Category: Interviews Page 1 of 10

Among the notable folk that Connie has interviewed (partial list) are: David Morrell (3 times), William F. Nolan, Kurt Vonnegut, jr.; Joe Hill; Frederik Pohl; Anne Perry; Valerie Plame; Vanessa Redgrave; Michael Shannon;; Taylor Hackford; Jon Land and Liv Ullman. The interview subjects might be from the world of Hollywood or simply be much-read authors, but her interviews have run in newspapers for 61 years.

Scott Beck & Bryan Woods Talk “Heretic”

By Connie Wilson

On November 16, 2024

In Interviews, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews

One of the most interesting and well-scripted films out now is “Heretic,” a horror/suspense thriller written and directed by the boys from Bettendorf (Iowa), Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who gave us “A Quiet Place” back in 2018. During my interview with them at SXSW on March 10, 2018, I wrote, “I’m predicting ‘A Quiet Place’ will take off like a rocket, helping Beck and Woods receive even more deserved recognition.” That prediction is holding up well with this third film from the dynamic duo. The film earned back its production costs in its first weekend. It was sitting at $22 million in revenue, worldwide, as of November 14, 2024 for a film that cost less than $10 million.

“Heretic” depicts two Mormon missionaries, Sister Paxton (Chloe East of “The Fabelmans”) and Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher of “Yellowjackets”) accepting an invitation to share their faith with a seemingly kindly older gentleman named Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant). He tells them his wife is busy in the kitchen baking a blueberry pie, when inviting them into his house. Since missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would not enter his small home if there were not a woman present to chaperone their discussion, the rest of the film becomes a game of cat-and-mouse, belief and disbelief, control of the two girls by a man who may or may not be diabolical.

Scott Beck, Connie Wilson, Bryan Woods (L to R) in Austin at SXSW 2018.

(Left to Right) Scott Beck, Connie Wilson and Bryan Woods at SXSW (Austin, TX) on March 10, 2018.

When “A Quiet Place” opened SXSW in 2018, I interviewed Scott Beck & Bryan Woods in Austin. We talked about our mutual hometown area and how it contributed to the phenomenal success of creating “A Quiet Place” and then handing off their creation to John Krasinski (who contributed to the script). Beck & Woods have moved on to give us another wildly original and well-plotted current film, “Heretic,” starring Hugh Grant. Two young female Mormon missionaries pay a call on Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant) and place their lives in danger while discussing their faith.

Anyone who has seen “A Quiet Place” knows that, dialogue-wise, it is spare. The creatures might hear you and come for you, so mum’s the word. The 2023 sci-fi outing “25” that Beck & Woods did last, starring Adam Driver, was also more action, less talk. This one is dialogue heavy and Hugh Grant pulls it off beautifully.

Hugh Grant in “Heretic.”

SCRIPT

With “Heretic,” Beck & Woods have created an original script for a film that is a very in-depth talk about religion and life-after-death. It’s all couched within a horror movie concept. Talk—and deep concepts—dominate the movie. As Scott Beck told Matt Grobar of “Deadline”: “Heretic was something that Bryan and I had just been scratching at—the idea of religious ideologist Trojan horsing into a genre movie—for years and years.”

Bryan Woods: “We started writing the film 10 years ago, and got to the young missionaries meeting Mr. Reed. They sit down with him. Mr. Reed opens his mouth, and immediately we kind of stopped dead in our tracks, because he has a genius-level IQ. He has studied all the world’s religions, and we felt like we had not done that work yet. We’ve been interested in religion and cults our whole lives, but we hadn’t sat down and read the Quran or the Book of Mormon. We hadn’t filled our heads with enough information. So we spent the last decade just enriching our point of view—speaking with a lot of people, sitting down with missionaries, reading a lot of atheist thinkers and ingesting their points of view. The reason we picked up the script again and kept writing wasn’t so much that we reached a point of, ‘We did it! We’ve solved religion! or, ‘We’ve read enough to understand Mr. Reed.’ It was actually a confluence of personal and professional events.”

Woods said, “Every time we’d write a line, we’d have to stop and then go to Wikipedia to research something. It just felt inorganic, and so we did some fun research over the course of 10 years so that it could be a first language once we got further into writing Reed.” Woods told the “Hollywood Reporter” (David Brians, Nov. 9, 2024), “We also set out to make a movie that was deeply personal in terms of our relationship with the subject matter of belief and disbelief and what happens when you die. So, after pouring out all our neuroses and spilling our guts into this movie, it’s very exciting to see it connect with audiences, to say the least. We read interesting thinkers like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. It wasn’t rigorous research every night at the library, but we read a lot of atheist thinkers and contemporary philosophers, as well as holy books we’d never read like the Book of Mormon or the Quran, just so that it could be a first language once we got further into writing Reed.”

GENESIS

Sophie Thatcher & Chloe East in “Heretic.”

Sophie Thatcher (L) and Chloe East in “Heretic.”

Woods: “It was just in our lives we had hit this emotional low point where it seemed like everything was going wrong. At that low point, my father passed away unexpectedly from esophageal cancer…It was that kind of pain and depression. Confrontation with these large questions of, ‘What happens when you die? Is there something? Is there nothing?’ It was that moment where we were like, ‘It’s time to finally pick up the script and write it.’ Because we were feeling so raw emotionally. We always felt that “Heretic” needed to be one of those projects that’s just embarrassingly personal, and we’ve always dreamed of doing a movie like that. It was time to express all of our fears and anxiety about what happens when you die and the mystery of death. So that’s where it came from, and once we sat down to write the script in earnest, it just poured out of us.”

Scott Beck: “We wanted to swing in the opposite direction of “A Quiet Place” and “65”, two films that are void of dialogue and are straightforward thrillers. For “Heretic” it was all about how we could weaponize dialogue and ideas about theology to create something that hopefully feels as scary a ‘A Quiet Place.’ There’s a line in the movie that goes ‘The more you know, the less you know’ and the older we get (they are 40), we find ourselves gravitating to the philosophy that life is a mystery. And what happens when we die is the greatest mystery, but there’s something beautiful in not knowing. There’s something beautiful in the pursuit of the truth of knowing, while also embracing the fact that you won’t know until it’s too late.” As the young men pointed out in various interviews, almost every horror movie has fear of death as a catalyst and plot point.

The pair told the University of Iowa alumni magazine, “Every scary movie is about the same thing. It’s about our human fear of death and this question of what happens when you die. We wanted to turn that conversation that we’ve been having since we were eleven years old (when the pair began making small films in the Iowa Quad Cities) into a movie.”

Bryan Woods (left) and Scott Beck at SXSW in Austin (TX) on March 10, 2018.

FILM FINANCING

Scott Beck: “I think it’s our responsibility as filmmakers not only to think creatively about the story, but to think creatively about how do we get movies made in this landscape right now, especially coming from the viewpoint that we love movies that aren’t based on anything else and ostensibly are original stories. I think about ‘Heretic’ the same way I think about ‘A Quiet Place.’ When working on the script for these movies we didn’t think either were necessarily a home run, meaning we needed to protect ourselves to just have the means to make each movie. So each movie was written in the spirit of, can we make this for $50,000 in our home state of Iowa? And best case scenario, can we get it made at the studio level with proper resources? ‘Heretic’ was certainly something, because of the content of having a theological debate in the vessel of a thriller, that we felt it may not be a home run, But, if so, a home like A24 could incubate that in a responsible way, both creatively and financially. I think it’s in our interest, also, when creating these movies, to make sure that it feels like there’s a demand to see the movie in a theater. So, while certain people have compared ‘Heretic’ to a stage play, we’re very adamant about the fact that it’s a piece of cinema. (It should be noted that the pair now owns “The Last Picture House” theater in Davenport, Iowa, where “Heretic” premiered on November 8^th with one of the film’s stars, Chloe East, in attendance.)

“The Last Picture House” in Davenport, Iowa.

Bryan Woods: “There is a conversation, though, right now, that we’re picking up on in movie culture right now, this feeling of, ‘Oh, if only movies were cheaper then they would be more financially responsible and, therefore, more successful.’ It’s an interesting question to be asking, but, also, we would caution against that a little bit because you do want to preserve this feeling of spectacle, this feeling of going to a theater and seeing something special. Big movies and studios that spend a lot of money on movies, that’s a great thing. I think what’s not a great thing is just how boring it’s all gotten. It’s gotten too easy to make white noise, and so taking risks on a big level, for us, it is a great thing.” Woods added, “With movies, they haven’t quite replicated that experiential feeling of going to a cinema, watching a piece of work with 200 strangers.” (to Matt Grobar, “Deadline”).

