182: Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda (PG-13) - 2004 - Runtime: 121 minutes
Starring: Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Nick Nolte
Director: Terry George

This movie had been sitting in my Blockbuster queue for quite some time and it finally arrived (after watching a great TV show called Skins). This movie became of one of those movies. You know, where someone recommends it and you think about watching it but never get around to it. And then another person recommends it and another until you're so sick of hearing about how great this movie is that you've decided that you don't want to see it anymore. That's Hotel Rwanda for me. But I put in my queue because I've heard nothing but great things and I almost feel obligated to watch it simply because it might enlighten me on things I would otherwise be oblivious to.

The movie, if you don't already know, tells the tale of one man who decides to open up his hotel doors to refugees from one of the worst genocides in the past 20 years. It's a very moving story and full of suspense and lots of conflict. Don Cheadle was nominated for an Academy Award and so was Sophie Okoneda, who plays his wife. These were great performances by both.

It's a good movie and is perfect for understanding more about Africa and some of the problems happening over there. I learned a lot about what happened and how (which is too detailed for a review) and that some of the same things are happening right now in Darfur. This was an ethnic civil war that took place and a genocide of most likely a million people. And the western world pretty much ignored the events that took place (in 1998, Clinton offered a semi-apology to Rwanda for this fact).

I don't think I would watch the movie again simply because it's long and a downer. That sounds selfish, but I do believe this movie is important to watch because of it's powerful message. I imagine this movie might make it into high school classes someday.

Rating: Rent It!

182: Bullitt

Bullitt (PG) - 1968 - Runtime: 114 minutes
Starring: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bissett
Director: Peter Yates

I have a really hard time with movies that were made before the 80s. I don't know if it's the style of the movies, the music or some other factor that prevents me from truly enjoying older movies, but I just can't fall in love with movies from before my time. I guess I grew up on the modern movie, the blockbuster. Don't get me wrong, there's some older movies I absolutely enjoy, 12 Angry Men and Double Indemnity to name just a few. So I watched Bullitt, a suggested movie from someone, with this in mind, trying to keep myself open to enjoy it.

The back of the box boasts that Bullitt "features one of cinema history's most memorable car chases." So I was excited, figuring I was in for a pretty good action flick (it was in the action section at Blockbuster). However, I soon realized this was a slow, slow boiler of a movie. There really isn't any action save for the car chase scene. Which is absolutely one of the better car chase scenes I've ever seen. Mainly because it's so visceral and real - the angles of the camera, the noise of the gear shift and the roller coaster ride of San Francisco's streets - all make for a very entertaining and believable car chase. I was amused that he was chasing two old dudes - the driver of the assassin's car looked like my grandfather when he was 60.

As for the plot, it's fairly straight-forward: Bullitt (yes, that's his name in the movie) is charged with protecting a key witness for a huge organized crime trial. Why he's in San Francisco when the trial is set in Chicago? Don't know, I guess San Fran is secluded and they probably thought the gays may scare off any would-be assassins. Not so, by the end of the night the witness has been shot and Bullitt is determined to find the hitmen. And from there things get...very...slow.

Bullitt himself has very few lines in the movie. He speaks with his gun and his eyes. Oh, those eyes. If you counted how many minutes McQueen just stares (looking a bit dead behind the eyes), you'd have half the movie right there. That's the main problem with the movie (much like, as Maggie pointed out, MTV's The Hills - a show filled with long stares and dramatic pauses): there's just too many unnecessarily long shots. Getting in and out of cars takes a full half minute, there's a shot of an airplane pulling up to the terminal that lasts about a minute. And Bullitt seems to be comtemplating his situation way too much. It was so jarring at times. There's a particular scene in which Bullitt is chasing the hitman through the hospital. He's walking into a room without even having his gun out and ready. Either that takes balls (and we're supposed to believe Bullitt has some huge cajones and possibly a stick up his ass), or he's incredibly stupid or someone just forgot to give McQueen stage directions. But I can't help feel that Jack Bauer still holds the crown for the ballsiest badass on screen (I've said balls a lot in this review, haven't I? And in different languages!).

