Category: Of Local (Quad Cities’) Interest Page 1 of 60

The category is self-explanatory, but it would include new or old businesses, political elections, trends, restaurants in town, entertainment in town, etc.

“Deliver Me from Nowhere:” Jeremy Allen White As Bruce Springsteen

By Connie Wilson

On November 4, 2025

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

The Jeremys have triumphed in “Deliver Me from Nowhere,” even if the movie isn’t burning up the charts. (So much for “I’m on Fire” and the frequent script references to burning the house down.) This October was the worst October for theaters in 30 years. When “Deliver Me from Nowhere” begins streaming it should do well. Not really fair to compare the 2024 Bob Dylan bio-pic “A Complete Unknown” (or 2019’s”Rocketman” or 2018’s”Bohemian Rhapsody”) to this one. Consumers worrying about their next paycheck during a historic government shutdown are hunkered down waiting for the movie to hit their home TV sets. MAGA faithful may be avoiding it out of deluded DJT allegiance. Who really knows?

Scott Cooper (“Crazy Heart”) wrote and directed, based on the book by Warren Zanes. Unlike other biographical films about rock stars, this one focuses on a specific time period, Springsteen’s work on the 1982 album “Nebraska,” which he recorded in his bedroom on a Pioneer recording machine 43 years ago. It was a particularly dicey time in The Boss’ ascent to stardom. He was 33 years old and just establishing himself as a worldwide star, having earned stardom at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, his home base. He would break out with “Born in the USA” shortly after the “Nebraska” album.

White, who plays the younger Boss with convincing head-tossing sweaty fervor, is 34. The casting throughout the film is great. Kudos to casting director Francine Maisler.

CAST

Jeremy Allen White.

In addition to Jeremy Allen White as The Boss and Jeremy Strong as manager Jon Landau, there are strong supporting performances from Paul Walter Hauser (“Richard Jewell”) as Mike Batlan, and Stephen Graham (“Adolescence”) as Douglas Springsteen, Bruce’s emotionally distant father. Odessa Young portrays romantic interest Faye Romano.

It’s interesting to see Gaby Hoffmann playing Bruce’s mother Adele, since she was the 7-year-old Karin Kinsella in “Field of Dreams.” Marc Maron is Chuck Plotkin, recording engineer. Jimmy Iovine plays Jimmy Iovine (no stretch there). Meryl Streep’s daughter Grace Gummer has a small role as Barbara Landau. There is also a good performance from Matthew Anthony Pellicano, as young Bruce, photographed in black-and-white inserts that take us back to the days when 8-year-old Bruce was coping with a father who was probably paranoid schizophrenic, bi-polar and alcoholic.

Because of the focus on one specific album, we don’t get to see Bruce coping with the rise and fall of his first marriage to model/actress Julianne Phillips (married 1985; divorced in 1989). When they divorced, Bruce placed the blame on himself, suggesting they were basically incompatible because they did not really know one another that well to begin with and were not close in age. He had issues with commitment, as we see in the film, and neuroses from his relationship with his father, which is highlighted in “Deliver Me from Nowhere.”

Springsteen was also falling for bandmate Patty Scialfa, to whom he has been married since 1991. Patty Scialfa’s former art teacher at Asbury Park High, Curtis K. Smith said, “Patti’s been in love with Bruce for as long as I can remember.” So, a lesson in how it’s a good idea to really know the person you select as a life partner and probably a good idea if you have common interests. As for the close in age thing, make your own call, but there was an 11-year difference in age for the couple.

THE JEREMYs

The Jeremys in question are Jeremy Allen White, portraying Bruce Springsteen, and Jeremy Strong (“Succession”) as Jon Landau, his long-suffering manager and sometimes quasi-therapist. There is also Jeremiah Fraites, the composer for the film. I could easily see a Best Supporting nod for Strong’s calm, always-under-control portrait of a manager who realizes “I’m out of my depth on this one” and suggests therapy for the troubled rock icon.

GENESIS

The film is based on the book by Warren Zanes and has, so far, recouped about half of its $55 million budget in worldwide sales. “Deliver Me from Nowhere” started playing (in theaters only) on October 24th. The buzz regarding an Oscar nomination for Jeremy Allen White, star of “The Bear” and former cast member on “Shameless” began, based on his numerous awards including 3 consecutive Golden Globe Awards, 3 SAG awards, 2 Critics’ Choice awards and 2 Primetime Emmys. His 134 episodes as Lip Gallagher on television’s “Shameless” catapulted him to the brink of stardom. This lead performance has enough oomph to potentially earn him an Oscar nomination. The 2-hour film can drag a bit unless you’re a die-hard Springsteen fan. (*Of course, I panned “The Bear” back in the day, so judge his performance for yourself.)

3 KEY SCENES

There are 3 memorable scenes that White nails in “Deliver Me from Nowhere.” They are the kind of showcase moments that you can imagine being thrown up on the big screen at the Oscars. The three make-it-or-break-it scenes are White’s re-enactment of the recording of “Born to Run” in the studio, his breakdown scene in his therapist’s office, and the finale with his father (when his dad suggests that the 32-year-old now-famous singer sit on his lap).

Other than those scenes, we have the star posing, captured for the camera by cinematographer Masanobu Takanagi. Bruce on a deck, Bruce by the water, Bruce in close-up, Bruce on a carousel, Bruce setting up his primitive Pioneer 4-track recorder with Paul Walter Hauser’s help, Bruce with his on-again/off-again girlfriend of the moment. Jeremy White is a major star in the making. No wonder Calvin Klein is using him in underwear ads. [The Calvin Klein Men’s Underwear Spring 2024 advertisement generated $12.7 million in media impact value in less than 48 hours.]

Those three scenes ought to do it. Not sure if the rest of the film (sound?) will garner more Oscar accolades.

CAREER

It appears that the young Jeremy Allen White, like Springsteen himself, has everything it takes to mesmerize audiences. He’s been proving it since 2006, when he had his first role at the age of 15. Now 34, it’s hard to believe that this is his first feature film lead. (He had a smaller role in “The Iron Claw” as Kerry Von Erich in 2023). White even admitted to a period after “Shameless” ended after 11 years when he had a similar crisis of confidence.

NOTABLE SCRIPTED LINES

Cooper, who is closely associated with veteran actor/producer Robert Duvall and got married on Duvall’s ranch, has scripted some good lines for the then-troubled star-to-be. Here are a few:

(From a car salesman): “I do know who you are,”

JAW: “Well, that makes one of us.”

JAS: “It’s a hard thing, realizing people aren’t what you want them to be.”

JAW: “I’m trying to find some real in all the noise.”

JAW: “When I’m deep in my work, I’m just not much use for anything else.”

JAS: “He’s channeling something deeply personal and dark.”

Odessa Young as Faye Romano: “Sometimes you miss the things that are right in front of you.”

JAS: “Success is complicated for Bruce. He feels guilty leaving behind the world he knows.”

Odessa Young: “You’re running away from everything you’re afraid of. What about actually dealing with your shit…Face yourself.”

JAS: “Where you came from is gone In yourself, right now, is the only place you got.”

JAW: “I just want my life to make sense again…I’m slipping away.’ (therapist scene)

Finale scene: “I’m finding my way.” To his father, “You had your own battles to fight.”

CONCLUSION

The performances are uniformly strong. The fact that Jeremy Allen White taught himself to play guitar and harmonica and sings his own songs is remarkable. He certainly has the toss-of-the-head down. The film deals sensitively with his romance with the young mother of a small daughter.

I couldn’t help but remember his first short-lived marriage and think about how a true tell-all could have utilized that long-ago romance (Phillips is now 65 and Springsteen is 76.) Not fair to say that Springsteen just wasn’t that interesting. Not his fault we are in free-fall as a country and perhaps focused more on losing our jobs, or not having enough TSA agents to fly safely (Nashville had only 4 of 16 yesterday. 80% are out in NYC.), or not having enough food.

