ACROSS
1 Sales pitch
6 Outback birds
10 Sunup
14 Café lure
15 Clickable
webpage word
16 Home to billions
17 Grass shortener
18 Apart from that
19 Slightly wet
20 Julie Andrews’
“The Sound of
Music” role
23 Risk, e.g.
24 Healthful berry
25 Jimmy Fallon
hosts it
31 “Homeland” spy
org.
32 Taxi
33 Nebraska city
34 “Apocalypse
Now” setting,
familiarly
35 Gathering for
fans of graphic
novels, anime,
etc.
38 Delivery vehicle
39 Painting need
41 Microwave
42 Valuable rock
43 Avengers
member with a
patriotic shield
48 Tolstoy’s
Karenina
49 Dutch cheese
50 9/26/1957
Broadway debut
featuring the
consecutive
songs found at
the start of 20-
Across, the
middle of 25-
Across and the
end of 43-Across
55 With 50-Down,
tightrope walker’s
place
56 Oscar winner
Kazan
57 Aquafina rival
59 Craving
60 Accelerates, with
“up”
61 Foolish
62 Military meal
63 Cafeteria carrier
64 V-formation fliers
DOWN
1 “Casablanca”
pianist
2 Formal school
dance
3 Corn Belt state
4 Rise into view
5 Cattleman’s rope
6 Late morning hr.
7 Venus de __
8 Disentangle
9 Quick drawing
10 Arp’s art
movement
11 Right away, in a
memo
12 Namby-pamby
person
13 Midday snooze
21 Gas brand that
had a torch in its
logo
22 Florida’s Boca __
25 Pageant winner’s
crown
26 Exaggerate, as a
stage role
27 Spanish island in
the
Mediterranean
28 Devastation
that’s wreaked
29 Scarlett of Tara
30 Decrease in
intensity
31 “Closing Bell”
channel
35 Repetitive shout
at a protest
36 Required little
effort
37 Newspaper
opinion pieces
40 Secret supplies
44 Add to text, as a
missing letter
45 Carpenter, at
times
46 Suitable for all
ages, filmwise
47 Apple software for
creating videos
50 See 55-Across
51 Omelet
ingredients
52 Prima donna
53 Ready for picking
54 Toy dog’s barks
55 Play a kazoo
58 TV’s “Science
Guy”
By Peter Gordon
©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/26/17
09/26/17
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
5 — Monday, September 25, 2017
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Based off the novels by Diana
Gabaldon, “Outlander” follows
the story of Claire (Caitriona
Balfe, “Now You See Me”),
a young army nurse whose
single touch to a henge circle
transports her to the Scottish
Highlands
in
1743.
Torn
between two worlds, Claire
must
make
the
impossible
decision to remain in the
past or return to the present,
where a previous life awaits
her
return.
This
dualism,
emphasized often throughout
the
series,
was
especially
poignant in the premiere of
the third season of the steamy
series, as both Jamie (Sam
Heughan,
“Doctors”)
and
Claire struggle to adjust to a
life without one another.
This is mainly accomplished
through
quiet
scenes
that
are able to speak volumes,
sometimes
without uttering
a
single
word.
Moments
as
simple as a man
playing bagpipes
on the corner of
the
university
reminds viewers
of the double life
that Claire has
not only lived,
but continues to
live. A Scottish
song
playing
quietly
and
unexpectedly
on the streets is the perfect
metaphor for the new lifestyle
which Claire is struggling
to adapt. Though she has
returned to her own time and
is living happily in Boston with
her husband Frank (Tobias
Menzies, “Game
of
Thrones”),
a
part
of
her
still
remains
in the Scottish
Highlands
with
Jamie.
Cooking
over
the
fire
rather than on
the
stove,
she
responds almost
automatically
that her husband
much prefers it —
the line that once
separated Jamie from Frank is
beginning to visibly blur.
MEGAN MITCHELL
Daily Arts Writer
TV REVIEW
The new series explores the intracacies of Jamie and Claire’s
relationship as they enter the next chapter of their lives in the show
‘Outlander’ premiere has
historical roots, romance
STARZ
“Outlander” has returned
“Friend
Request”
is
a
train
wreck
of
a
motion
picture, every bit as stupid
and borderline offensive as a
movie with the tagline “Evil
is trending” is expected to be.
The trio sitting behind me in
the theater apparently caught
on early, and after ten minutes,
they left, whispering, “If we
leave now we can make the
next showing of ‘It.’” If I’d had
any idea what was about to
ensue, I would have followed
them.
The film tells the story of
Laura (Alycia Debnam-Carey,
“Fear the Walking Dead”),
a
pretty,
popular,
perfect
college student who adds a shy
girl from one of her classes,
Marina (Liesl Ahlers, “Inside
Job”), as a friend online.
However, after Marina begins
to exhibit strange behavior,
Laura unfriends her, leading
Marina to take her own life.
Soon people start dying, and
it becomes apparent that some
remnant of Marina is still
terrorizing Laura. But that
isn’t the worst part. As people
start dying, Laura starts losing
friends online. Can she and her
friends stop this malevolent
force before more people die?
And can they do it before,
unthinkably, her friend count
hits zero?
