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Elise in the center in the Valero shirt, flanked by team members whose names I will have to learn before Tuesday,

So it’s one day post the presidential election, and I am turning my attention to the granddaughter’s volleyball tournament action.

Oddly enough, the Valor team played another Valor team tonight, after winning all of their regular season games to get to this night,

They still have to win a game this coming Tuesday night at 7 p.m., so we’re not breaking out the champagne yet. Actually, I’m not allowed any alcohol because of elevated liver enzymes, so maybe no champagne ever.

If they win that game, the team goes to state in Texas, although I am woefully unaware of the levels of competition, other than that Elise Wilson is the Valero (spelling?), which means that she has to do all the scooping up of balls from the court. She (and the rest of the team) played well tonight, winning the first 3 games in the best 3 out of 5 bracket.

I attempted to catch Elise in action, scooping up and setting volleyball plays, so that the ball can be returned and, hopefully, spiked.

We saw the team play a few months ago and they have improved immeasurably.

Wishing them good luck and posting some videos/photos, I hope.

Well, the video posting is not going well. Let me see if I can still remember how this might work. (Probably not).

“September 5” Is Timely Look at the Munich Massacre

By Connie Wilson

On October 23, 2024

In Movies, Reviews, Uncategorized

(Trailer is in German; Film is dubbed in English)

On September 5^th, 1972, 900 million viewers nationwide watched the first-ever live-and-in-color feed of the Olympics from Munich, Germany. A Palestine terrorist organization known as Black September chose this date, two weeks into the Olympic games, to send 8 operatives into the Olympic Village and take most of the Israeli Olympic athletes hostage. Director Tim Fehlbaum (who also co-wrote with Moritz Binder and Alex David) focuses on the ABC sports team, with Jim McKay on the air in archival footage. The ABC crew stepped up to broadcast the event live to the world. Sportscasters like Howard Cosell and Jim McKay and the late Peter Jennings (who said “I’ve been a war correspondent for 5 years, and yet I’ve never been this close to the Israeli-Arab conflict.”) are also featured.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) did not accept “September 5,” because they feared demonstrations and protests if it screened. “September 5” made its North American premiere at Telluride. It made its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival on August 28, 2024. Based on the great reviews Paramount is distributing the film to theaters beginning November 29^th, expanding to more theaters on December 13^th. It was even difficult to find here in Chicago, with no mention of it in the program and little fan-fare in advance.

THE CAST

Peter Saarsgard is a journeyman character actor who can always be counted on to do a good job. He’s fresh off the 8- episode revisiting of “Presumed Incident,” where he played Tommy Molto, but I’ve been following his career closely since at least the Carrie Mulligan co-starring 2010’s “An Education.” In this one he portrays Roone Arledge, the ABC network big wig who is on the job in Munich. Arledge is running a tight ship, including ordering armed German Polizei out of his studio.

That studio, it should be noted, was meticulously recreated to duplicate the actual studio where Roone and his team had to cover groundbreaking live news as it happened. John Magaro (“The Big Short,” “The Many Saints of Newark”) portrays Geoffrey Mason. Mason has to step up and orchestrate the coverage of the terrorist event on the fly, doing whatever he can to put a picture on the air that will tell the story of Israeli athletes’ lives hanging in the balance and telling the world in real time. At the end of the ordeal, Arledge calls the beleaguered Mason into his office and says, “I know it may not feel like it, but you did a hell of a job.” Arledge also points out that more people watched the Munich Massacre unfold on television than watched Neil Armstrong walk on the moon.

Also instrumental in the cast and in the historical event was ABC German/English interpreter Marianne Gebhardt (Leona Benesch), whose bilingual ability allowed her to monitor German police radio and interpret German news reports for the crew. Benesch—the only female in a sea of men—at one point is sent on a coffee run, prompting a member of the ABC staff assembled to say, “You just sent away the one person who could understand this.”

Historians have generally agreed that the Munich massacre was mishandled from the very beginning. In fact some accuse the German government of a 40-year cover-up. All of the hostages were killed. Two managed to escape because of the early heroism of one of their teammates. Although the ring-leader of the Black September group and his second-in-command were killed at the Ferstenbeldbruck air base, there were actually 3 survivors of the original group of 8 Palestinian assassins. It is incredible to learn from reading up on the raid, that the three Black September survivors were released one month later in a prisoner hostage exchange after Lufthansa Flight 615 was hijacked. (*That isn’t in the movie, but you can look it up.)

THE ATTACK

“September 5” (1972) in the ABC control room during the 20th Olympics in Munich.

As the film’s title makes clear, it was September 5 of 1972—two weeks into the 20^th Olympics—when the terrorists struck. Additional reading shows that Schmuel Lakin, the Israeli delegation head, had previously expressed concern about the security of his Israeli athletes. The location of their apartments within the Olympic Village was not ideal. There had been rumors of something like the Munich Massacre occurring, coming from a reputable intelligence source, but the Germans ignored the rumors, wanting no lingering taint of the German Hitler Olympics to mar the 20^th. There were even reports that various security scenarios had been explored. What actually did occur matched rather precisely Scenario 21. The terrorists, carrying duffle bags with weapons, had only to scale a 2 metre (6 and ½ feet) chain link fence to gain access to the Israeli team’s lodging. In fact, later, it came out that the assassins were even helped in that task by a group of athletes also climbing the fence, who were either from the U.S. or Canada. They assumed (incorrectly) that the 8 terrorists sneaking over the fence were fellow athletes like themselves.

The attack took place at 4:10 a.m. on September 5^th and 300-lb. wrestling referee Yossef Gutfreund would be the only one in the room to look through the peephole, see men with guns, and attempt to hold the door closed while rousing his teammates. Thanks to Gutfreund’s action, Tuvia Sokolovsky and Gat Tsobari would escape via the second floor balcony. None of the rest of those taken prisoner would be so fortunate. They were either shot and killed in Apartment 3 or died at the airport during a totally botched attempt to escape to Cairo after being ferried to the airport in helicopters.

