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American Morning
90-Second Pop, Culture Watch
Aired December 18, 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Once again, it's time for "90- Second Pop," a lightning-fast look at the world of pop culture with our distinguished panel today. Drum roll please. Humorist Andy Borowitz is joining us this morning.
Good morning, Andy.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: AP entertainment reporter Christy Lemire is with us this morning.
Good morning, Christy.
CHRISTY LEMIRE, AP ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Hi.
O'BRIEN: And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
Good morning. Nice to have you all.
Let's get right to the Golden Globes, because really we're less than an hour away from the official announcement, where they announce the nominations. So, give me your take, B.J., on who do you think is going to really clean this up year.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": Well, first you're going to see "Lord of the Rings" nominated for best picture, of course. And this is going to be the first big announcement, and you're gong to see Oscar follow suit on "Lord of the Rings."
But the Golden Globes are more about acting, so you're going to see "Cold Mountain," of course, get nominations for Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Reese Witherspoon. "Mystic River" is going to get nominations for Sean Penn and Tim Robbins.
And then in the comedic category, don't forget, they can nominate twice as many people because they do drama and comedy. You're going to see Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson get nominated probably for "Something's Got to Give."
O'BRIEN: Bill Murray, do you think?
SIGESMUND: Bill Murray I think for "Lost in Translation." And they often throw in a couple of wild cards, so you might see even Jamie Lee Curtis nominated for "Freaky Friday," which made $100 million. LEMIRE: I think she, for sure, would be nominated, because she's great in this role and it's so funny. I think also I liked Billy Bob Thornton in "Bad Santa." I'm sorry. Maybe he'll get nominated for comedy, you know.
BOROWITZ: Well, it's the Hollywood foreign press association. There are always some surprises. This year they're talking about a lifetime achievement award for David Hasselhoff, because I think that's a long time in coming.
O'BRIEN: Hey, you know what?
LEMIRE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Germany.
BOROWITZ: Well, this is his year.
O'BRIEN: And, you know, awards are nice, and he's a fine actor, why not?
BOROWITZ: Why not?
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some of the movies that have opened. "Lord of the Rings" we've been talking about, which has done really, really well. It opened yesterday. But "Mona Lisa Smile"...
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... I know the guy who wrote that, so really this breaks my heart a little bit.
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And don't feel that you have to censor yourselves.
LEMIRE: Oh, we won't.
O'BRIEN: That's why I like you, Christy. She's like, oh, no, I'm not going to censor myself.
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Why didn't you love it?
LEMIRE: I just think it's really archaic and just totally irrelevant and pointless. The whole point of it is...
O'BRIEN: Oh, like movies out there aren't irrelevant and pointless today.
LEMIRE: No!
SIGESMUND: It wants to be relevant.
LEMIRE: Yes, yes.
SIGESMUND: That's Christy's point. O'BRIEN: What's it about?
LEMIRE: It's trying to say, oh, being a housewife is bad and thinking for yourself is good. And I think, well, duh, yes, of course, thinking for yourself is good. And the actresses are all really good in it. They do the best they can. It's really cliched material.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: It's exactly what you think it's going to be from the trailer. Don't expect any surprises, total paint-by-numbers filmmaking. Actually, Julia Roberts is maybe the weakest link in this film. The other three actresses...
O'BRIEN: Acting-wise, do you think?
SIGESMUND: She's not that challenged in this role. She could do it in her sleep.
LEMIRE: She's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) anachronism. Yes, why is she even there?
BOROWITZ: Yes, just from a male perspective, the movie poster for "Mona Lisa Smile" is maybe the most terrifying movie poster I've ever seen.
O'BRIEN: Five women's heads are lined up.
BOROWITZ: Yes. I mean this is like -- this is like...
SIGESMUND: It's torture for Andy.
BOROWITZ: Oh, it's such -- it's like a chick flick, you know, an extreme chick flick, you know, so...
SIGESMUND: Although Julia doesn't want it to be called a chick flick. She resents that.
BOROWITZ: Well, sorry.
O'BRIEN: Well, who does? I mean, no one ever wants it to be called...
LEMIRE: No doubt, no.
O'BRIEN: Every single person I've ever interviewed about their chick flick, it's like, oh, don't call it a chick flick.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: No, if your girlfriend makes you go see "Mona Lisa Smile," that's like worth nine films with Vin Diesel (ph) and the Rock. I mean clearly...
O'BRIEN: The man I love (UNINTELLIGIBLE). BOROWITZ: Yes, right.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about pop and politics. Madonna has come out strong for General Wesley Clark.
BOROWITZ: For Wesley Clark.
O'BRIEN: Listening to her announcement -- or her interview, where she sort of listed the reasons why, I have to say I'm not sure my dad would say, well, now I know who to vote for in the upcoming election.
BOROWITZ: Well, this was a big week for Wesley Clark, because, you know, Milosevic and Madonna in the same week is kind of a big thing. But I don't know -- you know, I don't think that I personally would take my political cues from Madonna. I'm really waiting to see who Kelly Clarkson comes out for, because she's really the one -- I...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Do you think those celebrity endorsements really help like that?
SIGESMUND: I think they do help. I think that they get more people talking about certain candidates. What I thought was interesting about this is Howard Dean is clearly the front runner for the Democrats, and for Madonna to endorse Clark is interesting. She doesn't like to be associated with losers.
BOROWITZ: Right.
SIGESMUND: You know, this is not a Madonna thing. She -- any time any friend of hers is in a bad way...
O'BRIEN: Maybe she thinks he's going to be the winner in the end.
LEMIRE: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: There's a thought. We're out of time, you guys. But, as always, thank you so much. Nice to see you.
