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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