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WEBSITE.
NOW.
ACROSS
1 Jordan’s capital
6 Amounts to
11 Cleveland
hoopster
14 Tour leader
15 Popcorn brand
whose logo
resembles a
movie marquee
16 Corrida cheer
17 *Many a museum
piece
19 “MSNBC Live”
co-anchor Velshi
20 Big Dipper’s
constellation
21 Birth-related
23 Couple of gags?
24 Tied-on protectors
25 Without
28 Not even close
30 Vise features
31 British nobles
32 Roger Federer’s
org.
35 French buddy
36 *Choice spot at
the opera
38 Pi follower
39 Stood for office
40 Powerful
Japanese dog
41 Black bird or
black cat, to
some
42 Go round and
round
44 Messed (up)
46 Obtain
48 Is not misused?
49 Very serious, as
a water shortage
50 Blunder
55 Humanities degs.
56 Words to a
server ... or a hint
to the first words
of the answers to
starred clues
58 “The Book of __”:
2010 Denzel
Washington film
59 Exorbitant
interest
60 Ceremonial place
61 Fond du __,
Wisconsin
62 Closed
63 Braid
DOWN
1 Twittering
2 “Studies in the
Sierra” writer John
3 Fitbit unit
4 Much of the
Sunday paper
5 Spruce (up)
6 Walking sticks
7 Penta- plus
three
8 Cup-a-Soup
direction
9 Pewter
component
10 Footpath aid
11 *Family crest
12 Poe’s middle
name
13 Concealing
accessories
18 “Probably not”
22 “Wanna go out?”
response
24 Protagonist of
Auel’s “Earth’s
Children”
novels
25 Somewhat
open
26 Auburn rival,
familiarly
27 *Ellington genre
28 Squander
29 Surface product
31 Bright word in a
dark theater
33 You, back in the
day
34 Koi habitat
36 Kansas City
cuisine
37 Not bad
41 Fly off the shelf
faster than
43 To date
44 Struggle with
sisters?
45 400 meters, on
many tracks
46 It has one hump
or two
47 Florida’s __
National Forest
48 Binder for some
paints
50 2017 FX
miniseries
subtitled “Bette
and Joan”
51 Spacious lot
52 Part of TTFN
53 Actor Morales
54 Cheeky
57 QVC sister station
By Mark McClain
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/21/18
03/21/18
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
BOOK NOTEBOOK
Clive
Cussler
was
my
first favorite author. I’m not
embarrassed, and I don’t think I
should be. For those unfamiliar
with Cussler’s work, he is a
prolific novelist (and underwater
explorer)
who
has
written
more than seventy action and
adventure books. He’s not a high-
brow literary darling by any
means; his style and content is
more like a lovechild of Stephen
Coonts and Stephen King.
There are many reasons not to
like Cussler’s books. It’s chock-
full of flat female characters (who
are always thin and conveniently
beautiful and single), and the few
non-white characters are either
villains, have very small roles
or both. Still, there’s something
about Cussler’s writing that
draws the reader in. It’s not
that I really wanted to stay
up on Wednesday until 2 a.m.
rereading a book about the lost
tomb of Genghis Khan, but there
I was.
Cussler has a formula, and it
works:
Charismatic
scientist,
plus witty sidekick, plus vintage
cars, plus beautiful women,
plus shipwrecks, plus nefarious
criminals plotting something big.
It’s like James Bond, but better (I
should be honest: I’ve never seen
a James Bond movie). It’s got
car chases! It’s got nonpartisan
political intrigue! The historic
and factual foundations are thin
at best and often nonexistent!
It also has very few explicit sex
scenes
(Cussler
co-authored
many of his books with his
son), little social resonance and
boatloads (get it?) of dramatic
tension. There’s even a very
well-funded federal bureau of
underwater investigation, which
is probably more fantastical
now than it was in the ’70s,
when Cussler first invented the
fictional National Underwater
and Marine Agency (a cross
between NASA and the National
Oceanic
and
Atmospheric
Administration).
Interestingly,
Cussler used the royalties from
his books to found a private non-
profit with the same name in
1979.
Cussler has a quite a few series’
that he works on: The Dirk Pitt
Adventures, The NUMA Files,
The Oregon Files, The Isaac
Bell Adventures and The Fargo
Adventures. Each one follows
the hijinks of a different cast
of characters: a freighter that’s
actually a high tech mystery-
solving ship, early 20th-century
naval detective or a pair of
treasure hunters. Cussler is at his
best with his first series, The Dirk
Pitt Adventures. Dirk is a George
Clooney lookalike, as well as
a scientist and an adventurer.