On the most basic level
possible, “Friend Request” is
a
monumentally
ill-advised
movie. People die frequently
and horribly, yet the main
characters
are
continually
interested
in
how
this
is
affecting their social media
image
instead.
The
film
features
several
cutaways
showing the friend count of
the main character dropping
closer and closer to zero, and
it treats this with the gravest
importance.
In a smarter movie, this
might have been played as
an intentional joke, a satire
of
our
increasingly
social
media
obsessed
society.
Unfortunately,
despite
attempts
at
ham-fisted
messaging
about
internet
addiction – there are moments
the screenwriter may as well
grab you by the throat and
scream in your face, “SEE!
THE INTERNET IS EVIL!”
for all the subtlety on display
– nothing ever comes of it,
and it just seems in bad taste.
Of course, in a story that
demonizes those with mental
illness and valorizes the people
who on more than one occasion
call the target of their ridicule
a “bitch,” that’s about par for
the course.
That leads into the biggest
problems of “Friend Request,”
the characters, who are easily
organizable into two camps.
There is Laura, who is perfect
and popular and never does
anything wrong and is the most
boring member of the ensemble
as
a
result.
Then
there’s
everyone
else,
who
spend
their time riddling off relevant
exposition
and
heroically
insulting a suicide victim. In
fact, the most sympathetic
character of the whole ordeal
is Melanie herself, who is given
a tragic backstory that means
her actions, if not condonable,
are at least understandable.
The horror is riddled with
the same kind of brainless
jump
scares
that
always
populate this sort of flick.
Every other scene, a character
wanders off on their own, and
something jumps out at them
and
screams,
and
because
humanity
has
a
fight-or-
flight reflex, we scream, too.
It’s lazy and predictable, but
again, it’s par for the course.
And of course, the whole
thing wraps up with one last
scare that makes no sense, but
as a horror movie in 2017, is
required to give it the illusion
of weight. Likeable characters,
a well thought out plot, and
competent scares might have
done the same thing, but that
would apparently be asking
just too darn much.
It’s hard to articulate how
much I hated “Friend Request.”
I hated the way it vilifies
those with mental illness and
implicitly advocates avoiding
them at all cost. I hated that it
treats the people who ridicule
them as some sort of heroes. I
hated the characters. I hated
the story. Most of all, I hated
that just two weeks after “It”
showed us what an incredible
cinematic
experience
the
horror genre is capable of
delivering, “Friend Request”
is here to remind us of the
predictable,
boring,
insipid
drivel it usually is.
WARNER BROS.
“Friend Request” playing in theaters now
JEREMIAH VANDERHELM
Daily Arts Writer
‘Friend Request’ is every
bit as insipid as expected
The film is more horrifying in its execution than anything else
FILM REVIEW
What makes a series like
“Outlander” so different from
shows of a similar nature is
their ability to portray the
historical reality of gruesome
battle scenes. It’s easy to
create a wonderfully brutal
battle scene from scratch,
but to portray a moment in
history alongside the familiar
characters
is
something
special indeed. The Battle
of
Culloden,
from
which
the aftermath is depicted in
the first half of the season
premiere, is one of the most
significant clashes in British
history in a struggle against
the Jacobite rising. Gruesome
and bloody, “Outlander” holds
nothing back in depicting the
battle and the fall of many
of last season’s heroes. Most
of
which
is
told
through
flashbacks as Jamie relives
the most gruesome moments
of battle in his isolation. From
walking through the woods
to lying atop a pile of fallen
Jacobites, Jamie is obviously
living in his own personal hell,
mourning the loss of Claire all
the while.
Though each season brings
a new chapter into the lives
of Jamie and Claire, one thing
that fans can always count on
are the misty eyes that are
likely to occur when watching
“Outlander.” Whether it be
through
Jamie’s
anguish
conveyed in a single look or
the young Jacobites who are
physically led to their own
execution, this season is no
exception to the pulling of the
heartstrings. As much as Jamie
suffers, as does Claire, which
is, of course, reflected in a
more modern sense. Deciding
to complete her education
in medical school, she faces
blatant discrimination which
serves to remind us of a time
not so long ago. But it’s not only
her
professional
reputation
that suffers under the weight
of another life. At home, Frank
smoothly accepts Jamie’s child
as his own, though he struggles
to share Claire with Jamie.
But with good reason. Even in
the throes of passion, Claire
cannot look Frank in the eyes,
preferring to simply make
love to her husband. Except
her husband lies separated in
the past by 200 years and far
across the Atlantic.
Not
only
does
the
“Outlander”
premiere
encompass the best of the
series, but also the best of the
reality of Claire and Jamie’s
situations. While it’s obvious
that
Claire’s
marriage
to
Frank is all but destroyed by
her devotion to her rough and
rugged husband, it’s a sharp
blow to see the mournful
reality of a marriage destined
to fail play out on screen.
However, as Jamie struggles
more than we’ve ever seen
him,
we
cannot
help
but
anticipate a welcome reunion
between the lovers. After all,
history does have a tendency
to repeat itself.
Outlander
Series 3 — 2
episodes
reviewed
STARZ
Mondays at
8:00 pm
“Friend
Request”
Ann Arbor 20 +
IMAX, Goodrich
Quality 16
Warner Bros.
This is mainly
accomplished
through quiet
scenes that are
able to speak
volumes