Billy Collins, who lives in New York, is one of our country’s most admired poets, and this snapshot of a winter day is reminiscent of those great Chinese poems that on the virtue of their clarity and precision have survived for a couple of thousand years.

His most recent book of poetry is Aimless Love: New and Selected Poems, (Random House, 2013).

Winter

A little heat in the iron radiator,
the dog breathing at the foot of the bed,

and the windows shut tight,
encrusted with hexagons of frost.

I can barely hear the geese
complaining in the vast sky,

flying over the living and the dead,
schools and prisons, and the whitened fields.

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 2014 by Billy Collins, “Winter,” (Poetry East, No. 82, 2014).  Poem reprinted by permission of Billy Collins and the publisher. 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. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

INTO THE WOODS (Rated PG)

Having spent some of my formative years living in New York City, where I had the opportunity with my family to enjoy many splendid Broadway shows, I have an indelible aversion to retooling grand musicals into Hollywood movies.

The results are never, in my mind, as good as the original stage productions.

Case in point, for me at least, is that “Chicago,” now billed as the longest-running American musical on Broadway, was turned into a successful movie, winning the Oscar for best picture and five other categories, including best supporting actress for Catherine Zeta-Jones. Still, far and away, the stage version is superior in so many ways.

Now roughly 27 years after its Broadway debut, the Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods” has been trimmed down in scope and ambition for a movie version in which Meryl Streep is a standout as the Witch, while British actors James Corden and Emily Blunt steal the show as the Baker and his wife.

I saw the Broadway musical during its original run on Broadway, fondly remembering the many great songs and expert staging, which are practically staples in Sondheim’s vast repertoire, and though the finite details are hazy now so many years later, I still prefer the stage version.

This is not to say that “Into the Woods” is somehow shabby or deficient in a significant way in its transition to the big screen.

Sondheim fanatics may have a different take, but for me the movie version does relative justice to its progenitor.

Oddly enough, though, too much singing on the big screen doesn’t work quite as well as on the stage.

More dialogue and fewer or shorter songs would make “Into the Woods” more palatable.

But then, our two main characters, the Baker and his wife, don’t seem to have much to say to each other, as they struggle through keeping their bakery in business and being terrorized by the Witch, who harbors a grudge against the Baker’s father for having stolen magic beans from her garden.

The Witch has cursed the Baker and his wife, making it impossible for them to conceive a child unless they go on a three-day scavenger hunt to come up with a cape red as blood, a cow white as milk, a slipper pure as gold and hair yellow as corn. So this is how four fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm are woven into one musical story.

While the Baker and his wife must venture into the mythical woods to complete their shopping list, fairy tale stories are realized in parallel times.

First of all, Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), a precocious child with a penchant for pinching the Baker’s best pastries, wears the desired red cape.

Johnny Depp has a brief appearance as the Big Bad Wolf, and his leering, lecherous encounter with Little Red Riding Hood in the treacherous woods is somewhat unsettling for family-friendly entertainment, though one is easily convinced that younger kids won’t pick up on the Wolf’s sexually predatory nature.

Meanwhile, young Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) has been sent by his suffering mother (Tracey Ullman) to sell their cow, Milky White, in the local village.

Instead, he trades his bovine friend to the Baker for magic beans. And voilà, Jack becomes the legend of Jack and the Beanstalk. Well, you know the rest of this story.

Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) is introduced in the most familiar manner, laboring as an overworked servant for her evil stepmother (Christine Baranski) and wretched stepsisters (Tammy Blanchard and Lucy Punch).

But this time, Cinderella gets to flee Prince Charming’s castle not once, but three times, causing the Prince (Chris Pine) great frustration as he dashes through the forest, even breaking out in song at one point.

Locked away in a tower in the forest is Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy), the golden-haired beauty who has been isolated from the world by the evil Witch, who had kidnapped her at an early age as revenge for the transgressions of the Baker’s father. Yes, Rapunzel is the Baker’s long-lost sibling.

And yet, Rapunzel barely figures into the story, aside from occasional visits from a lovesick Prince (Billy Magnusson) and the fact that precious strands of her golden hair are required by the Baker to complete the scavenger hunt package.

“Into the Woods” is seemingly an odd choice for a Disney picture, because the Sondheim musical undermines the traditional notions of fairy tale stories, leading to a far darker emotional response for an audience when pondering the bleaker material on offer.

Another strange thing to happen is that the story reaches a satisfactory resolution, after the Baker and his wife complete their mission, and the viewer thinks the credits are about to roll.

But no, the story carries on for a purpose that seems not completely necessary.

Aside from the borderline pedophile behavior of Johnny Depp’s Big Bad Wolf towards Little Red Riding Hood, the PG-rated “Into the Woods” is suitable family entertainment, though I would hazard a guess that children are unlikely to have much interest in a film with dark tones and an excess of musical numbers. The same might even be said for a fair number of adults.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Bill Noteman and the Rockets will be featured at the Soper Reese Theatre's “Third Friday Live” series in January.

The group will perform beginning at 7 p.m. Jan 16 at the theater, located at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport.

Bill Noteman and the Rockets features “Mojo” Larry Platz on guitars, David Neft on keyboards, Dave Falco on base, Steve DuBois on drums and Bill Noteman on vocals and harmonica.

This group has been burning up the stages of Northern California for more than 20 years with its high energy blend of Chicago blues and West Coast jump rock and roll.

“Raw expressive vocals, searing harmonica, sizzling guitar and cooking keys dipped in the sauce of a smoldering rhythm section,” is how one critic described this high energy group.

All seats for “Third Friday Live” are $10 each. The dance floor will be open.

