Mountain Views News          Saturday, May 24, 2014

Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 24, 2014 
B2 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 24, 2014 
B2 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 
SEAN’S SHAMELESS 
REVIEWS: 


By Sean Kayden 

NEIGHBORS 

“Neighbors” features the same Seth Rogen you’ve seen in every comedy he’s 

ever been in. For most people, there is certainly nothing wrong about that, but 

the real draw for me is whom he surrounds himself with. In this case, Rogen 
is paired with Zac Efron and Rose Byrne, among a few other notable characters. The outrageously 
advertised comedy isn’t quite as daring and bold as I imagined, but kept my attention for its 96 
minutes duration. It features some very funny 
moments, but never gets deeper than surface 
level. The film features Mac and Kelly Radner 
(Rogen and Byrne) as new parents and their 
lives are turned upside when a fraternity moves 
in next door to them. At first it seems all will 
be swell, but when Teddy (Efron), Pete (Dave 
Franco) and their band of brothers can’t keep the 
noise level down night after night, Rogen calls 
the cops, which eventually leads us to family vs. 
fraternity. “Neighbors” generally moves along in a brisk pace, but any longer I think the film would 
have completely lost steam. The raunchy humor isn’t anything new for R-rated comedies. Obligatory 
penis jokes and weed references are present, like in all of Rogen’s pictures. As far as comedies go, the 
film does deliver jokes, mostly hits than misses. However, as story purposes go, the script is paper 
thin, ultimately being a one-note film. 

Directed By: Nicholas Stoller 
Written By: Andrew J. Cohen and 
Brendan O’Brien 
Rated R for pervasive language, strong crude 
and sexual content, graphic nudity, and drug use 
throughoutRelease Date: May 9th, 2014 
Rogen plays the same old character—chubby dude that scores a hot wife. We’ve come to expect that 
in this day and age with comedies. He’s fine in his role (coming from a script he didn’t write), which 
he isn’t going too overboard like he’s done in previous flicks. Byrne is great because she isn’t simply 
just Rogen’s wife but plays a vital role in the take down of the fraternity. Efron, who I can’t say I’m a 
fan of, does a pretty bang up job here. His character Teddy, who is the president of their fraternity, 
wants to be up on their wall of fame of sorts by throwing the craziest party in history. He’ll stop at 
nothing to make sure Mac and Kelly never interferes with his goal in mind. The other members of 
the brotherhood have small roles and none of them take away from Efron’s spotlight. His best buddy 
in the film, Pete, has the second most screen time, but he can’t surpass Efron. On the other side of 
the fence, Rogen’s co-worker Jimmy (Ike Barinholtz) is hilarious in his role. I often wished there was 
more of him because with the little time he had on screen compared to the rest of the crew, he came 
through each and every time. New writers Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien wrote a very funny 
script, but they ran into some problems with the story. First of all, they tried to give Efron’s character 
a little more depth with a scene that depicts him not going to be ready for the real world when he 
finishes up college. They hinted at this side story as if he was going to change his tune about being 
remembered by his fraternity but he keeps along doing what he does best (partying and getting back 
at his neighbors). 

“Neighbors” is still one of the better comedies in recent years since 2013 was void of many standouts. 
This summer still features two other R-rated comedies, “22nd Jump Street” and “Let’s Be Cops.” I liked 
“Neighbors” for what it was. It’s not a classic by any means and does get a little weary in its closing 
stages. It’s Efron’s best performance (which sadly isn’t saying all that much). Director Nicholas Stoller 
(“Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Get Him To The Greek,” “The Five-Year Engagement”) keeps things 
moving quickly and offers some really cool sequences usually not found in broad comedies. Overall, 
“Neighbors” gets a recommendation for me, but as I seem to grow older, the immaturity side of Rogen 
is wearing thin for me. I can only laugh at genital and bong jokes for how long? 

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 

Jeff’s Book Picks By Jeff Brown 

YEAR'S BEST SF 18 

by David G. Hartwell 

Once again, the finest Science Fiction short stories of 
the year have been collected in a single volume. With 
Year’s Best SF 18, acclaimed, award-winning editor 
and anthologist David G. Hartwell demonstrates the 
amazing depth and power of contemporary speculative 
fiction, showcasing astonishing stories from some of 
Sci Fi's most respected names as well as exciting new 
writers to watch. In this anthology, prepare to travel 
light years from the ordinary into a tomorrow at once 
breathtaking, frightening, and possible with some of 
the greatest tales of wonder published in 2012. 


