That’s it for Shawn Mendes’s tour. He cancelled three weeks of shows to get himself together. But now he says he needs more time. He’s scuttled everything. The promoters must be livid, as well as the musicians and crews. But it’s more important at age 23 to figure out who you are and what you want out of life. God speed.
PS Among the dates gone are in Toronto, Shawn’s hometown, plus Boston and New York and all of Europe. Ouch!
View this post on Instagram
Norman Lear turns 100 today. He’s got all his marbles and then some. Happy birthday, Norman. To celebrate, his daughter, Kate, has recorded a birthday message from Norman and posted to Instagram. It’s below.
Few in the history of the arts in this country have matched Norman Lear’s accomplishments. I mean not just the TV shows like “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “Good Times.” “The Jeffersons.” But also his commitment to political liberalism, the creation of People for the American Way, his unending interest in making the world a better place.
Seven or eight years ago, I left a lunch at the 21 Club with producer Fred Zollo and we ran across Sixth Avenue to the theater district. Fred peeled off, and I was left standing in front of the Shubert Theater, out of breath, heading to a matinee. And who was standing there, unaccompanied, waiting for his wife? Norman Lear, Maybe he was 93. I was taken aback. “Norman?” I said. We shook hands. I was so impressed that there he was, no one noticed that one of the most important people in the history of entertainment was just idling in Shubert Alley. At 93. And now he’s 100 and seems no different.
In 2019, Norman turned up at a cocktail party for songwriter Diane Warren at Ross House at the top of Mount Olympus in Los Angeles. It was great to see him. I am honored that he allowed Leah Sydney to take a picture of us together, it’s one of the best mementos I have from this experience. I post it here again.
We are all in awe of Norman Lear and bow down to him on this momentous occasion.
I did tell you on June 13th that Elton John was planning another remix of an old hit with a pop icon. This would be like his “Cold Heart” smash hit with Dua Lipa.
Now comes word that the new record will be a rethinking of “Tiny Dancer” with Britney Spears. Spears is not a great singer but that doesn’t matter. She’s indeed an icon and a person of the moment. This would be her first new record in years. She actually hasn’t had a hit in more than a dozen years (I’m being kind).
Elton and husband David Furnish are shrewd marketers. They already released “The Lockdown Sessions” with Elton on duets with a variety of pop stars. The producer is Andrew Watt, hot as a pistol, as they used to say. and adept at making this sort of thing work.
I’m curious to see which other Elton songs are rolled into “Tiny Dancer,” and if it gets a new title as “Cold Heart” used to be called “Sacrifice.” If it’s a hit, look for Britney to turn up at Elton’s final show at Dodger Stadium in November.
Tony Dow, the actor who played Wally Cleaver as a teenager in “Leave it to Beaver,” is gravely ill and in hospice. There was an erroneous report of his death. His mangers posted a death announcement to Facebook without verification.
His son Christopher updated the situation on Tuesday night.
Dow has been battling cancer for at least the last year.
“Leave it to Beaver” is a touchstone to anyone over 60 years old. Despite its sugary homespun lessons, “Beaver” struck a chord when there were just three TV stations and the whole world concentrated on a few stories. Where the younger Beaver (Jerry Mathers) was getting in and out of childhood scrapes, Dow’s Wally was the budding teen that a lot of kids could relate to.
Dow went on to add more acting credits in the 60s when “Beaver” finished its run and eventually became an artist. But his days as Wally will always be remembered with affection.
You can’t stop a bad movie franchise.
Netflix is determined to make “The Gray Man” into something. So they’ve announced a sequel to the current film and a spinoff movie as well in the so called Gray Man “Universe.”
Well, they can’t be worse than the current films. “The Gray Man” teeters on Rotten Tomatoes at around 49%. It’s a bad movie, with no character development or real story, just a lot of explosions and shooting of military machine guns. Everything shatters including the story.
Ryan Gosling was announced for the sequel. Ana de Armas may be in that one, or the spin off which will written in the glib style of “Deadpool.” They tried for that in this one and failed to make i stick.
