It was just a few weeks ago that we told you about Adam Sigal, the Scientologist writer-director whose sci-fi dark comedy, Chariot, opened in theaters last month to mixed reviews (Metacritic score: 43).
The film featured past-life complications and a nutty psychiatrist-like character played by John Malkovich, “a mysterious figure who prescribes a hypnosis-based treatment to cure… [a] subconscious-based endless loop,” according to Odie Henderson at rogerebert.com.
Which is, if you think about it, pretty on-brand for a Scientologist filmmmaker.
Scientology, after all, has past-life therapy based on the idea of your existence extending over vast timespans, and it considers psychiatry to be the universe’s most pernicious influence. In fact, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard said he had discovered that the “evil psychs” are responsible for trillion-year-old implants that are keeping us all from reaching our godlike potential, and only Hubbard’s “technology” of the mind can help us throw off those shackles.
If that’s not screenplay material, what is, right?
Well, this week Sigal’s trajectory really took off when it was announced that he’s writing and directing yet another film about psychology as jackassery, in this case the story of Hungarian-born poltergeist chaser Nandor Fodor (1895-1964).
In the 1930s, Fodor was one of several investigators checking out – we kid you not – claims of a talking mongoose at a farm on the Isle of Man. More serious researchers concluded it was a case of a family pulling a hoax of ventriloquism (the mongoose itself was never seen or photographed), but Fodor, a psychoanalyst, developed an elaborate theory about it being a manifestation of the farm owner’s personality, or something.
Thanks to this episode and others, Fodor has been called the “father of parapsychology,” which, as far as we can tell, is not meant as an honorific.
And who’s to play the befuddled Fodor in Sigal’s film? Why none other than Tom Cruise buddy and Mission: Impossible sidekick Simon Pegg. (Who, as far as we know, is not a Scientologist himself. Just Scientologist-friendly, apparently.)
Wow. Talk about a Scientologist going places. Sigal’s on fire, and who knows how many films he has in him about clownish psychiatrists or past-life flashbacks.
Surely he can fit in some scenes about detoxing in saunas?
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Bonus items from our tipsters
You’re invited to a festival!
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“The situation internationally, also, has improved enormously; I might make a little bulletin on that effect. The attack on Scientology in the United States has disintegrated into a rout for the government. They are now being attacked — not mildly put — by the United States Senate, and very shortly the House is going to open the ball on the FDA. Australia, their report from the inquiry has been delayed so long, the usual course of those reports and inquiries they have down there. They seem to do this quite routinely. In Victoria, they have inquiries, and then they forget about them. And the last three inquiries, as desperate as they were in progress and so forth, all wound up in no legislation. And so that one will undoubtedly dead-end too. Because its report isn’t even due in Parliament for months. And Parliament is recessing. And all of that kind of thing is happening. And if we can find Victoria, why we will set it to rights, one way or the other If we can find it. You know, you’re only dealing with a tiny little postage stamp on the face of the earth and what seems to be bowling everybody over, down in-in Australia is this fantastic news which keeps coming in to them from the United States, you see. Government runs up white flag, you see.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 11, 1965
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“Dir I&R and MAA are to conduct a full investigation of insecurity of materials of confidential materials on board. They are to steal any they can and lock them up. List to the D/CO. Beginning at 1200 hrs today. Offenders are to be listed and handled appropriately.” — A. Jessup, C/O FAO, May 11, 1971
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“Trump is no doubt out to end the power of the deep state and he is by some accounts making good progress. But Scientology is nowhere in sight as part of that fight. Or am I wrong?”
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1996: A nearly complete set of the NOTS (New Era Dianetics for OTs) processing levels were anonymously posted to a.r.s on May 6th through the hacktic remailer in the Netherlands. They were subsequently reposted in HTML form through hacktic, and following their cancellation by the cult, reposted again through the Zippo system. The reaction across the net has been tremendously fast. Helena Kobrin, or a cultist using her name, mailed a series of requests/legal threats to attempt to remove the documents from several storage locations. The letter to Homer Smith, sysadmin of Lightlink was the most polite. “Last weekend, someone posted anonymously a number of the works contained in the NOTs Series. From some of the traffic on alt.religion.scientology, it appears possible that you may have those postings on the lightlink system. I know in the past you did not permit such postings on your system, so I am contacting you to ask that you verify whether this is true. (The message IDs are at the end of this message.) If it is true, I assume you will want to remove them. Please do so and let me know ASAP.”
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“The sixties counterculture turned a lot of people into Baba Dumbasses and Shirley MacLaines. People use to be a lot tougher and more levelheaded back in the day.”
Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next pretrial conference May 31. Trial scheduled for August 29.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Last hearing was on January 18, referred to grand jury. Additional charges also referred to grand jury after January 5 assault while in jail.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Pretrial conference May 20 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for June 2.
— Joseph ‘Ben’ Barton, Medicare fraud: Pleaded guilty, awaiting sentencing.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.
Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court.
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Eleventh Circuit affirmed ruling granting Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Garcias considering next move.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Valerie’s motion for reconsideration denied on March 15.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Next hearing scheduled for June 29.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for December 6.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] Don’t congratulate Tom Cruise until he gives back the award that really matters
[TWO years ago] Scientology ekes out small victories as the world goes to coronavirus hell
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s mental whammy is like taking one too many pucks to the head
[FOUR years ago] Scientology’s bizarre international base and its near-prison life: A Marc Headley classic
[FIVE years ago] On probation and his house of horrors shut down, Tennessee Scientologist talks up Mexico
[SIX years ago] ‘Freedom’ magazine is back after a six-month absence, and it arrived with a surprise!
[SEVEN years ago] As seen in the Daily Beast: ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ is on sale and ready to startle you
[EIGHT years ago] Sunday Funnies: What part of ‘rebel’ doesn’t Scientology understand?
[NINE years ago] Jon Atack Helps Us Remember Scientology’s “Religious Freedom Crusade”
[TEN years ago] The Best Reasons Why You Should Doubt the Allegations in the John Travolta Sex-Assault Lawsuit
[ELEVEN years ago] Scientology Operation Against Washington Post Reporter Richard Leiby Exposed
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,661 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,166 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,716 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,706 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,597 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,903 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,772 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,546 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,877 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,350 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,666 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,232 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,151 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,319 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,899 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,161 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,197 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,912 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,437 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 792 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,967 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,518 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,667 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,987 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,842 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,961 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,317 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,620 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,726 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,124 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,000 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,583 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,078 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,332 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,441 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 11, 2022 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
