Crime Story had a notorious history, protested by police unions as too violent and negatively portraying law enforcement officers. Composer Todd Rundgren left the show after four episodes, digusted with the brutality. In its unlikely second season (shows this innovative - and suffering from such low ratings - rarely get renewed), "Crime Story" kept up the fist fights and gunplay, but seemed to lose focus.
The season premiere opens with three shadey looking guys in a vintage car loading guns. Moments later, they're busting in doors and roughing people up. These are the good guys, members of a Justice Department task force sent to Las Vegas to bring down the mob. Producer Michael Mann (Miami Vice, "Heat") would tell you he was just showing you the gritty truth, and co-creator Chuck Adamson would back him up. After all, Adamson had been a Chicago cop and these were his stories, drawn from his experiences.
Set in the early 1960's in Las Vegas (and ideally shot in 1980s Las Vegas, before the era of the mega hotels), the show oozed style and ambiance. Dennis Farina (Law & Order) led the task force, which included Billy Campbell ("The Rocketeer" - back when he still insisted on being called "Bill" Campbell) and Bill Smitrovich (Life Goes On). They were charged with taking down the criminal organization of Ray Luca (Anthony John Denison). The cast was filled with with Adamson's associates from his years on the Chicago police force. Farina - in his first acting role - had been Adamson's partner. And the dopey criminal henchman Pauli Taglia was played by John Santucci, a real life ex-con taken down by Adamson's MCU Squad. True to form, Michael Mann filled guest starring roles with big name stars on their way up. In the second season premiere, Kevin Spacey plays a U.S. Senator doing his best Bobby Kennedy impersonation.
But all the great acting talent couldn't help a storyline fraying at the edges. While I'll often protest television series cut down in their prime, Crime Story should really have lasted only one season. Plotlines were cliched, relying too often on storylines seen before on Miami Vice. You wonder if the show was intentionally trying to be campy or if it's just become campy in light of the darker, grittier shows of today. But then you get the odd episode that focuses dramtically on one of the supporting characters (another Miami Vice plot element) and you realize that they were really trying to be serious. It was just too hard to take things seriously with amateurish musical cues, a narrator promising "Tonight..! On Crime Story," and dialogue that used insults along the lines of "You big dummy!"
In terms of camp, the second season of Crime Story played well, lifting elements from contemporary culture (just months after the Iran-Contra Hearing, the show had it's own disgraced Marine Lt. Col. testifying before Congress). And when the task force invaded a small Latin American country near the end and started shooting up drug convoys and raiding compounds, you have to admit the A-Team twist was entertaining (albeit desperate - you could tell producers were trying anything to increase ratings). By the time slapstick cliffhanger came around, though, you were glad it was over, and more than a little disappointed.
Bonus Material
We've come to expect very little in terms of bonus material when it comes to Anchor Bay DVDs, but this is absurd! The disc doesn't even include language options or scene selections (a real pain in the butt when you have to stop watching an episode in the middle and start over later). The only real "extra" is a very well written insert telling you about the legacy of Crime Story and it'd be a great extra if it wasn't just a rehash of the same insert found in the season one box.
Video quality is hit and miss (mostly miss). Some of the earlier episodes look OK but by the end, it's looking like every single frame is coated with a thin film of dirty cellophane. Some of the night scenes in the final block of episodes - which take place in Latin America - are entirely unwatchable. Sound quality is better than video, at least, and we're thankful for it since the musical score to the series is well above average. The show's theme was a modernized remix of Del Shannon's classic "Runaway" and - another Michael Mann trademark - episodes were peppered with hit songs.
In the end, the second season of Crime Story suffered from style over substance. The set designers did their job faithfully. Latin America and it's 1960s beaters looked so authentic, you have to wonder if producers took the entire production to Cuba. But the storyline just couldn't keep up. This is a series better left in the dark recesses of memory.
Thanks to The Trades
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
FBI Investigation Has Secret CW Tapes to Counter Mob Muscle
To a criminal investigation that already involves strong-arm tactics, the mob and a multimillion-dollar loss, add yet another twist. A secret recording device.
