Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 1st to 9th, 2021 - Update #26

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Deadline is confirming that actor Cillian Murphy will play J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's biopic, "Oppenheimer."  The film is due July 21, 2023.

MUSIC/CELEBRITY - From Variety:  Dwayne Johnson enters the rap game via Tech N9ine's new single, "Face Off."

NETFLIX - From THR:  Netflix has ordered a spinoff of Fox's late sitcom, "That 70's Show."  Creators Bonnie and Terry Turner and original cast members, Kurtwood Smith (Red Forman) and Debra Jo Rupp (Kitty Forman), are back for "That 90's Show."

POLITICS/TELEVISION - From Reuters:   How AT&T helped build far-right One America News (OAN).

From RollingStone:  "Fox News and OAN Were Deeper in the Bag for Trump Than Anyone Realized."

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TELEVISION - From Variety:  The cable net, Food Network, is reportedly parting ways with one of its most famous faces, superstar chef Bobby Flay, who has been with the network for 27 years.

SCANDAL - From YahooNews:  Rachel Lindsay, the first black woman to star on ABC's "The Bachelorette," tells a crazy story about ESPN's tragic mulatto, Sage Steele.

STREAMING - From THR:   Spyglass is rebooting the classic 1987 horror film, "Hellraiser," with "The L Word: Generation Q" actress," Jamie Clayton playing the iconic villian, "Pinhead."  The movie will debut on Hulu in 2022.  Clive Barker, the creator of Hellraiser and of its source material, the novella, "The Hellbound Heart," is one of the film's producers.

ANIMATION - From Deadline:  FXX's long-running animated series, "Archer," said good-bye to one of its main characters, "Malory Archer," voiced by Jessica Walter, in the Season 12 finale.  Walter died March 24th of this year at the age of 80.

AMAZON - From Variety:  Amazon has licensed “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” from Sony Pictures Animation. The fourth (and final) installment in the blockbuster franchise will stream globally — excluding China — on Prime Video on Jan. 14, 2022. 

COVID-19 - From THR:   "Hollywood Battle Lines Emerge in Simmering Vaccine War." Without mandates to get a shot, some film and TV sets have been thrown into chaos as A-list holdouts have caused work stoppages while others say, “It’s not my place to police anyone.”

MOVIES - From THR:  On a recent episode of her talk show, "The Drew Barrymore Show," Drew talked about the infamous clash between her co-stars, Lucy Liu and Bill Murray, on the set of the 2000 "Charlie's Angels" film.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Actor Robert Carlyle is set to reprise his role as "Francis Begbie," a character he made famous in the film, "Trainspotting" (1996).  Begbie will return in a six-part series that is an adaptation of author Irvine Welsh's 2016 novel, "The Blade Artist," a sequel to "Trainspotting," Welsh's 1993 novel that became the beloved 1996 British film.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  The former NBC legal drama, "L.A. Law" (1984-86), has taken another step in making a comeback.  ABC has ordered a pilot for a sequel series, and original series star, Blair Underwood, returns as his character, "Jonathan Rollins," in addition to being an executive producer.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:   The winner of the 10/1 to 10/3/21 weekend box office is "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" with an estimated take of 90.1 million dollars.

Negromancer:  My review of "Venom: Let There Be Carnage."

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NEWS - Truthout:  The United States Post Office (USPS) has started offering check-cashing services as part of a pilot program in four cities.  USPS customers are being given the opportunity to cash payroll or other types of checks, up to $500 in total, at single-branch post office locations in Washington, D.C., Falls Church, Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Bronx in New York City. 

ACADEMY AWARDS - From Deadline:   Will Packer has been named Producer of the 94th Annual Academy Awards, set for March 27, 2022.  Packer is a prolific producer of numerous films and TV projects including "Straight Outta Compton," "Ride Along," and "Girls Trip," to name a few.  He also produced the 2016, four-episode, remake of the television miniseries "Roots."

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  WarnerMedia has released the first teaser for "House of the Dragon," a spin-off from the Emmy-winning, "Game of Thrones."

COVID-19 - From YahooNews:   Trying to Make Sense of COVID's Mysterious 2-Month Cycle

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Universal has moved the Bluhouse horror flick, "The Black Phone," from Jan. 28th, 2021 to Feb. 4, 2022.

DISNEY - From Deadline:  Disney and Scarlett Johansson have settled their legal issues, and her projects with the studio are back on, including "Tower of Terror."  No terms of the settlement were made public, but Deadline estimates the multiple Oscar-nominated Johansson could get 40 million dollars.

DISNEY - From Deadline:  The Disney Channel favorite, "Raven's Home," has been renewed for a fifth season.  Actor Rondell Sheridan, who played Raven Baxter's father, "Victor Baxter," on the original series, "That's So Raven," will be one of the new series regulars.   However, the storyline moves to San Francisco and that results in the departure of several series regulars, Navia Robinson (Nia), Jason Maybaum (Levi), Sky Katz (Tess) and Anneliese van der Pol (Chelsea).

AMAZON - From THR:  Amazon is working on an update of the 1999 hit film, "Cruel Intentions," for its IMDb TV.

From THR:  Speaking of IMDb TV, the streamer is also interested in a greenlighting a second season of the cancelled ABC legal drama, "Rebel."  IMDb has the free streaming rights to the first season.

NFL - From Deadline:   Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and Mary J. Blige will perform during the 2022 Super Bowl Halftime Show (Sun., Feb. 13th, 2022) at SoFi Stadium near Los Angeles.  The five artists have never before appeared together onstage, according to the official announcement of the show. Among them, they have 43 Grammys and 22 No. 1 albums on the Billboard charts.

TELEVISION - From GoodHousekeeping:    The sister cable networks, "Hallmark Channel" and "Hallmark Movies & Mysteries" are debuting a combined 41 movies across both networks this holiday season.  "Good Housekeeping" has posted Hallmark Channel's "Countdown to Christmas" 2021 movie schedule and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries' "Miracles of Christmas" 2021 movie schedule.  Hallmark starts off with "You, Me & Christmas Tree" on Fri., Oct. 2nd.  HMM starts off with "Christmas in My Heart" on Sat., Oct. 23rd.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from November 5th to 11th, 2017 - Update #38

Support Leroy on Patreon.

BOX OFFICE - From Variety:   Marvel's "Thor: Ragnarok" set to rule the box office for a second straight weekend.

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SCANDAL - From Variety:   Louis C.K. performed a voice in the hit film, "The Secret Life of Pets," but he has been dropped from the sequel follow accusations of and his admission to sexual misconduct.

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POLITICS - From Newsweek:  Danica Roem becomes Virginia's first transgender state lawmaker, and she beat the sponsor of an anti-transgender bathroom bill to win.

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SCANDAL - From THR:  Hollywood lawyers up - Hollywood attorneys say that they are getting calls from the accused and accusers in light of the scandals involving Hollywood men being accused of sexual misconduct.

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MUSIC From XXL:  Eminem releases a new single, "Walk on Water," and Beyonce sings the hook.

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SCANDAL - From TheNYTimes:  Louis CK admits to the sexual abuse allegations against him.

From THR:  FX cuts ties with Louis CK.  He was producing four shows with the cable net and was the star of its Emmy-winning series, "Louie."

From THR:  Indie film distributor, The Orchard, has dropped its distribution of Louis C.K.'s directorial debut, "I Love You, Daddy."

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WAR - From teleSUR:  Since 9/11, the United States has spent $4.3 TRILLION on wars in Asia and the Middle East.

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POLITICS - From RSN:  The voters of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania may have made a big move in ending mass incarceration with their recent choice for district attorney.

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STAR TREK - From TheWrap:  CBS All Access has announced that "Star Trek: Discovery" Chapter 2 begins January 7, 2018.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Michael B. Jordan (Black Panther, Creed) will make his directorial debut with a film adaptation of the novel, "The Stars Beneath Our Feet."

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STREAMING - From TheWrap:  Apple is investing a billion dollars in producing original content. It has given Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston's untitled TV drama a two-season straight-to-order series.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Damn, Ridley Scott is the man!  He has replaced in Kevin Spacey in his film, "All the Money in the World."  Get this: the movie was finished filming and was scheduled for release in time for Christmas.  Now, Scott will re-shoot Spacey's scenes with his original choice for his the role of J. Paul Getty, Christopher Plummer.

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SCANDAL - From TheWrap:  Amazon now investigating a sexual harassment claim against Emmy-winning actor, Jeffrey Tambor.

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POLITICS - From Politico:  Apparently, Time-Warner will have to dump CNN or all the Turner Broadcasting properties in order to get President Trump's Department of Justice to approve Time-Warner's merger with AT&T.

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STREAMING - From TheWrap:  Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and rapper, Drake, LeBron James' business partners, Maverick Carter and Jamal Henderson, are helping to revive the British drug-dealer TV drama, "Top Boy," for Netflix.  The original stars and creative team will return.

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COMICS-FILM - From DeadlineTV:  Amazon has given a green light to the superhero drama based on the comic book, "The Boys."  Seth Rogen and his partner, Evan Goldberg, are involved.

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BLM - From YahooNews:   "That's how people like you get shot," a white male teacher in former slave state Georgia told a black male student.

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COMICS-FILM - From QuartzMedia:  Marvel takes Hollywood.

