BULLET TO THE HEAD (Rated R)

It’s a good thing that Sylvester Stallone is old enough to carry the Medicare Part A card, considering that he’s involved in enough bloody fights that he should end up in a hospital.

Violent in the extreme, “Bullet to the Head” is a title so lacking in subtlety that one would have to have the IQ of an eggplant not to realize what exactly is in store when the anti-hero goes looking for revenge.

Stallone’s James Bonomo, affectionately called Jimmy Bobo on the mean streets of New Orleans, is a gun-for-hire who plays by his own set of rules, which apparently means killing people even more criminal than he is.

The story opens as Jimmy and his partner Louis (Jon Seda) are on what appears to be a routine hit. Their target is an ex-cop kicked off the force in Washington, D.C. in disgrace.

This dirty cop would seem the perfect fit for the nation’s capitol. After all, he’s holed up in a swank hotel room with a Russian hooker and loads of illicit substances.

It’s just another case of art imitating life, given the recent news that a sleazy New Jersey senator favors underage prostitutes from the Dominican Republic.

Once the job is done, Jimmy and Louis head to a seedy local bar to get paid, but instead of cash they are met with a double-cross that leaves Louis lying in a pool of blood, the vicious handiwork of a hit man named Keegan (Jason Momoa).

Arriving in New Orleans to investigate a mob hit, Washington, D.C. detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) figures there’s some sort of connection with Jimmy Bobo.

However, Kwon has no jurisdiction in the Big Easy and can’t go through the usual channels. It’s just as well, considering that New Orleans is swimming in corruption, including crooked cops and politicians.

Reluctantly, Kwon teams up with Jimmy because he shares an equal grudge about the murderous thug who also killed his former police partner.

At this point, “Bullet to the Head” turns into the oddest couple of a buddy movie, where two opposite sides of the law forge a wobbly truce to go after some really bad guys.

Going by the book, Kwon lives by a real rigid code of honor and moral integrity, whereas the bombastic Jimmy is like a bull in a china shop, ready to break heads and limbs with no regrets.

Needless to say, Jimmy’s strong-arm methods are more efficient and effective, leaving no time for the reserved Kwon to read Miranda rights to a suspect.

Making enemies for sniffing around where he doesn’t belong, Kwon becomes slightly more grateful for Jimmy’s tactics when his criminal partner saves his life in an ambush.

When Kwon is wounded, Jimmy can’t take him to a hospital, so instead he gets his estranged daughter Lisa (Sarah Shahi), a tattoo artist, to remove the bullet and patch him up.

The plot tends to wander, but we can count on a host of colorful characters. One of them is a shady lawyer named Marcus Baptiste (Christian Slater) who knows how to throw a grand party at his Garden District mansion.

The hit man Keegan is a fascinating adversary, unmatched for being the ruthless and relentless muscle with way too much sadistic pleasure in doing his dirty work.

At the top of the criminal ladder is Robert Nkomo Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a wealthy immigrant real estate mogul who secured his fortunes from notoriously corrupt deals in Africa.

Intelligent, sophisticated and yet manipulative and dark, Morel is a formidable figure, with both government and police officials in his wallet. He will stop at nothing to secure his ends.

With double-crosses and greed pushing everyone’s buttons, “Bullet to the Head” is practically a non-stop parade of bloody brawls and deadly shootouts.

Veteran director Walter Hill also knows how to push buttons, neatly setting up the flavor of an old school action picture straight out of the 1980s.

This past month has been a virtual feast for fans of violent, brutal action. We’ve had “Gangster Squad” and “Parker,” to name a few, and now “Bullet to the Head” fits right in with this pantheon of thrillers.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Steven Spielberg’s creative hand has been behind many things, including a TV cartoon series called “Animaniacs” that first ran on FOX in the early 1990s.

Now you can catch up with the slapstick adventures of Yakko, Wakko and Dot as Warner Bros. releases “Animaniacs: Volume 4” in a 3-disc DVD collector’s set.

Lacking extras or frills, the DVD collection features 24 episodes from this fan favorite cartoon series following the wacky characters who were so crazy that the studio executives locked them in the water tower on the Warner Bros. studio lot.

Though designed for laughs, each episode features educational segments that cover subjects such as history, math, geography, astronomy, science and social studies, often in a musical format.