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 18, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Once again, it's time for "90- Second Pop," a lightning-fast look at the world of pop culture with our distinguished panel today. Drum roll please. Humorist Andy Borowitz is joining us this morning.
Good morning, Andy.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: AP entertainment reporter Christy Lemire is with us this morning.
Good morning, Christy.
CHRISTY LEMIRE, AP ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Hi.
O'BRIEN: And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
Good morning. Nice to have you all.
Let's get right to the Golden Globes, because really we're less than an hour away from the official announcement, where they announce the nominations. So, give me your take, B.J., on who do you think is going to really clean this up year.
B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": Well, first you're going to see "Lord of the Rings" nominated for best picture, of course. And this is going to be the first big announcement, and you're gong to see Oscar follow suit on "Lord of the Rings."
But the Golden Globes are more about acting, so you're going to see "Cold Mountain," of course, get nominations for Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Reese Witherspoon. "Mystic River" is going to get nominations for Sean Penn and Tim Robbins.
And then in the comedic category, don't forget, they can nominate twice as many people because they do drama and comedy. You're going to see Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson get nominated probably for "Something's Got to Give."
O'BRIEN: Bill Murray, do you think?
SIGESMUND: Bill Murray I think for "Lost in Translation." And they often throw in a couple of wild cards, so you might see even Jamie Lee Curtis nominated for "Freaky Friday," which made $100 million. LEMIRE: I think she, for sure, would be nominated, because she's great in this role and it's so funny. I think also I liked Billy Bob Thornton in "Bad Santa." I'm sorry. Maybe he'll get nominated for comedy, you know.
BOROWITZ: Well, it's the Hollywood foreign press association. There are always some surprises. This year they're talking about a lifetime achievement award for David Hasselhoff, because I think that's a long time in coming.
O'BRIEN: Hey, you know what?
LEMIRE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in Germany.
BOROWITZ: Well, this is his year.
O'BRIEN: And, you know, awards are nice, and he's a fine actor, why not?
BOROWITZ: Why not?
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some of the movies that have opened. "Lord of the Rings" we've been talking about, which has done really, really well. It opened yesterday. But "Mona Lisa Smile"...
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... I know the guy who wrote that, so really this breaks my heart a little bit.
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And don't feel that you have to censor yourselves.
LEMIRE: Oh, we won't.
O'BRIEN: That's why I like you, Christy. She's like, oh, no, I'm not going to censor myself.
LEMIRE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Why didn't you love it?
LEMIRE: I just think it's really archaic and just totally irrelevant and pointless. The whole point of it is...
O'BRIEN: Oh, like movies out there aren't irrelevant and pointless today.
LEMIRE: No!
SIGESMUND: It wants to be relevant.
LEMIRE: Yes, yes.
SIGESMUND: That's Christy's point. O'BRIEN: What's it about?
LEMIRE: It's trying to say, oh, being a housewife is bad and thinking for yourself is good. And I think, well, duh, yes, of course, thinking for yourself is good. And the actresses are all really good in it. They do the best they can. It's really cliched material.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: It's exactly what you think it's going to be from the trailer. Don't expect any surprises, total paint-by-numbers filmmaking. Actually, Julia Roberts is maybe the weakest link in this film. The other three actresses...
O'BRIEN: Acting-wise, do you think?
SIGESMUND: She's not that challenged in this role. She could do it in her sleep.
LEMIRE: She's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) anachronism. Yes, why is she even there?
BOROWITZ: Yes, just from a male perspective, the movie poster for "Mona Lisa Smile" is maybe the most terrifying movie poster I've ever seen.
O'BRIEN: Five women's heads are lined up.
BOROWITZ: Yes. I mean this is like -- this is like...
SIGESMUND: It's torture for Andy.
BOROWITZ: Oh, it's such -- it's like a chick flick, you know, an extreme chick flick, you know, so...
SIGESMUND: Although Julia doesn't want it to be called a chick flick. She resents that.
BOROWITZ: Well, sorry.
O'BRIEN: Well, who does? I mean, no one ever wants it to be called...
LEMIRE: No doubt, no.
O'BRIEN: Every single person I've ever interviewed about their chick flick, it's like, oh, don't call it a chick flick.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: No, if your girlfriend makes you go see "Mona Lisa Smile," that's like worth nine films with Vin Diesel (ph) and the Rock. I mean clearly...
O'BRIEN: The man I love (UNINTELLIGIBLE). BOROWITZ: Yes, right.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about pop and politics. Madonna has come out strong for General Wesley Clark.
BOROWITZ: For Wesley Clark.
O'BRIEN: Listening to her announcement -- or her interview, where she sort of listed the reasons why, I have to say I'm not sure my dad would say, well, now I know who to vote for in the upcoming election.
BOROWITZ: Well, this was a big week for Wesley Clark, because, you know, Milosevic and Madonna in the same week is kind of a big thing. But I don't know -- you know, I don't think that I personally would take my political cues from Madonna. I'm really waiting to see who Kelly Clarkson comes out for, because she's really the one -- I...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Do you think those celebrity endorsements really help like that?
SIGESMUND: I think they do help. I think that they get more people talking about certain candidates. What I thought was interesting about this is Howard Dean is clearly the front runner for the Democrats, and for Madonna to endorse Clark is interesting. She doesn't like to be associated with losers.
BOROWITZ: Right.
SIGESMUND: You know, this is not a Madonna thing. She -- any time any friend of hers is in a bad way...
O'BRIEN: Maybe she thinks he's going to be the winner in the end.
LEMIRE: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: There's a thought. We're out of time, you guys. But, as always, thank you so much. Nice to see you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
