Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
90-Second Pop, Culture Watch
Aired December 08, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: On a Monday morning, "90-Second Pop," our lightning-fast look at pop culture, a lot of topics to tick through today.
Toure is back with us, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone." Nice to see you survive the snow.
TOURE, "ROLLING STONE": Thank you.
HEMMER: Good morning.
Lola Ogunnaike, a "New York Times" reporter. Nice to see you, Lola. Welcome back.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Thank you.
HEMMER: B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly." How are you doing?
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": Great, Bill.
HEMMER: All right. Frosty the snowman is going to get a little dirty a little later today in the city.
"SNL," Paris Hilton makes a cameo. Take a quick listen to what happened with Jimmy Fallon on "Saturday Night Live."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "Saturday Night Live")
JIMMY FALLON, ACTOR: We just want to find out about you, Paris Hilton. OK. So, your family -- I don't know if a lot of people know -- the Hiltons own hotels all over the world, right?
PARIS HILTON, SOCIALITE: Yes, in New York, London, Paris.
FALLON: Oh, wait. So, there actually is a Paris Hilton?
HILTON: Yes, there is.
FALLON: Is it hard to get into the Paris Hilton?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Not much of a hidden meaning in that dialogue, did you think?
OGUNNAIKE The double (UNINTELLIGIBLE) were everywhere during that whole sketch, and I really thought that it was smart for Paris Hilton to get up there and sort of have fun with this whole scandal.
HEMMER: You thought it was smart.
OGUNNAIKE: Yes...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Well, for a week she's been apologizing to her family and her friends for that sex videotape being on the Internet.
TOURE: Yes...
OGUNNAIKE: Yes, but it happened, and now she's poking fun at herself.
SIGESMUND: Right.
OGUNNAIKE And it's like I'm going to have fun with this. I've cried.
TOURE: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: I've shed the tears.
TOURE: It was smart and above it all.
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
TOURE: Hey, you know, it's fun. You guys laugh at it. Go ahead, no problem.
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
SIGESMUND: Yes. "Saturday Night Live" gives celebrities something that they can't get anywhere else, which is an opportunity to make fun of themselves.
OGUNNAIKE : Yes.
SIGESMUND: This is up there with Ben Affleck reading bad reviews of "Gigli" to J. Lo.
TOURE: Right.
HEMMER: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: Yes.
TOURE: This is what Jessica Simpson is doing now as well. She made a fool of herself, and now she makes fun of it and you laugh with her.
HEMMER: True. Did you think that scene was clever, though?
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
HEMMER: Wasn't it a little bit (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: It was funny. It was funny.
OGUNNAIKE: It was funny.
TOURE: It was funny.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: You guys, what, you're drinking all the Kool-Aid, aren't you? All three of you together.
OGUNNAIKE: Well, even I enjoyed it.
HEMMER: What did you think of Al Sharpton? We've got a cameo from him, and I guess -- well, used in almost every skit on "Saturday Night Live."
OGUNNAIKE : He should stick to politics. I think he performs better in debates than he does on screen. He didn't do so well.
TOURE: But it was excellent for a politician to go on the show, because they've had a number of New York City mayors and Al Gore, and he was far more interesting than all of them.
SIGESMUND: I'm waiting for the Howard Dean "SNL."
OGUNNAIKE: But, Toure, you guys, he was flubbing lines. He was staring at the teleprompter the entire time. It was painful.
HEMMER: Painful?
OGUNNAIKE: Yes, it was painful.
TOURE: Painful, wow!
OGUNNAIKE: You know, I felt sorry for him.
HEMMER: Let's move...
OGUNNAIKE: I really wanted them to pull the plug.
HEMMER: Let's talk about HBO and...
TOURE: Wow! Talk about good talent.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
HEMMER: You think this is revolutionary. Why?
TOURE: I mean -- well, I mean, I remember the mid '80s when these people were thought to be like pariahs, you know. And, like, even now, the gay marriages, you people are like, no, no, don't give them the dignity they deserve. This show took so much grace and beauty...
HEMMER: Let me stop you a second. "Angels in America," a great cast, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Al Pacino.
TOURE: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: Oh, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: What's the basic plot?
TOURE: The basic plot is people struggling with AIDS in the mid- '80s, that 1984-1985 early period. We didn't know what the disease was. It seemed like the new plague. And they have so much dignity while they're dying. Roy Cone (ph), Al Pacino stars in it -- I mean, just amazing.
OGUNNAIKE: It's riveting television.
SIGESMUND: Yes, the thing about is it took the show, the theater -- I saw it 10 years ago when it was on Broadway. And translated it to television amazingly without being pretentious, without being hokey. It was tough to watch. I had to pause my TiVo about two hours through it just to take a break, because it was so disturbing. And it was really...
HEMMER: Really? You thought so?