I’ve read that The Rock’s film was also pulverized and nothing out right now in the theaters this past weekend really did well. I was in the theater from 3:30 until 7:00 p.m.. The place was deserted. That, my friends, is because some of you didn’t pay enough attention last presidential election. Now, we are all paying the price, even at our local Cineplex.

While I can play “Born in the USA” and remember the good old days, getting back to a reasonable facsimile of the good old days is proving to be much more difficult.

“Eternity” Closes Out 61st Chicago International Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On October 27, 2025

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

The closing night film of the 61^st Chicago International Film Festival was an homage to films of the 80s and 90s, romantic comedies like “Notting Hill,” written by Patrick Cunnane (his first feature screenplay) and Director David Freyne (“Dating Amber,” 2020). During the Q&A onstage following the showing on October 26^th, Trevor White, a producer who works with his brother, Tim, talked about the film that the audience had just enjoyed.

PLOT

“In an afterlife where souls have one week to decide where to spend eternity, Joan (Elizabeth Olsen)is faced with the impossible choice between the man she spent her life (65 years) with (Miles Teller, “Whiplash,” 2024, “The Gorge,” 2025) and her first love Luke (Callum Turner, “The Boys in the Boat,” 2023; “Masters of the Air,” 2024) who died young and has waited 67 years for her to arrive. [It reminded me of the Albert Brooks/Meryl Streep vehicle “Defending Your Life” (1991).]

Guided by an After Life Coordinator (Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar winner for “The Holdovers”), they have just one week to confront the ultimate dilemma: where and with whom to spend eternity.” Da’Vine and fellow ALC afterlife coordinator Ryan (John Early) are hilarious in their roles and add much to the film. So does a neighbor of Joan and Larry’s, Karen (Olga Merediz). These supporting cast members get high marks for humor.

GENESIS

Director David Freyne of “Eternity.”

Screenwriter Patrick Cunnane, who is the son of Congresswoman Madeline Dean, met Producer Trevor White (and Tim, his brother and production partner) at the White House where Cunnane was then working as a member of the White House speechwriting staff (the East Wing was intact then. Yay!). This fortuitous meeting propelled “Eternity” forward. The addition of Director David Freyne (co-credited as writer) was also serendipity. Cunnane said, “When David came on, everything went to the next level. David had a clear vision of the afterlife…It could have looked 110 different ways…I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way this turned out. It is better than I imagined it in my head.” (This is not what many screenwriters say, so give this production a Gold Star for being a happy set. It was also better than I imagined it would be, which is a recommendation for audiences to check it out.)

IMAGINING THE AFTER-LIFE

This was Freyne’s third movie and his third with Elizabeth Olsen. A corkboard outside his office led to creative suggestions for how the afterlife might appear. Since the idea was to blend romance with comedy, emulating the rom-coms of old (“That was the North Star for this movie”), some of the ideas added to the corkboard during production caused the duo to admit to the audience’s amusement, “Some were very funny and probably not appropriate for PG13.” The screenplay was on Hollywood’s Black List of the Best Unproduced Films since 2022, so its potential was recognized.

CREW

That potential was turned into reality by the expert work of Production Designer Zazu Myers (“My Old Ass,” 2024) and Cinematographer Ruairi O’Brien (“Dating Amber,” 2020; “Sea Fever,” 2019). The composer was David Fleming (“Superman,” 2025; “The Last of Us,” 2023) and the Costume Designer was Angus Strathie. (Edith Head he was not; the red-and-white checked outfits for Joan’s character and the gold-striped shirt worn by Miles Teller in the same scene did not enhance the constant remarks about how attractive the lovely Elizabeth Olsen looked, from each of her husbands. For that matter, how many of us would vote for Miles Teller as the more attractive husband of the two? But I’ll leave that plot point open to viewers, while admitting that, in terms of attractiveness–which is emphasized in the script—they could have flipped the parts, for me, but might have lost Teller’s flip finesse with humorous lines, his forte.)

SCREENPLAY

Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller, and Callum Turner in “Eternity,” the closing night picture for the 61st Chicago International Film Festival.

“Eternity” goes from Chicago to Austin’s Film Festival next, where it will be a Spotlight film. Austin is known as a screenwriter’s festival and the screenplay is very good. I particularly enjoyed the digs at the Korean War (not one of the “cool” ones) and lines like, “We can go to space for eternity, for all I care as long as Luke (husband #1) is not floating around,” from Larry (Husband #2).

HEAVEN?

The various iterations of the afterlife are presented like a giant convention, with scads of brochures about spending your after-life in 1930s Germany, but with 100% fewer Nazis; Parisland 55 (where they speak English, but with a French accent); or Infantilization World. There’s even a run on eternities where there are no men, but it filled up fast and a second similar eternity was under construction. All of the throw-away lines/ concepts were very clever.

RELATIONSHIPS

Screenwriter Patrick Cunnane and Producer Trevor White of “Eternity” at the Q&A, closing night of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival.

The opening scenes of “old” Larry and “old” Joan driving to a gender reveal party were charming and realistic. Betty Buckley, now 78 years young, played Dr. Karen Fletcher in 2016’s “Split.” I’ve missed her. Barry Primus (2013’s “Grudge Match”) portrayed old Larry. Their bickering is characteristic of marriages that have endured for decades (67 years). I can personally attest to this. The relationship question of this film is intensified when the real question is how you would choose a mate for eternity if your family were a love triangle.

CONCLUSION

The screenwriter freely admitted to stealing real-life stories from his elderly parents’ lives (the flat tire story). Cunnane shared a touching story of his mother, on-set watching the film while it was shooting, breaking down in tears when one episode unfolded.

That says it all: there are real-life lessons about family and its importance in this one, much as there were real-life lessons about important people in your life in the George Clooney vehicle “Jay Kelly.” Life without someone special can be hollow. But who will Joan choose to spend eternity with—and which of the hilarious afterlife options will win out? Check out “Eternity” in November to find out.

“Reedland” Screens at 61st Chicago International Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On October 16, 2025

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

“Reedland” from Norway and Director Sven Bresser. (Photo by Sam du Pons).

“Reedland,” written and directed by Sven Bresser, is a Norwegian/Dutch film screening at the 61^st Chicago International Film Festival. It is in competition for the Gold Hugo award in Chicago and was nominated for 7 other awards at other film festivals. It will be submitted for potential inclusion in the 2026 Oscar foreign film category. That category will be further whittled down to the 15 that get the most votes from countries submitting. I noted others on the list, including “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” and “2000 Meters to Andriivka”. ( The two riveting films just mentioned are in the documentary category, however, which would take them out of head-to-head competition with “Reedland.”)

PLOT

I’m Norwegian (Grandfather) and Dutch (Grandmother, Mom’s side), so I was rooting for “Reedland,” which had a very promising log-line: “When reed cutter Johan discovers the lifeless body of a girl on his land, he is overcome by an ambiguous sense of guilt. While taking care of his granddaughter, he sets out on a quest to track down evil.” With the promise of an intriguing “who-done-it” in mind, I was eager to view this 111 minute film. The cinematography of the beautiful countryside by Sam du Pon is gorgeous. One (of 7) awards that the film has been nominated for, so far, had to do with editing the shots of the Dutch ceountryside. Lead character Johan Braad (Gerrit Knobbe) did a good job in his part, although he is taciturn throughout.

There is a fierce rivalry between the “filthy Trooters” who farm across the water from Johan’s farm. A “filthy Trooter” is initially suspected of Elise’s murder, but that accusation is unfounded. It seemed consistent with the tendency of one group to blame a member of an adversarial group for any wrongdoing. [Jimmy Kimmel’s recent absence from the television air waves for 3 days could be blamed on a similar offense.]

We know that Johan suspects Morris. The police don’t seem to agree. Johan, our intrepid and slow-moving Dutch farmer, is so suspicious that, in one interview, the local police actually tell him, “Leave the Petter family alone and let us do our job.” After the washing machine incident (described below), I began to lose faith in Johan as a crack investigator.

