Blackkklansman review

It's been a  week after the United the Right 2 rally which is a march of white racists in Washington, D.C. It's the second iteration of this protest after last year's riots in Charlottesville, Virginia where American Nazis, and racists marched. One woman who opposed the racists was killed by one of them. She was white and her name was Heather Heyer. Conservative Republican President Trump said of the riots between racists and antt-racists that there were "very fine people on both sides." (USA Today) In making Blackkklansman, director and writer Spike Lee knows the current events surrounding his film about a black police officer infiltrating the Klu Klux Klan in the seventies. To him, the racism that existed back then is still with us. It's enabled by Trump. Lee makes this message subtly and sometimes as loud as jazz sermon by Gil Scott- Heron.

It's the seventies, and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) becomes the first African American police officer on the Colorado Springs police force. Washington is excellent here as a black man who wants to protect the public as a cop. And in case you ddidn't know it, he's the son of Denzel Washington and was a former professional football player. I'm glad for the art of acting that he hung up his cleats as there is a bright future for him as a thespian.

Stallworth's first job is to infiltrate the local college's black student union when they bring in Kwame Ture. (Core Hawkins) The police fear that the African Americans may turn violent. Of course, through history we know that was not the case. They were about black empowerment. He meets Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier) and starts a personal relationship with her. She's black, beautiful and smart.

At the station, Stallworth notices a want ad for recruits to the Klu Klux Klan. He calls it, pretending to be a black and Jew hating white man. He convinces his bosses that with the help of Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), a Jewish officer, they can infiltrate the local Klan and investigate if they are planning any illegal activities. Driver is quite good as the unsure partner wondering if they can pull it off.

Along the way, Stallworth actually gets to make contact with the national head of the Klan, David Duke. (Topher Grace) Grace is ions away from his starring role on the sitcom That 70's Show. Grace's Duke is spot on. He's like the real Duke. Charming and corporate. Still full of malice and hatred. Zimmerman meets other Klansmen, all full of hatred for blacks and Jews. One in particular, Felix played by Finnish actor Jasper Paakkonen, displays a frightening menace. It's a remarkable performance because you would have never guessed that he was Finnish by listening to his American accent.

Lee and writers Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, say many things about racism in their screenplay. If you compare the African American students' activism with the Klan,, the differences are stark. Whereas the students yearn for freedom and black empowerment, they are not violent. Whereas the Klan's hatred for blacks grows into violence. Of course the Klan has always had a history of violence. And as I have pointed out, the writers are making the point that racism is alive and well. It's enabled by Trump. That's because this movie features David Duke and includes a clip of him at the Charlottesville rally. Trump's comments are also in the movie. And let's face it folks. There are literally GOP candidates who are racists. (Vox article) And you will get a chills down your spine when you hear the Klansmen chant, "America First." That was one of the mottos of the Trump campaign. It's hard to stomach as the racists root on the violence against blacks depicted in "The Birth of a Nation." (1915) They treat it like a sporting event. What's even more curious is that the Klan has a discriminatory attitude towards the women. In the movie, women are treated as second class citizens.

The film does take some time with humor  to depict the idiocy of racism. It's often depicted as Stallworth over the phone in a "white" accent starts to utter the hatred that Klansmen feel towards African Americans, gays and Jews. It's a nice break from the intense drama. Along with the depiction of odious racism, the movie works as a thriller. You see Zimmerman is often in danger of being discovered and likely to be killed. Also in danger are the black students.

Spike Lee is a painter as a director. Thankfully, he does not use camera gymnastics to maintain interest. His shots are well thought out. During a rally with Ture, Lee focuses on the African American faces. We hear the words as to why black is beautiful. It is indeed, beautiful to see. This is one of the many gorgeous shots that Lee frames. He doesn't get in the way of the story but lets it speak. Lee also puts in some fantastic soul music from the seventies to give the movie a feel for the time and place. One might fault this movie as being a little over the top but given the nature of the subject matter, it's a criticism that is subjective.

Blackkklansman is a powerful political film. It depicts racism as an evil that is ongoing. It is a racism that in the seventies wanted to be considered mainstream as we see Duke in a suit rather than a hood. It is a racism that continues in this day as the racists no longer disguise themselves in hoods but under the cover of "Make America Great Again." The America that Trump wants is one of the fifties where African Americans were second class citizens. Lee's masterpiece is a must see for this year and any other year if one is serious about thinking about racism in America. The grade is A.

Conservative Republican Nunes shows he puts Trump ahead of America

Conservative Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Ca.) at a private fundraiser declared that a Republican congress is the "only one" to clear President Trump. (1:20 at the MSNBC video, below.) The problem with this statement is that Nunes is not following the evidence but is putting the President ahead of the country. It's clear that Republicans in the House were interested in protecting Trump rather than doing a thorough investigation. As Trump nears to admitting that his campaign colluded with Russians, the Republicans did not care about America but more for the President when they cleared him and his campaign of not colluding with the Russians. Vote liberal Democrat if you want to live.

