Monday, 18 March 2024

Arts & Life

Work by artist Mona Cliff. Courtesy photo.

UKIAH, Calif. — Press Release: Mendocino College Gallery is excited to present “Creative Streak: Works in Series.”

The exhibition features a wide range of practices, from assemblage to cyanotype, ceramic sculpture, intricate pen + ink drawing and oil painting. The common thread is that these artists all work in series. ‘Working in series’ means that the artist creates a number of different pieces that all look similar, or have the same thematic content, but are not identical.

Working in series allows an artist to think deeply about a certain subject and potentially make better art through the process. In order to tell a larger story, or to refine content, artists will explore a theme in depth across a number of pieces through variations in design elements.

Many commercial artists work in series in order to have more pieces to sell, or alternates, if a collector wanted a certain work that had already been sold. Journalists and bloggers can craft a story from a series more easily and effectively than from an exhibition of unrelated works.

Working in series is often a more natural studio practice for the artist as well. While patiently waiting for one painting to dry, or ceramic piece to cure, the artist can move on to a similar piece without losing creative flow.

There is less pressure to create a single ‘great’ work of art when working on multiple pieces at once. Artists naturally move around the studio, allowing the
creative mind to rest and pivot without losing momentum, naturally building a cohesive ‘body of
work’.

Creative Streak: Works in Series features the following five artists:

Mona Cliff (Aniiih) is a multidisciplinary visual artist. She explores the subject of contemporary Native American identity and culture through her use of traditional Native crafting methods such as seed bead embroidery and fabric applique. Based in Kansas City, Cliff is an enrolled member of the Gros Ventre tribe (A'aninin/Nakota Nations) she is Frozen Clan (Aniiih) and of the Medicine Bear Clan (Nakota) of Ft. Belknap, Montana. Her works have been exhibited widely and will be featured in New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC.

Linda MacDonald makes intricate and detailed portraits of the interiors of redwood trees, coast and sequoia, in pen + ink drawing as well as watercolor and oil painting. The history of aging is there in the wood—marred, burned and charred, graffiti-laden, smooth, textured or curly. MacDonald has shown extensively in the US and Japan and has work in the collection of The White House, the City of San Francisco, the Museum of Art & Design (MAD) in NYC.

Shannon Sullivan creates sculptures, wall pieces and installations using a core visual vocabulary rooted in the prevailing ways of nature. Sullivan's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums nationally and internationally. She is currently head of Ceramics at College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California.

Spencer Brewer and Esther Siegel create assemblage works both collaboratively and independently. The husband and wife duo have lived on their Redwood Valley ranch for the last 39 years, where they maintain a robust studio practice. It’s hard to identify where art ends and life begins there. In fact, the entire property feels like walking into a massive art installation. What appears to be an outdoor seating area becomes an Alice in Wonderland themed water fountain with the flick of a switch, water gushing out of teapots, across cups and saucers and cascading onto the ground. Brewer and Siegel recently published a book of assemblage art: Lost and Found, which won the First Place Ben Franklin award for 'Interior Design' at the 2023 Independent Book Publishers Association.

The opening reception will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. Light refreshments will be served.

Mendocino College Gallery will also be open for ticket holders of The New World String Project on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2 p.m. at the Mendocino College Center Theatre.

Tickets are available online at www.ukiahconcerts.org and at Mendocino Book Co. in Ukiah and Mazahar in Willits. For more information, please contact the UCCA at 707-463-2738 or email
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Work by artist Mona Cliff. Courtesy photo.



‘ARGYLLE’ RATED PG-13

Back to a time before the internet and cell phones, there was an advertising campaign for cassette recording tapes, with the tagline: “Is it live, or is it Memorex?” Could you tell if the sound was genuine, authentic, and real from the artist, or was it a recorded copy?

Not sure why this ad sticks in my head, but it came to mind in thinking about whether the espionage story was real or not in the spy action thriller “Argylle,” wherein the line between a novelist’s fictional world and the real one begins to blur.

During the COVID lockdown, visionary filmmaker Matthew Vaughn screened for his two daughters Alfred Hitchcock’s 1959 classic “North by Northwest,” in which an ordinary man gets swept up in an espionage-tinged adventure.

The appreciation by his offspring for the film led to the motivation to make a movie in that ostensible genre. Just as inspiring might be “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are a married couple unaware that each harbors a secret of being an assassin for rival agencies.

