Yeah. they’re married. Congrats!
Rocker Steve van Zandt Clears Up Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen’s Claim of Hanging Out in Capri, Summer 2016
“It didn’t happen. It never happened.” Those are words to live by from the musical “Chicago.”
In real life they work, too. Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer and inveterate liar Michael Cohen claimed last year that he’d spent time in summer 2016 with rocker Steven van Zandt in Capri. It was his alibi for not being in Prague.
I wrote back in April that van Zandt and the E Street and Bruce Springsteen played Rome in summer 2016. But van Zandt’s wife assured me they did not go to Capri, and had never met Cohen.
On Christmas Eve, as stories about Cohen’s alleged trip to Prague came up again, Steve van Zandt weighed in on the story. He Tweeted: “Ran into him in the courtyard of our hotel in Rome. He wanted me to meet his wife. Which I did. Very nice. That was it. We’ve never gone anywhere together.”
Maureen was right not to remember the fleeting meeting. Her husband probably didn’t mention it. And she was right about Capri. All of which begs the question about the trip. BuzzFeed’s Anthony Cormier wrote: Cohen, 50, said he understands the scrutiny this will bring. He said credit card receipts would prove he stayed in Capri, an island off the Italian coast, but he declined to make those receipts available. Cohen was with family and friends, he said, including the musician and actor Steve Van Zandt.
This is how deft a liar Cohen is– that he could have combined details, inflated them to bigger meaning, and used them as a distraction. So we do know that Cohen was in Rome in the summer of 2016. And now reports are saying that he was also outside Prague later in the summer.
Haha not exactly. Ran into him in the courtyard of our hotel in Rome. He wanted me to meet his wife. Which I did. Very nice. That was it. We’ve never gone anywhere together. https://t.co/fU1ldFpunl
— Stevie Van Zandt (@StevieVanZandt) December 24, 2018
One Direction Star Zayn Malik Has Vanished from Social Media Since His Flop Album Release 2 Weeks Ago
Where, oh where, is Zayn Malik?
The former One Direction star released his new album, “Icarus Falls.” The 27 track title had no PR or marketing, and was just dumped onto an unsuspecting public.
Since then, “Icarus” has sold 2,400 actual copies, and 16.7K including streaming of all the songs. The album has radio play either. It’s a bust.
Zayn, meantime, has not made a peep on social media since December 14th. That’s 13 days of silence. No Twitter or Instagram, no radio or TV appearances. No Christmas sightings. Is he ok? Does he know the album came out? Indeed, did he want the record to come out? I’m thinking now that RCA just released everything they had to get out of their contract with Zayn. Someone had to pull the trigger, and it was the label.
Meantime, the songwriters whose work appears on the album are trying to rally the troops. Herbie Crichlow, who wrote so many hits for the Backstreet Boys, is waging his own campaign on Twitter. Herbie wrote the album’s best song, “Good Years.” He’d like to have a hit. I’ll bet, but his artist is MIA.
Come back, Zayn! You’ve got to work your album!
Clive Davis to Co-Produce Aretha Franklin Tribute Show with Grammy Awards, Tyler Perry Host with Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Celine Dion, Common, More
The big Aretha Franklin tribute show for TV is happening on January 13th– same night as the Critics Choice Awards, in Los Angeles.
There’s an all-star list of performers: Yolanda Adams, Shirley Caesar, Alessia Cara, Kelly Clarkson, Common, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, John Legend, Patti LaBelle, and BeBe Winans. A slew of younger artists nominated for the 61st GRAMMY Awards — coming soon on Feb. 10, 2019 — including Brandi Carlile, Chloe X Halle, H.E.R., Janelle Monáe, and SZA, will also perform. Tyler Perry will host.
I’d like to see Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson join that crowd. R&B great Sam Moore was also one of Aretha’s oldest friends. Aretha won a Grammy for performing Sam & Dave’s “Hold On I’m Coming.” Moore is receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys this year.
Clive Davis is co-producing with the Grammys and CEO Neil Portnow. Originally Clive had promised Aretha a big show at Madison Square Garden on this past November 14th, but her untimely death and scheduling made that difficult.
This show will tape on January 13th and air on CBS–maybe March 25th for Aretha’s birthday. Hello, Jack Sussman at CBS. That would be nice.