Suburban businessman John LaFlamboy, who contends Bridgeview village officials forced him to sell his golf dome to them, secretly recorded Bridgeview Mayor Steve Landek and onetime mayoral consultant Steve Reynolds as part of an FBI investigation into the deal, the Sun-Times has learned.
While the FBI investigation into the matter was well-known, the fact that the alleged victim made secret recordings of two of the key players in the alleged scam has never been publicly revealed.
The village officials were interested in using the site of the indoor golf driving range to persuade the Chicago Fire soccer team to relocate to Bridgeview.
LaFlamboy sued Landek, Reynolds and others last year in federal court in Chicago, alleging $6 million in damage and contending he was threatened and harassed into selling his share of the World Golf Dome. Among those people allegedly making threats to LaFlamboy was former Chicago Police Officer Fred Pascente, who was banned from Nevada casinos in 1999 and placed in their infamous Black Book for alleged connections to the mob. Pascente is an associate of Reynolds, according to the lawsuit. Pascente has denied any wrongdoing.
The secret recording device came to light late last week in a disclosure that LaFlamboy's attorneys made to the defendants in the lawsuit.
Under the federal court rules, LaFlamboy's attorneys had to disclose in a letter to the defendants any witnesses who could have knowledge of the allegations contained in the lawsuit. Among those people listed is an FBI agent who has the secret tape-recordings LaFlamboy made of both Landek and Reynolds, the document shows. It could not be determined what is on the tapes. But LaFlamboy had extensive dealings with both Landek and Reynolds. LaFlamboy's prominent attorneys, Michael Ettinger and Dennis Berkson, declined to comment on the disclosure document.
Landek did not return phone messages for comment, while Reynolds could not be reached for reaction to being recorded.
Late last year, the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago issued subpoenas to village trustees and officials.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir
Suburban businessman John LaFlamboy, who contends Bridgeview village officials forced him to sell his golf dome to them, secretly recorded Bridgeview Mayor Steve Landek and onetime mayoral consultant Steve Reynolds as part of an FBI investigation into the deal, the Sun-Times has learned.
While the FBI investigation into the matter was well-known, the fact that the alleged victim made secret recordings of two of the key players in the alleged scam has never been publicly revealed.
The village officials were interested in using the site of the indoor golf driving range to persuade the Chicago Fire soccer team to relocate to Bridgeview.
LaFlamboy sued Landek, Reynolds and others last year in federal court in Chicago, alleging $6 million in damage and contending he was threatened and harassed into selling his share of the World Golf Dome. Among those people allegedly making threats to LaFlamboy was former Chicago Police Officer Fred Pascente, who was banned from Nevada casinos in 1999 and placed in their infamous Black Book for alleged connections to the mob. Pascente is an associate of Reynolds, according to the lawsuit. Pascente has denied any wrongdoing.
The secret recording device came to light late last week in a disclosure that LaFlamboy's attorneys made to the defendants in the lawsuit.
Under the federal court rules, LaFlamboy's attorneys had to disclose in a letter to the defendants any witnesses who could have knowledge of the allegations contained in the lawsuit. Among those people listed is an FBI agent who has the secret tape-recordings LaFlamboy made of both Landek and Reynolds, the document shows. It could not be determined what is on the tapes. But LaFlamboy had extensive dealings with both Landek and Reynolds. LaFlamboy's prominent attorneys, Michael Ettinger and Dennis Berkson, declined to comment on the disclosure document.
Landek did not return phone messages for comment, while Reynolds could not be reached for reaction to being recorded.
Late last year, the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago issued subpoenas to village trustees and officials.
Thanks to Steve Warmbir
Johnny Stompanato Development
Friends of ours: Johnny Stompanato, Mickey Cohen, Bugsy Siegal
Currently under development, Stompanato is a movie based on the true-life love affair of actress Lana Turner and gangster Johnny Stompanato.
