Support independent journalism, free from the trades and other publications that are part of the tinsel town machine.
For 12 years, Showbiz411.com has been covering Hollywood, Broadway, the music business and the business of celebrity. Ads are our main source of funding, but contributions (not tax exempt) from readers who enjoy the scoops, exclusives, and fact based reports are always welcome and very appreciated. To inquire about ads, email us at showbiz411@gmail.com.
“SNL” ratings jumped this past Saturday with host Travis Kelce and musical guest Kelsea Ballerini.
The NFL star commanded a 4.5 million total viewer number, up by 400,000 viewers from the week before when “Last of Us” star Pedro Pascal hosted.
Why? Who knows? Maybe a fresh face, unexpected, did the trick. Maybe the Super Bowl win helped.
Anyway, it’s good news for the show and for Ballerini. Her appearance pushed her EP, called “Rolling Up the Welcome Mat” — to number 3 on iTunes. It’s not called “Rolling Out the Welcome Mat.” That would mean she’s welcoming people. Rolling Up means turning people away, which obviously “SNL” did not.
Any lessons here? Country music is very popular. So are football players. These two were like homecoming king and queen. Interesting.
Back in 1984, Charles Shyer directed a movie called “Irreconcilable Differences.” His wife, Nancy Meyers, wrote it with him. It was a romcom about a movie making couple — Ryan O’Neal playing Peter Bogdanovich and Shelley Long as his real life wife, Polly Platt — who split but have to keep working together. (The movie introduced Sharon Stone.)
Along the years, Meyers — who went on to make a movie about Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin living in a great kitchen — and Shyer split in real life. Now Meyers is going to make her first movie since 2015. It’s a rom-com about a filmmaking couple who split but must work together on a new film to save their careers. The film, revealed by the Puck newsletter yesterday, has no title. It’s just called “Paramount Paris.”
Is it is set in Paris? That would be important because Woody Allen, whose movies Meyers echo, had his biggest hit with “Midnight in Paris.” That movie starred Owen Wilson, who is one of the four main actors in Meyers’ new movie. The others are Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, and Michael Fassbender. Cruz and Johansson starred in another Allen hit, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”
The budget for “Paramount Paris” is said to be $130 million– which I guess makes sense if it’s shot in Paris. But Woody Allen’s new movie, “Coup de Chance,” was just shot in Paris for probably a quarter of that price. And the movies he made with the same actors, ditto. It’s all a little confusing. But years from now it will make a great theme night on TCM!
That’s what Oscar-centric people– the press, the voters, etc — say every year. Because, let’s face it, every year is weird. There’s always too much or too little of something: actors, actresses, POC, white people. you name it. At this point, all anyone remembers about last year is the Will Smith slap when in reality, the big story was “CODA” winning Best Picture. No one saw it coming, or everyone saw it coming. Me? I didn’t see it coming exactly, but when I watched “CODA” via the virtual Sundance in January 2021, I loved it and it stayed with me.
This year, from the beginning, there was an early push for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Why? I’m not sure. Some people swear by it. Many do not understand it. Some say that once they explain it to you, it’s terrific. I’m old school. If I don’t get it upfront, a movie hasn’t worked. Years ago a publicist came out of a screening and explained to the audience, which was puzzled, what they’d just seen. Are you going to do that every screening, I wondered? That didn’t seem feasible. The movie fizzled.
But “Everything” has not fizzled. It made $70 million at the box office. It’s won every single award this season. Actor Ke Huy Quan is the Roberto Benigni of 2023. He’s ubiquitous, but in a good way. Everyone involved in this year’s Oscars proceedings feels worn down at this point. What happened to “The Fabelmans,” a magical film that should have gotten all the attention? Why did it turn into “Quiz Show”? Why have so few people seen it, as well as “Tar,” and “Till,” and “The Banshees of Inisherin”? Why is Jamie Lee Curtis, of “Halloween” fame, the face of this season’s awards?
In the end, cinematically, the best movie of the year was Edward Berger’s breathtaking “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Problem: it’s in German. Netflix concentrated initially on another foreign language film, “Bardo,” that few people watched or liked. So “All Quiet” got pushed to the back of the pack until, finally, looking for something worthwhile this season, movie fans began to discover it. “All Quiet” was a late bloomer. But unlike “CODA,” it was hard to peddle because it was in German, it was very gritty, and there wasn’t one actor who could be nominated for anything.