HUGH GRANT AND OTHER IMPOSSIBLE GETS

“Heretic” movie poster

Scott Beck: “We feel like one of the movie’s secret weapons is Hugh Grant. Hugh Grant is an actor who has charmed worldwide audiences with his romantic comedies, and yet this movie, we kind of weaponize that good will that he’s formed with an audience. Partly because of that, the movie keeps you guessing. ‘Am I in a dangerous situation or am I just perceiving danger that’s not really there?’” Beck & Woods shared this marketing tactic with the University of Iowa alumni magazine in an interview. Grant, himself, during an appearance on ‘Late Night with Seth Meyer,’ said of this uncharacteristic role, “I spent months building up a huge biography for the character. I don’t know if it helps at all, but it seems to calm me down. It’s better than Lorazepam. He (Mr. Reed) is not exactly charming. What’s so fabulous about this is that it’s so different. What I was aiming for was a kind of groovy professor—a bit of a twat is the word. He’s a prankster who just, for some reason, is not very popular so he over-compensates by being a bit too fun.”

Chloe East & Sophie Thatcher approach Mr. Reed's house in "Heretic."

Chloe East (L) & Sophie Thatcher (R) in front of Mr. Reed’s (Hugh Grant’s) house.

Commenting on his co-stars, Chloe East as Sister Paxton and Sophie Thatcher as Sister Barnes on “Late Night,” Grant praised their performances, saying, “They are properly good and very three-dimensional and likeable. It could have happened that they came off as zealous Mormon boors.” As Beck & Woods have acknowledged, “Much of this movie is about dialogue and philosophical thoughts and ideas, a man who’s talking, almost mansplaining, but also two women who are trying to basically have a conversation between each other just on their faces. Learning about how much people say when they don’t say anything has always been a good tool to have in our writing toolbox.” The two told me back in 2018 that it was a class in American sign language on campus at the University of Iowa that sparked “A Quiet Place” and, once again, the 2007 graduates of the University of Iowa in communication studies credit a class they took at Iowa on nonverbal communication with helping to inspire their storytelling style. Both of the female leads grew up Mormon.

Both Steven Spielberg and Steven King have weighed in as admiring “Heretic.” Spielberg called up producer Stacey Sher, because Spielberg had cast Chloe in “The Fabelmans” and wanted to see where she had gone in her career. Beck & Woods asked Sher, producer of “Pulp Fiction,” to help them get permission to use all of the cultural touchstones they wanted in the movie, such as the rights disputes between Radiohead, Lana Del Rey and the Hollies. There were also references to games like Monopoly. Said Bryan Woods, “There was no back-up plan! We were terrified. When we wrote that scene, we were elated and so proud of it, but then that feeling was instantly followed by: ‘This will never get off the page. We will never get Monopoly cleared. We will never be able to air Radiohead’s dirty laundry.’ So it became a depressing moment, and that’s when you pick up the phone and you ask Stacey Sher to please help produce this movie with us. We asked her to help us do what felt like the impossible, which was get all of these pop cultural touchstones into the movie, so there was absolutely no back-up, and we were sweating it even up until three weeks ago. There was some last-minute wrangling about rights,” Bryan Woods told Brian Davids of “The Hollywood Reporter.”

OTHER CAST

Hugh Grant as Mr. Reed.

Chang-hoon Chung, the man who shot “The Handmaiden” and “Oldboy” did great work cinematically with the interior of the house. Topher Grant (“That 70s Show,” “BlacKkKlansman“) portrays Elder Kennedy. Also a huge help to the film’s success was Phil Messina, production designer and art director. Messina had worked on “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” (2013) and “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” (2015) and “Mother” (2017). As Woods told Matt Grobar of “Deadline,” “We’re very visual writers, and I mean that literally. Like, our script for “A Quiet Place” had certain pages that were completely blank, and then just had one word on it to emphasize a certain sound effect, or would have images and diagrams to help sell the concept of a modern-day silent film. With “Heretic” we’re using the Monopoly board images in the script. We’re putting them in, how we see them all lay out. And to that end, the house layout as Scott and I are writing, we’re diagramming and drawing up the bad version of what the house looks like and how it connects. It’s funny. We write in a kind of dream logic, and there’s two of us. There’s two brains, and sometimes we wonder if we’re like right and left brain, and then the two of us equal one brain. It’s funny how, when we write, Scott will diagram something out. He’ll have a door be on the left side and I’ll be like, ‘Oh, interesting. I always saw it on the right side.’ So a big part of our process is drawing and diagramming so that we’re imagining the same movie. Then you bring in someone like Phil Messina and he elevates it and helps us clarify some of the dream logic.” The house is like a Mobius strip and plays an important role in the plot.

THE ENDING

Chloe East in “Heretic”

Chloe East as Sister Paxton in “Heretic.”

Beck: “How do we finalize this ending and communicate an ambiguity, but an intentional ambiguity, so that it can anchor in people’s interpretations of the movie, in terms of their relationship with either being religious or non-religious, and the way they see the world. The butterfly felt like it was a proper symbol for that.” The open-ended interpretation of what happens (or doesn’t happen) reminded me of “Twelve Monkeys,” which was able to be interpreted in more than one way and set off many discussions among fans and critics. The pair told CinemaBlend’s Eric Eisenberg: “Well, the ending, the mark was always to present a larger question that’s a take home for the audience. Our ambition with this film is that it’s a conversational starter. Everybody has their own relationship to belief or disbelief, atheism, to being staunchly religious. And it felt like this movie, if anything, can hold a mirror up to the questions of like, ‘Why do we believe what we believe? How do we come to our own convictions?’ The end of the film presents, I think, that question in a very ambiguous way, but may be very overt. There can be three, four, five different interpretations of how you walk away from that movie. And the hope is that your interpretation of that reflects upon your own contradictions or your own reasonings to why you believe what you believe.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

“We have movies at different scales and passion will win out. And we love writing things that we don’t direct. So I hope it’s not going to be, we’ve got five great projects and only one of them comes to life. The next one we’re directing will probably be whatever scares us the most,” said Bryan Woods to “Deadline.” “We were terrified of making ‘Heretic’ because the whole conceptual framework of ‘Heretic’ is, can you replace the jump scare that we had been bored with and became our usual bag of tricks. Can you replace that with a philosophical idea? Can a line of dialogue about religion be just as scary as the monster that’s hiding under your bed? A movie that’s wall-to-wall talking, that’s still somehow engaging, felt really hard to do. So, I think whatever we do next is going to be something that we look and go, ‘This is insane. Nobody’s going to want to make this movie, especially us. That’ll probably be the one.”

Director Antonio Piazza Discusses “Sicilian Letters” at 60th CIFF on October 20, 2024

By Connie Wilson

On October 20, 2024

In Interviews, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews

Writer-Director Antonio Piazza (“Sicilian Ghost Story”), who spoke with me one-on-one on October 20, 2024.

Directors Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza, who directed “Sicilian Ghost Story” in 2017, return to the screen with “Sicilian Letters,” the story of an attempt to capture real-life Mafia crime boss Matteo Messina Denaro. The crime boss known as the last godfather was hunted for 30 years and was finally captured January 16, 2023 outside a medical facility in Palermo where he was seeking treatment for colon cancer under an assumed name. Over 100 police were involved in his apprehension that day. He was transferred to a prison with a cancer medical facility, where he died 8 months later (September 25, 2023), after slipping into a coma on September 24, 2023. At the time of his death, aged 61, it was estimated that Matteo—who had been sentenced to life in prison in absentia for the death of Giuseppe DiMatteo in 2012—was worth $4 billion dollars.

Lucia Rasso (Barbora Bobulova) with whom Matteo hides in “Sicilian Letters.”

Matteo, portrayed by Elio Germano, was known to be a cold-blooded adversary. He once killed a rival (Vincenzo Milaggo from Alcamo) and then strangled the man’s pregnant girlfriend. Matteo had been familiar with guns since the age of 14. At one point, he tells the woman harboring him (Lucia Rasso, played by Barbora Bobulova) that he was responsible for avenging her husband’s death and that he murdered the killer when he was only 17. Matteo also bragged, “I filled a cemetery all by myself.”