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TELEVISION - From BleeedingCool:  Woody McClain played Bobby Brown in BET's miniseries, "The New Edition Story."  McClain will reprise the role in BET's two-part miniseries, "The Bobby Brown Story."

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HEALTH - From TheHill:  Open enrollment for ObamaCare surges to record level in the early days of the sign-up, despite the roadblocks that President Clownface... I mean... President Trump placed in front of healthcare.

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POLITICS - From TheGuardian:  Read "The Guardian's" series, "The Paradise Papers."

From TheGuardian:  Senator Bernie sanders warns of an "international oligarchy" after the release of "the Paradise Papers."

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CULTURE - From BuzzFlash:  "Jeff Bezos wants the keys to your house" by Jim Hightower

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MEDIA - From Deadline:  In the possible Fox-Disney deal (which could be worth $20 billion), content is the weapon of choice.

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SCANDAL - From Variety:  In the wake of the sexual allegations scandal involving Kevin Spacey, Sony Pictures is pulling Spacey's upcoming film, "All the Money in the World," out of the AFI Fest.  Directed by Ridley Scott, the film is about the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III.

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COMICS-FILM - From THR:  Asher Angel, one of the stars of Disney Channel's "Andi Mack," will play Billy Batson, opposite Shazam, who will be played by Zachary Levi.

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COMICS-FILM - From ScreenRant:  Marvel Cinematic Universe rumors - confirmed and otherwise.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 11/3 to 11/6/2017 weekend box office is "Thor: Ragnarok" with an estimated take of $121 million.

From Variety:  "Thor: Ragnarok" puts an emphatic end to the month-long box office slump.

From CNNMoney:  "Thor: Ragnarok" is Marvel Studios' 17th film to open at #1 in weekend box office.

From YahooEntertainment:  "Thor: Ragnarok" director Taika Waititi and two of the film's star, Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie) surprised movie goers at a Los Angeles showing of the film.

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POLITICS - From NBCNews:  During the 2016 Republican National Convention, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn led the crowd to chants of "Lock her up! Lock her up!"  Now, he may be facing criminal charges from the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential elections.

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BLM - From Truthout:  St. Louis is still rising up against police violence, although the national new media mostly ignores it.

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COMICS-FILM - From Mashable:  After the first 50 reviews, "Thor: Ragnarok" stands as the best-reviewed superhero movie of all time, but it is still early in the process.

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SCANDAL - From Indiewire:  The New York City Police Department is reportedly gathering evidence to arrest Harvey Weinstein on a rape charge, and the department believes it has a "credible rape allegation."

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INTERNATIONAL - From YahooFinance:  Dozens of Saudi princes have been arrested in sweeping corruption probe.

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CULTURE - From TheRoot:  "The Culture of Male Silence: Men Treat Sexual Assault Like America Treats White Supremacy" by Michael Harriot

OBITS:

From THR:  The actor John Hillerman has died at the age of 84, Thursday, November 9, 2017.  He was best known for playing the snooty caretaker, Jonathan Quayle Higgins III, on "Magnum P.I," for which he won an Emmy Awards in 1987.  Fans of Mel Brooks will also remember Hillerman as "Howard Johnson" in "Blazing Saddles."

From THR:  A "Bond girl" has died.  German actress Karin Dor has died at the age of 79, Monday, November 6, 2017.  Dor played Helga Brandt (SPECTRE Agent No. 11) in the 1967 James Bond film, "You Only Live Twice."

From YahooSports:  Former Major League Baseball pitcher, Roy Halladay, has died at the age of 40, Tuesday, November 7, 2017.  Halladay was killed after his plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday afternoon.  He was a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner.  His pitched the 20th perfect game in MLB history on May 29th, 2010.  He also pitched only the second postseason (playoff) no-hitter in MLB history on Oct. 6th, 2010.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 16th to 22th, 2016 - Update #24

Support Leroy on Patreon.

MEDIA - From TheWrap:  AT&T has bought Time Warner for 85 billion dollars.

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OBIT - From BleedingCool:  The comic book artist, Steve Dillon, has died at the age of 54, Saturday, October 22, 2016.  A Brit, his best known work to American fans includes Preacher (co-created with Garth Ennis) and The Punisher.

From BleedingCool:  The comic book community remembers Steve Dillon, acclaimed comic book artist and creator.

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STAR WARS - From YahooMovies:  Donald Glover will be Lando Calrissian in "Young Han Solo" movie.

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COMICS-FILM - From Variety:  "Deadpool" director Tim Miller has left the "Deadpool 2" sequel over creative differences with star Ryan Reynolds.

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OBIT - From YahooTV:  The actor and comedian, Kevin Meaney, has died at the age of 60, Friday, October 21, 2016.

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ANIMATION - From THR:  Tom Hiddleston joins Aardman's animated film, "Early Man," which is to be directed by multiple Oscar winner, Nick Park.

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SPORTS - From YahooSports:  The Los Angeles Sparks win the 2016 WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) championship title.

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MOVIES - From Variety:  Gugu Mbatha-Raw joins Avu DuVernay's "A Wrinkle in Time."

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COMICS-FILM - From CinemaBlend:  Early reviews for Marvel Studio's "Doctor Strange" are in.

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MOVIES - From Variety:   Colin Firth in talks to star in Disney's "Mary Poppins Returns."

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MOVIES - From TheGuardian:  Leonardo DiCaprio looking to star in real-life tale of Jim Crow and Black children used as circus freak.

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MUSIC - From YahooMusic:  Eminem releases an 8-minute diss track of Donald Trump.

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MOVIES - From YahooMovies:  Warner Bros. is working on a new Willy Wonka movie.  Even with all the praising of Gene Wilder following his recent passing, I knew someone was plotting to revive Wilder's signature role (according to some) in a new movie.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Michael Moore has apparently revealed a surprise Donald Trump film.

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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Disney is producing a live-action version of its 1998 animated film, Mulan.  Sony is producing a competing live-action version of the tale of Mulan, and they have hired, Alex Graves, who has directed episodes of "Games of Thrones."

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BOX OFFICE - From Variety:  Thanks to billion dollar hits like "Captain America: Civil War" and "Finding Dory," Disney sets a record for international box office, which they already held from 2015.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The #1 movie at the 10/14 to 10/16/2016 weekend box office is "The Accountant" (starring Ben Affleck) with an estimated take of $24.7 million.

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OBIT - From ESPN:  The former NFL player, Dennis Byrd, has died at the age of 50, Saturday, October 15, 2016.  Byrd broke his neck in a 1992 game and despite odds learned to walk again.

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MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  "Jurassic World 2" will be "scarier and darker." Better would be good, too.

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COMICS-FILM - From Variety:  The new Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Tom Holland, dishes on "Spider-Man: Homecoming."

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MOVIES - From EW:  There will be a "Ride Along 3" with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, says director.

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ECO - From RSN:  Actor Mark Ruffalo and rocker Neil Young were arrested  during protests to free a journalist.

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MOVIES - From TheGuardian:  Oliver Stone says the U.S. government lies all the time.

TRAILERS:

From YouTube:  The first official trailer for the third Wolverine movies, "Logan," which is due March 3rd.

From YouTube:  First trailer for "The Boss Baby," from DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox.

Beck's "Morning Phase" is "Album of the Year" at 57th Grammys

[The nominations for the 58th Grammys were announced this morning, Monday, December 7, 2015.  It made me remember that I forgot to post the winners from the 57th Grammys.  What follows is a list of winners from select categories.]

The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards were held on "GRAMMY Sunday," February 8, 2015, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

2015 / 57th Grammy Award winners:

GENERAL FIELD

Album Of The Year:
Morning Phase — Beck

Record Of The Year:
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — Sam Smith

Song Of The Year:
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith)

Best New Artist:
Sam Smith

POP FIELD

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
"Say Something" — A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera

DANCE/ELECTRONIC MUSIC FIELD

Best Dance Recording:
"Rather Be" — Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne

ROCK FIELD

Best Rock Performance:
"Lazaretto"— Jack White

ALTERNATIVE FIELD

Best Alternative Music Album:
St. Vincent — St. Vincent

R&B FIELD

Best Urban Contemporary Album:
Girl — Pharrell Williams

RAP FIELD

Best Rap Performance:
"I" — Kendrick Lamar

Best Rap Album:
The Marshall Mathers LP2 — Eminem

COUNTRY FIELD

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:
"Gentle On My Mind" — The Band Perry

Best Country Album:
Platinum — Miranda Lambert

JAZZ FIELD

Best Improvised Jazz Solo:
"Fingerprints" — Chick Corea, soloist

GOSPEL/CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC FIELD

Best Gospel Album:
Help — Erica Campbell

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album:
Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong. — For King & Country

LATIN FIELD

Best Latin Pop Album:
Tangos — Rubén Blades

AMERICAN ROOTS FIELD

Best American Roots Performance:
"A Feather's Not A Bird" — Rosanne Cash

SPOKEN WORD FIELD

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling):
Diary Of A Mad Diva — Joan Rivers

COMEDY FIELD

Best Comedy Album:
Mandatory Fun — "Weird Al" Yankovic

Music for Visual Media

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
Frozen – various artists

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Original Soundtrack – Alexandre Desplat, composer

Best Song Written for Visual Media
"Let It Go" (from Frozen) – Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez, songwriters (Idina Menzel)

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical: Max Martin.

