DIVERGENT (Rated PG-13)

The dystopian future has become a commonplace staple of the cinema geared to young adults. From “Twilight” to “The Hunger Games,” an imaginary world where dehumanized people lead fearful lives is all the rage.

“Divergent,” based upon young author Veronica Roth’s bestselling novel of the same title, has been likened to “The Hunger Games” meets “The Matrix,” as noted by one of the film’s producers in the press notes.

The above-mentioned films that fit into this anti-utopian genre have gained popularity for their respective franchises. The jury may be out on whether “Divergent” scores big enough at the box office to elevate Roth’s sequel novels, “Insurgent” and “Allegiant,” into the same cinematic orbit.

Running at 140 minutes, “Divergent” may achieve a split decision with critics and audiences alike. The film has promise, especially with Shailene Woodley in the leading role, but it appears in need of surgical strikes to trim some of the narrative overload and the surfeit of action set-pieces.

The setting of the story is in a post-apocalyptic, decaying Chicago, where the inhabitants are believed to be the last remnants of civilization. The city’s boundaries are protected by electrified high walls.

Societal functions are given to five basic factions, including Amity, Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite. One needs to be able to fit neatly into one of the factions. It’s a cultural phenomenon typically relegated to high schools. But here it is more insidious and consequential.

Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley) lives with her parents (Tony Goldwyn and Ashley Judd) and twin brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) in the drab world of Abnegation, where people wear sack clothes, reject vanity and pursue altruistic motives.

The lifestyle of the Abnegation faction is vaguely communal and boring. This explains why Beatrice is tormented when confronted with being required to choose her path in life during her teens.

All children at the age of 16 must choose a faction, resulting in a decision that is irreversible. The Choosing Ceremony follows a drug-induced test that measures each young person’s aptitude and personality traits, thereby guiding impressionable minds to a permanent choice.

At the ceremony, following the usual rituals, Beatrice is confused because the tests conducted by sympathetic Tori (Maggie Q) had shown that her aptitude rests in several factions, making her a “Divergent,” or what others would call a rebellious outsider.

Inexplicably, Beatrice chooses to join Dauntless, the fearless warriors and soldiers who are assigned to guard the other factions against harm, but seem to have no problem with inflicting it on their own members.

Joining Dauntless obliges Beatrice to undergo extreme physical training, a feat for which she appears unsuited, even to the somewhat considerate Dauntless teacher Four (Theo James), a hunky, handsome dude who just may warm to the beautiful innocence of his charge.

“Divergent” spends an inordinate amount of time with the training exercises, which range from jumping onto rooftops from fast-moving elevated subway trains and zip lining from skyscrapers to winner-take-all boxing matches that often send the participants to the infirmary.

Not one of the top-ranked initiates, Beatrice has a lot to prove. For one thing, she changes her name to Tris, because it sounds more fitting for Dauntless. Her skills improve when she realizes that coming in at the bottom of the class will get rookies booted from the faction.

Free thinkers are frowned upon, apparently in every faction. Tris proves not to be the best fit even for the supposedly rebellious Dauntless faction, where one of its leaders, Eric (Jai Courtney), is a basic jerk who disdains independent thought.

Conflict comes when the Erudite faction, led by the imperious Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet), believes it is superior to everyone else and seeks to overthrow the benevolent rule of the Abnegation faction.

The stench of fascism lingers in the air as the ruthless Jeanine seeks to impose her will on the other factions. In fact, Erudite is masterminding an evil plot of mind control so that Dauntless is turned into an army of suppression.

Oddly enough, the Candor and Amity factions are barely noticed, since unfiltered truth-tellers and communal, hard-working agrarian populists are not high on the dystopian hit parade.

“Divergent” is a parable about the virtue of an individual going up against the soul-crushing arrogance of an elite that misguidedly believes it will govern with compassion and benevolence.

The trouble here is that a parable needs to be a short story, and that’s just not the case for “Divergent,” which runs too long for no apparent reason. But hey, Shailene Woodley and Theo James end up making a good team.

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

Considering that I’m a dog lover, I haven’t included nearly enough dog poems in this column.

My own dog, Howard, now in his dotage, has never learned a trick of any kind, nor learned to behave, so I admire Karla Huston for having the patience to teach her dog something.

Huston lives in Wisconsin.

