10 Cloverfield Lane/4 Palm Trees
by Eduardo Victoria/[email protected]

When the world ends due to circumstances beyond human involvement, who will ultimately be our greatest enemy? Our inhuman attackers or ourselves? 10 Cloverfield Lane sets out to explore one possibility of a similar scenario. For a movie that runs only 113 minutes, the script is extremely economical and features an exploration about regret and abuse. The film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr. and John Goodman.

Waking up after a freak car accident, Michelle (Winstead) finds herself in a subterranean bunker in rural Louisiana having been “rescued” by Howard (Goodman in a show-stealing performance), a doomsday-prepper who is sharing the space with Emmett, one of the men who helped him build it (Gallagher, Jr.). Having blacked out when the world was still at some state of normalcy, Michelle greatly distrusts Howard’s story of a chemical attack that has rendered the air above toxic. Though he is telling the truth, Michelle’s distrust of Howard begins to come to light as his secrets begin to come to light in the enclosed space.

What’s most brilliant about this go-round of Cloverfield is the “Twilight Zone” style spin on the story. For the majority of the movie, we question as to what is happening above ground and who is responsible, for which the characters have their share of theories, but what is most impressive is the subtext of regret, abuse, and redemption that exists within Michelle’s character. She shares a story in the film’s second act about letting her brother stand up for her and fight her battles. In her own life, when it finally came time to stand up to something she’d experienced, she stood by and did nothing. From the moment she wakes, she is thinking about how to escape and if the other two men can be trusted. Impressively, these traits carry through all the way into the final moments of the film- impressive for a Hollywood blockbuster of this nature.

Director Dan Trachtenberg is no lightweight when it comes to these heavy themes and dark explorations of humanity. Though it is his first feature film, his camera angles create claustrophobia, disorientation, and excellent exploration of the sets. The camera’s point-of-view puts us in an involved position once we enter the bunker, as if the audience was involved in the action, as opposed to an omnipresent one established in the film’s opening over head shots of bridges, roadways, and rivers.

Stealing the show is John Goodman in a downright frightening performance. Known for playing (more often than not) lovable, memorable guys, Goodman is brooding, threatening, and provides a guise where the viewer is conflicted. Is his story about a chemical attack true or is something far more sinister at play? Adding to the atmosphere is an incredible set design by Kellie Jo Tinney and Michelle Marchand, II. Every book, frame, and plate adds a strangely demented sense of home to a space created for surviving the ultimate disaster.

An amazing cast, incredible direction, and a great emotional arc for the lead character create a dense portrait of paranoia, distrust, and overcoming past demons. Adding to the density is composer Bear McCreary’s incredible score, which utilizes former child actor Craig Huxley’s blaster beam and an Indian Tambura. The ending may ultimately divide the audience, but as a first film from Dan Trachtenberg, 10 Cloverfield Lane is an exercise in suspense we didn’t know we wanted.

Rated PG-13. Now playing at Cinemark Downtown 10.

Addams Family Musical at Ojai is Altogether Kooky
by Jim Spencer and Shirley Lorraine

The well-known Addams Family cartoon is brought to life on the Ojai Art Center Theater stage in a fresh new musical comedy. If you are a fan of the cartoon series, you will enjoy seeing your favorites live on stage. Be prepared to snap your fingers along with the memorable theme song.

All the quirky characters we have come to love, Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester and the rest of the gang are full of life in their own unique and macabre way. Director Gai Jones has seen to it that each cast member fully embraces and maintains the cartoon quality overall.

The Ojai Art Center Theater Branch has a history of introducing and welcoming youth and newcomers to its stage. This production is no exception. An “adult” cast performs Friday and Saturday evenings, as well as Sunday matinees, while a youth cast performs the show on Saturday matinees. Many of the players can be seen in both productions.

The premise of the show involves a grown Wednesday (Hayley Silvers) inviting her fiancé Lucus (Steven Silvers or Michaels, depending on which page of the program you are reading) and his normal parents (Brittany Danyel and Ezra Eels) to the family manse to spring the news of the impending wedding on Morticia (Tracey Williams-Sutton) and Gomez (Shayne Bourbon). Hijinks and hilarity ensue as the two polar-opposite families come to terms with their offspring’s intent to marry and ultimately rediscover the sparks that initially drew them together.

