Latest news with #Spellman
American Military News
6 days ago
- American Military News
Video/Pics: World War II memorabilia stolen from homeowner in Oakland
A collection of World War II memorabilia was stolen over Memorial Day weekend from a homeowner in Oakland, California. The military memorabilia was from multiple generations of the homeowner's family's military service. Forrest Spellman told Fox 2 that he had a 'ton of WWII memorabilia' that belonged to his grandfather, as well as medals and awards that belonged to his father. He also explained that four generations of his family served in the U.S. military. 'That military history has always meant so much to how much my upbringing was and who I am today and those articles meant a lot-as a symbol of that, who I am, my identity,' Spellman told Fox 2. Fox 2 reported that surveillance video shows a 'white, older-model pickup truck' pulling up to Spellman's driveway at roughly 4:45 a.m. on Saturday. Spellman told Fox 2 that he believes two thieves broke into his house by using a side door. Spellman explained that he and his wife were sleeping in their bedroom as the unidentified thieves were stealing their possessions from the home's second bedroom. READ MORE: Pics: Surprising WWII shipwreck finds revealed 'My wife and I woke up and heard footsteps right outside our bedroom door, and I was terrified,' Spellman told Fox 2. The Oakland homeowner noted that he left his bed, opened the door of the bedroom, and saw the silhouettes of the suspected thieves as they were leaving the front door of the house. A surveillance video and pictures shared on social media shows the white pickup truck, which features a black replacement fender on the front passenger's side of the vehicle, driving away from the scene early Saturday morning. Spellman described the incident as 'very upsetting' and explained that the break-in takes away from his 'sense of peace and security' in Oakland. The Oakland homeowner added that he hopes to 'reclaim' his sense of peace and security in the aftermath of the break-in. Spellman told Fox 2 that the World War II memorabilia stolen in Saturday's incident include his great-grandfather Philip Buck's dog tags, which were worn during the Battle of the Bulge. 'I think about them not only today, but all days of the year,' Spellman told Fox 2. 'I really hope to get those back, just memorialize that thought physically.' Spellman told Fox 2 that he had just moved into his home in Oakland last week. While Spellman acknowledged that a significant number of people had been working at the house throughout the week, he told Fox 2 that he did not have any idea who might be responsible for stealing his World War II memorabilia and other items.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
WWII memorabilia stolen from Oakland man whose family served in military for generations
The Brief WWII memorabilia was stolen from an Oakland Hills home over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Surveillance video shows thieves breaking in on Saturday while homeowner and wife were sleeping. Great -grandfather's dog dogs, owner's cat, Kingsley, are missing. OAKLAND, Calif. - An Oakland homeowner is trying to recover priceless World War II memorabilia belonging to his family, marking generations of military service to this country, which were stolen over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Forrest Spellman said this collection is about family pride and history. Adding to the loss, his cat, Kingsley, has been missing since the break-in. "A ton of WWII memorabilia belonging to my grandfather and also awards and medals belonging to my father as well," Spellman told KTVU on Monday. Four generations of his family served in the U.S. military. "That military history has always meant so much to how much my upbringing was and who I am today and those articles meant a lot-as a symbol of that, who I am, my identity," said Spellman. Surveillance video shows that on Saturday at about 4:45 a.m., the driver of a white older-model pickup truck pulled up to the driveway of Spellman's home. He said it appears the thieves broke in through a side door. "It's very upsetting. It takes away from my sense of peace and security up here, and I just hope to reclaim that back." Spellman said he and his wife were asleep in their bedroom when thieves were rummaging through their prized possessions, just steps away in a second bedroom. "My wife and I woke up and heard footsteps right outside our bedroom door, and I was terrified," said Spellman. He got up, opened his bedroom door, and saw silhouettes exiting the front door. Spellman said his great-grandfather's dog tags engraved with his name Philip Buck, including one marked in red for his allergy to penicillin, have great sentimental value. He said his great-grandfather served in WWII and wore those tags during the Battle of the Bulge."I think about them not only today, but all days of the year," Spellman said. "I really hope to get those back, just memorialize that thought physically." Surveillance video shows the thieves driving away, and their truck has a black replacement fender on the front passenger side. Spellman said he had just moved into the home earlier in the week, and that there were numerous people going in and out of the house doing work. But he said he has no idea who the thieves are. Spellman said he's optimistic because the police responded quickly and that his new neighbors have been helpful. Anyone who has information about the theft and recovers any of the stolen items should contact Oakland police. Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter @AmberKTVU
Axios
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Planned "book pub" looks to lower the volume
