LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 1966 romance, “A Man and A Woman,” starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimee, screens at the Soper Reese Theatre on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 1 and 6 p.m.

Entry to the film is by donation.

Winner of two Oscars, for Best Foreign Film and for Best Original Screenplay, director Claude Lelouch’s ode to the aching beauty of falling in love is tender, charming, simple and so very French.

It features a musical score by Francis Lai you’ll never forget.

The movie is sponsored by Michael Adams. Not rated, but does have adult themes and some nudity. Run time is 1 hour and 42 minutes.

The film will be shown in French with English subtitles.

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

How about a light-footed Irish reel before winter sets in, before the rest of our lives sets in? Here's a poem by Barbara Crooker, who lives in Pennsylvania. Her most recent collection of poems is The Book of Kells from Cascade Books, the winner of the Best Poetry Book of 2018 as judged by Poetry by the Sea.

Reel

Maybe night is about to come
calling, but right now
the sun is still high in the sky.
It's half-past October, the woods
are on fire, blue skies stretch
all the way to heaven. Of course,
we know that winter is coming, its thin
winding sheets and its hard narrow bed.
But right now, the season's fermented
to fullness, so slip into something
light, like your skeleton; while these old
bones are still working, my darling,
let's dance.


American Life in Poetry does not accept unsolicited manuscripts. American Life in Poetry 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 Barbara Crooker, "Reel," from The Book of Kells, (Cascade Books, 2018). Poem reprinted by permission of Barbara Crooker 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.

‘TERMINATOR: DARK FATE’ (Rated R)

The global phenomenon of “The Terminator,” a science-fiction film co-written and directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, was unleashed 35 years ago on a modest budget by Hollywood standards.

The premise involved a cyborg from an apocalyptic future that traveled to the present to ensure the extermination of the human race.

The film moved at a blistering pace and featured an action heroine, which was highly unusual at the time.

Young waitress Sarah Connor (Hamilton) was being hunted by a T-800 model Terminator (Schwarzenegger) sent from the future on a deadly mission to kill her and her unborn son, the future leader of the human resistance.

The relentless T-800 was sent by Skynet, a future A.I. system created by Cyberdyne that was set to destroy all humans. Meanwhile, Kyle Reese was also sent back in time, but his mission was to protect Sarah at all costs and help save humanity.

Put this way, “The Terminator” set the stage for variations on the same theme, following up in 1991 with “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” that positioned Sarah Connor’s son John to face unrelenting challenges.

We can now move past the next three installments to arrive at the subject of this review, “Terminator: Dark Fate,” which delivers on Schwarzenegger’s original promise of “I’ll be back,” even though he has never left the scene.

Nostalgia plays a big part in this sixth chapter of the franchise because Linda Hamilton reprises her role of Sarah Connor, no longer a young waitress but instead a tough, gun-toting, take-no-prisoners warrior abhorring the soulless robots of the future.

James Cameron, creator and director who launched the franchise, is no longer behind the camera but serves as a producer and one of almost a half-dozen credited with the story such that his imprint on this one is unmistakable.

A fresh face targeted for reasons unknown, Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), a young auto factory worker in Mexico City, lives with her brother Diego (Diego Boneta) and father in a modest working-class neighborhood.

Working at the same assembly plant, Dani finds out that her brother’s job has been usurped by a machine, an ironic circumstance when the killer robot Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) turns up disguised as a human wreaking havoc at the workplace on a mission to kill the bewildered young woman.

Just in the nick of time while Dani and Diego are on the run, a soldier from the future comes to protect Dani. Enhanced with superior strength, Grace (Mackenzie Davis) may be tough but outmatched by the shapeshifting Rev-9.

During a demolition derby chase on a highway that looks like the end of the road for Dani, Sarah Connor arrives to fire bazooka rounds at the indestructible robot more fearsome than the T-1000 from “Terminator 2.”

Not only able to simulate human emotion and capable of guile to get its way, the unstoppable killing machine has a liquid metal skin that creates bladed weapons and can also split into two separate entities that fight independently.

Escape from Rev-9 takes Dani, now protected by Grace and Sarah, across the border into Texas where they find Schwarzenegger’s T-800 posing as a human being named Carl with an adoptive family.

