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HBO had a much better Sunday night after being drubbed by the Super Bowl.
“True Detective” season 4 finished with 980,000 viewers on the linear channel. HBO says that two million more came through other portals. But who knows?
The finale itself has come under criticism for having such a non event conclusion. Jodie Foster let the killers get away with it, and then there was some mystical stuff.
But that 980,000 was 250K higher than the week before the Super Bowl. It also suggests that when they show it again, more people may pay attention. The show will get Emmy nods galore, too.
At 10pm, Larry David and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” bounced back from the Super Bowl outing. The show is back to around 400,000 viewers linear, which I guess will be its average. The episode was 100 times better than than the first two set in Atlanta. It seemed more like “Curb” again although it was very raunchy.
I have no idea why Cheryl is still on the show. Who hangs out with their ex husband in social settings, mocking him? It’s bizarre. But if this is the final season, I guess everyone gets something. Let’s hope a brilliant plotline pops up soon to take us to the end. Sienna Miller — she was like a ray of sunlight. I loved it when she said, “Beshert.” (That’s Yiddish for meant-to-be.)
For its annual Hollywood issue, Vanity Fair had trouble again getting Oscar nominees.
For the cover, only four turned up: Bradley Cooper, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Colman Domingo, and Lily Gladstone.
None of the other participants are in the Oscar game at all this year.
Cooper looks like he’s thinking, “Who are these people?” He’s the only actual movie star. The rest are fine actors, but still…
I guess Natalie Portman counts as a past winner, for “Black Swan.”
The front panel includes Pedro Pascal, who is really a TV star from “The Last of Us.” But that’s considered Hollywood, too. And Jenna Ortega — she’s really from “Wednesday,” the TV show, isn’t she?
The magazine couldn’t get anyone from “Oppenheimer” — no Robert Downey Jr, Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt. Also, no Paul Giamatti?
Vanity Fair is gearing up for its Oscar part in West Hollywood, but former Conde Nast employees — recently laid off in droves — may not be thrilled to hear about all the money that could have fone to them being spent on a massive tent city and In and Out Burgers by the yard.
One insider told me: “This might be the last year for the party.” But I wouldn’t count on it. The Party is better known than magazine at this point!
And I’m telling you: Jennifer Holliday is not going anywhere.
The Tony winning star of the original “Dreamgirls” hit legendary Cafe Carlyle last night with thunder and lightning.
Holliday has never done the famous Cafe before and rarely has done cabaret or jazz. But her preparation was acute and immaculate. She’s tackling the Great American Songbook through R&B and recalling the best of Ella, Sarah, and Dinah Washington.
Holliday has had a long up and down career, she’s the first to admit. She was only around 20 when “Dreamgirls” made her an international star, and that song — “And I’m Telling You” — became a good news- bad news deal. The song was such an emotional hit for women that Holliday says in her show, they were coming up to her in Target declaring it saved their marriages.
“Good for them!” Holliday says. “I had two and it didn’t do anything for me!”
She saves “And I’m Telling You” for the end. But it’s everything that comes before it that should draw crowds. She’s gone headlong into Harold Arlen, the Gershwins, Nina Simone, and even Barbra Streisand, giving new life to “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever” with ferocity and soul that makes a warhorse sound new.
Funny thing about Streisand: on stage Holliday recalls their odd connection. In 1984, Streisand asked her to sing the Oscar nominated “The Way He Makes Me Feel” from “Yentl.” “Barbra was on strike that year because she wasn’t nominated for Best Director,” Jennifer recalls. “So she asked me to do it.”
Holliday, then considerably heavier, brought down the house.
She brought it down against last night with numbers like “Come Rain or Come Shine,” which startled the Carlyle crowd with an infusion of gritty crescendo’s that probably shook the fancy hotel rooms above us. I loved how she researched the songs, pulling together a combination of lyrics for Sondheim’s “I’m Still Here” and revealing the backstory for Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael’s “Skylark” — Mercer was having an affair with 19 year old Judy Garland when he wrote it for her.
