PREMIUM RUSH (Rated PG-13)

The results of a full employment act for stuntmen are on display for the extreme risks of riding bikes at breakneck speed during peak New York City traffic in “Premium Rush.”

One could become exhausted watching primo bike messenger Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) dodging speeding cars and crazed cabbies while trekking practically the entire length of Manhattan.

Befitting the film’s fast pace, the action is set entirely in one day, late in the afternoon, when Wilee is summoned to pick up and deliver an envelope for a seemingly routine “premium rush.”

But there’s nothing routine about the ticking clock, which literally appears at crucial moments, that requires Wilee to deliver a package from Columbia University to a shop in Chinatown.

Immediately after picking up the envelope from a Chinese student (Jamie Chung), Wilee is confronted by the mysterious Bobby Monday (Michael Shannon), who attempts subterfuge to falsely intercept the envelope.

The stranger did not count on Wilee’s credo of delivering a package, no questions asked, with great speed and dispatch, especially when a deadline is at stake.

A great chase ensues, which pretty much eats up the clock for the duration of the film. It turns out that Monday is a bad cop bent on stealing a marker worth about $50,000.

Det. Monday is up to his eyeballs in debt to a bunch of Chinese gangsters. Playing Pai Gow with reckless abandon, the cop has an obvious gambling problem. He owes big bucks in a hurry.

Monday pursues Wilee by car, but he’s no match for the wily bike messenger who has the uncanny ability to strategize every move to avoid accidents.

We are treated to insights in Wilee’s mind as he figures the odds of one false move versus another. Oddly enough, the choices avoided, charted on screen, often lead to some comic relief.

Aside from a lot of fast peddling, there is some time for character development, though we don’t find out much. Wilee apparently went to Columbia Law School, but didn’t want to take the bar exam and end up wearing a suit.

Although a smart guy, Wilee chooses to work for low wages in a dangerous job. He loves the thrill of riding a bike with only one gear and no stopping.

Riding a bike with no brakes is a good metaphor for who Wilee is and how he operates. The persistent Detective Monday and a NYPD bike cop annoyed by Wilee’s traffic infractions are consistently outwitted by him.

Other than his bike, Wilee also cares for fellow bike messenger Vanessa (Dania Ramirez), his on-again, off-again girlfriend who fails to appreciate that Wilee only lives for the moment.

For additional obligatory dramatic conflict, Wilee contends with extremely competitive co-worker Manny (Wole Parks), a cocky, arrogant rival with an expensive bike who’s always putting moves on Vanessa.

While Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s daredevil bike rider is an appealing character, the biggest scene stealer is Michael Shannon’s corrupt cop. Flailing away in Chinese gambling dens, Shannon is a marvel to watch in his progressive meltdown.

The essence of “Premium Rush” is basically very simple. At a compact running time of 91 minutes, the film’s focus rests mostly with the fast-paced two wheel thrill rides.

Bonded in a tight-knit group, bike messengers in the Big Apple have formed their own subculture, part of it on display but not fully explored. Their real stories would likely be very interesting.

To heighten the bracing experience of daredevil biking, “Premium Rush” relies on actual high-action activity with intense, physical stunts. The element of realism is stimulating for any action junkie.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

I never would have imagined that a good thriller, with plenty of adrenaline rush, would have come from a Norwegian film, but “Headhunters” is the proof.

When released theatrically, “Headhunters” generated a lot of good buzz, but in limited release it wasn’t able to attract a wide audience.

Your good fortune is that “Headhunters” is being released on DVD, with the added bonus that the film may be watched in English without annoying subtitles.

Aksel Hennie’s Roger is a charming scoundrel and Norway’s most accomplished headhunter. He is living far beyond his means and has taken to stealing art to subsidize his lavish lifestyle.

When his wife, a beautiful art gallery owner, introduces him to a former mercenary (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) who possesses an extremely valuable painting, Roger decides to risk it all to get his hands on it.

Not surprisingly, things go horribly wrong, and Roger turns out to be the hunted man. “Headhunters” is clever, scary, thrilling and even funny. This is an independent film jewel not to be missed.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – With several great sponsors, the stages at this year’s Lake County Fair will host improved talent, while also maintaining the fair’s unwritten policy of supporting local acts and attractions.

The fair runs through Sunday, Sept. 2.

Thanks to help from Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Mediacom and Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino, fair organizers have searched out and booked some of the best acts available in Lake County.

Nationally touring blues act Twice As Good will join other well known local bands like the Snake Alley Band, playing Friday, The Uncalled Four, playing Saturday afternoon, and the Mark Weston Band, playing Sunday afternoon, all on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital stage.
 
Twice as Good will perform Saturday at 8 p.m., immediately following the Lake County Talent Competition.

A fast-paced, rocking blues act, Twice As Good, is led by local father and son Richard and Paul Steward.

