All right. Yeah, I was trying to broadcast also to Instagram, but that is not happening today. Oh well. So, we are now just broadcasting on YouTube and Substack. So, yeah, this wasn't connecting. So, be it. No big deal. Here we are. It is Monday the 17th of August at 3:06 just now, 3:07 p.m. Um, I hope this day finds everyone reasonably okay. Um, what's going on? What's going on?
I was just—I have to admit, you guys, I was a little taken aback when I got the news, the alert last night on my phone, that Hayden Panettiere, a talented, beautiful young actress, had died. I didn't see that coming. Um, I didn't know her, uh, but I did. Years and years ago, decades ago, in fact, I had a recurring, semi-recurring gig on a soap opera based here in New York called Guiding Light. And uh, when I was on the show, um, Hayden Panettiere was on, she was maybe 11 years old.
And apparently she'd been in front of a—her mother put her in front of a camera when she was not even a year old in commercials. So she was a show business baby. Her mother was an actress, a soap opera actress, and had other toes in other uh pools in the show business, including managing Hayden and Hayden's brother, who died tragically a couple years ago as well. Um, I mean, what a—36, uh, the mother of a young daughter. Um, and she put her daughter in the care of the father, uh, who's a former uh fighter or some such. I'm—I'm not—I'm not savvy on the super specifics, but uh, apparently a very good guy. And um, you know, while she was going through her struggles, um, I think wisely, you know, I think it was probably a very loving move to do is to say, you know what, you might be better off with your dad right now. And that's what she did, I guess.
Anyway, no news really other on her cause of death. Um, just as of right now, she uh, there was cardiac arrest and I think she was pronounced dead on the scene. Oh my god. Let me get this media asset out of our faces here. My god. Sorry about that. Um, this is what happens when you're a one-man show and you're kind of distracted by what you're saying, which is really the purpose of the show. For those of you just listening, I had the logo of this show like on the screen forever. The price of doing this all by yourself.
Anyway, Hayden Panettiere, 36 years old, struggled with substances. She was very public about it, transparent, um, in a real, you know, Hunter Biden kind of a way to her credit. Um, she later came on my radar like back on because I'm a fan of the Scream franchise and Wes Craven's last Scream film was Scream 4 and she was in that. She was kind of adorable and fun in it and then she repeated her role again in Scream 6. Um, and uh, I didn't know that she was having the career struggles. I know she was, you know, she had a hit with that show Nashville with Connie Britton. She was nominated for a Golden Globe a couple of times, I think, and but all the while she had struggles, you know, she had struggles with the substances, as many do, myself included.
And who knows? I mean, this guy apparently who was not real good for her, uh, was back on the scene with her and had flown from LA to South Carolina the day before yesterday, the day before she died. So, I don't know. Uh, thank you, Lynette. We have a little super sticker from Lynette Feny, who dropped a few bucks in the tip jar on YouTube. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Uh, anyway, I—I—I don't want to sort of regurgitate the TMZ report, but what I do want to say is that um, I am always extremely sensitive to any story involving anybody who is struggling with substance abuse, whether it's alcohol or drugs. My issues were personally, you know, really around alcohol. I didn't get—I didn't really dip into the dry goods other than the occasional toke of a joint.
But this kid, you know, 36. And again, I—you know, we don't know the cause, but I just—she'd been doing some rehab stints. I guess more will be revealed. Let me just leave it at that before I uh speak about things I shouldn't. Um, more will be revealed for sure about the circumstances around her death, her untimely, way too early death. Anyway, um, but it got me thinking about, of course, a lot of people have been thinking about and asking me too about Brad Pitt's declaration that he's dipping into the drinking again. You know what? I've tried that and if it works for Brad, great. Knock yourself out, you know, but the odds are that if you feel like you've got a problem with substances, like if you think you've got a problem drinking or if you think you've got a problem with drugs, there's a real good chance you actually do because people who don't have a problem don't wonder about it. Generally, that's my understanding. Um,
and the fact that Brad had identified himself as, I don't know, an alcoholic or an addict, I guess. Um, and mentioned the—the Bradley Cooper types for helping him get sober and then, you know, did that old chestnut: 'Well, I'm different now, I can drink again.' Okay, as I said at the top of this screed, if he's right and if it does go okay for him, good for him. I know that I am not going to be able to play that card because I know how I'm wired. And I've also seen personally, uh, witnessed firsthand, uh, situations where people who tried to get sober and were sober for a number of—I don't know—months to years, in some cases decades, and then decided they were—they had changed and everything was really like they're different now and it's different now and I'm different now and I'm in a different place in my life now and I can handle this.