To say that the reunion of Sarah and Carl’s T-800 is anything but riddled with animosity on Sarah’s part would be an understatement, as she vows inevitable revenge upon the cyborg who took her son’s life.

As much as the three women appear divided on how to deal with the omnipotent threat posed by the persistent Rev-9, it becomes increasingly obvious that they have no choice other than to annihilate the cyborg assassin with the help of Carl.

There’s absolutely no surprise to anyone that Dani somehow figures into the future of the human resistance. After all, why else would the heartless machine that is Rev-9 go to such great lengths in his deadly pursuit?

The final battle scene involves an aerial chase, culminating in a death match in a power plant and a spinning turbine with an awesome explosion. Those left standing were on a rollercoaster of action sequences that are spectacular and exciting.

One would be hard-pressed to say with a straight face that “Dark Fate” abounds with novelty. That’s not the point. Bringing back Linda Hamilton has the same welcome feeling of returning Sean Connery to the role of James Bond in “Diamonds Are Forever.”

That Hamilton, buffed and menacing at an older age, is the ultimate Sarah Connor is part of the mystique and, without slighting the other great characters, the best of all reasons why the franchise has now regained its footing as a breathtaking action-adventure in the franchise.

“Terminator: Dark Fate” may be seen as an amazing reboot of the franchise or the concluding chapter to where “Terminator 2” left off nearly two decades ago. Whether a tribute to the past or the unfolding of future adventures, an explosive thrill ride is delivered for the fans.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Theatre Co. has rescheduled shows of its latest production, “Chicago,” which had to be canceled due to this past week’s power shutoffs.

The power outage that began Oct. 26 meant that the cast of “Chicago” had to cancel two performances, a huge disappointment after rehearsing four nights a week for months.

This joint production of Lake County Theatre Co. and Mendocino College Lake Center is the latest of a string of Broadway musicals performed each fall in Lakeport at the Soper Reese Theatre.

The show opened last Friday, Oct. 25, to a large crowd of enthusiastic audience members.

Then the county went dark and the Saturday and Sunday shows weren’t possible. Several hundred people had already purchased tickets.

The Sunday matinee was rescheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 2, but last Saturday night’s ticket holders will have to choose from the remaining shows over the next two weekends.

LCTC wants to make sure that the audience sees the best performance possible, so once again they gathered in the cold and dark to run the show outside in a cast member’s carport.

Jeff Pearce, who plays Billy Flynn, did say he would take a hot shower over a rehearsal, but he also was willing to perform by candlelight.

Other cast members bundled up warmly. One wore her giraffe pajamas over her clothes. Not a line or step was missed.

This weekend there will be four shows. Friday and Saturday there are shows at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday there are matinees at 2 p.m.

There are three shows the following weekend, Nov. 8 to 10.

Tickets are available at the Soper Reese, 707-263-0577, or at www.laketheatre.org.

Here's a poem by Holly J. Hughes, who lives and writes in Washington state, about finding joy in what's before us.

I found it in “Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems,” published by Grayson Books of West Hartford, CT. Ms. Hughes' most recent book of poetry is Hold Fast, (Empty Bowl Press, 2019).

Mind Wanting More

Only a beige slat of sun
above the horizon, like a shade
pulled not quite down. Otherwise,
clouds. Sea rippled here and
there. Birds reluctant to fly.
The mind wants a shaft of sun to
stir the grey porridge of clouds,
an osprey to stitch sea to sky
with its barred wings, some dramatic
music: a symphony, perhaps
a Chinese gong.
 
But the mind always
wants more than it has—
one more bright day of sun,
one more clear night in bed
with the moon; one more hour
to get the words right; one
more chance for the heart in hiding
to emerge from its thicket
in dried grasses—as if this quiet day
with its tentative light weren't enough,
as if joy weren't strewn all around.

 
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 ©2004 by Holly J. Hughes, "Mind Wanting More," from Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, (Grayson Books, 2017). Poem reprinted by permission of Holly J. Hughes 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.

‘ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP’ (Rated R)

“Zombieland: Double Tap,” a sequel 10 years in the making to “Zombieland,” returns with the core group of four survivors of a disease-driven apocalypse that turned America into a dystopian wasteland.