FARM ISSUES

In one scene Johan did show emotion, pitching his farm’s reeds as being superior for use on roofs, because they would last for up to 40 years versus the reeds from a neighboring village across the water that only lasted 14 years. (Do Norwegians still use reeds for roofing? ) He also complains to a buyer about the fall of Chinese container prices.

IJsselmeer Area

The area of Holland where the murder took place is referenced as The Ijsselmeer area on television.The IJsselmeer (Dutch: [ˌɛisəlˈmeːr] ^ⓘ; West Frisian: Iselmar, Dutch Low Saxon: Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of 1,100 km² (420 sq mi) with an average depth of 4.5 m (15 ft). The river IJssel, after which the lake was named, flows into the IJsselmeer.

WASHING MACHINE

Gerrit Knobbe in “Reedland.” (Photo credit Sam du Pons).

The plot develops slowly. Very, very slowly. So slowly that I actually checked the second hand of my watch to see how long it took for a sequence involving Johan’s washing machine to set up.

A large rock, apparently from the reed field where the girl’s body was found, was placed inside Johan’s washing machine. The machine spins wildly out of control. Johan’s reaction to the malfunctioning machine is characteristically slow, despite the machine’s manic and noisy demise.

Then Johan methodically places the rock in a white plastic bag. He carries the bag with the rock in it to the river, at least two football fields away. Johan chucks the rock into the water. [That sequence took at least 5 minutes.] Johan returns to the house. Then, belatedly, he returns to the water, dives in, and recovers the submerged rock (Add more minutes. The task of retrieving the rock looked impossible, since the water is very murky. Johan didn’t seem to immediately realize that the rock might be payback from someone out to punish him. It made one wonder about his acumen as an investigator.)

MORE THREATENING ACTS

The exact importance to the plot of finding, jettisoning and recovering the rock is never really explained. We suspect that Johan is experiencing revenge from the son of a neighbor, Morris Petter, because Johan gave the local police a tip about a dirt bike path leading into the reeds to the dead body of local girl Elise Veenstra. Johan later tells the police that Morris Petters, the son of his next-door neighbor, drives a dirt bike. Morris might not have appreciated the added police scrutiny.

We see Morris tailgating Johan’s car with a large John Deere tractor in a threatening manner while Johan is driving with his small granddaughter Dana (Lois Reinders). Someone injures Johan’s horse, Grise. (“Reedland” includes footage of the white mare being bred to a black stallion. A cow is put down, off-screen. Neither event seems to have much to do with the plot, nor do the threatening actions mentioned, by film’s end.)

Finally, there is a physical confrontation between Johan and Morris. After the wrestling match with Morris, you still won’t definitely know who killed Elise Veenst.

THE GOOD

“Reedland.” (Photo by Sam du Pons.)

The scenes of the reeds and the surrounding waterways are beautiful. Life on a farm in Holland was scenic, but, to me, it seemed primitive. I felt as though I was looking at a painting by VerMeer or VanGogh: a man raking sheaves into piles by hand and setting them on fire. I grew up in farm country, but the idea of not automating to tractors in modern times was foreign to a woman whose husband worked for John Deere for 40 years.

In terms of being a riveting story, the plot reminded me of Willa Cather’s novels. Cather would go on for page after page, musing about fields of wheat (in Nebraska). In this Holland-set film, there’s a scene of two elderly men farting at the kitchen table. This prompts the female lead (Susan Beijer), Johan’s daughter, to say, “Good grief, you bunch of sheep.”

I can only guess that this humorous scene was meant to be a tonal shift from the overall sense of slow-moving life in rural Holland. Lightening the mood in a hard-driving murder investigation is justified, if that murder investigation is the main thrust of our story. Not sure that investigating the murder was really the director’s main goal. The film seemed to be more an examination of the elderly Johan’s life in rural Holland.

Johan is primarily shown caring for his charming granddaughter, occasionally interacting with his daughter, and going about the duties of everyday life in the fields near his farm. The murder of a local girl is a very big departure in Johan’s normal life, so it is understandable that the elderly grandfather begins thinking long and hard about the unfortunate demise of Elise Veenst and developing theories about her assailant. (The local police do not seem particularly consumed with finding the murderer ASAP—probably very typical in a small town or rural area—, but, then, the focus here is on Johan and his fixation on the crime. Although Johan is pondering the clues, he takes his own sweet time in trying to get to the bottom of the mystery.)

The cinematography (Sam du Pon) and editing were excellent, but the film moves at the speed of a glacier. It has scenes inserted that did not immediately propel the plot forward, including discussions of farm issues in Holland, animal sequences, a sequence involving porn on the computer (presumably to spice up Johan’s boring life), the farting scene mentioned above, and Johan’s involvement with his granddaughter Dana’s play and life.

FARM ECONOMY

We hear the local farmers complain about how Chinese container prices have fallen. One man suggests to Johan that he automate. Johan is resistant to change. He rejects the notion of using big farm equipment, insisting that the machines will “ruin the land.” So, we have, instead, lovely photos of reeds being bundled and burned by hand by Johan, working alone on his land. Old-fashioned is probably an understatement. Quaint might fit.

There is symbolism in “Reedland.”

“Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain”. Psalm 126:5-6: This foundational verse describes a process of spiritual growth.

I’m still working out the importance of the children’s play that Dana, Johan’s granddaughter, is involved with. I look forward to more clarification of hidden meanings. Maybe the meanings weren’t so hidden and I just lost the plot path because “Reedland” moved so slowly.

CONCLUSION

The director, Sven Bresser, is coming in person to the showing of “Reedland” at the 61^st Chicago International Film Festival for two showings: Thursday, October 16th at 7:30 p.m. at the AMC Newcity 14 (Theater #5) and to the Gene Siskel Film Center at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, October 17^th. His Q&A may clear up some plot threads and explain or justify the significance of scenes inserted that weren’t material to the question of who killed Elise Veenst. The focus is not on the murdered girl, but on the elderly and seemingly lonely farmer.

NO DATELINE DENOUEMENT

After all, the pace of this feature film does not need to duplicate television crime shows like “Dateline” or “20/20,” but as a patron of exposure to many such U.S. television shows, I found “Reedland” needed to potentially step up the pace, plot-wise. It starts off with a riveting bit of information, but slowly devolves into tedium.

THE MESSAGE?

This may be the very message intended for us to take with us about Johan’s rural life; he seems a creature of habit who is existing rather than living life to the fullest. He doesn’t seem miserable, but he doesn’t seem that content, either (despite his loving daughter and granddaughter). I was disappointed that such a gorgeously photographed area didn’t produce an equally engrossing story. I wanted this lovely film to be riveting and difficult to stop watching with great interest. (After all, these are my people, from Delft and Bergen).

For me, gorgeous cinematography notwithstanding, the plot needed more active investigating and more closure. It’s not a bad thing in a plot to leave questions unanswered, but it is simply confusing when everything is left up to the audience. Perhaps, although Dutch and Norwegian on my mother’s side, I’m too American.

I wanted an answer to the question, “Who done it?” that was more reliable than Johan’s conjecture. I still don’t know who killed Elise Veenst, unless I completely accept Johan’s sleuthing acumen, and I’m still shaking my head over the washing machine and the rock.

Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” Dazzles at the 61st Chicago International Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On October 15, 2025

In Best Paranormal Stories Online to Read | Paranormal Podcast, Movies, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Reviews, Scary stories

I saw Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” today, in a screening room packed with critics. I’m very glad I did see it on the big screen because it is only going to play in theaters beginning October 17th through November 5th and then will head to Netflix on November 7th.

I am going to share some personal history with the Writer/Director of this amazing project, Guillermo del Toro, and with the lead actor, Oscar Isaacs, who plays Victor Frankenstein. After these two personal bits of my own film history over the 55 years I’ve been reviewing, you get a synopsis of the press notes that testify to the amazing effort this film represents, from having actually built the ship that is featured in one section to the color schemes and what they represent. Fascinating stuff.

But first, a couple of true stories.

Oscar Isaac and me in 2013 at the 49th Chicago International Film Festival, as the 61st Chicago International Film Festival is about to kick off tomorrow (Oct. 15-26, 2025.)