And then we have the whole “commercial hits should/should not be” included in the Oscars. Those were “Top Gun Maverick” — which Steven Spielberg said saved the business — as well as “Avatar 2” and “Black Panther 2.” They were all sequels. They were all unique, too, but their ideas had long been introduced into the public consciousness. Maybe one day “The Fabelmans 2” or “Tar 2” will be big hits as well. You never know.
Today is the last day of voting. Ballots must be in by 5pm tonight. At this point I’d pick “All Quiet for Best Picture, Spielberg for Best Director, Blanchett for Actress, Butler for Actor, Bassett for Supporting Actress, Quan for Supporting Actor. My guess is Michelle Yeoh, whose spirit has risen above the whole enterprise, will win. And that’s just fine. I’ll stick with the others. And you know what? It doesn’t matter in the end who wins. We all do. And so do they.
CNN’s Richard Quest has scored a scoop on his trip to Seoul interviewing Hybe chief Bang Si-Hyuk.
In a wide ranging interview, Bang tells Quest that K Pop, the Korean pop music that turned boy band BTS into a world wide phenom, is slowing down.
Bang tells Quest: “Globally, it’s not occupying much of the market. On the other hand, Latin music and Afrobeats are very rapidly growing. So being where we are, it is more urgent to increase the exposure.”
Whoops!
Asked whether he was worried about the popularity of K-pop eventually fizzling out altogether, Bangsaid yes.
“That is my major concern. In fact, looking at our export indicators and streaming growth, the slowdown in growth is very clear,” he noted.
The executive said he hoped the lag was “temporary,” caused by the recent start of military service in South Korea for members of his marquee act, BTS.
“But I doubt that.”
Bang says he’s looking at expanding into other areas, as well as American music companies, etc. He recently merged his company with Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings based on Braun’s success with Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, and Ariana Grande. But Bieber just cancelled yet another world tour and seems retired for the moment. Lovato’s records aren’t selling. Grande is on hiatus.
The Oscars are gearing up for this Sunday’s show with big names participating in the annual event.
Even before “Creed III” had its gigantic opening weekend, producers signed up star Jonathan Majors as a presenter. They’ve also got that film’s director and star Michael B. Jordan.
Others include Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Troy Kotsur, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monáe, Deepika Padukone, Questlove, Zoe Saldaña and Donnie Yen.]
The big news this morning is that rock star Lenny Kravitz will perform with the In Memoriam segment. And no, he won’t be singing “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over.” Kravitz is a Hollywood kid– his father was an NBC News producer, his mother was “Jeffersons” star Roxie Roker, his daughter is movie star and director Zoe Kravitz. So this will be cool. Lenny has also appeared in many movies including “The Butler.”
More announcements coming…like Lady Gaga performing along with Rihanna, David Byrne, and Diane Warren with Sofia Carson…
A few very high priced items from the cult of Scientology have turned up on ebay.
They include a couple of “e-meters” for brainwashing, and a set of Scientology books (eight, in all) for $4,997.00.
I remember this anecdote from a long time ago. There was a report that Scientology targeted model Jerry Hall, mother of four of Mick Jagger’s kids. The good ol’ Texas girl gasped when they told her how much everything cost. That was the end of that.
Actor Jason Beghe once spoke of spending huge amounts of money on Scientology materials when he was in the cult. (Imagine what their merch table looks like!)
The 8 volume set of books that sells for almost five thousand dollars is called Organization Executive Set by L. Ron Hubbard. You have to have a lot of money to be in this cult. Luckily Tom Cruise has made millions and millions from “Top Gun Maverick.” Maybe he’ll pick it up. The reading looks pretty…dry. Me, I’ll wait for the paperback!
Ditto very odd those e-meters. They are pictured below. You’re supposed to hook this up to your head, I guess, and howl at the moon. P.T. Barnum famously said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” I’m trying imagine Cruise, John Travolta, the late Kirstie Alley, and Greta van Susteren wearing those electrodes. Maybe they tell people it’s some really expensive set of headphones. You would need them — if they were headphones — to listen to the set of CDs available for $995.
I would not contact the listed sellers of this stuff. You will never hear the end of it!
The folks at Reach Out America Water Distribution in Ohio didn’t really get it, I think, when they got a $10,000 check from someone named “Soul Man” Sam Moore and his wife, Joyce.
They do now. Sam is the legendary R&B star, member of the Rock Hall of Fame, and Grammy winner who’s famous for songs like “Hold On, I’m Coming” and “Soul Man.” Sam and Joyce saw long it was taking for anyone to help the people of East Palestine, Ohio, so they took matters into their own hands. They sent their check to Reach Out America for water delivery immediately.
