With this being a special election issue of HP, what better way to kick off Caught In The Net this fortnight than with a tribute to our glorious leader.
Ruairi Quinn may have been peeved at Tony Blair’s invitation to Bertie to address the British parliament in the middle of an election campaign, but the balance is redressed somewhat by the video viewable at www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLSTesNHDNs.
Soundtracked by Wir Sind Helden’s splendid electro pop number ‘Guten Tag’, the video superimposes Bert’s smiling mug onto a remarkable variety of characters, including Michael Douglas in Falling Down, David Bowie in Labyrinth and Jackie Gleason in Smokey And The Bandit.
This heartfelt panegyric was posted in reply to an hilarious clip of Bertie discussing the US use of Shannon (www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrmbojN3lbU), where, in a classic piece of Bert-speak, he tells reporters that “to be sure to be sure,” he looked at the “great” President Bush and asked for assurances that there were no CIA renditions taking place in Shannon. “Couldn’t do any more than dat,” concludes Bert, before scrunching his face into an expression that indicates he is acutely aware of how much of an eejit he sounds.
One of the finest US comedians to emerge in recent years is Stephen Colbert, whose acidic take on pompous newscasters is a joy to behold. Following his legendary savaging of President Bush at the White House Press Correspondents Dinner (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRn_nzfYtz8), Colbert earlier this year appeared on the show he takes as his creative inspiration, The O’Reilly Factor, for a tete-a-tete with everyone’s favourite right wing (knee) jerk, Bill O’Reilly.
It goes without saying that as a clash of wits, this is a colossal mismatch, with Colbert taking visible relish in tearing the show to shreds. He achieves this by the simple-but-clever tactic of refusing to come out of character, no matter how great the provocation from O’Reilly, who is eventually reduced to screaming at Colbert about why he doesn’t use the Irish pronunciation of his surname.
Colbert’s reply? “Bill, you know what really annoys me about people who criticise you? They criticise what you say, but they never give you credit for how loud you say it.” Game, set and match. The full clip is viewable at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJvY_RftA4I.
With the recent release of the box set Not Just The Best Of The Larry Sanders Show, Caught In The Net was intrigued to come across a clip of the great Rip Torn (who played formidable producer Artie in the brilliant HBO series) engaging in – we kid you not – a full-on scrap with distinguished man of letters Norman Mailer. The outtake from Mailer’s experimental early ’70s movie Maidstone sees Torn accidentally catch the author on the head with a hammer during a scene. An outraged Mailer retaliates by getting Torn in a headlock, before biting a chunk out of the actor’s ear. You can view the footage at www.ifilm.com/video/2815238.
All of which just leaves time for quick visits to www.hbo.com/sopranos/ (get the lowdown on – sob – the final episodes of The Sopranos), (online home of gifted American impressionist) and www.southlandtales.com (eerie website for Southland Tales, Richard Kelly’s long awaited follow-up to Donnie Darko).