The Grisly History of Chappaquiddick

By Ben Shapiro
https://townhall.com/
April 4, 2018


Mary Jo Kopechne and Ted Kennedy

On April 6, a bombshell will hit America's theaters.

That bombshell comes in the form of an understated, well-made, well-acted film called "Chappaquiddick." (Full disclosure: They advertise with my podcast.) The film tells the story of Ted Kennedy's 1969 killing of political aide Mary Jo Kopechne; the Massachusetts Democratic senator drove his car off a bridge and into the Poucha Pond, somehow escaped the overturned vehicle and left Kopechne to drown. She didn't drown, though. Instead, she reportedly suffocated while waiting for help inside an air bubble while Kennedy waited 10 hours to call for help. The Kennedy family and its associated political allies then worked to cover up the incident. In the end, Teddy was sentenced to a two-month suspended jail sentence for leaving the scene of an accident. The incident prevented Kennedy from running for president in 1972 and 1976, though he attempted a run in 1980 against then-President Jimmy Carter, failing.

So, why is the film important?

It's important because it doesn't traffic in rumors and innuendo -- there is no attempt to claim that Kopechne was having an affair with Kennedy, or that she was pregnant with his child. It's important because it doesn't paint Kennedy as a monster but as a deeply flawed and somewhat pathetic scion of a dark and manipulative family. But most of all, it's important for two reasons: It's the first movie to actually tackle a serious Democratic scandal in the history of modern film, and it reminds us that Americans have long been willing to overlook scandal for the sake of political convenience.

First, there's the historic nature of the film. Here is an incomplete list of the films made about George W. Bush's administration since his election in 2000, nearly all of them accusatory in tone: "W," "Fahrenheit 9/11," "Recount," "Fair Game" and "Truth." There has still not been a movie made about former President Bill Clinton's impeachment (though one is apparently in the works). There's been no movie about former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's internment of the Japanese, former President Lyndon Johnson's dramatic mishandling of the Vietnam War (though we have had two hagiographies of LBJ, one directed by Rob Reiner, the other starring Bryan Cranston) or former President Woodrow Wilson's racism and near fascism. 

And it only took nearly 50 years to make a film about a Democratic icon leaving a woman to die in a river. It's amazing it was made in the first place.

Most importantly, though, "Chappaquiddick" reminds us that confirmation bias and wishful thinking aren't unique to one side of the aisle. In the era of President Trump, media members have had fun telling Republicans that they have abandoned all of their moral principles in order to back a man whose agenda they support. But Democrats beat Republicans there by decades: They not only overlooked a man who likely committed manslaughter but also made him into a hero, the "Lion of the Senate." We can't understand how morals and politics have been split in two without reckoning with this history.

"Chappaquiddick" is a must-see. It's just a shame it took half a century for it to see the light.

Jalen Brunson even set tone for how Villanova would celebrate

By Mike Jensen
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/villanova/jalen-brunson-villanova-ncaa-champions-celebration-set-tone-march-madness-20180403.html
April 3, 2018


Coach Jay Wright tends to an emotional Jalen Brunson late in the NCAA championship game. (Yong Kim)

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — There was celebration mayhem all around. Jay Wright got in a group hug with his family and moved over to the side of the raised court, pointing at people as he focused on them in the closer stands, yelling out first names. Wright saw a guy in the front row. Billy! (Billy plays golf with Villanova’s coach sometimes.)

In the front row, Donte DiVincenzo’s mom, wearing one of the Villanova cowboy hats bought for all the moms by Jalen Brunson’s mom, was trying to keep it together while watching her son get interviewed by Jim Nantz up on the stage, his voice blasting around the Alamodome. Nantz announced “One Shining Moment” was coming up. “Oh God, don’t play that song!’’ DiVincenzo’s mom said, making it clear she’d lose it completely.

At the precise emotional center of it all was Villanova’s point guard. Jalen Brunson always has been. Except the core of this group all along was a portrait of steadiness, almost a stubbornness, a declaration that this group would not be rattled.

