Latest news with #O'Neil
Hamilton Spectator
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
‘Crazy idea': Ontario councillors push back as strong mayor powers reach small towns
TORONTO - A month after Ontario's government extended strong mayor powers to a swath of new municipalities, some leaders are promising never to use the measures — but a chorus of small-town councillors warn that local democracy is under threat. As of May 1, another 169 mayors in the province can now veto bylaws, pass new ones with just one-third of council in favour and hire or fire municipal department heads unilaterally. Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack said last month that the province decided to more than triple the number of mayors who can access the powers in an effort to build housing faster and streamline local governance. The measures were first introduced in 2022 and initially only applied to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario's two most populous cities. Several municipalities are taking active steps to reject the powers now that they have been granted more widely. Mark Hunter, one of 10 city councillors in Stratford, recently got unanimous support for his motion to reject the new powers. Hunter said it was symbolic and designed to show that municipal democracy shouldn't be 'subject to provincial whim.' 'What it effectively does is get rid of majority rule in our council,' he said. 'It's the expectation of the residents in our community that their representatives are able to fully represent them and this change puts some level of diminishment on that.' Hunter said his fellow councillors can have strong disagreements at council, but lively discussions result in better decisions for the community. Anything that diminishes that discussion is worse for residents, he said. Councillors aren't concerned about Stratford's current mayor abusing his power, said Hunter, but they are worried about what could happen in the future. 'It's another example of concentrating power in fewer hands. Unfortunately in human history, that doesn't always work out so well,' he said. David O'Neil, a councillor in Quinte West, said he is also concerned about strong mayor powers, adding they represent 'a real misdirection' by the province. 'I think this decision is on par with the crazy idea of building a tunnel under the 401,' O'Neil said, referring to Premier Doug Ford's promise to add a tunnel under the major Ontario highway. He added he is skeptical that strong mayor powers would lead to new housing being built in his community, and thinks the province should waive development fees if it wants to see more housing built. Zack Card, another councillor for Quinte West, said he believes the expansion of the strong mayor powers will 'erode the democratic traditions of municipal councils in Ontario.' 'I believe effective councils work collaboratively and with an understanding that all voices carry equal weight. Tipping that balance could potentially hinder governance and make solving issues within our communities more difficult,' Card wrote in an email. Neither O'Neil nor Card would speak to the recent dismissal of the municipality's chief administration officer, which was described on the municipality's website as a 'mayoral decision' pursuant to the legislation, made on the first day the powers were available. Quinte West Mayor Jim Harrison said in an email to The Canadian Press that 'the decision was made in close collaboration and consensus with council, utilizing strong mayor powers to move forward.' Less than a week after the decision, he told a council meeting that he wasn't planning to make use of the strong mayor powers. O'Neil suggested his concern is more future-oriented: it's unclear what could a different sort of mayor do with these powers five, 10 or 20 years down the road. David Arbuckle, executive director of the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, said unilateral power threatens a local government's administrative authority and staffers' ability to give non-partisan, evidence-based advice. 'It's changed the dynamic where (a city staffer) now has to be mindful of the fact that they could be hired or fired by the mayor at any point in time,' Arbuckle said in a recent interview. 'The advice they're bringing forward may not be as neutral as possible because ultimately they are now responding to one individual.' Corey Engelsdorfer, a councillor from Prince Edward County, said he's worried the powers will exacerbate existing divisions on his council and, should they be used, could 'sideline' constituents even as the community experiences a boom in development. The traditional model of majority rule is already divisive, Engelsdorfer said — especially when it comes to housing decisions — so decisions being made with even less support could lead to even more public cynicism. 'The way we build homes is by working together as a council and not by one person or a third of council pushing through what they want to push through,' he said. 'I always hear Premier Ford say that these changes cut red tape, but democracy to me is not red tape. I don't think it's something that needs to be in place at all.' Mayor Steve Ferguson said in an interview that he was working to defer several of the strong mayor powers, including personnel decisions, back to council. The council also unanimously passed a resolution asking the province to rescind strong mayor legislation, Engelsdorfer said. Despite the concerns, Matti Siemiatycki, director of the University of Toronto's Infrastructure Institute and a professor of geography and planning, said the uptake of the powers has been 'fairly underwhelming.' Before last month, there were only 46 so-called strong mayors in Ontario. Only a few made use of their powers. High-profile examples include Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath advancing affordable housing development on two municipal parking lots in April 2024, and Mississauga's former mayor Bonnie Crombie passing bylaws to build fourplexes in October 2023. But Siemiatycki said he fears there's greater risk for strong mayor powers to go unchecked in smaller municipalities, where there is less oversight and, often, less journalistic scrutiny. 