This year's GRAMMY Awards process registered more than 20,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (Oct. 1, 2013 – Sept. 30, 2014). GRAMMY ballots for the final round of voting were mailed on December 17, 2014 to The Recording Academy's voting members. Ballots were due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by January 16, 2015, when they were tabulated and the results kept secret until the 57th GRAMMY Awards telecast.

Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on Google+, Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites for the Week of July 19th to 25th, 2015 - Update #6

Support Leroy on Patreon.

NEWS:

From Variety:  Amy Schumer expresses releases statement via Twitter about the deadly shooting at the Grand 16 in Lafayette, LA in a theater showing "Trainwreck."

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From YahooMusic:  Seminal rap group, N.W.A., is reuniting with Eminem as an honorary member in place of the last Eazy-E.

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From YahooMovies:  Sigourney Weaver on AvP.

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From THR:  The winner of the 7/17 to 7/19/15 weekend box office is "Ant-Man" with an estimated take of $58 million.

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From YahooGames:  Director Neill Blomkamp shows off concept art for his "Alien" film.

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From Variety:  Miramax is for sale - at $1 billion.


COMICS: Films and Books:

From Indiewire:  Ava DuVernay, she just couldn't do it.

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From USAToday:  How Sam Wilson/Falcon ended up in Ant-Man.


OBITS:

From NYT:  The novelist, E.L. Doctorow, died today (Tuesday, July 21, 2015) at the age of 84.  I read three of his books:  The Book of Daniel, Ragtime, and Billy Bathgate, and they were highly influential for me.  R.I.P. Mr. Doctorow.

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From THR:  The actor Alex Rocco has died at the age of 79 (Saturday, July 18, 2015 of cancer).  He was best known for playing the Jewish mobster, Moe Greene, in The Godfather.  In 1990, he won an Emmy as best supporting actor in a comedy for the short-lived "The Famous Teddy Z" (starring Jon Cryer).

57th Grammy Nominations Announced; Beyonce Among Nominations Leaders

Beyoncé, Sam Smith, and Pharrell Williams Lead GRAMMY® Nominations with Six Each

Beck, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, and Pharrell Williams Vie for Album of the Year at the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards® Feb. 8, 2015, Live on CBS

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nominations for the 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards® were announced tonight by The Recording Academy® and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by The Academy's voting members. The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on "GRAMMY Sunday," Feb. 8, 2015, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live in high-definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

    “This year's nominees are a reflection of the music community's diversity and range of talent, and a testament to The Academy's voting process”

This year, Beyoncé, Sam Smith and Pharrell Williams top nominations, garnering six each. Iggy Azalea, Beck, Eric Church, Tom Coyne, Drake, Gordon Goodwin, Jay Z, Miranda Lambert, Sia, Usher, and Jack White earn four nominations each. Additionally, Azalea, Bastille, Brandy Clark, Haim, and Sam Smith vie for the Best New Artist award.

"This year's nominees are a reflection of the music community's diversity and range of talent, and a testament to The Academy's voting process," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "The Recording Academy is pleased to celebrate this talented crop of artists, nominated to receive music's greatest honor for their contributions to their respective genres. The tone for Music's Biggest Night® has undoubtedly been set, and we look forward to producing one of the most exciting telecasts in GRAMMY® history."

Nominations were revealed on a rolling basis throughout the day, starting with four categories on "CBS This Morning," followed by a series of video announcements posted by a variety of artists and celebrities on Twitter. The day culminated with the unveiling of Album Of The Year nominations on the one-hour entertainment special, "A Very GRAMMY Christmas," which featured performances of holiday classics and current pop songs.

Following is a sampling of nominations across 83 categories from the GRAMMY Awards' 30 Fields. For a complete nominations list, please visit www.grammy.com. For updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter and Facebook.

GENERAL FIELD

Album Of The Year:
Morning Phase — Beck
Beyoncé — Beyoncé
X — Ed Sheeran
In The Lonely Hour — Sam Smith
Girl — Pharrell Williams

Record Of The Year:
"Fancy" — Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX
"Chandelier" — Sia
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — Sam Smith
"Shake It Off" — Taylor Swift
"All About That Bass" — Meghan Trainor

Song Of The Year:
"All About That Bass" — Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters (Meghan Trainor)
"Chandelier" — Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters (Sia)
"Shake It Off" — Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)
"Stay With Me" (Darkchild Version) — James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith)
"Take Me To Church" — Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter (Hozier)

Best New Artist:
Iggy Azalea
Bastille
Brandy Clark
Haim
Sam Smith

POP FIELD

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:
"Fancy" — Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli XCX
"A Sky Full Of Stars" — Coldplay
"Say Something" — A Great Big World With Christina Aguilera
"Bang Bang" — Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj
"Dark Horse" — Katy Perry Featuring Juicy J

DANCE/ELECTRONIC MUSIC FIELD

Best Dance Recording:
"Never Say Never" — Basement Jaxx
"Rather Be" — Clean Bandit Featuring Jess Glynne
"F For You" — Disclosure Featuring Mary J. Blige
"I Got U" — Duke Dumont Featuring Jax Jones
"Faded" — Zhu

ROCK FIELD

Best Rock Performance:
"Gimme Something Good" — Ryan Adams
"Do I Wanna Know?" — Arctic Monkeys
"Blue Moon" — Beck
"Fever"— The Black Keys
"Lazaretto"— Jack White

ALTERNATIVE FIELD

Best Alternative Music Album:
This Is All Yours — Alt-J
Reflektor — Arcade Fire
Melophobia — Cage The Elephant
St. Vincent — St. Vincent
Lazaretto — Jack White

R&B FIELD

Best Urban Contemporary Album:
Sail Out — Jhené Aiko
Beyoncé — Beyoncé
X — Chris Brown
Mali Is… — Mali Music
Girl — Pharrell Williams

RAP FIELD

Best Rap Performance:
"3005" — Childish Gambino
"0 To 100/The Catch Up" — Drake
"Rap God" — Eminem
"I" — Kendrick Lamar
"All I Need Is You" — Lecrae

Best Rap Album:
The New Classic — Iggy Azalea
Because The Internet — Childish Gambino
Nobody's Smiling — Common
The Marshall Mathers LP2 — Eminem
Oxymoron — Schoolboy Q
Blacc Hollywood — Wiz Khalifa

COUNTRY FIELD

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:
"Gentle On My Mind" — The Band Perry
"Somethin' Bad" — Miranda Lambert With Carrie Underwood
"Day Drinking" — Little Big Town
"Meanwhile Back At Mama's" — Tim McGraw Featuring Faith Hill
"Raise 'Em Up" — Keith Urban Featuring Eric Church

Best Country Album:
Riser — Dierks Bentley
The Outsiders — Eric Church
12 Stories — Brandy Clark
Platinum — Miranda Lambert
The Way I'm Livin' — Lee Ann Womack

JAZZ FIELD

Best Improvised Jazz Solo:
"The Eye Of The Hurricane" — Kenny Barron, soloist
"Fingerprints" — Chick Corea, soloist
"You & The Night & The Music" — Fred Hersch, soloist
"Recorda Me" — Joe Lovano, soloist
"Sleeping Giant" — Brad Mehldau, soloist

GOSPEL/CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC FIELD

Best Gospel Album:
Help — Erica Campbell
Amazing (Live) — Ricky Dillard & New G
Withholding Nothing (Live) — William McDowell
Forever Yours — Smokie Norful
Vintage Worship — Anita Wilson

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album:
If We're Honest — Francesca Battistelli
Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong. — For King & Country
Hurricane — Natalie Grant
Welcome To The New — MercyMe
Royal Tailor — Royal Tailor

LATIN FIELD

Best Latin Pop Album:
Tangos — Rubén Blades
Elypse — Camila
Raíz — Lila Downs, Niña Pastori And Soledad
Loco De Amor — Juanes
Gracias Por Estar Aquí — Marco Antonio Solís

AMERICAN ROOTS FIELD

Best American Roots Performance:
"Statesboro Blues" — Gregg Allman & Taj Mahal
"A Feather's Not A Bird" — Rosanne Cash
"And When I Die" — Billy Childs Featuring Alison Krauss & Jerry Douglas
"The Old Me Better" — Keb' Mo' Featuring The California Feet Warmers
"Destination" — Nickel Creek

SPOKEN WORD FIELD

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling):
Actors Anonymous — James Franco
A Call To Action — Jimmy Carter
Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America — John Waters
Diary Of A Mad Diva — Joan Rivers
A Fighting Chance — Elizabeth Warren
We Will Survive: True Stories Of Encouragement, Inspiration, And The Power Of Song — Gloria Gaynor

COMEDY FIELD

Best Comedy Album:
Mandatory Fun — "Weird Al" Yankovic
Obsessed — Jim Gaffigan
Oh My God — Louis C.K.
Tragedy Plus Comedy Equals Time — Patton Oswalt
We Are Miracles — Sarah Silverman

This year's Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical nominations go to Paul Epworth, John Hill, Jay Joyce, Greg Kurstin, and Max Martin.

