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Any trends or popular fads may be described, whether it would be something like the hula hoop or the pet rock or simply new slang.

What’s Best at the Multi-Plex?

By Connie Wilson

On July 8, 2025

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

Perhaps the title shouldn’t mention the multiplex, since one of the three movies I’m going to address is already streaming on HBO Max. (“Sinners” directed by Ryan Coogler).

To put this in perspective, three films that I’ve taken in since fleeing the heat (and floods) of Austin are “Sinners” (now streaming), “28 Years Later,” and “F-1.” The release dates were, respectively, April 18^th, June 20^th and June 27^th. I’m still planning on taking in the “Jurassic Park” reboot, although initial word from the front is not totally encouraging.

So, which of these three was my favorite and why?

RANKING

#1) I’d have to give the nod to Danny Boyle’s “28 Years Later.” For one thing, it got by on a budget of $60 million (versus”F-1’s” alleged $200 or $300 million). For another, as critic Brett Arnold wrote and with which I agree, the movie has “tender reflections on mortality and misguided exceptionalism, and even the hint of those ideas make ’28 Years Later’ a more thoughtful movie than you’re likely to find at the multiplex this time of year.” This third in a planned five-movie series highlighting the journey of Spike (Alfie Williams) from adolescence to adulthood in a world blighted by a mysterious plague has a lot of meat on its cinematic bones. I fear for Spike by film’s series end, as he is going to fall under the influence of Jack O’Connell’s minions from here on out. The story arc for his emotional development with that lot as his companions on the mainland: not bright. The film was very well-done, with great settings, excellent acting from Jodie Comer as Mom Isla and Ralph Fiennes as the eccentric Dr. Kelsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as father Jamie.

#2) For me, “Sinners,” the Michael B. Jordan-starring (“Black Panther”) Ryan Coogler film came in second for interesting intellectual content, as I watched the story about Smoke and Stack, the extremely well-dressed pair that return to their Southern roots and end up holed up in a fight to the death against vampire hordes, led by Jack O’Connell as Remmick. It was interesting that Jack O’Connell, who got his big break-through in the Angelina-Jolie directed film “Unbreakable” in 2014, appears in both “28 Years Later” and “Sinners.” It is O’Connell as Jimmy, at the end of “28 Years Later” who is shaping up to be a big influence on Spike’s development as a human being in future Boyle films. I found the concept of “Sinners” more original than most of Hollywood’s offerings. I couldn’t help but think, at film’s end, that the trapped Blacks about to become prey for the white vampires might have bettered their lot in life if they had agreed to convert to the dark side and become immortal as vampires, feeding on their white adversaries. Given the history of this country in terms of race relations, what have they got to lose? With every Trump 2.0 edict it seems that the color of one’s skin is, more and more, the criteria as to whether U.S. citizens have a right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and whether or not we believe that “all men are created equal.” (Tell that to the innocent Latinos being rounded up and sent to hell-holes in El Salvador or to Alcatraz Alley without much thought for due process or habeas corpus.) Why not give in to the idea of living forever, with the catch being that, during the “forever” part, the besieged group of Black citizens is going to have to feed on their oppressors. That gets a bit bloody It also might become relatively monotonous and boring after, say, a couple of lifetimes.

#3) So why is “F-1” only ranking as third on this abbreviated list of recent releases of 2025, when it has already snagged $293,388,533 worldwide since its June 27^th release, far out-pacing the $144 million that “Sinners” has racked up and the $126 million that “28 Years Later” has earned since June 20^th? Perhaps simply citing Karl Moore-Forbes (“Forbes), who called it “one-dimensional and lacking in depth” or using Coleman Spilde’s (“Salon”) adjectives of “safe, defanged, neutered, fearful tame moviemaking,” calling it “completely sexless” might give a rough idea of some of the objections from the critical horde. Most critics have liked it.

“F-1”

I am not in complete agreement with Coleman Spilde or Karl Moore-Forbes, but I agree that “F-1” missed opportunities that might have made it a better film. It seemed so intent on pushing what one critic referred to as “a promotional synergy machine” that deeper thoughts or more nuanced concepts or discussions of important societal issues are shoved aside. Some have said that the female characters are one-dimensional and not fleshed out (true). The most damning sentence that stood out to me as having some truth in it, but not being totally representative of the movie in totality was this: “If a movie can’t be made without sacrificing its heart—or, for that matter, ever having one in the first place—it’s not worth making at all.” I did not feel that negatively about the shallowness of the plot. The race scenes were too engaging and, after all, it’s Brad Pitt.

While agreeing that “Ford vs. Ferrari” was a “better” movie about racing, for me, because it built up the human element motr and allowed for some humor to develop, I liked “F-1,” too, and most audiences will, too. This one shows us, thanks to great cinematography from Claudio Mirando, what it must be like to be behind the wheel of a Formula-1 racing car going 200 miles an hour. (The actors did at least 180 during their stints behind the wheel. Cruise and Pitt were to have been the original leads for the Christian Slater/Matt Damon “Ford vs. Ferrari” racing movie, until Cruise passed because his character (Shelby, played by Matt Damon) didn’t get enough time behind the wheel. No CGI—or not as much as nowadays—and race after race after race. Not only do we see Silverstone (the 77^th British Grand Prix), the Spanish Grand Prix, Japan’s Suzuka Japanese Grand Prix, Abu Dhabi, Hungary, the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, the Autodromo Mexican Grand Prix in Mexico City, but we also see the Belgian Grand Prix, the Zandvort Dutch Grand Prix, the Las Vegas Grand Prix and probably a few others that I’m unintentionally omitting. The 17+ settings are colorful and exciting and I understood about as much about F-1 racing after as I did before, which was next to nothing. We learn that Plan C means Combat and there is a lot of emphasis on F-1 racing being a team sport, not an individual one. One critic pointed out the need to kill somebody off in such a dangerous sport. I can’t argue with that. I think the objection was that this was a film without a climax.

MUSIC

I was impressed with the Hans Zimmer score and the placement of wonderful songs in the film, like the opening of “Whole Lotta’ Love” or Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” “F-1” marks the 13th collaboration between Hans Zimmer and Producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Other songs include“I’m just as bad as I used to be” by Chris Stapleton and a song at film’s end, “Driver,” written by Ed Sheeran. No musical note has been left unsung. The effect worked. Securing the rights to the songs, alone, must have cost a fortune. This is the 15th Brad Pitt film to make over $100 million domestically.

THE “COOL” FACTOR

Brad Pitt

Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of articles in papers like the “New York Times” and the “Washington Post” about what makes someone “cool.” There has been a severe shortage of cool ever since Steve McQueen’s classic films like “The Cincinnati Kid” (1965), “Bullitt” (1968) and “The Getaway” (1972.)There have been some attempts at reviving cool in the intervening 60 years, but McQueen crafted an entire career around the cool image. He pretty much owned it, despite such cool contenders as Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Sean Connery back in the day.

Pitt has resurrected McQueen’s mastery of cool. He managed to do so in this film without a single sex scene of any significance. That, in itself, is noteworthy.

Pitt’s wardrobe and carefully layered neckwear , his monosyllabic answers to the questions from the press all play into this image. Even the questions play to the real-life regrets that might haunt Sonny, the character, and Brad Pitt the man.

Sonny’s devotion to driving as the be-all and end-all in life is impractical, but hopelessly romantic. Sonny lives in a van. [ I couldn’t help but wonder if the van was “down by the river.” [If so, thank God it wasn’t the Guadalupe River in Texas.]

Sonny chooses to drive when his previous accident at the Spanish Grand Prix should disqualify him from Formula-1 competition for fear of blindness and paralysis. Sonny says, romantically if not practically, “If the last thing I do is drive that car, I will take that life 1,000 times.” He also shares, “Sometimes, there’s this moment in the car where everything goes peaceful. No one can touch me. In that moment, I’m flying.”

So, the scripted cool guy who is loyal to his friends to a fault and doesn’t care about the money (“dumb, sentimental broke losers” is one description) has been carefully crafted by Director/Writer Joseph Kosinsky (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and his team. Kosinsky and co-writer Ehren Kruger reflect in Pitt all the things that the typical American male would like to be. It’s projection, plain and simple. The same projection that caused naive voters projecting their own desires for money and pretty women onto a candidate who, in real life, was a malignant narcissist, an unsuccessful businessman, a convicted felon and very possibly unhinged. “Perception is reality.”

DEEPER THEMES?