Almost nothing went right during the rescue attempts, primarily because hostage negotiators and special ops forces were not a top-of-mind priority in 1972. Immediately after the Munich massacre special teams were formed in Germany to deal with any such future threats. At the time, the local Bavarian police were unequipped and ill-trained. They tried various methods to rescue the athletes, none of which worked. It didn’t help that the local forces did not cut the power to the athletes’ Olympic Village apartments, so the terrorists were able to see on television exactly what the polizei were attempting to do to apprehend them. The German Constitution forbids the German Army from operating on German soil, a nod to German WWII history. We see and hear the sports team, realizing that the terrorists may have seen their feed from “the bird” satellite overhead, say, “Was it our fault?” So many mistakes are made by the locals that one crew member mutters, “No wonder they lost the war.”

TENSION

Lorenz Dangel’s music adds a great deal of tension to the white knuckle ride. There is great camerawork from Cinematographer Hansjorg Weissbrich. There is also a well-acted conflict between John Magaro as Geoffrey Mason and Ben Chaplin (“The Thin Red Line,” “Murder by Numbers”) as Marvin Bader. The disagreement is over repeating the rumor that all eleven hostages have been released, when Mason does not have two confirmed reliable sources. Bader turns out to have been right.

CONCLUSION

I was in Munich just before the 1972 Olympics as Germany was preparing for the event, having spent the summer in England as a foreign exchange student. I wanted to return for the Olympics, which the city was then constructing. By the time 1972 rolled around, I was married with an infant, was teaching school, and we had landed on the moon. I’ve always remembered the optimistic, cheerful, spirit heading into the games. Munich was my favorite city in Germany.

The disagreement over whether to suspend the games after the Munich Massacre and the failure, since then, to properly memorialize the eleven athletes who lost their lives, just adds another layer of tragedy to the grim fact that these athletes were murdered in cold blood, for no reason other than being Jewish (and, in one case, a U.S. citizen and Ohio native, as well as an Israeli citizen). This 52-year-old event seems timely with the Gaza Strip tragedy dominating our news cycle and the conflict threatening to grow larger every day.

Other excellent revisitings of the Munich Massacre can be found in Steven Spielberg’s “Munich”(2005), about the attempts by Mossad to track down and kill the perpetrators and, also, in “One Day in September,” Director Kevin MacDonald’s Academy Award-winning Best Documentary at the 72^nd Academy Awards.

“September 5” is a well-done look at the 22 hours that the ABC sports crew made history covering the Munich Massacre. It’s appropriate to remember the innocent victims: Moseh Weinberg (1^st victim, shot); Yossef Romano, shot, left to bleed out, castrated; Yossef Gutfreund; Kehat Schorr, shooting coach; Amitzur Shapira, track and field coach; Andre Spitzer, fencing master; Yakov Springer, weight-lifting judge; Eliezer Halfin, wrestler; Mark Slavin; David Berger, dual American/Israeli citizenship; Ze’ev Friedman, age 18. U.S. Gold Medalist Mark Spitzer, himself Jewish, asked for a security escort and left Germany immediately after the Munich Massacre.

Try not to miss this one when it hits theaters on November 29^th.

“Nightbitch” Screens on October 21, 2024 at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On October 22, 2024

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

Marielle Heller walked the Red Carpet outside the Music Box Theater on Monday, October 21st at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival in support of “Nightbitch,” which she co-wrote and directed. The screenplay is based on the book by Rachel Yoder. Heller’s previous directing forays include “Diary of a Teen-aged Girl” (2015), “Can You Ever Forgive Me” (2018) and “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019). Amy Adams and Scoot McNairy play a husband and wife parenting a toddler, played by twin tow-heads Arleigh and Emmett Snowden.

“I’m never going to be smart, happy or thin ever again. And I’m pretty sure I’m turning into a dog,” says the Mother character. That line sums up the plot. All mothers in the audience will be able to relate—up to the dog part, anyway. The theme of a hassled Mom trying to cope with daily life at home with kids reminded me of Jason Reitman’s 2018 film “Tully,” but Charlize Theron had three kids and there was no werewolf-ian metamorphosis involved.

Marielle Heller on October 21, 2024, at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival.

As she took the stage to accept her Visionary award, Marielle Heller said, “This is one of my most personal films. I’m just thrilled to be bringing it here tonight.” The 98-minute film’s tag line? “ Motherhood is a bitch.” The IMDB classification lists Body Horror, Comedy, Horror, and Dark Comedy. If you liked “Can You Ever Forgive Me” which earned Melissa McCarthy an Oscar nomination, you’ll like this one. If you’re a Mom, you’ll like it twice as much. (Amy Adams won a TIFF acting award for her role.)

Q&A

After the film screened, Heller shared some insights into the production. The feeling that this could be “any city” and “any Mom” was intentional. Specifics are missing on purpose, including names. Heller is delineating the marital playbook where the wife gives up her career and her dreams to stand by her man. She is thinking, “How many women have delayed their greatness while the men around them didn’t know what to do with theirs?” Adams’ character was a successful artist and worked in an art gallery before she and her husband decided to have a child. Now, as the script says, “The whole concept of motherhood that we’re sold is basically bull-shit.”

SCRIPT
One scripted exchange between the couple has her husband saying, “What happened to the girl I married?” to which Amy Adams responds, “She died in childbirth.” The absence of specific names for our married couple is intentional. One scene (that others wanted to cut) was “the kale salad scene.” Heller described it as a difficult one for Amy Adams to play and “the heart of the film.” As she explained, “It’s that feeling of becoming more and more invisible as you age.” (Tell me about it. No, don’t. I live it daily.)

In the scene, the waiter seems to disregard Amy’s order of a kale salad on more than one occasion. The actor playing the waiter asked the director why the waiter doesn’t seem to respond to Amy Adams repeated request for a kale salad, as she dines out with former work colleagues. Heller told him, “Your ears are not tuned to the sound of any woman over 40.” Adams declares herself a “sand cow” and says, “The woman that I used to be, she’s down here in my intestines, buried in kale.”

SETS/CASTING

Marielle Heller on the Red Carpet outside the Music Box Theater in Chicago during the 60th Chicago International Film Festival on October 21, 2024.

