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King Charles and Camilla Make a Surprise Visit to “American Idol,” After Lionel Richie and Katy Perform at Coronation Ball (see video)

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King Charles and his second wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, made a surprise appearance on “American Idol” Tonight.

The show’s Lionel Richie and Katy Perry performed at the Coronation Ball because, frankly, no Brits would do it. The pair of singers then cheekily introduced the royals. Charles joked “We wanted to know how long you need this room.”

I was watching to see what Ed Sheeran was doing after winning his copyright trial. His new album, “Minus,” has just been released. “Idol” contestants will sing Sheeran songs that haven’t been contested in court.

It was a telling move by the King of England, who wants to gain mass appeal in a country that is skeptical of the royals. “American Idol” is no “60 Minutes.” It’s the modern day equivalent of Richard Nixon appearing on “Laugh In.” So Charles is going low. Camilla looks like a load of fun, by the way.

Cannes Parties: Some for Charity, Some Not as Vanity Fair Soiree Up Against Night of De Niro, DiCaprio, Julianne Moore Premieres, But Better World Fund Will Raise Money for the Rainforest Next Night

The 2023 Cannes parties are taking shape, but movies may get in the way of one of them.

Saturday, May 20th is the date of Vanity Fair’s soiree far away in Cap d’Antibes, the first they’ve had in a while. But the 20th is also the night Cannes will really be for serious movies and the red carpet right down in the center of the action.

At 6pm, Martin Scorsese‘s three hour “Killers of the Flower Moon” will be unveiled at the Palais de Festivals. The red carpet will bring the director, plus Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio to the show, meaning 7pm is fungible at best.

Then at 10pm comes Todd Haynes‘s “May-December” starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman.

And then, exhausted famished stars will head up to the Hotel duCap in Antibes, on a winding, one lane road? By the time they get in there, the Eurotrash will have eaten all the canapes!

We’ll see how that works out.

Very smartly, however, the next night — when things cool down on the red carpet– the Amazonia Fund Alliance and Akbaraly Foundation will have its inaugural Better World Fund gala at the newly refurbished glamorous International Hotel Carlton, the centerpiece of the Croisette.

Amazônia Fund Alliance program co-founder and renowned organizer Thierry Klemeniuk, who is famous from running legendary Paris A list restaurant, Man Ray, tells me there will be a heavy UN presence .

“We will be celebrating our launch event, hosted by the Better World Fund.

“As of now, I can confirm the presence of various officials from Brazil such as Sonia Guajajara the Minister of indigenous peoples & Chief Mapu, renowned Spiritual Leader & Activist from Amazonia and Osmar Ribeiro de Almeida Júnior, the Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger.”

So nice to see a big party that raises money for a good cause, instead of just idle hedonism.

Klemeniuk agrees. 

“Our goal is to help Indigenous people and the Rainforest they inhabit, through conservation and reforestation, hand in hand with very prominent non-profit environmental organizations in Brazil such as SPVS Mata Atlantica (https://www.spvs.org.br/), SOS Amazônia (https://sosamazonia.org.br/) and the Alok Institute (https://institutoalok.org/en/alok-institute/). 

He adds: “We have established direct contact with hundreds of indigenous villages through our partner Comtxae (https://www.comtxae.com/) and have started to work on several projects, notably providing pure & drinkable water to the indigenous people using Atmospheric Water Generators from Beyond Water (beyondwater.earth).”

For tickets, email tk@amazonialliancefund.org

Box Office: Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Opens $30 Mil Below Last One, Super Mario Jumps Over $500 Mil Mark, AIR Rises to $50 Mil, Beau Scared to Death

It’s a jumbled time at the box office.

“Guardians of the Galaxy 3” opens $30 million lower than its predecessor. The total was $114, but the total was $146.5 million. So you get the idea. A good idea has been stretched thin. Also, six years is a long time to see if Goot has learned any words. Chris Pratt also wears thin. Now that this trilogy and “Jurassic World” are apparently over we’ll see what happens next. (He’s loaded, so no worries.)

