Mike talks with Dave and Darren about how Mike was underwhelmed by Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, even by the low bar the franchise sets: Though Michelle Pfeiffer was better used this time around, and Jonathan Majors kills as Kang the Conqueror, Paul Rudd as a presence remains as light as a soufflé, overshadowed even by Corey Stoll as Modok; and, as for Marlowe, the less said, the better. (Even less than was discussed the last time.) Meanwhile, everyone is excited about Cocaine Bear, a concept so rich that even drug-free viewers might want to roll around in baby powder beforehand — and (get this) it features stars Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, and Margo Martindale; practically the whole cast of The Americans, reunited (and it feels so good). . .
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about how disappointing Magic Mike’s Last Dance was (“a Muppet movie, but with gyrating torsos”); Consecration (“a horror film in a convent. . . the devil has to show up at some point”); and the Netflix rom-coms Your Place or Mine (“crushing exposition” and Ashton Kutcher and Reese Witherspoon, who seem to have made the same film on their own at least once) and You People (a funny first hour of an hour-and-fifty-minute film, with Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill doing a variation on that old “Will these polar opposites ever get along?” theme). Mike also previews Marlowe, which “looks ago,” though the “story drags” — not so promising, given we’re talking about Raymond Chandler material. . .
Iowa Roots, Election Integrity, Border Invasion, Lying Media and the Power of First in the Nation Caucus Highlight Recent Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate’s Event in Bettendorf, Iowa February 10, 2023
Listen to the audio recording above for Kari Lake’s entire speech and remarks, unedited.
To a standing room only crowd of over two-hundred fans, Iowa GOP officials, local and national news media Kari Lake kicked off her national speaking tour at the Tanglewood Pavilion in Bettendorf, Iowa. Lake was the guest speaker for the monthly Scott County Women’s GOP event.
After decades as a television news anchor in Phoenix, Arizona Lake ran for governor against the then sitting Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in 2022. Lake is contesting her purported loss to Hobbs by 17,000 votes with a lawsuit alleging election fraud, specifically regarding 300,000 ballots without a chain of custody, and election day shenanigans by intentionally printing a 19” image on a ballot that needed a 20” image to be properly tabulated by the election machines. This mishap caused thousands of ballots to be declined by the machinery and created wait times to vote of three to four hours at the polls. Her case in currently under review by an appellate court and details about the first judge’s ruling declining Lake’s complaint is available at this link here: https://www.uncoverdc.com/2022/12/28/the-kari-lake-decision-is-a-travesty-heres-one-reason-why/
Lake referenced her strong ties to, and influences from Iowa and recognized her family in the crowd. Lake was born in Rock Island, and grew up in North Scott County with seven sisters and a brother. Her father was the North Scott High School football coach, where she graduated in 1986.
“Iowa leads the whole charge when it comes to presidential politics. You guys see everyone come through here every four years. I know you take that responsibility seriously. You need to start calling out these candidates say ‘where do you stand on election integrity’ Because if we keep having elections stolen it does not matter how good the candidate is, or how good the policies are,” Lake said.
Explaining how when she first decided to run for governor in Arizone she was advised not to address controversial topics such as vaccines, COVID, masks or stolen elections. Lake explained she disregarded that advice because, “I’m not controlled by the uni-party, I’m not controlled by the political elite,” and that these were the very issues important to the voters.
Pointing to the row of television news cameras elevated at the back of the hall, Lake said of the media: “If you would talk about election integrity your viewership would go up.” Kari Lake says she has tried Iowa-nice plenty, and is about to go Iowa-witch on the media.
She explained she is focused 100% on her Arizona election court case and not running for any new office. “We’re taking our case all the way to the Supreme Court,” she said citing her father’s advice to “stay in the fight.” “I believe we will find some judges who have the courage to do the right thing.”
A crowd member yelled “Trump VP!” and Lake said, “I love the man, and I will do everything I can to help get him elected.”
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about the perfectly charming 80 for Brady, which has won so many hearts at the box office that you’d figure it would prefigure a flood of elderly-themed films from here on out — only for one to realize, once the ambrosia has worn off, that such waves are a generational thing, ie a self-contained one-off phenomenon for a given era (remember Cocoon?); Knock at the Cabin, the latest M Night Shyamalan joint with the characteristic plot twist built into the story’s center (Apocalypse a-brewin’, somebody’s gotta something: “Either they’re not telling the truth or they are. . . I was engaged the whole time”); and The Amazing Maurice (“a talking cat and a whole bunch of talking rats kind of like swindle towns out of all their money. . . but it’s British, and it’s really witty, and it’s Emilia Clarke, who’s really funny as the human narrator, and Hugh Laurie. . .” “it’s goofy, but it’s better than I expected”).
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about Oscar nominations Women Talking (“not as hard a sit as I expected, [as] the subject matter is horrifying. . . horrible, horrible story”), Living (Bill Nye — the British actor, not the Science Guy — gets a cancer diagnosis; has a few months to live; is a buttoned-up bureaucrat in post-War London who’s never lived before; “and I wish it were more interesting than it is”); To Leslie (Oscar controversy notwithstanding, Andrea Riseborough “is tremendous, absolutely deserves that nomination”); and the outlier, the unnominated Infinity Pool (directed by Brandon Cronenberg, David’s son: “So gross”; “People go to a luxury resort and they meet evil”; clones killing clones killing clones, presumably).
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about the percentage of Oscar nominations that he called correctly this year as well as Missing (“moves really fast,” “fun,” “ends kind of poorly, but it’s clever,” “decent”), EO (a “tough sit” concerning a donkey — just a donkey — traveling the country, not kicking any footballs nor offering witty banter), and The Son (with Hugh Jackman, Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Kirby, and Laura Dern: “Not a believable moment in it”).
River Cities’ Reader publisher Todd McGreevy attended the 2023 Legislative Event Series: Meet Your Legislators event on 20 January, 8-9AM, hosted by the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce. These were the featured speakers, state and federal, Republican and Democrat, Illinois and Iowa, who faced a lightning-round of questions:
U.S. Representative Eric Sorensen from Illinois, Dist 17 (D)
U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks from Iowa, Dist 1 (R)
Iowa Senator Chris Cournoyer, Dist 35 (R)
Iowa Senator Scott Webster, Dist 47 (R)
Illinois Senator Mike Halpin, Dist 36 (D)
Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, Dist 89 (R)
Rhonda Ludwig, Director of Government Affairs for the Chamber, deserves props for keeping her glims on the clock, keeping the speakers speaking at a brisk tempo while drilling down to the many questions specific to some of the legislators’ committee positions.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023, host Jason Bermas is joined by independent-newspaper publisher Todd McGreevy to discuss changes proposed to the way we request and use voter-registration lists. Such changes can have an adverse effect on our ability to identify ineligible voters and get them removed from our voter rolls. By “ineligible,” we mean the deceased, the duplicated, and the departed (they have relocated from the jurisdiction in which they remain registered). Continue reading Voter-Registration Rolls are Not Self-Cleaning Ovens — Todd McGreevy Joins Jason Bermas on Red Voice Media→
Mike talks with Dave and Darren about Plane, a film Mike didn’t hate as much as he hoped he might — “too well-done,” “shot really well,” “at least the director knows how to do his job”; Skinamarink “such a weird, boring, creepy thing,” made with $15,000 Canadian; and the reboot of House Party, “not worth talking about at all, but fun — superfun”; “a mess of fun.” Plus, everyone’s anticipating the Oscars. . .
