CBS Chicago: Jussie Smollett released from Cook County Jail on bond

 

[VIDEO] Shocking development for the moment Smollett's defense team is appealing the sentence handed down in a Cook County court more than six days ago. Remember his outburst after his sentencing about him not being suicidal claiming if anything happened he didn't do it.

It was also in the news however that he was in a mental health ward of Cook County Jail and that he wasn't eating at all during his brief stay in jail. The mental health thing I'm not surprised about based on his outburst, being in jail I think is a very difficult state. I can't credibly sit here in front of you and say I'm hardened criminal and can get used to jail. I know for sure that's not the place for me, no more than it might be for Smollett.

Regardless he has an appeal and he's out on bond and from here we shall see what's next. Will his appeal fail and he might have to further serve his 150 day sentence? I read that for good behavior he could've been out in 75 days. Anyway what's next for this amazing saga?

However the judge's takedown at Smolletts sentence is priceless. I hate to see someone's reputation destroyed, however, how spectacular was this and all it took was staging this rather incredulous hoax.

Former mobster talks about the Jussie Smollett case

 

[VIDEO] As you know the case was tried last week and the actor Smollett who is well known for his role on the FOX TV series Empire was convicted in a Cook County court. Michael Franzese is formerly a made member of the Columbo crime family out of New York City who advises Smollett that he just needs to be honest and fess up. Show some contrition if this is really a hoax, there is no need to double down.

As a bonus I'm linking to a Liberal Hivemind vid about a juror in this case. I may have heard some comments from this juror on the radio recently and it sounds as if he and a lot of people on that jury just didn't buy that he was a victim of a hate crime in the wee hours of the morning near downtown Chicago on a frigid winter day

The original James Bond has died

 

[VIDEO] You might remember him, Sean Connery. He played the character in six films from Eon Productions: Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, and Diamonds Are Forever. He also played the character one more time in Never Say Never Again in an unofficial non-Eon production.

He lived a long life of 90s playing a variety of other roles in such memorable films as The Untouchables, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Rising Sun, The Hunt for Red October, and Finding Forrester. He was said to have passed away after a brief illness.

Chadwick Boseman R.I.P.

Change of pace time, however, it's a sad change of pace. I can't believe that Chadwick Boseman has passed away.

I found out about it through ig and it shocked the hell out of me. Boseman who is well known for playing the Marvel Comics superhero Black Panther was still a very young man having passed away from colon cancer. I want to say I had no idea he was ill, but then that's his business and for those that he cares about.

This really bums me out terribly.

View this post on Instagram

It is with immeasurable grief that we confirm the passing of Chadwick Boseman.⁣ ⁣ Chadwick was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer in 2016, and battled with it these last 4 years as it progressed to stage IV. ⁣ ⁣ A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much. From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more, all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. ⁣ ⁣ It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther. ⁣ ⁣ He died in his home, with his wife and family by his side. ⁣ ⁣ The family thanks you for your love and prayers, and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time. ⁣ ⁣ Photo Credit: @samjonespictures

A post shared by Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) on Aug 28, 2020 at 7:11pm PDT

It's been quite a while since I've covered anything going on in Hollywood since I am a film buff. I miss watching a flick and am glad some movie theaters in the city has reopened.

I wanted to opine on what's been going on in sports for a while, and the news surrounding the activism of today's athletes. For me going to the movies are an escape, and for many so is following what's going on in the sports world.

It was great to see a short list of some of Boseman''s films. Unfortunately I never actually seen 42  about MLB hall of famer Jackie Robinson or Get On Up about legendary musician James Brown - the King of Soul. However I have seen Black Panther, he was also in Draft Day, and I wrote about seeing him in Marshall on this blog about Thurgood Marshall a supreme court justice.

BTW, got to note the Howard University connection. One of Boseman's last tweets were to note Howard Alum U.S. Senator Kamala Harris of California who is the Democrat nominee for Vice President. Boseman himself graduated from Howard and another Howard connection is Thurgood Marshall who attended the law school there. Yep Howard University has a supreme court justice in their hall of alumni.

