Writers Russell Reza-Khaliq Gonzaga, Georgina Marie and others at the Middletown Art Center in Middletown, Calif. Photo by Middletown Art Center staff. MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Art Center’s Restore project features a writers workshop with Russell Reza-Khaliq Gonzaga this Saturday, Jan. 12, from noon to 4 p.m.
Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography. Nancy Miller Gomez lives in California and directs writing workshops for incarcerated men and women.
Unless the rules have changed, a film billed as a comedy is supposed to be funny, especially when the lead characters are Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. After all, they scored plenty of laughs in “Talladega Nights” and “Step Brothers.”
They are now reunited in “Holmes & Watson,” intended to mine laughs from the story of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective and sidekick. Instead, what Sony dumped into theatres on an unsuspecting public should win honors as the worst film of the year.
The origin story does not begin well. Ferrell’s Sherlock Holmes is first seen at an English boarding school where he is bullied and taunted. His crush on a pretty classmate ends up with the young lad tricked into kissing the rear end of a donkey (yeah, don’t ask).
Holmes gets his revenge by using his brain to get the entire student population expelled with the exception of Reilly’s Watson. Thus, a lifelong bond is formed between the two.
The professional partnership formed between old friends has Doctor Watson eagerly trying to establish his legitimacy as co-detective, a title that Holmes seems not so interested in bestowing.
The detective’s arch-nemesis is, of course, Professor Moriarty (Ralph Fiennes), first seen on trial for heinous crimes. In the courtroom, the judge impatiently waits for Holmes to turn up as the witness for the prosecution.
Meanwhile, Holmes appears oblivious to the time of his court appointment, as he prances around practicing a dramatic entrance all the while trying on a variety of hats, including a fez that says “Make England Great Again,” an anachronistic jab if there ever was one.
Even when he makes it to court with only seconds to spare before the judge would have no choice but to dismiss the defendant, Holmes botches his testimony such that the criminal mastermind is set free to the horrified chagrin of Inspector Lestrade (Rob Brydon).
With the masterful stroke of an inept performance, Holmes comes across as a buffoon whose supposed power of reasoning and logic is completely shattered. But there are no laughs or even giggles to be had with the detective’s clown show.
Watson fares no better in the smarts department. He is even fooled by Holmes’ disguise when he puts on a fake mustache in his presence. It doesn’t get any better when Watson goes undercover as a vendor of horse manure.
Most of the characters are wasted. Rebecca Hall turns up as American doctor Grace Hart, later re-enacting a famous movie scene with Watson. Her assistant Millie (Lauren Lapkus) is a mute who was raised by feral cats.
As the film comes to a merciful end, Moriarty is hanging out in a saloon where Holmes and Watson are disguised as cowboys. If you stayed in the theater this long, that would be unfortunate.
FOX NETWORK WINTER PREVIEW
Just like any network, FOX will run with proven commodities. Thus a famous celebrity chef returns with “Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back,” as he seeks to rescue dining establishments across the country on the brink of disaster.
Anyone knows that a restaurant is a high-risk business. Chef Ramsay and his crew transform struggling restaurants with spectacular renovations, fresh new menus and hope for the future.
What’s fresh for the winter is “The Masked Singer,” hosted by Nick Cannon, with panelists Jenny McCarthy, Nicole Scherzinger, Ken Jeong and Robin Thicke, delivering a top-secret singing competition that features celebrities facing off against one another.
The major twist is that each singer is shrouded from head to toe in an elaborate costume, complete with full face mask to conceal his or her identity. The celebrity guests are apparently well-known, including ones with loads of Grammy and Emmy award nominations.
“The Passage,” based on author Justin Cronin’s best-selling trilogy of the same name, is an expansive, character-driven thriller that focuses on Project Noah, a secret medical facility where scientists are experimenting with a dangerous virus. When a young girl is chosen to be a test subject, a federal agent (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is tasked with bringing her in, but ultimately, becomes her surrogate father, determined to protect her at any cost.
The Tony Award-winning musical “Rent” is the next live musical production for FOX. The staging of a live production worked when the network presented “Grease: Live.” But Fox still has to catch up with NBC’s better track record in the musical arena.
“Rent” is set in New York City’s gritty East Village, telling the unforgettable story of seven artists struggling to follow their dreams during a time of social and political turmoil.
