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RIP Eric Carmen, 74, Leader of The Raspberries, Hit Solo Singer with “All By Myself”

Roger Friedman
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RIP Eric Carmen, 74, Leader of The Raspberries, Hit Solo Singer with “All By Myself”

Very sorry to hear about Eric Carmen. He was a bit of a Phil Spectorish power pop genius who made The Raspberries a cult favorite in the early 70s when rock was innovative but also recalled the Beach Boys and the Beatles from the 1960s.

Their song, “Go All the Way” was retro and new wave before its time, as were songs on their first couple of albums like “Let’s Pretend,” “I Wanna Be with You,” and “Overnight Sensation” (my personal favorite).

But the Raspberries were a cult group and broke up rather quickly in 1974. They were simply before their time.

Luckily, Clive Davis was starting Arista Records and knew Carmen could be a star. He flew to Cleveland and encouraged Carmen to make a solo album. The result was a hit album two massive hits: “All By Myself” and “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” in 1975. They were timeless pop, still heard over and over today.

Carmen released many records over the years, but two more hits struck gold: he co-wrote “Almost Paradise” from the movie “Footloose” and a solo hit with “Hungry Eyes” from “Dirty Dancing.”

In July 2005, the Raspberries reunited for two shows at BB Kings in New York. It was sold out and the guests in the audience included Jon Bon Jovi and songwriter Desmond Child. The shows were hits and there was a talk of a revival but it never came to pass.

I lost track of Eric Carmen over the years that followed until the pandemic. I was so delighted to find him on social media, as were others. But a weird thing happened. It turned out he was a full on fan of Donald Trump. Rather than sully the memory of the songs, I disconnected from him. At least politically, he’d lost his mind.

Still the music lives on. His wife of seven years, wrote on social media: “It is with tremendous sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Eric Carmen. Our sweet, loving and talented Eric passed away in his sleep, over the weekend. It brought him great joy to know, that for decades, his music touched so many and will be his lasting legacy. Please respect the family’s privacy as we mourn our enormous loss.”

Thanks for all those great records, Eric.

Will “Only Murders in the Building” Jump the Shark in Season 4 with Too Many Guest Stars?

Roger Friedman
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Will “Only Murders in the Building” Jump the Shark in Season 4 with Too Many Guest Stars?

“Only Murders in the Building” is proceeding on to Season 4 now. But will the beloved show jump the shark with too many guest stars?

I reported exclusively in January that Meryl Streep was returning to the series. I had already scooped that Nathan Lane was coming back. In January, at the AFI lunch, showrunner John Hoffman told me: “Everyone is coming back.:

There have been announcements already this month that guest stars will include Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria and Molly Shannon. Now Zach Galifianakis has been added to the list.

Sometimes more is more. And too much. “Only Murders” really depends on Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. Then there are supporting players like Jackie Hoffman, Tina Fey, Jesse Williams, Michael Cyril Creighton, Ryan Broussard, Da’Vine Joy Randolph (now an Oscar winner), and Jeremy Shamos.

Let’s hope that’s it! They already had to kill off Jane Lynch’s Sazz, although she’s sure to turn up in the new season in flashbacks.

Ava Duvernay Movie “Origin” X Account Claims Filmmakers Not Invited to Distributor Neon Oscar Movie

Roger Friedman
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Ava Duvernay Movie “Origin” X Account Claims Filmmakers Not Invited to Distributor Neon Oscar Movie

Not shocked by this: the X account for the movie “Origin” claims they weren’t invited to Neon’s Oscar party last night.

Neon dumped Ava Duvernay’s film, made sure no one saw it and wasn’t included in the Oscar conversation. I was surprised Duvernay, who used to be a publicist, didn’t speak out about the situation.

The movie was ignored totally, and died. I’m told that Duvernay did not get along with the distributor, and that was the problem.