Twice As Good has toured all over the United States, including a gig at the 2009 Chicago Blues Festival.

In 2010, Twice As Good won the “Last Band Standing Competition,” and was named the “Best New Blues Band” by the West Coast Blues Society. Charlie Musselwhite called Twice As Good “the real deal.”

Besides being well known touring musicians, Richard and Paul Steward are members of the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks.

Sunday’s major stage event, the Fiesta Latina, is presented by Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital Stage.

Irma Lopez will open the fiesta at 3 p.m., followed by Los Amantes del Ritmo at 5:30 p.m. They will be followed by the return of Banda la Tequirera, which will close out the evening.

Other local musical acts will play the Mediacom Stage, including Travis Rinker, who has been called “the next Eric Clapton,” Short Stax, Village-Stone & Day, Barrish with Sommers.

The Mediacom Stage will also feature karaoke on Saturday afternoon, presided over by DJ Ken Steely.

Regular admission prices for the 2012 Lake County Fair are unchanged from 2012.

Prices are $10 for a regular ticket, $6 for a senior over age 60, and $6 for children ages 6 through 11. Children under 6 years old are admitted free every day. Children through age 11 are admitted for $3 on Thursday, August 30th only, for “Kid’s Day.”

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Angel Lights will be performing a comedy “Love is a Crime” based on the show “Chicago” on Friday, Aug. 31.

The show will take place beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Lakeport Senior Activity Center, 527 Konocti Ave.

Admission is $10 for the dinner and show.  

For more information call the Lakeport Senior Center at 707-263-4218.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – With several great sponsors, the stages at this year’s Lake County Fair will host improved talent, while also maintaining the fair’s unwritten policy of supporting local acts and attractions.

The fair runs Thursday, Aug. 30, through Sunday, Sept. 2.

Thanks to help from Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Mediacom, and Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino, fair organizers have searched out and booked some of the best acts available in Lake County.

Nationally touring blues act Twice As Good will join other well known local bands like the LC Diamonds, playing Thursday; the Snake Alley Band, playing Friday; The Uncalled Four, playing Saturday afternoon; and the Mark Weston Band, playing Sunday afternoon, all on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital stage.
 
Twice as Good will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. immediately following the Lake County Talent Competition.

A fast-paced, rocking blues act, Twice As Good, is led by local father and son Richard and Paul Steward.

Twice As Good has toured all over the United States, including a gig at the 2009 Chicago Blues Festival.

In 2010, Twice As Good won the “Last Band Standing Competition,” and was named the “Best New Blues Band” by the West Coast Blues Society. Charlie Musselwhite called Twice As Good “the real deal.”

Besides being well known touring musicians, Richard and Paul Steward are members of the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks.

Sunday’s major stage event, the Fiesta Latina, is presented by Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital Stage.

Irma Lopez will open the fiesta at 3 p.m., followed by Los Amantes del Ritmo at 5:30 p.m. They will be followed by the return of Banda la Tequirera, which will close out the evening.

Other local musical acts will play the Mediacom Stage, including Travis Rinker, who has been called “the next Eric Clapton,” Short Stax, Village-Stone & Day, Barrish with Sommers.

The Mediacom Stage also will feature karaoke on Saturday afternoon, presided over by DJ Ken Steely.

Regular admission prices for the 2012 Lake County Fair are unchanged from 2012. Prices are $10 for a regular ticket, $6 for a senior over age 60 and $6 for children ages 6 through 11.

Children under 6 years old are admitted free every day. Children through age 11 are admitted for $3 on Thursday, Aug. 30 only, for “Kid’s Day.”

Only last year, the ABC TV network was programming several female-driven new dramas.  As a result, “Revenge” scored big time, seemingly across the board in several demographic categories.

On the other hand, the reboot of “Charlie’s Angels” and the retro appeal of “Pan Am,” both shows featuring attractive female leads, flopped big time.

That the TV business is fickle and unpredictable could not be underscored more than by the failure of last year’s network shows geared to 1960s nostalgia, popularized by the cable show “Mad Men.”  I am referring to NBC’s “The Playboy Club” as well as “Pan Am.”
 
These evocative series sought to grab the essence of “Mad Men’s” gold standard for drama, ignoring the fact that AMC’s popular cable show generated the number of viewers that would sink a show on a network.

Speaking to a gathering of the nation’s TV critics last summer, Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment, proclaimed himself as willing to take “some risks in broadcast.”

Fast forward a year, and Lee is singing the same tune for the TV critics once again, going so far as to remind everyone that “we took risks last year, and it’s really, really fun.”

Expounding on the risk-taking theme, Lee also observed that he loves “the idea that this is a network that can really take risks with the different genres.  You see risks up there this year with the shows that we are doing.”

Well, the network executive’s claims may be valid, but one thing for sure is that there are no remakes of vintage TV series that once held appeal because of the original actors.