“Proven Innocent,” a legal drama starring Kelsey Grammer and Rachelle Lefevre, tells the emotional story of one woman’s fight for the innocence of others, as well as her own.
The series follows an underdog criminal defense firm led by a fierce lawyer, who was wrongfully convicted in a sensational murder case that made her an infamous media obsession, a household name and a national cause célèbre.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
Ami Verhey and Colleen Schimansky display etchings made in printmaking class at the Middletown Art Center in Middletown, Calif. Photo by Middletown Art Center staff. MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Middletown Art Center’s Restore Project features a printmaking-drypoint etching class with artist Nicholas Hay this Saturday, Jan. 5, from 1 to 5 p.m.
Adults and teens 11-up of all levels of art making experience, from newbies to professionals, are invited to attend this inspiring class for just $5.
“We’ll use a drypoint technique to draw into a plastic plate with a metal etching pen,” explained Hay. “Participants will be able to make changes and refinements to their image and run their plate through the press several times during class. The process of printmaking is quite magical, and anyone who likes to draw can create compelling images.”
MAC encourages folks to come to several classes, to hone skills, learn new ones, and develop a body of work. Participants may also work on Monotypes during this class.
Please register in advance for all Restore classes at http://www.middletownartcenter.org/restore, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 707-809-8118. Space is limited and reservations are required.
Work from Printmaking classes will contribute to MAC’s second chapbook of writings and images, as well as Restore exhibitions.
The Restore project provides low-cost classes most weekends through May. Fall and early winter classes provide opportunity to learn or refine skills in a variety of materials and techniques, including clay, plaster, concrete, drypoint etching, block printing and more.
Late winter and spring classes will focus on personal and collaborative projects, studio time, mentoring and guidance to create work. Learn more about Restore class scheduling at www.middletownartcenter.org.
On Saturday, Jan. 12, also from 1 to 5 p.m., Restore features a writers workshop with Russell Reza-Khaliq Gonzaga, “Building and Rebuilding Forms.”
The following two Saturdays feature armature welding and sculpting the human figure in clay, respectively. Visit the Web site to stay up to date on class schedules and to preregister.
The RESTORE project was made possible thanks to support from the California Arts Council, a state agency, with additional support from local organizations, businesses, and individuals. Visit www.ca.arts.gov to learn more about the California Arts Council’s important work in communities and schools throughout California.
The Middletown Art Center is located at 21456 State Highway 175 at the junction of Highiway 29. Be a part of the growing arts scene in south Lake County by becoming a MAC member, by coming to Restore printmaking this Saturday, or by attending one of the many arts and cultural events or classes at MAC.
Visit www.middletownartcenter.org or “Like” Middletown Art Center on Facebook to stay find out more about what’s happening at MAC.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 1968 sci-fi epic, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, screens at the Soper Reese Theatre on Tuesday, Jan. 22, at 1 and 6 p.m.
Entry to the film is by donation.
One of the most influential of all sci-fi films, and one of the most controversial, Stanley Kubrick's opus is a delicate, poetic meditation on the ingenuity and the folly of mankind.
The movie’s finest moments are the space ballet of a capsule docking to the strains of Strauss’ “Blue Danube” waltz, the man-machine struggle with supercomputer “Hal,” and the surreal, mind-blowing imagery of the final scenes, a visual effect that has to be seen on the big screen to be appreciated.
The movie is sponsored by Mike Bielenberg and Val Schweifler. Rated G. Run time is 2 hours and 19 minutes.
The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, 707-263-0577, www.soperreesetheatre.com.
Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography. Ryler Dustin of Bellingham, Washington, is a graduate student in our creative writing program at The University of Nebraska, and this lovely poem is from the manuscript of a book for which he's hoping to find a publisher.
To Make Color
Every morning, my grandmother cleaned the Fischer stove in the back of the trailer, lifted ash in a shovel, careful
not to spill the white-gray dust. Precious, she said, her breath smoking in the cold. Precious in winter's first lavender
not-quite-light––and you could smell it, the faintest acrid hint of ash, a crispness calling you from bed. You could watch her
cap it in a chicory coffee can to stack among others, back bent from a long-gone fever. For the garden in spring, she said.
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