Tuesday, October 8, 2024
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Michelle Pfeiffer, Sigourney Weaver, Woody Allen Among A Listers at Sad Goodbye for Writer-Director Douglas McGrath

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UPDATED Most of the 500 people who filed into historic St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Fifth Avenue today were still in shock after losing beloved friend, husband, father Doug McGrath. Last week just before he was supposed to go on stage to perform his one man show, “Everything’s Fine,” McGrath died suddenly of a heart attack. He was 64.

His beautiful service at St. Thomas and reception next door at the University Club were attended by his wife Jane Martin, their son Henry, Doug’s brother and sisters, as well as an array of grieving showbizzers including his Princeton classmate writer producer David E. Kelley (who also served as an usher) and wife Michelle Pfeiffer, Sigourney Weaver and husband Jim Simpson, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, humorist and former “SNL” creator Alan Zweibel, famed talent agent Boaty Boatwright, a very shocked John Lithgow– who directed “Everything’s Fine,” plus even Billy Bush of “Extra.” He was one of a group of students Doug tutored years ago during high school, and they all came to pay their respects.

Some flew in for the occasion. “Schitt’s Creek” star Catherine O’Hara made it in from Los Angeles. Woody Allen and Soon Yi Previn flew in over night from shooting Woody’s latest movie in Paris. They sat quietly in the back row. O’Hara told me she knew Doug from his one year at “SNL” in 1980-81. (She came with friend Robin Duke, another “SNL” cast member from that era.) “I was in the cast for a month and never got on air,” O’Hara revealed. Luckily, she’s had a stellar 40 year career since then and always stayed in touch with McGrath.

Doug’s brother and sister each spoke of their brother growing up in Midland, Texas. He had a habit of rocking back and forth so he got a job in a hospital rocking newborn babies to sleep. As an adult, he remained unpretentious, the opposite of anything Hollywood. He was known for helping groups of homeless people with cash and clothing, and inspired his young son to do the same. Does this sound too good to be true? It wasn’t. Doug McGrath was incredibly successful but also completely self-effacing. That’s why 500 people showed up today, out of respect.

“Everything is Fine,” of course, has ended its run with Doug’s death. It was not filmed because as Lithgow said, “We thought we had all the time in the world.” The hope is it will be published in book form, and one day another actor can reproduce the magic that McGrath and Lithgow made on stage. It would be a shame if it were lost to the ages.

RIP Doug. You must have been smiling in heaven today.

Much Anticipated 3 Hour Damien Chazelle Film “Babylon” Screens in NY with Margot Robbie, Jean Smart, and Brad Pitt Doing Pratfalls During Q&A

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“Babylon” is here. It’s really Hollywood Babylon, sort of referencing Kenneth Anger’s famous book about Tinseltown before talkies made everyone so serious. It was a time of bacchanalias, sort of “The Great Gatsby” on the west coast.

No reviews yet– the movie doesn’t open until December 23rd. But director Damien Chazelle — he of “Whiplash,” “La La Land,” and “First Man” — brought his all star cast to New York yesterday for two screenings and two Q&As after showing it to the folks in actual Hollywood a couple of days ago.

Present at AMC Lincoln Square were members of the Producers Guild as well as some notable actors like the great Cherry Jones and Barbara Barrie. The latter is a youthful 91 years old and a sprite. She came to the screening on her own because no one in her family was around to accompany her!

What am I allowed to tell you? Well, this is the Era of Jean Smart. She plays a gossip columnist who is dogging a movie company trying to get info. This is before Louella Parsons or Hedda Hopper, and she’s based on a real person. Smart is riveting all through the film and then has a scene with Brad Pitt — not sexual, cut it out — that may land them each Oscar nominations in the supporting categories. The movie is sumptuous. And that’s all I can say for now.

On stage the cast was charming and happy to be with each other. That included Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Diego Calva, who makes an impressive debut as Chazelle’s Nick Carraway. Pitt was especially fun, nearly falling when his chair on stage actually collapsed, then doing pratfalls, and finally tossing his microphone out when it didn’t work and getting lots of laughs. Pitt announced on stage that he was waiting to make the next Damian Chazelle movie, so that’s a good sign.

“Babylon” clocks in at a little over three hours and it is never boring. Any attempts to nod out are challenged by a fascinating film. So hold on!

Will Smith’s Book, “Will,” Didn’t Sell Close to 1 Million Copies Despite His Exuberant Claims All Year

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Fact check: Will Smith has been recently boasting that he sold 1 million copies of his book, “Will.” See his Insta post below.

Indeed even last February Will posted a video to Instagram jubilantly announcing 1 million copies. And that was a month before he snapped and slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars.

