THERE’S A
CROSSWORD
ON THIS
PAGE.
DO
IT.
HAPPY
WEDNESDAY!
Classifieds
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
ACROSS
1 Pour love (on)
5 Sledding spot
10 Work the aisles,
slangily
13 Very familiar with
14 Not spontaneous
15 Howe’er
16 “Good Guys
Wear Black” star
18 Haul to the shop
19 Sailor’s pronoun
20 Full of energy
21 Stereotypical
Geek Squad
employee
22 Mass-mailing tool
24 Post-
performance
celebration
27 Went astray
29 Pupil’s cover
30 Drawn-out
account
31 Not as
demanding
35 USN clerk
36 Stroke with a
wedge
39 Take steps
42 Defiant retort
43 __-Seltzer
47 Touchdown spot
49 Log-shaped
pastry
51 Display for
lecture
illustrations
55 “Siddhartha”
author
56 Charitable gift
57 Instagram upload
59 “__ matter of
fact ... ”
60 Young __: tykes,
in dialect
61 Sofa decor
64 Shear (off)
65 Residences
66 __ Romeo
67 Onetime rival of
Delta
68 Having a key, in
music
69 Go against
DOWN
1 Title for Prince
William’s wife
2 The “thee” in
“Get thee to a
nunnery”
3 Seeing the sights
4 Letter-bottom
letters
5 Dispassionate
6 Cocoon contents
7 Ungentle giants
8 Shar-__: wrinkly
dog
9 Paper staff, briefly
10 Downright
11 Skimpy
nightgown
12 Folksy greeting
14 NBC skit show
broadcast from
30 Rock
17 Prince William’s
wife
21 Scottish isle
denial
23 Finger-clicking
sound
25 A little laughter
26 Prefix with
technic
28 Unhook, say
32 “Crikey!”
33 Sailor’s pronoun
34 Doctrinal suffix
37 Desktop with an
AppleCare option
38 “Canterbury”
story
39 Guilty
40 “Operators are
standing by!”
41 Bygone weight-
loss pills
44 French explorer
who named
Louisiana
45 Rude dismissal,
in slang
46 Passage between
buildings
48 AWOL seekers
50 Kenneth __,
portrayer of
Judge Lance Ito
in “The People v.
O.J. Simpson”
52 Baker’s
protection
53 Valerie
Harper
sitcom
54 Item draped on a
rack
58 Scout gps.
61 Skin pic
62 “True
Detective”
network
63 Stripling
By Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel
©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/21/16
09/21/16
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
WWW.CARLSONPROPERTIES.-
COM
734‑332‑6000
FOR RENT
Emma
Donoghue’s
bestseller “Room” captured
the explosive desperation of
a mother trying to get herself
and her son out
of a room. Her
latest
book,
“The
Wonder,”
conveys
the
urgency to get
into one.
11-year-old
Anna O’Donnell
has not had a
bite of food or
a sip of anything other than
water
since
her
birthday,
or so she and her family
claim. Lib Wright, a nurse
who served under Florence
Nightingale in Crimea, has
been asked to watch the girl
around the clock. Not nurse
or diagnose her, but to see if
the girl is indeed a miracle in
the making. Lib is much more
inclined to believe she will
discover subterfuge, not the
supernatural;
she
distrusts
Anna’s parents, as well as the
Catholic nun who has also
been asked to watch the girl.
But the longer Lib stays with
Anna, increasingly bemused
as to how the girl seems able
to survive without food, the
more she wants to protect
her — from her parents, from
those visiting their home in a
tiny Irish village and leaving
gifts as if Anna really were
a miracle in the flesh, from
the town neighbors who are
suspicious too. Lib befriends
William Byrne, a journalist
who has been charged with
discovering the truth about
Anna as well. In his writing,
he utilizes sardonic wit in
place of information as Lib
won’t let him near Anna — at
first. Eventually, he wins Lib
over, but whilst meeting Anna,
the child wins him over. He
also begins to care about her
well-being in spite of himself,
angry that no one wants to
admit what he can clearly
see — the girl is dying now,
regardless if she
was
somehow
managing
to
get food before
what
people
are calling “the
watch” started.
Anna’s brother
has been dead
for
a
while;
she is bent on
getting her dead brother out
of purgatory and into Heaven,
but it isn’t clear to anyone but
Lib how far Anna will go to
achieve this goal. There is a
painful family secret involved
that breaks Lib’s heart; but
when Lib discovers she’s not
the first person to learn about
it, and that previous people
who knew have done nothing,
her resolve is stiffened to
break orders and help Anna,
before it is too late.
“The Wonder,” like “Room”
or “Slammerkin,” is impossible
to put down. (I read it all in
one sitting, crying for about
the last 30 pages). While the
novel is more simply crafted
than
some
of
Donoghue’s
other work, her undecorated
but elegant prose sears the
image of a dying girl in a room
into your mind, Anna’s sweet
raspy voice echos in your ear.
The only aspect in the
work that applies a little more
pressure than it needs to is
Lib’s struggle with navigating
the
differences
between
watching Anna and nursing
her. It is abundantly clear that
Lib, as a nurse, can’t help but
try to get Anna to a healthier
place.
