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Arts
Monday, December 7, 2015 — 5A
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ACROSS
1 Supplier of fake
tunnels to Wile E.
Coyote
5 Dictionary entry
9 Attempt to scam
using email
14 Small songbird
15 “Am __ early?”
16 Saul Bellow’s
“The Adventures
of __ March”
17 *One held above
criticism
19 Gossip spreader
20 What push may
come to
21 *Magician’s
secret exit
23 1953 Alan Ladd
Western
24 Subject in which
Freud is studied,
briefly
25 Boring routine
26 Ballpoint, for
one
27 Goose egg
29 Popular
thesaurus
31 Most populous
continent
33 Sign offering
freebies
36 Day ender on
Wall Street ...
and, literally,
what each
answer to a
starred clue has
39 Hyundai sedan
40 Increase
dramatically
43 Bearded spring
blooms
46 List shortener, for
short
48 Carry a balance
49 Lion’s lair
50 Set one’s sights
on
53 Caught with a
lasso
55 *Swanson frozen
meal
57 Closet pests
58 Made public
59 *Traditional
62 Blinding driving
hazard
63 Dam in a stream
64 Giggly Muppet
65 “Night Moves”
singer Bob
66 Ginger cookie
67 Rod companion
DOWN
1 Reactions to
puppies and
kittens
2 Falls asleep from
exhaustion, in
slang
3 Pit crew worker
4 Scandal-plagued
energy company
5 Like EEE shoes
6 Needing no Rx
7 Carrots and
turnips
8 Bridal estate
9 Obsolescent
streetcorner
communication
device
10 Tinted
11 Give the cold
shoulder to
12 Take a break
from
13 Valentine symbols
18 Not odd
22 One in a human
pyramid
23 Mud bath site
24 Ordinary
28 “That’s just
wrong”
30 Takes shape
32 Tavern orders
34 Round Table
VIP: Abbr.
35 “Snowy” bird
37 Poisonous
ornamental
38 Contract
ambiguity to
exploit
41 More than cool
42 VIP carpet color
43 Dog collar
attachments
44 Malign
45 Wearing
opposite-sex
clothing
47 Gator cousin
51 Cat calls
52 “Over the
Rainbow”
composer
Harold
54 Significant __
56 “Able was __ ...”:
palindrome
start
57 Dealership
sticker fig.
60 Day, in Spain
61 “u r 2 funny!”
By Debbie Ellerin
©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
12/07/15
12/07/15
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Monday, December 7, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
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TV REVIEW
‘Very’ not funny
Guest star-heavy
holiday special could
use more humor
By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
Daily Arts Writer
Netflix? Bill Murray? A slew
of impressive guest stars includ-
ing Amy Poehler, Rashida Jones,
Michael
Cera,
Chris Rock and
Maya Rudolph?
Holiday cheer?
Sounds
amaz-
ing, right? Not
quite. The best
decision direc-
tor Sofia Cop-
pola’s (“Lost In
Translation”)
“A Very Mur-
ray Christmas” made was having
its star pass out drunk — literally
— after which, Murray awakened,
flanked by Miley Cyrus and George
Clooney in a newly imagined, time-
worthy holiday special.
Prior to his unconsciousness,
Bill Murray was just getting by: The
opening 75 percent of the program,
while comprised of an extremely
talented cast in regards to comedy,
was a bore. Taking place at New
York’s Carlyle Hotel, it focused too
heavily on serenading the audi-
ence with mediocre performances
of sometimes recognizable, some-
times daydream-inducing show
tunes and Christmas classics.
The outliers came unexpectedly
from Maya Rudolph’s old-school
glamour performance of “Baby,
Please Come Home,” complete
with a cocktail waitress trio
for backup and Jenny Lewis’s
(remember Rilo Kiley?) half of
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Mur-
ray spoke the other half of the
song, opting to focus his banter
toward the special’s plot rather
than the original lyrics — the
only instance in the show’s first
act when music would have
been the better than comedy.
When the music wasn’t good,
it was bad, and when it was nei-
ther, the dialogue invited the
type of laugh where there’s no
laughing involved (it’s more
of a harsh exhale through the
nose accompanied by a quar-
ter of a smile.) Poehler’s best
moment was when she walked
into Murray’s hotel room in the
first scene holding what looked
like a Christmas bell, but it was
only to be two mini bottles of
whiskey. Michael Cera was
great in his Michael-Cera-play-
ing-Michael-Cera-playing-a-
character kind of way. But, 45
minutes in, Rudolph, Jones and
Rock’s comedic touches went
untapped.
