THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN (Rated PG)

Where is it written that every film released in the summer must feature explosions, gun play, car chases and even superheroes trying to outwit each other?  

Just when you think that originality is somehow more uncommon than airline carriers arriving on time, along comes the inspiring, magical story of “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.”  
 
Writer and director Peter Hedges, who previously adapted his first novel “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” into a feature film, is the right person to bring enchantment to the screen with this new Disney film.

Oh, by the way, unlike so many other summer films, this one truly is an entertainment for the entire family, with the exception of only the very youngest who are mainly drawn to animated stories.

There’s something wonderfully old-fashioned about a happily married couple living in the idyllic rural town of Stanleyville where the main industry is a pencil factory.

Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton) are eager to fill one void in their otherwise pleasant lives. The couple has been unable to produce a child of their own.

One night, they write on paper all the great qualities they would love to have in a child, such as a great heart, a sense of humor, honest disposition and the ability to score a winning goal in a big game.

All the notes about an ideal child are placed in a wooden box and buried in the garden. Even though the area has been subject to a drought, a thunderstorm that same night delivers precious water to the garden.

Low and behold, a 10-year-old boy named Timothy (CJ Adams), covered in mud and leaves, suddenly materializes at the doorstep of the Green household.

The Greens introduce themselves by their first names, but Timothy is quick to call them Mom and Dad, and thus begins an interesting fantasy saga about a little boy who brings familial love where it did not fully exist.

Naturally, Timothy is unique and different, all the more so since leaves sprout near his ankles. Yet eager to fit in, Timothy wears long socks, even while swimming, to cover his flaws.

Though his status would be impossible to explain, the Greens don’t even bother to say much of anything to relatives who arrive the next day for a long-planned family picnic.

The family dynamic proves interesting. Cindy’s sister Brenda (Rosemarie DeWitt), who has her own “perfect” children, is disdainful of the new arrival. But Uncle Bub (M. Emmet Walsh), with his own quirky sense of humor, feels an immediate rapport with the amusing Timothy.

Meanwhile, Jim’s father (David Morse), known as Big Jim, remains aloof and never gave approval to his own son, but Timothy just might crack the old man’s façade of cold detachment.

Of course, the small town is filled with oddball characters, such Dianne Wiest’s Bernice Crudstaff, the uptight wealthy boss of the Pencil Museum where Cindy Green works as a docent.

Other characters have no particular charm or endearing quirks, such as Ron Livingston’s Franklin Crudstaff, the uncaring boss at the Pencil Factory where Jim Green is a supervisor.  

In the age of the Internet, the factory faces hard times and may have to close. But Timothy, with the help of his only friend Joni (Odeya Rush), saves the day with an inspired new product.

Because the film needs a villain, Franklin Crudstaff tries to take credit for Timothy’s invention, but there’s probably no need to tell you whether he’ll be unmasked for his deception.
 
Cynics will scoff at the family fairy tale of Timothy Green’s “Odd Life,” and their thoughts may well be derisive, scornful, sarcastic and even hostile.  
     
Yet, an open mind to the simple pleasures of “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” which is by no means flawless in its execution, may prove more rewarding.  A little cuteness and suspension of disbelief never hurt anyone.

Indeed, the simple story of a childless couple and their special “gift” is emotional, heartwarming, funny and deeply touching, and so “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” is undeniably magical.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Just recently, this space of the column celebrated the good fortune of vintage TV detective shows being released on DVD.

This week it is time to commemorate another classic 1970s police drama that starred a young Michael Douglas as the college educated inspector Steve Keller.

If you didn’t guess, another season of “The Streets of San Francisco” is getting the full screen format treatment in two volumes.

“The Streets of San Francisco: Season Four: Volume One & Volume Two” DVD sets combined provide nearly 20 hours of thrilling crime drama entertainment.

Along with Michael Douglas, the series starred the wonderful Karl Malden as the 20-year veteran detective Lt. Mike Stone.

Douglas’ inspector Keller may have a lot to learn about being a police detective, but Malden’s Lt. Stone is the perfect mentor.

“The Streets of San Francisco” is a great police drama with excellent storylines and great performances from the winning combination of Douglas and Malden.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Tickets are now on sale for the concert on Saturday, Sept. 8, by Rita Hosking and Sean Feder that will benefit Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.

The concert will take place at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre, 275 S. Main St., Lakeport.

