Flipping Out...

I LOVE A GOOD FREAK OUT! I don't know what it is, but I just can't help but love these clips. They are weird people at their best. Last week I talked about the Meltdown of Joaquin Phoenix. When it was turned into a bit on the Oscars it got a lot bigger. So, with that, here are some great clips from some great flip outs. The italicized descriptions are directly from the Daily Beast article. My own comments are below the videos. Enjoy.

Crispin Glover’s Epic Letterman Meltdown
It doesn’t get any better than this: In 1987, an agitated Glover, appearing on Late Night with David Letterman, rambles about press coverage, challenges Dave to an arm-wrestling match, then nearly kicks the host in the head before the segment is abruptly ended.

I now fully understand why they didn't use him in the Back to the Future Sequels.


Jim Everett Tackles Jim Rome
In April 1994, New Orleans Saints quarterback Jim Everett appears on Jim Rome’s ESPN 2 talk show to confront the smartass host who constantly taunts him with the nickname “Chris Evert.” Let’s just say Rome falls.


This ones a classic. Good for Jim Rome to be willing to take a punch in order to keep your word. Even if you fell like a sissy, you kept your word. (I'd fall like a sissy too, by the way.)


Rosie vs. Hasselbeck
Meltdowns don’t only apply to guests—sometimes hosts get in on the act. In this 2007 episode of The View, co-hosts Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck get so enraged that the producers go to a split screen, to ensure every second of insanity is captured for the home viewing audience.


Ok, I loathe The View, but this is a great example of hurt people not listening to each other. I love how the director had the split screen ready to go. I also love the other host yelling at the director to go to commercial. The whole time, the producers are saying in the booth..."STAY ON THIS, THIS IS GOLD." That show isn't about discourse, it's about fights and people talking over each other. Ok, ewwwww, The View is gross...let's move on.

Geraldo Fights Nazis, Loses
In the classic Geraldo episode from 1988, Geraldo Rivera gets his nose broken and, arguably, his career made.

I love love love how everyone is so shocked a fight broke out, this is just plain ridiculous. Watch how some of the audience is ready to brawl too. Nazis may be crazy but they still have friends to come fill the studio audience. I did want to see that guy give that uniform wearing buffoon a beating, so maybe it is good TV.

Tom Cruise Exposes Need for Psychiatrist
Back in 2005, we got our first glimpses of Tom Cruise’s descent from matinee idol to maddening enigma when he called Today’s Matt Lauer “glib” and went on a condescending tirade about the history of psychiatry. Makes you nostalgic for the Oprah couch surfing, huh?

Ego + Sci-Fi Religion + Soap Box= Tom Cruise Circa 2005
or to put it simply... Tom Cruise= Crazy
Dear Tom:
It's nice to see that in the last 6 months, your new PR firm has reigned you in and you're now whipped, but Tommy Boy, I do miss your crazy tirades but I miss even more the days when I could watch great films like Top Gun, A Few Good Men, and Jerry Maguire, without thinking of the fact that you're nuts.


If you want to see more... go to The Daily Beast for the first article, and the second.

Tropic Thunder is exactly what was forecast.

You may remember the kid on the left in the glasses as a loser friend from knocked up, but I remember him from Almost Famous as the Led Zeppelin superfan kid.


I wasn’t going to blog about this movie because my opinion on it was simple… If you like Ben Stiller movies, and you laughed at the trailer, then you will like this movie. If you loathe Ben Stiller and think the trailer is stupid, then you will hate it. This movie is simple, kind of like Zoolander, except I liked Zoolander more. I laughed, don’t get me wrong, but it was like eating Cheerios. No one eats a bowl of Cheerios and raves that it was amazing, you just are happy to have a tasty breakfast. (Or Dinner, I won’t limit Cheerios to a single meal)

One surprise was the performance of Tom Cruise. I use to be a huge fan of Cruise, but in the last 3 years since he jumped on Oprah’s couch he’s become more and more repulsive. I walked out of the theater talking more about him than the other funny moments. It was a perfect move by Cruise; not taking himself too seriously. Only time will tell if this is a step in the right direction, or a hiccup in his pursuit of crazy. The other cameos in this movie were great. The actors making fun of the industry was the best part of this little film.

So, why are you writing a blog about this movie then? I decided to write this after reading Entertainment Weekly’s review of the film. Lisa Schwarzbaum gave this film an “A” rating. Really? An “A” for this simple little movie? Movies like Juno and No Country for Old Men didn’t earn that high of a rating according to Schwarzbaum. Is this lady just giving A’s away? My friend Danny, a high school teacher, use to lament students expectation of earning A’s because that was like a pass. Just because parents and colleges expect A’s doesn’t mean Danny would give them out for a performance that was par for the course. “C” means you hit the marks and did what was expected.

I try and rate things with that same integrity. I am calling Schwarzbaum’s ‘integrity’ into question here. I think she got it just plain wrong. Most of the time I agree with EW, but they got it wrong here. It’d be generous to give it a “B”, it was not excellent, it was Cheerios.