Ms. Darby

I have been on the Daily Show’s teat, so to speak, for 11 years now. Yeah, I feel special because I have been watching it for a long time. I admit it. It is one of the few things that helps reinforce the reality that millions of people “get it,” which is hard to come by in small town South Carolina. But what intrigues me the most; not even intrigues, but rather, mystifies me, are the interviews.

How in the hell do they get the interviews?

Tonight, Steven Colbair, formerly of The Daily Show, interviewed this robust white guy. In the midst of the interview, he says: “So, you’re a member of the NAACP and of NOW. So, are you an African American, or are you an African American woman?”

The guy is befuddled. HOW do they get past these people. Seriously. How do they schedule the interviews without the gatekeeper figuring out that the interview is full satire? Are the interviewees along for the ride? It doesn’t ever seem to me that they are, but the joke is SOOO good, that I wonder. Once the reveal is made, how does one sustain the masquerade?

We should ask the woman who perfected the Faux Interview, Beth Littleford. Let’s give props where props are due. The first time I ever saw her on The Daily Show, I fell in love with her. This woman is fricking hilarious. Ms. Littleford, if you are reading, how do you get the interview? How?

Filed by darby at 7:20 pm under raves
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Now that I live in the stix, I wait for films that I NEED to see. And I wait. Longer. Longer than that, even. My eyes have been on Capote since October, and I have been rather obsessed with witnessing Philip Seymour Hoffman’s performance. Two weeks ago, it happened. And the man transfixed me and transformed me while he morphed into Truman Capote. I have been saying it for years, and I will say it again…Philip Seymour Hoffman is the absolute best working actor today.

Please allow me to highlight my favorite P.S.H. transformations, in no particular order.

-Brian Mahoney, in the dark and incredible depiction of a gambler’s fall from grace in Owning Mahoney.
- Spike Lee’s 25th Hour…that song in the club towards the end is hittin’ hard, too
- Love Liza – just see it. Huffing. And model planes. Scarring. Mentally. Awesome.
- Punch Drunk Love. Something about this film…
- Lester Bangs. Come on. He ROCKS Almost Famous. What a great film.
- Mamet’s State and Main. Superb.
- Talented Mr. Ripley, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, as Phil Parma, the house nurse with depth, FLAWLESS, The Big Lebowski…and on, and on, and on.

I haven’t seen all of his roles, but the sprinkle of some of the most enjoyable and hand crafted films over the past decade above will be worth revisiting. In fact, I am going to add all of these to my Netflix account now, in celebration of Hoffman’s upcoming Oscar win.

Filed by darby at 10:08 am under Arts
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