Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Donate
Home Blog Page 576

The New Billie Eilish, 22 Year Old Clairo, Daughter of a Top Marketing Exec, Pop Star Frankenstein Makes Cover of (Digital) Rolling Stone

Roger Friedman
-
0
The New Billie Eilish, 22 Year Old Clairo, Daughter of a Top Marketing Exec, Pop Star Frankenstein Makes Cover of (Digital) Rolling Stone

We already have the new Billie Eilish.

Totally unknown to but a handful of people, 22 year old Claire Cottill has made the cover of Rolling Stone’s digital issue today. Her stage name is “Clairo.”

It won’t be long before Clairol hair products get involved because her father is a top marketing executive from places like Procter & Gamble and Starbucks. Geoff Cottrill is the new Showbiz Parent of the Year. In 2010, he was Brandweek’s “Marketer of the Year.” He worked at Starbucks’ HEAR Music.

Geoff Cottrill has been a co-chair of Musicares at the Grammys. So you can imagine that Clairo will be heavily featured this winter on both the Grammys and the Musicares Person of the Year show.

Clairo’s got an album coming out called “Sling.” Dad has cooked up a whole theme for her about being indie, going with an indie label. Clairo is the biggest  outsider who was ever an insider. She’s already been on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.”

Her single is called “Blouse.” Not to be too cynical but it’s a girl with a guitar. We’ve heard it before. “Blouse” is well produced, beautifully sung. It sounds like someone cloned Carly Simon from 1971, which isn’t a bad thing. Billie Eilish must be semi-horrified. But “Blouse” will be a bit. It’s built that way. “Blouse,” like “Sling” comes from the biggest insider producer of all, Jack Antonoff, the man behind Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Katy Perry, and everyone on the radio right now.

Between Fallon and the official video, she’s got 800,000 YouTube views. There’s more to come. I kind of feel bad for her. The whole thing smacks of nepotism. It’s a cynical move to create a pop star Frankenstein. Even if she’s good, how can we judge? Clairo has been forced on us like Rice Krispies.

Joni Mitchell once sang about “stoking the star making machinery.” This kind of thing is an old story. The musical “Bye Bye Birdie” was all about the making of an Elvis Presley type star. And now we have Clairo.

McCartney Hulu Doc: A New Song, An Unreleased Beatles Song, Personal Motto: “Forge ahead constantly…in music and in life”

Roger Friedman
-
0
McCartney Hulu Doc: A New Song, An Unreleased Beatles Song, Personal Motto: “Forge ahead constantly…in music and in life”

Part 2 of the Hulu documentary about Paul McCartney is another very satisfying 30 minutes executive produced by Rick Rubin.

It’s as if someone gave Paul a shot of something called Keep Talking. He’s never been so open, voluble, or revealing.

The segment begins with McCartney, one of the greatest composers of all time, conceding that other musicians are shocked he can’t read or write music. Every time he composes something it has to be taped. In the early days, he and John Lennon, he says, had to write “memorable music,” meaning they had to remember what they’d done. They wrote all those classic, complicated songs that way! It’s mind boggling.

There are also a couple of clips from the “Let it Be” archives. This means Paul is actually scooping Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” documentary, coming in November. There’s a full on version of “Let it Be” with Billy Preston on the Hammond organ, and a gorgeous acoustic solo take of “Blackbird” from Paul.

I don’t know if the next episodes address this, but you would almost think Paul is on some spectrum of pure genius. There’s a genuine innocence about his explanations for how all these songs happened. He sits down at the piano and plays a bit of a new song, called “Life is Hard,” and Rubin says to him, the beauty of it is that it sounds like it always existed but was never actually created. You can hear McCartney’s musical fingerprints all over it, it’s lovely. And here it is. It might be from Paul’s work on the “It’s a Wonderful Life” Broadway show.

Paul also offers his personal motto, which makes sense looking at his life: “Forge ahead constantly…in music and in life.” He lost his mother at age 14, he lost Linda, the love of his life; John was murdered, George died tragically, the Beatles broke up and Paul launched right into a solo career. That is his motto, alright.

There’s a lot more in segment 2: dissections of “Band on the Run,” “Eleanor Rigby,” “Penny Lane.” Paul plays a little “Lady Madonna” and demonstrates his “other” voice. He talks about Bach’s influence on the Beatles, and how seeing Fela Kuti in Lagos while recording “Band on the Run” left a deep impression. After this, getting Fela Kuti into the Rock Hall shouldn’t be too hard. I would think Paul would the induction speech.