YES @KamalaHarris! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾#WhenWeAllVote #Vote2020 pic.twitter.com/iOU3duBAcA

— Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) August 11, 2020

Anyway back to movies. The last movie featuring him that I saw last year was 21 Bridges a very interesting crime thriller where he plays an NYPD detective and one who I'd want on my case. And I didnt get to see him in the latest Spike Lee Joint  Da 5 Bloods.

However, one movie that did make him famous was Black Panther and while they may have to recast the role if there are future films in development. However his sudden demise bums me out and I really believed him as the King of Wakanda. RIP Mr. Boseman.

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds"

[VIDEO] Having subscribed to CBS All Access I need to do some catching up on Star Trek Discovery. I've already enjoyed the first season of Star Trek Picard. During the second season of Star Trek Discovery the titular starship was commanded by legendary Capt. Christopher Pike. For those of you who aren't familiar with Star Trek canon, Pike preceded Kirk as Captain of the USS Enterprise.

This has been speculated and certainly more accurate people have been calling for this new Star Trek spinoff which has been announced on Friday. You see John Campea further discuss this news in the video above.

We never really had much material involved Capt. Pike on Star Trek. There was a pilot that was unaired known as "The Cage" which featured Pike, his first officer a woman known as Number One, and a curious but well known alien named Spock. That Pike was portrayed by movie star Jeffrey Hunter.

In Star Trek's first season Capt Kirk's Enterprise was essentially hijacked to a forbidden planet under the penalty of death (I'm glad Starfleet didn't go through this) in the two-parter "The Menagerie". Anyway the mission was to deliver a now disfigured and essentially paralyzed legendary Capt. Pike to this forbidden planet to live out the rest of his days under the illusion of full autonomy. Jeffrey Hunter was replaced by another actor Sean Kenney however this episode although footage with Hunter as Pike from "The Cage" was reused as evidence for a court martial scene, remember, the Enterprise was going against starfleet orders to travel to this forbidden planet.

In 2009 Star Trek and in 2013 Star Trek into Darkness Christopher Pike is played by Bruce Greenwood. He recruits the delinquent James T. Kirk to attend Starfleet Academy is the first Captain of a newly launched USS Enterprise and was taken prisoner by a time traveling Romulan. He eventually is promoted to admiral and made a brief appearance in into Darkness however his character was killed off during the movie.

And then we see Pike and Spock and Number One during the second season of Discovery. Pike is portrayed by Anson Mount and per Starfleet orders Capt. Pike is ordered to assume command of USS Discovery by the end of the season he continues his adventures abord the USS Enterprise during the final episode of the second season.

I haven't been able to see when this series will be ordered - and I'm sure it's noted that it probably won't start shooting until we're out of current circumstances. Still it would be cool to see adventures only hinted at not only during the 1960s Star Trek run, also during the course of Discovery's 2nd season. We get to see more of an Enterprise captain whom Trekkies have never really had the chance to get to know.

Remember Biff from "Back to the Future"?

[VIDEO] Remember Biff Tannen from the Back to the Future franchise? The bully of Marty McFly's father who as it turns out with the help of time travel became less of a bully towards his father?

The man who played Biff - Tom Wilson - has his own YouTube channel where he does "vlogs" about various aspects of his life and career. He starts off by making light of this pandemic noting his master plan. I have to get over the fact that he's aged since the mid to late 1980s. And starts off noting that he had dyed his hair gray so that he can play parts in commercials geared for the elderly.

Pretty funny stuff but he goes from that parody to going on set and later explaining that he hoped to have these videos for his descendents. Though I hope you were entertained by this episode.

"Apollo 11"

[VIDEO] I saw the documentary Apollo 11 on Friday and it was great to see archival footage and even some modern graphics depict the mission that landed men on the moon. I can't believe it's been 50 years since that historic achievement in human technological history. The greatest engineering and technological challenge had been achieved and the names Armstrong, Collins and Aldrin will forever be part of human history.

