Jimmy Fallon Takes Cue from Hillary?

Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Jimmy Fallon Takes Cue from Hillary?

2. Harrison Ford's Improv Inclination

3. James Baker Gives 'Thumbs Up' to HBO's Florida 'Recount' Flick

4. Golden State Celebrates Gay Marriage

5. Michael Moore's Trashing of America, Diss Two
 

1. Jimmy Fallon Takes Cue from Hillary?

Could it be that Jimmy Fallon is taking a page from a certain New York senator who claims she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary and that she ducked sniper fire on the tarmac in Bosnia?

Whatever the case, the SNL regular seems to have caught the pol hyperbole bug.

When Fallon was talking to the press about his having been anointed as the Conan O'Brien replacement, he told reporters, "In my kindergarten yearbook I was chosen most likely to take over for David Letterman."

When confronted by skepticism over the kindergarten claim, Fallon not only insisted his statement was true, he claimed to be able to produce as evidence the yearbook with the actual prediction.

The only problem is, when Fallon was in kindergarten Letterman didn't have a show.

Fallon would already have finished kindergarten by the time "The David Letterman Show" debuted in June 1980. And in February 1982, when Letterman started hosting "Late Night," Fallon would presumably have been about seven years old, a couple years past K.

That is, unless Conan's replacement is fibbing now or was flunking then.

2. Harrison Ford's Improv Inclination

Poised to overload the box-office its opening weekend, Hollywood hopes the release of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" will make the movie biz look a lot rosier than it has of late.

Veteran star of the flick Harrison Ford recently revealed his penchant for improvisation and actually named names of films in which he winged it and made memorable cinematic history.

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Ford shared some of his recollections about what has since become an Indy legend.

It seems that during the production of the first Indiana Jones flick, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," the actor came down with a case of food poisoning.

The movie script contained a long fight scene with a flashy martial arts swordsman, but because Ford felt nauseous he decided to hasten things along by putting a bullet in the guy.

In the same film, when told by his on-screen love interest that he isn't the man he was ten years ago, Ford wryly lets loose with another timeless improvised line: "It's not the years, honey, it's the mileage."

In "The Empire Strikes Back," Ford's Han Solo character is slowly being lowered into a freezing chamber when Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia tells Solo she loves him. His off-the-cuff deadpan response is, "I know."

Filmmaker George Lucas was apparently so concerned about the line, he insisted that it be tested prior to release.

The test audience laughed, and it stayed in the pic.

3. James Baker Gives 'Thumbs Up' to HBO's Florida 'Recount' Flick

Maybe it's because James Baker doesn't take Hollywood all that seriously.

Or maybe it's because he's repeatedly shown outmaneuvering his on-screen opponent Warren Christopher.

But President Bush's adviser at the time of the 2000 Florida recount seems to like the HBO movie that purports to recreate the Gore election contest after the 2000 presidential election.

Baker characterizes the "Recount" movie as "a very entertaining film to watch" and is even hosting a screening of the flick.

Even the former Secretary of State's criticisms are revealing.

"I don't think I was as ruthless as the movie portrays me," Baker tells the New York Times, "and I know he [Christopher] was not as wimpish as it makes him appear."

"They made me out to be a little more like Don Corleone than I really am," Baker opines to Variety.

For his part, Warren Christopher, who is also a former Secretary of State and was Gore's go-to guy during the Florida recount, hates the flick.

The Democrat lawyer didn't actually view the film but read a transcript of the scenes in which he appears.

Christopher complains to the New York Times that "much of what the author has written about me is pure fiction."

He also claims the scenes contain "events that never occurred, words I never spoke and decisions attributed to me that I never made."

Christopher tells the Times that, unlike Baker, he wasn't given a script to review and only found out about the movie because his tailor was asked by filmmakers to reproduce one of his suits.

"Recount" writer Danny Strong explains that the reason he decided not to send Christopher the script was "because I didn't feel that he was being totally candid in our interview."

Only a Hollywood screenwriter would be surprised that a Washington official was less than candid.

4. Golden State Celebrates Gay Marriage

In a 4-3 vote, the California Supreme Court rendered the first ruling that applies constitutional protections concerning race and gender to sexual orientation.

Twenty-six states have approved constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage, and courts in New York, Maryland and Washington state have refused to allow gay marriage.

New Jersey's highest court gave the state legisature the option of establishing civil unions as an alternative. Massachusetts is the only other state besides California to legalize gay marriage by judicial decision.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa promised to use his office to advance same-sex marriages.

"I will stand with you," the L.A. mayor declared. "I will do everything in my power to keep this decision the law of the land."

Homosexual couples immediately called their wedding planners. Some lined up at the clerk's office within minutes of the decision.

Among the couples hoping to tie the knot are talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and girlfriend-actress Portia de Rossi. DeGeneres announced the two's engagement during a taping of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

In West Hollywood, hundreds of people, including politicians and activists, celebrated at the intersection of Santa Monica and San Vicente.

Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who grew up in a Catholic family with seven other siblings, said that the ruling allows him to live the life he always longed for.

In San Francisco, Mayor Gavin Newsom was greeted with cheers and applause from supporters.

"At the end of the day," Newsom said, "this is about real people and real lives. It's about human dignity. It's about human rights. And it's about time."

"By the way," he predicted, "as California goes, so goes the rest of the nation."

5. Michael Moore's Trashing of America, Diss Two

Michael Moore recently toyed with the assembled press at the Cannes Film Festival about his next movie, tentatively titled "While America Slept."

"I can't obviously tell you what I'm really up to, because I want to be able to finish," Moore said.

The Oscar winning documentary filmmaker insisted that the movie will not be a sequel to "Fahrenheit 9-11."

Moore revealed that his next film will examine the U.S.'s actions and reputation around the world.

"We have a big, big mess," Moore said. And I don't know if it can be cleaned up. The toxicity of the spill is just that great."

The fave of the MoveOn crowd added, "Since I made 'Fahrenheit,' our standing in the world had depleted to an even worse state."

No Moore production would be complete without some President Bush bashing.

"He [Bush] and his cronies and his supporters literally got away with murder," Moore explained.

He went on to say, "I am going to take a look at the empire we've created and ask the question, 'How did we get here?' adding, "Are we at the points where the Romans were?"

Somehow I think we already know what Moore's answers will be.