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Monday, February 11, 2019 — 5A
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Call: #734-418-4115
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By Joe Deeney
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/11/19
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
02/11/19
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Monday, February 11, 2019
ACROSS
1 Org. whose
product is
measured in
barrels
5 Pillar of Islam
involving travel
9 School near
Windsor Castle
13 Hugs-and-kisses
symbols
14 Pacific island
host of two
“Survivor”
seasons
15 Medical image
16 Analogy words
17 Modern John
Hancock
19 Epithet never
actually used by
Jimmy Cagney
21 Angsty music
genre
22 LAX posting
23 Elect (to)
24 Dressed down
28 Songwriter Porter
30 Frightening
31 Red wine choice
33 Fairy tale baddie
34 Be victorious
35 Was in debt to
36 WWII naval
threat
38 Picnic invaders
39 Grass roll
40 Shopping
complex
41 Go by, as time
43 They’re planted
in snow while
skiing
45 Civil rights icon
Parks
46 Largest living
bird
47 Emails a dupe to
48 Couture initials
51 Tapped-off cigar
remnant
52 Hours for cuppas
54 Cord cutters’
reception aids
58 Air filter acronym
59 __ hop: gym
dance
60 Infatuation
61 “I’ll take care of
that”
62 Log splitters
63 Spade of
handbags
64 Education
support gps.
DOWN
1 Nitrous __
2 Theorize
3 *Grade-boosting
option
4 Crotchety oldster
5 Attacks
6 Got off a horse
7 XKE, for short
8 *Singer’s spouse
who co-wrote
“Ring of Fire”
9 Raves about
10 Play about
Capote
11 Rowing tool
12 TV scientist
whose show has
won 19 Emmys
14 *Chess situation
that forces a
draw
18 Love, to Luigi
20 “Carpe diem”
initials
24 Game Gear
creator
25 Typical mortgage
requirement,
and what ends
each answer to a
starred clue
26 Gives off
27 Closely packed
29 Out-of-date
30 Deceives
31 Meno __: not as
fast, in music
32 Furry C-3PO
worshipers
37 “Eww!”
38 Small batteries
40 Somewhat wet
42 Nowhere to be
found
44 Practical jokes
47 __ and desist
49 Vintage photo
tone
50 Exams for
aspiring judges,
briefly
52 Item listed
above “u-bolt”
in a hardware
glossary?
53 Blue-roofed
eatery
54 Airport safety org.
55 __ populi: popular
opinion
56 Blackjack half
57 Gun lobby org.
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Answer:
michigandaily.com
Hong
Kong
is
a
cinematographer’s
dream.
Intoxicatingly
busy
and
naturally beholden to beautiful
landscapes,
there’s
always
material to work with. It’s just
the director’s job to pick out
what to focus on. From classic
Wong Kar Wai films to more
recent Western ones, the city has
always been a favored backdrop
to moody, evocative stories. Why
not try a murder mystery?
In the ITV show, “White
Dragon,” (now hosted by Amazon
Prime)
British
university
professor Jonah Mulray (John
Simm, “Life on Mars”) discovers
his wife has been killed in a car
accident halfway across the
world in Hong Kong. He travels
there to identify the body, but
quickly figures out that his wife’s
real life was more complicated
than it seems. A businesswoman
who split her time between
London and Hong Kong, it seems
her life was also split into two
vastly different realms.
From then on, it’s a familiar
story. Jonah, along with an
(extremely) unlikely accomplice,
tries to prove that his wife was
actually
murdered
by
some
unsavory
actors.
The
other
mysterious figures that drop
in and out of the narrative
aren’t quite developed enough
to make the mystery itself
as intriguing as it should be.
However, Simm and his Hong
Kong-ese counterpart Anthony
Wong
(“Internal
Affairs”),
who
plays
a
Hong
Kong
ex-cop named David Chen
are solid performers, enough
to make the show engaging.
Both are cerebral, introverted
yet
emotional
characters,
convincingly
distrusting
of
each other yet bound by Jonah’s
wife’s biggest secret.
There’s also a backdrop of
corruption within government
and big business that complicate
the case and perhaps play a big
role in it itself. It isn’t quite
explored enough in the early
episodes, but there is always a
danger of the various factions
and storylines becoming too
convoluted
(which
usually
happens when the screenwriters
get a bit too far up into their own
… ). David’s daughter Lau (Katie
Leung, “One Child”), a budding
activist, is a convincing link
between the family drama and
the more grandiose aspects of
the story. Leung’s performance
accurately reflects the particular
brand
of
bitterness
that
teenagers possess while avoiding
the trap of overdoing the “bitter
teenager” act.
As I mentioned before, it’s
hard to mess up shooting in Hong
Kong. To the cinematographers’
credit here, they don’t. While
almost a cliché at this point,
the neon extravaganzas and
vistas the city contains are a
perfect backdrop for a story
of international intrigue and
mystery. Jonah’s stature and
plight feel appropriately small in
the skyscraper maze, mirroring
his
desire
to
know
what
happened to his wife compared
to the larger forces that appear
to be at work.
