In: Robert Altman. American Master Robert Altman received the Irving Thalberg yesterday from the high-voltage performance art stylings of Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin, whose flowing stream-of-consciousness intro was the height of elegance and, paradoxically, accuracy. They held the mirror up to Altman.
The actresses captured, in unison and in cacophony, the chaotic order -- was it ad-libbed? -- that, magnificently, is the hallmark of an Altman production. Director Robert Altman, who may just be the greatest living American director (significantly better than Woody, to be sure), was also feted, in characteristic indie fashion, according to FishbowlLa:
"Picture House - the Bob Berney-run Time Warner specialized shingle that will soon release Garrison Keillor's 'A Prarie Home Companion' - managed to throw one this cool California evening at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons.
"Our spy - between bites of horseradish stuffed beef tenderloin and salmon sushi - reports that Robert Altman, ('Prairie's' director) was graciously feted by much of his film's cast, including Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, John C. Reilly and a rather disappointingly well-behaved Lindsay Lohan. (We're dying to know: Who's that guy with Li.Lo, wearing the weird earrings? Email FishbowlLA anonymously and tell us.)
"Look, over there! It's a very trim Roger Ebert, making a bee-line for Altman. And, of course, the ubiquitous ICM agent, Robert Newman, chatting with New Line exec VP Mark Ordesky nearby.
"Says our spy: 'It's the anti-Oscar party. No gift bags, no check-in. No paparazzi bullshit. There's just a small sign towards the back of that says 'Private Party.'"
And that's why we love Robert Altman. More here.
... He flashed a skeletal ricktor of a smile. (image via metronews)
Seacrest: Out! The Seacrest sucks backlash is building critical mass. Kathy Griffin can work the "bitch" thing, but Seacrest -- especially when he attacked the hapless Giuliana on-air for wearing hair extentions -- was too much of a bitch by a half. Issac Mizrahi, nobly, came to Giuliana's defense.
Bitter, hard, E!Entertainment Television host Ryan Seacrest could barely contain his seething envy (does E! television stand for "Envy"?) at Ken Baker of Us Magazine's admission ticket to the Academy Awards. We loved it when Baker, bewildered, asked -- honestly "You didn't get one"? The flash of anger and frustrated ambition alone was worth the whole fucking E! red carpet foreplay.
God, how we miss Kathy Griffin.
(image via washingtonpost)
Mixed: Jon Stewart. Has the proverbial shark been jumped? We usually like Jon Stewart. We said as much in our paean to him in the now-defunct Razor Magazine (RIP). And, in contrast to the Chris Rock-Billy Crystal brigade he was far fresher and in the moment and had his moments. Jon Stewart should definitely be asked to return next year before any final verdicts are in. But -- and this is a big butt -- he didn't knock it out of the park, as he kind of had to do to meet expectations. Says Nikki Finke, rather acidly (but not entirely without merit):
"At least Jon Stewart admitted he was a poor choice to host the Oscars, given that his film experience amounted to little more than 'the fourth male lead from Death to Smoochy.' That filmed bit of schtick at the start of the telecast underscored how hard it is to get a decent host for this nightmare of a show. So it was inevitable that he�d bomb. And, yes, bomb he did. He looked nervous and edgy, his timing was way off, his standup ran in super slow-mo, and his jokes flatlined. What�s more, he didn�t even try to make excuses for the movie industry; instead, he acknowledged, 'Let�s face the fact that this has not been the best year for Hollywood.'"
Of course, to some there is nothing Stewart can do wrong. (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment) And "those" are probably fishing for an engraved invitation to write for the Daily Show and not, as they ought to, representing reality to their blog readers. (Averted Gaze) We love Stewart but he most certainly did not "kill" at the Oscars.
(image via sitedesignmagazine)
In: iVillage. NBCUni bought iVillage for $600 million. With 4th quarter 2005 earnings up 65 percent, we guess this was an irresistable deal for General Electric looking to have a place at the digital table. It looks like NBC is going to start digitally integrating NBC's Today Show with iVillage, which is rather interesting. According to Paidcontent:
"Some quick notes from the press call with NBCU Chairman and CEO Bob Wright, Beth Comstock, president, NBCU Digital Media and Market Development; Jeff Zucker, CEO, NBCU Television Group and Doug McCormick, chairman and CEO, iVillage.
"In his comments. Wright positioned the deal as a marriage of IVIL's sales/marketing skills and community building with NBCU's programming abilities. He talked about the value to the company's digital strategy: 'This deal gives us immediate scale in the online world and we can use that to extend our digital offerings across our program sites.'
" -- Comstock: 'iVillage matches well with our digital strategy and our strategy is all about creating creating compelling content and finding ehngaging destinations so we can marry community with content. ... It turbocharges what we're trying to do. It gives us scale and it creates the kind of growth engine that we expect from our digital efforts. We believe this is a rallying cry, a rallying event for all of NBC Universal from a digital perspective. ... It allows us to combine just about every part of NBC Universal to scale up iVillage from here. ... Right away, I think you can expect to see the beauty of both of us. We'll right away be able to bring video to bear. We'll be able to promote iVillage as a meaningful destination."
