‘STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER’ (Rated PG-13)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the “Star Wars” saga began on May 25, 1977, for the first installment in a trilogy that later became known as “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope.”

Since then, unless one is a diehard fan heavily steeped in the trivia of the franchise, a scorecard of the three trilogies would come in handy to keep track of the important developments. Space doesn’t permit an exhaustive step-by-step rundown in just one article.

“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” turns out to be Episode IX, which is appropriately noted in the iconic crawl that opens each film. The crawl is revealing in other more significant ways that are better left to be experienced by the filmgoer.

I may not be alone in thinking Episodes I through III are not worth revisiting. Emblematic of miscues with this particular trilogy was the unserious character of Jar Jar Binks, an awkward swamp-dweller who was the punchline to a bad joke.

“The Rise of Skywalker” falls into an improved trilogy that started with “The Force Awakens” and followed with “The Last Jedi,” Episode VIII. Granted, there were some problems with “The Last Jedi,” but we can rise above them, so to speak, with “The Rise of Skywalker.”

With the ninth installment, the primary characters are fully established as heroic figures to the delight of most of the fan base. A contrary view would suggest a complete lack of interest in the wonderful “Star Wars” universe.

Our rooting interest is found in the new vanguard of the Resistance, including Daisy Ridley’s Rey, a scavenger from a deserted planet training to be a Jedi; Oscar Isaac’s Poe, a brash fighter pilot; and John Boyega’s Finn, a former stormtrooper who defected to the good guys.

Just when you thought some of the villains are dead and gone, the first line of the opening crawl is “The dead speak!” In this case, it’s former Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) who happens to be alive and planning a comeback that doesn’t bode well for the rebels.

While the Resistance has had its share of setbacks, to say the least, Carrie Fisher’s General Leia Organa, formerly known as the Princess who bantered and bickered with Han Solo (Harrison Ford), is still leading the band of rebels.

As Carrie Fisher sadly passed away before the shooting began on this film, it should be a surprise to no one that her scenes are patched together from unused dialogue of previous episodes and clever use of stand-ins to create the illusion of a credible presence.

In a way that seems symbolic of an orderly transition of spiritual leadership, if not actual power, General Leia passes off her own lightsaber to Rey at a critical juncture when the Resistance, which has been badly decimated, has to wage war on more than one front.

First of all, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the errant son of Han Solo and Princess Leia, leading the stormtroopers and wearing a modified helmet that pays tribute to Darth Vader, is as eager to stamp out the rebels as well seeking to thwart Palpatine’s plan to recover his dark rule.

The ghostly appearance of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) arrives at a critical time for as good a reason as to inspire Rey to press on. Fortunately, Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) is still on board as co-pilot for the Millennium Falcon.

After an absence of more than three decades, Billy Dee Williams returns as Lando Calrissian, the once slick con artist and owner of the Millennium Falcon, who steps back into a role of helping the Resistance yet again.

Anthony Daniels’ android C-3PO is as fussy as ever, but more importantly he’s the only one who can read a vital clue in an obscure language that he’s being programmed not to translate, and a pit stop must take place on a dodgy planet for his system to be rewired.

A lightsaber showdown between Rey and the conflicted Kylo Ren is seemingly obligatory, and while the confrontation has its own complications rooted in past history and familial ties, the bigger fight is in the skies.

For some time now, the Resistance has been playing defense with its surviving members being on the run from the malevolent First Order. Fittingly, the climactic action is an all-out aerial battle that has the feel of an impossible suicide mission.

Critiquing a “Star Wars” film is risky business. The fan base is emotionally invested in the characters, protective of expectations for the franchise and critical of any perceived deviations from the sacrosanct core of its origins.

Fortunately, director J.J. Abrams, also co-writer of the screenplay, delivers the action and nostalgia that should satisfy the faithful fans.

Now that Disney has firm control of the franchise’s destiny into a new incarnation, one can hope they will find a way to capture the magical vibe of the legacy left behind in the conclusion of the Skywalker saga.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – In support of two recent CD releases, Grammy winner and world-renowned jazz superstar Paul McCandless and the Bay-Area jazz trio Charged Particles will be appearing at the Soper Reese Theatre at 7 p.m. Saturday, January 11, as part of the theatre’s Saturday Night Jazz club Series.