On this night, however, Brunson came out at the end and was full-out bawling before he reached his head coach. When the scoreboards read Villanova 79, Michigan 62, Josh Hart, a hero of the 2016 NCAA champions, got in on the 2018 celebration and hugged the point guard. Kris Jenkins, author of the game-winning shot two years ago, moved in right behind and picked Brunson up off the ground. Kerry Kittles, star from two decades back, pointed to the stage, time for Brunson to get up there.

On that stage, the tears kept flowing even as Brunson held up two fingers to the crowd, making it clear this wasn’t just a “V” — it was two fingers for two titles.

“I blame Jalen,’’ DiVincenzo, 31-point star of this night, said later of why he had immediately lost it, too.

“He actually showed emotion on the court,’’ freshman Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree said. “I felt like that just opened up everybody. Everybody kind of, like, lost it.”

This was the guy about whom Xavier’s coach had said, you peel his face off, he’d probably have wires coming out of it?

“I just knew that it was bound to come out eventually,’’ Brunson said long after he had regained his composure, back in the locker room. “Just to be with these guys, obviously they mean the world to me. You cannot trade this for anything ever — anything else I want.”

He’d swept the national player-of-the-year trophies and talked about how “this trumps it all. You get to lead a team, that makes it so special.”

Go back to the beginning of the game. Brunson had set a little tone right then. If everyone thought three-pointers were all Villanova was about, Brunson showed another way, driving into the lane for a pull-up jumper on Villanova’s first possession, hitting one of his turnaround specialties on the next one.

All season, you saw the nuances of his game. Fall for one of his tricks, and he’ll make sure the officials see there was a collision. Brunson also never hesitated to point out to the striped guys what he saw was going on.

Some of the emotion maybe came from the knowledge that this was it, that Brunson will be moving on. The fact that he left as a starter on two national-title teams — a feat no other Villanova player can claim — can’t change the realization that it’s over.

There was some reminiscing afterward in that locker room, especially since reporters were suddenly intensely interested in the whole Donte DiVincenzo story. Brunson was asked about first meeting DiVincenzo, while traveling to an AAU tournament. DiVincenzo already had committed to Villanova.

“Donte just came up and said, ‘What’s up, what’s up? Come to ‘Nova!’’ Brunson said. “I looked up at him and said, ‘Oh yeah — hell no!’ ‘’

He knew DiVincenzo was a big-time guard. Take two of them in the same class? Midway through high school, he didn’t think like that. You know they’ve laughed about it since.

“Looking at it now, it was pretty stupid of me to say,’’ Brunson said. “From that point on, I met a best friend.”

Someone asked Brunson, who had scored 19 points, about whether he’d hold up the national player-of-the-year trophies if DiVincenzo threw the Final Four outstanding-player thing at him.

“I’ll just say, I played in two national-title games instead of one,’’ Brunson said.

This was the loose Brunson you knew was part of the package but kept hidden from public view.

“We try to be the nastiest on the court, but off the court, we try to be genuine people as much as we can,’’ Brunson said.

A text came in from a former coach who had known Brunson for a long time through his father, Rick, the former Temple and NBA player and now an NBA assistant.

“The term ‘great kid’ is overused,’’ the former coach said. “He deserves a much better adjective. Exceptional kid. If he wasn’t practicing, he was reading. There isn’t a person there who gave more of his childhood with purposeful practice. Simply not possible. He’s been working for this since age three.”

When Brunson said he knew those emotions were bound to spill out eventually, we should understand how far all this goes back, and it simply came out to meet the occasion, setting the tone for Villanova, even after it was all over.

It’s Villanova’s world, and college basketball should be glad to be living in it

By Jerry Brewer

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/

April 3, 2018

Villanova players celebrate with the trophy after beating Michigan 79-62 in the championship game of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 2, 2018, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

SAN ANTONIO — In Villanova’s world, which now should be the most desired locale in college basketball, the best player on the court can be a redshirt sophomore sixth man nicknamed the Big Ragu. Donte DiVincenzo, who is Italian and redheaded and a good sport for accepting Fox broadcaster Gus Johnson’s sobriquet, can enter the NCAA men’s national championship game and shred every piece of an effective Michigan game plan with a steely performance.

