2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumBill Maher: Eastwood 'killed' it
Bill Maher isnt among those panning Clint Eastwoods speech delivery at the Republican National Convention.
On his HBO show on Friday, Maher gave the actor props for pretending that President Obama was sitting in an empty chair next to him onstage.
As a performer, as a stand-up comedian for 30 years who knows how hard it is to get laughs, excuse me, he went up there
without a net, on a tightrope. There was no teleprompter. He did a bit with just an empty chair and killed, Maher said. He committed to it, it was consistent and it worked.
People have been saying for years: these conventions are too scripted, theyre too slick, theyre too overproduced, he added. A guy who went up there who wasnt slick
and killed with the crowd? I gotta give him props for that.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2012/09/bill-maher-eastwood-killed-it-134038.html?hp=r1
lol...ok, bill.
rocktivity
(44,588 posts)Last edited Sat Sep 1, 2012, 02:06 PM - Edit history (1)
Clint must have forgotten about the convention's SECONDARY audience, the ones watching on TV -- including undecided and swing voters. And what Maher considers "theatrical improvising," I consider "dementia-laced babbling."
rocktivity
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)Mitt Romney's campaign that is. I don't know what to think of Clint's speech, on one hand it was absolutely horrible but on the other hand it destroyed the convention so it made me really happy. I don't know what Clint's intent was but sabotage would not surprise me, even if he did call himself a Republican he has never been totally in line with the Republican's beliefs and I could see him do something like this to get back at them if they pissed him off in some way.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)Could that be a motive for revenge?
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)He also tends to cast actors the right-wing hates in his movies. He works with people like Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, most of the big stars in the recent films he has directed have been outspoken lefties that the right-wing loves to hate. There are many reasons that he could potentially be mad at the GOP, there are far fewer reasons to believe he has suddenly become a partisan Republican. He may have called himself a Republican before, but when he has expressed political opinions they have more often than not been fairly liberal leaning and he has never been a partisan. I suspect he despises the rabid right and I could see him sabotaging their convention.
LiberalFighter
(51,388 posts)Maybe he has gotten out of touch with the current Republicans. Likely at his age that he doesn't have as much interaction outside of work.
Bjorn Against
(12,041 posts)He became a Republican under Eisenhower when the party was not nearly as right-wing as it is now, while he has never ditched the party label he has voted for and donated to several Democrats. He considers himself a libertarian but he is far more moderate than many others who call themselves libertarian. He is pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and anti-war. Unless he has changed drastically in recent months he does not fit in well with the modern GOP, that is why I suspect this is intentional sabotage of Mitt's big night.
progressivebydesign
(19,458 posts).. and now he's cheerleading for Karl's regime?
JohnnyRingo
(18,696 posts)Apparently, the key is to ramble off the top of my head and Maher gives me four stars. *badaboom*
Cha
(298,077 posts)a frothing teabag crowd. Go JohnnyRingo!
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)Ladies and gentlemen! Fellow republicans!!!
Four years ago the American people elected a president, Barack Obama, who promised to change this country. Well, change it he did. Since Obama took office, people have lost their jobs, factories have been shuttered, and families have been kicked out of their homes.
Well tonight we're here to nominate the next president of the United States. He's not promising "hope and change," he's promising a return to the America of old, the America we all remember. It's the America where moms tuck their babies in safe at night, and kids can go out in the street and play ball until the street lights come on. It's a place where dads have good, secure jobs and they know that when they retire social security will be there for them.
Mitt Romney is this next president, and he'll bring back American opportunity again. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
That took me literally 5 minutes to type, and for a republican who is saying stuff that he actually believes, it would flow like shit from a goose. The stuff Eastwood was spouting was a lot more cerebral that that.
Cha
(298,077 posts)to me. Make my Day ruh ruh. Slashing his throat with his finger..not too cerebral along with the rest of his lies.
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)"We don't have to be -- what I'm saying, we do not have to be mental masochists and vote for somebody that we don't really even want in office just because they seem to be nice guys or maybe not so nice guys, if you look at some of the recent ads going out there, I don't know."
You think he's saying that Democrats are masochists for voting for Obama, and that we don't really like him or want him in office? Our side doesn't have that problem. Most democrats are going to punch the Obama/Biden ticket with enthusiasm not only because we remember what life was like under Bush and we can easily picture a dismal future with Mitt, but because Obama's a likable guy that we mostly trust to take our country in a good direction.
Clint used the word "we" while he was standing up there as a republican and talking to a convention center full of republicans. I think he was talking to all the republicans who are looking at Mitt and wondering what the hell happened that they're stuck with that turkey.
Cha
(298,077 posts)opposing sides to just what exactly he was doing up there.
I just want the Democratic Convention to be as brilliant as it looks like it's going to be with all these inspiring people involved.
Hollywood stars headed for Charlotte
MONDAY
Grammy winner James Taylor and Academy Award nominee Jeff Bridges will both perform (yeah, The Dude is a musician, too) at CarolinaFest in uptown. Ty Pennington, former Extreme Makeover: Home Edition host, will build half a house at the festival. R&B man John Legend, right, and neo-soul hip-hoppers The Roots will perform at separate parties, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the Elder Gallery, respectively.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/01/3496646/hollywood-stars-headed-for-charlotte.html#storylink=cpy
XemaSab
(60,212 posts)I just looked at the speakers' list and it looks like a good week to be a democrat!