It's fascinating to see the trip happen in just about real time, the trip to the moon from launch until lunar orbit was three days for Apollo 11. It was fascinating to see the Saturn V launcher being moved to it's launch pad, it was cool to see the preparations for this historic space voyage, it was amazing to see everyone there for the launch of this mission, and then all the footage in space. It was interesting to see the Apollo spacecraft probably filmed through a telescope of some sort get propelled towards the moon on their three day journey.

I can only imagine that the animations were with the voice overs were made by a public relations officer with NASA who described all the maneuvers the astronauts were expected to make. These maneuvers ensured that the astronauts will make their flight objectives. They get to their destination and they don't veer off course from getting to the moon and returning to earth safely.

I was almost reminded of the movie that was released last year with Ryan Gosling playing the Apollo 11 mission commander, Neil Armstrong - First Man. It's great to see the real story as it was shot back in 1969 shown to the public.

#Pandemonium #NXTUKTakeOver

As the WWE's NXT UK brand has their first "TakeOver" program akin to the original NXT brand who normally have their "TakeOver" events before major WWE PPVs, I find this article about a biopic of Vince McMahon. McMahon is the founder of the WWE as we know it today and I never thought in a millennium that he would be the subject of a movie...

The article I found is about a rewrite to the script. Now I wonder who are the principals in the film Pandemonium. Now that I found out more info I wish Adam McKay from Vice could eventually do his own take. I just hope he's a wrestling fan but anything involving Vince McMahon should have a humorous tongue-in-cheek take.

And just for the hell of it, the pre-show for NXT UK TakeOver Blackpool. Alas I'll have to watch this event later on... [VIDEO]

Kevin Spacey is back...

[VIDEO] I think I actually saw his video shown on TV one the morning of Xmas Eve. Didn't quite get the context and I thought he was largely blackballed after allegations of sexual harrassment. Remember he was even edited out of a Hollywood release All the Money in the World where he played J. Paul Getty. He was replaced by Christopher Plummer and select scenes reshot.

With this article from the Daily Mail there's some more context to this video.

Wearing a Santa Claus apron, he is seen preparing Christmas dinner in a smart kitchen.

'They're going to say I'm being disrespectful, not playing by the rules. Like I ever played by anyone's rules before. I never did. And you loved it.'

His monologue is delivered straight to the camera, just like his character famously does in House Of Cards to make viewers complicit in his immorality. 'They're just dying to have me declare that everything said is true and that I got what I deserved.'

He goes on in Frank's unmistakable Southern states drawl: 'You wouldn't believe the worst without evidence would you? You wouldn't rush to judgments without facts would you? Did you? No, not you, you are smarter than that. I can promise you this… I'm certainly not going to pay the price for the things I didn't do.'

With a final glower followed by dramatic music, he asks: 'Miss me?' It was classic Frank Underwood — menacing, malevolent and creepy — all the more so when it became clear that Spacey wasn't talking as his fictional character but as himself, and that the footage appears to be an aggressive riposte to news of an impending court appearance.

The Oscar-winning star played Underwood, a conniving schemer who resorts to murder on his path to the U.S. presidency, in five seasons of the award-winning Netflix thriller (based on the 1990 BBC adaptation of Michael Dobbs' novel) before he was embroiled in sexual scandal in October last year.

Without this context, I was believing that he was portraying a character. He was not being himself. Although I wonder if what happened to his career last year is what inspired this most recent video.

And looking through to his YouTube channel, this is his first video in a year. I'm guessing if he used this to publicize his work, he took a year break after some long ago sexual harrasment allegations come to light which you will read from the Daily Mail.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" 50 years...

[VIDEO] I sat on this post for a number of months and it's time to share. This is one of my favorite films of all time and have only seen it on the big screen once. The year is about over so it doesn't look like I'll find a 50th anniversary screening of this Stanley Kubrick classic anytime soon.

I had a psychology teacher in high school - GO FALCONS - who gave me a basic explanation of this movie. Well it disappointed me at the time, but now I get it - that man has become the tool. Man has grown dependent upon the tools he created.

