Atlantic Monthly Contributors's Blog, page 876

Who Will Direct the Ten Commandments Miniseries?

Paramount

WGN America — with the help of The Weinstein Company — is coming out swinging in the event series department with a 10-part (ha!) telling of the Ten Commandments. The catch, according to Nellie Andreeva at Deadline? Each installment will be directed by a different "A-list" director. The segments will, per Andreeva, focus on "one commandment and its evolving significance." 

The project seems to be jumping on the heels of History's immensely successful The Bible miniseries, but it's also definitely aiming for a more awards-bait-y vibe. In addition to The Weinstein Company's involvement, the series will be executive produced by Bruce Cohen, who won an Oscar for producing American Beauty.

Surely, Cohen's influence might sway some of the high profile directors he's worked with to join in. Cohen produced Tim Burton's Big Fish, so might we get Burton's wacky take on "thou shalt have no other gods before me?" Or might Cohen's collaboration on Milk with Gus Van Sant yield a thoughtful "thou shalt not kill?" Cohen worked with David O. Russell on Silver Linings Playbook so he can do the "shalt not covet" commandment, and American Beauty was basically "thou shalt not commit adultery" so Cohen's connections with Sam Mendes have to make that happen, right? 

There are so many possibilities here for a film event that could be big for WGN America, which so recently got into the scripted series business. 

       

Where Were They When JFK Was Killed? A Movie and TV Timeline of the Kennedy Assassination

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy is one of the most frequently depicted historical events in all of film and television. Sometimes, as with Oliver Stone's JFK, for example, the assassination is the front-and-center subject of the piece. But even more frequently the event is merely part of the fabric of America, standing somewhat in the background and representing any number of thematic points about America, the loss of innocence, etc. With the stipulation that there is no possible way to chronicle every TV and movie character's experience of the JFK assassination, what follows is a representative timeline of the events of November 22, 1963 as experienced by the fictional (or fictionalized) characters who experienced it.

March 21, 1963 Quantum Leap, NBC

2:46 PM CST: Dr. Sam Beckett leaps into the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, in order to attempt to put right what once went wrong.

November 22, 1963 Love Field, Orion Pictures

11:40 AM CST: President and Mrs. Kennedy arrive in Dallas at Love Field airport. There among the crowd hoping to catch a glimpse of them is Lureene Hallet, a Dallas housewife who is looking to escape her humdrum home existence for a few hours and live vicariously through the Camelot Kennedys.

The X Files, FOX

11:56 AM, CST: C.G.B. Spender – a governmental agent of unknown conscription – takes his place in the sewers below Dealey Plaza. He proceeds to smoke a number of cigarettes while he waits.

In the Line of Fire, Columbia Pictures

12:30 PM CST: Secret Service Agent Frank Horrigan is accompanying the Presidential motorcade when shots are fired at President Kennedy. Horrigan is unable to protect his charge, which is his one job. So begins a decades-long downward spiral for Horrigan, one which only the thwarting of another dangerous Presidential assassin can redeem.

12:31 PM CST: Dr. Sam Beckett, now in the body of Secret Service agent Clint Hill, climbs onto the back of the presidential limousine, possibly presenting further harm to Mrs. Kennedy. Which is still more than Frank Horrigan was able to do at the time, which is probably why Frank Horrigan went into that horrible bout of depression.

12:40 PM CST: Lureene Hallet learns of the assassination attempt on Kennedy and immediately begins processing the tragedy through the only lens she knows how: Jacqueline Kennedy, upon whom Lureene has placed most of her fantasies about living a better life.

Mad Men, AMC

12:51 PM CST: In New York, Duck Phillips unplugs his television, not wanting the news of the attempt on Kennedy's life to interfere with an afternoon dalliance with advertising colleague Peggy Olson.

12:55 PM CST: Meanwhile, the employees at Sterling Cooper advertising in New York City gather around to learn the details of the assassination attempt. Among them is Donald Draper, who does not share President Kennedy's politics, but who is nonetheless emblematic of Kennedy's era-specific idealized virility and philandering. Mr. Draper will spend much of the ensuing few days grappling with the implications of Kennedy's impending death.

