IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

by John Walters

Where Donald Trump never visits

Jejune June

As we head into the final weekend of June, I don’t think it’s too soon to believe that this month will be remembered as “naive, simplistic and superficial.” The Dow and the NASDAQ soared without any fundamental reasons to do so; many states “reopened for business” while here we are on June 26 with yesterday being a RECORD day for new coronavirus cases ( > 40,000).

Oh, and the chief of… wait, let me see with whom this dude is affiliated again…checking… oh, yes, the CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL says that actual positive Covid-19 cases are likely TEN TIMES the number that have been diagnosed. Or more than 20 million.

All that plus sports commissioners blustering with confidence that their sports will be reopening soon (“full speed into that iceberg, lads!”).

It’s been quite the jejune June.

Kung Flu Pander

A spot-on editorial by Paul Krugman highlighting how America overall is not to blame for the coronavirus, but rather gung-ho blinders-on Republicans who just looked at the coronavirus as if it were Al Qaeda or climate change and thought that a red baseball cap would be enough to overcome it.

Krugman’s most blistering sentence(s):

It’s not that the right is averse to fearmongering. But it doesn’t want you to fear impersonal threats that require an effective policy response, not to mention inconveniences like wearing face masks; it wants you to be afraid of people you can hate — people of a different race or supercilious liberals.

Eggs-Actly.

And now, in the face of overwhelming evidence, the right and Fox News is still clinging to its stupidity. It’s a lesson for all: they will NEVER yield in their stubborn refusal to acknowledge the world has changed. Ever. Even to the death.

Will The Sh*t Ever Hit The Fan?

In brief, Yes.

Airlines and banks and travel industry and the hospitality industry and the food service industry and Wall Street analysts and ESPECIALLY CNBC are blithely going about their business telling us how good of a sun tan we’re able to get now that the ozone layer has been destroyed. Or encouraging us to hunt for sea shells now that the tide just went out 500 feet. There’s a reason the tide is out 500 feet, however.

A tsunami is coming.

Right this minute, if I had the means and the smarts and was someone like Michael Lewis, I’d be doing the deepest of dives into the artificial propping up of the stock market. I guess even I could use stock phrases such as “cheap money” and “the Fed” and “stimulus packages,” but I’m not sophisticated enough to know how they all work.

What I do know, from watching enough Kurt Russell Disney films as a lad, is that The Computer is Wearing Tennis Shoes. In short, something unnatural is taking place to prop up the stock market. Something probably unethical and perhaps even illegal. And we’ve seen enough to know that in the end the market will come crashing down, the rich folks who engineered it will say that nobody was able to foresee it, Lewis will have his bestseller and eventually an Oscar-nominated picture, and the little guy will end up footing the bill.

We’ve seen this movie.

IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

by John Walters

Statue Of Limitations

Well, okay, now that you mention it…

I’ve lived a few blocks from this statue for decades and I probably never even gave it a second thought. So is that on me? I’ve never bothered much to explore the inspiration behind it (and I could probably stand to read a biography of Theodore Roosevelt, come to think of it).

Here’s what I’m waiting for, though. What happens when enough people become upset about George Washington having owned dozens of slaves (whom I believe, he set free upon his death)? I mean, when that statue gets toppled, it’s going to create a clamor.

And if this is on your front lawn, you may see some up-close toppling soon.

Charles Blow Asks…

… “Can We Call Trump A Killer?”

We have been doing that here, Chuck, for a couple months now. I’ll go further: He’s America’s all-time most prolific mass (not mask) murderer.

Here’s the piece of information inside that blew (Blow, blew) me away:

During the height of the crisis, some states experienced a shortage of ventilators to treat gravely ill patients. Trump claimed that the Obama administration had left no ventilators in the national stockpile, that there were “empty cupboards.” In truth, his own administration confirmed a few days ago that 16,660 ventilators were available for use when Trump took office and in March, and outrageously the Trump administration had distributed only 10,760 of them as of Tuesday. 

