have also revived a character from the TV show pilot, Captain Pike, who preceeded Kirk. This time he’s played dead on by the estimable Bruce Greenwood. Eric Bana‘nearly unrecognizable in makeup’is Romulan bad boy Nero. Clifton Collins Jr. (from ‘Capote’) is terrific as Nero’s sick sidekick, Ayel.

And there are numerous ‘Easter eggs’ buried throughout the film for fans and fanatics. One that I caught: At the Vulcan council there’s an admiral named James Komack. (He has the only name plate, and it’s big.) The real Komack was the beloved producer/director/actor who directed the ‘Star Trek’ pilot for TV. He was also Bill Bixby’s best friend on ‘Courtship of Eddie’s Father’ way back when. He died in 1977.

I also thought I saw, toward the end of the movie, someone who looked like a young Walter Koenig, the original Chekhov, matted into the background. Maybe, maybe not.

And, of course, Leonard Nimoy makes a long cameo as Spock himself. It’s a device that works, since he’s visiting from the future. William Shatner has complained about not being asked back as Kirk. But in this episode, it would have been too much. Maybe next time, since Abrams has made time travel’do you watch ‘Lost’?’his recurring them.

But the most important thing about Abrams’ ‘Star Trek’ is that it’s the rare combination of total crowd pleaser and a work of movie art its makers can be proud of. They’ve breathed life into a well known concept with respect and originality. They’ve also avoided making it campy, or sending it up in any way. These new players take talk of Romulans, Klingons, Vulcans, warp speed and the rest of it quite seriously.

So just wait: if you thought ‘Wolverine’ had a good weekend, get ready for this ‘Star Trek’ to steal all the thunder starting Thursday in its IMAX edition. The movie will break records, set new ones, and inspire more lunatic Trekkie frenzy than ever before. What a tribute to Gene Roddenberry that 43 years after his TV series was cancelled three seasons in, ‘Star Trek’ in all its glory is still here and better than ever. I won’t be the first to paraphrase the Vulcan salute this week, but ‘Star Trek’ should live long and prosper!

ELIZABETH EDWARDS ON OPRAH: WHO’S TELLING THE TRUTH?

Either John Edwards hasn’t told his wife, Elizabeth, the truth about anything, or Elizabeth has reworked the truth for her own peace of mind.

Either way, whatever she’s telling Oprah this week on her syndicated show doesn’t jibe with the reality of how hubby John met ex-girlfriend Rielle Hunter.

Elizabeth, promoting her new book, ‘Resilience,’ tells Oprah that Hunter’whose name is not uttered on Oprah’s show lest she become ‘real’ to the audience– was more or less a stalker who preyed on the ex-Senator and possible presidential candidate until she got what she wanted.

Elizabeth Edwards tells Oprah, according to one report, that she thought Hunter waited for her husband when she spotted him in a New York hotel restaurant. She says Hunter told her husband, ‘You are so hot.’

The delusional part of this is that the wife believes the husband was a passive participant, an unwitting victim, in all of this. She’s somehow forgotten her husband is a former US senator and trial lawyer who’s so rich that they’re now living in a 28,000 square foot house.

In fact, as I’ve heard it over the last year from sources, Hunter and some friends literally bumped into Edwards outside the Regency Hotel on Park Avenue and got into a conversation. ‘There was no loitering,’ says a source. The meeting was a coincidence.

And then Elizabeth also tells Oprah that she ‘has no idea’ whether or not Hunter’s 15 month old baby girl Frances was fathered by John Edwards. She’s an attorney and former law clerk to a federal judge, the author of two books, makes thousands of dollars on the lecture circuit, is supposed to have been a reckoning force in Edwards’ political campaigns. Yet, Elizabeth Edwards wants us to believe that she doesn’t know the truth about her husband’s illegitimate child, the half sibling of her own children.

Maybe the title of the book should have been, ‘Denial.’

