Conan's "Tonight Show" Farewell

Watching Conan O'Brien's final "Tonight Show" was a bittersweet affair for me. There's no denying he got a raw deal from NBC with Jay Leno moving back in to take the host's chair. Much has been made of the dustup between Conan, Jay and the network, so I won't rehash the story that most everyone has already heard.
I'll admit I got a little misty eyed watching the show, but I thought Conan added a nice touch of class by thanking NBC after all his years of service there. He started out as a writer for "SNL," then hosted his "Late Night" show for 16 years before taking the "Tonight Show." Tom Hanks, Neil Young, Will Ferrell, and Steve Carell all made Conan's final show extra special.
I feel truly fortunate that I was able to meet Conan a few years ago in New York, and attend a taping of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien." (Ask me about how I chased him down in 30 Rock yelling "Conan! Conan!" True story) He couldn't have been nicer about personally getting me tickets to the show. Then last year, I had the privilege to attend his 3rd "Tonight Show" in Los Angeles and had a great time there as well. It's a shame it had to end this way, but Conan will bounce back and wherever he goes, I'll follow.
Go Team CoCo!

Here's The Pitch: Baseball Movies That Score

Tonight, the New York Yankees took on the Philadelphia Phillies in the first game of the 2009 World Series. So, here are my picks for some of the best baseball movies ever made.

"The Natural" Robert Redford is perfect as a natural born baseball player with a mysterious past, who finally gets to play pro ball late in life.
One of the best casts ever assembled. Watch out for Wilford Brimley as the stubborn manager of the New York Knights, as well as the great Richard Farnsworth at his side. Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Robert Prosky, and Darren McGavin round out the cast.
The film also has a wonderful score by the truly gifted Randy Newman.

"Field Of Dreams" Kevin Costner leads another all star cast with this movie about a farmer (Costner) who risks everything after he hears a mysterious voice say "If you build it, they will come."
What he builds is a baseball field, and then he brings in James Earl Jones to help him solve the mystery. Also featuring Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson and the late, great Burt Lancaster, "Field Of Dreams" is indeed a wonderful film.

"The Pride Of The Yankees" Gary Cooper stars as baseball phenom Lou Gehrig in this heartfelt drama about a man who rose to baseball superstardom before he was cut down in the prime of his life by a terrible disease. Great story, great cast. Don't miss this classic baseball tale.

"A League Of Their Own" Penny Marshall directs Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna in this story based on the real life women's baseball leagues of the 1940s. While most men were off fighting World War II, women came to the rescue of the great American pastime. Tom Hanks plays a baseball player just past his prime, who's given a second chance to coach one of the women's teams. Watch out for David Strathairn and Jon Lovitz as a baseball scout. And if you look closely, you'll also spot me in the stands. I was lucky enough to be one of the extras in this film, which was shot in Indiana. Tom Hanks very entertaining both off and on screen.

Overpriced Hollywood Stars

I recently watched a documentary on the British comedy troupe "Monty Python" released to celebrate the team's 40th anniversary.



Although I was familiar with some of their stuff,  the documentary provided unique insight to their beginnings,  back stories of  the three feature films, as well as what each one of them is currently working on.

Which brings me to the subject of this article. At the end of the documentary, we see that John Cleese has recorded his lines for the upcoming "Shrek 4," which comes out next year.
I didn't see the third "Shrek" movie, where he apparently also had a speaking part.
What astonished me was something I read a couple of days later--that he was paid the equivalent of $1 million dollars for 23 minutes work. 
You read that right. He worked for less than half an hour, and was paid a million bucks. 
Wow.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a John Cleese fan if there ever was one, but c'mon, folks--this falls under the "Are you serious??!?" department.
Nobody, and I mean nobody,  deserves to be paid that much money.

A couple of years ago, news leaked that Tom Hanks was to become the highest paid actor in history after his deal for doing "Angels & Demons" that brought him a whopping $50 million dollar paycheck.
Think about that.  Most of us will never see a million dollars, much less 50 times that.
It's completely mind-boggling. 
Do I still like Tom Hanks? Of course! He's one of my favorite actors, and a tremendously talented individual. He's just not worth $50 million for one movie. 
Most A-list actors don't need the money anymore, and chances are he donated a large portion of that money to charity and other worthy causes, but we'll probably never hear about that.
Still, in this economy, when studios like Paramount Pictures claim they don't have the money to market a film like Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island," you gotta wonder how they can fork over hefty salaries to actors.
Excuse me, I need to call my agent...