We see this early descent into savagery in the film’s opening scene, when Matteo steps up to murder a goat under the direction of his father, upstaging his older brother and foiling the attempts of his sister to grab the knife herself. Matteo’s father, Francesco Messina Denaro, known as Don Ciccio, died in November of 1998. By then, Matteo had been on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for 5 years, after a string of bombings in 1993 that killed two prosecutors, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

PLOT

The film begins by saying “Reality is a point of departure, not a destination.” In other words, as with most films, a certain amount of poetic license has been taken with real life. But, as Director Antonio Piazza told me in a conversation on August 20^th, most of the story is true. In order to capture the last godfather, the police attempt to turn the former Mayor and Headmaster Catello Palumbo (Toni Servillo), who was Matteo’s godfather, into a trusted go-between. Catillo has just spent 6 years in Cuneo prison. The police tell him, “Our meeting is your chance to get back in the game.” They want him to help capture the arch criminal, who has been on the loose for 30 years. and Catello suggests that writing notes (“pizzini”) might be the way in. It is known that Matteo likes to read and Catello offers up the truism that incarcerated prisoners might be the last real readers on the planet. (Sad, but potentially true).

Catello Palumbo and Matteo Messina Denaro in “Sicilian Letters,” screening at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival.

Catello—an odd-looking individual with his comb-over hairdo—has returned to his long-suffering wife Elvira, who seems to take a dim view of her spouse. Catello’s hotel project is in jeopardy; it’s illegal because it’s in a nature preserve. His wife, Elvira (Betty Pedrazzi), is fed up with the circumstances the family has been reduced to during Catello’s incarceration. His daughter Latizia (Dalila Reas) is pregnant by the janitor at Catello’s old school, (a part well-played by Giuseppe Tantillo as the “simple and sweet” Pino Turino.) Elvira does a good job of defending Pino from Catello’s put-downs, but there were other instances in the screenplay where women are demeaned, but none stand up to their abuser. It was definitely a sign of those early 2000 times. One such scene has a male investigator, Captain Schiavon (FaustoRussi Alessi), screaming in the face of female investigator Rita Mancuso (Daniela Marra). There is a line in the screenplay that says,”It’s the men who make decisions at home.” Rita definitely seems angry and upset most of the time.

The police embrace Catello’s idea of using letters to ferret out Matteo’s location. The letters—known as “pizzini“—were small folded-up notes used to communicate with other members of the Cosa Nostra in order to avoid phone conversations. They look very quaint in the era of e-mail and pagers blowing up in Gaza. The pizzini remind of notes passed from student to student in schools from the forties through the sixties, now an anachronism. The idea is to use Catello’s relationship with Matteo as his godfather and the trust Matteo might have in Catello to “Let him hear his father’s voice from beyond the grave.” It seems to work—or does it?

TRUST & CORRUPTION

Investigator Rita Mancuso (Daniela Marra) and Catillo Palumbo (Toni Servillo) join forces to find Matteo in “Sicilian Letters.”

The issues of corruption and trust were huge in the film. One scripted line, “In this village we all spy on one another.” Matteo at one point executes a friend (Nando) who is suspected of stealing cocaine and tells him at the moment of truth that the issue is not the value of the drugs but that “It’s an issue of trust.” The female investigator Rita Mancuso (Daniela Marra) early in the investigation tells Catello not to trust the other investigators on the case. She suspects (correctly) that there is so much corruption that the police don’t really want to catch Matteo. Sicilian singer-songwriter Colapesce even composed a song for the film, “La mal vagita seve al mondo intero” which means “evil serves a purpose for the entire world.” Matteo is the center of an entire world using him for their own greedy purpose.

THE GOOD

The plot is complicated and there are quite a few characters to follow. The acting is compelling. Elio Germano, who plays Matteo, actually moved to Palermo for a short period of time to pick up the dialect and the culture (and some Sicilian mannerisms). The part of Catello’s wife (Elvira, portrayed by Betty Pedrazzi)) was particularly interesting. She was one woman of the era who spoke up. Elvira seems very fed-up with her ex-convict husband and says so. The comic touches helped lighten the mood, as when we learn that Catello’s nickname is “Straight-shitter,” which has to do with the circumstances of his arrest. Some found Catello’s odd hair-do and the comic touches distracting, but they were well-done and necessary to prevent a grim film from becoming too depressing. There is the jab at Matteo’s sister’s “taralli,” a pastry that Matteo warns is as hard as cement. The cinematography and music also served the film well.

SPEAKING WITH DIRECTOR ANTONIO PIAZZA

Matteo’s father takes his 3 children to kill a goat for the holiday meal in an early scene from “Sicilian Letters.”

The significance of the small statue described as being the most valuable in the town’s small museum was explained to me by the director, Antonio Piazza. Not only is it true that the statue was very valuable, but it demonstrated how the Mafiosa ripped off antiquities of the country for their own benefit. The statue was called “pupu.” As Director Piazza explained, the word has different meanings in Sicilian. It can mean “puppet” and it can mean “child.” Said Antonio, “In a way Matteo is a puppet and a child.” The director explained that the existence of the “Pupu” statue was absolutely true. As Director Piazza noted, “Reading the notes left behind in Matteo’s hide-out and seeing the personal items left behind opened up a whole world to us.” The puzzle in Matteo’s hide-away was one way he passed the time while in hiding for 30 years. The real Matteo actually did write a letter to the puzzle manufacturer complaining about the missing puzzle piece. Matteo also read voraciously and watched such television shows on DVR as “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City,” plus reading an Andre Agassi book, Baudelaire, and Dostoyevsky.

CHARACTERS

Pino Tumino, well-played by Giuseppe Tantillo, is the only character in “Sicilian Letters” who comes off as pure.

“Pino Turino (who is married to Catello’s daughter) is the only character in the movie who comes out pure,” said Antonio. “Somehow he was able to read the context, which protected him morally.” Police investigator Rita Mancuso, Antonio explained, “really wants to capture the fugitive. She’s honest and idealistic and blinded by her obsession to capture Matteo.” Asked about the accuracy of other names in the film, Antonio said that only Matteo’s name was true to life; most others were changed. We discussed the state of women at this time in history and in the world. Antonio agreed that Matteo’s sister would have been pissed off that she was a woman living in a man’s world at a time when, as the script says, “It’s the men who make decisions at home.”

Matteo was very close to his father, who died in 1998. However, his father was not the womanizer that Matteo chose to be. One small change that Antonio acknowledged was that the illegitimate child is said to be a son. In reality, the child who wrote the Father’s Day essay about her MIA father, was a girl. Matteo’s sister really did feel that Matteo should acknowledge his daughter, but the film—with its father-and-son dynamic, worked better with the child being male. The second-class citizenship of girls is made clear from the opening scene of the three children with their father and the goat. I wondered if the sunglasses perched on the small child’s head (Matteo’s illegitimate son, in the film) was meant to show a passing of the torch to the next generation in the film. Director Piazza acknowledged that the RayBan sunglasses were definitely Matteo’ signature and became iconic. Photos of him on driver’s licenses, old and young, show him wearing RayBan sunglasses. (Think Tom Cruise in “Risky Business.”)

CONCLUSION

Matteo’s father, Francesco Messina Denaro (Don Ciccio) on his deathbed in “Sicilian Letters.”

The primary themes of “Sicilian Letters” concern evil, corruption, and trust. Director Antonio Piazza said, “Your reading of the film is very much true. We are asking the audience, ‘How is all this possible?’” This continued exploration of Cosa Nostra in Sicily and the 30-year search for Matteo Messina Denaro, the last godfather, was an engrossing, well-written, well-plotted, well-acted and well-directed outing which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Harris/Walz Sit for CNN Interview on August 29, 2024

By Connie Wilson

On August 29, 2024

In Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Interviews, Politics, Television

Presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz sat for a joint interview at Kim’s Cafe in Savannah, Georgia on August 29, 2024. It was Harris’ 7th trip to Georgia and it is 68 day from the presidential election.

The Republicans have been making a Big Deal out of the fact that Harris (and Walz) had done no sit-down interviews, despite the fact that she just spoke about her vision for America from the DNC stage in Chicago and has been vocal about her views for a long time. One might point to the fact that Donald J. Trump goes off-script and offers bromides about windmills and toilets when he is onstage, which is not particularly helpful in trying to determine his true mind-set about a second term. It appears that his policy playbook would be “All Retribution All the Time.” He has grudges against a lot of people and is still proclaiming the untenable position that the 2000 election was stolen from him, Only his most loyal and blind-to-the-truth supporters even attempt to repeat that falsehood—the Kari Lakes of the party.

