Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
The Mandalorian – Disney+

Mandalorians were known across the universe for their bounty hunting skills, were never allowed to take off their helmets, and took on their life’s mission with the simple statement “This is the way.” Mando (Pedro Pascal) was respected among the Mandalorian tribe and taken in as a child after his parents were killed as part of a special group known as the “foundlings”.

Mando took a bounty from a special client referred to him by Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), head of the Guild of bounty hunters. Mando met the client, an Imperial leader, who gave him the tracking fob for the quarry and promised him a huge bounty if successful. Mando followed the fob to a desert planet where he met an Agnaught named Kuiil (Nick Nolte) who agreed to take him to the location of his bounty. Upon arriving Mando teamed up with a bounty droid to take out a small army of bounty hunters and eventually found his quarry, which was just a childlike Baby Yoda.

Some jawas had dismantled his ship and Mando had to barter for the parts, agreeing to fight a giant Mudhorn to get its prized egg. The Mudhorn was winning, but just as Mando was ready to collapse it appeared that Baby Yoda lifted the Mudhorn from the ground with his mind until Mando could stab it. Baby Yoda passed out and slept for several days on the way to be delivered to the Imperial leader, where Mando received a large bounty of precious metal bars.

Mando took the bars to the Mandalorian leader for a new suit of armor, and while thinking about his time with Baby Yoda, seemed to feel somewhat guilty. Mando went back and fought the Imperial troopers to retrieve Baby Yoda with the support of all the other Mandalorians appearing on jetpacks with guns. Mando escaped to Sorgan, where he met a Rebel Shock Trooper named Cara Dune (Gina Corano) and teamed up to take out raiders terrorizing the village.

Mando got a message from Greef asking him to help reclaim Nevarro, using Baby Yoda as bait to kill the Imperial leader and offering to let Mando keep the child and clear his name. Mando picked up Cara to help fight, along with Kuiil to look after Baby Yoda. While Cara and Mando were on the ship arm wrestling Baby Yoda thought Cara was hurting Mando and used his special powers to choke Cara without touching her, which triggered Kuiil’s memory about having heard of such special beings in the past while he was serving the Imperial force.

Greef met Mando in the desert where they were attacked by dragons, seriously injuring Greef. Baby Yoda came over, put his hand on Greef’s arm and healed him instantly, causing Greef to kill the other bounty hunters and reveal his original plan to betray Mando. They all went to town but were pinned down by Imp forces lead by Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) who was thought to be dead. Kuiil was killed and Imp soldiers retrieved Baby Yoda, but the nurse droid rescued Baby Yoda from troopers in the desert and came back on a speeder to help Mando and Cara fight.

Pinned down with no escape, Baby Yoda formed a force field to protect them against the trooper attack, then collapse in exhaustion. Cara and Greef escaped with Baby Yoda and the droid stayed behind to help Mando, who needed to remove his helmet to get the medical attention needed to save his life. They joined Cara and Greef and headed for the ship, but came upon a pile of Mandalorian armor which Mando knew had been killed to support his mission. The Mandalorian leader appeared and upon seeing Baby Yoda explained it too is a foundling and was now in Mando’s care as its father until he could return it to its own kind.

Season 1 – 8 Episodes

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – Amazon Originals

In a grand return to both the screen and American, Sacha Baron Cohen again takes everything head on in exposing American political corruption and prejudices with his new movie Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. After embarrassing Kazakhstan on his first visit to American 14 years ago, Borat was pulled from prison for a new mission to America to give a gift to President Trump from the leader of Kazakhstan. However he was instructed not to give it directly to Trump, but instead to “pussy hound” Vice Premier Pence.

The gift was monkey Producer Johnny who was put in a crate and loaded on a ship with Borat that traveled around the globe to reach America. Upon arriving, Borat discovered that his daughter, whose name was Sandra Jessica Parker Sagdiyev but he referred to as Tutar, had stow away in the crate and eaten the monkey, therefore ruining the plan to gift him to Pence. His solution… gift his daughter Tutar instead.