In Villanova’s world, it is simply his turn to lead a balanced team. Jalen Brunson, the national player of the year, can suppress his game, watch his playing time shrink and still marvel. The rest of the team can flow with DiVincenzo as if it’s the most natural thing, as if his 31 points and driving dunks and wink-inducing three-pointers are exactly what the Wildcats expected.

In Villanova’s world, which is fascinating and enviable and potentially dynastic, the players are on stage after a 79-62 victory over Michigan, holding their second championship trophy in three seasons and turning the moment into a bromance, with expressions of love for each other and awe over what their unselfish spirit has created.

“I really can’t put my mind around it,” Coach Jay Wright said. “I never dreamt of this.”

Two titles in three seasons? At Villanova? For so long, it seemed the Wildcats should be satisfied with being a spunky overachiever, not a perennial contender but the underdog program that Rollie Massimino led to a miracle win over Georgetown in 1985. Maybe Villanova could do that once every 30 years or so. But own college basketball? Provide a blueprint for how a sport in trouble should be played by everyone? It was unimaginable, and now it’s something that must happen.

Be like Villanova? Yes, slimy college basketball peers, be like the Wildcats. Or at least try to be. Their run amounts to the most inspiring multiyear example of an unselfish championship culture and exquisite roster construction the sport has seen since Florida won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. Villanova is just the eighth school to win at least two NCAA men’s basketball championships in a three-season span.

The Wildcats did it with a style that defies the one-and-done, go-for-your-money, quick-fix, build-an-instant-contender mentality that now haunts college basketball. The game needed the example of Loyola Chicago to restore the charm of amateurism during this tournament, but it was desperate for a team with the characteristics of Villanova to win the whole thing.

At the Alamodome on Monday night, you saw a final that inspired pride after a long season of scandal. To conclude a tournament filled with reminders of college basketball’s dignity — from Maryland Baltimore County’s historic upset to Loyola Chicago’s riveting Final Four run — Villanova and Michigan served as finalists that augmented a reassuring message.

As he celebrated the win, Wright made sure to say of Michigan, “We’re proud to have played them in this game.”

It’s a challenge to dislike how Villanova and Michigan are built. Long before the FBI exposed widespread corruption in the sport, they were models for sustainable winning, but their successes have been amplified in the current climate. It should be apparent now that it’s dangerous to declare any major program immune to impropriety, but you can say safely that Jay Wright and John Beilein are coaches that aspire to do everything the right way. Beilein, in fact, was voted the sport’s cleanest coach in a CBS poll of 100 coaches last year. The manner in which they run their programs decreases the likelihood of scandal because of one important tenant: They prioritize recruiting players who want the full collegiate experience.

They aren’t infatuated with chasing the best talent. They want the right talent. And they excel in developing players.

That’s why Michigan forward Moritz Wagner, a frail German kid when he entered the program three years ago, dominated the opening minutes Monday and finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. That’s why DiVincenzo, who was a redshirt working on the scout team in practice when Villanova won the title in 2016, became the Final Four’s most outstanding player. And Mikal Bridges, another former redshirt, scored 19 points.

“I think both of us are looking for guys that want to be in college,” Wright said. “And we both love having guys that are pros, too, but we want guys that want to be part of a program.”

Wright and Beilein aren’t self-righteous about their methods, however. They don’t coach at Duke, Kansas or Kentucky. There are recruiting limitations at Villanova and Michigan, even though they have developed into consistent elite-level programs. Duke and Kentucky are really the only programs that have been able to keep winning despite the yearly roster upheaval caused by signing one-and-done stars. Wright admits he’d like a few more five-star players in his program, but not at the risk of ruining what he has established. Beilein craves certainty and continuity.