For the rest, it is a given that Trump lost in 2020 and Joe Biden has been President of the United States ever since. Only his decision to step away from the Oval Office at the end of his term and pass the torch to a new generation has vaulted Harris to the national prominence that she now enjoys, but she has been the acting Vice President (and the pivotal key vote in the Senate to break ties) ever since 2020. The GOP seems intent on painting a gloomy picture of the future and of being personally insulting to the woman who once served as Attorney General of the State of California. Trump has even gone so far as to say his 78-year-old orange out-of-shape self is “better looking” than the attractive Democratic candidate.

CNN’s Dana Bash asked Kamala Harris:

ON DAY ONE?

Tim Walz at the DNC in Chicago

If you are elected, what would you do on Day One in the White House? (Some of her answer is paraphrased below):

“I would do what I can support the American middle class….People are ready for a new way forward. .People are fueled by hope and optimism, but the former President is pushing an agenda that is about diminishing the character and strength of Americans. I would be implementing my plan for an opportunity economy (bring down the cost of daily goods, invest in families, extend family tax credit to $6,000, investing in the American family on affordable housing.)

Walz, asked about his agenda for a term as Vice President said his goal would be: “Inspiring Americans to what can be. We did it in Minnesota and diminished childhood poverty by 1/3.”

WE’RE NOT GOING BACK

“We’re not going back.” What if some of the Americans want to go back to DJT’s presidency when things were cheaper? (Bash’s second question.)

“When Joe and I came in our highest priority was to rescue America. Inflation is now under 3%. I have been dealing with price gouging. We need to bring down the cost of housing. (Credit of $25,000 for first-time home buyers.) First of all, we needed to recover as an economy (which is why, she says, she has not done more of this program previously). We capped insulin at $35 a month. When we do the work of bringing down the cost of prescription medication in the first year of being in office, cut child poverty down by as much as 50% this will benefit the American middle class. There’s more to do, but that’s good work.”

FRACKING

Banning fracking. Energy. “Do you still want to ban fracking.” Harris’ answer: I made that clear on the debate stage.” In 2020 she was against fracking. However, in 2024, she says, ” I will not ban fracking.” She also spoke out about the need for work on climate change:
“We have a clear crisis in terms of the climate. We created over 300,000 new energy bans.”

THE BORDER

Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, the Vice Presidential candidate of the Democratic party.

Why did the Biden/Harris wait 3 and ½ years to enforce sweeping border restrictions?

A: “The number of immigrants coming from that region (Central America, Kamala’s chief job as VP to negotiate with leaders of those countries to reduce the flow) has actually been reduced. Joe Biden and I worked with members of the United States Congress and a bill was crafted by some of the most Conservative members of Congress. The bill would have put 1500 new border agents on the border. That bill would have allowed us to seize more shipments of fentanyl. I will make sure it comes to my desk and I will sign it.”

Decriminalizing the border? “We have laws that have to be followed and enforced. I’m the only person in this race who actually served a border state as Attorney General.”

CHANGES ON POLICIES

How did you come to change your mind on policies?

A: “The most significant part of my policies is that my viewpoints and values have not changed. Climate change: Set deadlines and goals. We need to set certain goals and meet them. My values have not changed and 4 years of being VP…traveling the country…I believe it is important to build consensus and to find a common point on which we can build agreement. …I would put a Republican in my administration.” (*This is not particularly revolutionary. After all, Ray LaHood—my former neighbor—served as Secretary of Transportation in Obama’s administration and has endorsed the Harris/Walz ticket, although his son, Darren, spoke glowingly of DJT.”)

TO TIM WALZ:

Hope, Gus and Tim Walz at the DNC.

Service in the National Guard: “I’m incredibly proud of my 24 years in uniform. ..I’ll never demean another member’s service. I never have and I never will.” Walz spoke of his son Gus’ emotional outburst at the DNC in a positive way and only GOP nay-sayers have demeaned the 17-year-old who proudly declared “That’s my Dad” when Walz was onstage.

Walz was asked about his 1995 arrest for DUI: “I’ve been very public. My students come out and vouch for me. I think people know who I am. I’ve taught thousands of students. The contrast could not be clearer between us and our opponents.”

When Kamala Harris was asked about the non-issue of whether she had identified as Black before now, she simply dismissed the comment as being “Same old tired playbook.”

GAZA ISSUE

Gaza: would you do anything differently. “I am unequivocal in Israel’s defense and its ability to defend itself. 1200 people were massacred. Women were horribly raped. Israel has a right to defend itself and so would we. How they do so matters. We have to get a deal done about getting the hostages out, get the cease fire done. We have to get a deal done…the significance to the families, to the people living in this area. I remain committed to a two-state solution.”

JOE BIDEN’S CALL TO HARRIS

Just 39 days ago that Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Before he told the world, he called his VP as she was making pancakes and bacon for her nieces. She spoke very positively of President Biden.

CNN Discussion Post-Interview:

DAVID AXELROD (DNC STRATEGIST)

David Axelrod. (Photo by Lauren Gerson.)

“Kamala exuded a sense of confidence and calm. She was very connected to her words She seemed like someone who could be President of the United States. She handled the issue of her changes or perceived changes in policy pretty well. The idea that her values were the thing that has remained constant was a good one. As she spoke, I thought it showed a certain character. She didn’t run away from Joe Biden. She gave him his due. It was elevating to me in a way that was unexpected. Today, it showed that she can really do it. Hers is a consistent story of growth.

I think Biden deserves a lot more credit for guiding the country through the pandemic and the economic disaster he walked into,. To the degree that they are saying that she is going to continue to do exactly the same thing that Biden did, it is going to be a challenge for her. (But. he noted, it is the President who has the final say on policies, not the VP.)

If I were advising her, I would say make him (Trump) seem small. We know what his habits are. She should have a conversation with the American people about the way forward she sees, not engage with DJT.”

SCOTT JENNINGS (GOP STRATEGIST)

Scott Jennings,

Scott Jennings, Columnist, LA Times, Daily Mail, Gannett: “If I were the Trump people I would be salivating over her failure to show remorse” (for things she and Biden achieved or in Jennings’ opinion, botched.) (*He was critical of the Afghanistan withdrawal, but, finally, a President got us OUT of Afghanistan after many years of hearing it as a goal from others.)

Jennings claimed Harris said she was the last person in the room on Afghanistan. A disagreement arose between Axelrod and Jennings on what that meant. Axelrod pointed out that Harris was the Vice President, not the President, and the policy decisions were ultimately the President’s, not hers.

Others, such as Astead Herndon of the Podcast “The Run-Up” commented that Harris “is a homework do-er. You can see this in her preparation” and, also, that she is ready to be on the defense. Trump is preparing using Tulsi Gabbard who has debated against Kamala Harris.

“Audrey” Has World Premiere at SXSW 2024

By Connie Wilson

On March 11, 2024

In Interviews, Local, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews, Texas

“Audrey” at SXSW 2024.

First-time Australian feature director Natalie Bailey has crafted a tale of a dysfunctional family from a Lou Sanz script. It had its World Premiere at SXSW on March 10^th, 2024. The synopsis for the film : “Self-appointed Mother of the Year, Ronnie has given her daughter Audrey everything, so when Audrey selfishly falls into a coma, Ronnie has no choice but to keep their dreams alive by assuming her identity.”

BACKGROUND

Some background for what initially sounded like a comedy: Ronnie Willis Lipsick is the married mother of two daughters, Audrey and Norah. Norah, the youngest, has cerebral palsy. Audrey, the eldest, is a rebellious teenager who has a poor relationship with her mother.

Ronnie, portrayed by New Zealand actress Jackie VanBeek, won awards appearing as a young actress in “Jillaroo.” That was 18 years ago. Now, Ronnie seems to be attempting to live her life over through her daughter, Audrey. It isn’t going well.

Audrey (Josephine Blazier) , rather than appreciating her mother’s helicopter parenting, is a surly, sullen teenager with a bad attitude. Audrey’s rebelliousness brings comments from Mom like, “I don’t want you diddling away your time with boys,” Or, “The future is not something you find in the back seat of a car.” Audrey is fairly representative of 50% of American teenage daughters. (Trust me on this; I raised one).

AUDREY VERSUS NORAH

Norah and Audrey in “Audrey” (SXSW, 2024).

Audrey says things to her mother like, “You’re a shit actress, and you know it. You just quit before anyone else realized it.” Audrey also posts a video on her social media account ridiculing Mom that goes viral. It reduces Ronnie to tears.

Since Norah (Hannah Diviney) is confined to a wheelchair with muscular dystrophy, she is left alone by Mom. That may be why she comes off as the more likeable of the two sisters. Although Norah has her moments, as evidenced by her behavior when she sits bedside next to her comatose older sister in the hospital. Norah doesn’t express any affection for Audrey, even when encouraged by Mom.