Finally it was time to deliver Tutar to the “Vice Pussy grabber”. To disguise himself, he wore a KKK costume to sneak into the bathroom at CPAC 2020 where he disguised himself as Trump, tossed Tutar over his shoulder and ran through the conference announcing “Michael Pence I brought the girl for you. Don’t worry, I won’t get jealous, she’s not Ivanka” to the whole crowd, some who booed while others began chanting 4 more years to his clever Trump disguise. He was escorted out by secret service and police.

Tutar left chasing her dream of being an American journalist, and Borat tried to find her only to find the streets completely empty. A man outside a convenience store who explained that there was a virus and that everyone had to quarantine. Borat said he had nowhere to go and asked if he could stay at the guy’s home. Jerry where he shook hands and kissed them on both cheeks. 3 guys were asked if the virus or democrats were more dangerous, stating democrats and shared the fake news story of the Clinton’s being involved in drinking the blood of children.

Having failed with Trump and Pence, Borat decided the only way to save himself from a horrible death was to have his daughter marry Rudy Julliani. Tutar, now having fulfilled her American dream of being a journalist, met Julliani for an interview with the hopes of convincing him to marry her. Julliani shockingly followed her flirtations and both ended up in his bedroom with Juiliani being caught on camera laying prone on the bed with his hands in his pants.

They both returned to Kazakhstan, where knowing that he would be executed for his failure where he discovered his journey was actually what spread the coronavirus around the world, secretly planned all along by his country’s leader. Borat used his phone to record his leader admitting the truth, and bargained his silence for feminist rights, groom trafficing, access to smartphones and technology, with Tutar promoted the the 3^rd top journalist in the country.

Sacha Baron Cohen is unflinching with his overt mockery of such taboo subjects as blatant racism, cosmetic surgery for kids, family sexual abuse, abortions, human trafficing, dealing with COVID-19 as well as a health dose of attacks on elitism and political leaders. For it’s style, it’s pure comedic genius, though some scenes may be a bit for some viewers to handle.

R (Graphic Nudity|Strong Crude & Sexual Content|Language)
1h 36m

by Shirley Lorraine
Radio Theatre Reigns for Halloween

Not going out to trick-or-treat the neighbors. Staying in and staying safe? Want all the chocolate for yourself? Settle in and turn on your radio for some chilling, thrilling tales to listen to by the light of the full moon.

The Every Now and Then Theatre has chosen this Halloween to bring forward a new dramedy in partnership with Conejo Players Theatre in Thousand Oaks. This year’s offering will be “Halloween with Grandpa” six stories featuring numerous well-known Ventura County talents.

Hosted by Celebrity Guest Host, KVTA radio personality Tom Spence, the one hour nationwide, streaming, commercial-free broadcast will air via www.kvta.com on Friday October 30 at 6:00 a.m. (yes, you read that right!) and 1:00 p.m. PT and again on Halloween, Saturday, October 31 at 6 a.m., 1 p.m., 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. PT. Click on Listen Live to tune in. Then just sit back and enjoy.

The stories, titled They’re Here, Worldwide Wives Conspiracy, Headless Pumpkin, Careful What You Wish For, Haunted House, and Nosey Neighbor’s Computer, are sure to delight and possibly fright.

The cast includes familiar voices of Bob Allen, Lloyd Allen, Dale Alpert, Bob Decker, Jim Diderrich, Judy Diderrich, Erin Fagundes, Julia Rogers Hook, Keith Hurt, Ray Mastrovito, Kelli McKay, Rosemary Moffat, David Newcomer, Courtney Potter, Gary Randolph, Mark Andrew Reyes, Tom Spence, Linda M. Stiegler, Celeste Van Etten, Robert West and James Wortman. TV personality Elvira (who has participated in previous Every Now and Then Theatre productions) makes a cameo “appearance.”

The all-volunteer troupe is allowed only one rehearsal before performance. The mix of seasoned professionals and promising beginners such as Aubree, Tom Spence’s daughter, who making her acting debut to hear grandpa’s six stories, is a proven blend. “It’s a free treat” says Spence. “No travel, no dress code, …get your snacks and relax.”

