Category: Television Page 1 of 20

“The Studio” Screens at SXSW 2025 on Opening Night

On March 9, 2025

Seth Rogen and friends came to downtown Austin in golf carts for the Premiere of their new television series “The Studio.” Accompanied by Evan Goldberg, Catherine O’Hara, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn and Executive Producer Peter Huyck, the first two episodes of the new series gave me the most laughs since Bob Odenkirk in “Lucky Hank” in 2023 (or last year’s first look at the season of “Hacks” with Jean Smart in attendance.) This one is a winner. There are even appearances within the first episode by Paul Dano (“Wildfire”), Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”),Charlize Theron (“Monster”), Steve Buscemi (“The Sopranos”), Directors Peter Berg and Nick Stoller and a hilarious bit featuring Director Martin Scorsese. It begins streaming on Apple Plus on March 26, 2025.

Writer/Director Seth Rogen on the Red Carpet at SXSW on March 7, 2025. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

The Apple TV Plus offering would have had me signing up for the service if I didn’t already have it. The first two episodes are to be released March 26, 2025.

As the synopsis describes the series about making movies: “Seth Rogen stars as Matt Remick, the newly appointed head of embattled Continental Studios. As movies struggle to stay alive and relevant, Matt and his core team of infighting executives battle their own insecurities as they wrangle narcissistic artists and craven corporate overlords in the ever-elusive pursuit of making great films. With their power suits masking their never-ending sense of panic, every party, set visit, casting decision, marketing meeting, and award show presents them with an opportunity for glittering success or career-ending catastrophe. As someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes movies, it’s the job Matt’s been pursuing his whole life, and it may very well destroy him.”

EPISODE ONE

In Episode One—which opens with Paul Dano (“Let There Be Blood”) acting in a gory scene—we meet Matt, played by the schlubbish Everyman whom Rogen personifies. You get the feeling that Matt would like to make really fine cinematic masterpieces, but then there are “the suits” at the studio. They want movies that make money. And, as Bryan Cranston’s studio uber boss makes clear, the mext big thing after Greta Gerwig’s fantastic success with “Barbie” are more films focusing on the next Barbie, which, he says, is going to be (drum roll here) Kool Ade.(Cranston: “Two billion off the plastic tits of a fucking doll!”)

Kathryn Hahn of “The Studio” on the Red Carpet at SXSW on March 7, 2025. (Photo by Connie Wilson,)

The female studio head (Patty, played by Catherine O’Hara) has put in 22 years at the studio (think Sherry Lansing). But Patty is being forced out and Matt is in, disappointing best buddy Ike Barinholtz, who thought he had a shot. Patty isn’t taking Matt’s calls, at first, but when they finally meet, she presents as a formidable adversary who knows the business inside-out and sweet-talks and bullies Matt into giving her work as a producer. Matt owes her.

Matt tries to stand firm on some of Patty’s outrageous financial demands, but she counters, “I killed one of Warren’s movies in 1988 and he never slept with me again.” Part of the plot of the first episode is right out of the playbook that Sondra Locke experienced during her tumultuous break-up with Clint Eastwood. (She sued and won; look it up). “We’ll own the project, but nobody will ever be able to make it.”

The writing is truly spot-on. As the credits rolled, in addition to Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck is listed as Writer, not just Executive Producer, which he is along with James Weaver, Alex Gregory, Alex McAtee, Josh Fagen and Frida Perez, all of whom are also credited with helping write the truly hilarious dialogue. Editor for the series was Eric Kissack and Production Designer is Julie Berghoff. (I want to know whose Hollywood homes are featured as sets? Are they still standing? Did any of them burn down? They were gorgeous.)

EPISODE TWO

Ike Barinholtz on the Red Carpet for "The Studio" on March 7 at SXSW

Ike Barinholtz, co-star of “The Studio” on the Red Carpet at SXSW on March 7, 2025. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

In Episode #2, Matt decides to make a visit to a project that Patty is producing. It’s not a good idea, but he can’t be dissuaded.

There are many funny lines that center on the idea that “We have to keep Baby Huey (Matt) in his playpen.
“The days of Robert Evans stopping by with a Magnum of champagne and an 8-ball are gone,” goes one line and, ultimately, after a series of comedic clashes, the Director of the film shouts, “I want Mr. Magoo gone!”

CONCLUSION

If you love the movies and you have a sense of humor, don’t miss this one. Fans of “Hacks” will love this series, too. It’s my favorite SXSW viewing experience of 2025, so far.

Justin Trudeau Addresses Tariffs on Canada on March 4, 2025

By Connie Wilson

On March 4, 2025

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

Canadian Primer Minister Justin Trudeau.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unleashed a historic speech scorching Donald Trump’s idiocy over his disastrous new tariffs: “This is a very dumb thing to do.”

“The United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying murderous dictator,” began Trudeau.

“Make that make sense.”

Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico took effect today and the markets are in free fall. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has already plummeted 662 points after plunging 650 points on Monday. The S&P 500 lost 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%

The gullible fools who thought that Trump would be “good for the economy” have had the rug pulled out from under them in record time.

“Canadians are reasonable and we are polite,” Trudeau continued. “But we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well-being of everyone in it is at stake. At the moment, the U.S. tariffs came into effect in the early hours of this morning and so did the Canadian response.”

“Canada will be implementing 25% tariffs against $155 billion worth of American goods starting with tariffs on $30 billion worth of goods immediately and tariffs on the remaining $125 billion of American products in twenty-one days time,” said Trudeau. “Our tariffs will remain in place until the U.S. tariffs are withdrawn and not a moment sooner.”

“And should these tariffs not cease, we are in active and ongoing discussions with provinces and territories to pursue several non-tariff measures, measures which will demonstrate that there are no winners in a trade war,” he threatened.

“Now just like I did a month ago, I want to speak first directly to the American people. We don’t want this,” said Trudeau. “We want to work with you as a friend and ally and we don’t want to see you hurt either.”

BEE GONE

“But your government has chosen to do this to you,” he stated bluntly. “As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically all across your country.”

“Your government has chosen to put American jobs at risk at the thousands of workplaces that succeed because of materials from Canada or because of consumers in Canada or both,” he went on.

“They’ve chosen to raise costs for American consumers on everyday essential items like groceries and gas, on major purchases like cars and homes, and everything in between,” he continued.

“They’ve chosen to harm American national security, impeding access to the abundant critical minerals, energy, building materials, and fertilizers that we have and that the United States needs to grow and prosper,” he explained.

“They’ve chosen to launch a trade war that will first and foremost harm American families. They’ve chosen to sabotage their own agenda that was supposed to usher in a new ‘Golden Age’ for the United States,” said Trudeau, taking a direct shot at MAGA’s latest inane rhetoric.

“And they’ve chosen to undermine the incredible work that we’ve done together to tackle the scourge that is fentanyl, a drug that must be wiped from the face of the Earth,” he added. “So on that point, let me be crystal clear. There is absolutely no justification or need whatsoever for these tariffs today.”

Trudeau then shifted gears to go after Donald Trump directly, the clueless mastermind behind this entire disaster—

“Now I want to speak directly to one specific American: Donald. In the over eight years you and I have worked together, we’ve done big things,” said Trudeau, appealing to Trump’s ego.

“We signed a historic deal that has created record jobs and growth in both of our countries. We’ve done big things together on the world stage as Canada and the U.S. have done together for decades, for generations,” he continued. “And now we should be working together to ensure even greater prosperity for North Americans in a very uncertain and challenging world.”

“Now, it’s not in my habit to agree with The Wall Street Journal but Donald, they point out that even though you’re a very smart guy this is a very dumb thing to do. We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see,” said Trudeau.

“And now to my fellow Canadians: I won’t sugarcoat it. This is going to be tough even though we’re all going to pull together because that’s what we do,” he added. “We will use every tool at our disposal so Canadian workers and businesses can weather this storm.”

(*A last-minute exchange on Trump’s Truth Social Network suggests that Trump might now use this 25% tariff, scheduled to go into effect on March 5th, as a bullying tactic against Canada, much as he used the threat of discontinuing Ukrainian military aid to extract a promise from that war-torn country to hand over precious minerals to the U.S.