Mostly, “Animaniacs” is about off-the-wall characters, such as Pinky and the Brain, two mice bent on world domination. Chicken Boo is a giant chicken trying to integrate into human society.

Bobby, Pesto and Squit are the Goodfeathers, part of a New York mob of pigeons, who worship Martin Scorsese. It’s an offbeat homage to “Goodfellas.”

As advertised on the box cover, “Animaniacs: Volume 4” is the fourth and final volume of this Emmy Award winning series.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Learning to paint can be a daunting endeavor, but Blanca Doren makes easy work of teaching aspiring artists to dive right in every Friday at the Lakeport Senior Activity Center.  

A growing number of people have discovered that they can eat a great lunch at noon and stay for hours of painting fun afterward.  

Cost for the class is a suggested donation of $10 to cover the cost of the paint and canvas. No one will be turned away over ability to make the donation.

Doren is a talented artist who has given numerous hours to the community in the form of volunteering and through gifts of paintings that have been raffled off as fundraisers for the Meals on Wheels program.  

Currently one of Doren’s works is featured at the Meals on Wheels Thrift Store at 120 N. Main St. in Lakeport.

Tickets can be purchased for a chance to win the painting. Proceeds from ticket sales with go to the meals programs at the Lakeport Senior Activity Center.  

For more information call 707-263-4218 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Lakeport Senior Activity Center is located at 527 Konocti Ave.

SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. – The American Philharmonic Sonoma County (APSC) is pleased to announce the third concert of its 14th season, “Russian Revolution” with guest conductor Mark Wardlow and Anne Suda, guest cellist.

Liadov’s “Eight Russian Folk Songs,” Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme” and Shostakovich’ “Symphony No. 9” comprise the program.

Performances are 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, at the Santa Rosa High School Performing Arts Auditorium, 1235 Mendocino Ave.

Mark Wardlaw has been a member of the Santa Rosa Symphony since 1984. He holds a master of music degree from the University of Washington and studied with clarinetist David Glazer in New York City.

His credits include performances with dozens of luminaries, including Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, Andre Watts, Ute Lemper, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Mel Torme, Fred Hersch, Nnenna Freelon, Steve Allen, Joan Rivers, Judy Collins, Olivia Newton John, Neil Sedaka, Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Lou Christie, David Benoit, the Four Freshmen, the rock group Yes and many others.

Since 1990, Wardlaw has been the director of instrumental music at Santa Rosa High School. Under his direction, the school’s ensembles have received great acclaim in performances throughout the U.S., British Columbia, China, Portugal and Spain.

A gifted and versatile performer in his own right, Wardlaw plays saxophones and flute in several jazz groups, and he has been a saxophone soloist with the Santa Rosa Symphony on many occasions.

Anne Suda made her Kennedy Center debut in 2010, and has appeared in solo and chamber music performances around the world.

She served as principal cellist of the Sydney Conservatory Chamber Orchestra and has performed at international music festivals including the Zephyr and Adriatic Chamber Music Festivals in Italy.

In San Francisco, Suda frequently plays with the Magik*Magik Orchestra, a group committed to attracting new listeners to orchestral music through multi-genre collaborative performances.

Over the past three summers, she has joined Aleron Trio for acclaimed tours of France. She also has performed with the Knox-Galesburg Symphony.

Praising a performance of Debussy, a critic for Northwest Reverb raved, “Cellist Anne Suda read so much contrast into the score, intermittently I felt I wasn’t hearing Debussy at all, but discovering his lost contemporary genius…it was the freshest I’ve heard.”

Suda began her cello study with her mother, Carolyn Suda, at age 4. She went on to receive degrees in music from Vanderbilt University and the San Francisco Conservatory, where she studied with Jennifer Culp.

She has participated in many solo master classes with renowned cellists such as Norman Fischer, Matt Haimovitz and Colin Carr. She has played in chamber music master classes for Robert Mann of the Julliard Quartet, cellist Bonnie Hampton, violinist Jorga Fleezanis and pianist Gil Kalish.

The “Russian Revolution” concerts will be held at the Santa Rosa High School (SRHS) Performing Arts Auditorium.

Built in 1924, this architectural gem was completely restored in 2003. The SRHS Performing Arts Auditorium was the original home of the Santa Rosa Symphony; the 900 seat hall continues to be regarded as one of the most acoustically perfect spaces in the North Bay. The auditorium is located at 1235 Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa.