Besides wondering how Damson Idris ended up with the plum role of Joshua Pearce, playing opposite Brad Pitt’s old white guy, I share the regret of many that the rivalry between the young Black protégé and the seasoned old professional isn’t a platform for exploring issues more significant and substantial than such superficial issues as old age versus youth. At a time in America when Black Lives Matter is on the ropes as an organization and DEI is being relentlessly pursued and eliminated, wouldn’t this have been the perfect opportunity to explore the U.S.’s long simmering racial past? Apparently not, because it’s totally brushed aside in favor of semi-humorous jibes at how race team owner Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) is giving “second chances to the elderly.” Jazzy lines like “Hope is not a strategy” and descriptions of Pitt as handsome and as “punk rock for the brand” have to suffice, replacing any real Black/White subplot. It’s the safe way out of discussing any of the real problems in American society, especially in these days of ICE and anti-immigrant white supremacist ideologues.

CONCLUSION

“F-1 poster

The acting in “F-1” is good. Javier Bardem simulates excitement at Sonny’s wins convincingly, which, given Bardem’s Oscar for “No Country For Old Men,” probably isn’t much of a stretch. Shea Whigham (“Boardwalk Empire”), who seems to be in everything, has the opening speaking part opposite Pitt. Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) is well cast as the love interest, although one chaste kiss is about all we get on that front. Kim Bodnia (“The Bridge”) as crew chief Kaspar is fine. Only Damson Idris and Samson Kayo as Cash, his cousin, fell short, for me. We are told how great a driver Idris is repeatedly; it would have been best to show rather than tell. It was also interesting to learn that the actress portraying Damson Idris’ Mom (Sarah Niles) is only 4 years older than Idris.

Pitt won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor (for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood”). He was nominated for his acting in “Twelve Monkeys” in 1995 and was nominated again, in 2008, 2011 and 2015 [2008 (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” as an actor), 2011 (“Moneyball”) and 2015 (“The Big Short”).]His Plan B movies are even more impressive, including an Oscar as the producer of 2013’s “Twelve Years A Slave.” He earned $30 million for his role in “F-1,” a career high and sponsorship and brand deals garnered $40 million towards a budget variously described as $200 million or (some say) $300 million.

For a 62-year-old kid born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, who grew up in Missouri and attended Kickapoo High School, Brad Pitt has, by any career measure, been successful. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Films in which he has appeared in have grossed over $9 billion worldwide.

It is best seen on the IMAX screen. Just suspend your desire for deeper themes or more romance and enjoy the racing sequences.

Mamdani’s NYC Message to Dems: BE NEW

By Connie Wilson

On June 25, 2025

In Editorial, Essays on Politics: Best Political Essays & Ideology, Politics, Pop Culture

Zohran Mamdani, a thirty-three-year-old left-wing state assemblyman from Queens, on Tuesday night, seemingly defeated the better-known Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City. That doesn’t mean that Cuomo can’t run as an Independent in the actual election against the scandal-plagued incumbent (Eric Adams); only time will tell. Most of Mamdani’s opponents were more established and better known. Mamdani was born October 18, 1991. Take note.

Mamdani’s campaign said it knocked on a million and a half doors across the city—not unprecedented in the annals of municipal politics but probably essential for an unknown. The candidate himself appeared in every conceivable media venue, from the TikTok series “Subway Takes” to “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” earning him the sobriquet “Nonstop Mamdani.” In the mid-June heat, Mamdani walked the length of Manhattan, from Inwood to the Battery. He beat Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, in the first round of ranked-choice voting by about seven percentage points. In campaign buttons and other merch visible across the five boroughs, it was a landslide. Mamdani’s win makes him the first Muslim candidate to be selected as the Democratic candidate for Mayor; he is dubbed a Democratic Socialist.

Mamdani’s central issue of affordability in the city got it right, especially with voters under forty-five. His easy smile and ubiquity fueled a steady rise in the polls. His campaign’s essential theme was that life in New York doesn’t have to be so hard. His campaign platform includes support for free city buses, public child care, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, and building affordable social housing units. He is a critic of Israel.

So far, the experiments in explicitly left-wing governance—as opposed to the principled back-benching of Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—have gone badly for the Democratic Party. Mamdani’s proposal of a rent freeze proved popular in the campaign, but Bill de Blasio froze the rent in NYC three times. It has not made New York housing much cheaper. Other ideas like the establishment of five city-run grocery stores seem either a little fanciful or politically difficult, like tax hikes.

During the campaign, Mamdani sometimes appeared a little more flexible than his socialist image. Mamdani has been interested in ideas about how to build more housing, ideas that have germinated in the abundance movement and in attempting to cut red tape for small businesses.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

On another Progressive front, in Chicago, Brandon Johnson’s year and a half as mayor has been semi- disastrous, measured both by the city’s mounting budget crisis and his own plummeting popularity. Chesa Boudin as the avowedly progressive district attorney in San Francisco ended with his removal by voter referendum. That contributed to backlash against Silicone Valley tech that helped power Trump’s victory in the 2024 election. So stay tuned for what this unexpected victory might mean if it leads to Mamdani’s election. Michelle Wu, the young Boston mayor and Elizabeth Warren’s former protégé, has been a more successful model of governance by the left.

Even if Mamdani’s victory was built on hustle in local politics, it also carries an unmistakable message for his beleaguered national party: BE NEW. The Baby Boomers are (finally) giving way to the younger generation. For the first time, Millennials born between 1981 and 1996 comprised 21.81% of the nation’s population.

Generation Z (1997-2012) stood at 20.81%.

Baby Boomers (1946-1964) stood at 19.6% and are dropping like flies.

Generation X born between 1965 and 1980 stand at 19.27%. Only the Silent Generation (1928-1945) and Alpha (2013-2023) stand at only 4.48% and 13.85%, respectively, with the children born during WWII or earlier rapidly losing members, and the present lower birth rate reflected in Alpha.

The younger generation would like to see some reasonable, middle-of-the-road newbies elected. They’d like to see the “passing of the torch” that Joe Biden promised (but did not willingly deliver.) So, BE NEW is the message that the Democratic party should embrace, since so many of its leaders and leadership resemble television’s Crypt Keeper. Watching Chuck Schumer (age 75) talk about drafting a letter of protest against Trump’s many illegal moves, or Dick Durbin (Nov. 21, 1944) pontificating about same, does not inspire confidence. Both sides need some new blood, but the Democrats seem to need it the most.

Vice President J.D. Vance.

The GOP already has the eyeliner-wearing J.D. Vance warming up in the bull-pen. Unless you want 4 more years of marching backwards and telling women to STFU, stay in the kitchen, and procreate, be afraid. Be very afraid.

During the long and often difficult years since Obama’s election, the Party’s past three Presidential nominees have been Obama’s Secretary of State, Obama’s Vice-President, and Obama’s Vice-President’s Vice-President. Joe Biden’s precipitous decline defined last year’s election. Biden’s disastrous debate performance may threaten to define the Party for a generation. This past spring, Democrats in the House lost a vote they might have won, for passage of a budget-reconciliation bill, except too many Democratic congressman died and couldn’t be replaced in time to vote. For those decrying the idea of dying in office, like San Francisco representative Diane Feinstein, even the indomitable Nancy Pelosi looked her age after she tumbled downstairs while overseas, breaking her hip.

Of course, the Republicans conveniently try to downplay their own fossils, like 92-year-old Chuck Grassley, currently the oldest Senator serving. Who can forget Mitch McConnell (Feb. 20, 1942) freezing in the Capitol halls and falling. (The mighty, how they have fallen.) Republicans had several Senators who overstayed their welcome, including John Stennis (R, MI), who served over 41 years and Orrin Hatch (R, Utah) who served from 1977 until 2019.

Trump is seventy-nine years old and has been President twice. He and his party can’t run as the outsiders forever. Democrats: be new.

“The Sentry” to Play at SXSW London in June

By Connie Wilson

On June 2, 2025

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

“The Sentry”

I reviewed films—long and short—at SXSW this past March, but missed “The Sentry,” from Director Jake Wachtel. “The Sentry” is going to play June 2-7 at SXSW London, followed by Raindance (6/18-6/27) and the Palm Springs Shortsfest (6/24-6/30) so, I received an offer to review this 17 minute 07 second genre-bending look at a secret agent in action in Cambodia.

JAKE WACHTEL

The director/writer of this refreshing look at the outcome of violence is American Director Jake Wachtel. Wachtel moved to Cambodia in 2015 to teach filmmaking for a year via Filmmakers Without Borders. (I’ve heard of Doctors Without Borders, but color me clueless on FWB). He now is headquartered in Phnom Penh and released a 2022 Buddhist science fiction film, “Karmalink” (1 hour and 41 minutes) that was one of the opening films for the Venice Film Festival.

Notes say that some of Wachtel’s students from his original filmmaking course appear in his films. Among his producers, are Sok Visal, who founded 802 Films and founded the record label Klap Ya Handz, part of the recovery of the arts from the days of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Also mentioned was Alan R Milligan.