Dad Cormack (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) initially seems to be almost a non-factor in the family dynamic. As the plot progresses, Audrey falls from the roof and ends up in a coma; (not sure I’d use the adjective “selfishly.”) Cormack’s part takes on surprising new dimensions beyond the role of grieving father. He seems to be sexually out-of-control, in a kind of creepy fashion.

THE GOOD

Lou Sanz’s script had some great lines. My own personal favorites were: “If there’s one thing your Mom can do, it’s make a killer lemonade,” and “I’m going to take care of you, like any good mother would.”

The cinematography by Simon Ozilin is equally good, especially in the climactic scenes when the camera cuts from Ronnie playing Medea onstage (“Oh, doomed children of an unloved mother…”) to what is going on back at the house between Audrey and her friend Max.

THE BAD

“Audrey” and Mom Ronnie in the Australian film “Audrey” at SXSW.

The adult Ronnie misrepresents herself as her teen-aged daughter at an audition. That presents obvious problems. For Ronnie, trying to portray ages 13 through 25 is a stretch. Initially, I thought this would be addressed with an all-out comic tone.

However, the plot, described as “an exploration of the human psyche” never really goes for funny. It goes for (more-or-less) serious with a few comic situations. Again, not sure I’d say someone “selfishly” fell off a roof, but that sort of adjective choice in the synopsis led me to think this was going to be a funny movie.

TONE

For me, the subject matter didn’t really go far enough in either direction. It’s either going to be a light-hearted examination of the mother/daughter relationship when the daughter is difficult (think “Lady Bird”) or it’s going to be a serious, touching drama that examines the statement, “We need to take the time to acknowledge that our lives aren’t always as we would wish.” (“American Beauty”). It tries to keep a foot in both worlds.

I was at a performance of George Carlin’s in Chicago when Carlin was performing a sketch about suicide. (In his defense, it was near the end of his career and his health was not good.) The attempt to make comedy out of such a serious subject did not work. It caused many in the audience to streak for the exits.

The resolution of “Audrey” has the same problem. Despite some great scripted lines from Lou Sanz, when I asked Director Natalie Bailey about the film’s tone, she responded, “Morally, you have to choose where you stand. “ An interesting position, which reminds of this line from the script: “The world’s a broken place these days.”

CONCLUSION

Audrey's parents at the hospital after she falls from the roof.

“Audrey” at SXSW 2024.

I could relate to the situation the film explores. I’m the mother of a teenaged daughter (and was once a rebellious teenager, myself). However, I couldn’t embrace Ronnie walking away Scott-free at film’s end. Just as the audience for Carlin found his comic premise unacceptable, while I enjoyed the acting and the expert execution by this first-time feature director (especially the finale), I was disappointed by the moral position the film chose to take.

Maybe the recent court case in my home town area where a mother was found to have stuffed the dead body of her elementary school-aged son in a trash can in the garage for months played into my moral position. To say it was shocking is putting it mildly. The resolution of that case (in Rock Island, IL) did not point to child abuse or murder, however, as the death itself seems to have been an accident that the mother was made aware of (child playing with gun) only after the fact. She wasn’t even home when it happened. Still, respect for life and protecting one’s child at all costs and—if the worst happens—providing a decent burial or decent treatment for the youngster seemed the least a parent (no matter how shocked or unprepared for the event) should do. Somehow, a different ending for this one seemed like a better (or more acceptable?) idea.

(Whatever happened to happy endings?)

“Iowa Nice” Comes Through in CNN Town Hall Meetings with DeSantis & Ramaswamy

By Connie Wilson

On December 14, 2023

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Interviews, News, Politics, Television

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 19, 2022. (Photo by Wade Vandervort / AFP) (Photo by WADE VANDERVORT/AFP via Getty Images)

There’s Iowa Nice, and then there’s Iowa Smart. Both were on display on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (12/12 and 12/13) on CNN at 8 p.m. (CDT).

After watching the GOP Town Hall Meetings on CNN with Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy I have to say that the people of my home state did Iowa proud. Their questions were so much better than any of those asked by the professional media people moderating the “real” debates recently that there really was no comparison.

Instead of dwelling on the issue of trans-gender sex change operations for youth—a topic that affected fewer than 1,200 people in 2019, the peak year for such surgeries—-these rank-and-file Iowans asked questions that matter to all of us, on the following topics:

U.S. Economic prosperity
Israel vs. Ukraine support from the U.S.
The border issue
Fentanyl
Social Security
Abortion (a notable exception during the GOP debate hosted by Megan Kelly)
Trade relations with China
Why DeSantis would be different/better than Trump as President
Nikki Haley’s support from big business
DeSantis’ position on fracking

Yes, there was a question on a purely Iowa issue, the Satanic Temple display at the State Capitol in Des Moines. And the Pork-on-a-stick at the Iowa State Fair was, perhaps, not a Biggie, but kudos, Iowans!

Vivek Ramaswamy on Dec. 13 during the CNN Town Hall in Des Moines, Iowa, at Grandview College.

When Vivek Ramaswamy graced the Grandview College stage on Wednesday night, December 12, 2023, the people of Iowa came through again, asking Vivek Ramaswamy how he would be different from Trump; the border; Vivek’s Hindu religion in a largely Christian state and nation; Putin’s response to Ramaswamy’s proposed Ukraine solution; inequity in wealth between the top 1% wealthiest Americans and the middle class; a president’s demeanor while serving as the nation’s leader; challenges he had experienced as a candidate because of his age and his position on diversity programs.

The questioning did go off the rails a bit when Ramaswamy (his own worst enemy) went on and on and on about various debunked conspiracy theories and what he had learned about Iowans, in general. (They don’t call it “Iowa Nice” for no reason.)

I’ll write more about their responses in the next few days, but…Damn! You did us proud, questioners. Give those Talking Heads some tips for future debates.

“The Herricanes” @ Nashville Film Festival on October 1, 2023

By Connie Wilson

On October 4, 2023

In Interviews, Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews, Sports

“Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and make a trail.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson) That quote appears at the beginning of the documentary “The Herricanes,” which played at the Nashville Film Festival on Monday, October 1, 2023.

Olivia Kuan’s Mom played football. Olivia thought it was something any girl could do. Upon learning how unique her mother’s experience was, the young filmmaker decided to document her mother, Basia Haszlakiewicz’s, participation in the female football leagues of the seventies. Basia played for the Houston Herricanes in the NWFL (National Women’s Football League.)

Ms. Kuan’s excellent documentary traces the origins of female contact football. She interviewed many members of several teams; she has done a great job of labeling each interview subject onscreen. Olivia Kuan’s research and editing team did an even better job gathering and assembling the interviews into a coherent whole.The archival production team consisted of Kelsey Carr and researcher Chris Morcam. Still photographs and film footage from the actual games take us back in time.

The documentary embraces the concept”it’s okay for women to be whole people.” Another truth the film underscores is: “It’s important to create a world that welcomes everyone.” Interesting timing. Olivia Hill, the first trans-gender woman to hold office in Nashville, was sworn in this very day as one of 5 council-members at large for the Metro area. (Meanwhile, the state of Tennessee has banned drag shows.)

Title IX

The entire idea of letting women play contact football grew out of the cultural shift of Title IX in 1972. Title IX said that no school could discriminate on the basis of sex in extra-curricular offerings in public schools. Today’s youth don’t remember what a sea change this was.

Olivia’s mother, Basia Haszlakiewicz, played for the Houston Herricanes in the seventies. To the argument women “don’t want to play contact sports” the rebuttal was,”They’ve never been given the opportunity to see if they want to play football.” Today, one of the early supporters of female football runs Gridiron Girls camps.

Be the Revolution

As the film emphasizes, it is not easy to be first.

Four National Women’s Football League teams were founded in 1974. Among the teams participating over the years were the Toledo Troopers, the Dallas Bluebonnets, the Los Angeles Dandelions, the Dallas/Ft. Worth Shamrocks, the Oklahoma City Dolls, the San Antonio Flames, and the Houston Herricanes.

There were initially 14 teams with 3 divisions. The power team was Oklahoma City. In fact, the Oklahoma City Dolls didn’t lose a game until their sixth season. The Dolls put a real beat-down on the Herricanes in their first meetings. Oklahoma averaged 35 points a game and routinely beat the early versions of the Herricanes by scores as lopsided as 40 to 0 and/or 56 to 0.

Director Olivia Kuan and her mom, Basia Haszlakiewicz.

