When the Missouri legislature brought back tax credits for film productions, there was hope it would lead to a boom in big-budget movies being made locally even beyond On Fire, the adaptation of John O’Leary’s memoir that filmed in and around St. Louis last fall. But whether state lawmakers would excitedly welcome the new film that really should be filmed in St. Louis is not yet clear.The film is currently titled Monsanto, and it comes from Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, the guys who brought you the Dick Cheney biopic Vice and the climate change flick Don’t Look Up. Safe to say that, unlikely the Missouri legislature, these guys are not likely to be sympathetic to a pesticide manufacturer.Sure enough, here’s how McKay describes the film, according to the Hollywood Reporter: “These days stories about the ‘little guy’ taking on huge institutions seem few and far between, both in real life and on the big screen. So when a story as riveting and inspiring as this one shows up on our desks we get excited. Why? Because people love and need these movies. They always have and always will. Erin Brockovich, Silkwood, It’s a Wonderful Life, Spotlight, 12 Angry Men, Moneyball, Norma Rae … I legitimately think I can list 200 wildly successful and beloved films about real people standing up against overwhelming odds with only fairness and truth on their side. So let’s make number 201.”The film is being written and directed by John Lee Hancock, best known for The Blind Side, and will star Glenn Powell as attorney Brent Wisner, who sues Monsanto on behalf of a client who used Roundup and got sick. In real life, Wisner is the LA-based attorney who scored the first major victory against Monsanto on Roundup, winning a $289 million verdict on behalf of high school groundskeeper DeWayne Johnson. The company’s legal problems, of course, have only multiplied since then.The Hollywood Reporter also notes that Laura Dern will star as Monsanto’s chief toxicologist. And so we can’t help but wonder …. does she drive home to a mansion in Ladue? Will we see her drop her kids at Burroughs? Bigger question: Can Adam McKay somehow make this film without touching on Clarence Thomas’ stint at Monsanto? (We’re betting no.) Those three years reportedly helped transform him from a registered Democrat to a conservative. Surely we can get a scene of a young Thomas in Creve Coeur, working for The Man and becoming a free-market-focused firebrand.Even so, how much you want to bet they pull an Ozark and film in Georgia?

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Get ready to laugh, St. Louis. This morning, Stifel Theater (1400 Market Street) announced that three very funny people will be visiting town this year. First up are Patton Oswalt and Tig Notaro, who are coming to town as the headliners of the Flyover Comedy Festival on November 15. The two are set to perform together that night at 8 p.m. The duo are so famous that they likely need no introduction (and if you don’t know who Oswalt is, stop reading immediately and Google “KFC Famous Bowls” for a quick primer). But just in case: Oswalt is a ell-known comedian and actor who not only has eight comedy specials with Netflix and elsewhere, but has been on shows ranging from Parks and Recreation to Seinfeld and is the voice of Remy in Ratatouille. He also brought to life the book I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, the final work of his late wife Michelle McNamara, before the apprehension of Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer.Notaro is also a stand-up comedian and actor who also writes and does radio and is a regular on talk shows such as Ellen and the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. You might know her from being honored as one of Rolling Stone’s 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time, her TV show One Mississippi or her podcast Don’t Ask Tig or her other podcast Tig and Cheryl: True Story.Early bird three-day wristbands to the comedy festival go on sale on Friday at 10 a.m. and cost $45 to $75. More information at flyovercomedyfest.com.But wait, there’s more. Author David Sedaris will soon be bringing his wry humor and wacky tales to town at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 22. He’s touring behind two newish books, Happy Go Lucky (2022) and Pretty Ugly (2024).Sedaris is known for his his observational humor, which often takes aim at his own life, his family and friends and humanity in general. Stop to talk to him in the signing line, and you might find yourself in his next collection of essays. However hilarious it is to read his words on the page, he’s undeniably that much funnier in person. Want to experience that for yourself? Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday and cost $45 to $55. More at davidsedarisontour.com.
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Emanuel Taranu, a self-described “humble carpenter and urban prospector” was hunting for treasure in the Delmar Loop when RFT photojournalist Zachary Linhares came across him on April 20. And by “in the Loop,” Linhares found him literally hunting for detritrus in the tracks of the Loop trolley. Perhaps a dangerous mission, but one Taranu is experienced in handling.

He shared how he got started, the most valuable item he’s ever found and what he’s learned through years of searching for treasure in overlooked places. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

Can you tell folks a little bit about what urban prospecting is?

Urban prospecting is just looking in unexpected places where people’s lost items like jewelry might settle. So there’s all sorts of ways to do it. But basically, you’re looking for cracks where rainwater is washing heavy metal objects to that point, and you’re just looking for that collection point. It’s as simple as, like, cleaning out a filter and seeing what you find.

What’s the most money you’ve pulled from an urban prospecting expedition?So I used to do this with my dad as a kid. We dabbled in it. He’s a treasure hunter too. He normally hunts with a treasure metal detector. So I’m back into it recently. 

But also, you know, it’s kind of an archaeological project. So part of the beauty of it is paying closer attention to the built environment. And asking yourself questions about what was here before and, like, how did it get to be like this? Those are the kinds of questions that you need to ask to find good, good sites. And so recently, I did find a 10-carat engagement ring, a vintage ring, in an antique sewer drain. It’s a beautiful storm drain. It’s got a brick barrel-vaulted ceiling and wooden decking, which is cool because you can take a metal detector in there. But yeah, the ring has a tiny diamond in a white gold setting and it’s a 10-carat baton from probably the 60s.

If somebody’s wanting to get into urban prospecting, what advice would you give?

All the treasure hunters in the country are gonna be so mad at me. I would say keep your eyes open where other people don’t usually look. If you see signs that heavy metal objects are getting stuck there, that’s a good thing. Typically, you’re gonna start seeing screws, nuts and bolts. You’re gonna see a lot of pennies obviously. So you’re gonna start with the most common, and it’s a numbers game, so you know you do enough searching and enough thinking and enough planning you can find a good spot. And yeah, look for a place that has maximum rainwater drainage to that one central collection point to make it easy for you. So like I was in the county, on Watson Road, and there’s a huge hill and all of the businesses, all the parking lots, they’re all feeding into this one tunnel and I found stuff there from the 60s. I found a buffalo nickel in another drainage tunnel. You don’t find that on the surface. Those were minted in the 1930s.

What sort of life lessons or wisdom have you’ve gained from treasure hunting?

That’s a good question. I mean, I’m a big critic of the built environment. So in general what have I learned from treasure hunting? I mean, it teaches me to ask questions about how we got to be where we are. People made decisions that we all live with — individuals made these decisions and that’s how we ended up with the streets we have. We have the car traffic, we have the lack of pedestrian infrastructure, and that’s how we end up with pedestrian deaths in a city. That’s how we end up with a lack of public transportation. 

So yeah, I think paying attention to public spaces has been an exploration of my curiosity for the built environment. 

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