Since it's almost impossible in sports-crazed New England to find a bar or tavern that doesn't have TVs blasting obnoxious game coverage, a Jamaica Plain woman is just going to have to open one herself. Why it matters: Shannon Spellman wants to open The Book Pub, potentially in Mission Hill, where readers could enjoy a drink or two in a cozy environment. Spellman envisions a bookstore and cafe combination that would offer craft beer and coffee alongside bestsellers and literary favorites. What they're saying: "I wanted to create a space where we could come and sit down and read a book," Spellman told Axios. She's aiming to blend "dark academia" aesthetics, but brighter, with community programming including author talks, writing courses, children's book readings and a members-only "mug club." What's next: Spellman is looking to raise $15,500 through Kickstarter to move the project along and have some capital to launch.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'No Other Land' & a Raucous First Amendment Fight
A version of this story first appeared on The Ankler. A scrappy group of independent filmmakers and documentarians team up with an arthouse theater to take on government bigwigs . . . You might think you know how this story ends, especially in these bruising early months of 2025. But for once, this is a story where the good guys — and crucially, the First Amendment — actually Wednesday morning the mayor of Miami Beach, Steven Meiner, abandoned his proposal to evict the local independent theater O Cinema, which operates out of a building owned by the city. Meiner had accused the theater of programming an 'antisemitic' film in No Other Land, which you may remember is also this year's Oscar winner for the best documentary backed down during a 'raucous' hearing at the Miami Beach City Commission, where the Miami Herald reports 'the vast majority of attendees opposed Meiner's proposal.' He also faced outrage from more than 700 members of the film community, who signed an open letter this week that opposed the mayor's 'attack on freedom of expression, the right of artists to tell their stories, and violation of the First Amendment.' Signatories include Oscar-winning documentarians like Jimmy Chin, Michael Moore and Ezra Edelman, in addition to Miami native Barry Spellman, a Miami Beach native and film producer, was at the meeting, speaking alongside his business partner Billy Corben. The founders of the film production company Rakontur, Spellman and Corben consider O Cinema 'family' and have been rallying support and international press for the theater ever since Meiner first proposed shutting it down last week.'I told the mayor and the commission at the meeting that obviously the city would lose and the city would be an international laughingstock,' Spellman told me Wednesday afternoon, just hours after the meeting concluded. 'We were very focused on the simple issue at stake here, which is freedom of speech.' (Spellman and Corben spoke at length about the situation with friend of The Ankler Thom Powers over at Pure Nonfiction, if you're eager to hear more).No Other Land, directed by a team that includes Israeli investigative journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra, chronicles decades of struggle within the Palestinian community of Masafer Yatta, located in the West Bank. After premiering to raves at the Berlin International Film Festival, it wasn't picked up by a U.S. distributor, becoming a cause celebre among critics and other filmmakers who had managed to see it. At the New York Film Critics Circle dinner in January, where No Other Land won one of its many critics prizes for best documentary, The Brutalist director Brady Corbet ended his speech for best picture by telling the starry crowd, 'It's time to distribute No Other Land.' Though I'm told there were some offers from smaller distributors including the indie outfit Kinema, the No Other Land team opted to self-distribute, partnering with Cinetic for publicity and international sales and working with independent film veteran Michael Tuckman to book theaters. As of last weekend No Other Land was playing on 138 screens in North America, including the O Cinema. Though its $165,000 gross last weekend may seem minor, it was ahead of best pic Oscar nominees like A Complete Unknown and The Brutalist and cracked the box office top 25. In his failed attempt to punish the non-profit theater that showed No Other Land, Meiner has put a much bigger spotlight on the film, something the filmmakers themselves seem well aware of. 'Banning a film only makes people more determined to see it,' co-director Abraham said in a statement when Meiner's efforts first began. 'When this mayor uses the word antisemitism to silence us, Palestinians and Israelis who proudly oppose occupation and apartheid together, fighting for justice and equality for all, he is dangerously emptying it out of meaning. Once you witness Israel's ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta it becomes impossible to justify it, and that's why the mayor is so afraid of our film. It won't work.'The swift rallying of hundreds of members of the film community feels like a promising sign, the first green shoots of Hollywood meeting some small portion of the precarious national moment we face. That group may want to stay ready for their next challenge; the documentary The Encampments, about the Columbia University Gaza protests last spring, has announced plans for a nationwide theatrical release later this month. One of its key figures is Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the protests and legal U.S. citizen, who continues to be held in a Louisiana detention center and has yet to be charged with any rare for movies to run into free speech challenges that actually hit the true definition of the First Amendment — speech that is threatened or curtailed by the government, not critics who decline to review your self-funded documentary. That made support of O Cinema a no-brainer even among film professionals who might disagree on the nuances of the situation between Israel and the Palestinians. Spellman emphasized to me that he has not seen No Other Land but suspects other films could face similar challenges going forward. 