Thursday, November 14, 2024
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EXCLUSIVE Daniel Craig’s Life After Bond: His “Knives Out” Character Benoit Blanc Will Get a Sequel and Maybe More

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Daniel Craig is riding high as we await his final James Bond movie, “No Time to Die.” After five 007 movies, Craig literally has no time to sleep! He and Oscar winning wife Rachel Weisz were the honored guests last night in Hollywood at Lions Gate’s soiree for their Golden Globe nominees including “Bombshell” and “Knives Out.”

So I learned exclusively that “Knives Out” director Rian Johnson– who’s waiting for his marching orders on new “Star Wars” movies– has been commissioned to write a sequel of sorts to his clever, funny “Knives Out.” Johnson will pen a new story for Craig’s charming Southern detective Benoit Blanc. “It will have all new characters and a crime to solve for Benoit Blanc.”

There’s a possibility for even more Benoit Blanc movies starring Craig. That’s pretty cool for Johnson, who seems to have created a whole new franchise. In Benoit Blanc he’s given Craig an Inspector Clouseau, or Hercule Poirot that he could star in for years to come. The best part: Craig could just grow fat in the role, and never have to work out again!

Craig was a little overwhelmed by all the attention he got at the Chateau party, where Don Johnson, Charlize Theron, Alfre Woodard, director Jay Roach and Bangles rock star wife Susanna Hoffs, and tons of other stars were greeted by company president Jon Feltheimer. (Lions Gate is having a very very good year!)

But our James Bond was so suddenly in a crush of well wishers that Weisz, more stunning than ever, declared wisely: “We’re moving.” She did tell me that the couple has been reveling in raising their 18 month old daughter, Gracie, as each of their careers has soared. Rachel’s next movie is none other than “Black Widow,” the much anticipated Scarlett Johansson Marvel movie that should rock the box office.

But I urge  you to check out a Rachel Weisz movie from several years ago that has so much relevance right now: “The Whistleblower.” A sensational film that had a bad release but great reviews. And it couldn’t be more timely.

Elton John, Leonardo Di Caprio, Adam Driver, Taron Egerton Rock Hollywood’s Annual British Afternoon Tea

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For three hours yesterday afternoon no one could move in any direction in the main ballroom at the Four Seasons Hotel in West Hollywood. The stars packed the room as if they were the most well dressed sardines for the annual “tea” for BAFTA, the British equivalent of the Academy Awards.

Most of the stars came through the front doors of the ballroom, and walked a short red carpet for photographers and a few photographers. But there was another entrance to the ballroom that meant going through kitchens and avoiding the hoi polloi.  A door opens toward the back of the ballroom, and voila you’re suddenly a surprise guest.

Such as it was for Leonardo DiCaprio, who emerged from nowhere it seemed, followed by Adam Driver. This created an instant logjam of paparazzi who came flying from all corners of the room to get a picture of the “older” star (Leo) and the newer one (Driver). The two men were eventually persuaded to shake hands and even hug, which threw the throng into a frenzy.

Watching all of this from a few feet away I stood with the even newer, younger star, Taron Egerton, who plays Elton John in “Rocketman” and has a Golden Globe nomination to show for it. He chatted with fans and friends and looked on as Di Caprio and Driver

But Di Caprio and Driver had to move it, so to speak, because bigger things were afoot: Elton John was coming. Yes, the Elton John, Sir Elton and his posse which included husband David Furnish and the great lyricist Bernie Taupin, came pouring through the side door as Leo and Adam were whisked away so the Rock Star of Rock Stars could hold court. Among his audience were songwriter Diane Warren and “Pose” star Billy Porter, as well as a series of journalists (including myself) who beamed as they were granted sit downs. You’ve never seen so many smiles cross the faces of cynical weary scribes.

