That Mount Rushmore display last night—an alternately smirking and glowering Mussolini declaiming to howling hyenas—shook me to my toenails. Each time they chanted “USA! USA!” he paused with that look of self-adulation I’ve seen from Mobutu to Ceausescu to Qaddafi. They roared when he said anyone defacing a block of stone can be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in prison. They booed when he labeled long-overdue protests enshrined in the Constitution as extremist leftwing terrorist acts, all the work of “liberal Democrats.” Unlike all those other despots I’ve covered, this man is deeply disturbed in a different way. And others were propped up by corrupt, coopted armies. We have no excuse. We put him there ourselves.

How many qualified voters, too sanctimonious to choose “the lesser of two evils,” voted for a no-chance also-run or sulked at home because Bernie Sanders wasn’t on the ballot? How many just stayed home, with something better to do than save America from what was blindingly obvious before November?

I’ve watched democratic states slip into shitholes since the 1960s. From time to time, I’ve covered Trump’s sociopathic, racist narcissism as he threw poor families out of their homes to build yet another Trump-Dump palace bound for bankruptcy. Before November 2016. I wrote about a coup d’etat attempt. In hindsight, I fell far short, never imagining that craven senators, greed-blinded tycoons and mindless morons would take us to this point. And now we learn that his fan-boy obsession with Putin now amounts to outright treason, shrugging off $100,000 bounties on the heads of U.S. troops he extols in speeches.

That speech, crafted by his Rasputin handlers, had none of the usual rambling and boastful asides. It railed against those “communists” in our streets, yet it was straight-up Stalin. He refused to meet first with Indian tribal leaders, whose spiritual grounds he desecrated. He insisted on lavish fireworks against the pleas of foresters who feared wildfire after years of a beetle infestation. His cults packed in tight, unmasked, simply to feed his insatiable ego.

It seemed as if we were getting a little gift when Disney announced it was sending Artemis Fowl directly to its streaming service: A big-budget, Kenneth Branagh-directed adventure was coming directly into living rooms, because most theaters are closed. What a treat, right?

No. As it turns out, the film is awful.

You’ll realize within five minutes of viewing that this thing stood zero chance of captivating folks in movie theaters. It would’ve just pissed them off and sent them home grouchy. So this was actually a blessing for Disney: It’s better to just let people be grouchy in the comfort of their own homes, saving them gas and concessions money.

The movie, about the titular child protégé (Ferdia Shaw) trying to solve a mystery surrounding his dad (Colin Farrell), makes zero sense from beginning to end. You know Branagh has a mess on his hands when he employs the narrator angle—having a character (a raspy-voiced Josh Gad, with his part filmed in black and white) staring into the camera and explaining everything as the movie plays out. It comes off as a lame attempt to fix a crap movie with re-shoots.

Not only is the storytelling poorly handled; the movie doesn’t even look good. The special effects are bad, and the costuming is strange—there are fairies in this movie that look sort of like Willem DaFoe’s Green Goblin from Spider-Man. The editing is haphazard, too.

Judi Dench plays some sort of boss of the fairies, and she also employs a raspy delivery. Dench seems to be a harbinger of bad things now: This is her cinematic follow up to Cats, meaning she has the distinction of being in one of the year’s worst movies for two years in a row.

Branagh usually puts together a good film, and his chance to do big-budget fantasy seemed like it would lead to great things. Instead, this fiasco leaves a big, nasty mark on Disney+ and Branagh. It’s easily the worst thing he’s ever done behind the camera, and there’s no chance for a franchise here—this is a one-and-done affair.

Artemis Fowl is now streaming on Disney+.

If I told you that Chris Millar has occupied a drum seat behind one of punk rock’s originating groups, many basic rock fans and current “alt or punk” millennials would have no clue who I am talking about.

And, yet, Rat Scabies, as he has been known for the past 43 years, was one of the U.K. punk pioneers that made punk, well punk. And for years he endured band break-ups, reunions, label and lineup shifts. You’ll recall The Damned are one of the U.K.'s top punk-rock three, alongside The Clash and Sex Pistols.