Holliday says the night is about love, love, love, and she’s right. She might be in love now, and joked that she’s “not a cougar” and has an “age limit,” but is definitely dating younger guys. Good for her! They’re more likely to keep with her youthful outlook, appearance, and soaring voice.
As per often at Cafe Carlyle, the band comes in ad hoc and puts the whole thing together like the 24 Hour Plays. Holliday lucked out, as this group last night seemed like they’d been working together for years. Bobby Short himself would have been impressed. Their counterpoint to Holliday’s full throttle soul woke the old songs up. In that room, with so much history, they came alive.
Run– don’t walk– and catch Jennifer Holliday in this run. And let’s hope she comes back soon!
PS After this run, Jennifer Holliday had better be singing at every big New York charity event this summer and fall.
Ella Beatty is one of the four children of actors Warren Beatty and Annette Bening.
Beatty is joining the play “Appropriate” when it makes its transfer from the Helen Hayes Theater to the Belasco on March 25th. You know, her parents made their debuts in theater before becoming huge movie stars. A new generation has arrived!
Beatty is coming in to replace Elle Fanning, who made her Broadway debut in the show last December.
“Appropriate” stars Sarah Paulson, Corey Stoll, Michael Esper, Natalie Gold, Graham Campbell, Alyssa Emily Marvin, Lincoln Cohen, Everett Sobers.
Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Lila Neugebauer, “Appropriate” has struck a nerve as a domestic family soap opera. Beatty will play the pivotal role of the young woman who arrives as Michael Esper’s girlfriend but turns out to be much, much more.
Ella is about the same age as Annette Bening when she first appeared on Broadway in “Coastal Disturbances.” And you can see how that worked out! Pretty, pretty, pretty good, as Larry Davis would say!
The SAG Awards are coming on Saturday night on Netflix LIVE at 8pm.
Barbara Streisand is getting the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Jennifer Aniston. (Don’t know what the connection is.)
Idris Elba is opening the show.
Streisand is having a victory lap year. She’s had a hit bestselling autobiography both in print and on Audible. Her career is forever.
Additional show presenters Erika Alexander (American Fiction), Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Michael Cera (Barbie), Jessica Chastain (Mothers’ Instinct), Colman Domingo (Rustin, The Color Purple), Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer), Fran Drescher (SAG-AFTRA President), Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso), Billie Eilish (Swarm), America Ferrera (Barbie), Brendan Fraser (Killers of the Flower Moon), Taraji P. Henson (The Color Purple), Troy Kotsur (CODA), Greta Lee (The Morning Show), Melissa McCarthy (Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story), Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), Glen Powell (Hit Man), Issa Rae (American Fiction, Barbie), Storm Reid (The Last of Us), Margot Robbie (Barbie), Tracee Ellis Ross (American Fiction), Alexander Skarsgård (Succession), Omar Sy (Lupin), Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso), Naomi Watts (Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans), Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) and more to be announced.
Seems like a lot of good reasons to tune in. Not to mention the stakes for all the nominees, as the SAG Awards are a steady indicator of the Oscars.
Yesterday morning, Hillary Scott — of Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum) appeared and sang on the Today show.
Scott sang an 8 year old song called “Beautiful Messes,” at the request of host Savannah Guthrie. Turns out the two have become fast friends. In the video below, Hoda Kotb explains that she asked Savannah to get Scott on the show. “Beautiful Messes” they say is Savannah’s favorite song.
The result? The 2016 single and album of the same name have rocketed to the top of iTunes. Who says the Today show doesn’t have power? Scott has knocked off JLo’s new album and upended the charts in a day! All bets are now off. And now everyone will want to play their song on the 60 year old morning program.
It’s been a year since “NCIS” — now in its 21st season — scored 7 million viewers.
But last night was the second 7 mil week of this abbreviated season. This was all in anticipation of the farewell episode for the late David McCallum, aka Ducky.