Back in 2013, Oscar Isaac was an unknown, coming to Chicago to promote the Coen Brothers film “Inside Lleweyn Davis,” which co-starred Carrie Mulligan. He was the nicest, most cordial, pleasant star I’ve met since 2008. Somehow, hours after the film screened (and became his break-through film) I was at the post-party at the City Winery, if memory serves, in Chicago. He was so kind and thoughtful and nice to me that I became an instant fan.

You just knew that someone this nice and this talented, the Julliard graduate who did all of his own playing of the songs in that film, a true talent, was going to go far. He was 34 years old. Oscar is 46 today and is still five feet, eight and one-half inches tall, versus Jacob Elordi’s freakishly tall (by comparison) six feet five inches.

The year that Guillermo del Toro came to town for the Premiere of “The Shape of Water,” which I absolutely loved was 2016. He came with his good friend and frequent collaborator Ron Perlman. Again, there was a party somewhere, which, in those days, Press occasionally lucked into (not any more).

He, too, was such a nice, kind gentleman. My favorite moment was when he was being ushered down the Red Carpet. I had published a collection of reviews from a “real” newspaper ( Quad City Times) entitled “It Came from the 70s: From The Godfather to Apocalypse Now.” Knowing of his fondness for monsters and with an emphasis on horror films of the decade I gifted him with a copy. [I had been writing a novel trilogy entitled “The Color of Evil” and was, at that time, an active voting member of HWA]. He was genuinely enthused to receive the book, so much so that he stopped dead in his tracks and did not budge in his progress down the Red Carpet. His handlers returned to guide him.

At that point, one of those assisting him noticed his shoe was untied. Guillermo said, “Oh, no! Fat man with untied shoe!” and laughed while his handlers assisted him in retying and moving down the Red Carpet. Later, at the after-party, he was very genial and kind and nice. I can’t say that of all talent who have walked the Red Carpets.

Oscar Isaac in 2022.

Both are huge talents who know what they are doing and do it well. In the case of Guillermo’s films, you can tell that no effort or expense has been spared. That remains true of this version of “Frankenstein.”

Below are some of the Press Notes (synopsized) from the 2025 new version of “Frankenstein.” Guillermo has envisioned a super-strong “Frankenstein” with Terminator tendencies. “Frankenstein” will show at the Music Box Theater at 6 p.m. on Friday, 10/17, and again on Monday at the New City AMC (10/20) at 1:30 p.m. See it on the big screen, if you can. “Bravo!” once again to these two formidable talents. There will be many costume and set design Oscar nominations and it will qualify for most of the other Oscar categories, as well, so don’t miss it in its big-screen glory.

Tomorrow night, at the iconic Music Box Theater, the opening film of the 61st Chicago International Film Festival at 6:30 p.m. will be “One Golden Summer” about the 2014 Chicago Jackie Robinson West Little League team that became the first all-Black team to win the U.S. Little League Baseball Championship.

PRESS NOTES FOR “FRANKENSTEIN”

This sprawling epic takes audiences from the remote reaches of the Arctic to the bloody battlefields of 19th-century Europe, as Frankenstein and his Creature go on their own search for meaning in a world that can seem quite mad. Also starring Mia Goth as the luminous Elizabeth and two-time Academy Award®-winner Christoph Waltz, Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” is a reminder of how, at heart, we are all creatures, lost and found.

I was given this Oscar Isaac doll for Christmas, the year he appeared in the “Star Wars” episodes, because my family likes to give me a hard time about my chance encounter with Oscar Isaac.

Oscar Isaac stars in the new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic sci-fi/horror novel as Victor Frankenstein, with Jacob Elordi as The Creature, Mia Goth as Elizabeth Harlander, Christoph Waltz as Heinrich Harlander, and Felix Kammerer as William Frankenstein.

“I’ve lived with Mary Shelley’s creation all my life,” del Toro says. “For me, it’s the Bible, but I wanted to make it my own, to sing it back in a different key with a different emotion.”

Since making his feature film debut with 1993’s Spanish-language vampire tale “Cronos,” the visionary writer-director has repeatedly conjured visually stunning, magical stories, all of which celebrate the beauty that can exist within darkness. With such films as “The Devil’s Backbone” (2001), “Hellboy” (2004), “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006), and “The Shape of Water” (2016), del Toro has forged a reputation for a nuanced portrayal of all types of beings — be they monsters and demons, ghosts, or even an amphibious river god saved from extinction by a mute cleaning lady.

“Ever since I was a kid, since my first Super 8 movie to now, I’ve dreamt of making two movies, “Pinocchio” and “Frankenstein”… I thought we were telling the same story: what it is to be human, what it is to be framed in a life by eternity and death, both forces. I wanted to make Frankenstein as personal as it could get.”

Having spent decades contemplating his vision, del Toro had a fully conceived approach to the film, which he set against the backdrop of the Crimean War. After undertaking an extensive scout across Europe to find the most ideal settings for the project, he began filming “Frankenstein” in Toronto in early 2024, later visiting numerous sites in the UK for location and miniatures filming.

Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein in “Frankenstein” directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Photo Credit: Ken Woroner / Netflix

The House of Frankenstein is actually four different residences: Gosford House in East Lothian, Scotland; Burghley House in Lincolnshire, England; Dunecht House in Aberdeenshire, Scotland; and Wilton House in Wiltshire, England. The elaborate staircase at Wilton House is also used and Stanley Kubrick filmed in one of the castles used, which gives it a special prominence/significance.

During the 100-day shoot, del Toro pored over every detail with thoughtfulness and passion, rooted in love and respect for Shelley’s novel. “The subject matter is humanistic,” says producer J. Miles Dale, who also collaborated with del Toro on “The Shape of Water” and “Nightmare Alley,” among other projects. “This is existential, about life and death. When you talk about legacy movies, this is that for Guillermo. Having been on his mind for most of his life, he’s seen this movie in his head — we’re not leaving anything on the table in terms of what we’re doing, who we’re doing it with, how we’re doing it, and what the result will be. We wanted to make an old-fashioned, beautiful production of operatic scale made by humans.”

This culminates a cycle — operatic, ornamental, camera moving very precisely — all those things [are] out the window from now on a little bit, at least is how it feels.

THE MONSTER

Jacob Elordi plays the monster. His head and shoulders alone required 12 separate, overlapping silicone rubber appliances — additionally, Elordi’s eyebrows were glued down and a bald cap was placed over his hair. The actor is 6′ 5″ and del Toro wanted a tall creature (which he got).

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT SCORE

“To have a good score,” Desplat says, “you have to find the soul of the film and create another dimension of sensation, of poetry, of spirituality, that follows the film and amplifies the emotions.”

LIMITED RELEASE IN THEATERS UNTIL NOV. 5 (On Netflix Nov. 7^th)

The film is only playing in theaters from October 17 – November 5, which would make sense given it’s coming to Netflix just two days later. It is in limited release in major cities, only. If you’re not near a big city, good luck in finding this visual feast to see it on a big screen, which is definitely the best way for a movie like this, if only for the fantastic costuming.

Said one reviewer,“Frankenstein is absolutely breathtaking, with imagery and set pieces that instantly embed themselves in your memory. It showcases del Toro’s strength as a filmmaker, creating immersive worlds that enhance what he does best: championing monsters and their tragic humanity instead of using them to scare us.” (“Bloody Disgusting” review).

“Frankenstein” was the second favorite audience favorite (runner-up) at TIFF in Toronto. What beat it? This year’s winner, and the first filmmaker to take home two People’s Choice Awards, was Chloé Zhao for her “Hamnet,” which is also playing in Chicago. (The filmmaker previously won in 2020 with her “Nomadland.”)

Count me as liking this beautiful film a lot. Specific observations after October 17^th.

“Man On the Run:” Paul McCartney’s Post Beatles Life & Work Kicks Off 56th Nashville Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On September 19, 2025

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

“Man on the Run” is a terrific documentary about Paul McCartney’s career and life, post Beatles.