Side-plots involve Uncle Fester (newcomer Michael McCarthy), the creepily ever-present and mostly silent butler Lurch (Nelson Fox), feisty little brother Pugsly (Sophie Massey) and colorful nut-case Grandma (Mary Ellen Gridley) who all contribute dimension to the fairly thin story line.

Musical numbers are performed to a well-balanced, prerecorded accompaniment, which works very well in this instance. The musical abilities of the cast vary throughout, although all numbers are high-energy and entertaining. Special note is given to the vocal talents of Shayne Bourbon and Sophie Massey whose solo vocal performances stand out.

The characterizations of Gomez and Morticia provided by Shayne Bourbon and Tracey Williams-Sutton anchor the piece well. The outright enthusiasm award goes to Brittany Danyel who really delivers in the dinner party scene at the end of the first act.

The costuming throughout is particularly notable and creative. The 21-member chorus of Addams Ancestors provides a visual treat as its members drift in and out of the action.

This year the Ojai ACT has inaugurated a new start time for ALL evening performances. The curtain rises at 7 p.m., rather than the traditional 8 p.m.

The Addams Family plays weekends until April 3, 2016 at the Ojai Art Center Theatre, 113 S. Montgomery St., Ojai. Curtain: Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Prices: $18-Greneral. $12-Seniors/students/Art Center members. $5-Under 13. Tickets on line at www.OjaiACT.org or call  640-8797.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance visits the Rubicon
by Jim Spencer and Shirley Lorraine

In 1890 a cowboy named Bert Barricune found an Easterner lying on the prairie. He had been brutally beaten and left for dead by a vicious outlaw named Liberty Valance.

Barricune took the injured traveler to the town of Two Trees where he was nursed back to health by a spirited saloon owner, Hallie Jackson.

The visitor, Ransom Foster, stayed in town. He taught Hallie, as well as her friend from childhood, Jim, how to read and write. Along the way Foster and Hallie fell in love. Barricune, who also had romantic designs on Hallie, remained involved in their lives.

Then word came that Liberty Valance was returning and gunning for Foster.  Should the tenderfoot Foster stay or run? What actually happened next became unclear, but stories about that day propelled Foster into a life of prominence.

The play opens 20 years later when U.S. Senator Ransom Foster and his wife, Hallie, return to Two Trees to attend the funeral of the old cowboy. Through reminisces about those earlier days the truth is revealed about the man who shot Liberty Valance.

With intricately interwoven issues of honor, revenge, loyalty and love, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a new play enjoying its American debut at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre Company. It is based on a 1953 short story that, 50-plus years ago, spawned a movie with the same title. The film featured James Stewart and John Wayne.

The Rubicon’s production boasts a cadre of professional actors with extensive film, stage and TV credits. Gregory Harrison plays the veteran cowboy Bert Barricune. Harrison is probably best recognized for his recurring roles on “Rizzoli & Isles,” as the title character on “Trapper John, M.D.,” and as a neighbor who resides in Ventura part of the year.

The villainous gun slinger, Liberty Valance, is portrayed by Jeff Kober.  A veteran of multiple Rubicon productions as well as lots of bad guy characters for film and TV, Kober is also known for his appearance on shows like “Sons of Anarchy” and “China Beach.”

From New York, Jacques Roy has myriad years of stage experience in the East on which he draws as he creates the persona of Ransom Foster, the earnest Easterner around whom swirls the action of the piece.

Sylvia Davidson, last seen in the Rubicon’s Ventura and New York productions of Lonesome Traveler, is Hallie Jackson, the feisty saloon owner who is torn between the affections of two men.

Joseph Fuqua plays the sheriff who is reluctant to intervene in conflict – a part that’s a far cry from his heroic performances as Hamlet and Professor Henry Higgins in Rubicon productions.

