Valley Futures

As a big fan of director Ridley Scott, I have been looking forward to his summer 2010 release of “Robin Hood” with much anticipation.

What’s not to like? I thought.

All Hollywood summer action movie ingredients look to be cued up.

An epic cast: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, William Hurt, and Max Von Sudow among them.

A classic mythic character: Hollywood has done more than thirty versions of the famous English archer/outlaw, most recently a bare-bottomed Kevin Costner re-make, and, of course, Carey Elwes’ “Robin Hood: Men In Tights”.

Epic sets as backdrops.

Battle scenes galore.

And the kicker?

One of acoustic music’s favorite live musicians, Alan Doyle of Newfoundland party boy band “Great Big Sea,” playing one of Robin’s “merry men” in a key supporting role as Robin’s mando-sporting arrow-shooting bard. (Two thumbs up for Doyle, who performs admirably.)

Needless to say, I went into the theater sharpening my arrows.

Yes yes, most imperial film critics already have panned the Scott’s movie. Too long! Too convoluted! Too complicated! Too historically inaccurate! Too much a “prequel”! (Which it very much is – the film’s last scene features a text screen that reads “And so the legend begins.”)

Clearly, the critics didn’t receive the memo. Dudes, remember? Summer movie season. We want escapist entertainment. And Scott delivers, albeit unevenly.

Most critics, moreover, dismiss Scott’s film as a sort of “Gladiator in Jerkins” remake (Scott directing Crowe a few years back for Maximus Oscar glory).

I couldn’t disagree more.

In “Robin Hood,” Scott replaces the expansive desert setting of imperial Rome with the dirtier and more intimate landscape of the 12th century English medieval feudal countryside. True, we get a few gorgeous aerial shots of the forest, the coast (complete with epic French sea-borne invasion footage), and one incredible scene of Richard the Lionhearted’s naval convoy sailing up the Thames, but Scott wisely keeps us mostly in the woods, where Robin Hood belongs.

Instead of “Gladiator” or “Braveheart,” Scott’s film is more reminiscent of Shekar Kapur’s remarkable film “Elizabeth,” featuring Oscar winner Cate Blanchett as the woman who transforms herself from naïve girl to powerful queen. One of the best actresses in the business, Blanchett’s is back in “Robin Hood,” and she is mesmerizing as (Maid) Marian Loxley, the earthy yet regal wife of absentee landlord Robert Loxley, who is off fighting the Crusades with King Richard.

Like much of 12th century England, the shire of Nottingham is beset by roving bands of teen hoods and the unjust taxation policies of the newly installed King John (think Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus on extra estrogen.)

The way-too-serious Russell Crowe’s Robin Longstride, meanwhile, returns from the Crusades and delivers the dead Loxley’s sword to Marian disguised as Loxley himself. At her manor, he finds his equal in Marian, as well as uncovering information about his own past. (In a series of super-contrived flashbacks, we learn that Longstride’s father was a political radical whose dissent and subsequent execution set the stage for 1215 and the Magna Carta. No kidding.)

The smoldering sexual tension between Marian and Robin is refreshingly slow to develop, along with some good laughs with the merry men along the way. Alas, Crowe plays Robin too straight, leaving Blanchett to really carry the film, helped along by her aging father (played with aplomb by Max Von Sydow, who steals every scene he is in).

Back in London, meanwhile, political intrigue abounds. As with “Elizabeth,” a double agent wangles his way into the chancellor’s seat, even as he plots with the French to divide England and invade, helped along by callow King John’s hubristic alienation of the country’s noblemen. How Scott weaves all these elements together, I leave for you to discover.

Suffice to say, the cinematography, horseplay, and excitement made me want to smash my smart phone, take up my bow and quiver, and retire to the woods to eat, drink, dance, and make merry.

Now THAT’s pure summer entertainment.

Tags: Arts and Media by Rob Williams
No Comments »

What might our community look like when we can no longer count on large quantities of cheap fossil fuels? What can we do now that will preserve what we value, prepare us for this inevitable change, and create the better future we desire?

These and other questions will be discussed at a community presentation and discussion of Transition Towns to be held on Tuesday, June 1st at 7 pm at the Waitsfield Elementary School. The public is invited and the event is free.

