II Big will open the Summer Concerts in the Park this Friday. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT – This Friday the Summer Concerts in the Park 2007 season begins, with a lineup of 10 great concerts planned for the coming months.

Leading off the summer performances is the band II Big with its class rock sound.

II Big has opened for such classic music acts as Foghat, Blue Oyster Cult, Loverboy, Grand Funk Railroad, Ricky Skaggs, Joe Walsh, REO Speedwagon, Ted Nugent, The Jeff Healey Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Styx.

The group has a new CD, Face in the Glass, coming out later this summer. They'll be featured performers at the Boonville Fair's Rodeo Dance on Sept. 15, and have shows planned for Konocti Harbor later in the summer.

Members are Aubrey Hansen, guitar and vocals; Tom Hansen, keyboards/vocals; Vince Knight, rhythm guitar/vocals; Roger Vance, bass; and Ken Ingels on drums.

The Summer Concerts in the Park are held in Lakeport's Library Park every Friday evening. The show begins at 6:30 p.m.

For more information about the Summer Concerts in the Park, call KXBX, 263-6113.

For more about the band, contact Ken Ingels in care of Russian River Records, 468-0280; or visit their Web site, www.riverrox.com/rec_artists/2big/2big.html.

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KNOCKED UP (Rated R)

The good news, finally, is a week without sequels. But some may argue that writer/director Judd Apatow has delivered in the raunchy romantic comedy “Knocked Up” what is essentially, at a minimum, a thematic follow-up to his brilliantly funny “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”

The familiar terrain of ribald humor and oddly endearing crassness, tempered by an underlying sweetness, is Apatow’s winning formula for a comedy that works because of the right mix of sharp dialogue and pratfalls. Even though there is a frequent assault on good taste, the jokes, gags and smart banter reach high enough on the scale of inspired comedy so as to not insult the audience’s intelligence.

Smart as this comedy may be, it does ask of us somewhat incredibly to believe that a lovable slacker like Seth Rogen’s Ben Stone can rise far enough above his station to connect romantically with Katherine Heigl’s pretty and sophisticated Alison Scott. This mixed union is what makes for a lot of fun.

Ben lives in a state of arrested development with four other slacker buddies who spend most of the time hanging out and getting high, while occasionally thinking about launching a Web site that serves the prurient interest of locating the nude scenes of famous celebrities.

Meanwhile, Alison is a smart, ambitious professional being promoted to an on-camera interviewer for the E! Entertainment Channel. Celebrating her promotion at a nightclub, Alison has too many drinks and ends up in a one-night stand with Ben.

Befitting the film’s title, Alison discovers two months later that she is pregnant with none other than Ben’s child. Getting past the awkward stage of informing family and friends, Alison decides to keep the baby and Ben agrees to lend his full support, even though he has only a few dollars to his name.

What follows is an awkward romance that requires the stoner Ben to mature to a heretofore unimaginable level, while poised Alison has to find the redeeming qualities in a less-than-stellar candidate for matrimony and fatherhood.

Helping to move along or even at times to hinder the path to true romance is the involvement of Alison’s older sister Debbie (Leslie Mann), a tart-tongued housewife with two young kids who suspects her ambitious husband Pete (Paul Rudd) is unfaithful.

It turns out that Pete may have more in common with Ben than initially suspected, which proves to be the case in a clandestine fantasy baseball meeting and a raucous road trip to Vegas that includes hallucinogenic drugs. Debbie is in a class by herself, and she has a terrifically funny scene in a showdown with a nightclub doorman who won’t let her in because she’s too old and her sister is too visibly pregnant.

Profane and crass, “Knocked Up” has so many comic gems that uncontrolled bouts of laughter are unavoidable. To be sure, there’s a matter of taste to this film’s humor that may not be to everyone’s liking, but I suspect it will nonetheless prove as popular as its thematic progenitor.

MR. BROOKS (Rated R)

Serial killers are inevitably creepy, despicable and demonic creatures. A murderer is made more fascinating and compelling if that person is conflicted, tortured and has a split personality.

That’s the reasoning behind the gripping suspense thriller “Mr. Brooks,” where the pillar of the community, a successful businessman and generous philanthropist, hides a shocking private life that involves a pathological compulsion to kill. Even more shocking is that Kevin Costner plays the titular role of a notorious serial killer who has baffled the police for years.

