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As Predicted: UK Star Singer Raye’s Records Shoot to Top of iTunes Post “SNL,” Also Beyonce Singles Pushed Out of Top 5

Roger Friedman
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As Predicted: UK Star Singer Raye’s Records Shoot to Top of iTunes Post “SNL,” Also Beyonce Singles Pushed Out of Top 5

I told you as soon as “SNL” ended last night: musical guest Raye would be a star. I said her records would go to the top of iTunes.

Sure enough, Raye’s 2023 album, “My 21st Century Blues,” has risen to number 7. Bang! Raye made such an outstanding impression last night that if she has the right team, she can make something out of this. She has an amazing voice that hasn’t gotten near its potential yet!

Raye’s tiny label is hidden inside Sony Entertainment, as part of The Orchard. So far they’ve remained silent, but maybe all this action will light their fire.

Raye also has two singles on the top 100 — one at 45 and the other at 66.

Raye — her name is Rachel Keen — is 26. She was signed in the UK to Polydor. They refused to release her album for years, holding her hostage to a contract until she finally escaped. This big moment is a sweet vindication after torture by obviously not very smart people!

Meantime, just to show you how fickle pop fans are, Beyonce’s singles have been pushed out of the top 5. After “Texas Hold ‘Em” was such a hit, Sony/Parkwood didn’t focus on another track. The result is that a bunch of album hits went up and down together. The album, “Cowboy Carter,” has dropped to number 2.


Box Office: “Godzilla” A Monster, But “Monkey Man” Apes Him, “Ghostbusters” Frozen Below $100 Mil

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Godzilla” A Monster, But “Monkey Man” Apes Him, “Ghostbusters” Frozen Below $100 Mil

This weekend’s box office:

“Godzilla x Kong” is still a monster at theaters. Total is up to $135 million. These two guys had a $31 million weekend! There are talks not at Warner’s to get them into a reboot of “Lethal Weapon” or “Starsky and Hutch.” Kong said he’s open to talks!

The success of “GxK” is in direction opposition to “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.” The Sony film has been out a week longer than Zilla and is $50 million behind! Stuck at $88 Million, “Frozen” is just as the title says. Will it hit $100 million? Will it matter? And why did Dan Aykroyd miss the big press day a couple of weeks ago?

Dev Patel became an overnight star in “Slumdog Millionaire,” along with Freida Pinto. Patel has had plenty of star turns in various films since then, but there was no indication he would become a star director too. Now his “Monkey Man” has made $10 million in its opening weekend. The social media response and critics all agree that the film is a keeper. So is Patel. Exciting.

The faith based Christian movie “Someone Like You” aka “Twin Love,” made $3 million. It was “four-walled” at theaters — meaning producers paid to have it played. But Christian audiences liked the idea of a guy finding his dead girlfriend’s twin and shtupping her. They should have called it “Carbon Copy.” Or “Cherry 3000.”

“SNL” Pulls Out All the Stops with 7 A List Stars, Hilarious Kristen Wiig, and Knockout Singer Raye

Roger Friedman
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“SNL” Pulls Out All the Stops with 7 A List Stars, Hilarious Kristen Wiig, and Knockout Singer Raye

After last week, I was worried that “Saturday Night Live” was going to the ICU.

But after 49 seasons, never count out Lorne Michaels. Tonight, he put on a 5 star Show of Shows, hilarious from beginning to end and with a great musical guest.

Kristen Wiig — looking very refreshed but still a comic genius — hosted, and superstar to be Raye — who was ignored by the Grammys this year — had two performances that should make her career.

Michaels didn’t stop there. He brought on Matt Damon, Martin Short, Ryan Gosling, Jon Hamm, Will Forte and Paul Rudd for the monologue as well sketches throughout the night. Model Kaia Gerber was featured in a short film.

Gosling is hosting next week, but appeared anyway tonight. Good plug, but something rarely if ever done.

“SNL” had been in the doldrums until tonight. But this was an all star episode worth watching if you didn’t catch it on first run. “Weekend Update” was so good, there was applause from the audience after two jokes. Colin Jost and Michael Che really looked energized.

Live TV is all about chemistry, and sometimes it all comes together. I loved the sort of “Mad Men” take off with Hamm, and the final PBS special about a 70s dance club in Paris was A plus. Unlike last week, there was a lot of Bowen Yang, which is always a good thing.

Kristen Wiig is a gem. She brings a mapcap humor to “SNL” that it’s been missing for far too long. Like Molly Shannon or Kate McKinnon, she takes a lot of chances, and plays with the audience. Tonight, this was most welcome.

Again, Raye — I never heard her before — should turn into a real music star. She should have won Best New Artist this year at the Grammys. They made a real mistake.

Donald Trump Compares Himself to Nelson Mandela in Social Media Rant About Judge’s Gag Order, Also Attacks E. Jean Carroll Again

Roger Friedman
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Donald Trump Compares Himself to Nelson Mandela in Social Media Rant About Judge’s Gag Order, Also Attacks E. Jean Carroll Again

Donald Trump has the audacity (well, we know he has plenty of that) to compare himself to Nelson Mandela in his latest online diatribe.