Last night’s 7.25 mil total viewers was actually down a squidge from last week, although delayed viewing could increase the number.
The big surprise at the end was a cameo from Michael Weatherly as Tony DiNozzo. Weatherly was written out many seasons ago so he could have his series, “Bull.” But last night’s appearance suggests Di Nozzo may be back again. Even if it were a short arc, his return would spark ratings.
“NCIS” is the show that keeps on giving. Who’d have thought it would make season 21, and without Mark Harmon? Life is full of surprises.
Solange Knowles, sister of Beyonce, is on the cover of the new Harper’s Bazaar.
Solange is the avant garde sibling who must toil in the shadow of one of the biggest stars of the last thirty years. She’s incredibly talented, has put out sensational albums, and is mostly overlooked.
The timing of this cover is odd: Beyonce is simultaneously at the top of the charts with two new singles. Her new album, “Act II,” is coming shortly. The cover story has no tie-in purpose to anything, really. Solange has some new projects, nothing huge, and her likeness would not sell magazines off a newsstand.
What is actually going on here? I have no idea.
I do sympathize with Solange’s plight. She has enormous talents. Her last two albums were praised, had possibilities, and then disappeared overnight. They had no support per se from Columbia Records, which also handles Beyonce. I wrote about it in 2019. When her album unexpectedly bombed, she cancelled a performance at Coachella. We haven’t really heard from her since, although she’s been doing smaller projects. None of this is mentioned in the Harper’s bizarre piece.
Well, if Harper’s couldn’t get Beyonce, I guess this will do. I root for Solange. Listen to her music. It’s well worth our time.
The Beatles are getting four separate films that actually sound as if they’ll become a streaming project.
The group has a patchy history in Hollywood other than their own films like “Help!” and “A Hard Days Night.”
Attempts have been made to chronicle their history narratively, like “Nowhere Boy” and “Across the Universe.” Sometimes song placements have worked — “Baby You’re a Rich Man” was perfect in “The Social Network.” But at this moment, the group let their new old song, “Now and Then,” be woven through “Argylle,” a huge flop.
That this new project went to Sony is not a surprise. Sony Pictures aka Columbia Pictures and Sony Music still have a relationship through Sony Japan. They are all part of the same corporation. Sony Music now controls the Beatles music catalog. So I’m sure Sony Pictures had the inside track.
How four movies will be made from this is unclear. Ambitious, but unclear. I think in the end there will be one long movie, or a series for a streamer. It would be funny if it went to Apple Plus since Steve Jobs took the name of the Beatles Apple Records for his company, and ultimately had to pay them for it.
Read the press release below:
Today, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), Sam Mendes, and Neal Street Productions announced a groundbreaking creative endeavor to tell the story of The Beatles with four distinct theatrical feature films. The project marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the families of John Lennon and George Harrison – have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film.
As conceived by Mendes, who will direct, the four theatrical feature films – one from each band member’s point-of-view – will intersect to tell the astonishing story of the greatest band in history.
SPE will finance and distribute worldwide with full theatrical windows in 2027. The dating cadence of the films, the details of which will be shared closer to release, will be innovative and groundbreaking.
Mendes will direct all four films and produce alongside his Neal Street Productions partner Pippa Harris and Neal Street’s Julie Pastor. Jeff Jones will executive produce for Apple Corps Ltd.
“I’m honored to be telling the story of the greatest rock band of all time, and excited to challenge the notion of what constitutes a trip to the movies,” said Sam Mendes.
“We intend this to be a uniquely thrilling, and epic cinematic experience: four films, told from four different perspectives which tell a single story about the most celebrated band of all time,” said Pippa Harris. “To have The Beatles’ and Apple Corps’ blessing to do this is an immense privilege. From our first meeting with Tom Rothman and Elizabeth Gabler, it was clear that they shared both our passion and ambition for this project, and we can’t think of a more perfect home than Sony Pictures.”