The entire show is under the guiding hand of director Jenny Sullivan, the Rubicon’s Artistic Associate.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance plays March 2-20, 2016.  Show times: Wednesdays – 2 & 7 p.m. (Talkbacks follow 7 p.m. performances); Thursdays & Fridays – 8 p.m.; Saturdays – 2 & 8 p.m.; Sundays – 2 p.m.  Rubicon Theatre Company, 1006 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA, 93001.  Tickets – $20 – $54.  Information, group discounts, ticketing and seat selection: www.rubicon.theatre.org.  667-2900.

The Witch/4 Palm Trees
By Eduardo Victoria/[email protected]

Robert Eggers directorial debut is a force to be reckoned with. If you are entering this film expecting jump scares, cheap characters, and a predictable plot – The Witch will not be for you. Instead, the viewer is tested for 90 minutes, an all too efficient runtime that leaves us wanting more and makes us happy it’s over.

Set in 1630s New England, the film focuses on a family who has been banished from community due to disagreements of religious beliefs. Thomasin (Ana Taylor-Joy) is the oldest, followed by her brother Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), and three younger children. Their mother Katherine (Kate Dickie) and father William (Ralph Ineson) become distraught after the disappearance of their youngest son, Samuel, who is only an infant. Mysterious circumstances continue to plague the family as they face obstacles within themselves that become more and more disturbing the longer they go on.

Terror and evil in The Witch come in the form of mundane, natural things: a forest, a rabbit, a raven, etc. The supernatural is only ever suggested, further causing our characters to question each other. An interesting aspect of the film is religion itself. Early on, Thomasin is seen confessing her sins as part of her prayers. She is the only character to do so without any sort of negative influence on her life.

Each member of the family is guilty of sin. Thomasin tells a white lie to get her kid brother and sister to behave, William is full of pride, and Caleb is sneaking peaks at his sister’s body.

The true brilliance of the film lies within its story telling. The Witch is not a movie about good versus evil. It is not about redemption, it is a character study of a family who experiences an attack that uses their very religious beliefs against them. The benefit of a cast of unknown actors forces us to look at the characters and not the people who play them.

Inneson’s booming voice gives him power and Taylor-Joy’s innocence makes it difficult to see her family around her slowly turn on her as a result of her little white lie. A scene late in the film is downright terrifying and frightful. It finds Thomasin and her younger siblings stuck in a barn.

A film that you expect to take an Arthur Miller-like turn goes nowhere near that direction. The Witch is a dark, disturbing, and original form of terror. It takes its time to scare its audience and gives us deeply rich characters to get to know. At 90 minutes in length, the film has no fat or extra material on it. The final 10 minutes of the film will stay with you long after the film ends.

Rated R. 90 minutes. Now playing at Cinemark Downtown 10.

The Other Place at Santa Paula Theater Center
by Jim Spencer and Shirley Lorraine

Are you ever really ready for a life-changing experience? The answer is no. The truth is, if it is happening to you, you probably will not recognize it. If it is happening to someone else, then you see it without truly understanding it. In either case, the challenges such an experience presents are enormous.

This is the premise of the current Santa Paula Theatre Center offering, The Other Place by Sharr White. It is a complex, emotionally wringing and surprising play performed without an intermission.  Nominated for numerous stage awards, The Other Place kicks off the SPTC’s 2016 season with a flare of strength.

Juliana (Cynthia Killion) is a medical research scientist presenting a seminar on a break-through medication. During the presentation she has a perception episode. Later the cause is confirmed as a symptom of dementia. Complications involving imagined actions by her husband, Ian (Michael Perlmutter), and perceived family situations lead Juliana further down the path of confusion, as her physician husband is left to lament, “I’m not ready for this.”

The story is told primarily by Juliana as she relates her perceptions of various events, real and imagined, that playwright White deftly weaves through time and space, both externally and internally, now and at the other place where the family once resided.

Although Juliana’s debilitation is caused by an unspecified dementia, the story accurately deals with conditions, behaviors and emotional detritus experienced by the families and victims of any of a number of mild to severe mental health issues.

Directed with sensitivity by Taylor Kasch, The Other Place allows the audience to experience Juliana’s journey in such a way that elicits deep emotional response, as well as the occasional laugh or tear.

