‘UNCUT GEMS’ (Rated R)

Though not lacking for dramatic roles in his cinematic career, Adam Sandler is well-established as a comedic presence, often in the guise of the man-child goofball in characters like Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore.

“Uncut Gems” allows Sandler to shine in the serious role of Howard Ratner, owner of a jewelry store in New York’s fabled Diamond District. Addicted to gambling, Howard leads a messy, complicated life at work and on the home front.

His marriage to Dinah (Idina Menzel) is crumbling due to his infidelity and heavy gambling losses. He’s estranged from his own children. His assistant Julia (Julia Fox) is also his mistress who lives in his pied-a-terre in Manhattan.

While his personal life is in shambles, things are even worse for his cavalier attitude about high stakes betting on sporting events. In debt to bookies, Howard is constantly working a scam to hold at bay unsavory characters owed money.

In possession of a large rock from an Ethiopian mine that is embedded with sparkling opals, Howard claims it is worth millions and intends to sell the rock at an auction to reap a huge payday that would allow him to indulge his gambling obsession.

Vulgar and strident, Sandler’s Howard looks the part of a hustler with his goatee, designer glasses and leather jacket. He’s constantly yelling, often profanely, at thugs trying to collect the gambling debts and even his own staff and family.

His compulsive gambling is so reckless and desperate that he ends up deep in debt to his unforgiving brother-in-law (Eric Bogosian) who turns loose his violent thugs.

Howard’s business associate Demany (LaKeith Stanfield) is not immune to the verbal barbs, even after he brings in basketball superstar Kevin Garnett (playing himself) who takes a great interest in the opal-studded stone, believing it has some magical powers.

Garnett loans his Boston Celtics championship ring to Howard in exchange for the use of the stone as a lucky talisman for his next game. After upping his game play, Garnett decides he must own the stone and Howard is more than willing to sell it.

However, knowing that the stone must go for a price far beyond its appraised value, Howard gets deeper into trouble while employing unethical tactics to push the sale.

“Uncut Gems” is a brilliant showcase for Adam Sandler’s gritty performance as a hustler and gambler in need of impulse control so that his life would not be a complete train wreck.



‘6 UNDERGROUND’ ON NETFLIX

As the director of the action films “Bad Boys” and the “Transformer” series among so many others, Michael Bay’s bold approach is characterized by an aggressive visual style, high-octane action, extensive use of special effects and plenty of explosions.

Bay’s method is appreciated far more by movie-going audiences than critics. That’s likely to be true of his newest venture for the streaming on Netflix of the action film “6 Underground.”

Loud, goofy and outrageous are other means by which to describe the director’s bag of cinematic tricks, and all of these descriptions fit perfectly for an understanding of what’s in store for a “Mission: Impossible”-style adventure on steroids.

Operating from an abandoned airfield in the California desert, Ryan Reynolds is an eccentric billionaire who has assembled a group of mercenaries working off the grid to do the messy job of taking down corrupt foreign leaders that governments are unable or unwilling to handle.

Functioning without identities, Reynolds and his crew have all faked their own deaths to operate below the radar. Not one of them has a name, just a number. Reynolds is known as One, and his right-hand person is the sexy former CIA agent Two (Melanie Laurent).

The team is rounded out by tough guy Three (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), parkour risk-taker Four (Ben Hardy), putative medic Five (Adria Arjona), and daredevil driver Six (Dave Franco). After one member dies, former military sniper Seven (Corey Hawkins) joins the team.

The action starts in earnest during an extended frenetic car chase through the scenic streets of ancient Florence, Italy, during which shootouts and driving stunts are choreographed like a ballet of insanely desperate acts.

The primary mission is to take down the evil dictator of the fictional nation of Turgistan and replace him with his democracy-loving brother currently held prisoner in the gilded cage of a penthouse apartment in Hong Kong.

Given the setting is one of the “stan” countries, an overthrow of the totalitarian government will be greeted by the oppressed citizenry with the enthusiasm of a successful Arab Spring. If only that were true for some other Middle East nations.

With Ryan Reynolds on board channeling his “Deadpool” character, there is plenty of deadpan humor, snarky remarks and a remarkable amount of cynicism.

The plot is really immaterial because, after all, the Michael Bay signature style is to go over-the-top with the intent to entertain with a lot of pyrotechnics and dazzling stunts. “6 Underground,” regardless of its flaws, is headed in that direction.

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

UKIAH, Calif. – On Jan. 10, 11 and 12, the 28th Professional Pianist Concert will hit the stage with three concerts featuring nine different pianists at the Mendocino College Center Theatre in Ukiah.

Performers letting the keys fly this year are Spencer Brewer, Elena Casanova, Wendy deWitt, Barney McClure, Frankie J, Tom Ganoung, Elizabeth MacDougall, Ed Reinhart and Charlie Seltzer.

The musical styles range from classical to jazz, boogie-woogie to Cuban, Broadway to ragtime. Each performance will be different.

This utterly fun and stimulating series features the finest regional pianists on stage in a living room environment throughout the performance trading stories and melodies with two pianos on stage to accommodate impromptu collaborations.

The event is an annual sellout because of the diversity, quality in a multitude of styles of music and humor that takes place throughout the evening.

A special sculpture art show benefitting fire victims featuring Spencer Brewer and Esther Siegel will also be on display at the Mendocino College Art Gallery throughout the weekend. It’s not to be missed.

