Hearne: Back to the Movies w/ ‘TENET’ + Star Editor Mike Fannin

Let’s see, do I embarrass myself or…

Oh, what the heck. After all,  slime ball Kansas City Star editor Mike Fannin didn’t mind laying down a phony “tear jerker” about how his mom came to visit and the whole family had to endure a gut-wrenching bout of Covid before moving on with their lives (as most coronavirus cases do under the age of 80, sans underlying issues or being massively overweight).

That said, it was a great way for Fannin to blow a little smoke up the new owner’s you-know-whats, in the hope they’d overlook his twin DUIs, assault conviction (beating up his brother) and affair with a certain married Star sports editor that worked – you know -,directly under him.

(Pun intended)

I digress, my confession is less dramatic, but I have too tell you I nodded off a time or two during the early part of the blockbuster movie Tenet at AMC’s Ward Parkway theater.

Might have been for lack of oxygen wearing my Nancy Pelosi mask.

Again, I digress…

Because what’s important here is my blow-by-blow on the not-so-grand reopening of AMC Theatres to the general public.

The verdict is in: It was an incredible experience and one that I heartily recommend.

I’ll preface my remarks by noting that I have some serious audio and video equipment at home, and have been outspoken in predicting the demise of brick-and-mortar movie theaters given the competition from home theater, costs, health issues, etc.

And I’m standing by those predictions.

Still finding myself front and center with a gigantic screen and killer-beyond-belied sound effects was nothing short of amazing.

Seriously.

Now I don’t want to do a Mike Fannin and over dramatize things, but frankly – and somewhat too my surprise – I was blown away.

As for the movie itself, eh..

It was a non stop roller coaster ride of violence, chase scenes, explosions and dramatic effects…quilted together with a somewhat tepid plot that required of my wife’s 23 year-old daughter to rate the movie an 8 on a scale of 10. Add to that, that much of the dialogue was indiscernible and she couldn’t wait to read a review so she could more fully understand what the movie was actually about.

Funny thing, that’s kinda how I felt after reading Fannin’s pot boiler.

Especially the part about his mom’s voice growing stronger on Day  4 as the treatments “took hold and the prayers continued pouring in from across the country.”

Seriously? Prayers “pouring in” from across the country? Fannin actually goes to church? And “pouring in” from where exactly?

Apparently Fannin forgot to mention his mom was Beyonce.

So yeah, I’m more than a little embarrassed and I’ve got some minor bruising from my  daughter Liza elbowing me awake. Fannin’s way too jaded, to  be embarrassed.

He’s got bigger fish to fry…

Such as trying to sweep the past 10 years running the newspaper into a ditch, his criminal convictions and moral missteps that an exec at former Star owner Knight Ridder told me would have resulted in him not being named editor, That and the convoluted, extreme left wing far lefty news spins and editorial bent that continues to turn off and run off around half of the area readers who might be – wait for it – a bit conservative on the conservative side..

The days of the Star having liberal leanings, but playing mostly down the middle news wise are long gone. And that has and continues to take a toll on readership and the newspaper’s bottom line.

Anybody out there listening?