Trump posted a three part attack today on Judge Juan Merchan, who gagged him, and Judge Arthur Engoron.

Regarding Merchan and his gag order, Trump screeched: “If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the “clink” for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela – It will be my GREAT HONOR.”

Also, you’ll see in Part 1, Trump attacks E. Jean Carroll again. He’s already lost one defamation case with her. Where will this end?

Here’s the full screed and it’s long, so take a breath:

Crooked Judge Juan Merchan is not allowing me to talk, is taking away my First Amendment Rights, he’s got me GAGGED, because he doesn’t want the FACTS behind the Gag to come out. How many Corrupt, Biased, Crooked Joe Biden-“Protection Agency” New York Judges do I have to endure before somebody steps in? I had New York Federal Judge, Lewis Kaplan, with a woman who I never knew, and had nothing to do with, until she sued me for “defamation.” She did not know what day, month, or year the supposed “incident” took place – She knew nothing. Kaplan, a Hillary friend, wouldn’t even let my lawyers put on a proper case, made it two cases instead of one, took away my American Right to defend myself, and was a Crazed Bully as his wife and friends sat in the Courthouse, every day in their little roped off section, and prodded him on in awe. This mysterious lady, who said rape is sexy, got $91 Million Dollars.

Part 2:
“Then, of course, we have Arthur Engoron, a total lunatic, whack job, who ruled that I should pay an almost $500 Million Dollar “fine” for having done nothing wrong (No Victims, No Damages, Ironclad Disclaimer, ONLY SUCCESS!), in fact, he was the one who committed fraud when he purposely, at the direction of Racist, Corrupt A.G. Letitia James, undervalued Mar-a-Lago at $18 Million Dollars.”

Part 3:
“Now, we have Merchan, who is not allowing me to talk, thereby violating the Law and the Constitution, all at once. It is so bad what he is trying to get away with – How was he even chosen for this case??? I heard he fought like hell to get it, and all of the rest of them also! If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the “clink” for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela – It will be my GREAT HONOR. We have to Save our Country from these Political Operatives masquerading as Prosecutors and Judges, and I am willing to sacrifice my Freedom for that worthy cause. We are a Failing Nation, but on November 5th, we will become a Great Nation again. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Christian Film, Four-Walled, “Someone Like You,” Makes $1.65 Mil: Man’s GF Dies, So He Finds Her In Vitro Twin, and They Get it On

Roger Friedman
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There’s a new title on the box office list today. It’s called “Someone Like You.”

Fathom Events is four walling it in theaters. What that means is, the producers are self-distributing and paying Fathom a fee to stick it in 900 theaters.

“Someone Like You” is a Christian film based on a novel by the “Queen of Christian Fiction,” Karen Kingsbury. After reading the synopsis and looking at the trailer, this movie should be called “Anyone But You.”

The plot is straight out of a soap opera. A man loses his girlfriend in a car accident. Her parents tell him that she was an in vitro baby, there was a twin that they had to give away. So the guy finds the twin, played by the same actress as the original gf. They fall in love, and he tells her — the last line of the trailer is the best — is that Sister #1 would have wanted it this way. I did a spit take.

Even Hallmark or Lifetime wouldn’t go this far. LOL. God bless. I’ve learned a lot about Christian values. (What do they tell the priest at the wedding?)

Why didn’t they just call it “Love the One You’re With”? Or better yet, “Cherry 2000”? (Man in the future looks for android copy of robot wife after she malfunctions.)

Review: “Scoop” Lets Gillian Anderson See if the Truth Is Out There About Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein

Leah Sydney
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Review: “Scoop” Lets Gillian Anderson See if the Truth Is Out There About Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein

“Scoop” the Netflix film about the train wreck that was the BBC’s Newsnight 2019 Prince Andrew interview, airing now, tells the story of the behind-the-scenes goings on — for the year before — to secure the interview, then recreates the famed cringe-y sit down in Buckingham Palace.

Directed by Philip Martin, the film is written by Peter Moffatt and Geoff Bussetil. At the Virtual press conference, some of the terrific cast spoke about their experiences playing real life people. Gillian Anderson (she always delivers) plays the interviewer Emily Maitlis, Billie Piper plays Sam McAlister, the indefatigable producer most responsible for scoring the big get and Rufus Sewell plays the hapless, majorly clueless Prince Andrew trying to explain away his friendship with the notorious now dead Jeffrey Epstein.

Anderson recalls they filmed the interview in just one day. “It was Rufus’s first day of film. We both walked into the set which was a recreation of the room in Buckingham Palace. Our idea was to film it from beginning to the end. We never rehearsed it. He called action and it began. Rufus’s portrayal was uncanny and accurate in every detail.”

McAlister, also an Executive Producer on the film, was in that famed room once again. “I thought I was there all over again, exactly the same experience.” She added her thoughts on the embattled state of journalism. “This movie is an homage to the BBC, to the seriousness of this important situation. The moment Prince Andrew faces off with Emily, that is an iconic moment in journalism, which was secured by mostly women. Holding powerful people accountable matters. We need journalism, because it matters.”