Proceeds from this event will go toward helping to keep Anderson Marsh State Historic Park open to the public.

The park offers a wonderful local resource for walking and birdwatching, provides important open space and habitat for wildlife and is the site of educational tours for student groups and others.

Volunteers with the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association (AMIA) are presenting the concert and are hoping for a sold out crowd.

“There are not many things in life in which you can do something good for your community and be completely entertained at the same time!” commented AMIA board member, Anna McAtee in reference to the Sept. 8 concert.

Opening for Hosking will be local groups the Clear Lake Clikkers, Three Deep and Uncorked.

“When you purchase your ticket and enjoy the music, you will also be contributing to the future of Lake County,” McAtee said.

Tickets are on sale now online at www.soperreesetheatre.com .

Tickets are also available at The Travel Center in Lakeport, 1265 S. Main St., the Lake County Chamber of Commerce office at Vista Point and Watershed Books. Tickets also will be available at the door.

Tickets are $25 and will also be available at the door. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show opens at 7 p.m. with the Clear Lake Clikkers.

For more information about Rita Hosking, you can visit her Web site at www.ritahosking.com .

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The 19th annual Quilt and Textile Exhibition in the Weaver Auditorium hosted by the Lower Lake Historical School Preservation Committee will wrap up this weekend.

The show is open during regular business hours, Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. through Saturday, Aug. 25.

Featured artists this year include the Clear Lake Quilt Guild, Ladies of the Lake Quilt Guild, art quilter Julia Regina and weaver Sheila O’Hara and her talented students Janis Eckert, Pam Perry, Suzanne Britz, and Ellen Hardenburger, and mother-daughter-grand daughter trio Sylvia Anderson, Lorna Rochman-McEntire and Hana Musgrove.

Antique quilts and an 1807 spinning wheel are also be on display.

An artists reception was attended by over 70 enthusiastic people who enjoyed viewing the colorful quilts and textured weavings as well as the educational wool carding, spinning and weaving demonstrations on Saturday, Aug. 11, from noon until 2 p.m.

The Schoolhouse Museum is located at 16435 Main St. in Lower Lake.

For more information please call 707-995-3565.

A while back, we published a poem about a mockingbird, but just because one poet has written a poem about something, he or she doesn’t hold rights to the subject in perpetuity.

Here’s another fine mockingbird poem from Carol V. Davis, who lives in Los Angeles.

Mockingbird II

    How perfectly he has mastered
the car alarm, jangling us from sleep.
    Later his staccato scatters smaller birds
that landed on the wire beside him.
    Perhaps the key to success
is imitation, not originality.
    Once, when the cat slinked up
the orange tree and snatched a hatchling,
    the mockingbird turned on us,
marked us for revenge.
    For two whole weeks he dive bombed
whenever I ventured out the screen door
    lured by his call: first tricked into thinking
the soft coo was a mourning dove courting,
    next drawn by the war cry of a far larger animal.
He swooped from one splintered eave, his mate from the other,
    aiming to peck out my eyes, to wrestle
the baby from my arms, to do God knows what
    with that newborn.

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 ©2008 by Carol V. Davis, from her most recent book of poems, Between Storms, Truman State University Press, 2012. Reprinted by permission of Carol V. Davis and the publisher. Poem first appeared in Permafrost, Vol. 30, Summer 2008. 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.

THE BOURNE LEGACY (Rated PG-13)

Matt Damon always demonstrated his best acting chops as the conflicted superspy Jason Bourne in an eponymous series of action thrillers that made him a true action hero for the ages.

It all started with “The Bourne Identity,” and the great thrills, including some of the most spectacular chase scenes ever filmed, continued through two equally impressive sequels.

Now along comes “The Bourne Legacy,” aptly named since Matt Damon’s presence is pretty much limited to a Wanted poster and a TV news bulletin designed to scare the general populace.

This much is sure: Damon’s rogue spy Bourne was always on the run, with shadowy government agents, mercenary operatives and other assorted riff-raff and bad guys in hot pursuit.

Often, it was hard to separate the good guys from the bad, but that seems to be a big part of the franchise’s appeal to the closeted secret agent in all of us action junkies.

“The Bourne Legacy” brings a new superhuman agent to the front lines of danger. Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross picks up the mantle of the operative who must go underground to save his skin and expose double-dealing.

We first see Cross half-naked in the freezing wilderness of Alaska, as he jumps into a lake to retrieve a canister filled with survival medicine necessary to his training mission.

