Last Week Tonight Is Trying to Save the Last Blockbuster in America With Russell Crowe Memorabilia

Last Week Tonight has pulled off another amazing stunt, spending more than $7000 on what might be one of the most Last Week Tonight stunts in the history of the show: trying to save the last Blockbuster video store in South Anchorage by gifting them tons of memorabilia from Russell Crowe’s “The Art of Divorce” auction. That is a real sentence, and even host John Oliver can’t believe how on-brand it is.

At the end of the show, Oliver talked about the last Blockbuster and the wonder it inspires in people who thought the chain had been long extinct (“Wow, I thought you has-been losers had been thrown into the trash-heap of history, but you weren’t! Good for you!”) since the company filed for bankruptcy. Turns out that because of the lack of internet coverage and difficulty in streaming, the state still had four Blockbusters, but now only one remains.

So, Last Week Tonight got tons of items: the leather jockstrap from Cinderella Man, his director’s chair from American Gangster, Denzel Washington’s chair from American Gangster (which cost more), the vest Crowe wore in Les Miserables, his hood from Robin Hood, and his satin robe and gym shorts from Cinderella Man. Who wouldn’t want to see these cinematic treasures?

The Blockbuster donation was the highlight of the episode, but they also tackled the many stories going on this week, from Comey’s interview, to the raid on Cohen’s office, to the bombing of Syria on Friday. On Trump’s incredibly inappropriate use of the phrase “Mission Accomplished,” Oliver said:

“It does not fill you with confidence to have a President who announces, ‘I know I’m  repeating one of the most notorious political blunders in recent history. I meant to do it, everyone should do it, and I’m gonna do it again forever.’ I’ve got to say, if Trump’s intention was to descend so far into self-parody that he somehow burrowed through the earth’s crust and came out the other side, mission-fucking-accomplished.”

The main story of the night, since it was the weekend everyone was scrambling to do their taxes, was on taxes (the “government’s go-fund-me page”) which features a shoutout to Cardi B and tackles the many ways that companies move profits off-shores, avoid taxes, and more.

Anyway, the show gave Blockbuster a two-day window to claim all the Russell Crowe props, and we hope they’ll accept the gift. John Oliver is waiting with baited breath.

(via AV Club, image: HBO)

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Charline Jao

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