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Arts
Thursday, November 30, 2017 — 5
ARBOR PROPERTIES
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FALL 2018 HOUSES
# Beds Location Rent
11 1014 Vaughn $7700
9 1015 Packard $6525
6 1016 S. Forest $5400
4 827 Brookwood $3000
4 852 Brookwood $3000
4 1210 Cambridge $3400
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SERVICES
ATTENTION FOODIES, CHEFS,
and happiness makers‑ Lucky’s
Market is hiring! Socially
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amazing team members
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Apply online at luckysmarket.com.
FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT
ACROSS
1 WC
4 Cardiff-born
9 Many Dickens
kids
14 Action film gun
15 Kauai greeting
16 Northern home
17 Pap
19 Like hardened
mud on boots
20 Asks too many
questions
21 Central points
23 Mountain legend
24 Pep
30 Getting-started
instruction
32 1976 Dylan song
about his first
wife
33 Like FM radio,
typically
36 Old lab heaters
37 Playa __ Rey:
L.A. community
38 Pip
41 Biol. or chem.
42 Places to find
stacks
44 Some DVD
bonus tracks
46 Little dipper?
47 Lovey-dovey
49 Pop
51 Sounds of activity
55 __ beer
56 Legendary
moralist
57 Angiogram
image
60 Pup
64 Counterintelligence
targets
65 The life of Paris?
66 Tre meno due
67 Disconcerting
gaze
68 Stingray kin
69 Salary
DOWN
1 Like poorly made
Cream of Wheat
2 Clear blue
3 Stay and catch
up
4 Techniques
5 “The Hobbit”
being
6 WC
7 “Homeland”
channel, for short
8 Enjoyed
themselves
9 Contemporary
pagan religion
10 In contact with
11 Kind
12 A Capulet, to a
Montague
13 Cover for a bald
spot?
18 Art theft, e.g.
22 Unlatch,
poetically
24 “Deadwood”
actress Jewell
25 Fencing sword
26 “Should I have
waited?”
27 Lenox china
brand
28 Word with period
or note
29 It might be a
mirage
31 Koppel and
others
33 By the seat of
one’s pants, e.g.
34 Indira Gandhi’s
father
35 Plumlike fruits
36 Classic
accusation
39 Be catty?
40 Missouri River
native
43 Laser device
45 Clambake
leftovers
47 Ottoman honorific
48 Ice dancing
Olympic gold
medalist Davis
and Oscar
winner Streep
50 Pull the plug on
52 Run through
53 2016 Disney film
set in the South
Seas
54 Spread apart
56 Tommie of
’60s-’70s
baseball
57 Hee-hawing
animal
58 Choose
59 Narrow inlet
61 Barrel wood
62 The Cavaliers of
the ACC
63 It may be
picked
By Morton J. Mendelson
©2017 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/30/17
11/30/17
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Thursday, November 30, 2017
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
HAPPY THURSDAY!
Enjoy the Sudoku
on page 2
Classifieds
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com
NETFLIX
‘Cuba’ is a stark look at
life under a dictatorship
Cuba has historically been
a
site
of
popular
glamour
and mystery to Americans,
but most have never had the
opportunity to see the country
for
themselves.
Aside
from
their cigars, the
nation’s
cultural
allure has been
inaccessible
to
foreign travelers
due to a complicated political
history brought about by Fidel
Castro’s
socialist
revolution.
Thanks
to
Jon
Alpert
(“Redemption”), Cuba’s obscure
charm is exposed in the form of
raw footage in his new Netflix
documentary, “Cuba and the
Cameraman.”
The documentary features
footage than spans over 45
years and Alpert, who began
his roots in New York City
activism, borrows from the
French, cinéma verité style
of filmmaking that is highly
direct in its formal approach
and that it aims to reveal a
truth about a harsh reality: in
the case of this film, the toll
of socialism in a struggling
nation. What becomes clear in
Alpert’s work is that over the
45 years he returned to Cuba, a
lot changed — his subjects aged,
the consequences of socialism
in food and medicine scarcity
began to truly sink in — but a
lot of the country’s progress
became static. The toughest
moments
to
watch
on-screen
are
those
that
grimly
reveal
that
the
nation
and
its
people
have
remained
stagnant, stuck in a place
beyond political repair, a place
with barren streets and roofs
caved in. A place without water
to drink.