”Man on the Run” opened the 56^th Nashville Film Festival on Thursday, September 18^th at the Green Hills Regal Theaters. Based on access to never-before-seen archives of Paul and Linda’s home videos and photos, as well as new interviews with Paul’s children Mary and Stella and insights from John Lennon’s son Sean, director Morgan Neville documents Paul McCartney’s extraordinary life following the breakup of the Beatles and how the love he shared with Linda Eastman McCartney became his bedrock and influenced a journey that would lead to the formation of Wings and a second decade’s musical catalog of timeless classics.

PERSONAL ARCHIVAL MATERIAL

Listed as Executive Producer Paul McCartney, himself, has provided multiple home movies and personal photographs from his own and Linda’s archives. There is ample concert footage of “Wings” in concert, with the period from the end of the Beatles (1969) to the end of “Wings” (1979) providing the primary focus of what is often essentially a love letter to Paul’s deceased first wife, Linda Eastman. An analysis of what went through the mind of this central Beatle in the months and years following the celebrated split of the Beatles is included, but will be amplified with the release of Paul McCartney’s book next year.

ADULTHOOD

Paul McCartney in 2018.

Paul is asked, early in the film, about his goal in life and answers “Personal peace.” When asked if he can explain that enigmatic answer, he responds, somewhat abruptly, “Not really.” His input about the real time-line for the band’s break-up puts other theories to rest. In April of 1970 McCartney said, “My only plan is to grow up” and described the period immediately after the celebrated band’s break-up as “fear of being a grown-up.”

ALLEN KLEIN

Says Paul, “John broke up the Beatles, but I got the rap.” Paul then wrestled with the question, “Am I any good on my own?” A long-time dislike and distrust of former Beatles manager Allen Klein is explored. Klein replaced Brian Epstein when he died, but McCartney did not trust him, which turned out to be prophetic. Klein once said of McCartney, “All he ever did was ‘Yesterday,’”which gives you a rough idea of how much affection the two had for one another. The opinions of other musicians of the era, like Elton John and John Lennon, concerning albums that Paul created post-Beatles are also recorded for posterity.

JOHN LENNON

Of John Lennon himself, Paul tells the audience that he is grateful that he and Lennon reconciled in the years before John’s assassination. McCartney lovingly characterized Lennon as “a lovely, lovely crazy guy. He’s a crazy son-of-a-bitch.” Lennon’s son Sean lets Paul off the hook for a video clip where, when he is asked about John’s death, he comes off as callous and flip, chewing gum and walking off rather abruptly providing a diplomatic explanation for what some viewed as a lack of sufficient grief and emotion.

PAUL AS AUTEUR

Paul seems to realize that he was the driving force of the Beatles (and, after that, of “Wings”) saying, “I’m very enthusiastic, so it’s the original enthusiasm that gets it done.” Music lovers like me are very happy that McCartney got it done and did it so well. He’s been doing it well ever since his teen-age years, well over six decades. I still remember visiting the Liverpool Cavern where the Beatles started out and stopping on a drive from my hometown back to my college town to make sure that none of us returning to the University of Iowa missed out on the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. We had to take a detour from our 2 and 1/2 hour trip to stop at Patt McCardle’s aunt’s house where we co-opted her television set, so that we did not miss this performance (well before the days of videotape).

ED SULLIVAN

The Beatles’ first appearance was on February 9, 1964.
The show was broadcast live from New York City.
Approximately 73 million viewers tuned in, a record at the time.
This performance marked the beginning of Beatlemania in the United States.
They performed five songs during this iconic appearance.
The event is credited with launching the British Invasion in American music.

SUPER-FAN FROM THE ERA

I’ve seen Paul McCartney “live” four times and, soon (November 24, 2025) it will be five. I first saw him at the San Francisco Cow Palace in 1965 with the Beatles. “Help!” was their new release. and they were late in getting started that afternoon. The only security was a chicken-wire fence waist-high (and one arena employee). The flimsy barricade was quickly breached by a young man who ran onstage and stole John’s hat and Ringo’s drumsticks. There was a slight delay while Ringo’s drumsticks were replaced. Then the chaos really began. Around me, adults seemed bemused; teen-agers were freaking out.

THE BEATLES AT THE SAN FRANCISCO COW PALACE

First, there was the National Anthem, played by King Curtiss. Then came the lead-in acts, which, that particular day included Shirly Bassey (singing the theme from “Goldfinger,” which was then popular) and Cannibal & the Headhunters (who got down on the floor and did a sort of train-like scooting dance). We were also supposed to have heard the Astronauts from Denver, but they did not show up. My college boyfriend and I (William Hopkins, I called him “Colgate,” his college, all summer) had cut class at Berkeley without tickets, riding up on his purple Czechoslovakian motorcycle (no BART in those days). We went to the box office and were able to purchase two seventh row tickets for $7 apiece. (It is costing me $1600 for 2 tickets on Nov. 24, 2025, NOT in the seventh row.) I remember people standing on their folding chairs and those folding chairs collapsing en masse. Getting out of the building was a scary process. I was moving, but my feet were not touching the floor. (This has caused me to not want to be close to the front at subsequent shows for fear of a repeat of that frightening experience at my very first concert.)

WINGS IN THE 70s

Paul McCartney performing at The O2 Arena in London, England, on 19 December 2024 as part of his Got Back Tour, backed by former fellow Beatle Ringo Starr.

I then saw Paul with Linda and one version of “Wings” (there was more than one “Wings” line-up, as this film documents) in Ames, Iowa at Iowa State University’s football stadium. My name was drawn in a state-wide lottery to receive up to 8 tickets. That time, I was on the aisle, also about 7 rows from the front. The local female television anchor of NBC’s Channel 6 called me, asking me to purchase tickets for her and her husband, which I did. I was allowed to buy up to 8 tickets. I also took my college roommate, that roommate’s daughter and my son.

THIRD & FOURTH SHOWS

The third time I saw Paul McCartney was at Wrigley Field with my daughter; the fourth time was at the Moline Civic Center, formerly known as the Mark of the Quad Cities. Chicago will be my fifth time seeing my favorite Beatle (‘the cute one”) perform. Since he was born in 1942 and is now 83 years young, who knows if I will ever have the opportunity to see him perform “live” again? An expert celebrity voice in this film, Mick Jagger, put the situation this way, “All things must pass.”

THE GOOD

This film, which had extensive cooperation from McCartney and his children and many of his contemporaries, is remarkable in being able to access so much concert footage and so many home movies, but it also contains remarkably beautiful cinematography from the archives. In addition to scenes of McCartney’s bucolic pastoral farm life in Scotland (including three pot plants being carted off by the authorities), there are lovely ocean shots and a scary story about how Paul once almost drowned.

I counted more than 56 songs in the credits and many, many, many sources for the extraordinary footage. It runs 115 minutes. Director Morgan Neville (Oscar-winner for 2013’s “Twenty Feet from Stardom”) spent four years directing on “Man on the Run,” sitting down 7 times with McCartney himself. The editor, a Herculean task, was Alan Lowe.

CONCLUSION

The film premiered at Telluride in January, 2025, and Amazon MGM Studios plans to air the film in 2026, which is also when McCartney, himself, is set to publish his own 576 page book. That will be 2 years before Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes (2000, “American Beauty” and a nominee for 2020’s “1917”) releases a four-part study of the Beatles, with Paul Mescale. Mendes’ project will be released in 2028.

This was the perfect Nashville Film Festival Opening Night film for me. I’ve been a fan through all of Paul McCartney’s musical iterations. While he’s been making music since the sixties, I’ve been non-stop reviewing film, almost as long (55 years). I may be one of the few reviewers working today who can honestly say that they have seen him in each and every one of his iconic periods.Kudos to Morgan Neville for this gift to McCartney’s longtime fans, especially as a wonderful gift for this reviewer, his contemporary.

Mother Jones & Union Activism in the U.S.

By Connie Wilson

On September 16, 2025

In Editorial, Education, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics

Activist and organizer Mother Jones.