This year's GRAMMY Awards process registered more than 20,000 submissions over a 12-month eligibility period (Oct. 1, 2013 – Sept. 30, 2014). GRAMMY ballots for the final round of voting will be mailed on Dec. 17, 2014 to The Recording Academy's voting members. Ballots are due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by Jan. 16, 2015, when they will be tabulated and the results kept secret until the 57th GRAMMY Awards telecast.

The 57th Annual GRAMMY Awards are produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich is executive producer, and Louis J. Horvitz is director.

"A Very GRAMMY Christmas," hosted by two-time GRAMMY winner LL COOL J featured the announcement of Album Of The Year nominees as well as performances by Ariana Grande with Big Sean, Maroon 5, Tim McGraw, Sam Smith, and Pharrell Williams.

Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, songwriters, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter, like "The GRAMMYs" on Facebook, and join The GRAMMYs' social communities on Google+, Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube.

Eminem Track, "Guts Over Fear," Featured in "The Equalizer"

"GUTS OVER FEAR," THE NEW SINGLE FROM EMINEM FEAT. SIA TO BE THE END TITLE SONG IN "THE EQUALIZER" STARRING DENZEL WASHINGTON

"Guts Over Fear," the new single from Eminem featuring Sia, has just launched to great success as a digital download, with near universal acclaim and over 247,000 downloads worldwide. Moviegoers will hear the song in the upcoming film The Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington, in theaters September 26.

"By the end of The Equalizer, Denzel’s character of Robert McCall will have to embrace who he really is, but also transform himself into a man on a tireless and continuing pursuit of justice. Like the title of Eminem’s song, that’s ultimately a story of guts over fear – for this character, the driving force of his life becomes using his skills to help the truly powerless," says Antoine Fuqua, director of The Equalizer. "It’s the perfect song to end the film. It’s powerful, a great song, but more importantly, it captures the themes of the movie and the choices that Robert McCall has made, and it leaves the audience feeling elated."

The song is also the first release from the upcoming ShadyXV, a two-CD compilation marking the 15th anniversary of Eminem’s Shady Records imprint. The collection is comprised of an album of the label’s greatest hits -- including classics such as 50 Cent’s "In Da Club" and Eminem’s "Lose Yourself" – plus an album of new material from Eminem, Slaughterhouse, Bad Meets Evil, D-12 and Yelawolf as well as special guest-artist collaborations. ShadyXV (Shady Records/Interscope Records) is set for release November 24, 2014.

In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a man who believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when McCall meets Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Written by Richard Wenk. Based on the Television Series Created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim. Produced by Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Denzel Washington, Alex Siskin, Steve Tisch, Mace Neufeld, Tony Eldridge, and Michael Sloan. Executive producers are Ezra Swerdlow, David Bloomfield, and Ben Waisbren. The film is a Columbia Pictures presentation in association with LStar Capital and Village Roadshow Pictures.

About Sony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.

------------------------

Jay Z Leads 56th Grammy Awards Nominations

by Amos Semien

The Grammy Awards (or Grammys) are given out by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States.  The Grammy is an accolade that recognizes outstanding achievement in the music industry.  It is the music industry equivalent to the Academy Awards for film, the Emmy Awards for television, and the Tony Awards for stage.

Jay Z leads the 56th annual Grammy Awards pack with nine nominations, but none came in the “Big Three” categories of album, song, or record of the year.  The following acts each had seven nominations:  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kendrick Lamar, Pharrell Williams, and Justin Timberlake  With her nomination in the "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" category ("Part II (On The Run)" - Jay Z Featuring Beyoncé), Beyoncé becomes the most nominated woman in Grammy Awards history with her 46th nomination.

The eligibility period for the 56th Annual Grammy Awards is October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013.  The 56th annual Grammys awards ceremony will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and will air on CBS on Sunday, January 26, 2014.  See a complete list of nominees at http://www.grammy.com/nominees

NOTE:  Scroll to the bottom to see the "Music for Visual Media" categories, which may be of particular interest to movie fans.

Nominees in select categories for the 56th annual Grammy Awards:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
"The Blessed Unrest" - Sara Bareilles
"Random Access Memories" - Daft Punk
"Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" - Kendrick Lamar
"The Heist" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
"Red" - Taylor Swift

SONG OF THE YEAR
"Just Give Me A Reason" - Jeff Bhasker, Pink & Nate Ruess, songwriters
(Pink Featuring Nate Ruess)
"Locked Out Of Heaven" - Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine & Bruno Mars,
songwriters (Bruno Mars)
"Roar" - Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Bonnie McKee, Katy Perry & Henry
Walter, songwriters (Katy Perry)
"Royals" - Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor, songwriters (Lorde)
"Same Love" - Ben Haggerty, Mary Lambert & Ryan Lewis, songwriters
(Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Mary Lambert)

RECORD OF THE YEAR
"Get Lucky" - Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
"Royals" - Lorde
"Locked Out Of Heaven" - Bruno Mars
"Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
"Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell

BEST NEW ARTIST
James Blake
Kendrick Lamar
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Kacey Musgraves
Ed Sheeran

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
"Brave" - Sara Bareilles
"Royals" - Lorde
"When I Was Your Man" - Bruno Mars
"Roar" - Katy Perry
"Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake

BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
"Get Lucky" - Daft Punk & Pharrell Williams
"Just Give Me A Reason" - Pink Featuring Nate Ruess
"Stay" - Rihanna Featuring Mikky Ekko
"Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. & Pharrell
"Suit & Tie" - Justin Timberlake & Jay Z

BEST POP INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
"Steppin' Out" - Herb Alpert
"The Beat" - Boney James
"Handpicked" - Earl Klugh
"Summer Horns" - Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair & Richard Elliot
"Hacienda" - Jeff Lorber Fusion

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
"Paradise" - Lana Del Rey
"Pure Heroine" - Lorde
"Unorthodox Jukebox" - Bruno Mars
"Blurred Lines" - Robin Thicke
"The 20/20 Experience - The Complete Experience" - Justin Timberlake

BEST DANCE RECORDING
"Need U (100%)" - Duke Dumont Featuring A*M*E & MNEK
"Sweet Nothing" - Calvin Harris Featuring Florence Welch
"Atmosphere" - Kaskade
"This Is What It Feels Like" - Armin Van Buuren Featuring Trevor Guthrie
"Clarity" - Zedd Featuring Foxes

BEST DANCE/ELECTRONICA ALBUM
"Random Access Memories" - Daft Punk
"Settle" - Disclosure
"18 Months" - Calvin Harris
"Atmosphere" - Kaskade
"A Color Map Of The Sun" - Pretty Lights

BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM
"Viva Duets" - Tony Bennett & Various Artists
"To Be Loved" - Michael Bublé
"The Standards" - Gloria Estefan
"Cee Lo's Magic Moment" - Cee Lo Green
"Now" - Dionne Warwick

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE
"Always Alright" - Alabama Shakes
"The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" - David Bowie
"Radioactive" - Imagine Dragons
"Kashmir" - Led Zeppelin
"My God Is The Sun" - Queens Of The Stone Age
"I'm Shakin'" - Jack White

BEST METAL PERFORMANCE
"T.N.T." - Anthrax
"God Is Dead?" - Black Sabbath
"The Enemy Inside" - Dream Theater
"In Due Time" - Killswitch Engage
"Room 24" - Volbeat Featuring King Diamond

BEST ROCK SONG
"Ain't Messin 'Round" - Gary Clark Jr., songwriter (Gary Clark Jr.)
"Cut Me Some Slack" - Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney, Krist Novoselic &
Pat Smear, songwriters (Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic,
Pat Smear)
"Doom And Gloom" - Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, songwriters (The
Rolling Stones)
"God Is Dead?" - Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi & Ozzy Osbourne,
songwriters (Black Sabbath)
"Panic Station" - Matthew Bellamy, songwriter (Muse)

BEST ROCK ALBUM
"13" - Black Sabbath
"The Next Day" - David Bowie
"Mechanical Bull" - Kings Of Leon
"Celebration Day" - Led Zeppelin
"...Like Clockwork" - Queens Of The Stone Age
"Psychedelic Pill" - Neil Young With Crazy Horse

BEST ALTERNATIVE MUSIC ALBUM
"The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The
More I Love You" - Neko Case
"Trouble Will Find Me" - The National
"Hesitation Marks" - Nine Inch Nails
"Lonerism" - Tame Impala
"Modern Vampires Of The City" - Vampire Weekend

BEST R&B PERFORMANCE
"Love And War" - Tamar Braxton
"Best Of Me" - Anthony Hamilton
"Nakamarra" - Hiatus Kaiyote Featuring Q-Tip
"How Many Drinks?" - Miguel Featuring Kendrick Lamar
"Something" - Snarky Puppy With Lalah Hathaway

BEST TRADITIONAL R&B PERFORMANCE
"Please Come Home" - Gary Clark Jr.
"Get It Right" - Fantasia
"Quiet Fire" - Maysa
"Hey Laura" - Gregory Porter
"Yesterday" - Ryan Shaw