'We've seen an erosion and a decline of the local presses across Canada, and it's no more visible than in small communities,' he said. 'If you're concentrating powers, what's really needed is external oversight bodies. And the media is one of those, so smaller communities might struggle to have that accountability and people being aware of what's happening.' Siemiatycki said while he sympathizes with the province's desire to tackle a housing and infrastructure crisis, he agrees with the councillors who have raised concerns. 'It doesn't necessarily mean you'll go further just because you're aiming to go faster,' he said. 'The thing that's more sustainable over the long term is acceleration through processes that have very clear accountabilities and timelines to them.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
3 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Crazy idea': Ontario councillors push back as strong mayor powers reach small towns
TORONTO – A month after Ontario's government extended strong mayor powers to a swath of new municipalities, some leaders are promising never to use the measures — but a chorus of small-town councillors warn that local democracy is under threat. As of May 1, another 169 mayors in the province can now veto bylaws, pass new ones with just one-third of council in favour and hire or fire municipal department heads unilaterally. Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rob Flack said last month that the province decided to more than triple the number of mayors who can access the powers in an effort to build housing faster and streamline local governance. The measures were first introduced in 2022 and initially only applied to the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa, Ontario's two most populous cities. Several municipalities are taking active steps to reject the powers now that they have been granted more widely. Mark Hunter, one of 10 city councillors in Stratford, recently got unanimous support for his motion to reject the new powers. Hunter said it was symbolic and designed to show that municipal democracy shouldn't be 'subject to provincial whim.' 'What it effectively does is get rid of majority rule in our council,' he said. 'It's the expectation of the residents in our community that their representatives are able to fully represent them and this change puts some level of diminishment on that.' Hunter said his fellow councillors can have strong disagreements at council, but lively discussions result in better decisions for the community. Anything that diminishes that discussion is worse for residents, he said. Councillors aren't concerned about Stratford's current mayor abusing his power, said Hunter, but they are worried about what could happen in the future. 'It's another example of concentrating power in fewer hands. Unfortunately in human history, that doesn't always work out so well,' he said. David O'Neil, a councillor in Quinte West, said he is also concerned about strong mayor powers, adding they represent 'a real misdirection' by the province. 'I think this decision is on par with the crazy idea of building a tunnel under the 401,' O'Neil said, referring to Premier Doug Ford's promise to add a tunnel under the major Ontario highway. He added he is skeptical that strong mayor powers would lead to new housing being built in his community, and thinks the province should waive development fees if it wants to see more housing built. Zack Card, another councillor for Quinte West, said he believes the expansion of the strong mayor powers will 'erode the democratic traditions of municipal councils in Ontario.' 'I believe effective councils work collaboratively and with an understanding that all voices carry equal weight. Tipping that balance could potentially hinder governance and make solving issues within our communities more difficult,' Card wrote in an email. Neither O'Neil nor Card would speak to the recent dismissal of the municipality's chief administration officer, which was described on the municipality's website as a 'mayoral decision' pursuant to the legislation, made on the first day the powers were available. Quinte West Mayor Jim Harrison said in an email to The Canadian Press that 'the decision was made in close collaboration and consensus with council, utilizing strong mayor powers to move forward.' Less than a week after the decision, he told a council meeting that he wasn't planning to make use of the strong mayor powers. O'Neil suggested his concern is more future-oriented: it's unclear what could a different sort of mayor do with these powers five, 10 or 20 years down the road. David Arbuckle, executive director of the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario, said unilateral power threatens a local government's administrative authority and staffers' ability to give non-partisan, evidence-based advice. 'It's changed the dynamic where (a city staffer) now has to be mindful of the fact that they could be hired or fired by the mayor at any point in time,' Arbuckle said in a recent interview. 