8 | WEEKEND URGE
The
JERSEY JOURNAL
Friday, July 11, 2014
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spotlight
City of Water Day takes over Har By STEVEN RODAS
T
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
housands are expected to participate tomorrow in the annual City of water Day, sponsored by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance at waterfront spots in New York and New Jersey. It’s the 7th year for this event and this year it includes new sites as well as the familiar spots in the NY-NJ harbor. It runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and offers dozens of opportunities to participate in “water” activities. “The whole concept is to get everyday folks not involved with the waterfront, to recognize its potential for transportation, recreation and jobs,” said Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance President Roland Lewis. “This harbor-wide event has expanded throughout the year and is going to be bigger this year than ever.” Missing this year will be activities at Liberty State Park. Instead, organizers said events will be held at Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken as well as at smaller neighborhood sites. Here’s a look at some of the various activities:
mAxwEll plACE pARk iN HOBOkEN City of Water Day’s main hub will be at Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will include a free day of entertainment and educational activities. Attendees will get a chance to take in narrated boat tours, paddle-board, and fish. A Waterfront Activity Fair is planned with live music and local food vendors. Maxwell Place park will also have a children’s fair and alliance partners fair with activities by Big League Bouncies Inc., the Liberty Science Center, Beyond Basic, Zipcar, the Hackensack Riverkeeper, the Hudson River Waterfront Conservancy and Hoboken Historical Museum. Guided historic boat tours around the harbor will be available along with free ferry trips between Governors Island and Liberty State Park.
lAuREl Hill COuNTY pARk AND OVERpECk CREEk The Hackensack Riverkeeper, dedicated to providing natural living resources for the Hackensack River and protecting the environment, will have kayaking available for the public at Laurel Hill County Park in Secaucus and Overpeck County park in Teaneck from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Laurel Hill County Park and Overpeck Creek River will provide canoes and kayaks
THOSE ATTENDiNG a prior City of water Day try kayaking in the harbor.
for single and dual riders, as well as paddles, and life jackets. Those attending public kayaking at Laurel Hill County Park must be seven years of age or older, paddlers must be 16 years of age or older, and all boats must have one adult. Participants attending Overpeck County Park must be 6 years of age or older, paddlers must be 18 years old and children 5 to eight can ride free-of charge in a canoe, as long as accompanied by an adult. Laurel Hill will also provide full-moon paddles for adults beginning at 7:30 p.m. Rates for kayaking, canoeing and paddle tours range from $10 to $30. For information, visit www.hackensackriverkeeper.org or call 201-975-385.
NEwARk RiVERfRONT REViVAl fAmilY EVENT During the City of Water Day, the Newark Riverfront Revival, an initiative by the Newark Planning Office in efforts to revitalize the riverfront, will hold walking tours starting at 11 a.m. The “walk shops” will travel along the waterfront at Riverbank Park near the Passaic River in Newark between Raymond Avenue and Somme Street. Attendees will learn about the history of the Ironbound’s waterfront and have a chance to
make suggestions towards will help the Newark River thrive. For information vis er.wordpress.com.
GOVERNORS iSlAND
The 172-acre island in th Bay, known as Governors I family activities, two outd musical performances fro Free ferry transit will be tween Hoboken and Gove a Cardboard Kayak Race w noon highlighting efforts to the neighborhoods arou Activities on Governor’s performance by Going Gre dren’s activities fair and a presented by various orga North River Sail & Power S Citizen Bridge and The Wa
BERNARD ENTE pHOTO COuRTESY Of mETROpOliTAN wA
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Friday, July 11, 2014
The
JERSEY JOURNAL WEEKEND URGE | 9
spotlight
rbor Some boat trips to try
s what they believe rfront Revival sit www.newarkriv-
he Upper New York Island, will hold door fairs and live om 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. e available beernors Island where will take place at to bring Eco Docks und the harbor. s Island include a een Band, a chillliance partner fair anizations including Squad, Solar One, aterFront Center.
