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Where in the World Is Kanye? Outspoken Rapper Drops off Social Media Completely, Sells $300 Sneakers at Lemonade Stands

Roger Friedman
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Where in the World Is Kanye? Outspoken Rapper Drops off Social Media Completely, Sells $300 Sneakers at Lemonade Stands

What’s that sound? The sound of silence? It’s very quiet in Kanye land.

That’s because outspoken rapper Kanye West, who has manically posted dozen of Tweets in one hour, is off social media. Totally. Kanye hasn’t Tweeted since January 1st. His Instagram account is gone. His last Tweet, dated New Years Day, threatened that he’d be wearing his red MAGA hat from then on, all the time.

And since then, bliss.

The only news about Kanye is that to promote his latest sneaker, which starts at $300, he’s selling them at lemonade stands. He says all the proceeds will go to the National Alliance on Mental Health. That’s all the profits from sales at the pop up lemonade stands, not the profits from store bought or online sneakers. Adidas isn’t featuring Kanye’s Yeezy on their home page, but if you dig down you can find them. (The connection to the National Alliance may have been cooked up by their PR firm, SunshineSachs.)

Well, I guess Kanye is making lemonade from lemons. His shoes are not top sellers but they are collectors items for some. He never did release his “Yandhi” album. But at least he’s out of our hair, for now. And he’s not saying crazy things like “Slavery is an option.” For now.


UPDATE: Jordan Peele’s Social Satire Horror Film “Us” Lands a Staggering $70.3Mil Weekend as Director Becomes Master of His Domain

Roger Friedman
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UPDATE: Jordan Peele’s Social Satire Horror Film “Us” Lands a Staggering $70.3Mil Weekend as Director Becomes Master of His Domain

Jordan Peele scored a bunch of firsts in the last couple of years. Now his “Us” makes a little history.

With a whopping  $70.3  million weekend, “Us” turns Peele into a directing phenom far beyond his success with “Get Out” two years ago. He’s become a master of social satire, delivering it in the horror genre. It takes a couple of views to get everything he’s delivered in both movies.

On top of that, “Us” makes history as a standalone horror film bonanza at the box office. “Halloween,” which made $76 million last October, had a $40 million build up. “Us” is not a sequel to “Get Out.” It’s a sequel to Jordan Peele’s accumulated good will among film fans. That’s quite an achievement.

 

Paul Simon’s Retirement is Over After Just Nine Months: He’s Headlining a Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in August

Roger Friedman
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Paul Simon’s Retirement is Over After Just Nine Months: He’s Headlining a Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in August

Like Cher and The Who, Paul Simon‘s retirement is over.

Last fall, he played his “final” shows in New York. But they were so lackluster, and he even seemed surprised he’d announced the end of his touring. There was no Garfunkel, and the whole thing kind of dissipated as it sputtered to an end.

Of course, there was a loophole: he’d do one-off shows for good causes. And now, with a year off come August, Rhymin’ Simon is back. I actually feel better it worked out this way.

Simon will headline something called Outside Lands on August 11th, which coincidentally the weekend of the 50th anniversary Woodstock shows. The San Francisco show sounds like it will be the anti-thesis of the crazy Woodstock-related festivals. Outside Lands in San Fran is eco-oriented.

Simon says on his website: “I’m looking forward with great anticipation to playing at Golden Gate Park this summer. This will be my first appearance there, and it’s an honor to join the long line of musicians who’ve given the park its sanctified musical heritage. I’m equally pleased to be playing in San Francisco with its well-deserved reputation for being in the forefront of environmental issues. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be of service to this vital cause.”

The full line up will be announced this coming week. I’ll bet Jackson Browne is one of the performers.

Thanks to Ariana Grande, Broadway’s Most Famous Composers, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Have Made Over $2 Million in the Last Eight Weeks

Roger Friedman
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Thanks to Ariana Grande, Broadway’s Most Famous Composers, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Have Made Over $2 Million in the Last Eight Weeks

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s final musical was “The Sound of Music.” It debuted on Broadway in 1959 and has been a classic staple of world culture ever since.

But could Rodgers and Hammerstein imagine that one of the songs from that show would earn them $2 million and counting already in 2019?

