MINIONS (Rated PG)

The “Despicable Me” films were so wildly popular, thanks in large measure to the Minions, that the single-celled yellow organisms, having delighted audiences young and old as the henchmen for the evil Gru, would inevitably get their own film.

Designed as a prequel to the “Despicable Me” franchise, “Minions” is much more than that. It is a delightful origin story that informs as to how these freakish survivors of nature have been on planet Earth since the dawn of time.

One might fault this film, directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda, for the lack of a cohesive, well-structured story, but that is of little concern for the comic relief provided by the Minions. It’s no small matter that Coffin provides the voice for the trio of primary Minions.

The Minions have always sought to serve the most evil master they could find, starting in prehistoric times when they worked for Mr. T Rex, accidentally causing his demise after bumping him into a volcano.

Every villain to whom they pledged unwavering allegiance somehow meets a bad end, whether it’s during a celebration of Dracula’s 357th birthday or being held responsible for the rout of Napoleon and his soldiers at the Battle of Waterloo.

As a result of centuries of misfortune in the service of villains, the Minions were banished to the dreary loneliness and depression of the South Pole, where games of makeshift soccer failed to alleviate their boredom.

Acting like the big brother to his fellow Minions, Kevin takes the lead in suggesting an expedition to find a world where the yellow-skinned creatures can find their true calling once again.

Kevin is joined by one-eyed Stuart, the rebellious teenager type who doesn’t care about the mission but wants to play music and talk to girls. The Bob, the wide-eyed innocent and the smallest Minion, reluctantly signs up for exploratory duty.

The trio of Kevin, Bob and Stuart, often bickering and slapping each other around, reminds one of The Three Stooges for the physical comedy of their slapstick antics. But Bob may be the funniest of the bunch, as he is easily distracted by bright lights, a flickering TV set or a teddy bear left on the ground.

Venturing forth from the South Pole, our intrepid trio of explorers ends up in New York City, circa 1968, where they find their signature denim dungarees hanging out to dry on a clothesline, ripe for stealing.

By watching TV (there’s a funny bit with three contestants on “The Dating Game” having the same names as our Minion trio), Kevin and his buddies learn of Villain Con being held in Orlando, Florida, which is viewed at the time as undeveloped swamp land.

Hitchhiking to Orlando, the Minions are picked up by the appearance of an all-American family driving a station wagon packed with children. But Walter Nelson (Michael Keaton), his wife (Allison Janney) and the kids are accomplished bank robbers also on their way to Villain Con.

Once in Orlando, and still on a quest to find the most evil employer (the Nelson family is just not bad enough), Kevin and his pals are entranced by Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), billed at Villain Con as the world’s first female super-villain.

Elegantly attired in a bright red dress and sporting a bouffant hairstyle popular in that era, Scarlet puts on a dazzling stage show to find worthy new henchmen. No surprise here to tell you that Kevin, Bob and Stuart have found new employment.

With the help of her foppish, mad scientist husband Herb (Jon Hamm), Scarlet hatches a ludicrous plan to become the Queen of England by having the Minions steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London.

To be sure, it is cockeyed scheme, but it allows for great scenes inside Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth (Jennifer Saunders), who proves feisty when her throne is under siege.

Of course, the Minions screw up Scarlet’s grand plot when Bob manages to retrieve the Sword in the Stone (think Excalibur) and briefly becomes the King of England, much to the consternation of an unhinged Scarlet.

Bob, like all Minions, doesn’t speak English, so his public speech to his subjects is baffling until he utters a single word they understand. That’s part of the fun of the Minions is how they speak in excitable gibberish, only rarely dropping an intelligible English or Spanish word.

“Minions” is rife with agreeable nonsense, where chaos follows the Minions, resulting in havoc at every turn. These lovable creatures provide a great deal of laughs.

The very funny “Minions” should prove enjoyable for all ages. Adults will appreciate many cultural references that youngsters are not likely to recognize.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

I love short poems, and Wendy Videlock is very good at writing them. This is from her book Slingshots and Love Plums, from Able Muse Press. She lives in Colorado.

A Relevance

One
teeny tiny
worm

making the earth
turn.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright 2015 by Wendy Videlock, “A Relevance,” from her book of poems, Slingshots and Love Plums (Able Muse Press, 2015). Poem reprinted by permission of Wendy Videlock and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2015 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-06. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Summer Concert Series will host gator beat band Gator Nation at Library Park on Friday, July 3.

The concert starts at 6:30 p.m. at the park, located on Park Street across from Lakeport City Hall.

For more information about the artist and the event visit http://www.kxbx.com/page.php?page_id=131 .

COBB, Calif. – The Friends of Boggs Mountain (FOBM) invite kids ages 5 to 105 to free outdoor “nature meets art” mini workshops to be held at Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest this July.

Two arts and crafts instructors, including Cobb artist Hannah Meredith, will combine a delightful outdoors experience with creative artistic expression using “forest litter” – pine cones, leaves, lichen.

The nature experience may include a brief hike combined with qigong, an energizing and mind-calming body-mind exercise.

The workshops will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, July 11; Wednesday, July 15; and Saturday, July 18.

The mini-workshops are free of charge; however, children under 18 must be accompanied by their parents or guardians who will need to sign a liability waiver.

The site is wheelchair-accessible with assistance. Bring folding chairs and something to drink. Water and light refreshments will also be available.

Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest is at the end of Forestry Road, about 1.5 miles north of Cobb off Highway 175.

To RSVP and for more info, please contact Gigi at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 707-809-5299.

TERMINATOR: GENISYS (Rated PG-13)

Arnold Schwarzenegger once famously declared “I’ll be back.”

While a comeback in politics seems unlikely, the former governor lives up to that promise as the iconic cyborg in the latest version of “Terminator.”