When Sam sings Hold on, I’m coming, he means it.
Reach Out America was grateful even though they didn’t realize at first the provenance of the help.
And then, a weird coincidence: Joyce Moore tells me that “a very dear friend and colleague of Sam’s and mine when he found out what we had done for East Palestine shared the fact that he grew up 10 minutes from there. A good chunk of his family, sister, aunt, nieces and nephews and long time friends are stuck there just having to live with it all and deal with what’s happened and happening because most of the town folk don’t owe mortgages but they don’t have any way to sell their properties and relocate so they were at the mercy of whatever is happening and praying to God.”
They were thirsty, too.
You send money for water for the folks in East Palestine to Feed the Children or Reach Out America. The news cycle has moved on, but the problems associated with the train derailment persist.
Here’s an UPDATE– a video thank you from Reach Out America
What else could Elvis Costello do after 10 sold out nights and 200 different songs at New York’s Gramercy Theater?
His top off in the New York area came Friday night at Port Chester’s sparkling Capitol Theater. This time, Elvis was joined by the Imposters — Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas, Davey Farragher and hired gun Charlie Sexton. A wind driven ice storm raged outside, but inside the Capitol the band was hot.
As with the 10 Gramercy shows, this one had plenty of surprises and rarities. The first of these was “Blame it on Cain,” from his 1977 debut album “My Aim is True.” I have a soft spot in my heart for the songs from that album. “Blame it on Cain” and “Sneaky People” were the first Costello tracks played by the legendary Charles Laquidara on WBCN in Boston. We had to listen to the radio sort of day and night hoping to hear them. Also from that album on Friday: “Alison” and “Watching the Detectives” just as pungent and purposeful as they were four decades ago.
Then there was a look at Costello’s second album with the title track “This Year’s Model,” “Pump it Up,” “Radio Radio,” and “I Don’t Want Go to Chelsea.” (We used to think the latter was about going above 14th Street, but then it turned out to be something else entirely. We didn’t want to go to Chelsea either.)
Highlights of the night were aplenty, with Steve Nieve’s spectacular piano on :”Accidents Will Happen,” and Elvis and band resurrecting “My Mood Swings,” mostly unheard for the last 20 years. He told me after the show the band had just re-learned it afternoon, but they were certainly in the mood, and swung. Gorgeous.
Costello is perhaps the most eclectic musician in pop history. Pop, rock, R&B, country, swing, rockabilly, Broadway, jazz– nothing escapes his purview. There is also “Toledo” from the Burt Bacharach collaborations (a new box sex of their history was just released). We also got two songs from Elvis’s planned Broadway show, “A Face in the Crowd,” which are ready for the Great White Way.
We were also treated to two newish songs, which Elvis cheekily describes as two sides of a single he bought in a fictional record store– the very interesting “I Don’t Want Your Lyndon Johnson” and the more accessible “Tipsy Woman.” There were numbers from recent highly praised albums, too, such as “Hetty O’Hara Confidential” and “Magnificent Hurt.” Another, “What If I Can’t I Give You Anything But Love?” is a classic in waiting, and needs some cover versions desperately.
Elvis and the Imposters aren’t old men on the level of the Stones but they are older than the Jonas Brothers or comparable groups and delivering a finely tuned show of intricate musicianship. On “When I Was Cruel,” my favorite of the night, there are loops and echoes mixed with a grinding rock track that felt like it cut through the stage floor with a buzz saw. On the big penultimate finale of “Chelsea,” Costello dug down on his lead guitar infusing his 45 year old creation with bursts of electricity. Quite amazing.
What is also eye opening is that Costello’s songwriting, acerbic from day one, has lately sharpened. There is no flab as he ages, just more closely observed slices of life, In “The Man You Love to Hate,” no longer the title of his memoir, he finds and removes a beating heart faster than a surgeon. As he leads us into the story, as with most of his songs, a new movie full of characters we want to know more about begins:
I went to a theatre on Silhouette Street It had a taste of decay and a scent of defeat All of the patrons in the pews were people that I’d killed or used The actors on the stage were equally skilled
Costello may have performed over 200 songs in the last two weeks, but he’s not done with us, and we’re far from done with him.