Lee Daniels' The Butler, The Weinstein Company

1:27 PM CST: While at home trying on different outfits and wigs, Gloria Gaines, wife of White House butler Cecil Gaines, gets the news that President Kennedy has been shot and killed. She pours herself a drink and begins wondering how long all this hoopla is going to keep her husband at work for.

1:27 PM CST: At the same time, in Eastport, Massachusetts, high-school student and practicing (though not baptized) Catholic Charlotte Flax hears the news report of Kennedy's death and goes into something of a tail spin.

1:27 PM CST: In her home in Ossining, NY, Betty Draper informs her housekeeper, Carla, that the President was just declared dead. The two women share a moment of kinship, despite the fact that Ms. Draper is a frigid monster whom Carla does not care for one bit.

Nixon, Hollywood Pictures

1:27 PM CST: Former Vice-President and thwarted Presidential candidate Richard Nixon gets word of the Kennedy assassination and enters a period of dark contemplation, sweatily wondering whether his complicity in the Bay of Pigs affair may have been part of a chain of events, intra-governmental resentments, and elaborate and far-reaching conspiracies that may have ultimately led to this fateful day.

Mermaids, Orion Pictures

1:40 PM CST: Back in Eastport, Charlotte Flax – having fled the news reports of JFK's death – runs to the local convent, where she finds the groundskeeper Joe Porretti and seeks comfort in his embrace. Kissing and moderate groping ensue, as Charlotte's teenage hormones mix with grief in what would have been quite a scene had any of the sisters saw what was happening in the bell tower.

Lee Daniels' The Butler, The Weinstein Company

7:31 PM CST: Having returned to Washington from Dallas, Mrs. Kennedy makes her way back to the White House. Refusing to change out of her blood-stained pink suit, Jacqueline breaks down in the solitude of the West Wing, attended to only by the White House butler, one Cecil Gaines, whose wife at that very moment was embarking on her fourth whiskey of the day.

November 23, 1963

5:12 PM CST: The wedding of Brooks Hargrove and Margaret Sterling (daughter of Roger and Mona Sterling) is fairly ruined due to the pall that has been cast by the Kennedy assassination.

       

Wait, Jennifer Lawrence Almost Turned Down Being Katniss?

ABC News

There's only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cellphone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why, The Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your few minutes (or less) of attention. Today:

HUNGAHHHHH GAMEZ. Today's the day! Catching Fire comes out at midnight, and we are only a few short hours away from seeing Jennifer Lawrence kick so much butt. And to think, she almost turned down the role: 

Reason # 1 that Rob Ford should not have a biopic: Chris Farley won't be able to play him. 

And Los Angeles,  never ever change: 

This cat wears hats on its ears. That's all.

       

Zappos Fires Back at Kanye West's Dig

AP

Kanye West took a momentary break from his Yeezus tour just the other day to appear on Bret Easton Ellis's eponymous new podcast, where he shared some unfriendly words for online shoe and clothing seller Zappos. "I got into this giant argument with the head of Zappos that he's trying to tell me what I need to focus on," West said. "Meanwhile, he sells all this shit product to everybody, his whole thing is based off of selling shit product."

Today, Zappos fired back—by offering up a real shit product for the rapper's (and your) browsing pleasure. Behold:

It's "the perfect gift for the man that has everything," Zappos boasts in the product description, linking to coverage of the spat and cheekily referencing Watch the Throne, West's 2011 collaboration with Jay Z:

Here at Zappos.com, we happily sell sh-t products to everybody! This is the throne, everyone has been watching. Whether you're #1 or #2, your clique will show no mercy, even in Paris. 

Check back in a day or so; given West's propensity to respond to mockery in unsubtle ways, he'll have another say on the matter.

       

New York Congresswoman Beaten and Robbed on Capitol Hill

Meng and her family at her January swearing-in. (AP)

New York Rep. Grace Meng was attacked and robbed about two blocks from the Capitol Building on Tuesday night. Washington's ABC affiliate reports that Meng, who represents part of the New York City borough of Queens, was "hit over the head and robbed of her Gucci tote bag" just behind the Library of Congress on Independence Street. Meng was "disoriented with injuries to her left knee, hand and left side of her face," and sought medical treatment.