But the Herricanes steadily improved and were competitive near the end of the league’s existence. The players had to buy their own equipment ($88,15 in Olivia’s Mom’s case) and it took $50,000 to keep a team afloat. There were more people on the field than in the stands. This did not help the financial situation of the league. The comment is made that parity for women in any sport is yet to be achieved.

The documentary also made it clear that support for women’s contact football in Europe is much stronger, citing the 2019 World Championship in Leeds, England. Teams thrive in countries like Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, Germany and England.

As for the original NWFL teams, they began to fold in ’78 (Los Angeles Dandelions) and ’79 (Toledo Troopers, Oklahoma City Dolls, Houston Herricanes,) Some (the Dallas/Ft. Worth Shamrocks) had folded earlier. The 1979 Championship game was canceled.

“The Herricanes” was a highly entertaining and engaging trip back in time. It has a great message for the future about inclusivity. One of the best documentaries here at the 52nd Nashville Film Festival.

“Remember This” Documentary at Nashville Film Festival Stars David Straithairn

By Connie Wilson

On October 2, 2023

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Interviews, Movies, Politics, Reviews

David Straithairn as Jan Karski in “Remember This” at the Nashville Film Festival.

Academy Award nominee David Straithairn portrays Polish Underground hero Jan Karski in this 95-minute documentary from the Nashville Jewish Film Festival. Straithorne will be better known to audiences as Tom Cruise’s convict older brother in “The Firm” or as the Oscar nominee for 2006’s “Good Night, and Good Luck.” More recently Straithairn was the male lead opposite Frances McDormand in the Oscar-winning Best Picture of the Year, 2021’s “Nomadland.”

In this Jeff Hutchens and Derek Goldman directed tour de force one-man show, Straithairn is onstage with just a table and a chair and must carry the entire story of the Polish war hero and the Nazi genocide without benefit of anything but some accompanying music. It’s a tall order with Straitharn, an actor in his 70s, portraying over 30 characters. It is the spare black-and-white no frills approach that kept the budget to $500,000.

The film is based on the play “Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski” by Clark Young and Derek Goldman. As a play, it ran with Straitharn “live” at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. The film was shot on a Brooklyn soundstage in July of 2020 at the height of the pandemic, and was completed in 2022. The play was originally prepared for the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University.

Karski was a Polish Catholic with a photographic memory; he was a true Polish patriot. Said Karski, “I am a 28-year-old machine. I am an insignificant little man.” He volunteered to become a sort of human tape recorder, documenting the genocide of the Jewish population of Poland and Germany. Captured at various points in his perilous journey, he narrowly escaped death at many points, attempted suicide at least once, and maintained that he was an ordinary man until the end of his life. We see a short snippet of the real Jan Karski, and he breaks down while trying to recount his adventures.

Throughout the film about World War II a viewer cannot stop thinking of the Ukraine/Russia conflict that is ongoing. Repeated throughout the film is the question, “What can we do?” The only suggestion during the film consisted of hunger strikes to publicize the atrocities.

The seeming indifference of the top leaders of the Allied powers in the UK and the US is underscored, with Supreme Court Chief Justice Felix Frankfurter flat-out telling Jan during their meeting that he does not believe him. Likewise, President Roosevelt was being urged by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to do more for the beleaguered Jewish population. She wanted him to allow more Holocaust victims to flee to the United States, but he followed the lead of Sir Anthony Eden of Great Britain, who said only, “The matter will take its proper course.”

Meanwhile, as Karski is told by his Superior in London, Szmul Zgielbojm (Polish government in exile), “Tell them in London and the U.S. that we are dying. Remember this.” Repeatedly Karski is told, “Perhaps this will shake the conscience of the world.” The message that echoes throughout: “Governments have no souls. They have only their interests. Individuals have souls.”‘

While Straithairn does what he can with the part, this is no “Schindler’s List.” The filmmakers did insert some sound effects and music that aids a bit, but it is truly up to Straithairn to convey the horror of a systematic attempt to wipe out three and one-half million Jewish residents of Poland and 6 million throughout Europe. The numbers of Jewish survivors in Poland are reduced to a few thousand survivors.

The letter to Roosevelt and Churchill that laid it out quite baldly said, “The surviving Jews of Poland beg you to find a way to save them. The greatest crime in human history. Force the Nazi murderers to stop the systematic extinction of our people.”Karski also had meetings with the top diplomats of the U.K. and the U.S., including Roosevelt I recently completed Robert Dallek’s biography of FDR entitled “Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A Political Life.” That comprehensive history of FDR’s years in office confirms the stories that Jan Karski tells about the slow pace of world leaders; those leaders would later claim that they had not been told of the full extent of the Holocaust.

One of the most telling historical stories depicted in the film is that of Szmul Mordeko Zgielbojm, the member of the Polish government-in-exile in London to whom Jan Karski reported. Zgielbojm was a Polish Socialist politician and Bund trans-union activist. He and Karski sought every avenue to publicize to the world the atrocities being committed in Poland, Germany and throughout Nazi-dominated Europe. On May 11th, 1943, after the brutal crushing of the Polish Warsaw Rebellion by units under the control of SS-Brigadefuhrer Jeugen Stroop, Zbielbojm committed suicide to protest the inaction of the western Allied powers.

The testimony is important for history, especially in an age when there are still Holocaust deniers. Straitharn does what he can with a bare bones production. Checking out some of the original recordings of Jan Karski (the Shoah Project) is a worthwhile pursuit. You can find some links at RememberThisKarskifilm.com.

GOP Debate Is Fox News Love Fest

By Connie Wilson

On August 23, 2023

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Interviews, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics, Pop Culture

So, I’ve been watching the Republican debate. (Just shoot me now.)

First, on a positive note, the woman singing the “Star Spangled Banner” was outstanding.

Second, Ron DeSantis did not answer a single question asked of him. He simply answered something completely unrelated every time.

Chris Christie, bearer of truth, saluted Mike Pence’s actions on January 6^th and reminded us that Trump is a flawed candidate.

Vivek Vivaswamy: The man refused to admit that climate change is real and does not support Ukraine or Israel, among other faux pas. He is young, yes, so perhaps that can be his excuse, but his pledge to pardon Trump was bad and most of what he said was fairly ignorant of the facts.

Nikki Haley got in a plea for abortion rulings being between a woman and her family and doctors and seemed

one of the saner members of the group.

So far, Christie and Haley and Hutchinson seemed the most stable. Pence seemed overly reliant on his religious convictions and also seemed very disgusted by the Indian candidate’s brash smile and ignorance of the facts. Hutchinson had some good moments. DeSantis seemed angry and defiant

We attempted to find out if the Trump interview was airing anywhere that it could be watched, but that did not seem to be the case. I went out on Twitter (now “X”) and looked around, but didn’t find much there except claims that Trump had put an end to Fox News, which is a debatable statement.

BEE GONE: A POLITICAL PARABLE

DeSantis is now talking about how he kept Florida’s schools open. He fails to mention that Florida had more deaths than any other state. He is now attacking critical race theory and gender education and sounds like an angry, opinionated Know-It-All.

The two quietest candidates are the Black candidate (Tim Scott) and the Governor of North Dakota, Ron Berglum.

Viviswamy is talking about ending teachers’ unions and re-establishing Civics as a subject everyone should have to pass. He’s now attacking the “epidemic of fatherlessness” and singing the praises of the nuclear family (shades of Ron Reagan). Doug Burglum (Governor of North Dakota) is talking about education differing state by state, which seems apropos of nothing. He is now touting how he built a company from scratch. Also, that he grew up in a town of 300 people. Not sure how those two accomplishments make you the right candidate for President of the United States, but okay. He wants to get rid of the Department of Education.

The Lightning Round is on and Chris Christie just got the UFO question. It is causing some humor in the ranks.

There is a concerted effort to attack Teachers’ Unions, which seems ill-advised. Apparently, we underpaid teachers are the only group not deserving of representation in our jobs.

The Round-Up at the End:

Governor Ron Berglum: blah, blah, blah. Nothing memorable.

Asa Hutchinson: “The solution is new leadership that can bring bold ideas to America.” Citing Reagan. Critical of Trump.

Senator Tim Scott: South Carolina Senator. Brought up “mired in poverty.” (used that phrase a lot), Talked about his mother working 16 hour days. Making accountability a thing. Wants Iowans to caucus for him.

Chris Christie: “The only way that’s going to happen is if we beat Joe Biden.” Beat a Democratic incumbent. Stands for the truth. 8 years in NJ as governor being cited. “I’m the one who can win this race and if you give me the chance, I will restore our country by winning it.”

