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Al Pacino stars in “And Justice For All.” Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The 1979 legal drama, “And Justice For All,” starring Al Pacino, screens at the Soper Reese Theatre on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at 1 and 6 p.m.

Entry to the film is by donation.

Pacino plays a scruffy rebel, strong but vulnerable, low-key but easily ignited, fighting in a slick society for simple rights and a fair shake.

His high voltage performance as a Baltimore lawyer earned him a Best Actor nomination, with a nomination also going to Valerie Curtain and Barry Levinson for best screenplay.

The film stands out for its strong direction, bright performances, stinging script, ace camera work and a jaunty music score.

The movie is sponsored by Tomkins Tax Consultants. Rated R for language. Run time is 1 hour and 59 minutes.

The Soper Reese Theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport, 707-263-0577, www.soperreesetheatre.com .
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Ted Kooser. Photo credit: UNL Publications and Photography.

This week and next I want to show you two beautiful poems of grief and loss by David Baker, from his new and selected poems, Swift, published in 2019 by W. W. Norton.

Baker teaches at Denison University in Ohio and is the poetry editor of Kenyon Review, one of our most distinguished literary journals.

Faith

It was midday before we noticed it was morning.
The boy cousins brought us a tray—soup and cheese,
warm soda, and a soft cloth and candy for her fever.
They wouldn't come in, the tray weighing between them.
They stood like woodwork inside the door frame.

By afternoon the old procession—silence at the lip
of a dozen night travelers tired and grieving, one
by one, or pairs floating to the bed and back
with a touching of hands like humming,
and the one we gathered for slipping farther

for all the good we could do. She lay in her shadow.
She looked to no one. Her daylilies bobbed wide
open out in the wild, blue sun and the same bee
kept nosing her window to reach them.
Dusk: even the boys were back watching it try.


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 ©2019 by David Baker, "Faith," from Swift, (W. W. Norton, 2019). Poem reprinted by permission of David Baker and the publisher. Introduction copyright @2020 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.
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‘BAD BOYS FOR LIFE’ (Rated R)

As much fun as it is to watch Will Smith and Martin Lawrence teamed up again in “Bad Boys for Life,” the repetitive chorus from the hit song “Bad Boys” by the Jamaican reggae band Inner Circle may well reverberate for days inside your head.

Right from the start, the action kicks in with Smith’s Mike Lowery and Lawrence’s Marcus Burnett, detectives on the Miami police force, in hot pursuit in Mike’s high-performance Porsche, screeching dangerously along city streets.

The hair-raising speed race is actually to the hospital where Marcus’ daughter is giving birth to his first grandchild, an event propelling him into retirement to spend time with his family.

Marcus has grown timid and weary of the aggressive crime-fighting that his partner Mike relishes not just for taking down bad guys, but because he’s a reckless thrill-seeker who has never matured into his middle age.

When Marcus hangs up the shield, Mike has no desire to change his ways. Lest the Bad Boys finally break up, Marcus gets pulled back into action when Mike survives a hit from an assassin dispatched by a Mexican cartel.

As it happens, Mike is targeted for vengeance by Isabel (Kate del Castillo), widow of a Mexican cartel drug lord, who has managed a violent escape from prison. The Miami detective was responsible for her incarceration as well as the fate of her late husband.

More troubling is that Mike had a history with Isabel, a practitioner of the dark arts, and she sends her son Armando (Jacob Scipio) north of the border to kill everyone involved with the conviction of her husband, including the judge and prosecutor in his trial.

But the top priority on Isabel’s hit list is Mike Lowery, and Armando is instructed to kill the detective last so that he will have to suffer witnessing the loss of his friends and colleagues.

Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano) is still nervous about the renegade style of his two detectives, but this time around Mike and Marcus find themselves tethered to a tech-savvy elite team called AMMO, which is led by Rita (Paola Nunez).

Working with the AMMO team is complicated not just because of the old school versus high-tech police work dynamic, but due to the fact that Rita is Mike’s former flame.