As the film opens, Costner’s Earl Brooks is being honored as Portland’s Man of the Year. Upon returning home with his loving, devoted wife Emma (Marg Helgenberger), he turns into Mr. Hyde and slips out for an evening of mayhem.

Though repressed for two years while attending AA meetings, his murderous impulse is inflamed by the omnipresence of his diabolical alter-ego Marshall (William Hurt), the inner voice of malevolence who urges the brutal slaying of a dancing couple.

The reason why these two people are chosen as victims is never revealed or explored, other than the fact that Mr. Brooks, abetted by the entreaties of the evil Marshall, has an insatiable blood lust.

For someone meticulous in the manner in which he kills, Mr. Brooks commits his first mistake. By not closing the curtains, he’s observed by the Peeping Tom photographer Mr. Smith (Dane Cook), who chooses to blackmail him with a bizarre demand.

Realizing that he’s found the notorious Thumbprint Killer, the curious Mr. Smith wants to tag along for the next kill, insisting that it happen real soon. Now Mr. Brooks must contend with a demanding alter ego and an impatient bystander. But his problems start to mount when tenacious Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore) gets back on the case.

A few subplots are introduced into the mix, all of which have some bearing upon the actions of the killer or the attempts to apprehend him. Detective Atwood contends with her own personal crisis of a pending divorce from a cheating, gold-digging husband. And her personal safety is at serious risk from an escaped convict she put behind bars.

Then, Earl’s daughter Jane (Danielle Panabaker) suddenly drops out of college and returns home under very mysterious and troubling circumstances. Meanwhile, Mr. Smith’s reckless eagerness to participate in the next murder has put Earl and Marshall in a tough bind.

Though often preposterous, “Mr. Brooks” is as close to serious adult drama as one is likely to find in the vast landscape of banal and silly summer movies. Watching the interplay between Kevin Costner and William Hurt as they deal with the tortured soul of Mr. Brooks is best reason to enjoy this creepy, suspenseful thriller.

Tim Riley reviews films for Lake County News.

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PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END (Rated PG-13)

Disney is getting an amazing amount of mileage out of its popular amusement ride, now that the third installment of “Pirates of the Caribbean” is money in the bank for a huge box office hit.

There are legions of fans for Johnny Depp and the franchise that will not be put off by sniping from critics or the film’s running time of nearly three hours.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” may be an endurance test for some, but for others it is a badge of honor to be figuratively strapped into a theater seat for one very long and thrilling theme ride.

The Pirate culture runs amok in this film, with betrayals piled upon betrayals as the cutthroat swashbucklers battle each other and the British navy.

“Pirates 3” picks up where the second installment left off, or so it seems. The British are becoming bolder in their attempts to wipe out the pirate tribes in the treacherous Caribbean seas. Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trading Company has gained control of the terrifying ghost ship, the Flying Dutchman, and its malevolent, vengeful captain, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy, unrecognizable in the tentacles covering his face).

Roaming the seven seas under the command of Admiral Norrington (Jack Davenport), the Dutchman is an unstoppable force bent on destroying pirate ships without mercy.

The plot is needlessly convoluted, often so obtuse that confusion is certain to be a problem. Now, the surfeit of plot twists, piled up with endless double crosses and betrayals, may not be troublesome for most viewers, because the rogues, lovable or otherwise, capture our attention.

Let’s face it, Johnny Depp’s foppish Captain Jack Sparrow is hugely amusing and entertaining, no matter how inane the situations in which he is often placed. A real plus for this newest adventure is that Geoffrey Rush’s Captain Barbossa, full of bluster and venom, is on hand for the entire story to menace and terrorize his foes with obvious glee.

Also returning to the action are Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), two lovebirds so devoid of romantic chemistry that you can only assume pirates had no love life.

Elizabeth is much better at handling a sword in combat, a useful talent to possess when she teams up with Will and Captain Barbossa on a desperate quest to gather the Nine Lords of the Brethren Court, which is something like the United Nations for pirates.

Their hope is to defeat Beckett, the Flying Dutchman and the entire British armada, no easy task when pirates squabble more fiercely than warlords in Afghanistan. But first, they must find one of the missing pirate Lords, which happens to be Captain Jack Sparrow, currently trapped in the netherworld of Davy Jones’ Locker.

All things considered, Sparrow is in fine form when he’s rescued by an odd alliance of pirates. The mystical Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris) lends her magical powers, while the goofy pirates Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and Ragetti (Mackenzie Crook) lend their less than helpful assistance.