Manhattan Transfer Of Droplets

The New York City Marathon? Canceled.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame game, the traditional kickoff to the NFL’s (exhibition) season? Canceled.

Major League Baseball’s 60-game season? Not canceled. Yet. But for just how far will Rob Manfred drive Susan’s parents to the Hamptons before stopping the car?

On Saturday, Kansas State, in what will be a harbinger for the 2020 college football season, shut down its program for the time being. The Wildcats had no coronavirus cases when it welcomed players back to campus in the beginning of June, but by last week it had 14. And so they closed shop in Manhattan.

Is any other sports team or league so arrogant are willfully ignorant about what is happening around us (37,000 NEW cases nationwide yesterday) to think that it won’t also happen to them?

Again, we’re not claiming COVID-19 is a killer among top-tier athletes. Almost certainly not. But is that even the point? And if the virus can infiltrate a relatively remote place like Manhattan, Kans., that quickly, how do you think it’s going to do in Orlando or in MLB cities? C’mon, man.

Check Your Privilege, ESPN

So you go to ESPN’s homepage and you see the headline for a video that shows the face of Chris Fowler. The headline reads, “Fowler: We Need To Be A Part Of The Movement And Not Get Caught In The Moment.”

Click on the video. You’ll find that in a video that is 2:58 in duration, Fowler does not speak until the 2:29 mark. Everyone who talks before him (Maria Taylor, Clinton Yates, Louis Roddick) is African-American. But ESPN.com teases its readers by touting what Fowler said.

Now that’s funny.

By the way, we totally agree with what Fowler says (and with Yates and Riddick, too), but we’ll take it a step further. And I doubt anyone at ESPN would ever say this: Sure, the murder of George Floyd was the spark. But what’s helped sustain this prolonged period of protest and racial activism are two other factors:

  1. The utter absence of sports on the landscape (one of the many things I’m thankful about in terms of no sports) and
  2. A horrendous president, and those who support him, who are so nakedly proud of their ignorance and cruelty that it forces you to sit up and take notice.

If we had a moderate president, or even a progressive one, people might not be out in the streets effecting change. You can actually thank the wickedness of Donald Trump (pepper-spraying and rubber-billeting peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park, for example) for helping to accelerate this movement.

One last word on the video. Maria Taylor cited an MLK, Jr. , quote from 1963 about “white moderates” being the impediment to social change (um, nope; moderates are not worse than the Klan; we get your point, but it’s a lazy straw man) and then segues immediately into introducing Fowler. Which is an implication that he’s the problem. She tried to walk it back but the damage was done. And of course Fowler is going to be gracious in this moment but he’s a very smart dude and one who does not take slights well (who does?). Don’t think he didn’t notice that.

Churchill Downer

You’d expect a sports event held in Mitch McConnell’s state to be expert at gas lighting the public. Taking a page directly from Donald Trump’s coronavirus playbook, the president of Churchill Downs, Kevin Flanery, said, “We will take all necessary steps to protect the health and safety of all who attend and participate in the Derby,” which will be held on September 5.

Flanery “will take all necessary steps to protect the health and safety of all who attend” except mandate that attendees wear masks. That’s like a student declaring that he will do everything possible to get an “A” in the class except study.

It’s truly incredible how stupid MAGA leaders think we all are. But they do know how stupid their lemmings are. And these quotes are for them. Oh, well. Can’t wait for this statement or event to be abridged.

IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

by John Walters

Craze In Arizona

In Phoenix this weekend, people waited in their vehicles up to THIRTEEN hours to be tested for the coronavirus as the temperature soared above 105 degrees (if you own stock in Freon, YOU WIN!). Meanwhile, yesterday the state of Arizona set record-highs for:

•New cases of Covid-19 reported (3,591)

•Daily hospitalizations ( > 2,000)

•Inpatient beds occupied (2,136)

•ICU beds in use

•Ventilators in use

Also, 42 Arizonans died of Covid-19 yesterday.