She's not the first member of the government to be the victim of a robbery while serving in Washington, of course. Last year, Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer's D.C. house was burgled. Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan described a similar incident to Meng's when he was a freshman representative in 1998.

Ryan was discussing why he opposed new gun legislation.

Right here, Washington, D.C., just a few blocks down this window here, you have crime problems. I used to live down here. I've been mugged before. I've heard the gun shots. This city has perhaps the most stringent gun control laws of any city in the country, but it has perhaps the greatest crime problems with firearms.

For what it's worth, robberies are less common in the area where Meng and Ryan were attacked than they were even five years ago; the number of robberies declined sharply between 2008 and 2011 according to police data. Regardless, Meng would have been better off staying in New York. That same year, New York (though, to be fair, not necessarily Queens) had the lowest crime rate of the nation's 25 largest cities, with 2,324 crimes per 100,000 people. Washington was 15th lowest in the top 25, with 5,712 crimes per 100,000 residents.

       

Paramount Is Not Okay with an 'It's a Wonderful Life' Sequel

Paramount

The announced It's a Wonderful Life sequel isn't sounding too wonderful to Paramount. 

Derrik J. Lang of the Associated Press reported that the studio said that it would fight the proposed sequel to the film titled It's a Wonderful Life: The Rest of the Story that Variety reported was in the works earlier this week. The sequel, which would feature the grandson of Jimmy Stewart's character in the 1946 film, is being financed by Allen J. Schwalb and Bob Farnsworth  of Hummingbird Productions, the latter of whom co-wrote the screenplay. 

But the studio said that they do not have the appropriate rights. "No project relating to It's A Wonderful Life can proceed without a license from Paramount," Paramount said in a statement. "To date, these individuals have not obtained any of the necessary rights, and we would take all appropriate steps to protect those rights." Paramount has controlled the rights for the past 14 years, Lang noted. (The Hollywood Reporter's Borys Kit wrote that Farnsworth "checked on the rights, which were in the public domain.") 

Alas, that's likely a dead end for a probably not very good idea anyway. So, who's going to get on board with our other Christmas classic sequel ideas? 

       

Kevin Spacey Bought Woody Allen a Netflix Subscription

Today in casting new: Kevin Spacey sent Woody Allen a Netflix subscription in the hopes of getting cast in one of his movies, and Ed Harris will star in a movie as an abolitionist.

Oh dear. Poor Kevin Spacey. The two-time Oscar-winner wants to be in a Woody Allen movie real, real bad, but despite how famous and successful he is, Allen just won't put him in one of his dumb movies. So Spacey figured he'd change all that by getting Allen to watch him in House of Cards. Meaning he sent Mr. Allen a note introducing himself and included a subscription to Netflix so Mr. Allen could watch the show. Which is a few things. First, it is of course a little sad that Kevin Spacey is both doing that and admitting to doing that. Obviously it is that. But second, it's a little presumptuous, don't you think? Woodrow Allen is a connoisseur of the cinema, and he lives in America in the year 2013. How do we know he doesn't already have Netflix? So it's presumptuous in that simple way, but it's also presumptuous to think that Allen hasn't seen his work. Oh that's all it must be. He hasn't seen me do my thing. Maybe he has seen your thing, Mr. Spacey. Maybe he's seen more of your thing than all the lads in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park combined. And maybe he just doesn't like it! That's a distinct possibility. So it was presumptuous. The result? Apparently Woody said thanks for the subscription and now Spacey will be considered for future roles. Which, great, glad it worked out. But watch Kevin Spacey's Woody Allen movie be, like, Anything Else instead of Blue Jasmine. The odds are 50/50 there. Be careful, Kevin. Be really really careful. And maybe just talk to your agent next time? [The Wrap]