ATERfRONT AlliANCE
By STEVEN RODAS
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
O
ne of the advantages of City of Water Day on July 12 is the chance to partake in free boat rides on some of the most immaculate ships to grace the seas and tours aboard historic vessels that go as far back as the 1900’s. Several boats will be docked and offering open houses throughout the day -- no tickets required!
TRipS fROm HOBOkEN AND piER 25 iN NYC
Hoboken to Pier 25 from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. A round trip tour will also be available from 2 to 3 p.m. from Pier 25. For anyone attending the fair at Maxwell Place Park, a trip on the Beacon will be available from 11 a.m. to noon, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. and 2 to 3 p.m. The 60-minute tour will be held aboard the COURTESY OF METROPOLITAN pASSENGERS ABOARD one of WATERFRONT ALLIANCE classic Gatsby-era inspired the ferries with others enjoy row City of ing during a prior Wa ter Day. yacht, the Beacon leaving from the 13th Street Pier.
TRipS fROm GOVERNORS iSlAND
A number of free boat trips will also take off from Governor’s Island Pier 25, located near located in the Upper New Hudson River Park at North York Bay. Moore and West Streets, will The public will have a hold guided tours of the LIchance to take an hourLAC on July 12 from 10 a.m. long trip aboard Schooner to 4 p.m. The LILAC, which Adirondack from Yankee served in the early 1930’s Pier at Governors Island and was decommissioned in alongside Rev. Peter Rider 1972, once carried lighthous- from the Seamen’s Church es and maintained buoys for Institute. These trips, held the U.S Coast Guard. Partici- from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 pants will be walked through p.m. and 12:45 to 1:45 p.m., America’s only surviving will explore the history and steam powered lighthouse current issues facing the tender’s historic past. merchant mariners. In addition, a free 60-minFair-goers will also have ute tour will be available a chance to take a 1 hour on fireboat John. J. Harvey. and 45 minute trip aboard Three tours will be available a climate-controlled NY with a one-way trip from Pier taxi leaving from Governors 25 to Hoboken from 10:30 Island. Those attending to 11:30 a.m. and one-way will join Newtown Creek trip from Hoboken to Pier 25 Alliance Historian Mitch from 1 to 2 p.m. A roundtrip Waxman for an in-depth tour will also be available exploration of the waterway. from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Attendees are encouraged from Hoboken. to bring cameras, as the tour For those interested to reveals the largely hidden learn more about tug boats, industrial landscape that defree tours will be available fines the border of Brooklyn aboard Tug Pegasus. Three and Queens. tours will be available with a For information on addione-way trip from Pier 25 to tional boat trips leaving from Hoboken from 11:30 to 12:30 Brooklyn, Manhattan visit p.m. and one-way trip from cityofwaterday.org.
JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
Water g the Hudson as part of a recent City of fESTiVAl-GOERS take a boat tour alon Day.
6 | WEEKEND URGE
The
JERSEY JOURNAL
Friday, August 8, 2014
www.nj.com/hudson
movies
A dose of French food with sentimentality thrown in By STEPHEN WHITTY
f.y.i.
