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‘Master Gardener’ a thought-proving thriller from Paul Schrader

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Master Gardener”Rated R. At the Coolidge Corner.Grade: B Writer-director Paul Schrader is best known as the writer of the landmark Martin Scorsese masterpiece “Taxi Driver” (1976) – the film that immortalized the line, “You talkin’ to me?” – and the writer-director of such films as “American Gigolo” (1980), “Cat People” (1982), “Affliction” (1997) and more recently “First Reformed” (2017). At 76, Schrader now delivers “Master Gardener,” a “First Reformed”-like third film in a trilogy including “First Reformed” (2017) and “The Card Counter” (2021), all featuring deeply troubled protagonists. In this case, the lead is a horticulturist devoted to maintaining the lavish gardens and grounds of the estate of a demanding dowager (Sigourney Weaver), who calls him, “sweet pea.”The metaphor is arguably too on-the-nose. In addition to summoning the memory of Voltaire’s “Candide” and its garden, the profession of Schrader’s latest alter ego remind...

Kramer: NBA must draw the line on whining players

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

In baseball, a player or coach who questions a called third strike is ejected. In contrast, the NBA has now reached a level where any player or coach who doesn’t question a foul called would be considered a wimp. What’s wrong with this picture?The NBA began its “Final Four” championship pursuit this week with the Celtics a prime contender. Having survived prior series with tough opponents, players have even more at stake as the competition for a championship is heightened in the semi finals and the finals. Each basket and foul become even more important as competition becomes even more intense.Currently, when a foul is called, rarely is it not followed by a visible and vocal adverse reaction by the culprit and his coach.  Players react with wide-eyed wonder, arms flailing and verbal denials . The coach stalks the referee back and forth and often the game is delayed by a challenge involving a midcourt meeting of the referees and a conference with the NBA Replay  Center.  The ga...

‘Monica’ resonates as trans drama about family, identity

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“Monica”Rated R. At Landmark Kendall Square and VOD.Grade: B+“Monica” is a modern, gender-transitioning twist on the theme of the prodigal son. The film’s eponymous protagonist Monica (Trace Lysette, “Transparent”) is an unhappy transgender woman, who has lost contact with her birth family for reasons not explained to us at first. But we can guess.In opening scenes, Monica tries to to contact a man named Jimmy for whom she expresses love. But we have a sense that the relationship is over. Monica, who has a lavish floral tattoo on her shoulder and neck, can be seen giving a man a massage and giving herself an injection of some sort. She is summoned by phone and drives for two days to return to her family in the Midwest to help with the care of her dying mother Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson), who is also losing her memory. Eugenia does not recognize Monica (Or does she?) as her former son. Monica’s brother Paul (Joshua Close), who is married to the likable Laura (...

Editorial: Rising star Rachael Rollins now a cautionary tale

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

When Rachael Rollins took her position as Suffolk County District Attorney in 2019, she was determined to disrupt the “status quo.”She told the Boston Chamber of Commerce in 2021 “I knew this was not going to be easy, and that the work we’re doing here in Boston is scary to some people to some who are deeply invested in the status quo because the system works well for them.”In the end, the disgraced former Attorney General for Massachusetts proved she was deeply invested in making the system work for her – ethics be damned.Rollins has gone from rising star to the poster girl for hubris in less than a week and the dust is still settling after a Department of Justice report concluded she improperly used her position by influencing the Suffolk DA’s race by leaking non-public information and broke agency rules by attending a Democratic fundraiser last summer, as the Herald reported.The report calls her out for attempting to tip the scales in last year...

‘It Ain’t Over’ captures life of MLB maestro Yogi Berra

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

MOVIE REVIEW“It Ain’t Over”Rated PG. At the AMC Boston Common, Landmark Kendall Square and suburban theaters.Grade: A- Even if you are not a baseball fan, you must see “It Ain’t Over,” Sean Mullin’s wonderful documentary about one of the most underrated major league baseball legends in MLB history. At the 2015 All-Star Game, several “greatest living players” were introduced to an adoring crowd: Willy Mays, Hank Aaron, Johnny Bench and Sandy Koufax. Where was Lorenzo Pietro “Yogi” Berra, whose stats are even better than theirs? Nicknamed for the way he sat with his arms and legs crossed waiting for his turn at bat playing sandlot baseball as a youth, Berra started playing professionally in the post-World War II age of Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio. “Joltin’ Joe” was a 6’2” matinee idol with a baseball mitt, who famously married Marilyn Monroe, establishing a pattern for celebrity-sports stars hookups.Yogi was a “funny looking” 5’7” “human fire hy...