Scabies, who turns 65 (!) in July is not slowing down. In fact, he is maybe more active than in his early days. His latest, a superduo called The Sinclairs, is Scabies and the formable Jesse Budd (known also as Billy Shinbone), frontman of veteran psychedelic-folk group Flipron. They transformed a few jam sessions into a surf music lover’s dream, a 10-song rumble-seat ride called Sparkle (Cleopatra Records). The album, released in May, is described in their official press release as “Easy Listening made difficult.” The description is apt.

From the opening Ventures-esque “La Venta,” and the mesmerizing Santo & Johnny-like “Sleep Walk,” to the ’60s alien soundtrack-styled “Dodgems and Twin Peak-psych echoes of “Lipstick Rumble,” Scabies and Shinbone stretch their chops and make one hip and entertaining road-trip album.

Scabies has stayed super-active since his 1995 exit from The Damned. A list of impressive collaborations includes Chris Constantinou and the Mutants, and he has a new band with Constantinou called One Thousand Motels. Other bands include The Gin Goblins, Professor and the Madmen (with Alfie Agnew and Sean Elliot of Di and former Damned bass player Paul Gray). He has also played with a varied and stellar cast including Robert Fripp, Donovan, Joe Strummer, Jimmy Page and Eagles of Death Metal.

In 2018, Scabies released his debut solo album, P.H.D. (Prison, Hospital, Debt), a mostly instrumental affair that included a trio of Shinbone-sung tunes. Beyond the enduring power of Scabies’ drumming and wide spectrum of genres, the album totals more than the sum of its parts. Scabies played every instrument on the album.

After consulting with writer Casey Dewey and former Tucson Weekly editor Dan Gibson, I removed a 2013 interview with tattoo artist Isaiah Toothtaker from our website.

Here is Dewey's comment on the article:

Eight years ago I wrote a cover story about Isaiah Toothtaker for the Tucson Weekly. The original idea was to write a shorter piece on his musical output, but it turned into something bigger. It became a sit-down “one-on-one” interview, something akin to a “sit-down with one Tucson’s most notorious residents.”



Looking back on it, it was pure exploitation and it stank of tabloid journalism. I haven’t thought about that article in some time, but numerous, horrific allegations about Toothtaker’s behavior have surfaced throughout this past week and that article has been gnawing away at me. If I had scratched under the surface I would’ve walked away from it, or turned it over to someone who was more capable of an investigative piece. I sincerely apologize to anybody who’s been hurt, abused or otherwise victimized by him. If you felt in any way I was legitimizing his behavior, I am truly sorry. I’m not speaking on behalf of the Tucson Weekly, but I will take full responsibility for this ill-conceived article.

The national non-profit organization Solar United Neighbors has launched a local solar co-op, with aims of getting panels for homeowners and businesses in the City of Tucson.

According to Bret Fanshaw, Arizona program director for SUN, a solar co-op is a group of households in a geographic area who are planning to go solar around the same time. Through the group, members will be able to educate themselves about solar and can see the different types of panels they may be eligible for based on their roof space.

So far, SUN has hosted a series of webinars where local co-op members can view a presentation on the goals of the co-op and information about solar. The webinars included explanations on how solar panels work, how they attach to homes, and how ownership can reduce TEP bills. The next SUN webinar will be hosted on July 21 on Zoom.

The co-op is currently seeking to hit its 100-member goal. The co-op then decides on a certain installation company and approaches it for a group price.

“We send solar installation companies a request for proposal, where they can bid on the group by describing their pricing, warranties, equipment, and many other details,” Fanshaw said. “Co-op members review the bids and choose one company.”

The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona rose to nearly 92,000 as of Friday, July 3, after the state reported 4,433 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Pima County cracked the 9,000-case threshold, with 9,024 of the state's 91,858 confirmed cases.

A total of 1,788 people have died after contracting the virus.

Maricopa County has more than half the state's cases, with the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases hitting 57,929.