We’re on the way to the 56th Nashville Film Festival. Driving 7 hours to Paducah, Kentucky was the start.

On the way, we stopped at a rest stop in Southern Illinois, where I communed with Mother Jones, patron saint of the magazine for the reasons you can read here for yourself. Mother Jones was a union organizer and activist. So was I. Mother Jones formed the United Mine Workers, hoping to stop the exploitation of underage minersand the habit of taking advantage of immigrant labor that still exists.

I led the 3-year charge to unionize (organize) the SEA (Silvis Education Association) and I worked hard and long, as, I’m sure, Mother Jones did. My efforts were once scorned by a dinner partner who tried to assign malign characteristics to unions, when, in fact, they are one of the reasons that American workers began to be paid a living wage and treated fairly. This particular critic didn’t like the NEA (National Education Association) and was a white male who was, no doubt, during his working years, a managerial type.

Union Organizing by Mother Jones

When I started teaching in Silvis, Illinois, in 1969 unions were the farthest thing from my mind. We had an education association, which was basically a milk-and-cookies type after-school meeting with no power at all. There had been no recognition of the organization as representing the teachers who taught in Silvis, who numbered about 50 souls in grades K through 8. The SEA had been in existence since 1962, a time period when I was still in high school.

It wasn’t until at least 10 years after my employment began in Silvis that I became aware of the fact that every other school district around us had representatives who sat down with the school board to discuss issues like salary, class size, and work hours, while we had nothing. We read our new year’s salary in the newspaper and it rarely went up. I started teaching in Silvis for $5,280 a year and, out of that, paid for pre-school supervision for my then-one-year-old son. If you think that sounds like a paltry sum for working a full year, you are right.

In defense of the hair do that looks like it was beaten by an egg-beater, I had my sun glasses on top of my head until a few moments before this picture was taken.

I remember saying, to our then-principal, “They should never have rattled my cage,” which had to do with the administration taking my one day of personal leave when my son was hospitalized with double pneumonia and I was told to go right to the hospital from work. I was gone one day. The district took advantage of my necessary absence due to the ill health of my then 2-year-old son, showing absolutely no sympathy to the first-year teacher. (I remember being asked, “Is he going to die?” to justify leaving after I got the call that he was in the emergency room.)

So, I began finding out what it took to unionize our milk-and-cookies organization. It would require a vote supervised by the League of Women Voters and the next 3 years were a blur of finding out how to achieve this. The days of a powerless organization that had no discussion rights with the administration and had to content itself with reading next year’s salary in the local newspaper were gone.

It took me three years of P.R. efforts and going door-to-door in the Silvis neighborhoods, while my two best friends, Linda and Judy went off to Egypt and rode camels during Easter break. But not me. I worked on finding out how to get our group recognized by a recalcitrant school board and administration for 3 years and later was asked to lead workshops elsewhere by the IEA (Illinois Education Association) because we chose to run three candidates at once rather than do the “bullet voting” that the IEA recommended. I defended myself against dogs that ate the buttons off my coat and endured teetering on the brink of blasted-out concrete porches (no idea why the center portion of one house’s porch looked like it had been Ground Zero for an explosion, but it did).

We won the vote and, as far as I am aware, the Silvis Education Association still has negotiating rights with the Silvis School Board. In order to get that right, our organization had to interview and then back new candidates for the school board. We campaigned for our endorsed candidates, whom we interviewed at the local library, and put up billboards. I organized a phone tree to contact local voters. We won, but it took three years of work. We elected four members of a seven member board. Unlike DJT, we were not out for revenge. We just wanted what every other school district’s employees had: collective bargaining rights.

That is what Mother Jones helped miners to achieve and I’d recommend reading what the rest stop monument informed us about her life and achievements.

I may not have single-handedly made Silvis teachers rich (or rich-er), but we established a Sick Leave Bank into which employees could contribute a day (or more) of their unusued sick leave towards someone with a catastrophic illness. I know that it came in handy for Marion Gray when she was out a lengthy period recovering from a mastectomy. We were able to secure some other benefits for the underpaid Silvis employees, and, most importantly, we opened the door to the SEA being treated as a representative organization for future teachers in the Silvis School District.

And that’s your history lesson for the day.

“Weapons” Horror Movie Hits The Mark

By Connie Wilson

On August 12, 2025

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

One of the best films of the summer is “Weapons,” written, directed and partially scored by Zach Cregger. While there are credits for music (“Beware of Darkness,” “Gotta’ Get Up” et. al) Cregger collaborated with Hays Holladay and Ryan Holladay on sounds used. Cregger’s previous film, “Barbarian” (2022) marked him as a talent to watch. This feature is one of the most anticipated for horror film lovers and is quickly outpacing “Freakier Friday” and doing well at the box office. The script for this film went through a bidding war between Universal and Netflix. For a while, Jordan Peele (“Get Out,” “Us,” “Nope”) was also in the running to make this horror film.

CAST

The actors in this one are Top Notch. Julia Garner (“Ozark”) portrays Justine Gandy, a teacher at Maybrook Elementary School (grades 1 through 5). Justine’s entire class of 18 students—with the one exception of Alex Lilly—disappears in the night at 2:17 a.m. and, say the ads, “they never came back.” I was concerned that, like the television series “The Leftovers” (2014, Justin Theroux) we would never get a coherent explanation of how or why these kids seemingly disappeared. Rest assured, we do get that explanation. The number 217 could conceivably reference Matthew 2:17 (“The Slaughter of the Innocents”). It was also the room number in the Overlook Hotel. (“The Shining).

AMY MADIGAN

The cast member getting most of the accolades for her performance is Julia Garner as teacher Justine Gandy, and she deserves the praise. However, I’d like to put in a vote for the always-excellent Amy Madigan as Gladys. (Amy has been married to fellow actor Ed Harris 42 years.) Madigan’s appearance in “Field of Dreams” is one of her best-known. She was nominated for an Oscar in 1986 as Best Supporting Actress for “Twice in a Lifetime.”[One of Madigan’s castmates in this film, Alden Ehrenreich (as Paul Morgan) was named for the writer/director of “Field of Dreams,” a close friend of Ehrenreich’s parents.]

Alden Ehrenreich (with mustache).

ALDEN EHRENREICH

Ehrenreich rose to fame as Hobie Doyle, the lasso afficionado in the Coen Brothers film “Hail, Caesar” (2016). The 36-year-old has been working since he was discovered by Steven Spielberg at the Bar Mitzvah of a friend of Spielberg’s daughter. He made his feature film debut in Francis Ford Coppola‘s film Tetro (2009), and appeared in Coppola’s subsequent film Twixt (2011). Apparently there was a big discussion of whether or not Ehrenreich should have a mustache in the film. The ‘stash prevented me from instantly recognizing him. Ehrenreich shared that his ride-alongs with real cops while preparing for the film clinched the yes vote with Director Cregger.

JOSH BROLIN

Do we need to do more than mention Josh Brolin’s name? Brolin and Pedro Pascal seem to be in everything these days. Brolin even joked about Pedro not being in this one. Pascal left for “The Fantastic Four,” and bailed on “Weapons,” necessitating much recasting for Cregger. There was also the strike and other out-of-control features that caused his exit. Brolin and Garner team up effectively to search for Matthew, Archer Graff’s son, although it does seem that a house with newspapers all over the windows might have attracted more attention from the authorities earlier, but Brolin and Garner are on the case and will not give up in their quest to solve the mystery of the missing children.

CARY CHRISTOPHER

Cary Christopher plays the young sole survivor of the disappearance, Alex Lilly. The young actor is terrific in the part. He is soon appearing in “High Potential” (a TVseries set to premiere on September 17^th) and “Spider-Noir” in 2026. Young Christopher was as good in his part as Haley Joel Osment in “The Sixth Sense.”

JULIA GARNER

It is Julia Garner’s class, portraying elementary school teacher Justine Gandy, that disappears. She carries the entire film on her slim shoulders. “Ozark” fans will be happy to see this talented actress, who portrayed Ruth Langmore on “Ozark” (2017), back in “Weapons.” Co-star Josh Brolin has been singing Garner’s well-deserved praises on late-night television. Definitely seems more her style than her appearance in “The Fantastic Four,” but she is versatile.

