Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 1, 2015

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTMountain Views-News Saturday, August 1, 2015 10 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENTMountain Views-News Saturday, August 1, 2015 10 
SEAN’S SHAMELESS 
REVIEWS: 



Southpaw is an absolute

knockout. Yes, you’ve

seen this account before. 

It’s the all-too familiar 

boxing tale where a 

man has it everythingand suddenly he has nothing. However, this is ahumanistic story that reaches your heart earlyon and stays with you until the end. Southpawdoesn’t reinvent cinema but writer Kurt Sutter 
(Sons of Anarchy) and director Antoine Fuqua(Training Day, The Equalizer) team up providingan outstanding account of one man’s journey fromglory to downfall to some sort of redemption inthe end. Jake Gyllenhaal stars and he is absolutelyincredible. I love the trajectory of this guy’s careerfrom End of Watch to Prisoners to last year’sNightcrawler and now Southpaw, Gyllenhaal ispicking the best possible projects out there inAmerican films. His acting prowess is phenomenaland delivers yet again another powerhouseperformance as he gained over 30lbs of muscle.
Rachel McAdams, as Gyllenhaal’s wife in themovie and Forest Whitaker, as a boxing trainer,
are both solid in their own supporting roles. Curtis“50 Cent” Jackson and Oona Laurence round out 
the cast. 

Jake Gyllenhaal plays Billy Hope, a junior 
middleweight boxing champion who has it going 
for him—a lavish lifestyle with a beautiful wife 
and daughter. He started from nothing, grew up 
in the foster care system, was in trouble with the 
law but prevailed in becoming a successful boxer 
with a family of his own. In the blink of an eye, 
tragedy unexpectedly strikes and his world is 
shattered. Ominous days lie ahead, which then 
leads Hope becoming suspending from boxing 
for a year. As things become progressively worse 
for Hope, he eventually attempts to crawl out of 
the darkness surrounding him for the sake of 
his daughter. She’s taken away from him after he 
is deemed unsuitable to care for her. He needs 
to prove to the judge he is certainly capable to 
be a parent. This is when he finds Tick Willis 

SOUTHPAW 

(Whitaker), an owner of a small, local boxing 
gym. Reluctant to take him on, Willis offers Hope 
a janitorial type job as well as access to train at the 
gym. Hope refuses to clean up the gym as gainful 
employment, but comes back to Willis as he has 
no other choice. This ultimately leads to a sort of 
friendship or at the very least a mutual respect 
for one another. Willis trains him, changes his 
style, and forces Hope to be more disciplined if he 

SouthpawDirected By: Antonie FuquaWritten By: Kurt SutterRated: R for language throughout, and someviolence 
Release Date: July 24th, 2015 
wants his daughter back into this life.

As the film makes its way toward the last act, wefind out Hope is going to get a shot at a title fightas his suspension was lifted early by his formermanager. The opponent he will be going up againstis the same man who taunted him, which led to the 
horrific accident that deeply effected Billy’s world.
As you have it, redemption is looming and it’s lessabout revenge than it is to prove something tohimself and his daughter. She’ll finally get to watchher father fight for the very first as her mothernever permitted her to do so in the past. DirectorAntonie Fuqua has captured not only a compellingboxing story, but also a family drama that is filledwith deep catharsis. Southpaw is truly a rivetingfilm that has your adrenaline going through theroof. Often times I found myself with misty-eyedas many moments in this film will affect you.
I highly recommend Southpaw for the terrificperformance from Gyllenhaal, for the exhilaratingdirection from Fuqua, and most of all, for beingthe kind of movie that reminds us we’re all human. 

Grade: 4.5 out of 5 

On the Marquee: Notes from the Sierra MadrePlayhouse 
DANCING ACROSS THE 
FOOTLIGHTS 

By Artistic Director, Christian Lebano 

By the time you read this Always…Patsy Cline will have 
opened to a sold-out weekend! At our Thursday preview 
we had our first “Bloggers Night” at which we invited a 
dozen bloggers to live-tweet the show and then write blogs 
about it afterwards. It was an incredible success. They and 
the rest of the audience rose to their feet in a spontaneous 
standing ovation at the end of the performance. The 
universal opinion is that we have a big hit on our hands! I 
couldn’t be more thrilled. 

Over the course of the last week, I’ve sat in at the dress 
rehearsals leading up to opening, so clear that the show 
would be good; watching our wonderful performers 
work out the timing and practice quick costume changes. 
The role of Louise, Patsy’s number-one fan and pen pal, 
is played by the very funny Nikki D’Amico who had the 
unenviable job of having to perform a role which calls for 
a lot of audience interaction for all of the designers and 
theater staff who were attentive but focused on so many 
other things. It made me realize again how much of a dance between actors and audience a play is. 


I don’t know if audiences appreciate just how much a part of the performance they are. No two 
performances of a show are ever the same – partly because of the actors but mostly because of the 
audience. When you are performing for an audience who comes in eager and ready to be entertained, 
brimming with energy and expectation, an actor cannot help but feel energized by them. Audiences 
who openly express their enjoyment and meet the actors half-way always get a better show – and not 
because the actors are doing anything differently. I’ve always said that the show doesn’t happen on 
stage or in the audience but in the intersection of the two. 