Um, all of them are dead. Actually, all of them are dead from the thing. So, you know, if you can, great. You know, as I said, some have, but the ones that I know who went back out and decided to do some more research in the 'I can handle drinking again' department, it didn't work out too well. It really didn't. I tried it. I remember thinking, 'Oh, I learned some new tricks and now I know what the problem was and I'm going to drink again.' And I did. And let me tell you, man, nothing ruins the fun of drinking like being sober for a while because it's just like now you're thinking about it and not a drink goes down you—not a drink goes into you, um, without you thinking at least for a split second, 'Oh, I probably shouldn't be doing this.' Like, you know, it just—it kind of just ruins it. But anyway, um, it didn't go well for me. You know, it was only a matter of time before I was falling off bar stools and blackouts.
Oh, hi again. You know, there's this old saying: if you have a—if you have a problem, if you have a drinking or drug problem and then you get sober, during the time that you get sober, during the time you're in recovery or not drinking, during that time, your alcoholism and your drug addiction are out in the hall doing push-ups like a vampire waiting to be invited in. And as long as you don't invite them in, they don't have any power. It's literally like a vampire. So, yeah. And if Brad can handle it, awesome. Good for you, bro.
Um, yeah. On to—let me see if there are any questions. 'What started the drinking in the first place? If that issue is still around years later, no matter what you feel, it's usually still an issue.' Um, this is a comment on Substack from Mark and Patty Clifford here. Uh, let me just repeat that: 'What started the drinking in the first place?' question mark. 'If that issue is still around years later, no matter what you feel, it's still an issue.' Um, I can only speak for myself and what I know about uh the drinkism. Um, uh, but it's not about a situation or a circumstance in your life. It's just kind of how I, as an alcoholic, how I'm wired. Like, let me put it to you this way: I am—I mean, maybe I could pull it off for a few days or maybe I could try and it would be—I could only do it by thinking about it and really like obsessing over it.
But I don't think—I am not—I know I am constitutionally incapable of walking away from a second drink halfway through it and not wanting to finish it. No way. I never walked away from a drink without finishing it unless I spilled it because I was so wasted that I could barely speak. Um, you know, non-pro drinkers, I think, can walk away from a second drink without finishing the whole thing. Like, walk away halfway through it and not think twice about it. An alcoholic like me, um, that's no—that's not a thing. That's not a thing. It's a disease. It's not about like what's going on in your life. It's a disease. Yeah. Um, and I happen to think it's hereditary. It runs in my family. Both my parents were alcoholics. Um, so, you know, as I said, if—if—if you know, look, if Brad Pitt's able to pull this off, good for him. I do think it sets a possibly dangerous example for other people who look up to people like him and might legitimately be struggling and think, 'Well, if Brad can change, so can I,' you know, like, uh, history suggests not, but all right. Um,
onto happier subjects. Like, this is kind of minor, but CNN—so I was listening to—one of the things I like to listen to podcast-wise is a great show from Puck called The Powers That Be. It is hosted by the incredibly capable Peter Kafka, and he was talking to John Kelly today, and they were talking about the stalled merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery and how this thing is off at least until April. Um, and someone asked if I found quitting smoking harder. Yeah, I did. Uh, nicotine is a creepy animal. So, um, I wondered as I'm listening to these guys talk about this Warner Brothers Discovery thing, because Warner Brothers Discovery also includes CNN, and some people have wondered whether or not CNN could survive on its own without being part of a, you know, a richer mothership with deeper pockets and all of that.