That would be “My Favorite Things,” a song that has been covered over and over since 1959, most especially by jazz legend John Coltrane.

Back on January 18th, Ariana Grande released her single, “7 Rings.” The intro and spine of the song are lifted from “My Favorite Things.” The famed R&H melody is what makes the song. I’m sure Grande didn’t stop to ponder the consequences of sampling from such a famous composing duo. I’ll bet she gets it now.

According to Ben Sisario in the New  York Times, the R&H just recently negotiated a deal with Grande that reminded me of when Puff Daddy took Sting’s “Every Breath You Take” for his only really big hit. Sting got the lion’s share of the royalties. (Luckily Daddy became Diddy and made a fortune with Ciroc vodka.) The R&B estate got 90% of the royalties.

Since that first week, and for the last eight, “7 Rings” has gone through the roof. The song has made over $2 million in royalties from streaming and downloads. Nearly all of that money has gone to Rodgers and Hammerstein. At its height, “7 Rings” made a half million dollars in one week. This past week, it earned $154K on 19 million streams. So far, according to Spotify, “7 Rings” has had 463 million streams. That comes to $1.7 million, not including downloads, physical sales, and other venues.

And that’s not all. “7 Rings” is still the number 1 song on the hitsdailydouble Song Revenue chart, with weeks to go before it drops off. As Kandi Burruss told me recently when I asked about Ed Sheeran nicking her song, “I love it.”

Barbra Streisand Changes Tune: She Didn’t Believe Michael Jackson’s Accusers, Said So, But Now Has To Take it Back in New Statement

Roger Friedman
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Barbra Streisand Changes Tune: She Didn’t Believe Michael Jackson’s Accusers, Said So, But Now Has To Take it Back in New Statement
Barbra Streisand said she what felt in her gut about Michael Jackson’s accusers. But then the Twitter world came crashing down on her, so she’s issued an apology and changed her tune. Originally she said the boys were thrilled be at Neverland, and Michael’s sexual needs were his sexual needs. She laid blame at the feet of the parents who let their kids go to Neverland. But that backfired, because that’s not what people want to hear now. So now, here’s the apology. She was better off staying out of it.

Mel Gibson In Hollywood Exile: New Movie “Dragged Across Concrete” Gets Stealth Release, Headed to VOD Almost Immediately

Roger Friedman
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Mel Gibson In Hollywood Exile: New Movie “Dragged Across Concrete” Gets Stealth Release, Headed to VOD Almost Immediately

Mel Gibson is done in Hollywood. Don’t let what anyone says fool ya.

His new release, “Dragged Across Concrete,” is in stealth mode. It’s playing in a handful of cities, but not really. Check your local listings. You won’t be able to find it. Even if you did, could you sit through it? “DAC” is 2 hours, 40 minutes. That’s THREE Hours in the theater including bathroom and soda breaks.

“DAC” has a 75 on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s described as a violent pulp thriller. Vince Vaughn co-stars. Summit, which used to be a real company and is now just an arm of LionsGate, isn’t reporting box office statistics. That’s because there aren’t any.

“DAC” is in one theater in Manhattan, one in Chicago, two in Dallas, one in LA. It’s not playing in most places, including all of Detroit.

The plan is to get it to video on demand services within the month. And pretend like it never happened. Maybe there’s a market for it abroad.

But Summit knows, very few people want to see a Mel Gibson movie, and certainly not one that’s violent. Also, according to reviews, Gibson and Vaughn’s characters aren’t sparing when it comes to spewing vitriol.  Here’s the official description:  “The script centers on two policemen, one an old-timer, the other his volatile younger partner, who find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arm tactics become the media’s cause du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due, but instead find far more than they wanted awaiting them in the shadows.”

Three hours of that? No thanks.

 

Box Office Blowout: Modern Horror Rules as Jordan Peele’s “Us” Brings in $29 Million Opening, Eyes $60-$70 Mil Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Box Office Blowout: Modern Horror Rules as Jordan Peele’s “Us” Brings in $29 Million Opening, Eyes $60-$70 Mil Weekend

It’s all about “Us” this weekend.