“Terminator: Genisys,” this time around, does not spring from the fertile mind of writer-director James Cameron, even though his previous efforts obviously inspire what happens now.

According to producer David Ellison, this fifth “Terminator” is not a remake, a reboot or a sequel. This contention is debatable but it’s certainly not a sequel to “Terminator: Salvation,” and we’re glad for that.

Ellison, along with his producing partner Dana Goldberg, assembled a creative team that has re-imagined a venerable franchise based on James Cameron source material.

This effort to pay homage to Cameron and yet to veer off in new directions results in a stand-alone film where familiarity with the previous installments is unnecessary. The result could be a source of irritation to fans of the original.

Of course, Schwarzenegger’s Terminator is an icon who stands the test of time. On one more than one occasion, his character says: “I’m old, not obsolete.” Truer words have not been spoken lately on the big screen, which are validated by plenty of physical action.

The great fun of “Terminator: Genisys” is that it is full of exciting action sequences and that it’s time-traveling ambition skips around between 1984, 1997, 2017 and 2029, a situation which may prove unsettling to everyone familiar with previous timelines.

The basic premise remains that the future of mankind rests with the safety and protection of Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke “Game of Thrones”), a tough cookie in her own right, proving to be adept at handling various weapons.

In the year 2029, the remaining humans have formed a resistance movement, under the leadership of John Connor (Jason Clarke), which is engaged in a full-on battle against the robotic henchmen of the evil Skynet system.

Learning that Skynet is sending a robot assassin back in time to kill Connor’s mother, Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), a fearless warrior, is sent back to protect the life of Sarah Connor so that she is able to give birth to her son, the future hero of the resistance.

Oddly enough, Sarah has been under the watchful eye of the aging Terminator, who is referred to now as the Guardian but is fondly called “Pops” by the mother-to-be of the resistance movement’s leader.

I seem to recall from the original 1984 movie that Schwarzenegger was then the T-800, a killer cyborg sent back in time from 2029 to kill Sarah Connor. So now things are bit different than what Kyle Reese expected to find.

Interestingly, when Reese is sent back to 1984, much like what happened in the original film, he arrives naked in a dingy alley in downtown Los Angeles and steals the pants of a derelict.

Immediately, Reese is engaged by a police officer, but it is actually a resolute new android, a more efficient and skilled terminator (Korean actor Byung-hung Lee), who by virtue of his robotic origins is indestructible.

Meanwhile, also occurring in 1984 Los Angeles is the appearance of the Terminator at the Griffith Park Observatory, where a face-off begins between a younger and older, graying version of the cyborg, and a trio of punks lose their clothes to a naked Schwarzenegger.

Honestly, there was a moment of confusion about distinguishing between the good and evil androids, but there is little need to dwell on it. Let’s leave it to the ardent fans to argue the merits.

Soon enough, the valiant support of Pops, the faithful Guardian, is readily apparent, as he joins Sarah and Reese to jump in time to 2017 only days before the final countdown to the launch of Skynet’s operating system known as Genisys.

It’s most frightening that in the near future of 2017 the entire population seems obsessed with Skynet’s release of Genisys, far worse than the herd mentality that follows every new technical device released by Apple.

The trio of Sarah, Reese and the guardian Terminator are focused on blowing up Skynet’s computer system before it enslaves and dooms mankind to a life of unimaginable horror and despair.

On the plus side, rather than trying to figure out the nuances of time travel and the jarring, confounding plot twists, “Terminator: Genisys” is an ambitious effort for exciting thrill action, from blowing up the Golden Gate Bridge to crashing helicopters and cars in numerous chases.

There’s much more to be said about the past and future events that unfold in “Terminator: Genisys” but to reveal them here would be a disservice to inadvertently disclose spoilers. Stay for the end credits for a scene that may validate Schwarzenegger’s famous declaration.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Stop by the Ely Stage Stop & Country Museum for some old time American fiddle music on Sunday, July 5. 

The place will be decked out in red, white, and blue and the musicians promise to add some patriotic tunes to the round robin jam session. Musicians will play in the Ely barn from noon until 2 p.m.

Donations made during the jam benefit both the Ely Stage Stop, helping to fund the construction of the blacksmith complex, and the Old Time Fiddlers Association District 10, who uses it to partially fund their scholarship programs.

Come early to picnic and check out the latest museum acquisitions and displays. In the main house you can tip your hat to a newly loaned display of ladies’ Victorian era hats, hat boxes and hat pins, complements of Barbara White, local specialist in period clothing. You can also still enjoy the Lake County dairy history display in case you haven’t caught that one yet.

This free, family friendly event can be enjoyed by all, young and old alike.  Enjoy the music with beverages and tasty treats provided by the docents. Bring your own wine and sip it in Ely Stage Stop wine glasses that are available for purchase. 

Up for heartier fare? This Sunday local Pogo’s Pizza will be on site offering pizza, burgers, hot dogs and beer for purchase. 

There will be the regular monthly raffle near the end of the jam and more chances to purchase raffle tickets for the “Barns, Birds and Quilts” raffle that will celebrate a winner later in the year. Those items will be on display in the barn during the jam. 

Home to the Lake County Historical Society, the stage stop is located at 9921 State Highway 281 (Soda Bay Road) in Kelseyville, near Clearlake Riviera, just north of Highway 29-Kit's Corner. Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

Fiddlers’ Jams occur the first Sunday of every month from noon until 2 p.m.

The August jam will take place on Aug. 2.

Living history events featuring local historians are held on the fourth Saturday of every month, again, from noon to 2 p.m. Catch the next one on July 25.

Visit www.elystagestop.com or www.lakecountyhistory.org , check out the stage stop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/elystagestop or call the museum at 707-533-9990.