Just when it was looking like
2015 would be a miracle-free
Christmas, Bill Murray fell off
the seat of the piano bench during
the ensemble’s final carol, and the
Christmas special of his (and our)
dreams ensued — a winter won-
derland featuring a white piano,
kick lines of scantily dressed
reindeer and a Bill Murray who
doesn’t
resemble
his
“Zom-
bieland” equivalent as closely.
As Murray found his musical
footing and his fatherly (now bor-
dering on grandfatherly) charm
in the first verse of “Sleigh Ride,”
Miley Cyrus and George Clooney
slid in on a white sled to bring
some desperately needed magic.
Clooney poured martinis on the
piano as Cyrus steps in on vocals
and finished out the tune along-
side Murray with holiday spirit
sparkling from their eyes as they
dance.
As the song ended, fear sets in
that Murray could awaken into
the dimly lit, ill-conceived mess
back at The Carlyle — but no fear,
the snowball kept rolling as Cyrus
delivered a solo performance of
“Silent Night” that left no ques-
tions about her vocal talent. She
lulled through lines appropriately
while belting others, filling the
“sound stage in Queens” as Cloo-
ney described it. Next up was the
rather creepy “Santa Claus Wants
Some Lovin.” Its entertainment
didn’t root from Murray’s itching
delivery or the performance itself,
but rather the comedic value of
Clooney creeping among fake firs
echoing, “Santa wants some lov-
ing.”
Finally, the trio that saved
Christmas comes together once
more for “Let It Snow,” proving
their status as the ultimate holiday
entertainment once and for all —
but we could have already guessed
that.
TV REVIEW
‘Wiz’ delights
in live special
By ALEX INTNER
Daily Arts Writer
“The Wiz” follows the well-
known story of “The Wizard of
Oz,” and this new production
featured
the
classic
score
alongside
an
updated, sharp
book by Harvey
Fierstein (who
wrote the book
for the Broad-
way hit “Kinky
Boots”). Zadan
and Meron filled the cast with
many familiar names, each of
whom brought down the house
during their ephemeral scenes.
From Queen Latifah (“Chicago”)
as The Wiz, to Mary J. Blige
(“Empire”) as the Wicked Witch
of the West, Amber Riley (“Glee”)
as the Good Witch of the North
and Uzo Aduba (“Orange is the
New Black”) as the Good Witch
of the South, each had a show-
stopping number that showcased
their powerful voices.
However, the standout per-
formance
was
by
newcomer
Shanise Williams as Dorothy.
She struggled in the beginning
to gain momentum in her dia-
logue, but once she became more
comfortable onstage, a star was
born. She closed the show with
the song “Home,” which she sang
with a comparable strength and
emotion to some of her more sea-
soned co-stars.
The biggest choice Zadan and
Meron made from last year was
switching from a more television-
like set to a proscenium staging
— a normal stage. This choice
was likely driven by this produc-
tion’s Broadway aspirations, but
it ended up enhancing the show’s
theatricality. Instead of rotating
between already-built sets, they
moved on and off the stage with
projections in the background.
The sets were physically small-
er, but more intricate with little
details, especially in the Wiz’s
chamber and the Wicked Witch’s
castle. The costumes were more
complex, as well, and will likely
result in a Tony nomination for
designer Paul Tazewell when the
production moves to Broadway.
The proscenium staging also
affected the musical numbers,
with stage director Kenny Leon
(who won a Tony for the latest
revival of “A Raisin in the Sun”)
and choreographer Fatima Rob-
inson (“Dreamgirls”), who used
the smaller space to create a
more theatrical broadcast than
in years past. Robinson’s cho-
reography brought each of the
numbers to life, painting pictures
which looked beautiful from
above. This is especially true in
the number “Brand New Day,”
which had high-energy danc-
ing that couldn’t have been easy
that late in the evening. Cirque
du Soleil partnered with NBC
on the broadcast and upcom-
ing Broadway production, and
their acrobats produced a cer-
tain dynamicism which made
sequences
like
the
tornado
impactful.
Still, one of “Peter Pan” ’s big-
gest problems remained prevalent
in “The Wiz”: the television direc-
tion, this year by Matthew Dia-
mond (“The Oogieloves in the Big
Balloon Adventure”). The change
to the proscenium created grand
and expansive staging, but at times,
the camera failed to capture them.
