A Little Of The Old In And Out



In: Benicio Del Toro. Benico, aka, "Benny the Bull," aka, "Duke the Dog-Faced Boy," aka, "An Unsanitary Elevator Episode with Scarlett Johansson," won Best Actor at Cannes for his portrayal of Che in Soderbergh's exhaustive -- self-indulgent? -- epic film. From UKPress:

"Benicio Del Toro revealed his delight after being named best actor at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Hollywood star was honoured for his portrayal of Che Guevara in Steven Soderbergh's two-part, four-hour biopic, Che, about the Latin American revolutionary.

"Benicio said: 'I've got to thank a lot of people for this stuff, this is not just me, it's the writer, the director, the producer. I think they enjoy the movie too, which is great and I'm very proud of the movie.'

"The jury, which included Sean Penn and Natalie Portman, awarded the coveted Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) to French director Laurent Cantet for his docudrama The Class. It is the first time a French film has landed the title since 1987."

In an acting stretch, the former "Dog-Faced Boy" will be playing the Wolf Man. Seriously: Cannes or Canine?



(image via DannySeo)

Out: The Early Show. We have made a study of morning television shows. It is a fascinating medium of "poised, creamy insincerity." The fake smiles, the ruthless bookers, the cock-blocking the competition, the going to sleep at 8 pm. We find all that crazy morning television behind the scenes stuff fascinating.

And so the most interesting region to train our fire on would be the perennial third-place program, CBS' The Early Show, where staff morale cannot but be vaguely north of where the crew of the Titanic's were when that fateful iceberg was sighted off the larboard bow (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment). From Gawker:

"How is it humanly possible for the CBS Early Show to be so dysfunctional? And so early in the morning, at that? The show has been a nest of infighting for months, since the times of deposed mean boss Shelley Ross. Now, we hear that more scheming and devious machinations are underway. A tipster says that Zev Shalev, who was named a senior producer for the show in March, may be in the crosshairs of Michael Rosen, another senior producer who was once described to us as 'a tyrant to the staff.' Laurye Blackford, another senior producer and "mean girl," may also be involved."

More here.



(image via usnews)

In: The Mountain West. As Appalachia has made the existential decision to consign themselves under the category of national laughingstock (Averted Gaze), the Obama campaign presently fixes its sober gaze upon The Mountain West -- aka, the Rocky Mountain region -- for some crisp electoral booty (The Corsair pops open a bottle of the fizzy). From Politico:

"Officially, Sen. Barack Obama traveled to this desert city Monday for a Memorial Day address. He stood against the backdrop of the Organ Mountains and talked about honoring veterans, but his campaign aides came here believing they could do something bigger: Win back the Mountain West from Republicans.

"The underlying goal of Obama’s trip this week through New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado is to lay claim to a region that Obama views as one of his best opportunities to pick off states in November.

"'We want to send a message now that we are going to go after them and I expect to win them,' Obama told reporters after laying a wreath at a veterans’ memorial.

"President Bush picked up 19 electoral votes across these three states – the margin by which Democrat John Kerry fell short in the Electoral College in 2004. He edged out Kerry by five percentage points in Colorado, two points in Nevada and less than one point in New Mexico. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters Kerry lost because he ignored places like rural Nevada."

Out: Hillary On Florida. Is there any limit to the low-grade piece of ass arguments that the Clinton campaign are making to win the nomination? Basking in the racist lather of the West Virginia electorate, Senator Clinton proved, once again, that there really is no rock 'neath which her campaign wouldn't crawl.

But the Clinton's rhetoric on Florida is particularly ... fetid. It goes beyond the pale. The Democratic Party be damned, they are winning this campaign no matter what. No. Matter. What. Florida. It calls to mind HBO's anxiety-laden "Recount," which left us -- so to speak -- without a happy ending. From TNR:

"It is usually a mistake to read too deeply into the character of a presidential candidate on the basis of some tactical maneuver or grubby compromise. Anybody who was a saint wouldn't be in the position of running for the White House. And yet, Hillary Clinton's speech last week in Florida was so audacious, so divorced from reality, that it begs characterological questions.

"In the speech, Clinton--summoning as much passion and moral fervor as she has mustered at any point in the campaign--demanded that the Florida and Michigan delegations be seated at the Democratic National Convention. She compared her cause to abolition and women's suffrage. And--perhaps even more outrageous to those of us who have lived through the last eight years but weren't around for Seneca Falls--she said the Democratic Party and Barack Obama were reenacting the Republican effort to prevent the Florida recount in 2000.

It is a repellent comparison."

Yup. More here.