Willie Geistâs new book explores pop culture absurdities, while filmmakers delve into the strange side of politics at the NIAF gala.
By Janet Donovan
FREAKY: For anyone who follows political and cultural shenanigans might think that MSNBCâs âMorning Joeâ co-host Willie Geist was talking about Washington in his book, âAmerican Freak Show,â but heâs not.  Heâs talking about the other freak show: Snooki, Tiger Woods, Fidel Castro, Sarah Palin, Lindsey Lohan, âBlagoâ and Eliot Spitzer.
âAmerican Freak Show â well, we live in it everyday. We may not know it, but weâre all unwitting participants â actors, extras â walking in the background of the freak show,â said Geist at a powerful A-list book party at the home of Norah OâDonnell and Geoff Tracy.
âOne year ago, you didnât know who Snooki was.
Now it feels like sheâs part of the family. Snooki perfectly represents the American Freak show: talent no longer requisite to become famous. Just have a little attitude, stuff yourself in your dress, get drunk on TV and youâve got yourself a career,â he added.
On the even younger generation he says âI try to stay away from attacking teenagers, if possible, but in the second volume of âAmerican Freak Show,â Iâm coming after Justin Bieber. Heâs corrupting the tweens of this country.â
Guests included Maureen Dowd, Pat and Shelly Buchanan, Jonathan Capehart, Maureen Orth, Luke Russert and Karen Finney.
SIDESHOWS:
In town for a private screening at The West End Cinema, filmmaker Alex Gibney (âEnron: The Smartest Guys in the Roomâ) likens his new movie âClient 9,â based on the sex scandal that brought down former New York City Governor Eliot Spitzer, to a kind of mystery thriller and thatâs how he structured it. âThere are all sorts of contours to it,â he said. âOn the one hand, itâs about very personal issues â about sex, fidelity, marriage, infidelity, prostitution â but itâs also about the political blood sport in this country which is extremely vicious. Itâs also about the crimes that Eliot Spitzer committed on the one hand and the far greater crimes by those committed by Wall Street, the pharmaceutical firms and polluters. It gives you a broad sense of American political culture.
âThis is not a new story, itâs an ongoing story.
Maybe we should have more women in Congress. Men just canât seem to keep it in their pants.â
ZIP CODES: Actor Danny DeVito wants you to know that not all of the crazies reside in the 90210 zip code. âYou think Hollywood is full of wackos,â he said. âWashington is really full of wackos. I mean, I havenât seen one sane person since I got here.
Iâm telling you, itâs like everyoneâs on the come, everybodyâs looking for something, itâs like bizarre.
â Despite that, DeVito was having a wonderful time holding court at the elite CafĂ© Milano private dinner the night preceding the 35th Annual National Italian American Foundation Gala, as was fellow actor Joey âPantsâ Pantoliano. The latter, who has won honors for his documentary âNo Kidding! Me 2!!âon depression, talked about his own battle with the disease. âAfter I was informed by a psychiatrist that it was a brain disease and that it wasnât my fault, I became elated and my healing began; I felt like I hit the lottery.â His next film delves into post-traumatic stress disorder in the military.
At the gala, actor-turned-singer Robert Davy discussed how the economic recovery has affected Hollywood. âItâs not just the economy,â he said, âitâs the whole communications revolution. There are so many alternative forms of entertainment that a lot of traditional entertainment is falling through the cracks. Itâs still, though, one of the great exports of America.â
Later on, Italian producer and NIAF honoree Aurelio DeLaurentiis gave us a sneak peek at his next flick. âWe are shooting right now a movie, âBook of Love,â with Robert DiNiro who is acting in the Italian language which is very very strange for an American actor.â Stay tuned.