While Sharon Stone had been associated with this project on and off, Catherine Zeta-Jones has recently been chosen to play Lana Turner. Supposedly, after the announcement that Catherine Zeta-Jones was cast as Lana Turner, a miffed Sharon Stone threw a fit. According to Stone, the late Turner tapped her as the actress to portray the screen legend's life. Whether that is true or not, I was never a fan of Sharon Stone at all. The biopic will detail the notorious murder of Turner's gangster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato (played by Keanu Reeves at the hands of Turner's daughter. Stone was attached to the film for years with projects falling through left and right. The bosses for the project wanted a younger actress, hence casting the 36-year-old Zeta-Jones over Stone. Scarlett Johansson is in talks to take the role of the daughter.
Stompanato was a small time hood who became the body guard for Mickey Cohen, the head of the West Coast "Mickey Mouse" mob. Cohen was the protege of Bugsy Siegal and took over Siegal's Hollywood operations after Siegal was whacked. Throughout their relationship, Stompanato was physically abusive to Turner, including beating her on the night of the Oscar's in 1958 where Turner was nominated for best actress. It was this abuse that led to Turner's daughter to defend her mother.
Currently under development, Stompanato is a movie based on the true-life love affair of actress Lana Turner and gangster Johnny Stompanato.
While Sharon Stone had been associated with this project on and off, Catherine Zeta-Jones has recently been chosen to play Lana Turner. Supposedly, after the announcement that Catherine Zeta-Jones was cast as Lana Turner, a miffed Sharon Stone threw a fit. According to Stone, the late Turner tapped her as the actress to portray the screen legend's life. Whether that is true or not, I was never a fan of Sharon Stone at all. The biopic will detail the notorious murder of Turner's gangster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato (played by Keanu Reeves at the hands of Turner's daughter. Stone was attached to the film for years with projects falling through left and right. The bosses for the project wanted a younger actress, hence casting the 36-year-old Zeta-Jones over Stone. Scarlett Johansson is in talks to take the role of the daughter.
Stompanato was a small time hood who became the body guard for Mickey Cohen, the head of the West Coast "Mickey Mouse" mob. Cohen was the protege of Bugsy Siegal and took over Siegal's Hollywood operations after Siegal was whacked. Throughout their relationship, Stompanato was physically abusive to Turner, including beating her on the night of the Oscar's in 1958 where Turner was nominated for best actress. It was this abuse that led to Turner's daughter to defend her mother.
Castellammare del Golfo Exports Mobsters to New York?
From the turquoise Mediterranean lapping its shore to the winding streets where old men soak up the sun on rickety chairs, a tourist would never know this one small town has produced many of New York's most notorious gangsters. Then again, the narrow-eyed suspicion with which outsiders are greeted might be a tipoff.
So it is fitting that New York's latest mob boss has roots in the same western Sicilian town that has exported some of the city's toughest mobsters for generations. His name is Salvatore (Sal the Ironworker) Montagna, 35, the reputed acting head of the Bonanno crime family.
Like the legendary Joseph Bonanno, model for "The Godfather
," Montagna was born in Castellammare del Golfo. His family immigrated first to Canada (he has cousins who run a gelato business there) and then to New York.
It was last week that the Daily News exclusively reported that law enforcement authorities determined the Bonanno family, its ranks decimated by prosecutions, has turned to the youthful Montagna to take the leadership reins.
A hardscrabble fishing village clinging to a mountain rising steeply out of the sea 40 miles west of Palermo, Castellammare has been a stronghold of the Mafia for centuries, its men known for their pride, clannishness and violence when crossed.
Now a town of 20,000, its name - translated as the Castle at the Sea - comes from a ruined but still forbidding Saracen fortress near the small marina. The marble mausoleums clustered in the town cemetery bear many family names that became famous in New York: Bonanno, Profaci and Galante chief among them.