But back to BAFTA, where mixed in among the cucumber sandwiches and scones with clotted cream I ran into the great Mary Kay Place, who’d just received a text that she’d won Best Actress from the National Society of Film Critics for a very small, wonderful film called “Diane.” She was, to say the least, in shock. She’s also won Best Actress from the LA Film Critics, was nominated for a Gotham Award, and is nominated for a Spirit Award. “I can’t believe how people have embraced that movie,” she said. “It literally cost 47 cents to make.” Mary Kay became famous 45 years ago on TV in “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” and she has never stopped delivering beautiful performances both comedic and dramatic. Her hard work has paid off!

As the news spread through the room she was joined by two long time pals who came to celebrate: Karen Allen of “Indiana Jones” fame (among other great films), Caroline Aaron of “Mrs. Maisel,” and Lisa Edelstein (“House,” etc.) I took their picture. Caroline exclaimed: “You don’t know how long we’ve all been friends!” Well, I do now!

And around the ballroom: Jared Harris introduced me to Tobias Menzies, the new Prince Philip of “The Crown,” Florence Pugh– the sensation of “Little Women” took a spin and was absolutely lovely. Laura Dern, the Michelle Obama of this Oscar campaign, pressed the flesh, and then there was also Robert De Niro, Cynthia Erivo, Greta Gerwig, Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher, Alfre Woodard, Antonio Banderas and Pedro Almodovar, Beanie Feldstein, George MacKay from “1917,” and even Zhao Shuzhen, the great Chinese actress from “The Farewell.”

Antonio Banderas has also been given a slew of Best Actor awards from critics groups across the country for his sublime performance in Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory” told me that “this is the first film that I’ve been getting such reaction from in my long career.  People are telling me it’s truly affecting their lives, the way they think about the lives they’ve lived and will live.”

 

additional reporting by Leah Sydney

 

 

Leonardo Di Caprio, Laura Dern, Ana de Armas, Jacqueline Bisset Among A Listers At Hollywood Gala for Left Field Hit “Parasite”

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The only place to be last night in Hollywood was the always splashy Sunset Towers for an old fashioned soiree honoring Korean director Bong Joon Ho and the stars of his smash hit, “Parasite.”

The get together was hosted by Oscar winning director Guillermo del Toro, who held court and took pictures with Bong, the man everyone wants to meet this weekend. “Parasite” may be the surprise winner of many Golden Globe awards tomorrow night. del Toro’s co-host was Hollywood’s hottest hostess, actress Colleen Camp, who knows the secret of how to put a room of cool cats together.

Colleen’s guests were the top of the A list starting with Leonardo DiCaprio — with his traditional baseball cap clamped to his head for dear life– and including “Marriage Story” star Laura Dern and her director, Noah Baumbach, “Knives Out” director Rian Johnson and his star, Ana de Armas, as well as “Bombshell” director Jay Roach with his rock star wife Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles.

There were also beloved Hollywood stars like Jacqueline Bisset (who doesn’t age, and doesn’t have plastic surgery), and Piper Laurie. 10 time Oscar nominated songwriter Diane Warren (who’s eyeing her 11th nomination  this week) made the scene, as did Ted Danson and his newly minted songwriter wife, Oscar winner (1980) Mary Steenburgen.

Many who chomped down on the Sunset Towers’ fried chicken, caesar salad, and delectable mini burgers had just seen “Parasite” at an earlier screening and were recovering from the trauma of seeing society upended. How did they like the film? “I loved it!” declared Bisset.

At the other end of Sunset Blvd, at the new– and I mean, built yesterday, stunning– Edition Hotel, more stars turned out for “Harriet” star Cynthia Erivo. Cynthia, whom we know as the sensational Tony winning musical star from “The Color Purple” on Broadway, is the “It Girl” of the year. She’s also playing Aretha Franklin in an 8 episode mini series. Erivo has e-rived!