BENEDICT WONG

As the gay Marcus, Benedict Wong (“Dr. Strange”) does an expert job taking his story arc from reasonable school administrator to deranged over-the-top temporary nut job. His final appearance in “Weapons” is horrifying. Marcus’s attacks on Justine (and Josh Brolin as Archer Graff) will keep you on the edge of your seat(s).

SCRIPT

For a movie like this to work, the story must involve a premise that is original, and executed effectively with creativity but without confusion (only half of that goal was achieved by the recent “Eddington”). Those elements succeed and are interwoven in “Weapons,” just as each character’s story is picked up, developed, and then left to move on building suspense for another character. Just watching a hand reach for a doorknob is chilling. This dramatic tension is well-done and the expert handling of time, moving back and forth smoothly in the story, is remarkable.

Writer/Director Cregger even gets a credit for composing some of the sound/music, although, in each of his features, the sound effects are more natural (thunderstorms, creaking floorboards) or simply the lack of music in many scenes. Instead, we have thumping sounds, screams, pulsing heartbeats (as in “Barbarian”)—all very effective.

THEMES

Moral ambiguity existed in “Brutarian” with Justin Long’s character (Long makes a small appearance in this one, as Gary, a neighbor who shares ring camera footage with Josh Brolin). In “Weapons” Cregger delivers a message about the urge to “blame.” The teacher whose entire class disappeared is judged and found guilty by the community. Her car is vandalized with the word WITCH in unwashable spray paint. Both Miss Gandy and the cop (Alden Ehrenreich as Paul Morgan) have past and present substance abuse issues. Josh Brolin’s character of Archer Graff may also have regrets about his parenting. Infidelity is briefly addressed. Comparisons to Jack Nicholson’s door-breaking scenes in “The Shining” may flash through your mind during the climactic scenes involving Alex’s parents. Those scenes are extremely frightening. (No elementary school-age children in the room, please.)

Writer/Director Zach Cregger.

CONCLUSION

This is a good one. It will be fun to watch the direction that Zach Cregger’s work takes next. If you like this one, check out “Barbarian”(2022) on Neflix before it leaves on August 31^st.

“The Week” Nails DJT Kakistocracy as “Ship of Fools”

By Connie Wilson

On August 8, 2025

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

By William Falk, Editor, “The Week”

[ August 8, 2025 edition of “The Week” magazine]:

“It’s a fierce competition, with no winners and only losers. Which of the unqualified kooks and fawning toadies working for Donald Trump is the most incompetent?

Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel are currently the most visible contenders, thanks to their tragi-comic bungling of the Jeffrey Epstein debacle. They promised the MAGA base the release of the full “Epstein files,” even though their boss was the sex trafficker’s best buddy for more than 15 years and noted during that time that Jeffrey liked women ‘on the younger side.’ (Ha, ha!)

When Bondi and Patel discovered with cold fear that Trump’s name appeared multiple times in the voluminous records, they announced, ‘Nothing to see here. Case closed!’ Now they’ve saddled the president with a festering scandal that won’t easily be reburied. (*Although JFK’s assassination and the truth has been fairly well buried for over 60 years.)

FBI Director Kash Patel.

But the self-inflicted Epstein wound is no anomaly. It’s just the most lurid demonstration of the Trump gang’s pervasive ineptitude. Pete Hegseth, a Fox News talking head chosen as Defense Secretary for his chiseled jaw and good hair, has blabbed classified information on an unsecured app about an imminent military attack, cut off defensive weapons to Ukraine without the president’s approval, and demanded that top aides and generals take polygraph tests to prove they weren’t telling the press he was unfit for his job. (*Not to mention including the Editor of “The Atlantic” on a Top Secret meeting about war plans.)

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a quack who thinks jet contrails are a Pentagon plot, is aggressively dismantling the country’s vaccination regimen and shutting down scientific research on viruses and cancer, while promoting suntanning, cod liver oil, cane sugar, and measles. (Whooping cough is also on the rise.)

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (rumored to be on the way out.)

The ghoulish senior advisor Stephen Miller does not hide his sadistic glee as he dispatches masked agents to drag away migrant workers from farms, construction sites, meat processing plants and restaurants.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, aka “ICE Barbie,” has shown up at migrant raids and El Salvador prisons while sporting cowboy outfits, tactical gear, false eyelashes, and a $50,000 Rolex (when she isn’t having her purse stolen at D.C. restaurants). After catastrophic floods killed 138 people in Texas, she delayed disaster relief for three days, because everything had to be “approved” by her personally.

And so it goes.

It’s a ship of fools, and we’re all passengers.”

“Mercenaire” Is Riveting 15-Minute Short At HollyShorts

By Connie Wilson

On August 3, 2025

In Local, Movies, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Reviews, Scary stories

Marc-Andre Grondin in Mercenaire

Out of the 427 short films being screened at HollyShorts—one that will stand out for me— is the Canadian offering “Mercenaire,” which also showed at TIFF in 2024. University of Montreal Graduate Writer/Director Pier-Philippe Chevigny has directed Marc-Andre Grondin as Dave, an ex-convict, in a totally absorbing 15 minute film about a parolee who is hired to work on the killing floor of a meat processing plant, slaughtering pigs. Chevigny, who graduated in 2014, has had 48 awards nominations and 29 wins. He also edited.

Writer/Director Pier-Philippe Chevigny of “Mercenaire.”

The short piece is as riveting as anything you’ll see anywhere. It is fifteen minutes of a man trapped in hell. He MUST have a job, or he goes back to prison. The work is grueling, demanding, dangerous, bloody and completely debilitating for David, although others on the plant floor say, “You get used to it.” As we are learning firsthand in the United States of America in 2025 you can get used to a lot regarding man’s inhumanity towards others. If Dave is too tender-hearted, there will be ten even more desperate applicants waiting to take his place, if the pay is right.

I grew up in the Midwest (Independence, Iowa). My father grew up one of eight children on an Iowa farm (Fairbank, Iowa). I know pigs from visiting my uncle’s farms. They are very intelligent animals and quite cute, when young. Of course, the 2001 “Hannibal” sequel put pigs in a very different light. Indian film censors demanded that the close visual of a pig putting Mason’s (Gary Oldman) face into its mouth be excised to achieve an ‘A’ (adults) rating. It has remained cut ever since. And it is true that pigs will eat almost anything.

Despite that, a family friend even kept a pig as a pet and I seem to remember that George Clooney used to have a pet potbelly pig. Iowa friend Mary (Siesseger), who grew up in Clear Lake (Iowa), trained her pet pig to let her ride on its back. The Siessegers incorporated it into the family unit—until it got too big.

And what happens when a pig gets too big?

It goes to the slaughterhouse where a stun gun is used to knock the animal unconscious and it is slaughtered and bled. (Plus other steps outlined in the instructional video for meatpacking equipment. No trailer for “Mercenaire” up on YouTube at this time).

Man’s inhumanity to beast is displayed. I have used a very sanitized YouTube video about raising and slaughtering hogs that is NOT from this film. It presents the same steps that we see in much more graphic detail in “Mercenaire.” Hog farms and whether the animal is allowed free movement has changed since my father’s interest in raising pigs for slaughter. Whether the slaughtering process is “humane” is open to debate.

My cousin was taken on a tour of the Rath Packing Plant in Waterloo, Iowa, as a high school student (a plant that has given way to much bigger corporate operations like Tyson and Smithfield in 2025). She immediately became a vegetarian after the trip. My father actually wanted to establish one of the modern-day factory pig farms. Mom was adamantly opposed to the idea. Dad stuck to the banking business. Even my farm familiar father was somewhat taken aback by the news that the stressed pigs he saw on a local farm were biting the tails off of other pigs (something that this YouTube video seems to suggest is avoided by breaking off their teeth.) Two thousand pigs a day can be processed in just one plant, according to the video.

