BRETT WINTERBLE INTERVIEWS MARK LEIBOVICH

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THE GLORIOUS CORNER

By: G.H. Harding

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This Town By Mark Leibovich

WINTERBLE HITS THIS TOWN --- XM radio host Brett Winterble interviewed New York Times Magazine chief correspondent Mark Leibovich on his new book This Town; Two Parties and a Funeral plus plenty of Valet Parking! (Blue Rider Press); where Leibovich reflects on Washington and the town it has become. “It’s become a full carnival in recent years; D. C. has become the wealthiest community in the U.S.”

Reflecting on the return of such dubious names as Eliot Spitzer and Anthony Weiner, Liebovich says, “The unemployment line in politics is never really that long; you just knew guys like Spiztzer and Weiner would be back, be it with a blog or book.” 

Winterble offered up a talk radio show option for them, but Leibovich said the "Moral character of talk radio is way too high even for those guys.” Too funny!

MONUMENTS ARE HERE --- Just saw the trailer for the new George Clooney-written and directed movie, The Monuments Men. With an all-star cast, including Daniel Craig; Bill Murray; Matt Damon; Bob Balaban; Cate Blanchett; John Goodman; Jean Dujardin; and, Clooney himself (based on the book by Robert M. Edsel) - and, it certainly sets the stage well for the much anticipated movie. 

The movie concerns a group of soldiers during WWII who are dispatched to the war front to help U.S. forces rescue various art masterpieces, from being plundered by Hitler’s forces.

The trailer at first glance seemed like an odd combination of the Ocean’s 11 movies; with Clooney and Damon sitting at a bar discussing what they were going to do; and, Clooney himself, in a Nazi-uniform with a mustache, reminding me of his character in The Good German.

There is one dynamite line spoken by Clooney in the trailer: "If you destroy an entire generation of people's culture, it's as if they never existed. That's what Hitler wants and it's the one thing we can't allow."

The spectacle of seeing so many marquee names was rather overwhelming too. Talk about being front-loaded.

One thing’s for sure: never, ever count George out! The movie’s out December 18.

TIME WARNER & CBS --- As we go to press, CBS and Time Warner have agreed … to start the negotiation process again; after an almost one-week strike. Seems Time Warner has thrown up in place of CBS, some programming from Starz, which is a pay channel. 

I turned to it twice this week and the movies there I’d had never heard of. Listen closely: it’s the sound of the customer getting shafted again!