Wachtel is well on his way to providing us with short and long films that I will enjoy, as I did this one. Director of Photography Erik Brondbo and company worked wonders with the visual effects of a dead guy coming back to life and giving his killer an opportunity to reflect on his actions, which is the film’s finale.

VIOLENCE ON FILM

Mixed with the usual karate-style knock-‘em sock-em scene (from roughly 2’22” until 3 minutes) comes a comedy short with a serious theme buried beneath the laughs.

I’m not really much of a fan of action flicks where people pound each other into oblivion. It’s probably why I disliked “Bullet Train.” Even Charlize Theron performing all those stunts herself couldn’t make me want to watch “Atomic Blonde.” It has always bothered me that films glorify the death(s) of multiple victims and the implication is that we should, too. The worst example of that, recently, in a feature film, was Tom Hardy’s latest foray into action films entitled “Havoc.” (May I say, “Ugh?” Yes, I may, because this is my blog, and I was turned off by the random, wanton violence of that 2025 release.)

DANIEL RAYMONT

Daniel Raymont

But I do appreciate humor. The lead of “The Sentry” has made a career out of playing dark comedic roles. Lead actor Daniel Raymont appeared as the cab driver opposite Robin Williams and Mila Kunis in the 2014 film “The Angriest Man in Brooklyn” where he portrayed an Uzbek cab driver (a speaking part). Raymont has also been in “The Mosquito Coast,” “They Came At Night,” “Unbreakable Kimmie Schmidt,” “Bull,” “Rough Night” (opposite Paul W. Downs who is Jimmy on “Hacks” and co-wrote that film, which also starred Scarlett Johannson), “The Babyman,” and “Buzz Kill.”

In other words, this son of a Texas-born mother and a German/Argentinian father has been around, literally and figuratively speaking. Raymont currently splits his time between New York City and Mexico City, but has also lived in Washington, D.C., London, Maine, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles. You know he’s an unusually versatile performer when the “trivia” portion of his IMDB entry says: “Daniel has a degree in Anthropology and spent time living with the Lacandon Maya in Chiapas, Mexico.” His impressive command of accents emphasizes that he is a Renaissance Man for All Seasons.

Daniel has a wild head of hair, seems too old to be killing people using the martial arts (born in 1969—but let’s not forget that Liam Neeson is still at it), but has the right comic demeanor for this part. His mastery of accents and languages is impressive. After the 3 minutes where Secret Agent Blackwood (Raymont) kills two guards at a remote Cambodian outpost, we see him gradually develop a conscience about the fact that he has just killed two guards.

CAST

One of the guards is Termite (Phang Dora), who miraculously, in a ghostlike re-emergence, comes back from the grave and negotiates a deal with his killer to quit boring Blackwood with non-stop stories about his family, in exchange for $15,000 cash to be paid to his widow. Pay Termite’s wife and he’ll leave Blackwood alone. It’s a strange plot, but, somehow, it works. I had no difficulty believing that Termite is riding on the back of Agent Blackwood’s motorcycle, boring the bejesus out of him about his sick wife, his overbearing sister-in-law, his two kids, and the ice cream jingle that is stuck in his head and theirs.

Agent Blackwood is driven to distraction by Termite’s nattering and offers Termite money to go away and leave him alone. I honestly felt that Termite quit the negotiation process too soon, or he could have extorted more money from Agent Blackwood.

TEARING DOWN VS BUILDING UP

I liked the fact that, by the end of this 17 minute film, Agent Blackwood looks like he has developed a conscience. Killing people is such a waste, just as tearing down things is much easier than building them up. When you actually take a human life, it is an act not to be glorified, but to be condemned. But the movies don’t always see it that way. And, yes, I understand that it is dramatic and those of us sitting on our couch watching a streaming service or paying our money to watch “Mission Impossible” films expect there to be violence and death.

The different thing about this short is that my point-of-view about how tearing things down (and killing people) perhaps should not be glorified is put out there for thoughtful reflection. No, we won’t go without our action fight scenes and obligatory deaths. But could a lead character once in a while experience a moment of true remorse? That won’t happen if you’re a fan of DOGE or of Steve Bannon’s philosophy articulated in “American Dharma” (check out that Errol Morris interview on Prime Video). But it’s really a shame that film, in general, doesn’t give equal time to building things up and advocate more for NOT killing fellow humans, in addition to the non-stop diet of violence we are all subjected to on a daily basis. EQUAL TIME, PEOPLE, EQUAL TIME!

I enjoyed this short and will look for more from this team.

The Goodbye Line: Say Hello!

By Connie Wilson

On May 1, 2025

In Editorial, Health/Medicine, Humor and Weird Wilson-isms, Local, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Pop Culture

The Goodbye Line

BACK STORY

Many years ago, when I was pondering writing a novel (before I actually wrote four of them) I had a “Eureka!” moment where I thought of what would be the perfect plot device. My nascent novel would feature a pay phone booth. It would follow the different people who used this pay phone booth. It seemed like a good idea at the time, although I never followed through with actually sitting down and thinking up a plot that would involve these fictional protagonists.

That book idea has died a grisly death. So have pay phone booths. A recent statistic informed me that just ten years ago each state had about 27,000 pay phones. Fast forward to 2025. The California Utilities Commission reported that as of March there are only 2,525 active pay phone units in California. Four hundred and eighty-four of these pay phones were located in Los Angeles County. In Los Angeles there are only 149 remaining pay phones. Out of those 149 pay phones in Los Angeles, only 20 were operative.

Pay phones have given way to cell phones and my novel idea has died with the changing times. But never fear. A couple of clever artists, Alexis Wood and Adam Trunell, came up with an idea far more creative than my novel idea: the Goodbye Line.

THE GOODBYE LINE

The pair—who are a romantic duo as well as a professional team (Wood is a documentary filmmaker)—have placed stickers on the phones that say, “Yes, this pay phone works” and have invited random individuals to use the phone free and leave a message. Their pitch: “Some day these will be gone, like me, you, and everyone else.” The message went on to invite passers-by to leave their (free) message “before it’s too late. Saying goodbye is such a part of life. It’s all us coming and going, coming and going. We all share that. And it makes it less lonely, less scary. Not that it makes it easier.”

Trunell, 46, and Wood, 37, emphasize that the Goodbye Line was not rooted in any sort of personal loss. But the calls have reduced Wood to tears, at times, and left the pair pondering how to intervene if the caller seems to be saying goodbye to life. One call, coming in from the Hollywood corner of Yucca Avenue and Wilcox Street, read: “Goodbye, Donny. You were my love from 2017 to a few years ago. But you died last year, and I didn’t know for a long time. It makes me very sad.”

Another caller voiced an emotional goodbye to her mother, who died when he was a teenager, saying, “You thought that I might kind of squander my education,” said the caller, recalling that their last conversation had been an argument about his grades. “I love you, and I miss you, and this has been a long overdue goodbye.” And he hung up.

ALEXIS WOOD & ADAM TRUNELL

The callers have the opportunity to state that they want their words kept private. Otherwise, Trunell and Wood transcribe the conversations and post them on Instagram and social media. Trunell says, “You kind of just walk into this and realize how all this feels. It just sort of happens. The reward is unexpected connections, and reminders of your own humanity. I’m worried about my folks dying, but I don’t think how it’s going to change me. This just feels like a very human project. It takes you out of whatever b.s. is going on.”

One particular phone booth, set along the Chaney Trail, produced calls from people (hikers) saying good-bye to their previously unfit selves and opening the door to their new svelte selves. There are, of course, some drunken calls. And, occasionally, there are disturbing calls, like the one that Wood describes: “It sounded like a kid, and it was a super brief message, and you don’t know if it’s serious or not.”

When asked what caused the two to start the Goodbye Line, Trunell said, “Initially, I wanted to hear people’s voices. I wanted a place where we would get to hear people saying things.”

A PERSONAL APPEAL

Call me. (Isn’t that a song?)

Me, too.

I recently wrote to my best friend (whom I had called, but not reached) and declared, “I NEED A PHONE FRIEND.” I grew up in the era of land lines. I like nothing better than a discussion about current events, politics, movies, or, really, anything. In today’s society (as a former phone friend informed me) all the ‘cool kids’ text. You are considered an oddity, a fossil, a freak if you’d like to actually TALK to someone.

And, of course, I don’t mean sharing health hurdles, but conversation with like-minded individuals who, ideally, share 50% of the duty of carrying the conversation on to a level that we both enjoy. One potential phone friend, my sister, never leaves her house, doesn’t own a car, and currently doesn’t have a driver’s license. She was perfect because she literally never goes anywhere. When you phone others, they are at work, or out shopping, or otherwise engaged (making dinner, reading, watching TV, etc.). Some of them have let me know that they just don’t have the time or inclination to be my “phone friend.” If I didn’t “get” that when it was articulated more than once, some have rattled frying pans or clinked glasses or otherwise let me know that I am bothering them and they are much too busy to be my phone friend.