Riz Ahmed will be back at the Oscars presenting the award the Best Live Action Short, the award that he won last year for “The Long Goodbye.” There is a strong possibility that Riz will be reading filmmaker Cyrus Neshvad’s name. Neshvad’s “The Red Suitcase” is garnering kudos with audiences and critics.
“Suitcase” is about a 16 year old Iranian girl (Nawelle Ewad) who arrives in Luxembourg to be married to a much older man (Sarkaw Gorany) whom she’s never met. With the recent protests in Iran decrying the abuse of women, this film has landed with a timely boom in Hollywood. Iranian born Neshvad left the country with his family and settled in Luxembourg where he still lives. I spoke with Neshvad, the first director from Luxembourg to be nominated, about his journey to the film.
He said: “My mother told me in 2019 that Iranian women were disappearing. I then wanted to do a film about it. When we were nearly finishing, then the whole world was talking about it.” What drives him cinematically? “The driving force for me is to for the audience to connect with our hero and never to be bored. For me it’s 30 percent my ego, 70 percent audience connecting to it. I literally did 40 versions of the film, I kept methodically editing. I knew I had to catch the audience in 18 minutes.”
He more than succeeded. “The Red Suitcase” is a powerful and poignant film; packing emotion, suspense and more in its short running time.
Neshvad already had a feature lined up he’s starting in May. And odds are that this talented filmmaker will be going home with the golden statue in his hand.
In late summer 2021, the rock group KISS — always on the road touring — hit a COVID wall. Their principal members, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, were diagnosed with the corona virus. Nine shows had to be cancelled. They had to find a solution and fast.
Luckily KISS is managed by a wily rock and roll veteran, Doc McGhee. A one time protege of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, McGhee is known for his astute talents working with many famous bands including Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. McGhee had heard about a possible COVID treament called Steriwave, which by coincidence I wrote about in this space when COVID first took off in March 2020.
Steriwave, made by Vancouver’s Ondine Biomedical, a light treatment for nasal passages, is approved for use in Canada, where it’s been a big success, and in the European Union. It’s currently undergoing testing by the FDA here in the US. McGhee decided it was worth a look, and arranged for two Steriwave machines to come on tour with the band immediately. It was worth a try.
The result: KISS, using Steriwave treatment, has not a COVID case in 18 months. (Tragically, a KISS roadie who refused the treatment contracted COVID and died. A lawsuit is pending.) McGhee says: “It would be impossible, not improbable, but impossible, for KISS to continue on its world tour without the protection of the Steriwave treatment.”
McGhee — as well as Simmons and Stanley — credit Steriwave with keeping them healthy so they can finish their massive farewell tour ending in December 2023 at Madison Square Garden. COVID has plagued rock bands and performers on tour, including Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band which recently had to use substitute players when the virus swept through their organization.
McGhee told me on Friday by phone from London: “My job is to ensure success and keep the band healthy. We’d heard about a meat packing plant in Vancouver that used Steriwave and it worked. I said, Let me get it.”
It was not just results at the meat packing plant. In March 2020, a week before I wrote my story, Canada’s Global News reported that an Edmonton Alberta nursing home was having success using the treatment on their patients.
McGee says, “It was a matter of getting people to understand it. The band had to because they were getting sick. But you have to look at the science. The science is simple. It was designed to stop post-operative infections. It kills everything in the nasal passages. And there are no side effects.”
Steriwave is not new. Going back to 2013 there were reports in the Canadian press about the treatment’s success. A Vancouver General Hospital team was the first to introduce a non-antibiotic universal nasal decolonization protocol that has since helped the hospital achieve over 70% reductions in surgical site infections over historical rates. The hospital won the 2013 Global Infection Control Innovation Award.
I first wrote about Steriwave in March 2020 when there were no vaccines but plenty of talk about a variety of crackpot solutions. Steriwave had a proven track record already for treating MRSA and other related virus. I wrote then that the process is a “six minute treatment [that] involves swabbing the nose with a blue gel (photosensitizer) followed by illumination with a red light for a few minutes. The protocol – applied by an LPN or RN nursing staff trained by the Ondine team – is intended to build on infection control strategies (such as handwashing, social distancing, environmental controls) already in place.”
McGhee is adamant that Steriwave treatment has saved his business, but he’s not invested in it financially and gets no remuneration for his enthusiasm. He says. “I’m just trying to help my industry.” He says of the moment he got involved, “I was responsible for irresponsible people, people strung out all over the world.” He concedes that he can’t make everyone who works for him take it. But, he says, “I wouldn’t go on tour without it. The pandemic is not over.”
