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Montana's unending search for solutions in need of problems • Daily Montanan

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Montana's unending search for solutions in need of problems • Daily Montanan


How many times in the past, oh say, year or so have you found yourself saying: I wish there was more politics in my life?

For months now, we have been hearing parents call for politics to be taken out of the schools, whether that’s in school library book bans or conversations about who can use what bathrooms when. Politics has permeated churches, schools and even family gatherings — once considered off-limits for politics.

It’s grown to be such a toxic subject that family holiday meetings have turned from awkward to open warfare in some households, and both Democrats and Republicans can agree on one thing: If they don’t get your vote this election cycle, democracy is a goner.

That’s why it’s hard to imagine a more tone-deaf call than the cadre of Montana Freedom Caucus members who have triggered a poll to call state legislators back into session.

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They want to bring all 150 lawmakers back together so that judges running for the state’s nonpartisan judiciary can declare their political parties, meaning that virtually no segment of the Treasure State government will be operating without the color of partisanship.

Not to be outdone, another dozen Republicans on Tuesday — the day after — called for a different special session, this time to deal with immigration and marijuana revenue.

It made us positively dread Wednesday to see what laughable scenario required the urgent attention of a legislative special session.

What Republicans risk, of course, is a painful and frustrating reminder of what isn’t getting done.

No one wants more politics in their life, and especially not at the state court level, which, despite temper tantrums by the Republican leadership in the legislature, continues to demonstrate itself as the adult in state government.

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Keep in mind: A second legislative investigative committee, formed to come to the pre-determined conclusion that something is wrong in Montana courts, had to have what amounted to a day-long remedial civics lesson for some state Republican senators who seemed particularly aggrieved that the courts exist, let alone that they have been given power to review laws. Something about a whole system of checks and balances.

It’s telling that lawmakers who pride themselves on invoking the constitution, wearing flag pins and talking about the Founding Fathers seem to know so little about what those same founders created, including an independent, separate and co-equal judiciary.

At least I credit Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, for trying to provide a basis for the legislative committee’s inquisition.

Now, lawmakers want to convene to also take what amounts to a third pass at divvying up the proceeds from marijuana tax revenue, with the excuse that the reason they didn’t override Gov. Greg Gianforte’s veto previously was out of deep concern about the separation of powers and judicial overreach.

Leaders expect us to believe that? This was the same group that seemed surprised by the 1803 case of Marbury vs. Madison, which established the concept of judicial review three years before Lewis and Clark came to Montana, 61 years before it became a territory and 86 years before statehood.

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Lawmakers have also tucked the scare tactic of immigration into a call for the special session, after a single homeless immigrant family landed on the doorstep of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Department.

I get it: When Republican governors in other states like Florida and Texas send immigrant families to perceived liberal areas, it’s giving these snowflakes a taste of their own medicine. But when the immigrants arrive here, it’s the impetus for the entire legislature to meet.

Again, who are the snowflakes?

Maybe the most vexing thing is just how horribly out of touch these lawmakers are with what is actually happening in Montana. Few Montanans who aren’t in the Legislature are concerned with the possible partisan leanings of judges. And one homeless family, sadly, is just one more family in need of affordable housing in the Treasure State, regardless of where they came from.

The purpose of a special session isn’t property tax relief. It isn’t the unchecked housing problems run amok. It’s not even to discuss what could be a potentially dangerous fire season.

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Yet, despite the Republican supermajority’s penchant for solving problems that don’t rate very high on a burgeoning list of Montanan concerns, maybe we should nonetheless thank our GOP leaders for reminding us of the large gulf that seems to separate the politicians from the people of Montana.

On Tuesday, school levies, including one for safety in the state’s largest district, largely failed at the ballot box — and failed spectacularly. Erwin Garcia-Velasquez, the superintendent of Billings Public Schools, told The Billings Gazette that it was property-tax fatigue.

Meanwhile, Republicans are worried about political leanings of judicial candidates?

Maybe come back when you have a plan to fix real problems, rather than shadow punching at the judiciary or explaining why counties, most of them Republican, can’t fix roads.

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What to Stream: Charlie Puth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Robyn, James Marsden and a ‘Hannah Montana’ special

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What to Stream: Charlie Puth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Robyn, James Marsden and a ‘Hannah Montana’ special


A “Hannah Montana” anniversary special starring Miley Cyrus and fresh music from Robyn and Charlie Puth album are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: the Oscar-winning Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value,” James Marsden as a hit man in “Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice” and the San Francisco Giants host the New York Yankees on Netflix’s first MLB broadcast.

