JAMES CAMERON'S 'AVATAR' PASSES BILLION


James Cameron


Hard to believe but James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ passed the $1billion dollar mark this weekend. I saw it right before Xmas and you know what, it reminded me of Titanic. Beautifully rendered and utterly inspired. I don’t recall who said it, but it spoke volumes: “Cameron is doing what a lot of other action directors are doing … but, he just does it much, much better,” Amen. I also caught two movies that somehow I missed this year, ‘Star Trek’ and Tony Scott’s-remake of the ‘Taking of Pelham 123.’ As a major Trekker (I still have the vinyl copy of Shatner’s 1968 album ‘The Transformed Man’) the Trek-saga unraveled pretty close to the original … but, there are some major revisions: like Spock getting close to Uhura this time, and much ado about time-travel, which confused me at times. Zachary Quinto, from TV’s ‘Heroes,’ was terrific, Chris Pine, Kirked-it up a notch and was riveting to watch; and, Leonard Nimoy himself … outstanding. “Even in the bacchanal of 1970s Los Angeles, the drug and promotional excesses of Casablanca Records stood out. In a period where cocaine use was probably at its peak in the music business, Casablanca set the pace.” That juicy quote is from the Encyclopedia Britannica describing Neil Bogart’s truly trend-setting record label. Bogart, sadly left us at age 39, but a new book, entitled ‘And Party Every Day,’ written by Larry Harris, with Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs, brilliantly captures the way it most certainly was. Whether it was introducing Kiss or Donna Summer or The Village People or Parliament Funkadelic, Bogart and his minions mustered every available degree of energy in their souls to place their artists at the top of the charts. Having lived through a sizable part of what’s in the book, my first thought was, ‘how did this guy remember everything?’ But, he did and though I have heard that events have been slightly twisted, one way or another, the essence is incredibly there. The author does bring out one remarkable point, especially in this day of branding and all: Bogart created a brand. DJs receiving records by the truckload in those days to review and hopefully play, always went first to the Casablanca ones. Not since the 1991 release of the tome Hit Men by Fredric Dannen has a book hit so close to home. If you care to read the book of last year, this is it! Quick Notes: The new chairman of the board, Youngstown’s own Angelo Babbaro at Euphoria Studios working on a new project … CBS’ Katie Couric at MoMa viewing the superb Tim Burton exhibit. Besieged by fans, she couldn’t have been nicer … ‘Bobby’-producer Edward Bass working on a new documentary called ‘Gridiron Heroes,’ with director Peter Berg (‘Hancock’); actor Jason Bateman; filmmaker Andy Lauer and Will Smith. It will tell the tale of GI-founder Chris Carnales, whose life was altered after a spinal cord injury left him paralyzed. He learned of others with similar injuries and formed the charity … New Bowie book by Mark Spitz, just spot-on perfect. I’ve been a follower since Major Tom, this tome neatly wraps everything up. From Angie to Visconti to Lennon. Terrific read!
Editors Note: The Web Gossip will appear every Monday. The guy or girl that writes the column is a very big industry insider who wishes to remain anonymous.

Photos By: Sara De Boer/RD/Dziekan/Retna

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