“White Dragon” is probably
compelling enough to grab your
attention for the span of eight,
relatively short episodes. But
it treads on relatively well-
trodden ground, and does not
contain any stand-out elements
or performances that make it a
must watch.
Drama in ‘White Dragon’
TV REVIEW
PRIME VIDEO
‘White
Dragon’
Series Premiere
Prime Video
Streaming Now
SAYAN GHOSH
Daily New Media Editor
Things
have
quieted
down a bit in Park City.
The
streets
are
not
as
crowded, a little less hectic.
The hoards of Sundance-
goers
have
dwindled
to
a
meager
smattering
of
people. With the decline
in the temporary influx of
the town’s population, the
screenings are less packed.
The celebrity guests have
made their appearances, and
some have already traveled
back to the warm cocoon
of Hollywood, with a few
critics trailing behind. The
makeshift
studios
where
entertainment publications
hosted
exclusive
parties
have been broken down and
emptied out. The downtown
area
starts
to
slowly
resemble
a
ghost
town,
but one that maintains an
unusual calmness.
With only four days left,
I’ve passed the midpoint
of the festival. While the
nonstop
watching
and
writing
about
the
films
I see have exhausted my
brain cells and made me
a tad restless, I’ve grown
comfortable
with
the
screening routine. Enough
time has passed where the
procedure before for every
screening has become pretty
simple and standard. Outside
the theater, I enter a white
tent, open up my jacket and
backpack for the security
guards and ask one of the
volunteers,
all
of
whom
are dressed in puffy purple
Kenneth Cole jackets, to
direct me to a waiting line.
Once inside, a volunteer
scans my press pass and
stamps my hand. Sitting
in the middle of the most
middle row is absolutely
key for a prime viewing
experience. If I miss lunch,
I’ll grab a small popcorn
and an apple — will my
stomach ever forgive me
for what I’ve done to it?
Before the projector starts
up, a volunteer makes a
brief introduction of the
film and its running time.
The lights then dim. Some
stragglers make their way
to their seats. A recap of the
previous day at the festival
plays before launching into
a rapid-fire slideshow set to
a tribal drum beat of images
and
words
that
express
the mission of Sundance:
Experiment.
Challenge.
Question. Break.
‘Big
Time
Adolescence’:
Sundance loves coming-
of-age
stories.
From
the
critical
and
commercial
smash
of
2006’s,
“Little
Miss
Sunshine,”
to
the
2015 Grand Jury Prize and
Audience
Award
winner,
“Me and Earl and the Dying
Girl,”
the
festival
can’t
get enough of supporting
movies that center around
the awkward and endlessly
relatable lives of teenagers.
But
how,
then,
does
a
coming-of-age film identify
itself among the crowded
slate of projects like it? With
his hilarious and heartfelt
Linklater-ian feature debut
“Big
Time
Adolescence,”
writer-director Jason Orley
(“The Intern”) might have
an idea.
While it may not be a total
game-changer
for
youth-
oriented cinema, “Big Time
Adolescence” benefits from
the intoxicating charisma
of its two leads and a strong
script filled with punchy
one-liners and smart, sharp
dialogue. The film’s opening
voiceover, narrated by the
protagonist
Mo
(Griffin
Gluck, “American Vandal”),
admittedly doesn’t inspire
much confidence, being that
it’s a very common, overused
device used in coming-of-
age films that prioritizes
exposition
over
simply
showing the action on its
own (see: the 2013 Sundance
favorite “The Spectacular
Now”). Luckily, it’s the only
time during the entire film
where it occurs, dedicating
the rest of the story to the
kinetic relationship between
Mo and his sister’s college
dropout stoner ex-boyfriend
Zeke (Pete Davidson, “Set It
Up”).
The two have a friendship
like any other: They grab
burgers
together,
drive
around town, shop for snacks
and booze and talk about
their romantic lives. The
only difference is that Mo
is still in high school, while
Zeke
is
skating
through
his 20s with a carefree
aimlessness.
Mo
prefers
spending more time at Zeke’s
bachelor pad than with kids
his own age, a habit that irks
Mo’s concerned dad Reuben
(a
wonderful
Jon
Cryer,
“Two and a Half Men”).
When Mo’s social climber
classmate Stacey (Thomas
Barbusca,
“Searching”)
propositions
to
start
a
drug-and-alcohol-dealing
business at the popular high
school senior parties, Mo
asks Zeke, a former high
school party king, for help.
This
situation
leads
the
two friends on a hysterical
journey
of
self-discovery
and inevitably, a dramatic
unraveling of sorts.
Though Griffin Gluck does
a fantastic job, Pete Davidson
is the real star of the show,
delivering a career-defining
performance for a role that
was made for him. Exercising
the
witty,
observational
humor from his time as a
cast member on “Saturday
Night
Live,”
Davidson
continues to justify why he’s
one of the brightest and most
entertaining
comedians
to grace the screen and
the stage in a long while.
