ICE AGE: CONTINENTAL DRIFT (Rated PG)

If you take your kids to the movies, you could do far worse than the fourth installment of “Ice Age.” You could have taken them to something wholly inappropriate, like “Savages” or the Katy Perry puff piece.

Actually, “Ice Age: Continental Drift,” nicely done in 3D, while it treads little new ground, is amusing and entertaining in a primitive fashion fitting for its prehistoric times.

“Ice Age 4” explains that Scrat the hyperactive squirrel, forever chasing the elusive acorn, is responsible for the continental breakup, as his pursuit takes him to the earth’s molten core.

This cartoon franchise succeeds or not, depending on your point of view, in rehashing the familiar themes of camaraderie and fidelity that bind a misfit bunch of mammals acting out the equivalent of a Fifties’ sitcom.

Leading the pack is the clueless woolly mammoth Manny (voiced by Ray Romano). He and wife Ellie (Queen Latifah) cope with mildly rebellious teenage daughter Peaches (Keke Palmer), who’s thinking about the cute boy who has all the wit and charm of a drug-addled surfer.

Manny’s closest friends are Diego (Denis Leary), the grouchy saber-toothed tiger and Sid (John Leguizamo), the dopey sloth who provides immediate comic relief.

A sudden continental drift separates Manny, Diego and Sid from their friends and family members. Cast adrift on an ice floe, they try to figure a way home, a task made more complicated by less benevolent creatures.

Introduced to an element of danger and intrigue, the “Ice Age” pals discover they are not alone in being stranded on the high seas with land nowhere in sight.

A nasty orangutan named Captain Gutt (Peter Dinklage), who flies a skunk from his mast to represent a pirate flag, is roaming the ocean with a mangy crew of thugs in search of illicit treasure.
 
One member of the pirate crew gets noticed by the crusty Diego. The slinky, silver-haired tigress named Shira (Jennifer Lopez), though initially hostile, proves to be a promising love interest for the bachelor tiger.

The slothful, doltish Sid provides enough laughs on his own. But this time, his wacky granny (Wandy Sykes), abandoned by other family members for constantly talking a nasty game, proves to be an amusing addition to the adventure at sea.

A meaningful plot and coherent story are not prerequisites for enjoyment of this lighthearted comedy. For good measure, homage to “Braveheart” is rendered an essential part of an uprising against the scurvy pirates.

Aside from great use of the 3D device, “Ice Age: Continental Drift” allows the greatest pleasure in the often absurd banter between the characters, with the best lines going to the sloths Sid and Granny and a dim-witted walrus (Nick Frost) on the pirate crew.

Moving at a fast pace, with a running time of 87 minutes, everything stays afloat in “Ice Age,” much like the unsinkable pirate iceberg. This franchise will continue to drift blissfully along to success as family-friendly entertainment.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Some of the best television is occurring on the cable networks, from “Mad Men” on AMC to “Burn Notice” on USA to even several shows on the TNT network.

One of the fun series of cable’s last season was the TNT series “Franklin & Bash,” an offbeat legal drama about the escapades of two young, fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants street lawyers.

Now in DVD release, “Franklin & Bash: The Complete First Season” captures the adventures of Peter Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), the confident ladies’ man with a knack for connecting with the jury, and Jared Franklin (Breckin Meyer), his quick-witted best friend.

The unconventional duo, newly recruited by a legendary button-down law firm run by Stanton Infeld (Malcolm McDowell), shakes up the establishment with their quirky courtroom approach to every new case.

Operating as a team, Franklin and Bash are good lawyers, despite their wild antics, shocking tactics and irregular courtroom theatrics.

The three-disc DVD set, with all 10 episodes, includes many bonus features, including a blooper reel, behind-the-scenes specials, and a man cave tour of the Franklin and Bash bachelor pad/home office.

This amusing, smart series has already started its second season, so hurry now to get “Franklin & Bash: The Complete First Season” and catch up on the fun.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Sunday, June 24, saw the sixth outing for Lake County Live! Come to the Soper-Reese Community Theatre in Lakeport with another outstanding evening of entertainment.