BEST R&B SONG
"Best Of Me" - Anthony Hamilton & Jairus Mozee, songwriters (Anthony Hamilton)
"Love And War" - Tamar Braxton, Darhyl Camper, Jr., LaShawn Daniels &
Makeba Riddick, songwriters (Tamar Braxton)
"Only One" - PJ Morton, songwriter (PJ Morton Featuring Stevie Wonder)
"Pusher Love Girl" - James Fauntleroy, Jerome Harmon, Timothy Mosley &
Justin Timberlake, songwriters (Justin Timberlake)
"Without Me" - Fantasia Barrino, Missy Elliott, Al Sherrod Lambert,
Harmony Samuels & Kyle Stewart, songwriters (Fantasia Featuring Kelly
Rowland & Missy Elliot)

BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
"Love And War" - Tamar Braxton
"Side Effects Of You" - Fantasia
"One: In The Chamber" - Salaam Remi
"Unapologetic" - Rihanna
"New York: A Love Story" - Mack Wilds

BEST R&B ALBUM
"R&B Divas" - Faith Evans
"Girl On Fire" - Alicia Keys
"Love In The Future" - John Legend
"Better" - Chrisette Michele
"Three Kings" - TGT

BEST RAP PERFORMANCE
"Started From The Bottom" - Drake
"Berzerk" - Eminem
"Tom Ford" - Jay Z
"Swimming Pools (Drank)" - Kendrick Lamar
"Thrift Shop" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz

BEST RAP/SUNG COLLABORATION
"Power Trip" - J. Cole Featuring Miguel
"Part II (On The Run)" - Jay Z Featuring Beyoncé
"Holy Grail" - Jay Z Featuring Justin Timberlake
"Now Or Never" - Kendrick Lamar Featuring Mary J. Blige
"Remember You" - Wiz Khalifa Featuring The Weeknd

BEST RAP SONG
"F***in' Problems" - Tauheed Epps, Aubrey Graham, Kendrick Lamar,
Rakim Mayers & Noah Shebib, songwriters (ASAP Rocky Featuring Drake, 2
Chainz & Kendrick Lamar)
"Holy Grail" - Shawn Carter, Terius Nash, J. Harmon, Timothy Mosley,
Justin Timberlake & Ernest Wilson, songwriters (Kurt Cobain, Dave
Grohl & Krist Novoselic, songwriters) (Jay Z Featuring Justin
Timberlake)
"New Slaves" - Christopher Breaux, Ben Bronfman, Mike Dean, Louis
Johnson, Malik Jones, Elon Rutberg, Sakiya Sandifer, Che Smith, Kanye
West & Cydell Young, songwriters (Anna Adamis & Gabor Presser,
songwriters) (Kanye West)
"Started From The Bottom" - W. Coleman, Aubrey Graham & Noah Shebib,
songwriters (Bruno Sanfilippo, songwriter) (Drake)
"Thrift Shop" - Ben Haggerty & Ryan Lewis, songwriters (Macklemore &
Ryan Lewis Featuring Wanz)

BEST RAP ALBUM
"Nothing Was The Same" - Drake
"Magna Carta...Holy Grail" - Jay Z
"Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" - Kendrick Lamar
"The Heist" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
"Yeezus" - Kanye West

BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE
"I Drive Your Truck" - Lee Brice
"I Want Crazy" - Hunter Hayes
"Mama's Broken Heart" - Miranda Lambert
"Wagon Wheel" - Darius Rucker
"Mine Would Be You" - Blake Shelton

BEST COUNTRY DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
"From This Valley" - The Civil Wars
"Don't Rush" - Kelly Clarkson Featuring Vince Gill
"Your Side Of The Bed" - Little Big Town
"Highway Don't Care" - Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift & Keith Urban
"You Can't Make Old Friends" - Kenny Rogers With Dolly Parton

BEST COUNTRY SONG
"Begin Again" - Taylor Swift, songwriter (Taylor Swift)
"I Drive Your Truck" - Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington & Jimmy
Yeary, songwriters (Lee Brice)
"Mama's Broken Heart" - Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally & Kacey
Musgraves, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)
"Merry Go 'Round" - Shane McAnally, Kacey Musgraves & Josh Osborne,
songwriters (Kacey Musgraves)
"Mine Would Be You" - Jessi Alexander, Connie Harrington & Deric
Ruttan, songwriters (Blake Shelton)

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
"Night Train" - Jason Aldean
"Two Lanes Of Freedom" - Tim McGraw
"Same Trailer Different Park" - Kacey Musgraves
"Based On A True Story" - Blake Shelton
"Red" - Taylor Swift

BEST NEW AGE ALBUM
"Lux" - Brian Eno
"Illumination" - Peter Kater
"Final Call" - Kitaro
"Awakening The Fire" - R. Carlos Nakai & Will Clipman
"Love's River" - Laura Sullivan

BEST IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO
"Don't Run" - Terence Blanchard, soloist
"Song For Maura" - Paquito D'Rivera, soloist
"Song Without Words #4: Duet" - Fred Hersch, soloist
"Stadium Jazz" - Donny McCaslin, soloist
"Orbits" - Wayne Shorter

BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM
"The World According To Andy Bey" - Andy Bey
"Attachments" - Lorraine Feather
"Liquid Spirit" - Gregory Porter
"WomanChild" - Cécile McLorin Salvant
"After Blue" - Tierney Sutton

MUSIC FOR VISUAL MEDIA

Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media:

• Django Unchained – Various Artists
• The Great Gatsby (Deluxe Edition) – Various Artists
• Les Misérables (Deluxe Edition) – Various Artists
• Muscle Shoals – Various Artists
• Sound City: Real to Reel – Dave Grohl & Various Artists

Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media:

• Argo - Alexandre Desplat, composer
• The Great Gatsby - Craig Armstrong, composer
• Life of Pi - Mychael Danna, composer
• Lincoln - John Williams, composer
• Skyfall - Thomas Newman, composer
• Zero Dark Thirty - Alexandre Desplat, composer

Best Song Written for Visual Media:
"Atlas" (from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire)
Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters (performed by Coldplay)

"Silver Lining (Crazy 'Bout You)" (from Silver Linings Playbook)
Diane Warren, songwriter (performed by Jessie J)

"Skyfall" (from Skyfall)
Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth, songwriters (performed by Adele)

"We Both Know" (from Safe Haven)
Colbie Caillat & Gavin DeGraw, songwriters (performed by Colbie Caillat featuring Gavin DeGraw)

"Young and Beautiful" (from The Great Gatsby)
Lana Del Rey & Rick Nowels, songwriters (performed by Lana Del Rey)

"You've Got Time" (from "Orange Is the New Black")
Regina Spektor, songwriter (performed by Regina Spektor)


END

Michael Moore, Anniversaries, and Old Movie Reviews

by Leroy Douresseaux

Today is the 10th anniversary of the 75th Academy Awards, which occurred on a Sunday night on March 23, 2002. Steve Martin hosted the Oscar ceremony for the second time. Chicago won “Best Picture,” one of its six wins (after receiving a leading 13 nominations). This was also the night that a hip hop song won the best song Oscar for the first time (“Lose Yourself” performed by Eminem and written by Eminem, Jeff Bass, and Luis Resto).

Probably the most memorable event was the acceptance speech by Michael Moore, who won the Oscar for “Best Documentary Feature” with Michael Donovan for the film, Bowling for Columbine. Moore invited his fellow nominees on stage and spoke about the then-recently started Iraq War:

"We live in fictitious times. We live in the time where we have fictitious election results, that elect a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons. Whether it's the fiction of duct tape or fiction of orange alerts, we are against this war, Mr. Bush. Shame on you, Mr. Bush! Shame on you! And any time you got the Pope and the Dixie Chicks against you, your time is up! Thank you very much!"

I still love that acceptance speech, and it’s one of my favorites. Anyway, I’m still doing some house cleaning. As you noticed, I posted reviews for Lilo & Stitch and The Wild Thornberrys Movie. They were the last two reviews of films nominated for the 75th Academy Awards that were posted on the original site, but had not been moved to the new Negromancer. Welcome.

By the way, Moore is holding a nationwide series of house parties tonight, in which people will get together and watch Bowling for Columbine. For more information, go here.

53rd Annual Grammy Award Winners in Select Categories

It was a crazy night at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.  First, Canadian rock band, Arcade Fire surprised pretty much everyone with their win for "Album of the Year" (The Suburbs).  The acclaimed alternative band was so surprised, they even performed another song to close out the Grammy telecast.

Lady Antebellum won 5 Grammys, including Record and Song of Year.  Esperanza Spalding, the jazz singer and bassist from Portland, Oregon, became the first jazz artist to win "Best New Artist," and she counts Prince as a mentor  Nominated in 10 categories, Eminem won 2, including "Best Rap Actor."  Neil Young also won his first Grammy (in a musical category).