APSC is the Bay Area’s premier all-volunteer professional-caliber orchestra. The 70 orchestra members donate their time and talent in support of the organization’s mission to make the beauty of music available to everyone.

One of the orchestra’s goals is to enlarge the audience for classical music by including people who have not had the opportunity or the means to enjoy classical music.

To this end, complimentary tickets are made available for those that need them; these must be requested at least 10 days before each concert. All ticket prices are kept moderate.

Ticket prices are $15 premium reserved seating, $10 general, and $5 student under 18.   

Individual or season tickets may be purchased at the APSC Web site, www.apsonoma.org , or by calling 707-206-6775.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – It’s time again to dig out your art supplies and wave the olive branch or simply create a stunning poster for the 2013 Olive Festival Poster Contest.

Poster themes should reflect Kelseyville and the Olive industry.   

Livia Kurz of Rosa d’Oro Vineyards has announced that prizes will be awarded in three categories: under the age of 12, ages 12 to 18 and over 18.

In addition, a grand prize winning entry will be chosen to be used as 2014’s Kelseyville’s Olive Festival poster.

To be eligible, all entries must be submitted on paper with minimum dimension of 8.5 inches by 11 inches and no larger than 11 inches by 17 inches, and include the entrant’s name, age and phone number printed legibly on the back.  

All printable media will be accepted.  

Please deliver entries to Rosa d’Oro Vineyards tasting room, located at 3915 Main St. in Kelseyville, or the Main Street Gallery, located at 325 N. Main St. in Lakeport no later than 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 27.

Entries will be on display at the Main Street Gallery from April 1 through April 20 and again on display at the Festival on April 21 at Chacewater Winery and Olive Mill, 5625 Gaddy Lane, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For additional information, please contact the Main Street Gallery at 707-263-1871 or www.kelseyvilleolivefestival.com .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council will host its next First Friday Fling on Feb. 1

The fling will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Main Street Gallery, 325 N. Main St., Lakeport.

Featured this month will be Max Butler, Bobbie Bridges, Terry Durnil, Jay Glimme, Nell Knapp, Richard Seisser, Travis Rinker, Shelby Posada, Leah and Phillip Tulley, Colleen Pope and the Kelseyville Art Club, which includes Kathy Dutra, Patty Oates, Joyce Porterfield and Eileen Rasmussen.

This month the Linda Carpenter Gallery will feature an exhibition of the work first through fifth graders and Kelseyville Elementary School.

There will be finger food, music and the wine of Shannon Ridge.

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

NORTH COAST, Calif. – The Mendocino Coast Writers Conference announces Five Under Twenty-Five, a new initiative offering full-tuition scholarships for up to five young writers who live or attend school in one of five Northern California counties: Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino or Sonoma.

Applicants must be between the ages of 16 and 25 at the time of the conference, which takes place July 25-27, 2013. The scholarship covers conference fees only ($525) and does not include travel and lodging expenses.

Awards are made on the basis of merit. No entry fee is required.

The scholarship application has three parts a writing sample, a brief cover letter, and thoughts on what the applicant hopes to gain from attending.

Judges will read and evaluate writing samples based on literary quality, and appropriate use of grammar and punctuation.

School grades and transcripts will not be considered. The applicant’s actual writing and dedication to the power of the written word are what matter.

The application window is March 15-May 1. Selections will be made and scholarship winners notified by May 31.

If you have won a scholarship to the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference in the past three years, you are not eligible to apply for the Five Under Twenty-five scholarship.

You may apply again if you received a scholarship four or more years ago.

Winners are full participants in intensive writing workshops as well as all lectures, panel discussions and literary readings.

Their work is also considered for publication in MCWC’s online literary journal, the Noyo River Review.

The Mendocino Coast Writers Conference, now in its 24th year, offers a place where writers find encouragement, expertise and inspiration.

Scholarship winners will be welcomed into a vibrant and supportive literary community. The conference takes place at the College of the Redwoods Mendocino Campus in Fort Bragg.

With attendance limited to 100 people, and faculty and participants eating together on campus, opportunities for informal conversation are numerous.

For detailed information and an application for the Five Under Twenty-five scholarships, please check the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference Web site at www.mcwc.org/mcwc_five_schol.html .