“We’re trying to get a program that can just sustain itself,” said Beilein, who has now been the national runner-up twice in his last six seasons at Michigan. “And it’s very hard to sustain when you have the kids go pro who should have gone pro, but you didn’t plan on that when they were freshmen because nobody else thought they were going to go pro, and all of a sudden, they’re good enough to go pro.”

Said Wright: “Well, the reason we stick to it is we can’t get the one-and-done guys. We’re trying. We really are . . . . We recruit guys that just want to be in college. We want them to enjoy the college experience and then we hope that after one year of enjoying the college experience they have a really difficult decision to make that the NBA wants you but you really enjoy college. Rather than come to college saying I want to get out as soon as I can.”

Two years ago, Villanova rode its approach and its delightful perimeter-dominant style of play and won the 2016 title over North Carolina on Kris Jenkins’s stunning buzzer-beater. But this time, it wasn’t close. Villanova won all six of its tournament games by double figures. In the Final Four, the Wildcats blew out Kansas and Michigan. There’s no doubt that, for the time being, this is the best program in college basketball.

“How close we are just carries us when we’re on the court,” DiVincenzo said.

Near the end of the game, DiVincenzo spotted former Villanova star Josh Hart in the crowd and pointed to his old teammate. Hart grinned and pointed.

“Another one!” DiVincenzo yelled, spreading his arms out wide.

With Villanova running things, maybe this lost sport has a chance.

For more by Jerry Brewer, visit washingtonpost.com/brewer.

Retired Justice Stevens Puts Democrats on a Pin with Call to Repeal Second Amendment

By John Kass
https://townhall.com/columnists/johnkass/
April 2, 2018


Retired Justice Stevens argues for repeal of Second Amendment


Democrats are panicking over retired Supreme Court Justice John Stevens' comments on repealing the Second Amendment.

You know they're panicking when they insist they're not panicking.

It is one thing for the left to slowly, carefully, methodically gut the Bill of Rights by using the media and their children's crusade as proxies.

But it's quite another thing to honestly declare your intentions about repealing the Second Amendment, which is what Stevens -- a Republican appointee but a liberal -- is advocating.

At least Stevens is honest about it, which is what you'd expect of a 97-year-old Cubs fan who saw Babe Ruth's called shot at Wrigley. But he's driven Democrats crazy.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant, yes, but what if you don't want to admit to the American public -- before the 2018 elections -- that shredding the Second Amendment is what's on the menu?

You panic and say, "That is not what I meant, that is not what I meant at all," as you're fixed upon a pin as in the T.S. Eliot poem, which is exactly what Stevens' op-ed in The New York Times did to the left.

Stevens fixed them on a pin, like insects on a board. An honest pin, to be sure, but a pin nevertheless.

So until Democrats can figure out an escape without demeaning the retired justice, those bent on trashing the long-held American right to bear arms just might want to remember happier times.

Like those halcyon days when they hadn't yet driven all the moderate Democrats out of their party, when John Kerry was running for president.

Kerry, the impossibly rich liberal, a beneficiary of the Heinz ketchup fortune thanks to his wife, was a worldly fellow, comfortable on a yacht. But he was plagued by his patrician, upper-crust demeanor.

Some political brain decided Kerry should go a duck huntin' and demonstrate his love for the Second Amendment. And he got all dressed up like Elmer Fudd.

All that was missing was the Fudd hat with the ear flaps. But that would have ruined Kerry's hair.

Somebody shot some ducks -- or perhaps an aide had them quietly strangled -- but either way Kerry proudly carried those dead ducks around for news photographers, to demonstrate his reverence for the Second Amendment and the American right to kill some ducks.

The Bill of Rights doesn't exactly mention duck hunting, but liberals have a way of conflating hunting with the right to bear arms.

Kerry didn't care. He even dropped his patrician airs for the afternoon and walked around like an animatronic Orvis catalog. And, he got some nice Ohio mud on his boots.



The photo op might have worked, if Kerry hadn't been wearing obviously stiff new gear, which made him look exactly what he was: a liberal politician in store-bought huntin' clothes pandering for regular folks' votes in Ohio by carrying a shotgun and a bunch of dead ducks.

