And all I can do is drop to my knees, shed a tear and say “Jesus, Mary and Joseph in heaven…THANK GOD!”

A 67 or 68-year-old woman, identified in court papers as “J.C.”, has filed a sexual abuse lawsuit against Bob Dylan, alleging that the singer-songwriter sexually abused her in 1965, when she was 12 years old and Dylan was 24.

The suit alleges that Dylan gave her drugs and alcohol 56 years ago, and established an emotional connection that allowed him to sexually abuse her for a six-week period between April and May 1965. It alleges that Dylan used threats of physical violence, “leaving her emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day.” Some of the abuse is alleged to have occurred at the Hotel Chelsea in New York.

A schedule of Dylan’s professional engagements posted earlier today by Showbiz 411‘s Roger Friedman indicates Dylan was touring in England between 4.26.65 and 6.2.65. If verified, the claim about sexual abuse of “J.C.” in May ’65 in New York City seems questionable.

Variety‘s Gene Maddaus: “The woman filed suit under New York’s Child Victims Act, the 2019 law that opened a two-year period during which the ordinary statute of limitations was suspended for claims of child sexual abuse.

“The deadline to file such suit fell on Saturday, 8.14, and the suit against Dylan was filed on the evening of Friday, 8.13.

“The suit alleges claims of assault, battery, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The claim was filed by attorneys Daniel Isaacs and Peter Gleason.”

My honest view of the forthcoming K cover for their Citizen Kane 4K disc (11.23.21) is that it’s kinda dull. It certainly isn’t what any honest designer would call “oh, wow.”

Serious question: Which other films could be represented by a single letter on a Bluray cover? Besides Costa Gavras‘ Z, I mean. If Criterion wanted to go minimalist with a North by Northwest 4K disc, they could use a NXNW…right? They could go with a big M for a Manchurian Candidate jacket cover, I suppose. Or a big R for a Raider of the Lost Ark cover.

But you know what? Fuck this idea. You could decide to single-letter anything. It’s a lame concept.

The first minimalist one-letter logo was the trapezoid N for NBC, which was used between ’76 and ’79.

Before Geena Davis was cast as catcher and assistant manager Dorothy “Dottie” Hinson in A League of Their Own, Debra Winger had the role. In an 8.13 Telegraph interview, Winger says that she trained hard and took the part seriously, but decided to quit when director Penny Marshall cast Madonna as centerfielder Mae “All the Way” Mordabito.

Winger interpreted the Madonna casting as a sign that Marshall intended to make an insubstantial “Elvis film.”

If you ask me Winger was being a bit harsh in her assessment of the then-30-year-old pop singer and sometime actress. I had seen Madonna in the original B’way production of David Mamet‘s Speed-The-Plow in ’88, and while it was obvious that she wasn’t a gifted actress she wasn’t half bad. Another way of putting it is that Madonna held her own as well as she could. She certainly didn’t embarass herself of let down her costars, Joe Mantegna and Ron Silver.

Based on this performance alone, Madonna deserved at least a modicum of respect from Winger.

Winger’s final assessment of League: “As entertaining as [the final film] was, you don’t walk away going ‘Wow, those women did that.’ You kind of go ‘Is that true?’”

Three or four thoughts come to mind in the wake of Variety‘s Joe Otterson reporting that a series adaptation of Field of Dreams has been ordered straight-to-series at Peacock, with Michael Schur serving as writer and executive producer.

Question #1: What is the difference between shameless and shameful? Or do both equally apply in this instance?

Question #2: The notion of expanding a perfectly made film (i.e., one with a beginning, middle and an end within the span of 107 minutes) into a series is hideous, of course. By this I mean conceptually hideous. On a line-by-line, scene-by-scene, episode=by-episode basis, the hideousness of such a series could potentially be off the charts.

Question 3: Phil Alden Robinson‘s 1989 original (based on W.P. kinsella‘s “Shoeless Joe”) imagined the return of several great players from baseball’s early days — Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Buck Weaver, Chick Gandil (but not Ty Cobb!). As long as we’re digging in for a series, how about bringing back a more recent roster of legendary players — Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Maury Wills, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Stan Musial, Roger Maris, Hoyt Wilhelm, Curt Flood, Warren Spahn, et. al.?

Question #4: And what about the creation of two cornfield ghost teams so they could play each other? Or four teams? Or a whole league’s worth? Wouldn’t every dead baseball player worth his salt want to get in on this?

Otterson reports that Schur’s Peaccock series will “reimagine the mixture of family, baseball, Iowa and magic that makes the movie so enduring and beloved.”

Now that you mention it, let’s digitally de-age and reconstitute Burt Lancaster‘s Moonlight Graham back to his late 20s or early 30s, move him to Dyersville, have him play on a regular basis.