The Twitter X account says: “Is it odd that the filmmakers of Neon’s current film in theaters weren’t invited to this Neon celebration? Nope. Standard operating procedure for Quinn and team. That’s how Neon rolls. More on this later.”

Neon put all their time, money, and attention into “Anatomy of a Fall.” They were better at promoting the dog, Messi, than anyone from “Origin.”

Oscars Ratings Only Slightly Better Than Last Year with 19.5 Million Viewers

Roger Friedman
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Oscars Ratings Only Slightly Better Than Last Year with 19.5 Million Viewers

Last year’s Oscars ratings were around 18.8 million depending on how you measured them.

By moving up an hour to 7pm last night, ABC brought in 19.5 million — only slightly better than last year.

It’s not a huge victory, but it’s better than doing worse than 2023.

The show was also actually a little short, at just three hours. It was accommodated for three and a half.

But with Best Song nominees not getting all the songwriters read aloud, and Best Picture flubbed again, a few minutes were shaved off the show.

The final numbers are the best since 2020, right before the pandemic. It helped that people had seen most of the movies and that of them — “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” — were big hits.

Jimmy Kimmel made some mistakes and a few laughs fell flat. But overall he’s an excellent host and should absolutely return next year — if he’ll do it.

Rickey Minor was a superb musical director, and all the numbers — especially Ryan Gosling’s spectacular “I’m Just Ken” — were exciting and compelling.

So, on to next year. With “Barbenheimer” having such big box office, we may have seen a peak Oscar experience.

RIP Malachy McCourt, Beloved Actor from “Ryan’s Hope,” Brother Frank Wrote “Angela’s Ashes”

Roger Friedman
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RIP Malachy McCourt, Beloved Actor from “Ryan’s Hope,” Brother Frank Wrote “Angela’s Ashes”

I’m so sorry to hear of the death of Malachy McCourt at age 92.

The beloved actor was a star of ABC’s “Ryan’s Hope” in almost 300 episodes. He also appeared in every New York soap opera, from “Guiding Light” to “Search for Tomorrow” and “All My Children.”

Malachy, like his brother Frank — who wrote “Angela’s Ashes” — was a wordsmith. He published two memoirs and a volume of poetry. He had a lovely, lilting, lyrical Irish accent and a big burly persona that would have been suited for the Brendan Gleeson character in “The Banshees of Inisherin.” He was part of two Broadway casts as a stand-by, in “Mass Appeal” and “Translations.”

McCourt’s bar — called Malachy’s, on the Upper West Side — was probably an inspiration for Ryan’s bar in the soap opera. The actor played the bar tender Kevin MacGuiness, a sounding board of reason for the various colorful characters. He was the opposite of a soap character — totally genuine, authentic, and real. An era ends with his passing and the memory of his brother, Frank. They will be sorely missed.

Al Pacino — Fresh Off Oscar Scandal — Announces Memoir to Be Published this Fall

Roger Friedman
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Al Pacino — Fresh Off Oscar Scandal — Announces Memoir to Be Published this Fall

Now we know why Al Pacino was a presenter at the Oscars.

The Oscar and Emmy winner is publishing a memoir this fall, on October 8th It’s called “Sonny Boy,” from Penguin.

The book will undoubtedly cover his movies, plays, and TV shows including “The Godfather,” “Serpico,” “Scent of a Woman.” Among other things, he was a primary student of Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York, an organization he’s supported for decades.

Pacino was also close to his family. So that will be part of the story.

But whether or not he talks about his personal life is truly another story. For years he was involved with Diane Keaton, which ended badly a couple of times.

He has one daughter with a woman named Jan Tarrant, who worked in his office. Pacino has twins with actress Beverly D’Angelo, another relationship that became contentious for years. They have since become much friendlier.

More recently, at age 82, Pacino fathered another child with a woman named Noor Alfallah, who just turned 30. I told you about her last year. Alfallah had dated a few different older, well fixed men before turning up with Pacino. Her own backstory is sketchy, including a father who pleaded guilty in a $3 million Department of Justice Case.