Alpert
follows
the
lives
of three different groups of
people, and as the years pass,
there is an amount of audience
investment and empathy that
naturally comes along with
seeing these repeated subjects
on screen. They color the piece
with humanity. He tracks a
man named Luis as he goes
in and out of jail, a woman
named Caridad who begins as
a bright schoolgirl who dreamt
of being a nurse but instead
wed at the age of 14. And then
there’s Gregorio, Cristobal and
Angel, three campesinos (farm
workers) who are reminiscent
of the playful fraternal bond
of Super Mario Brothers. They
eventually have their livestock
stolen and lose their means to
work, but somehow they sustain
happiness and remind us that
you don’t need teeth to have a
beaming smile and that rum
should be carried on a person at
all times.
It is never explained how
Alpert and his crew were able
to travel in and out of Cuba so
freely, especially during a period
of heightened political tensions,
nor is it explained why Alpert
was allowed in such intimate
settings with Castro, like his
private plane. Alpert’s American
speech subconsciously seems to
distract and detract from the
authenticity of these ordinary
Spanish speakers that cannot
speak English, so using only
subtitles may have created more
of a narrative flow.
Though what really dazzles
most about the piece is not
Alpert’s
impressive
45-year
commitment, but rather the
simple lives and stories of
Cubans who find joy in the
smallest things. We could all
learn a lot from them.
SOPHIA WHITE
Daily Arts Writer
“Cuba and the
Cameraman”
Streaming on
Netflix
SONY PICTURES
‘The Star’ wildly fails to
bring the Nativity to life
It borders on trite to say that a
great animated film can speak to
anyone, but that’s the nature of
the medium. It begs to explore its
topic in new and interesting ways,
so the idea of using
it to retell the story
of the Nativity told
from the point of
view of the donkey
that carried Mary
to Bethlehem isn’t
that far off base. In
the hands of a team
more well-versed in animation’s
unique
storytelling
capabilities
– Disney, Laika, WAG or even
Dreamworks or Illumination –
there’s a potentially memorable
film in the works. Unfortunately,
in the hands of Sony Pictures
Animation,
the
group
which
birthed this year’s brain-numbing
anti-comedy “The Emoji Movie,”
“The Star” becomes the latest in
a long line of poorly animated,
sloppily written cash grabs whose
only purpose is to take advantage
of families looking for an accessible
Christmas movie.
The
problems
with
the
animation rear their ugly heads
early on; this quality would be
standard and unremarkable if
this were the mid-2000s. The fact
of the matter is that the art form
has progressed remarkably in the
years since, allowing for films
like “Coco” which would have
been impossible even a few short
years ago. But where Pixar’s latest
delivered painstakingly rendered
frames with millions of details,
“The Star” features multiple scenes
of characters looking at each other
but seemingly not seeing each
other. The expressivity allowed by
animation is negated by the lifeless
masks which comprise most of the
characters.
The writing does the characters
no favors, either,
making the leads
easily
identifiable
only by the tropes
they
fall
into.
Bo
the
Donkey
(Steven Yeun, “The
Walking Dead”) is
the dreamer who
wants something more than his
simple life. Dave the Dove (Keegan-
Michael Key, “Keanu”) is the wacky
sidekick. He shakes his butt in one
scene and it’s called back to so often
that it was apparently the scene
that was supposed to clinch the
film its Oscar. Ruth the Sheep (Aidy
Bryant, “The Big Sick”) talks about
being a “flock” a lot and would have
been the emotional heart of the
film had she not been written with
a crippling lack of personality.
But the weak links in a cast
made up of weak links are the three
camels carrying the wise men of
“We Three Kings” fame. These
are apparently meant to be comic
relief, but somewhere along the
line, someone forgot to write any
actual jokes. At one point, one of
these camels (Oprah Winfrey, “The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”)
gets the absolutely incredible
line, “That King Herod is up to
something,” which is perhaps
the most casual way the topic of
infanticide has been broached in
film history.
For the most part, the vocal
performances are serviceable, and
given the quality of the writing,
it’s understandable that no one in
the surprisingly packed cast brings
their A-game. Gina Rodriguez
(“Jane the Virgin”) and Zachary
Levi (“Alias Grace”) are the stand-
outs here as Mary and Joseph, if
only because their characters are
the only ones who can pass for
interesting and the actors therefore
have something to work with.
Once more, the camels represent
the worst “The Star” has to offer in
this area. In addition to Winfrey,
Tracy Morgan (“Fist Fight”) and
Tyler Perry (“Boo 2! A Madea
Halloween”)
lend
their
vocal
talents to the film, and they bring
with them their respective shticks.