None of the above, of course, were the TOP story in this morning’s Arizona Republic. The top story was “3 Takeaways From President Donald Trump’s Visit To Yuma And Phoenix.” Well, at least they know who their subscriber base (and that word fits here) is.

An aside: Are you, like me, astounded at how rapidly the health care complex is able to tabulate the data for Covid-19 deaths, cases, etc. It’s almost like they have a data base handy.

Anyway, yes, Donald Trump flew all the way to Arizona yesterday, where it was a refreshing 109 degrees, just so he could have an audience of 3,000-plus true believers at the Dream City Church in north Phoenix. As one of those cable news hosts (who only wears black or navy blue) pointed out last night, there have been two large gatherings indoors of more than 3,000 Americans since the pandemic struck, and both of them have been…. Trump rallies.

As bad as things are in Arizona right now in terms of Covid-19 cases, they’re about to take a quantum leap in the next three weeks. Enjoy your summer.

You Can’t Stay Home Again (But Maybe You Should?)

As one of our readers pointed out the other day, it’s difficult to brace for the “second wave” when the first wave is still climbing. Record numbers of new coronavirus cases in Arizona and Texas yesterday. California and Florida are on the upswing. California, Texas and Florida are the top three most-populous states in the Union and Arizona is 14th.

So, kind of a big deal.

There were 35,000 new cases recorded yesterday, the third-highest total since the pandemic began.

In any other nation, with any other president, someone would look at those figures and think, Well, if we had a lockdown before we should definitely have a lockdown now. Except that Trump and Barr/Kudlow/Mnuchin/Mitch are in full Costanza-taking-Susan’s-parents-to-his-Hamptons-house mode now. There’s no going back (“Two solariums?”).

You wanna get nuts? LET’S GET NUTS!

Say It Ain’t So, Ron

Retired porn star Ron Jeremy (yes, that face belongs to a porn star) has been arrested on charges of having sexually assaulted four women. The 67 year-old nudie thespian apparently trolled the Sunset Strip looking for victims which, let’s face it, is a more intriguing plot than 98% of porn films. It isn’t easy seeing our heroes crumble before our eyes.

Op-Ed Bonanza

The top three editorials in The New York Times this morning took me aback. It’s as if someone had stolen my top three talking points from the group texts I engage in with my high school buddies (a.k.a. “The Gang”) and college pals (a nameless but wickedly funny crew). Did you ever see that episode of Cheers where Cliff Clavin appears on Jeopardy! and it serendipitously seems as if all of the categories were ideally tailored to him? That’s how I felt this morning.

Here are the titles of those three editorials:

The Jobs We Need

Tax The Rich And Their Heirs

Why Do We Pay People So Little Money?

The middle editorial doesn’t strike a chord with me as much as the first and third. As a recent enlistee in the “Essential Workerforce,” I’m frankly gobsmacked at how paltry my after-tax paycheck is. If I weren’t a Phyllis freeloader, I don’t know how I’d make it, even working a 40-hour week.

These are real jobs with real adults doing them, and no one is arguing that they (I) should earn what a trained worker makes, but when you earn little more than what someone sitting on their ass collecting an unemployment check “earns,” there’s something wrong with the system at both ends.

One of my wealthy high school pals always waves this away with, “Oh, they need more training” as if that will magically happen. No. Top-end earners need to stop making $40 to $50 million a year at a company they didn’t even create while most of their work force scrapes past paycheck to paycheck.

As an MIT economist (that’s one of those smarty pants schools) is quoted as saying in the final Op-Ed, “Low-wage workers are doing really badly and this will destroy our society.

I’ve been saying this for years. Because it’s true.