One interesting fact was that the team looking for a house to use for filming looked at over 60 of them. Heller said, “There was more effort to make the movie seem effortless than you could imagine.” (She stumbled upon the house at 2 a.m. on Zillow). She explained that the house they were seeking should demonstrate a certain level of good taste, but “with a layer of baby crap over the good taste.” The most difficult casting was that of the BookBaby Moms. Best BookBaby Moms scene is where each confides an anecdote about their failures as keepers of the household’s pets, whether a bird, a fish or a cat. The sharing occurred after Adams said, in response to inquiries from her BookBaby friends about the couple’s recent separation, “I just had to break out of it. And I killed the cat this week, which made me aware that I’m not doing well emotionally.”

HUMOR

It is dead-pan delivery of lines like the one about the cat that will amuse anyone with a sense of humor— especially any woman who is a new mother struggling to keep her head above water. The script (a collaboration between the author of the book and Heller) is particularly good. It conveys laughs that are truisms that hit home, as when Adams says, “I needed to dig around in the dark and just find myself again.” She salutes all women who have given birth, citing “That shared bond of all you’ve given up for the continuation of the species.”

One of the best and most humorous techniques that Heller uses throughout the film is to show the socially correct response, contrasted with the actual REAL response. One such exchange occurs in the produce aisle of the grocery store in response to a work colleague who asks Amy about being home all day with her new child. (REAL response, unsaid:“I would like to feel content, but instead I feel like I’m trapped within a prison of my own making.”) Instead, she trots out the socially and politically correct response. Scott McNairy as the husband finally admits, “I didn’t see all that you were giving up by being at home.” (An apology is tendered, which Heller said made some people feel uncomfortable. As for herself: “We need to see more men apologize in movies.”) Responding to the platitude “choose happiness” with a strong slap would be the real response. “I’ll try” is what women are conditioned to respond.

DIFFICULT SCENES

There are multiple dogs in the film. When asked about the difficulties of working with animals, Heller said, “With every dog there is a trainer who is talking off-camera. I didn’t know how chaotic that would feel.” She also embraced more unscripted spontaneity than in past films,
because of the small child (actually two twin boys) whose immediate responses needed to be captured. The twins were wonderful in their part and any mother of a small boy will be able to relate to the antics of the toddler.

Asked about one of her favorite scenes, Heller singled out the scene that was her favorite scene to watch with an audience. It involved Amy’s increasing feeling that she is somehow changing and becoming more animalistic. Heller’s brother, Nate, (who played the singing male leader of the Book Babies club) accused his sister of liking gross things. In the scene Amy Adams examines some changes her body is undergoing and takes action. As someone who has a friend who absolutely loves the “Dr. Pimple-popper” television segments, I’ll leave the specifics up to you to discover when you see the film in December (it premieres December 6th), but suffice it to say that it hasn’t been done on film in any movie I’ve seen.

Marielle Heller, Director of “Nightbitch,” onstage at the Music Box Theater during the Q&A at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival on October 21, 2024.

CONCLUSION
You’ll want to put this one on your “Things that make you laugh and cry at the same time,” —especially if you’re a Mom (as I am). If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “I don’t want anything or anyone else needing me or touching me,” then this is the film for you. Remember this scripted line if you’re still just giving the politically correct response to those questions about life with a new baby, “Insist on your joy. Time is short.”
Words to live by and a good reason to see “Nightbitch.”

“Saturday Night” Lights Up the Screen at the Nashville Film Festival on 9/21/2024

By Connie Wilson

On September 22, 2024

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

Jason Reitman brought his newest film, “Saturday Night,” a re-enactment of the opening night (October 11, 1975) when “Saturday Night Live” went on the air “live” for the first time to the Nashville Film Festival on September 21, 2024. When “Saturday Night” played to a packed house at the Nashville Film Festival, Writer/Director Reitman brought casting director John Papsidera with him. That was a master stroke, because this re-enactment of the opening night of “Saturday Night Live,” boasts a star-studded cast. There are so many up-and-coming young talents (and established talents, like Willem Dafoe and J.K. Simmons) involved, that it is almost impossible to list them all. But it’s worth trying, so you can keep an eye out for the identities of the over 80 speaking parts, figure out who that individual was (in historical terms), and marvel at the job that casting them all must have represented.

THE CAST

The plot is told through the eyes of the creator of “Saturday Night Live,” Lorne Michaels. Michaels is played by Gabriel LaBelle, who was cast as young Steven Spielberg in “The Fabelmans” (2022). Jon Batiste plays Billy Preston; Kaia Gerber (daughter of Cindy Crawford) is Jacqueline Carlin; Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things”) portrays an unnamed NBC page; Lamorne Morris (recent Emmy winner for “Fargo”) is Garrett Morris; Tommy Dewey (“Casual”) is head writer Michael O’Donoghue; Nicolas Braun (“Succession”) handles two roles, as Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman; Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”) is George Carlin; Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) plays Dick Ebersol; Andrew Barth Feldman (“No Hard Feelings”) is Neil Levy; Taylor Gray (“Star Wars: Rebels”) is Al Franken; Rachel Sennott (“Bottoms”) is Lorne Michaels’ first wife, Rosie Shuster, and Dylan O’Brien (“The Maze Runner,” 2014) is Dan Aykroyd. I’m certain I’ve failed to properly mention all of the up-and-coming stars of tomorrow in the film about 1975’s up-and-coming stars of tomorrow, but you’ll want to see how close the actors come, appearance-wise, to the real stars of “SNL.”

John Papsidera, Connie Wilson and Jason Reitman at the Nashville Film Festival.

(L to R) Casting Director John Papsidera, Connie Wilson, and Writer/Director Jason Reitman in Nashville at the Nashville Film Festival showing of “Saturday Night” on September 21, 2024.