Pig prices

USA – Iowa/Minnesota

31 Jul

2.350

Germany

31 Jul

0.000

China

23 Jul

0.130

Spain

31 Jul

0.020

One of the most harrowing experiences of my young life (age 10) involved a trip to a neighbor’s farm where it was discovered that one of the pigs had broken its leg. The animal was strung up by its hind legs from high up, outside the barn, and its throat was slit to “bleed” the animal. The memory of the noise the terrified animal made and the horrifying sight of its body twisting in agony, bleeding out, has never left my brain. After watching this stroll down memory lane inside a pig slaughtering plant—similar to one located in Illinois near where I am writing this—it probably never will.

Map of pork processing plants in the United States.

As a teacher in an 82% Hispanic district (only one professional family in the entire district) my Latino students often ended up working at the meat processing plant after high school or after 8th grade. It paid well, you needed no advanced degree (not even a high school diploma) and the authorities weren’t as particular about immigration papers in those days. But the price those students paid is clearly delineated in this graphically brutal short. I will never forget the sounds of the terrified animal I witnessed being murdered on that neighbor’s farm. You may find this bloody and graphic film too much.

The end of the film depicts a man in a no-win situation whose very soul is in hell. Dave tries to find work on a construction crew. He tries to convince the boss to move him to a different duty on the killing floor. (The boss responds that the demand is for slaughtering animals on the killing floor.) You sense that Dave is at his wit’s end. The only question is whether he will, indeed, re-enter prison rather than continue re-enacting man’s inhumanity to God’s creatures.

Enjoy your bacon (if you can). Fair Oaks Foods has been building a $134 million-dollar new bacon processing facility in northwest Davenport, Iowa, meant to employ 250 people, since 2022. City officials hope it will be open by spring of 2026. And, of course, bacon comes from pigs—right? Anybody remember how, during the pandemic, meat processing plants like these were severely impacted as the employees fell victim to the deadly virus.

Meat-eaters, be warned. The excellent “Mercenaire” goes right alongside a British documentary about cow slaughtering (“Cow”), filmed completely without dialogue. But it got its message across quite clearly. So does “Mercenaire.”

Bravo, Pier-Philippe Chevigny!

“11:11” Screens at Holly Shorts Film Festival

By Connie Wilson

On July 30, 2025

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

Jasmine (Mahaela Park) and Noori (Tara Raani) in “11:11.”

Mahnoor Euceph wrote and directed the short (15:27 mins.) “11:11”that will screen at the HollyShorts Festival from August 7^th to the 17^th in Hollywood, California. [Among those listed as Executive Producer for the film was Cate Blanchett].

The short follows a 9^th grade Pakistani Muslim girl Noori as she moves to Palos Verdes, California in 2009 and attempts to assimilate into the culture of her new homeland and her new school (Palos Verdes High School). Noori didn’t even realize that she had brown skin until 3^rd grade, but that fact is driven home to her in America by the locals. Like every teenager, Noor wants to fit in and she wants to be popular, as she was back in Pakistan. That universal urge is what is ably dissected in this 15 minute short.

HIGH SCHOOL CLIQUES

The short opens with Noori describing the various cliques that exist in the school. She has categorized them as The Culture Vultures, who are obsessed with all things Bollywood; the Future Overreaching Billionaires, or FOBs; the Halal Harami, who spend their time sinning and praying for forgiveness; the Coconuts, who hate brown food and love indie rock; and the Race Traitors, who spend their time making fun of their own kind, only speaking of their race to diss those like themselves.

Jeff Benesh (Caiden Falstrup-finny).

As we learn during an Art History class—Jeff Benesh is the BMOC, who only dates white girls and apparently doesn’t even seem to know that Noori is alive (as kids say in the U.S.). But Noori has had a crush on Jeff. Noori’s best friend Jasmine (Mahaela Park) shares with Noori that Jeff likes someone in their Art History class. Jasmine prints out a note asking Jeff if that person in the class that he likes is Noori. When Jeff reads the note, he gives it back to Noori, saying, “You’re not my type.”

Cold, heartless, but very real.

“FREAKY FRIDAY” SPIN-OFF

Noori (Tara Raani) and her blonde alter ego (Taylor Geare) during the Freaky Friday-like switch,

Noori and her blonde version (Taylor Geare) as the “change” after the wish takes place.

At this point, the film becomes derivative of “Freaky Friday” (and the soon-to-be released “Freakier Friday”) where, by wishing she looked more like Jeff’s type, Noori actually finds that her skin has lightened and her hair has turned blonde. The actress portraying Jeff’s blonde type is played by Taylor Geare, who gives her name as “Rooni,” when asked her name at Jeff’s house pool party. Noori’s reaction upon realizing in the rest room mirror that she is several shades whiter, “I wanted him to like me for me. I didn’t want to get Michael Jackson-ed!”

BRIGHT SPOT #1

The script provided some good moments. Well done! I enjoyed this line: “I’m not really afraid of trouble, because then it would give me something to write about on my college apps.”

BRIGHT SPOT #2

Enjoyed the music, most of it played by a group called Tetherball. The songs “Buoy” and “Twisting in the Sky” were written by Bernie Bridges, Julian Bridges, Miller Kitsner and Irfan Zaidi and the Supervising Sound Editor and Recording Mixer was Nathan Ruyle. Lara Hall’s costume designs (especially the outfits at the pool party), along with the production design (Sara Millan), Editing (Julian Bridges) and Cinematography (Director of Photography Lee Muller) were all excellent.

The 2009 time frame is pinned down well by the reference to Michael Jackson as the biggest star on the planet, a mention of Barack Obama as Noori’s idol, and by the fact that the online activity is away from MySpace (and onto Facebook.) The current events references depicting what is going on in 2009 are right on target, as are the outfits and the music. Only the “Freaky Friday” switcheroo was derivative, but it served the plot’s look at prejudice towards those with darker skins in America and does so with well-crafted lines like the heartthrob’s dismissal of Noori as having “a big nose and small titties.”

Jeff and Noori at Jeff Benesh’s pool party.

All of the teenagers depicted came off as real and genuine, and Noori’s rejection of Jeff “You know what, Jeff, you’re not my type” and her ultimate rejection of becoming a “Race Traitor” is a great message for this 15 minute film.

The film was chosen by a committee that included Greta Gerwig and Lilly Wachowski — in partnership with Netflix, the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, and Dirty Films. Mahnoor Euceph is an award-winning writer and director from Los Angeles She holds a BA in Design/Media Arts from UCLA and an MFA in Film & TV Production from USC .

CONCLUSION

A top-notch short that takes a look at prejudice in modern-day high school America and combines that serious topic with the difficulties any student in a new school experiences trying to “fit in” and be considered cool. Mahnoor Euceph is a promising up-and-coming Pakistani filmmaker.

Category: Of Local (Quad Cities’) Interest Page 1 of 60

CAST

THE JEREMYs

GENESIS

3 KEY SCENES

NOTABLE SCRIPTED LINES

CONCLUSION

PLOT

GENESIS

IMAGINING THE AFTER-LIFE

CREW

SCREENPLAY

HEAVEN?

RELATIONSHIPS

CONCLUSION

PLOT

FARM ISSUES

IJsselmeer Area

WASHING MACHINE

MORE THREATENING ACTS

THE GOOD

FARM ECONOMY

CONCLUSION

NO DATELINE DENOUEMENT

THE MESSAGE?

PRESS NOTES FOR “FRANKENSTEIN”

THE MONSTER

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT SCORE

LIMITED RELEASE IN THEATERS UNTIL NOV. 5 (On Netflix Nov. 7th)

PERSONAL ARCHIVAL MATERIAL

ADULTHOOD

ALLEN KLEIN

JOHN LENNON

PAUL AS AUTEUR

ED SULLIVAN

SUPER-FAN FROM THE ERA

WINGS IN THE 70s

THIRD & FOURTH SHOWS

THE GOOD

LIMITED RELEASE IN THEATERS UNTIL NOV. 5 (On Netflix Nov. 7^th)