" -- Zucker: 'It�s not just a promotional thiong at all. We'll be looking for a great deal of orginal content. ... To come away from this thinking just promotional thing would be a huge mistake." My question about how iVillage would be used to reach other demographics drew several responses: Comstock spoke of using it as a base to grow into other area's of audience interest; McCormick pointed to tween/teen site gURL.com and iVillage's appeal to dads as a source of parenting info. Zucker picked up on the parenting appeal and called it 'a great example, too of where we'll be able to work.' For instance, 'The Today Show' would be a natural fit."
Curious. More here.
(image via politicalfriendster)
Out: Mac. We wonder what happened to his estimated $17 million of self-described "Fuck You money." Show Business, alas, has not been kind to "Mac" Culkin (of whom we once wrote, unkindly: "Cuff Him, and Stuff Him"). According to CelebrityAOL:
"Macaulay Culkin isn't quite sure where he belongs, or if he belongs at all. 'I don't know what people want from me,' the onetime Home Alone star tells Time magazine in a new interview.
"Culkin, 25, has had a difficult time parlaying his childhood success into an adult acting career. The young actor, who left the profession at age 14 only to return in 2001, added, 'I'm the most out-of-work actor I know.' Culkin, who looks much as he did as a child, said he's ready to appear onscreen anytime. 'Acting found me. I thought maybe I should try to find it again.'"
(image via youtube)
In: YouTube. When an organization can turn Jason Calacanis -- a man with serious knowledge of all thngs digital -- from prinicpal critic to a reluctant fan, well, you've got something going on. From CalacanisBlog:
"I missed the Oscars last night, but I checked YouTube and it looks like they got the rights to air the Oscars!How on earth did they get the rights to air the Oscars?! That's just amazing... these guys are brilliant!!! They were even to get them to take out the commercials too!Quick, someone (Newcorp?!) buy YouTube for $1B.... these guys are on fire!"
(image via hillnews)
Out: Congressman Bill Thomas. After a ferocious battle over Tom DeLay's Majority Leader position, the Republican members of the House of Representatives are about to have another knock-down bare-knuckled intellectual brawl, this time over the powerful Chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee. "Ways and Means" as it is called, smarmily, on The Hill oversees revenue-raising measures (and, you can imagine, the sows-ear purse strings of Pork Barrel legislation). As Nature abhors a Vacuum, several ambitious would-be Players are throwing their hats in the ring. According to MarketWatch:
"Unable to retain the chairmanship of one of Congress' most powerful committees, top House tax writer Bill Thomas won't return to Capitol Hill next year.
"Thomas ended weeks of speculation about his future with a news conference in Bakersfield announcing that he would not seek a 15th term representing California's 22nd congressional district. The move wasn't unexpected given House GOP rules that limit members to six years at the helm of House committees.
"Thomas took over as chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee in 2001, and instantly established himself as a key legislative ally for a newly-elected President Bush.
"Thomas, 64, was instrumental in passing major tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. He was an architect of the controversial Medicare prescription drug benefit that narrowly passed Congress in 2003, and was at the center of closely fought battles over trade-related legislation.
".. Thomas' retirement kicked off a campaign among other Republican members of the Ways and Means panel for the chairman's gavel. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., issued a statement within minutes of Thomas' announcement, declaring himself an official candidate for the post.
"Rep. Jim McCrery, R-La., is also seen as a likely contender for the chairmanship. Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., is also expected to vie for the post.
"If Democrats manage to take control of the House in November, the post would presumably go to Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, currently the panel's ranking Democrat."
Charlie Rangel has salivated over this seat for a while now and is presently ranking Democrat on the Committee. The intense competition on the Republican side of the aisle reflects the essence of the principles of the Republican Party, namely: Competition. Let's hope, though, the competition doesn't become quite as longwinded and as -- how does one say this? -- multiballoted as the Majority Leader's race.
Nicole Kidman and Leslie Dart. (image via msnbc)
In: The Dart Group. How did "Brokeback Mountain" lose -- which is essentially what happened -- the Best Picture race which it was destined to win? The Academy voters are about as liberal and as amenable to the films message as you'll ever get. Still, no dice. According to Fox411 you can credit The Dart Group -- and, ancillary to that: Harvey Weinstein -- for boosting "Crash" over Ang Lee's magnificent love story. To wit:
"'Crash' ... was steered to victory by many of the same folks who worked on past Miramax campaigns that brought glory to 'Shakespeare,' 'Chicago,' 'The English Patient,' and, in other categories, 'Good Will Hunting,' 'Cider House Rules,' 'Chocolat' and others.
"That was The Dart Group, where former Miramaxers Cynthia Swartz and Amanda Lundberg ply their magic. And Lions Gate, which released 'Crash,' knew how to make theirs an underdog story."
We knew Harvey had something to do with it.
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