KARL AND ANNA AT ‘LAGER’-HEADS?; TIME’S 20

Are famed designer Karl Lagerfeld and Vogue editor Anna Wintour at ‘Lager-heads,’ so to speak? I’m told Lagerfeld backed out of Wintour’s annual Met Museum Costume Ball at the last minute. Maybe he got test pictures of what Madonna was planning to wear. Wintour was said to be furious since so many other regulars skipped the event this year. For the record, the Costume Ball and dinner are a big loser in and of itself for the Museum, costing over a million bucks. The upside, of course, is contributions to the museum and support for its programs. But still, does it have to run so deep in the red during a recession year?…
‘Time Magazine’s 100 dinner produced a lot of stars who didn’t make the list. They looked good, anyway, from Liv Tyler and Kate Hudson to Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy. For some reason, movie comedy factory producer Judd Apatow (‘Superbad,’ ‘Knocked Up,’ etc) was there with his comedienne wife Leslie Mann even though neither of them was on the list. It’s possible he thought the Jon Favreau who was honored was the director of ‘Iron Man.’ He’s not. He’s President Obama‘s wunderkind speechwriter. PS The big stars were Oprah, and of course, Michelle Obama’

JACKO SHOWS MAY NOT START ON TIME

No, it’s not bad as you think. But yes, there may be a little rejiggering in Jackoville.

The word from the West Coast is that Michael Jackson’s London shows, set to start on July 8th, may not begin exactly on that day.

No, it’s not that Michael has a spider bite or is exhausted or wearing pajamas. Not yet.

The situation is more concrete than that: July 8th is just two months away, and some of the sets needed for the shows at the O2 Arena may not be ready in time.

Two months isn’t much time, when you think about it. Consider that Jackson has not performed a full length show since September 10, 2001. That’s almost eight years ago. Right now, Michael Bearden‘Jackson’s musical director’and Kenny Ortega‘are playing ‘beat the clock’ to get the show ready for any launch in July. Putting off the official start is the least of their problems.

What I’m told, and what is being banded about, is that July 13th or 14th will be the actual start date. Shows set for earlier than that would have to be rescheduled.

It’s not so hard to do: AEGLive has booked the O2 Arena for Jackson on even numbered dates through July. An extra blank day is scheduled between every show for ‘insurance’ purposes’just in case Jackson needs to put off a performance for a day.

Of course, ticketing is already something of a sore subject regarding these Michael Jackson shows. If you try to buy tickets through Jackson’s website, fans are no longer sent to purchase face value tickets through Ticketmaster.com. Instead, Jackson’s website links directly to a ‘Secondary’ ticket selling service called viagogo.com, owned by the guy who started and sold the legal scalping service, Stub Hub.

This means that Jackson tickets are only refundable at face value. But they’re sold at a huge mark up. Some people have already started questioning who gets the difference in price.

A March 12th story in the Times of London already concluded that some kind of ‘secret deal’ had occurred concerning Jackson tickets. You can read it at http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5891378.ece.

Things haven’t really improved since the article ran. Viagogo is selling Jackson tickets for ten times their face value for all the dates scheduled so far.

One person who shouldn’t have too much trouble getting good seats: Michelle Obama. According to Michael Bearden’s official bio, he and the First Lady have been friends for thirty years or more. Expect to see her on opening night, whenever that is.

PETE SEEGER TURNS 90, FOLKIES REUNITE

Madison Square Garden was filled last night with earthy, crunchy types who didn’t mind singing along to summer camp favorites like ‘Michael, Row Your Boat,’ and ‘There’s’ A Hole in the Bucket.’

The real shock was that just about every seat was taken for Pete Seeger‘s 90th birthday fest. Are there really that many folkies left in a time of IPods, hip hop, ringtones, and raves?

Or was everyone really there to hear the advertised big stars: Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews? If they were, they might have been disappointed. The bulk of the four hour extravaganza was centered on folkie folks who haven’t gotten together in a long time and were rarely heard much on the radio ‘back in the day’: Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Kris Kristofferson, Richie Havens, Taj Mahal, and so on.

For the kids in the audience’and there were plenty of young people’who knows what they thought when they heard 68 year old Baez’s gorgeous still intact clarion call of a voice swoop through ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone?’ It was maybe the standout of the entire evening. Baez remains incomparable. Where, I wondered, is her Kennedy Center honor? She sure deserves it.

Springsteen, by the way, did perform at the end of the show’a beautiful version of ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad.’ Backstage he entertained his managers Barbara Carr and Jon Landau, old pal Dave Marsh. And Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and their kids. One of the more poignant moments last night was a performance of ‘Michael Row Your Boar Ashore’ by Robbins with 17 year old son Miles on guitar and sweet vocals. In case you didn’t know, Tim’s dad, Gil Robbins, had a chart hit with that song in 1961 with his legendary folk group, The Highwaymen.’ (http://www.answers.com/topic/the-highwaymen). Gil Robbins also ran the famed Gaslight nightclub in Greenwich Village, where Bob Dylan‘among others’played their first New York shows.