Morgan shouts nearly every single
line. On the other end of the
spectrum is Perry, who reads every
line without a hint of inflection.
Winfrey, the most talented of the
trio, hardly bears mentioning, as
she never gets an opportunity to
ingratiate herself to the audience
beyond
the
aforementioned
genocide line.
The only memorable thing about
“The Star” is when the Baby Jesus
finally makes an appearance, he
bears an uncanny resemblance to
the Boss Baby, which is either an
unfortunate mistake or the most
brilliant, underplayed joke of the
year. And when the best part of an
animated movie very likely comes
down to animator ignorance, it’s
probably better to see what new
brilliance the grown-ups — Pixar
perhaps — are up to.
JEREMIAH VANDERHELM
Daily Arts Writer
“The Star”
Sony Pictures
Entertainment
Rave Cinemas,
Goodrich Quality 16
TV REVIEW
‘Runaways’ is lackluster
Parents are supposed to be the
good guys, right? Well, that’s not
the case in Marvel’s “Runaways.”
Last week marked the series
premiere of Hulu’s original show.
Six teenagers, all
vastly
different
with a past, messy
friendship reunite
just in time to
discover
their
parents’ secret.
“Runaways”
is based on the superhero comic
book series written by Brian K.
Vaughan and Adrian Alphona,
first published by Marvel Comics
in 2003. Originally, the comic
book series cast the parents as
robbers and mad scientists, but
Hulu creators Josh Schwartz
(“The O.C.”) and Stephanie Savage
(“Gossip Girl”) opted for full on
super villains. ’Cause let’s be
honest, parents being villains isn’t
the farthest cinematic stretch.
Marvel has always been a
favorite of mine. Superheros?
Love ’em. Action? Count me in.
However, the pace of “Runaways”
is too jumbled compared to
past Marvel products. It hops
around from scene to scene in a
mismanaged function, ruining
the flow. There are a lot of
unanswered
questions
while
watching: What happened to
the right eyebrow star tattooed
girl in the very beginning? What
happened to Nico’s (Lyrica Okano,
“Pimp”) sister, Amy? What is the
weird human-like creature in
Mrs. Dean’s (Annie Wersching,
“Bosch”) office? Why do the
Yorks have a dinosaur in their
basement? Cliffhangers are an
effective way to keep an audience
engaged, but too
many just frustrate
and confuse.
The
symmetry
among
the
six
teenagers
appeared to have
been broken a long
time ago. As the plotline reveals,
these six used to be best friends,
but high school and some tragic
enigma (I think it had to do
with Amy) happened that split
these friends, but apparently
not for good. All of the friends
have morphed into different
stereotypes in high school. Never
seen that before. We have the
goth chick, the dumb jock, the
pretentious pretty girl, the nerdy
and self righteous feminist, the
quiet misfit and lastly, the socially
excommunicated,
emotionally
broken kid that just wants his
friends back. He attempts to
reunite this old gang — which
leads to their discovery of their
parents in red robes performing
some cult sacrifice. Creepy.
I’m hoping this plotline is just
the catalyst to jumpstart a more
original series. The first episode
attemps to get the ball rolling.
Although the premiere itself was
nothing to rave about, I have a
feeling the show will morph into a
story with heart, action and some
ass-kicking.
There doesn’t seem to be
enough variability between the
characters. Each is filled with
teenage angst that gets tiresome
after watching it take shape in
a few different shells. All of the
actors have the same babyface
pout, none bringing anything
valuable to the table. The casting
is subpar, neither brilliant nor
terrible. Both the actors cast as
parents and teenagers walk the
line of average, none of them
striking enough to report on.
The special effects appear to be
limited thus far, but there are hints
that they will be more plentiful
and complex in the future. Besides
the one scene when Karolina’s
(Virginia Gardner, “Zoo”) arms
turn
transparent
with
lights
shooting out of them, there should
be more to come. Marvel is known
for
their
topnotch
cinematic
illusions, which I expect when I
watch one of their products.
The premise of “Runaways”
has potential, but the series
premiere was essentially a dud.
The
messy
shooting,
boring
actors and mundane feel of the
show in general take away from
a seemingly great storyline. With
time, the plot with hopefully
develop to be stronger, better and
more entertaining.
OLIVIA ASIMAKIS
Daily Arts Writer
“Runaways”
Season Premiere
Hulu
FILM REVIEW
FILM REVIEW