Meanwhile, back in the nation’s capital, Admiral Mark Turso (Stacy Keach) and Colonel Eric Byer (Edward Norton) are in full damage control mode as Congress probes the existence of rogue spy operations in which they are complicit.

Suddenly, Cross and other operatives around the world that are members of something called The Program are targeted for elimination, only because their superiors decide to leave no evidence behind of their existence.

While battling the elements of Alaska and the hungry pack of vicious wolves, Cross ingenuously outflanks the drones that are programmed to blow him to smithereens.

It would be easy enough for Cross to go deep undercover, but he’s a chemically-enhanced agent who needs regular doses of pills to stay fit physically and mentally.

Even the scientists who developed the special medicine are put at risk, and Cross is able to locate Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz) just in time to extend her life expectancy.  

Cross mistakenly believes that Dr. Shearing holds the key to turning up the needed pills, but in reality she tested his blood samples and had nothing to do with the making of pharmaceuticals.

However, the good doctor knows that there’s a way to get Cross off the medication, but it requires a trip to the Philippines where the chemicals are manufactured.

While Cross and Dr. Shearing try to stay in hiding until they can get out of the country, Colonel Byer and his crew are utilizing first-class technology to hunt down the rogue agent and the doctor.

The most suspenseful moments involve Cross using his ingenuity so that he and Dr. Shearing may elude the dogged colonel’s high-tech hot pursuit.

Not surprisingly, shortly after Cross and Dr. Shearing arrive in Manila, Byer has dispatched an army of assassins to take them out. Boy, does this guy mean business.

The chase scenes in Manila are brilliantly staged. First, there’s Cross skipping across rooftops and running up the sides of walls.

Then, there’s the street chase on foot and motorcycles. Cross and Dr. Shearing ride through city streets and jump over obstacles like Evel Knievel on steroids.

Oh, I forgot to mention there’s one key difference between Aaron Cross and fellow agent Jason Bourne. Cross knows his past and does not suffer from memory issues. At this point, maybe I need one of those blue (or is it green?) pills for enhanced mental skills.

However, I digress. “The Bourne Legacy” may not live up to the expectations of the previous installments, but it does stand alone as a decent entry into the canon of “Bourne” action thrillers.

It’s probably a safe bet to say that a fifth “Bourne” is on the way, but will Matt Damon return in some capacity more substantial than a fleeting glimpse? I am betting that Jeremy Renner will get ever more comfortable in his role.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Readers of this space probably know that I have a fondness for vintage detective dramas that had a good run on network television.

That’s why I can share with you my delight in the return of Robert Urich as the handsome, fun-loving Las Vegas private eye Dan Tanna, who lives in a converted warehouse.

“Vega$: The Third Season, Volume 2” is being released on DVD with 11 full episodes and no frills at all, unless you count the “episodic promos” included.

The sharp-eyed private eye tools around Sin City in his vintage red Thunderbird solving private cases, while also being on retainer to a wealthy casino owner (Tony Curtis).

Helping Tanna along the way is his smart and sexy assistant Bea (Phyllis Davis) and goofy legman Binzer (Bart Braverman). Greg Morris appears as Lt. Nelson, lending a hand when necessary.

After all these years, “Vega$” holds up better than a Royal Flush at a poker tournament. It’s a lot of fun.

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

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The Art House Gallery will hold its Third Friday Gala on Friday, Aug. 17.

The gala will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 15210 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake.

Enjoy refreshments while surrounded by the work of Lake County’s talented artists.

Featured on Aug. 17 will be the work of Clearlake resident Denise Rohana.

Rohana would do anything for a chance to do art – including losing her gloves in the snow.

“As long as I can remember, I’ve been an artist. Even in kindergarten. I lost a glove on the way to school one day and my teacher let me paint instead of go outside for recess. The whole next week, I didn’t have my gloves! My teacher finally called my mother to tell her I needed a new pair of gloves,” she recalled with a laugh.

Rohana works primarily in oil, watercolor and acrylic. She joined the gallery after hearing about it from friends.

“It’s the most amazing, wonderful thing, I’m so happy to have it here and be able to show my art” she said.

She looks to “God’s work” for inspiration: “Nature, landscapes, rocks – especially rocks lately – mountains and rivers.”

What does she love about her work? “The color, and that it connects me with other people,” said the retired nurse.