There are over 80 speaking parts in the film. John Papsidera (a sometimes Nashville resident), who also worked on “Oppenheimer,” described that as a huge number. The most difficult cast member to decide upon turned out to be Dan Aykroyd,(said the duo in the Q&A after the screening). Finding the right actor to play Aykroyd took the longest and turned out to be the most difficult. With the others, they said, they “tried to find the essence of the person. The movie is about who they are.” The key was to find one main characteristic per character, so Chevy Chase was primarily portrayed as egotistical. Garrick Morris was trying to identify how he fit in amongst the cast. O’Donaghue displayed the ability to say the nastiest things but have them come from a place of humor. Gilda Radner was always taking care of others.

THE PERFECT DIRECTOR FOR THE FILM

Back in 2007, right after “Juno” had made waves for Reitman, garnering Best Director and Best Picture Oscar nominations, Jason was asked what he wanted to do next. He mentioned his desire to write for SNL (as well as continuing to direct.) Jason was given a one-night stand opportunity to participate in the behind-the-scenes goings on writing for one SNL episode. He shared that Ashton Kutcher was the host (and starred in the skit Reitman wrote, entitled “Death by Chocolate”) and Gnarls Barkley was the musical guest “which gives you an idea what decade it was,” laughed Reitman. The cast members were discouraged from interacting with their real-life counterparts during shooting—(assuming the original was still alive.)

SETS

Writer/Director Jason Reitman.

Reitman shared this, “We rebuilt the 8^th and 9^th floors of Rockefeller Center from the original floor plans. We lived on that set for 2 months.” Various catastrophes present themselves in the hour leading up to the first broadcast. As the press notes say: “The writers are stoned. The sound system is f*****. The actors are physically assaulting each other. The crew is in open revolt. They have 90 minutes to get their shit together or the network is pulling the plug.” It’s just a good thing that Lorne Michaels “believes in his vision and he doesn’t really bend.” Many wonder if the fabled creator of “SNL” will bend after this season and pass the torch to a new generation. After all, it’s been a good year for creative visionaries who believe in their visions to step back from power and hand off the baton to their subordinates.

THE SCORE

Jason Reitman and John Papsidera in Nashville on September 21, 2024.

Jason Reitman: “Jon Batiste is a genius unlike anyone I’ve ever met in my life. He has a photographic memory of sound. We decided we should try to do the sound track the way they did SNL: live. There is music in the movie that would never have been there if Jon hadn’t been giving it to me like that.” Batiste’s rendition of “Nothin’ from Nothin” that kicks off the first show is electric. Batiste’s interpretation of the Afro-haired musician Billy Preston (who actually wore wigs for his gigs) was spot-on. Steven Colbert had Batiste for a short time as his band leader; he seems destined for much more greatness. Another recommendation for those who love great documentaries would be the new one by Paris Barclay about Billy Preston’s life, entitled “That’s the Way God Planned It.” There’s an entire feature film in there, for sure.

SCRIPT

The writing shows Reitman’s award-winning touch (Gil Kenan is co-writer.) Reitman’s film “Juno” won a nomination for Best Screenplay based on Diablo Cody’s collaboration on the script in 2007. “Up in the Air” won the Golden Globe in 2010 for Best Screenplay (based on the Sheldon Turner book). The script was also Oscar-nominated for an Oscar (2009) while winning the BAFTA that year. The script for “Saturday Night” has more zingers and one-liners than any film released this year.

Here’s just one quick example: “Let me know when my expectations exceed your capabilities” (to the light crew, after lights nearly fall on the performers.) Another good one, aimed at a meddling middle-aged female censor (Catherine Curtin as Joan Carbunkle; no relation to Jane Curtin): “I’ve heard that love is blind, and now I know why.” A continuing joke involves the cast trying to sneak sexual references into their scripts by misleading Carbunkle, the censor, as to what the phrases actually mean.

AWARDS

Writer/Director Jason Reitman of “Saturday Night” in Nashville on 9/21/2024.

Jason Reitman (born in 1977) was on the set of “Animal House,” which his father directed, in 1978 He has been involved in making movies ever since, beginning with 6 short films submitted to Sundance” in 1998. Reitman actually won the BAFTA in 2009 for Best Screenplay and has continued turning out truly enjoyable films like “Tully” (2018) and “The Front Runner,”(also 2018) a story about the ill-fated Senatorial campaign of Gary Hart of Colorado which starred Hugh Jackman. If I see it is a Jason Reitman film, I’m in.

When I spoke with Reitman and mentioned meeting him previously in Chicago the year of “The Front Runner” he suggested (ruefully) that I might be one of the few at tonight’s screening who had seen the film. (While I’m not sure about that, I have been reviewing since 1970, and that is 7 years before Reitman was born.) When I mentioned “The Front Runner” (Hugh Jackman starred) Reitman said, “It turns out that people were less interested in Gary Hart’s Senate campaign than in Saturday Night Live.” It’s a shame, as “The Front Runner” and “Up In the Air,” “Tully,” “Thank You for Smoking” and “Jennifer’s Body” are among my favorite films by any director working today.

More recently, Reitman directed “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (released on November 11, 2021) and “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), which co-writer and collaborator Gil Kenan went on to direct solo. Reitman also produced (but did not write or direct) the DuPlass Brothers comedy “Jeff, Who Lives At Home” with Susan Sarandon, Jason Seigel, and Ed Helms starring, an early film (2011) with a lesbian subplot (also remembered from the Chicago International Film Festival in 2011).

STYLE

John Papsidera and Jason Reitman at the Nashville Film Festival on 9/21/2024.

John Papsidera and Jason Reitman during the Nashville Q&A following the screening of “Saturday Night” on 9/21/2024 at the Nashville Film Festival.

There were discussions of trying to shoot the film in one long scene (as Hitchcock attempted with “Rope”). It didn’t work for Hitchcock in 1948, either. Instead “Rope” is made up of several 8 minute continuous shots. This was the length of film that fit onto one reel then. That ambitious idea had to be shelved in 2024 as well.