Watching
Lib
lose
her
grasp on ideas she has held
close to her heart for years,
due to Anna’s extraordinary
innocence,
piety
and
selflessness would be sweet
if it weren’t so raw. As Anna
softens the blunt edges of
Lib’s beliefs, Lib is forced
to confront the capacity for
cruelty in others.
Donoghue has pinpointed
and pulled apart a paradoxical
issue in this novel; she’s
offering us a story in which a
woman’s professional opinion
and knowledgeable position
is questioned on the grounds
of her maternal feelings. Just
when her voice matters most,
it is willfully tuned out by
the men in power, who have
decided Anna’s fate as if she
has already become nothing
more than a legend, a tourist
attraction, a sinless, blameless,
voiceless symbol.
“The Wonder” may have
a somewhat happy ending,
but Donoghue refuses to let
readers
forget
the
weight
that’s placed on a tiny girl’s
shoulders, the power of the
ghost of redemption, and the
sobering necessity to speak
truth of the dead for the sake
of the living. The book is a
reminder that hope itself isn’t
golden, untouched by clouds;
it is bittersweet; it is the
acknowledgment of sacrifice
for the potential of and the
belief in something better.
‘The Wonder’ explores
the virtues of sacrifice
BOOK REVIEW
SOPHIA KAUFMAN
Daily Arts Writer
Author of ‘Room’ returns with another compelling drama
about a starving Irish girl with a resilient spirit
The Wonder
Emma Donoghue
Little, Brown and
Company
September 20
Lib is forced to
confront the
capacity for
cruelty in others.
A
For the Love of
Spock
Michigan Theater
Gravitas Ventures
6A — Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
CBS
Eyebrows fleeky
For 60 years, Mr. Spock has
remained a cultural icon, an alien
with an indescribable magnetism.
Behind
the
arched
eyebrows,
Leonard
Nimoy
is
equally
influential
as an actor and as an
artistic Renaissance
man. With “For the
Love of Spock,” fans
of “Star Trek,” Nimoy
or pop culture lega-
cies in general can
look to the screen for
two hours of gratu-
itous eyebrow raises
and perceptive analyses on the leg-
acies of these great men. God bless
that blunt-bang cut, that silky sto-
icism and those delicately pointed
ears.
“For the Love of Spock” focuses
on the creation, development and
impact of the “Star Trek” charac-
ter Spock, the life and impact of
Leonard Nimoy himself and direc-
tor Adam Nimoy’s own tumultuous
relationship with his father. The
film is an attempt to showcase the
multifaceted life of his father and
his monumental cultural legacy.
The documentary is structured
chronologically, moving from the
beginning of Leonard’s career as
an actor to the creation of “Star
Trek” to Leonard’s death in 2015.
However, within this time frame,
the doc discusses Spock, Leonard
and Adam in a seemingly random
movement that feels fluid some-
times, while other times seems
abrupt. At one moment the film
analyzes the role of Spock as a love
interest
with
a
magnetic
attrac-
tion that subverts
expectations
of
manhood, and in
the next it sharply
moves to discuss
how Adam and his
sister dealt with
the celebrity of
the Nimoy name.
Yet, the somewhat
jarring structure works, reading
like a book with chapters rather
than a continuous storyline. Adam
does a spectacular job at making
each segment so wholly intriguing
that you forget to wonder how one
moves into the other.
Adam’s creation is equal parts
media texts and interviews, the lat-
ter composed of commentary from
Leonard himself, his family mem-
bers and his costars. Retro clips
from the original “Star Trek” series
as well as moments from the recent
cinematic remake, are sprinkled
throughout, supplemented by pro-
motional posters and fan art that
together emphasizes the expansive
and enduring reach of Spock across
popular culture. The interview tes-
timony is especially interesting —
“Star Trek” actors and directors act
as experts in their field to provide
analyses of Spock as a character
while offering insight into the com-
plex and influential life of Leonard.
This technique also bridges the
generational gap between those
who watched the original series
and new fans. Commentary from
William Shatner (“Star Trek”) and
George Takei (“Kubo and the Two
Strings”) is intermingled with
remarks from J.J. Abrams (“Star
Wars: The Force Awakens”) and
Simon Pegg (“Star Trek Beyond”).
A balanced mix of media and inter-
views works to create an engaging,
hilarious and insightful explora-
tion of Spock and Nimoys.
One of the most unexpected but
nevertheless fascinating compo-
nents of the film is its exposure of
Leonard’s flaws. Through inter-
views with Leonard himself as well
as his children, the film discusses
Leonard’s relationship with alco-
hol as a coping mechanism that
gradually turned abusive and put a
strain on his family and career. The
film also dives into the unexplored
corners of Leonard’s personal life,
specifically his role as a gener-
ally absent father figure. The film
doesn’t shy away from the raw and
the uncomfortable, but ultimately
smooths the edges with a satisfy-
ingly happy resolution.