Will we ever see Democrats touch a gun again in a photo op?

Perhaps, but they'll need a safe emotional distance between any fake Second Amendment reverence and that other recent Democratic event:

That children's crusade of the left called March for Our Lives, which was treated as some kind of spontaneous happening rather than carefully orchestrated theater.

In it, the young protesters held signs and spent George Clooney's money while demanding the government take away Americans' guns, because, in the words of student leader and apprentice demagogue David Hogg, stupid parents just can't be trusted with democracy.

"When your old-ass parent is like, 'I don't know how to send an iMessage,' and you're just like, 'Give me the (expletive deleted) phone and let me handle it,'" said Hogg in an earlier interview. "Sadly, that's what we have to do with our government; our parents don't know how to use a (expletive deleted) democracy, so we have to."

Of course you do. So just do it.

That's exactly what Stevens advocated in his New York Times op-ed piece.

Stevens wrote that he was moved by the demonstrations in Washington and other major cities, adding that they reveal broad public support for legislation to minimize the risks of mass killings by those with guns.

"But the demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform," wrote Stevens. "They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment."

It would be a more honest debate if Democrats would just drop the pretense and the mealy-mouthing and the business of carrying dead ducks around and follow Stevens's lead by declaring they want to repeal the Second Amendment. And have their candidates make that position clear in the upcoming midterms.

But Democrats are wriggling on that pin, saying they really don't want to mess with the Second Amendment.

"Not if they'd like to keep their jobs," said one of CNN's many leftists-in-residence, Symone Sanders, a former press secretary for socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.

This is what happens when Democrats allow folks on the right and the Republican Party to define and frame the conversation," she explained, though Justice Stevens isn't exactly of the right.

And some of those young people in March for Our Lives demanded America get rid of its guns, but Sanders said she wouldn't go that far.

"Children are very different than elected Democratic representation."

In other words, use the children's crusade until you can't. And insist you really don't want to gut the Bill of Rights, until it's done.

Iraq's Christians: Eighty Percent Have "Disappeared"

by Giulio Meotti

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/
April 1, 2018


Ahmed Malik/Reuters

Persecution of Christians is worse today "than at any time in history", a recent report by the organization Aid to the Church in Need revealed. Iraq happens to be "ground zero" for the "elimination" of Christians from the pages of history.

Iraqi Christian clergymen recently wore a black sign as a symbol of national mourning for the last victims of the anti-Christian violence: a young worker and a whole family of three. "This means that there is no place for Christians," said Father Biyos Qasha of the Church of Maryos in Baghdad. "We are seen as a lamb to be killed at any time".

A few days earlier, Shiite militiamen discovered a mass grave with the bodies of 40 Christians near Mosul, the former stronghold of the Islamic State and the capital of Iraqi Christianity. The bodies, including those of women and children, seemed to belong to Christians kidnapped and killed by ISIS. Many had crosses with them in the mass grave. Not a single article in the Western mainstream media wrote about this ethnic cleansing.

French Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia made an urgent plea to Europe and the West to defend non-Muslims in the Middle East, whom he likened to Holocaust victims. "As our parents wore the yellow star, Christians are made to wear the scarlet letter of nun" Korsia said. The Hebrew letter "nun" is the same sound as the beginning of Nazareen, an Arabic term signifying people from Nazareth, or Christians, and used by the Islamic State to mark the Christian houses in Mosul.

Now a new report by the Iraqi Human Rights Society also just revealed that Iraqi minorities, such as Christians, Yazidis and Shabaks, are now victims of a "slow genocide", which is shattering those ancient communities to the point of their disappearance. The numbers are significant.

According to the report, 81% of Iraq's Christians have disappeared from Iraq. The remaining number of Sabeans, an ancient community devoted to St. John the Baptist, is even smaller: 94% have disappeared from Iraq. Even 18% of Yazidis have left the country or been killed. Another human rights organization,Hammurabi, said that Baghdad had 600,000 Christians in the recent past; today there are only 150,000.