Necromancing The Stone

Finally saw Uncut Gems (on Netflix) the other night and “Wow.” Never mind the plot or whether or not you cheer for our protagonist, Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), this film does what films rarely do: it makes you feel the world in which the characters inhabit.

I’ve worked most of my career within two blocks of where Ratner’s little jewelry shop is set (on Diamond Row, 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues) and the movie main lines the feeling of claustrophobia, of manic stress, of nonstop chaos and whatever the opposite of peace and quiet are. If ever there were a film that made you feel what it’s like to transfer from the crosstown shuttle train (S) to the uptown 2/3 lines at rush hour, for an entire 134 minutes, this is it.

The reason is Sandler (and the script, by the Safdie brothers, Benny and Josh, who also directed; and Ronald Bronstein). As one reviewer noted, it feels as if the entire film that Ratner is having two conversations at once. Or that if he is talking to someone, he’s checking on someone or something else. He is NEVER present. And one of the reasons this works so well is because that’s what it’s like to be a degenerate gambler. You’re always thinking about the gam that is in play, or the game you just lost that you need to make up for by doubling down on the next piece of action. It’s unremitting.

There’s a sense, particularly in the latter half of the film, that if Ratner can just catch this next big break he’ll have solved all of his problems. But as soon as he does, a new hurdle appears. And often it’s Howard who’s placing that hurdle in front of himself. If you’ve seen the movie, in the final 15 minutes or so, you know exactly what I mean.

One more thing: the performances, some by non-actors, are terrific. The man who works in the pawn shop who takes Howard’s rings as collateral. That’s as authentic a New York character as you’ll ever seen in any film. I doubt he’s an actor, but he nails it (I think his name is Ronald Greenberg. The henchman-muscle guy, Phil (William Keith Richards) is perfect. LaKeith Stanfield, as Demany, Howard’s hustler and also nemesis, is perfect (I worked with a bookie who is exactly this guy). The lonely billionaire who’s a cartoon figure that shows up at the end? Nailed that, too. Even Kevin Garnett (as himself) and Mike Francesa (as a restaurateur/bookie) are ideal.

I served tables of guys who looked like this at the Steakateria all the time. The Steakateria, by the way, is the backdrop for the scene in which Howard is tossed into the fountain pool

I’m not sure if Uncut Gems was enjoyable. It was entertaining. It was pure stress, a turbulent flight, a rumbling roar of the 2 train between 72nd and 42d where you’re squished between humanity and it feels as if the train is about to jump the tracks. But I have not seen a more authentic film, that isn’t a documentary, in years. Bully to the Safdie brothers and Sandler and everyone involved for that.

p.s. If you want to see another film that captures New York City and the stress that people seem to treat as a drug, see The Boiler Room (from 2000). Don’t see The Wolf of Wall Street (which is mostly garbage).

Walk Of Shame

He has everything.

He has nothing.

He’s the most powerful man in the world.

He’s the last person I’d want to be.

Donald Trump returns home from the Tulsa 6,200 rally looking like someone on his way back from the bachelor bro weekend in Vegas.

It’s funny that people are meme’ing this as Trump’s “Walk of Shame” because shame is the one feeling this man has never felt. But as David Graham writes in The Atlantic, this looked like the night Trump stopped trying.

No Noose Is Good News

by John Walters

Just went on ESPN.com where not one, not two, but three videos are dedicated to bloviating about you-know-what. So all I can say to the person who committed the act is, Mission Accomplished.

What ESPN is doing is not responsible journalism. It’s racism porn.

IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

by John Walters

You Rally Got Me!

This photo by Jabin Botsford of The Washington Post from Saturday night’s Donald Trump rally should be appropriated by Joe Biden as his 2020 campaign poster. Though it is refreshing to see a MAGA type observing social distance protocol.

Second Wave

The U.S. reports 30,000 new cases for two days in a row, the highest totals since May 1st (when 1,500-plus were dying per day). 23 states are reporting a rise in coronavirus cases while Florida had its highest number of new cases in one day (4,049) yet. Are you listening, Adam Silver?