New movies to stream from March 23-29

— In “Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice” (Friday, March 27 on Disney+), James Marsden plays a hitman named Mike who’s hired by a time traveler named Nick (Vince Vaughn). Nick wants to prevent the biggest mistake of his life by killing his past self. Writer-director BenDavid Grabinski’s film, recently premiered at the SXSW film festival.

— Following its win at the Academy Awards, Joachim Trier’s Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value” has its streaming debut Monday on Hulu. Nominated for nine Oscars, including best picture, it won for best international film. In it, Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas play sisters who reconnect with their filmmaker father (Stellan Skarsgård), who’s making an autobiographical film starring an American actor (Elle Fanning). In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr wrote that the film’s focus “may be small and limited — one Norwegian family struggling to connect and communicate — and yet its emotional scope is downright cosmic.”

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— Daniel Day-Lewis came out of retirement to star in his first film since 2017’s “Phantom Thread” in “Anemone” (Saturday, March 28 on Netflix), a family drama directed by his son, Ronan Day-Lewis. In it, Day-Lewis plays a hermit in the North England woods who’s visited by an old friend (Sean Bean) sent to bring him back to his son. In her review, AP’s Jocelyn Noveck called it “bleak, somber, absorbing but also sometimes frustratingly opaque.”

— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle

New music to stream from March 23-29

— The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ eccentric bassist Flea will release his debut album on Friday. And in a true shock to those who don’t know him, it’s a trumpet-forward jazz record. You read that correctly. Long before the rocker made a name for himself in a band known for songs about California, he was a huge jazz fan, a musical world he explores on the record titled “Honora.” Come for the name, stay for his inventive improvisations and star-studded collaborations, which include Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and the always introspective Nick Cave.

— A lot has happened to singer/songwriter Charlie Puth in the time since his last album, “Charlie,” was released in 2022. He got married. He’s expecting his first child. He performed at the Super Bowl. Taylor Swift gave him a shoutout on her album “The Tortured Poets Department.” And now, he’s embracing it all on a new record, the playful “Whatever’s Clever!” Expect fun pop songs about life and its many transformative moments. That, and some Kenny G.

— Swedish pop savant Robyn has returned with “Sexistential,” her first album in eight years. It is nine-tracks of shimmering synths (“Dopamine,” “Really Real”) ascendant choruses (“Into the Sun”) and rebellious pop songs that double as emotional life rafts (“Sucker for Love.”) The songs are all about freedom, single motherhood, love and lust — often in the same breath. It’s a lascivious collection for the dancefloor: exactly what most pop stars hope to achieve, many fail, and Robyn makes look effortless.

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— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream from March 23-29

— “Hannah Montana” made Miley Cyrus a star and a new special streaming Tuesday on Disney+ celebrates 20 years since the show’s premiere. Filmed in front of a live audience, the “Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special” will feature music, archival footage and an interview with Cyrus, hosted by podcast host Alex Cooper.

— Grab your peanuts and Cracker Jack because Netflix’s first MLB broadcast is opening-night on Wednesday. The San Francisco Giants will host the New York Yankees. Former Giants outfielder Barry Bonds has joined the commentary team for the streamer.

— A bride-to-be starts to get a bad feeling about her impending nuptials. Is it cold feet or intuition? “Something Very Bad is Going to Happen” stars Camila Morrone (“Daisy Jones & The Six”) and Adam DiMarco (“The White Lotus”) star in the new creepy limited-series debuting Thursday on Netflix.

— Alicia Rancilio

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New video games to play from March 23-29

— In 2015’s Life Is Strange, a young woman named Max rewound time to save her childhood friend Chloe’s life. The series has bounced around since between different lead characters with different supernatural gifts, but Max and Chloe are back in Life Is Strange: Reunion. Max is now a teacher whose university has been destroyed by an inferno — and when she turns back the clock this time, Chloe shows up. Does she have mysterious powers of her own? Can they save the school and their relationship? If you’re craving an emotional, metaphysical mystery, you can check in Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S or PC.