These numbers may be the reason Charles de Meyer, president of SOS Chrétiens d'Orient, has just spoken of the "extinction of Christians". Father Salar Kajo of the Churches' Nineveh Reconstruction Committee just spoke of the real possibility that "Christianity will disappear from Iraq".

Many ancient Christian churches and sites have been destroyed by Islamic extremists, such as Saint George Church in Mosul; the Virgin Mary Chaldean Church, attacked by car bomb, and the burned Armenian Church in Mosul. Hundreds of Christian homes have been razed in Mosul, where jihadists also toppled bell towers and crosses. The Iraqi clergy recently warned, "The churches are in danger".

Tragically, Christians living in lands formerly under the control of the "Caliphate" have been betrayed by many actors in the West. Governments ignored their tragic fate. Bishops were often too aloof to denounce their persecution. The media acted as if they considered these Christians to be agents of colonialism who deserved to be purged from the Middle East. And the so-called "human rights" organizations abandoned them.

European public opinion, supposedly always ready to rally against the discrimination of minorities, did not say a word about what Ayaan Hirsi Ali called "a war against Christians".

Some communities, such as the small Christian enclaves of Mosul, are now lost forever. Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II said there is a "real danger" Christianity could just become a "museum" in the Middle East. He noted that Iraq has lost 80-90% of its Christian population.

A few Christian villages have begun a slow and painful process of reconstruction with funds donated mainly by international relief organizations such as the US Knights of Columbus and Aid to the Church in Need. US Vice President Mike Pence recently promised to help these Christians. Action now must follow words. Christians who escaped and survived ISIS cannot depend today only on aid from churches and private groups.

Among European governments, only Hungary took a principled position and openly committed itself to save Iraqi Christianity from genocide. Recently, the Hungarian government opened a school for displaced Christians in Erbil; Hungary's Minister of Human Resources, Zoltan Balog, attended the event.

Imagine if all the other European countries, such as France and Germany, had done the same. The suffering of Christians in Iraq would today be much less and their numbers much higher.

The West was not willing to give sanctuary to these Christians when ISIS murdered 1,131 of them and destroyed or damaged 125 of their churches. We must now stand by their side before it is too late. After the mass displacements and the mass graves, we must help Christians rebuild in the lands where their people were martyred. Otherwise, even the smallest hope of hearing the sound of Christian church bells in the ancient lands of the Bible will be forever lost.

Giulio Meotti, Cultural Editor for Il Foglio, is an Italian journalist and author.

Montana governor visits set of ‘Yellowstone’ TV show

EVE BYRON

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/montana-governor-visits-set-of-yellowstone-tv-show/December 15, 2017


In this Dec. 7, 2017 photo, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, foreground from left, appears with actor Kevin Costner, production designer Ruth De Jong and writer-director Taylor Sheridan in the lodge at the Chief Joseph Ranch during a visit to the set of the television series “Yellowstone” in Darby, Mont. The series is set for release in June. (Kurt Wilson/The Missoulian via AP)

HAMILTON, Mont. (AP) — Actor Kevin Costner welcomed Gov. Steve Bullock last week to the set of the new cable TV series “Yellowstone,” much of which is being shot at the Chief Joseph Ranch.

In the main living room of the lodge, decorated for the set with historic Navajo rugs hanging from the balconies and Remington bronzes on the tables, Costner and Bullock, along with writer/director Taylor Sheridan, discussed the pros and cons of filming in Montana.

Costner, looking relaxed in blue jeans and a dark sweater, said filming “Dances with Wolves” in South Dakota and “Field of Dreams” in Iowa changed the way those states are perceived. He called the new series “a postcard for Montana.”

“What a cool state to be the governor,” Costner said. “If something like ‘Yellowstone’ has a way of highlighting, being somewhat of a dramatic love letter to your state, we’ll be successful. The writing for it is superior.”

“But how’s the acting?” Bullock replied with a grin.