Killion and Perlmutter are a dynamic match. Both are highly skilled in their craft and fully immerse themselves in their roles. Each brings power, empathy, insight and compassion to their roles.

Taking on multiple personas in pivotal supporting roles throughout the drama are Amanda Canty as The Woman, and Scott Blanchard as The Man.  Canty provides a great deal of depth to her multiple roles, as does Blanchard, although he is seen less frequently.

As the years have gone by, the Santa Paula Theatre Center has been taking more and more risks in the material they present. Nearly every choice has been a solid winner both for both the actors and audiences. With The Other Place as its opener, the upcoming season is solidly on track to continue that excellence.

The Other Place runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. through March 13. Tickets are $20 general, and $18 seniors/students. Due to both strong language and the sensitive subject matter, the show is not suitable for children.  525-4645 or www.santapaulatheatercenter.org. Reservations recommended.

Deadpool/4 Palm Trees
By Eduardo Victoria/[email protected]

From the studio that has failed to create any viable franchises besides Wolverine comes the latest entry into a year packed with superhero films. Deadpool is the adaptation of Rob Liefield’s foul-mouthed, wise cracking, pansexual “superhero” that appeared in several incarnations over the years thanks to Marvel. Yes, that term is to be taken lightly as we see him do many un-heroic things.

The story picks up with Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), an ex-special forces member who now operates as a hit-man of sorts with a non-stop sense of humor, falling in love with Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). Wilson discovers that he has terminal cancer spread to all over his body and is offered a second chance at life through the help of the mysterious Francis (Ed Skrein). When he is left for dead disfigured, and mutated. Wilson seeks revenge and to restore some semblance of normalcy to his love life.

A Marvel fan favorite for years, the character translates extremely well to the screen. Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, the film holds a surprising amount of emotional weight during the scenes in which Wilson and Vanessa’s relationship is blossoming.

This is in part successful due to the performances of Reynolds and Baccarin who serve as a great foil to each other. The supporting cast of villains isn’t anything to write home about, but then again, that’s not the point of the movie.

Deadpool is a rare comic book film in which the eventual battle between good and evil is not the key to its resolution. It is what stands in its way from Wilson being able to get back to Vanessa. The film is about these two characters and the mess they enter. Deadpool would probably work if all the major villains were taken out.

An interesting element is the addition of lesser-known X-Men Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) who serves as a touch of detached youth to the story. Serving the story only in the fight scenes, I was left waiting for more from her “big brother/little sister relationship” with Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic).

Is Deadpool rife with subtext, deeper meaning, and an attempt to elevate the genre? Absolutely not. From the opening credits, first scenes of action, and filthy sounds of Tom Holkenborg’s synthesizer heavy score, Deadpool knows its audience. This is a fan service film and it’s perhaps the best one coming along at the right time for 20th Century Fox.

What is best about Deadpool is that the story doesn’t take him to the corners of the earth, hi-tech sci-fi environments, or drop him in story of espionage. We see him trying to restore order to his life, but failing to do so because he gets glee out of punishing people worse than he is. Sit back, let the fourth wall be broken, and get to know one of the best incarnations of Deadpool  to date.

Now playing at Cinemark Downtown 10 Rated R

Arnold Schwarzenegger has completed his next film, the revenge thriller “478,” in which he plays a man whose wife and child died in a plane crash caused by an air traffic controllers screw-up. When Arnold makes it known he wants vengeance, the controller is placed in protective custody. You can guess the rest.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has overtaken “Jurassic World’s” $1.6 billion box office, and by the time you read this will have knocked “Titanic” out of the No. 2 spot, even with its impressive $2.2 billion gross. However, “The Force” will have to stay awake nights to pass “Avatar” with its $2.8 billion take. When that happens, “Avatar” will unleash “Avatar 2” in December 2017, followed by “3” in 2018 and “4” in 2019.

13 Hours/2 1/2 Palm trees

By Eduardo Victoria
[email protected]

After defining a distinct type of action blockbuster, polluting the world with transformer films and becoming a defacto scapegoat for disgruntled movie nerds, slacker auteur Michael Bay’s sets his sights on the infamous 2012 Benghazi attacks with 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Though his filmography is highly hit-and-miss, the one constant throughout Bay’s career has always been his transparency.