Otherwise good news and bad news: “Beau is Afraid” is ready to wrap its run at $6.8 million. Lucky for Joaquin Phoenix he has the “Joker” movies, plus some great stuff with recent indies like “C’mon C’mon” and “Her.”

More good news: Ben Affleck’s “AIR” hit $50 million a week before it goes to Amazon Prime. Affleck’s next release, “Hypnotic,” may not be so lucky.

“Super Mario Brothers” crossed the $500 million mark this weekend. If only “Beau is Afraid” had had a scene with Mario and Luigi, life would have been so different!

Review: Episode 6 of “Mrs. Maisel” Is a Clever Tribute to the Friars Club and to Woody Allen’s “Broadway Danny Rose”

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“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” is coming to an end, soon. I’ve seen it all the way through and it just keeps getting better and better.

This week, Amazon dropped an episode that flashes quite a bit into the future at different times. We see Midge and Susie have their falling out, get the reason, find out Joel’s fate, and learn that Midge — who married a couple of times after Joel — almost wed Philip Roth.

Mostly the episode is about Susie, in the 1970, being roasted at the Friars Club. Amy Sherman-Palladine and Daniel Palladino shot the episode in the actual Friars Club last year, the final event in real life at the Club that has been destroyed by greedy new proprietors. (They’ve just put the famous building up for sale to pay off their $13 million loan.)

It’s a lovely end for the Friars dining room. Unfortunately, I am told, someone stole the Friars sign outside right off the brick wall by the time they were done. (Not kidding.)

The Palladino’s do something cool in this episode, which is filled with music circa 1970. The needle drops are many, which means Amazon cleared a lot of expensive music including an end credit recording of Elton John singing his great “Love Song.” (A lost gem, for sure.) There are references to Three Dog Night and Grand Funk Railroad, who’ve been hired to perform at Midge’s Hawaiian wedding.

The Palladino’s love classic Woody Allen. It shows up all through “Mrs. Maisel.” Not “Interiors.” All of Woody’s great comedies roll through the show, starting with the patois and the look, lots of Jewish references. A lot of people think Midge is a take off on Joan Rivers, but she also be Woody before he became a serious filmmaker.

In this episode Susie’s history as legendary manager of comics is the central theme. While she’s being roasted in the dining room, the Palladinos cut to a bunch of comics hanging around a late night table. In Rashomon style they alternate telling stories about Susie’s climb to greatness, depicted then in flashbacks to scenes new to us. The stories get more and more outrageous.

Anyone who knows Woody Allen will recognize this as a tribute to “Broadway Danny Rose.” Danny, like Susie, claws his way up, although not as successfully, representing odd ball acts. The narrative is strung together by comics in the Carnegie Deli reminiscing and topping each other with Danny Rose gossip. (Also, I can’t help thinking that Midge not marrying Philip Roth in fiction “because he doesn’t make me laugh” — is a sly take on Mia Farrow dating the humorless Roth in real life.)

It’s a beautiful episode, full of grand verbal architecture, and lots of images that will always resonate. It also turns a corner into the final three episodes of the series, which are all potential Emmy nominees and winners. Talk about going out with a bang!

Taylor Swift Releasing New Version of “Speak Now,” Album She Made Before Co-Writers and Jack Antonoff Production

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In 2010, Taylor Swift was still Taylor Swift. She wrote her own songs and had a regular very good record producer and wrote all the songs herself, no famous collaborators. This was the uncorrupted Swift. Her next album, “Red,” would have a half dozen producers and A list songwriters like Max Martin and Shellback.

Now, Taylor will release the re-recorded version of “Speak Now” in July. It has about 15 songs, including her famous break up song about John Mayer, called “Dear John.” It’s all produced by Nathan Chambers, who won a Grammy for another Swift album. No Jack Antonoff, no boyfriend writing lyrics, no outside group. It’s unclear if Chambers produced the new version but it will have six unreleased tracks.

