Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 8, 2011

10

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

 Mountain Views News Saturday, October 8, 2011 


HALLOWEEN MURDER MYSTERY 
DINNER TO BENEFIT FOOTHILL UNITY CENTER

SEAN’S SHAMELESS 

REVIEWS:

50/50


50/50 is 
the story of 
an affable 
27-year-old guy 
who becomes 
diagnosed with 
a rare form 
of spinal cancer and the events that take place 
afterward. Now you’re probably thinking a movie 
about cancer, how depressing. While it certainly 
has those moments, the movie is quite upbeat. It’s 
safe to say you can now abandon any trepidation 
you may have had and devote your time to a truly 
special film. With strong performances from its 
key players, 50/50 is both endearing and good-
hearted. Never is it cloying or heavy handed 
in its presentation of cancer. Will Reiser took 
his own real life experiences and adapted them 
into an incredibly strong screenplay. The third 
act of this movie will surely test your emotions 
while never feeling inauthentic, but remarkably 
honest. 50/50 is one of those rare films that 
can jungle both comedy and drama in perfect 
synchronicity. While it may not completely stick 
with you after it’s all said and done, odds are 
you’ll find something to like about 50/50 within 
its 99 minutes duration. 

Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Adam, an amicable 
guy that works in radio. He currently has intimacy 
issues with his girlfriend, but other than that life 
seems to be going fairly copasetic. Seth Rogen, 
(who’s undoubtedly way better as a supporting 
character than a leading man) plays Kyle, Adam’s 
perpetually horny best friend. Rogen is actually 
quite great here playing the comedic relief 
character. He’s never overbearing nor does he try 
to steal the show. A rather low key and restrained 
performance by a guy who can be either really 
funny or just plan annoying in movies. Levitt, on 
the other hand, plays the character with sharp 
precision and a great amount of self-awareness 
of the disease. Bryce Dallas Howard, portrays 
Rachel, Adam’s girlfriend who seems reluctant 
to care for him to the fullest. This leads to a few 
poor decisions on her part, which inevitably leads 
Adam not being able to deal with it anymore. 
Howard is great in her subtle performance, but 
there’s not much to like about her character (or 
the things her character ends up doing). She 
claims this cancer thing is too much for her to 
handle, but really, it’s the person diagnosed with 
it that has a hell of a lot harder time coping with 
it than any of the spectators. Anna Kendrick 
effortlessly slips into the character of Katherine, 
Adam’s super young therapist. You can get a 
sense that Katherine starts to show an affinity 
toward Adam, but knows that it’s unprofessional 
to do anything about it besides help him with 
his condition. If the movie takes any misguided 
steps, it’s the very “Hollywood”-esque outcome 
to what occurs between them. However, I can’t 
say that it doesn’t work. It’s what you’ll want in 
the end even if it feels a bit cliché. 

Surprisingly, the movie is more about how 
others close to the person with the disease react, 
rather than the one actually diagnosed with it. 
Adam finds himself breaking down in the third 
act of the movie when everything is on the line. 
He feels alone, scared, anxious and confused. 
Everything you could imagine about dealing 
with such a horrible (and unjust) disease. Despite 
these moments, 50/50 still remains rather 
optimistic. It carefully knows when to strike with 
flashes of sadness and positivity. 50/50 doesn’t 
hit you over the head with the idea of cancer and 
all it’s dreadful baggage, but shows you that the 
best medicine is both the love and support of 
the people close to you. The relationships and 
friendships of those in your life will ultimately 
prove to be the greatest healer of all. 

Director Jonathan Levine has progressed 
further along in his filmmaking abilities. Levine 
has a perennial future in Hollywood, that’s for 
sure. While 50/50 may not be his best film (The 
Wackness is undeniably a superbly underrated 
film), it is, however, one of the best of the year. 
Despite a few minor issues with the romantic 
aspects of the film, there’s little to knock about 
it as a whole. Honest, sincere, emotional when 
needed and genuine all around, 50/50 is simply 
just a great film. The odds are definitely stacked 
in your favor that you’ll come out of the theater 
feeling like a winner. What is it that you won, you 
may ask? That really just depends on how much 
you’ve invested into the movie. 

50/50

Release Date: September 30, 2011
Directed by: Jonathan Levine 
Screenplay by: Will Reiser
Rated R for language throughout, sexual 
content and some drug use

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

Renaissance Murder Mystery players Chris Sands, Kent Vaughan, Isaac Deakyne, 
Karyn O'Bryant and Brian Alexander (standing) and Georgan George and Nancy 
Bryant (seated) at the crime scene interrogation in Spirits and Murder, a dinner and 
interactive murder mystery to be presented at the Monrovian Family Restaurant 
Saturday evening. October 15. All proceeds benefit Foothill Unity Center.