So here’s the real story: according to NPD Book Scan, “Will” has sold 379,700 copies in hardcover in the US. It’s also sold around 50,000 copies in e-books. Worldwide sales, even if excellent, are unlikely to have to 600,000 more copies.

It’s possible, of course, that someone who works for Will told him he sold a million copies. He may really believe it.

Judy Woodruff’s Successors are “PBS News Hour” Anchors are Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz

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You know that the amazing Judy Woodruff is retiring from PBS at the end of the year.

Her successors on the PBS News Hour have been announced. They are Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz. They begin on January 2nd.’ Judy has hosted solo since 2016 when Gwen Ifill, her co-anchor, passed away.

Bennett has reported from the White House under three presidents and has covered five presidential elections. He joined NewsHour in 2022 from NBC News, where he was a White House correspondent and substitute anchor for MSNBC. In his prior experience, he worked for NPR — beginning as an editor for Weekend Edition and later as a reporter covering Congress and the White House. An Edward R. Murrow Award recipient, Bennett began his journalism career at ABC News’ World News Tonight.

Nawaz, who has received Peabody Awards for her reporting at NewsHour on January 6, 2021 and global plastic pollution, has served as NewsHour’s primary substitute anchor since she joined the NewsHour in 2018. She previously was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s livestream coverage of the 2016 presidential election. Before that, she served as foreign correspondent and Islamabad Bureau Chief at NBC News. She is also the founder and former managing editor of NBC’s Asian America platform, and began her journalism career at ABC News Nightline just weeks before the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Murdoch Bails: Trump Speech Hidden by Fox News Online, Mocked in NY Post as “Florida Man Makes Announcement”

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Trump’s big announcement last night — that he’s running for president in 2024 — has been mostly ignored by Rupert Murdoch.

Trump must be seething as the conservative publisher seems to have abandoned him.

There’s barely a mention on Foxnews.com. The only story is buried way into the site with a headline: “Trump ignores GOP rivals and stolen election claims in 2024 presidential announcement”

The worst is the NY Post front page. Nearly the whole page is taken up by another story. At the very bottom a banner reads: “Florida Man Makes Announcement.” The Trump story is inside on Pae 26.

Last night, Sean Hannity– Trump’s last friend– stayed with his own agenda. But when Trump wheezed on into the 10pm hour, Laura Ingraham cut away from him. MSNBC only dipped into highlights of the speech as it proceeded live. Only CNN, with no viewers, carried much of the whoel thing.

Trump’s weaselly kids have abandoned him. The National Review, bible of Conservative thinking, wrote an editorial titled “No.” This is going to end badly.

Apple Releases Trailer for Will Smith’s “Emancipation” But Oscars Won’t Be In the Cards This Soon After Slap

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Here are a couple of things to note as Apple releases the trailer for “Emancipation, their Will Smith movie directed by Antoine Fuqua.

First off, there are no Oscars in the cards for this movie. Will Smith physically attacked someone on the stage of this year’s Oscars. He received a 10 year suspension from the Academy. He should have been arrested. There is no way this movie will be nominated, or he will be invited back. So just forget it. He’s lucky Apple will put it on their TV platform.

Second, the movie looks ridiculous. He’s speaking with some kind of French Creole accent. The black and white is so rich looking it might as well be color. It’s a high studio gloss. The whole project looks inferior in every way to “12 Years a Slave,” a great movie that is fresh in our minds. This looks like one of those holier-than-thou savior movies that Smith likes so much.

Really, that fake accent for two hours, is too much.

Trump Fallout: Isaac Hayes’s Estate Say They Got the “Shaft,” Demand Stop Usage of Song During Rallies

Hold on, lawyers are coming.

Overnight the estate of the late great Isaac Hayes posted to social media a demand to Donald Trump: stop using Hayes’s famous song (with David Porter), “Hold On I’m Coming.”

Hayes — famous for writing and singing “Shaft,” and writing dozens of hits for the Stax record label — died in 2008.

His son, Isaac Hayes III, wrote: “Once again, The estate and family of Isaac Hayes DID NOT approve the use of “Hold on I’m coming’” … by Donald Trump at his 2024 Presidential announcement tonight. We are exploring multiple legal options to stop this unauthorized use.’

He added: “Stopping a politician from using your music is not always an easy task, but we are dedicated to making sure that Donald Trump does not continue to use “Hold on I’m Coming” written by Isaac Hayes an David Porter in further rallies and public appearances.”

“Hold On I’m Coming” is most closely associated with Sam & Dave, who had the original hit. Years later Aretha Franklin won a Grammy for her version, too. The song is used in commercials all the time.