“Saturday Night” is shot using 16 millimeter film. The pace of the film is the pace of the production that night, as the cast struggles to make the project gel before 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night. That was a great idea to assist the pacing, which is frenetic. As we learn, Johnny Carson was NOT supportive of SNL (originally called just “Saturday Night”). It represented the network (NBC) manipulating him during contract negotiations. The great (and oft-nominated Willem Dafoe) portrays David Tebet, the Chief Suit who will decide if “Saturday Night” goes on the air live or if canned re-runs of Carson’s “Tonight” show, will bump it. Like “Apollo 13,” even though we know how that plays out, it adds pacing and tension to the plot’s story and the show’s dilemma. (*I don’t know if that is true or creative license; it was a great idea and helps build the sense of confrontation.) Referencing the frenetic and often chaotic pace of the show on that night (and any Saturday night), the comment was made, jokingly, that the Michael Ritchie style was like “Robert Altman on amphetamines.”

KUDOS

Jason Reitman and casting director John Papsidera.

This is such an ambitious project. Hats off to all involved. “Saturday Night” is documenting the passing of the torch from one comedic generation to another. With the current political situation in the United States, movies about passing the torch from one generation to another are a hot commodity. With Jean Smart (“Hacks”) set to hostess the opening program of the 50^th year of “Saturday Night Live” on October 11^th, this edge-of-your-seat attempt to show who the original “Saturday Night Live” not-ready-for-prime-time players were yields a great movie that makes you feel something. As Reitman said, “It requires so much control to pull off the chaos.” He also pointed out “the distinction between simply telling a story and feeling something.” Paying tribute to his profession, he marveled, “It (filmmaking) draws on the talents of people in so many different disciplines.”

The film is “the prism that captures the light of an emerging generation.” The 50^th season of “SNL” is upon us; the release date of October 11^th is an homage to the television show’s debut date. Let the comedy begin

Does “Saturday Night” work?

Yes, it does. “Saturday Night” is hugely entertaining and never flags. Check it out at the theater on October 11, 2024,

“Luki & the Lights” Helps Foster Understanding of ALS

By Connie Wilson

On September 12, 2024

In Editorial, Health/Medicine, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Reviews, Science and Medicine, Uncategorized

Luki & the Lights robot Luki from the Oscar-eligible animated film

This ten and one-half minute short, “Luki and the Lights” came to my in-box. I watched it while knowing that there would be no happy ending to this story. Here was the synopsis provided:”Toby Cochran’s LUKI & THE LIGHTS shares a charming and touching story of a robot named LUKi who is slowly starting to malfunction. But even with the struggles ahead, LUKi demonstrates unwavering resilience, painting a vivid portrait of what it means to truly live and the power to find light even in the darkest of times. This poignant animated short was made to raise awareness of ALS as well as to create a platform for children to understand what the disease is. It has qualified to be considered for the 2025 Oscars®.”

ALS ON FILM:

Sascha Groen and her husband, Anjo Snijders, were searching for a tool to help explain his recently-diagnosed terminal disease to their children. Director Toby Cochran is the founder and creative force behind Big Grin Productions. He has 20 years of animation and production expertise. Cochran’s roles span story artist, writer, and director and extends across various entertainment realms, including games, commercials, live-action, and animated series. His distinguished career includes collaborations with studios and companies such as Netflix, Marvel, Disney, ReelFX, Discovery Channel, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Nestle, Lego Universe, and Kuku Studios.

THE SHORT FILM “LUKI & THE LIGHTS“

The decision was made to have an active, charming upbeat robot named Luki shown being struck by ALS. Do robots get ALS? While I applaud the idea of helping children understand this horrible and debilitating disease, a robot is made by man and can be fixed by man. People are different from robots. Currently, the ability to “fix” a person who has ALS is beyond the reach of science.

This 10 and 1/2 minute short has won over 20 awards and claims the distinction of being “the first ever animated short film featuring the first-ever animated character to have ALS.” This sounds good until you stop and think that the “character” is not human, so it (he) could perhaps have been “fixed” by a trip back to the robot factory? Not the case with human beings.

To date, the film has taken home twenty awards including the “Audience Award” at the Florida Film Festival, the “Audience Choice Award” at Indy Shorts International Film Festival and Siggraph Electronic Theater, the Children’s Audience Award at Animayo Gran Canaria, “Best Animated Short” at the Phoenix Film Festival, and the “FilmSlam Student Choice Award for Best Short” at Cleveland International Film Festival.

Producer Adrian Ochoa is an award-winning producer, prior to joining Big Grin, Adrian worked at Pixar Animation Studios, PlayStudios, and Penrose Studios. His credits include Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Wall-E, Cars 2, Monsters University, Inside Out, and The Good Dinosaur. He also worked on various shorts including Cars Toons, live-action shorts, and the animated short Day and Night. He’s also produced over 45 mobile games, including three with Shaquille O’Neal and the award-winning VR animated short film Arden’s Wake.

Throughout the film, there is charming music, but there is no dialogue as such. More accurately, what we have as “dialogue” is mostly incomprehensible, just like the disease itself.

ALS PRIME DOCUMENTARY: “NO ORDINARY CAMPAIGN”

Back in 2022, Katie Couric produced an ALS documentary about the struggle of Brian Wallach, a worker in the Obama campaign who was a successful Chicago attorney at the time he was diagnosed with ALS. Brian was only 37 years old and had just returned to home with a new child with his wife, Sandra Obrevaya. (They have two children.) Chris Burke, a friend who was a filmmaker, set out to make a film about Brian’s struggle as the couple are thrust into the medical system where they must advocate for themselves and, hopefully, for others.

By the time this film came out the “Ice Bucket Challenge” was 8 years in the rear view mirror (2014). When diagnosed in 2017, Brian was given only 6 months to live. The couple chose to publicize Brian’s struggle to continue to survive by promoting a bill to fund research into this killer disease. He got some help from former President Barack Obama, who appears in the film. It was during Obama’s campaign in 2008 that Brian and Sandra had met while working to help elect our first Black president.

Normally, ALS kills you within 2 to 5 years. Brian has been fighting the good fight for the past 6 years. He is in the top 20% of survivors. From their home in suburban Chicago, the couple has seen their efforts to pass “Act for ALS” turn into $100 million for research for the next 5 years. Since Brian was diagnosed in 2017,and the law passed the Senate unanimously on December 16, 2021, is time running out on the additional funding to solve this huge problem?