SIGESMUND: Yes, it's tough to watch, but it's on HBO all week, and you can catch it again, and it's definitely worth seeing.
HEMMER: Lola?
OGUNNAIKE: But there are moments of levity, so you're not just sitting there in tears the whole time. You do laugh as loudly as you do cry. So, it's worth seeing.
HEMMER: It's described as controversial and ambitious. And I think you could see it in the production value, too, last night on HBO.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: I also looked at how Meryl Streep has four parts in this. She plays a rabbi.
OGUNNAIKE: But she plays a man.
SIGESMUND: She plays an angel. She plays the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg.
TOURE: Did you see Emma Thompson as the little homeless person?
OGUNNAIKE: And Emma Thompson has three roles, too. Yes, it's like...
TOURE: And Jeffrey Rice playing double duty. There are a lot of little jokes going on.
HEMMER: Quickly, let's get to the box office. Tom Cruise and "Samurai" over the weekend -- 24 million, a pretty good take.
SIGESMUND: Yes, not bad.
HEMMER: You didn't like it, though.
SIGESMUND: Yes, I didn't really care for it. It's getting mixed reviews. This is traditionally, Bill, one of the worst weekends of the year at the box office. The weekend after Thanksgiving is always really bad. But this movie managed to make a lot of money, even with all of storms through the Northeast.
HEMMER: So, that would be a pretty good take, then, 24 or 25 million?
SIGESMUND: Yes, I think we need to see one more weekend of this movie to see its actual trajectory, to know exactly how well it's going...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Some producers are saying they could have topped 29 million had you not had the snowstorm in the Northeast. It kept a lot of folks inside.
TOURE: Yes, but hopefully we won't have the whole Oscar buzz thing with this...
HEMMER: Yes.
TOURE: ... because he's not going to deserve it. Can't we just move on?
HEMMER: What, speaking Japanese, wearing a kimono doesn't qualify?
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Give it to Uma Thurman if you're going to give it to him.
OGUNNAIKE: Yes. His co-star, Ken Watanabe, does deserve an Oscar nomination, I think, because he was amazing. And I think he walked away with the film.
SIGESMUND: Yes, this is one of those movies that's going to spike again once the Oscar nominations come out.
HEMMER: OK, we'll see. Thanks, guys. All three of you today, huh, in complete agreement. Good to see you, B.J., Lola, Toure, we'll talk again.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 8, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: On a Monday morning, "90-Second Pop," our lightning-fast look at pop culture, a lot of topics to tick through today.
Toure is back with us, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone." Nice to see you survive the snow.
TOURE, "ROLLING STONE": Thank you.
HEMMER: Good morning.
Lola Ogunnaike, a "New York Times" reporter. Nice to see you, Lola. Welcome back.
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Thank you.
HEMMER: B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly." How are you doing?
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": Great, Bill.
HEMMER: All right. Frosty the snowman is going to get a little dirty a little later today in the city.
"SNL," Paris Hilton makes a cameo. Take a quick listen to what happened with Jimmy Fallon on "Saturday Night Live."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "Saturday Night Live")
JIMMY FALLON, ACTOR: We just want to find out about you, Paris Hilton. OK. So, your family -- I don't know if a lot of people know -- the Hiltons own hotels all over the world, right?
PARIS HILTON, SOCIALITE: Yes, in New York, London, Paris.
FALLON: Oh, wait. So, there actually is a Paris Hilton?
HILTON: Yes, there is.
FALLON: Is it hard to get into the Paris Hilton?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Not much of a hidden meaning in that dialogue, did you think?
OGUNNAIKE The double (UNINTELLIGIBLE) were everywhere during that whole sketch, and I really thought that it was smart for Paris Hilton to get up there and sort of have fun with this whole scandal.
HEMMER: You thought it was smart.
OGUNNAIKE: Yes...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Well, for a week she's been apologizing to her family and her friends for that sex videotape being on the Internet.
TOURE: Yes...
OGUNNAIKE: Yes, but it happened, and now she's poking fun at herself.
SIGESMUND: Right.
OGUNNAIKE And it's like I'm going to have fun with this. I've cried.
TOURE: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: I've shed the tears.
TOURE: It was smart and above it all.
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
TOURE: Hey, you know, it's fun. You guys laugh at it. Go ahead, no problem.
OGUNNAIKE: Right.
SIGESMUND: Yes. "Saturday Night Live" gives celebrities something that they can't get anywhere else, which is an opportunity to make fun of themselves.
OGUNNAIKE : Yes.
SIGESMUND: This is up there with Ben Affleck reading bad reviews of "Gigli" to J. Lo.
TOURE: Right.
HEMMER: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: Yes.
TOURE: This is what Jessica Simpson is doing now as well. She made a fool of herself, and now she makes fun of it and you laugh with her.