Anderson added “The film is a thriller. I don’t know how he managed that, as everyone knows the result. What Philip did is masterful.”

“Scoop” is indeed masterful in telling the story of what went on behind the scenes and then the now legendary sit down itself. “Scoop” is definitely an entertaining, impressive watch.

Beyonce Cheating? Her Version of the Beatles’ “Blackbird” Is Actually Karaoke, Sung Over the 1968 Track

Roger Friedman
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Beyonce Cheating? Her Version of the Beatles’ “Blackbird” Is Actually Karaoke, Sung Over the 1968 Track

The Beyhive will not be happy about this little story.

But I surprised when the credits were finally released for “Cowboy Carter” that Beyonce is basically performing karaoke on “Blackbird.”

Yes, she sings, and the arrangement of voices is exquisite. But when I first heard it a week ago, I wondered who was playing such a beautiful guitar behind her.

Turns out no one is — or rather, she licensed the instrumental track from the Beatles’ original recording. Instead of bringing in a great guitarist — or even McCartney himself — Beyonce and friends just paid for the 1968 track, presumably a newer remix from Giles Martin, and sang over it.

If you were in a restaurant and did this, it would be called Karaoke. It wouldn’t be called “interpolation” or “Sampling.”

It would also be called “cheating.”

Hundreds of thousands of cover songs have been recorded over the last fifty years, all of which involved making a record sound new with fresh vocals and instrumentals. When Elton John made “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” he didn’t license the old track and sing over it. He created a new recording. Ditto Earth, Wind & Fire on “Got to Get You into My Life.”

Get the point?

But this has become acceptable in the hip hop world, and now it’s bled over to this situation. Beyonce was introduced to this bad behavior eons ago when she took the horn riff from the Chi Lites song, “Are You My Woman” and made it into “Crazy in Love.” After that, everything was fair game.

I’m more disappointed than angry. I was waiting for those album credits eagerly to see who was enlisted from the great pool of musicians in the world. But it took Beyonce’s team a week to get it together. The result is that “Cowboy Carter” is not the organic album that was promised, but is really put together by technicians and programmers.

Yes, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus.

Here they are, the exact same length, of course. Good to sing at the bar between servings of wings (not Wings):

Beyonce: Huge Opening Week for “Cowboy Carter” with 418,000 Copies But Will Lack of PR Kill it Off?

Roger Friedman
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Beyonce: Huge Opening Week for “Cowboy Carter” with 418,000 Copies But Will Lack of PR Kill it Off?

As predicted, Beyonce had a big first week with her new album.

“Cowboy Carter” sold 418,000 copies total. Of those 170,000 were paid downloads. CDs aren’t even ready yet for sale.

Beyonce far exceeded the number 2 album by Future and Metro Boomin, which finished with 134,877.

But the power of “Cowboy Carter” is already diminishing. A new release by J. Cole has toppled Beyonce for the number 1 spot on the album chart at iTunes.

Beyonce has also lost her hold on the singles charts, with ceding the top 2 spots. Earlier this week, she had the top four of five.

What’s going on? Hubris, I think. Beyonce refuses to do interviews or even TV performances. She’s not supporting the album. If the whole thing collapses, it’s her own fault. She should be out there promoting this record!

It’s not like she doesn’t have a great publicist. But if you say no to everything, and refuse to play The Game, it’s going to backfire. And new releases are always coming!

Donald Trump’s Truth Social Stock Falls Another 12%, Down $16 Since Monday

Roger Friedman
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Donald Trump’s Truth Social Stock Falls Another 12%, Down $16 Since Monday

Truth Social is tanking and not just once or twice.

From Monday to Friday, Donald Trump’s social media site has dropped $16 in value. Today it fell another 12%, landing at 40 bucks.

Trump is losing money now despite his bragging about millions in cash, and so on. The fact is, Truth Social or Trump Media has not been able to regain any traction.

This is largely because when the hard numbers came out early this week — not the bloviating — Truth Social is a loser. It lost almost $60 million last year before hitting the stock market this last week.

The showboating by Trump over this stock is no different than any of his other voluminous lies. His base still doesn’t get it. Not a single word out of his mouth is factual. Maybe the fans who invested and lost money in this thing will finally wake up.

Box Office: “Godzilla” Crosses $100 Mil, Stomps All Over Previews for “Monkey Man” and “First Omen”

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Godzilla” Crosses $100 Mil, Stomps All Over Previews for “Monkey Man” and “First Omen”

It was previews last night for two new films.

Both “Monkey Men” and “The First Omen” opened to $1.4 million and $725,000 respectively. That’s good news for the former, and not so great for the latter.

Neither did as well as “Godzilla x Kong,” which crossed $100 million with a $4 million take on Thursday night.

It’s not an exciting weekend coming up. But “Ripley” on Netflix and also “The Gentlemen” should keep audiences couch bound while we wait for some big releases. Coming soon: “Civil War” and “Challengers.”

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