It was certainly a day of spotting stars around town. Over at the Four Seasons  Hotel bar, a common gathering place, none other than Clint Eastwood held court in the center “living room” with the stars of his “Richard Jewell” including Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates, and Paul Walter Hauser. Yes, Clint Eastwood, looking spiffy in a suit and tie.”Richard Jewell” — which should be a Best Picture  nominee at the Oscars– was one of the AFI’s top 10 films of the year.

I did ask Clint about all those photos from the holidays of him and Arnold Schwarzenegger skiing. Were they there together, I asked? “Well, he was there and I was there, and we took some pictures,” Clint said. And Clint was skiing? I asked. I mean, he’s almost 90–ninety– years old. He looked at me like I was crazy. “Of course!” he replied. Like D’uh…

Late last night, as all festivities were drawing to a close, we stopped by the eternally hip Chateau Marmont, where “French actor Louis Garrell— sensational in “Little Women”–hosted a table of pals including the shimmering beauty Lily Rose Depp. “She is very young,” Louie said in a heavily accented French, and Lily– daughter of Johnny Depp– immediately stood and shook my hand and introduced herself. She’s been raised very well!

Left on a table at the Chateau’s intimate dining room was a copy of W Magazine (they’re still in print after Conde Nast sold them for peanuts) that had been printed on oversized newsprint and smelled of cheap chemicals. Poor W! The unwieldy size reminded me of the floppy left wing political newspaper that’s a sight joke on “Mrs. Maisel” this season. But ugh, that smell! The new owners of W should look into glossy paper. 

 

additional reporting by Leah Sydney

 

Pop Tart Justin Bieber Releases New Single, “Yummy,” Marketing Plan Begins Rollout for New Album, Tour

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As if it were a thing of importance, the marketing for Justin Bieber’s 2020 has begun.

And remember, we’re going to war.

Tonight he’s released his first new solo single off his forthcoming new album. The song is called “Yummy,” because that’s the level of introspection that Bieber commands. Is he born to run? Has he seen fire and rain? Is he telling us what’s going on?

No. He’s got Yummy on his mind. And it tastes good.

Bieber has already launched a “docu-series” on You Tube, also. This is preparing us for his album and tour, which is set for the summer. Personally, I cannot wait. (And won’t.)

Justin didn’t just write these songs himself. He had collaborators, only two: Poo Bear, and Leon Hlabathi. Leon was born in South Africa in 2002, yes, 2002, like, yesterday. Bieber is an old man compared to him. Poo Bear is 41 year old Jason Boyd. His Wikipedia bio says “Boyd was born in Connecticut. He moved with his mother to Atlanta at age 9, after a tornado left them homeless.” (Connecticut tornadoes are extremely rare. The Nutmeg State had 3 in 1989, although no one was killed.)

And so this is “Yummy.” As Justin put it profoundly last week. God has him right where he wants him. (Justin, I’d move two feet to the left, because lightning is coming.)

 

 

 

 

 

Oscar Ballots Go Out, Academy Voters Must Be Returned By Tuesday: In a Wide Open Race, Here are Some Suggestions

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Oscar ballots are out for voting today, and they must be returned by end of the day Tuesday in Los Angeles.

In a perfect world, Best Picture nods would go to “The Irishman,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Little Women,” “1917,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Just Mercy,” “Richard Jewell,” “Marriage Story,” “The Farewell.” I loved two foreign language films, also: “Pain and Glory,” and “Parasite.” There two films I didn’t care for especially, despite their intentions: “Jojo Rabbit” and “Uncut Gems.”

Best Actor: Robert De Niro, Joaquin Phoenix, Adam Driver, Eddie Murphy, Jonathan Pryce. This is a crowded field. Leonardo DiCaprio was excellent, so was Antonio Banderas. The latter has an excellent shot if he unseats Pryce or Murphy.

Best Actress: There are three “locks”: Renee Zellweger, Charlize Theron, and Saoirse Ronan. I like Cynthia Erivo and Alfre Woodard for spots four and five.

