PROJECT X (Rated R)

The choice of the major films of the week is between the family-friendly “Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax” and the polar opposite extreme of “Project X,” a raucous bacchanal of bad behavior.

In brief, one movie is suitable for everyone, while the other proves unsuitable to anyone with a brain. A case of bad timing and unfortunate choices caused me to attend the screening of the latter.

“Project X,” filmed documentary-style with a shaky hand-held camera, should have a rating stiffer than an “R,” maybe a new category that would warn parents and authorities everywhere of impending disaster.

Produced by Todd Phillips (“The Hangover” films), this movie works off the deceptively simple premise that teens are easily led astray when a house party gets so completely out-of-control that riot police must be summoned.

Situated in the suburban community of North Pasadena, “Project X” follows three seemingly anonymous high school seniors as they attempt to finally make a name for themselves on campus.

The normal guy-next-door one is Thomas Kub (Thomas Mann), whose approaching 17th birthday is the catalyst for a party at his house when his overly protective parents will be away for the weekend.

The ringleader for party planning is Costa (Oliver Cooper), a refugee from Queens with an attitude to match who thinks that throwing a big bash for his buddy Thomas will be what he calls a “game changer.”

Tagging along for the fun is the nerdy JB (Jonathan Daniel Brown), the overweight misfit looking to break out of his shell. Yet, he’s the unmistakable source of comic relief.

The unseen member of the group is Dax (Dax Flame), the omnipresent cameraman recording every detail and encounter from the school grounds to the climactic finale of a party veering off into the abyss.

There’s nothing terribly original about any of these characters. We’ve seen variations of them in films from “Animal House” to “Superbad.”

But what looks like unscripted mayhem is really no substitute for meaningful character development. Thomas, Costa and JB have little to say beyond the ordinary dialogue of horny teens looking to score.

As the most sensible member of the group, Thomas only wants a party limited to a small group of friends. After all, his dad warned him that his shiny silver Mercedes-Benz is off-limits.

I guess the father never saw “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” and so he has no clue what is likely to happen to his precious automobile when it is left unguarded.

Meanwhile, desperately seeking to up the “cool” factor of the pool party, Costa advertises the birthday bash through text messaging and other forms of social media.

Possessed of a manic energy that fits his outsize ego, Costa seems more interested in seducing impressionable teen girls than helping his supposed best friend celebrate in a reasonably decent manner.

The fact that the blow-out party at Thomas’ upscale suburban home will devolve into a frighteningly chaotic and recklessly out of control riot is telegraphed early on.

For one thing, in the early planning stages, the trio visits an unhinged drug dealer, only to steal his Santa gnome to be used as a party mascot. Little do they know that the ceramic figurine would make for one trippy piñata.

They also did not figure on the angry drug dealer showing up at the party as a most unwelcome guest armed with a deadly weapon.

Most of the action consists of the party unfolding in various stages of mayhem, from girls losing their tops in the swimming pool to more deviant behavior that comes all too easily with massive consumption of drugs and booze.

The party scene becomes so raucous that news helicopters hover above while S.W.A.T. teams move about in full riot gear. Destruction is so widespread that the neighborhood looks like a war zone.

“Project X” will most likely appeal to those who shouldn’t be let into an R rated movie in the first place. Admittedly, at times there’s some funny stuff, but it all quickly wears thin when the annoying characters become even more so.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

More excellent police dramas from Britain are available on DVD for release in the United States, thanks to Acorn Media.

From the creator of “Prime Suspect” comes the detective series “Above Suspicion, Set One,” two full-length feature films starring Ciaran Hands and Kelly Reilly.

Oddly enough, the British newspaper The Telegraph described “Above Suspicion” as the “younger, sassier successor” to “Prime Suspect.”

This accolade should not be confused with the recent American version of “Prime Suspect” which first aired on NBC this past fall, and has now vanished from the network’s schedule.

In any event, you’re much better off watching the DVD of a great crime thriller cut from the same cloth of the original British inspiration.

“Above Suspicion, Set One” follows the story of a female rookie detective (Kelly Reilly) trying to prove herself in what is still mostly a man’s world, where her mentor (Ciaran Hands) is a crusty, brusque superior.

Since this is British television, there is no rating, but the series contains violence, graphic images, coarse language and nudity – all the same things found in “Project X,” but done with the appropriate style and purpose.

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

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lake Community Pride Foundation is presenting “An Evening with David Neft on piano.”

The event will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 10.

The show is at the newly remodeled Lower Lake High School Little Theater.

Tickets are $10 and there are only 60 seats in the theater.

All proceeds go to support performing arts in Lake County.

Call 707-331-8445 for more information.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – February's First Friday Fling will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 2.

The event will take place at the Lake County Arts Council's Main Street Gallery, 325 N. Main St., Lakeport.

The First Friday Fling will introduce work from artists including Heidi Thomason, Lois Feron and Jacob Blue.

Currently showing at the gallery is Patsy Farstad, Shelby Posada, Max Butler, Annette Higday, Diane Constable, Meredith Gambrel, Lilly Hilt, Marci Long, Ray Farrow, Barbara Levassuer, Steve Bilodeau, Kathy Dutra, Cathy Farris, Linda Farris, Patty Oates and J.V. Magoon.

The Linda Carpenter Gallery will feature art work from Kelseyville Elementary School's third grade classes.

Lake County's piano man, David Neft, will be the featured musician, with Steele Wines pouring its vintages and Main Street Pizza providing pizza.

For more information contact the Lake County Arts Council, 707-263-6658.

If you’ve been in a hospital, and got out alive, you’re really alive. In this poem, Anya Silver, who lives in Georgia, celebrates just such an escape.