Getting back to the first installment of ‘McCartney 3,2,1″: Paul talks about and plays a song he and George Harrison wrote when they met called “Thinking about Linking.” The title came from a billboard for a furniture store. It seems like it’s an unknown Beatles song. It’s unreleased, but not unknown. There is actually a bootleg recording of it on YouTube. (Of course.) I present it to you here.

Susannah Hoffs Performed This Beautiful Version of “Manic Monday” on TV Sunday, Produced by Peter Asher

Roger Friedman
-
0
Susannah Hoffs Performed This Beautiful Version of “Manic Monday” on TV Sunday, Produced by Peter Asher

Um, I think we all missed this amazing performance from July 4th on CNN. Susannah Hoffs of the Bangles sang her famous Prince hit, “Manic Monday,” live and in studio backed by famed producer Peter Asher and a wonderful band. They also played the Bangles’ “Eternal Flame.”

Peter tells me he and Susannah are working together. Also, Peter is appearing at New York’s City Winery on July 26th and 27th with Kate Taylor, Albert Lee, and Leland Sklar, which should not be missed. His show is a charming mix of real rock anecdotes and pure 60s and 70s music. It’s always an enchanting evening. And I’m looking forward to hearing Sister Kate!

You know that Peter was half of Peter & Gordon, discovered James Taylor, produced and managed James, and Linda Ronstadt during their run of hits, was nominated for an Oscar recently, what else? He also ran Apple Records, the Beatles’ label. His sister, Jane Asher, was Paul McCartney’s girlfriend in the 60s. Peter & Gordon had the only Lennon-McCartney song written just for them, “A World Without Love.” It went right to number 1.

Anyway there’s Peter sitting down, playing the guitar behind Susannah. Maybe he’ll produce a whole album with her. She’s one of my favorite singers. (Did you know she’s been married forever to award winning director Jay Roach?) Check out the cool records she made with Matthew Sweet, as well.

Paul McCartney Hulu Doc: When They Fought He Called Lennon “Four Eyes,” John Called Him “Pigeon Chest”

Roger Friedman
-
0
Paul McCartney Hulu Doc: When They Fought He Called Lennon “Four Eyes,” John Called Him “Pigeon Chest”

I’ve just finished the first of six 30 minute segments produced by Rick Rubin and a bunch of people with Paul McCartney for Hulu. They’re called “McCartney 3, 2, 1.” The first episode is extraordinary. Rubin, a consummate record producer, draws out McCartney at his most disarming and charming in a rare discussion of the music.

The films are in black and white. Rubin looks like a cross between Methuselah and a Swami with a long ZZ Top white beard and long hippie-ish stringy hair. He’s wearing shorts! They are mostly standing, sometimes sitting, in front of a recording console. It’s just the two of them. For McCartney, who has never written a book and is very dodgy in interviews, at 79 he is giving his oral history. If you’re a fan, this is it. This is all you need.

In this episode, they talk about “Michelle,” and how it was composed, how McCartney says they all wanted to be French and he was inspired by an Edith Piaf song.

He says the name “Sergeant Pepper” came about because he mis-heard his roadie ask to “pass the sale and pepper” on a plane ride. That they wrote “With a Little Help from My Friends” for Ringo because he was so popular. “He mostly sang covers. We thought we could write him a song.”

There is a dissection of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” in which Paul praises George Harrison as a songwriter and a human. He recalls how “George’s friend” Eric Clapton came to play on it, the first time an outsider played on one of their records. “It was very generous of George,” Paul says, to let someone else play such a tasty riff.

“But that’s the little guy I met on the bus” when they were 15, he says, looking amazed. “Magical.”

Of John Lennon, Paul recalls that in the early days when they would fight, he’d call Lennon “four eyes” and John would call him “pigeon chest,” Paul says, “because maybe my chest wasn’t so developed.” It’s a poignant, disarming, funny memory, like all of those included here. I am blown away.

And there are five more episodes! Stay tuned!

“McCartney 3,2,1” drops om Hulu on July 16th.