But you can relax because this morning on CNBC Larry Kudlow said, “There is no second wave coming. It’s just hot spots.”

Of course, this is what Kudlow said about the coronavirus back in Febuary: “We have contained this, I won’t say airtight, but pretty close to airtight.

So don’t worry.

At The Copa, Copacabana

Fun story in The New York Times this weekend about the punch that got Billy Martin traded and the 88 year-old bouncer who is finally ‘fessing up. Music and passion really were always in fashion.

La La Land

Click on this story about how the markets are not obeying fundamentals just to see that graph. You should feel like the meteorologist in The Perfect Storm when he realizes that all three scary weather patterns are about to converge in the Atlantic.

Easy Wind

(Has any major band ever looked at its instruments more while playing live than the Dead did?)

This just in: the Grateful Dead is releasing a deodorant brand. So now you won’t need to buy as much pachouli when you follow them around on tour. I’ve only attended one Dead show (not being high, I didn’t enjoy it much) but I don’t recall hygiene being paramount on the list of Deadhead concerns.

You Can’t Spell “Sports” Without S-T-O-P

by John Walters

We’ll return to our regularly scheduled misanthropy later in the week, but we’ve taken note about how Major League Baseball’s supposed return keeps getting fouled off due to avarice and mistrust. We’ve noticed, as have NBA players, that Florida’s coronavirus cases are peaking and, oh yeah, hundreds if not thousands of Disney employees would be charged with cleaning their rooms and serving them food. And we’ve noticed that 23 Clemson players have tested positive for the coronavirus and and LSU is quarantining players. Maybe these two schools just happen to be the ones in the headlines because they played in the national championship game less than six months ago.

NFL, you’re next.

Pro sports “coming back” and ESPN’s shameless cheerleading of that supposed event has never been about anything more than chasing lost dollars (you’re correct, Jacob) and the same type of hubris that led Donald Trump to half-fill a Tulsa arena. They’re a little annoyed that the world is continuing to spin without them and they want their spotlight back.

But we don’t need sports. Really, we don’t. Not now. And they don’t need to be playing.

It’s very simple: there’s no vaccine.

All we know for sure is the return of sports, not unlike a poorly thought out Trump rally, will lead to spread. And while most young athletes will not die, they will in turn spread the disease to others.

There’s no vaccine.

Wait.

It’s like that scene from the final episode of AfterLife this season. “All I’ve learned about life I can sum up in three words: ‘It goes on.'”

Life will go on without a compromised NBA or MLB summer. I know it will. If you cannot do it right—and they cannot, no matter what Adam Silver or Rob Manfred say—best not to do it all.

IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

by John Walters

Where The Ho’s At?

We read this story on the NBA’s return which, let’s be clear here, appears on a website whose company will earn millions and millions of dollars hosting the NBA for two months, not to mention airing most of its games. We’re sure the writer has integrity, but there’s an inherent conflict of interest.

Anyway, the question of what will happen when a player tests positive (a two-week quarantine) has finally been answered but not who will administer the test. Because it matters. Because if the folks administering the tests are paid by an organization that has a dedicated interest to those tests being negative, well….

The story also said each player can bring a few people with him. That’s a nice story if you think of Steph Curry, his wife and the little ones, but most NBA players are not Steph Curry. Most are in their 20s, many are single, and plenty indulge in The Life of an NBA Player. And, well, from what I read, they’re not going to be allowed off-campus except in case of emergency and no one is allowed on. You (they) can only be amused by Xbox so long.

It’s a 100-page document on how to operate a 2-month long season. You have to wonder: Is it worth it? I don’t think it is. And while it’s doubtful any player will get sick and die, what if someone does? What if a few do? We don’t get it.

Gundy Gumption

Where does one even procure an OAN T-shirt? Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy went in front of a camera yesterday and apologized for wearing the T-shirt.