I do miss Aretha as we come into the end of the year. On New Year’s Day 2016 I went with her to Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut for a sold-out to the rafters show following her famous appearance on the Kennedy Center Honors.
Happy Ending for Miley Cyrus: She Married Liam Hemsworth, Posts Videos, Pics (See Here), Mark Ronson Plays the Wedding March!
Either Miley Cyrus is married to Liam Hemsworth!
The famed singer has Tweeted out a series of pictures showing her in a white dress, Hemsworth in a tux, and wedding rings on their fingers.
This follows photos from what was presumed to be their wedding at home over the last few days.
Congrats to both! They’ve been together for a decade.
To think it was just five years ago Miley was Twerking on TV, smoking pot, posing naked for Terry Richardson, scandalizing the world. No more wrecking balls or Dead Petz!
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) December 27, 2018
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) December 26, 2018
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) December 26, 2018
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) December 26, 2018
special here comes the bride cyrus/hemsworth remix for 2019. congratulations u two xo @MileyCyrus @LiamHemsworth pic.twitter.com/zpBnK0bHA6
— Mark Ronson (@MarkRonson) December 26, 2018
Ben Is Back, But Julia Roberts Wasn’t: Former Queen of the Box Office Scores Career Low Despite Good Notices
Ben is back, but Julia Roberts isn’t.
After 17 days, Peter Hedges’s extremely well-directed, well-written drama “Ben Is Back” is DOA at the box office.
Not only that: its $950K take is heading star Julia Roberts to her lowest box office ever. You’d have to go back to the ill-conceived “Full Frontal” in 2002, which made a total of $2.5 million.
The “Ben is Back” box office failure hurts more because Roberts– who can be strident in films–gives one of her best, warmest, and most direct performances ever. She is matched by Lucas Hedges, who plays her late teen/adult son, and is the toast of the town these days. Lucas’s talented filmmaker dad, Peter, wrote and directed the movie. Rotten Tomatoes scored it a very favorable 81%.
If “Ben is Back” had been released by a real indie distributor, or Fox Searchlight or Focus, it might have had a chance. But Roadside Attractions, the poor cousin of Lions Gate, is famous for botching its releases. Their only hit this year was a Christian film, assigned to them by Lions Gate. “I Can Only Imagine” came with its own faith-based marketing.
The rest of Roadside’s 2018 list consisted of the much-reviled “Forever My Girl,” which made $16 million, and “Viper Club,” which took in just $60,000. Without “I Can Only Imagine,” Roadside would have barely existed this year.
“Ben Is Back” might have had a chance if there’d been some awards buzz. But Hedges was already tied up with “Boy Erased,” an indie hit with $6.5 million in the till– and also a competitor in the demographic of troubled young men and their parents. The other similar film, “Beautiful Boy,” struggled to scare up $7 million with Hedges’s best known “rival” Timothee Chalamet– also an excellent film with very strong performers.
As for Roberts, she may have been busy with her Amazon series, “Homecoming.” Roberts certainly doesn’t need the money from “Ben.” She’s got cosmetics commercials running everywhere. And at 51 years old, she’s had an exciting run of hits from “My Best Friend’s Wedding” (1997) to “America’s Sweethearts” (2001). Plus she starred in the iconic “Pretty Woman” (1990). Her Oscar is from “Erin Brockovich” (2000).
Christmas Day Box Office Pumps Up “Aquaman” Over $100 Mil, Sherlock Holmes Comedy with Zero Rating Makes $6.4 Mil
Christmas Day brought joy to the distribution staff at Warner Bros. “Aquaman” rebounded from lack of interest on Monday to $22 million on Tuesday. The bounce back pushed the DC comics effort up to $105 million since Friday. That’s not exactly “fast” in superhero comic book movie terms, but it’s better, as my grandmother would say, than a kick in the bustle!
That kick was given to Sony’s “Holmes and Watson.” The Will Ferrell- John C. Reilly Sherlock Holmes comedy has a ZERO on Rotten Tomatoes. 12 out of 12 critics hated it. No one else saw it, I guess. Anyway, for its opening on Christmas Day this unloved spectacle actually made $6.425 million. Does it have legs? We’ll see. Cost of this film is listed at $42 million, which means $50 million. It’s a long way to Tipperary.
