Matteo Garrone's GOMORRAH is a dense, sprawling exposé of the corruption plaguing the communities of Naples and Caserta in modern-day Italy. all-powerful Camorra syndicate influences the lives of even the most innocent citizens. In a manner similar to THE WIRE, Garrone tells his story from many different angles, resulting in a complicated narrative that often feels novelistic. In many cases, the revolving stories never overlap or intersect. While that may be jarring to those viewers who are used to having their strings tied neatly for them by a film's conclusion, Garrone's decision results in an experience that feels much more honest and true. We witness the syndicate's impact from the top down and from the inside out, following a cavalcade of characters who are all trying in their own ways to escape the deadly world in which they live.
Based on the book by Roberto Saviano, Garrone's crime epic is a powerful indictment of the corruption that is running rampant in Italy. His decision to present such a wide spectrum of characters enables him to show just how deeply everyone is impacted by this terrifying, unchecked display of criminal power. Cinematically, he employs a dizzying array of styles in order to further establish the frighteningly ungoverned atmosphere that pervades this community. GOMORRAH succeeds as both visceral entertainment and thoughtful social commentary. (2 hrs. 17 min.)
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Mario Rainone, Reputed Chicago Mobster, Pleads Guilty to Residential Burglary
A reputed member of the Chicago mob was sentenced to 71/2 years in prison Monday when he pleaded guilty to burglarizing a Lincolnshire house.
Mario Rainone, 54, pleaded guilty to residential burglary during a hearing before Lake County Associate Judge George Bridges.
At the time of the Feb. 12 burglary, Rainone was on parole for a racketeering and conspiracy conviction in federal court for his activities as a member of the Leonard Patrick Street Crew.
Assistant State's Attorney Marykay Foy said Rainone, of Addison, and Vincent Forliano, 39, of Bloomingdale, were under surveillance by a task force of police from several jurisdictions in northern Illinois.
Police watched as the pair drove from Bloomingdale to Trafalgar Square in Lincolnshire, walked into a condominium complex and emerged a few minutes later with property under their coats.
Officers followed them to an intersection in Addison, where their car was stopped and they were arrested after a purse, cash and jewelry taken from the Lincolnshire house was found in the vehicle.
Both were charged with residential burglary, which Foy said carries a mandatory prison sentence of four to 15 years upon conviction.
Foy said Rainone was convicted of residential burglary in 1972, and in 1992 pleaded guilty to the federal racketeering charge in exchange for a sentence of 171/2 years in prison.
He is currently charged with violating his parole in that case and faces another federal charge of possession of a weapon by a felon based on a handgun that was discovered in his house after his arrest in the Lincolnshire case.
In addition, Foy said Rainone faces federal charges of bribery in Wisconsin for having contraband food smuggled into the prison where he was serving time.
Forliano has pleaded not guilty to charges in the Lincolnshire case and is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 27.
Thanks to Tony Gordon
Mario Rainone, 54, pleaded guilty to residential burglary during a hearing before Lake County Associate Judge George Bridges.
At the time of the Feb. 12 burglary, Rainone was on parole for a racketeering and conspiracy conviction in federal court for his activities as a member of the Leonard Patrick Street Crew.
Assistant State's Attorney Marykay Foy said Rainone, of Addison, and Vincent Forliano, 39, of Bloomingdale, were under surveillance by a task force of police from several jurisdictions in northern Illinois.
Police watched as the pair drove from Bloomingdale to Trafalgar Square in Lincolnshire, walked into a condominium complex and emerged a few minutes later with property under their coats.
Officers followed them to an intersection in Addison, where their car was stopped and they were arrested after a purse, cash and jewelry taken from the Lincolnshire house was found in the vehicle.
Both were charged with residential burglary, which Foy said carries a mandatory prison sentence of four to 15 years upon conviction.
Foy said Rainone was convicted of residential burglary in 1972, and in 1992 pleaded guilty to the federal racketeering charge in exchange for a sentence of 171/2 years in prison.
He is currently charged with violating his parole in that case and faces another federal charge of possession of a weapon by a felon based on a handgun that was discovered in his house after his arrest in the Lincolnshire case.
In addition, Foy said Rainone faces federal charges of bribery in Wisconsin for having contraband food smuggled into the prison where he was serving time.
Forliano has pleaded not guilty to charges in the Lincolnshire case and is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 27.
Thanks to Tony Gordon
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Patrick Tuite Settles Lawsuit Over Double Deal
The Reader received the other day a nearly blank sheet of paper passing itself off as a press release. At the top of the sheet PRESS RELEASE had been typed, and beneath that heading this message:
"The case of Tuite vs. harper Collins, Michael Corbitt and Sam Giancana has been resolved. All terms of the settlement are confidential. The reference to Patrick Tuite was removed from the paperback edition of the book Double Deal prior to its publication in 2003."