SYDNEY COHEN
Daily Arts Writer
‘Spock’ doc is unexpected, pleasing
Directed by subject’s son, the film explores Nimoy’s electric life
B-
Churchill’s Secret
Aired September 11
PBS
Biographical stories, while com-
pelling in nature, inherently lack
one of the specific qualities that
makes film narratives attractive to
audiences — suspense. Intrinsically,
stories true to reality automatically
possess a built-in character arc and
narrative structure
that makes render-
ing them on screen
natural.
Audiences
familiar with events
and figures popu-
lar in history are
already attuned to
the trajectory of the
story and its ending,
requiring that their
interest be captured in a different
way. That’s where the details come
in: the nitty-gritty of telling a story,
a new perspective.
“Churchill’s
Secret,”
which
aired Sunday night as part of PBS’s
“Masterpiece”
series,
concerns
itself with just that — every painful,
tense moment following the stroke
suffered by British prime minister
Winston Churchill in 1953. Based
on the novel “The Churchill Secret:
KBO” by Jonathan Smith, the tele-
vision drama addresses a lesser-
known event in the PM’s life, kept
secret from the world — delving into
what made Churchill the leader and
man that he was.
From the moment Churchill
(Michael Gambon, the “Harry Pot-
ter” series) stutters mid-sentence
while hosting a group of prominent
guests, including the Italian prime
minister, it’s apparent that some-
thing’s not right. The look of panic
on his face, cross-cut with his wife’s
strained composure, indicates the
tense scenes to follow. The stroke,
which
incapacitated
Churchill,
was kept secret in an effort to help
the bedridden PM return to power
once recovered. His determina-
tion to make his last achievement
as PM “one of peace” before retir-
ing, against the evident wishes of
Lady Churchill (Lindsay Duncan,
“Birdman”) and pressure from gov-
ernment party officials, is executed
poignantly by Gambon. Aside from
Gambon’s stellar performance as
an aging PM, still full of life and
love for his country and his mis-
sion as its leader, Duncan’s Clemen-
tine Churchill meets Gambon with
equal emotional prowess.
Clementine fulfills her role
as dutiful wife to
Churchill,
while
also
providing
the audience with
insight
into
the
more
sentimental
wounds
inflicted
by
her
husband’s
career. Though the
primary source of
the film’s conflict
is Churchill’s stroke, it awakens a
host of unborn animosity within
his family. Churchill must deal with
old family strife, now instilled with
fresh life by the concentrated efforts
to rehabilitate him, while continu-
ing to exert all his efforts into his
career. Old wounds opened under
new circumstances are poignantly
portrayed by the film’s outstanding
cast and conveyed through subtle
cues in the movie’s execution. At
one point, the tension erupts at a
dinner scene between Clementine
and her children, who unburden
themselves of years of emotional
pain inflicted by their father’s
demanding career. And suddenly,
Clementine is transformed from
the loyal wife to an obsessive, over-
ly solicitous shell of a mother whose
devotion to her husband cost, her
her relationships with her children.
Though a poignant and extreme-
ly taxing scene, the argument over
dinner feels like an ambitious cul-
mination of processing years of
complex emotions in one scene
— and an early emotional climax
at that. Just halfway through the
film, the family’s discord is revealed
almost all at once, with little closure
following the scene.
The second half of the film focus-
es on Churchill’s recovery, facili-
tated by his nurse Millie Appleyard
(Romola Garai, “The Last Days on
Mars”). Though her strength in
character in caring for Churchill
as if he were any other patient
shows throughout the movie, Mil-
lie’s own character arc is given spo-
radic acknowledgement. Through
Clementine’s prodding, the movie
reveals little spurts of information
about Millie that don’t tell us much
about her at all. It’s her dedication to
Churchill’s recovery and composure
in the face of the conflict surround-
ing her that makes her an appealing,
albeit somewhat flat, character.
Equally as static is the execution
of the film. Though the camerawork
and editing waste no time in telling
the story, the film leaves little room
for variation or discord that could
have energized the otherwise som-
ber piece. The seamless pans and
cuts smoothly transition us from
one scene to the next, mirroring the
contained efficiency of Churchill’s
recovery and the story itself.
However,
close-ups
reveal
Churchill’s struggle. After he is
rushed to his country home to
receive care, Churchill’s condition
takes a turn for the worse. When
they finally arrive at the estate and
Churchill’s helped out of the car, the
camera cuts to a close perspective
of his foot dragging behind him up
the stairs of his home. In this simple
shot, the PM’s helplessness is under-
scored –– quickly and effectively
conveying the significance of his ill-
ness. Moments like these draw the
audience deeper into the story with
subtlety and emotion.
These
minutiae,
interspersed
throughout a story full of earnest
emotion, make this “Masterpiece”
drama a truly compelling film.
“Churchill’s Secret” provides us a
window into the inner life of one of
the most powerful and skilled lead-
ers in our history without much
redundant effort. The simplicity of
the telling of the story, combined
with the adept work of its actors,
provides an intriguing look into a
great man’s life.
SHIR AVINADAV
Daily Arts Writer
‘Secret’ revels in detail and suspense
PBS film focuses on British prime minister Winston Churchill’s health