Nikki Haley: Mentioning her husband going off to war. (She is the former South Carolina Governor) “If they are willing to protect us from there, we should be able to protect us from here.” Pro law enforcement. Make sure we have an America that is strong and proud.

VP Mike Pence – Joe Biden has weakened America at home and abroad. Afghanistan. Energy. Border. “I know we can bring the nation back.” The GOP owes the American public a choice. “I have faith in the American people. God is not done with America yet.”

Vivek Ramaswamy – “We are really all just the same.” This is our moment to revive our national spirit. Pro fossil fuel. Nuclear family promotion. Pro Constitution, but doesn’t mention how pardoning Trump would be completely counter to that.

Ron DeSantis: Ended fairly strong, but sounded angry.

During the “Hannity Live from the Spin Room in Wisconsin” Reince Preibus and Kelley Anne Conway held forth and basically praised Trump. Nobody wanted to address the elephant in the room (91 criminal indictments). Hannity has just revealed that his mom was a prison guard. Why does this not surprise me? (He said his mom always thought he’d end up inside the prison; same comment).

Ramaswamy is now libeling and slandering both Joe and Hunter Biden in the spin room interview. (Said they were “selling off” America to foreign countries, when evidence indicates that we have seen more of that from the 4 Trump years, with the sweet Saudi Arabia deal with Jared Kushner.)

Senator Tim Scott, talking to Hannity. Scott says he felt really good and wanted to tell people that America could do for them what it did for him. He is talking about 3 million new jobs, for reasons that are not clear, since he never mentioned this during the debate. He is supporting gas and coal, despite all of us sweltering in 115 degree heat because of the overuse of fossil fuel and global warming. Hannity is talking about the expense of a gallon of gas, rather than the fact that climate change brought on by fossil fuels has put us in a pot of hot water that is nearing the boiling point. Hannity is promoting the idea of the DOJ persecuting the likes of Trump. Scott says the first thing he would do is fire Merrick Garland. While I think that Merrick Garland has been entirely too wishy-washy and perhaps should be fired for that, he certainly is not responsible for the faltering confidence in the justice and in the Supreme Court. In fact, Merrick Garland should have been Obama’s appointment to the Supreme Court, but for Mitch McConnell’s campaign to keep Obama from being allowed to appoint a Supreme Court justice, like every other President in history.

“You Can Call Me Bill” Is Documentary About William Shatner at SXSW on March 16, 2023

By Connie Wilson

On March 17, 2023

In Interviews, Movies, News, Reviews, Texas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYUSBgq24jk

“You Can Call Me Bill,” written and directed by Alexandre O. Philippe, screened at the Paramount Theater in Austin on March 16 at SXSW.

The documentary was financed by Legion, which is fan-owned, and all the donors’ names appear in the credits at the end.

The documentary opens in a forest with the quotation, “The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” The director did a nice return to this forest image at the documentary’s end, but the middle contains Shatner pontificating on a variety of subjects and many clips from his work through the years. Ninety-one year old William Shatner, forever Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, is the subject.

William Shatner, subject of the SXSW documentary “You Can Call Me Bill.”

The film had a structure that was projected onscreen:

Prologue: The Miracle

Chapter 1: Love, death and horses

Chapter 2: Masks

Chapter 3: Boldly Go

Chapter 4: Loneliness

Chapter 5: So fragile, so blue

Director Alexandre O. Philippe and William Shatner onstage at SXSW on March 16, 2023.

The director explained that in this structure each portion corresponded to one of Shatner’s original songs. The best song was the last one, “I Want To Be A Tree,” which was Shatner saying he wanted to be cremated after death. Then a Redwood will be planted in his ashes and grow into a mighty tree. At age ninety-one he admitted that he thinks about death all the time, but the director shared that he had visited four cities in four days and keeps a schedule that a much younger man would have difficulty keeping up with. Shatner also recently reconciled with his 64-year-old wife just three years after their divorce.

If the structure for the documentary seems a bit “loosey goosey,” it was. But, as Shatner says in the documentary, “Ooga booga should be part of our lives.” It must have been quite a task to figure out how to structure the ramblings of the star, interesting though they are, and to coordinate them with clips from Shatnr’s body of work and still share insightful stories from throughout the years.

Two stories that stood out for me were Shatner’s remarks about how the original pilot (which appeared to star Jeffrey Hunter in the Captain Kirk lead) was passed on by the network, which then took another run at casting, giving “Star Trek” a second shot, a highly irregular course of action.

The other story that Shatner told involved the moment in time, post “Star Trek,” in July of 1969 when he was flat broke and sleeping in a truck in a remote field, while witnessing men walking on the moon for the first time, a bit of his life that he referred to as “the irony of symmetry.” Better times were ahead.

The clip that I enjoyed the most featured Shatner doing a bit at the ceremony awarding George Lucas a Life Achievement Award. Bill takes the stage and begins to talk, but he pulls out a piece of paper from his pocket midway through that reveals he is there talking about ‘Star Trek” but the invitation was for “Star Wars.” We can see Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford laughing heartily while seated beside Lucas and “Star Wars” storm troopers escort the confused Captain Kirk offstage.

Director of “You Can Call Me Bill” Alexandre O Philippe.

Shatner’s life advice: “Take care of the inner child. That curiosity is what keeps us alive. The search for love is what keeps us alive. Curiosity equals love.”

In regards to Chapter 1, Shatner said, “Nature or animals or people are what keep us connected.” He emphasized the connectedness of life on planet Earth throughout the one hour and thirty-six minute documentary, which released March 16^th after its first showing at SXSW.

On Acting: Shatner says that, “Learning the words is the work of the actor. The rest is just kicks.” When asked if he was a method actor who took the part home after his work day, he responded, “The carpenter doesn’t come home and try to fix the dining room table.” So that would be a no.

Regarding those who have imitated Shatner through the years, the verdict was “Every word is its own sentence.” Various imitators were shown giving his delivery their best shot, in the same way that Christopher Walken is often mimicked.

Shatner’s life philosophy: “Everything is an adventure.” He added, “Do it fully, boldly, courageously. Limit your sense of regret.”

In his discussion of loneliness, Shatner noted that he had “been alone all my life,” ever since his birth in Canada in 1931. He said, “Loneliness is endemic” and noted that he was talking about existential loneliness. Almost three years after the 91-year-old ‘Star Trek’ actor and his 64-year-old spouse divorced, William and Elizabeth recently decided to give their relationship another go. Shatner said: “‘My wife… she is the zest of life.”

Shatner’s trip into space with BlueOrigin on July 20, 2021, has played heavily into his becoming a proponent of trying to save the Earth. He talked about how he cried upon coming back to Earth and says that he thinks now that he was grieving for the Earth. He commented on the “total denial on a global sale of global warming.” He has been promoting efforts to curb global warming and become an activist to save the planet. He said, “The planet is all we have.”

The director filmed half a day per chapter on a massive sound stage, using three cameras, building up to the “I Want To Be A Tree” song that ends the film. was, as noted, mostly Shatner pontificating, with some clips. The information about the actor’s early years was sparse and figuring out the sequence of his rise to fame was up to the audience member. For one thing, getting the opportunity to go on as the understudy for Christopher Plummer in Henry V was helpful to his career.

Shatner, himself, may have given the best review of this work saying, “I believe about 85% of what I say is good and the other 15% is bullshit. His meditations on life, love, grief and loneliness (among other topics) are worth hearing.

“Being Mary Tyler Moore” Documentary at SXSW Highlights Groundbreaking Nature of Moore’s Work

By Connie Wilson

On March 14, 2023

In Interviews, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television, Texas

“Being Mary Tyler Moore” documentary screens at SXSW on March 13, 2023.

Director James Adolphus, who helmed the documentary “Being Mary Tyler Moore,” was asked about his exposure to Mary Tyler Moore before he undertook making this extraordinarily intimate two- hour film about her life.

He admitted that he had never watched any of her shows, that she was more a figure that his mother knew. (“I knew her from the lyric in the Weezer song.”) He then said, “It’s odd to make a film about someone you don’t know and to fall in love with someone after the fact. She felt like my cousin, my sister. She had to fight back against the patriarchy.”

The documentary is an attempt to reconcile the insecure woman who looked so proud and regal with the real woman inside who was not that way at all. It was an attempt to show the modest, humble person beneath the veneer. With the help of many clips from “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” it more than succeeds.

One week after the 18-year-old MTM graduated from high school, she got a job portraying Happy Hotpoint in television ads. The problem was that the young Mary had married Richard Meeker in 1954, when she was eighteen. She soon turned up pregnant, giving birth to her only child, Richard, and losing herHotpoint job in the process.