The show, which is performed before a live audience at the theater and broadcast on Lake County Community Radio KPFZ 88.1 FM, provided nonstop applause, laughter and a great time for all in attendance, whether in the audience or listening on the air.

Doug Rhoades, the show’s creator and host, presented the return of Pole Cat Rodeo, a group that performed on the very first program back in January of this year.

Jon Hopkins, Randy Johnsen, April Knoll and Janet Berrian played a variety of songs with a distinct western and folk flavor, in two different sets, much to the delight of the live audience.

A running “serial” continued this month, with the return of “Ladies of the Lake” featuring “the real stories of Lake County housewives” which is always played for laughs.  

Suna Flores, Kris Andre, Pamela Bradley and Vicky Parish Smith provide the voices of Crystal, Mary Jo, Rhoda and Louise as they enjoy each others’ company, with a healthy dose of local Lake County wines.

The audience howled as Sascha the dog (a Borzoi) had another adventure, as well as a visit to the Full Saddle, a local western bar where anything can happen.  

Also appearing during the show were musical guests Lucas Prahna and Gypsy Bayou, consisting of Lucas Swafford, Rama Deva and Sara Lyne, who delighted the audience with great music and unusual instrumentation, as well as amazing guitar skill.

“This show was great in talent, and the audience response was phenomenal,” said Rhoades, who added “We are so thankful for the reception the Lake County Community has given to the show and the performers we present. It’s very humbling and satisfying that we can present this venue for local talent, and the audience is so appreciative.”

The next presentation of Lake County Live! Will be on Sunday, July 29.   

Lake County Live! Is presented on the last Sunday of each month at 6 p.m. from the Soper-Reese Theatre in Lakeport.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/lakecountylive or go to www.lakecountylive.com .

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Make certain to save the date for when The Golden Follies return in a brand new show in August.

The shows will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12, at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre, 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport.

These high kicking senior performers, ages 60 to 86, will be certain to dazzle you with their high energy and professional performance in this brand new show as a benefit for the Lake County Arts Council.

Back by popular demand, this exciting troupe of 50 talented women from the Bay Area and Sacramento wowed theater goers in their two previous visits to Lake County.
 
Producer, choreographer, costume designers and dance instructors Diane Tembey-Stawicki and her sister Susan Bostwick, offer instructions at their studio in Hayward.

“We just couldn’t hold them back any longer,” said Tembey-Stawicki. “They love Lake County and really wanted to return to help the Arts and encourage people to keep on dancing.”

Tembey-Stawicki and Bostwick have performed all over the United States, on cruise ships and the Continent.

Their Golden Follies perform at venues throughout the Bay Area and have performed with the Oakland East Bay Symphony at the Paramount.
 
All seating is $20 and tickets are available at the Soper-Reese Box Office, located at 275 S. Main St. in Lakeport on Fridays or at www.soperreesetheatre.com and at 707-263-0577.

Tickets also are available at the Main Street Gallery, 325 N. Main St. in Lakeport, 707-263-6658; and at the Travel Center, 1265 S. Main St. in Lakeport, 707-263-3095.

For additional information, please contact the Main Street Gallery at 707-263-6658.

Lots of contemporary poems are merely little personal anecdotes set into lines, but I prefer my anecdotes to have an overlay of magic. Here’s just such a poem by Shawn Pittard, who lives in California.

The Silver Fish

I killed a great silver fish,
cut him open with a long

thin knife. The river carried
his heart away. I took his

dead eyes home. His red flesh
sang to me on the fire I built

in my backyard. His taste
was the lost memory of my

wildness. Behind amber clouds
of cedar smoke, Orion

drew his bow. A black moon rose
from the night’s dark waters,

a sliver of its bright face
reflecting back into the universe.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2011 by Shawn Pittard, from his most recent book of poems, Standing in the River, Tebot Bach, 2011. Poem reprinted by permission of Shawn Pittard and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 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. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

SAVAGES (Rated R)

Brutal, violent nihilism runs rampant in Oliver Stone’s “Savages,” as if the director was channeling his basest instincts from “Natural Born Killers.”