Transition is a grassroots, community-based movement that began in Great Britain in 2006 and has quickly spread across the globe. Its aim is to build community resilience in the face of such challenges as peak oil, climate change and economic crisis. Five residents of the Mad River Valley (Stan Ward, Gaelan Brown, Jasna Brown, Ben Falk and Bill MacClay) will share their knowledge and experience of working with the Transition movement and similar initiatives in the Mad River Valley, help participants explore the relevance of this model for the valley, and discuss possible next steps.

Topics to be addressed will include: What is a Transition Town? What have been some of the accomplishments of other Transition Towns? How might this model help us promote sustainable development in the Mad River Valley? And what are some specific projects that could be done?

Proposed projects include but are not limited to:

• A community-funded commercial kitchen and food-processing plant that is open to anyone to use, similar to the “Vermont Food Venture Center” being built in Hardwick;
• A community-funded slaughter-house and meat-packaging/distribution center;
• A community-funded composting operation, including a household compost pick-up service added to the local trash collection system, and compost sold to local farmers and gardeners at low cost;
• A renewable energy co-op to organize group-net-metering wind and solar projects;
• A firewood CSA system to support local loggers and ensure affordable, local firewood, perhaps including a community investment in wood processing equipment; and
• Community-funded tree-farms for fruits, nuts, and mushrooms (edible landscape).

This event is sponsored by the Valley Futures Network and the Carbon Shredders. For additional information contact Jill Arace at 496-9974 or jarace@gmavt.net.

Tags: Announcements, Energy, Transition Towns by Joshua Schwartz
No Comments »

MRV-2nd-FINAL

Tags: Uncategorized by Tara Hamilton
No Comments »

MRV 1st in series final

Tags: Uncategorized by Tara Hamilton
No Comments »

Every May, I turn off my thinking brain and go to the movies.

Why?

May marks the beginning of Hollywood’s summer season – action blockbuster time.

And I had high hopes for “Iron Man 2,” based on advance reviews.

With a musical score spotlighting AC DC and the Clash, and an all-star cast featuring Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson, and – be still my heart – Scarlett Johansson. ‘Nuf said.

I know what you’re thinking. Anyone can see from the film’s trailer that “Iron Man 2” deploys every Hollywood industry stereotype and clichéd trope in the book: machismo on ‘roids, fast cars, stunts out the yinger, CGI overkill, curvaceous coffee-table babes, gratuitous cartoon violence, U.S. imperial dogma (read: the world is drop-dead dangerous and the best defense is a good offense) disguised as escapism.

The whole silly enchilada.

But who cares?

It’s summer time at the movies.

That said, I want U.S. imperial summer action fare – as mindless as it is – to be GOOD, damn it.

And, early on in the film, there were signs of promise.

Scarlett Johansson, for instance. Did I mention her already?

Garry Shandling, while not as eye-candy appealing as the actress I just mentioned above, does a passable job as the villain, too.

And, to be clear, Robert Downey Jr. carries the film as best as he can. Downey is an actor who does tongue-in-cheek camera hamming better than anyone in Hollywood. He plays bezillionaire playboy Tony “Iron Man” Stark, America’s #1 nuclear deterrent, with witty irony and a feeling, in this film, that his self-absorbed snarky narcissism is always on the verge of being swallowed by his own mortality. “I’ve successfully privatized world peace,” he humorously boasts in front of a Senate Armed Forces subcommittee, and then, a few moments later, confronts death-by-body suit full in the face. Favorite visual moment? Iron Man as the “Change Obama” icon on a poster that Stark hangs in his sumptuous bar. Sometimes Hollywood gets it right.

But alas, “Iron Man 2” is beset with casting and narrative problems, and they all materialize after the first fifteen minutes (which features an action scene at Monaco Grand Prix that is absolutely riveting).

Problem #1: Mickey Rourke. Magnetic in the film “Wrestler,” Rourke plays Ivan Vanko (a.k.a “Whiplash”), a Russian with metallic teeth and a grudge against Stark for causing the death of Vanko’s father. “If you can make God bleed,” Vanko says, “you can get people to cease to believe in him.” So far, so good. After a gripping initial confrontation between Whiplash and Iron Man at Monaco, though, the film relegates Vanko to little more than a computer programmer for – sigh – CGI-powered droid ‘bots, which are about as interesting as Stark love interest Pepper Potts’ (Gwyneth Paltrow) on-the-phone biz-yak convos in this film (though her verbal jousting with Stark is passably fun.) Why, in God’s good name, would you cast Mickey Rourke as potentially the coolest bad guy since Heath Ledger’s Joker, and then stick him in a white room in front of a laptop for the bulk of the movie? Nyet nyet nyet.