Giancarlo Esposito, perhaps best known as Breaking Bad's Gus Fring, is also a film director, and he's currently lining up his next project. He will direct a movie called Patriotic Treason, starring Ed Harris as abolitionist John Brown. He's the guy who led an unsuccessful raid on an armory in Harpers Ferry in the hopes of starting a slave rebellion but ended up captured and hanged instead. So that is a very interesting topic! And, y'know, has some exciting action-y stuff in there at the end. Just one complaint: That title. That terrible, terrible title. It sounds like what a junior in college titles a term paper. Or, y'know, what biographer Evan Carton would call his 2006 book, on which the film is based. But still! It's a super corny title for a movie. Why not just John Brown? That's fine. Go with that. [Deadline]

HBO is developing a series that would have Laurence Fishburne starring as Socrates Fortlow, the ex-con trying to make good in a series of novels by crime writer Walter Mosley. Fishburne has played the character before, in HBO's 1998 adaptation of Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, and now is revisiting the role fifteen years later. That sounds perfect. Laurence Fishburne in a crime series for HBO based on stuff that Walter Mosley (Devil in a Blue Dress) wrote. That all fits together quite well, I think. And just imagine, Larry! To be on a crime show that isn't on CBS! What freedom! What joy! Hope this happens. [Deadline]

       

Illinois Becomes the 16th State to Legalize Gay Marriage

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, before signing the state's same-sex marriage bill into law.  (AP)

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn sat at Lincoln's desk as he signed the state's gay marriage bill into law on Wednesday afternoon, making the state the 16th in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. And while witnessing the legalization of gay marriage in a new state is more and more common these days, Illinois still went all out for its hour-long bill signing ceremony, with speeches, choirs, and a backdrop of repeating national, state, and rainbow flags. The livestreamed occasion even had a rendition of the national anthem on the ukelele. 

Quinn's remarks on the marriage equality bill paraphrased Lincoln: "we understand in our state that part of our unfinished business is to help other states achieve marriage equality," Quinn said before signing the bill into law, adding, "we want to have a new birth of freedom across America." 

AP

Speaking to Buzzfeed before the signing, Quinn described his choice of Lincoln's desk: 

Lincoln was a man that understood that you didn’t have to make a long speech — the Gettysburg Address is only 272 words — to sum up the essence of democracy, and that’s what Illinois, his home state, has used here to pass a very important civil rights measure that will live on in history. 

The bill passed both houses of the state's General Assembly weeks ago, about a year after Quinn publicly announced his support for marriage equality. The bill, which also includes some religious exemptions, passed the state's Senate on February 14th of this year. It languished in the House for months, until finally coming up for a vote on November 5 during a special "veto session" of the legislature in November. An amended version of the bill squeezed through the House with 61 votes, just one more vote than the minimum required to proceed. The Senate swiftly gave it final passage 32-21 later that day. It will take effect on June 1, 2014. 

Illinois was one of two states to legalize gay marriage in November. Hawaii became the 15th state to legalize marriage equality, passing and signing an equal marriage bill into law about a week after Illinois sent its bill to Quinn.

Here, you can witness the spread of legal same-sex marriage across the nation over time: 

 

       

The NFL Came This Close to Having Out Gay Players

This spring, it seemed a surge in gay rights momentum was going to turn tides in the NFL and allow the league to accept an out gay player. Now, some executives think an out player won't exist in the NFL for another three to five years. This new, startling development comes from Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman, who reports the league was close to having multiple players come out last spring. 

Rumors ran rampant at the time suggesting "a handful" of NFL players were ready to come out publicly. One gay-rights activist described the time to Freeman as the "the spring of optimism for the NFL and gay rights." As you probably noticed, nothing happened, and now, one league executive guesses, the NFL is probably three to five years away from accepting a gay player. The NFL falls drastically behind the NHL, and even the UFC, in its work accepting gay athletes, despite recent efforts to catch up. But attention given to NBA player Jason Collins (who remains unsigned) coming out on a Sports Illustrated cover, fears of being ostracized by fellow players, and teams getting cold feet before signing and accepting a gay player kept the league from making the leap into the 21st century. 