For a complete list of winners in the 109 categories, go to this page at the Grammy website.  Here, is a list of winners in selected major categories (thanks to the Associated Press via Yahoo) with a special addition on my part:

Album of the Year: "The Suburbs," Arcade Fire

Record of the Year: "Need You Now," Lady Antebellum

Song of the Year: "Need You Now," Lady Antebellum

New Artist: Esperanza Spalding

Pop Vocal Album: "The Fame Monster," Lady Gaga

Pop Performance by a Duo or Group: "Hey Soul Sister," Train

Female Pop Vocal Performance: "Bad Romance," Lady Gaga

Male Pop Vocal Performance: "Just The Way You Are," Bruno Mars

Rock Song: "Angry World," Neil Young

Rock Album: "The Resistance," Muse

R and B Song: "Shine," John Legend and The Roots

R and B Album: "Wake up!" John Legend and The Roots

Rap Solo Performance: "Not Afraid," Eminem

Rap Song: "Empire State of Mind," Jay-Z and Alicia Keys

Rap Album: "Recovery," Eminem

Female Country Vocal Performance: "The House That Built Me," Miranda Lambert

Male Country Vocal Performance: "'Til Summer Comes Around," Keith Urban

Country Performance by a Duo or Group: "Need You Now," Lady Antebellum

Country Album: "Need You Now," Lady Antebellum

Latin Pop Album: "Paraiso Express," Alejandro Sanz

Contemporary Jazz Album: "The Stanley Clarke Band," The Stanley Clarke Band

Classical Album: "Verdi: Requiem," Riccardo Muti, conductor

Traditional Gospel Album: "Downtown Church," Patty Griffin

Dance Recording: "Only Girl (In The World)," Rihanna

Electronic Dance Album: "La Roux," La Roux

Alternative Music Album: "Brothers," The Black Keys

Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album: "Zydeco Junkie," Chubby Carrier and The Bayou Swamp Band

Spoken Word Album: "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook)," Jon Stewart

http://www.grammy.com/

42nd Image Awards Recording Nominees

RECORDING

Outstanding New Artist
• B.o.B (Rebel Rock/Grand Hustle/Atlantic)
• Bruno Mars (Elektra Records)
• Jason Derulo (Warner Bros. Records)
• Nicki Minaj (Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Motown)
• Willow (Roc Nation/Columbia Records)

Outstanding Male Artist
• Cee Lo Green (Elektra Records)
• Jay-Z (Roc Nation/Def Jam)
• Kanye West (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• Ne-Yo (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• Usher (Laface/Jive Records)

Outstanding Female Artist
• Chrisette Michele (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• Corinne Bailey Rae (Capitol Records)
• Mary J. Blige (Geffen Records/Matriarch)
• Rihanna (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• Sade (Epic Records)

Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration
• Diddy-Dirty Money (Bad Boy/Interscope)
• Eminem & Rihanna (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope)
• Herbie Hancock (feat. India.Arie, Chaka Khan and others) (Hancock Music)
• John Legend and The Roots (Columbia Records)
• The Black Eyed Peas (Interscope)

Outstanding Jazz Album
• "Dee Dee Bridgewater Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee" - Dee Dee Bridgewater (EmArcy, Decca Label Group, DDB Records)
• "From Billie Holiday to Edith Piaf - Live in Marciac" -The Wynton Marsalis Quintet & Richard Galliano (The Orchard)
• "Geri Allen & Timeline Live" - Geri Allen & Timeline Live (Motema Music)
• "The Imagine Project" - Herbie Hancock (Hancock Music)
• "VOCAbuLarieS" - Bobby McFerrin (Universal Music Group/Decca/Emarcy)

Outstanding Gospel Album -(Traditional or Contemporary)
• "Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter III" - Kirk Whalum (Rendezvous Music/Mack Avenue Records)
• "Here I Am" - Marvin Sapp (Verity Gospel Music Group)
• "Just Love Deluxe" - Brian Courtney Wilson (Music World Gospel)
• "Master Plan" -Tamela Mann (TillyMann)
• "You Are Not Alone" - Mavis Staples (ANTI Records)

Outstanding World Music Album
• "Hymns for the Rebel Soul" - Rocky Dawuni (Aquarian Records)
• "Oyo" - Angelique Kidjo (Razor & Tie)
• "The Imagine Project" - Herbie Hancock (Hancock Music)
• "The Sound of Sunshine" - Michael Franti (EMI Music)
• "VOCAbuLarieS" - Bobby McFerrin (Universal Music Group/Decca/Emarcy)

Outstanding Music Video
• "Fistful of Tears" - Maxwell (Columbia Records)
• "Soldier of Love" - Sade (Epic Records)
• "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)" - Alicia Keys (J Records)
• "Whip My Hair" – Willow Smith (Roc Nation/Columbia Records)
• "Why Don't You Love Me" - Beyoncé Knowles (Columbia Records)

Outstanding Song
• "Bittersweet" - Fantasia (J Records)
• "Fistful of Tears" - Maxwell (Columbia Records)
• "Forget You" - Cee-Lo Green (Elektra Records)
• "Soldier of Love" - Sade (Epic Records)
• "Un-thinkable (I'm Ready)" - Alicia Keys (J Records)

Outstanding Album
• "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" - Kanye West (Island Def Jam Music Group)
• "Now and Then" - Smokey Robinson (Saguaro Road/Cracker Barrel/Robso Records)
• "Raymond vs. Raymond" - Usher (Laface/Jive Records)
• "Soldier of Love" - Sade (Epic Records)
• "Wake Up!" - John Legend and The Roots (Columbia Records)

Eminem Leads Grammy Nominations, Justin Bieber Scores "Best New Artist" Nod

Press release:

Eminem Leads GRAMMY® Nominations with 10; Bruno Mars Earns Seven; Jay-Z, Lady Antebellum, and Lady Gaga Each Garner Six; and Jeff Beck, B.o.B, David Frost, Philip Lawrence, and John Legend Each Earn Five

Arcade Fire, Eminem, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry Vie for Album of the Year at 53rd Annual Grammy Awards Feb. 13, 2011, Live on CBS

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nominations for the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards® (http://www.grammy.com/) were announced tonight by The Recording Academy® and reflected an eclectic mix of the best and brightest in music over the past year, as determined by the voting members of The Academy. For the third year, nominations for the annual GRAMMY Awards were announced on primetime television as part of "The GRAMMY® Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night®," a one-hour special broadcast live on CBS from Club Nokia at L.A. Live. The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on "GRAMMY Sunday," Feb. 13, 2011, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and once again will be broadcast live in high definition TV and 5.1 surround sound on CBS from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). For updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy's social networks on Twitter and Facebook: www.twitter.com/thegrammys, www.facebook.com/thegrammys. For a complete nominations list, please visit http://www.grammy.com/.

Eminem tops the nominations with 10; Bruno Mars garners seven; and Jay-Z, Lady Antebellum, and Lady Gaga each earn six nods. Jeff Beck, B.o.B, David Frost, Philip Lawrence, and John Legend receive five each; and Alex Da Kid, the Black Keys, Drake, Cee Lo Green, Ari Levine, Katy Perry, Rihanna, the Roots, Dirk Sobotka, and Zac Brown each have four nominations.

"This year's nominations are a true reflection of an exceptional and talented community of music makers that embody some of the highest levels of excellence and artistry in their respective fields," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "It is most gratifying to see the GRAMMY Awards process once again produce a broad cross-section of diverse and impressive nominees across multiple genres. Coupled with the third year of our primetime nominations special, the road to Music's Biggest Night, the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in February, is off to an exciting start."

Following is a sampling of nominations in 108 categories from the GRAMMY Awards' 30 Fields:

GENERAL FIELD

Album Of The Year:
The Suburbs — Arcade Fire
Recovery — Eminem
Need You Now — Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster — Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream — Katy Perry

Record Of The Year:
"Nothin' On You" — B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
"Love The Way You Lie" — Eminem Featuring Rihanna
"F*** You" — Cee Lo Green
"Empire State Of Mind" — Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
"Need You Now" — Lady Antebellum

Best New Artist:
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence & The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Song Of The Year:
"Beg Steal Or Borrow" — Ray LaMontagne, songwriter (Ray LaMontagne And The Pariah Dogs)
"F*** You" — Cee Lo Green, Philip Lawrence & Bruno Mars, songwriters (Cee Lo Green)
"The House That Built Me" —Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)
"Love The Way You Lie" — Alexander Grant, Skylar Grey & Marshall Mathers, songwriters (Eminem Featuring Rihanna)
"Need You Now" — Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)

POP FIELD

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
"Don't Stop Believin' (Regionals Version)" — "Glee" Cast
"Misery" — Maroon 5
"The Only Exception" — Paramore
"Babyfather" — Sade
"Hey, Soul Sister (Live)" — Train

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
"Airplanes II" — B.o.B, Eminem & Hayley Williams
"Imagine" — Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare
"If It Wasn't For Bad" — Elton John & Leon Russell
"Telephone" — Lady Gaga & Beyoncé
"California Gurls" — Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg

DANCE FIELD

Best Dance Recording:
"Rocket" — Goldfrapp
"In For The Kill" — La Roux
"Dance In The Dark" — Lady Gaga
"Only Girl (In The World)" — Rihanna
"Dancing On My Own" — Robyn

ROCK FIELD

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
"Ready To Start" — Arcade Fire
"I Put A Spell On You" — Jeff Beck & Joss Stone
"Tighten Up" — The Black Keys
"Radioactive" — Kings Of Leon
"Resistance" — Muse

Best Hard Rock Performance:
"A Looking In View" — Alice In Chains
"Let Me Hear You Scream" — Ozzy Osbourne
"Black Rain" — Soundgarden
"Between The Lines" — Stone Temple Pilots
"New Fang" — Them Crooked Vultures