This second installment could probably stand on its own merits, but it helps to know that previously Jesse Eisenberg’s Columbus was a nerdy college kid following a set of rules trying to make it home through a post-apocalyptic world filled with flesh-eaters.

With survival prospects for mankind dim, Columbus meets up with three strangers, the redneck Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and the tough Wichita (Emma Stone) and her younger sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin).  

At that time, they traveled through the Southwest with a goal of reaching an amusement park in Los Angeles that was believed to be a sanctuary free of zombies, only to discover that eluding the monsters is not so easily achieved.

“Zombieland: Double Tap” works off the same playbook, where the few remaining human beings have to be extremely resourceful and quick thinking, while armed with enough firepower to conquer a small nation to survive the treacherous terrain.

Family, albeit one that is dysfunctional, is the glue that binds the core group that has now taken up residence in the abandoned White House where they hash out their issues and personal conflicts in the Oval Office during the daytime

Columbus and Wichita, who had romantic sparks the first time, are now somewhat of a couple, spending their nights in the Lincoln Bedroom where the portrait of the Great Emancipator is respectfully blindfolded.

Now grown into a young woman, Little Rock chafes under the paternalism of Tallahassee’s father figure, and itches to get out of the stuffy White House to meet a guy her age, a tricky proposition since young, eligible men with a pulse are almost impossible to find.

One night, Columbus decides to propose to Wichita, proffering the Hope Diamond as the engagement ring.  For her part, the cynical Wichita is at heart a loner and uneasy about settling down to a domestic life.

By the next morning, both Wichita, fearing commitment and unable to face Columbus, and Little Rock, wanting to be free of Tallahassee’s protective restraints, take off for parts unknown.

The sisters split in the presidential limousine that has been modified with heavy artillery.  Meanwhile, Columbus and Tallahassee take a road trip to a mall where they meet Madison (Zoey Deutch), a dumb blonde Valley Girl who has survived zombies by hiding in a Pinkberry freezer.

Back at the White House, Madison takes a libidinous interest in Columbus, if for no other reason than Tallahassee is deemed to be an old geezer.  Besides, what else is there to do for amusement other to play with artifacts taken from the Smithsonian?

When Little Rock runs off with neo-hippie pacifist musician Berkeley (Avan Jogia), Wichita returns to the White House looking for reinforcements to search for her sister, and is surprised to see Columbus has moved on to a new love interest.

With the ditzy Madison providing endless fodder for brain-dead jokes, the group sets off in a minivan on a rescue headed to Graceland, where it is believed Little Rock would be most likely to go due to her love for the King.

Surprises are in store for the travelers as they encounter several new species of zombies, with the most fearsome being the super powerful T-800, a nearly indestructible beast that has to be shot multiple times.

Ending up at a motel run by Nevada (Rosario Dawson), a fan of Elvis Presley that rivals Tallahassee’s passion, an interesting encounter comes when Columbus and Tallahassee find their striking doppelgangers in Flagstaff (Thomas Middleditch) and Albuquerque (Luke Wilson).

Aside from the enjoyably humorous presence of Madison, Dawson’s independent and strong-willed Nevada is the most compelling new character, a kindred spirit to Tallahassee because she’s stubborn, self-sufficient and dangerous.

While Little Rock is not at the Elvis-themed motel, all signs indicate that she and her troubadour friend who wears hemp and says “Namaste” have set off for a hippie commune called Babylon.

The inhabitants of Babylon have the misguided notion that they are safe from the zombie hordes and don’t allow anyone to bring any kind of weapons into their walled compound.

Much like the action at the amusement park in the first film, Babylon becomes not surprisingly the climactic showdown with a massive zombie attack that can only be repelled if Tallahassee’s inventive tactics pan out.

The bottom line is those who enjoyed the original “Zombieland” are likely to find the sequel “Zombieland: Double Tap” more or less just as much fun with its irreverent humor, which appears to be the goal set by the filmmakers.

As long as you find the desired payoff of cinematic pleasure was at hand, be sure to stay for the credits for Bill Murray’s appearances and don’t leave the theater until the lights go up.

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