Best Supporting Actress: Kathy Bates, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, Laura Dern, and then…Jennifer Lopez? Maybe. Florence Pugh? Definitely. Scarlett Johansson? My secret wish: Zhao Shuzhen from “The Farewell.”

Best Supporting Actor: Wow. What a crowd: Al Pacino, Brad Pitt, Joe Pesci, Tom Hanks– must be Tom Hanks. Jamie Foxx? Yes.

Best Director: Tarantino, Scorsese, Mendes all in. Now what? Bong Joon Ho? Probably, for “Parasite.” And Greta Gerwig for “Little Women.” Noah Baumbach is the X factor here, for “Marriage Story.” He may take Bong’s spot.

This is going to be one big reveal when the votes are counted. I can’t remember such a wide open crazy year. And so many great choices1!

 

New Year’s Eve Box Office: “Star Wars” Crosses $400 Mil Today As It Slows Down, “Richard Jewell” Posts Another Mil

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“Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker” will cross $400 million today. But it’s slowing down. At this rate, “Rise of Skywalker” will have a longer slog to $500 million domestically. This weekend will be key to its ultimate place on all time lists for box office.

Right now, “Rise” stands at $775 million worldwide. On the all time list of domestic films, “Rise of Skywalker” stands at number 38.

Meantime, Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell” added another $1 million to the slow but steady till. By Sunday they could be at $22 million.

But it’s not an easy go for mid level movies. Audiences are clearly choosing “Little Women” over “Bombshell” in the race between movies with predominantly female casts. “Bombshell” — a terrific film — has been handled strangely, to say the least, by Lions Gate. On Monday they had a SAG screening in…Brooklyn!

Tomorrow, they’re having one in LA’s Brooklyn, Sherman Oaks. Luckily on Saturday (this Saturday) director Jay Roach and star Charlize Theron will do a Q&A following a screening at the AMC Century City. The movie is about Fox News, headquartered in New York, and they had no premiere here.

 

Otis Redding and Carla Thomas’s 1968 “New Year’s Resolution” Is Still the Best of All the New Year’s Songs

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 Carla Thomas and Otis Redding recorded their famous “King & Queen” album for Stax Records in Memphis in January 1967. The album was released in March 1967 and is considered one of the premier soul classics. Otis got to see its success- and a lot of other successes– all that year. But he died famously in a plane crash on December 10th. He never got to see “New Year’s Resolution” actually get its due on the holiday it celebrated.

Carla– very much alive in Memphis and still singing like a nightingale — recalled the making of the album with me a few weeks ago when she was in New York. She loved Otis — as a friend — and counts her time recording with him as a treasure. She remains the Queen of Memphis Soul (though she’s still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame).

“New Year’s Resolution” is credited to Wendy Rene (Mary Frierson) and Randle Catron, two singers who were very famous locally in Memphis and had many regional hits. To me, it’s the best of all New Year’s songs. All the songs on the album were produced by “Staff,” as it reads on the label. But Isaac Hayes and Booker T Jones were most responsible for the success, and they play on the album as well.

 

 

 

Box Office: “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” Slowdown Begins as New Film Falls Behind “Last Jedi” Numbers on 11th Day

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“Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker” is starting its slowdown at the box office.

On the 11th day of release, “Rise” made just $15 million. This is in comparison to “The Last Jedi,” which made $27 million on its 11th day, although that was Christmas Day, 2017. So to be fair, on the 10th day of “Jedi”‘s release, it made $17 million. But still, “Rise” has already had its Christmas Day– its opening day.

The reality is “Rise” is now at $377 million, and “Jedi’ on the same day was at $395 million. The fall off between the two movies is starting now. What’s really unfair for “Rise” is the lack of a second holiday weekend. With New Year’s in the middle of the week, this coming weekend won’t be a holiday for most people. “Back to school” will mean Thursday. By the weekend, the audience will be on to new problems.

The whole box office will suffer, accordingly. And on Sunday night, movie fans will presumably be watching the Golden Globes and and not at the theaters. Here comes 2020, with built in problems.

