By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
Big Snake, Funny?; Rockin’ New Year & Harlan Coben Goes Non-Fiction
“Anaconda” opened in theaters on Dec. 25. It is an action comedy/horror film. A 1997 film named “Anaconda” became a cult horror film over time, and it spawned four pretty cheesy sequel films. The 2025 film begins with two pals, Doug (PAUL RUDD, 56) and Griff (JACK BLACK, 56), going to the Amazon to re-make their ‘fave’ flick: the 1997 “Anaconda” film. Well, things go badly — largely due to a very nasty and real anaconda.
IONE SKYE, 55, has a supporting role as Doug’s wife. She’s best known as John Cusack’s love interest in “Say Anything” (1989). Her mother is American and Jewish. Her (estranged) father is Donovan, a ‘60s folk-rock star from Scotland.
“Anaconda” is a big budget film and it has a star-laden cast. That makes it a certainty that it will play several weeks in theaters. I ‘bumped’ Anaconda last week to make column space for an important personal statement about the murders of ROB REINER and his wife, MICHELLE REINER.
On Jan. 1, ABC will air/stream a special documentary of the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony. Last November, this ceremony streamed live on Disney/Hulu channels. The Jan. 1, 2026, Rock and Roll event (8 p.m.–11 p.m.) is an edited version of the November ceremony.
Sadly, no Jews were inducted, this year in the Hall performer category. But three were inducted in other categories.
WARREN ZEVON (1947–2003) was inducted in the “musical influence” category. He had a very rocky life. His Jewish father long worked as a bookie for the notorious MICKEY COHEN, a Los Angeles gangster. His mother was a Mormon. My sense is that Zevon was not religious at all.
His career was up-and-down and his long-time substance abuse didn’t help. He cleaned-up around 2000, only to be struck down by cancer. He’s best known for the hits he wrote and sang, and the songs which other singers made into hits. Here are a few: “Werewolves of London,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” and “Hasten Down the Wind.”
LENNY WARONKER, 83, was this year’s “Ahmet Ertegun” award inductee This award honors a non-musical performer who is a major influence on the creative development and growth of rock & roll and music that has impacted culture.
His father, a violinist, founded Liberty Records, an important label in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Lenny got his experience at Liberty and went on to be the head of Warner Records and Dreamworks Records.
CAROL KAYE, 90, was inducted in the “musical excellence” category. It honors artists, musicians, songwriters and producers whose originality and influence have had a dramatic impact on music.
Kaye, a bassist, was virtually the only woman who played bass with top jazz and rock musicians (recording sessions mostly) in the ‘50s and ‘60s. She played with practically every big name and she played on the iconic soundtracks of many films. She continued playing well into the 21st century.
Kaye studied Judaism after meeting a Jewish man; she converted (1961); she attended a Reform temple; she continued practicing Judaism after her divorce from her Jewish husband; and she raised their daughter Jewish.
Last July, Kaye made it clear that she would not attend the induction ceremony in November. (Induction happens even if the honoree boycotts the ceremony). In short, Kaye said that she was objecting to the way the Rock Hall, and others, mis-labeled and poorly defined the top studio musicians of the ‘50s and ‘60s.
Just “Google” Kaye for more details. Kaye did a lot of interviews with media reporters and she talked, in detail, about why she was going to boycott the induction ceremony.
Here’s a “just out” CBS/Paramount press release:
HARLEN COBEN, #1 NY Times bestselling author with more than 100 million books sold and countless adaptations for film and television, has built a global reputation for twist-laden murder mysteries. For the first time, he brings his signature storytelling to real-life cases. Coben takes the structure and psychological insight that define his fiction to true crime, where the stakes are painfully real, on Harlan Coben’s “Final Twist.”
The first episode, of the three “Final Twist” weekly episodes, premieres on Wed. Jan. 7 (10 p.m.) on the CBS TV network and it’s available to stream on Paramount+.
“Billy & Billie Jean,” the Jan. 7 episode, is described this way: When police find a couple murdered in their home, the investigation leads to social media. Detectives discover a bizarre cyberbullying conflict with a neighboring family and the possible covert involvement of a CIA agent driven by personal vengeance.