'The advice they're bringing forward may not be as neutral as possible because ultimately they are now responding to one individual.' Corey Engelsdorfer, a councillor from Prince Edward County, said he's worried the powers will exacerbate existing divisions on his council and, should they be used, could 'sideline' constituents even as the community experiences a boom in development. The traditional model of majority rule is already divisive, Engelsdorfer said — especially when it comes to housing decisions — so decisions being made with even less support could lead to even more public cynicism. 'The way we build homes is by working together as a council and not by one person or a third of council pushing through what they want to push through,' he said. 'I always hear Premier Ford say that these changes cut red tape, but democracy to me is not red tape. I don't think it's something that needs to be in place at all.' Mayor Steve Ferguson said in an interview that he was working to defer several of the strong mayor powers, including personnel decisions, back to council. The council also unanimously passed a resolution asking the province to rescind strong mayor legislation, Engelsdorfer said. Despite the concerns, Matti Siemiatycki, director of the University of Toronto's Infrastructure Institute and a professor of geography and planning, said the uptake of the powers has been 'fairly underwhelming.' Before last month, there were only 46 so-called strong mayors in Ontario. Only a few made use of their powers. High-profile examples include Hamilton Mayor Andrea Horwath advancing affordable housing development on two municipal parking lots in April 2024, and Mississauga's former mayor Bonnie Crombie passing bylaws to build fourplexes in October 2023. But Siemiatycki said he fears there's greater risk for strong mayor powers to go unchecked in smaller municipalities, where there is less oversight and, often, less journalistic scrutiny. 'We've seen an erosion and a decline of the local presses across Canada, and it's no more visible than in small communities,' he said. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. 'If you're concentrating powers, what's really needed is external oversight bodies. And the media is one of those, so smaller communities might struggle to have that accountability and people being aware of what's happening.' Siemiatycki said while he sympathizes with the province's desire to tackle a housing and infrastructure crisis, he agrees with the councillors who have raised concerns. 'It doesn't necessarily mean you'll go further just because you're aiming to go faster,' he said. 'The thing that's more sustainable over the long term is acceleration through processes that have very clear accountabilities and timelines to them.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2025.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Former Tag Team champion Titus O'Neil's current WWE status revealed
(Image via WWE) WWE star Titus O'Neil, whose real name is Thaddeus Bullard, has been absent from in-ring competition since November 2020. Despite his long hiatus, the WWE star remains associated with the company, and he's still very much a part of the WWE family. The star has revealed details about his current WWE status and clarified that he is not retired but is currently rehabbing from a knee procedure, leaving the door open for a potential return to the ring in the future. Let's take a look at the fresh insights that have emerged recently. Backstage update on Titus O'Neil's current WWE status Fresh insights have emerged about Titus O'Neil's current WWE status, who has been away from the ring since 2020. Despite his absence, the wrestler has been actively associated with WWE and other philanthropic work. A recent backstage update suggests that he is not retired and fully plans to return to the ring one day. According to Fightful Select , the former WWE Tag Team Champion remains 'affiliated with the company,' even though there are no current plans for him to compete in the ring. Meanwhile, WWE has no plan to book him for the active roster, but Titus hasn't ruled out stepping back into the squared circle. In fact, O'Neil has made it clear to Fightful 'a number of times' that he's open to wrestling again 'under the right circumstances.' Titus O'Neil: WWE star shares unimaginable life events, healing trauma & purpose in family|The Pivot The former WWE Tag Team champion revealed the same thing just six months ago, in an interview with ' The Business of the Business. ' During the interview, he revealed, "I do get the itch to get back in the ring. I love competing, I love entertaining, but as I said in previous interviews here recently, if there's an opportunity that works well for me to do…' Since joining WWE in 2009, Titus has built a versatile career, debuting on the second season of NXT in 2010. He found success as part of The Prime Time Players alongside Darren Young, capturing the WWE Tag Team Titles in 2015. O'Neil also had singles runs and led the Titus Worldwide faction before stepping away from active competition in late 2020. Titus O'Neil is proud to be a WWE Global Ambassador: Raw, July 18, 2022 Though he is very much a part of WWE, the star is not fully prepared to come back to the ring. Over the years, the WWE global ambassador has done an immense amount of charity work for the company over many years. Also Read : Titus O'Neil Commends Vince McMahon Amid Netflix Docuseries Controversy | WWE News - Times of India O'Neil has received the WWE Hall of Fame 2020 Warrior Award, and he is a former WWE Tag Team Champion and was the inaugural holder of the WWE 24/7 Championship. He was last seen in action in November 2020, where he unsuccessfully challenged Bobby Lashley for the WWE United States Championship. Get IPL 2025 match schedules , squads , points table , and live scores for CSK , MI , RCB , KKR , SRH , LSG , DC , GT , PBKS , and RR . Check the latest IPL Orange Cap and Purple Cap standings.