That is sad, for me. And it is sad for humanity, because, as Adam Trunell said, I, too, wanted to hear people’s voices and other people’s opinions—probably why I went into journalism in the first place in 1963.

If you would like to be my “phone friend” and have time for a conversation on any topic of your choosing, send me a note (via e-mail) and let’s have at it. (I’m not close enough to California to find a pay phone and make a call and, besides, that would be a one-way encounter, which is not my intention.

My only sibling, I had to cross off my dance card. Perfect in so many ways (see above). But she interrupted repeatedly AND within five seconds.

I asked, politely, that she let me finish one short sentence. One of our first cousins had just died, unexpectedly. I had called to share this news. Despite asking politely that she not interrupt for five seconds to let me get that message out, it didn’t help. She said, instead, “If I don’t say what I’m thinking immediately when I’m thinking it, I won’t remember it later.” O…….K……

I gave up on her as a phone friend, a loss because she is, after all, my only sibling and, secondly, how many people do you know who never leave their house at all? (That would be none, for me). I finally had to point out that phones do work “both ways.” I moved on down the road. We haven’t spoken in months.

So, with the loss of the sole phone friend with plenty of time to talk, I am open to new phone friends, and I want to put that out there for anyone reading this who knows me. How would you reach me? Write me at Einnoc9876@gmail.com and we’ll figure it out.

And let me end this piece on the death of land lines (which work so much better without recharging) and pay phones with the words of Todd Martens, who wrote about the Goodbye Line in the Los Angeles Times. It’s a fascinating article and one that ends with this well-written paragraph: “An underlying thesis of the Goodbye Line: Its existence is a reminder of life’s impermanence. As much as it encourages us to say goodbye, it’s also a nudge to never stop picking up the phone to say hello.”

“The Pearl Comb” Marries Mysticism, Misogyny and Mermaids

By Connie Wilson

On March 19, 2025

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

“The Pearl Comb” to screen in Cleveland.

“THE PEARL COMB” from writer, director and star Ali Cook is a 20 minute short that has a message about female empowerment (or lack of same). It is set in 1893 Cornwell with beautiful cinematography of the area. The Victorian period sets and costumes, cinematography and music were also excellent. But, best of all, the short packs an unexpected surprise ending—not easy to pull off in twenty minutes.

CAST

“The Pearl Comb” to premiere at Cleveland Film Festival.

The film focuses on a fisherman’s wife, Beatie Lutey (Beatie Edney of “Poldark”). Beatie is being investigated to find out how she was able to cure a young person of tuberculosis. Beatie tells Gregory, the investigator (played by Writer/Director Ali Cook), that the healing gift comes from her husband, Lutey (Simon Armstrong) and his happening upon a mermaid who bestowed upon him the gift of healing in return for his aid.

One line that sums up Beatie’s message to the investigator: ”No one is ready for a female doctor. A woman of learning is far more threatening,” (Sad that this remains true in 2025, just as it was true in 1893.)

Simon Armstrong as Lutey (“Game of Thrones”), Clara Paget as the mermaid (“Black Sails”), Roxana Cook as Edith and Thomas Stocker as Arthur round out the cast.

MAN MEETS MERMAID

Clara Paget as the mermaid. The mermaid (Clara Paget of “Black Sails”) promises Lutey wealth if he will help her return to the ocean. (“Beautiful mortal, help me. Carry me out to sea.”) Lutey sought, instead, the gift of healing to improve his wife’s ailment (prompting the mermaid to say, “You are the first unselfish man that I’ve ever met.”) To prove to Lutey that he is not just imagining their meeting, the mermaid gives him a pearl-encrusted comb.

The film is a blend of the mystical and the modern. The line from Beatie to her husband when he calls her “beautiful” is modern. Beatie responds, “You ain’t called me beautiful in 30 years!” The long-suffering wife at first thinks her husband has been drinking, but she soon learns that his story, while fantastic, is true.

CONCLUSION

The Pearl Comb.”

“The Pearl Comb” is both beautiful and thought-provoking, with a surprise ending that adds to its impact. “The Pearl Comb” was nominated for five awards at the British Short Film Awards 2024, winning two. Writer/Director/Actor Ali Cook’s previous film “The Cunning Man” won 33 awards.

This is another potential award-winner to watch as it screens at the Cleveland International Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying festival. “The Pearl Comb” premieres on April 4^th at the Allen Theatre at 9:50 p.m. and subsequently will be available on CIFF Streams from April 6-13^th.

“We Bury the Dead” at SXSW 2025

By Connie Wilson

On March 16, 2025

In Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews, Scary stories

Reviewer Connie Wilson and Writer/Director Zak Hilditch

Australian Writer/Director Zak Hilditch and reviewer Connie Wilson at the SXSW screening of “We Bury the Dead.” (Credit Jeff Peterson).

From Australian writer/director Zak Hilditch (1922, These Final Hours), comes a terrifyingly realistic new zombie movie, “We Bury The Dead.”

PLOT

As the synopsis says, “We Bury the Dead’ is a gripping and emotional thriller set after a military experiment decimates the people of Tasmania.” It is the United States that is responsible for the deaths (500,000 victims). One scripted line, alluding to Ava’s U.S. citizenship, says, “I’m surprised we’re letting the Yanks chip in at all.” [Me, too, in today’s climate.] But Ava, a U.S. citizen, is determined to find her husband, who was away on a work retreat.

An experimental weapon has totally annihilated Hobart. Travel is banned. Ava volunteers for a body retrieval unit, hoping to make her way to Woodbridge where her husband, Mitch, was attending a work retreat at the Enso Resort. Some of the victims, who lay dead where they fell instantly in this catastrophe, are re-animating for brief periods. The “Miracle Mike” headless chicken is even referenced. (I wrote an entire short story about Miracle Mike that appears in “Hellfire & Damnation,” a book of horror short stories, so that line rang a vivid bell)

CAST

Daisy Ridley (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens) stars as Ava, a desperate woman joining the “body retrieval unit” as a volunteer in the hopes of finding her husband alive. Some of the victims have been “coming alive” briefly. That means there might be hope for restoring life, perhaps. Ava’s husband, Mitch (Matt Wheelan), when he departed, was on the outs with his wife. We don’t find out why for a very long time in the 94-minute movie.

When we do, however, and when Ava finally finds her spouse, it humanizes all the horrors she has endured and triumphed over on her way to the Enso Resort. It also sets up the only false note, for me, of the entire film,–the ending— but, since it is the very end of this SXSW entry, you’ll have to see it for yourself to find out what that might be. I hope that you do. It’s well worth the time and we can debate the significance or likelihood of the last few minutes—the denouement— of the film. It was a unique original ending.

The body retrieval volunteers are assigned partners, and Ava draws a hunky, long-haired motorcycle-riding he-man named Clay (Brenton Thwaites, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, 2017). After seeing flashbacks of Ava’s nuptials with husband Mark, one wonders if she might consider dumping Mitch for Clay, based on looks alone. But, of course, this is not a skin-deep movie based on only sex appeal. Ava is going to go through hell to try to find and perhaps save her spouse. We will (eventually) find out what they were fighting about just before he departed. When Ava succeeds in finding Mark, she will be in for some surprises.

GRIEF

Director Zak Hilditch of “We Bury the Dead.” (Photo by Connie Wilson.)

“We Bury the Dead” is an exploration of human grief, which grew out of Writer/Director Zak Hilditch’s loss of his mother to breast cancer. When he was cleaning out her house and disposing of her things, said the Director in a Q&A session following the movie’s screening at SXSW, he realized, “There’s no handbook when it comes to grief.” Hilditch began thinking about the ramifications of some sort of mass catastrophe and how cleaning up all the bodies might be handled.

Hilditch admitted that there was much DNA from the 2002 film “28 Days Later” in this film. That early influence contributed to thinking about how the country would handle the disposal of all the bodies— those who had dropped dead while having breakfast (or, in one case, at a bachelor party with strippers). And what if some of the deceased started to “come back,” which a few do. Would the Army want to study those that temporarily revive, to see if they could be restored to life somehow? (Answer: no). What would the undead dead look like? You know the answer, but the rheumy eyes of those who are “awakening” and the mastication noises of teeth grinding (sound designer Duncan Campbell and Tom Heuzenroeder get the credit), plus the gorgeous cinematography from Steven Annis all contribute to a first-rate viewing experience. This one was exciting to watch, beautiful in its many images of the Australian landscape, and professionally done.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The aerial shots, (which are many and numerous), added a great deal to the film. The use of choral music (Handel, et. al.) during body removal scenes was both original and eerily fitting. A British composer now living in Melbourne composed the score. He is listed as Clark (first name, Chris). Shots of the still-burning hills instantly took me back to panoramas of the recent Los Angeles fires. The truly interesting camera shots from overhead angles really added to the film’s patina, achieved on a relatively limited budget. A shot of the sun coming up was breathtaking; there are great coastal scenes when Ava and Clay are riding a borrowed motorcycle to evade the road blocks. The music was great in those scenes, also.