Um, and CNN is part of the cable bundle and it is now doing what they tried to do four years ago with CNN Plus. Uh, but then Chris Licht killed it, or some—it was swiftly killed in the crib. Um, but basically a subscription service where you have access to all of the original content and the documentaries and the series like Bourdain or Eva Longoria wherever she is in the world tasting food, like, oh, and Kara Swisher's show and um Craig Ferguson's show, and then there are the original documentaries. So there's a one coming out about Windows on the World, uh, that is coming out soon that I really want to see, a CNN documentary. A friend of mine produced it, actually. It's going to be hard to watch, but it's—I think it's going to be important viewing. Um, so anyway, I like CNN is my point. And I like the fact that they finally came around and basically relaunched CNN Plus, which is essentially what it is now.
They've relaunched CNN Plus and it's a standalone subscription service, appropriately priced, I think, for what you get because you also get the live stream of CNN and you also get—which I find myself watching more than regular CNN—is CNN Headline News. So, I could watch CNN Headline News and in the span of a half hour be relatively informed and updated about what's going on around the globe today, you know. So, um, I find that very helpful. And then I've got the access to the entire library of all that beautifully produced, yummy CNN content, some of which is informative, enlightening, some of it's entertaining, you know, because they have a lot of—CNN has a pretty rich heritage of really good, well-produced original programming. Um, but there is the thing like, do people want to pay for it and could CNN survive on its own? I don't know. I really don't know.
It bums me out that, you know, only because I have friends involved in CNN and I kind of wish um it could survive on its own. I like to think it could if people were willing to pay for a certain service. Like people are willing to subscribe to my channel on Substack, for example, um, and donate money or like leave money in the tip jar as they do here on YouTube when we're live. I think, you know, it's—it's—it's nice when it works out and I am more than happy. I just subscribed to a friend of mine on Substack who's writing a fiction series, which—I mean, I really do need a good dose of fiction—and my friend Billy's new series called, um, what is it called? Park Avenue Pleasure Dome. It's smut and uh I'm happy to subscribe and support my friend, but um I like subscribing to things that I like. CNN, I got no problem doing it. So I think if more people were into it, and plus they have advertisers, so the ad revenue combined with the subscription revenue, it should work.
And I don't—I really don't know enough about it uh to understand why it doesn't work on its own without the help of a giant corporate overlord, you know, cutting—I don't know—subsidizing it. Anyway, we'll see how it shakes out. I just wish my—I guess my point is that I wish Warner Brothers Discovery would spin off CNN. Just get rid of it. Unload it. Take it out of the—take it out of the bundle. Um, the way it used to be. The way it used to be. I like Anderson Cooper. I love Dana Bash. He's my pal. Um, I love that guy, the British guy, Richard Quest, who just seems to like love his job. He had some, speaking of chemical like drug and alcohol issues, like he had his challenges. Came very—was very public about those challenges, like, and not in a—not in a flattering way, but came clean and, you know, fought his demons and has done the work and continues to do the work. And I admire the guy.
And as far as what he does on CNN, he seems to love his job. Like he is like—he like just like 'I'm at work' Richard Quest. Like he just has such vim and vigor and zest about his job. And then we've got Christiane Amanpour. Who doesn't love her? Anyway, so we'll see. We'll see. Um, I know people are critical of CNN, like, you know, they don't like Jake Tapper and 'thanks for helping Biden lose the election,' all of that. You know what? Whatever. Find me—'Listen, brats,' and that's what everybody sounds like, brats. Find me. Ready? Find me the news outlet. Find me the news source that is infallible and just nails it every time. Find me the one and I'll—yeah, I'll wait. We'll wait right here when you find the one that's perfect and meets all of your goddamn standards because everyone suddenly has this notion that they have VIP entitlements. 'I'm not paying for it, but I demand perfection.' You know what? Off and shut up.