“Apple Corps is delighted to collaborate with Sam, Pippa and Julie to explore each Beatle’s unique story and to bring them together in a suitably captivating and innovative way,” said Apple Corps Ltd. CEO Jeff Jones. “Sony Pictures’ enthusiastic support, championing the project’s scope and creative vision from the start, has been invaluable for all of us.”
“I know I speak for our CEO Tony Vinciquerra, who was instrumental in making this happen, and every Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group colleague around the world when I say: ‘yeah, yeah, yeah!’” said Tom Rothman, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group. “Theatrical movie events today must be culturally seismic. Sam’s daring, large-scale idea is that and then some. Pairing his premiere filmmaking team, with the music and the stories of four young men who changed the world, will rock audiences all over the globe. We are deeply grateful to all parties and look forward ourselves to breaking some rules with Sam’s uniquely artistic vision
You could say Crosby, Stills & Nash lasted seven or eight years max, and finally blew away.
Their self titled debut album came in 1969 and was so stunning that it propelled them through three quarters of a decade. A year later came “Deja Vu,” followed by the live “Four Way Street,” both of which added Neil Young.
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But then Young had his solo albums, Stills had a huge hit with “Love the One You’re With,” followed by his group, Manassas. Crosby and Nash had their first album as a duo,with the masterful “Immigration Man.” By 1974 there was a greatest hits album called “So Far,” with the Joni Mitchell drawn cover, and you kind of felt that was it. The era of CSN was over. Everyone moved on.
I know I did. There was a brief renaissance in 1977 when the group reformed and released a new album. They had a couple of hits with “Just a Song Before I Go” and “Dark Star.” But new wave and punk had replaced them, disco was booming, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen hit their peaks with R&B tinged rock, the era of the singer songwriter was ebbing after a glorious run.
In Boston, WBCN was playing Elvis Costello, the Ramones, the Cars, Blondie, Talking Heads. Crosby Stills & Nash had fulfilled their mission. This was ok: the Beatles really only lasted seven years. No one was meant to go on for decades. The audience grows up.
The group’s members fought like crazy in public for years. It seemed pointless. They fell into the Fleetwood Mac genre of bands as a soap opera, which was silly because they were all way past the age when anyone would be interested. A few years ago the enmity was cinched when Nash left his long marriage for a young girl whom Crosby was said to be interested in. Oy vey.
And then Crosby, who loved the volatile, contentious nature of Twitter, up and died. I ran into Stills at Clive Davis’s pre-Grammy dinner. He was seated with his lover of 50 years ago, the great Judy Collins. He wrote “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” for her. It remains the CSN crowning achievement. I can remember putting it on the turntable in 69, when I was 12. From the first notes, it was wildly exciting, unlike anything else. The harmonies, the percussion, Latin sounds. And seven minutes! Hello! The longest song since “Hey Jude.”
The rest of the album was so good, you just kept playing the songs — “Marrakesh Express,” “Guinevere.” “Helplessly Hoping,” and so forth. “Wooden Ships” had a new life after being on a Jefferson Airplane album (it was co-written by Crosby and Paul Kantner, but now sounded muchmore important.) In that brief moment, these three young guys caught lightning in a bottle. And they really seemed to like each other.
I asked Stills about Crosby’s death. “At least he’s out of pain,” he said. Had he been ill a long time, I wondered? “About 40 years,” he responded.
So that was it for CSN, I said, less as a question and more as an obvious observation. Stills didn’t necessarily agree. “We’ll see. His son sounds just like him. You never know.”
Well, that was interesting. Crosby has an eldest son, James Raymond, who he reconnected with years after James was born and went to live with his mother. Since then, Raymond has had a steady career as a singer and songwriter. He produced David’s most recent album. He wrote on his website after his father’s death:
“I am deeply saddened at the passing of my birth father David Crosby. He was a monumental talent and a complete force of nature. The musical gifts he gave us all will be cherished for generations. I feel very fortunate that we found each other and that he so graciously invited me to experience that rarified air of creativity that surrounded him. I’ll miss him immensely.”