Tickets are available online at www.SoperReeseTheatre.com ; at the theatre box office, 275 S. Main St. on Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

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

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Start the New Year fiddling around at the Ely Stage Stop.

The Old Time Fiddlers Association continues its monthly First Sunday Fiddlers’ Jam sessions hosted by the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum on Sunday, Jan. 4.

Fiddlers will meet in the Ely barn to perform their wonderful Americana music.

Donations benefit both the Ely Stage Stop, helping to fund a blacksmith shop that volunteers will soon be building, and the Old Time Fiddlers Association, who uses it to partially fund their scholarship programs.

The fun begins at the museum at 11 a.m.

Enjoy the old-timey holiday decorations still on display in the house and in the barn. Take this opportunity to purchase selected pieces of French beading/bead weaving on display from Ellen’s Beaded Designs.

Musicians will play from noon through 2 p.m.

There will be raffles and information about an upcoming contra dance planned for early spring.

This is a free, family friendly event for all to enjoy, so bring young and old alike.

Enjoy the music with hot beverages and tasty treats. Bring your own wine and sip it in Ely Stage Stop wine glasses that will be available for purchase. Clap your hands, tap your toes or get up and dance.

The stage stop is located at 9921 Soda Bay Road (Highway 281) in Kelseyville (near Clear Lake Riviera, just north of Highway 29-Kit's Corner).

Current hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

Fiddlers’ Jams occur the first Sunday of every month.

Visit www.elystagestop.com or www.lakecountyhistory.org , check out the stage stop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/elystagestop or call the museum at 707-533-9990.

We are never without our insect companions, even in winter, and here’s one who has the run of the house.

Roger Pfingston lives in Indiana.

December

Lodged tight for days
in a corner of the wall,
ladybug can’t resist the tree,

crawling now over cold
light, ceramic fruits,
tinsel lamb and sleigh.

Flies out of the tree
to try rum cake on a
plate of caroling cherubs.

Ends up on her back,
wings flared, silly girl
spinning over the kitchen floor.

Later, between the blinds,
tiny bump of silhouette:
a stillness against the falling snow.

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 Roger Pfingston and reprinted from Poetry East, Nos. 80 & 81, Fall 2013. Roger Pfingston’s most recent book of poems is A Day Marked for Telling, Finishing Line Pr., 2011. Poem reprinted by permission of Roger Pfingston 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. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

The holiday season brings more films than usual, and not one of them, as far as I can tell, has anything to do with Christmas.

For the seasonal spirit, one needs to reconnect with “It’s a Wonderful Life,” or even “The Christmas Story.”

Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” which is rated PG-13, is the last leg of the trilogy of film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterpiece.  It appears that filmmaker Jackson wants to go out with a big bang, and he succeeds.
   
More than the previous chapters, this concluding segment is certainly explosive in terms of violent battles. 

“The Battle of the Five Armies,” which follows upon the conclusion of “The Desolation of Smaug,” adheres faithfully to the premise of its title.

During the fiery opening sequence, the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town are attacked mercilessly by the terrifying Dragon, Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch), as he breathes fire upon the village, laying waste to everything in his wake, even though Bard (Luke Evans) proves heroic.

Seeking refuge at the Lonely Mountain, the Lake-town refugees find that the King Under the Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), has succumbed to what Tolkien called the “dragon-sickness,” a condition of greed that causes Thorin to hoard his vast resources of gold and other treasures.

Thorin and the Dwarves of Erebor must now face the consequences of desperate people fleeing their homeland. 

Worse still is that Sauron, the Dark Lord (he’s the really ugly one), has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain.

Our Hobbit hero Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is flustered that he can’t get Thorin to see reason.  Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends as five great armies go to war.  Even the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) is helpless.

For the nonbelievers, “The Battle of the Five Armies” might be the best of the trilogy for the relentless action scenes. 

The Tolkien faithful at least get the end of the continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings.”

 

Family entertainment is comfortably obtained with “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb,” rated PG and the third and final installment of the comedy series about a night watchman at New York’s Museum of Natural History who deals with exhibits that come alive after sundown.

Ben Stiller’s Larry is still working the night shift at the museum, but trouble looms when a big gala dinner event turns to disaster and the museum director (Ricky Gervais) loses his job. 

But even bigger trouble is afoot when Larry discovers that the deterioration of an ancient Egyptian tablet puts all the exhibits into jeopardy.

This is also the last film for Robin Williams, reprising his role of the wax figure of Teddy Roosevelt, who as a result of short-circuiting from the malfunctioning tablet starts quoting other former presidents, even those succeeding him.

The fate of the New York museum wax figures appears to rest with another exhibit at the British Museum in London. 

So Larry packs up his crew, including the roughrider chief executive; Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan as the miniature cowboy and Roman soldier, respectively; Attila the Hun; and the Capuchin monkey, and they head for England.

Once inside the British Museum, after Larry convinces the bored night guard (Rebel Wilson) to open the gates, the hunt is on for Ben Kingsley’s Egyptian pharaoh, who may possess the key to reversing the tablet’s disintegration.

Naturally, new mayhem is unleashed, especially from less than cuddly animals.

The most amusing new wax figure is Sir Lancelot (Dan Stevens), who once animated becomes obsessed with finding Guinevere. 

His opportunity comes when he storms the stage of a West End theatre showing a production of “Camelot,” starring Hugh Jackman and Alice Eve.

Let’s just say that he’s very insistent in his claim to the stage version of Guinevere and wants to slay Hugh Jackman’s King Arthur.

“Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” is familiar turf, though Stiller adds a new dimension to the comedy by also playing a Neanderthal who proves irresistible to Rebel Wilson’s security guard.

The third installment lacks any pretense; it’s just simple fun and amusing entertainment.

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