Press and Journal
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Joe O'Neil: The fractured skull forward whose hat-trick fired Aberdeen into 1954 Scottish Cup final - three weeks after he'd been read LAST RITES
Saturday will be the eighth Scottish Cup final between Aberdeen and Celtic. The showpiece finale to the Scottish season promises to be a thriller as Jimmy Thelin aims to secure his first trophy as Dons boss. There have been some remarkable tales surrounding the previous cup final meetings between the sides. The fixture has provided a record attendance for a club game in the first final meeting in 1937, the absence of Eddie Turnbull from the dugout due to illness in the 1967 final and the first final to be decided on penalties in 1990, to name but a few historic moments. But you will struggle to find a more incredible tale than the one of the late Joe O'Neil and the role he played in the Dons reaching the 1954 cup final – only to suffer heartache at missing the big game at Hampden. O'Neil had declared himself fit for the semi-final against Rangers – despite suffering a depressed fracture of the skull three weeks before the match. The incident had happened at Pittodrie in a league match against Falkirk 24 days before the cup-tie. The inside forward, having received medical treatment, got to his feet before staggering uncertainly and collapsing on the pitch prior to being carried from the field and taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Recalling the injury, O'Neil told the Press and Journal in 1988: 'Centre-half Ralph McKenzie had just recently been transferred from Aberdeen to Falkirk, and I think it was his elbow – although it might have been the goalkeeper – that put a dent in my skull. 'Trainer Davie Shaw led me off round the touchline and I could hear the crowd, but I couldn't see them. My vision had gone and my senses kept drifting in and out. 'I finished up in hospital with a depressed fracture of the skull.' The injury was so grave O'Neil's son Kevin later revealed his father Joe had been given last rites after the game. O'Neil said: 'You have to think of your skull being like a ping pong ball and they had to bore a hole in it to press out the bit that was dented. 'They couldn't put me to sleep and I had the operation with a local anaesthetic.' O'Neil was lucky to be alive and the horrendous injury should have ended his season – but he was determined to play in the semi-final against Rangers. Having been kept in hospital for a week, O'Neil was told he was not allowed to head a football. But he was having none of it, and begged manager Dave Halliday to play him in the semi-final. He said: 'I kept at Mr Halliday every day, telling him I was okay and wanted to play. 'Finally, the manager said that if the surgeon gave me the all-clear he would play me against Rangers.' Halliday had put his player in a predicament. Get the all-clear… or pretend he did. He chose the latter option. O'Neil said: 'I didn't dare ask the surgeon because he might have ruled me out, but I went back to Mr Halliday and told him that the surgeon had said it was okay for me to play.' It would never happen today, of course, but it came to pass O'Neil – if not quite defying medical advice, given he never sought it – declared he was fit to play. What followed would have made Roy of the Rovers blush. The forward scored a hat-trick and won a penalty for his side in an incredible display as Aberdeen inflicted Rangers' heaviest Scottish Cup defeat with a 6-0 mauling. O'Neil said: 'I remember my three goals as if the game were yesterday – the first was a left-foot shot past Bobby Brown from the left-hand corner of the penalty area. 'No. 2 was a header. I never thought twice about using my head because it wasn't giving me any pain and I've always been a daft soul anyway. 'The third was after a Jack Allister free-kick. I made a diagonal run behind the Rangers' wall of defenders and when Jackie hit the ball straight, I was right in the clear and I just cracked the ball into the net.' O'Neil's bravery was commendable, but in a cruel and somewhat ironic twist he injured his ankle ligaments in a league game against Rangers at Ibrox the week before the final. 'Rangers made sure I wouldn't give a repeat performance of that Hampden display' O'Neil recalled. 'There was a fair bit of stick flying about because Rangers were desperate to get their own back for that 6-0 hiding. 'I think it was Willie Woodburn that got me in the ankle and I was never the same after that.' O'Neil's absence from Hampden left a void and forced Aberdeen into a gamble of playing centre-half Jim Clunie in attack. Clunie was not the threat of the man he replaced and the Dons were beaten 2-1 by the Hoops in the final. Alec Young's own goal put Celtic ahead, but the Dons equalised within a minute as Paddy Buckley beat goalkeeper John Bonnar to level the game. However, Sean Fallon's close-range finish secured victory for the Glasgow side. O'Neil said: 'There were no substitutes in those days, of course, and I sat there praying for a draw because I was sure that Mr Halliday would put me in for the replay. 'But I still think the boss was wrong to gamble on Clunie instead of my fitness. 'Without wanting to sound big-headed, I felt I could have played better on one good leg than Clunie could with two.' O'Neil put the disappointment of missing the final behind him as he helped the Dons win the league title in 1955 before moving to Leicester City and then to Bath. He died in 2005, aged 73.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