The genesis for what Vaughn wanted to do soon landed on his desk in the form of a manuscript for an unpublished spy novel by an unknown author. Elly Conway’s book, “Argylle,” was, according to Vaughn, the best spy thriller he had ever read.

Befitting an espionage story, there’s an aura of mystery surrounding Elly Conway such that news outlets have been reporting that she may actually be two persons. Or maybe she doesn’t exist at all.

There’s wild speculation that Taylor Swift, or maybe J.K. Rowling, had penned the mysterious spy novel. The Taylor Swift theory would be interesting, but she hardly needs more exposure now that TV cameras frequently capture her at Kansas City Chiefs football games.

As far as the movie goes, Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, who is most comfortable at her Colorado home with her computer and her cat, Alfie.

Cat lovers may become fascinated with Alfie, who carries an attitude of cool disinterest or contempt and goes everywhere with Elly in a backpack with a plastic window. There will also be curiosity about Alfie’s breed, a Scottish Fold who looks adorably grumpy.

With a loyal fan base, Elly leaves her cocoon to interact with her followers, some of whom even wear clothing with the underlying theme of her books, namely: “The greater the spy, the bigger the lie.”

The spy novels feature characters who come to life, including the refined agent named Argylle (Henry Cavill with an odd haircut); his best friend Wyatt (John Cena), the muscle; and Keira (Ariana DeBose), their fearless field tech.

Richard E. Grant’s Fowler is a senior member of agent Argylle’s secret organization, and Grammy-winning superstar Dua Lipa’s Lagrange is Argylle’s elegant, lethal nemesis who gets involved in an elaborate, thrilling chase scene in scenic Greece.

While reading from her book to a captivated audience of fans, Elly is asked what’s in store for their favorite secret agent. She can only say that it’s a work in progress, which she’s either not willing to share or has no clue.

Retreating to the coziness of home, Elly shares her thoughts with her mother Ruth (Catherine O’Hara) for some advice on writing a forthcoming tome. Deciding to return home to Chicago, Elly packs up Alfie and takes the train since she’s afraid to fly.

Things take an interesting turn on the train ride when a stranger takes a seat across from Elly. His name is Aidan (Sam Rockwell), a scruffy looking dude with long hair and beard who looks like he has not changed clothes in forever.

Aidan recognizes Elly because he’s in the middle of reading her book. He claims to be in the espionage business as well as a fan, and then all hell breaks loose when armed thugs arrive to kill Elly, because apparently her books are too prescient and revealing about a corrupt group known as the Directorate.

Puzzled and frightened about what is happening, Elly is not too sure about Aidan but has no other choice than to be whisked away and go on the run with her savior to elude a horde of trained assassins.

At this point, it would be best to let the rest of the plot remain a surprise with its surfeit of twists and turns. Not a surprise is Samuel L. Jackson showing up as another man of mystery because he’s in the trailer.

As seems to be the case all too often these days, “Argylle” has a running time that is more than necessary even if it relies on a lot of smoke and mirrors obfuscating a spy caper that is already mystifying enough in its delivery.

“Argylle” does not lack for stylish action, with violence elegantly choreographed. In fact, just watching the film’s trailer reveals some of the best action scenes without spoiling the cliffhanger.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.



‘MEAN GIRLS’ RATED PG-13

Screenwriter and director John Hughes was legendary as the creative force behind many memorable films.

He tapped into the zeitgeist of the coming-of-age teenage human condition in comedies that included “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club’ and “Weird Science.”

Best of all was “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” which remains a favorite. Matthew Broderick was outstanding as the slacker titular character, a manipulator and con artist as he ditched high school for a day with two friends enjoying the best of Chicago that included a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

The whole point of bringing up Hughes is that you would be far better off insofar as being entertained by watching his films from the Eighties than spending time with “Mean Girls,” which is essentially a remake of the Broadway musical of the same that was an adaption of the 2004 film.

What we get with the new “Mean Girls” is the same old story of the new girl at the high school finagling her way into the social hierarchy of the popular girl group known as the Plastics, an oddly fitting name for the vacuous teens.

The difference between the two films is that the new version, such as it is considering that Tina Fey was writer of both along with the Broadway musical, are musical numbers that would work best in a stage production.

The role of Cady Heron, originally played to perfection by Lindsay Lohan, now belongs to Angourie Rice. As with the 2004 film, Cady transfers to North Shore High School after being homeschooled in Africa, which would seem to result in a serious case of culture shock.

