Sean Penn’s movie, “Flag Day,” is a family affair.

His kids, Dylan and Hopper, each have roles. Dylan is actually the main character, Jennifer Vogel, who wrote the book the movie is based on called “Flim-Flam Man: The True Story Of My Father‘s Counterfeit Life.”

But the Penn kids aren’t the only people close to the director involved in the making of “Flag Day.”

The cinematographer is Daniel Moder, whom you may know as the husband of Julia Roberts. Moder doesn’t work a lot. His last feature film was called “Ibiza,” made in 2018 for Netflix but mostly known. It starred Richard Madden, Gillian Jacobs, and Vanessa Bayer from “SNL.”

There’s a reason no one’s seen “Ibiza,” which has a 67 on Rotten Tomatoes. According to the IMDB: “The Balearic government considered whether to take legal action against Netflix because of this film. According to them, Neflix took advantage of Ibiza’s image by naming the film after the island but actually shooting it in Croatian locations instead. They also argued that this film not only perpetuates harmful stereotypes about Ibiza but it also clashes with the tourism board attempts to subvert them. ”

“Flag Day,” I’m sure, will have a better reception.

Here’s a look at Moder’s work in “Ibiza”:

UPDATE The NY Post, which I call the NY Past, helped themselves to this exclusive from this site. They also used a picture from Mariska Hargitay’s Instagram that was six weeks old! LOL!

EXCLUSIVE

Spies have sent in updates on that “Black Widow” screening from Friday in the Hamptons.

Apparently, things didn’t go so well. It was, of course, raining like crazy.

Scarlett Johansson was a no show. No ScarJo. The star of the movie, though she lives a couple of miles away, stayed high and dry in neighboring Montauk.

Brooke Shields was the only celebrity of any value noted by observers. As it turned out, she was the perfect choice because Brooke is recovering from a broken femur.

“Law & Order SVU” star Mariska Hargitay, who was hosting the after party with husband Peter Hermann at their 7,000 square foot estate in East Hampton, never made it to her own party. Maybe because of the rain, Mariska either twisted or sprained her ankle outside the theater. An ambulance was called. Brooke Shields, knowledgeable and sympathetic, was spotted waiting with her. (Only in the Hamptons– the EMS drivers must have gotten  kick out of that call!)

 

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Nice people, but no stars including Chris Meloni, headed to the Hermanns’ to nosh and talk about how good “Black Widow” is. Or how Mariska deserves an Emmy nomination this year for “Law & Order.”

You know what they say: No good turn goes unpunished!

If anyone else wants to chime in from the event, we are always at showbiz411@gmail.com.

 

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Drat!

Well, they tried but the pandemic was too much to overcome. “Downton Abbey 2” started late and will finish late. Originally scheduled for December 20, 2021, the sequel to the movie that followed the beloved PBS Carnival series will not be released until March 2022. They will miss Oscar eligibility cutoff on December 31st, but no matter: “Downton” is not for awards, it’s for its fans.

The first movie was a big box office hit, earning $96.8 million in the US and the same elsewhere around the world. Total worldwide take was $237 million.

This installment may very well be the end, as Maggie Smith’s Violet Crawley aka the Dowager Countess, was set to expire in the last movie after announcing she had cancer. This will sadly wrap up her story. And the main saga, of the Crawley fortune, should end with Branson marrying the illegitimate daughter of Imelda Staunton’s Crawley cousin Maud Bagshaw. Thus, the dynasty will be preserved.

The Crawleys, thanks to creator Julian Fellowes, have remained stuck in limbo between 1925 and the world economic crash of 1929. With that impending doom would come the end of Great Houses like Downton as the Depression and World War II would usher out their place in British society.

So better to stop before things become grim, and remember all these wonderful people frozen in time. We can celebrate their finale in March 2022.

Ahem. I guess our invite got lost in the email.

Call this “Law & Order: Special Parties Unit.” Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann are hosting a private screening tonight for Disney’s “Black Widow.”

Why? Well, star Scarlett Johansson and her husband, Colin Jost, live in Montauk, not far away from Olivia Benson’s getaway.

Who’s expected? The usual Hamptons movie crowd, maybe with Alec Baldwin thrown in. Maybe Chris Meloni, aka Elliot Stabler, will turn up. They can arrest anyone who gets out of hand.

Whoever comes will have to dodge the rain, because the forecast calls for a drenching right around the time Natasha Romanoff is set to meet up with her Russian spy parents.

Disney has already had fan events in New York, Los Angeles, and London but sans ScarJo, who, after all, has a six year old and has to limit her events.

“Black Widow” currently has an 84 on Rotten Tomatoes.

Cannes 2021 is coming, and the schedule has been posted.

Sacre bleu! No matter what anyone tells you, in or out of competition, the key premiere time is 7pm at the Palais du Festivals. That’s the premiere hour. That’s when the sun is just starting to set and cool breezes are coming off the Mediterranean.

The ticketed audience and hundreds of locals hoping for billets descend on the Croisette. The former are dressed in formal wear and grip their sea green cardboard passes for dear life as they pass through a sea of aggressive hopefuls who don’t speak English and hold up signs that read: “I need a ticket.” It’s a scene.

So big stars want their films in that hour, and no later. But this year, Sean Penn, who’s bringing a film he directed called “Flag Day,” has been denied that spotlight time. On Saturday, July 10th, Penn will have to wait until 10pm — when most of the festival is at dinner or parties — to show his film at the Palais. “Flag Day” has an A list cast, and features his daughter, Dylan, whose mother is another star, Robin Wright.

Other movies that got the prestigious 7pm premiere slot are Tom McCarthy’s “Stillwater,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch.”

Why was Sean sent to the less glamorous time? The last time Penn brought a movie he directed to Cannes, it was a disaster, unlike previous successful outings like “Into the Wild,” “The Pledge,” and “The Crossing Guard.”

In 2016, he delivered “The Last Face” which starred his then girlfriend, Charlize Theron, and Javier Bardem, in a love story set against war in Africa. It was loathed, hated by everyone who saw it, and never spoken of again. “The Last Face” scored an 8 on Rotten Tomatoes, and Theron disavowed the relationship.

Cannes is taking no chances this time around. “Flag Day” has been hidden at 10pm. Instead, the 7pm slot has gone to a French film starring Vanessa Paradis, aka the ex-Mrs. Johnny Depp. “Love Songs for Tough Guys” is directed by her current husband, Samuel Benchetrit, and is described as romantic and hopeful, “a tribute to poetry, theater, and art.”

That’s next door in the Debussy Theater. In the main Grand Theater Lumiere, another French film, “De Son Vivant,” directed by Emmanuelle Bercot with Cannes favorite Catherine Deneuve and Benoit Magimel, premieres. Bercot is a much decorated Cannes actress and filmmaker.

For Penn to get that 10pm slot a lot of things are communicated. One is the movie– which MGM has bought for an August release– is a Rough Song for Tough Guys. Also, a 10 pm slot for a two hour movie precludes a big celebration afterwards, as most of the audience will be ready for bed (if they haven’t dozed off already).

So we’ll wait for a happy surprise, glowing reviews, and good news at midnight July 10th.