360 January 25, 2018

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Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

ACT invites you to a romantic, ‘Enchanted’ journey Page 3

Skagit Valley Herald Thursday January 25, 2018

TUNING UP PAGE 9 Jenny & The Tomcats play The Old Edison MOVIES PAGES 14-15 Chris Hemsworth stars in a story of a task force under fire

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Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

NEW ON DVD THIS WEEK “Thank You for Your Service”: Movies like this have to be made as a counterbalance to the steady stream of news reports about war as a constant reminder of the aftermath to men and women following their service to this country. It’s not just enough to make such productions. They should be so brutally honest that the viewer is both moved by the patriotism of those in the military, but also angered by how the soldiers are treated with so little compassion and hope when their service is done.

The film focuses on Adam Schumann (Miles Teller), Tausolo Aieti (Beulah Koale) and Will Waller (Joe Cole), whose latest tours of duty include almost a year in the Middle East. Although none of the buddies show any physical injuries, they have all been deeply broken by their experiences.

Director Jason Hall’s film ends up being worthy because it does act as a reminder of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have served with honor and dignity only to return home to be treated with dishonor and not a sliver of the respect they are owed. All Hall had to do was push a little harder and “Thank You for Your Service” would have gone from being not much more than an impressive public service announcement.

“Geostorm”: From the opening barrage about how in the not-sodistant future the debate over global warming will end because major climatic changes result in a steady stream of natural disasters to a conspiracy that goes all the way to the White House, “Geostorm” continuously finds ways to draw attention away from an interesting use of weather as a weapon by using a cold front of political jabber.

“Geostorm” would have been better had it been more like the 2004 release “The Day After Tomorrow.” No one carried about politics or big conspiracies in that Dennis Quaid movie. It entertained by putting people in peril from a new Ice Age. That would have worked here.

The action scenes in “Geostorm” are strong, from a dramatic space walk by Gerard Butler’s character to a sudden blast of frigid cold on a Rio beach that freezes sun worshippers in their tracks. The weather woes around the world are slow to show up, but when

they do, they hit like a hurricane. The problem is the film keeps slowing down for the political moments.

“Jigsaw”: The Jigsaw Killer is back and taking his signature brand of evil to the next level.

“Earth: One Amazing Day”: BBC film that looks at the wonders of nature during a 24-hour period.

“Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense”: The metamorphosis of jazz is shown through the words, music and spirit of the artists redefining the sound.

“My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea”: Animated tale of high school friendship tested by a disaster.

“Dirk Gently; Season 2”: Self-proclaimed “holistic detective” investigates the death of a community leader.

“10 Cloverfield Lane”: John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead play two survivors of a supposed apocalyptic attack.

“Chasing the Dragon”: Fighting champion must find a way to save his career threatened by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

“Echotone”: Documentary that looks at Austin, Texas’s music scene though young musicians facing some tough questions.

“The Killing of a Sacred Deer”: Past incident comes back to haunt a doctor who seems to have a perfect life. Colin Farrell stars.

“Cloverfield”: Film that offers first-person video account of an attack in New York by an alien force marks the 10th anniversary of its theatrical release.

“Roaring Abyss”: Director Quino Piñero’s documentary looks at how the universal language of music is impacting Ethiopia.

“Goodbye Christopher Robin”: The digital release of the drama about the life of A.A. Milne has been moved to Jan. 23.

AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL HD JAN. 23 “Only the Brave”: Josh Brolin stars in the film based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Will be available on DVD Feb. 6.

“Suburbicon”: There are dark secrets beneath the surface of an idyllic town. Matt Damon stars. On DVD Feb. 6.

“City of Rock”: Young man stages a charity rock concert to save a park.

— Rick Bentley, Tribune News Service

YOUR ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION GUIDE TO WHAT’S GOING ON IN SKAGIT COUNTY AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS

ON STAGE / Page 8

The Skagit Symphony Family Concert is set for Sunday at McIntyre Hall

INSIDE

SUBMISSIONS

Email features@skagitpublishing.com Deadline: 5 p.m. Friday for the following Thursday edition Phone 360-416-2135 Hand-deliver 1215 Anderson Road Mount Vernon, WA 98274

Out & About............................................ 4-5 Get Involved............................................ 6-7 On Stage.......................................................8 Tuning Up....................................................9 Travel..........................................................10 Hot Tickets................................................11 Music..........................................................12 At the Lincoln...........................................13 Movies..................................................14-15

