Not Exactly A Movie Review: "Black Mass" Fails As Sacrilege

There are elements of "Black Mass" that are compelling. I must say again that truth is more sensational than fiction and the Bulger Family saga is at times too sensational to believe. Imagine submitting a script where Al Capone and Mayor Daley are brothers. "No. Sorry. Tone down the coincidence and you might have a story. The most powerful OC figure in the state just happens to have a brother who is the most powerful politician in the state? C'mon!"

There are so many facets to this story and almost everyone in New England has at least one "six degrees of separation" with the Bulger Family. I am a virtual recluse and I have several myself. It is hard to capture or convey the enmeshment that was Massachusetts.

Where "Black Mass" fails grandly, grossly and irredeemably is in the treatment of the FBI and FBI corruption. "Black Mass" should have been called "White Wash."

Frustratingly, Hollywood practices a long-term bias against displaying institutional corruption. It used to make movies like "And Justice For All" and "Serpico" (which was first a book by Peter Maas.) One, an original fictional screenplay and one a biopic (both with Al Pacino in the lead role) give us a glimpse of systems "out of order." One could say that "Serpico" actually reveals an orderly system of widespread illegality that allows the players to navigate a broken system but the system is broken nonetheless.

Fast forward to "The Big Easy." Spoiler alert, if that term applies to movies so terrible they are spoiled before they are showcased. Corruption in New Orleans and hero himself is tainted. Corruption is blamed on two bad apples. Bad apples smashed and hero marries crusading innocent.

"True Believer." Convoluted script but the essence is that there is nothing wrong with the system. Just one bad apple and that bad apple is removed from the barrel. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

"Hurricane." I did not see this movie because I read to reviews and didn't think I could sit through it. The story of Hurricane Carter has a lot of angles: racism, poverty, celebrity, the zeitgeist of a volcanic era. Even the brain dead critics could not let this one pass. Again, I did not see it but on its release, "Hurricane" was panned for reducing a complicated story to, you guessed it: one bad apple.

I don't see Hollywood exploring institutional corruption anytime soon. Movies are now made by people who grew up with televison. Television as a sponsor-driven medium does not challenge the status quo. Television is an ongoing public relations segment for the criminal justice system. Do you ever get the feeling when you watch a police drama, that no matter what the title is, you are watching the same show? "Law & Order," "Criminal Minds," "CSI," "X-Files" ad infinatum...it's all from the same vat?

If that sounds like an overstatement, I can almost guarantee you that they treat one subject exactly the same. Nothing wrong with the system that removing one bad apple won't correct. Hollywood is now in the hands of people whose worldview is dominated not by literature or stage or Scripture or even other movies, but rather by the simplistic perspective of the boob tube.

Returning to the specifics of FBI wrongdoing, especially the Boston field office, I refer you to Wikipedia's summary of the life of FBI Agent, H. Paul Rico. Rico has been scrubbed from "Black Mass." Too bad. Next to James Bulger himself, Rico might be the most significant real life character.

The idea that John Connolly introduced criminality to the FBI in 1975 is insulting to the viewer. Go back ten years and Rico et al (read FBI) is complicit in a murder and sends four innocent men to prison to protect a notorious organized crime figure (Joseph Barboza.) Significantly, this is not the only blemish on Agent Rico's career. He would die in jail awaiting trial for the murder of Roger Wheeler, an event covered in the movie without the mention of Rico's assistance in the crime.

Also significant is Rico's close association with J. Edgar Hoover. As a fan and loyalist, H. Paul styled his moniker on J. Edgar. He was rumored to be a member of the most exclusive inner circle within the FBI, the gay contingent that included Hoover and Clyde Tolson. Years later, a House Committee would reveal that Hoover knew of and allowed (and possibly facilitated) Rico's criminality.

I understand deleting events, scenes and characters for brevity sake. H. Paul Rico however, is too crucial to the story to be left on the cutting room floor. It's like omitting the demon from "The Exorcist" or Elliot Ness from "The Untouchables" or Butch Cassidy from that buddy movie..

"Black Mass" is not just disappointing, it is insulting for its cowardice. Seven word summary: Agents Morris And Connally: Two Bad Apples.

Further Reading:


http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-108hrpt414/html/CRPT-108hrpt414-vol1.htm

Guess Which Administration Banned Pork From Federal Prisons?

