Thank You Notes

Fridays Jimmy Fallon catches up on some personal stuff by sending out 'Thank You' notes.

Seriously, how often does one get to do one's Jackée impression? Almost never and it's unfair. "227" just isn't the topical reference that it used to be. Perhaps it'll make a comeback with the new "Jackée as Lunch Lady Gaga" character.

Shhh, don't tell anyone but the censors forgot to bleep this clip.

Slow Jam The News - Tax Cuts

Fallon, The Roots and Brizzle (AKA Bri-Fi, AKA B Stone, AKA Billy Wills) slow jam the news. Today's topic: the Bush tax cuts set to expire.

Instant Classic: "The Room"

I consider myself quite a connoisseur of bad movies. If someone asks me to put together a list of the 10 worst movies of all-time, I feel I can make a list that's pretty authoritative. But I think it's a fact of life that they're just not making bad movies like they used to.

But that doesn't mean that there aren't exceptions. "The Room", from what I've seen from online clips, has me very excited. This movie, at least potentially, could be up there on the list of worst movies of all time.

Check out this clip (the "flower shop scene"):

Amazing. So it's got the "snappy dialogue" department covered, but how about this dramatic reveal:

GASP! Thrill to the intense conflict within this scene:

Amazing. I definitely need to see this movie.

Can You Feel the Love?

Here's hoping you can...

Celebrities + Gum = Art

Every afternoon Late Show writer Steve Young takes low quality pictures of celebrities as the arrive to the show. The window ledge from which the photos are taken has a wad of old gum on it which he is sure to capture in the photo. This interesting juxtaposition has given birth to a new blog: http://www.celebrigum.com/.

Here's a Q&A with the author:

Q. Tell us about Celebrigum. How did you conceive of the idea of juxtaposing celebrities with hardened chewing gum?

A. The juxtaposition was already happening; I just had to notice it. I think it was last fall or winter that I noticed the gum on the ledge, and eventually I came up with a boring conceptual art piece: I would photograph the gum each day for a year. I'd taken a few dull photos when one day I realized, hey, there's Celebrity X getting out of their limo in the background. After that I was off and running.

Q. There are rumors circulating on the internet that the gum is not actually there, that it's CGI gum. Care to respond?

A. As you know, most internet rumors are completely true. However, the CGI gum rumor is false. I've personally touched the gum and determined that it's real. Of course, if the gum were ever to be stolen by a crazed fan, CGI would be among my strategies for continuing. I could also put another lump of gum there, which might be simpler.

Q. Any calls from agents and publicists trying to get their clients on Celebrigum?

A. That's confidential; I'm not going to violate the CelebriGum-Client Privilege. But since nobody's talked to me, I guess it's safe to say no. My hope is that eventually celebrities will be aware of CelebriGum and will look up and wave at me as they arrive; it would be nice to actually get someone's face in a photo. And maybe someday CelebriGum will be such a sensation that A-list celebrities will swing by 53rd Street even when they're not booked on the show. "Say hi to Dave for us, Mr. Hanks!" "Oh, I'm not here for the Late Show, I'm just trying to get on CelebriGum."

Q. Any endorsement deals in the works with a gum company?

A. This is art! I absolutely will not sully its purity with crass commercialism!

Q. Long term plans. Any chance we'll be seeing a Celebrigum art museum?

A. I wouldn't rule it out. In the meantime, while nothing's official yet, I'm in negotiations for a CelebriGum book, movie, cologne, and line of childrens' pajamas.

Joaquin Phoenix Returns

Joaquin Phoenix returned to the Late Show last night for the first time since his infamous interview. It looked something like this:

I hope you watched the show or a full version of the interview turns up online because the clip above is an extremely cut down, edited version of the real interview which was entertaining and enlightening from start to finish.

I found it interesting that Dave claims he knew it was an act at the time. In the full interview they show a clip from the original interview which kind of "tips the hand" that it was an act. For most of the last half of the segment, Dave talks (seemingly quite seriously) about a possible impending lawsuit. It really ratchets up the tension but also I couldn't help but wonder (since that isn't normal interview behavior) if he's turning the tables - he's "playing a character" back at Joaquin.

At the end of the interview as the show went to commercial, Paul and the band played Sly and the Family Stone's song "Thank You". The lyrics to the chorus are "Thank you for lettin' me be myself again". He's still the master.