The shaky alliance of pirates first travels to dangerous, exotic Singapore and confronts Chinese pirate Captain Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat, the major new player) to gain charts, and a ship that will take them literally to the world’s end to rescue Sparrow.

The gathering of the Pirate Lords comes close to being a prison riot, but they decide to unite against a common foe. This is a good thing in so far as it allows nearly the last hour of the film to be consumed with every special effect of battle scenes that could be cast upon troubled waters.

Entire fleets engage in ship-to-ship battles, with cannons blasting and ripping through all hands on deck. Pirates swing from rigging in spectacular sword fights with their enemies. Storms at sea are impressively staged to render edge-of-the-seat thrills, particularly when swirling waters create the watery equivalent of a black hole.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” doesn’t stint on the dazzling special effects, but all this breathtaking wonder does seem to come up a bit short in the face of too numerous plot twists that threaten to sink the whole enterprise.

There’s a bonus scene at the very end of the credits, and if you are willing to stick around, it is worth the wait, particularly for the most devoted followers of this Pirate world. Oh, it should not be overlooked that Keith Richards, the gaunt member of the Rolling Stones, is perfectly cast in the cameo role of Captain Teague, mentor to Jack Sparrow.

Tim Riley reviews films for Lake County News.

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OCEAN’S THIRTEEN (Rated Pg-13)

The ubiquitous advertising slogan for Las Vegas needs a slight rewrite. What happens in Vegas shouldn’t necessary stay in Vegas, especially if it involves creating an entertaining caper movie about a bunch of fun-to-watch con men pulling a huge job on a casino. By all means, “Ocean’s Thirteen” needs to be shared far and wide, as it deftly returns to the basic set-up of “Ocean’s Eleven,” the successful remake of the old Rat Pack movie.

“Thirteen,” for now a lucky number, makes one forget the more mediocre “Ocean’s Twelve.” At last, contrary to recent film-going experiences, here’s a third installment in a franchise that does not get the Third Place ribbon.

Once again, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) round up their motley crew of con artists and crooks for an exceedingly risky casino heist that needs to be executed almost flawlessly.

The objective this time is not so much money but sweet revenge. Having ignored some good advice from his compatriots, criminal mentor Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) unwisely entered a business partnership with ruthless casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino).

Not surprisingly, slick Willy double-crosses Reuben on his investment, sending him straight to the hospital after a near-fatal collapse. Proving honor among thieves, Danny and Rusty decide they must avenge this horrible mistreatment of a dear and valued friend. Of course, there’s only one way to hit a casino owner.

Danny, Rusty and Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) figure that their fast-moving plot to destroy Willy Bank involves bringing down the Bank Casino on the night of its grand opening. Their two-fold strategy requires financial ruin by turning the tables on the notion that the house always wins and destroying Bank’s reputation as the only hotelier to have earned the coveted Five Diamond Award on every single one of his hotels.

The plan is so elaborate and expensive that they are forced to get financing from their old nemesis, casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), the guy they swindled in the first movie.

Naturally, making a pact with the devil gets a little messy, especially when Benedict insists on doubling his return and getting Bank’s prized diamond necklace collection that is housed in an impregnable fortress. Assisted by his right-hand woman Abigail Sponder (slinky Ellen Barkin), Willy is such a despicable person that Benedict is offended by his rival’s crassness, to say nothing of the fact that the Bank Casino now shadows Benedict’s hotel pool.

To make the heist work, the operation has to function as a well-oiled machine with all the parts meshing together. To this end, the crew has certain responsibilities, often leading to humorous situations.

The squabbling Malloy brothers, Virgil and Turk (Casey Affleck and Scott Caan, respectively), end up working under sweatshop conditions in a Mexican factory that produces gaming equipment, and they become distracted from their mission to produce loaded dice when they lead a strike for better working conditions. Veteran flimflam artist Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) impersonates a snooty Brit in order to trick the hotel staff into believing that he’s the incognito hotel reviewer sent to assess the casino’s desire for a five-star rating.

Meanwhile, the real hotel critic (David Paymer) is subjected to the most outrageous misfortune at the hands of Ocean’s 11, only to torpedo the Bank Casino’s fervent wish for the exclusive rating.

The mechanical genius of the group, Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) is not so busy operating heavy equipment underneath the targeted casino that he can’t pen an endless series of sentimental notes filled with sappy inspirational messages designed to cheer up the recovering Reuben.