Other artists have fought with Trump over the last few years over use of their songs. The Rolling Stones have been battling him for years over “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” That’s ironic, since Trump’s theme song should be “Sympathy for the Devil.” Or Elton John’s “The Bitch is Back.”

“The Whale” Star Brendan Fraser Won’t Attend Golden Globes if Nominated After Having Horrible Experience with Them

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Brendan Fraser is on the awards fast track this season with a movie called “The Whale.” He’s gotten great reviews playing a 600 pound man contemplating the end of his life.

But now Fraser has told GQ Magazine that if the Golden Globes nominate him for Best Actor he will not attend the ceremony.

“I have more history with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association than I have respect for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Fraser says “No, I will not participate.”

Fraser added, “It’s because of the history that I have with them. And my mother didn’t raise a hypocrite. You can call me a lot of things, but not that.”

Back in 2018 when #MeToo revelations were pouring out in Hollywood Fraser alleged that in 2003 Hollywood Foreign Press member Philip Berk groped him during a press conference. Berk denied it and the HFPA kept him until 2021 when he was finally ousted over making racist remarks. Fraser made the allegation in GQ to the very same reporter, and says the fallout was incredibly damaging. So you can’t blame him for not wanting to go there again.

The HFPA has gone through two years of scandal and reorganization. There was no Golden Globes show this past year, and NBC has allowed it return provisionally this coming January. Fraser’s announcement doesn’t do much to help the already battered institution. I would be surprised if Todd Boehly, who basically owns the Globes now, doesn’t do something to reach out to the actor to persuade him to change his mind.

Ivanka Trump Says She’s Out of Politics After Grifting Millions Last Time, Will Not Return to the Scene of the Crime

Ivanka Trump is outta here.

The avaricious daughter of the former president says she’s not going back to Washington and doing what she did last time — grift millions while operating as his faux first lady.

Ivanka, who enabled her father’s villainy, actually said in a statement last night: “While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside the political arena.”

Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner made millions personally during their four year run at the White House. They moved from New York to Washington. They couldn’t return to New York because they’re social pariahs, so they emigrated to Florida — the equivalent of when the Nazis ran to South America. The couple also evidently have children whom Ivanka has suddenly remembered.

“This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family,” she said. “I do not plan to be involved in politics.”

The timing of the posting to Instagram was sweet, too — while her father was giving an inane speech full of lies and fictions as he announced his intended run for the 2024 presidential election. Ouch! She couldn’t have waited a few days? Ivana and Jared, whose book is now number 3,495 on amazon, were absent from Trump’s speech, as was Donald Trump Jr., whose own social media posts have become hilarious memes among the Medellin cartel.

During her run at the White House, Ivanka secured all kinds of patents and trademarks from China and the Philippines including sunglasses, handbags, shoes and jewelry, as well as beauty services, voting machines, and coffins (of all things).

As for the grift: Government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) ran the numbers. They say that while working in the White House, the former first daughter and son-in-law reported between $172 million and an a stunning $640 million. So they’re done. The best cat burglars know not to return to the scene of the crime.

Oscar Winner Jessica Chastain is Coming Back to Broadway in a New Production of “A Doll’s House”

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Jessica Chastain doesn’t take a minute off from interesting work. This year’s Oscar winner for Best Actress is returning to Broadway this spring in a new production of “A Doll’s House.” She was last here in 2012-13’s “The Heiress.”

The new production of the Henrik Ibsen classic is from director Jamie Lloyd and directed by Amy Herzog.

Jessica says:

Jessica Chastain says in a release, “When I sat down with the brilliant Jamie Lloyd five years ago to discuss a possible collaboration, I was over the moon when we decided on A Doll’s House. We were set to start rehearsals in London in April 2020, but little did we know what the world (and a pandemic) had in store for us. 

“While home in New York, walking around the empty theater district made my heart hurt. New York has been my home for over 20 years and it’s immensely important to me to take care of this city and support my artist neighbors.

“So, I couldn’t be happier to play Nora in A Doll’s House on Broadway! I’m very excited to work with Jamie and the incredible Amy Herzog in this city that formed me. I hope in the future to work in the West End but for now I can’t wait to be together with all of the wonderful people of New York and my artistic community on Broadway.”

Chastain has her work cut out for her. Janet McTeer’s turn as Nora in 1997 remains a towering moment in theater. And the last time we saw Nora was in “A Doll’s House Part 2,” the faux sequel starring Laurie Metcalf. Each of those actresses won Tony Awards. I’ve no doubt Jessica can do the same!