All Every Now and Then Theatre’s productions benefit foster children by providing broadcast copies to cast and supporters in trade for their donations to KVTA radio’s Children Services Fund. Listen for how you can support this mission and get your own copy of the broadcast after it has aired.

Every Now and Then Theatre, founded and helmed by James Wortman, has been offering sterling performances for Ventura County and beyond audiences for the last 30 years. The Troupe has garnered 54 awards internationally since 1990 for their high-quality radio productions. Find more information about the Troupe at www.everynowandthentheatre.com and on Facebook. Like, follow and support.

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Conejo Players is gearing up for Haunted Broadway Drive-in Theater this coming weekend, October 23, 24 and 25. There may be a few tickets left for this haunted musical adventure if you’re lucky as word has it the event is almost sold out already. www.conejoplayers.org. Cannot attend but want to be involved? Volunteers are always needed for future live streaming projects. Contact Executive Technical Director Jeremy Zeller at [email protected] to see how you can lend your talents.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Like Father – Netflix Films

It seemed as though everything was falling into place in the life of New York advertising executive Rachel (Kirsten Bell) who was looking forward to her upcoming wedding and was up for a promotion. Looks can be deceiving though as Rachel was about to be left at the altar at her wedding where her dad showed up unannounced after being absent 25 years. Later they got together, got drunk, and ended up on the honeymoon cruise with each other.

When Rachel’s phone fell out of her wedding bouquet at the alter after promising not to even bring it to the wedding. Owen took Rachel aside and expressed his concern for her workaholic issues they’ve been trying to work through and apologized saying he couldn’t marry her. As the wedding guests sat uncomfortably witnessing the wedding being canceled, Rachel’s father stood up to leave and tripped over a chair as he exited the venue. This caught Rachel off guard, as she hadn’t seen or spoken to her father for over 25 years.

Rachel tried to return to work, but was sent home for her scheduled vacation after having an emotional outburst in the office. Later that evening, her father Harry (Kelsey Grammer) showed up at her apartment concerned for her and suggested they go to a bar, if even just for one drink and that they didn’t even need to talk if she didn’t want. They both ordered the same drink, Harry ordering 3 to catch up to where Rachel was at before arriving. After some uncomfortable moments and a few more drinks they ended up having a great time drinking the night away.

They staggered back to Rachel’s apartment after a countless number of shots, and were sitting outside when the car arrived that was scheduled to take Rachel and Owen to the cruise ship. They both had a laugh over it for it was for the honeymoon, but were both still so drunk from the night before that the next thing they knew they both woke up on the cruise ship that was already out to sea. Rachel regretted what had seemed like a great idea when they were drunk and tried to get separate rooms but no other rooms were available.

The cruise was set to dock in Jamaica, so they both decided that they would get off the cruise there and fly back to New York. Due to the fact that the ship caters packages to honeymooners, they kept dealing with the repeated awkward assumption that they were just married by the staff and the other couples staying in the honeymoon suites.

Rachel and Harry spent the cruise learning about each other and enjoying activities like honeymooner’s pool parties, and day hike adventures to beautiful waterfalls where they had some very enlightening moments. They also entered in the cruise’s Gigantic Gameshow where they had to match answers and won because Harry coordinated their answers before the game, no matter how they didn’t fit the question. After their win, Harry wanted Rachel to enter the karaoke contest with him, though she refused until Harry shared something that recently happened to him that would cause them to become even closer.

Putting a different spin on the traditonal rom-com, Like Father has a diverse cast of couples; a senior couple, gay couple, and black couple as the other honeymooners on the cruise. Bell and Grammer are a hilarious comedic combo, who are also able to express heartfelt genuine emotion when dealing with the challenges of their past family issues. Those who have distant family relationships may find yourself crying at the joy of this unique father-daughter reunion.

1h 43m

by Shirley Lorraine

SPTC Coming A ‘Haunting

Santa Paula Theater Center’s popular annual Ghostwalk is taking a new turn this year. Every year for the past 25 years, Ghostwalk has been presented in a different location in Santa Paula, telling stories based on historical events of the area. This year, the ghosts are expanding their haunting by streaming directly to your house. Beware and prepare.