Last night Nikki had an audience to play with. Her jokes landed, she was able to flirt and charm and 
dance (both literally and figuratively) with the audience. That was the final element that needed to be 
rehearsed and added to Always…Patsy Cline to make it fly. And fly it did! 

This show, which we have so long wanted to produce, has exceeded all of our expectations. 
Robert Marra has done a bang-up job with his direction, Sean Paxton, the music director and the 
extraordinary Cori Cable Kidder seemingly channel Patsy, the designers have all brought their best to 
this show. A special acknowledgment of Estelle Campbell, SMP’s Managing Director has to be made 

– she got this show produced almost single-handedly while I was away on vacation. So now it’s up to 
you, our loyal audiences, to come dance with us across the footlights. 
The show runs through September 12 and has been selling very well. Remember we give 20% 
discounts for groups of 10 or more who purchase their tickets ahead of their attendance date. Please 
call Mary Baville at 626.355.4318 to arrange your purchase. 

YOUR AD COULD BE HERE!
Call Patricia at 626-818-2698 Today!
Jeff’s Book Picks By Jeff Brown 

THE OREGON TRAIL: A NEW 
AMERICAN JOURNEY 


By Rinker Buck 

An epic account of 
traveling the length ofthe Oregon Trail theold-fashioned way—ina covered wagon witha team of mules, an 
audacious journey thathasn’t been attemptedin a century—which 
also chronicles the 

rich history of the 
trail, the people who made the migration, andits significance to the country.Spanning two 
thousand miles and traversing six states fromMissouri to the Pacific coast, the Oregon Trail isthe route that made America. In the fifteen yearsbefore the Civil War, when 400,000 pioneers usedthe trail to emigrate West—scholars still regardthis as the largest land migration in history—itunited the coasts, doubled the size of the country,
and laid the groundwork for the railroads.
Traveling from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Baker City,
Oregon, over the course of four months, Buck isaccompanied by three cantankerous mules, hisboisterous brother, Nick, and an “incurably filthy”
Jack Russell terrier named Olive Oyl. Along theway, they dodge thunderstorms in Nebraska,
chase runaway mules across the Wyoming plains,
scout more than five hundred miles of nearlyvanished trail on foot, cross the Rockies, and make 
desperate fifty-mile forced marches for water.
But The Oregon Trail is much more than an epicadventure. It is also a lively and essential work ofhistory that shatters the comforting myths aboutthe trail years passed down by generations of 
Americans. Buck introduces readers to the largelyforgotten roles played by trailblazing evangelists,
friendly Indian tribes, female pioneers, bumbling

U.S. Army cavalrymen, and the scam artistswho flocked to the frontier to fleece the overland 
emigrants. Generous portions of the book aredevoted to the history of old and appealing thingslike the mule and the wagon. We also learnhow the trail accelerated American economic 
development. Most arresting, are the storiesof the pioneers themselves—ordinary familieswhose extraordinary courage and sacrifice madethis country what it became.At once a majesticjourney across the West, a significant work ofhistory, and a moving personal saga, The OregonTrail draws readers into the journey of a lifetime. 
THE ENGLISH SPY BY Daniel Silva 

New York Times bestselling author Daniel Silva 
delivers another stunning thriller in his latest 
action-packed tale of high stakes international 
intrigue featuring the inimitable Gabriel Allon. 
First there was THE ENGLISH ASSASSIN.Then 
there was THE ENGLISH GIRL.Now comes THE 
ENGLISH SPY . . .Master novelist Daniel Silva 
has thrilled readers with seventeen thoughtful 
and gripping spy novels featuring a diverse cast 
of compelling characters and ingenious plots that 
have taken them around the globe and back—from 
the United States to Europe, Russia to the Middle 
East. His brilliant hero, Gabriel Allon—art restorer, 
assassin, spy—has joined the pantheon of great 
fictional secret agents, including George Smiley, 
Jack Ryan, Jason Bourne, and Simon Templar. 

THE AUTOIMMUNE EPIDEMIC 

by Donna Jackson Nakazawa 

Hailed by Mark Hyman, MD, as “a ray of lightand hope” for autoimmune sufferers, this 
groundbreaking book provides research andsolutions for those affected by autoimmunedisorders including Crohn’s disease, type 1diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and more.In the 
first book of its kind, journalist Donna JacksonNakazawa examines nearly 100 debilitatingautoimmune diseases—such as multiple sclerosis,
lupus, Crohn’s disease, type 1 diabetes, andrheumatoid arthritis—that cause the body todestroy itself, mistakenly attacking healthy cellsas the immune system fights off bacteria, viruses,
and other invaders. As Nakazawa share the vivid, 
heartbreaking stories, including her own, ofpeople living with these mysterious, chronic, andoften hard-to-diagnose illnesses, she explores thealarming and unexpected connection betweenthis deadly crisis and the countless environmentaltriggers we’re exposed to every day: heavy metals,
toxins, pesticides, viruses, chemicals in the foodswe eat, and more.With the help of leading experts,
Nakazawa explores revolutionary preventions,
treatments, and cures emerging around theworld and offers practical advice for protectingyour immune system and reducing your risk ofautoimmune disease in the future.

 The City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallerypresented HONORABLE MENTION for the 2015 Los Angeles Juried Exhibition to Djibril N’Doye 
SIERRA MADRE’S DJIBRIL N’DOYE HONORED AT 
2015 LOS ANGELES JURIED EXHIBITION