Tickets are now on sale. $20 open seating.

The show is sponsored by Carol and Steve Schepper.

Known for soaring lyricism and gorgeous compositions, McCandless recently celebrated his 47th anniversary as co-leader of the jazz super-group Oregon.

He plays soprano, tenor, and sopranino saxophones, oboes, English horn, bass clarinet, penny whistles, and a collection of folk flutes, and has released 40 records.

In 1996, McCandless won a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.

He also won Grammys in 2007 and 2011 with the Paul Winter Consort, for Best New Age Album. And his performance on the Oregon CD “1000 kilometers” was nominated for a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo in 2009.

One of the new CD releases is “Morning Sun – Adventures with Oboe,” billed as “A Retrospective Celebrating 45 Years of Genre-Bending Iconic Mastery” by McCandless in concert with his long-time collaborator: Paul Winter.

The second CD is the 30th album by Oregon, the super-group that McCandless co-founded, entitled “Lantern.”

The McCandless/Charged Particles project is bringing alive McCandless’ repertoire of original compositions that have been featured on his solo records over the years, and the collaboration adds a fresh twist and new energy to McCandless’ music.

The Charged Particles trio features Murray Low, keyboards; Aaron Germain, basses; and Jon Krosnick, drums.

The group premiered together on the main stage at the famed jazz club Yoshi’s in San Francisco in 2014, and their jazz club appearances have included Birdland (New York City), Blues Alley (Washington, DC), Motion Blue (Jakarta, Indonesia), and Spin Jazz (Oxford, United Kingdom). They have taught master classes at Kelowna Secondary School (Kelowna, Canada), MacEwan University (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada), University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas), Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, UK), and Bath Spa University (Bath, UK).

To purchase tickets go online at www.SoperReeseTheatre.com, or to The Travel Center, 825 S. Main, or purchase tickets at the theatre's box office, 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, up to two hours before show time.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Friday, Jan. 3, there’s a party happening and you’re invited.

Come on out to the Soper Reese Theatre and see the original 1964 “Mary Poppins,” with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.

Wear your favorite PJs, kids and grown-ups too, and enjoy a fun family experience.

Shows take place at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Doors open 30 minutes prior.

Entry to the film is by donation. Hot cocoa, cookies and popcorn available at the concession stand.

The movie is sponsored by Val Schweifler, Lakeport Kiwanis. Run time is 2 hours and 19 minutes. Rated G.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, 707-263-0577, www.soperreesetheatre.com.

I've been asked if I believe in ghosts, and my answer is, "Well, now, there's very little fun in NOT believing in ghosts."

Here's a poem by Austin Smith, who lives in Illinois, about being encouraged by a father to believe in something that becomes real in the telling.

White Lie

Christmas Eves our dad would bring
Home from the farm real hay
For the reindeer that didn't exist
And after we were finally asleep
Would get out and take the slabs
Up in his arms and carry them
Back to the bed of his pickup,
Making sure to litter the snow
With chaff so he could show us
In the morning the place where
They'd stood eating, their harness
Bells dulled by the cold, their breath
Steam, all while we were dreaming.

American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. It is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2018 by Princeton University Press, "White Lie," from Flyover Country, (Princeton University Press, 2018). Poem reprinted by permission of Austin Smith and the publisher. Introduction copyright @2019 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.

‘RICHARD JEWELL’ (Rated R)

As an esteemed film director, Clint Eastwood has artfully tackled the subject matter of real-life heroes in “American Sniper” and “Sully,” the latter a story of an incredible feat of a seasoned pilot’s emergency landing in the Hudson River.

With “Richard Jewell” also based on a true story, Eastwood reaches back to the more distant history of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, when a bombing at Centennial Park resulted in an inevitable frenzy for both the media and authorities.

The titular character turned out to be central to the case in which the life of an ordinary man, trusting that his actions were noble, found his life turned upside down by an unscrupulous media and the law enforcement community he idolized.

Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser), overweight and unassuming, is first seen a decade prior to the Olympics in a menial job at a government office where the only person to befriend him is the acerbic lawyer Watson Bryant (Sam Rockwell), later to feature prominently in his ordeal.