CNN called Trump’s threats “a game of economic chicken.”

Trump sees everything in terms of money and power and will use any means to seize and hold both, even if it means abandoning moral principles our country has espoused for many

generations, such as USAID. To put it in simpler terms, DJT finds the far-right groups easier to manipulate, since they will blindly follow a figurehead without thinking through that Talking Head’s positions to determine if they are really advantageous to them, personally. DJT and Elon Musk are overthrowing the traditional values of free speech (and, soon, free elections) because a “free” election might throw them out of power. And, as mentioned, DJT is all about seizing and maintaining their power and wealth. There is no morality to thinking this way, but, then, we’re talking about a man not known for his morality or his compassion or his concern for anyone but Donald J. Trump.

We are talking about a man who is squandering our (former) position as the Leader of the Free World. The message to the world is that the U.S. cannot be counted on. This is not about DJT. This is about the American people and DJT is not keeping the American people (and America) safe on any level.)

2025 Oscars Are In the Books

By Connie Wilson

On March 3, 2025

In Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Television

The Oscars

The 97th Academy Awards are in the books.

“Anora” came on strong at the finish to snag a Best Actress award for new-comer Mikey Madison.The shift towards “Anora” prompted the best line of the evening, when Conan O’Brien (the host) said, “Apparently Americans like seeing someone stand up to a powerful Russian.” Anora won five awards, total: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay and Editing. It cost about $6 million to make (an independent film).

The way the night went reminded me of other “sweep” years, like the Oscars in 1978 for the 1977 film “The Turning Point” when that film was nominated for 11 awards and came up about as empty as this year’s nominees “Emilia Perez” (nominated for 13; won two) or “A Complete Unknown” (nominated for 8; won none).

If you go with the wrong movie to sweep, you are in for a world of hurt. I was so impressed with “The Brutalist” that I went with it most of the time. Also an independent film, it was amazing that it could be made for $10 million, but it did get some kick-back for using A.I. technology to “tweak” the Hungarian dialogue and help create some settings.

The daughter got 18 correct when she correctly supported “Anora” in our annual predicting extravaganza, which had six participants this year. While I was struggling to break into double digits, she nailed most of the major categories (one notable exception being Best Actress). At the time of the Awards celebration, she was flying to Wichita, but her ballot spoke loudly!

This has been my most recent experience with the Oscars. They don’t seem similar to the Oscars I was “in tune” with in years of yore, but, still, I finished with a respectable score, as I did not look up any “predicting” gurus, relying instead on having seen 9 of the nominated films. That refusal to consult will have to be rethought for future Academy Awards celebrations, which now number almost 70 for me. I was amused to hear June Squibb admit that the year she was born, 1929, was the first year the Oscars were awarded. Ms. Squibb was Oscar-nominated for “Nebraska” in 2013. She got laughs for saying that Alexander Saarsgard was portraying her whenever you saw her out and about. She looked very festive for a 95-year-old woman. (Birthdate: Nov. 6, 1929). Her dress was very sparkly.

THE HOST

How did the host do?

I thought Conan O’Brien’s hosting was fine, but I would say that his promise not to “waste time” led into the song-and-dance number he participated in, which was a waste of time. His wit was, as usual, sharp, and he seemed to be genuinely happy to be there.

He shared some random facts, such as the factoid that there were 479 “F” words in “Anora.”

His wit, as with the “stand up to a strong Russian” was evident and the bit with Adam Sandler dressed casually made me think that he could have gotten a quick bit about the outfit’s resemblance to that of a Senator (John Fetterman). Maybe next time.

MUSIC

I went to the trouble of finding every single nominated song and listening to each one. I would have been happy with Diane Warren or Elton John winning. Instead, it was the song from “Emilia Perez.” Maybe it was throwing that film a bone, since it was shut out except for Best Supporting Actress Zoe Saldana? Then, again, the music expert in our household is the daughter who triumphed tonight.

ACCEPTANCES

Adrian Brody wins his second Oscar as Best Actor for “The Brutalist.”

My favorite acceptance speech event was the sinister-looking composer of the score for “The Brutalist,” Daniel Blumberg. He resembles DJT’s henchman, Steve Miller, shaved head and all. When they began playing him off he abruptly quit, mid-sentence and retreated like a small creature scurrying for cover. It made me smile. (You had to be there to appreciate the expression on his face as he bolted backstage.)

Adrian Brody, however, basically told those trying to play him off to stop, saying he had “done this before” and it was “not my first rodeo.” He then promised to be brief with his additional remarks. He was not that brief, but you had to admire his chutzpah. (Anybody but me notice his girlfriend in the audience trying to remind him to thank his Mother?)

UPSETS

I thought that Mikey Madison—who was cast in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” and, I think, was the Manson family member set afire by a flame thrower wielded by Leonardo DeCaprio poolside in that film—was an upset winner. She was very good in the film and, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the Academy does not like to award Oscars to horror films, which “The Substance” was. Too bad for Demi Moore, but I would guess that she still will enjoy a resurgence of role offers. Imagine how Mikey Madison’s star will rise!

Given how well “Conclave” did at the BAFTAs, I was surprised it didn’t do better this night. Aside from Adapted Screenplay, it won no other Oscars and nominee Ralph Fiennes may be being called “Ralph” rather than “Rafe” if he lost again this time, his third nomination. (A small joke that Conan made, which caused Fiennes to laugh aloud in the audience.) Fiennes was nominated in 1994 for “Schindler’s List,” and in 1997 for “The English Patient.”

FIRSTS

Anora” director Sean Baker became the first person to win four Oscars in the same year for the same film. In that respect, he tied with Walt Disney, although, in Disney’s case, it was for four different films in 1953—not 4 Oscars for the same film in the same year. Other Disney nominations in 1953 were for “Ben and Me” and “Rugged Bear.”

Hollywood sign

When Baker accepted the award for Best Director, he thanked the Academy for recognizing an independent film like “Anora.” “We’re all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater,” Baker said. He made an impassioned plea for people to return to theaters, noting that over 1,000 independent screens were lost last year as movie theaters struggle to stay alive.

This concerns me. First, my country is led by someone who wants us to abandon our roots as fighters for democracy and freedom and follow a Soviet strongman who invaded a peaceful neighboring country without cause. Then my favorite past-time (going to the movies) is threatened.

True fact: the only movie theater in Moline, Illinois was shut for over a year after the pandemic. It used to be a Regal 8. It is now open again, but it was a long dry spell for someone like me. I literally had to drive to another state (Iowa) to see a movie. (*This by way of excuse if I am asked why I didn’t see that 10th nominated film.) Also, when I’m in Chicago, the Icon Theaters near me closed, but, thankfully, not for an entire year. (They are open again off Roosevelt Road downtown.)

Another first was the first Black man to win an award for his costuming expertise, Paul Taswell, whom Bowen Yang referred to as a legend. Other interesting costuming tid-bits that were dropped during the evening’s program were that Timothee Chalamet had 67 different costume changes for “A Complete Unknown” and there were 103 Cardinals to be costumed by Missy Crystal for “Conclave.”

The Latvian couple who accepted their Oscar for “Flow” were charming as they shared the fact that they had had difficulties getting Visas to get in the country to potentially accept their award and had then apparently come straight from the airport, landing just a few hours earlier.

All-in-all, an enjoyable—if overlong–viewing experience. At the post-Oscars “Vanity Fair” party, it was possible to see that there was a 3.9 earthquake happening in Hollywood.

One last reminder: this time next week there will be reviews of films premiering at SXSW here in Austin, so check back as the Red Carpet here in Austin (where I’ll be) will feature stars like Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, and Seth Rogen.

Last-Minute Musing(s) on the 2025 Oscars

By Connie Wilson

On March 2, 2025

In Movies, Music, News, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

It’s only a few hours from the Oscars. The ballots are out (you know who you are) and the Prognosticator trophy is at stake.

Since this is Oscar Sunday, I am going to (stream-of-consciousness) run through the nominees, in the hopes that some of you are doing the same thing right about now. The Red Carpet is about to start, and who is going to win? (The tension mounts.)