Mailing address P.O. Box 578 Mount Vernon, WA 98273

ON THE COVER Carolyn Hatch (from left), Sydney Brady and Beth Morgan-Cleland are featured in “Enchanted April,” opening Friday at ACT Theatre in Anacortes. Photo by Craig Parrish / Skagit Valley Herald

TO ADVERTISE 360-424-3251

Online events calendar To list your event on our website, visit goskagit.com and look for the Events Calendar on the home page HAVE A STORY IDEA? Contact Features Editor Craig Parrish at 360-416-2135 or features@skagitpublishing.com

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ACT Theatre stages ‘Enchanted April’

CRAIG PARRISH / SKAGIT VALLEY HERALD

Darby Loescher appears in “Enchanted April,” opening Friday at ACT Theatre in Anacortes.

CRAIG PARRISH / SKAGIT VALLEY HERALD

Mike Steiner (left), Sydney Brady, Carolyn Hatch and Don Brady appear in “Enchanted April,” opening Friday at ACT Theatre in Anacortes.

The longing to possibly escape the typically bleak London winter and spend a month in a castle in Italy sets the story in “Enchanted April,” the saucy comedy opening Friday, Jan. 26, at Anacortes Community Theatre.

Directed by Trey Hatch, “Enchanted April” revels in its uniquely British sense of comedy.

Sweet-natured Lotty Wilton is suffering depression from the bleak London winter coupled

with an oppressive relationship with her pompous solicitor husband, according to a news release. When she sees an advertisement in the newspaper to rent a castle in Italy for the month of April, an idyllic spot “for those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine,” she jumps at the chance to escape her downtrodden existence.

Sensing an instant kinship with fellow housewife Rose Arnott, a severely angelic woman with sorrows of her own, Lotty

persuades her to come along on the adventure. The two ladies find Caroline Bramble, a beautiful and exhausted socialite, and Mrs. Graves, an overbearing widow, to round out the party.

As the month passes, verdant sun-drenched San Salvatore works its magic on each sad and hardened heart, healing grief and bringing hope. And with the arrival of two chastened husbands and one attractive young artist, romance blooms again.

‘ENCHANTED APRIL’ Where: ACT Theatre, 918 M Ave., Anacortes When: Jan. 26-28, Feb. 1-4, 8-11 and 15-17.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Tickets: $20 (360-293-6829 to reserve).

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OUT & ABOUT

Salish Sea Early Music Festival

valley. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. 360-722-9438 or at htroc.com.

BIRDS OF WINTER ART WALK: The event will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, in downtown Mount Vernon. Work by local and regional artists will be featured at 12 to 15 venues. Email dep. mvda@gmail.com for more information on downtown art walks. mountvernondowntown.org.

LECTURES AND TALKS

SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE: The talk “Biblical Worldview as it Relates to Science” will be presented at 7 p.m. today, Jan. 25, at Summit Park Bible Church, 12700 Thompson Road. The presentation will examine three examples of how the turn away from God has affected modern thought.

Jeffrey Cohan Michael Freimuth The opening performance in the 2018 Salish Sea Early Music Festival will be held at 7 p.m. today, Jan. 25, at Fir-Conway Lutheran Church, 18101 Fir Island Road, Conway. The concert will feature Annalisa Pappano of Cincinnati, one of the world’s foremost players of treble viol; Michael Freimuth of Kiel, Germany, one of Europe’s most active performers on baroque guitar and theorbo; and renaissance/baroque flutist and artistic director Jeffrey Cohan.

Admission by suggested donation: $15, $20 or $25; ages 18 and under are free. salishseafestival.org/conway or 360-455-5396.

ART

THE GOOD STUFF: The Good Stuff Arts Gallery, 604 Commercial Ave., Anacortes, is hosting “Art Dynamics” through February with Carla Seaton as featured artist. More than 30 other gallery artists will show work, including new artists Cheryl Hellam, photography on canvas; Adriana Mannion, three-dimensional marker and ink paintings; Ron Radtke, organic wood sculptures; and Jill West, intricate gourd sculptures. There will also be new textile pillos and lavendar sachets by Ruth Owen and new jewelry by Darlene Klister, Sarah Swietzer, Annette Tamm and Mel Williams. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.