Mission: Impossible- Fallout review

About half way through the movie Mission: Impossible- Fallout, you will discover one of its big mysteries. But the great thing about it is that you'll doubt if you have the complete answer to the plot. This being a film written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie who wrote The Usual Suspects (1995), one can expect a twist or two. But M:I-Fallout is much more than a spy movie with red herrings. It's a great action movie.

Mission: Impossible- Fallout takes place after the events in Mission:Impossible-Rogue Nation (2015) so it's a sequel. The IMF (Impossible Mission Force) comprised of Ethan Hunt (Tom Crusie), Benji (Simon Pegg) and Luther (Ving Rhames) is in Belfast to recover plutonium cores. The Apostles aka The Syndicate are also there to purchase them for a client. The mission goes awry and Ethan sacrifices the recovery to save his team. The CIA led by Sloane (Angela Bassett) tasks the IMF team to recover the cores in Paris. However, she demands that Superman... um, Walker (Henry Cavill) accompany them. They must find out who the buyer of the cores is, a guy by the name of Keyser Soze. Er.. that's The Usual Suspects. Sorry. They must find out who the buyer is and get the cores back. They fail and the world gets incinerated leading to a planet of apes. Okay, the last sentence doesn't happen.

Rebecca Ferguson returns from Rogue Nation as former MI6 spy Ilsa Faust. She's adept at martial arts, high speed motorcycle chases and really good with a gun. She's also sophisticated, sexy and beautiful. She's got a great English accent and lovely voice which I could listen to all day. I hope she gets an Oscar nomination. Oh, and Tom Cruise is in the movie too. Okay, I have to discuss Tom Cruise. In reality, Cruise is 55! And he's ageless. His stunt work is remarkable and considering he hurt his leg during the filming of a foot chase scene, one should never doubt his dedication. That scene is in the movie as Ethan limps away. With this movie and last year's American Made, it's quite a roll for him. We'll just forget about The Mummy. Anyway, Rebecca Ferguson is going to appear along with Captain Picard.. I mean Patrick Stewart in The Kid Who Would Be King. in 2019. Dear Academy, for your consideration, nominate Ms. Ferguson. Just saying. Okay, back to the review.

M:i-Fallout is why you go to the theater to watch movies. Director McQuarrie shoots everything big. I mean virtually all of his shots are epic. This is one big world. And the beauty of his direction is that most of it is well lit. He avoids shooting most of the action scenes in the dark. The audience sees all the action. Fight scenes are well planned. The editing makes sense. There's no confusion in action set pieces. And they are epic. The special effects mesh with the live action. The effect of all this is that it looks real and exciting. I mean, did Tom Cruise make a HALO parachute jump? Probably not but it looks like he did. Just like it looks like he's driving a motorcycle in a high speed chase through Paris traffic. Of course, you got your running Cruise scene and he's probably lost a step but that jump where he hurt himself is death defying. There's also a helicopter chase scene which had me sitting straight up. Seriously, this film makes every James Bond movie look tame.

All kidding aside. While it's great to see Rebecca Ferguson in the movie, there's not much stuff for the women to do here. Michelle Monaghan returns as Ethan's wife, Julia from M:I III (200^) and M:I-Ghost Protocol (2011). I don't want to give it away but her scenes seem forced and perhaps here to set up some changes for the next film. Let me put it this way. The IMF needs women.

Mission: Impossible- Fallout is perhaps best of the series. It's only rivaled by the first Mission Impossible's spy games. The film is one remarkable action movie. Thrilling. It's so good that you will not forget the excitement. It's a must see at a theater. The grade is A.

Colbert hilariously nails Giuliani's argument that collusion is not a crime

Last night, Stephen Colbert on The Late Show went after his boss CBS CEO Les Moonves, and conservative President Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani's new defense. "Well if we colluded with Russians, it's not a crime." Yes my fellow Americans we've reached that point. There's evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russians. And I'm not just talking about the Trump Tower meeting. Great stuff. Enjoy.

New strategy for Trump Team: Our Collusion is not a crime

After, watching conservative President Trump's legal team on  news programs over the last two days,  a new strategy against the Trump-Russia investigation has arisen. It seems that they are conceding the campaign worked with Russians to win the election. Yesterday, Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani went all  over cable news to say that collusion is not a crime. Check out Giuliani's unhinged interview on CNN below. Sunday night on Kasie Hunt's MSNBC show, Trump defender Alan Dershowitz  is now arguing that even if the Trump campaign got the hacked Democratic party emails that they were protected by the First Amendment.  (The Hill with embedded video.)