Our ballots are distributed to the Usual Suspects and the traveling trophy of Most Accurate Prognosticator sits proudly on the mantel—errr, glass table—near our TV set. In other years, I’d be giving out freebie movie tickets to students at my Sylvan Learning Center (only the winners, of course) but, this year, it’s just old Oscar (the trophy) and bragging rights. Pay no attention to my last post about the nominated films I, personally, liked the most because I have not “liked” the Best Picture winner in the past few years. So, you’re warned.

I’m going beyond the 5 main categories to discuss those that almost nobody sees, live-action shorts. I actually reviewed many of the “live action” shorts, and a Mindy Kahling produced film about India called “Anuja,” which I liked. However, I liked a different one better from China about fishing for corpses in the river, so… But how many of you have seen “A Lien,” “I’m Not A Robot,” “The Last Ranger,” or “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent?” Yeah. That’s what I thought.

Original Screenplay nominees are “Anora,”, “The Brutalist,” “A Real Pain,” “September 5,” “The Substance.” I have actually seen all of these. “A Real Pain” is the front-runner, supposedly, but I like nearly any other script better. I’m thinking that, if a sweep starts with either “Anora” or “The Brutalist,” it might garner a vote in this category, too. (Lots of talk about how “Anora,” the film about a U.S. strip tease dancer marrying the son of a Russian oligarch and the fall-out that represents is gaining on the previous front-runners.) We liked Mikey Madison’s performance in “Anora” but—after her Russian husband takes a powder—the film becomes a repetitive search film where they attempt to locate him. Mikey Madison was great in her part, and the somewhat open-ended interpretation we are left with at the end was a plus. I could see new-comers to the voting ranks giving Madison the BEST ACTRESS trophy, if they don’t decide to honor Demi Moore for her long career.

BEST DIRECTORS

Nominated directors for the Oscars, 2025

Nominated directors for the 2025 Oscars

Jacques Audliard (“Emilia Perez”); Sean Baker (“Anora”); Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”); Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”); James Mangold “A Complete Unknown”. The two in the lead are Sean Baker and Brady Corbet. I also would like to heartily endorse James Mangold, primarily because I loved “Ford vs. Ferrari.” I am sticking with “The Brutalist” because it was such an achievement on just a $10 million budget.

DEMI MOORE/ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY AWARDS

Why would Demi Moore NOT win? (1) “The Substance” was a horror movie and, historically, the Academy has not wanted to honor them with the top prize. (2) The ending may have turned some viewers off (3) The voter has to be willing to honor age and experience over the youthful new-on-the-scene Mikey Madison. It’s a close call with so many members of the Academy now voting being newcomers. Both women have been doing well at the other awards ceremonies that lead up to the Oscars. I can’t see the trans-gender lead (Karla Sofia Gascon) pulling this one out of the fire and Fernanda Torres’ “I’m Still Here” is probably the film least viewed of the 10 nominees (It’s the only one I missed).

So, take your pick between the old-timer and the new-comer or give your vote to Cynthia Erivo for “Wicked.” For me, I’ll go with the old-timer for the Best Actress award, and I’ll go with “The Brutalist” over “A Real Pain” for original screenplay. Jesse Eisenberg will continue writing scripts and I hope they continue to receive accolades. For me, the best script this year was for “Heretic” from (Scott) Beck and (Bryan) Woods, which didn’t make the cut at all.

James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown.”).

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Nominees are “Conclave,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Emilia Perez,” “Nickel Boys,” “Sing Sing.” Given its BAFTA showings, “Conclave” must move up on the list of potential winners. For me, it’s “A Complete Unknown,” but the experts are leaning towards “Conclave.”

ANIMATED FEATURE

Nominees are “Flow,” “Inside Out 2,” “Memoir of a Snail,” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” “The Wild Robot”

There was a big push to have all the critics see “Memoir of a Snail.” I did. It was weird, but well-done, so I’ll go with that. I think that “Flow” is the favorite.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

“The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Nosferatu,” “Wicked.”

For me, “The Brutalist” really delivered on the architect immigrant in America theme. “Wicked” and “Dune” are possible winners, but I was so impressed by the architecture in “The Brutalist” that I’ll stick with my favorite picture of those nominated this year.

COSTUME DESIGN

“Wicked”

“Wicked” co-stars.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

“The Brutalist.” A close second, for me, would be “Dune: Part Two,” but the almost picture-perfect moon over the water and the shots taking us down the railroad tracks and the unique look at the Statue of Liberty at the beginning all point me to “The Brutalist.”

EDITING

“Conclave,” in deference to the BAFTA nods.

MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

“Wicked,” although “The Substance” has a shot.

SOUND

The 2 musically inclined films are “A Complete Unknown” and “Wicked.” Take your pick. Mine is “Wicked.”

VISUAL EFFECTS

“Dune: Part Two”with “Wicked as a close second.

ORIGINAL SCORE

“The Brutalist”

Oscar predicting trophy

ORIGINAL SONG

Have you heard all 5 of the nominated songs? Well, I have. It took some sleuthing, but, after listening to all of them, I would say the battle is between honoring Elton John for “Never Too Late,” which has a typical Elton John sound and is possibly the finale entry from this talented songsmith. But I’ll vote for Dianne Warren’s 16th nomination for “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight.” When you hear the lyrics, you’ll see why. It’s become a hymn for the fire-ravaged Los Angeles community, and isn’t it about time that Diane Warren got the little gold guy?

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

I’m going with “Porcelain War,” even though it echoes last year’s Ukraine-themed winner. I realize that DJT doesn’t want us supporting Ukraine any more, since he’s all in for Russia, but I’m voting for it based on having seen it.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

“Emilia Perez” from France—which was supposed to win it all until recent tweets resurfaced.

ANIMATED SHORT

“Yuck”

Oscar Prognosticator Trophy

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

“The Only Girl in the Orchestra”

LIVE-ACTION SHORT

Since I saw “Anuja,” I’m voting for it, even though I’ve not read that it is favored. (“A Lien” got that honor from one predictor.)

There’s a tie-breaker on our competition. You have to make a pick in all categories and tell which film will win the most Oscars, and how many. For me, based on this stream-of-consciousness

Walz versus Vance on CBS in VP Debate on 10/1/2024

By Connie Wilson

On October 2, 2024

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

J.D. Vance and Tim Walz debated on 10/1/2024 as Vice Presidential candidates on CBS.

I just watched the Vice Presidential debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Walz.The Talking Heads are suggesting that Walz may have been “in over his head” in debating the slick and chameleon-like Vance, who seems to have made a career of being all things to all people. Vance described Donald J. Trump as “America’s Hitler” in e-mail pronouncements of yore and severely criticized Trump’s performance in office, but tonight he was all in on supporting DJT.

Most people consider it a situation where the more experienced debater (Vance) performed better on style, but Walz did just as well (a tie) on substance. Vance’s statements were often duplicitous and that of a chameleon who takes the position that he says what he thinks people want to hear. It reminded me of the recent Supreme Court candidates who answered Congress the way they thought would win them lifetime seats on the Court and then went ahead and did exactly what they planned to do all along, overturn Roe v. Wade.

I did my usual copious note-taking. I want to resurrect a couple of moments in the debate that stood out to me, just as the “eating dogs and cats” remarks in the last Harris/DJT debate stood out.

THE 2 WORST MOMENTS: WALZ & VANCE

VANCE

J.D. Vance (GOP candidate for VP) and eyeliner.

For me, the worst moment from J.D. Vance was his failure to admit that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. As Tim Walz said,“A President’s words matter. It is not right to deny what happened. 2020 was the first time that a President tried to overturn the peaceful transition of power. The winner has got to be the winner.” Walz called it “a damning non-answer.” He was right.

WALZ

For Governor Walz of Minnesota, his weakest moment was when he was called out on having said that he had been present in China during Tiananmen Square. Rather than wade into that murky water and admit that he misspoke or was caught in a situation that caused Brian Williams to be removed from his post as chief anchor (and end up much less visible on our TV screens), he gave an answer that David Axelrod said would have been more comprehensible if given in Chinese.[When Vance at the outset after Question #1 was cornered, rather than answer the very first question that he was asked about Iran, he dodged and weaved and gave us 2 minutes about himself without answering the initial question.]

Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota and Democratic candidate for Vice President on 10/1/2024.

In the summer of ’89 Walz traveled to China, he told us. He also told us that he started a program to take kids to China. “My community knows who I am. I’ve tried to do the best job I can. I was elected to Congress 12 times. Governor of Minnesota twice. To make sure that I make this right. (*Wasn’t the question about whether he was at Tiananmen Square protests? So far Walz hasn’t explained the discrepancy.)

ABORTION

Vance said he “never supported a national ban,” a lie, because he DID support a national abortion ban. In 2022 in an interview when he was running for the Senate he said, “I certainly would like abortion to be illegal nationally.” On his website, he said he was “100% pro-life” and GOP ” has got to earn people’s trust back.” Tonight, he talked about how the GOP needed to “reach out,” which made no sense at all. This “softening” of his intractable anti-abortion stance was part of the plan to try to make DJT seem more “sane” and reasonable.

Here are a few lines that struck me beyond the ones mentioned above:

Walz on the Middle East and nuclear weapons: “Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon because Donald Trump nixed the plan we had and left nothing in its place.”

Walz on Climate Change and our changing weather patterns (especially as they apply to farmers): “Our #1 export cannot be topsoil from these massive storms.”

Walz on statements that foster divisiveness: “This is what happens when you don’t want to solve it. The remarks about eating cats and dogs vilified a large number of people in Springfield, Ohio, who were in the country legally. The Governor had to send National Guard to escort first graders to school.”

I also enjoyed Walz’s response, “Just mind your own business. Things worked best when Roe v. Wade was the law.” Another good one-liner was when Walz gave an incredulous response to DJT’s “I have a concept of a plan” response about an overhaul of the Affordable Care Act that he now has had 9 and 1/2 years to develop. Walz said, ““I have a concept of a plan. That cracked me up. I have a fourth grader who wouldn’t have given me that.”

Margaret Brennan (“Face the Nation”) who moderated along with Norah O’Donnell on CBS.

After the scripture quote from Matthew (”What we do unto the least of our brethren,” etc.) by Walz, Vance commandeered the time and ranted on virtually uninterruptedly. The female moderators (Nora O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan on CBS) finally cut his mike. You go, Girls! Vance’s Ivy League polish showed; the man’s not a dummy. The split screen favored him, not Walz, even though Walz is without a doubt the more genuine and truthful of the two.

About the Democratic party: WALZ – “We’re pro women. We’re pro freedom. We are pro freedom for women to make their own choices.” He cited the Democratic Party’s $6,000 child tax credit and Amber Thurman, who was made to drive 600 miles to get health care in North Carolina.

Two Big Lies that Vance made were to say that DJT gave up power peacefully and that DJT saved Obamacare. Vance’s nose must have grown a foot, at least, after those remarks.

One good thing that everyone seemed to appreciate was the relative civility of the debate, “like the old days.” However, when one realizes that it was Vance’s Master Plan to lie to the public, just as happened with the testimony of the Supreme Court appointees who then went ahead to do what they had said, under oath, they would not do re Roe v. Wade, well—–

“Will & Harper” At Nashville Film Festival on 9/20/2024

By Connie Wilson

On September 21, 2024

In Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

The Josh Greenbaum directed documentary “Will and Harper” is showing at select theaters now and will stream on Netflix beginning September 27th. It showed at the Nashville Film Festival on Friday, 9/20/2024 having premiered, originally, at the 40th Sundance Film Festival in January, 2024. The 114 minute documentary depicts Will Ferrell’s 17-day cross-country trip with his close friend of 30 years, Harper Steele, who has just come out as a transgender female. Over 250 hours of film was shot and then reduced to this 2-hour look at being transgender in America in 2024. Harper—who was head writer at “Saturday Night Live” and started the same week that Ferrell did in 1995—was born Andrew Steele in Iowa City, Iowa, one of five children of University of Iowa professors.

THE GOOD

The best thing about the unscripted 17-day trip from New York to Santa Monica, California was how authentic and genuine the emotional relationship between Ferrell and Steele is. Both of them are reduced to tears, and you will be, too. Viewers come away with the feeling that Will Ferrel in real life is very much like his character in “Elf:” one of the nicest guys you could know. I hope that is sincerely the real Will Ferrell because, as a stranger in an Oklahoma City, Oklahoma bar tells him, “I like your support for your friends. There’s not a lot of it out there now.” Many have commented on how brave Harper is to have come out. There should also be praise for Will Ferrell (and friends) for being so supportive of Harper in MAGA America.

The trailer for the film shows Ferrell reading from the e-mail he received from Steele. It informed him that his old buddy was undergoing transgender surgery and would now be called Harper. Ferrell realized, somewhat belatedly, that he didn’t really know much about the transgender community. He proposed a 17-day cross-country road trip in Steele’s vintage Jeep Wagoneer (remember the wood?) to re-acquaint the new old friends. They were followed, discreetly, by a camera crew. As the film defines the goal of the documentary, “What are the new ground rules? How much has changed? How much is the same?” Apparently Steele had a reputation as someone who loved to take cross-country trips that stopped at dive bars, diners, and other such places—all of which sound dicey for a transgender woman traveling solo in the United States in 2024. Will would be able to run interference for his longtime friend as they criss-crossed America.

The music (Nathan Halpern) is very good, including the idea of having Kirsten Wiig write a “theme song” for their trip (She sings it at film’s end). The cinematography—including a stop at the Grand Canyon—is also wonderful. Harper” is simply a real-life, honest comic gem amidst a sea of boring drek. Hopefully, it will do some good in the world in the ongoing fight against hate. We’ve had enough of divisive rhetoric and mean-spirited people who want to make themselves feel powerful and others feel fearful. Let’s hear it for inclusivity and the love and good will towards others we are urged to practice by all religions.

THE STOPS

The pair set out from New York and made stops in Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Iowa City, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Las Vegas and various other cities, most of them in “red” states. They were received well everywhere but Texas, where rude tweets follow the duo’s appearance at a steakhouse (Ferrell dressed as Sherlock Holmes and attempting to eat a 72-ounce steak). One Texas tweet that commented on the stop the pair had just made at Harper’s sister Eleanor’s house in Iowa City, called Ferrell “a Satanic illuminati pedophile in Iowa.” But the general reception was the opposite, although one critic has asked the obvious question if that is because a celebrity was running interference for his old friend. (Others wondered about product placement, since Pringles and Duncan Donuts get a lot of conversational time,)

IOWA CITY & SORROW

Harper’s sister, Eleanor, when she received the same e-mail that Ferrell got, responded to him quickly, “Oh, good! I’ve always wanted a sister.” However, when the pair actually stops for the night at her home in my old college town, Ferrell asks her what her reaction was upon receiving the news. She admits that “I was totally surprised” and defines the emotion she felt as “sorrow.”

I felt that sorrow, too, when Harper shared journaling snippets of the pain experienced for decades: “It wasn’t about body parts. It was about how I am in my head. Fix me or kill me,” is one entry. “A lot of transitioning is learning to accept yourself” is another truth shared in Peoria, Illinois, in a meeting with a 65-year-old transgender woman. “I dream of a world where I can lay my vulnerabilities out there for anyone…I knew something was weird in me growing up in Iowa, but it was impossible to think of doing anything about it.”

In a world where gay men are being executed in certain countries, you just want to repeat Rodney King’s mantra. May 1, 1992, King called a press conference in hopes of stopping the death and destruction after the L.A. riots. “I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids?”

CONCLUSION

This is a gem of a documentary, which contains so much pain and yet provokes so much laughter. One can’t help but smile when Ferrell, asked about his share of piloting the vintage automobile cross country responds, “I’m a narcoleptic and I’m not a good driver.”

As the theme song for the documentary goes, “a friend is a friend is a friend till the end.”

Catch this one when it streams on Netflix beginning September 27th.

2024 Emmies: In the Books, September 15, 2024

By Connie Wilson

On September 16, 2024

In News, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

Just finished watching the Emmies and—although not a comprehensive run-down of who won what—here are some impressions of the evening. Eugene Levy and his son Dan Levy (“Schitt’s Creek”) hosted and did an excellent job.

