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THE WEB GOSSIP
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THE WEB GOSSIP
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Kenny Ortega
WEB GOSSIP --- Random comment: “Approximately one and a half minutes ago people in my office were talking about Footloose and I said, 'Well, at least they'll never be dumb enough to remake Dirty Dancing'.” Director Kenny Ortega has been set to direct Dirty Dancing, a remake of the 1987 Emile Ardolino-helmed film about a pampered young girl who summers with her upscale family at a resort in the Catskills and falls in love with the resident-bad-boy dance instructor. It brings Ortega full circle, since he choreographed and came up with the grinding dirty dancing that made the original sleeper hit one of the most profitable indie films ever. The original, made by Vestron Pictures, cost $6 million, grossed $213.95 million and went on to become a huge video title. Vestron took so long in trying to mount a sequel, that they folded before they could begin the sequel. Lionsgate (who is behind this new project) first got involved when it released Artisan's 2004 sequel, Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, but it didn't feature any of the same cast (or, passion) and it tanked. Ortega, meanwhile went from choreographing to becoming the director of several TV series (he did two episodes of a Dirty Dancing TV series) before helming two hit TV installments of High School Musical, including the third installment, which was done as a feature film. He followed with the hit Michael Jackson tribute documentary This Is It. He was tapped to do the re-boot of Footloose, but dropped out to do a movie-version of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical In The Heights, only to see that film get shelved. Ortega is something of an irascible personality; sure, he's a pretty good director (Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope, Hull High) but, I've always preferred his creative movie productions more, including Hocus Pocus (1993) and Newsies (1992). His movies are just downright creative; not necessarily box-office gold, but sure worth watching. I defy you to watch Newsies and not get hooked. As the public saw in the Jackson film … he doesn't suffer fools easily, rather, he holds his ground. But, if anyone could mount a DD sequel … he's definitely at the top of the list. Patrick Swayze isn't here any longer, sadly, so Ortega's under the gun to come up with a dynamite replacement; maybe Ryan Gosling (he had Emma Stone do the DD-jump in his wonderful Crazy, Stupid, Love … so, he's about there already!) And, the terrific soundtrack (which sold 42 million copies) to the first film, to my mind, can't be duplicated. Heck, Swayze's own song, She's Like The Wind, was a highlight. The music supervisor on that album was Michael Lloyd ...maybe he should be brought back for this one? The movie was just stunningly excellent, with terrific performances by Jerry Orbach; Jack Weston; Kelly Bishop; 'Cousin Brucie' aka Bruce Morrow; and, Wayne Knight (before Seinfeld), and if you grew up in that summer of 1963, this film hit you hard. The terrific screenplay by Eleanor Bergstein is based on her own growing up; she is the younger daughter of a Jewish-doctor from New York; spent summers with her family in the Catskills; participated in DD-like competitions; and, was herself called 'Baby.' Also, the line uttered by Swayze near the end of the film, “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” resonated far and wide. Face it: the original is a stone cold classic … Ortega's got his work cut out for him! ****
Micky DolenzMONKEE TOUR HALTED --- This past Monday night wire reports went out that the current 45th Anniversary Tour of The Monkees had come to a sudden and unexpected halt. What the heck had happened? We called the Irving Azoff/Frontline office in L.A. And were abruptly informed that the person handling the tour is no longer employed here. What? We had seen their show here in NYC at the Beacon Theatre and just loved it; a 2 ½ hour-plus show that kept getting better and better. We also caught their free-Coney Island show; which followed an appearance on ABC's The View earlier in the day; again, the show was superb. The three of them seemed fine (particularly Dolenz) .. so, what happened? Here's the response from Dolenz: 'The Monkee Tour has, indeed, been canceled, but for reasons that I cannot discuss at this time. I can say the reasons pertain to business and are internal matters only. Needless to say, I am disappointed but the situation was unavoidable and I want to apologize to all the fans out there who will not be able to experience what was a wonderful show. I also want to add that my solo tour, which started in Long Island on 7/22, continues through the end of the year.' There have been some unfortunate rumors already appearing in one less-than-professional blog ( a very, strange one indeed!), and all I can say is shame on them! Shame on those naysayers! We touched base with Dolenz's pr-man here in NYC David Salidor, and he had this to offer: "It's unfortunate that the tour has ended in this fashion, but to float unsubstantiated rumors and innuendo, that's not really fair. They toured the world for almost three-months and the reviews were exceptional; I think we should collectively all hope that the tour can be resurrected in some fashion." Dolenz appeared last week in Wisconsin (of all places!) and the show was terrifically reviewed. I'd urge all the venues and promoters that have lost out on a Monkees show to book Micky immediately. He's at the top of his game.
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Mick Jagger
JAGGER INDEED --- There's certainly been no more charismatic figure in rock 'n roll than Mick Jagger. Following his exploits for the last 40 or so odd years, you've got to admit: he's been good copy … and, put out some terrific music too. This new group, Super Heavy, that's he's fronting alongside Dave Stewart, Damian Marley, Joss Stone and Slumdog Millionaire-composer A.R. Rahman. is simply terrific. The first track “Miracle Worker” sounds stone-cold great; yes, a bit of the lads for sure, but just great to hear Mick's voice jell with Stone's. She's actually quite stunning. And, there's Maroon 5's Jagger-homage “Moves Like Jagger.” When I first heard this, I just had to laugh … but, the song is terrifically memorable with a whistle (of all things!!!) that's positively electric. Adam Levine is simply sensational; marvelously compelling! I haven't been able to watch NBC's The Voice all the way through … but, his selected contestant to mentor, won. The guy is smart and now, watching the just released video of the song … it solidly completes his hat-trick. The video, directed by Jonas Ackerman (who seems to be the new go-to guy in video) is simply sensational; with clips of the man-himself and a bevy of impersonators … who are all spot-on perfect. This and the recent Katy Perry video (“Last Friday Night”) may well be the start of a return to interesting videos. Face it, they've been kind of sloppy of late ... maybe with MTV's 30th Birthday last week ... we can get the quality back ... maybe ... please!****
SAVAGE BEAUTY SCORES --- The Metropolitan Museum of Art says its recent exhibition of costumes by the late designer Alexander McQueen was among its top 10 most-visited shows. It attracted 661,509 visitors to the museum’s Costume Institute, making it the Met's eighth most popular exhibition in 141 years. It closed this past Sunday after the museum extended the exhibition by one-week. It was positively breathtaking and if you missed it, you missed one must-see presentation. It made all the more sad the passing of one of the most influential designers ever. An amazing show!
Photos By: RD/Orchon/Leon/Kabik/Dziekan/Retna
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