CLOSE CALLS

“We Bury the Dead” with Daisy Ridley at SXSW 2025. (Credit Steven Annis).

Ava displays a great deal of courage during several encounters with the zombies and, in one case, with a military man who has lost his pregnant wife to the disaster imprisons Ava for a short time in a bathroom, During Ava’s brief imprisonment, Clay escapes. When the officer comes to let Ava out of her cell, he asks for one dance during which she will impersonate his now deceased wife. The poor guy insists that Ava dress precisely the way his wife would have been dressed, complete with wearing his wife’s wedding ring. That’s when trouble starts. Ava is no slouch when it comes to taking care of herself using violence, if necessary.

There were so many human moments and so many unique touches that one viewer announced to the crowd that “We Bury the Dead” was now his favorite zombie movie. Never an afficionado of “The Walking Dead,” I had attended with someone who worked on that series. He gave it high marks for creativity and realism. (I know my eyes were riveted on the stripper with pink hair, Crystal Heo,, and the barn full of zombies in chains, the Viking funeral of husband Mitch when Ava finally located him, the assisting of a victim to bury the rest of his family and dispatching of the grief-stricken.) All felt fresh and unique and were so well filmed and scored that I’d have to agree with the impressed viewer who voted for 2002’s “28 Days,” until now.

Q&A

Hilditch gave great credit to Daisy Ridley for her work, saying, “I think it is the most amazing performance of her career. She knew what to do. And she is just the easiest-going person.” Scenes that called for tears, such as on the airplane on the way to the Tasmanian disaster area, seemed natural and effortless. Said Hilditch, “I think she’s the only actor in Hollywood who reads and reads fast.” It took one year to prep the film. Hilditch sent her the script within 72 hours of zooming with her.

CONCLUSION

This one, released on March 9^th after its SXSW debut, deserves to find an audience. It is riveting, well-paced, and human—not necessarily characteristics of all zombie movies. In a week that saw me take in multiple features, this one was my favorite film. I look forward to seeing it again. At the end of the screening at the Hyatt Theater, the director, once again, mentioned the low budget and said, “All hail indie cinema!”

Amen!

“On Swift Horses” on March 13th, 2025 at SXSW

By Connie Wilson

On March 14, 2025

In Movies, Pop Culture, Reviews

The closing night film at SXSW in Austin at the Paramount Theater on March 13, 2025 was “On Swift Horses.” Director Daniel Minahan (“Six Feet Under”) was present with cast members Daisy Edgar-Jones (Muriel), Diego Calva (Henry), and Sasha Calle (Sandra). Missing from the stage was the cast member most came to see, newcomer Jacob Elordi, who played Julius Walker, brother of Will Poulter’s Lee.

Sasha and Diego on the Red Carpet at SXSW on March 13, 2025. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

The scripted line “He has passions of his own” (Lee to Muriel) is code for “my brother Julius is gay.” Apparently the many gay sex scenes caused a few patrons to depart the Palm Springs International Festival when it was a surprise showing. The true nature of the relationships is somewhat shielded by the veiled write-up(s) that appeared before the film was screened.

As the plot progresses, we learn that Muriel, too, may be gay—although she may be more accurately termed bi-sexual. As I watched the film, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the content of the “Sally” documentary of Sally Ride, who also married and had male lovers, hid her true sexuality from the world, but spent the final decades of her life with a significant partner of the same sex.

There is definitely chemistry between Daisy Edgar-Jones’ character and Julius when he shows up at the Kansas farm that Muriel has recently inherited from her deceased mother. I was hopeful that this “forbidden passion” was going to be played out onscreen, but it was several different kinds of forbidden passions of the fifties that comprised the film’s 2 hour run.

LGBQT?

As a female appreciative of a young actor as good-looking as Jacob Elordi (“Saltburn”) it disappointed me that the sex scenes we saw the most of were between Elordi and Diego Calva as Henry. To each his own, but the loss of some heterosexual love scenes between two such attractive leads as Daisy Edgar-Jones and Jacob Elordi was a big disappointment, just as the young actor’s absence from the premiere was a let-down for the crowds that had gathered.

There would be some less lengthy love scenes between Muriel and Sandra (Sasha Calle). Sasha Calle turned in a dynamite performance, as did Daisy Edgar-Jones.

BACKGROUND

The unsung heroes: the writers! (Book, left, Shannon Pufahl, and screenplay, right, Bryce Kass). (Photo by Connie Wilson)

The book “On Swift Horses”, written by Shannon Pufahl, was the basis for this film. I get the distinct impression that I should go back to the source material to see how accurate the Bryce Kass screenplay was in adapting the multi-layered story of young love and lust in the fifties in the United States.

But, as a woman who lived through this decade (the Eisenhower era), I feel informed enough to comment on the societal repression it portrays. Women, in the fifties and sixties, were not allowed to have credit cards in their own names. We had to apply as Mrs. Wilson or, in this case as Mrs. Lee Walker to get a department store credit card. It was still illegal in San Diego to be queer until 1975, said Sasha Calle from the stage. Jobs of various sorts were not open to females (i.e., the high-paying ones.) Prejudice against queer or gay citizens existed, even if it was unspoken, and, all-in-all, it was not the greatest time to come of age as a woman in America nor to be “different” in any way.

The screenplay by Bryce Kass tells us that Muriel’s mother was the first woman in Marshall County, Kansas, to get a car, the first to go to college, and the first to get a divorce. Perhaps Muriel’s blazing new life paths for herself isn’t quite as surprising after we learn that information about the bold steps taken by her own mother. There is also the put-down from Julius who said, “That sad girl. She needs someone to tell her what to do.” Remarks like that would make today’s females mad enough to cut loose and attempt to do their own thing. It may have sparked those emotions in young Muriel. As Director Minahan said from the stage “These are young people following their hearts and risking everything to be themselves.” Another documentary (about Sally Ride) playing here (and at Sundance), “Sally,” covered the same ground with a woman who was the first U.S. woman in space. My point: yes this prejudice against gays, lesbians, Hispanics existed in the fifties and beyond. It still exists in repressive countries like Iran and Russia. Are we secure that those bad old days are gone forever in America today? Check your local newspaper (online, of course) to see if equality—which came a long way—can survive in 2025.

SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS

Daisy Edgar-Jones (Muriel) at SXSW on March 13, 2025. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

Muriel marries Lee, but not very enthusiastically. There is repressed sexual tension between Muriel and Julius as soon as he shows up at the couple’s home. (If only that had been let play out a bit more.) The dancing scenes were promising. From an interested onlooker, you have Lee–who is a good guy with a bad hairdo—and you have Julius, who is gorgeous. No wonder Muriel hesitates to give a straight answer about marriage when she meets the handsome brother. We suspect, however, that her lone wolf style, which emerges and triumphs, is more her inner spirit guiding her than the temporary lure of a more attractive male. Muriel is young and she is finding her own way, which ultimately doesn’t involve either brother. Lee (Will Poulter) says that Muriel has chosen what is not real. (Hmmm)

Will describes his brother as “He gets to live his life like there’s no tomorrow.” Basically, it means, as one other scripted line put it, that Julius ends up “a thief, a faggot and alone.” It does seem that Julius really wants to have a meaningful relationship with Henry (Diego Calva), harkening back to films like “Brokeback Mountain.” In fact, in the latter half of the 1 hour and 59 minute film, Julius is putting his life in danger looking for Henry in Tijuana. (Thank heaven for Henry’s little gold gun at the moment of truth!)

One performer who stood out was Sasha Calle as Sandra. Her onscreen performance as a sexually liberated lesbian bombshell was palpable. She smolders onscreen with a sense of self-confidence. Sasha referred to the cast as “young, attractive, and cool” right before breaking into laughter and calling herself a “dork.” She’s a dork who will have a bright future in the right parts, as will Daisy Edgar-Jones, who has already been working professionally since age 17 on the London stage and in television.

Sasha Calle on the Red Carpet for “On Swift Horses” at SXSW on March 13, 2025. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

Diego Calva told the audience during the Q&A that he was not sure, at first, that he was the right choice for Henry, but Director Minahan sat him down and said, “You’re Henry. Be brave.” Calva (“Babylon”) was brave (as was Elordi). However, I’m still regretting the failure to provide equal time for an Elordi/Edgar-Jones hook-up. (Different strokes for different folks.) The sexual tension was there; it would be nice to see the two paired again in a different vehicle.