SHOGUN, ET. AL.

While I do realize that “Shogun” set a record for the number of nominations, I have not seen it and will now have to find the time to take it in.

For me, given my admittedly not-comprehensive viewing of the nominees, I most enjoyed seeing “Baby Reindeer,” “Hacks” and “Ripley” win multiple awards. The Writer/Director/Lead Actor of “Baby Reindeer,” Richard Gadd, had one of the most inspiring remarks of the night (for me), upon accepting one of the three awards (Lead Actor in a Limited Drama or Anthology Series), which was this: “If ‘Baby Reindeer’ has proven anything, it is that the only constant is good storytelling that speaks to our times.” As a failed writer who attempts to speak to our times, thanks for that, Mr. Gadd. Co-star Jessica Gunning, who was fabulous in her role, was also present and won (Best Supporting Actress for a Limited or Anthology Series). It was nice to see Gadd wearing a kilt.

HACKS

Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder in “Hacks”.

As for the “Hacks” win, I was present at the sneak peek of this year’s “Hacks” at SXSW. The love and sense of community in the room eclipsed even the time that “This Is Us” cast came to town; in all honesty, I was not as big a fan of “This Is Us,” but everyone else in the room was. You could feel the love, just like this year’s season preview of “Hacks.” Jean Smart had some serious health issues that delayed filming. I was fearful that the series might die if she did. I truly enjoy her comic timing. It’s so nice to see a woman over forty with the lead in a wonderfully written humorous show. [If you haven’t watched it, get on that!] Hannah Einbinder, daughter of “SNL’s” Laraine Newman, portraying her young assistant needs to win an Emmy soon, however, as she is just as good in this two-woman series. This one I applauded loudly with its 16 nominations (48 overall).

THE BEAR

I enjoyed the dig at “The Bear” as not really being a comedy series. As a sometimes Chicago resident, I really tried to get “in” to the series. I just could not. I’m not that interested in watching people cut up vegetables. To me, the potential plot trajectory was easy to figure out. We watched about five of them and stopped. I really like Jeremy Allen White (Lip in “Shameless”), however, so maybe we will try it again. Not sure I have it in me, but it’s worth a shot.

KATHY BATES

Kathy Bates is going to reprise “Matlock” and she has lost tons of weight since I met her at the Texas Filmmaking Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Austin a few years ago. I enjoyed her quip about how it was hard to get a date after “Misery.” There was also a jab at how the network is aiming the series at old people.

RIPLEY

Steven Zaillion, who directed “A Civil Action” (1998), “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2011) and many other memorable films won for this series based on “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” “A veteran go-to script doctor in the industry, Steven Zaillian has contributed, uncredited, to screenplays on a number of projects over the years. They include Patriot Games (1992), Crimson Tide (1995), Twister (1996), Primal Fear (1996), Amistad (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Black Hawk Down (2001), Road to Perdition (2002) and Body of Lies (2008). He was also called upon in post-production to rewrite some scenes for re-shoots of Salt (2010). Zaillion wrote four screenplays for feature films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Awakenings (1990), Schindler’s List (1993), Gangs of New York (2002) and Moneyball (2011). Of those, Schindler’s List (1993) won Best Picture and earned Zaillian an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.”

With that pedigree as a writer, I sat up and watched every episode of the series “Ripley” on Friday night and he won tonight. It is based on the book and film that starred Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow (1999). It took me until 4 a.m, to make it to the final installment, which was exceptionally clever.

I came away with this observation about Italy: I CAN’T CLIMB THAT MANY STAIRS!!! As I watched character after character (policemen, victims, suspects, etc.) struggling to carry luggage up huge staircases (the elevator was always broken) I quickly abandoned any thought of strolling through the storied streets of Rome or Venice. Of course, I have been there a few times in my life, but my left knee was in better shape then. I didn’t injure it in the bicycling accident until 1997.

Having devoted most of Friday night to finishing off “Ripley,” I was happy to see Zaillion win. The end of the series was masterful, and the series was much different from the book or the film based upon it. It was a much more successful new look at an old property than the recent revival of “Presumed Innocent” from David Kelley. But “Ripley” is shot in black-and-white so be warned.

CANDACE BERGEN

Candace Bergen.

It was nice to see Candace Bergen again. She got in a good dig at former VP Dan Quayle and how he had criticized her character of Murphy Brown on her hit TV show for giving birth without benefit of marriage. She commented that no current Vice President would criticize her for having a child. She ended her (veiled political) remarks with “Meow,”

OUTSTANDING REALITY COMPETITION

This winner (“The Traitor”) won for Peacock and Allen Cummings, the host, picked up the award. He’s literally one of only two celebrities in my 20 years of covering the Chicago International Film Festival who came to Chicago years ago and was rude to we “little people” (press). I won’t bore you with the details, but I did not clap when he won, even though I enjoyed his work on “The Good Wife.” The only one who was worse all those many years ago has since died, so that makes Allen Cummings the worst, for me.

LAST WEEK TONIGHT

John Oliver in November 2016

John Oliver won for the Outstanding Scripted Variety Show, which had 6 nominations this year and has amassed 67 total nominations. It was a well-deserved win, but the bit about Lorne Greene of “Saturday Night Live” having been nominated 85 times without winning was a comic jewel. There was also a similar bit about being nomiated 17 times without a win for a woman I think was Padma Lakshi (although, without a scorecard and in this category, not sure.)

OUTSTANDING TALK SERIES

“The Daily Show,” with 4 nominations, saw Jon Stewart (who only appears on Mondays) take the podium. Jimmy Kimmel, who was also nominated in the category and lost, got in a good zinger when he said something to the effect of, “I thought you said you were retiring.”

WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES

This one went to someone named Will Smith for “Slow Horses.” “Slow Horses” is British and stars Gary Oldman. We needed captioning to watch it and tried hard to do so, without success. I wondered if Will Smith was going to slap anybody. (Oh. Wait. Wrong Will Smith).

My failure to know much about “Slow Horses” (other than that it is supposed to be good, like “The Bear,” but we couldn’t get into it), leads me to admit that I don’t know who Lamore Morris is or what show by Noah Hawley he stars in, except that he beat out Robert Downey, Jr., for the statue and he almost could not be gotten offstage. Seriously, he did not appear to have prepared any kind of “thank you” and it showed. All I can say is, “So many shows; so little time.”

JODIE FOSTER

Jodie Foster in 2011.

It was nice to see Jodie Foster win for her spooky role on “True Detective: Night Country” (even though the plot eventually defied logic and collapsed under its own weight ) but I have to admit that the thing that struck me the most about seeing her again (besides the fact that she had bare arms that looked toned and muscly) was that she publicly kissed her female Significant Other as she rose to accept her award. That is after beaucoup years of being mum about her status as a lesbian raised by a lesbian mother. There was also an award (The Governor’s Award) given to a man nobody knew, Gary Berlanti, for his LGBTQ support and activities,

Berlanti came to the microphone and made a very heartfelt statement about being gay in America in the bad old days. It made me happy that we do not live in the Russia or Iran or Iraq that actually makes it a crime to be gay (and, in some cases, executes such individuals) and reminded me of a powerful documentary I saw years ago at CIFF entitled “Be Like Others.”

Berlanti’s win and trip to the stage led me to hope that he would put in a pitch about voting for the candidate who promoted acceptance of all races, colors, creeds and sexual orientations. He missed that opportunity, although John Leguizamo got in some very relevant remarks about how nice it was that Latino actors (et. al.) are now getting to play the roles that they were born for, i.e., people of whatever ethnic persuasion the script required. Rita Moreno’s documentary “Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It” stressed this aspect of movies of yore, and Leguizamo mentioned Natalie Wood being cast as Maria in the original “West Side Story,” by name (as well as Marlon Brando and others being cast for roles that should have gone to the minority portrayed.)

Ask yourself which presidential candidate or ticket would be most likely to welcome minorities and promotes inclusivity and vote accordingly. It will be interesting to see and hear the reactions of networks like Fox to tonight’s Emmy ceremony.