Later in the film we learn that Moiore’s own mother would gve birth to a daughter, Elizabeth, only a few months after Richard’s birth, giving Mary a sister, as well as a brother, John, who was 7 years younger. There were references to Mary’s mother’s alcoholism, but Moore’s parents were married more than 50 years. Her mother eventually sobered up and even took on duties caring for the two youngsters, Elizabeth and Richard, who were so close in age.

Mary’s marriage to Meeker did not last. She would separate and then marry again almost immediately, in 1962, to Grant Tinker, to whom she would remain married for 18 years. Her career, in 1959, included a stint as Sexy Sam, the faceless voice on “Richard Diamond, Private Investigator.” When Mary asked for a raise from her $85 per episode salary, she was fired.

Director James Adolphus of “Being Mary Tyler Moore” on March 13, 2023 at SXSW. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

Enter Carl Reiner, a comic mentor who envisioned her as the character Laurie Petrie, the wife in a 1960 pilot dubbed “Head of the Family,” The show eventually morphed into “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” When David Susskind suggested, in a somewhat offensive interview, that women should not work, Mary said, “I could waste a lot more energy sitting around chatting with other gals all day.” She became exactly what the network was horrified by: a contemporary woman. She also insisted on wearing pants on television, which broke new ground. (As a former junior high school teacher who insisted on wearing pants suits in 1969 at a time when they were banned by the school, I could relate.)

Throughout the documentary, we learn just how groundbreaking Mary Tyler Moore would become. This was just the beginning. In interviews, Mary referred to the period as “An unenlightened time. I believe in figuring out a way to contribute.”

At the end of the 5-year run of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” Mary was a hot property who charmed men without antagonizing their wives. She had a comic flair that no less an expert than Lucille Ball recognized and applauded. She was offered a picture deal with Universal and—unusual for the time—had the right to refuse to do pictures that she did not think would benefit her image.However, in order to be given permission to star in a musical version of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” on Broadway, Mary would give up that right of refusal and, following the Broadway bomb the show became, would end up in films like “Change of Habit” (1969) opposite Elvis.

In 1968, when she was 32, a miscarriage led to her diagnosis as diabetic. With a blood sugar level of 700, she was fortunate to have been discovered to have the disease, which would end her life at the age of 80 in 2017. Friends credit her Dr. husband with extending her life at least ten years.

Broadway having bombed, CBS offered her her own show. Mary and Grant Tinker jumped at the chance. Tinker saw that forming their own company would be beneficial and Mary Tyler Moore Enterprises was born, with Tinker at the helm and Mary the major talent. At one point, the company had six shows on the air at once.

Meanwhile, Tinker hired Jim Brooks and Allan Burns to write the show, which would place Mary Tyler Moore in Minneapolis as a woman making it on her own at the age of thirty.I remember how groundbreaking it was for the goal to be not just to marry, but to be independent and live on one’s own. “That Girl” with Marlo Thomas had a similar single girl protagonist, but her main mission was to find a husband.

At this point, in real life Mary Tyler Moore had never been on her own, but had been married since she was 18 years old. The entire idea of society’s pushing young women into marriage was covered in 1979’s “Kramer versus Kramer,” where Meryl Streep articulated this “never been on my own” status all the way to 5 Oscars. As someone who lived it, I can vouch that the goal was to “have a ring on your finger” by the end of college, at the latest, a goal that did not appeal to my own working mother or to me. Like Mary Tyler Moore’s onscreen character Mary Richard, this was “ahead of the times.”

Mary Tyler Moore lived the fifties ideal of marriage after school and as soon as possible. She remained mired in marital bliss, marrying Tinker immediately after divorcing Meeker. She remained a married woman until she was 44 years old, when she and Tinker divorced (1980)and she moved to New York City. She remarried for a third time in 1982 to Dr. Robert Levine, 14 years her junior.

The show that Mary Tyler Moore launched, about an independent thirtyish woman making it on her own, was a risk. It was almost killed by a terrible time slot, until Fred Silverman took over CBS, axed a lot of comedies like “Green Acres’ and moved “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” into the best time slot on television. It was, as Rosie O’Donnell termed it, “Appointment TV.” Silverman placed her show on the same night as “All in the Family” and alongside Bob Newhart’s show on Saturday nights. The rest is history, as the talented cast garnered multiple awards and still has one of the best endings of any series sit-com on television, past or present.

Lena Waithe answers questions about “Being Mary Tyler Moore” onstage at the Zach Theater during SXSW 2023 on March 13, 2023.

Mary Tyler Moore won 7 Emmies, 3 Golden Globes, and earned an Oscar nomination (for “Ordinary People”). And, as the documentary terms it, “As Mary Tyle Moore goes, so goes the nation.” This meant welcoming the 1973 Supreme Court decision to allow women the right to decide whether or not to have an abortion.In 1980, immediately after her divorce from Tinker, Mary conquered Broadway with her performance replacing Tom Conti in the play “Whose Life Is It, Anyway?” Meanwhile, she described herself as “going through adolescence” in New York City, as she was said to be involved with Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the director of the play, and was socializing after years of marriage. However, she was drinking more than she should have been, and, as he noted, sometimes that could lead to belligerence. She would curb this possibly inherited tendency towards alcoholism by a stint at the Betty Ford Clinic.

In 1980, Mary Tyler Moore was nominated as Best Actress for her role as Beth in “Ordinary People” opposite Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton. Director Robert Redford said he had always been fascinated by the possibility of a dark side to MTM, who might have been brittle inside with a pensiveness, anger, hurt, and confusion over such issues as her inability to connect meaningfully with her son Richard.

Also in 1980, Mary’s son Richard, then aged 24, would die of a gun shot wound. The documentary says he had a gun collection, was inherently clumsy, and it was an accident. Three weeks after his death, MTM would be nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress for her role in “Ordinary People.” She would also lose her younger sister, Elizabeth, to a drug overdose at the age of 21. Her younger brother John would die of kidney cancer.

Mary met Dr. Robert Levine, her third husband, when he cared for her ailing mother in 1982. The line in the documentary is that “She fell in love for the first time in her life.” Yet Grant Tinker’s children, who became her step-children, testify to the good years with Mary Tyler Moore as their step-mom. The 14-years-younger Levine would remain her husband till the end, caring for her in their bucolic Connecticut home. The couple was devoted to one another and Levine set the plans in motion to produce this documentary, despite turning down many earlier overtures.

The now 73-year-old Levine reached out to Lena Waithe (“Ready Player One,” “Master of None”) after reading an interview in “Vanity Fair,” in which she expressed an interest in doing a documentary about Mary Tyler Moore’s life.When asked about his decision to share his private film of Mary with Producer/Director/Writer Waite, Dr.Levine, an executive producer, said, to laughter, “To have a Black queer girl from the South side of Chicago want to tell her story. Are you kidding me?”

Dr. Levine was asked what surprised him after seeing the film. He responded, “I had never seen the bridal shower footage with Betty White and others. It was simple and natural. She talked about me making her a tuna fish sandwich in the middle of the night. Things like that had the most impact for her. It is the simple kindnesses that really have the most impact.The journey of her life was the journey of women in this country. As a human being, she felt the need to keep going forward. She was ahead of the times. I didn’t want a derivative feeling. A new voice coming forward (Lena Waithe) was interesting to me.”

Waithe added, “I wanted to give a real sense of how she was as a person.” The decision to use voice-over(s) rather than the talking head documentary approach was Waithe’s.

The documentary is long, at 2 hours, but it is very good. While an interview with Rona Barrett is over-used and David Susskind comes off poorly as an ultra-conservative fossil of the times in his onscreen interview, I would highly recommend this HBO documentary, funded by Fifth Season, if you are or were a fan of Mary Tyler Moore’s work. She helped raise over $2 billion for Juvenile Diabetes and gave so many other working women a model that remains groundbreaking.

Credits:

Venue: SXSW Film Festival (Documentary Spotlight)
Distributor: HBO
Production companies: HBO Documentary Films, Fifth Season, Hillman Grad, The Mission Entertainment, Good Trouble Studios
Director: James Adolphus
Producers: Ben Selkow, James Adolphus, Lena Waithe, Rishi Rajani, Debra Martin Chase, Andrew C. Coles, Laura Gardner
Executive producers: S. Robert Levine, Michael Bernstein, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller
Cinematography: James Adolphus
Editor: Mariah Rehmet
Archival Producer: Libby Kreutz
Music: Theodosia Roussos
2 hour