As for the good parts, the aforementioned car chase is awesome. And the cinematography - mainly the camera angles, are really cool. But that's about it, I really kept waiting for McQueen to unleash the beast and start kicking some ass, but we just get this sappy sidestory with his girlfriend about how he's so disattached from the real world. He can't switch off, as Nick Angel would say. I wish I could say the same about this movie. Zing!

Rating: Not Worth Paying For

182: The Great Buck Howard

The Great Buck Howard (PG) - 2009 - Runtime: 90 minutes
Starring: John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, Emily Blunt
Director: Sean McGinly

John Malkovich certainly knows how to entertain. And lately he seems to be channeling his comedic talent with great success. He was perfectly cast as the narcissistic and hapless ex-CIA agent in Burn After Reading, who seemingly gets (metaphorically) kicked in the balls by life time after time. And now he's playing another ego-centric bonafide weirdo in The Great Buck Howard. Although the movie has a much more lighter and approachable tone than the Coen brothers' latest.

The movie is narrated by Troy (Colin Hanks), a law school dropout who's trying to figure out his life and some such nonsense. He somehow stumbles into the job of being road manager to a past his prime mentalist (not a magician, Buck gave that up at age five) who puts on shows to half packed theaters. Buck Howard is looking for a comeback and Troy is there to witness it all.

The movie's a fun ride and if you don't enjoy the zaniness of it all, then you have no soul. Buck Howard, in all his cheesiness and cornball glory, still has a bit of magic left in his performance. And the movie captures that perfectly. It's easy to get caught up in wondering, like Troy, whether this is an act or is it real. Nothing's ever revealed and there's an air of enchantment about the movie that makes you want to believe in Howard, much like his fans.

Malkovich plays the character perfectly. He has this goofish charm when he yells out "I love this TOWN!!!" to his hosts and shakes their hands so roughly they look like they went into a seizure. You also find yourself wondering how a mentalist who can track down his payment for the night (a part of his act - he has the audience hide the money and he finds it every single time) but he cannot possibly figure out which green room is his or where to go to get onstage. It's little details like this that I found myself smiling.

There's a great supporting cast involved, too, including a love interest for Troy, played by Emily Blunt. And Steve Zahn, one of Buck's hosts in Cincinnatti that never really seemed to grow up and grow out of his obsession with Buck. They all seem genuine, if not out of place from the real world. And that's alright, because you're along for the ride and it's all about Buck.

If you're looking for a light hearted comedy, look no further. I enjoyed this movie immensely, if you couldn't tell. It's out on DVD this week, so check it out!

Rating: Rent It!

182: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (PG) - 2009 - Runtime: 153 minutes
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint
Director: David Yates

I know your mind is already made up on this one. You're either going to go see it (or already have) or you don't care about Mr. Potter. So does this work as a movie? And is it good? I'm not even going to compare this to the book because it's pointless - I'd rather argue about what this movie does than what it doesn't. And this movie does almost everything perfectly.

The first scene in the movie just blew me away. You follow, like a rollercoaster cam, the path of some Death Eaters through London. It's amazing. Visually, I'm still on the fence of whether I like the color tones of this movie. It's all very dark and not a light of bright colors. It works, especially in the memory scenes, which are tinted green. I just don't know if I like it a lot.

This was no doubt one of my favorite movies this year. I just had a lot of fun watching it. The movie's pace and plot wasn't too confusing for those very few that haven't read the books. It's by far the best Harry Potter movie since Prisoner of Azkaban. I also found myself laughing a lot. At one point in the movie Dumbledore says he's an old man. And Potter replies, "You look the same to me." I laughed out loud (and embarrassingly was the only one to do so in the silent theater), because I thought it was a funny moment about how everyone has changed except for Dumbledore. There were some genuinely funny moments, especially from Radcliffe when he swallowed the good luck charm ("it has pincers").

I also was really impressed by all the acting. It seems that everyone has fully grown into their roles. Even Draco Malfoy, who I thought had probably the most difficult challanges in the movie. He used to be a one-note character in the movies but here Tom Felton really does make him a complete character and I never once found his performance off-key. Everyone else is great and I thought Rickman (perfect casting, BTW) was the best of the bunch.