— Lou Kesten



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‘The Madison’ Cast, Director on How That Ending Sets Up Season 2 for the Clyburn Family

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‘The Madison’ Cast, Director on How That Ending Sets Up Season 2 for the Clyburn Family


[The story contains major spoilers from the season one finale of The Madison.]

The Madison has brought a new family to the Sheridan-verse. And after the conclusion of its first season, the story of the Clyburns is only just getting started.

The grief drama from Yellowstone hit-maker Taylor Sheridan introduced viewers to the Clyburns when it plucked them out of their New York City comforts and plopped them on an uncomfortable yet transformative six-episode tour through their grief in Montana.

The first season was given an unusual release, as it streamed in two parts over the last two weekends on Paramount+, like two mini-movies — which is how the story could be viewed. The second season has already been filmed and is in the can, awaiting an official release date from the streamer, and the cast, in conversations with The Hollywood Reporter here, makes it clear that Sheridan plans to continue.

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“They’re hoping for season three,” star Michelle Pfeiffer tells THR.

No official announcements have been made, but Sheridan usually gets what he wants.

The Madison was a leap of faith for Pfeiffer when she signed on to play Clyburn matriarch Stacy. She didn’t have a script or much of a character description after leaving an early 2024 meeting with Sheridan at his Texas ranch when he pitched her the series in person — nor did she have a scene partner. Kurt Russell, who would eventually sign on to play her husband, Preston, was in production on his Apple series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and wasn’t available when season one was set to begin in the fall. So Pfeiffer and Sheridan pitched to Paramount that they move forward with a second season, and that Russell film all of his season one scenes when they return one year later, in 2025, to make season two.

That meant Pfeiffer would film the entirety of season one without Russell, their scenes cut together in the edit. “I was not happy about that,” Pfeiffer recently told THR with a laugh. “It was touch and go if they were going to make [Kurt’s] schedule work. But Taylor was insisting it was going to happen, so I just decided, ‘OK, it’s Kurt.’ And because I know him, that was pretty easy to conjure up.”

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Michelle Pfeiffer as Stacy Clyburn. “I wonder if they would do a theatrical release because it is so sweeping,” says the actress, who credits 1923 star Helen Mirren for helping her commit to the project.

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

The series proves to be a Pfeiffer vehicle as she steers her fractured, privileged and often out-of-touch family through their stages of grief after Preston’s sudden death. After Preston and his brother Paul, played by Matthew Fox, tragically die in a plane crash while at their Montana home to open the series, Preston’s children (played by Beau Garrett and Elle Chapman; with a son-in-law played by Patrick J. Adams) and grandchildren (played by 11-year-old Alaina Pollack and Amiah Miller) travel with Stacy to the cabin in the mountains that Preston loved his entire life, but a place that the rest of his family had never visited.

“That’s often how people die in airplanes, when an emotional factor makes their decision-making,” Fox, a pilot himself, tells THR. “He only gets his brother out there for a couple weeks a year. He’s flown him to this special place. It bothered me that Paul was a little nonchalant about the weather that was moving in, but I justified i that he’s just trying to give his brother the very best birthday gift he possibly could.”

After many hurdles for this fish-out-of-water family and self-proclaimed “city mouse” Stacy — ranging from outhouse attacks by hornets, elk dinners that nearly undo the family and many, many lessons in empathy and readjusting preconceptions — Stacey ends the first season deciding to live at the Montana home that has now been imprinted onto her soul. After burying her husband there and holding a memorial in New York City, she leaves the city without any word to her family and arrives at Preston’s final resting place in Montana. When she is found by cowboy Cade (Kevin Zegers), she tells her friendly neighbor that she could use a hand getting settled, as she plans to stay for a while.

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The ending sets up The Madison to return the series to the mountains as the main setting for season two, and the cast told THR they all plan to follow — in some way, shape or form.

“The family unit of the Clyburns is what holds everyone together, and they’re all integral to that dynamic. So there are a lot of questions at the end of season one that will be answered when you get to season two,” Yellowstone veteran Christina Voros, who directed the entire series, tells THR. “When the script showed up in my inbox, I cried. It’s such a unique show for Taylor in a lot of ways, but it’s a very specific show for me as an East Coaster who met a cowboy [husband Jason Owen, also animal coordinator on the series] and fell in love and moved to Texas and discovered Montana through shooting Westerns for Taylor. There was so much in the DNA of the show that felt specifically like it was speaking to me. I’ve never had the opportunity to direct something that I felt so creatively attached to.”