For the first time, more than 3,000 COVID patients were hospitalized yesterday in the state. This morning's Arizona Department of Health Services report shows that 3,013 Arizonans were hospitalized, nearly triple the 1,009 hospitalized on June 1.


The number of people visiting ERs jumped dramatically yesterday, with 1,847 people seeking emergency rooms. The previous high, set on July 1, was 1,371. Since June 15, the daily number has only dropped below 1,000 twice.

A record number of 741 COVID-19 patients were in ICU beds yesterday, pushing the statewide number of adult intensive care bed in use past the 90 percent marker for the first time.

With the spread of COVID increasingly out of control in Arizona, Tucson Unified School District announced last night that it would launch online classes for all students starting Aug. 10, with in-person classroom instruction delayed until "when it is deemed safe," according to a letter to parents from TUSD Superintendent Gabrielle Trujillo.

Although Gov. Doug Ducey announced earlier this week that the start of the school year would be moved from Aug. 3 to Aug. 17, Trujillo said that date "may be aspirational."

"Due to this uncertainty, and the importance of creating a stable educational environment for our families and staff, Tucson Unified has determined we will begin all students via Remote Learning on Monday, August 10, 2020 and then transition those interested in an on-campus learning experience when it is deemed safe," Trujillo wrote. "Although starting this school year remotely is not ideal, we are committed to offering every child quality and rigorous curriculum, 5 days a week, from our highly qualified teachers. Instruction will be conducted utilizing teacher zoom lessons, as well as, some recorded lessons and offline homework. Classes will be consistent with real-time classroom instruction and will utilize approved online programs with assessment tools."

Read Trujillo's entire letter here.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, after a four-year absence from starring roles in order to become a new daddy, returns with the pretty standard, sometimes tense airplane thriller, 7500.

Levitt does competent work as Tobias, a nebbish co-pilot on a night flight that includes his girlfriend (Aylin Tezel) on the crew. They aren't in the air long before a band of hijackers take hostages and demand entry into the cockpit, banging relentlessly on his door.

Director and co-writer Patrick Vollrath does very well with the film's first half. Actually, the film is quite good when the plane is in the air. Tobias communicates with the hijackers banging on his door via black and white video, and it's scary to watch. The film most certainly recalls the tense final moments of Paul Greengrass' United 93, when a similar, real-life situation occurred on 9/11.

Once the plane lands, Tobias ends up in the cockpit with one of the hijackers (Omid Memar), and this is where the movie sputters. The two actors give it their all, but the script calls for paint-by-numbers "hijacked plane on the tarmac" conversations, and this simply doesn't deliver on the promise of the film's first half.

Still, it's good to see Gordon-Levitt here. It's a demanding role for him, and he gets to shake the rust off in mostly fine fashion. Too bad the entirety of the movie doesn't match the quality of his performance.

7500 is streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Just ICYMI, here are the stories we covered today.

• The total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Arizona rose past 87,000 as of Thursday, July 2, after the state reported 3,333 new cases this morning, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
• The almighty Loft Cinema continues its series of streaming films this week with 6 new offerings starting July 3: three documentaries, the directorial debut of actor Bill Duke, a raving comedy and an award winning film from South Korea.
• As Arizona broke records Wednesday for new COVID-19 cases and deaths reported in a single day, Vice President Mike Pence flew in to assure Gov. Doug Ducey that the federal government “will spare no expense” in helping the state.
• The monsoon may be the next major player in the Bighorn Fire story. The 118,000-acre fire is now more than half contained after burning across the Catalina Mountains for nearly a month.
• Tommy Fisher billed his new privately funded border wall as the future of deterrence, a quick-to-build steel fortress that spans 3 miles in one of the busiest Border Patrol sectors.
• There’s often not much agreement on news out of Washington, but Arizona business leaders were hard-pressed this week to come up with negatives about the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement that took effect Wednesday.
• Jaylon Sesay—a.k.a. Prospect Jay—and the Sho Ryders Motorcycle Club are distributing water bottles to Tucson's homeless at several different locations around the Old Pueblo on Sunday, July 5.