Questions about the Montagna family are greeted with some hostility. There is one Montagna listed in town, but no one answered the phone and asking around in his neighborhood wasn't fruitful. "I know him, but he's dead," said one of the old men lounging over coffee at a cafe. "Sorry."
During Mussolini's brutal crackdown on the Mafia in the 1920s, scores of Castellammarese fled to America, many settling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The immigrants' ties to the land, each other and the Old World codes of honor gave rise to powerful, insular gangs that cornered the market on bootlegging, gambling and then-lucrative ice deliveries. Men from the town also went to Buffalo and Chicago, where they started their own mobs.
In the 1930s, New York was rocked by the Castellammarese War, which pitted immigrant mobsters from the town - led by Bonanno, Joseph Profaci and then-boss Salvatore Maranzano - against factions from Calabria and Naples, including Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. The bloody war ended when Maranzano set up an organizational structure for La Cosa Nostra and divided New York City into five families.
At 26, Bonanno was nearly a decade younger than Montagna when he came to head his own family. Then, as now, immigrants from Castellammare were prized soldiers.
Bonanno
, in his autobiography, "A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno," wrote of their discipline and the importance of ancient family ties. He told a family legend about his Uncle Peppe ordering a younger man to strip off his shirt and take an undeserved lashing with a whip. "It's one thing to say you're never going to talk against your friends, but it's quite another not to talk when someone is beating you. I wanted to see how well you took a beating," Bonanno recalled his uncle saying.
His affection for his birthplace was evident: He spoke of playing in the fortress as a child, the taste of fresh mullet caught in the gulf nearby and the smell of lemons on the wind. When he died in 2002 at the age of 97 in Arizona, his funeral cards bore the image of Santa Maria del Soccorso, the patron saint of Castellammare del Golfo.
Another Castellammarese, Joseph Barbara, hosted the notorious Appalachian Mafia Conference of 1957, which was raided by the cops and began the mob's long slow decline.
In the past decade, Italian authorities have made a great effort to crack down on gangsters, and Castellammare is now thriving, with new six-story blocks of condos going up on the outskirts of town and fewer poor laborers leaving in search of a better life. But the port city is still a major center of Mafia activity in western Sicily.
The crew filming "Ocean's 12" in nearby Scopello in 2004 were caught up in it when 23 people - including a local police commander - were busted after a year-long probe of a sprawling Castellammarese extortion racket that included surveillance of the film set. Producer Jerry Weintraub later hotly denied widespread Italian news reports that the film crew was being shaken down with threats of arson on the set and that film's stars - George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones - might have been in danger.
The national daily newspaper Corriere della Sera said the local Mafia is known for targeting moviemakers and has a lock on the hiring of extras.
While the ancient codes still hold sway, the gangsters are keeping up with the times and enforcement has gone high-tech. When producers of a recent feature wouldn't cooperate, thugs broke into the production offices and erased the moviemakers' hard drive's to make their point.
There have been other signs of modernity. Two of the highest ranking Mafiosi arrested in a big 2004 Castellammare bust were women - the wives of the town's top Mafia chieftains. Italian authorities said it would have been unheard of even a few years ago for women to get involved in protection rackets, but bragged that their prosecutions have been so successful that most of the men are now behind bars.
In New York, parallel crackdowns on the mob have put half the Bonanno family soldiers behind bars. So once again, the family has looked to the tough men and closed mouths of Castellammare del Golfo's crooked streets.
Thanks to Helen Kennedy
So it is fitting that New York's latest mob boss has roots in the same western Sicilian town that has exported some of the city's toughest mobsters for generations. His name is Salvatore (Sal the Ironworker) Montagna, 35, the reputed acting head of the Bonanno crime family.
Like the legendary Joseph Bonanno, model for "The Godfather
," Montagna was born in Castellammare del Golfo. His family immigrated first to Canada (he has cousins who run a gelato business there) and then to New York.It was last week that the Daily News exclusively reported that law enforcement authorities determined the Bonanno family, its ranks decimated by prosecutions, has turned to the youthful Montagna to take the leadership reins.