“Voice of Shadows:” Long on Creepy; Short on Screenplay Sense

By Connie Wilson

On September 13, 2024

In Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews, Scary stories, Television

“Voice of Shadows” has the benefit of a truly intriguing trailer that should interest viewers. It appears to be a classic horror film dealing with a possibly haunted house and an elderly woman named “Milda” (Jane Hammill) who lives in it. And dies in it, willing the house to her niece Emma (Corinne Mica). There’s also a claim that Milda has “died twice” and a poorly explained tie to occult goings-on in the past.

The tag line for the film was, “A young working class woman stands to inherit an estate if she and her boyfriend abide by a set of bizarre stipulations.” The film was written and directed by Nicholas Bain (as Nick Bain) and shot in Minnesota—a surprise, as the house and setting seemed more European than American, but, then, Nick Bain is originally from Minnesota, which he left in 2014 to travel to Los Angeles to make movies.

THE GOOD

Right now, horror is an extremely hot genre. (It makes me think I should do something more with my screenplay for the three-novel set “The Color of Evil.”) If Nick Bain can write this script, mine might have a chance. The good news for me is that this script gives me hope for my own to succeed. “If this one can, my script can.” [That isn’t necessarily good news as my commentary on the script for “Voice of Shadows.”]

The cinematography by Neil Murphy and the music by Utkucan Eken and Elif Karlidag was quite good at setting the spooky overall mood. Trailer totally sucked me in. (Read on, to see if that first peek pays off).

The acting was adequate. We won’t be seeing any of the actors or actresses at the Oscars, but horror is a hard sell to the Academy.

The length of the movie, at 90 minutes, was like “the old days,” a welcome relief from the 3-hour marathon recent films. Bravo!

The house set was impressive, but the time the movie is supposed to take place in is a mystery. The old rotary dial phone would indicate long ago, but we never really find out.

The visual effects by Jeff Sardar were fine. The visual effects won the film an award at the Los Angeles Crime and Horror Film Festival. Having black stuff come out of the heroine’s mouth isn’t that new a visual effect, but it still works. For that matter, the film has had three wins and four nominations, with the Latitude Film Awards and the Romford Horror Festival naming it Best Feature Film.

THE BAD

Voice of Shadows horror film, featuring Aunt Milda

Voice of Shadows poster, featuring Aunt Milda

Guillermo Blanco (The Queen of Flow”) plays the lead of Gabriel. It seems that Milda, the old woman who owns the house, doesn’t like Gabriel. One of the “bizarre stipulations” that Milda has put on the inheritance of her impressive house by her niece Emma is that Gabriel never stay there—not even for one night. Given the “plot spill” that the script begins with, where Gabriel is in the confessional and confesses to being a murderer (for good reasons as he lays out the case for the first murder) that scene makes Gabriel’s first murder initially seem reasonable, (just as the old television series “Dexter” used to justify Dexter’s homicidal acts with a variety of plausible excuses.)

Gabriel’s character throughout is difficult for the audience to figure out. He is swilling liquor from a bottle while in the confessional. We can conclude from that that he drinks too much (and in the wrong places). That certainly might influence his decision-making. But Gabriel still seems very willing to murder people at a moment’s notice. The worst assault was a fellow named Ernest (Martin Harris). Gabriel’s motives for plunging a knife into Ernest are unclear; the screenplay goes downhill from there. I wanted to sympathize with and like Gabriel, because he initially seemed like a good fellow and Milda’s instant dislike for him appeared to be petty jealousy, but murdering multiple people with little or no motivation was a bit much, even for me.

The acting by female lead Corinne Mica (“Always, Lola”) as Emma and Maria Jose Vargas Aguidelo as Celeste and Guillermo Blanco as Gabriel was adequate. I thought that Father John, played by Michael Paul Levin was stronger in his supporting part. Bee Vang (“Stranger Things,” “Gran Torino”) plays Father James.

PLOT REVEALS

There was a lot of information dumped on the audience, beginning with the very first confessional scene. Too much telling and not enough showing. I’ve written scripts. A couple of them have even won awards. It’s better to assume the audience is savvy enough to put two-and-two together than to have your main characters ranting on about why they did this or why they did that in a long monologue.

It’s easy to see that Emma’s character and behavior is changing once her Aunt Milda leaves her the house. Emma begins disappearing with Ernesto to “the art gallery.” As a general criticism, most of the climactic scenes in the film—murders and the like—either have no explanation or are overly explained. So, for me, the script needed work.

There was nothing super original or new in the film, but the trailer is very well-done. As horror movies go, “Voice of Shadows” (the title made me think of “Stir of Echoes”) was a good effort with some inexplicable plot directions that might need rethinking or refining.

VOICE OF SHADOWS will arrive September 17 on digital and streaming platforms, including iTunes/Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Fandango at Home, Vimeo, and local cable & satellite providers.

VOICE OF SHADOWS

Directed by: Nicholas Bain

Written by: Nicholas Bain

Starring: Guillermo Blanco, Corrinne Mica, Bee Vang, Michael Paul Levin, Martin Harris

Produced by: Guillermo Blanco, Martin Harris, Jamie Roberts

Executive Producers: Nick Breid, Todd R. Johnson, Dan Lehto,

Stephen McGraw, Nicholas Bain

Associate Producers: Matthew Fahey, Matt Roy

Cinematography by: Neil Murphy

Edited by: Mark Ferris

Music Composed by: Utkucan Eken, Elif Karlidag

USA I 2024 I Horror, Thriller I 90 minutes | NR

Kamala Harris Emerges #1 with Swiftie Support

By Connie Wilson

On September 10, 2024

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics, Television, Uncategorized

Presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

As the Trump/Harris debate wound down, I turned to my spouse and said, “I think Kamala Harris just talked herself into the White House.” I have liked her ever since Joe Biden selected her to be Vice President, so that’s fine by me, Boss.

She was definitely the more detailed of the two debaters. I thought that DJT came off as a loon but he always does. Anyone who brings Hannibal Lecter and windmills onto the stage of a political rally is, well, weird—(to quote the next Vice President of the United States.)

Not since Pizzagate have I seen a loonier set of statements than Donald J. Trump talking about pets in Springfield, Ohio being kidnapped and eaten by out-of-control immigrants.

IS LUCY SAFE?

We had a cat named Lucy. She was a stray kitten whose mother had either abandoned her or been killed. She came to us from the ravine behind our house because my daughter began to feed her. As winter came on, nothing would do but we had to rescue Lucy and bring her inside. We did, indeed, feed her and she became a very fat cat.

This new cat adoption caused a great deal of stress, as we already had a cat named Kitty Kelly. I ended up writing 6 children’s books entitled “The Christmas Cats in Silly Hats.” (Available on Amazon). When we began spending winters in Texas, I actually paid a woman who worked at my veterinarian’s office $3,000 (plus a complete box of cat food and an automatic cat box) to take my indoor/outdoor cat and give her a good home where she could go in and out, as she had at our house.

Taylor Swift and cats

Now I’m worried: HAVE HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS KIDNAPPED AND EATEN LUCY? “In Springfield, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there,” (a Trump quote). This ridiculous claim originated from a Facebook post. There are no credible reports of this happening. Even J.D. Vance admitted it might turn out to be viral nonsense.

SPECIFICS

Kamala Harris was very specific about her plans for bringing down the costs for middle class families. She talked about a $6,000 child tax credit and $25,000 credit for first-time home buyers, while DJT had the look of a puzzled puppy throughout. His worst answer was in regards to health care and a bill for same, which he claimed to be working on for 9 and ½ years (“we have some concepts”).

The Biden Harris camp was left with a 6.4% unemployment rate, but it was significantly down from 14% earlier in the pandemic. (Fact checker on CNN calling out the only falsehood that Kamala may have made during the debate, while DJT made at least 33 untruthful statements.)

TAYLOR SWIFT

The Christmas Cats Fear for the Deer

I hope that Taylor Swift is holding onto her cat, Benjamin Button, very tightly tonight, especially since she endorsed Kamala Harris tonight, after a fake A.I. endorsement appeared on Trump’s site, which caused her to come out and transparently endorse Kamala Harris.

It appears that the GOP will now be whining about how “unfair” the moderators were tonight, because their guy did such a poor job.

Works for me.

Below this short recap are my typed notes on the debate of September 10th, with some interesting lines that struck me. Enjoy. Or not.