What especially spoke to Voros was the storyline with Abby, Stacy’s older, divorced daughter — and mother to Bridgette (Miller) and younger sister Macy (Pollack) — who is played by Garrett. “It’s funny watching her conversations with Van,” Voros says of the sheriff played by Ben Schnetzer. “Some of those are conversations I had with Jason when I first met him.”

Ben Schnetzer as Van with Beau Garrett as Abigail (Abby). “Five [seasons] feels like a good number. However long it takes for the story to be told,” says Garrett, who has been riding horses her entire life, of her hopes for the series.

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Emerson Miller/Paramount+

After finding a deep (and steamy) connection while in Montana, Abby heads back to New York City after a difficult conversation with Van that highlighted their seemingly impossible romance. But the door is left ajar after a finale phone call heading into season two. “Christina was able to bring a very deft touch and particular insight, which was hugely helpful,” says Schnetzer, who returns for season two. “It’s a love story between two people who have quite complicated and committed lives, but that only adds to the drama and the intrigue. At times it really takes fire, and at times they’re kind of pulled apart.

“I find Christina to be so enthralling, and her story to be so enthralling,” says Garrett of The Madison helmer and what’s in store for Abby and Van. “There’s a softness to Abby that happens in season two that didn’t have a place in season one that was really fun to explore, a happiness; a joy. A bit of life that maybe she had forgotten in herself.”

She adds, “I don’t think this family is going to let the matriarch be alone in Montana.”

Pfeiffer and Russell were officially on board when Voros was approached in 2024 by Sheridan to direct his next series. They were filming what would become the final episodes of Yellowstone, and Sheridan told his go-to director that he would have scripts for her soon. But the supporting cast wasn’t yet set when the scripts showed up in her inbox.

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When the rest of the Clyburn family booked their auditions — which, for most of them, included screen tests in Wyoming — they questioned if the show was set in the Yellowstone-verse, since that’s how it was first announced. There was a group chat named “Clyburn & Co” (separate from a text chain that included their Oscar- and Emmy-nominated onscreen parents) that would churn with every script delivery. “We would text, ‘Episode five just dropped, guys!’ Everybody would race to read it, and then we’d all discuss,” shares Chapman.

Adams said it was then made clear that The Madison would no longer be existing in or connected to the world of the Duttons, and that this series would be “its own thing.”

He also had a personal connection to the story. “We lost my stepdad about three years ago now and part of that was that we inherited this cabin. So I was in a cabin with my family, much like the Clyburns, when this show came to me,” Adams shares with THR. “I was having a very similar experience of wondering how we take care of it when I got the audition. Then I got a message that Taylor was really into [my tape] and he wanted me in Wyoming. But I couldn’t go. I would have to strand my family to get down there. I thought that would be it, and then they came back and said I could just make another tape.”

Chapman recalls at the screen test in Wyoming hearing other actors auditioning for Russell saying, “’Thank God Patrick J. Adams isn’t here, because I heard he was testing.’ They thought he was out of the running,” she says with a smile.

Adams would go on to land the role of Russell, who serves as comedic relief and an unexpected ally to Stacy as she tries to enlighten her daughters about Montana. And Chapman booked the role of his wife, Stacy’s younger and most self-centered daughter Paige. “It was very surreal,” admits the 27-year-old of her first screen test, for Sheridan, no less. “I tested against nine other girls, most of which I had grown up watching. I was so nervous.”

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Paige and Russell seem the least likely to book a return flight to Montana for season two, but the actors say more evolution is in store for all of the Clyburns, including their married characters.

“Both places exist at the same time [between Montana and New York],” says Adams of next season. “The bulk of the story is Montana-based. They find themselves there and, I’m not sure how much they want us talking about the specifics, but this show exists with these people in this space trying to figure out who they are, not only to themselves but to each other, and it’s sort of a deepening position.”

Miller, who plays oldest granddaughter Bridgette, sums up: “Season one is about the family reconnecting and learning how to survive both emotionally and physically. Season two is about them rebuilding after they’ve reconnected and finding their footing and their love for each other.”