“Well, I’m being sent home right now,” Costner joked. “Actually, my community is on fire. But I do think something like ‘Yellowstone’ can change people, making it so they want to go here.”

Costner has a home outside of Santa Barbara, California, where the Thomas fire has charred more than 96,000 acres and two new fires broke out last week.

Joking aside, both Costner and Sheridan noted the economic boost “Yellowstone” is bringing to the Bitterroot Valley as well as Montana overall. The Montana Department of Commerce estimates the production has paid about $100,000 in labor, plus another $1.45 million for lodging, supplies, props, location fees and other expenses — including $25,000 for filming scenes in the Capitol.

“We spent $500,000 on hotels and car rentals,” said Perri Eppie, the publicity coordinator for “Yellowstone.” ”We’ve even stolen a few of your people and brought them to Utah,” where some interior shots are being filmed.

They’ve hired at least 63 people as drivers, technicians and production assistants, and an untold number of laborers to build fences, redo the corrals and arenas, and become extras for filming.

One company they hired was Rocky Mountain Homes in Hamilton, to add a front porch to the 100-year-old log home with river rock accents, because Sheridan decided he wanted the main entrance to be on the north side of the house. The company had to dig a large trench 6 feet down for the foundation, then build the deck.

“We asked them how long they thought it would take, and they said four months when I first asked,” said Ruth DeJong, the production designer. “I said ‘That’s not how we operate’ and they had it done in nine days. They were amazing.”

Last Thursday, the grounds were buzzing with activity as Eppie took members of the press and state officials on a tour of the filming site. ATVs ferried people and equipment around, while riders put horses through their paces.

According to a press release, “Yellowstone” chronicles the Dutton family, led by John Dutton (played by Costner) who controls the largest contiguous cattle ranch in the United States.

“Amid shifting alliances, open wounds, and hard-earned respect, the ranch is in constant conflict with those it borders — an expanding town, an Indian reservation, and America’s first national park. Far from media scrutiny, it’s a violent world of poisoned drinking water and unsolved murders. Yellowstone is an intense study of the modern West rife with land developers, energy speculators, assorted politicians, estranged family, and tribal players. Within this pentagon of interests, land lust is insatiable and love is weaponized.”

“We had a real bear chasing some characters — they ended up roping him,” Eppie said. “We also had six wolves out here” as part of the show.

Sheridan, who is a Wyoming native and perhaps best known for the recently released movie “Wind River, said he came up with the idea for “Yellowstone” and started writing it in Livingston in 2013. DeJong was looking for a site to shoot it in the Paradise Valley when she stumbled upon the Chief Joseph Ranch.

“I wrote a show where I wanted to be, and that wasn’t in California, but in Montana,” Sheridan said. “So I came up with a story line I thought was relevant.

“I could have shot this anywhere else, but I couldn’t find this anywhere else. . I decided to make a financial sacrifice to come here.”

The solitude and scenery was part of that incentive, but the lack of tax credits provided in other states, as well as the remoteness of the location, was a challenge. Sheridan said he’s willing to testify before the Montana Legislature about the power of tax incentives for filmmakers.

“I took a funding hit to come to the state for this, so anything I can do to sweeten the pot would be great. But you’re stuck with me now,” Sheridan said, grinning. “But for the next one, and the next one .”

“Yellowstone” will air on the Paramount Network, which will replace the cable channel Spike in January. The show, which has filmed off and on in Darby, Helena, the Crow Reservation and Utah since August, will return to the Bitterroot in March to shoot some final scenes before airing this summer.

Depending on reactions to the show, they just might be back for a second season.

“It’s special to be here and do what we do,” DeJong said.

___

Information from: Ravalli Republic , http://www.ravallirepublic.com

‘Chappaquiddick’ Focuses Viewers On The Young Woman Ted Kennedy Left To Die

By Ellie Bufkin

http://thefederalist.com/

March 27, 2018

In his 1990 GQ profile of Sen. Ted Kennedy, the late Michael Kelly quotes a Boston Herald writer: “It isn’t really considered summer in Cape Cod until the senator drives on the sidewalk for the first time.”

