Watch David Letterman open an old-school can of snark on The Hills’ Spencer Pratt
You talkin’ about my hair? Well, all right — What is that? A swim cap?
One of the greatest all-time moments of my senior year of high school was watching David Letterman completely dismantle Madonna. She came on with the idea that she was going to set the agenda and really give Dave the business; I guess the sycophantic dancers in Madonna’s pre-show prayer circle told her that she was really funny. Anyway, if you remember, she went toe to toe with the big guy and, to quote a phrase, she awoke a sleeping giant.
Letterman’s cultural cache might be waning a bit — he was beaten by Nightline in the ratings recently — but his wit is still with him. Further, as the following clip with hair-product enthusiast Spencer Pratt will show, he can still seethe with barely controlled rage at our culture’s propensity to elevate idiots to places of prominence. The video after the jump…
I think my favorite moment is when Heidi tells Dave that he needs to “up his game”, as if dealing with Spencer’s quick wit requires more than four or five neurons.
Also, if it’s true that Spencer gets $100K and up for making appearances at nightclubs, it’s only a matter of time before the alien Klaatu lands on the Mall in Washington D.C. demanding that we stop our foolish infatuation with Heidi and Spencer before the Earth is destroyed. Frankly, when that happens, I’ll be rooting for the aliens.
Just for fun, here’s a video of the Madonna incident with Dave. It’s kind of like watching Floyd Mayweather Jr. box a particularly obnoxious 6th grader:
The Bachelor’s aftermath: Matt Grant moves out
A month ago, bachelor Matt Grant handed the final rose and a $60,000 engagement ring to actress Shayne Lamas in the season finale of ABC’s The Bachelor: London Calling. The final credits of the episode hadn’t even finished rolling when people (I include myself in the lot) were already betting on how long the two of them would last together. No, the couple didn’t officially break up yet, but Matt did move out of Shayne’s house.
People magazine’s website reports that since the final rose ceremony, Matt has been staying with Shayne in Century City, California. Even if I was not pleased with Matt’s choice (I was rooting for Amanda R.), I accepted it especially since he kept saying in interviews from the very beginning of the show that he found “the one.” As I watched the show, it looked like his love for Shayne was more infatuation mixed with a huge high school crush. Name a guy who wouldn’t want to date a hot-looking actress.
With The Bachelor’s track record, it is not surprising to hear today that Grant moved out. He claims that the couple is still engaged and going strong but that the two of them need space to grow. Grant, who lived in London, England, up until now, says that he needs to get his own life in L.A., get friends, get his career going.
I’m somewhat willing to buy his story. After all, Matt and Shayne didn’t have time to properly date and get to know one another in a normal setting before moving in together. Taking a step back may help them grow stronger in the end.
Do you think that the couple will stick together and get married eventually? Or do you think that The Bachelor’s curse will hit and break those two off?
Lost: The Other Woman
(S04E06) I didn’t think it was possible, but the Lost writers actually found a way to make Ben creepier. All they had to do was add a “lovesick stalker” dimension to his personality. For a Juliet-centric episode, it seemed like we learned a lot more about Ben than the intriguing Dr. Burke. We also got some significant answers about who’s behind the freighter mission–from Ben, of course. Perhaps the only thing Ben doesn’t know is how to have a healthy romantic relationship.
Flashback: Juliet
The episode opened with a nice little Oceanic Six fakeout. Juliet met with a therapist named Harper Stanhope and explained that she was feeling uncomfortable about her recent celebrity status. Dr. Stanhope told her that, as time passed, these feelings would stop. At that moment, Tom interrupted the session; Ben had summoned Juliet. In her first week on the island, Juliet was a “celebrity” due to her status as a hotshot fertility doctor. Ben, holding a bouquet of flowers, was waiting for Juliet in front of her new house at the Barracks. He pulled out all the stops, and even got her some opera CD’s. Juliet didn’t see the point of all the “fuss,” since she was only going to be on the island for six months. Ben didn’t seem to mind going the extra mile for her.
Later, Juliet was crying alone in her lab. They had lost another pregnant woman that day. She came upon Goodwin in the supply room, where he had been looking for gauze. He claimed that he had burned his arm on a transformer at the power station. As Juliet worked on Goodwin’s wound, he tried to comfort her about the dead woman. When he suggested that she confide in Harper, she said that Harper appeared to be mean and spiteful. Goodwin informed Juliet that Harper was also his wife. Gulp. He told Juliet that she could always talk to him, and Juliet thanked him by keeping his secret about the real source of his injury (a chemical burn).
Ben’s infatuation with Juliet was obvious during his meeting with her at the lab. He couldn’t stop staring at her, and was visibly jealous when Goodwin popped in to offer Juliet some lunch. Harper was on to Juliet and Goodwin’s relationship as well. She confronted Juliet during a therapy session, and warned her to stop seeing Goodwin for his own safety. If they didn’t end their affair, Harper implied that Ben would make trouble for Goodwin. She also mentioned that Ben treated Juliet well because she reminded him of someone.