I wasn’t as convinced by the Elordi/Calva relationship. It was not because it was a homosexual relationship. It was because I had a hard time understanding much of Diego Calva’s dialogue and some of Jacob Elordi’s. On the other hand, I was impressed with how well Daisy Edgar-Jones, born in 1998 in London, handled her American Midwestern accent. She has shared that snippets of her accent(s) from a Northern Ireland grandfather and her Scottish father emerge at times. Edgar-Jones trained at the National Youth Theatre in London.

THINGS THE PERIOD PIECE GOT RIGHT

Daisy Edgar-Jones on closing night of SXSW on March 13, 2025, at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

I lived through the fifties, a time when a married woman couldn’t get a credit card in her own name, but had to apply as (in this case), “Mrs. Muriel Walker” or “Mrs. Lee Walker.” A good friend of mine, a single teacher buying her first home, was truly irritated when she was listed as “a spinster” on the paperwork. (She was in her twenties at the time, but single.) Women were frowned upon in the professions. It was “okay” to be a secretary, a nurse, a teacher, or a hairdresser, but it was not okay to be an engineer, a doctor or a lawyer. The phrase “second class citizens” might be considered accurate for women in the 1950s and beyond. Yes, there were the occasional trail-blazers like Ruth Bader Ginsberg, but I’m talking about the majority of women. The pill did not really become available until the early sixties, so women were trapped by their biology and by the mores of society, which frowned on divorce and barely even had terms for women attracted to their own sex.

One thing that certainly was accurate: everybody smoked.

Kat Cunning as Gail. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

The gambling scenes, for both Julius and Muriel, were well-done and took us out of the house, the low-rent hotels ($1.50 a day), and the underbelly of fifties society, in general.

The un-sexy boxy female underwear of the era: accurate.

The Zenith radio and “The Rifleman” on TV: true to the times.

All-in-all lots of attention to detail to “get it right,” although one wonders if the principals aren’t a bit preoccupied with sex. Muriel, in the film, never has to contend with a pregnancy that might have changed the course of her life. Most of society’s women of the time did have to deal with that reality in one way or another, but Muriel seems to float through life on a lucky streak, winning at the race track even as she loses at marriage.

HORSES

Julius is a gambler, and Muriel becomes one, betting on the ponies. (Title reference). There is also a horse that Julius wins in a poker game and takes to his brother Lee’s house, thinking that Will and Muriel live on a ranch. Lee corrects him. Will had said the couple built a ranch-style house. Now they have a horse wandering around in their backyard. Interesting. Also interesting: I wondered how one could ride a horse from San Diego to Kansas, but nevermind about that. Jacob Elordi looks good on a horse, sprawled on the hood of a car (shirtless) when we first see him, in a sailor uniform or lazing about in his underwear. He even looked good dead (in “Saltburn”). Give me more Jacob Elordi opposite Daisy Edgar-Jones in the future, please.

The cast of “On Swift Horses” onstage after the film at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas, during SXSW’s closing night film on March 13, 2025. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

CONCLUSION: If you are an open-minded person who accepts same sex (and opposite sex) relationships without condemnation or moral judgment, as I am, but you are straight, you will probably regret not having more of the Elardi/Edgar-Jones chemistry explored onscreen, but the attempt to “really honor the performances and approach every scene with simplicity and integrity” was admirable. The performances were, by and large, authentic and touching and we get a peek into the sexually repressed fifties, which gives us a glimpse into the future that the current administration would like to reinstate. The cinematography from Luc Montpellier was terrific. The period music, costuming, and sets all contributed. The film opens in theaters on April 25th.

“The Age of Disclosure”—Or Is It?

By Connie Wilson

On March 12, 2025

In Best Paranormal Stories Online to Read | Paranormal Podcast, Movies, News, Of Local (Quad Cities') Interest, Politics, Pop Culture, Reviews

Director Dan Farah worked 2 and ½ years on his documentary “The Age of Disclosure.” Previously Farah had produced Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” and has numerous other credits on IMDB.com. In “The Age of Disclosure,” which premiered at SXSW on Sunday, March 9th, 2025 at the Paramount Theater in downtown Austin, 34 government, military and intelligence community figures speak out about alien intelligence and UAP, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena. (Formerly known as UFOs).

From “The Hollywood Reporter” (Daniel Feiberg, March 9, 2025): “Almost nothing in The Age of Disclosure is “new,” per se. The documentary uses these 34 talking heads from various levels of the government, military and intelligence community to allege a deep state conspiracy covering up interactions with non-human intelligent life and technology of non-human origin going back 80 years. Many of the people in the documentary have testified before Congress about what they say they know, and more than a couple of them have been in previous documentaries and docuseries recounting their stories with the same level of personal conviction.”

The pilots and scientists who told stories of their encounters with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena seemed legitimate. Telling the audience that the document is “unprecedented and revelatory” was NOT totally accurate. But it was an interesting and slick documentary that the young audience seemed to totally accept. Director Dan Farah, from the stage, disclosed that he had been told by “key members of the White House” (one a personal friend) that they are going to be using this film. Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee was onstage as a proponent of additional Congressional hearngs. On March 12th, Burchett, who represents Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional district, appeared on CNN defending DOGE and addressing questions about a potential government shutdown. Burchett is part of the new House subcommittee overseeing President Trump’s DOGE (Department of Governmental Efficiency.)

Tim Burchett (R, TN) is one of the Committee Heads of DOGE, Elon Musk’s Department of Governmental Efficiency and was Committee Chairman for the first Congressional hearings on UAP (until he was removed from that position 18 hours before the hearings).

The “secret war” amongst major nations is a competition to be the first to reverse engineer technology of non-human origin: a contention for which the film offered no real proof. Nor had the term “the Legacy Crash Retrieval Program” been used previously, to my knowledge. Was it coined for this film? The documentary alleges that this secret program goes back to President Harry Truman and 1947, and that Roswell (NM) really happened the way it’s been portrayed in the movies. The film flatly states that there was a boot-shaped aircraft with hieroglyphs or runes within it, 4 non-human bodies that were sent to Wright Air Force Base. [I’ve been to the Roswell, New Mexico “museum” devoted to this crash; it is not persuasive at all, unless you’re “in” to paper mache re-enactments.]

There is a second contention presented as fact that Russia recovered a Tic Tac ship in 1989 and 4 non-human bodies. Proof, again, is not available, all because of the “conspiracy” to keep things secret.

Who would want to keep this secret? And why?

As another reviewer noted, “My problem isn’t the lack of opposing voices. It’s that there could not be experts debunking anything because nothing is proven, therefore nothing can be refuted…If someone insists (as one man in the documentary does), without evidence, that people they can’t or won’t name were killed to keep certain things they can’t tell you about secret, what are you going to say?” What about cell phone video of these encounters in this day and age of cell phones?

DEFENSE CONTRACTORS

Dan Farah, Director of "The Age of Disclosure"

Dan Farah, 45, Director of “The Age of Disclosure.” (Photo by Ali Feinstein)

Tops on the list for people with a motive to refuse to reveal the truth of alien spaceship crashes are defense contractors. The contention is that defense contractors have been going to flying saucer crash sites for years, but won’t share the knowledge they glean because they want to keep it for themselves, reverse engineer whatever they find, and become Top Dog. Hence, the Age of Disclosure, since we all can agree that transparency—so far not very forthcoming in any political administration ever—would be desirable. The film even goes so far as to suggest that the Presidents during these 80 years might not have been “in the know” and used the example of former President George Herbert Bush, who was also once the head of the CIA, so…. It seems illogical that Bush I could be kept in the dark, but the film does a good job of making it all seem plausible. And isn’t that enough for the fans of Alex Jones, for instance? Should it be “enough” for we regular citizens who owe it to ourselves and our nation to really dig deep on simply accepting statements as fact (“Your grocery prices will go down on Day One,” for instance, from one political candidate.) Don’t we owe it to ourselves and our country to ask tough questions, no matter how much we WANT to believe?

TECHNIQUES

One technique for giving some of the speakers legitimacy is to have them stand near monuments like the Washington Monument or have their picture appear right after another better-known individual. Another is to insert a brief snippet of someone like Bill Clinton being asked about alien life on a talk show format and include President Clinton’s neutral-but-open-minded answer. It was former Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who revealed (on Jimmy Kimmel’s show) that the term, today, for what we had come to identify as a UFO, is now UAP, Unidentified Anomolous Phenomena. Many of the scientists and pilots absolutely come across as telling the truth and some governmental spokespeople seem honest (and some don’t, which I’ll address in another article.)