**************

MY NOTES ON THE DEBATE:

DJT:

“The tariff will be substantial in some cases…” (Trump, re China). “When I had it I had tariffs and yet I had no inflation.” Probably the worst inflation in our nation’s history. This has been a disaster for people. On top of that we have millions of people pouring in from mental institutions and taking jobs of African American and Hispanics. (Springfield, Ohio)

2025.” “Everybody knows what I’m going to do. Cut taxes. “We did a phenomenal job with the pandemic.” “Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. “We built ventilators for the world. “They don’t give me enough credit for the great job we did with the pandemic.”

HARRIS RESPONSE:

“I am offering an opportunity economy.” The best economists have reviewed our plan. Goldman/Sachs. Wharton School –DJT’s plan would explode the deficit. 16 Nobel laureates say it would increase inflation and invite a recession. “You just have to look at where we are and what we have to offer.”

TRUMP RESPONSE – Many of those professors at Wharton think my plan is a brilliant plan. He has no plan for you…..”She doesn’t have a plan.”

Drill down on tariff: national sales tax

HARRIS RESPONSE:

Tariffs up to 20% on goods coming into this country would mean higher costs on gas, food, etc. $4,000 per family. All of the countries that have been ripping us off for years. Tariffs there 3 and ½ years now in place. “I had virtually no inflation.” “they’ve destroyed the economy.”

Keeping the tariffs in place: “The Trump policy = he ended up selling American ships to China to help them improve and modernize their military. We need to focus on American based technology, on what we need to do to support America’s work force, so that we don’t end up on the short end of the stick.”

President Chi thank you on Twitter mentioned by Harris.

DJT ATTACK:

“She’s a Marxist. Her father is a Marxist professor and he taught her well. Look at the millions of people pouring into our country daily. I believe it is 21 million.”

They’re criminals. I believe that many of these people are criminals.

HARRIS ATTACK:

Calling him out on his reversals on abortion (6 week ban in Florida). Why should they trust you?

“They have abortion in the 9^th month. The previous governor of WV: “The baby will be born and we’ll decide what to do with the baby.” DJT said (of Tim Walz) “He is REALLY out of it.”

Execution after birth. That’s not okay with me. Hence the vote (in Florida).

“Through the genius and heart and strength of 6 Supreme Court Justices we were able to get it.” (Roe v. Wade).

A 12 or 13-year old survivor of incest. I promise you I will proudly sign it into law. If DJ were to be elected, he will sign a national abortion ban. There will be a national monitor who will report on abortions.

DJT RESPONSE:

Trump: “We’ve gotten what everybody wanted. For 52 years this issue has torn our country apart. What she says is an absolute law. This issue has now been taken over by the states.

Went on about student loans:“All these students got taunted by this whole idea.”

“She’ll never be able to get it. (student loans) They could never get this approved.

HARRIS ATTACK:

Reinstating the protections of Roe v. Wade. “It’s insulting to the women of America.” People are being denied IVF treatment.

[Trump’s face: that of a puzzled dog.]

“The majority of Americans believe in the rights of women to make decisions about their own bodies.”

DJT RESPONSE:

Trump: “I’ve been a leader on fertilization and IVF.

Why did the administration wait until 6 months before now to act (on border bill)?

HARRIS RESPONSE (citing the bill that Trump killed):

Bill would have put 1,500 more border agents on the border. More resources to crack down on fentanyl.

He’d prefer to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem. A leader who actually addresses the problems at hand. People start leabing his rallies early because he talks about Hannibal Lecter and windmills. You deserve a president who puts you first.

Why did you kill that bill?

He refused and wanted to go on about his rally. “We’re a failing nation. Our country is being lost.” WWIII Border. In Springfield, they’re eating the pets of the people. (Kamala laughed).She’s destroying our country. If she becomes President: Venezuela on steroids.

Springfield, Ohio: dogs. “We’ll find out.”
Kamala: “talk about extreme!”

Kamala mentions the endorsement of 200 Republicans, including the VP alive. His former Chief of Staff: Kelly: contempt for the Constitution. Sec of Defense: The nation would never survive another Trump term.”

“I think the choices are clear in this election.”

DJT RESPONSE:

Trump: “I’m a different kind of a person. I fired them not too graciously. When somebody does a bad job, I fire ‘em. Esper: fired. Wrote a book. They didn’t fire any of their people. I got more votes than any Republican in history by far.

Immigration – “the largest deportation move in history (11 million illegal immigrants). Question:

“They allowed terrorists, many many millions of terrorists.

They’re destroying the fabric of our country. (How would you get rid of them?)

Crime in this country: migrant crime. The FBI has said no….”fraud”—

HARRIS ATTACK:

She brings up Trump’s many legal cases. Respect for the rule of law.

It is important that we move forward…that we turn the page and address the problems of the American public. Address bringing down the price of groceries. The American public is exhausted by thi same old tired playbook.

Trump tries to defend his convictions in court. Every one of those cases was use of the justice department. Weapnization…fake cases.

“terminate” the Constitution of the U.S. Trump has openly expressed disdain for members of our military. Understand what it would be like if this man were back in the White House without any guard rails.

“I probably took a bullet to the head….

HARRIS RESPONSE:

Fracking….decriminalizing border crossings…”I will not ban fracking.” She was the tie-breaking vote on the inflation reduction act (IRA).

DJT:

Rambling on about solar and the desert.

Peaceful transfer of power: He tries to take the debate away from the Capitol riot to the border.

Anything you regret Jan. 6th^h? Minneapolis. Seattle. (Repeated the question 2x) Trump claims that he offered 10,000 troops to Nancy Pelosi and the Mayor of Washington and they turned it down.

HARRIS ATTACK:

140 law enforcement officers were injured. Some died. (Charlottesville is brought up by Kamala – there were fine people on each side. Proud Boys: Stand back and stand by.)

Stand for rule of law. Donald Trump the candidate has said there will be a bloodbath if you don’t like the outcome of this election.

Energy? Now he’s bringing up the border again.

DJT RESPONSE:

“She’s so bad. It’s been so ridiculous.” Get him out of bed at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. They have the right to do it (i.e., shut the border).

Truth in these times: you won in a landslide. Are you now acknowledging that you lost the presidential race of 2020? We need good elections and walls/borders. (Anti immigrant blather)

DJT:

60 cases. No judge looked at it. They said we didn’t have standing.

That’s old news. “We have a nation in decline and we have put it into decline.”

HARRIS ATTACK:

Donald Trump was fired by 81 million people and clearly he’s having a difficult time processing that.

World leaders are laughing at DJT. “They say you’re a disgrace.” We do not have the right temperament of the man to my right. (Victor Orban of Hungary)

Nordstream pipeline. Excel pipeline.

Israel/Hamas issue:

The NATO allies are so thankful that you are no longer President.

DJT RESPONSE:

“We have a President who doesn’t even know if he’s alive.”

HARRIS RESPONSE:

A dictator (Putin) who would eat you for lunch…

DJT:

Putin would be sitting in Moscow …he’s got nuclear weapons. (“Nobody ever thinks about that”). “Everything they said was weak and stupid. The war stated 3 days later. She’s worse than Biden.”

Trump accused Kamala of causing the Ukraine war because of her poor negotiating. “The American people have a right to rely on a President who understands that we have stability and not sell them for the benefit of personal flattery.

Afghanistan – (Trump goes on about how “he got them to pay up.” Re NATO.

HARRIS:

He does not understand the role of the American president and the work that we must do to uphold the respect of the role of the U.S. around the world. (Invited the Taliban to Camp David). Abdul, the leader of the Taliban.

Negotiated an agreement. (She says the Taliban got 5,000 prisoners released.) The agreement was terminated by us because they didn’t do what they were supposed to do. “The most embarrassing moment in American history,” said DJT.

MODERATOR:

RACE – “Why do you think it is appropriate to weigh in on the racial identity of your opponent?”