And to those complaining about stuff left out, why bother? Read the damn book. If you want a movie, this is it. It's not going to get any better - so relax and just enjoy what's probably the most fun (and funniest) HP movie so far! So obviously, you've already made the decision on whether you're going to go see it, so I won't bother with recommendations. But you can't deny this is probably the movie of the summer.

Rating: Buy It!

182: Moon

Moon (R) - 2009 - Runtime: 97 minutes
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey

Good sci-fi movies are really hard to come by these days. I can count the number of good sci-fi movies in the past decade on one hand. Two years ago, Sunshine (by my boy, Danny Boyle) was a breath of fresh air. Not necessarily because of its originality or premise, but because it was a good movie set in a science fiction setting. Some may argue about the last 30 minutes, but that doesn't take away the beauty of seeing that spaceship cruise towards its ultimate destiny: the sun.

So here comes Moon, a movie co-written and directed by David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones. It borrows heavily from such classics as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris (the 1972 version), but don't let that fool you: this is a smart, well-written suspense movie. Sam Rockwell (who continues to impress me in every movie) plays Sam Bell, a man working for Lunar Industries, a corporation dedicated to supplying earth's energy via harvesting helium-3 from the moon. He's the only one on the station and he's (supposedly) in full control. He's about to end his 3-year stint and head home, but things get a little strange when he has an accident in his moon rover outside the station and passes out from the collision.

Sam Rockwell's performance is outstanding, some of the best work done by an actor this year. He eventually meets a clone of himself during his last days, but you really don't know if he's going crazy or not - mainly because of his performance. The movie does capture that secluded lonely vibe of the moon and being isolated from everyone else.

There are a lot of surprises in this movie, subtle ones, but surprises nonetheless. I really enjoyed Kevin Spacey's voice-over work with GERTY, a more affectionate version of HAL from 2001. Even though Jones may borrow a lot of elements from past science fiction movies, he never allows the science aspect to take over the message of the film. I don't want to give too much away, but "technology is evil" is not the message here.

I don't think you have to enjoy science fiction movies to enjoy Moon. It's a good story and well-acted. I really loved this movie, it's by far one of my favorites this year. If there's a theater near you playing it, go check it out!

Rating: Buy It!

182: Defiance

Defiance (R) - 2008 - Runtime: 137 minutes
Director: Edward Zwick
Starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell

There's been a plethora of World War II-themed movies that have come out in the past year or two. Valkyrie, The Reader, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas are just a few. I'm not gonna lie, I do love me some World War II movies. Whether it's Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List, some of the best movies have been centered around this historical clash of good versus evil.

Defiance may not win any awards, but it's effective in telling a largely forgotten (which is hard to imagine nowadays) story about an ordinary group of Jewish brothers (the Bielskis) just trying to survive the massive genocide that was taking place. While in the process of hiding in the woods, they become unwilling heroes in saving more and more Jewish refugees.

I am a sucker for these kinds of movies, so it's no surprise I liked it. The best thing the movie has going for it is that it really happened (to what extent, I don't know). I enjoyed the characters and I thought Liev Schreiber did an excellent job of portraying such a conflicted character who can't decide whether to help his Jewish brethren or leave them to fend for themselves (the Bielski brothers were mostly outcasts and criminals before the war). I thought Daniel Craig was okay compared to his fellow castmates, who really stole the movie (look out for Jamie Bell, he's going to be an up and coming star). The movie really does a good job of keeping you invested in the characters - you just don't know who's going to survive.

There are a few flaws to the movie, though. The pacing is a bit slow and jarring - the action sequences seem out of place. And it could have been cut down to two hours without any problems - you don't need to hammer the audience with scenes of how awful it was for the refugees. We get it, it was World War II and you were Jewish.

Just don't expect a whole lot of action out of this one or you will be sorely disappointed. But if you're in the mood for a movie "based on a true story," you can't go wrong with Defiance.

Rating: Rent It

182: Push

Push (PG-13) - 2009 - Runtime: 111 minutes
Director: Paul McGuigan
Starring: Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning, Camilla Belle and Djimon Hounsou

"A poor man's X-Men."

