Richard Johnson: Oscar nominees Cathy Moriarty, John Savage head cast of NYC indie ‘Beyond the Rush’
NEW YORK — Audiences will get a rush from “Beyond the Rush,” a movie filming on the streets of New York.
First-time director-writer Rob Sayegh has assembled three Academy Award nominees — Cathy Moriarty of “Raging Bull” fame, John Savage of “The Deer Hunter” and Eric Roberts of “Runaway Train.”
The cast includes Mena Suvari of “American Beauty” and Frankie Faison (“Do The Right Thing”) with the lead role played by Bill Barrett.
Also of note, Sean Fosse, the grandson of late dance legend Bob Fosse, will be making his big-screen debut playing a prosecuting attorney.
The soundtrack will include a song by Bee Gee Barry Gibb. And celebrating 35 years of Twisted Sister, Dee Snyder sings the film’s title track.
Vernon Reid of Living Colour will play guitar on the track and will also co-write the film’s score alongside Public Enemy guitarist Chris Munger, who is also the film’s music supervisor and co-producer.
PR man Jesse Nash’s song “A Mother’s Love” will play over a key scene.
“We are the little film that could,” laughs director Sayegh. “What I hope to achieve, besides telling a great story by great performers, is that there is always a choice in life, and that no matter how bad it seems, there’s always the possibility for a hopeful ending.”
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A prominent Beverly Hills plastic surgeon tells me a little nip/tuck goes a long way — but too much Botox isn’t always a good thing for actors.
“I have a lot of celebrity patients,” says Dr. Jason Champagne, “and they still need to emote.”
The man responsible for Chrissy Teigen and Meagan Good’s eyebrows says many actors overdo it.
“They still have to be able to move their face,” he adds. “The goal should be to have lines but not as deep.”
Champagne says he can tell “bad plastic surgery” when he sees it. For that reason he doesn’t watch red carpets at award shows, “unless I have patients there,” he says with a laugh.
His specialty is chin implants and what he calls “Champagne Rows” that takes hair from the back of the scalp and intricately places it on existing eyebrows. That’s the procedure he says Mrs. John Legend drops in for, and “Harlem” actress Good too.
“Some trends on social media have become problematic though,” he cautions. A lot of people want ‘buckle fat’ removed now. “It’s a little fat pad in the cheek, but if you take it out some patients can look ‘hollow’ as they age.”
His simple advice is to talk to a lot of people before doing anything. “The onus is on the practitioner to do the right thing for the patient in a conservative way that looks natural and doesn’t look done.”
And yes, he still does use some Botox on patients. But with caution. “I don’t want that frozen look. I ask patients to move their foreheads, raise their eyebrows and scowl,” he says. “I look to see how strong those muscles are and then decide how much to use.”
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It took 30 years and 400 on-camera interviews to make “Jimi Hendrix: The Documentary.”
The film by Emmy Award-winner David Kramer premiered Saturday at the Nyack Film Festival.
Hendrix, a self-taught genius on electric guitar, fatally overdosed at the age of 27 in 1970 after releasing three albums, culminating with “Electric Ladyland.” He had astonished the world performing at Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock.
“He was revered by musicians, adored by women, idolized and respected by fans and musicians around the world,” said Kramer.
Among the discoveries Kramer claims in the doc: “The Mafia was trying to get to Hendrix and take over his business,” he said.
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Sometimes heroism just doesn’t work.
Doing his daily 9-mile beach run in Southampton recently, 75 Main owner Zach Erdem came across a baby dolphin that seemed to have lost its way, floating in an inlet.
The restaurateur immediately jumped into the water to save it and put it back in the ocean.
“When I reached this beauty of the sea, I was saddened to see that it was lifeless and could not be saved,” Erdem told Hampton Sheet publisher Joan Jedell.
At that point he carried the dolphin to rest it on the beach and called animal rescue centers.
“I just wanted to put it back in the ocean and make sure it had a beautiful life,” added Erdem.
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Ballerina Misty Copeland is supporting Youth America Grand Prix’s 25th Anniversary Gala at Lincoln Center on April 18.
The organization, which has the largest ballet scholarship program in the world, is responsible for the 30% increase in dancers of diverse backgrounds in over 80 ballet companies around the globe, including NYC Ballet and ABT.
The benefit’s chairs include Mick Jagger’s girlfriend Melanie Hamrick, Chelsea Clinton, Carolina Herrera designer Wes Gordon, Indré Rockefeller, and Kamie Lightburn, who is hosting a kickoff party in Palm Beach on Tuesday.
The night’s Creative Chair is Marcella Hymowitz, who brought in Dennis Basso to make his ballet debut as a designer and African American designer B Michael to do the costumes for a piece with music by Karen LeFrak, wife of real estate billionaire Richard LeFrak.
Over 300 dancers from six continents ages 9 to 19 will be on stage in the show called “The Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow,” which includes dancers from the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the Princess Grace schools.
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Out & About: Vanessa Williams and Julia Haart helped Alan Cumming celebrate his Broadway show (“Alan Cumming is Not Acting His Age”) at Nerai … The Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl winning coach Andy Reid eating at Carnegie Diner & Cafe … Former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie at a Rangers game at Madison Square Garden … John Travolta and his co-stars Natali Yura and Lukas Haas at the Gasparilla Film Festival in Tampa, Florida, talking about ducking indoor drones that whizzed perilously close to their heads while filming the heist film “Cash Out” … The city’s single and dapper Mayor Eric Adams swanned into Casa Cipriani, the city’s most exclusive private club, to meet a 30-something mystery blond who was wearing a sexy white pantsuit for a late night romantic supper for two.
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