No need to wait either. Chose a weekend to catch one of the nine performances– Friday, Saturday or Sunday – October 9, 10 or 11, 16, 17 or 18, 23, 24, 25. To be presented at 7 p.m. on each of these dates, this year’s virtual offering is “Ghostwatch” featuring spooky “deadtime” stories by local authors. Run time is about 90 minutes.

The event will be Ghost-hosted by one of Ventura County’s most colorful living spirits – Doug Friedlander. Actors filmed at unique locations around Santa Paula will present their scripted stories for your enjoyment. Each of the stories has been part of a previous Ghostwalk, so you may relive some shivers as you listen. Woven into all the stories are locations and events from Santa Paula history.

The stories offered this year are Bertha by Bill Nash, Take My Life Please by Mitch Stone, Pancho Barnes by Linda Livingston, Josie’s Tale by Jeanie Hayes, Red Shoes by John Nichols, Saving Grace by Mary Alice Henderson, and Speak No Evil by Jim Kasmir and Jeff Rack.

SPTC recommends enhancing the evening by setting the scene appropriately for your viewing pleasure. Dim the lights, gather some spooky snacks (I highly recommended peeled grapes for their sliminess and something crunchy to pretend you are munching on bones), drink something red, get comfortable and invite the whole family to settle in for some good old fashioned story-telling. It’s all family frightly, I mean, friendly.

This year’s event is a Pay-What-You-Can event. Reservations can be made by calling the Ghostwalk Haunt Line at 805-525-3073 or on the SPTC website either at www.santapaulatheatercenter.org or www.ghostwalk.com or via email at [email protected]. While you’re on www.ghostwalk.com, check out the merchandise you can order which also helps support the theater’s efforts.

The event will be streamed to SPTC’s YouTube channel for public viewing at the following link, https://www.youtube.com/user/santapaulatheaterctr. It can also be seen at https://www/facebook.com/santapaulatheatercenter.

Fall is in the air. Leaves are falling. It is time for the spooks, ghosts and goblins to appear. October (can you believe it’s October already?) is the perfect time for snuggling up to that warm computer in your jammies with snacks, drinks and perhaps something or someone to cling to while watching SPTC’s 2020 version of this always-exciting long-standing tradition. Join in. Tune in. You will be glad you did. Oh, and please make a donation to the theater so these events can continue. All proceeds benefit the Santa Paula Theater Center directly. Happy hauntoween!

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers
Enola Holmes – Amazon Originals

Eudoria Holmes (Helena Bonham Carter) named her daughter Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) because she was a fan of word games and is “alone” spelled backwards, as wanted Enola to grow up to be an independent woman. On the morning of Enola’s sixteenth birthday, she discovered her mother had left leaving some gifts, including some handmade cards with pressed flowers with inspirational sayings.

The disappearance of her mother prompted the return of her two brothers, Mycroft (Sam Claflin) and Sherlock (Henry Cavill), the famous detective, scholar, chemist, virtuoso violinist, expert marksman, pugilist, and brilliant deductive thinker. Sherlock deduced that his mother had planned leaving and not returning. Mycroft’s main concern was finding a boarding school for Enola, which she did not want, but Enola was legally Mycroft’s ward in the absence of their mother.

Enola disguised herself as a boy, went to the train station and headed off to find her mother. She slipped into a private car, where a young man a was hiding in a luggage bag. He introduced himself as Viscount Tewkesbury, the Marquess of Basilwether (Louis Partridge), who snuck onboard to escape his family. The man looking for Tewkesbury found him and tried to throw him off the train, and Enola hit him with a cane and they escaped by jumping from the train and headed to London.

Enola then placed cyphers in every paper she thought her mother may read. Enola then went to the only address she saw her mother write letters to in London, where upstairs she found a group of women practicing martial arts. The teacher Edith knew Enola and Enola recognized her from a women’s meeting at her mother’s home. Remembering names mentioned from that meeting, Enola was able to reverse the names she heard and find the corresponding places in London.

Enola was attacked by the man from the train, set off some explosives to escape and decided to find Tewkesbury. Enola went to the flower market, and found Tewkesbury there. They went back to where Enola was staying when Inspector Lestrade from Scotland Yard burst into the room, catching Enola and turned her over to Mycroft, who dropped her off at Miss Harrison’s Finishing School.