So, um, I think CNN does a banging job and, um, yeah. Do they make mistakes? Absolutely. Does the New York Times make mistakes? Yes. Does Fox News make mistakes all day long? Um, but that's—that's what happens when you have institutions that are run by fallible human beings. People make mistakes. There was an NPR mistake recently. I forget what's her name, released a news bit that was not—that was inaccurate, premature, or whatever. I was really surprised, but to NPR's credit, they came clean and owned it, and they were like, 'You know what? We up.' And that's how you do it. That's how you do it. So, anyway, I really do wish that people would shut the up when it comes to criticizing news outlets that uh make mistakes, because they all do. They always have and they always will.
CNN shut the up. All right. I'm guessing that you're not paying for it. Or if you are, it's part of your cable bundle. I haven't had cable in 15 years, man. But whatever. Um, that be that. Moving on. I want to move on before I go on a more pleasant note. Yesterday I went to the Paris Theater, our beloved Paris Theater, and programming by this guy John Vanco who used to do programming for the IFC Center, I understand it—as I understand it—and he now works for Netflix which owns and runs the Paris Theater and the Egyptian in LA and another one. I forget which one. Anyway, Vanco is a baller in terms of his taste level and the programming that he does. I really take my hat off to him and his team for what they do because it's really good work.
And I went to go see yesterday a 12:00 showing of A Clockwork Orange, which I have never seen on a big screen now. And it was just like—getting that aside, it was a 35mm print. It wasn't pristine. It was like a little grainy and whatever, but it's—that's—it was—it felt like going to an old movie. It was great. Um, full house, by the way, a beautiful Sunday afternoon at noon. It was the first day in a while where it wasn't like a Brazilian degrees and whatever. It was a beautiful day in Central Park. And uh, the Paris Theater was a packed auditorium filled with film nerds like me. And Vanco had invited onto the stage before the show started—um, Vanco invited this film critic from the New York Times who uh had chosen A Clockwork Orange as uh a favorite and explained why.
And there were some stories I did not know about A Clockwork Orange, which was released in 1971. It stars Malcolm McDowell, who's really kind of the only big star in it, although it also stars—oh god, I'm terrible—the actor who played his father in A Clockwork Orange played Mr. Grady in The Shining, uh, British actor, I forget his name. And then also in A Clockwork Orange, there was a little part played by, um, oh, he was the villain in Beverly Hills Cop. Steven Berkoff is his name. Um, he's also in uh Fincher's version of Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, which I love. People think the original is better. I get it, but give Fincher his credit. It's a great movie. And Berkoff is in that, too. And anyway, he's got a small part in A Clockwork Orange. So, I loved it.
And I did not know that until about 15 years ago, 20 years ago, A Clockwork Orange was banned in England. You couldn't see it. It's a tough movie. Um, uh, it—it doesn't advocate violence. I mean, I think I really like what Kubrick—it seems Kubrick is trying to say about the film and the question of can you really reform anybody? Like, it just—it puts that question in the air. Um, no matter what you put them through and no matter what uniform you put on them, are they really changed? There's that question. Um, but it's a very good film. It's dark. It's violent. It's not for everybody for sure. Um, I understand it had an X rating in the beginning and Kubrick made some cuts and got it down to an R. Um, but um, I really do like it and I think it's a—um—it's a great film.
And also it was so cool, you guys, to sit in the Paris Theater, one of my favorite auditoriums. I go on and on about this, so I forgive me if I've spoken too much about it, but the chairs are not rockers. They are not lounge seats. They are movie theater chairs. The cushions, like the seatbacks and the seats are comfortable, but they don't rock. They have cup holders, like—but the sound in the Paris is perfect. The screen is gorgeous. It's got a curtain that opens up when the whole show starts. Um, there are uniformed ushers that wear jackets and they're courteous. I brought my folding bike, my Brompton, and this nice usher was like, 'Well, let me put it into the side hall over here by the exit.' And they—and I'm like—and then he brought it out when the movie was over. And I was like, I didn't ask to do that. In fact, if he had told me I couldn't bring it in, I would have happily exited. So anyway, um, yeah, I love the Paris Theater and I love seeing it.