Freeman reports now, with the benefit of hindsight, that, in truth, about two or three of active players were orchestrating announcements with different teams on different sides of the country without knowledge of each other. One player, allegedly an active free agent who remains unsigned today, had a deal in place with one NFL team to handle a coming out announcement in June, a month before training camp. That seemed like plenty of time for the press and league to digest the news, suffer some ugly backlash, and then go through the backlash to the backlash before players even run drills. Another player, a still-unsigned defensive back, nearly had a deal with an AFC team. But both fell apart at the last minute: 

According to the team, the potential deal collapsed when the [free-agent defensive back] wanted too much money. If that was the case—and there is doubt about that among gay-rights advocates—it stands apart from everything else league insiders are saying about an NFL which they know includes many gay players and not a single one who will publicly acknowledge he's gay.

The first player, the one who expected to sign in June, heard in mid-to-late May from the interested team that it would no longer be signing him, officials from other teams told Bleacher Report. The player was told the reason why was fear of intense media coverage.

For the other players ready to come out, their deals and decisions to stay closeted came out of fear for what they could lose — their friends, their job and potentially the sport they love so much:

The answer was the same—fear. If they come out before signing, they won't get signed. While the players want to help push change, they also want to play football. Some will point to how Collins remains unemployed post-announcement.

Some point to the recent Miami Dolphins bullying scandal as a sign the league isn't ready for an out gay player. No one knows what it will take, exactly, for the biggest sports league to accept something the Supreme Court is already so over. The best guess, many think: a college prospect already out of the closet with undeniable talent. "Players, in general, don't care what other players do in the bedroom," Arizona kicker Jay Feely told Freeman. "No one cares. The only thing they care about is winning games (and getting paid). That's the honest truth." A hail mary might help.

       

Rob Ford's New Trainer Has an Uncomfortable History with Steroids

AP

Rob "actions speak louder than words" Ford has promised to clean up his act and stay mayor after admitting to smoking crack cocaine and losing most of his powers as Toronto's mayor. But there's just one more thing that people want explained: one of his new fitness consultants was convicted in the U.S. for steroid trafficking. He's also in the midst of a 12-year sanction in Canada that bars him from coaching. 

Team Body Pro Athletics owner Valerio Moscariello, who also goes by the name Valerio Mosca, tweeted a picture of himself with Mayor Ford earlier this week. The photo has since been taken off of Instagram and Twitter. The caption read, "Putting Toronto mayor Rob Ford through a Valerio workout. The BodyPro training system!!!" While he's pulled back from advertising his connection to Ford following media questions about his record,  Moscariello talked to the National Post earlier about his training regimen for the mayor. “You’d be amazed how agile he is," Moscariello said of Mayor Ford, adding, "He knows how to move 300 pounds around easily." Ford weighed in at 336 pounds, according to Moscariello: 

 

He’s got the discipline and he’s got the drive. I really think he can lose the weight, but he has to give it his all. I want him to give me 100%, not even just 99%. Without 100% I won’t take him on. But if he gives me 100%, if he comes to the gym, I’ll beat him up [through a rigorous workout.] I’ll beat him up until he can’t take anymore,

He added: 

With Rob, I think the problem is what he eats. He’s on the go, he’s here and there and he doesn’t eat what he should. If Rob eats proper food, he will change. But you need to do this every day. Every day...You are what you eat.

TeamBodyPro's site, which has now been taken down for maintenance, described its services like this: " Would you like to work with TeamBodyPro? We are professionals who can build you a proper diet and give you a proper training program designed just for you and your sport." The 12-year sanction against Moscariello from the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) is very specific about its restrictions: 

His 12-year sanction means that he is ineligible to participate in any sport at any level and in any role. This prevents him from coaching, training or competing, and restricts competitive athletes from associating with him as a coach or trainer.

The ban was imposed in 2010 for administering steroids to national-level boxer Amanda Galle, five years after Moscariello was sentenced to five months in a U.S. federal prison for possession with the intent to distribute anabolic steroids. The U.S. conviction stemmed from, among other things, running a site called www.juiceworld.com that distributed anabolic steroids. The mayor's office hasn't specified the members of his team of health professionals.