I did find it funny that Paul Finebaum, who’s spent his entire career catering to Alabama and Auburn football fans, is so aghast at the racist undertones of OAN that he called for Gundy to be fired on ESPN. I’m shocked! Shocked, that there is racism in this establishment.

Before we all go back to the early 2000s and an America so intolerantly tolerant that it gave rise to the likes (and dislikes) of Clay Travis and the Birther movement, I caution you: being racist is deplorable (yes, I used that word) but it is not against the law. Nor should it be. It’s one of those tests to the foundations of liberty, just like kneeling during the national anthem. Someone has a right to have views and opinions that you find atrocious. They have that right. They don’t have the right to break the law as a means of furthering those views (see here, you Boogaloos!), but they do have a right to those views.

So Mike Gundy can go on air and apologize. And he does owe his players an apology. But he has long been outspoken about a lot of things, and that’s why I’ve always liked him. My guess is that he’s a conservative (No!) who just didn’t appreciate how racist some of the people he hangs with are. My guess is that he’d go to that Tulsa rally if he could.

I don’t agree with any of those views (well-documented here). But I’ll alway defend people’s right to have them. You should, too. Liberty is a two-way street.

How To Do Everything Wrong

In today’s New York Times, Thomas Friedman has an Op-Ed titled “Is Trump Trying To Spread Covid-19?” That’s a deliberately provocative headline guaranteed to get Stephen Miller’s and Jared Kushner’s attention. And even though the overlap of people who want to attend the Tulsa rally and New York Times Op-ed page readers may be zero humans, it’s still a headline that will draw eyeballs inside the RNC.

I said it at the beginning, and I’ll say it again now (but rhyming), “No vaccine, no machine.” In other words, until there is a vaccine (or herd immunity), everything should be undertaken with a priority on stopping the virus. Doesn’t mean you totally ignore the economy, but you do all the smart things, which does not include attending MAGA rallies or going to crowded spots without a mask. Etc.

Donald Trump and his Republican enablers, by October 1st, will have been personally responsible for at least 100,000 deaths. I’m arriving at that number by taking the total number of Covid deaths in the U.S.A. (which will at least be that on 10/01) and dividing by two. And that fraction is giving Trump a very kind pass. He’s responsible for more deaths. 100,000 deaths. That’s worse than LBJ and Nixon combined in Vietnam and that was over 11 years. This will have been seven months.

One last Trump thing: everyone notes the slow descent on the ramp, but if you watched his body as he was speaking, he wasn’t standing upright for much of it (as the above photo shows). He was leaning to his left the way a Dean Martin roast speaker would after he’s had a few too many. We know Trump doesn’t drink, but he was obviously favoring something. And if you watch that ramp clip again, you’ll note that he’s stepping more gingerly on his right leg. Something to keep an eye on.

Brazen Bolton

The book’s release date is scheduled to be June 23rd. The book, The Room Where It Happened, by former national security advisor John Bolton, will likely contain the revelations that, had Bolton taken the stand six months ago, might have led to Donald Trump’s ouster. And who knows? Maybe the coronavirus would have been handled better.

Of course William Barr’s Justice Dept. is trying to have the book’s publication blocked (as if he’s Woody Allen or someone) and of course they’re using a bogus reason to do so. William Barr isn’t about justice or transparency: he’s about the status quo (read: white power).

David Halberstam once wrote a book about the LBJ years and the JFK cronies who got us into the Vietnam quagmire and ironically titled it, The Best And The Brightest. A latter day Halberstam type (Michael Lewis?) will write a book on this administration and hopefully title it The Worst And The Whitest. Without irony.

And while many will buy Bolton’s book or at least read it, let’s never forget: he’s a coward. He shirked his duty to the U.S.A. and sold us out for the book advance ($2 million) and royalties. There are many who’d argue that’s just the American way. Nevertheless, Bolton’s a Judas. To both the U.S.A. and now to the administration he served under. He’s hated by all sides, as he should be.