For better or worse, the director has never hid behind subtlety and always worn his heart on his sleeve. It’s this trait, coupled with his unparalleled talent for cinematic chaos that makes Bay’s latest dip into historical provocation unrelentingly aggressive but surprisingly human.

The story picks up in 2012, amidst the chaos of dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s fall, as Libya’s government struggles to find stability and turf wars rage between warring militias. Amongst the fallout remain two American outposts, one serving as a diplomatic haven, and another, as a C.I.A. compound stocked with ex-secret service security contractors and intelligence agents. Timed to coincide with a visit from U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, Islamic militants attack Stevens at the diplomatic compound, initiating a vicious attack which will spiral into something much bigger. Watching from afar, six security members from the neighboring C.I.A. compound rush to his aid, navigating a city in which friend and foe are virtually indistinguishable.

Rather than attempting to dissect the obfuscated fact and fiction of the Benghazi attacks, Bay keeps things simple, parlaying his military fetishism for an intimate story of the six men who laid their lives on the line for their fellow countrymen. After quickly establishing the danger of Banghazi’s fallen city, Bay takes time to flesh out his characters, the lives and families they’ve left behind for the job and their camaraderie with one another. Needless to say, it’s a move that pays off, allowing the film its humanity and giving us a reason to emotionally invest once the bullets start flying. Even then, fierce dogfights are contrasted with fleeting moments of solidarity between the team and little touches of heart, such as a character trying to upload a message to his family, before an oncoming storm of enemies approach. It’s baseline character work, I know, but it works in a way that’s primal and visceral, going hand in hand with the characters’ do-or-die predicament.

The other thing the film has going for it is its unrelenting sense of chaos and mayhem (or Bayhem, as you can call it). Say what you will about Bay’s films, there’s no denying the craftsmanship behind his staged action sequences, even when they don’t work in service to a story or are stuck in a bad film. Given this film’s straightforward premise, Bay masterfully orchestrates a progressive series of confusing encounters and battles which are genuinely gritty, brutal and well-staged, diving headfirst into an abyss of political red tape and fully accepting of the day’s rapid-fire developments.

The cast is okay enough as well, with James Badge Dale’s “Rone” Woods heading up the team with John Krasinski’s Jack De Silva and others in toe. It’s worthy to note that these men and cast aren’t as grating as most of the characters in Bay’s films, and it isn’t hard to care for them when they start to suffer. They’re all convincing as normal guys who just want to do the right thing.

Bay’s latest offering may be the biggest evidence yet that he’s a director who frustratingly holds back in order to deliver fluff – but then again, the film’s very existence shows that he can say something when he wants to. Though apolitical on surface level, Bay’s take on the material suggests an ironically conservative perspective, which in turn, also happens to be the perfect vehicle for his patented brand of muscular spectacle. At the very least, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is a pulse pounding thriller that laments the loss of life on both sides of a cloudy war, and is already getting people to talk about more than alien robots or Victoria’s Secret models.

Rated R. 144 minutes. Now playing at Cinemark Downtown 10.

See Rock City at the Rubicon

Sequels are often not up to the standards of the original. However, See Rock City is a glowing example that lightning can strike the same place twice with double the intensity – especially when presented with the power and delicate finesse of the artists assembled by the Rubicon Theatre Company’s production gurus.

See Rock City is the second in a trilogy by Arlene Hutton that follows the lives of a young Kentucky couple, May and Raleigh, during and after WW II.  Although their journey started in Last Train to Nibroc, presented by the Rubicon last season, the current story stands on its own.

The play opens as the couple returns from their honeymoon during which they got detoured from a planned visit to see Rock City, a famous Tennessee tourist attraction.  Now it is time to come to terms with some of life’s limitations.

As a medical condition prohibits Raleigh from both military service and physical labor, they must live with May’s parents – the Gills. So, the action takes place primarily on the front porch of the Gills’ modest frame farm house.