Let's think about this it starts with our primate ancestors after encountering this mysterious object known as a monolith they use a bone from a dead animal carcass to not only hunt, but to assault another group of our primate ancestors. This primate ancestors throw this bone in the air and suddenly this bone becomes a satellite. So the tools of humanity evolves and become technology that we depend on.

Thankfully we haven't created this all-powerful human like computer that could prove capable of killing its own human creators. Hopefully 2001 with is slow pace, pre-Star Wars special effects, lack of dialogue, or even stunning visuals will be cautionary tale about the evolution of the computer. The computer which is just another tool created by man.

Here's an homage to 2001 from the YouTube channel VideoSpaceFX who recreates the intro of this classic film. You see an eclipse from a perspective beyond the moon. [VIDEO]

And I didn't recognize that on April 3, 1968 was when this classic was released according to wikipedia.

My thoughts on #Fahrenheit119

[VIDEO] Having seen the recent Michael Moore documentary Fahrenheit 11/9 a few points the movie made.

To start how did we get a President Donald Trump, I'm thinking Moore's point with that is the Democratic establishment blew the 2016 election. Besides the inevitable first woman President was expected to have it in the bag right. No one believed Trump could win it.

Next how did we get a President Trump if America is really a nation that trends to the left. We want universal health care for example. I could debate this I wonder what was the basis for the polls Moore cite to come to that conclusion about America's political leanings. And yes I know Moore himself is a lefty he's been around for years obviously.

Next and this is something I do agree with. I used to eschew this, but Michael Moore solidified this with me. America has a ruling class or perhaps a political class - I don't think Trump is part of that clique actually - regardless the influential who likely are very wealthy are the ones who are turning the levers of power in America. And I could conclude that they do this in a variety of ways perhaps economically and certainly through control of the media.

Here's another thing that makes sense to me the Democrats blew the 2016 the moment they "rigged" the nomination process to insure the inevitable woman President gets the nomination. I didn't know that although Sen. Bernie Sanders had won all the counties of West Virginia, the Democrat delegation to the 2016 convention threw their votes to Hillary Clinton.

Finally Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - a not quite ready for prime time congressional candidate from New York - is what Moore hopes is the future of the Democrat party. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic socialist and is one of a number of candidates who are seeking seats in Congress. And Moore makes the case through media clips that the establishment (or the so-called ruling class) doesn't want them either. The Democratic socialists are too far to the left for America and seemingly those pundits even if they're not top Dem politicos are saying this on what I may consider liberal cable news networks.

I know that Moore makes more points than this in his movie. I think he made some great points to consider in addition to bringing to light more information on the Flint, Michigan water crisis which he claims was orchestrated by Gov. Rick Snyder. He throws in the activism of students who attended Florida's Parkland High School which unfortunately was the site of an active shooter. And of course promoting union activism - which is likely how Moore got his start in filmmaking.

One of the things Moore asks is how did a nation that trends left get Donald Trump? Perhaps America isn't that much of a leftist nation in the first place. Perhaps we could believe the hype that America wanted something different a President with very little political experience. Perhaps it was just Trump's time and it wasn't time for the first woman President. And certainly the inevitable first woman President Clinton and her team thought it was in the bag that she didn't have to really work for it. While on the other hand, Trump did the work he needed to do to win.

What this movie reminds me of is, some aspects of politics aren't as black & white. Perhaps a conservative in a red state probably has the same issues with the so-called ruling or political class as a leftist in a blue state. With that said, now we know why we do have a Ocasio-Cortez who defeated a longtime Democrat politico in New York.

With this film which is a take-off of Moore's earlier effort released during the Iraq War - Fahrenheit 9/11 - seems not to pull any punches. The label doesn't matter - Republican or Democrat - Moore didn't pull his punches.

Will there be a Justice League II?

[VIDEO] I know there are other more pressing movie news. Equalizer 2 came out strong this month and then the new Mission: Impossible which I haven't seen yet. Meanwhile I've been sitting on this post with regards to future installments of Justice League.

I fell off on viewing anything from film vlogger John Campea. So earlier this month he discusses whether or not there will be a Justice League sequel. And goes through the reasons it may or may not happen.