For “Jedi,” New Year’s Day produced $13 million in receipts. Let’s see how “Rise” does. If you haven’t seen it yet I can’t give it away, but there’s a BIG cameo. Just sayin….

Year End Thriller: Michael Jackson Sales Up Year-to-Year Roughly 50%, Streaming Booms, Fans Can’t Stop Til They Get Enough

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I wrote about this in July, and then again in October. But here’s how Michael Jackson’s catalog fared in sales, year to year with 2018, according to numbers from Buzz Angle.

Believe it or not, fans could not stop to get enough of Jackson’s music. His total album project number for 2019 was 953,414. Compare to that to 646,195 in 2018. That’s all sales and streaming for albums and singles. That’s a 47% rise from year to year.

Better still were his streaming numbers. In 2019, the total came approximately to 1.8 billion streams. In 2018, Jackson had 1.2 billion. That’s a rise of 50%. People wanted to stream Michael Jackson songs. And they really did.

Some numbers were down slightly. That was in downloads/CD sales for albums, and downloads for singles. This seems on par for the music biz as a whole now. Fans no longer care to download the music into their phones or iTouch or MP3 players. They’re happier to just turn on Spotify or Apple Music and play the music within their subscriptions.

Buzz Angle also computes number of “spins” for songs on the radio. And that’s interesting because there was a call to boycott Michael’s music at some radio stations. His 2019 spins were up, from 570,000 to 593,000. So the boycott didn’t do any damage.’

A couple of other interesting observations: Michael’s music is spun equally through the entire day and night. And “Thriller” makes the bulk of album sales, followed by “Bad.” But the former outsells the latter 3 to 1.

Just a note: “Billie Jean” sold 47,000 copies over the year, with the biggest numbers between January 1st and the end of March. (That excludes streaming.) “Beat It” and “Don’t Stop til You Get Enough” were runners up.

And so it is. Scandals come and go, but the music is forever. If only Michael had only understood that when he was alive.

 

Mariah Carey: “All I Want for Christmas” Comes But Once a Year, But It Accounts for Most of Her Yearly Sales

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Who had the bestest Christmas of all? Why, Mariah Carey. Indeed, Christmas has become her cash register thanks to the 1991 hit she wrote with Walter Afanasieff called “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” Produced like a lost track from the Phil Spector Christmas album with the Ronettes and the Crystals, the song has turned into an annual goldmine.

Last week, according to Buzz Angle, “All I Want for Christmas” had 17,600 paid downloads. But including streaming, sales totaled over 426,000 copies. Carey fans simply streamed and streamed the song into the gazillions, but when it was all distilled into a real number, the results were still pretty good. Billboard put the song at number 1 on its singles charts.

For Mariah, “All I Want” is a godsend. Like most legacy artists she doesn’t really sell records anymore. Buzz Angle says her total “song sales” for the last year were 350,000. “All I Want” and other Christmas songs account for most of it. Only 20,000 of that aforementioned 426K came from other songs– “Miss You Much,” “Fantasy,” and “We Belong Together.” If “All I Want” didn’t exist, Carey would be a blip in pop music sales.

And then compare “All I Want” to Mariah’s “Caution” album, her most recent release, from November 2018. In 2019 “Caution” has sold jut 46,000 copies. Only 17K of those were paid downloads or CDs.

But let’s be positive. Bing Crosby lived for eons on “White Christmas.” The Singing Dogs have just their barking “Jingle Bells” to their credit. Holiday time is big business for certain singers and songwriters. And so Mariah and Walter were really really smart when they concocted their little gift for the masses.

But the spell lasts just six days. Most of those sales came between December 20th and 26th, when the eggnog was flowing and maybe fans were sitting on their phones inadvertently hitting the play button. In the last two days, “All I Want” has sold just 583 copies, or 11,000 with streaming. New Year’s Eve is next, Christmas is a memory. But wait til next year!