Whether good or bad, everyone has an opinion of Ted Kennedy. He remained tabloid fodder until late in life, and was always surrounded by controversy. There was no incident more controversial than when young Mary Jo Kopechne drowned in his car in the summer of 1969.

The incident was surrounded by inconsistent stories, lack of evidence, and wavering public opinion. Almost 50 years later, the new film “Chappaquiddick” explores one version of what may have occurred that night.

Any dramatized account of the Kennedy family comes with a certain amount of risk. For a filmmaker, it would be easy to create caricature versions of the New England “royal family,” over-villainize them, or flatter them too highly. Even after almost half a century, it is nearly impossible to tell a mostly unbiased account of any front-page story involving a member of the Kennedy clan.

John Curran’s “Chappaquiddick” accomplishes its goal of telling the story of the notorious events of July 1969 while showing an admirable level of focus and discipline. The movie weaves through the tale cohesively, with un-embellished recreations of the events, making no assumptions about what has never been proved.

Riveting Portrayals of Well-Known Americans

Jason Clarke’s portrayal of Ted Kennedy is applause-worthy. Without need for extensive narrative, he presents us with a mid-thirties Kennedy full of deep conflicts about his legacy, the expectations for his future, and his inability to make even one good decision. While aware of his level of privilege and protection, he is mostly ungrateful, simply expecting everyone near him to do everything they can for him. Disappearing into his role, Clarke shows us a Ted who never quite evolves into the villain we expect, just an overgrown spoiled child.

Clarke is supported by a tremendous cast, including Kate Mara as the ill-fated Kopechne, who worked for Bobby Kennedy and attended a party with Ted on that evening. Mara gives Kopechne rich dimension, a voice, a story, and a soul, finally showing us a woman who was more than just a name attached to a tragedy.

Family patriarch Joe Kennedy, who was near the end of his life by the summer of 1969, is played by Bruce Dern. Dern has few lines, yet gives one of the more memorable performances of the movie. A one-time political giant, who was at this point barely able to speak after a massive stroke, still struck fear in the heart of his last son by uttering only single words of disapproval.

While the subject matter is quite dark, the film contains an element of humor. As the days go on following the accident, you are forced to find humor in the more absurd moments. Jim Gaffigan and Ed Helms, two comedy heavyweights, play Ted’s two closest allies. Both actors give solid performances, particularly Helms portraying Joe Gargan, who is more than a little conflicted about protecting his fatally flawed cousin.

We’re Finally Free to Scrutinize This Incident More Closely

Avoiding commentary and speculation about Kennedy’s widely criticized behavior toward women in the years following the incident at Chappaquiddick, the film achieves its goal of telling only the story of the events of the night, and the immediate response. It is by no means a flattering portrayal of the senator, and it asks viewers to judge him only by the incident in question. It leaves you wondering whether you would be able to look past a murky and highly suspicious drowning death involving the last surviving brother of America’s most famous family.

Principal photography for this film took place in 2015, before #MeToo and the recent spate of sexual misconduct allegations against many powerful men. It seems almost certain that, if Ted Kennedy were still living, his name would have come up during this conversation of inappropriate behavior toward women.

Even without that context, “Chappaquiddick” paints a picture of a Ted Kennedy who hasn’t quite achieved the level of “scoundrel,” but you can certainly see how that would be his future. However, it never assumes an inappropriate relationship between Kennedy and Kopechne.

Accepting that certain elements of the evening will forever be a mystery, writers Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan committed as primary source material to the 763-page inquest released in 1970. They penned a thrilling screenplay that was brilliantly brought to life by director Curran. Partially filmed on location on Chappaquiddick, the film offers little visual of glamour and wealth on Martha’s Vineyard, instead using cool beiges and blues, never letting viewers escape the thought of Mary Jo trapped underwater hoping for a rescue.

Ellie resides in New York City, you can follow her on Instagram or Twitter.