So, now we are seeing a change of stories from the Trump team. Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, had his offices raided where millions of files  were seized. It's my opinion that Trump now knows the "bodies" will be discovered. On Thursday, there was a story that Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting with the Russians. Now with the no collusion defense, we're seeing the narrative come out that "If Trump accepted help from the Russians with hacked emails then this collusion was not against the law." Law professor Mimi Rocah on Hunt's show says this also. (Embedded video with The Hill  at 16:30)

One big problem with Team Trump's new defense.  Yes, collusion is not a crime.  But conspiracy, aiding and abetting is.  Soliciting opposition research from a foreign source is illegal.  See 11 CFR 110.20.  So if the campaign colluded  or conspired with the Russians to use hacked emails, it's a crime.  As more bad facts are  found out, it's likely Team Trump will look to find a way to spin the idea that a political campaign can get help from a foreign government to win an election.  Of course, if there's some quid pro quo such as lifting of sanctions we've got other charges such as bribery.

 America, vote liberal Democrat if you want to live. 

By the way, Giuliani admits to a  meeting of campaign officials  before the Trump Tower meeting! At the 5:30 mark, Giuliani talks about an alleged  one on one meeting between Trump and Trump Jr.  Then two  days before,  there's supposed to be a meeting of five people.  (Trump Jr. , Kushner, Gates, Manafort, and another)

Why Trump team leaked story that Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting

Yesterday, a bombshell story broke which stated that conservative President Trump knew about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians and approved it. It was alleged congsigliore Michael Cohen was shopping it to the Bob Mueller. According to Lanny Davis, Cohen's lawyer, the leak for the story did not come from team Cohen. (MSNBC story.)

"I cannot comment. And I have to wonder why the Trump people would put that out. It was not from us."

Trump said he did not know about the meeting.  So who is telling the truth?  Yes, I know you're saying why am I asking since Trump is a pathological liar.  Side with Cohen.  It makes no sense for Cohen to leak it since that would possibly effect the testimony at trial.  If Cohen wants to work with Mueller, he's not going to anger the Feds.  And by the way, Maddows's  theory that leaks are designed to sap Cohen's value, i.e. "take a card out of his deck" is not accurate.    Cohen would still be needed to testify and clarify any evidence.

But the answer may have come from Trump's crazy lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.  He just happened to be available to CNN.  In the interview below, he says there would have to be two to three people to corroborate Cohen's story.  (2:00 minute mark.)  This seems that Giuliani might know that there were other people who may have been present when Trump was informed that the Russians had dirt on Clinton.  Giuliani then says he talked to the corroborating witnesses.  (12:00 minute mark) "I know what they say."   Giuliani then says, "Gosh, almighty.  Why didn't he tape it?   He taped everything else.  He's got a hundred tapes. Why didn't he tape that?  Maybe he did.  Maybe he's got a tape that he  erased." (12:30 minute mark)  Giuliani then goes into the other tape which covered the payoff to silence an affair. 

If Trump knew and approved the meeting with Russians then he's as guilty as his son who set the meeting up.  And it is illegal to receive campaign contributions or attempt to solicit them from foreign sources.

So why did Team Trump leak this story?   It's what we lawyers call a preemptive strike.  There were about million documents and tapes seized from Cohen. Trump is worried.  And if Cohen knows where the bodies are buried and shows the government, Trump is in trouble.  Not just Trump-Russia.  Covering up affairs to influence the election and not reporting  them  is  illegal.  Here's why  I think they leaked.  They want to discredit Cohen by getting ahead of the story and spinning a narrative about his credibility.  They also want to influence the testimony of any corroborating witness.  Now, is any of this good trial strategy or even good politics?  Hell, no.  None of this makes any sense.  Unless Trump can guarantee other witnesses will lie for him, it's a risk.  If there's a tape corroborating Cohen, Giuliani and team Trump look stupid.  And putting out bad information about you is ridiculous.  You can't guarantee that people's negative perceptions will be changed by spin.     

(Giuliani's defense that paying with a check rather cash to silence an affair is idiocy.  The check does not affect a criminal action.  It's still illegal. For example, Jerry Springer paid a prostitute with a check. )
     

White House may have broken law by altering Trump-Putin news conference tape

Last night, Rachel Maddow on MSNBC reported that the White House tape of the Trump-Putin Helsinki news conference was altered. And it's important. We all know that our intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election and that it was done to help conservative President Trump. So, any evidence of Russian President Putin favoring Trump is relevant. In Maddow's video below, at the 2:00 minute mark, Reuters reporter Jeff Mason asks, "President Putin did you want President Trump to win the election? ..." Putin responds, "Yes I did."

In the White House version of the tape, it's been altered so that Mason's question was deleted. That includes the transcript. Deleting the question changes the record of the news conference. The White House is required to keep records. Deleting the question intentionally is tampering with evidence and against the law. See 18 U.S.C. Section 1519.

We need truth. Vote liberal Democrat if you want to live. Keep in check conservative President Trump. Then impeach him.

Watch this important Maddow piece.