The master of sleight of hand, Frank (Bernie Mac) finagles his way on the casino floor for the grand opening by devising a variation of dominoes that Willy can’t resist.

Real-life Chinese acrobat Shaobo Qin, limber enough to squeeze into tiny spaces, expands his role by portraying enigmatic real estate mogul Mr. Weng, who puts up a $10 million dollar stake so that he and his assistant, Linus, can score an exclusive high-roller suite for a base of operations.

One of the funnier scenes has Linus disguised as Lenny Pepperidge, complete with a ridiculous prosthetic nose, using ultra-powerful pheromones to seduce Abigail with some manufactured “chemistry.” Even the Malloy brothers have a bit of wicked fun when evicting a hotel guest.

Most of the glee is in the abundance of give-and-take in the wisecracks and banter between the crew of con men who are exceedingly cool and unflappable.

The virtue of “Ocean’s Thirteen” is that the actors are completely comfortable playing their characters in a truly functional ensemble effort.

While Al Pacino seems not to be used to his full potential for villainy, the focus is rightly on the pleasure derived from the movie’s hip and cool attitude.

Fortunately, “Ocean’s Thirteen” recaptures the breezy spirit of the original film (not the Sinatra version, but the one directed by Steven Soderbergh, who obviously regained his form in his third outing).

Simply stated, “Ocean’s Thirteen” is a sleek vessel of wonderful entertainment, mostly for plenty of amusing dialogue and great con jobs.

Tim Riley reviews films for Lake County News.

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Jackie Greene, all of somewhere in his mid-twenties and with a recent album on which he is backed by Elvis Costello's band, did surface in Lake County way back in 2003 at one of those wonderful Library Park concerts in Lakeport.

He's, for starters, a very good reason why you should take in these concerts. They've had the (latter day and way good) Yardbirds with two living original members and the Mick Martin Blues Band, from Sacramento, among others. That band is on Dig Records' "Positively 12th & K," a Dylan tribute CD featuring Greene and one of the greatest living singers in rock 'n' roll, Sal Valentino, formerly of the Beau Brummels.

By the way, the Brummels broke up before a Lakeport concert a few years ago after Valentino and Ron Elliot had a fit of fisticuffs a la the Davies Brothers of the Kinks or the Gallagher brothers of Oasis.

Valentino, who had been opening for Greene, didn't make the Lakeport concert. He was home, just out of the hospital and, as I had been forewarned, one of the worst interviews ever. He was but I love his music so much I'd gladly bear the abuse.

So back to Greene.

In a recent issue of Rolling Stone, the usually very reliable David Fricke, wrote a "New Guitar Gods" feature listing John Mayer, Derek Trucks and John Frusciante as these newly olive crowned Olympians. A good list followed including Tom Morello, Warren Haynes, Jack White and so on.

While each of these git-picking wonders has a place on such a list I did not see Jackie Greene anywhere. And, of course, Mike Wilhelm was not listed either, not that he's new, just that he's almost consistently overlooked. I've written so much about him that some might consider me his unofficial press agent. But, hey, he's that good and I just can't stop listening to the three CDs he gave me recently.

But, again, back to Greene, the man left out of RS's "Guitar God" list. Of course, they are responsible for the pointless and disgusting excuse for something, "I'm From Rolling Stone." So that could be their excuse. But, I doubt it.

When I heard this quadruple threat for the first time in Library Park in 2003 he was already playing back to back shows at Biscuits & Blues in SF and had fronted the only unsigned band to ever receive a standing ovation at the Fillmore in the last 10 years. That ranks with Lynyrd Skynyrd getting demands for encores when they opened for the Who on a now legendary tour.

Jackie Greene is an incredible guitar player. He's an incredible songwriter. He is also an incredible harp player and I thought then and I still do the best pianist I've ever heard bar almost none.

Did I say incredible enough times?

So the only question remaining when I finally got a few minutes alone with the "Kid" – he does do "Messin' With The Kid" on his second CD (and with that same Mick Martin Blues Band whose drummer is Joe Morello's nephew, and, yes, his uncle was his teacher). So what else could I call him?

I know I wouldn't mess with him.

Quiet, softspoken, non-assuming Jacke Greene, after I saw half his show, made me feel like someone meeting Bob Dylan very early in the game.

Jackie gets compared a lot to Dylan but, after listening to his excellent Dylan covers on that Sacramento Zimmie tribute, I quickly came to the realization that Greene, like Dylan before him absorbing Woody Gutherie, was simply absorbing Dylan then moving on and being himself instead.