I liked Justice League when it came out last November. Unfortunately it didn't meet financial projects, didn't even come close to the Avengers films. It was cool to see Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash, Aquaman, and Superman team up to face off against Steppenwolf. It was a great movie, but I recognize that the performance of other DCEU films - Wonder Woman excepted - only served to further depress excitement this team-up movie.

With that said I'd rather hope they don't reboot give this franchise some more time to develop. Aquaman will debut in his own film during the holiday season and hopefully that will be a movie that will draw people as Wonder Woman had. I still hear news about a standalone Batman film and it's about time even if Batman vs. Superman - which I also liked - was an uneven debut for the "Dark Knight" in the DCEU.

As far as a reboot - which I hope doesn't happen, yet - what if they did something similar to the Joker. That film is expected to be outside of the DCEU with no connection with Man of Steel, Batman vs. Superman, Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman or Justice League. So that could be one direction to take it without dismantling the DCEU. Then again I had to say as of now, they shouldn't do it yet!

Finally, with the upheaval over who plays Batman - if Ben Affleck is expected to leave that role. Or as mentioned in this video Henry Cavill might be out as Superman, but Campea doesn't buy it so who knows where the news is on that.

All the same, when will be see a new Justice League movie. It's definitely not a matter of if, but when. The Avengers franchise - even if the latest installment leaves me unsettled in some respects - is doing as strong as ever so I could believe DC and Warner Bros would want to compete with that. The only other superhero team-up group is DC's Justice League!

Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker

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[VIDEO] Within the DC Comics Extended Universe the Joker made his first appearance in 2016's Suicide Squad. It was cool to see Jared Leto play the role however I recognize how he just didn't fit in that film. He was there for his comic ally Harley Quinn - who was at first a creature of Batman: The Animated Series. Beyond that he was there so that we could see the Joker in that very young DCEU.

While this film reportedly isn't intended to be part of the DCEU, however, it's interesting that they got Joaquin Phoenix in the iconic role of the Joker. Joker has been played by such actors as Caesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamil (voice on Batman: The Animated Series), and of course more acclaimed by Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight). And Phoenix is a great actor so I can only imagine his own take on Batman's most dangerous foe.

Thanks to this video from John Campea we learn more about this future project.

Quentin Tarantino sets up another film series?

This intrigues me. Kind of like what they're doing with Star Wars with a Han Solo movie being released next month. It seems the Star Wars universe isn't just concerned with the two trilogies that were released in the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2000s.

There are plenty of stories to be told out of the Star Wars universe and so will there be plenty of stories to be told out of the Star Trek universe. So whatever Tarantino is coming up with, I'm interested! Read this post from TrekMovie

ICYMI: Quentin Tarantino’s Star Trek Project Could Set Up Separate Movie Series #QuentinTarantino https://t.co/Q1S8fhHPpu

— TrekMovie.com (@TrekMovie) April 29, 2018

Also check out this satirical version of a potention Tarantino Trek movie. Pretty funny but for now we can only imagine how an actual movie trailer is going to look like. [VIDEO]

I know this is an obscure reference, but I really miss Cinescape magazine. It got be exciting for a lot of coming movie projects and news of them!

Previously: Tarantino "Trek"

ABL reviews #BlackPanther

[VIDEO] On a whim I saw the film on Friday, and not long after writing yesterday's post about the SJWs complaining that the film didn't contain much representation of LGBT people. I will add my own thoughts about the film as we go along here, however Anthony Brian Logan shares some of his own thoughts in video above.

Now there were some SJW elements in the movie and he says they weren't overwhelming. There was a mention of ancestors who died in the ocean - he's talking about the Atlantic slave trade. There was a pro-Black message imo, however, this is still a superhero movie above all. So yes, we have a movie featuring a Black superhero who rules an African nation that is a modern technological marvel (no pun intended).

Some of what Logan discusses in this video was reports - probably through social media especially - was that there was a lot of "cosplay" (and I have no idea what that really means other than people dress up like their favorite comic book character). Logan reports that throughout the nation many dressed in some form of African garb. In some cases some walked around banging on bongo drums. I've seen African dancing in a theater on FB. When I went to a theater in downtown Chicago, this wasn't something I experienced although there were people who were about to see the movie that did sport some African garb.