Best Rock Song:
"Angry World" — Neil Young, songwriter (Neil Young)
"Little Lion Man" — Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford & Country Winston, songwriters (Mumford & Sons)
"Radioactive" — Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill, songwriters (Kings Of Leon)
"Resistance" — Matthew Bellamy, songwriter (Muse)
"Tighten Up" — Dan Auerbach & Patrick Carney, songwriter (The Black Keys)

ALTERNATIVE FIELD

Best Alternative Music Album
The Suburbs — Arcade Fire
Infinite Arms — Band Of Horses
Brothers — The Black Keys
Broken Bells — Broken Bells
Contra — Vampire Weekend

R&B FIELD

Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:
"Take My Time" — Chris Brown & Tank
"Love" — Chuck Brown, Jill Scott & Marcus Miller
"You've Got A Friend" — Ronald Isley & Aretha Franklin
"Shine" — John Legend & The Roots
"Soldier Of Love" — Sade

Best Contemporary R&B Album:
Graffiti — Chris Brown
Untitled — R. Kelly
Transition — Ryan Leslie
The ArchAndroid — Janelle Monáe
Raymond V Raymond — Usher

RAP FIELD

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:
"Nothin' On You" — B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
"Deuces" — Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall
"Love The Way You Lie" — Eminem & Rihanna
"Empire State Of Mind" — Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
"Wake Up! Everybody" — John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common

Best Rap Song:
"Empire State Of Mind" — Shawn Carter, Angela Hunte, Burt Keyes, Alicia Keys, Jane't "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic & Alexander Shuckburgh, songwriters (Sylvia Robinson, songwriter) (Jay-Z & Alicia Keys)
"Love The Way You Lie" — Alexander Grant, Skylar Grey & Marshall Mathers, songwriters (Eminem & Rihanna)
"Not Afraid" — M. Burnett, J. Evans, Marshall Mathers, L. Resto & M. Samuels, songwriters (Eminem)
"Nothin' On You" — Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars & Bobby Simmons Jr., songwriters (B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars)
"On To The Next One" — Shawn Carter, J. Chaton & K. Dean, songwriters (G. Auge & X. De Rosnay, songwriters) (Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz)

Best Rap Album:
The Adventures Of Bobby Ray — B.o.B
Thank Me Later — Drake
Recovery — Eminem
The Blueprint 3 — Jay-Z
How I Got Over — The Roots

COUNTRY FIELD

Best Country Collaboration With Vocals:
"Bad Angel" — Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert & Jamey Johnson
"Pride (In The Name Of Love)" — Dierks Bentley, Del McCoury & The Punch Brothers
"As She's Walking Away" — Zac Brown Band & Alan Jackson
"Hillbilly Bone" — Blake Shelton & Trace Adkins
"I Run To You" — Marty Stuart & Connie Smith

Best Country Song:
"The Breath You Take" — Casey Beathard, Dean Dillon & Jessie Jo Dillon, songwriters (George Strait)
"Free" — Zac Brown, songwriter (Zac Brown Band)
"The House That Built Me" — Tom Douglas & Allen Shamblin, songwriters (Miranda Lambert)
"I'd Love To Be Your Last" — Rivers Rutherford, Annie Tate & Sam Tate, songwriters (Gretchen Wilson)
"If I Die Young" — Kimberly Perry, songwriter (The Band Perry)
"Need You Now" — Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)

Best Country Album:
Up On The Ridge — Dierks Bentley
You Get What You Give — Zac Brown Band
The Guitar Song — Jamey Johnson
Need You Now — Lady Antebellum
Revolution — Miranda Lambert

AMERICAN ROOTS FIELD

Best Americana Album:
The List — Rosanne Cash
Tin Can Trust — Los Lobos
Country Music — Willie Nelson
Band Of Joy — Robert Plant
You Are Not Alone — Mavis Staples

Best Traditional Blues Album:
Giant — James Cotton
Memphis Blues — Cyndi Lauper
The Well — Charlie Musselwhite
Joined At The Hip — Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Plays Blues, Ballads & Favorites — Jimmie Vaughan

This year's Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical nominations go to: Rob Cavallo, Danger Mouse, Dr. Luke, RedOne, and The Smeezingtons (Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine).

This year's GRAMMY Awards process registered the highest number of submissions ever with nearly 20,000 entries. However, due to low entries in Category 60 — Best Regional Mexican Album — submissions in this category were sorted into other categories for consideration. As a result, the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards will feature 108 out of 109 categories.

GRAMMY ballots for the final round of voting will be mailed on Dec. 15 to the voting members of The Recording Academy. They are due back to the accounting firm of Deloitte by Jan. 12, 2011, when they will be tabulated and the results kept secret until the GRAMMY telecast.

The 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards are produced by John Cossette Productions and AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich and John Cossette are executive producers, and Louis J. Horvitz is director.

"The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live!! — Countdown To Music's Biggest Night," hosted by two-time GRAMMY-winner LL Cool J, featured the announcement of nominations in several categories as well as performances by pop star Justin Bieber, rapper B.o.B, country artist Miranda Lambert, singer/songwriter/producer Bruno Mars, singer/songwriter Katy Perry, and GRAMMY-winning band Train. Presenters included actor and late-night TV host Craig Ferguson, singer/actor Selena Gomez, seven-time GRAMMYwinner Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), singer/songwriter Hayley Williams (Paramore), and 25-time GRAMMY winner Stevie Wonder.

Established in 1957, is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, join the organization's social networks as a Twitter follower at www.twitter.com/thegrammys, a Facebook fan at www.facebook.com/thegrammys, and a YouTube channel subscriber at www.youtube.com/thegrammys.

Review: I Love Eminem, But 8 Mile... Not so Much (Happy B'day, Eminem)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 109 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

8 Mile (2002)
Running time: 110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong language, sexuality, some violence and drug use
DIRECTOR: Curtis Hanson
WRITER: Scott Silver
PRODUCERS: Brian Grazer, Curtis Hanson, and Jimmy Iovine
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rodrigo Prieto
EDITORS: Craig Kitson and Jay Rabinowitz
COMPOSER: Proof
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/MUSIC

Starring: Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Evan Jones, Omar Benson, Eugene Byrd, Michael Shannon, Anthony Mackie, and Taryn Manning

8 Mile became the first film to have a rap/hip-hop song win the Oscar for "Best Song." Directed by Curtis (L.A. Confidential) Hanson, the film stars mega popular rapper Eminem, and the film went on to be an enormous hit, much to many people’s surprise. It’s a strange film, part Rocky, part Flashdance, and part Purple Rain, with a star who is very controversial musical figure and who has angered any number of easily offended groups, including gay rights advocates and feminists. 8 Mile also seemed like a strange film for Hanson to direct, considering he’d won an Academy Award for co-writing L.A. Confidential and had also directed the critically-acclaimed, but largely ignored Wonder Boys. Besides, Hanson’s prior work had been so stunningly white bread, one had to wonder if he could direct a film with a very large black supporting cast and set in urban and hip-hop culture.

Eminem plays Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith, Jr., a down-on-his-luck blue-collar worker trying to find his place in the rap game. When he leaves his girlfriend (Taryn Manning), he moves into his mom Stephanie’s (Kim Basinger) trailer, but Rabbit doesn’t exactly see eye to eye with mom’s boyfriend, Greg (Michael Shannon), who went to school with Rabbit. Meanwhile, Rabbit’s homeboy, Future (Mekhi Phifer), is trying to get Rabbit to participate in the MC battles he hosts at a rundown club. MC battles pit two rappers against each other, each rapper getting under a minute to out rap and embarrass his opponent in front of an audience. Rabbit, determined to succeed at his dream, is caught between Future’s ideas about their respective paths to hip-hop glory and the plans of a smooth taking and ambitious hustler (Eugene Byrd) who promises Rabbit that elusive industry connection.

8 Mile is really a dark and depressing film. Rabbit and his friends are mainly poor, young men barely getting by each day; to a man, each one lives with his mother. They have bad jobs, and their neighborhoods are falling down around them. It’s quite stunning how Hanson went the direct path in depicting the squalid living conditions and the sense of hopeless that pervades their environments. Even when Rabbit and his friends are together having a good time, you can’t help but notice how decrepit their city around them is or how everyone seems to own old, rickety automobiles that last saw better days in the 70’s.

Hope seems strangled in this movie, and the film’s very dry story doesn’t help matters. The script is tepid and plotless, and the characters are shallow and simple-minded character types: the violent rivals, the mean boss at work, the pitiful alcoholic parent (Kim Basinger in a performance destined to become a camp classic), the underdog, etc. I especially despised Brittany Murphy as Rabbit’s ho friend, Alex; it’s a bad performance. All Ms. Murphy does in primp and preen, trying to make her character sly, knowing and witty, but only arriving at being whorish, cheap, and dishonest.

The film is decent, but it’s mostly listless and tiresome. Even if real life is like this, art plays with ideals, and a plot would have helped this film seem like it was going somewhere. Even if Rabbit doesn’t reach his goals in the movie, the film should end with a sense of hope, and here, the sense of hope is at best ambiguous. I like Eminem, but I found 8 Mile only somewhat entertaining. If you’re not a fan of his, there’s no reason to see this listless movie. The rapper doesn’t act; he simply pretends to be a character that sulks all the time.