And I am very excited about—speaking of nerding out. No, I did not do the balcony. Joe wanted to ask if I sat in the balcony. No, I did not. I sat in row H as in Han. Um, on the Criterion Collection, as some film nerds like me might know, coming out this October is a collection called The Complete Kubrick set. It retails full price for about $600, but it is available in pre-order for a Blu-ray set for $480. I just pre-ordered it. It's a lot of money, but it's—listen to what you get. You get all 14 of his films. Every film—um, uh—it's all 4K restorations of Kubrick's 13, excuse me, features and three shorts presented in Dolby Vision HDR with the original monaural PCM soundtracks and 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio remixes, restored and remastered.
And they're just like—there's like a whole day, literally day of supplementary—supplementary material in this uh Stanley Kubrick box set that's coming out from the Criterion Collection. It's called The Complete Kubrick. I'm really doing quite the plug for this, but I don't give a. Um, I just—I'm such a fan of his films because they're all so different, I find. And maybe a more sophisticated cineast or cinephile would know more than I. But let me just read to you and then you can maybe mentally recall at least thematically what some of these films are called. Starting with—like, well, there's Killer's Kiss, which I've never seen, from 1955, The Killing, 1956, Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, and then finally Eyes Wide Shut. Those are all so different.
And I'm just so impressed with, you know, his versatility. Now, apparently it's—he is—he was famously a pain in the ass to work with. I am recalling how he treated Shelley Duvall in The Shining. He basically tortured her mentally. But even she acknowledged in later years that he got—the performance that he got out of her was because of that. And for the film, it actually worked. Dark. Yeah. And also Scatman Crothers, I guess, during that scene in the kitchen with young Danny when he's sitting down with young Danny and he gave him—has got some ice cream for him and they're talking about shining and room 237, and apparently Stanley did like over—like hundreds of takes or something and Scatman Crothers is like, 'Stanley, what the do you want from me?' Like, um, so yeah, I—I—he's—he's so fascinating to me.
Um, so I—I love his films. 2001 is one of my favorite movies ever made. I think Eyes Wide Shut is really underrated and misunderstood. Um, what else? Dr. Strangelove is a masterpiece. Lolita is so naughty. Spartacus, gorgeous. A Clockwork Orange—which, you know what? The only one I've never seen, Barry Lyndon, and I can't wait to see it. So, yeah, if you like movies like I like movies, um, I recommend you look into this, you know. So, that's all I got for today's episode here of our little show. Thank you so much for hanging out, for tuning in. Um, if you're watching on YouTube, thanks for subscribing to the channel. Um, and if you can, um, and also if you want to know more about that Kubrick thing, just go to the Criterion Collection website and you'll see all the details about it.
Um, but if you can head to my Substack, you just go to georgehahn.com and you could subscribe and that's a great way to support what I do and I hope you can. And these sort of one-on-one Han Solo videos that I do plus a little comedic satire rants that I do on—on social media where I have a lot of fun. Um, surely there will be one today or tomorrow. So anyway, thank you guys for subscribing if you do. And if you are a paid subscriber, a double, triple, quadruple, quintuple thank you um very much for your support. You are really the ones who keep it alive. And with that, um, for today, uh, Monday, August 17th, I bid you ad—tomorrow. Go see a movie. Go to the movies. I love it. I love it. Go see a movie. Um, and I didn't talk about the new McConaughey movie. I'll talk about that tomorrow. It was really good. Very unexpected. I was not expecting that. The new one in the theater. Um, yeah. It's kind of great. Okay.