That Doc on Shia LaBeouf's Acting School Is Even Crazier Than You've Heard
In 2018, Shia LaBeouf was feeling heartbroken, adrift, in a state of what he called 'spiritual sickness.' So the actor did what a lot of us were doing back then when we found ourselves in serious need of help: He went on Twitter. In the video that LaBeouf posted on the platform (now known as X), he declared that he had an idea. There was a space in South Central Los Angeles called the Slauson Rec Center. He was going to be there on Saturday morning, and the next Saturday, and the Saturday after that. Whoever wanted to join him was welcome to show up. It would kinda sorta be structured as a 'class,' though don't expect acting lessons. LaBeouf was really looking for collaborators for some to-be-determined project. Previous industry experience was not required. Participants just needed to have 'a story that needs telling.' And they had to be devoted to the truth. Being 100 percent truthful is a big deal to LaBeouf. Remember that. One of the people who answered the call was a 21-year-old from Texas named Leo Lewis O'Neil. A relatively recent transplant to the City of Angels, he'd been having a rough time since he arrived. The thought of not only meeting a movie star but getting in on the ground floor of some bold new creative endeavor that LaBeouf was willing into motion felt too good to pass up. Plus the center was five minutes from where he lived. The first Saturday was more of a happening than a class, to be honest. But there was an unpredictable, live-wire energy to the exercises and exchanges that was undeniable. More from Rolling Stone Pedro Pascal Speaks Out at 'Eddington' Premiere: 'Fear Is the Way That They Win' Kristen Stewart's 'The Chronology of Water' Is One Hell of a Directorial Debut 'Eddington' Is the Perfect Conspiracy Thriller for a Broken, Brainwashed Nation A budding filmmaker, O'Neil had brought along a camera out of habit. LaBeouf had been happy to let him film everything. The next Saturday, he asked LaBeouf if he could be the official archivist of what would soon be known as the Slauson Rec Theater Company. The actor said yes. Years later, long after the chairs had all been thrown, and the jet-engine-level screaming had died down, and the tears had dried, and what had been a beacon of hope for a handful of artists-in-training was dashed on the rocks of one man's inability to hold his inner demons at bay, O'Neil asked LaBeouf another question. Could he turn the footage he'd been sitting on into a documentary regarding what went wrong? It'd have to be 100 percent truthful, LaBeouf replied. But the actor once again said yes. Thank god he did. Otherwise, we would not have what is one of the most damning, unfiltered, take-no-prisoners portraits of a celebrity losing his shit ever recorded for posterity. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival on Sunday night, Slauson Rec captures the good, the bad, and the ugly of the company's two-years-and-change existence. But to suggest that the end result is a three-way tie would be a lie; the 'ugly' wins by a mile here. Documenting how LaBeouf's growing impatience with the group eventually led to biblical rage spirals, physical assaults, and some truly Grade-A asshole behavior, it paints a truly terrifying picture of its subject. Even if O'Neil signals this is a work of love for his old mentor, LaBeouf still comes off like a monster. Those who care to bask in the Shia-denfreude of seeing more evidence of his nastiness presented to the public will be in heaven. The rest of us are simply forced to watch between our fingers as the celebrity-driven car wrecks keep getting exponentially worse. All that sound and fury and the Category 5 temper tantrums come later, naturally. Slauson Rec treats those glorious early days, filled with endless promise and all-access star adjacency, in a way that mirrors the students' own swooning. LaBeouf has given these dreamers not just a safe place to fail, but a 'laboratory' where they can indulge their imagination alongside someone with the juice to make moves. He offers encouragement, excitement, and the sense that they're all an equal part of his mission to make 'as many creative churches as possible.' O'Neil also singles out a few of Shia's apostles, notably Zeke, a Hispanic twentysomething with the modest goal of becoming 'one of the greatest actors of all time,' and an earnest, horse-loving young woman named Sarah. They might seem like random choices to put the spotlight on. Spoiler: They are not. Yet the overall focus is on the utopian community orbiting around the intense figurehead. Not even handwringing over the way their presence affects the South Central community around them — are they being inclusive enough? Socially responsible enough? — and losing their original space slows them down. When they begin workshopping 10 minutes of a larger piece LaBeouf calls 'The New Human' to show the public, the vibe is one part 'Let's put on a show' enthusiasm