Thu, April 1, 2004
It's funny because it's true—3:25 PM
CNN Red-Faced Over Letterman Error [AP]
Being a tad behind on my TiVo, I actually heard about this first from Janeane Garofalo's new radio show "The Majority Report" last night. Then I went home and watched the two Letterman clips, and it couldn't be more obvious that the clip is genuine. Besides, if you know anything about Dave's style, when he edits a clip for humorous effect he goes out of his way to make it very obvious that it's edited. (For example, when Mel Gibson exploded Diane Sawyer, or the recent feature "Late Show Editing Fun" in which speeches are chopped up out of order – with obvious jump cuts – in order to make public figures say silly things.) It would completely defeat the purpose if Dave were to edit the clips with an eye toward realism. Preposterous!
And here's my favorite part: in her apology for the error, Daryn Kagan (Is there a more perfect ready-made name for one of CNN's current bevy of brunette-means-business anchorwomen – with their alluring-yet-staid burgundy lipstick, razor-sharp jawlines, and ultimately empty braincases? I submit that there is not!) reportedly "offered to come on [Letterman's show] for a Stupid Human Trick." Aw, see! We should forgive CNN for the fact that their level of White House ass-kissing has reached a point that they're now fabricating denials on behalf of the administration without any prompting from the Bushies, because they were able to look up a trite Letterman reference and make it appear like one of their anchors has watched his show!
Also awful: Disney still shows signs of moving forward with Toy Story 3 on their own.
Disney studio chief... [Reuters]
Particularly galling: "Disney's sequel to its own hit 'The Lion King' went straight to video and DVD this year [...] but Cook said the 'Toy Story' sequel was worth a bigger release." I think the Toy Story films are spectacular, whether or not I'm right that they can't be done properly without Pixar. And I do think they deserve a theatrical release. But to single them out that way makes it seem like The Lion King or Bambi are lesser films – both are classics and releasing cheap knock-off DVD sequels degrades the integrity of the original. Instead of specifically ushering Toy Story 3 into theatres, Disney should stop the practice of devouring their archives for home video fodder. If it isn't worth the investment of a theatrical release, then don't make a sequel of it! (It's also typical Richard Reid-style specious logic to be shutting down hand-drawn animation and investing only in CGI because Brother Bear was a dud and Finding Nemo did well. Finding Nemo was awesome, and it was created the right way by smart people. The people of Pixar make the difference, not the technology.) Stupid Disney!