violent racism (which Mirren’s character quickly shows she FILM: “The Hundred-Foot will not be party to), and an Journey” asse Hallstrom directs eventual loosening of tensions. the kind of movies of And then the inevitable stuREVIEW: ½ which ambitious producdio-movie third act, in which RATING: PG ers’ daydreams, expenour innocent hero is lured away sive Oscar campaigns by the big city. (Which is always LENGTH: 122 min. – or, at least, sharp upticks in DETAILS: From Disney, directed seen as a place of shallowness, Kleenex use -- are absolutely and temptation in by Lasse Hallstrom. With Helen dishonesty made of. Hollywood films – as if anyone Mirren, Om Puri. Now playing in would even be working in L.A., Usually, I can’t stand them. New Jersey. The film contains “Salmon Fishing in the Yeif they hadn’t abandoned their some violence. men,” “Chocolat,” “The Cider “authentic” small towns as House Rules” and the soggy soon as they could.) chelin-starred temple to French one-two slap of “Safe Haven” Like the recent “Chef” and food, whose starchy proprietor “Le Chef,” there’s a certain and “Dear John” – those are somebody’s movies, but they’re is convinced that the oppoamount of food-porn photograsite of “classic cuisine” is the not mine. phy here although Hallstrom, Stubbornly sentimental, undoubtedly classless curries being Hallstrom, overdoes it. faithfully based on some being served within nose-wrin- Far from being farm-fresh, his book-club approved best-seller, kling distance. vegetables look like carefully they’re painfully tasteful and And so let the snobbery – and tweaked special-effects. Nor strangely lifeless. They’re shiny, the inevitable competition for does the film give us an idea of, expensive tear-jerking maclients, and respect – begin. as that simple but invaluable chines. Helen Mirren is the French book once called it, the joy of And “The Hundred-Foot autocrat, and the veteran Indi- cooking. You see little of the Journey” is the latest. an actor Om Puri is the immisensuality of making meals, let The movie – based on a novel, grant patriarch; both act here, alone the actual process. and brought to the screen by of course, with quiet economy. For some stressed-out audithe relentlessly uplifting Steven Handsome Manish Dayal plays ences, “The Hundred-Foot Spielberg and Oprah Winhis son and waifish Charlotte Journey” will definitely hit the frey – is the story of an Indian Le Bon plays her protegee; spot. There isn’t any sex or bad extended family that, after they are not Romeo-and-Juliet language. The young people some detours, decides to settle progeny although an awkward are pretty, and the old people (improbably) in a tiny French romance develops. are funny. And there are no village and open a restaurant. That’s predictable, of course, sudden, unpleasant surprises Even more improbably, the as is everything else – some before everything ends hapone space they pick is 100 feet slight jousting between the two pily. It’s the movie version of across the road from a Mirival establishments, a flash of comfort food.
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THE STAR-LEDGER
AP PHOTO/DREAMWORKS, FRANCOIS DUHAMEL
OM PURI as Papa, Manish Dayal as Hassan and Helen Mirren, as Madame Mallory, in a scene from DreamWorks Pictures' film, "The Hundred-Foot Journey."
LEONARDO in a scene from “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” a Paramoun The film was not screened in time for critics to review it.
‘What If’ we can By STEPHEN WHITTY
I
STAR-LEDGER STAFF
with a deep romantic And Zoe Kazan – th eyed talent who also charmingly oddball “ while back – finds a w idealistic animator. The script, while ad doesn’t feel stagy at a chael Dowse (who als the ill-fated “Take Me opening things up an many neighborhoods tage. He also gives the fil arty “(500) Days of Su ing some of Chantry’ animations flit throu portune Al an cu th t l c A
t’s a question as old as human relationships – or at least as old as “When Harry Met Sally,” if not War’s Greatest Hits album: Why can’t we be friends? Why do we have to muck things up with romance and sex and jealousy? Why can’t a man and woman just hang out, without it getting all heavy and complicated? That’s what Chantry wants to know. She and Wallace have just met at a big, beery party where everybody else is scrolling through texts and or making out on couches. As the last two relatively sober guests, they start talking. And connecting. Except – oh. She has a boyfriend. In fact, they live together. But, she asks Wallace, that really doesn’t matter, does it? They’re modern people. She and Wallace can just be good friends, right? “Of course,” he lies. You may think you know what’s going to happen (and you’re probably right) but “What If” nonetheless remains a smallscale pleasure, full of good actors and a few surprises. (Including the city of Toronto cast for once as… Toronto.) Daniel Radcliffe, who has been filling his post-Potter life with serious indies and Broadway turns, is a pleasant, alert presence as WalDANIEL RADCLIFFE and Zoe Kaz lace, a med-school dropout
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lm a bit of a funky, ummer” vibe by hav’s pretty, hand-drawn ugh the movie at ope times. long with Radcliffe nd Kazan – who are ute together, even if he script demands they not be particuarly passionate – the cast includes a droll Adam Driver and Mackenzie Davis, a marvelously longlimbed
JERSEY JOURNAL WEEKEND URGE | 7
Few thrills in ‘Into the Storm’ By CLINT O’CONNOR
CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER
G AP PHOTO/PARAMOUNT PICTURES, INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC
n just be friends
dapted from a play, all, with director Miso made “Goon,” and e Home Tonight”) nd showing Toronto’s s off to their advan-
The
movies
nt Pictures film opening today throughout New Jersey and elsewhere.
c streak. he quirky, saucerwrote her own, “Ruby Sparks” a witty edge as the
Friday, August 8, 2014
f.y.i.
