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By Jeff Stillman
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/27/18

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

11/27/18

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Tuesday, November 27, 2018

ACROSS
1 Transvaal treks
8 Quarters
15 Big building
16 Political power 
structure
17 Asian setting 
of a 2017 PBS 
documentary by 
Ken Burns and 
Lynn Novick
18 Not belowdecks
19 Snakelike fish
20 Golf club part
22 Mend one’s sinful 
ways
23 Paul of “Ant-Man”
25 GI entertainers
26 Many soap opera 
meetings
27 Scottish caps
29 Ray of fast food
31 Nuclear pioneer 
Enrico
33 Kickoff aid
34 Physical therapy, 
briefly
39 French __ soup
40 Appt. book blocks
41 Mountains 
between Europe 
and Asia
42 Channel for 
school sports
43 Frequently, in 
verse
44 December temp
45 Skater Lipinski
47 Combat vet’s 
affliction, briefly
48 Bombard with 
noise
52 Tax whiz
54 Spanish “this”
57 Nonresident 
hospital 
employee
58 Gutter locale
60 Party bowlful
61 Brutish
63 Dilapidated digs
65 Contrived 
sentimentality
66 Funded
67 Like the oldest 
bread
68 Emails anew

DOWN
1 Break, as ties
2 French parting
3 *Educational 
outing
4 Toward the stern

5 Mark on a table 
from a wet glass
6 Wax-winged flier 
of myth
7 Their winners go 
to the finals
8 The 1% in 1% 
milk
9 Portuguese wine 
city
10 *Social elite
11 Sounding like 
Popeye
12 Tastes
13 “Wish I __ said 
that”
14 Decides to leave 
in the manuscript
21 *Gambler’s stoic 
expression
24 Bourne portrayer
28 *Quick-cook side 
dish
30 Enjoy a recliner
31 Enemy
32 Nav. rank
33 Norse god with a 
hammer
35 Dry-__ board
36 Without a doubt 
... or what the 
starts of the 
answers to 
starred clues are?

37 PC key near 
Ctrl
38 Org. with merit 
badges
46 Chronological 
records
47 Stately 
16th-century 
dance
48 Financial 
obligations
49 Wield, as 
influence

50 Perplexed
51 __ monitor: 
OB/GYN 
device
53 Peeling device
55 Like many 
shower stalls
56 Opinion 
columns
59 JFK postings
62 Tennis 
do-over
64 Furrow maker

Classifieds

Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

FOR RENT

SHOWTIME

In June 2015, two inmates 

escaped from the maximum-
security Clinton Correctional 
Facility in the small upstate 
New York town of Dannemora. 
The subsequent manhunt for 
the two men caused schools 

to cancel class, highways to 
close and ultimately accrued a 
cost of over 20 million dollars. 
The 
investigation 
revealed 

a story much more complex 
and bizarre than originally 
thought.

Ben 
Stiller 
tackles 
this 

stranger-than-fiction 
story 

in “Escape at Dannemora.” 
Benicio Del Toro (“Sicario: Day 
of the Soldado”) and Paul Dano 
(“Okja”) play the two escapees, 
Richard Matt and David Sweat. 
Both are convicted murderers 
who were placed in a block 
in the prison that granted 
them extra privileges such 
as 
televisions 
and 
cooking 

stations. Their escape is aided 
by 
Tilly 
Mitchell 
(Patricia 

Arquette, “Boyhood”), a prison 
worker who is romantically 
and sexually involved with the 
two men.

Evoking 
classic 
prison 

movies 
such 
as 
“The 

Shawshank 
Redemption,” 

Stiller masterfully creates an 
atmosphere 
that 
accurately 

reflects 
the 
harshness 
of 

life in prison in the desolate 
tundra of upstate New York. 
Yet compared with what we 
would expect, Matt and Sweat 
are shown to have (relatively 
speaking) idyllic lives in the 
prison. Matt is an artist, and 
he exploits his talent to gain 
favors 
from 
other 
prison 

guards. 
Sweat, 
while 
less 

charismatic and mysterious, is 
heavily involved in the prison’s 
tailoring workshop, which is 
where he gets involved with 
Mitchell.

While 
all 
three 
lead 

performances are exceptional, 
Arquette 
rises 
above 
the 

rest. Barely recognizable as 
a rather homely upstate New 
Yorker 
(complete 
with 
the 

region’s distinct accent), she 
is a fascinatingly sympathetic 
character. The first episode 
uses 
her 
testimony 
for 
a 

federal investigator, and from 
the minute we meet her, it is 
difficult to see her as anything 
other than a poor woman who 
is living vicariously through 
the fantasies she concocts with 
Sweat and later Matt.

Yet 
there 
is 
nothing 

exactly redeeming about any 
of 
these 
three 
characters. 

Matt and Sweat are cold-
blooded criminals and master 
manipulators, 
and 
while 

Mitchell is sympathetic, it’s 
difficult to ever justify her 
actions. So far, Stiller has not 
explored Mitchell’s life story 
enough to perhaps give a bit 
more context as to why she 
risked her life and career for 
such an outlandish plan.

Stiller opted to film several 

scenes 
in 
the 
village 
of 

Dannemora itself, capturing 
the area’s isolation and solitude, 
as well as its economically-

downtrodden landscape. There 
is a lot of further potential in 
exploring the region itself to 
explain the motivations of the 
characters.

Stiller’s drama directorial 

debut 
is 
a 
meticulously 

researched, 
planned 
and 

executed work. Brimming with 
potential and tension, “Escape 
at Dannemora” is a worthy 
watch for anyone interested in 
dark, gritty drama. 

SAYAN GHOSH
Daily Arts Writer

“Escape At 
Dannemora”

Showtime

Series premiere

Sundays @ 10 p.m.