Juliet didn’t end the affair, but was becoming increasingly worried about getting caught. Goodwin wasn’t concerned, and argued that Ben had bigger issues to deal with–the deadly chemicals that Goodwin was working with, for example. Once again, Ben proved to be a brilliant improvisor. When 815 crashed, he sent Goodwin away from the Barracks to evaluate the Tailies. While Goodwin was gone, Ben made his move. Juliet arrived at his house for a dinner party that was really a date. They chatted about Zach and Emma (the two Tailie kids), and Juliet wondered why Goodwin was still living with the Tailies. Ben reassured her that Goodwin’s assignment (read: life) would be over soon.
Sometime later, Ben led Juliet right to Goodwin’s impaled corpse. That was cruel, even by Ben’s standards. Juliet finally realized that Ben kept Goodwin with the Tailies because he knew Goodwin would be killed. When she asked him why, Ben went up a few notches on the crazy meter. Furious, he told her that all of his effort in bringing her to the island made Juliet his. In Ben’s mind, hiring someone to do strange fertility research is a form of calling romantic dibs.
Team Jack
Before she had a chance to set up her beachfront tent, Juliet was off on another mission with Jack. Charlotte and Daniel had broken away from the group without being noticed. Juliet pursued them into the jungle, but was distracted by the scary island whispers. At that moment, Harper appeared before her. Ben had some new orders for her: take out Charlotte and Daniel before they released deadly gas from the Tempest station. Jack approached them, but Harper took advantage of another series of whispers (or did she cause them?) and disappeared.
Meanwhile, Daniel and Charlotte used a sketched map of the island to make their way to the Tempest. Kate ran into the pair on her way back from the Barracks. She saw through their weak lie (retrieving batteries, indeed) and discovered their gas masks, but wasn’t quick enough to avoid getting knocked out by Charlotte. Jack and Juliet eventually found Kate, and Juliet sneaked away while Jack fussed over her head wound. Kate told Jack why she stayed behind at the Barracks while they tracked Juliet.
Juliet reached the Tempest station just in time. Daniel, decked out in biohazard gear, was trying to override the system that controlled the gas storage tanks. Charlotte played dirty yet again and hit Juliet when she wasn’t looking. After Juliet had her second girlfight of the series, she realized that the Freighties weren’t trying to release the poisonous gas. They were trying to render it inert so Ben couldn’t use it on them as a last resort. Daniel and Charlotte already knew that Ben used the gas once before during the Purge.
Juliet brought Jack and Kate up to speed when they arrived at the Tempest. Kate, still upset that there was another hot chick on the island (or about the bump on the head), went in to see the truth for herself. Juliet told Jack that the Freighties were on the island to wage war against Ben, and that Ben would win. She warned him that Ben was extremely possessive and that he knew about her feelings for Jack. She didn’t want another man’s death on her conscience, and told Jack to stay away from her. Jack kissed Juliet and said that Ben knew where to find him.
Team Locke
Back at the Barracks, Claire began to question Locke’s decisions. She wanted to take a nicer approach to dealing with Miles. At the very least, she wanted to learn more about who the Freighties were and what they wanted. Locke brushed her off and brought Ben another meal. Ben could already tell that Locke’s leadership style was failing with the other survivors. He told John that he had a plan and some crucial information about the person who sent the Freighter, but he wanted some freedom in exchange.
Ben led Locke to a hidden safe in his living room. The safe contained a video of the man in question, who turned out to be Mr. Charles Widmore. The video showed Widmore beating a blindfolded man; Ben said he was an Other who had gotten caught by Widmore. According to Ben, Widmore wanted to “exploit” the island and all of the people on it. Ben gave Locke his dossier on Widmore, and began to tell him the identity of his inside man on the freighter. Naturally, this was done off-camera. There would never be two big reveals in a single Lost episode.
Elsewhere, Hurley and Sawyer were off playing horseshoes in their own private “comically mismatched roommate” subplot. They were shocked to see Ben cheerfully stroll out of Locke’s house with bed linens, enter a house of his own, and say “See you guys at dinner!”
Final remarks
I’m still not impressed with Jack and Juliet’s chemistry. Last season’s kiss was unconvincing, and this week’s wasn’t much better. I understand that they bonded during Jack’s stay with the Others and that they share a desire to leave the island, but is there any other basis for their romantic feelings? Penny and Desmond blew those two out of the water in “The Constant.”
Is it just me, or did Michael Emerson totally steal this episode from Elizabeth Mitchell? His performance in both the flashback and his “manipulation of the week” scene with Locke were outstanding. I was fascinated by the lovesick version of Ben. He was almost sweet there for a minute. Also, his casual greeting to Hurley and Sawyer at the end of the episode was too funny for words.