Instead of pulling back and let-
ting the big dance numbers make
the impact with sheer spectacle,
they used close-ups and focused
too much on smaller aspects of the
big picture. It was confusing, espe-
cially in scenes like the Tornado. It
seemed like the camera focused on
Dorothy flying instead of on what
the dancers on stage were doing.
Despite all of the problems,
about halfway through “The Wiz,”
I stopped watching out of an obli-
gation to the musical form and
started watching because I loved
what I saw. “The Wiz” proved to me
that Zadan and Meron know what
makes a good show, and I can’t wait
to see what they do next year.
B-
A Very
Murray
Christmas
Netflix
A-
The Wiz
Live!
NBC
She sang with
strength and
emotion.
FILM REVIEW
Lacking ‘Krampus’
By BEN ROSENSTOCK
Daily Arts Writer
“Krampus” wants to be both a
comedy and a horror movie, but
it can’t quite pull off either. There
isn’t much in
the way of sus-
tained
dread;
the
movie
mostly
relies
on a few jump
scares and a
couple
excit-
ing
monster-
fighting scenes.
Laughs
natu-
rally arise from
the ridiculousness of the animated
toy enemies, but outside of those
sequences, the movie is lacking in
comedy.
The film starts as a heartwarm-
ing family movie. Max (Emjay
Anthony, “Chef”), a young boy who
misses the way Christmas used
to be, runs into trouble when his
cruel cousins Stevie (newcomer
Lolo Owen) and Jordan (Queenie
Samuel, “Nothing Trivial”) read
his letter to Santa Claus out loud.
The letter expresses Max’s wish
that his parents, Tom (Adam Scott,
“The Overnight”) and Sarah (Toni
Collette, “United States of Tara”),
would love each other again. Furi-
ous and disenchanted, Max tears
apart the letter, triggering a mas-
sive
supernatural
snowstorm
focused on their neighborhood.
In the early goings, “Kram-
pus” relies on its compelling cast
to entertain. Scott is always great
as the straight man, and Anthony
is a likable child actor, but other
characters fall into stereotypical
roles. Sarah is the naggy, passive-
aggressive wife, rolling her eyes at
her sister Linda (Allison Tolman,
“Fargo”),
brother-in-law
How-
ard (David Koechner, “Another
Period”) and aunt Dorothy (Con-
chata Ferrell, “Two and a Half
Men”). Howard resembles the
same obnoxious-but-funny char-
acter Koechner always plays, like
Todd Packer in “The Office,” and
Dorothy, the sassy old grandma,
gulps down peppermint schnapps.
Sarah’s relationship with Linda is
sweet in the few scenes when they
interact, but it is never developed.
The main problem is that, like
2015’s earlier horror movie “The
Visit,” “Krampus” takes way too
long to get going. Nothing super-
natural happens for quite a while,
so there’s a sense that we’re all
delaying the inevitable with this
bland holiday dinner. Eventually,
the power goes out and Max’s sis-
ter Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen,
“The Carrie Diaries”) goes missing
in the snowstorm, finally introduc-
ing some horror. Still, the movie
continues to wait to play its cards,
showing us boring, slightly come-
dic scenes of waiting and coping
with the power outage, instead of
the exciting horror it seems to fore-
shadow.
Visually, at least, the film
is strong. Writer and direc-
tor Michael Dougherty (“Trick
‘r Treat”) includes a beautiful
stop-motion scene as Tom’s Ger-
man mother Omi (Krista Stadler,
“Lena Rais”) tells the story of
Krampus, the ancient demon who
killed Omi’s own parents after she
lost her love of Christmas. The
effects, too, are great, perfect for
the campy horror vibe Dough-
erty wants to create. As the action
scenes finally begin, the family
fights off animated gingerbread
men and murderous jack-in-the-
boxes. None of it is particularly
scary, but it’s funny, at least, and
fun. Krampus himself, too, is
appropriately disturbing, partly
because his toy minions take up
most of the action and leave him a
threatening hidden entity.
Still, by the time things do start
happening, the emotional invest-
ment is low because the movie has
lagged to the point of indifference.
“Krampus” entertains whenever
it releases the monsters and lets
chaos take over, but it remains
restrained throughout most of its
run time, even down to the ambig-
uous ending. When it comes to the
horror-comedy genre, it’s essen-
tial not to hold anything back.
UNIVERSAL PICTURES
“My tongue’s thtuck!”
C+
Krampus
Rave &
Quality 16
Universal
Pictures
I loved what I
saw.