Good news: Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” delivered $5 million on Christmas Day, it’s up to $42 million.Â
keep refreshing…
Christmas Eve Box Office: “Aquaman” Takes a Beating, Drops 42% from Sunday, Biggest Drop Among Top New Movies
What’s going on with out friend, Aquaman?
On Monday– yesterday, Christmas Eve– his movie dropped at least 42% from Sunday. It was the biggest drop among blockbuster holiday movies.
“Aquaman” only took in $10.95 mil on Monday after making more than $18 mil on Sunday. Whoa! Monday should have been a big day for people who weren’t working and had nothing whatsoever to do.
But “Aquaman” has $83.6 million after four days in US release. So that’s not shabby. And of course, internationally, Warner Bros. already made their money back. to the tune of $415 million. So they can splash around as much as they like!
Even worse: Peter Jackson’s “Mortal Engines” is deader than dead. It took in the same amount as “Green Book” but played in 4.5 times as many theaters. “Mortal Engines” is a total write off in the millions of millions.
Updates coming…
Kevin Spacey Is Back: Disgraced Actor Posts First Tweet and Video Since October 2017 — Set for Nantucket Arraignment January 7th on Charge of Indecent Assault and Battery
“If I didn’t pay the price for the things I didn’t do, I certainly won’t pay the price for the things I do.”
“We’re not done no matter what anybody says.”
Kevin Spacey has posted a video to Twitter– under the title “Let’s Be Frank”– as if he were Frank Underwood from “house of cards.” It’s his first communication since October 2017 when his sex scandals forced him out of the spotlight. Now he’s back on Christmas Eve, claiming as the character that he’s not dead– they killed him off on the series. But the piece is written as Frank and as Kevin, claiming he’s back and that maybe not all the accusations against the actor and the character were true. Very very bizarre. It’s not as if Spacey will return as Underwood on “House of Cards.” The show is over, and amazon studios– with its own issues– won’t be reviving it or making films with Spacey.
Spacey is still under investigation in various venues for accusations of sexual misconduct, which makes today’s video so much weirder. He’s also set to be arraigned in Nantucket, Massachusetts on January 7, 2019 on a charge of indecent assault and battery. A story ran in today’s Boston Globe confirming that, which may have put Spacey on the defensive. Nantucket, an island that is hard to access, will be a media frenzy on that day.
In October 2017 “Rent” actor Anthony Rapp– spurred by the Harvey Weinstein revelations– claimed that when he was a teen Spacey attacked him sexually. After that, dozens more accusations were filed, some with the police in New York, London, and Los Angeles– over Spacey’s inappropriate behavior with young men. That’s when Spacey announced what everyone from here to Pluto knew– that he was gay. And that caused a firestorm because it seemed like he was saying being gay had caused him to do bad things.
Kevin’s last previous post:
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017
“Mary Poppins Returns” is Disney’s Third Big Live Action Disaster for 2018, With Just $31 Mil Opening Weekend
It’s a good thing Disney bought all those other companies like LucasFilm, Marvel, and Pixar.
Back in the actual Mouse House, it hasn’t been such a happy year for the studio’s live action films.
“Mary Poppins Returns” made just $31 million this weekend in its opening. What happened? I — and a lot of other people– thought this Rob Marshall reboot would be a smash. Marshall made a terrific film, too. But audiences have not clamored to see it. Emily Blunt and co. are wonderful. Maybe once the Christmas holiday sets in…
Disney has already had a bad time marketing these live action films. That’s not good news considering the next ones are “Aladdin” (which looks dreadful) and “The Lion King.”
This year the studio struck out with “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” and “A Wrinkle in Time.” The movies went awry in a big way during production, and the arrived to jeers.
You could almost put “Solo: A Star Wars Story” in the same category. It was from LucasFilm, but it was also an original drama with actual actors, not animated ones. Disney could not put it over, or overcome advance bad buzz that was unwarranted. It’s very similar to the “Mary Poppins” situation.
Emily Blunt has a lot of awards interest coming up– maybe that will help, too. She is delightful as Mary. Don’t miss her!