Jordan Peele’s follow up to “Get Out” scored a huge $29 million Friday including $7.4 mil from Thursday previews. By Sunday night, the modern horror film could have $70 million in the bank.

This is despite some disappointing reaction from social media last night. A lot of Tweets I read didn’t find “Us” as compelling as reviewers did. But that’s not going to stop the momentum. People want to see this movie.

“Us” will not top last fall’s “Halloween,” which had an opening weekend of $76.2 million. But it will do twice the business of “Get Out”– that’s kind of weird factoid because no one knew what “Get Out” was when it opened.

Still, the important thing here is that Jordan Peele has become a top filmmaker, he’s using top black actors, and he’s part of the quickly changing landscape of cinema.

keep refreshing…

Coincidence? The CW Show “Supernatural” Ending After Season 15, Robert Mueller Turns in Special Investigator’s Report on Trump

Roger Friedman
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Coincidence? The CW Show “Supernatural” Ending After Season 15, Robert Mueller Turns in Special Investigator’s Report on Trump

There are no such things as coincidences.

Robert Mueller has turned in special investigator’s report on Donald Trump and Russian collusion. It took 22 months, but the news broke at 5pm Eastern. The report is now in the hands of Attorney General William Barr.

Simultaneously, the CW  Network announced that this fall’s 15th season of “Supernatural” will be its last. The show is about two brothers who hunt monsters. I’ve never seen it. But seems similar to the Mueller report. Coincidence? I think not.

Will Mueller implicate Trump the way “Supernatural” finds demons? It’s a strong possibility. Will the CW launch a Latinx version of “Supernatural” as they did with “Charmed”? Frankly, I don’t care.

Kennedy Center Honors Starts Looking for 2019 Inductees, Queries Past Winners, Artists’ Committee: Doris Day? Dick van Dyke? Berry Gordy?

Roger Friedman
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Kennedy Center Honors Starts Looking for 2019 Inductees, Queries Past Winners, Artists’ Committee: Doris Day? Dick van Dyke? Berry Gordy?

It’s that time of the year again.

The Kennedy Center Honors has sent out questionnaires to past winners, the artists’ committee, other friends asking who they think should be honored this year.

The Ken Cen got into a lot of hot water this past year for giving a pre-emptive award to the “Hamilton” creators. Usually, you have to wait for the award. There are plenty of creative people who’ve been on lists for years and snubbed because of inside politics.

Maybe the worst and most egregious pass-overs have been Dick van Dyke and Doris Day. They’re each in their 90s and can’t wait much longer. Doris won’t come to the ceremony, she stays in Carmel, California. But it would be easy enough to set up a live video feed from there. Imagine all the great singers who could sing her songs. van Dyke would come. It’s criminal that he hasn’t been invited. Soul Man Sam Moore, of Sam & Dave fame, is the last among the great R&B stars who isn’t in.

Last year, the Ken Cen broke a tradition and honored Norman Lear. The old rule was you had to be an entertainer. But it does seem like Berry Gordy, founder of Motown, should be inducted. He created a whole genre of music. Impresarios aren’t easy to come by.

There are several actors who aren’t in the Ken Cen. Jane Fonda is a definite. So is Denzel Washington. Woody Allen– but that would take courage. His cinema legacy is worldwide. The Ken Cen also needs to acknowledge classical music, opera, and jazz.

Who do you think should get a Kennedy Center honor this year?

 

Boo! Jordan Peele’s Horror Satire “Us” Scores $7.4 Million in Previews, Heads to $60 Mil Weekend

Roger Friedman
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Boo! Jordan Peele’s Horror Satire “Us” Scores $7.4 Million in Previews, Heads to $60 Mil Weekend

Jordan Peele is on a roll. UPDATE

His horror satire, “Us,” scored $7.4 million last night in previews. It’s on track for a $60 million weekend.

Peele’s last movie was “Get Out,” which made $176 million and garnered Oscar nominations. It won a lot of awards as well.

Peele has tapped into a market no one knew existed: social satire served in frighteningly scary movies. Everyone who’s seen “Us” says a lot of the movie has to be watched with hands over face.

If the box office soars above $60 million, the response is going to be insane from the press. I’d get tickets now, just to be safe.

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