Problem #2: Don Cheadle is cast as Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes in the sequel. Big mistake. They should’ve stuck with Terrence Howard (See the original “Iron Man”), who is much less earnest and much more fun than Cheadle, and looks reasonably convincing in the Iron Man suit. Cheadle just looks plain silly, unlike Downey, who has figured out how to ham it up a bit. (Note to the casting department – replace Don Cheadle with Samuel L. Jackson – who plays Nick Fury in what is almost a cameo appearance) for the three-quel).

Problem #3: Scarlett Johansson. OK, so she’s a babe who speaks four languages in the film and wears a black jump suit as “Black Widow.” But she’s all business, to the point where she doesn’t even crack a hint of a smile the entire film. A shame. And, by the time she does bust out the black latex as Black Widow, it is only to flatten an entire room full of – brace yourself – middle-aged and balding security guards. Say what? Now, if Black Widow had gone up against Whiplash, with help from Iron Man…well, you get the idea. Another wasted set of narrative opportunities.

I really hope they give “Iron Man 2” director Justin Theroux the opportunity to direct a third “Iron Man” installment, so the man can redeem himself.

Sure, this film will drag in gajillions of dollars at the box office.

But for me, it will always remain “Iron Man, Part Duh.”

Tags: Arts and Media by Rob Williams
No Comments »

He has been called “the crown prince of the New Folk Movement” by Rolling Stone magazine.

He has toured all over the world for more than two decades.

His songs have been recorded by a wide range of musical artists in a diverse variety of genres.

And, after years of dangling carrots in front of him, our own Mad River Valley folk music impresario Bruce Jones, visionary founder of the Valley Acoustic Showcase, has finally convinced John Gorka to come and play at the Valley Player’s theater on Sunday night, May 16.

How good a songwriter and performer is John Gorka?

“Listening to John Gorka sing, one can get goosebumps all over,” observes The New York Times. “There are many reasons – fresh lyrics, a stunning emotional baritone voice, his twisted humor – but to focus on one limits the experience.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Check him out at www.johngorka.com.

I’ve listened to John Gorka for years, and seen him perform at festivals and venues all over the country. I never grow tired of the experience.

I think of Gorka as the Stephen Wright of folk music. He is wickedly funny in the most understated of ways, and almost deadpan on stage, but when he opens his mouth to sing, his voice – by turns haunting, melancholic, and wryly witty – captures the whole universe of human emotions in keenly observed turns of phrase. His mojo is hard to describe, really – Gorka must be heard to be believed.

And his writing is truly unique. Perhaps his most famous ballad is an old tune called “I’m from New Jersey,” in which he sings of the promise and peril of being a denizen of the Garden State.

A sampling:

I’m from New Jersey / It’s like Ohio
Only more so / imagine that.
Girls from New Jersey have this great big hair/
They’re found in shopping malls / I will take you there.

What makes Gorka a gifted songwriter is his ability completely empathize with his subject. He sings on a wide range of topics: war, love, peace, lust, and the often-wrenching changes the world brings to the unsuspecting, as is the case with one of his most powerful tunes, called “Houses in the Fields” (which I’ve heard him play on both the guitar and the piano):

They’re growing houses in the fields between the towns/
And the Starlight Drive-In Movie is closing down/
The road has gone to the way it was before/
And spaces won’t be spaces anymore.

His newest CD, entitled “So Dark You See,” delivers more of his trademark wit and wisdom voiced with his remarkable delivery. Only Gorka would dare to put an old Robert Burns poem to music, deliver an old Utah Phillips classic cover called “I Think Of You,” and then turn around and throw down a moving meditation on growing up in “Ignorance and Privilege,” in which he sings of the sacrifices Depression Era parents made for their sometimes-unappreciative progeny.

And if this review doesn’t convince you to see Gorka live, Bruce Jones has invited local up-and-comer Nikki Matheson to open the evening. Matheson has just finished recording a beautiful new CD entitled “Invisible Angel,” a project she started eight years ago while living in Paris, and has just finished with Vermont uber-producer Colin McCaffrey. You can listen to her at www.nikkimatheson.com.)

Two fabulous performers in our Valley on one spring evening.

Don’t miss it.

Tags: Announcements, Arts and Media by Rob Williams
No Comments »