Also said to be in the house last night: another legend, Harry Belafonte, the great concert promoter, Ron Delsener, and several members of the Kennedy family.

Seeger, who’s a tough bird at 90, came and went through the night, performing some songs, joining in on others. The night was mostly about music, although there were some biographical videos and mention of his astonishing political history. Here’s a performer whose reward for refusing to name names during the McCarthy era was a prison sentence subsequently overturned, who stood on principle time and time again through the Vietnam era, on issues of the environment and civil rights, no matter what it did to his career. In other words, he had integrity’something in short supply today.

CAT ON A HOT TIN GOOF; TIME MARCHES ON

As you might have guessed, that ‘secret’ Cat Stevens show scheduled for New York’s Highline Ballroom for last night didn’t happen. What did happen: Stevens, aka Yusuf Islam, was cleared for entering the U.S. but didn’t get his work visa in time. A new show is being set up for New York, but the scheduled Los Angeles event’set for May 11th’is going forward.
‘Some of us will try to brave the weather and see the Yankees beat the Sox tonight at the new, expensive stadium. Others will head to Time Magazine’s annual dinner for the mag’s 100 most interesting people. There are some great choices on the list (Lang Lang, Penelope Cruz, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu) and idiotic ones (the women from ‘The View’-huh?). Anyway, maybe hip hop star M.I.A. will meet Ted Kennedy. You never know’

WOLVERINE REAL NUMBERS $2MIL LESS THAN THOUGHT

The real numbers for “Wolverine” are in from the weekend, and 20th Century Fox was a little overanxious. They originally reported the Hugh Jackman starrer at $87 million. The real take was $85 million plus change.

It’s not a huge difference, but it’s significant. “Wolverine” opened on Friday to a staggering $34 million box office. But over the weekend, the numbers went down dramatically– to $29 million on Saturday night and $21 million on Sunday.

All of this begs the question: by this Friday, will “Wolverine” be done? J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” is coming, a mega hit that should knock “Wolverine” handily out of the top spot. From advance word, “Star Trek” also seems like it’s going to have great reviews and etrrific word of mouth. “Wolverine” had some of the worst reviews ever for a blockbuster.

So we’ll watch and see this week if “Wolverine” has any steam left among adults–the moviegoers on week nights. By Wednesday it should be obvious if Gavin Hood’s tale has legs, or just claws.

“WOLVERINE” SURPRISE UNVEILED BY MOVIE BLOG

oOr is it blob? Harry Knowles, the editor of movie blog Aint-It-Cool-News, has deliberately revealed a big surprise in “Wolverine: X Men Origins.”

Knowles finally saw “Wolverine” yesterday, plopping down the whole price of a ticket to see the 20th Century Fox film. Only hours before that he complained bitterly on his website that he wouldn’t see “Wolverine” because Fox hadn’t shown it to him. He actually instructed his readers to skip the movie because the studio ignored him.

I’d say Knowles should be fired but he can’t be: he’s his own boss, a big fish in a very small pond. I guess the deal with AICN is, if Knowles isn’t shown a movie before it opens, it’s not worth seeing. If he has to pay for it, he’s not going to like it. And to get the studio pr people back, he’s going to give away spoilers.

In his review, so to speak, he complains about the make up and effects on a character not listed in the credits. I won’t spoil it by telling you who it is. But Harry does, name and all.

Knowles is a coarse individual who has routinely blackmailed the studios over reviewing their films early, giving away spoilers, and mocking just about everything in the business. He does this all from far away so no one can touch him.

Yesterday, he reviewed a review of “Wolverine” by the Los Angeles Times’s esteemed Ken Turan. He responded to Turan with these words: “F— you, Kenneth.” Nice, huh? Pauline Kael and Vincent Canby must be rolling in their graves. He marshalls all his “power” at AICN to destroy “Wolverine,” going so far as to report overheard comments from other filmgoers on the way out of the theater.

Fox must have really done something to Knowles to piss him off. And this is the state of movie reviewing now: if you’re mad at the publicist–the way The New York Post was at Woody Allen’s recently–then do what you can to kill the movie. Hopefully, this is just bottom of the barrel stuff.

Of course, Knowles is not really a reviewer. He’s a geek in a basement with a computer. He has no journalistic credentials. His former pretege is a guy named McWeeny. Really. For real.

So far, Knowles’s admonishments have had no impact. That may be because alexa.com ranks his website at number 5,679. “Wolverine” took in $35 million last night. It should make between $75 and $90 million by Sunday night. That’s pretty cool, ain’t it?