 

Griffin Dunne Previews Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch”: “The audience is going to go nuts for it”

Roger Friedman
-
0
Griffin Dunne Previews Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch”: “The audience is going to go nuts for it”

Actor Griffin Dunne took to Instagram today and gave a little preview of Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch.” The much- anticipated film will be unveiled next Monday in Cannes to rapturous audiences, no doubt. I already love all the names of the characters. You can see some of them, like Zeffirelli, in Griffin’s photos.

Dunne writes: “The French Dispatch finally premiers in Cannes. The audience is going to go nuts for it. My character didn’t even have a name and it was most fun I’ve ever had on a movie. Great food with hilarious actors at night and living in Wes’s world during the day in a town you would have thought he imagined called Angouleme.”

A Wes Anderson movie is what we need right now: a big, fluffy dessert that sends us to bed with beautiful dreams and flights of fancy.

Here’s the Trailer for the Hulu-Rick Rubin Produced Documentary About Paul McCartney

Roger Friedman
-
0
Here’s the Trailer for the Hulu-Rick Rubin Produced Documentary About Paul McCartney

“McCartney 3, 2, 1…” drops on Hulu on July 16th. I’m going to start watching it tonight and will tell you all about it shortly.

In the meantime, here’s the trailer. And yes, Paul McCartney is beating the Beatles to the punch with a doc. Theirs, “Get Back,” is coming in November after Paul’s $100 memoir.

And “McCartney III Revisited” is coming out on July 23rd officially, after faux-releasing a few weeks ago.

And today is Ringo’s 81st birthday! Peace and love! Happy birthday!

 

UPDATES: RIP Robert Downey Sr., Faye Dunaway Joins Kevin Spacey in B Movie, Bill Condon to Direct Movie Version of “Guys and Dolls”

Roger Friedman
-
0
UPDATES: RIP Robert Downey Sr., Faye Dunaway Joins Kevin Spacey in B Movie, Bill Condon to Direct Movie Version of “Guys and Dolls”

Some movie updates…

Faye Dunaway is joining what you might call a B or C movie featuring Hollywood pariah Kevin Spacey. Franco Nero, the Italian actor and director of bad movies, is behind “The Man Who Drew God.”

The role was supposed to go to Vanessa Redgrave, who is Nero’s wife, but she is too smart to get involved with this nonsense. (Vanessa’s had enough controversy in her life.) We’re always sympathetic to Faye even on her crazier days, but this is a terrible idea. I hope she gets a decent paycheck out of it.

The movie hasn’t been made, they’re selling the rights in Cannes. Will it ever be made? Will we ever see it? Who knows?

GUYS AND DOLLS was made back in 1955  by the other “Mank,” the talented one, brother Joseph. Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Jean Simmons, Vivian Blaine, and Stubby Kaye starred in it, and it’s a classic. Since then there have been numerous Broadway and stage productions.

So it’s time to remake it, I guess. Sony/Tri-Star owns the rights. Bill Condon, who knows what he’s doing from “Chicago” and “Nine” and the live action “Beauty and the Beast,” has tapped as director.

What happens next? Will someone ruin the screenplay by making it woke and PC? Or will they stick to the story? What’s your bet Nicely Nice goes to Kevin Hart? Who will play Nathan Detroit? Leo? Gosling as Sky Masterson? Emily Blunt as Adelaide? We’ll see how this plays out…

CONDOLENCES TO ROBERT DOWNEY JR. His beloved dad, Robert Sr., director of “Putney Swope” and a trailblazer in indie cinema, has died at age 85. He was a lovely guy and a talented filmmaker who influenced many. Condolences to his family and friends, who are many.

 

Cannes 2021, The Morning After: Adam Driver a No-Show for “Annette” Press Conference After Rocky Reception to Opening Night Film

Roger Friedman
-
0
Cannes 2021, The Morning After: Adam Driver a No-Show for “Annette” Press Conference After Rocky Reception to Opening Night Film

Adam Driver? He’s outta here.

The star of Cannes opening night film, “Annette,” skipped town first thing this morning, French time. He didn’t stick around for the press conference that always follows the press screening of a competition film.

Driver is soon to start shooting Noah Baumbach’s new movie in Cleveland. But it’s unlikely he couldn’t have gotten a few days off to promote “Annette.”

Instead, he gave the foreign distributors of “Annette” basically one day in Cannes– for the photocall, the wave from the red carpet, the appearance at the premiere. And then, poof, he was gone.