Cotton: GOP sounded alarms on Rachael Rollins, Dems ignored them

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

Every New Englander should breathe a sigh of relief. This week, the pro-criminal U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Rachael Rollins, announced that she is resigning. She is stepping down after just 18 months on the job after committing a series of serious ethical violations.On Wednesday, an Inspector General’s report found that Ms. Rollins leaked sensitive law enforcement information to hurt a political enemy and then lied under oath about her political activities. The report found that “the leak was an extraordinary breach of public trust by a senior government official.” For its part, the U.S. Office of the Special Counsel found that she committed “among the most egregious transgressions” of the anti-politicization Hatch Act, that they “ever investigated.”The Associated Press noted that “the resignation of a U.S. attorney amid ethics concerns is an exceedingly rare phenomenon.” It may be rare, but it was predictable. I should know; I predicted it.I’ve long believed t...

Dear Abby: BF steps up to act as caregiver

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

Dear Abby: I have been with my boyfriend for three months. We’ve had our ups and downs. He’s more into me than I am into him. I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and he has offered to drive me to my surgery and help me at home in recovery. He’s also willing to take me to my follow-ups and help with anything else I may need.He’s retired, has time and resources, and he cares a great deal about me. We live about two miles apart. I like him, too. I think that after knowing someone for only a few months, it takes a special character and a huge amount of caring to take on being their caregiver after a major surgery. There will be a lot of driving to another city and back.I don’t really have anyone else — no family. I’m thankful to him for doing this, but I wonder what kind of support he is going to need and how I can show my appreciation. So far, he has been very loyal and committed. — Grateful in OregonDear Grateful: This man may b...

'Let's Kick It Party' to celebrate new MLS team in San Diego

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Soccer fans looking to celebrate a Major League Soccer team coming to San Diego can do so this weekend at Snapdragon Stadium.The "Let's Kick It Party," organized by San Diego FC, is set for this Saturday at 7 p.m. at the stadium's East Concourse, San Diego State University said on its website.The event itself is free of charge, but fans must reserve tickets online (maximum ticket limit of four and a maximum order limit of one per account).Remember to get there early as the first 1,000 fans will receive free inaugural scarves, according to officials. New MLS team could forward youth soccer goals in San Diego Food and drinks will be available for purchase as well.Parking is also free for guests.Snapdragon Stadium, which is already the home of the San Diego State Aztec's football team and professional women's soccer team San Diego Wave FC, will be the site where the new expansion team plays.On Thursday, a news conference was held at Snapdragon Stadium to confirm San Dieg...

Mexico leader defiant after high court rules tourist train, other works not national security issues

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday the government cannot simply decree tourist trains or other public work projects to be issues of “national security,” but hours later President Andrés Manuel López Obrador published a similar order in defiance of the decision.The order handed down by high court was the latest in a string of legal setbacks for the president who has sought to broaden the discretionary powers of the presidency. The court said deeming public works projects to be matters of “national security” violates the public’s right to information about such works.López Obrador has tried to rush through some of his pet programs, including the Maya Train tourism project in the Yucatan Peninsula, by exempting them from normal permitting and public reporting, claiming it is vital to national security.And just hours after the Supreme Court ruled, the president published an order in the Official Gazette of the Federation putting a similar approach into force ...

Jordan Neely, NYC subway rider choked to death, to be mourned at Manhattan church

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 10:58:20 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jordan Neely, whose chokehold death on the New York City subway set off a debate about vigilantism, homelessness and public safety, will be mourned by his family Friday at a church in Harlem.A former Michael Jackson impersonator who had been struggling with mental illness and homelessness in recent years, Neely died May 1 when a fellow subway rider pinned him to the floor of a subway car in a chokehold that lasted several minutes.The fatal struggle was recorded on video by an onlooker who said Neely had been yelling at other passengers as he begged for money, but hadn’t attacked anyone.Last week the man who pinned and choked Neely, Daniel Penny, was charged with manslaughter by the Manhattan district attorney. Penny’s lawyers say he was acting to protect himself and other passengers after Neely made threatening statements.The arrest polarized New Yorkers and people beyond, with some saying Penny, who is white, was too quick to use deadly force on a Black man wh...