If you are as sympathetic to this fight and for funding to continue as I am, you should follow up the 10 and 1/2 minute animated ALS short”Luki & The Lights” with the longer documentary. It is a Prime Video documentary entitled “For Love and Life: No Ordinary Campaign.”

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.

“Fly Me To The Moon” Is An Enjoyable Rom-Com Romp

By Connie Wilson

On July 12, 2024

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

In the spirit of this blog’s name (Weekly Wilson) I have a stream-of-consciousness review of tonight’s film, “Fly Me to the Moon,” which opened tonight at the newly-revamped VIP14 theater (previously Regal 8) in Moline, Illinois. It’s 6 days since my last post.

Readers will remember that I was mourning the loss of the only theater on the Illinois side of the Quad Cities and memorializing the closing of the Icon Theater in the South Loop of Chicago.

Fly me to the Moon

Scarlett Johansson’s executive-produced outing as the P.R. woman tasked with filming a “fake” moon launch is an Apple project, which was filmed on locations in Georgia and Savannah, as well as in Florida at Cape Canaveral. The production was actually able to capture a real launch when filming at the Kennedy Space Center.

THE GOOD

VIP14 in Moline, Illinois.

Director Greg Berlanti, working from a script by Rose Gilroy (and Keenan Flynn and Bill Kirstein), has concocted a rom-com with comedic elements. Jim Rash, portraying the fictional director Lance Vespertine, is terrific. Woody Harrelson is the White House operative who enlists Johansson to make the Apollo 11 mission to the moon popular, Moe Berkus. Ray Romano portrays Henry Smalls, who is working with Channing Tatum portraying Launch Director Cole Davis.

Moe Berkus lays out the task to Scarlett Johansson’s character of Kelly Jones (who later says her real name is Winnie): she must film a fake landing on the moon, which will be broadcast as the real deal. When she shows up at NASA, she tells Channing Tatum’s character of Cole Davis: “Americans are long over their expensive love affair with space and I’m here to remind them why they fell in love in the first place.” We are reminded that during its first 29 missions, NASA had only a 48% success rate. The efforts to convince key Senators to support the space program financially is well portrayed, since the battle for funding is never-ending.

Channing Tatum, who portrays Cole Davis, is not happy about lying to the American public. Woody shuts him down quickly, saying, “She’s made you (NASA) the Belle of the Ball. Just slip on your tutu and do some dancing.” The film recaps some of the clever ways that public relations tie-ins are utilized, such as the use of Omega watches or Tang tie-ins. As is the case right now with our upcoming presidential race, “This isn’t just a race for the moon. It’s a race to see which ideology governs.”

THE BAD

VIP14 in Moline, Illinois.

As another critic has expressed, he became less interested in the actual moon launch and more interested in the budding romance between the main characters.

The other flaw, which may not matter if you’re streaming it at home, is that, at 2 hours and 12 minutes (plus previews) this seemed like an overly long movie. At the point where we are landing on the moon, I was ready to be done. It was opening night for this theater’s new management and I did not pace my pop-drinking as I would have done for “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer.” (My bad).

This one should be a hit when it streams. It was fun to see Johansson’s real-life husband, Colin Jost (of SNL), portraying Senator Cook of South Carolina, articulating the line about a Killer Lunar Laser Eliminator.

“Secret Mall Apartment” World Premieres @ SXSW 2024

By Connie Wilson

On March 9, 2024

In Uncategorized

Director Jeremy Workman.

Jeremy Workman, the filmmaker responsible for the Grand Prize Winner for Best Documentary at SXSW in 2021 with “Lily Topples the World” (now streaming on MAX) returns to SXSW 2024 with “Secret Mall Apartment.” His 2018 documentary “The World Before Your Feet” about Matt Green’s nomadic journey through New York City was interesting and eccentric. This third film, executive produced by Jesse Eisenberg, lives up to the last two, both of which were interesting and well-done.

How Jeremy lands on such unique projects would be an interesting question. How did he learn about the 8 Rhode Island young people—all artists—who found a forgotten 750 square foot space within a 3 and ½ million square foot mall? How did the young friends manage to turn it into a dusty living space/clubhouse that they occupied undetected for four years?

In the press notes, Workman notes that he learned of the project in Athens, Greece, while talking to an interesting fellow who turned out to be the Secret Mall Apartment Mastermind Michael Townsend. Until now, only Michael Townsend’s name had been attached to the secret mall apartment, but now the other participants emerge. They are an interesting, extremely well-educated, intelligent group that we can only hope represent the youth of 2003, now grown to middle age.

BACKGROUND

Providence Place Mall.

The news that Providence, Rhode Island was going to build a mega-mall was not well-received by many of the locals. The feeling was that the mall had been built for rich people and the money it cost could have been used to help improve and restore the less-well-off sections of the city. There were well-publicized fights to “save Eagle Square” and headlines like “Artists Fight to Hold the Fort,” meaning Fort Thunder, where artists and young people had settled.

Most of those artists and many others found themselves losing their space when gentrification and the mall project purchased their neighborhoods cheaply. The mall was not even designed with any entrances to the East, where minorities and others lived. The August, 1999 opening was not celebrated with joy, but with much resentment from many of the city’s residents.

Providence Place Mall.

Of the 8 artists who joined Michael Townsend in infiltrating the mall and creating their own club house space, none had their names revealed at the time of the discovery of the underground project in 2007. The mall opened in August of 1999. Adrianne Valdez Young, Michael’s wife at the time, says that she first suggested trying to turn the odd space into a sort of silent protest against what had happened to them and many other citizens of Providence in the wake of big developers. But it was definitely Michael Townsend who was the creative spark and visionary that held the troupe together and directed its progress.

When the group was finally discovered, in 2007, four years after they first began making the secret mall apartment, only Michael received any jail time. He spent one night in jail, was given 6 months probation, and told to pay court costs and restitution fees. Michael brought about his own downfall when he took a friend to the secret room during daylight hours, a strict no-no.

MALL MISCREANTS

Michael Townsend and his 7 secret mall apartment friends.