Last night at the Oscars, Pacino was supposed to read the 10 nominees for Best Picture, then open the envelope and give the award. Instead, he just read the winner — “Oppenheimer.” It was the second time in recent memory that a legacy star botched the delivery of Best Picture. (Think of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.) And this was after host Jimmy Kimmel joked about making sure the right envelope was on the podium!

No word on who Al’s ghostwriter will be for the book, but it’s sure to be a good read. Can’t wait til October!

Elton John Oscar Party Raises $10.8 Mil for AIDS with Sharon Stone, Danny DeVito, Smokey Robinson, Heidi Klum Among Guests

Roger Friedman
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Elton John Oscar Party Raises $10.8 Mil for AIDS with Sharon Stone, Danny DeVito, Smokey Robinson, Heidi Klum Among Guests

Elton John and David Furnish raised a whopping $10.8 million last night for AIDS research and support at their annual Oscar dinner. Wow!

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka, and Tiffany Haddish, were the co-hosts at the famed series of tents set up on San Vicente Boulevard.

The starry night included an electric performance by Gabriels, who performed a full set, including “Love and Hate in a Different Time,” “Angels & Queens,” and “Great Wind.” The A-list guests were also treated to Gabriels and Sir Elton himself closing with the hit, “Are You Ready For Love,” reminiscent of their surprise Glastonbury performance.

Those A listers included Smokey, Avril Lavigne, Benson Boone (the number 1 music star of the moment) plus Valerie Bertinelli and son Wolf van Halen, Rhea Pearlman, Donatella Versace, Alicia Silverstone, Billy Eichner, Cara Jade Myers, Christian Sariano, Brandi Carlile, Tim Allen, Patricia Arquette, Orville Peck, Sophia Bush, Julianne Hough, Zoe Lister-Jones, Daphne Guinness, Zooey Deschanel, Melanie Lynskey, Elizabeth Hurley, Joseph Lee, Alexis Bledel, Toni Braxton, Colton Haynes, and Eric McCormack — to name a few!

There was a not so silent auction, too– because Elton played an impromptu bit of “Tiny Dancer” on a Yamaha piano signed by him and bedazzled in crystals by Nyenyezi. It sold for $360,000!

PS Don’t forget– The EJAF Oscar party only exists to raise money for this incredible cause — unlike Vanity Fair, which is just to advertise their diminished publication!

Oscars: Why Spielberg Couldn’t Give Best Picture Award, Oppenheimer Gang Is The Bomb at Universal Gala

Roger Friedman
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Oscars: Why Spielberg Couldn’t Give Best Picture Award, Oppenheimer Gang Is The Bomb at Universal Gala

Here’s one thing the media misses on these Oscars parties. At Vanity Fair, every picture is on the red carpet, on the same little circle. Then the celebs disperse to other parties. It’s one of the best PR hoaxes in town.

The real winners — the Oppenheimer people — plus no less than Steven Spielberg actually made a beeline from the Oscars to the Universal Pictures gala at Soho House. (The Barbie folks went to the Warners party. The Killers of the Flower Moon gang went to the Apple thing. And so on.)

At Soho House, jubilation was in the air for the 7 Oscar wins. Best Actor Cillian Murphy and Director Chris Nolan were knee deep in congratulations, while nominee Emily Blunt and husband John Krasinski were surrounded by fans and friends like Charlize Theron and Ludacris. Oscar winning cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, Oscar in hand, arrived at the top of the steep Soho House stairs to thunderous applause from the guests.

I asked Spielberg — the biggest name in Hollywood — why he didn’t give out the Best Picture award? Al Pacino made a mess of it, as we all know.

“There’s a rule,” Spielberg said. “You can’t give the award to your own picture. I was the producer on Maestro. So if it had won…”

After talking to Krasinski about his upcoming movie, “If,” I moseyed on over to talk to “Holdovers” director Alexander Payne. He held court on the opposite side of the room, far away from the meathead security guards who roped off Nolan at the request of publicists. (Da’Vine Joy Randolph wandered around with her own team.)