THE THING ABOUT LUCK 

by Cynthia Kadohata 

The winner of the National Book Award for Young 
People’s Literature, from Newbery Medalist Cynthia 
Kadohata. There is bad luck, good luck, and making 
your own luck—which is exactly what Summer must 
do to save her family. Summer knows that kouun 
means “good luck” in Japanese, and this year her 
family has none of it. Just when she thinks nothing 
else can possibly go wrong, an emergency whisks her 
parents away to Japan—right before harvest season. Summer and her little brother, Jaz, are left in 
the care of their grandparents, who come out of retirement in order to harvest wheat and help pay 
the bills. The thing about Obaachan and Jiichan is that they are old-fashioned and demanding, and 
between helping Obaachan cook for the workers, covering for her when her back pain worsens, and 
worrying about her lonely little brother, Summer just barely has time to notice the attentions of 
their boss’s cute son. But notice she does, and what begins as a welcome distraction from the hard 
work soon turns into a mess of its own. Having thoroughly disappointed her grandmother, Summer 
figures the bad luck must be finished—but then it gets worse. And when that happens, Summer has 
to figure out how to change it herself, even if it means further displeasing Obaachan. Because it 
might be the only way to save her family. Age range: 10 - 14 years and grade Level: 5 - 9. 


THE BOOK OF UNDOING: DIRECT POINTING TO NONDUAL 
AWARENESS by Fred Davis 


The Book of Undoing encourages immediate recognition of our shared true nature. It is an 
experiential journey, wherein the reader follows a mock client's Direct Pointing session with the 
author. These sessions have helped people around the world come to Nondual realization. It's 
suggested that the reader actively participate in the question and answer sessions which form the 
bulk of the book. Fred extends the invitation for you to awaken right here, right now. It's Here or 
nowhere. It's Now or never. You can also see him on Youtube. 

We’d like to hear from you! 
What’s on YOUR Mind? 
Contact us at: editor@mtnviewsnews.com or www.facebook.com/ 
mountainviewsnews AND Twitter: @mtnviewsnews 
ASTRONOMERS FIND SUN’S ‘LONG LOST BROTHER’ 
THE WORLD AROUND US 
A team of researchers led by University of Texas at Austin astronomer 
Ivan Ramirez has identified the first “sibling” of the Sun—a star that was 
almost certainly born from the same cloud of gas and dust as our star. 
Ramirez’ methods will help other astronomers find other “solar siblings,” 
work that could lead to an understanding of how and where our Sun 
formed, and how our solar system became hospitable for life. The work 
will be published in the June 1 issue of The Astrophysical Journal. 

“We want to know where we were born,” Ramirez said. “If we can figure 
out in what part of the galaxy the Sun formed, we can constrain conditions 
on the early solar system. That could help us understand why we are here.” 

Additionally, there is a chance, “small, but not zero,” Ramirez said, that 
these solar sibling stars could host planets that harbor life. In their earliest 
days within their birth cluster, he explains, collisions could have knocked 
chunks off of planets, and these fragments could have travelled between 
solar systems, and perhaps even may have been responsible for bringing 
primitive life to Earth. Or, fragments from Earth could have transported 
life to planets orbiting solar siblings. “So it could be argued that solar 
siblings are key candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life,” Ramirez 
said. 

The solar sibling his team identified is a star called HD 162826, a star 15 
percent more massive than the Sun, located 110 light-years away in the 
constellation Hercules. The star is not visible to the unaided eye, but easily 
can be seen with low-power binoculars, not far from the bright star Vega. 

The team identified HD 162826 as the Sun’s sibling by following up on 30 
possible candidates found by several groups around the world looking for 
solar siblings. Ramirez’ team studied 23 of these stars in depth with the 
Harlan J. Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory, and the remaining 
stars (visible only from the southern hemisphere) with the Clay Magellan 
Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. All of these observations 
used high-resolution spectroscopy to get a deep understanding of the 
stars’ chemical make-up. 

But several factors are needed to really pin down a solar sibling, Ramirez 
said. In addition to chemical analysis, his team also included information 
about the stars’ orbits—where they had been and where they are going in 
their paths around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The team’s experts 
in this field, which is called “dynamics,” are A. T. Bajkova of the Pulkovo 
Astronomical Observatory in St. Petersburg, Russia, and V. V. Bobylev of 
St. Petersburg State University. 

Combining information on both chemical make-up and dynamics of the candidates narrowed the field down to one star: HD 162826. 

While the finding of a single solar sibling is intriguing, Ramirez points out that the project has a larger purpose: to create a road map for how to identify solar siblings, in preparation for the flood of data 
expected from future surveys. 

“The idea is that the Sun was born in a cluster with a thousand or a hundred thousand stars. This cluster, which formed more than 4.5 billion years ago, has since broken up,” he says. “A lot of things can happen 
in that amount of time.” The member stars have broken off into their own orbits around the galactic center, taking them to different parts of the Milky Way today. A few, like HD 162826, are still nearby. Others 
are much farther afield. 

You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.com.