The Mall Rats, Michael Townsend, ringleader, on far right.The other members of the troupe who helped smuggle 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of cinder block into the location in order to build a wall and carried furniture up a steep staircase to render it habitable followed Michael. They were Colin Bliss, James J.A. Mercer, Andrew Oesch, Greta Scheing, Jay Zehngebot and Emily Ustach. (And, of course, Andrea and Michael).

They called the 750 square feet forgotten area “the nowhere space” and described it as “totally Tomb Raider.” In order to get electricity, they used an extension cord that had to be dropped to the first floor. The space was incredibly dark, cold in the winter and hot in the summer, with dusty concrete walls that the team put up themselves. They filmed themselves undertaking this difficult and illegal project with a low-resolution Pentax camera small enough to fit in an Altoids tin can.

Why? How?

RINGLEADER

The secret mall apartment.

The why can be answered by looking closely at ring-leader Michael Townsend. The child of a military family who moved to 8 different places before the age of 7 (starting with Vista, California 1971-1975) Michael is “all about involving people in a collaborative process of art.” Michael is the kind of young man that you hope your son will grow up to be—although perhaps with a better-paying day job. His philosophy? “You have an opportunity to use the skills that you have to do something good.” The projects for good that Michael instigated included working for 15 years for Special Care, a facility with 14 autism cases and many cerebral palsy victims. Michael’s special kind of art could be used therapeutically.

MICHAEL’S ART

What special kind of art? Something called “tape art,” which uses colored tape to create pictures on walls of the children’s hospital rooms. Michael also organized the Secret Mall Apartment team to go to Oklahoma City to create an Optimism Mural on the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. He and his fellow artists also conducted a 5-year project to memorialize the first responders and police and firefighters who died on 9/11. An early project that he constructed beneath a city bridge involved mannequins suspended by wire(s), most of the dummies reclining on couch-like furniture. The installation was so well-hidden that one admirer shared that she spent a long time trying to find her way to it through various underground tunnels and sewers, without success. In other words, nearly all of Michael’s art work is transient and impermanent.

Michael Townsend, Secret Mall Apartment Mastermind.

Michael Townsend from Secret Mall Apartment.

Michael’s brother, Brady, shared that Michael was always a creative soul who wanted to make art, teach art, have a positive effect on other people through art. To Michael, life is art and art is life. Said Michael, “For me, there’s no line between life and art.” When a friend is asked to describe Michael, she said, “He is a creative mind trying to express itself in every possible way.”

The interviewer responded, “Isn’t that art?” An astute observation.

Another thing that comes through loud and clear regarding Michael is that he has an amazing sense of humor. A very articulate young person, he is shown addressing the Providence city council about their plans to build the mall at the very outset. Later, when the mall clubhouse exists, he remarks that a “gigantic achievement” would be if they could find a way to get mail inside the mall. Then the unnecessary junk mail sent to him FROM the mall could be sent TO the mall. This is manageable, because there is a mail drop service within the huge structure.

HOW DID THEY DO IT?

Moving furniture up the stairs to the secret mall apartment.

Secret Mall Apartment, SXSW, 2024.

The contortions and lengths to which the team went to (a) fix up the space and (b) avoid detection while fixing and utilizing the space are interesting and amusing. One way to gain access to their haven was through a first-floor bathroom and a small tunnel. Transporting the 72 cinder blocks into the space is documented. A “private entrance” was used but the team had to shimmy under a wire fence, and used milk bottles to ostensibly keep from being cut up by the wire on the bottom of the fence. When they were once accosted by mall guards (due to alarms going off (“a psychological deterrent, but apparently nothing else”) they said their excuses prevailed because “we were surrounded by the shield of white privilege.” Watching the male members of the troupe carry various pieces of furniture up the steep stairs in order to have a couch, a table and chairs, a breakfront, and even a waffle-maker was funny, but also astounding.

Entering the Secret Mall Apartment via the 1st floor bathroom

Secret Mall Apartment at SXSW 2024.

Secret Mall Apartment entry for cinder block project.

Secret Mall Apartment, 2024 SXS

Michael feels no sense of “stealing” anything from the mall, because, as he says, within “the belly of the beast” the troupe were like “a barnacle on a whale,” not hurting it in any way. The owners of the mall might feel differently and consider that debatable. They banned Michael from the mall in perpetuity.

The real kicker to this four-year-long weird saga of protest and refuge that the space represented is that the mall, like many others in the country following the pandemic, nearly defaulted on its payments in 2022. As a result of their financial difficulties, the owners of the mall are considering retooling the gargantuan monster mall into residential spaces.

What an ironic ending to a terrific film! Try it; you’ll like it.

How DJT Was Groomed By Russia; The Tragic End of Alexei Navalny

By Connie Wilson

On February 17, 2024

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

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

“Maestro” Is Bradley Cooper’s Baby, But It’s No “Barbieheimer” at the Box Office

By Connie Wilson

On December 29, 2023

In Uncategorized

“Maestro,” written by, starring, and directed by Bradley Cooper, is a worthy second attempt at directing (2018’s “A Star Is Born” was his debut). It will earn many Oscar nominations, but it does not seem to be capturing the imagination of the general public. The music and the performances are spot on, but it’s not the “feel good” movie of 2023.

For me, that movie was “Dream Sequential.” “Maestro” won’t be acing that Nicolas Cage effort out on my “best of 2023” list. “Maestro” is a typical bio-pic structurally. This attempt to cram a remarkable life into a movie that runs less than 3 hours is impressive and one of the best efforts of 2023. It just isn’t “must see” viewing for most, and it isn’t doing that well so far on Netflix, according to Netflix’s own data.

Thematically, “Maestro” reminds of the 2004 film “De-Lovely” with Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd. That 2004 film, directed by Irwin Winkler and written by Jay Cocks, had Kevin Kline playing Cole Porter and Ashley Judd playing Linda, his wife. Linda also had to learn to cope with Cole Porter’s bi-sexuality and infidelity within their marriage. Kevin Kline sat behind the piano playing a bit more in that one. But the message about open-minded women trying valiantly to accept the bisexuality of their husbands was similar. This one is far more accomplished because of the 6 years of effort trying to get everything “right” (and, of course, the $80 million-dollar Netflix budget.)