The performance on Friday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m. will feature Spencer Brewer, Elena Casanova, Elizabeth MacDougall, Ed Reinhart, Barney McClure, Frankie J and Charlie Seltzer.

On Saturday, Jan. 11, at 7 p.m. the performance features Spencer Brewer, Elena Casanova, Wendy DeWitt, Tom Ganoung, Elizabeth MacDougall, Barney McClure and Ed Reinhart.

The performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 12, will include Spencer Brewer, Elena Casanova, Wendy deWitt, Charlie Seltzer, Tom Ganoung, Frankie J and Elizabeth MacDougall.

No two concerts are the same, so if you love piano and piano music, enjoy more than one performance.

The concert benefits the Ukiah Community Concert Association, Mendocino College Recording Arts & Technology Program and the Allegro Scholarship Program.

Tickets are on sale at Mendocino Book Co. in Ukiah, Mazahar in Willits and online www.UkiahConcerts.org.

Tickets are $20 general admission and $30 "I Wanna See the Hands" limited seating. For more information call 707-463-2738.

There will be autographed CDs by the artists for sale in lobby.

Sponsors are Sparetime Supply, Ken Fowler Auto, Savings Bank of Mendocino, Flow Kana, Yokayo Ranch, Mendocino College Recording Arts, Willits Furniture Center, Waterman Plants, K-WINE/MAX, KOZT-The Coast and KZYX/Z. Wine & refreshments will be provided by Ukiah Community Concert Association.

The Center Theatre is located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road in Ukiah.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Christian Center will host “An Evening of Devotion” featuring Raj Sodhi, Matt and Jill Rothstein, and Jazz Mirage on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

The concert will begin at 7 p.m. at the church, 455 S. Forbes St.

Admission is free, and donations will be appreciated.

From 2004 to 2017, Jazz Mirage was one of the most prominent improvising ensembles based in the wine country, featuring a blend of jazz, popular and folk music that delighted clients and audiences throughout Northern California, including gigs at Google, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Beringer Vineyards, Francis Ford Coppola Winery and the Mystic Theatre.

On the morning of Oct. 8, 2017, bandleader and bassist Raj Sodhi lost his Santa Rosa home to the Tubbs Fire, and the experience led to a period of searching.

As months passed, Sodhi found himself revisiting some of his earliest musical experiences – listening to his grandmother sing Indian Ragas.

“Those melodies are deeply embedded in my musical ear and consciousness,” acknowledged Sodhi, “and there is great peace and joy that comes from breathing new life into this material through jazz improvisation.”

The result is “An Evening of Devotion,” an arresting program emphasizing traditional Indian melodies, while retaining the jazz, pop and folk elements that previously made Jazz Mirage an enduring success.

“Only Raj could have been the impetus for this music, and that is what excites me most about this project,” noted longtime Jazz Mirage saxophonist Matt Rothstein. “This is a program with great depth, and speaks to themes both specific and universal; themes of displacement, perseverance, hope and love.”

Keyboardist Greg Schlaepfer first worked with Sodhi and Rothstein as a teenager, and is the founder of Orange Tree Samples.

“Greg has mastered a tremendous range of musical disciplines, and appreciates the physics and aesthetics of harmony at an extraordinarily high level,” said Rothstein. “It is a privilege to introduce him to Lake County’s community of astute jazz fans.”

“We are also thrilled to be working with master percussionist Kendrick Freeman,” said Sodhi. “Kendrick routinely creates textures that are otherworldly and engaging, and it is inspiring to play this material with him.”

Enrapturing and insightful vocalist and composer, Jill Rothstein, will join Jazz Mirage on four of the program’s selections.

“There is a different level of focus in the group when Jill is singing,” said Sodhi. “She has an intuitive melodic concept, and brings a sense of order and unique beauty that is unusual in improvising musicians. It really raises the bar for the whole group.”

“An Evening of Devotion” is a 100-minute program that will intrigue and satisfy a diversity of music enthusiasts. Richly textured and compellingly percussive, the music rewards close listening.

All are encouraged to attend, and the program will be appropriate and enjoyable for adults and children, alike.

Alberto Rios is a highly acclaimed American poet who lives and teaches in Arizona. I found this poem of community and peace in “Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems,” published by Grayson Books of West Hartford, Connecticut.

The most recent book by Alberto Rios is “A Small Story about the Sky,” Copper Canyon Press.

We Are of a Tribe

We plant seeds in the ground
And dreams in the sky,

Hoping that, someday, the roots of one
Will meet the upstretched limbs of the other.

It has not happened yet.
We share the sky, all of us, the whole world:

Together, we are a tribe of eyes that look upward,
Even as we stand on uncertain ground.

The earth beneath us moves, quiet and wild,
Its boundaries shifting, its muscles wavering.

The dream of sky is indifferent to all this,
Impervious to borders, fences, reservations.

The sky is our common home, the place we all live.
There we are in the world together.

The dream of sky requires no passport.
Blue will not be fenced. Blue will not be a crime.

Look up. Stay awhile. Let your breathing slow.
Know that you always have a home here.

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 ©2014 by Alberto Rios, "We Are of a Tribe," from Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems, (Grayson Books, 2017). Poem reprinted by permission of Alberto Rios 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.

‘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.