With every setup to a joke,
Davidson always manages
to come prepared with a
satisfying payoff, either in
the form of a goofy facial
expression or a snarky, gut-
busting quip.
It’s hard not to recognize
the
obvious
parallels
between
Davidson’s
character and his real-life
persona — they both smoke
weed on a daily basis and
have
a
wickedly
vulgar
sense of humor. Even his
Hillary
Clinton
tattoo
and love for “Call Me By
Your
Name”
wunderkind
Timothée
Chalamet
are
referenced
at
one
point.
But what’s most fascinating
about this blurring of worlds
is how Davidson’s heavily
publicized
image
almost
color
in
the
existential
conflicts
Zeke
faces.
He
brings a pathos to Zeke’s lack
of ambition that twists the
lonely stoner archetype into
something more melancholic
and meditative. Zeke isn’t
just drifting through the
abyss of young adulthood,
but
rather
navigating
through the sadness of being
unable to escape the days of
high school, when life was
simpler,
responsibilities
were less serious and the
future less daunting.
Though
Gluck
and
Davidson carry the story
quite nicely and effectively,
there are a few faults in
“Big
Time
Adolescence”
that prevent it from being a
truly remarkable film. These
flaws rest mostly with the
main
female
characters,
Mo’s love interest, Sophie
(Oona
Laurence,
“The
Beguiled”),
and
Zeke’s
girlfriend,
Holly
(Sydney
Sweeney, “Under the Silver
Lake”). Both actresses do
their best in squeezing some
dimension out of their half-
baked
roles,
but
Holly’s
relegation to a sexualized
spectacle
and
Sophie’s
use of sarcasm as a way of
flirting feel a little old-hat
and overdone. Considering
the surprising number of
female-led
coming-of-age
films at this year’s Sundance,
it’s a bummer that “Big Time
Adolescence”
can’t
seem
to match the complexity of
its male characters with its
female characters.
Still, these imperfections
aren’t as glaring as they seem.
Zeke and Mo don’t always
get away with the dumb
hijinks they find themselves
in,
which
sometimes
involve
both
Holly
and
Sophie. By facing up to
the consequences of their
actions, Zeke and Mo learn
that their unconventional
friendship can only last for
so long before it collapses
onto itself. In the end, “Big
Time Adolescence” comes
out victorious as a loose
yet sturdy hangout comedy
that spins some thoughtful,
clever
commentary
on
the absurd highs and life-
altering lows of adolescence.
‘Sweetheart’:
Survival movies are bent
on one end goal: seeking
a way back to the world
from which we came. After
being marooned far away
from civilization, the main
character
of
a
survival
movie — usually the only
character in the story, unless
you’re counting flashbacks
or hallucinations of their
loved ones — is forced to
fight their way through the
dangerous unpredictability
of nature, either by sea
(“Life of Pi,” “Adrift”) or by
land (“Cast Away,” “Lost”).
J.D.
Dillard’s
small
but
terrifying creature feature
“Sweetheart” explores both
scenarios, but differentiates
itself from other survival
narratives by examining the
real malevolent forces that
bring unwanted terror to
our daily lives.
Beginning
in
the
unknown
depths
of
the
ocean, “Sweetheart” opens
on Jenn (a ferocious Kiersey
Clemons,
“Hearts
Beat
Loud”),
a
young
woman
washed ashore on a deserted
island after what seemed
like a shipwreck. She’s quick
to see that no one else is
there, with the exception
of her two friends — one on
the verge of death, the other
already dead. The horror
doesn’t stop there. After
discovering
a
few
items
left
behind
by
previous
survivors,
Jenn
begins
to
trace
the
mysterious
source responsible for their
disappearance. In what is
quite possibly one of the
most magnificent antagonist
reveals I’ve seen in a thriller,
she realizes the cause comes
from
a
menacing
water
monster that feasts on its
prey at night.
As
Jenn
scrambles
to
protect
herself
while
finding a way off the island,
“Sweetheart” deepens into
a stomach-churning slow-
burn. The film’s constant
switching
between
day
and night is a classic yet
somehow perfect way to
build
suspense,
involving
us
in
Jenn’s
agony
and
helplessness but giving us
enough room to breathe in
between. Clemons’s fierce
physical performance also
anchors the nearly silent
first act from drowning into
a total bore. Known for more
light-hearted comedies like
“Dope” and “Neighbors 2:
Sorority Rising,” Clemons
and her remarkable ability
to
swing
from
terrified
and trapped to defiant and
robust proves that she’s no
one trick pony. At a certain
point, though, it’s hard to
tell where “Sweetheart” is
going and what point it’s
trying to make that hasn’t
already been expressed in
other films of the ilk.
From the Sundance Film
Fest: Day six in paradise
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
SAM ROSENBERG
Daily Arts Writer
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com