If there’s one reason to see this film, then it’s the rap battle near the end when Rabbit decides to face down his rap enemies on stage. Finally, Eminem seems at home in this picture. He springs to life, smiling, grimacing, frowning, and leering, as the delivery of his arsenal of lyrics requires it. Although the MC battles are fairly energetic and quite hilarious, by the time they arrive, the film is so mired in dreariness that I’d really be reaching if I told you that rap music redeems this film.

4 of 10
C

NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Music, Original Song” (Eminem-music/lyrics, Jeff Bass-music, and Luis Resto-music for the song "Lose Yourself")

2003 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Eminem-music/lyrics, Jeff Bass-music, and Luis Resto-music for the song "Lose Yourself")

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Jamie Foxx and T-Pain Join Slash and Doug E. Fresh for Grammy Performance

GRAMMY® Nominees Jamie Foxx and T-Pain to Perform with Slash and Doug E. Fresh

Nominees Drake, Eminem, and Lil Wayne in a Special Performance with Travis Barker

Special Les Paul Tribute to Feature Jeff Beck and Imelda May

Cast of "American Idiot" to Perform with Green Day

Roberta Flack, Elton John, and Jennifer Nettles Added to Stellar Lineup for 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards

Simon Baker, Stephen Colbert, Alice Cooper, Sheryl Crow, Kaley Cuoco, Placido Domingo, Robert Downey Jr., Wyclef Jean, Juanes, Miranda Lambert, John Legend, Jennifer Lopez, Lea Michelle, Chris O'Donnell, Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, Ryan Seacrest, Seal, Quentin Tarantino, and Keith Urban Are Latest Presenters Announced for Music's Biggest Night® Jan. 31 Only on CBS

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Current GRAMMY® nominees Jamie Foxx and T-Pain with Slash and Doug E. Fresh; nominees Drake, Eminem, and Lil Wayne with Travis Barker; a special tribute to guitar virtuoso Les Paul featuring Jeff Beck and Imelda May; the cast of "American Idiot" appearing with Green Day; four-time GRAMMY® winner Roberta Flack; five-time GRAMMY winner Elton John; and three-time GRAMMY winner Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland all will perform on the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards. Actor Simon Baker ("The Mentalist"), comedian and TV host Stephen Colbert, rock legend Alice Cooper, nine-time GRAMMY winner Sheryl Crow, actress Kaley Cuoco ("The Big Bang Theory"), seven-time GRAMMY and three-time Latin GRAMMY® winner Placido Domingo, actor Robert Downey Jr., three-time GRAMMY winner Wyclef Jean, GRAMMY and 17-time Latin GRAMMY winner Juanes, country artist Miranda Lambert, six-time GRAMMY winner John Legend, actress/singer Jennifer Lopez, actress/singer Lea Michelle ("Glee"), actor Chris O'Donnell ("NCIS: Los Angeles"), pop singer Katy Perry, four-time GRAMMY winner Lionel Richie, TV and radio host Ryan Seacrest, four-time GRAMMY winner Seal, Academy Award®-winning writer/director Quentin Tarantino, and two-time GRAMMY winner Keith Urban are the latest presenters announced for Music's Biggest Night®.

The music industry's premier event will take place live on Sunday, Jan. 31, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 Surround Sound on the CBS Television Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The show also will be supported on radio via Westwood One worldwide, and covered online at GRAMMY.com and CBS.com, and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/thegrammys. For GRAMMY coverage, updates and breaking news, please visit The Recording Academy®'s social networks on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter: www.facebook.com/thegrammys, www.myspace.com/thegrammys, and www.twitter.com/thegrammys.

Previously announced performers include Beyoncé; the Black Eyed Peas; Bon Jovi; the Dave Matthews Band; Green Day; Lady Antebellum; Lady Gaga; Maxwell; P!nk; Taylor Swift; the Zac Brown Band; Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson, Carrie Underwood, and Usher in a special 3-D GRAMMY tribute to Michael Jackson; and Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli in a special fund-raising segment for Haitian relief. Previously announced presenters include actress Kristen Bell, pop/R&B singer Justin Bieber, actor Jeff Bridges, pop singer and actress Miley Cyrus, actor Josh Duhamel, pop sensation the Jonas Brothers, nine-time GRAMMY winner Norah Jones, pop singer/songwriter Ke$ha, two-time GRAMMY winner LL Cool J, GRAMMY winner and three-time Latin GRAMMY® winner Ricky Martin, 10-time GRAMMY and three-time Latin GRAMMY winner Carlos Santana, and nine-time GRAMMY winner Ringo Starr.

T-Pain and Keith Urban each have four nominations: T-Pain with Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Blame It" (with Jamie Foxx), Best R&B Song for "Blame It" (with James T. Brown, John Conte Jr., Jamie Foxx, Christopher Henderson, Brandon R. Melanchon, Breyon Prescott & Nathan L. Walker), Best Contemporary R&B Album for Thr33 Ringz, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "I'm On A Boat" (with The Lonely Island); and Keith Urban with Best Male Country Vocal Performance for "Sweet Thing," Best Country Collaboration With Vocals for "Start A Band" (with Brad Paisley), Best Country Album for Defying Gravity, and Best Long Form Music Video for Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy World Tour Live.

Jamie Foxx and nine-time GRAMMY winner Eminem are each up for three awards: Foxx with Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Blame It" (with T-Pain), Best R&B Song for "Blame It" (with James T. Brown, John Conte Jr., Christopher Henderson, Brandon R. Melanchon, Breyon Prescott, T-Pain & Nathan L. Walker), and Best Contemporary R&B Album for Intuition; and Eminem with Best Rap Solo Performance for "Beautiful," Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group for "Crack A Bottle" (with Dr. Dre & 50 Cent), and Best Rap Album for Relapse.

Drake has two nods: Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song for "Best I Ever Had" (the latter nomination with D. Hamilton & M. Samuels).

Four-time GRAMMY winner Jeff Beck, Stephen Colbert, Katy Perry, and Seal are each nominated: Beck for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "A Day In The Life," Colbert for Best Comedy Album for A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All!, Perry for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Hot N Cold," and Seal for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "If You Don't Know Me By Now."

So that viewers at home can enjoy the unique 3-D tribute to Jackson, CBS and Target have partnered to provide millions of free 3-D GRAMMY Glasses. From Sunday, Jan. 24, through Sunday, Jan. 31, Target stores nationwide will exclusively offer these 3-D GRAMMY Glasses so that fans have the opportunity to see the film that was very personal to Jackson. Additionally, the audience at STAPLES Center will share the 3-D experience, wearing the same glasses as those being worn by viewers at home.

Blige's and Bocelli's once-in-a-lifetime performance (audio and video) of the Simon & Garfunkel classic "Bridge Over Troubled Water" will be made available for download at iTunes.com/Target following the telecast, and all proceeds will go to the American Red Cross, benefiting ongoing earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. This year marks the 40th anniversary of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" receiving GRAMMY Awards for Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year, and Song Of The Year, and the song will provide a moving tribute to the survivors of the tragic events in Haiti.

As part of Bon Jovi's performance on the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards, fans will have an opportunity to decide which Bon Jovi hit the band will perform. For this "You Pick It, They Play It!" special segment, viewers can log on to www.cbs.com/grammys now and vote in the final round for one out of three of their favorite hit Bon Jovi songs: "Always," "It's My Life," and "Livin' On A Prayer." There is no registration to vote, and fans may vote as often as they wish. Additionally, a 30-second clip of each song may be viewed. Voting will continue until Bon Jovi's performance on the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards on Jan. 31, when the song with the most votes is revealed live during their segment.

Additionally, the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards Pre-Telecast ceremony will take place from 1 – 4 p.m. PT at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will be streamed live internationally on www.grammy.com beginning at 1 p.m. PT. Well-attended by nominees and industry VIPs, current GRAMMY nominees Tia Carrere and Kurt Elling will host the star-studded ceremony, which will feature performances by nominees including Montreal-based duo Beast (vocalist Betty Bonifassi and drummer/composer Jean-Phi Goncalves); jazz vocalist Elling; contemporary R&B singer Lalah Hathaway; classical guitarist Sharon Isbin; and R&B singer Charlie Wilson as well as a special bluegrass performance by nine-time GRAMMY-winning singer Ray Benson, country instrumentalist Alison Brown, two-time GRAMMY winner Jim Lauderdale, singer/songwriter Michael Martin Murphey, three-time GRAMMY winner Bryan Sutton and singer/fiddle player Gabe Witcher. Presenting GRAMMY Awards in 99 categories will be current nominees Colbie Caillat, Mick Fleetwood, LMFAO, and Tonex as well as percussionist Sheila E., four-time GRAMMY winner Roberta Flack, and five-time GRAMMY-winning producer/songwriter and Recording Academy Chair Emeritus Jimmy Jam. The live stream of the Pre-Telecast will remain on GRAMMY.com as video on demand for 30 days following the event.

The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards are produced by John Cossette Productions and AEG Ehrlich Ventures for The Recording Academy. Ken Ehrlich and John Cossette are executive producers, Louis J. Horvitz is director.

Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards — the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music — The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, join the organization's social networks on Facebook (www.facebook.com/thegrammys), MySpace (www.myspace.com/thegrammys), Twitter (www.twitter.com/thegrammys), and YouTube (www.youtube.com/thegrammys). [END]