Logan also addresses reports of harassment and while it's not entirely clear whom was doing the harassing and whom was being harassed I have little to say about other than this. It's a shame when people can't just enjoy a movie in peace. Knowing that Black Panther is a movie that is produced, directed, written, and acted by Blacks - though certainly it wasn't produced and distributed by a Black production company - one segment of the population aren't the only ones who enjoy the movie. And also it's also been reported that some harassment were proven false.

As far as my own thoughts, it was a great movie. Very action packed as comic book movies are and if most saw this as a reflection of African culture - or certainly the best of it - it did it's job. I'm tempted to write a post on my neighborhood/community oriented blogs with regards to how Black neighborhoods could be transformed into a Wakanda (the fictional African nation where the "Black Panther" rules). Sure there are some political messages of not being isolationist or protecting the borders. Certainly in having a hand helping the world solve its many issues.

Regardless if Black people were looking for another positive portrayal Black Panther is one. Though lets not forget that this is a comic book movie. Someone out there will see this movie and find an issue where Black Panther is a featured character (if not with his own comic book) and they'll want to be him. Perhaps they won't be king of an African nation though they'll always fight for what's right.

Breitbart: ‘Black Panther’ Criticized for Lack of LGBT Representation

[VIDEO] As it seems to happen these days people like to find something to complain about. Just think no less than perhaps 20 or 30 years ago we wouldn't have heard a peep. Probably because it's not as acceptable as it would be now.

Marvel Studios’ upcoming blockbuster Black Panther has been criticized for its lack of LGBT representation, and the particular exclusion of a lesbian scene featured in the comic book on which the superhero film is based.

According to Pink News, “When the film was announced, fans were excited by the prospect of Okoye and Ayo, two of the title character’s bodyguards, getting together as Ayo and fellow female warrior Aneka do in the comics. And these hopes were encouraged by reports that an early screening of the film featured Walking Dead star Danai Gurira’s Okoye staring at Ayo flirtatiously as the two danced.”

However, when fans of the comics watched Black Panther during early screenings, they noticed an absence of lesbian romance, and immediately started a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #LetAyoHaveAGirlfriend, using terms such as “lesbian erasure.”

Wasn't Christopher Nolan's film Dunkirk criticized for not having a more diverse cast? That is to say even though European nations were fighting that battle - primarily the UK, France & Germany though we didn't actually see any Germans - that there needed to be a more diverse cast. A case could be made to note that Indians or Africans who may have been there on Dunkirk to have their presence noted in that film.

It's safe to say a filmmaker of a Hollywood release can't just make their movie according to their vision. Now they has to accede to the wishes of the mob.

Black Panther is in theaters TODAY!

#12Strong

[VIDEO] On Tuesday I saw 12 Strong which is  dramatization about the first American response after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It's a real life story about a squad of special forces soldier who were the first in Afghanistan to fight Al Qaeda and the ruling Taliban. And Al Qaeda thanks to the events of this film suffered a major defeat at the hands of Afghan rebels against the Taliban and these special forces soldiers.

BTW, on Al Qaeda I just had to tweet this out upon seeing a few captions at the end of this film. I have it in my head that while Radical Islam/Islamic Fundamentalism isn't entirely dead as a violent force Al Qaeda is largely a dying force.

#12Strong so Al-Qaeda considers the battle they fought in that film to be the worst one they lost and then I realize....There’s still an Al-Qaeda?

— Levois J (@levois) January 31, 2018

All the same I wanted to compare this with a similar film 13 Hours directed by Michael Bay and released just about two years earlier. 12 Strong and 13 Hours are similar movies in different contexts.

12 Strong was America's first response to a very deadly terrorist attack on NYC and the Pentagon. 13 Hours involved the death of an American ambassador and violent attacks on US diplomatic staff and a CIA operation. While the men who were fighting this battle weren't active duty military at that time, they were former special forces soldiers who just so happen to be contractors to help protect the CIA operation.