There was a cover letter, equally terse.
"Dear Sir or Madam: In that your publication previously reported on the litigation for defamation brought by Patrick Tuite, the enclosed Press Release may be of interest to your readers. The release is self-explanatory and no additional information is available."
It was signed by Paul M. Levy of the Loop law firm Deutsch, Levy & Engel.
The press release was self-explanatory in the sense that it said why it said nothing. Because the terms are confidential, that's why. I called Levy and, chancing an immediate hang-up, asked who he was. He said he represented Tuite. Why are the terms confidential? I asked. He did not have to answer such a prying question, but he did.
"By agreement of the parties," he said. "We felt it was an appropriate element of the settlement."
The Tuite suit was major litigation. I wrote about it frequently for the Reader, and at some length. Tuite is a prominent criminal defense attorney who believed he was slandered in Double Deal, a 2003 book written by a mobbed-up ex-cop, now dead, and by the godson of the former Chicago mob godfather. In the book, Corbitt, the cop, told a story about making a run out to Salt Lake City to pick up $1 million stuffed into a couple of duffel bags. Corbitt said he understood the money was needed to hire a "big-shot lawyer" — Tuite — to defend mob boss Joey Aiuppa against federal charges.
"After Tuite was on the case, all the guys were sort of semijubilant. Everybody figured Tuite had it all handled..." Corbitt wrote. "So you can imagine their reaction when they were all found guilty the following January...
"And what about Tuite? What kind of explanation could he possibly have given for this result? I can't think of one that would've satisfied me--not after advancing him a million bucks for his legal fees. And I guess that's why, for the life of me, I've never understood why Pat Tuite didn't get whacked. Go figure."
The theory Tuite advanced in his lawsuit for why he didn't get whacked was that there was no million dollars and he didn't even represent Aiuppa. His suit failed at the circuit court and appellate levels on the grounds that Illinois' "innocent construction rule" required the courts to measure arguably slanderous language by its most benign interpretation, which in this case was simply that the mob thought Tuite was one crackerjack attorney. Tuite appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. He went beyond arguing that the lower courts had misapplied the innocent construction rule. He called the rule an "anachronism" and asked the supreme court to abolish it.
First Amendment attorneys leaped to the rule's defense. The Reader, the Tribune, the Sun-Times, ABC, CBS, WLS, Crain Communications, the Copley Press, the Illinois Broadcasters Association, and Simon & Schuster joined in an amicus brief that called Tuite's request "profoundly ill-advised." The brief argued that the innocent construction rule "preserves writers, publishers and broadcasters from the chilling effect of having to mount a lengthy and expensive defense of marginal and abusive cases." If, occasionally, it's misapplied, "that...does not mean you throw it out; that is what appellate review is for."
I first wrote about Tuite's suit in 2006, when Tuite took his suit to the supreme court. A few months later I examined what was to me the tortured logic by which that court both ruled for Tuite but managed to keep the innocent construction rule alive. When defense attorneys asked the court for a rehearing, I wrote about the Tuite suit a third time. And that was that. A rehearing wasn't granted and Tuite's suit returned to circuit court for trial. But in the end — I was able to find this out — the two sides agreed to let a mediator work out terms everyone could live with.
Those are the terms that are none of our business.
The note from Levy wasn't quite as succinct or dramatic a message as a dead fish dropped on your doorstep. But it came close. The message: It's over; Fuhgeddaboutit!
Which I'm afraid I and the various parties to the amicus brief had begun to do as soon as the innocent construction rule was saved. It was unpleasant of Levy to tell us so little. But it was nice of him to remember that we once cared.
Thanks to Michael Miner
"The case of Tuite vs. harper Collins, Michael Corbitt and Sam Giancana has been resolved. All terms of the settlement are confidential. The reference to Patrick Tuite was removed from the paperback edition of the book Double Deal prior to its publication in 2003."
There was a cover letter, equally terse.
"Dear Sir or Madam: In that your publication previously reported on the litigation for defamation brought by Patrick Tuite, the enclosed Press Release may be of interest to your readers. The release is self-explanatory and no additional information is available."
It was signed by Paul M. Levy of the Loop law firm Deutsch, Levy & Engel.
The press release was self-explanatory in the sense that it said why it said nothing. Because the terms are confidential, that's why. I called Levy and, chancing an immediate hang-up, asked who he was. He said he represented Tuite. Why are the terms confidential? I asked. He did not have to answer such a prying question, but he did.