Leaving the Hospital

As the doors glide shut behind me,
the world flares back into being—
I exist again, recover myself,
sunlight undimmed by dark panes,
the heat on my arms the earth’s breath.
The wind tongues me to my feet
like a doe licking clean her newborn fawn.
At my back, days measured by vital signs,
my mouth opened and arm extended,
the nighttime cries of a man withered
child-size by cancer, and the bells
of emptied IVs tolling through hallways.
Before me, life—mysterious, ordinary—
holding off pain with its muscular wings.
As I step to the curb, an orange moth
dives into the basket of roses
that lately stood on my sickroom table,
and the petals yield to its persistent
nudge, opening manifold and golden.

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 Anya Silver, whose most recent book of poetry is The Ninety-Third Name of God, Louisiana State University Press, 2010. Poem reprinted from the New Ohio Review, No. 9, Spring, 2011, by permission of Anya Silver 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.

ACT OF VALOR (Rated R)

Hollywood is really good at fabricating heroes or bringing comic book versions to life on the big screen. Many get in the act, from Batman saving Gotham to Bruce Willis in the “Die Hard” franchise.

A more difficult task is to locate real heroes, those who put their lives on the line defending liberty and their country in circumstances most of us could not endure for one brief elusive moment.

Thanks to the swift and welcome elimination of Osama bin Laden last year, the U.S. Navy SEALs are not just heroes; they are legendary guardians of what we too easily take for granted.

While memories are still fresh in our collective short-attention span, “Act of Valor” comes along to remind us that heroes don’t get the job done with nifty special effects while the director yells “cut.”

Mike “Mouse” McCoy and Scott Waugh of the Bandito Brothers are the directors. Their backgrounds are perfect for the job, as both have been stuntmen and documentary filmmakers.

“Act of Valor,” which blends reality and fiction, has the feel of a documentary, but one that takes extraordinary lengths to make a fictionalized account of Navy SEAL operations convincing and accurate.

The film opens in San Diego, the home base for the SEAL unit getting ready for another mission. We meet leading military professionals like Chief Dave and Lt. Rorke, along with guys in their unit like Ajay, Mikey, Sonny and Weimy.

A barbecue at the beach is a brief introduction to the team. But the most telling point is that the military men are not actors, so mercifully the story shifts to action fairly quickly.

While a terrorist assault at an international school in the Philippines results in the death of the U.S. ambassador, the Navy SEAL team is dispatched to Costa Rica to extract a CIA agent abducted by a drug cartel.

As Agent Morales (Roselyn Sanchez) is held in the jungle and brutally tortured by the henchmen of drug kingpin Christo (Alex Veadov), Chief Dave and Lt. Rorke are forced by circumstances to stage a daring and explosive rescue operation.

One of the many exciting, action-packed and adrenaline-pumping moments involve a pair of heavily armed American gunboats sweeping in behind the SEALs to blast the villains to smithereens.

Though the mission is successful, the SEALs unearth some intelligence that connects Christo to fierce Chechen terrorist Abu Shabal (Jason Cottle), who is hiding out in Somalia to formulate a plot to send suicide bombers across the Mexican border.

Oddly enough, Shabal has recruited a group of Filipinos to carry out a bombing plot on American cities involving the detonation of sophisticated explosives made of undetectable gels.

But to get to the target cities, Shabal links with Mexican drug cartels to move his assassins through cross-border tunnels that are used primarily by drug mules carrying contraband into the United States.

An assault is launched in a dusty Mexican border town where the baddies hide out. The willing cooperation of the Mexican authorities might be the most inauthentic moment in the film, but it helps diplomatic relations.

Except for Senior Chief Van O, who efficiently interrogates the slippery Christo, the SEALs are too good at being a team, to the point that they do not come across as individuals.

We should keep in mind that the SEALs are not actors; they are very good at undertaking perilous missions, but acting in films is not their forte. Nevertheless, the authenticity of their dedication shines through.

“Act of Valor,” fueled by edge-of-the-seat thrills in a dangerous world, offers a chilling sense of realism in the unpredictable battlefield of modern warfare. It’s an action film well worth seeing.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

This is another shameless plug for one of my favorite TV series, “Mission: Impossible,” starring Peter Graves as IMF team leader Jim Phelps.

We have already burned through all of the original seasons, and now we focus on the revival of the series during the late 1980’s, with Peter Graves the sole returning original cast member.

“Mission: Impossible: The ’89 TV Season” continues on its merry path of the Impossible Mission Force solving dangerous and seemingly impossible tasks.

The DVD release of “The ’89 TV Season” includes all 16 episodes of the series’ final breathtaking season.

Unfortunately, special features are practically non-existent, with only episodic promos on select episodes available.

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

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A book reading and signing by local author Kit DeCanti will take pace on Wednesday, Feb. 29, at Main Street Bar and Grill, 14084 Lakeshore Drive, Clearlake.

The event starts at 9 a.m. Come early and enjoy no host breakfast with the author.

DeCanti has authored four books that depict Lake County at its best. You will recognize favorite places and enjoy the backdrop of beautiful Lake County.  

Her current novel is “Konocti Caves,” which is third in a series of mysteries beginning with “Secret On Cobb Mountain” and “Return To Cobb Mountain.”

The local library has all of DeCanti's books, including her first children’s book, “Rock House.”

You can drop by Lakeport Library or request books using the online system at Sonoma County Library at http://www.sonomalibrary.org/index.html.

DeCanti will have a supply of books and also will take orders. She will sign any of her books that you bring.

The free event is sponsored by “Lake County Views” and videotaped by producer McKenzie Paine.  

RSVP is a must. Please call 707-995-0160 to reserve your space.