Swift is on a huge, sold out tour and already put out a new album this year. When does she find time to re-re-record her entire catalog? She’s busier than everyone in the music biz!

Box Office: Final “Guardians of the Galaxy” Opens 15% Below Last Installment, Off by $8 Million

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There’s a little sci fic superhero weariness out there.

Total opening night numbers for “Guardians of the Galaxy, Pt 3” are down 15% from the last installment. The figure of $48 million is off by $8 million from the previous $58 million.

Ouch! Fans don’t seem that interested in how this adventure ends. They may be less interested as the weekend proceeds if word of mouth isn’t compelling.

All good things must come to an end, and this is over, I think.

UPDATE: Box Office Crash for Celine Dion “Love Again” Movie with Less Than $1 Million in 2 Days

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Sony’s latest stealth release, “Love Again,” crashed at the box office.

The movie featuring Celine Dion in person, and 11 of her songs, took in just 955,000 in two days. On Thursday night, in previews, the film took in just $240,000. The balance came on Friday night.

That the film is dead on arrival is no shock. It has terrible reviews, and there was little to no press before release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the rating is just 13% now.

Also in the dumper: the soundtrack. It hasn’t appeared yet on any iTunes chart. It’s number 66 on Amazon. There are six new Celine Dion songs and no one cares, which is pretty sad.

MTV Movie Awards Shut Down by Writers Strike, Switch to Clip Show and Taped Acceptance Speeches

I broke the story last night that Jamie Lee Curtis had joined Drew Barrymore in declining to appear on the MTV Movie and TV Awards.

Later last night the network announced that Sunday’s show would be without an audience or live presenters. The Writers Strike has basically shut the show down. There will be pre-taped acceptance speeches and clips. That’s it. Watch “Succession” instead.

You have to feel bad for everyone involved. But a picket line will probably still go up at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica Airport. No one was going to cross it.

As the strike wears on, other live broadcasts will be affected. The Tony Awards are five weeks away. and it’s not going to an easy task.

Exclusive: Oscar Winner Jamie Lee Curtis is Everywhere All At Once But Not at the the MTV Movie and TV Awards: “She won’t cross the picket line”

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You can scratch Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis from this Sunday’s MTV Movie and TV Awards.

I’ve talked to her rep and confirmed that Curtis “won’t cross the picket line.”

I’m not surprised. Jamie Lee is union through and through.

With Drew Barrymore gone as host, and Curtis out as a presenter, the MTV show is getting hit from all sides. It will be interesting to see who drops out next. Stay tuned.

And we though Jamie Lee was everywhere all the time! Maybe she’ll stay home and go into a metaverse. WHy not?

Strike Fallout: Michael J. Fox Cancels Star Screening of Documentary, Won’t Cross Picket Line, plus Picketers Will Be at MTV Movie Awards

The Writers Guild strike is starting to have a big impact.

On Sunday, picketers will be out front at the MTV Movie and TV Awards in Santa Monica. This may discourage actors and others from crossing the line and going inside. Drew Barrymore has already resigned as host. Big stars like Jamie Lee Curtis and Tiffany Haddish are set to be presenters. But the word hasn’t come in yet about their choices. I’ll update.

Monday: Michael J. Fox was hosting an A list screening for his Apple documentary. Now it’s been cancelled because Fox won’t cross the picket line. His TV sister, Justine Bateman, posted the cancellation notice she received.

Today, in New York, many actors put up a picket line where the Showtime series “Billions” was filming on location. Busy Phillips, “SVU” producer Warren Leight, and many others were spotted. On the West Coast, producer-director JJ Abrams was carrying a sign proudly.

Social media is churning out info and appearances, a big difference from previous strikes. The AMPTP studios aka management are being outgunned.