This year’s fall schedule on ABC has the look of everything for everybody, with a range of genres from comedy to drama, suspense to thriller, and romance to fantasy.

Having this pointed out by a critic, Lee responded that “ABC has a brand,” and that the network tends to “tell great emotional storytelling.”

“We do provocative shows,” Lee professed, going on to say that ABC does “shows that are really driven by character and emotion.”  This may be as good a reason as any for the new series “Last Resort.”

To be sure, as submarine captain Marcus Chaplin, Andre Braugher brings character and emotion to his role in “Last Resort” when he is relieved of duty for failure to follow a command.

But then, his replacement officer (Scott Speedman) is also conflicted about following orders.  The U.S. ballistic missile submarine was told, over a radio channel limited to a doomsday scenario, to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan.

Unable to obtain confirmation of the orders, the submarine and its crew find themselves under attack and then declared rogue enemies of their own country.

The show’s co-creator, Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”) told critics that “Last Resort” is not the kind of show that would seek cooperation from the Navy in order to get script approval from the military.  Yeah, this show doesn’t sound like John Wayne and “The Green Berets.”

Reba McEntire has become her own cottage industry of country music superstar and actress on the screen, large and small, and the Broadway stage.

Now Reba returns to a sitcom as a woman who moves her children away from her cheating husband in Nashville and seeks to revive her singing career in the foreign land of sunny California.

In “Malibu Country,” Reba is joined by her sharp-tongued mother Lillie Mae (Lily Tomlin), a surefire bet for comic relief.

Reba learns that relocating to Malibu is quite a challenge to her traditional southern values, while her offspring have their trials and tribulations of fitting in.
     
Sticking to the country music theme, ABC’s new drama “Nashville” explores the battle for popularity between a fading country legend and a rising star.
     
Connie Britton’s chart-topping Rayna Janes finds her popularity is waning.  Fans still line up to get her autograph, but she’s not packing arenas anymore.
     
Rayna’s record label suggests a concert tour where the legend opens for up-and-comer Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), the young and sexy future of country music.
     
But the scheming Juliette can’t wait to steal Rayna’s spotlight.  Meanwhile, Rayna doesn’t want to share the stage with the untalented little vixen.  Hence, the inevitable power struggle ensues.
     
The title of new drama “666 Park Avenue” is somewhat revealing.  Does this mean Satan has a penthouse in the ritziest part of Manhattan?  No, not exactly.  But it is still troubling, nonetheless.
     
The seductive address is for The Drake, a fancy apartment building owned by the mysterious Gavin Doran (Terry O’Quinn) and his wife Olivia (Vanessa Williams).
     
Unsuspecting new tenants, an idealistic young couple (Rachel Taylor and Dave Annable), are given the opportunity to manage the historic building in which supernatural forces endanger the lives of its residents.
     
In “666 Park Avenue,” The Drake, home to an epic struggle of good versus evil, maintains a dark hold over all of its tenants in this chilling supernatural drama.
     
A very different sort of neighbors is found in a gated New Jersey townhome community with its own golf course in the new comedy “The Neighbors.”
     
Debbie and Marty Weaver (Jami Gertz and Lenny Venito) buy the first townhome in Hidden Hills to come on the market in 10 years.  
     
From day one, it is clear the residents of the community are a little different.  For starters, the new neighbors all have pro-athlete names like Reggie Jackson, Dick Butkis and Larry Bird.
     
The Weavers soon learn that the entire community is comprised of aliens from Zabvron, where the men bear children and everyone cries green goo from their ears.
     
With the exception of an early November date for “Malibu Country,” new ABC series launch in late September and early October.

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

One of my favorite poems is by Ruth Stone, about eating at a McDonald’s, and I have myself written a poem about a lunch at Arby’s.

To these fast-food poems I now propose we add this fine one about IHOP, by Christine Stewart-Nuñez, who teaches at South Dakota State University.

Breakfast for Supper

At IHOP, after the skinny brunette
with a band-aid covering her hickey
comes to whisk away burnt toast,
Mom mentions Theresa, face
brightening. She had a dream
about her—80s flip hair, smooth
complexion. I’ve been living
in Tulsa for eighteen years,
Theresa said. I understand.
Even as I watched men lower
her casket, I fantasized the witness
protection program had resettled her.

How funny we look, mother
and daughter laughing over
scrambled eggs, tears dripping
onto bacon, hands hugging
coffee mugs. For a moment Mom felt
Theresa there. Such faith. Freshen
your cup? the waitress asks me, poised
to pour. Cloudy in the cold coffee,
my reflection. I offer the mug.

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 Christine Stewart-Nuñez from her most recent book of poems, Keeping Them Alive, WordTech Editions, 2011. Reprinted by permission of Christine Stewart- Nuñez 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.