The good news is that nothing holds back Mike and Marcus from being involved in frenzied chases involving motorcycles, cars and even helicopters, and the two detectives end up in Mexico in an ultimately brutal showdown.

During this slow time of year for movies, “Bad Boys for Life” is a nice shot of adrenaline for the action genre, and it’s great having Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reunited.

‘CABLE TV WINTER PREVIEW – PART 1’

What’s old is new again, at least for the Paramount Network’s homage to the Seventies with its new series “68 Whiskey” that follows a band of Army medics stationed in Afghanistan.

As a show that blends intense drama with irreverent humor, “68 Whiskey” recalls memories of “M*A*S*H,” a TV show about flippant medical staff in a Korean War Army mobile hospital that debuted on CBS in 1972.

During the winter TV press tour, show creator Roberto Benabib let it be known that he “came of age” with Vietnam-era movies, citing “MASH” and “Catch-22,” which were incidentally set in the Korean War and World II, respectively.

Benabib expressed admiration for the “absurdist humor vein” running through these war movies, noting that he aspired for “68 Whiskey” to achieve the same “mixture of dark comedy and drama” that “seamlessly just coexisted with each other.”

Keeping up with the proliferation of cable channels marketing original programming is not easy to follow. Relatively new on the scene, Spectrum Originals has revived “Mad About You” with Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt.

Rolling out in February is “Manhunt: Deadly Games,” a series of ten one-hour episodes about the amazing story of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games bombing that led the FBI to target a wrongly accused innocent man.

This story recently came prominently into play with Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell,” the eponymous movie of the security guard whose discovery of the bomb made him an instant hero before the FBI decided to finger him as the number one suspect.

Spectrum’s “Manhunt: Deadly Games” dives deeper into the story of Richard Jewell as he tried to clear his name, hopefully pointing out how he was maligned by the press and the authorities, before moving on to the conclusion that Eric Rudolph was the one to bring to justice.

Interestingly, during the press tour, Katherine Pope, head of Spectrum Originals, expressed her belief the message of the series is that “People mess up. Organizations make the wrong call,” insinuating that mistakes and failings get acknowledged.

If Richard Jewell were alive, he may well take exception to that assumption. While then-Attorney General Janet Reno apologized for a leak to the media, it is believed the actual FBI agents on the case stayed mum.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – Quietly, Lake County has recently become a hub for outstanding jazz. In January, the Soper-Reese Theatre hosted Grammy winner Paul McCandless, and 2020’s programming will include extraordinary jazz talent from Northern California and beyond.

Just two-tenths of a mile from the Soper-Reese on South Forbes Street sits Lakeport Christian Center, home to a vibrant and dynamic faith community whose sanctuary happens to offer pristine, warm acoustics perfectly suited to small ensemble music.

“It is the ideal venue to experiment and workshop new material,” exudes LCC Worship Leader and jazz saxophonist, Matt Rothstein. “In January, we brought one of the finest percussionists in the North Bay Area up to be part of a unique concert blending jazz and Indian ragas, and he was truly blown away by the space.”

On Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 6:30 p.m., Rothstein will present his trio, RAY3, with very special guest, Tom Aiken.

“RAY3 is unapologetically a jazz group, in the tradition of the robust and searching trios of Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, and Joshua Redman,” notes Rothstein. “There will be plenty of space in this program for each of the musicians to stretch, and this is an incredible collection of regional talent!”

Providing the harmonic foundation is virtuoso bassist Pierre Archain, who anchored some of the most engaging jazz groups in San Francisco for decades.

“Pierre’s playing is at once muscular and poetic,” remarks Rothstein, “and it is always astounding to stand in proximity and feel the sheer force of his creativity.”

Mendocino’s Gabriel Yañez is a percussionist of uncommon insight, drawing on all aspects of the jazz tradition and the fertile tributaries of mathematics.

“There is a reason Gabe is one of the busiest musicians on the North Coast right now,” notes Rothstein. “He is growing by leaps and bounds and constantly challenging himself to new heights. Gabe is one of the most remarkable musicians in Northern California, in any genre!”