Another alien existence testifier not in this film, but on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Bob Lazar (Bob Lazar: Area 51 and Flying Saucers) commented that changing the terms the general public uses might well be an attempt to keep the general public from investigating further. Lazar takes no money from his appearance(s) and testimony. He also tries not to make many of them, as he talks about working on a retrieved space ship at Los Alamos many years ago. He, also, experienced the “he never worked here” public denial that was discredited. So perhaps there is a kernel of truth within this slickly put-together documentary. And we’re all interested in getting to the truth, aren’t we?

But is the entire aim to enlighten the public and spark more investigations, or are there other concealed motives at play?

THE EVIDENCE

Typical of the images used in “The Age of Disclosure” to convey gravitas and legitimacy. (Photo credit: Vincent Wrenn).

Owen Gleiberman, in “Variety:” The evidence, if you truly look at it, isn’t all that compelling: blurry black-and-white U.S. government video footage that shows tiny objects zipping forward over the surface of the water. It’s the footage of aerial phenomena witnessed by Navy pilots that we all saw back in 2021, when it was declassified. It’s fascinating to look at but quite inconclusive. It’s hardly the stuff that alien dreams are made of.”

There were a lot of juxtapositions of the officials testifying with well-known figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Were they attempting to give the speakers legitimacy? The pilot or expert would be telling us, as fact, that alien bodies existed, but their existence was “covered up.” The reasons for this ranged from the lust for power by anyone in the know (pick your agency, because all of them are being discredited these days) to this theory, which makes sense: “We must prepare for the unforeseen or whatever we’ve not seen before. It could be a threat to humanity. If this is something they can’t protect us against, they don’t want to tell the public about it.”

So far, so good.

THE WORLD HANGS IN THE BALANCE?

Then comes the statement “We need unprecedented levels of cooperation to face an alien threat from outside this world.” Does this mean that we must completely change our historic allegiances and our positions as “the leader of the Free World” and cozy up to Russia? [Gee! That would be quite a big change, wouldn’t it?] And how would this “unprecedented level of cooperation” work if we recently had placed huge tariffs on most of our biggest trading partners (our old friends and allies) leading to a plummeting stock market and a lot of economic uncertainty in the days ahead, not to mention a fair amount of returned antagonism. In other words, can we even count on Canada and Mexico, our traditional allies, to join us to fight an alien enemy? How popular are we now in Europe, since we seem to have turned our backs on NATO, the Ukraine, and recently voted against the UN resolution censuring Russia for invading Ukraine? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t our president just say that Ukraine caused the war and Zelensky (not Putin) was a dictator?

What about the concept that other nations (Russia, China, etc.) might be behind the space ship sightings which seem to have increased of late? Are drones somehow to blame for recent increases in UAP sightings?

ABOUT THE DOCUMENTARY

This is a well-done documentary that made me immediately think of the documentary that convicted felon Dinesh D’Souza released to discredit President Barack Obama, entitled 2016: Obama’s America. That was a hit job, full of “facts” that didn’t add up. But it made a lot of money. It became the fifth highest-grossing documentary-style film in the United States during the last four decades,^[98] and the second highest-grossing political documentary. He’s made a lot of other questionable documentaries, all of them pushing “facts” that are really D’Souza’s far right neo-Conservative beliefs, with little or no factual foundation(s). The testimony in “The Age of Disclosure” is definitely worth examining and discussing, but intelligent viewers will remain skeptical and keep questioning and asking for proof.

This documentary (unlike any of D’Souzas), on the contrary, has some stated noble goals.

The good: transparency, letting the American people know the truth, establishing a resource for pilots to report what they see while on the job. (“We need to have standardized reporting for both military and civilian pilots.”) Educating ourselves about potential scientific advances and progress that should be shared with mankind.

The bad?

Stories about “secret organizations” and established organizations refusing to cooperate in sharing important knowledge. Not saying it isn’t true; saying we should continue to question and not gullibly accept everything we are told. Naturally, this theme of “secret conspiracies” leads us to distrust every organization in existence, to the point that we are pitted against each other as Americans. And to the point that many of these organizations (FBI, CIA, IRS, Social Security, USAID, etc.) are currently under intense attack. Seems to be a lot of that going around lately. Maybe it cannot be avoided.

Discrediting all legitimate news sources and refusing to allow agencies like the Associated Press to cover White House briefings (ostensibly because they haven’t begun calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America) is not good for us as a nation or for the stock market, as we are all currently experiencing. A free press is the people’s friend and trying to “control” the dissemination of all news is a page right out of Putin’s playbook Distrusting the courts—the last bastion of protection against the chaos being perpetrated by DOGE— not good. What could happen if all of the citizenry rise up in rebellion? (Did you see Alex Garland’s “Civil War,” 2024?) Personally, I’d like to see a return to the days of presidential decorum when the incumbent didn’t berate and belittle his predecessor non-stop, but acted “presidential,” responsible, moral, compassionate and reasonable. Enough with DOGE and firing thousands of loyal government servants. Let’s slow down and do some serious thinking about the repercussions of such drastic acts, shall we? But I digress.

Some of the 34 talking heads who appeared in “The Age of Disclosure,” onstage at SXSW on March 9, 2025. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

CONCLUSION

“Mulder, the truth is out there,” says FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in Episode 17, “but so are lies.”

Either the things that the people in “The Age of Disclosure” are talking about are alien spaceships…or they’re not. Many who see the film will come away thinking that they are real, says Owen Gleiberman in “Variety,” because the film is well-done (Kudos to Editor Spencer Averick, Cinematographer Vincent Wrenn and Blair Mowat’s music. Mostly, the documentary is talking heads stating things as facts for 109 minutes with no real proof except our own intrinsic willingness to believe that “we are not alone.”) I’m as open-minded about accepting these testimonials and as willing to believe as anybody, but I’m also a born skeptic.

Is there another “hidden agenda” operating here? Think about that, too, before accepting every word or supposed “fact” as Gospel.

Crew: Director: Dan Farah. Camera: Vincent Wrenn. Editor: Spencer Averick. Music: Blair Mowat.
With:Lue Elizondo, Chris Mellon, Marco Rubio, Hal Puthoff, Jay Stratton, James Clapper, Kirsten Gillibrand, André Carson, Brett Ferrderson, David Fravor.

(*Read the companion piece, “A Funny Thing Happened to Me on My Way to the Documentary”).

“The Home,” Swedish Horror Film, Premieres at SXSW on March 10, 2025

By Connie Wilson

On March 11, 2025

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

Director/Co-writer Matthew Skoglund of “The Home” at SXSW 2025. (Photo by Malin LQ).

“The Home,” a Swedish horror movie, based on the novel by Mat’s Strandberg, premiered at SXSW on March 10, 2025, with its Director Matthias Skoglund and stars Gizem Erdogan and Philip Oros present. The movie focuses on a son (Joel, played by Philip Oros) putting his ailing mother, Monika (Anki Liden) in a nursing home in Sweden called Ekskuggen. “The Home” will screen again on March 12th at 3 p.m, at the Alamo Drafthouse on Lamar (Theaters 1, 8 and 6).

PLOT

The synopsis provided by the filmmakers read: “Many years after leaving the small town behind, Joel returns to move his mother Monika into a home for the elderly struggling with dementia. However, Monika’s health takes a turn for the worse soon after her arrival. She experiences terrifying visions of her late husband, Joel’s abusive father, and begins exhibiting violent behavior. Joel begins to believe that something malevolent and supernatural has taken control of his mother. But with his own history of substance abuse and mental instability, can he trust his own perceptions? As Monika’s memories fade, Joel must confront the demons of his own past, dredged up by his return to the home where he grew up.”

Director Matthew Skoglund of “Home” at the party hosted by the Swedish consulate on March 10, 2025 at SXSW. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

Monika Eddington, during her life, had a stroke. For a brief period of time, she was technically dead. During that time something supernatural may have breached the barrier between life and death. She now “knows things she shouldn’t know” and bad things are happening in the nursing home.

Son Joel (Philip Oros) had a troubled relationship with his dead father throughout his life. His father constantly called him horrible names, accused him of being a drug addict, and was physically abusive. His mother was not immune to such perverse treatment at the hands of her husband, Bengt. Bengt is now deceased. (Or is he?)

As the film opens, Monika is in her kitchen and things are out of control. Soapsuds are rising in the unattended sink. Everything is in disarray, and the elderly woman mentions Bengt (her deceased husband), “is waiting for me on the other side.” Monika is confused about Joel’s identity, at first, and seems fragile and unhealthy.

DIALOGUE

Aside from a humorous reference to the home (Ekskuggen) as the Hotel Incontinental, the exchange between Monika and her son, Joel, is far from humorous. At first, exhibiting signs of dementia, she confuses him with her older son Bjorn, the owner of a successful business. Then she asks, “Are you really going to leave me here. What have I done wrong?…But I’m not supposed to be here. This must be a mistake.” Those scenes are heartbreaking. They are often also universal in a world where the Baby Boomers are rapidly aging.

