Global
Attorney George Conway considers the Donald to be “unwell,” a “narcissistic sociopath,”
and George should know – his wife, Kellyanne Conway, campaigned for, then worked
for Trump in the White House. On April 30, George said on MSNBC’s Deadline White
House that a way to influence non-fanatical voters to not cast their ballots for the ex-prez
is by “making fun of him.”
Sarcasm has often been used to cut strong men down to size; laughter lessens one’s fear
of the powerful. Adolph Hitler is a favorite tyrannical target and figure of ridicule to poke
The 19th annual South East European Film Festival, which deals with socialism more than any other major filmfest in Los Angeles and possibly America, opens May 1 – the international holiday of the working class, which was widely observed in Eastern Europe – and is screening productions at L.A. venues through May 8. Founded by Sarajevo-born Vera Mijojlić, SEEFest includes many productions about socialism – albeit from critical viewpoints – as well as nonpolitical pictures. The eclectic Festival is the main U.S. portal for documentaries, features, shorts, animation, etc., from mostly former “Iron Curtain” nations.
We live in contentious, troubled times when Americans are increasingly divided along political, ethnic, sexual lines – consider the fact that a recent box office hit is a movie about a near-future embattled USA entitled, literally, Civil War. Now along comes playwright Christian St. Croix’s Monsters of the American Cinema, which instead poses in stark contrast the unity of two polar opposites. Remy (portrayed by Kevin Daniels, an actor so large that he played Magic Johnson in the 2012 Broadway production of Magic/ Bird) is a Black gay man, who operates a drive-in movie theater at Santee, San Diego County. As Remy’s former husband has died, he has stepped up to the plate to raise his late partner’s son, Pup (Logan Leonardo Arditty), a white straight teenager of average height.
Almost 40 years ago, I attended The Ohio State University. I was so proud that when I was presented with different options for my graduate studies, I chose OSU and prayed to be admitted. My prayers were answered. Ever since, Columbus has been my home. My children are Buckeyes. That was a no-brainer in our family. So proud that while working overseas, myself and other Buckeyes formed an OSU Alumni Club with many activities. We even created social media groups for those of us who attended OSU. In other words, I am a Buckeye to the bone as well as my entire family. At one point, my daughter Jana, while my wife was at work, asked that we remodel her room with an OSU theme. Sure enough, we went to Sears, bought scarlet and gray paint and painted her room and furniture with OSU colors. The Lantern has articles with our names, mine and my children, being cited on so many issues, domestic and international. OSU St John Arena was selected for the “Town Meeting” planned by President Clinton where he sent his national security team —National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, Defense Secretary William Cohen and Secretary of State Madeline Albright, when he planned to bomb Iraq.
The TCM Classic Film Festival, which turned 15 this year, annually presents primo pictures from yesteryear along with panels and talents linked to those movies at venues in Hollywood. TCM’s 2024 film fete included personal appearances by John Travolta, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Tim Robbins and even highlighted Jodie Foster “cementing” her place in Tinseltown history with a hand and footprint ceremony in the hallowed courtyard of what previously was Grauman’s Chinese Theater (now TCL Chinese Theatre Max, where Silence of the Lambs, Pulp Fiction, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Shawshank Redemption and Hitchcock’s North By Northwest were screened during the Festival). Enhancing the Festival’s heady ambiance is the great motion picture bonhomie among the film fans attending this movie-palooza, which also includes parties in Club TCM at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
The day before she turned 75, the Great White Way’s songstress supreme gave Angelenos a bravura birthday present on April 21, as Patti LuPone presented her musical memoir A Life in Notes at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The three-time Tony Award winner may be noted for outspokenly insisting upon thee-a-tuh etiquette in regards to audience members’ use of cellphones, face masks, etc., but the second LuPone took the stage L.A. ticket buyers erupted with a spontaneous ovation. Throughout her one-woman show, the mezzo-soprano was cascaded with admiration, ebullient but always respectable, by a near-sold out crowd filled with affection for the two-time Grammy Award winner.