David Kronke was appointed Mayor of Television after a bloodless coup in 2000. Since then, he has improved infrastructure, championed greater educational opportunities and fought for reforms that have utterly erased corruption and incompetence from the television industry. Since Mr. Kronke has ascended to power, Television is a far better place. George Pennacchio does it again (and again)
It was with some reluctance that I tuned into the Oscar pre-game show, as I had already watched a couple of hours of NBC’s upcoming “quarterlife” and had pretty much had my fill of self-important boobery. But no sooner was the set on than Channel 7’s George Pennacchio was achieving his trademark brand of fawning fatuity, telling “The Savages”’ Laura Linney, “As always, I think that you’re fearless, and you show every emotion on your face, which I would think is difficult to do, especially in a film.” Actually, George, that’s pretty much the job description.
Pennacchio’s co-hort, Richard (“I’m not a movie critic but I play one on TV”) Roeper, asked “Atonement’s” Saoirse Ronan the question on everyone’s mind: “Did you get a good night’s sleep?”
Pennacchio did not disappoint. He asked Marion Cotillard, “This dress is really beautiful; I imagine it took a lot of time to make.” As if she had a hand in making it. He had a follow-up: “Are they going to hire you for a lot of roles now where you make us cry?” Which is pretty much what any serious actor dreams about – getting typecast.
Tommy Lee Jones told Pennacchio of “No Country for Old Men,” “It’s a good representation of the work of our best living prose stylist.” Apparently unaware that Cormac McCarthy wrote the book upon which the film is based, or perhaps not sure what a “prose stylist” is, Pennacchio merely nodded mutely for a couple of seconds, and Jones escaped.
Near the end, he was resigned to generic queries, asking “Michael Clayton’s” Tilda Swinton, “If you could only thank one person tonight after you win, who would it be and why?” She couldn’t bother to come up with an answer. Rubbing it into “Eastern Promises”’ Viggo Mortenson’s face that he had virtually no chance of winning any hardware, he asked, “What is your grand plan for tonight? What is your big hope?”
Despite dire forecasts, the rain went away. Boy, does that Gil Cates has some muscle or what?
Comments
George Pennacchio is an embarrassment to all of LA. His "interviews" are so cringe-worthy as to be unwatchable. This is LA, shouldn't we have an embarrassment of riches as far as GOOD, informed entertainment "reporters" are concerned? How did this schlub ever get hired? Nepotism must be at work somewhere.
Posted by: Jenny | February 24, 2008 11:06 PM