At first, Cady falls in with two other outsiders, Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey).

Janis was once friends with Regina (Renee Rapp), the rich mean girl who is the leader of the Plastics. But that friendship dissolved when Regina outed Janis as a lesbian.

Though warned by her friends to avoid the Plastics, Cady is invited to become part of Queen Bee Regina’s clique, which includes the bubbly and dimwitted Karen (Avantika) and insecure Gretchen (Bebe Wood).

Of course, Regina has ulterior motives; after all, she’s as fake as the name “Plastics” would imply. While Cady is bright, she feigns a lack of math skills to get closer to Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron (Christopher Briney).

Naturally, Cady’s infatuation sends Regina into a spiral of cruelty and malicious jealousy, which leads to vindictive backstabbing that one might expect from a borderline sociopath. High school is a brutal breeding ground for broken souls.

Aside from a cameo appearance by Lindsay Lohan as a math quiz moderator, Tina Fey reprises her role as math teacher Ms. Norbury, while Tim Meadows is once again the beleaguered school principal Mr. Duvall, who looks ten years overdue for retirement.

Granted, many of the newcomers as students demonstrate passion and energy, but in the end the inevitable question is why was there a pressing need to bother with a reboot that adds nothing of weight to the overworked teen angst.

Midway through the Nineties, Amy Heckerling, as writer and director, delivered “Clueless,” an appealing coming-of-age teen comedy. She also directed 1982’s “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” a teen comedy that greatly amused with Sean Penn’s stoner slacker Jeff Spicoli.

There are just too many good teen comedies from three to four decades ago to revisit than bothering with an unmemorable remake, unless there’s some weird fascination with the Plastics. “Mean Girls” will likely find its audience, but this reviewer does not fall into that camp.



‘RESCUE BOWL’ PRECEDES THE SUPER BOWL

Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 11 will be preceded by Great American Family’s annual “Great American Rescue Bowl” that has been created in partnership with the North Shore Animal League America.

The program is a fun interactive way to raise awareness of the huge number of wonderful animals in local shelters across the country and has been highly successful at increasing the adoption rate several fold during Super Bowl weekend.

Renowned animal advocate and bestselling author, Beth Stern, who has personally placed more than 2,000 fosters over the years, returns to host “Great American Rescue Bowl.”

An active member of the Animal League America Board, Beth Stern is joined in hosting duties by TV personality and producer, Brian Balthazar, and 13-time Emmy-winning morning news anchor. Dan Mannarino.

Since 1944, North Shore Animal League America has saved more than 1.1 million pet lives through the organization’s medical care, vaccination programs, and the ultimate pet life savers – rescue and adoption.

“Great American Rescue Bowl 2024” features a tail-biter of a bowl game between The Adorables versus The Cuddlers with a halftime show that will melt hearts. Spoiler alert: The status of each furry player is – adopted!

Animal lovers are bound to be touched by the Animal League’s pioneering as the no-kill movement and architect of the happy ending for more than a million deserving shelter pets for 80 years.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

Joe and Hattie Craven. Courtesy photo.

UPPER LAKE, Calif. — Joe Craven, the famed folk musician, musicologist, teacher and storyteller, will be performing on Sunday, Feb. 18, at the Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake along with his musical partner and daughter Hattie.

Beginning at 3 p.m., this informal “Concert with Conversation” will take place in the Meeting House next to the Hotel.

“Joe Craven is quite a legend on the folk and bluegrass scene,” said Tallman owner Bernie Butcher, “and adding the personality and great voice of his daughter Hattie should be something special.”

Joe Craven is past recipient of the Folk Alliance Far-West Performer of the Year. He’s made music with many luminaries from Jerry Garcia to David Lindley and harmonica wizard Howard Levy, to seven years with banjo fusionist Alison Brown and 17 years with the mandolinist David Grisman.

Hattie Craven, in addition to being a seasoned actor in community theater, has built a reputation as one of the finest young performers on the stages of the Strawberry Music Festival, California Worldfest, Kate Wolf Memorial Festival, Live Oak Music Festival and the Millpond Music Festival — all to standing ovations.

Together, this father/daughter team has created a celebration of music making by finding common ground between different generations with differing musical tastes and sensibilities.