IT’S ALL HAPPENING!

by John Walters

Just Stop

We watched about 15 minutes of last night’s ESPN Sports Comeback special. Our thoughts about Mike Greenberg’s hosting job reminds us of something Rust Cohle once told those two detectives in the interrogation room: “Start asking the right f***ing questions.”

Greenberg might’ve wanted to ask NBA commissioner Adam Silver what the NBA will do when a player does test positive (Is that player quarantined for 14 days, at least?). Or why the NBA is so gung-ho on resuming play as 18 states report a rise in coronavirus cases and there’s still no vaccine? Or how the players are going to enjoy being separated from their families for up to two months and, worse, in Orlando. In August? Please.

Mostly, he should’ve just asked why the NBA can’t just play it smart and WAIT? This season, no matter how the NBA might attempt to put a bow on it with a contrived mini-playoff, is lost. And if the NBA continues to forge ahead with this plan, next season is compromised because the players will have practically no break as they commence what will be a shortened season.

We said it way back in early March: cancel everything and wait for a vaccine. At least in terms of sports and non-essential activities.

And I’m frankly embarrassed for ESPN. I guess rights-holders are always gonna be cheerleaders, but they’ve mostly steered away from asking the difficult and honest questions in favor of a “We Want Sports Back!” approach the past three months.

Happy Trails

From TheDiscoverer.com, a list of 10 “Insane Hikes Around The World.” We’d have added 5th Avenue between 59th and 48th Street during the height of Christmas tourist season, but no matter. In the words of Fleetwood Mac, “You can go your own way.”

The Treasure of the Negros Hermanos

Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods could have been something fantastic. It is not. It’s good, but it falls short in numerous ways. Here are a few things we did not like:

  1. Any college film class instructor would’ve advised Spike to refrain from the contrived allusions to classic Hollywood films. In the last 45 minutes of the film Spike references The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (a VietCong gangster says “We don’t need no stinkin’ badges”) and The Bridge On The River Kwai (“Madness! Madness!”).
  2. It’s by now accepted that Spike is gonna Spike his films with less-than-subtle messaging about civil rights and his own damn self. So there’s a breakaway shot of the world’s greatest ever intermediate hurdler, Edwin Moses, primarily because like Spike Moses is a Morehouse alum. There’s lots of stuff like this throughout the movie and it disrupts it.
  3. I don’t know who scouted the locations or decided to hit Vietnam in what appears to be autumn, but much of the film did not appear jungle-like. There were brown leaves on the jungle floor and no dense undergrowth. Maybe we’ve all seen too many Vietnam films, but it just didn’t look like the Vietnam, in the wilderness, that you know.
  4. The move to keep the same actors who are in their late sixties or older playing their younger selves in late 1960s Vietnam was curious. You see a forever young Chadwick Boseman (who is incredibly charismatic and maybe the best part of this film) engaging with the four soldiers in his charge who could be his grandfather’s age. Odd.

The premise of the film is solid. The execution of it, particularly in the second half, feels like something I’d be watching on TNT that stars Steve Zahn and takes you away to Hawaii (“The Perfect Getaway”) or the Sahara (“Sahara”).

Could’ve been an epic film. Alas, it was Spiked.

Bubba Vs. Chuba

Oklahoma State football coach/Guy who should be asking you if you also want him to check your oil Mike Gundy got into some trouble of late with the nation’s leading rusher, Chuba Hubbard. You see, Chuba (“Chew-buh”) plays for Gundy. And he’s Canadian. And he’s black.

And “OAN” stands for One America Network, which is a nasty little cable news channels thats smaller and more racist than Fox News. Yes, it is possible.

The two men are vowing to hug it out and go forward. But that’s because it’s too late for Hubbard to do much else at this point and Gundy will say what he needs to in order to keep the nation’s leading rusher happy.