From Philadelphia To Dallas Buyers Club: 20 Years

It happened in Philadelphia.
I was sitting in my office at the Philadelphia Bar Association when I got a call from Hollywood. No, it wasn't the call from some Big Hollywood Agent that I had been waiting for. I'm still waiting for that call.
This was a call from someone representing a major Hollywood studio. He told me about a movie that the studio wanted to film in Philadelphia. They were looking for locations and they had a storefront law office or a law office on top of a storefront in mind - preferably something in or near center city.
They couldn't tell me much more except that this would be a Jonathan Demme film with major stars in the key roles. This was a Big Deal.
The movie turned out to be Philadelphia with Tom Hanks and Danzel Washington. Hanks won the Oscar for his role in the film which was one of the first mainstream Hollywood flicks to tackle the AIDS epidemic. And yes, we did cooperate with the filmmakers and managed to get a small plug for the bar association in the movie.
That was two decades ago.
Philadelphia is a landmark film and has justifiably been deemed one of the 20 most inspiring movies of the 20th century by the American Film Institute.
Now, along comes Dallas Buyers Club, the newest take on the early days of the AIDS epidemic, this time starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Jared Leto.
Both films tackle AIDS with an anti-establishment attitude but there the similarity ends. Because Dallas Buyers Club is more graphic, more searing, more angry, more bloody and more gritty than Philadelphia. In fact, Dallas Buyers Club is as different from Philadelphia as a bronco buster is from a Philadelphia lawyer. Where Philadelphia's battle lines were drawn in the courtroom, Dallas Buyers Club takes on the medical establishment, the federal government and big pharma.
Dallas Buyers Club is a raw, in-your-face depiction of the scourge of AIDS and the rampant prejudices that faced AIDS victims in the 1980s.
Inspired by a true story, McConaughey portrays Texas electrician/cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose free-living lifestyle was shattered when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. Shunned and ostracized by many of his old friends, Woodruff found it hard to get help. But he was determined to live well beyond his 30 days even if it took drastic action on his part.
Doctors at his local medical center had pretty much given up on him.
So, he quickly learned everything he could about AIDS and took matters into his own hands, tracking down alternative treatments (both legal and illegal) from all over the world. Woodroof joined forces with an unlikely band of renegades and created a "buyers' club" for the drugs and additives that local AIDS victims needed to survive. Their shared struggle for dignity and acceptance lies at the core of this remarkable story. We won't tell you how long Woodruff survived beyond his 30 days but we will tell you this: You will be astounded.

Director Jean-Marc Vallee moves the story along briskly with quick cuts, fast-moving camera techniques and convincing documentary-style footage where appropriate. 

The screenplay by Craig Borton and Melissa Wallack crackles with great dialogue and a keen awareness of the time, the characters and the subject matter.

But this movie really belongs to McConaughey who embodies his character to such a remarkable degree that you cannot help but be engrossed in Woodruff's journey. If you ask us, McConaughey has almost always been underrated and here he's truly at the top of his game. Count on it: He will be nominated for the Academy Award for this performance.

Another nomination will surely go to Jared Leto for his deft handling of the role of Rayon, a drug-addicted transsexual who's hoping to undergo a sex change. It's an incredible performance.

And Jennifer Garner deserves major kudos for her depiction of Dr. Eve Saks who puts her whole career on the line to help Woodruff and his friends.

We've travelled a long and enlightening road from Philadelphia (1993) to Dallas (2013) but that's as it should be. And this is what great movies (and great actors) do: They help us to connect, to understand, to learn, to grow.

Dallas Buyers club meets that criteria, and then some.

Revealed: Bush Was Also Mocked By Rodeo Clowns

Enough already with the rodeo-clown-Obama story.
Turns out it's nothing new.
In fact, a masked effigy of President George H. W. Bush was devoured by a bull at a rodeo in Woodstown Pa. and was reported on in the Philadelphia Inquirer in the context of a praiseworthy story about rodeo clowns.
Imagine!
The media seemed to think nothing of it then But now, all of a sudden, it's a scandal.