When you first see him, Greene looks like he wouldn't hurt a fly and he probably wouldn't. But, once you hear him, well, all the hotshot guitarists and songwriters in the universe better move over one cause Jackie Greene from El Dorado County is in the house.

I predict that, ere long, people will quote him like they have quoted Bob Dylan, marking their musical maturity by the first time they heard him.

The only question with Greene is what can't he do?

"Jackie can't clean his house," his road manager at the time, said. He looks like he can't clean his house, but all other bets are off.

Now on Verve Forecast, he had just been signed by Aerosmith's management.

How did he feel about so fast, so far; from El Dorado to standing ovations at the Fillmore?

"I don't respond to it," he said. "I just do what I do, write songs and play tunes. There's all kinds of stardom, until it fades away. Every night's special, but every night is also the same."

Who are his influences?

"Bob Dylan, Tom Waits. I like their voices and they sing their own songs. Leadbelly, Jimmy Rodgers, Hank Williams, Muddy Waters."

On guitar, it's Grant Green, the jazz guitarist. "I steal more licks from him than anyone else."

As Warren Zevon's one-time piano teacher and next door neighbor, Igor Stravinsky, once said: "Good artists borrow; great artists steal."

Impeccable taste is impeccable taste.

There's no hype with Jackie Greene. But there is the buzz. The buzz comes from other musicians, writers, his interviews, and, most of all, those guys in record stores, the kind John Cusack and Jack Black played in that movie.

"They lurk behind counters playing music they want you to hear. They stack Jackie Greene and others in the racks as if to say: "Buy this! You need this! Forget the crap you think you wanted! Jackie, and those few like him, are what you need!"

A long time ago another guitarist said something that comes to mind. He wasn't a singer so he spoke these words between blistering guitar solos I watched him play but still don't know how. One of his guitars hangs in the Hard Rock Cafe on Van Ness. He was found dead, hanging in his cell – with or without assistance.

When Roy Buchanan said: "The Messiah ... he will come again ..." Maybe, he wasn't just talking about the Big J.C.

Since I first wrote this I have been accused of overstatement. I have also seen Jackie Greene again, this time at San Francisco's Stern Grove festival, opening for Mavis Staples. And, so far, have not changed my mind one bit. Check this guy out.

E-mail Gary Peterson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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"We're offering cool music, cool gardens, cool art and above all – when it's sweltering inland – cool breezes," said event coordinator Penny Greenwood.

– The Mendocino Music Festival holds its "Taste of Chocolate, Wine, and Ale" fundraiser June 16.

– Five "glorious gardens" from Fort Bragg to Albion will be featured in the Mendocino Art Center's 15th Annual Mendocino Coast Garden Tour, Saturday, June 23.

The 21st Mendocino Music Festival (July 10-21) presents extraordinarily eclectic music in Mendocino Headlands State Park. Concerts feature the Festival Orchestra, Big Band, chamber music, opera, dance, blues, jazz, folk music, a piano series and much more.

– The 36th Annual Mendocino Rotary Art Auction will offer 60 art pieces, including fine art, sculpture and photography by nationally recognized Mendocino Coast artists in support of local youth and community organizations. The Art Auction & Preview is July 14.

– The Mendocino Art Center's 48th Annual Summer Arts & Crafts Fair, featuring 65 local and regional artists displaying an exciting mixture of unique hand made artwork, July 14 and 15. Also food and live music.

– The Mendocino Art Center's All-Media Instructor Silent Art Auction will showcase an eclectic blend of one-of-a-kind artwork created by over 50 of the Mendocino Art Center's illustrious artist-instructors, beginning July 3, and culminating with a festive party, Aug. 4.

– On Saturday, Aug. 11, Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens will host its 16th Annual Art in the Gardens fundraiser, said by many to be "the best garden party on the coast. Sixty local artists, more than a dozen of the finest Mendocino County wineries, the finest local food and musicians all come together in this annual event.

The Gloriana Opera Company presents Cole Porter's Anything Goes Aug. 24 through Oct. 7.

In September, the Summers Arts Showcase is all about wine:

– Winesong! Mendocino's premier wine and art auction takes place Sept. 8. Each year over 40 acclaimed artists donate works of art to be auctioned to benefit the Mendocino Coast District Hospital. These donated pieces along with over 100 more will be showcased Aug. 18 through Sept. 9.

For more information visit http://mendocinoarts.org/.

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