Grammy23
(5,815 posts)Bill Maher may know all about comedy and what passes for good theater, but he is no expert on human behavior. What I saw was a sad, pathetic old man trying desperately to make his brain cells fire enough to get his lines out. It was not funny one bit to see this. It was sad. And to try to pretend that it was a courageous risk for Eastwood is giving him too much credit. People do not just get demented over night. It is a PROCESS that usually takes time to evolve. And the people who are changing and declining give off signs and symptoms that may be ignored or mislabeled for a long time. That includes THEMSELVES. They pass a point when they do not have the judgment to know that something is wrong. (Not to say that many don't have worries that there is something going wrong with their thinking...early in the process.)
Having seen my own mother go through this process, it was not seen as humorous to me to watch Eastwood do his bit....without scripts or rehearsal. Perhaps if someone, anyone had gotten a hint of what he planned to do they might have saved him from doing this terrible disservice to his long career. As it was, it does appear from what we've been told, Mr. Eastwood gave little detail about his plans (kind of like Romney) and just went out with a blank check from the RNC to do what he wanted. He and they are reaping the results of that catastrophic decision.
progressivebydesign
(19,458 posts)I can see micro expressions very well, and can read what someone is saying.. without listening to them. It was not entertaining. It made me wince.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)I created dozens of empty chairs. I am awesome, too!
JBoy
(8,021 posts)Pab Sungenis
(9,612 posts)Unfortunately, it was poorly delivered, and inappropriate for the setting or the message.
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)Right twice a day, wrong the rest of the time. Throw in a healthy dose of self-promotion and a smattering of narcissism and Voila! You've got Bill Maher.
Julie
Cannikin
(8,359 posts)but I was thinking it was Mitt's chances of winning that expired.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)russspeakeasy
(6,539 posts)SmittynMo
(3,544 posts)It was one of his best shows this year
RedStateLiberal
(1,374 posts)How hard is it to kill in front of a bunch of bloodthirsty Rethug wingnuts? All you have to do is mention the birth certificate or the telepromter and those morans would be rolling in the aisles.
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)Remember this is a country that loves reality TV. We all love celebrities and can't get enough of their quirks, especially when they mess up or do something stupid. Clint's act may have actually woke people up from what was otherwise a dry and boring convention.
The problem with these conventions is you got dozens of speakers saying the same thing and after awhile they all start sounding exactly the same. After 4 days, it gets boring and starts to sound scripted.
People like to be entertained, not lectured. That's what Maher is getting at.
high density
(13,397 posts)and spout a bunch of fantasy nonsense from the alternative Fox News reality that would "kill" in this audience.
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Last edited Sat Sep 1, 2012, 04:56 PM - Edit history (1)
Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/101753582
progressivebydesign
(19,458 posts)you can really see where his mind is, and how utterly sad the spectacle was.
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Quantess
(27,630 posts)Fascinating, puzzling, memorable. And it reflected poorly on the Romney campaign. I thought it was great!
progressivebydesign
(19,458 posts)Quantess
(27,630 posts)I never said it was good. But I was mesmerized the entire 12 minutes.
Maybe "I loved it" was a poor choice of words for my being so blown away by the performance. The only positive part was that it was bad for Romney.
progressivebydesign
(19,458 posts)He's wrong, btw. I've seen GOOD improv, and what Eastwood did.. resorting to vulgar jokes, was the sign of an amateur. The reason why he's an actor and not an improv guy.
renie408
(9,854 posts)I am starting to think that Bill Maher just likes being the 'bad boy'. The majority said Eastwood looked silly? Well, he thinks he looked GREAT.
Quantess
(27,630 posts)No fun if everyone agrees with each other. Be the devils advocate and give people something to talk about.
Ghost of Tom Joad
(1,356 posts)from Jon Stewart.
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)That's why he thinks that Eastwood "killed".
The problem Maher has had his whole life is that he is not funny.
He doesn't know what funny is.
He wouldn't recognize funny if it walked up to him on the street.
And he has no political barometer whatsoever at all.
Eastwood's chair act was sophomoric, at best.
It was juvenile high school crap.
That's why it wasn't funny.
Eastwood was pathetic, and it was sad to see such a great film producer and actor stutter and stammer through his whole routine.
It doesn't matter how much thought went into it, because I don't think much thought went into it at all.
But, one thing it sure as hell wasn't, it wasn't funny.
Eastwood didn't "kill".
BelieveMe3
(134 posts)and Bill mocked it, but comedians always want to appreciate someone having the guts to get up on stage and he appreciated that the loony GOP audience liked it..that was about it.
I am having so much fun running around message boards and taunting republicans about Eastwood.
The Dems should have an empty chair on stage for the entire DNC, & when anyone asks who it belongs to, they can say Osama bin Laden #DNC2012 --Chris Rock