Anthony and Joe and Russo will return to direct, which makes sense since they are not going back to Marvek and “Avengers” movies.
Netflix says “The Gray Man” is their number 1 movie in 92 countries and I believe them. I’m sure all subscribers are tuning in for 20 minutes or so. But to make it past the first hour — that’s commitment.
Bruce Springsteen tickets went on sale in a bunch of new venues this morning, and they are mostly sold out. To scalpers.
The best bet is Tulsa, where you could still get a great seat for around $700. In Boston just now there were a few floor seats left at $1,405. But they are also back by the sound mixing tent.
Tickets for New York and New Jersey don’t go on sale until Friday. That’s when all hell breaks loose. Think you’ve seen prices as high as $10,000 today? Just wait til Friday.
In the New York area, Springsteen so far has one date booked at MSG — appropriately for April Fool’s Day. There are just a few others including two big ones at Belmont Park on Long Island, one at the Prudential Center in Newark. There’s no doubt those dates will expand — especially MSG — as demand goes off the hook on Friday.
On some ticket selling sites, prices are so high there’s an opportunity to finance them with Affirm.
Another good deal? You can sit behind the stage at Mohegan Sun Casino arena for just $790. That seems reasonable. Bruce does move around quite a bit, so there’s a chance you’ll see him.
Armie Hammer’s going to eating out his heart.
While he’s in movie purgatory for his efforts to become a cannibal, his “Call Me By Your Name:” collaborators have gone whole hog in the pursuit.
Co-stars Timothee Chalamet and Michael Stuhlbarg have joined their “Call Me” director Lucas Guadagnino for his new movie, “Bones and All.” It’s based on a novel by Camille deAngelis and it’s headed to the Venice Film Festival.
Amazon will serve up “Bones and All” in November during Thanksgiving via its new purchase of MGM. It’s unclear if the movie, which is really about feasting on flesh, will premiere in theaters or in another Amazon subsidiary, Whole Foods.
Hammer and Chalamet, as we all know, played lovers in Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name.” It’s possible Hammer’s whole bizarre “cannibal” episode, which has led him to allegedly sell time shares in the Cayman Islands, stemmed from being left out of this banquet.
You think I’m kidding about “Bones and All” being about cannibals? The main character begins the novel with this observation from her earliest days when she chewed on her babysitter:
PS All this may be a trend. Earlier this year we had the totally disgusting “Fresh,” about a handsome doctor (Sebastian Stan) who kidnapped women and gnawed at them bit by bit until they were fully masticated.
I broke the first story about Ethan Hawke making a documentary about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. It was supposed to be for CNN Films, but Warner Discovery obviously moved it over to HBO Max as bait for subscribers. It was a smart move. The six part project, called “The Last Movie Stars” is simply extraordinary, a huge undertaking that left me excited and exhausted.
A lot of the credit goes to Hawke, who’s the director, but also to editor Barry Poltermann and all the archivists and producers. Nothing this complicated or well executed can be done by one person. But of course Hawke’s enthusiasm and sensibility are the foundations of something Ken Burns must marvel at.
Newman and Woodward are of particular interest to me, as they were larger than life figures growing up in nearby Westport, Connecticut. I got to know them as an adult, and they were rightly considered legendary. I saw and spoke to them often at their fundraisers and at press events. One year about four or five us intrepid reporters showed for a press junket Q&A at the Regency Hotel that we thought was canceled because of a blizzard. Not only did it happen, but Newman was right there with us despite the weather.
You may have heard: Newman’s friend, Stewart Stern, had interviewed a lot of the couple’s friends and family on tape. In 1991, Newman burned the tapes. But Stern had the transcripts. So Hawke has employed his actor friends to read the parts of the various people. George Clooney and Laura Linney are wonderful as Paul and Joanne, and everyone else involved, including Alessandro Nivola as Robert Redford and Brooks Ashmanskas as Gore Vidal, are outstanding.
