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Arts & Life
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The “We Love Tules” Four Minutes Film Festival gala premier has been postponed.
The event previously was scheduled for Wednesday, April 18.
Organizer Cheri Holden said new dates are to be announced.
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I’ve lived on the Great Plains all my life, and if I ever left this region for too long, I would dearly miss it. This lovely poem by Carol Light, who lives in Washington state, reminds me of that.
Prairie Sure
Would I miss the way a breeze dimples
the butter-colored curtains on Sunday mornings,
or nights gnashed by cicadas and thunderstorms?
The leaning gossip, the half-alive ripple
of sunflowers, sagging eternities of corn
and sorghum, September preaching yellow, yellow
in all directions, the windowsills swelling
with Mason jars, the blue sky bluest borne
through tinted glass above the milled grains?
The dust, the heat, distrusted, the screen door
slapping as the slat-backed porch swing sighs,
the hatch of houseflies, the furlongs of freight trains,
and how they sing this routine, so sure, so sure—
the rote grace of every tempered life?
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 ©2011 by Carol Light, whose poems have been published in Prairie Schooner, Poetry Northwest and elsewhere. Poem reprinted from The Literary Bohemian, Issue 12, June 2011, by permission of Carol Light and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 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. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.
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MIRROR MIRROR (Rated PG)
Tarsem Singh, a director known for stunning art direction and highly developed visual storytelling ability, puts a new twist on the Grimm Brothers’ age-old fairy tale.
A haunting snowbound forest, a richly detailed hideout in a hollow tree, a magical castle, ornate palace rooms and sumptuous costumes all combine to deliver an extraordinary visual feast.
With a slightly revisionist glimpse at the Snow White legend, “Mirror Mirror” still looks very much like a Walt Disney production, except that it is not.
Fairy tales are no longer the exclusive domain of the Mouse Kingdom. That’s a good thing, because competition is bound to produce a better product, even though Lily Collins as Snow White looks perfectly turned out from Disney central casting.
A princess should always be enchanting and beautiful, and Lily Collins, a raven-haired beauty with porcelain-like skin, has the grace and spunk required of a Snow White cruelly mistreated by her evil stepmother Queen.
Even better is Julia Roberts, America’s Sweetheart, going very much against stereotype in the role of the wicked monarch, her usual pleasant smile now used in a sinister, creepy way to convey true menace.
After the beloved King (Sean Bean) vanishes, his ruthless wife, the evil Queen, seizes control of the kingdom and keeps her beautiful 18-year-old stepdaughter, Snow White, confined to her quarters in the palace.
The Queen’s kingdom is a sad, desolate place, where the once happy subjects are taxed into poverty to support the monarch’s lavish lifestyle, including grand soirées to attract an appropriate suitor.
With the royal finances in a shambles, the Queen is anxious to marry for money. Her target is young, handsome Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer), who is not easily fooled by the apparent age difference.
Instead, Prince Alcott stumbles upon Snow White at the royal party and is instantly smitten. How can you blame him for being attracted to real beauty and charm?
Of course, the jealous Queen banishes Snow White to a nearby forest, where she is to be eliminated by the Queen’s bumbling servant Brigton (Nathan Lane).
Snow survives and is taken in by a band of rebellious but kindhearted dwarfs, and in turn, the brave young woman blossoms into a warrior determined to save her country.
Meanwhile, back at the palace, Prince Alcott is put under a spell so that he will, against his wishes, marry the Queen and so deliver the riches of his native land to her evil purposes.
At this point, even the youngest, most naïve member of the audience will be fully aware of where things are going. It’s just a matter of time until the Prince and Snow White exchange the proverbial kiss.
Yet, there’s even a twist to that magical moment when the lips of the charming prince and the lovely princess meet for the first time; the spell cast on Alcott is the one to be broken.
The most fun to be had is when the merry band of dwarfs, who enjoy acting like highwaymen as they rob wayward travelers, creates grand mischief.