The couple’s tradition roles are reversed as May, a school principal, becomes the breadwinner, and Raleigh, a writer, unsuccessfully attempts to sell his magazine stories.  His inability to support neither the War effort nor his wife weigh on him greatly.  Yet, both are optimists and they face their obstacles with transparent emotions, all the while holding back their fears for the future.

Lily Nicksay, as May, and Eric Odom, as Raleigh, skillfully, gently and solidly reprise the personas they embodied in Last Train.

May’s mother, Mrs. Gill (Sharon Sharth), provides the stability the couple needs, while Raleigh’s mother, Mrs. Brummett (Clarinda Ross), casts a negative shadow over every encounter.

How the characters communicate and cope with each other is a fascinating study in conflict, denial and nuances of accommodation.

The four members of the ensemble cast are rich with experience and meld together seamlessly as a unit.

Director Katherine Farmer, who also directed Last Train, shows a keen eye for subtlety in movement that not only gives the actors full reign, but also emotionally brings the audience up on the porch with the characters. This unique ability at once provides immersion for the audience and accentuates empathy for the characters as they tell their tale.

Presented without an intermission, the action takes a serious turn at the end, leaving ample room for the completion of the saga in the final part of the trilogy, Gulf View Drive, which is slated for the Rubicon stage next season.

See Rock City plays Wednesdays to Sundays until February 14, 2016 at the Rubicon Theatre Company, 1006 E. Main St. (corner of Main and Laurel Streets) in downtown Ventura. Matinees: 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Evenings performances at 8 p.m., except 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, which features a post-show talk back with the cast. Tickets: $44-$54. The box office is open 7 days a week. There is 24-hour ticketing and seat selection online at www.rubicontheatre.org.  667-2900.

by Jim Spencer and Shirley Lorraine

Five world class professional entertainers will materialize on stage in the ballroom of Oxnard’s River Ridge Residence Inn at 8 p.m. on Saturday, January 30 to present a rollicking evening variety show filled with comedy, magic, ventriloquism, laughter, puppets and surprises. And the public is invited.

The show caps off the third annual, four day, international convention of variety artists held each January in Oxnard. It is known as KAX. The title comes from combining the first letters of the co-sponsors’ names – KIDabra International and Axtell Expressions of Ventura (K+AX = KAX).

Attending the conference will be magicians, comedians, ventriloquists, jugglers and other entertainers from all parts of the globe. They gather to learn the latest tactics, tips and techniques to further their individual success as professional, family friendly entertainers.

The gala show at the end of the conference is where the best of the best perform for their peers. But the hosts are throwing open the doors to this part of the otherwise closed conference so the public can enjoy the talents of these world class entertainers.

The gala will showcase the talents of a cast drawn from the ranks of acclaimed international variety artists.  From England serving as Master of Ceremonies will be award winning magician Jimmy Carlo.  Other participants include Jay Johnson, humorist and ventriloquist, whose Broadway hit, The Two and Only, garnered a Tony Award, plus MAGIC icon Stan Allen from Las Vegas. Former Ojai residents Dave and Shania Brenion will share their innovative, colorful and nifty approach to the entertaining attributes of balloons. From New Jersey, the comedy magic of Christopher T. Magician will round out the play bill.

Admission to the show is only $15 for adults and $5 for kids under 13. Tickets for the show are available at the hotel KAX registration booth Friday and Saturday, and at the door.

KAX cohost KIDabra International is a world-wide association of kid show and family performers.  Its membership includes magicians, ventriloquists, jugglers and all types of variety performers who focus on AAA performances – Always Age Appropriate. KAX is a midyear edition of the conference KIDabra has been presenting for over 20 years on the East Coast.

Axtell Expressions, the other co-host, is the alter ego of Steve Axtell, who many consider to be the creative successor to the Muppets’ Jim Henson.  For decades Axtell has been creating puppets, ventriloquist figures, illusions and animatronic characters for entertainers around the globe. The opportunity to tour his magical Ventura based studio is one factor that keeps drawing world class performers to the KAX convention each year.

For more information go to www.kidabra.org/kax/gala.