From the Inquirer story: "The big white gate flew open. The bull came out bucking. The rider flopped from side to side and the bullfighters held back, letting the bull make his moves until the rider dropped off. Licciardello crouched in a heavily padded barrel, a human target should the bull decide to charge. Hawkins waited near the barrel, holding his big inner tube. A dummy with a George Bush mask stood beside the clown, propped up by a broomstick. . . . .
"T.J. Hawkins rolled out the big inner tube, and the bull lowered his head, shot forward and launched into the tube, sending it bounding down the center of the arena. The crowd cheered. Then the bull saw the George Bush dummy.
He tore into it, sending the rubber mask flying halfway across the sand as he turned toward the fence, sending cowboys scrambling up the fence rails, hooking one with his horn and tossing him off the fence."

Click here to read the full story and see the photo below.

The Cowboy's Ten Commandments

From the Cross Trails Cowboy Church in Fairlee Texas, here are the Cowboy's Ten Commandments:
(1) Just one God.
(2) Honor yer Ma & Pa. 
(3) No telling tales or gossipin'.
(4) Git yourself to Sunday meeting.
(5) Put nothin' before God.
(6) No foolin' around with another fellow's gal.
(7) No killin'.
(8) Watch yer mouth.
(9) Don't take what ain't yers.
(10) Don't be hankerin' for yer buddy's stuff.

Y'all git all that?
 Lord, keep Your arm around my shoulder and Your hand over my mouth.

Whoa! Chris Christie Loves The Cowboys?

I'm not a sports fan in any real sense of the word.
I've always felt that sports -- especially professional sports -- is way overrated.
Yes, I'm happy to see the Phillies or the Flyers or the Sixers win and I'm delighted when one of them wins it all. And I've also rooted for the Eagles.
But when it comes to football I truly regard the Cowboys as America's Team.
The aptly-named Cowboys have come to represent something way beyond football. The team conjures up images of the rough and tumble, freedom-loving world of America's great frontier: the West. Just like Texas, the Dallas Cowboys are bigger than life. Everything about the team plays out on a grand stage.
Of course I am an honorary Texan so when I visited Texas one of my first stops was the Dallas Cowboys training camp. I was not disappointed. It was a day I'll always remember.
And so will my son who is also a Cowboys fan.
The Cowboys are a marquee franchise, just like the New York Yankees: big, rich, storied, valuable. And more often than not (just like the Yankees) they deliver.
So, I have to admit it: I like the Cowboys. because I figure if you're gonna do it, why not do it right?
And now it turns out that at least one other person in New Jersey feels the same way. I'm not sure who was a Dallas Cowboys fan first (him or me) but I'm delighted to discover that he's one of us. And I'm reassured that I'm in very good company, indeed.

Here's the story from Ed Valentine of SB Nation NY and Steve Politi of the Star Ledger:
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is a Dallas Cowboys' fan. Say what? It's true. In a very candid interview with the Star-Ledger's Steve Politi the governor admitted as much. In fact, he added that he really isn't even a fan of the teams in his own state. Here is the pertinent part of Politi's interview with Christie.

I have to pin you down on this: Is it true you’re a closet Cowboys fan?

I am. My son is a huge Jets fan, so I’ve become a secondary Jets fan. Listen, I grew up in the early 1970s and became a huge Roger Staubach fan and a Cowboys fan. Believe me, it doesn’t get me anything political around here because the Giants fans hate me, the Eagles fans hate me, it doesn’t matter. But you grow up rooting for a team. That’s just the way it works.

And you never thought about faking or hiding this?

I don’t nuance much very well (laughs). You know what? I always hated Hillary Clinton wearing a Cubs hat or a Yankees hat. I’m a Cowboys fan, I’m a Mets fan, I’m a Rangers fan, I’m a Knicks fan. I’ve got the Devils and the Nets in New Jersey, but I grew up when the Nets were on Long Island and the Devils didn’t exist. It’s not that I don’t want the Devils to do well. I want them to do well when they’re playing anybody but the Rangers. That’s who I grew up rooting for.

I don't know anything about Christie's politics. I do know that maybe Christie should stay home to watch the games.