and one part Kool-Aid-sipping cult. The positive reception they get to what feels like a modern-dance reinterpretation of The Human Centipede is enough make them think that their fearless leader's goal of changing the world is just around the corner. Cut to: March 2020. The pandemic saps some of the company's momentum, and Zoom meetings tend to devolve into power plays among competing politburos, with LaBeouf exercising veto power. Everyone's frustrated. No one wants to give up. The solution to their stasis is a drama set in a Covid testing set that will combine theater, improvisation, and cinema. Called 5711 Avalon, it will be performed in a parking lot and is destined to become, in LaBeouf's words, 'a Cirque du Soleil-sized epic.' By this point, O'Neil has already shown us what happens when the group's guru gets pissed, courtesy of a scene in which he raises his voice over what he feels is unsatisfactory focus and storms off. Once they start rehearsing in the outdoor space, LaBeouf's short fuse has become even shorter. One day, the players' rendition of this slowly evolving work is the second coming of Death of a Salesman. The next day, it's total 'dog shit.' Cryptic, contradictory notes are given, and when they're not followed to the letter, things get volatile. You can sense the storm on the horizon moving closer, closer, closer.… And when it arrives, its gale-force winds designed to destroy everything in its path, good luck. Slauson Rec doesn't sugarcoat or soft-pedal the scenes in which LaBeouf unleashes torrents of high-volume verbal abuse, or shirtlessly skulks around a set in which no actor or folding chair is safe, or seriously hulks out over an actor he feels is giving him 'attitude.' It simply presents them as you stare on, slack-jawed in disbelief. There is no other way to describe LaBeouf attacking the smaller, younger Zeke or backing another actor up against a wall, his forearm on the guy's throat, than 'assaults.' The threat of violence hangs over every single scene as the rehearsals start to tick into the 70-days-in-a-row mark, punctured only by moments of actual violence. Sarah, the most devoted of Shia's disciples, refuses to see her sick mom at the hospital because she's afraid missing a rehearsal will get her fired. LaBeouf waits until she goes to her mom's funeral. Then, having run her scenes with another actor he deems worthy in her absence, he fires her. These are the cringeworthy, can't-look-away moments, and there are many, that people will talk about when they talk about Slauson Rec. And trust us when we say they are genuinely hard to stomach. You feel embarrassment for LaBeouf, who is clearly (and self-admittedly) turning his inner monologue of self-loathing into outer tirades of abuse on those who simply want to please him. He's the first to tell you he's his own worst enemy — but listen, my frogs, why did you let a scorpion like me climb onto your backs? You feel empathy for those stuck in this cycle along with him. You feel your own rage as you clock that his celebrity is, in the eyes of many helping to facilitate this ongoing experiment, allowing him a free pass to be ghastly. (Sarah actually calls this out. It doesn't help her.) The idea that genius forgives all, and that favoring 'honesty' above all means never having to admit you're just an asshole at heart, is rigorously tested here. None of this shit is excusable. It's a portrait of an artist as an authoritarian megalomaniac. When O'Neil caps off this two-and-a-half-hour labor of love with a coda, which takes place two years after the final performance of 5711 Avalon and the dissolution of the group, he does manage to capture two extraordinary moments of honesty. He's arrived at LaBeouf's house, and is recording a sort of postmortem interview. The star says that he's signing off on this because it's 'the ultimate virtue signal.' Look how cool I look for being cool with this, he says, letting his self-knowingness wrestle it out with his self-hatred and self-regard. That's the first bit. The second comes when LaBeouf admits that he owes everybody apologies, some more than others. He's not sure he can make amends, but he wants to try. And you can suddenly hear crying happening behind the camera. O'Neil lets the shot go on for an uncomfortably long time, his sobs audible and LaBeouf silently choking up onscreen. You realize that Slauson Rec is about a lot of things, from the perils of good intentions to the way fame doesn't exterminate your flaws so much as exacerbate them. But in the end, it's really an extraordinary act of grasping for closure. And it was hard not to think that, standing in the audience as a crowd of people at the world's most prestigious film festival gave him a standing ovation, O'Neil might have felt more than a little sense of closure at that point too. LaBeouf was there as well, sporting a mustache that was a cross between 1970s cop and 1870s gunfighter. But he kept ceding the spotlight to the filmmaker, knowing that this was O'Neil's night. This doc will ultimately be the legacy of the whole Slauson Rec experiment. The star had set out to change the world. Instead, he stood back and watched as another person's life changed right in front of his eyes. 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