They tried really hard with this one. I guess an "A" for effort? Push is a story about ummm, pushers (who don't really push. The guys who push are called movers). Are you following me? Because I sure as hell couldn't follow this mess of a movie. Supposedly there's all these crazy folks out there with supernatural abilities who are being tracked down by clandestine government operation(s). Am I watching X-Men or Heroes? Anyway, there's this girl - isn't it always about a girl? - that escaped from the government's grasp and stole a secret formula which makes them super-super humans. Or it... controls them? I don't know! This movie falls under the weight of its own mythology and stumbles on a significant amount of plot holes.

For example, everyone wants this syringe with the formula, including the government agency that created it! Why on earth do they want it back when they could just look at the scientist's notes and recreate it is beyond me. And then they could kill all the pushers, movers, watchers, sniffers (seriously, there are people who sniff stuff to find out where people are) involved. This Chinese mafia group wants it, too. I didn't know they were mafia until halfway through - I just thought they were government cronies. And that made me feel stupid, which a movie should never do. But the whole damn problem with this plot, which is the major focal point of the entire movie - the formula doesn't work, it kills whomever they inject it into. Except Camilla Belle's character. Of course, the government wants her, but they really want this formula! And so does the mafia! They're both pretty daft if you ask me.

I feel like the writer wanted to create this cool movie/universe, but couldn't be bothered with details or rules. The logic for some of the characters' powers was seriously flawed. Watchers could see the future, but it's always changing, yet they could know exactly what's going to happen next. And sniffers could find out where a person was by sniffing something they touched, but that doesn't make sense. Because how could an object like my toothbrush tell someone where I would be next week through its scent? Especially if I haven't used said toothbrush in 10 years. Yeah, that happens in the movie.

As you can tell I was quite dissatisfied with the whole experience. And there really wasn't a whole lot of action. You see the poster? Yep, that's about as much action as you'll get in this movie. They also leave you hanging at the end. Which I don't mind, but the problem with this is that they make a big deal out of a couple of characters' stories and they never resolve them at the end. Dear God I hope they don't make a sequel called Pull.

Oh and one more thing. Why the hell were all these Brits and Americans running around in Hong Kong? They never once explained this. Is Hong Kong cool now? Is that where all the kids hang out? Maybe I'll take my Vespa scooter through the streets of HK and find a tree to sit under and write poetry in my moleskin journal. (Thanks for the inspiration, SWPL).

Rating: Not Worth Paying For

182: Mr. Brooks

Mr. Brooks (R) - 2007 - Runtime: 120 minutes
Director: Bruce A. Evans
Starring: Kevin Costner, William Hurt, Demi Moore, Dane Cook

Maggie had recorded this movie on our DVR a week or so ago and she watched it on her own and really liked it. So I decided to give it a shot. I had wanted to see it when it came out on DVD, but I just never got around to it.

Costner plays a well-known business man who's addicted to killing couples. He's been clean for two years until one night he needs a fix and makes one crucial mistake. That mistake leads him to meet Dane Cook's character: Mr. Smith, who knows about Mr. Brook's dirty deeds. And from there it gets rather interesting.

I was very surprised by this movie. The one word I would use is slick. Mr. Brooks is a very careful serial killer, making sure his killings are CSI-proof (which is funny because Marg Helgenberger plays Mrs. Brooks). So it was rather cool to see him unleash his inner Hurt and kill a couple (who obviously had it coming - I mean they screw with the curtains open, c'mon!). I enjoyed that we didn't get to know Mr. Brooks too well. The movie's primary focus was his new complications with Mr. Smith and dealing with a dumbass daughter who couldn't practice safe sex. Demi Moore plays the detective trying to find Mr. Brooks and I'm glad we didn't get too much of her, otherwise this would turn into Double Jeopardy. Thank God Tommy Lee Jones didn't show up as head of the FBI in this movie, otherwise I would have turned it off. I also wish Dane Cook would take more roles like this instead of his one-note characters in Good Luck Chuck and My Best Friend's Girl. He was good, but he's no William Hurt, who was pretty devious in his role as Mr. Brooks' alter-ego, Marshall.

If you haven't seen it and could go for a good thriller, Mr. Brooks is definitely worth renting.

