• Pete Hammond, with box office ammunition in hand, keeps banging the gong for Sandra Bullock in a bad movie. And it just might happen. [Notes on a Season]
• Speaking of “The Blind Side,” Patrick Goldstein dedicates a great many words to the film’s director, John Lee Hancock. [The Big Picture]
• “Nine,” the film that seduced Hollywood’s stars. [Daily Telegraph]
I don’t know if anyone’s been watching the last week of Jay Leno’s “The Tonight Show,” but it’s been a solid final slate of guests, culminating with Conan O’Brien’s appearance and a passing of the baton later tonight. I’ve got a longer piece about all of this I’m working on and will post it later this afternoon, but I thought this was worth mentioning separately, in case you missed it.
Billy Crystal was Leno’s first guest on “The Tonight Show” back in 1992 and the exiting host wanted to bring Crystal back as his final proper guest last night. To mark the occasion, Crystal got together with Marc Shaiman and put together a little sing-song number, much like the numerous similar numbers the duo has cranked out for the Oscars over the years. Sadly, the NBC website being as stingy as it is, I can’t find an embed of the performance (they just have a 90 second exchange mid-interview about Crystal’s recent surgery). But you can, however, watch the entire episode, which includes, of course, the full number, plus a glimpse of Crystal’s first appearance on the show 17 years ago when he belted out another tune. Always the showman.
Click the image below to watch the full episode, and stay tuned for that remembrance piece later today.