Enola realized the Tewkesbury was in danger because his vote for change would carry much weight with the current Lords in power, and at that very moment Tewkesbury showed up in a wicker crate. Tewkesbury used the crate to sneak Enola out, and they escaped by stealing Miss Harrsion’s motor car and headed to Tewkesbury’s home having determined it was his uncle who was trying to kill him.

They again encounter the man from the train, who knocked out Enola and attempted to kill Tewkesbury, but Enola used a Jujitsu move causing him to fall onto a a statue and die. Tewkesbury’s grandmother revealed herself as the person behind the plan to kill Tewkesbury and used a shotgun to shoot her grandson. Fortunately, Tewkesbury was wearing a metal shield and was unharmed.

Enola returned to her room to find her mother who said she couldn’t stay but wanted to apologize and explain that she had to leave to secure a future world for her daughter, only to learn her daughter had been behind protecting Tewkesbury to support the Reform Bill. Millie Bobby Brown is perfect in her role as Enola Holmes in this amusing detective story having interesting and relatable family dynamics centered around a witty, confident heroine that’s a great inspiration for younger generations of women.

Rated: PG-13
123 minutes

Streaming Spotlight
by Cindy Summers

RBG – 2018 Documentary
Hulu

This documentary follows the heroic life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who started as a young female law student challenging the norms of equality to attend Harvard Law School during a time when men did not want women there, through her career as an equal rights attorney, to her appointment on the U.S. Supreme Court. Ginsburg became known as the Notorious R.B.G., champion for equality and the Great Dissenter against an ever-growing ultra-conservative U.S. Supreme court.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg earned a bachelor’s degree at Cornell University, where she met her husband, Martin Ginsburg. While attending Harvard Law School in her early twenties (being one of only nine women to the 500 men attending), she was caring for her two-year-old daughter and husband who was going through radiation therapy due to cancer. She gathered her husband’s coursework (who was also in law school) from friends so he wouldn’t fall behind and still handled her own coarse load, somehow managing to make the prestigious Harvard Law Review.

Ruth transferred to Columbia Law School and after graduating Columbia, she became a law professor at Rutgers Law School and Columbia Law School. Inspired by her students, she agreed to teach a course in the new subject of “Gender and Law” as well as a course on “Women and the Law”. Ruth also began dealing with sex discrimination cases, becoming a litigator during the emergence of a Woman’s Rights movement in the 1970s, which had the potential of playing a similar societal role to the Black Civil Right’s movement of the 60s.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg advocated for both men and women facing gender-based bias, successfully arguing five of six cases regarding gender discrimination before the U.S. Supreme Court. Ginsburg argued these cases in the 1970s, when gender discrimination was rampant in U.S. society and an all-male Supreme Court was generally skeptical of claims of bias against women.).

Ruth was always humble and shy, and Marty loved and respected Ruth so much that he went on a relentless campaign to get her nominated to the Supreme Court, using his many contacts in the business and legal communities. Ginsburg was appointed to the federal judiciary by President Jimmy Carter, and later appointed to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton.

Justice Ginsburg was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court, at the time along with Sandra Day O’Conner. Ruth guided that court to understand that women cannot be excluded just because they are women and to start with an assumption that both genders must be treated equally. Ginsburg’s style was to build consensus and was more in the middle of how the justices ranked in ideology in 1993 on a scale from liberal to conservative. Though opposites in most every way, Ginsburg and Scalia developed a strong friendship, were regularly seen attending the opera together and attended speaking events together with a friendly jovial presence.

Justice Ginsburg was a pioneering women’s rights advocate that inspired a younger generation to get involved in the court system with her quick wit and great sense of humor. She became an icon in her 80’s being considered by many to be a superhero, with mottoes appearing like “Can’t spell Truth without Ruth” and becoming known as the Notorious R.B.G. She served on the Supreme Court 27 years until her unfortunate passing this last week at the age of 87 after several battles with cancer.

