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Arts & Life
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- Written by: Tim Riley
FANTASTIC FOUR (Rated PG-13)
Why? That’s the immediate question which comes to mind about the unnecessary reboot of “Fantastic Four,” starring four relative unknowns (except, perhaps, for Miles Teller) in the origin story of how the Marvel Comics superheroes came to possess their unique talents.
This “Fantastic Four,” as opposed, I think, to the two previous installments, spends more time delving into the childhood of Reed Richards, the whiz kid who exerts himself to building a teleportation machine for intergalactic travel, enlisting the help of his classmate Ben Grimm.
The young inventor Reed designs a unique matter transportation device that is cleverly cobbled together from parts scavenged from the salvage yard operated by Ben’s family.
Trial and error of endless experimentation often results in knocking out the power grid throughout the Oyster Bay, Long Island community. But the seventh grade scientist, a complete techno geek, is persistent in his belief that he can finesse his invention.
Years later, at the high school science fair, Miles Teller’s Reed Richards, assisted by Jamie Bell’s Ben Grimm, still fails to impress his dubious science teacher, but gains notice from Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey), dean of the Baxter Institute, a school and think tank.
Dr. Storm invites the young visionary to be a part of his elite group of brilliant students at Baxter Institute, an educational center dedicated to incubating the best new ideas from high school and college students.
Fortunately, the dean of the Baxter Institute spots gifted potential where lesser beings only see Reed’s prototype experiments to be nothing more than a menace to school property and society in general.
Boarding at the Manhattan-based research center, Reed becomes acquainted with Dr. Storm’s children. Sue Storm (Kate Mara), the adopted daughter, is a brilliant scientist and mathematician, and she figures prominently in the quartet of superheroes.
Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan) is first seen street racing in his fast car, looking like he may be auditioning for a role in the next “Fast and Furious” film. Like Vin Diesel and his cohorts, Johnny is a rebel who chafes under authority and the strict discipline of his father.
The Baxter program allows Reed to develop a space shuttle that runs on the breakthrough technology he first pioneered in his parents’ garage. Success is achieved when the shuttle transports a monkey to Planet Zero and back without evidence of any ill effects.
One night, Reed decides to test his device on human beings, so he enlists his pal Ben and Dr. Storm’s son Johnny. Also joining the expedition is fellow Baxter student Victor von Doom (Toby Kebbell), soon to become, no surprise to anyone, the ultimate villain.
Brilliant but temperamental, Victor is a computer programmer and hacker lured back to the Institute by Dr. Storm, as Victor had been previously working on the technology which Reed finalized with the Quantum Gate device.
Again, not surprisingly, the amateur astronauts’ mission goes horribly awry, leading to an explosion upon re-entry. Reed, Johnny and Ben are seriously injured, while Victor goes missing while walking around on the surface of another dimension that resembles a primordial Earth, simmering like residue of a volcanic eruption.
Sue, who stayed behind in the lab, is also seriously hurt when the space shuttle returns to its platform. Tim Blake Nelson’s Dr. Allen, the gum-chewing, unscrupulous Baxter board chairman, is only too quick to throw the quartet of young scientists under the bus.
As a result, the government quickly relocates the four young people to a top secret facility known as Area 57, where they are contained and probed like the alien beings they are suspected of having become.
Soon, the quartet exhibits unique physical conditions that provide them with incredible abilities. Reed can stretch his limbs into extraordinary shapes. Johnny can set himself on fire, becoming known as the Human Torch.
Sue can render herself invisible and create powerful force fields. Unlike the others who can go back to their original human condition, Ben is transformed into a permanent hulking rock creature known as The Thing, which becomes an incredibly destructive military weapon.
When Victor von Doom resurfaces, he ushers in the dawn of a new Armageddon because his previous bad temperament has metastasized into full-blown hatred for Planet Earth and civilization.
The inevitable confrontation on the forbidden lava-encrusted planet between Doom and the Fantastic Four arrives at a predictable conclusion, but with only a modicum of exciting action worthy of a superhero franchise.
The best thing going for “Fantastic Four” is that it clocks in at less than two hours, and adding to regret
when extra scenes don’t materialize, be warned that the end credits seem to run forever.
Beyond the hard core fan base for the Marvel Comics-to-big screen efforts, reasons to sit through “Fantastic Four” are difficult to formulate into a cohesive argument.
