A&E

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opens in 1996, with the  discovery of the old board game on a sandy beach. When the box is opened, a video game cartridge is inside which just happens to fit the Sony Play Station the teen-aged son has in his bedroom. We then flash forward 20 years, where (echoing the plot points of the The Breakfast Club), four teens end up in detention for various reasons: Spencer, the Wimp (Alex Wolf) is called into the principal’s office for writing a history paper for  Fridge, the Jock (Ser’Darius Blain); Bethany, the Babe (Madison Iseman) is busted for using her cell phone during a test;  and Martha, the Brain (Morgan Turner), talks back to her PE teacher. The foursome discover the Jumanji video game in the school basement, and are magically transformed into the game avatars they select. The wimp becomes  Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), a muscular, self-effacing “expert” with a “smoldering look.”  The brain develops sex appeal, long, shapely legs, and deadly martial arts skills as Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) who is clad in a ridiculous,  midriff-baring jungle outfit.  The Jock becomes the wise-cracking, short-statured zoologist named Franklin “Mouse” Finbar (Kevin Hart), and when the babe selected “the curvy genius cartographer” named Dr. Shelly Oberon, she did not envision Jack Black’s body. It takes awhile for the teens to learn to utilize their avatar’s skill sets, but fortunately, the game gives them two extra lives.

In The Florida Project, writer /director/editor Sean Baker takes us to a place most of us would only get stuck in if we took the wrong exit on a trip to Walt Disney World. It is a neighborhood of huge, bright orange juice stands, cheap Disney knock-offs sold beneath the spreading arms of a garish plaster wizard, gun shops that advertise “shoot real machine guns,” discount gas stations, abandoned condominium projects, and a couple of super-cheap motels ironically-named Magic Castle and Future Land. Both places are inhabited by people who wish they were somewhere else, but are still glad to have a place to sleep, clean sheets and towels, and a swimming pool. Many residents are “semi-permanent” meaning that they have to move out of their rooms for one night every month so the motels won’t lose their licenses.

Opening with Joan Didion’s quote: “Anyone who talks about California hedonism has never spent a Christmas in Sacramento.” writer/director Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age movie, Lady Bird, proves that the universality of high school angst can be fresh, alive and exciting. The title is the self-chosen nick-name of a Sacramento teen (2-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan) attending an all girls Catholic high school in 2002. As her overly critical mother (2-time Emmy and Tony Award-winner Laurie Metcalf) keeps reminding her, they can’t really afford the private school tuition, but are forced to because her older brother, Miguel (Jordan Rodrigues), “saw a knifing right in front of him” at the public school.

In the clever opening scene of Taika Waititi’s movie Thor: Ragnarok, Thor, God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth) is wrapped in chains and suspended over a bottomless pit.  “I know what you are thinking,” Thor tells the audience. “How did this happen? Well, it’s a ...

Locals brave enough to watch this bio-pic of the Arizona “Hot Shots” firefighting crew can learn a great deal about how we puny little humans fight a monstrous firestorm. One thing that stands out, is the contrast between those who fight rural wild-land fires and those who confront urban structural fires. The tactics, skills, techniques and equipment are quite different. Which is part of the reason the response to our local “once in 150 years catastrophe” is so unique.

In 1983, Ridley Scott’s astoundingly lyrical sci-fi-noir film Blade Runner took audiences to a place they had never been before. Set 30 years later, Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 has a greater “cool factor” than the original. The dystopia of Greater Los Angeles now stretches south to the trash dump that used to be San Diego, and east to the nuclear wasteland that used to be Las Vegas. An elite team of “Blade Runners” cover the entire region to “retire” (kill) any rebellious replicant (bioengineered slave laborers) who get a little too “uppity.”  Correcting the flaws of the limited life-span original replicants,  the new and imroved models are made in two versions which their uber-industrialist manufacturer labels “bad angels” and “good  angels.”. I have sworn to the powers that be not to give away too many plot secrets, but it is helpful to know that two of the “angel” replicants are named Joi and Luv. One other thing, Harrison Ford returns as Deckard.

In Stronger, Jeff Bauman goes to see the Boston Marathon to impress a girl named Erin, and loses his legs to a terrorist’s bomb. His obnoxious family rushes to the hospital and continues to scream at each other throughout the film. In contrast, Erin’s demeanor is reserved. She dumped Jeff before the race, was wary of meeting him at the finish line, and is challenged by his injury and subsequent double amputation. But she still shows up to be at his bedside and takes a slew of undisguised verbal abuse from Jeff’s alcoholic mother. In addition, two other issues take center stage: the unflinchingly realistic portrayal of Jeff’s recuperation, and the constant pressure exerted by the Boston community to have Jeff be their “poster boy” for the “Boston Strong” mantra.

Spring flowers get a lot of attention, but fall blooms can be just as beautiful. As we near the end of the growing season for many local farms, florists love to take advantage of the late summer/early fall bounty. Here are seven flower varieties to help you welcome the season! As a bonus, we source all of these flower types from local farms in Northern California, so be sure to look out for them in your local flower shop or farmers market. Read on to learn more about our favorite local fall florals and how to use them in your home.

Featured Artists in September 2017:

The days are long and warm, but many of us are anything but lazy. We are in our yards tackling our outdoor honey-do lists. We are refinishing our decks, painting our homes and taming our yards. After painting the house, sanding the deck, or trimming back the landscaping it would be convenient to sweep or pour the mess into the storm drain (or gutter). The problem is that everything that enters the storm drain eventually flows into our creeks untreated.