Names+Faces: Kem announces new site for his benefit festival

Kem’s musical benefit for Detroit’s homeless people will have a spacious new riverside site.

Still dubbed Mack & Third: A Call to Service, the event will move to the new West Riverwalk Park downtown after three editions at Cass Park in Midtown Detroit.

This year’s festival, which will include performance by Kem and the O’Jays, is scheduled for Aug. 24, two days before the release of the romantic R&B star’s fourth Motown album, “Promise to Love.”

Kem, who overcame addiction and homelessness in the 1990s, founded Mack & Third in 2009 to generate money, resources and awareness benefiting Detroit’s homeless community. The events have drawn tens of thousands of supporters for music, comedians and family activities.

Mack & Third has also provided hot meals and health screenings to thousands of homeless people while gathering hundreds of thousands of donated canned goods.

The new West Riverwalk Park is at 1801 W. Jefferson, near the Riverfront Towers Apartments.

Previous Mack & Third festivals offered free admission; this year’s will have a $5 entry fee, with proceeds going to area homeless groups. Attendees are still encouraged to bring canned goods for donation.

Admission is free for children 15 and under, and premium packages are available for $50. Tickets can be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com.

More fest details: www.facebook.com/mackandthird.

Fifty Shades of Whoa

It’s here! The new trailer for “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

The trailer for the highly anticipated movie made its debut on the “Today Show” on Thursday, but parts of it were left out of the broadcast premiere for being too hot for early morning viewers. The entire tantalizing trailer debuted online.

Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan were on the show to talk — briefly — about it.

“What was it like to shoot explicit scenes, to be naked all day?” asked Savannah Guthrie.

Johnson: “It’s not like a romantic situation. It’s more technical and choreographed. It’s like more of a task.”

The movie comes out on Valentine’s Day. You can watch the trailer at www.fiftyshadesmovie.com.

White to play Farm Aid

Jack White, Neil Young and Willie Nelson will meet up Sept. 13 to play in Raleigh, N.C., for the annual Farm Aid benefit concert, according to Rolling Stone.

John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Jamey Johnson, Delta Rae, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, Carlene Carter, Pegi Young & the Survivors, and Insects vs Robots also are playing. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 1.

White has two shows in Detroit next week: Monday at the Fox Theatre and Wednesday at the Masonic Temple.

Batfleck costume at Comic-Con

Attendees to San Diego Comic-Con have the chance to see something more than they might have expected this year, with Ben Affleck’s Batman costume being displayed in the DC Entertainment area of the main floor — well, kind of.

Only the cape and cowl of the costume from 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” is on display, as revealed by DC copublisher Dan DiDio on Twitter.

Meanwhile, director Zack Snyder tweeted a photo Wednesday that might have fans panting.

The photo shows Henry Cavill, who plays the Man of Steel, dressed as a Jedi and holding a lightsaber. Intriguingly, Superman’s costume can be seen peeking out underneath his cloak.

More from Comic-Con

John Malkovich and Benedict Cumberbatch made their Comic-Con debut — as themselves and as their first animated characters.

The two actors were in San Diego today to offer an early look at DreamWorks Animation’s “Penguins of Madagascar,” a sequel to 2012’s “Madagascar 3.”

Cumberbatch plays a wolf in the film — a super spy who runs an organization called the North Wind, which protects animal welfare. Malkovich plays the villain, an evil scientist octopus named Dave, whom the star said looks like his youngest sister.

DreamWorks also announced its newest star-studded effort, “B.O.O.,” which stands for the Bureau of Otherworldly Operations. Featuring the voices of Seth Rogen, Melissa McCarthy and Bill Murray, “B.O.O.” is set to open next summer.

Grandma was a real killer

It’s always an emotional and surprising journey for celebrities on the genealogy TV show “Who Do You Think You Are?”

However, actress Cynthia Nixon got more than she bargained for after finding out one of her ancestors was an ax murderer.

“The Sex And The City” star, 48, discovered great-great-great grandmother Martha Curnett ended up killing her abusive husband, Noah Casto, in Missouri in the 1840s.

Bon Jovi to get Anderson award

Rock star Jon Bon Jovi will be honored with an award named for an opera singer.

The Marian Anderson Award is given in Philadelphia to “critically acclaimed artists who have impacted society in a positive way.” In announcing the recipient Wednesday, organizers said Bon Jovi has used his musical success to support groups working to end homelessness and hunger.

Bon Jovi will accept the $25,000 award on Nov. 18 at the city’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

Bialik to be on 'Candid Camera'

Emmy-nominee Mayim Bialik (“The Big Bang Theory”) reportedly will host the new version of “Candid Camera” alongside Peter Funt, the son of the show’s creator and host, Allen Funt.

The series will premiere on TV Land on Aug. 11 with a new episode airing each night through Thursday that week. Episodes will air on Tuesdays after that.

Briefly

■ Jessica Biel and Zooey Deschanel are going head-to-head on “New Girl.” The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Biel has signed on to guest in an upcoming episode of the Fox comedy — playing an obstacle in Jess’ (Deschanel) mission to get lucky at a wedding.

■ Love Elvis Presley and vintage automobiles? Got a couple hundred thousand burning a hole in your pocket? Then head on out to the Bonhams Quail Lodge Auction in Carmel, Calif., on Aug. 14-15, and the King’s custom-built 1963 Rolls-Royce Phantom V touring limousine could be yours. Or you can just look at the pictures at www.bonhams.com.

■ “Orange Is the New Black” star Pablo Schreiber, who plays Mendez — aka Pornstache — told the New York Post that he will not appear in the show’s third season. It’s not a huge surprise, considering that the last time we saw his character — spoiler! — he was being carted away to prison. But then again, this entire show takes place inside a prison, so there’s that.

■ A high school marching band in central Pennsylvania can’t perform hit songs by Bruno Mars and Fall Out Boy because of their suggestive lyrics. The East Lancaster County school board banned “Locked Out of Heaven” and “Thnks fr th Mmrs” from students’ playlist even though the words wouldn’t be sung.

Compiled from reports by Free Press staff writer Brian McCollum and Free Press news services