Payne said he didn’t realize how popular Randolph would be when he was shooting the film. He told me, “It wasn’t until I started showing to a few people that we got that reaction. Then I saw it!”

Payne told me his next project is to meet with his frequent collaborator Jim Taylor about writing a sequel to their original hit, “Election.” It would star Reese Witherspoon as a grown up Tracy Flick, and Witherspoon would produce it. My own guess is that Tracy Flick would now be a Marjorie Taylor Greene type, although there was a sequel novel to the original, by author Tom Perrotta, so they have that work from.

As for Spielberg, 2024 will be a rare year when he has nothing in production. He said, “We’re in the discovery phase, trying to figure out what’s next.” I asked him about “Ready Player Two,” but he confirmed he would just be producing that one.

Oscars: Disgraceful In Memoriam Obscures Faces and Names of the Dead

Roger Friedman
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Oscars: Disgraceful In Memoriam Obscures Faces and Names of the Dead

Why can’t the Oscars ever get the In Memoriam right?

Tonight’s presentation was disgraceful. It disrepected the names and faces of the dead, obscuring them in the background of a lot of mishegos.

The choice of Andrea Boccelli and his son only made it worse. They have nothing to do with movies, albeit music! They are the greatest oversingers of all time.

What were the producers thinking? Maybe they did this way so no one could see who they omitted. Very dismaying. The SAG Awards did it right.

click here for all the Oscarheimer news including full list of winners

UPDATING Oscarheimer! “Oppenheimer” Wins 7! Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Editing, Cinematography, Score! Full List of Winners

Roger Friedman
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UPDATING Oscarheimer! “Oppenheimer” Wins 7! Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Editing, Cinematography, Score! Full List of Winners

“Oppenheimer” wins Best Picture, 7 statues in all !

Christopher Nolan wins after 24 years of making singularly spectacular movies.

Biggest surprise of the evening: Lily Gladstone loses Best Actress to Emma Stone.

UPDATED NOTES from the press room: “Oscarheimer” is coming. Christopher Nolan’s epic has won Best Supporting Actor, Cinematography, and Editing. Also Best Actor, Score, Best Director.

So far, the Oscars are great. John Mulaney’s recap of “Field of Dreams” is sublime. “I’m Just Ken” was the highlight of the night. In Memoriam was, as usual, a mess. The Bocellis are the worst over singers in history. It was impossible to see the featured people. It was all about the Bocellis. This segment was botched.

Oscars begin at 4pm West Coast, 7pm Eastern. Keep refreshing…

The audience is getting instructions. Stage manager tells audience: “Don’t fuck this up!”

Note: it’s taken a half hour to give one award. This will be a long night.

No one’s noticed that the supporting actors winners have the same initials. RDJ and JDR

FULL LIST OF WINNERS.

Best Supporting Actress- Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Animated Short Film: Sean Lennon, “War is Over” Sean did not come into the press room.

Animated Feature: The Boy and the Heron

Original Screenplay: Anatomy of a Fall

Adapted Screenplay: American Fiction

Makeup and Hair Styling: Poor Things

Production Design: Poor Things

Costume Design: Poor Things

International film: The Zone of Interest

Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr “Oppenheimer”

Visual effects: Godzilla Minus One

Film editing: Oppenheimer

Documentary Short Film: The Last Repair Shop

Documentary feature: 20 Days in Mariupol

Cinematography: Oppenheimer

Live action short: Wes Anderson

Sound: The Zone of Interest, for the hideous sounds coming from a concentration camp.

Original score: Oppenheimer

Original song: Billie Eilish, Barbie, What Was I Made For?

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”

Best Director: Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”

Best Actress: Emma Stone, “Poor Things” — a total surprise as Lily Gladstone was the supposed winner. This is Emma’s second win

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