One senses that, in general, the superhero cinematic universe is not well-served by this entry.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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- Written by: Editor
MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – Over the past few weeks lives in Lake County have been dominated by the powerful intensity of nature through fire.
NATURE!, a new exhibit, opens Saturday, Aug. 15, with a reception from 6 to 8 pm, and will be on view until Sept. 27 at the Middletown Art Center, 21456 State Highway 175.
Who is master – nature or man? This new exhibit features work by 20 artists reflecting on the relationship between nature, humanity and art; highlighting wood, metal, earth, wax, or light; raw, fired, woven, beaten; sculpted, painted, printed, combined; captured on film or shaped into form.
NATURE! also will include the adjacent lot on the corner of highways 29 and 175 to showcase art work “in dialogue with nature.”
The center hopes to further develop the lot into a permanent sculpture garden, making an inviting addition to Middletown for residents and visitors to enjoy.
Openings at the new center have been well-attended and well-received. The receptions highlight art, music and community. In addition, The Middletown Art Center showcases other vibrant cultural events, and has become a compelling addition to life in Lake County.
Located at the junction of highways 29 and 175 in Middletown, the old Main Street Pavilion – Gymnasium has been transformed into a beautiful space for contemporary art and performance events.
The back portion of the building serves as a studio where classes in drawing, painting, ceramics and more, are offered for children, teens and adults.
The Middletown Art Center is open Thursdays, noon to 6 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 7 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 6 p.m.; or by appointment.
To check class offerings, or find out how to become a member or contribute, visit www.MiddletownArtCenter.org , call 707-809-8118 or email
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- Written by: Editor
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association (AMIA), the organization that works to support Anderson Marsh State Historic Park near Lower Lake, is excited about the upcoming Rita Hosking concert slated for Saturday, Sept. 12, at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport.
Proceeds from the concert, which is being presented by AMIA, will benefit the state park.
The headliner is the Rita Hosking Band, which includes Rita Hosking, Sean Feder and Bill Dakin.
Local vocalists InVoice along with the popular Contreras Brothers and the Johnsen Family Band also will be performing.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and Rita Hosking will start playing at 8:30 p.m. You also won’t want to miss special guest, Pat Ickes, a popular regional banjo player who will be playing pedal steel guitar with Rita.
Tickets are $25 each. As usual, refreshments will be available in the lobby and Thorn Hill will be pouring their excellent wine.
Sponsors for this event are being encouraged. “What better way to enjoy the show than sitting at a reserved seat at a table up front with complimentary wine and snacks,” said Don Coffin, AMIA Board member and the coordinator of this event.
Reserved seating is available for different levels of sponsorship including: $125 for two tickets; $250 for four tickets; and $500 for eight tickets.
The $500 level will also include mention on the AMIA Web site and other event publicity to show that you are a supporter of Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.
To sponsor this event, contact the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association at 707-995-2658; Don Coffin at 707-995-0658 or Roberta Lyons at 707-994-2024 or email
You can also go on the organization’s Web site, www.andersonmarsh.org , for information or “like” AMIA on Facebook.
Tickets are available for sale in Clearlake at the Catfish Coffee Shop, in Lakeport at Watershed Books and the Soper Reese Box Office.
Tickets also can be purchased online via the Soper Reese Web site, http://www.soperreesetheatre.com .
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- Written by: Ted Kooser
Any new book from Robert Morgan, be it poetry or prose, is a delightful event, and Dark Energy, recently published by Penguin, has lots of wonderful poems. Here’s a portrait that I especially like. Morgan lives in New York.
Heaven's Gate
In her nineties and afraid
of weather and of falling if
she wandered far outside her door,
my mother took to strolling in
the house. Around and round she’d go,
stalking into corners, backtrack,
then turn and speed down hallway, stop
almost at doorways, skirt a table,
march up to the kitchen sink and
wheel to left, then swing into
the bathroom, almost stumble on
a carpet there. She must have walked
a hundred miles or more among
her furniture and family pics,
mementos of her late husband.
Exercising heart and limb,
outwalking stroke, attack, she strode,
not restless like a lion in zoo,
but with a purpose and a gait,
and kept her eyes on heaven’s gate.
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. They do not accept unsolicited submissions. “Heaven’s Gate,” from DARK ENERGY by Robert Morgan, copyright 2015 by Robert Morgan. Used by permission of Viking Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. 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 2004-2006.