Rating: Rent It

182 Movies in One Year

I'm stealing this idea from my wife, Maggie. Her ambitious project is to read 100 books in 1 year. She got the idea from a site I do not frequent, Pajiba (feel free to follow the link - they're pretty crazy over there). So I'm deciding to embark upon a noble quest: watch 182 movies in one year. When I was first mulling over the idea, I thought 100 was too low. I was thinking 500. Then I did the math. I don't think I could watch 1.37 movies per day! So 182 feels right - one movie every other day (with one day to spare!). I know this would sound lightweight for a professional movie critic. But I'm not a professional.

Why?

First of all, I love movies. I watch a ton of movies anyway, probably about 100 movies in any given year. Second, I work at Blockbuster, so this isn't going to be a strain on my wallet at all. Third, I work at Blockbuster. And I haven't seen a vast number of classic and cult classic movies. I once got yelled at (literally!) by a customer for not having seen The Godfather. All I can say to him now is "Sorry...I guess I'm the bad guy." Fourth, for fun! And the challenge. I want to be knowledgable about a lot of movies and have fun doing it so this seemed like a good way for me to accomplish that goal.

How?

I'm going to lay down a few ground rules and I will start tomorrow (Sunday, July 5th).

Rule #1: All new movies. Any movie I have already seen will not count! This includes any new movies that I may re-watch during this one year (i.e. Harry Potter 6 I'm definitely seeing more than once!)

Rule #2: Movies have to be in a variety of genres. I will break down the list as this:

1. Classics (35) - The term classic is very subjective for each person, but I'm going with AFI's Top 100 from 2007.
2. Cult Classics (15) - Once again, very subjective. I'm sticking to EW's Top 50 list.
3. Suggestions (25) - I'm taking any and all suggestions. Please comment anytime, facebook me or send me an email @ colinwkelly@gmail.com (although I do get veto rights on suggestions - but I'm limiting myself to only 3 vetos).
4. Book Adaptations (15) - Some of the best movies are based on books. It does not matter whether I've read the book or not (I will let you know!).
5. Foreign (15) - It's easy to let this genre slip by, so I'm making sure I get a healthy dose.
6. Horror (10) - I do not like watching horror movies (there are a few exceptions, like 28 Days Later), so I'm making sure I put enough on this list!
7. Western (10) - Same as #6, I want to be fair, here!
8. Musicals (5) - I really despise musicals, so I think I'm being very generous with 5!
9. Documentaries (5) - I really love a good documentary, but I thought I would put this on here just so I make sure to watch at least 5.
9. Kevin Bacon (6) - Maggie came up with this one and I thought it was pretty clever.
11. Maggie's Pick (1) - Maggie gets one movie that I absolutely must see.

This equals 137 movies! That leaves me with 40 movies for me to randomly choose or any that I'm going to see anyway.

Rule #3: I will be posting a review/critique of each movie that I see. I will have a rating system - one that I will be tinkering with tonight and tomorrow for my first movie! I will have a running list of movie suggestions on the page and also a movie checklist.

I really hope people enjoy this and feel free to comment me whenever to argue the merits (or demerits) of any movie! I'm looking forward to being challenged!

THS: Doin' The Dew, For Real.

Have any of you looked really closely at a bottle of Mountain Dew lately? I mean, really look (If you find yourself without the Dew, please feel free to look at the left. Nevermind how many photos I took to get the picture perfect. It's fucking 12:15 on a Friday night and I'm taking pictures of an empty MD. Yes, this is what my life's boiled down to. If you want to know more, let me tell you. I'm just now going through my digital music collection and adding album covers to the file and categorizing them. I have no friends). You know, I never really noticed the changes over the years, but by golly, how they've changed. Kudos to the Design department at the Dew, though. They sure know how to make a statement, yet appeal to the general population. With quotes such as, "Same Dew, New View," a complex rhyme scheme that can only be equaled by such great lyric masters of the 90s - Vanilla Ice (Choose your weapon but don’t slip/Vanilla’s in control with the flex of the mic grip), Snow (Yes the one MC Shan and the one Daddy Snow/Together we-a love 'em as a tornado) and of course, MC Hammer (Too legit...Too legit to quit). Serously, don't ask me how I know those quotes (and yes, I've just categorized them. If you must know, they're under bad 90s music for whenever I decide to put together that particular theme party).