At $30 plus tax, the price of admission includes coffee and cookies served at the concert venue. Tickets can be obtained online at www.eventbrite.com or by calling at the Tallman Hotel reception desk at 707-275-2244, Extension 0.

The 3 p.m. starting time is convenient for late lunch or early supper patrons at the Blue Wing Restaurant next door.




‘ROLE PLAY’ RATED R

Kaley Cuoco has come a long way since her role of pretty aspiring actress Penny, the apartment-dwelling neighbor befriending a pair of science nerds in the long-running popular series “The Big Bang Theory.”

Just a few years ago Cuoco’s Cassie Bowden was the titular character in the HBO series “The Flight Attendant,” an alcohol-fueled mess who traveled often on long-haul flights which she endured with copious indulgence of airline mini vodka bottles.

This series was an intriguing murder mystery in which Cuoco was anything but the pleasantly sincere “girl next door” as she turned out to be an inebriated libidinous party girl who on one trip wakes up in a Bangkok hotel room next to a dead guy.

Continuing on a path of more daring television fare than an innocuous sitcom about life with socially awkward physicists, Cuoco not only stars but serves as a producer on Amazon Prime’s “Role Play,” in which she has a secret life.

Cuoco’s Emma Brackett is apparently happily married to Dave (David Oyelowo) with two kids in the suburbs of New Jersey. For business, she’s supposedly traveling to exciting places like Nebraska but apparently not engaging in sexual trysts with strangers.

In “Role Play,” Cuoco’s character, much like the one in “The Flight Attendant,” skirts with danger once again, only this time she’s a willing participant in a hazardous position, which comes with the territory of being a professional assassin.

Back home in New Jersey, her unwitting husband is displeased that Emma has forgotten their seventh wedding anniversary, and he can be forgiven for fretting that their marriage might have lost its allure.

To pump a little excitement back into matrimony, Emma and Dave decide a little role-playing would be in order by planning a rendezvous at the bar of a swanky New York hotel, where they will pretend to be strangers before hooking up.

Drinking alone at the bar as a prelude to a make-believe encounter, Emma is approached by an older gentleman who is game for striking up a conversation, while Dave is apparently running late to the party.

The interloper in this situation is Bob Kellerman (Bill Nighy), who has a gift for gab. While his appearance is like that of a traveling salesman, there’s more to Bob than getting in the way of a role-playing occasion.

The encounter in the hotel lounge takes an interesting turn with a few surprises. What will it take for Dave to catch on his wife’s secret identity? An unexpected death exposes a rift in the marriage when both Emma and Dave find themselves “persons of interest” to the police.

Emma might not even be her real name, but the notion that she’s a professional killer leads to inevitable marital complications as Dave is completely bewildered and blindsided.

Things get even more dire for Emma when she has to go to Berlin for a contract, and mysterious handler Gwen Carver (Connie Nielsen) is determined to keep Emma from giving up her career for family.

A mix of comedy and action can work where the secret assassin is the central plot. Take the case of double secrecy in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, a couple in a decaying marriage, have been hiding from each other that they are assassins for rival agencies.

Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo are not exactly Brangelina, but as far as “Role Play” goes, they acquit themselves decently for a serviceable and formulaic comedic thriller that has enough moments of fun for a streaming production.

CRIME DRAMAS ON LIFETIME CHANNEL

Premiering on February 3RD on the Lifetime Channel, “A Mother’s Intuition” centers on the story of a young sculptor named Toni (Denise Boutte), a pregnant woman mourning the abrupt death of her husband who learns upon the birth of her child that her baby girl was stillborn.

The story takes a bizarre turn when Toni accuses the hospital of swapping her baby. More than paranoia is in play, and though no one believes her, the search for truth results in plenty of twists and suspense.

Based on a true story, “Abducted Off the Street: The Carlesha Gaither Story” chronicles the kidnapping of a Philadelphia nurse’s aide at the hands of a homicidal predator, and reveals how she fought to survive and created a trail that would ultimately lead to her rescue.

Carlesha (Riele Downs) was walking home from a family gathering when she is forced into a car at knifepoint. Determined to endure and outsmart her captor, Carlesha leaves clues behind at every opportunity.

Meanwhile, Carlesha’s mother, Keisha (Kenya Moore), stops at nothing to find her, making an impassioned plea to the media and working alongside a committed detective to rescue her before it’s too late.