HEMMER: True. Did you think that scene was clever, though?
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
HEMMER: Wasn't it a little bit (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: It was funny. It was funny.
OGUNNAIKE: It was funny.
TOURE: It was funny.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: You guys, what, you're drinking all the Kool-Aid, aren't you? All three of you together.
OGUNNAIKE: Well, even I enjoyed it.
HEMMER: What did you think of Al Sharpton? We've got a cameo from him, and I guess -- well, used in almost every skit on "Saturday Night Live."
OGUNNAIKE : He should stick to politics. I think he performs better in debates than he does on screen. He didn't do so well.
TOURE: But it was excellent for a politician to go on the show, because they've had a number of New York City mayors and Al Gore, and he was far more interesting than all of them.
SIGESMUND: I'm waiting for the Howard Dean "SNL."
OGUNNAIKE: But, Toure, you guys, he was flubbing lines. He was staring at the teleprompter the entire time. It was painful.
HEMMER: Painful?
OGUNNAIKE: Yes, it was painful.
TOURE: Painful, wow!
OGUNNAIKE: You know, I felt sorry for him.
HEMMER: Let's move...
OGUNNAIKE: I really wanted them to pull the plug.
HEMMER: Let's talk about HBO and...
TOURE: Wow! Talk about good talent.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
HEMMER: You think this is revolutionary. Why?
TOURE: I mean -- well, I mean, I remember the mid '80s when these people were thought to be like pariahs, you know. And, like, even now, the gay marriages, you people are like, no, no, don't give them the dignity they deserve. This show took so much grace and beauty...
HEMMER: Let me stop you a second. "Angels in America," a great cast, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Al Pacino.
TOURE: Yes.
OGUNNAIKE: Oh, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: What's the basic plot?
TOURE: The basic plot is people struggling with AIDS in the mid- '80s, that 1984-1985 early period. We didn't know what the disease was. It seemed like the new plague. And they have so much dignity while they're dying. Roy Cone (ph), Al Pacino stars in it -- I mean, just amazing.
OGUNNAIKE: It's riveting television.
SIGESMUND: Yes, the thing about is it took the show, the theater -- I saw it 10 years ago when it was on Broadway. And translated it to television amazingly without being pretentious, without being hokey. It was tough to watch. I had to pause my TiVo about two hours through it just to take a break, because it was so disturbing. And it was really...
HEMMER: Really? You thought so?
SIGESMUND: Yes, it's tough to watch, but it's on HBO all week, and you can catch it again, and it's definitely worth seeing.
HEMMER: Lola?
OGUNNAIKE: But there are moments of levity, so you're not just sitting there in tears the whole time. You do laugh as loudly as you do cry. So, it's worth seeing.
HEMMER: It's described as controversial and ambitious. And I think you could see it in the production value, too, last night on HBO.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: I also looked at how Meryl Streep has four parts in this. She plays a rabbi.
OGUNNAIKE: But she plays a man.
SIGESMUND: She plays an angel. She plays the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg.
TOURE: Did you see Emma Thompson as the little homeless person?
OGUNNAIKE: And Emma Thompson has three roles, too. Yes, it's like...
TOURE: And Jeffrey Rice playing double duty. There are a lot of little jokes going on.
HEMMER: Quickly, let's get to the box office. Tom Cruise and "Samurai" over the weekend -- 24 million, a pretty good take.
SIGESMUND: Yes, not bad.
HEMMER: You didn't like it, though.
SIGESMUND: Yes, I didn't really care for it. It's getting mixed reviews. This is traditionally, Bill, one of the worst weekends of the year at the box office. The weekend after Thanksgiving is always really bad. But this movie managed to make a lot of money, even with all of storms through the Northeast.
HEMMER: So, that would be a pretty good take, then, 24 or 25 million?
SIGESMUND: Yes, I think we need to see one more weekend of this movie to see its actual trajectory, to know exactly how well it's going...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Some producers are saying they could have topped 29 million had you not had the snowstorm in the Northeast. It kept a lot of folks inside.
TOURE: Yes, but hopefully we won't have the whole Oscar buzz thing with this...
HEMMER: Yes.
TOURE: ... because he's not going to deserve it. Can't we just move on?
HEMMER: What, speaking Japanese, wearing a kimono doesn't qualify?
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Give it to Uma Thurman if you're going to give it to him.
OGUNNAIKE: Yes. His co-star, Ken Watanabe, does deserve an Oscar nomination, I think, because he was amazing. And I think he walked away with the film.
SIGESMUND: Yes, this is one of those movies that's going to spike again once the Oscar nominations come out.
HEMMER: OK, we'll see. Thanks, guys. All three of you today, huh, in complete agreement. Good to see you, B.J., Lola, Toure, we'll talk again.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