Elle Chapman as Paige with Patrick J. Adams as husband Russell. “Part of the joy of this show is that these people are totally unprepared. We’re all deer in headlights,” says Adams. “These people certainly exist in New York. They exist in every city when you’re disconnected. Taylor is using New York and their position as a way to give contrast to what happens when any of us get in the car or drive out of a city and take a breath and touch grass and go, ‘What is this quiet, peaceful feeling? What is this conversation I can have with someone undistracted?’”

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Emerson Miller/Paramount+

One person not returning for season two, however, is Fox. The Lost star also filmed the entirety of his scenes during season two production, since Russell was his scene partner, and the idea of a limited engagement was a draw for the actor.

“That’s one of my requirements these days,” he tells THR with a laugh, sharing that he still gets approached by people on airplanes who tell him he makes them nervous (because of Lost). “I’m at a point in my life where I’d rather pop in and do something interesting, but I don’t want to dedicate six years of my life to something [again]. Taylor is an an exceptional writer. When I read the scripts, it really hit me where it hurts, and also made me laugh.”

Fox, who grew up in Wyoming, says he “appreciated Taylor’s authenticity of the world. He offers a lot as a storyteller, not just on a dialogue level but there’s so much subtext. I don’t know how he does everything that he’s doing. It’s mind-boggling. I’ve worked on other series where there’s a creator and a writers room where a lot of people are involved, and he writes everything. It’s really kind of astounding.”

When making a rare public appearance to introduce The Madison at its recent New York City premiere, Sheridan acknowledged the labor of love that went into what he has described as his most intimate and personal series yet. “This is a very emotionally taxing project because it’s about grief and family and tearing apart and coming back together, so it demanded a lot and it demanded a lot of everyone,” he said. He then credited Voros for carrying out his vision. “I had to turn it over to one person to trust to execute my vision and take this on. I’m a big believer that when you find a talent that understands your voice, you need to surrender to that talent,” he said. “[Voros] exceeded even my wildest expectations.”

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The first episode ended with a dedication to the late Robert Redford, which Voros says was Sheridan’s idea, and Redford’s A River Runs Through It was an inspiration — it’s even part of the plot when Stacy shows the movie to her daughters after Preston’s death. The series was filmed on location in Montana, with the cabin interiors filmed on a stage in Texas. The New York City scenes were filmed both on location and in Dallas’ Fort Worth area.

“This was a beautiful series to make,” says Voros. “It all starts with the writing. There’s a reason for those of us who are lucky enough to work on Taylor’s shows — the reason people gravitate to these stories is because of the characters and the language they are able to speak. He’s a rare voice in this industry.”

The Clyburn brothers played Matthew Fox (Paul) and Kurt Russell (Preston). “We’re both pilots, we both love to spend time outdoors and do things like fly fish,” says Fox of himself and Russell. “I read the scripts and they were really beautiful and moving and funny, and created imagery in my mind that felt familiar and like home. It just swept me in.”

Emerson Miller/Paramount+

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Garrett thinks five seasons would be a nice number to follow the Clybun story through, though she admits “I don’t know where it goes, where it could go” beyond season two. But “grief is universal. Everyone has someone or something they’ve lost. That is relatable for anybody. Also, we all want to laugh, and this is also a really funny show. Grief is messy and funny,” she says.

“I think I speak for everyone when I say we would gladly shoot this show forever,” adds Adams. “I think we’ve found something kind of miraculously special here, so as long as it’s a story people want to hear, we’d be happy to tell it.”

Voros agrees, “Any time you get a show together with a cast like this you kind of want it to go forever. Having completed the second season, you just fall more and more in love with them as a family. It’s more complicated, emotionally, underneath.”

Season two will also bring about Pfeiffer and Russell’s first scenes actually filmed together, as Stacy and Preston’s love story will continue even after his death.

“You might see more of us in season two, together,” Pfeiffer briefly teases. Russell echoes only, “It’s in a different way.”

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The pair are well trained on spoilers as they settle into their roles within the Sheridan-verse.

“I’ve spent a lot of time on the East Coast and I’ve spent a lot of time in the mountains. They all have something different to offer,” says Pfeiffer of relating to Stacy. “I love Montana. But I don’t know that I would live there. I am a city mouse.”

The Madison is now streaming all of season one on Paramount+. Read THR’s show coverage.



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Missoula and Western Montana neighbors: Obituaries for March 22

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Missoula and Western Montana neighbors: Obituaries for March 22





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