Oh yeah, this was this Benghazi you might have heard about during the 2016 campaign. Resultantly 13 Hours is a drama about survival against the very violent attacks of rebel groups in Libya after the fall of Col. Qaddafi. This movie unfortunately depicted the deaths of four Americans.

With this movie in a very untrustworthy or unforgiving environment of Afghanistan these 12 American soldiers were successfully able to provide the first victories in the emerging War on Terror. And while many Afghan rebels died fighting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, none of those 12 American soldiers depicted in this film were killed.

Between 2001 to 2018 what's changed? Well we're still concerned about Islamic fundamentalism (which could be called Islamofascism, Radical Islam). There were some terrorist plots or actual acts of terrorism in NYC last year - a car running down people similar to what happened in London and an attempted suicide bombing at a train station. It's still unfortunately a concern even if America did essentially eliminate Al-Qaeda as a force.

While we may still be fighting this dangerous ideology the front seems to have gone from the many battlefields in the Middle East to the issue of immigration. The need for extreme vetting, the need to limit undocumented immigrats in America.

Thankfully we've yet to see another attack on America as seen as 2001. Hopefully we can keep it that way.

12 Strong is a movie I would recommend seeing.

Tarantino "Trek"

Quentin Tarantino wants to do a Star Trek movie and at that it will be rated R. And how often is it that you will see this blog link to TrekMovie.com?

Man this movie might actually get me excited although the idea of an rated R Trek is an odd one. I can only imagine the violence, language or nudity. Although I hate to bring up Tarantino's foot fetish, it has come up in a few of his movies.

To me Tarantino has a strong affinity for those old style 1970s motif (I hope I used that correctly). Pulp Fiction was full of that 1970s style with hatchbacks. Often he also seems to go for those old school "blaxploitation" style which we may see in Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown or even Django Unchained. Also think about the Kill Bill movies which I certainly loved especially the first one, he seems to be a fan of B-movie action and portrays them very violently.

And now Star Trek. Will he give Star Trek a retro feel? Would this new Trek be far more violent than most Trekkies are used too? Will the sex be turned up on high in a new movie?

BTW, I didn't know this Star Trek Beyond didn't make money last year. The 50th anniversary movie lost money and to be fair I liked it but was it a great memorable movie not as much as the 2009 Stark Trek. Which reminds me...

[VIDEO] John Campea was debating a Tarantino Trek. Perhaps Paramount who owns this franchise might want to shake things up and find a new direction. Think prior to 2009 it was considered unthinkable not only to recast the original characters with new actors as they had in the JJ Abrams Trek. It was also unthinkable to even tweak the design of the original USS Enterprise.

It would be quite interesting to see Tarantino's take on Gene Roddenberry's universe. Will it be faithful? Or will it simply be a Tarantino story set in Roddenberry's universe telling his own story? All we can do now is wait...

I also want to note the new Trek series Discovery. My initial take on it is that the show started off interesting with the pilot that aired on CBS. It ended with the Captain asserting her authority against her first officer who essentially wanted to contradict her C/O in handling the newly revamped Klingons. I have no idea about this f-bomb Campea said occurred in the series and he also claims Trekkies took issue with the insertion of that.

So Hillary Clinton is more dangerous than Pres. Trump?

Susan Sarandon - you may know her as Tim Robbins' girlfriend and from Thelma & Louise - probably hasn't turned her back on progressivism, but she came out and said she believes the 2016 Democrat nominee for President was herself dangerous. From The Guardian:

Did she really say that Hillary was more dangerous than Trump?

“Not exactly, but I don’t mind that quote,” she says. “I did think she was very, very dangerous. We would still be fracking, we would be at war [if she was president]. It wouldn’t be much smoother. Look what happened under Obama that we didn’t notice.”

It seems absurd to argue that healthcare, childcare, taxation for the non-rich wouldn’t be better now under President Clinton, and that’s before we get to the threat of deportation hanging over millions of immigrants. “She would’ve done it the way Obama did it,” says Sarandon, “which was sneakily. He deported more people than have been deported now. How he got the Nobel peace prize I don’t know. I think it was very important to have a black family in the White House and I think some of the stuff he did was good. He tried really hard about healthcare. But he didn’t go all the way because of big pharma.”