From the 'How Dare You Call Him A Muslim' File:

The nation’s pork producers are in an uproar after the federal government abruptly removed bacon, pork chops, pork links, ham and all other pig products from the national menu for 206,000 federal inmates.

The ban started with the new fiscal year last week.

How Many Syrian Refugees Has Russia Granted Asylum?

According to UK Telegraph: 

A trickle of migrants have entered Russia – but the country has granted asylum to only two Syrians so far this year.

Saluting Vladimir Putin

Putin is a leader, first and foremost. To understate things greatly, the West lacks leadership. Putin, despite his Communist Party background, is sympathetic to Orthodox Christianity and shows concern for all Christians. In my not even slightly humble opinion, Vladimir Putin is more deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize than Barack Obama or Al Gore or even Saint Yasser.

The Russian Army is crushing ISIS! We should be dancing in the streets. Instead, the faux Christian in the White House blathers on and Marco Rubio refuses to retract his slanderous statements about Putin and the Russian people. The John McCains show not even a shred of shame for supporting Syrian rebels who include members of Al Qedah and ISIS (Oh excuse me, White House, ISIL.) For all of Assad's flaws, he has a long history of protecting Christians. I will take him over ISIS/ISIL any day.

We need to rethink NATO. I for one, am sick of a morally, fiscally and yes, even a culturally bankrupt Europe badmouthing the US. Frankly, I think most of Europe would be better off with Russia's flat tax and respect for Christian values and culture. If Putin really wants the Has Been Continent, maybe we should let him have it.

In the meantime, Mother Russia fights for the oppressed people of Syria. May God bless Vladimir Putin

Would Ben Carson Support Chris Harper Mercer For President?

Would Ben Carson Support Chris Harper Mercer For President?

Guess we won't find out about the answer to that question. He seemed so presidential and the police went and killed him.

Multiple reports state that Mercer quizzed his victims on their religious beliefs prior to executing them.  

Got News says Mercer was a jihadist, Raw Story identifies him as a conservative republican, anti-religion zealot. Meanwhile Obama lets no tragedy go to waste. He smirks in front of the camera and tells tall stories about the relative safety of blue states. Par for the course.

Items From My Mailbox: Why The Walker Campaign Flopped

Thank you, Tea Party Patriots;

• The collapse of Scott Walker’s campaign.
  On Monday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker dropped out of the presidential race. It wasn’t that long ago that Walker was considered one of the most formidable GOP candidates for the nomination. Back in February, in fact, he topped all of the Iowa polls. A governor who had survived a recall election, won three elections in four years (in a Blue State, no less!) and had defeated the public employee unions in his state, he seemed poised to be a major contender.
  
  But he made several fundamental errors:
  
  First, he never made the transition from governor to candidate for President. There’s a whole different issue set between state-level officials and national-level officials, and Walker never finished boning up on the new issue set he would have to address as a presidential contender. That led to an unfortunate series of seeming flip-flops, which never seemed to end.
  
  Second, he built a big national campaign staff (more than 90 people on payroll, including a full-time campaign photographer!) before he had the financial infrastructure in place to support it.
  
  Third, he waited until July to formally announce his campaign – which meant he waited until July to start raising the money needed to support a large national campaign infrastructure. By that point, he was already fading in the polls.
  
  After a slow summer that saw the unexpected rise of Donald Trump, Walker’s poll numbers began to sag, and donors grew increasingly concerned that he would not regain momentum. The two GOP debates didn’t help. The reviews of his performance in both debates were brutal – with many people noting that Walker seemed to be the “invisible” candidate, and that he faded into the background … hardly helpful for a campaign desperate to make an impression.
  
  Last week’s debate in Simi Valley, CA was the final straw. Walker spoke for fewer minutes than any other candidate, and major donors reportedly were disappointed in the weak performance.
  
  Politico reports that Walkers’s wife, Tonette Walker, convened an emergency meeting at the Governor’s mansion on Monday morning to discuss the sluggish campaign’s poll numbers and fundraising. Shortly after the meeting concluded, Walker made the decision to drop out.  By that evening, Walker had made the official announcement that he was suspending his campaign.

 

Saluting John Boehner's Exit

Barack Obama is losing his best friend. Sad face. Too bad they are both married because they do make a lovely couple and Justice Kennedy has changed the marriage paradigm and...I have to stop before I get as teary-eyed as The Speaker himself.



BYE BYE BENEDICT ARNOLD