Sway

The cruelest thing I did to my dog
wasn’t to ignore his barking for water
when his tongue hung like a deflated balloon

or to disregard his chronic need for a belly rub
but to teach him to shake hands,
a trick that took weeks of treats, his dark eyes

like Greek olives, moist with desire.
I made him sit, another injustice,
and allowed him to want the nuggets enough

to please me. Shake, I said. Shake?
touching the back of his right leg
until he lifted it, his saliva trickling

from soft jowls, my hand wet with his hunger.
Mistress of the biscuit, I ruffled his ears
and said good dog until he got it. Before long,

he raised his paw, shook me until he got
the treat, the rub, the water in a chilled silver bowl,
the wilderness in him gone, his eyes still lit with longing.

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 2013 by Karla Huston from her most recent book of poems, A Theory of Lipstick, Main Street Rag Publishing Co., 2013. Poem reprinted by permission of Karla Huston and the publisher. Introduction copyright 2014 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. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Saturday, March 29, at 7 p.m. the Lake County Arts Council presents an all-star Music Fest at the Soper Reese Theatre.

The show is comprised of the best talent from Lake County, including the Renaissance, a Capella, all female singing group, My Divas and the Mendo-Lake Singers, who specialize in barber shop harmony.  

Also featured is versatile actor and performer, Bert Hutt, the a Capella group, EarReverence, K&J Music and Uncorked.

Soper Reese Executive Director Mike Adams emcees the event.

All seats for the Music Fest are $15.

Tickets are available online at www.SoperReeseTheatre.com ; at the theatre box office, 275 S. Main St., Lakeport on Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; or by phone at 707-263-0577.  

Tickets also are available at The Travel Center, 1265 S. Main, Lakeport, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – It’s time again to dig out your art supplies and wave the olive branch or simply create a stunning poster for the 2014 Kelseyville Olive Festival Poster Contest.

Poster themes should reflect Kelseyville and the olive industry.

Prizes will be awarded in three categories: under the age of 12, ages 12 to 18, and over 18.

In addition, a grand prize winning entry will be chosen to be used as 2015’s Kelseyville Olive Festival poster.

In the under 12 category the grand prize will be a $50 savings certificate from Westamerica Bank.

In the 12-18 category the grand prize will be a Maherajah Longboard Skateboard.

For the 18 and older category grand prize will be a $100 gift certificate to The Saw Shop.

To be eligible, all entries must be submitted on paper with minimum dimension of 8.5 inches by 11 inches and no larger than 11 inches by 17 inches, and include the entrant’s name, age and phone number printed legibly on the back.

All printable media will be accepted.

Please deliver entries to Rosa d’Oro Vineyards tasting room located at 3915 Main St. in Kelseyville, Westamerica Bank located at 4025 Main St. in Kelseyville or Chacewater Winery and Olive Mill located at 5625 Gaddy Lane no later than 10 a.m. April 21.

Entries will be on display at the Westamerica Bank from April 14 through April 21 and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. the day of the festival, April 27, at Chacewater Winery and Olive Mill.

For additional information, please contact Chacewater at 707-279-2995 or www.kelseyvilleolivefestival.com .

NEED FOR SPEED (Rated PG-13)

The American car-culture of the 1960s and 1970s was the best, with awesome muscle cars like the Pontiac GTO, Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Charger, Plymouth Road Runner, and of course, the Ford Mustang customized into a Shelby Cobra.

The latter hotrod car is the vehicular centerpiece in “Need for Speed,” a visceral and evocative sentimental automotive journey tapping into the thrilling adventure that is the staple of the open road cinema.

Though based on the eponymous car-racing videogame franchise, “Need for Speed” captures the freedom and excitement of fast cars we’ve enjoyed more recently in the “Fast and Furious” pictures.

And yet, “Need for Speed,” even as it evokes digital thrills, is also a throwback to such iconic road films as “Cannonball Run,” “Vanishing Point,” and “Gone in 60 Seconds,” the original B-movie, not the inadequate Nicolas Cage version.

Not surprisingly, the namesake video game, which involves players as active participants in the intense action of street racing, is nonexistent on story and plot development necessary for a feature-length film.

The story, such as it is, had to be fleshed out by the sibling writing team of George Gatins and John Gatins, who are so enamored with the culture of cars that they own an auto shop where classic cars are restored.

Much like the difficulty of locating original body parts for a 1964 Mustang, the challenge for the writers and director Scott Waugh was to adapt a story of honor, loyalty and friendship to the world of street racing.

The central character is Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul), who runs the family auto shop in the upstate New York village of Mt. Kisco and races the underground street circuit with his buddies on weekends in his 1969 Ford Gran Torino.