Most of the article illustrates that she had been attacked by moderates and leftists who support Hillary Clinton. She said she had to change her phone number because people were messaging her threats because she wouldn't support Clinton for president. It's a shame that this groupthink mob mentality took over and she's being ostracized for her opinion and who she chose to support last year. If she supports anyone but Clinton, then she's as bad a Trump or whatever they don't like. What a false association....

I want to remind you of a friend of mine - he called me from his job on election night last year. It was sometime after midnight and he was on the graveyard shift and seeing how the election was going he was livid and called me up. We had been on the phone for almost 3 hours talking about a variety of subjects, because I wanted to change subject from Trump getting elected.

He didn't want Trump to get elected and in his words believed if Clinton had been elected we'd be screwed less than under Trump. Then on the flip side here Sarandon doesn't have much faith in Clinton, hell I didn't vote for Clinton last year and had little faith in either her or Trump. They were both unpopular last year and most of the voters in America made a choice and one or the other resonated with their core constituencies.

My friend said Trump is a rapist and a racist - also there's going to be a race war and it's time to move to Canada. Rapist I might somewhat understand it's on a hit mic that Trump claimed to have forced himself on a woman. As for being racist, was my friend just buying into the propaganda. Just think about it Republicans are often branded as racsists, the last Republican President George W. Bush probably was branded a racist during his term of office. It's really nothing new, though Trump with his big mouth - and especially his unwillingness to condemn the craziness that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia - could do nothing more than stir up the allegations of alleged racism. Or even the rise of the "white nationalist" faction of this so-called "alt-right".

Either way now I wonder how many people held the view of a Sarandon? How many people in the Democrat's base thought Clinton was a dangerous prospect as President? How many of these individuals made a different choice in election day last year?

Finally I hate to take this on the end of this post, let's also consider she commented on the sexual harassment and assault that's taking down so many powerful Hollywood men. She's not jumping on the bandwagon, but sees a different view of this situation.

What say you?

Saw Spider Man Homecoming....twice

[VIDEO] Spider Man Homecoming is a movie I enjoyed seeing twice. The iconic Marvel Comics superhero is essentially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Tony Stark featuring heavily as something of a mentor to this young teenage meta-human. And yes for the most part comic book fans already know his origin.

When you think about it, this isn't an origin film. Basically the movie starts after Spider Man's cameo appearance in Capt. America: Civil War facing off against needless to say Capt. America and his allies. Then back to NYC where Peter Parker is juggling adolescence, superhero business, school, etc.

Even weirder Spider Man's suit is the coolest suit ever seen and near the end he had it taken away from him. Parker had to rely only on his meta-human abilities and identity essentially concealed by a homemade customer consisting of sweatpants and a hoodie. The suit is made by Tony Stark and has all types of cool bells and whistles which for a brief time was also taken away from him.

BTW, this movie's version of Aunt Mae, I'd be trying to gain favor from her also. The youngest and most prettiest incarnation of her ever. Although for most of her portrayals she had little clue of Parker's double-life. Time may tell if future movies go with this, but it looks like now she knows!

How this film was portrayed? Well you're reading the blog of a man who used to be a fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I wanted to know martial arts like they did and wanted to be a hero. A kid likes to think about heroes and probably wishes they could be like Peter Parker with heart and the ability to beat bad guys.

I feel as if I gave away some plot points, but before that film leaves theaters near you go see it. Spider Man Homecoming essentially is the third superhero move of the summer. I was glad to see almost two months after a June release Wonder Woman is still going strong and having seen Guardians of the Galaxy which was also a good movie to see.

And I almost forgot about Logan which is a movie that rubbed me the wrong way. Main thing about that movie was that it ended on a depressing note and it was mostly a very dark feature. Although to be fair perhaps a fitting note to end Hugh Jackman's time as Logan/Wolverine.