Spirits and Murder, a Halloween spectacular 
dinner and interactive murder mystery, will 
unfold on Saturday evening, October 15, at the 
Monrovian Family Restaurant. Reservations to 
the event, presented by the Renaissance Murder 
Mystery Players in the Monrovian banquet 
room, are $60 per person. All proceeds will go to 
Foothill Unity Center programs for local families 
in need.

The setting is the 1930s (guests are invited to 
wear period attire). The occasion is a gathering 
of friends, associates and family of Jonathan 
W. Bixby III to partake of dinner and hear the 
reading of Mr. Bixby’s will. Among the guests are 
the family’s solicitor and accountant, a duke and 
duchess, Bixby’s nephew and his girlfriend, and 
the deceased’s caregiver. One of them — possibly 
more — won’t survive beyond the salad.

Guests at Spirits and Murder will be treated 
to a lighthearted, involving entertainment 
experience while enjoying a three-course dinner. 
During the salad course, guests will meet the 
characters and witness a baffling murder. At the 
entrée, a Scotland Yard detective will arrive to 
question the characters as intriguing clues begin 
to emerge. By dessert, the baffling mystery may 
just be solved — with the audience’s help.

Part of the fun is that the audience and actors 
interact, says director Ken Salzman of the 
Renaissance Murder Mystery Players. “Guests 
play a major part in helping the investigator 
examine the clues and guess “who done it.”

The Monrovian Family Restaurant is at 534 
South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia. For reservations 
to the murder mystery dinner, call Gerald at the 
Center, (626) 358-3486. For more about The 
Renaissance Murder Mystery Players, contact 
SanZman Productions, (626) 862-9086.

“TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD”

Written by CHRSITOPHER SERGEL

Based on the novel by HARPER LEE

Directed by MICHAEL COOPER

Presented by SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE

Produced by special arrangement with Dramatic 
Publishing Company

October 7 - November 12, 2011

SIERRA MADRE PLAYHOUSE 

87 W. SIERRA MADRE BLVD. SIERRA MADRE, 
CA 91024

Ample free parking behind theatre.


The Book Report

by Jeff Brown

Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret 
Campaign Against Al Qaeda by Eric Schmitt & Thom 
Shanker 

In the years following the 9/11 attacks, the United States 
waged a “war on terror” that sought to defeat Al Qaeda through 
brute force. But it soon became clear that this strategy was 
not working, and by 2005 the Pentagon began looking for 
a new way. Schmitt and Shanker of the New York Times tell 
the story of how a group of analysts within the military, at spy 
agencies, and in law enforcement has fashioned an innovative 
and effective new strategy to fight terrorism, unbeknownst to 
most Americans and in sharp contrast to the cowboy slogans 
that characterized the U.S. government’s public posture. 
Adapting themes from Cold War deterrence theory, these 
strategists have expanded the field of battle in order to disrupt 
jihadist networks in ever more creative ways. They take readers 
deep into this theater of war, as ground troops, intelligence 
operatives, and top executive branch officials have worked 
together to redefine and restrict the geography available for Al 
Qaeda to operate in. They also show how these new strategies, 
adopted under George W. Bush and expanded under Obama, 
were successfully employed in planning and carrying out the 
dramatic raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed. Filled with startling revelations about how our 
national security is being managed, Counterstrike will change the way Americans think about the 
ongoing struggle with violent radical extremism.

Liberation from the Lie: Cutting the Roots of Fear Once and 
for All by Eric Gross 

Despite the plethora of research and writing in the field 
of mental and emotional health, despite our vast wealth and 
consumption, despite the availability of so much technology 
and convenience, people are more unhappy than ever. This 
book offers a radically different approach to living that reveals 
the source of our unhappiness and insecurity. Our families, our 
institutions, and our culture at large are agents of invalidation, 
repeatedly delivering the message that we are not good enough 
to be loved for our original selves. We come to believe that 
we are inadequate, insufficient, worthless, that in order to be 
happy, we must change. Liberation helps readers break free of 
the endless transformation trap. By seeing through the shame 
that drives self improvement, we can end the interminable 
process of seeking and discover our innate resilience, strength, 
and passion. Eric Gross received a National Institute of Justice 
Fellowship to evaluate the efficacy of Navajo Peacemaking in 
reducing interpersonal conflict, and has been affiliated with 
Navajo traditional healers for more than a decade. The U.S. 
Department of Justice hailed his work as a milestone in the 
community justice movement. 


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