As far as “getting it right,” “Maestro accomplishes that, but falls short of enchanting us. It doesn’t draw us into what we hope will be an absorbing drama. It “works” musically. The performances and make-up and cinematography (Matthew Libatique) and editing (Michelle Tesoro) are all top-notch, but it just didn’t fly, Orville.

BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE

Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan as Mr, and Mrs. Leonard Bernstein.

For me, the stand-out—and front-runner for Best Actress award come Oscar time—is Carey Mulligan. She lost out when nominated for Emerald Fennell’s 2020 film “Promising Young Woman” but she has amassed a body of work that merits nomination and a win, going all the way back to “An Education” (2009) and “Never Let Me Go” (2010). She anchors this movie, which is really the story of Leonard Bernstein’s bisexuality and genius as a composer and musician, and their romance and marriage. (I met Carey Mulligan at the Chicago International Film Festival when she appeared with Paul Dano’s directorial debut “Wildlife” in 2018).

In the scene where Mulligan and Cooper quarrel while the Thanksgiving Parade drifts by their window (not authentic, by the way), Felicia warns Bernstein that he may wind up a “lonely old Queen.” Mulligan portrays Bernstein’s wife Felicia Montelegre, a Chilean actress, who said, before they married after four years of romance, “I know exactly who you are. Let’s give it a whirl.”

It is clear that Felicia is aware of Bernstein’s sexual proclivities. In a private letter written after their marriage, Felicia acknowledged her husband’s sexual orientation. She wrote to him: “You are a homosexual and may never change – you don’t admit to the possibility of a double life, but if your peace of mind, your health, your whole nervous system depend on a certain sexual pattern what can you do?” In the script (written by Cooper in collaboration with Josh Singer) Felicia rationalizes, “If it is going to give him pleasure and stop him from suffering and it’s in my power to do it, then what-the-hell.”

But the price of sharing her husband’s affections with other male lovers has a high cost. During their big argument Felicia cites a Chilean parable that says one should not stand under a bird that is about to shit. Adds Felicia, “And I’ve just been living under that bird for so long.” She adds, “Your truth is a fucking lie.” In another scene, a friend of Bernstein’s comments to Bernstein on Felicia’s depressed state, saying, “Something in her seems crushed.” He remarks on her “keen sense of futility.”

For me, this film was more a tribute to the open-minded woman who allowed Leonard Bernstein to create and provided him with three children and a stable home life and a sense of sartorial style that was one of his enduring trademarks. Their true affection for one another is undeniable. But in the 1950s when Bernstein produced some of his most impressive work, a “beard” was necessary so that the world saw a happily married man, not a gay musician who was cheating on his long-suffering wife.

When Felicia is diagnosed with breast cancer that has metastasized, Bernstein returns from a period in 1976 when he lived in northern California with music scholar Thomas Cothran. This rupture in their marriage is somewhat soft-pedaled in the bio-pic. We see “Tommy” and realize that Felicia does not appreciate his presence in their lives (she gives a great side-eye during one concert where Leonard and Tommy are holding hands, while she sits next to her husband on his right.) When she is diagnosed with cancer, however, Bernstein nurses Felicia through her final illness. She died on June 16, 1978.

Leonard Bernstein lived until October 14, 1990, dying at age 72. Leonard Bernstein is quoted this way in the script about life’s challenges, “As death approaches, an artist must be allowed to create with absolute freedom…I must live the rest of my life, no matter how long or short it may be, exactly the way that I want.” That sounds fairly selfish in the context of a marriage. The opening quote, appearing in black-and-white at the beginning of the film, ties in with these statements: “A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers.”

The “contradictory answers” for Bernstein in life are clearly delineated for us in Bradley Cooper’s script and performance. At one point Bernstein says, “I really believe that man is this trapped animal. A victim of his own greeds and follies. Either one believes in the divine element in this, or one doesn’t. …I have to believe in the remote corner of my soul that there is a way out.”

INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT THE FILM

The film opens in black-and-white. The various periods in Bernstein’s life are, in a sense, limned by the different methods of shooting. The film goes full color about 49 minutes into the 2 hour and 9 minute film. Daughter Jamie Bernstein (well-played by Ethan Hawke/Uma Thurman’s daughter Maya) was struck by how much Cooper resembled her father. Jamie noted how the actor-director utilized her memoir, 2018’s Famous Father Girl: A Memoir of Growing Up Bernstein, praising Cooper for seeking the same perfection in his work that her famous father constantly sought. The family members also defended Cooper when the prosthetic nose he wore to appear more Jewish was criticized.

MAKE-UP ARTIST

Cooper’s resemblance to the real Leonard Bernstein is pronounced, thanks to the expert make-up work of Kazu Hiro. We can predict that he will be Oscar nominated this spring. He previously won Academy Awards for turning Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill for “The Darkest Hour” and Charlize Theron into Megyn Kelly for “Bombshell.”

SOUND

The music, of course, is “all Bernstein (nearly) all the time.” One scene that is not Bernstein’s music is a tour de force for Cooper as an actor. That is a six-plus minute recreation of Bernstein leading the London Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony No. 2 at Ely Cathedral in 1973.

Yannick Nézet-Séguin was Cooper’s conducting consultant; his work obviously paid off.

One other thing that I noticed was how nasal Bernstein’s voice sounded when Cooper uttered certain lines in the script.

CONCLUSION

Leonard Bernstein was one of the most talented and influential musicians in American history, and one of the most prodigious. He won 7 Emmy Awards, 2 Tony Awards, 16 Grammy Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award) and was one of the Kennedy Center Honorees in 1981.

This bio-pic, produced by Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and was the Spotlight Gala at the 61^st New York Film Festival. It is an ambitious chronicling of the man who directed the New York Philharmonic from 1961 to 1969 and the dedicated musician who spent over 50 years teaching and mentoring young musical talent at Tanglewood. Best Picture of the Year? Not this year. But “Maestro” is a tremendous achievement in its own right.