Rated: PG
97 minutes

Streaming Spotlight
by Cindy Summers

Critical Thinking
Amazon Prime

Critical Thinking is based on the true story where in 1998 five Latin and Black students from Miami Jackson High School in Miami, Florida overcame the challenging situations in their under-served community and at home, eventually winning the National Chess Championships under the guidance of their teacher Mario Martinez (John Leguizamo) with his “never give up on them” attitude.

Most of the students in Mr. Martinez’s Critical Thinking class came there due to troubles in other areas at school, with Principal Kestel (Rachel Bay Jones) using it as more of a detention situation. When students come to the class, Mr. Martinez gives them two choices, do nothing or play chess, joking that he looks forward to the day a student would actually choose chess.

While having his students’ attention, Mr. Martinez tried to instill better choices and values that would help them to achieve success outside their circumstances. The neighborhood was so rough that a student who was walking home from school and didn’t speak English accidentally bumped into a Black girl causing her to drop her portable CD player, which she did not take well and began yelling at him. Andre Lamar (Ramses Jimenez) drove up to the situation asking her if there was a problem, to which she said this guys my problem and then without even pausing shot the teen in the head saying “there’s no problem no more”.

Mr. Martinez taught them positional chess, tried to get them to focus on the artistry of the game, and taught them that “in the game material advantage was not everything” through examples of classic chess games from unconventional chess masters such as the Opera Game authored by Paul Morphy.

Later Marcel Martinez (Jeffry Batista) ended up enrolling at Miami Jackson High from Cuba sharing his book of original moves in exchange for being schooled in traditional positional chess. Marcel was so skilled he could play 4 matches simultaneously against the team with his back turned and win every match. He became the ringer for the team after Ito’s exit due to pressures from losing his auto repair job and falling in with Andre Lamar.

The team was fortunate enough to be gifted some cross-country tickets to the national competition sponsored by the airline to attend the National Chess Championships in Southern California. Mr. Martinez had these parting words as they left to compete, “You already got the knowledge and the moves and the strategy, now it’s just about that thing, that intangible that’s part of you that you bring to the game”.

Marcel had to play the guy who had never lost a game, and when his opponent asked him to come into the bathroom to convince him for a draw, Marcel said no needing a whole point not a half a point for the team to win. When they returned, Marcel realized that his opponent’s clock had not been stopped and he had run down to only 2 minutes, while Marcel still had over 4 minutes left on his clock. Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity, Marcel let his clock wind down to match his opponent be a good sportsman, then played the game and won.

This film highlights the challenges of minorities in under-served communities, but provides inspiration with it’s message that “it doesn’t matter how rich or poor you are, what Ivy League school you may go or may not go to, what prison you hopefully never step foot in because chess is the great equalizer”.

117 minutes

by Shirley Lorraine

Theaters offer digital performances

The Elite Theater based in Oxnard, is presenting periodic digital offerings. Opening on August 21 and continuing through Aug. 28 is 24 Minutes by David Dudley. A one-act play, 24 Minutes features a 911-emergency operator (Yanelly DeLaRosa) who takes a disturbing call made by Caller 1 (Rachel Lemos). The call is coming from a frightened, near-hysterical young woman shot in the thigh who is bleeding on the bathroom floor of a club. Attempts to get specific information is spotty which causes the operator to reflect on similarities surrounding an estrangement with her own daughter of the same name and orientation as the caller. The operator struggles to stay professional and calm while at the same time trying to adjust her own thinking to be more understanding. The call takes only 24 minutes, at which point the caller is no longer heard.

The play is dedicated “in honor of the 49” which took a little research for me to connect as it is not clear from the piece by itself. The 15-minute play is a well-acted and well directed slice of time depicting a portion of the terrorist shooting at the Pulse Nightclub, a gay club in Orlando, Florida on June 12, 2016. In that melee, 49 died and 53 others were injured. The incident has been cited as the second worst mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history up to that time.

Next up for the Elite is 20 Questions by Allie Costa, to be presented September 25, 26 and 27. Check the website at www.thelite.org to buy a $5.00 ticket which reserves you an invitation to the stream.