Harris: I think it’s a tragedy that we have someone who uses race to divide the American people. We don’t want this kind of approach that is constantly trying to divide us. (Brings up the failure to rent to Blacks and the full page ad about the Central Park Five and the birther thing against Obama.) We see in each other a friend, a neighbor, we don’t want a leader who is constantly having Americans point their fingers at each other. (Confused dog lead)

DJT RESPONSE:

“There’s never been anything like it. Going back many, many years. Mayor Blomberg agreed with me. This is a person who has to stretch back 40 or 50 years because there’s nothing now.”

HARRIS RESPONSE:

Harris: Clearly I am not Joe Biden. What I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country,. One no brings a sense of optimism. I believe in what we can do to strengthen small businesses. Let’s talk about our plans. I have a plan. I have a plan that is about allowing people to pursue the American dream.
Belittling, name-calling is all he has.

DJT:
She has a plan to confiscate everybody’s gun.

Repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. (Obamacare)

CNN: 63% say Harris won the debate. 37% say DJT won the debate.

“Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken” on 9/22 at Nashville Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On September 9, 2024

In Editorial, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Reviews, Television

Melissa Etheridge appears in a series streaming on Paramount Plus as of July 7^th, entitled “Melissa Etheridge: I’m Not Broken.” The two episodes are being shown on Sunday, September 22, from 7 to 9 p.m. as part of the Nashville Film Festival.

Young Melissa Etheridge.

A native of Leavenworth, Kansas, Etheridge is shown visiting the Topeka Correctional Facility for Women, after having corresponded with many of the inmates for 9 months prior. It was a homecoming of sorts for the singer, as, like Johnny Cash, she had performed at a Kansas prison when she was only 12 years old, in 1973. Brian Morrow and Amy Scott directed the series and five of the inmates of the prison are shown reading the letters they wrote to Etheridge. Etheridge talks with the five women and performs for them.

Saying that their letters inspired her, Melissa wrote some original music for the concert and said, “I realize I can’t save anyone, but I’m looking to inspire.”

HIGH POINTS

The Mayor of Leavenworth, Jermaine Wilson, who did 3 years in prison himself, is shown talking with Etheridge about the upcoming concert. Wilson and Etheridge, together, stressed that they wanted to inspire and encourage the imprisoned felons, saying, “Mistakes don’t define you. You are not a failure. You are not a mistake. You were created on purpose for a purpose.”

Mayor Jermaine Wilson of Leavenworth, KS.

Mayor Jermaine Wilson of Leavenworth, Kansas.

In addition to much charitable work, Melissa also founded the Etheridge Foundation which attempts to legalize cannabis and other drugs that might be useful for therapeutic purposes. She shared with the crowd of women—many of them incarcerated specifically for selling, using, or possession of drugs—that she once had an arrest as she entered the U.S. from Canada through North Dakota, where cannabis was illegal. “The best I can do is to be an example—a light that holds you up and says you matter.”

PRISON STATISTICS

Meghan Davis, an employee of the facility, said that the likelihood of a woman being the victim of a crime never drops for women as it does for men. Women do not grow up and become less likely to become victims of crime. In fact, over the last 40 years, there has been an 84% increase in women convicted of crimes and imprisoned, many of them crimes that originated with a drug habit.

Of the 760 women incarcerated in Topeka, 500 are mothers or grandmothers. Prison employee Dani Essman talked about how many of the imprisoned women lose their identity. One of the women expressed gratitude for Etheridge’s actions, saying, “We were just grateful that she gave a shit.”

POIGNANT SHARE

Melissa and her then-partner Julie Cypher had 2 children. Cypher gave birth to Bailey Jean and Beckett.^[⁶⁵^] Cypher became pregnant via artificial insemination using sperm donated by musician David Crosby.^[⁶⁶^] Cypher and Etheridge separated in 2000. On May 13, 2020, Etheridge announced on Twitter that her son with Cypher, Beckett, had died at the age of 21 of a drug overdose related to opioid addiction. (Her daughter, Bailey Jean, graduated from Columbia in 2019).

Beckett and sister Bailey.

When Etheridge shared this personal heartbreak with the crowd, she sang the song “Shadow of a Black Crow,” which she said she seldom performs. One of the lines in the song is, “I would rather die fast than ever drive slow. Father, forgive me, for what my mother don’t know.”

Etheridge—speaking to so many women who know only too well the curse of addiction—said, “He (Beckett) was either gonna’ find his way out or not, and in his case not.” Referencing the lyric “The scratch marks on my soul from the shadow of a black crow” Etheridge said, “I miss him here, but I know he is here (gesturing upwards).”

SECOND HALF

In the second episode of the Melissa Etheridge Paramount Plus offering “I’m Not Broken” Ms. Etheridge composed a song especially for the inmates of the Topeka State Prison. We witnessed the actual creative process as Etheridge discusses the evolution of the song. Band member Joe Ayoub tells us that they worked up the band’s part from Friday to Sunday.

Onstage.

particularly heartbreaking story, told by one of the five women spotlighted in the special (Andrea, Cierra, Jessica, Kristi and Leigh) shared with the viewers was that she became hooked on drugs and was pregnant by 19. Her baby died ten minutes before she gave birth.

Etheridge opened up about her son Beckett’s death on May 13, 2020. Beckett was born on November 18, 1998. Etheridge explained his addiction as stemming from Vicodin administered after a snowboarding accident. His addiction quickly spiraled out of control.

Beckett was 21 when the police found him dead after a wellness check that Melissa and her former partner Julie Cypher requested.

THE ODD

Beckett and Bailey.

I found Melissa Etheridge’s sharing of her personal trauma brave, but odd.

Melissa and son Beckett.

She said, “I do not let it take me out of my own sense of well-being. You can accept a person’s choices and it doesn’t have to destroy you.” She seemed remarkably calm and distanced from grief at the death of her son. I couldn’t help but wonder if, like the devotees of the new meditation start-up Jhourney, Etheridge has internalized the life rule “true peace comes from accepting things just as they are.” I admit that I was taken aback at the calm way Etheridge discussed the death of her 21-year-old son, Beckett. It was shocking and surprising; she seemed somewhat clinically detached. The death had taken place three years prior so that may help explain the low-key dispassionate discussion the film showcases.

CONCLUSION

The 2 part serial look into Melissa Etheridge’s life and creative process was interesting, but repetitive. There were too many shots of Etheridge performing on the temporary stage set up outside the prison walls. The interviews with the five inmates (Andrea, Cierra, Jessica, Kristi and Leigh) were conducted in less-than-optimal settings and there were a lot of those table shots. Perhaps film of the five inmates establishing the women’s relationships with their families of origin before they were incarcerated would have helped?

Onstage.

What comes through loud and clear is that Melissa Etheridge is a time-tested talent. She asks the assembled women if they are familiar with her music. Some are not. For them she described her audience as those aged 50 and up, as her Grammy-winning years were approximately 1993 through 2007. That’s a pity, as she is just as talented now as she was in earlier years— more seasoned and just as creative. She continues to write. This series is a tribute to a true talent trying to bring redemption and empowerment to incarcerated female prisoners. It is a wonderful humanitarian concept.

Melissa Etheridge onstage.

What else could have been done to liven up the many scenes of Ms. Etheridge talking with the inmates? The library setting was used repeatedly. Melissa performing onstage was entertaining, but also repetitive. Those were the weak points of the two-episode series, which will screen at the Nashville Film Festival on Sunday, September 22^nd, from 7 to 9 p.m., and on Paramount Plus.

THE GOAL

The goal of bringing hope to the incarcerated women of the Topeka Correctional Facility for Women was worthwhile and deserving of support. The plea for accepting drugs for therapeutic purposes is also a progressive step forward, just as Etheridge’s original song “I Need to Wake Up” for Al Gore’s 2007 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” which won the Academy Award, was part of a good cause, trying to alert the world to the dangers of global warming. (I can’t help but regret how our weather patterns might be different if Florida and the candidate’s brother had not been allowed to prevail in the hanging chads election of 2000. A candidate whose party had no plan at all to address global warming—and still does not—was declared the winner. Al Gore, who was extremely concerned about our stewardship of the planet, stepped aside with decorum. How times change!)

Reservations aside, it’s a pleasure to watch a Top-Notch Singer/Songwriter writing and performing her work. Etheridge’s social conscience cannot be denied. This two-part Paramount Plus series is a testament to that .