FILM: “What If” REVIEW: RATING: PG-13 LENGTH: 102 min. DETAILS: From CBS Films, directed by Michael Dowse. With Danielle Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, Mackenzie Davis. Now playing in New York. comic actress. Can you tell where the movie is, inevitably going from the start? Well, yeah. And does the sarcastic dialogue occasionally pump up too much irony? Definitely. But even if the movie feels headed in a predictable direction, it’s fun to follow it.
etting sucked up into a raging tornado is probably not on most of our weekend to-do lists. But Warner Bros. is hoping folks will opt for its virtual version when “Into the Storm” hits theaters. “Into the Storm” is not just the latest disaster movie, though it embraces all of those tropes. It is a disaster movie presented as a partial foundfootage affair, complete with herky-jerky shots and lots of breathy asides into the camera. The filmmakers were apparently hoping for a “Cloverfield” meets “Twister” kind of vibe, but they came up short. Their film is neither strange enough, nor scary enough, nor thrilling enough. It also features some of the worst performances of the year. Donnie and Trey (Max Deacon and Nathan Kress) are teenage brothers living in small town Silverton with their bummer of a dad Gary, played by Richard Armitage (Thorin in the “Hobbit” movies). Gary is the vice principal at the local high school and his sons are shooting a time capsule video along with that afternoon’s graduation ceremony. But a big bad storm sends the students scurrying for shelter, and Donnie manages to get trapped under debris at an industrial site with Kaitlyn (Alycia Debnam
f.y.i.
FILM: “Into the Storm’ REVIEW: ½ RATING: pg-13 LENGTH: 89 min. DETAILS: From Warner Brothers, with Richard Armitage, Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh. Directed by Steven Quale. Now playing in New Jersey. Sequences of intense destruction and peril, and language including some sexual references. Carey), the girl of his dreams. Down the road a team of storm chasers are embracing the bad weather. Led by Pete (Matt Walsh), the daring group travels in a Titus (a tank-like vehicle tricked up with skymonitoring equipment and cameras) and a weather van with storm patterns splashed in ominous colors on multiple screens. The chief weather-watcher is Allison (Sarah Wayne Callies), whose emotional hook is that she desperately misses her 5-year-old daughter back home. Allison loves her so much, she has abandoned her for three months so she could chase tornadoes with petulant Pete. Usually, in a multiple character drama, there is at least one person we can cheer for, laugh at, be afraid of, or somehow identify with. But “Into the Storm” offers an array of forget-
table cardboard characters. It is difficult to become invested in these people or see them as anything other than calamity props. No doubt director Steven Quale (“Final Destination 5”) wanted his cast to affect a natural style, something akin to subjects in a documentary. But someone should have told him there is a difference between realism and somnambulance. Of course, anyone digging into his or her popcorn for 90 minutes of something called “Into the Storm” probably just wants to be jolted by twisters. The final 20 minutes or so features some pulse-quickening intensity, as computer-generated cyclones tear up trees, buildings, homes, cars, airplanes and much of Silverton+. But at that point this slog of a film has been so woeful you just kind of feel sorry for the actors having to include it on their IMDB listings. And the producers didn’t even include sharks for them to be eaten by, or bother to shoot it in 3-D to juice the visuals. “Into the Storm” may not set box office records, but it may represent a movie milestone (or future trivia question). The script is by John Swetnam. He also wrote the dance flick sequel “Step Up All In,” which also opens Friday. Has a Hollywood screenwriter ever had two movies open on the same day? Apparently, excessive wooden dialogue has its rewards.
WARNER BROTHERS PHOTO
CAITLIN CRONENBERG PHOTO
zan in a scene from “What If,” opening this week in New York.
SARAH WAYNE CALLIES as Allison in the thriller "Into The Storm," opening today.