The real culprit was a person by the name of Delvin Barnes, a man with an extensive criminal history who pleaded guilty to holding Carlesha hostage for three days. In June 2016, Barnes was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.



'THE BEEKEEPER' RATED R

Known for his muscular physique and believable portrayal of a gritty action hero, Jason Statham, with his martial arts background, has made such a career of being the tough guy that in about a dozen years or so he could turn into a durable aging version of Liam Neeson or Steven Seagal.

As long as he remains a bankable action star, Statham should not be lacking for work. His resume includes fine films in the thriller genre, from crime dramas like “The Bank,” “Snatch,” and “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” to the action thriller “Transporter” trilogy.

The appeal of this British actor is that he is convincing in his action roles, which likely comes from his practice of kickboxing and karate. Having been a member of Britain’s national diving team and competing for his country in the 1990 Commonwealth Games rounds out his athletic abilities.

Statham’s Adam Clay is a loner living on Massachusetts farm land where he tends to his bee hives and operates out of a barn rented from his neighbor, the elderly Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad), who acts like his surrogate mother.

Aside from his love of beekeeping, Clay is a retired Beekeeper, a member of a clandestine government agency that apparently operates outside legal boundaries to restore order when corruption and nefarious crimes must be addressed.

Unfortunately, retired teacher Eloise responds to a tech support group’s notification of a virus on her computer and gets connected to sleazebag Mickey Garnett (David Witts), who then proceeds to drain her bank accounts of her entire life savings as well as the $2 million in her charitable foundation.

The scammers work for the despicable Derek Danforth (Josh Hutcherson), a man-child cokehead who skates around his corporate office under the protection of some powerful people.

Feeling hopeless after losing everything, Eloise commits suicide, and this prompts Clay to take immediate action to hunt down the perpetrators of the telemarketing fraud.

Eloise’s suicide is a blow not just to Clay but especially to her FBI Special Agent daughter Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman), who wants to find those responsible for her mother’s death, but must function within the law.

There are no such constraints for Clay who wastes no time finding the call center of the United Data Group where he arrives with two cans of gasoline and announces to the security guards that he is going to burn the place down.

Making good on this threat to turn the entire operation into an ashtray, Clay sets his sights on going after the main source, only to find that his Beekeeper replacement, Anisette (Megan Le), a punked-out lunatic armed with a machine gun tries to take him out.

As odious as he is, Derek is protected by people in high places, as his mother Jessica Danforth (Jemma Redgrave), with the ultimate political connections, is the founder of the multibillion-dollar conglomerate Danforth Enterprises.

Derek’s minder and protector of the family business is Wallace Westwyld (Jeremy Irons), a former Director of the CIA now in a cushy corporate job, who informs the spoiled rich kid that when a Beekeeper says he’s going to kill someone, nothing can stop him.

Westwyld calls in a favor from his old friend, the current CIA director Janet Harward (Minnie Driver in brief cameo), and before long everyone from Verona’s FBI S.W.A.T. team to Secret Service agents and mercenary thugs working for Danforth Enterprises are after Clay.

In addition to traditional law enforcement, Westwyld assembles his own team of Special Forces types, but they have no clue that the Beekeeper will do everything to “protect the hive” while spouting mythology about the importance of bees.

Derek seems to think his ace-in-the-hole is gnarled South African mercenary Lazurus (Taylor James), who once killed a Beekeeper but lost his leg in the process. You may guess how that’s going to turn out.

The climactic end comes down to a big party at Mama Danforth’s seaside estate, where Westwyld’s thugs and Secret Service agents are out in force, and Clay slips under their noses to end his mission.

Fifteen minutes shy of two hours, “The Beekeeper” has the welcome pace of an action thriller with just enough exposition and plenty of hard-hitting violent retribution on the bad guys that should satisfy any fan of Jason Statham.

Jason Statham always seems to be at his best when he lets his fists do the talking. Some of the best action stars have mastered the art of being laconic. As it is, enough of the dialogue is nonsensical.

What’s enjoyable about “The Beekeeper” is that Statham shines in his action scenes, and let us not forget the atrocious waste of his talent in recent the recent outings of “Meg 2: The Trench” and “Expendables.”

Even “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre” proved disappointing. But that’s not the case with a thrilling B-movie bulging with stunts, explosions, gunplay and overall volatile mayhem.

Enjoy the scorched-earth ride for what it is. A “Beekeeper 2” could even be a possibility.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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