A hardscrabble fishing village clinging to a mountain rising steeply out of the sea 40 miles west of Palermo, Castellammare has been a stronghold of the Mafia for centuries, its men known for their pride, clannishness and violence when crossed.
Now a town of 20,000, its name - translated as the Castle at the Sea - comes from a ruined but still forbidding Saracen fortress near the small marina. The marble mausoleums clustered in the town cemetery bear many family names that became famous in New York: Bonanno, Profaci and Galante chief among them.
Questions about the Montagna family are greeted with some hostility. There is one Montagna listed in town, but no one answered the phone and asking around in his neighborhood wasn't fruitful. "I know him, but he's dead," said one of the old men lounging over coffee at a cafe. "Sorry."
During Mussolini's brutal crackdown on the Mafia in the 1920s, scores of Castellammarese fled to America, many settling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
The immigrants' ties to the land, each other and the Old World codes of honor gave rise to powerful, insular gangs that cornered the market on bootlegging, gambling and then-lucrative ice deliveries. Men from the town also went to Buffalo and Chicago, where they started their own mobs.
In the 1930s, New York was rocked by the Castellammarese War, which pitted immigrant mobsters from the town - led by Bonanno, Joseph Profaci and then-boss Salvatore Maranzano - against factions from Calabria and Naples, including Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello. The bloody war ended when Maranzano set up an organizational structure for La Cosa Nostra and divided New York City into five families.
At 26, Bonanno was nearly a decade younger than Montagna when he came to head his own family. Then, as now, immigrants from Castellammare were prized soldiers.
Bonanno
, in his autobiography, "A Man of Honor: The Autobiography of Joseph Bonanno," wrote of their discipline and the importance of ancient family ties. He told a family legend about his Uncle Peppe ordering a younger man to strip off his shirt and take an undeserved lashing with a whip. "It's one thing to say you're never going to talk against your friends, but it's quite another not to talk when someone is beating you. I wanted to see how well you took a beating," Bonanno recalled his uncle saying.His affection for his birthplace was evident: He spoke of playing in the fortress as a child, the taste of fresh mullet caught in the gulf nearby and the smell of lemons on the wind. When he died in 2002 at the age of 97 in Arizona, his funeral cards bore the image of Santa Maria del Soccorso, the patron saint of Castellammare del Golfo.
Another Castellammarese, Joseph Barbara, hosted the notorious Appalachian Mafia Conference of 1957, which was raided by the cops and began the mob's long slow decline.
In the past decade, Italian authorities have made a great effort to crack down on gangsters, and Castellammare is now thriving, with new six-story blocks of condos going up on the outskirts of town and fewer poor laborers leaving in search of a better life. But the port city is still a major center of Mafia activity in western Sicily.
The crew filming "Ocean's 12" in nearby Scopello in 2004 were caught up in it when 23 people - including a local police commander - were busted after a year-long probe of a sprawling Castellammarese extortion racket that included surveillance of the film set. Producer Jerry Weintraub later hotly denied widespread Italian news reports that the film crew was being shaken down with threats of arson on the set and that film's stars - George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones - might have been in danger.
The national daily newspaper Corriere della Sera said the local Mafia is known for targeting moviemakers and has a lock on the hiring of extras.
While the ancient codes still hold sway, the gangsters are keeping up with the times and enforcement has gone high-tech. When producers of a recent feature wouldn't cooperate, thugs broke into the production offices and erased the moviemakers' hard drive's to make their point.
There have been other signs of modernity. Two of the highest ranking Mafiosi arrested in a big 2004 Castellammare bust were women - the wives of the town's top Mafia chieftains. Italian authorities said it would have been unheard of even a few years ago for women to get involved in protection rackets, but bragged that their prosecutions have been so successful that most of the men are now behind bars.
In New York, parallel crackdowns on the mob have put half the Bonanno family soldiers behind bars. So once again, the family has looked to the tough men and closed mouths of Castellammare del Golfo's crooked streets.
Thanks to Helen Kennedy
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