- Goodwin’s wife was named Harper Stanhope. Stanhopea is a genus of the orchid family. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have said in several interviews and podcasts that the Orchid station film includes important clues about the island and time travel (Lostpedia has more on the Orchid orientation film).
- Harper told Juliet that Ben was right where he wanted to be. That’s exactly the same thing that Miles told Kate in “Eggtown.” Great minds think alike.
- I’m sure most of you are already familiar with Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Someone posted an interesting theory about the play’s connections to Lost on Lostpedia.
- Does Ben like Juliet because she resembles his mother, or does she look like someone we haven’t met yet?
- My favorite line of the episode: “This didn’t have a number on it, did it?” –Ben, on his rabbit meal.
- A close second: “It’s very stressful being an Other, Jack.” –Juliet, on why she needed therapy.
Next week–Sun’s pregnancy dilemma, more of Desmond and Sayid on the freighter, and “a face you never expected to see again.” If one more “original” person guesses that it’s Michael, I’m going to lose it. In the meantime, check out additional Lost coverage at AOL.
Dakota Fanning Biography
Evoking public amazement with her incredible acting skills, Hannah Dakota Fanning has truly established herself as the most popular child actress in the Hollywood film industry. Four awards and seven nominations she had received so far have proven that she is indeed worthy to deserve the title. It is likely because of her immense love to acting that she is always able to give brilliant performances in each movie she starred in. This infatuation has grown at her very young age, looking upon her interest to conduct some role-plays repeatedly at home. “I’ve always played the mom and I play my sister as the daughter,†she admitted. “I wanted to be an actress on television and movies instead of just around the house.â€
Realizing Dakota’s enthusiasm to act, her parents, Steve and Joy Fanning, brought her to a playhouse near their residence where she could perform every week with other children in front of the parents. The playhouse’s instructors quickly spotted her talent, thus advised her parents to put her in an agency. The agent later suggested the family to look for an opportunity in L.A. to develop Dakota’s potentiality. A promising chance approached in 1999 as this charming little girl surprisingly was selected out of thousands to be in Tide dishwashing liquid commercial. Born on February 23, 1994 in Conyers, Georgia, she was barely five years old at that time. By the following year, she had performed in an episode of the notable TV series, such as “ERâ€, “Ally McBealâ€, and “CSI.â€
In order to support Dakota’s career, Steve and Joy decided to settle in Los Angeles while also signed her with a professional agency. In 2001, she made her big screen debut in a comedy flick entitled “Tomcats†(2001). However, it was through “I am Sam†(2001) that she successfully drew public attention with her magnificent acting. Portraying the daughter of a mentally retarded man played by Sean Penn, she received positive responses from both critics and the audience. Furthermore, this led her to gain a nomination of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role at Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2002. It created sensation for the eight-years-old actress became the youngest person to obtain such achievement.
This early attainment undoubtedly boosted Dakota’s career as she was involved in more film projects in 2002. She appeared in “Trappedâ€, alongside Charlize Theron and Kevin Bacon, then starred in a romantic comedy movie, “Sweet Home Alabama†which was one of the box-office hits of the year. Her star shone more radiantly when she was included in the cast of “Taken,†a TV mini-series created by the prominent director of Hollywood, Steven Spielberg. She afterwards showed up in “Dr.Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat†and “Uptown Girl†in the following year. Brittany Murphy, her co-star in the latter one, genuinely gave a high praise toward her. “…Extremely wise, and so bright, sharp, and intelligent. She’s just one of the greatest, most balanced, grounded humans I’ve ever met in my entire life.â€
Dakota once more received critical acclaim for her role in Tony Scott’s “Man on Fire†(2004). She made an excellent performance as Pita Ramos, a rich girl who is abducted and later is saved by a retired assassin worked as her bodyguard played by Denzel Washington. She continued to exhibit her top-notch acting consistently in “Hide and Seek†(2005) as well as in the summer blockbuster movie of Spielberg entitled “War of the World†(2005). Her other film projects in 2005 were “Nine Lives” and “Dreamer,†together with Kurt Russell, Elisabeth Shue, and Kris Kristofferson. In addition, she also contributed her sweet voice to both “My Neighbor Totoro†(2005) and “Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch†(2005). By 2006, she would come up with “Charlotte’s Web†and a remake of Lewis Carroll’s classic story, “Alice in Wonderland.â€
Getting extremely busy with her activities in acting does not cause Dakota abandoned her study. Being home-schooled, she always has her tutor around in all the film sets she starred so that she could learn everything she needs to know. “Acting is what I love to do,†she commented. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I don’t think of it as work. It’s really fun for me. And home-schooling works out perfectly.â€