'It wouldn't surprise me to see these issues continue to come up here,' he says. 'We live in such a polarized, tribal society. Americans just need to be more on guard on a local level.'WIth Paramount still facing Donald Trump's lawsuit against CBS, which corporate lawyers called 'an affront to the First Amendment' in a recent filing, the challenges are clearly not past us. Will mainstream Hollywood be as willing to step up as O Cinema's coalition of filmmakers? If we want the First Amendment to apply to AMC and Regal as well as O Cinema, we should probably hope so. Before we go, check out a couple of trailers that caught my eye, and some pretty loony news about Looney Tunes. View the to see embedded media. There are few bigger trailer events than this teaser for Paul Thomas Anderson's next film, which is now officially titled One Battle After Another and has shifted from an Aug. 8 release to Sept. 26, right in the prime of fall festival season. This teaser trailer doesn't reveal much but tracks with the rumors that Anderson is adapting Thomas Pynchon's Vineland, set among former hippies now living in Reagan's America. And though the cast includes a long list of stars in addition to Leonardo DiCaprio, from Teyana Taylor to Sean Penn to Benicio del Toro, all we see here is DiCaprio with 25-year-old Chase Infiniti, a breakout star on last summer's Presumed Innocent. Keep an eye out for a longer trailer that may reveal a whole lot more, and then check in on your local film nerd, who is surely overwhelmed by all of this. I'm also digging the throwback '90s/2000s style of the first trailer and poster for Celine Song's Materialists, one of the major releases I highlighted in Prestige Junkie's way-too-early 2026 Oscar preview earlier this week. But I'm also hoping there's a bit more friction in store for this love triangle between Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal and Dakota Johnson as the matchmaker they're both pursuing. Song's Oscar-nomiated Past Lives had such a wistful, heartbreaking approach to a heart caught between two places, and though she could absolutely nail a more straightforward comedic tone, there's likely a bit more brewing below Materialists' glossy surface. It's out from A24 on June 13, almost two years to the day since Past Lives opened. Don't call it a comeback; call it a resurrection. After being abandoned as a tax write-off by Warner Bros. and shopped around to other studios to no avail, the Looney Tunes feature Coyote vs. Acme may find new life at the indie upstart Ketchup Entertainment, which just released The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie last weekend. Someone who understands tax law better than I do can explain how it makes sense for one of your marquee franchises, whose theme music is more or less synonymous with the Warner Bros. logo, to be shipped off to a studio named for a condiment.
Arab News
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Filmmakers sign open letter slamming Miami Beach mayor's legal action over Palestinian-Israeli documentary
DUBAI: International filmmakers — including Oscar winners Michael Moore, Laura Poitras, Ezra Edelman and Alex Gibney — have signed an open letter to the city of Miami Beach after Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner sought to shut down the city's nonprofit art house cinema, O Cinema, following screenings of the Oscar-winning documentary 'No Other Land.' 'No Other Land' is a collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers that follows activist Adra as he documents the destruction of his hometown, which Israeli soldiers are tearing down to use as a military training zone, at the southern edge of the West Bank. On March 13, Miami Beach Mayor Meiner called the film 'a false one-sided propaganda attack on the Jewish people that is not consistent with the values of our city and residents.' He introduced legislation to terminate the lease for the O Cinema, a city-owned property. Meiner is also asking the city to 'immediately discontinue' approximately $40,000 in city grant funding. On Monday, 752 members of the international filmmaking community signed an open letter slamming what they said was 'an attack on freedom of expression, the right of artists to tell their stories, and a violation of the First Amendment.' Alfred Spellman, who co-founded Miami-based media studio Rakontur, signed the letter and spoke to Variety about his motivations for doing so. 'This is a case that is definitional of what the First Amendment is supposed to protect against, which is government encroachment on speech,' Spellman told Variety. 'The Mayor is trying to claim that the content of the documentary is anti-semitic, but that doesn't matter. So long as it is not legally obscene, the mayor has no business interfering with what the O Cinema chooses to program. 'The problem here is that there is an attempt to shift the discussion to the merits or the demerits of the film and the filmmaking and the issues surrounding it,' said Spellman. 'If you are a committed free speech advocate, none of that matters.' 'This has come as a complete shock and surprise to us,' O Cinema co-founder and chair of the board of directors Kareem Tabsch told Variety. 'In the organization's nearly 15 years, we have never heard from an elected official who has questioned or challenged a film we have shown, and we've operated in multiple municipalities.' Miami Beach commissioners will vote on Meiner's O Cinema proposal on Wednesday. For the latest updates, follow us on Instagram @