"By agreement of the parties," he said. "We felt it was an appropriate element of the settlement."
The Tuite suit was major litigation. I wrote about it frequently for the Reader, and at some length. Tuite is a prominent criminal defense attorney who believed he was slandered in Double Deal, a 2003 book written by a mobbed-up ex-cop, now dead, and by the godson of the former Chicago mob godfather. In the book, Corbitt, the cop, told a story about making a run out to Salt Lake City to pick up $1 million stuffed into a couple of duffel bags. Corbitt said he understood the money was needed to hire a "big-shot lawyer" — Tuite — to defend mob boss Joey Aiuppa against federal charges.
"After Tuite was on the case, all the guys were sort of semijubilant. Everybody figured Tuite had it all handled..." Corbitt wrote. "So you can imagine their reaction when they were all found guilty the following January...
"And what about Tuite? What kind of explanation could he possibly have given for this result? I can't think of one that would've satisfied me--not after advancing him a million bucks for his legal fees. And I guess that's why, for the life of me, I've never understood why Pat Tuite didn't get whacked. Go figure."
The theory Tuite advanced in his lawsuit for why he didn't get whacked was that there was no million dollars and he didn't even represent Aiuppa. His suit failed at the circuit court and appellate levels on the grounds that Illinois' "innocent construction rule" required the courts to measure arguably slanderous language by its most benign interpretation, which in this case was simply that the mob thought Tuite was one crackerjack attorney. Tuite appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. He went beyond arguing that the lower courts had misapplied the innocent construction rule. He called the rule an "anachronism" and asked the supreme court to abolish it.
First Amendment attorneys leaped to the rule's defense. The Reader, the Tribune, the Sun-Times, ABC, CBS, WLS, Crain Communications, the Copley Press, the Illinois Broadcasters Association, and Simon & Schuster joined in an amicus brief that called Tuite's request "profoundly ill-advised." The brief argued that the innocent construction rule "preserves writers, publishers and broadcasters from the chilling effect of having to mount a lengthy and expensive defense of marginal and abusive cases." If, occasionally, it's misapplied, "that...does not mean you throw it out; that is what appellate review is for."
I first wrote about Tuite's suit in 2006, when Tuite took his suit to the supreme court. A few months later I examined what was to me the tortured logic by which that court both ruled for Tuite but managed to keep the innocent construction rule alive. When defense attorneys asked the court for a rehearing, I wrote about the Tuite suit a third time. And that was that. A rehearing wasn't granted and Tuite's suit returned to circuit court for trial. But in the end — I was able to find this out — the two sides agreed to let a mediator work out terms everyone could live with.
Those are the terms that are none of our business.
The note from Levy wasn't quite as succinct or dramatic a message as a dead fish dropped on your doorstep. But it came close. The message: It's over; Fuhgeddaboutit!
Which I'm afraid I and the various parties to the amicus brief had begun to do as soon as the innocent construction rule was saved. It was unpleasant of Levy to tell us so little. But it was nice of him to remember that we once cared.
Thanks to Michael Miner
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Chicago's Bloody Gang War of the 1920's
On this day in 1924, Dion O'Banion, the Irish-American leader of North Side Gang is assassinated in his flower shop by members of Johnny Torrio's gang, sparking the bloody gang war of the 1920s in Chicago.
O'Banion, who had a thriving bootlegging and floral business, was the main rival of the Chicago outfit, led by Torrio and his henchman, Al Capone.
When O'Banion learned there was going to be a raid on his brewery, he offered to retire to Colorado if Torrio bought out the business. Torrio wound up in jail and O'Banion kept the $500,000 for the padlocked brewery.
O'Banion was in his floral shop fixing flowers when three gangsters came in. When O'Banion reached out with a handshake, one of the men held it in a death gripe, while the other two shot O'Banion twice each in the chest, cheeks and throat.
The O'Banion killing sparked a five-year war that culminated in the killing of seven North Side gang members in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929.
Thanks to Scott McCabe
O'Banion, who had a thriving bootlegging and floral business, was the main rival of the Chicago outfit, led by Torrio and his henchman, Al Capone.
When O'Banion learned there was going to be a raid on his brewery, he offered to retire to Colorado if Torrio bought out the business. Torrio wound up in jail and O'Banion kept the $500,000 for the padlocked brewery.
O'Banion was in his floral shop fixing flowers when three gangsters came in. When O'Banion reached out with a handshake, one of the men held it in a death gripe, while the other two shot O'Banion twice each in the chest, cheeks and throat.
The O'Banion killing sparked a five-year war that culminated in the killing of seven North Side gang members in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929.
Thanks to Scott McCabe
Monday, November 09, 2009
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