For a guy who says that he studies the penal code every night, Jewell is committed to getting a career in law enforcement even though after losing a job as a sheriff’s deputy he ends up being a glorified security officer at Piedmont College.

Things take a turn for the worse when the officious dean of the college fires Jewell for being overzealous for such things as flagging down students for traffic violations on the highway and busting up noisy gatherings in dorm rooms.

Taking a security guard position for the Atlanta Games near the sound tower for outdoor concerts, Jewell relishes the opportunity to interact with police officers by providing refreshments that he’s also willing to offer to visitors in need, like a pregnant lady.

Solicitous and affable almost to a fault, Jewell discovers a suspicious backpack left unattended under a bench. Alerting the authorities to the situation, it is soon learned that an incendiary device poses an immediate threat.

Apparently unknown to anyone on the scene at the time, an anonymous caller to 911 ominously informs the dispatcher that “there is a bomb in Centennial Park. You have 30 minutes.”

Meanwhile, the quick thinking of Jewell results in his warning the concertgoers to evacuate the area, and his swift actions saved countless lives even though not everyone could reach safety. One person died and over one hundred were injured in the bomb attack.

Suddenly a hero, Jewell’s 15 minutes of fame turned into three days of celebrated coverage where he is lauded by the media and interviewed on television. He even gets offered a chance to seal a book deal.

However, it doesn’t take long for the FBI to feel pressure to find the culprit. Agent Tom Shaw (John Hamm), a composite character, intuitively formulates the thought that the hero could be the prime suspect.

Not helping matters for Jewell is when the college dean who fired him from the security job calls the FBI to let them know of his past campus stint of aggressive policing and sense of grandeur.

The FBI soon profiles Jewell as the false hero who placed the bomb only to uncover the plot. After all, the red flags are those of a white male loner seeking attention who also lives with his mom, Bobi (Kathy Bates), in an apartment.

In a matter of days, the humble savior’s life unravels when FBI agent Shaw confirms to the local newspaper’s investigative reporter Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) that Jewell has become the agency’s prime suspect.

For her part, Scruggs comes off, unfairly as far as her former colleagues and employer are concerned, as using feminine wiles and sexual favors to coax hot tips for a story that will grab headlines in the morning edition.

With his life shattered by hounding from the media as well as the FBI, Jewell turns to his old friend Watson Bryant to serve as his attorney, a role he takes on with great relish because of his anti-establishment views and distaste for seeing his client railroaded.

Indeed, the behavior of FBI agent Shaw, who won’t even admit he’s wrong long after Jewell is no longer a suspect, is the real villain of this story, a man so condescending and arrogant that he seeks to entrap his target with a bogus training video.

What’s best about this film are the powerful performances of so many characters, particularly Hauser’s flawed Jewell trying so hard to get along and Rockwell’s Watson insistently challenging and pushing back hard on his client’s tormentors.

Not to be overlooked is Kathy Bates’ incredible turn as Jewell’s protective mother, who really shines during a televised press conference with a tearful plea to President Clinton to restore her son’s good name.

“Richard Jewell” proves to be another gem in Clint Eastwood’s illustrious career behind the camera.

Sadly, the real Richard Jewell died of heart failure at the age of forty-four in 2007 and didn’t live to see the just redemption offered in this compelling drama.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – All aboard! "The Polar Express" is arriving in Lake County on Monday, Dec. 23.

Come to the Soper Reese Theatre in your PJs – children and grown-ups alike – and enjoy a fun holiday family party.

Shows are at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Doors open 30 minutes prior. Entry to the film is by donation.

Hot cocoa, Christmas cookies and popcorn will be available at the concession stand.

All are invited to enjoy the beauty and artistry of this 2004 animated classic directed by Robert Zemeckis and adapted from the book of the same name by children’s author Chris Van Allsburg.

The story is about a young boy who embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, along the way he learns about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas. Conductor’s voice by Tom Hanks.

The movie is sponsored by Patrick Lambert, Farmers Insurance. Run time is 1 hour and 30 minutes. Rated G.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, 707-263-0577, www.soperreesetheatre.com.