But the designers took it a step further:
"Attitude Sold Separately" really speaks to me on the product. I didn't really know where the beverage stood as far as edginess, but right on the bottle, it declares itself boldly. I for one find this intriguing. I'm starting to wonder what kind of childhood did the Dew (or El Dewdirino) have. Well, I've done some reasearch for you folks that are yearning for some solid information, True Hollywood Story-style.

It seems that MD was born in the lonely mountains of the Smoky, Tennessee variety. He was born on a cold October morning in 1948, hence the reason for the name. It was a struggle early on for MD, as he was born with webbed feet. He was socially awkward when he first went to school and the kids, even his parents, ostricized him for his oddities. And so his parents, shameful and embarrased, hid him away from others and never sent him back to school. Instead he was homeschooled for the remaining time he lived with his parents. They thought that this was the life for their child and he would remain secluded from society for the rest of his life.

The Dew with his parents on Rocky Top. This place was a
refuge for the young Dew. Often he would go and
contemplate his life, playing Johnny Cash songs on his guitar.

But at age 16, MD snuck into town and went to a midnight showing of Rebel Without a Cause. The film spoke to him in so many ways. "I was at a low point in my life, and when James Dean walked onto the screen, I realized I had to be him," MD reminisces in a rare interview from Rolling Stone in 1986. And in a few short weeks, MD was catching a midnight train to California. "That was classic Dew, man. He always left with a statement. That's where his attitude came from, right there. That was the beginning of his career, when he left middle Tennessee," said Dr. Pepper, an old friend of MD, who took him into his abode in the 70s, when MD was trying to find himself as a beverage.

Nobody really noticed MD for the first two decades he was around. Even though he was established as a nationwide brand, with sponsoring by Pepsi, his popularity was never really close to being respectable. A lot had to do with his marketing gurus (gurus they were not). With slogans such as: "Yahoo Mountain Dew...It'll Tickle Yore Innards" and "Get that Barefoot Feelin' Drinkin' Mountain Dew." It was clear everyone saw him as that yokel from Tennessee still.

Plans to sponsor the trip to the moon fell flat when
word got out that Neil Armstrong preferred Mello Yello.
Buzz Aldrin claimed he liked the Yello too,
but only after they returned to Earth.

The 70s were the "Silent Decade" for MD, and he spent most of the time secluded in Dr. Pepper's mansion, doing heroin and cocaine, rarely seeing the light of day. MD thought his dream was over and there was no sense in living. Pepper recalls, "He was such a downer. I'd never seen anyone so pathetic. I came home one night and saw him with nothing on except a pair of gloves, standing on the balcony with a bottle of gin, singing, "A Boy Named Sue." That's when I had to kick him out." MD had nowhere to go and spent the rest of the year wandering the streets.

MD, seen here with Pepsi Max, around 1976.
Although Max didn't make a splash until the 90s,
MD and Max were good friends until Max filed a lawsuit
against MD in 2003, claiming the Dew stole the extreme
appearance from him back in the 70s. The lawsuit was settled out of court.

But as the 80s came upon America, MD came across an ad for the new Music Television Station, MTV. It was a jolt of motivation for MD. He knew he had to get into the younger kids scene, MTV was his gig. So MD called upon an old friend to hook him up, Dr. Pepper. "When I opened the door that summer, I was relieved and also a bit skeptical. I didn't know how real the kid was. But I couldn't turn him down," Pepper says. And so that was the beginning of what we come to know: "Do the Dew" was his new slogan and it made an impression on the yuppies of the 80s.

MD, seen here with original VJ Martha Quinn,
shocks the world by showing off his edgier look and chest hair.
He would later date Martha for a few years and they were
engaged briefly (the couple was fondly called Dr. Quinn), but was broken
off after just a year, Quinn citing personality differences as the main reason.

The ultimate measure of success:
You know you've made it big time when your
logo has been punned by the Christian crowd.

And MD has never looked back. He's caught the wave of late 90s Extreme-ism and his popularity has never been any higher. Many have tried to knock him down as the king of sperm-reducing, caffeine-inducing liquid, but Surge and Vault have proved they're not as real, or extreme. There was rumors Mello was trying to get Yelloer, but they've proved to be false. Rumors also abound that MD's seeking a political seat in the Senate. Sources indicate that he's running as an independent for the state of Tennessee.