The famed cinematic master has stepped off his soapbox, foregoing his predictably preachy tendencies to swaddle his audience in a torrent of political and societal diatribes.

If there’s a message to be found in “Savages,” it is a cautionary warning that the uninitiated had better give up any thoughts of poaching on the turf of violent Mexican drug cartels.

To drive home that point, a videotape warning is delivered early on to two laid-back Southern California dope peddlers. Enemies of the cartel are grotesquely beheaded.

The warning is directed to Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Johnson). These two childhood drug-dealing buddies live a lavish lifestyle in an oceanfront pad in tony Laguna Beach.

A veteran of the Afghanistan war, Chon brought back home powerful cannabis seeds from his several tours of duty in the war-torn country famous for drug crops.

Battle-scarred and muscle-bound, Chon uses his Special Ops training and war-zone skills to be the physical protector of an elaborate marijuana production plant.

The shy, quiet Ben, a former biology student and the brains of the operation, happens to be so mellow that he spends time in Africa doing charitable work.

Ben and Chon share more than just an interest in weed. In a strange love triangle, both of them share the love of the free-spirited Ophelia (Blake Lively), who goes by the name of O.

Using their smarts and ingenuity, the two guys have created a very powerful strain of marijuana with an unusually high level of THC. Stoners would call it “good stuff” or words to that effect.

While the California trio would love to enjoy the surfing lifestyle, their success draws the unwanted notice of a vile Mexican drug cartel run by Elena Sanchez (Salma Hayek) and her violent henchmen.

At first, the cartel sends guys in suits offering a sweet deal to partner with Ben and Chon, which anyone with a half-brain would instantly recognize as the first volley in a hostile takeover.

After being rebuffed, the Mexican cartel ups the ante with violent warnings of decapitation, leading to the kidnapping of O where she’s threatened with immediate physical harm.

The American boys scheme a big money heist from other drug dealers to buy O’s freedom, but that ploy fails to do the trick.

As ruthless Elena leaves the dirty work to others, she dispatches her chief enforcer Lado (Benicio Del Toro), a decidedly vile monster to get what she wants.

Unlike a savvy chess player, Elena doesn’t figure that Ben and Chon would turn the tables by kidnapping her beloved daughter attending college in the United States.

A key player in the twisted tale of corruption and double crosses is John Travolta’s slimy, crooked DEA agent, a man on the take from every drug operation north and south of the border.

Del Toro is brilliant as the volatile, raging sociopath, while Travolta brings a welcome element of dark humor to his role of a corrupt official with flexible convictions. These delightful two are like characters from “Pulp Fiction.”

Often, the villains are the ones to liven up the action, and that’s certainly the case here. Hayek’s coldly malicious drug lord is mere icing on the cake.

Bouncing back from the disaster of “John Carter,” Taylor Kitsch provides an explosive performance as the smoldering anti-hero, ably assisted by Aaron Johnson’s less savage portrayal of a sidekick.

“Savages,” a brutal, violent action film, is, after all, savage. This is fitting for an Oliver Stone who decided to roll the dice to exploit the savagery of the raging drug wars.

The film’s ending may prove troubling for many viewers, because it is both self-indulgently clever and preposterous.

Other than that, “Savages” is a good movie for the cold-blooded warring drug cartel genre.

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

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lake County Arts Council’s Main Street Gallery is featuring an exhibit of “refrigerator art” at its Linda Carpenter Gallery in July.

Proud grandparents will display art work that has been done by their grandchildren. It’s a wonderful celebration of fledgling artists.

The community is invited to come and view these great art pieces during the month of July.

This will be a yearly event during July, so keep that in mind and plan on sharing your refrigerator art next year.

The Main Street Gallery is located at 325 N. Main St., Lakeport.

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