With names like Half-Pint, Napoleon, Grub, Butcher, Chuckles, Grimm and Wolf, the seven dwarfs are pranksters and renegades who are tamed by the arrival of Snow White into their hideaway.
For the general audience, even though it lacks grand ambition, “Mirror Mirror” has enough clever visuals and witty one-liners to entertain even the most hardened cynics. Or, at least one would hope.
In the end, this retelling of the classic fairy tale will be most appealing to the younger crowd, particularly girls attracted to a message of empowerment.
The winner in this film is Lily Collins, a promising actress possessing the style, beauty and elegance of a young Audrey Hepburn.
TELEVISION UPDATE
The nostalgia craze is still going full blast, first with “Mad Men” and now Starz delivers an original new series highlighting the decadent world of Miami Beach in the late Fifties.
Set in the glamorous world of the luxurious beachfront Miramar Playa Hotel, “Magic City” opens on New Year’s Eve, 1958, a tumultuous time in Miami and abroad. Only 90 miles away in Cuba, Castro’s rebels are closing in on Havana.
Running the hotel is Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Ike Evans, who’s confronted with a picket line organized by the local union that wants to shut down his hotel just as Frank Sinatra is scheduled for the blowout New Year’s Eve show.
Conjuring up ways to finance his dream, Ike has sold his soul to the devil, mob boss Ben “The Butcher” Diamond (Danny Huston), hence a lot of tension runs through the storyline.
Now married to a much younger former showgirl (Olga Kurylenko), Ike juggles conflicts and difficulties with his children by his former wife, two older boys and a young girl skeptical about her stepmother.
“Magic City” looks like a dramatic series with promise, and since it’s on the Starz cable network, the show is suitable for mature audiences only.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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LOWER LAKE, Calif. – On Friday, April 13, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Vigilance Winery in Lower Lake will host a free reception at the unveiling of a photo exhibit, “Exploring the Undiscovered Landscape” with nature photos of the Berryessa Snow Mountain region.
The region includes more than 500,000 acres of public lands located in the Northern Inner Coast Range stretching over 100 miles from Lake Berryessa to the Snow Mountain Wilderness in the Mendocino National Forest, including the watersheds of the eastern shore of Clear Lake.
The exhibit is sponsored by Tuleyome, a conservation organization based in Woodland working to protect both the wild and agricultural heritage of our region.
The group is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and has engaged Northern California photographers Jim Rose, Andrew Fulks and Eric Machelder to provide some of their exquisite photographs.
Lead exhibitor Jim Rose has photographed some of California's wildest landscapes.
His early images appeared in the Sierra Club's small format book "The Last Redwoods and the Parkland of Redwood Creek" in 1969.
More recently, Rose's images have appeared throughout the California Wild Heritage Campaign. Now his work brings alive the unique and delicate beauty of the Berryessa Snow Mountain region.
Those who haven’t yet visited these places can experience them through Rose's images, from the surreal fog at Cold Canyon to a sunrise at Bean Rock north of Snow Mountain. As he says, “Lots happen when you use a tripod.”
Andrew Fulks grew up on the Peninsula in the Bay Area where he hiked the hills and grew to love wild places.
When he moved to Davis he began exploring the Berryessa Snow Mountain region. He started www.yolohiker.org to share his knowledge leading many hikes.
Fulks, currently UC Davis Reserve manager, was a founder of Tuleyome and serves as board president. His passion continues to be exploration and, he led the building of trails throughout the region, including Valley Vista, Annie’s and Berryessa Peak trails.
Eric Machleder lives in Mill Valley. His academic background is in biochemistry and cancer biology.
He describes himself as a photography hobbyist and he enjoys shooting images of wildlife while hiking around Marin County and beyond. The group is pleased that Machleder visited Zim Zim Falls and hope that he will continue to explore the Berryessa Snow Mountain region.
Additional information about the region and Tuleyome can be found at www.tuleyome.org or by calling 530-350-2599 or emailing
Tuleyome is grateful to Shannon Ridge Winery for the generous donation of space and wine for tasting at Vigilance Winery 13888 Point Lakeview Road in Lower Lake.