‘Escape at Dannemora’ 
is a brilliant portrayal 
of a bizarre yet true story

TV REVIEW

Brimming 

with potential 

and tension, 

“Escape at 

Dannemora” is 

a worthy watch 

for anyone 

interested in 

dark, gritty 

drama

Would it really be a holly, 

jolly 
Christmas 
without 

the man, the myth and the 

legend that is Santa Claus? 
Doubtful. When the holidays 
roll around, Santa Claus seems 
to 
permeate 
nearly 
every 

aspect of our lives. We find 
him plastered on Coke bottles, 
posing 
in 
malls, 
adorning 

Christmas 
ornaments 
on 

trees and starring in favorite 
holiday flicks. Though Santa’s 
imprint on the most wonderful 
time of the year can appear 
in all different shapes and 

sizes, after watching “The 
Christmas Chronicles,” it is 
abundantly clear that Kurt 
Russell’s (“Escape from L.A.”) 
embodiment of old Saint Nick 
is exactly what we never knew 
we 
never 
needed. 
Aiming 

to be a family feel-good — 
through its wonky mixture 
of animation and live-action 
sequences, painfully poor jokes 
and ridiculous predictability — 
Netflix’s latest Christmas flick 
can’t quite bring the tidings of 
comfort and joy that it intends 
to.

The Harper family used to 

be all about Christmas — that is 
until their father, Doug (Oliver 
Hudson, “Walk of Shame”), 
the 
leader 
of 
all 
things 

holiday cheer, passes away. 
Spirited preteen Kate (Darby 
Camp, “Big Little Lies”), her 
moody and angst-ridden teen 
brother Teddy (Judah Lewis 
“Demolition”) 
and 
their 

overworked 
mother 
Claire 

(Kimberly 
Williams-Paisley, 

“Father of the Bride”) are left 

behind struggling to embrace 
Christmas 
without 
their 

SAMANTHA NELSON

Daily Arts Writer

Off-center ‘The Christmas 
Chronicles’ underwhelms

FILM REVIEW

father. On Christmas Eve, with 
their mother scheduled for an 
overnight shift at the hospital, 
Kate and Teddy take a break 
from their usual bickering and 
craft a scheme to catch Santa 
in the act on video. Though 
successful in meeting Santa, 
Kate and Teddy’s night takes a 
turn for the unexpected when 
they indirectly cause him to 
lose his bag of gifts and team 
of reindeer. The Harper kids 
soon find themselves thrown 
into a wild, magical adventure, 
helping the king of Christmas 
recover his lost items, in what 
proves to be a Christmas Eve 
they’ll never forget. 

Conceptually, the notion of 

an overnight ride in Santa’s 
sleigh, a run in with reindeer 
and elves and a trip to the 
North Pole, sounds like more 
than any eight-year-old could 
ever 
want 
for 
Christmas. 

That being said, when Santa 
is the sarcastic and rugged 
Russell, the reindeer look as 
fake as cardboard cutouts 
in the mall and the elves’ 
disposition is comparable to 
ewoks, the fantasy quickly 
turns nightmarish. Perhaps 
the most triggering aspect 
of the film is the bizarre 
interactions 
between 
out-

of-place, animated creatures 
like the unbearably annoying 
ewok-elves and live actors. 
The epitome of these strange 
encounters is exemplified in a 
scene where a posse of “bad-
guy” types, clad in leather, 
capture Teddy as he tries to 
secure the precious bag of 
gifts. All that really needs to 
be said about the events that 
follow is that a fight breaks out 
between the barely-foot-tall 
elves and the hardcore gang 

members. Yes, the elves win. 
And yes, it is painful to watch. 

Fundamentally debilitating 

to the premise of the film 

is that Russell plays Santa. 
Russell is a sleek, updated, 
21st 
century 
Santa. 
Santa 

2.0, if you will, orchestrates 
a 
grand, 
semi-risqué 
jazz 

performance in a prison (this 
really 
happens). 
But 
this 

modernized, snide-comment-
making version of “Santa” is 
unrecognizable to audiences, 
miles from the concept of 
“Santa” that we all know and 
love. Santa is not supposed 
to be filled with clever quips 
and 
boyish 
jokes. 
Call 
it 

traditional, 
but 
whatever 

happened to the big-bellied, 
white-haired grandpa figure 
with a calm temperament 
and an easy smile? Maybe 
what 
makes 
Russell’s 

personification of Santa is so 
frustrating and unbelievable 
is that, in acting so human, the 
mystery of the extraordinary 
man who delivers Christmas 
cheer each year without fail 
is unveiled. And we don’t like 
what we see.

The lure of a new Christmas 

movie is enticing, but this 
Christmas, it’s probably best 
to just stick with the classics. 
By showing us exactly what 
Santa isn’t, ironically, “The 
Christmas 
Chronicles” 

delivers 
the 
important 

reminder that the true beauty 
of Santa has nothing to do 
with seeing him in the flesh. 
Rather, it lies in the imagined 
idea of the mystical toy-maker 
with a twinkle in his eye. 
When face-to-face with Santa, 
his charm and wonder are 
dulled, suggesting that maybe 
we aren’t meant to understand 
his magic at all. Maybe all 
we have to do is be good, put 
cookies by the fire and believe 
without seeing.

NETFLIX

“The Christmas 

Chronicles”

Netflix

Russell’s 

personification 

of Santa is so 

frustrating and 

unbelievable is 

that, in acting 

so human, the 

mystery of the 

extraordinary 

man who delivers 

Christmas 

cheer each year 

without fail is 

unveiled. And we 

don’t like what 

we see

Netflix’s latest 

Christmas flick 

can’t quite bring 

the tidings of 

comfort and joy 

that it intends 

to

6 — Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