As someone who has had to put her mother into a home (Lantern Park, Coralville, Iowa), the placing of an elderly relative in custodial care is, indeed, traumatic for both sides. In my own case, I moved my mother between the home and her apartment three times, in an attempt to keep her independent, which was her desire. (The home said I “held the record” for multiple moves.) Type II 4-shots-a-day diabetes and poor eyesight eventually forced her into the home full-time, where she lived for 3 full years.

Director Matthew Skoglund, Philip Oros, Gizem Erdogan and Producer Siri Hjorton Wagner at the Premiere of “The Home” at SXSW, March 10, 2025 (Photo by Connie Wilson).

The three lead characters (Monika, Nina and Joel) were convincingly portrayed. Anki Liden, who played the elderly Monika, did a great job, and Joel (Philip Oros) and Gizem Erdogan (Nina) were supported by an actress playing Olivia (Malin Levanon), another attendant in the home, who also did a fine job. While Anki (Monika) joined the project only one month before shooting started, Gizem was in from the beginning (2017), having read the novel, She said, “I really loved the novel and joined the project early.” Gizem came aboard during an early version of the script that later removed much of the detective speak that originally dealt with Monika’s mysterious injuries. Director Matthias Skoglund worked with the novelist (Mat Strandberg) to craft the script, which also changed to keep the focus on the three major characters, an adaptation from the book.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The camera work by Malin LQ was well done. There were shots of the full moon over the shoulder of a main character or a field of waving grass that were beautifully composed. But the creepiness of the home was key. Unlike some films with dark scenes, it was clear what we were looking at. My only criticism would focus on the pacing of the action, as there are enough violent action and intense scenes, ranging from “jump scares” on, but the time between these beats dragged at times.

This is the third film or TV series I’ve seen recently that went inside a custodial care facility seeking horror. John Lithgow has a 2024 release “The Rule of Jenny Pen,” while Ted Danson’s current “Inside Man” television series is a lighter approach to what goes on behind the doors of nursing homes. Bubba-Hotep all the way back to 2002 is a precursor, with Barbara Hershey’s turn in “The Manor” in 2021 an Amazon Original movie with a horror-themed look at the topic.

SOUND

The leads of “The Home” answering questions during the Q&A for “The Home” on March 10, 2025 at SXSW. (Photo by Connie Wilson).

I was impressed by the sound design (Matis Rei), music (Toti Gudnason) and general creepiness of effects like the crashing noises in the kitchen or the point in the film where I wrote: “This sounds like an avalanche.” Director Mathias Skogland explained that he comes from a radio and podcast background “so sound was very important.” He worked with an Icelandic composer and an Estonian sound design team; the result was impressive.

Lead Philip Oros described the project: “It was fun, but also difficult. I hadn’t really done anything with supernatural elements before.” Producer Siri Hjorton Wagner said that the group began working on the project in 2017. The film shows one more time here at SXSW (Wednesday, March 12th) and joins the ranks of “Horror Movies with Nursing Home Settings” that are worth taking in, (if you don’t mind the scary side of the street and subtitles.)

“My Uncle Jens” @SXSW Paints A Portrait of Immigrant Woes

By Connie Wilson

On March 10, 2025

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

Director Brwa Vahabpour. (Photo by Tori Gjendal).

“My Uncle Jens” is a joint Norwegian/Romanian production which marks the feature film debut at SXSW 2025 of Screenwriter/Director Brwa Vahabpour. Uncle Jens might more accurately be dubbed Uncle Khdr, as the main character has come to Oslo from the Iranian part of Kurdistan. He adopts the alias Jens. Brwa Vahabpour is writing about a culture he knows well. He attracted positive attention for his 2020 short film “Silence” that was featured at the Palm Springs International Shorts Fest.

The plot focuses on a young literature teacher in Oslo (Norway) named Akam (Peiman Azizpour), who receives a late-night visit from his estranged Uncle Khdr, his father’s brother. Why is the movie not entitled Uncle Khdr, rather than Uncle Jens? That explanation goes back to the common ploy of trying to “blend in” to a strange land by adopting a more common surname. In Khdr’s case, he begins using the Norwegian first name Jens after a conversation with a friendly cab driver.

Jens (Hamza Agoshi) claims he is in town for a surprise visit.

THE PLOT

Akam (Peiman Azizpour) doesn’t live alone. He has two roommates, a young girl (Theresa Frostad Eggesbo) and a tall, lanky yellow-haired stork-like Norwegian male, Stian (Magnus Lysbakken). Lysbakken as Stian represents the stereotype of “yellow-haired people” that Uncle Jens references when he says, to Akam, “You’re probably busy with those yellow-haired people.”

Uncle Jens immediately begins shaming his nephew into hosting him in his cramped apartment. He uses the term “peshkesh,” meaning “from me to you.” Uncle Jens is loud, he snores, he takes the one single bed (while Akam sleeps on the floor). Jens has many other annoying and obnoxious habits, including smoking in the apartment, which the roommates object to. Jens also constantly leaves water all over the bathroom floor, throws away the community kitchen brush in favor of a sponge, and just generally behaves as though he is moving in for good. When the roommates ask Akam how long Jens is staying, the answer is always “just a couple days.” In reality, Jens shows no signs of ever leaving.

THE PLOT THICKENS

“My Uncle Jens” (Photo by Jorgen Kluver).

It isn’t until Jens and Akam are out together that Akam begins to find out that his uncle has actually been hanging around a local café owned by a man known as Hussein for a couple of months. Akam begins to realize that Uncle Jens’s “surprise visit” may never end, and he finally begins to realize that maybe his uncle is not in the country legally. What, then, does that mean for him?

Akam is advised by a friend to beware of guests who arrive in the middle of the night. The friend directs him to a girl named Elina (Sarah Frances Braenne), who works for the Directorate of Immigration in Norway and knows the country’s immigration rules.

THE RULES

Akam devises a clever ruse to try to find out what rules apply to people visiting Norway from other countries. He pretends to be writing a short story about a Norwegian girl whose aunt arrives unexpectedly to visit. He asks about Norway’s rules for visitors. For openers, says Elena, visitors should have a written invitation from the person in Norway in order to qualify for a visitor’s visa. Also, the visitor has to have state proof that they are able to return to their country of origin (Iran). Elena adds that, if the visitor is up to no good (human trafficking, etc.) that can lead to deportation for them and for those who might be harboring them. She suggests that the visitor has to have proof of employment and other such signs of being an upstanding individual. Meanwhile, Akim and Elena are hitting it off as a couple which will complicate matters.

What is going through Akam’s mind is “Yikes!”

At one point, Akam almost anonymously turns his uncle in, but when they ask what address the suspect is at, he hangs up, realizing that he will be implicating himself, as well.

DENOUEMENT

My Uncle Jens lead, Akam (Peiman Aizpour).

“My Uncle Jens” lead, Akam, portrayed by Peiman Azizpour. (Photo by Jorgen Kluver).

As Akam and the rest of us feared, there is finally a visit from the representatives of the Directorate of Immigration. They are very polite, but they do search the house, looking for Uncle Jens. It is time for Jens to go, but, before he leaves, he has caused the downfall of the Elena/Akam relationship and has told a harrowing tale of his escape from Iran and assuming the alias Sabir Salehi.

A STORY FOR OUR TIMES

Much like the illegals attempting to flee violence and economic insecurity in their homeland, Uncle Jens has been both physically assaulted and threatened to the point that he made the harrowing journey to Turkey (Istanbul) and, by boat, to Greece. He was placed in various holding facilities while he awaited a ruling on his request for asylum. Unfortunately, the authorities rejected his application and he received a deportation notice. Among other things, Jens says, “I have to prove that my life is really in danger.” Ironically, he asks his nephew, “Can’t you see your lies affect all those around you?”

CONCLUSION

It is easy to see the parallels between Uncle Jens and every immigrant on the run. The country may not be Norway, but there are so many countries in turmoil and so many refugees wanting to settle in a country that can offer them a better life. That list would go on for a very long time. Two people on that list would have been my Grandfather (Ole Monson) from Norway and my Grandmother (Rena Stietske Weirda) from the Netherlands.

This film makes a real effort to show us the hurdles that immigrants face on a personal and psychological level. It also underscores the very real dangers that newcomers face and the lengths they will go to to seek a better life for themselves and their families. Can we blame them for these efforts? Recently, it appears that we do, which is sad, and, to me, un-American. “My Uncle Jens” is a tribute to every new citizen to any country. The directorial touches (ringing phone bookending the action; symbolic watch) are nice aspects of a touching movie.