He lives in an airplane hangar
outside of Washington, D.C. with
his collection of old cars. His
girlfriend is a young, idealistic
congresswoman
(though
conveniently that relationship
never stops him from some sort
of romantic involvement with
the stunning women who pop up
as he fights evil across the globe).
In short, he’s cool. The women
want him and the men want to
be him.
The Dirk Pitt Adventures
are predictable yet thrillingly
ridiculous.
One
particularly
absurd plot revolves around a
family of genetically-engineered
neo-Nazis
who
plan
to
destabilize an ice shelf in order
to wipe out everyone except
themselves. They hope to sail
around on huge, luxurious cruise
ships until they can repopulate
the world. Of course, it’s up to
Dirk to save humanity, and he
does. He always, always does.
The stakes are so insanely high
that they become low; it’s never
whether Dirk will be the hero, it’s
how — and the how is incredibly
entertaining.
I first started listening to Clive
Cussler audiobooks with my
mom. Even when we were only
in the car for a few minutes, we’d
pop in a CD and become absorbed
with the adventures Cussler
describes (read, of course, by
the one and only Scott Brick).
This tradition became a way
to connect without speaking,
a shared fantasy world that we
could inhabit and then discuss at
length. Last week, I listened to a
Dirk Pitt novel using OverDrive,
an audiobook and ebook app,
and for a moment I was 11-years-
old again, thrilled at the novelty
of riding in the front seat and
dreading having to get out of the
car and step back into the real
world.
What I realized recently is
that my mom was definitely not
a Cussler fan before I began
checking out his books and
audiobooks from the local library.
My mom likes nonfiction about
Buddhism
and
neuroscience.
She
likes
Alice
Hoffman,
Elizabeth
Strout
and
Mary
Oliver. Whatever the predicted
Clive Cussler fan demographic
is, my mom is not in it. Rather,
it was for me that she put up
with these hours and hours of
audiobooks, a concession that
eventually led to a genuine (if
limited) enjoyment of adventure
novels. Clive Cussler is certainly
not for everyone, but he deserves
a chance. I’ll always love his
books. He managed to engineer
a bridge between the childhood
days when my mother read books
out loud to me and now, when the
two of us read separately, silently,
side by side.
In defense of Clive Cussler
MIRIAM FRANCISCO
Daily Arts Writer
Chilean foreign film “A Fantastic
Woman” completely lives up to its
title, proving itself to be fantastic,
if not outstanding. “A Fantastic
Woman” is a consummate example
of giving minority gender identity
stories a voice in film, especially
with
visionary
direction
by
Chilean-Argentinian
director
Sebastián Lelio (“Gloria”) and
a breathtaking performance by
Daniela Vega (“The Guest”). It
is no shocker as to why it rivaled
American films this past season,
resulting in an Oscar win for Best
Foreign Language Film.
A story to be revered and
admired, “A Fantastic Woman”
underscores the complexities and
complications of love and loss, and
the quest for personal and gender
identity. Marina, played by Vega,
is a transgender woman living as
a singer in Chile, dating an older,
wealthier
divorcée,
Orlando
(Francisco Reyes, “Neruda”). But
despite some tropes of relationships
with a vast age difference, Marina
doesn’t use Orlando for his money.
Marina doesn’t care about any of
that. In fact, the only possession
she desires after his passing is the
dog they share. Orlando provides
her with one thing that no one else
can: He sees her. When Orlando
suddenly suffers an aneurysm and
dies, Marina is forced to confront
prejudices and suffer abuse from
Orlando’s family. They try and tear
her down, but she perseveres.
“A Fantastic Woman” is also a
tale about self-preservation and
resistance. Lelio doesn’t give us
much of a glimpse into Marina’s
backstory
because
we
don’t
require it. The film’s dialogue is
simple and deliberate. Based on
Vega’s performance — its nuance,
tenderness and strength — we can
infer it hasn’t been easy for her, but
it’s not overly sentimental and it
doesn’t make us feel pity for her. She
is ridiculed by Orlando’s ex-wife,
who calls her a “chimera,” or a
fire-breathing monster in Greek
mythology. The investigator who
questions her after Orlando dies
refuses to call her Marina because
he knows she is trans. But none of
this surprises Marina; she doesn’t
expect anything from anyone,
which makes the loss of her love,
her one piece of hope, all the more
heartbreaking. Vega herself, who
brings Marina’s fortitude to life, is
a big trans rights crusader in South
America. This will not be Vega’s
last stellar performance.