Reviews called the movie, directed by Leos Carax, basically insane, over the top, wacky, and audacious. This was all code for “bad” and “self-indulgent,” words reviewers don’t use when they are trapped at a film festival for 10 days.

My favorite comments came from some of my colleagues who saw it yesterday and observed that “Annette” was likely not Oscar material, which was code for “are you mad?”

Only 2 of them, David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter and Jonathan Romney of Screen International, were brave enough to give “Annette” a ‘rotten’ sign on Rotten Tomatoes. Sixteen others assigned it a ‘Fresh’ standing even though their reviews indicated otherwise. Wait til “Annette” meets the public next month. Reviewers will be singing a different tune, I think.

 

Britney Spears’ Court Appointed Lawyer Latest to Quit as No One Wants to Be Associated with This Mess

Roger Friedman
-
0
Britney Spears’ Court Appointed Lawyer Latest to Quit as No One Wants to Be Associated with This Mess

The cheese stands alone.

Now Samuel D. Ingham III, court appointed attorney for Britney Spears, has resigned from his position.

This follows yesterday’s exit of Britney’s manager, Larry Rudolph. And Bessemer Trust withdrew last week as co-conservator.

Jamie Spears is the cheese. And the cheese stands alone. Only Jodi Montgomery reportedly says Britney asked her to stay as a conservator.  And she will. But most everyone else is gone now.

In addition to Ingham, Loeb & Loeb, a huge important entertainment law firm, has also filed with the judge to exit the conservatorship.

The publicity has been so bad, and the public outcry so negative, that no one wants to be associated with this thing.

And yet, Jamie Spears still has a few cards to play. He can insist on mental fitness reports and publish the results. Is Britney capable of taking care of herself, of presiding over her own estate without being ripped off by con men?

We may get a better idea at the July 14th hearing.

 

Cannes: Early Reviews for Opening Film Starring Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard Cite Oral Sex Scene, “Bizarre,” “Joyless,” “Insubstantial,” “70 Seconds of Polite Applause”

Roger Friedman
-
0
Cannes: Early Reviews for Opening Film Starring Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard Cite Oral Sex Scene, “Bizarre,” “Joyless,” “Insubstantial,” “70 Seconds of Polite Applause”

And so it begins.

Cannes 2021 opened with Leos Carax’s movie with music, by the cult group Sparks, called “Annette.”

Early reviews describe “Annette” as “bizarre” and “joyless.” Everyone is commenting on a scene in Adam Driver’s character performs oral sex on Marion Cotillard’s character while singing. That’s the highlight, the hook.

“Annette” will open in the US in August. Sounds like a lot of hype, something audacious, perfect to open the Cannes Film Festival. It’s getting everyone’s attention.

Scott Feinberg of the Hollywood Reporter: “Cannes opener ANNETTE is hella out-there… singing mid cunnilingus is the least of it… polite 70-second applause… onwards.” Feinberg added that there were five minutes of applause after the credits and the lights went up. That is considered a tepid response in Cannes.

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: ‘The insubstantial narrative can’t support the bold, operatic strokes of the storytelling…there’s also a nagging naiveté, even a silliness to the storytelling that kept bumping me out of the sluggish drama. ”

 read also: amFAR in Cannes Still Up to Their Old Tricks

Variety, on the music from Sparks:  Sondheim schmondheim. Instead of advancing the plot, they pick a groove and stick to it, like a broken record, recycling the same phrase over and over — “We love each other so much” or “You think I care what you think of me?” — until it becomes some kind of tantric mantra.”

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian writes: “Annette is a forthright and declamatory and crazy spectacle, teetering over the cliff edge of its own nervous breakdown, demanding that we feel its pain, feel its pleasure and take it seriously. ”

A Twitter account called @ianamurray wrote: “i thought adam driver doing bo burnham-style stand up and having a horrifying robot baby with marion cotillard was weird but ANNETTE just kept outdoing itself. a true shitpost of a movie. don’t know if i like it yet but i respect the audacity”

Audacity is good.

Screen International writes: “An ungainly, frustrating affair… an audacious folly that comes across as grandiose and joyless.”

I do know that Cotillard exits halfway through the movie. She may have had the right idea.;

Keep refreshing…

1...575576577...2,126Page 576 of 2,126

Hollywood to the Hudson

Company

Trending

Categories

© Showbiz411.com