Elite’s digital performances are made possible in part by the City of Oxnard’s Arts in Public Places Grant Program, the Oxnard Cultural Arts Commission, and by patron donations.

A new work is soon to be in rehearsal at the Camarillo Skyway Playhouse, digitally, of course. Playwright, actor, and director Michael Perlmutter will be premiering his new work “Polite Conversation & Wine”. Watch for information on the YouTube streaming event to be held the weekend of September 26. Check www.skywayplayhouse.org for up to date information.

Through a special collaboration, the Rubicon Theatre is offering free digital viewings of Arlene Hutton’s Nibroc Trilogy, previously performed at the Rubicon. There will be two performances of each of the three plays streamed online at Vimeo.com.

The Last Train to Nibroc will air Saturday, August 29 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, August 30 at 2 p.m.

See Rock City will air Saturday, September 5 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, September 6 at 2 p.m.

Gulf View Drive will be seen on Saturday, September 12 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, September 13 at 2 p.m.

All performance require a reservation to receive an online invitation and password to join in. www.rubicontheatre.org has all the details.

Ventura County theater is out there. Grab a snack, wear something comfy, log on and tune in.

Streaming Spotlight by Cindy Summers

7500
Amazon Originals

As the crew boarded for a flight from Berlin to Paris, it seemed just like any other day at work for Tobias Ellis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a young American co-pilot with a calm demeanor, who was pleased the crew included his flight-attendant girlfriend Gökce (Aylin Tezel). Tobias had flown with pilot Michael Lutzmann (Carlo Kitzlinger) before and as they went through the preflight checklist they caught up on their personal lives having not flown together for a while.

Shortly after takeoff, a group of terrorists hijacked the plane with knives made from broken glass, initially entering the cockpit and stabbing the pilot in the chest repeatedly. Tobias was cut badly on his left arm but was able to fight them off and lock all but one terrorist out of the cockpit who knocked out, tied up with first aid tape and strapped into the jump seat.

Tobias radioed ground control that they had a 7-5-0-0 (the airline code for hijacking) but that he had resumed control over the plane and his pilot was alive but injured. Outside the cockpit, the terrorists were frantically trying to break in to retrieve their leader Kenan (Murathan Muslu) and get control of the plane, which Tobias was able to watch through a security camera focused on the cockpit door.

Unfortunately, the pilot succumbed to his injuries, and Tobias was instructed to redirect to the nearest airport that could handle the situation, which was in Hanover. This only angered the terrorists more, who decided to threaten to kill hostages if Tobias did not allow them to gain access to the cockpit. Through it all, Tobias handled things with a calm reserve.

Regardless of their treats, Tobias knew it was his duty and refused to open the door. As he watched helplessly on camera, the first passenger was killed, which seemed to upset the youngest terrorist named Vedat (Omid Memar). Then the terrorists got a stewardess, not knowing it was Tobias’ girlfriend, who pleaded with him in Turkish to not open the door and not to cooperate with the terrorist and was murdered right in front of him.

Vedat got very upset when Gökce was killed, saying it was wrong because she was Muslim like them, which Tobias saw on camera and thought he may have an ally in Vedat. Tobias used the plane’s audio system to encourage the hostages to fight the terrorists, saying they only had broken glass and could easily overpower their captures if they worked together. The hostages overtook several terrorists, and Vedat fled to the cockpit door pleading to be let in.

Tobias let Vedat in the cockpit, on the premise of needing help to fly the plane, but unfortunately Kenan came to and escaped, knocked Tobias unconscious, regained control of the plane and then set out to crash it. This was not part of the plan to Vedat, who panicked and kept saying over and over that he didn’t want to die as Kenan rambled Muslim martyr statements. Vedat’s will to live was too strong, and he stabbed Kenan in the neck to prevent him from crashing the plane.

Vedat helped Tobias land the plane in Hanover, but wanted the plane to be refueled using Tobias as a hostage for his demands. Despite Tobias’ urgings to stop and surrender, Vedat continued making threats and was taken out by a sharpshooter.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a strong ability to display incredible emotional control during all the edge of your seat moments, which viewers will find plenty of in this high flying thriller.

Rated: R (for violence/terror and language)
92 minutes