Vega tells the story through
her acting, while the rest of the
story is told through avant-garde
cinematography by Lelio that
elevates
the
film’s
aesthetics
into an artful and abstract piece
of work. Despite some sleepy
moments, daytime shots are met
with sensual, dream-like night
sequences with colored lights
and glitter that reflect Marina’s
deepest desires of peace — to be
met back with her love and be on
the stage. Sparkly choreographed
sequences of Marina dancing and
singing, breaking the fourth wall
and distancing from the reality of
the piece, don’t allow us to forget
about her suffering. And the
quite striking and unusual shot of
Marina walking as the wind pushes
back on her, used in the trailer, is an
in-your-face visual allegory of her
defiance in a world that repeatedly
tries to knock her down.
Really, “A Fantastic Woman” is
about not judging others. It urges
us to be accepting and to open
our minds and our hearts. It’s
heartbreaking, at times too tragic
to even watch, but by the end, we’re
all on Marina’s side.
Daniela Vega transcends
in ‘A Fantastic Woman’
SOPHIA WHITE
Daily Arts Writer
FILM REVIEW
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
“A Fantastic
Woman”
Sony Pictures
Classics
State Theatre
He’s not a high-
brow literary
darling by any
means; his style
and content
is more like a
lovechild of
Stephen Coonts
and Stephen King.
The year 2002 was quite a
wild time in pop culture. Justin
and Britney called it quits for
good, Nickelback had one of the
biggest songs of the year, Apple
released its second-generation
iPod with 20 whole gigabytes of
storage and a small show called
“American Idol” made its debut
on television screens across the
nation.
Since then, a lot has changed.
Justin
Timberlake
is
now
known more for a botched
Super Bowl performance than
his early-aughts relationship,
Nickelback is nothing more
than an Internet meme, Apple
released the iPhone X and is
on the verge of taking over the
world and “American Idol”... is
on its 16th season.
That’s right. Much to the
surprise of many — including
myself — “American Idol” is
still going on. Gone are the days
of Simon, Paula and Randy.
Now in their places sit Luke
Bryan, Katy Perry and Lionel
Richie. Oh, but Ryan Seacrest is
still there — some things never
change.
With ratings that have been
on a constant decline since
season seven, one begins to
wonder why “American Idol”
even bothers to go on. Though
a
highly-rated
“farewell
season” premiered on Fox in
2015, the competition show
has
been
resurrected
on
ABC
for
its
latest
season.
Yet it is no longer producing
hit-making
superstars
like
season
one
winner
Kelly
Clarkson
and
season
four
winner
Carrie
Underwood.
Instead, it’s become a show
unacknowledged by a general
audience, only coming into the
public eye only when it stirs up
controversy.
So why does “American Idol”
persist? Why can’t cable TV
just let it die? Maybe it’s just
the way the industry works, but
maybe it’s something bigger.
Americans
are
suckers
for
the “self-made man.” It’s the
reason why every trust-fund
baby politician weaves stories
of how their great-great-great
grandfather’s
tailoring
shop
helped them get into Harvard
Law. And it’s the reason that
shows like “American Idol” stay
on the air.
While most of America has
changed in the past 16 years,
“American Idol” has stayed
consistent.
Despite
a
new
channel and a new set of judges,
everything from the format
of the show to the contestants
are identical to the series circa
2002. Picture the quintessential
“American
Idol”
contestant:
some 24-year-old white boy
with a guitar, lower-middle
class parents — maybe raised
by a single mother to really
spice things up — who just quit
his 9-to-5 job to pursue his real
dream of becoming a star. He’s
still showing up to auditions,
and the American people eat it
up. They cheer for him, pray for
him and want to see him win,
because if he can make it big,
maybe anybody can.
Killing
“American
Idol”
basically kills the American
Dream. The American Dream is
more than just the go-to answer
when you’re in an American
literature class but haven’t read
the book and the professor asks
what “The Death of a Salesman”
is all about. It’s the foundation
of shows like “American Idol”
and “The X Factor” and “The
Voice,” shows that have fallen
out of popularity to programs
centered around the rich and
the fabulous. It may be a stretch,
but Americans still need to
trick themselves into believing
that anyone, no matter their
background, can succeed. Just
the existence of “American
Idol” perpetuates this false
reality that anyone can become
whatever they dream to be,
whether it’s a star, a CEO or a
senator.
Is
“American
Idol”
an
elaborate propaganda machine
used to blind Americans to the
true societal barriers that keep
us secured in our socioeconomic
and cultural bubbles? Doubtful.
It is more representative of a
national culture that longs for
hopeful stories of the home-
grown boy who made it big.
And if reality refuses to give
that to us, at least Ryan Seacrest
always will.
The return of ‘American
Idol’ & letting things die
SAMANTHA DELLA FERA
Daily Arts Writer
TV NOTEBOOK
6A — Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com