Paul, who made his acting mark as Jesse Pinkman in the AMC drama “Breaking Bad,” carries himself like a young Steve McQueen, which is, to say, handsome, masculine, dangerous and loveable all at the same time. Like the star of “Bullitt,” Paul’s believable behind the wheel of a fast car.

Tobey’s an honest, hard-working auto mechanic in a sleepy blue-collar town, where he’s trying to keep the family business afloat after the death of his father, who left behind a pile of delinquent bills.

Along comes his former nemesis, the arrogant Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), now a wealthy professional racer who also just happened to abscond with Tobey’s old flame, Anita (Dakota Johnson), sister of one of his friends.

Dino dangles a tantalizing business proposition to Tobey, an opportunity to build the hottest Mustang that Carroll Shelby was working on at the time of his death. The financial windfall could save the auto shop.

Following the big sale, Tobey agrees to an impromptu race with Dino and Tobey’s close friend and protégé Little Pete (Harrison Gilbertson). When the race turns deadly, Dino flees the scene, framing Tobey and sending him to prison.

Two years later he is out, and while Dino has been thriving in the auto business out West, Tobey has been plotting his revenge. His best chance comes by getting invited into the exclusive high-stakes race known as The De Leon, an elite underground race held only once a year.

To get to the race, Tobey will definitely have a need for speed since he will have to break parole and travel from New York to San Francisco in under 48 hours, driving the Shelby Mustang on loan from the British investor.

Accompanying Tobey on the trip is the pretty but opinionated British colleague Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots), who seeks to protect her boss’ investment. It turns out that Julia is surprisingly resourceful on the cross-country trek.

In a mad dash across the United States, the duo get help from Tobey’s Army Reserve pilot buddy Benny (Scott Mescudi) and from Finn (Rami Malek), an office worker overly eager to ditch his cubicle as well as business clothes in a most unusual manner.

The mysterious force behind The De Leon race is The Monarch (Michael Keaton), the soul of street racing who narrates the affair similar to what the voices of Wolfman Jack did in “American Graffiti” and Supersoul in “Vanishing Point.”

Along the dusty highways of Middle America and rugged Western states, Tobey and Julia must dodge the occasional state trooper, and then later roving bands of thugs seeking to cash in on a bounty offered up by a nervous Dino.

The essence of “Need for Speed” is exactly what the title suggests, namely there is a need for speed to deliver the vehicular bedlam that follows from a series of spectacular car stunts.

Indeed, the adrenaline fix comes fast and furious in daring chase sequences and even more so when some fancy European race cars, like the illegal-for-street-use Swedish Koennigsegg sleek racers, tear up the back roads.

“Need for Speed” succeeds mostly as an extended joyride, where the action swiftly moves from one thrilling chase to another. It’s an action movie to please racing junkies.

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

UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Tallman Hotel in Upper Lake continues its 2014 series of “Concerts with Conversation” on Saturday, March 22, with an informal concert by Lakeport’s own Bob Culbertson, one of the world’s true masters of the unique Chapman Stick.

The event starts at 7:30 p.m. in the intimate Meeting House next to the Hotel.

Culbertson will be accompanied by percussion virtuoso Rick Alegria.

“If you know Bob and his music, this is a great opportunity to hear him interact with a world-class percussionist,” commented Tallman owner Bernie Butcher. “And if you haven’t been exposed to the truly unique Chapman Stick instrument, this will be an unforgettable experience.”

With well over 100,000 albums sold, and many students to his credit, Culbertson has become one of the most influential Stick soloists in the world today.

An early adaptor of the Chapman Stick, Culbertson is famous not only for his technique on the instrument but for his compositional talent. Inventor Emmett Chapman calls Bob Culbertson “the Segovia of the Stick.”

A native of San Jose, Alegria has performed and recorded with stars such as Bo Diddley, Maria Muldaur, Rosanne Cash and Elvis Costello, and he is currently working with singer-songwriter Paul Williams.

In May of last year, Alegria joined Culbertson for a CD release concert at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport that drew several standing ovations.

“This is the third time I’ve performed in the Tallman Concert Series,” said Culbertson, “first with cellist Clovice Lewis and then with bassist Michael Manring. I love the intimate nature of the venue, the great acoustics and the friendly audience interaction. I’m looking forward to the evening.”

Subject to limited availability, concert tickets at $25 plus tax may be purchased by calling the Tallman Hotel at 707-275-2244, Extension 0.

More background information on Bob Culbertson can be found at www.stickmusic.com and on Rick Alegria at www.rsamusic.com .