“Professional Starfucker:”
Low Culture referrs to James Liption, host of Inside the Actor’s Studio as a “Professonal Starfucker” and that may not be far from the truth when you consider the pathetically lightweight list of guests on this upcoming season. Naomi Watts? Jay Leno?
I must have been the only person stupid enough to think that ITAS had some measure of credibility in mind when it hit the air, something to do with discussing acting as an art instead of a career choice for blandly beautiful people who want to wear designer clothes and make out with each other. That sounds less like a job than senior year at Beverly Hills High School. But I was wrong wrong wrong. Lipton aparently gave up that pretense long ago (the first season included guests like Ellen Barkin and Stockard Channing whose public personnas are about being good actors, not about sitting next to Kid Rock at the MTV Movie Awards) and has contented himself with spending pointless hours worshiping the creative souls of the likes of Pierce Bronson (I wouldn’t call Remington Steele and James Bond acting. I’d call it looking good in a suit) which only he can see. And after a perfunctory nod at Phillip Seymour Hoffman, the show has blatantly overlooked young talent like Lily Taylor, Steve Buscemi and Michael Rappaport, old lions of the craft like Ossie Davis and Jason Robards and has booked precious few actors of color that haven’t wielded a gun in a summer blockbuster (no Angela Bassett, Ruby Dee or Cicely Tyson is an abomination).
Let’s please cut the crap and stop calling this prgram Inside the Actor’s Studio when it’s obvious what it really is: The Tonight Show with low lighting, an hour of Starfucking with lamely manipulative foreplay (link via Gawker).
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Um, you mean Pierce Brosnan. I think you might have been thinking of Charles Bronson, the action actor who passed away last summer.
The last episode of ITAS I caught was with Russell Crowe, and the whole thing struck me as odd. The questions weren’t strung together very well, and Crowe rarely looked up whenever he answered a question, mostly staring down at his feet. Very odd.
Um, you mean Pierce Brosnan. I think you might have been thinking of Charles Bronson, the action actor who passed away last summer.
The last episode of ITAS I caught was with Russell Crowe, and the whole thing struck me as odd. The questions weren’t strung together very well, and Crowe rarely looked up whenever he answered a question, mostly staring down at his feet. Very odd.
I mean Pierce, actually. It was on right before Die Another Day in a shameless, empty bit of promotion.
I mean Pierce, actually. It was on right before Die Another Day in a shameless, empty bit of promotion.
I have to agree with your assessment of INSIDE THE ACTOR’S STUDIO. It’s turned into a quick biography of someone’s movie career. He says the film, the audience claps, and they talk for ten seconds about it, and move on. Hardly any talking about craft (except for the obligatory “how important is listening?”)
anymore. He NEVER talks about why certain roles failed. The show has turned into a stop for actors to plug their new movies, which is why Naomi Watts and others who have very small resumes are on the show.
If you want to hear some good pointers from a master, listen to the commentary on the Something’s Gotta Give Dvd with Jack Nicholson. It is what ITAS seemed to aspire to be, a show about acting. Not an ass-kissing fest.
Bob Costas kicks James Lipton’s butt when talking to actors.
On his old show LATER and his new show on HBO.
I have to agree with your assessment of INSIDE THE ACTOR’S STUDIO. It’s turned into a quick biography of someone’s movie career. He says the film, the audience claps, and they talk for ten seconds about it, and move on. Hardly any talking about craft (except for the obligatory “how important is listening?”)
anymore. He NEVER talks about why certain roles failed. The show has turned into a stop for actors to plug their new movies, which is why Naomi Watts and others who have very small resumes are on the show.
If you want to hear some good pointers from a master, listen to the commentary on the Something’s Gotta Give Dvd with Jack Nicholson. It is what ITAS seemed to aspire to be, a show about acting. Not an ass-kissing fest.
Bob Costas kicks James Lipton’s butt when talking to actors.
On his old show LATER and his new show on HBO.
Naomi Watts may have a small resume but it’s one insanely powerful one.
Naomi Watts may have a small resume but it’s one insanely powerful one.
Powerful how?
Powerful how?
Oh god. Next thing, he’ll probably get Sofia Coppola on to discuss the intricate art of pitching movies to daddy, and winning an oscar for a film with no plot and really shitty acting. I stopped watching years ago. You should, too.
Oh god. Next thing, he’ll probably get Sofia Coppola on to discuss the intricate art of pitching movies to daddy, and winning an oscar for a film with no plot and really shitty acting. I stopped watching years ago. You should, too.