This is a warts-and-all project. The filmmakers never suggest anyone was perfect. Newman drank excessively during the long marriage (his second) and Woodward suffered. But they had a deep respect and love for each other, and clearly the filmmakers felt the same way about them. They also weave in an astonishing 16 films made by the couple together, and another couple dozen of their solo projects. The sheer scale of their legacy exists in this work ethic. There was never a “lazy” period.
They married in 1958. Paul died in 2008. Woodward already been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and she is still alive. It’s the cruelty of that disease that has hobbled her for 15 years. But boy, she’d be so proud of this docuseries. While Newman is already fairly well known, Woodward’s star has faded over time. Hawke and co. have resurrected her as a consummate actress, mother, and humanitarian.
A few years ago I wrote about the Newman’s Own Foundation going through a tough time. But now it seems to have been straightened out. Selling salad dressing, popcorn, and tomato sauce, the Foundation has given away around $500 million. They also run the Serious Fun camps (formerly Hole in the Wall) for seriously ill children.
Back in 2007 I was at a safari camp in Zambia. I asked the guides at lunch, of all the celebrity charities were hear about, was there one that had impacted them? Our guide said, Paul Newman, that charity had been the most effective. Isn’t that amazing, I responded, a Hollywood star had done some good. The guide and his friends were totally lost. They had no idea that Newman was a movie star. They only knew him as someone whose foundation had helped them. That’s better than an Oscar, I think.
“The Last Movie Stars” comes too late for the 2022 Emmy Awards, but it will win everything in September 2023. PS I was glad to see that the last interview with Newman and Woodward was featured with my old friend, NBC’s Jill Rappaport. Separately, Jill’s photographer sister, Linda Solomon, tells me she was once shot Newman at the Grand Prix. She remembers: “I asked him to takeoff his sunglasses. His response to me: I would but my pants will fall down.”
PS My only quibble is very little attention to, especially in the last chapter, of Hemingway biographer A. E. Hotchner. “Hotch,” as we all knew him, was Newman’s best friend and instigator of the Foundation and Hole in the Wall camps. He’s even written about on the latter’s website. Hotch died in 2020 at age 102, and I’m sorry he wasn’t included in this otherwise comprehensive saga.
Adele has agreed to 13 new weekend dates next winter in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace Colosseum.
Only one problem: her schedule includes the weekends of the Grammy Awards and the Oscars.
Adele is booked into the Colosseum for February 3rd and 4th. The Grammys are on the 5th, in Los Angeles.
She’s booked again February 24th and 25th in Vegas. The Oscars are on the 26th in Los Angeles.
Of the two conflicts, the Grammy Awards are the biggest concern. (An Oscar appearance would be desired but not necessary.) Adele’s “30” album will be up for Album of the Year, Song and Record of the Year for “Easy on Me,” at least. Adele will likely be nominated for Best Pop Vocal.
At this rate, “30” would be the leading candidate to win those awards. This year hasn’t been so fruitful. We’re waiting for Beyonce’s “Renaissance” album, but it already looks like that release is full of sampled music, old songs interpolated, and not so much original material. If only Beyonce could find a pair of writers who composed regular songs, she might win Album of the Year. Other candidates are unclear right now. Taylor Swift’s “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is eligible, but that seems a little dull. Harry Styles’ new album will be in the mix. Marcus Mumford’s solo release will be part of the discussion.
But Adele will be the key draw for the Grammys in 2023. Can she do two Vegas shows, then hightail it to LA for rehearsals and the big broadcast? CBS and the Recording Academy will be counting on it.
Sony TV could not bring itself to declare a winner in the “Jeopardy!” host competition.
Word today is that beginning in September nothing will change. Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik will continue to split hosting duties regardless of their respective ratings or popularity.
Jennings seemed like the obvious choice to be named permanent host. His ratings are better, and core “Jeopardy!” fans like him.
But Bialik has her fans. And Sony is frightened of insulting any group or turning anyone off. So as in most of TV taking no stance is the best way to go.
Hey– it’s certainly better than having revolving hosts from all over the place. It’s a win-win. Congrats to all contestants!