“Tom Aiken is the perfect musician to complement this group,” continues Rothstein. “He frames melodies, improvised and pre-composed, with a clarity and logic that is unique. Lake County knows Tom is equally likely to bring rocking, blues-drenched sensibilities and classical elegance, and that is a fantastic world of possibilities to add to RAY3.”

Rothstein’s own unique blend of jazz, folk and gospel music has brought recognition from the Grammy Foundation and Down Beat Magazine, and performances at the world-renowned Healdsburg Jazz Festival and the Sequoia Room in Fort Bragg, and he is very excited to bring this outstanding group to Lakeport.

“This promises to be a rewarding evening of thoughtful music from a collective of musicians with the tools and sense of adventure to uncover the extraordinary,” states Rothstein.

All ages are encouraged to attend, and admission is free. Donations will be appreciated.

Lakeport Christian Center is located on 455 S Forbes St. near the old Lakeport DMV building.
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UKIAH, Calif. – The Mendocino College Art Gallery is pleased to announce “Everyday People,” an art show curated by Sacramento-based artist Manuel Fernando Rios.

Rios has also invited fellow artists Aida Lizalde, Beth Consetta Rubel, Jennifer Lugris and Maceo Montoya to show their original artwork and in doing so share with the community a few examples of the many exciting and important works being created by artists of color in the California art scene.

The show will be on exhibit from Feb. 13 through March 15 and will kick off with an opening reception from 4 to 6 p.m. on Feb. 13.

“‘Everyday People’ is an exploration of the mundane human experience,” said Rios. “The popularity of social media creates an environment of instant gratification. People are rapidly posting or viewing the most exciting times in life on various platforms multiple times a day. This exhibition aims to take the time to appreciate people living their lives during the in-between times.”

“My goal is to produce a healthy discourse over topics that take people out of their safe space,” said artist Beth Consetta Rubel of her work. “This is evident in my ongoing series, ‘The Paper Bag Test.’ Within this series, I illustrate African American subjects – many of them everyday people along with influential public figures.”

Rios is an accomplished artist and college instructor at American River College and Sierra College, and his work is in numerous collections including the American River College private collection as well as the Royal Chicano Air Force permanent collection at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library at San José State University.

He has also shown work in the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and the Museum of Culture and the Environment at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington.

The Mendocino College Art Gallery is located at 1000 Hensley Creek Road in Ukiah and can be contacted for more information by phone at 707-468-3207 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Gallery hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
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Stella Heath leads The Billie Holiday Project, which will perform at the Soper Reese Theatre in Lakeport, California, on Saturday, February 8, 2020. Courtesy photo.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Billie Holiday Project, led by Stella Heath, celebrates the music of Lady Day at the Soper Reese Theatre on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $20 with open seating.

Shrouded in mystery, as she was draped in furs, Holiday was quintessentially multi-faceted, possessing the sensitivity and ability to make the songs she sang as personal as if she was singing them softly in your own very ear.

Featuring some of the Bay Area’s finest Jazz musicians, The Billie Holiday Project evokes the electric and intimate feeling of experiencing Lady Day live in a 1930s jazz club.

Drawing from some of Holiday’s most recorded tunes, such as Blue Moon, Billie’s Blues, God Bless the Child, and Strange Fruit, to name but a few, the Stella Heath band also revives some of the earlier and lesser-known tunes that Holiday interpreted.

During the performance, stories of Holiday’s life and musical artistry are interspersed with the music.

Heath invokes the vocal stylings of Billie Holiday; Neil Fontano, plays piano; Jason Bellenkes, on tenor saxophone and clarinet; Trevor Kinsel, on upright bass and cornet.

Sponsored by Mary Heare Amodio, Karen Weston, and Carol and Steve Shepper.

For tickets go to www.soperreesetheatre.com or to The Travel Center, 825 S. Main, Lakeport, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets also sold up to two hours ahead of the show at the theatre box office.

For more information call 707-263-0577. The theatre is located at 275 S. Main St., Lakeport.

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