News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Sunday March 9th 2025
Police, Adjective & The Ghost Writer
Police, Adjective
by Howard McQuitter
Police, Adjective (2009)
***
Twentieth Century Fox
Lagoon
Running Time: 115 minutes
Language: Romanian
Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
Bucharest detective Cristi (Dragos Bucur) trails a teenage boy who may be a hashish user, trying to find his supplier. Cristi would rather stop what seems to be overkill in finding small quantities of drugs on a 16 or 17 year old boy. Examining cigarette butts after the boy or his friends leave isn”'t what Cristi relishes doing.
Cristi”'s boss (Vlad Ivanov, “4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days”) wants convictions; Cristi wants a far softer approach, clemency if you will, for a conviction can mean 15 years and ruin the boy”'s life, which is against his conscience. Perhaps his boss”' draconian approach to the boy (we never know his name) is rooted in the Ceausescu regime (1965-1989), a former iron-fisted Communist rule in Romania.
“Police, Adjective” is certainly not for everyone unless one has extreme patience. Waiting for something is an excruciating experience.
The Ghost Writer
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Thoughts From Smith Foundry
Smith Foundry 1855 East 28th St for over 80 years surviving to be the last manufacturer of metal in the Neighborhood. Smith employs 74 workers doing “green sand casting.” Check their website which includes artistic and industrial awards; www.smithfoundry.com
by Peter Molenaar
Folks driving 28th Street en route to Hiawatha Avenue and perhaps to Lake Street shopping are asked to glance right just east of Cedar Avenue. The rather unattractive dirty brown building seen there is home to Smith Foundry. Molten iron is sand cast within. This writer has survived 31 years of employment with Smith.
Actually, I am part of the aging remnant workforce which is credited with having saved the company. Such was the result of labor heroism coupled to the sad fact of our acquiescence to a one year take-away contract. For this we recently were rewarded with an all-you-can-eat in-plant pizza feed at which the office manager declared in her address: “You are the best.” Yes, I stuffed myself. But now a better contract has come due.
At present, more than half the laid-off guys have been rehired. This appears to bode well for business and employment in general inasmuch as foundries are bedrock to the “real” economy.… Read the rest “Thoughts From Smith Foundry”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
Dave”'s Dumpster June 2010
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