LUMINOUS POP-UP SHOW: ACME Creative Gallery will host the Lumi-

nous Holiday Pop-Up Shop through January at the gallery, 705 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. The show features artisans and artists like Nikki McClure, M. Bueno Pottery, Isadoro, Barnacle Bags, Phil Elverum, Afterword, 112 James Street, Satterwhite Quilts, Things People Said, Slow Loris and more.

JENNIFER BOWMAN: See colorful paintings by Anacortes artist Jennifer Bowman at a January show at Scott Milo Gallery, 420 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. Also showing: still-life photos by Randy Dana, photos on canvas by Lewis Jones, pastel landscapes

by Christine Troyer, encaustic paintings by Marilee Holm and photo encaustic panels by Kathy Hastings. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or by appointment. scottmilo. com.

Annalisa Pappano

FIRST FRIDAY ARTWALK: The First Friday Artwalk in Anacortes will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2. There will be demonstrations and special art shows at several galleries, including Burton Jewelers, The Good Stuff Arts, the Scott Milo Gallery, the Majestic Inn and Spa and the Depot Arts & Community Center. anacortesart.com.

Also showing: still-life oils by Barbara Benedetti Newton, Northwest landscapes in oil by Damon Brown, impressionistic oils by Donna Nevitt Radtke and nautical and bird paintings in oil by Lorna Libert. A artists’ reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or by appointment. scottmilo. com.

THE EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE OF LIGHT AND COLOR: Stephen R. Hill’s show “The Expressive Language of Light and Color” will take place during February at the Scott Milo Gallery, 420 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. The Lopez Island artist will show his latest plein air paintings from his many travels; this series focuses on light and color.

MILES AND WALTON: Betty Miles and Katie Walton will be featured at an opening reception from noon to 6 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 3, at Hadrian Stone Gallery, 5717 Gilkey Ave., Edison. The show will continue through February. Miles’ paintings on canvas and panel are colorful impressions of her garden. Walton’s paintings are of barns and features of the

HEALTHY SHORELINES: Learn what makes the Salish Sea shoreline healthy for orcas, salmon and humans at 7 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 29, at the Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. The presenter, Lisa Kaufman, manages shoreline restoration projects for the Northwest Straits Foundation.

“EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO”: Former Anacortes Police Chief Bonnie Bowers will present “Walking the El Camino de Santiago Trail” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, at the Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes. Bowers’ 550-mile walking adventure began in southern France and ended 33 days later in Santiago, Spain.

TITLE IX: The Anacortes Branch of AAUW (American Association of University Women) will host the panel discussion “Title IX: It’s not just sports!” at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, at the Anacortes Senior Activity Center, 1701 22nd St., Anacortes.

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OUT & ABOUT FIR ISLAND AND CONWAY HISTORY: The Skagit Valley Genealogical Society meets on the second Saturday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Burlington Senior Center, 1011 Greenleaf Ave., Burlington. Feb. 10 program: “Fir Island and Conway History” discussed by co-authors Patricia Hanstad Pleas and Janet K. Utgard. Free.

The public is invited. skagitvalleygenealogy.org or genealogy0715@gmail. com.

FIGHTING OPIOID USE: Join the Opioid Workgroup Leadership Team for a conversation about what community partners in Skagit County are doing to diminish the harmful impact of opioids, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13, at Mount Vernon City Library, 315 Snoqualmie St., Mount Vernon.

PAINLESS DECLUTTERING AND ORGANIZING: 6:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 15, Mount Vernon City Library, 315 Snoqualmie St., Mount Vernon. Led by Cindy Jobs, a certified organizer coach, business productivity consultant and the owner of Organize to Simplify, a productivity and organizing business focused on finding ways to simplify, organize, downsize, declutter, and bring new processes to everyday work and home lives.

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE SERIES: The Outdoor Adventure Speaker Series is held at the Marysville Opera House, 1225 Third St., Marysville, from 6 to 8 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Local authors, outdoor enthusiasts and

naturalists use their adventures and expertise on topics including hiking, kayaking, nature photography, boating and more. marysvillewa.gov or 360363-8400. Next up: n Tuesday, Feb. 27: Dave Elling presents “Paddle Pilgrim: Kayaking the Mississippi River.” Ellingson recounts his adventure down the Mississippi River. n Tuesday, March 27: Dan Clements presents “BC’s Great Bear Rainforest: Home of Moksgm’ol – The White Spirit Bear.”

MUSIC

VIOL, GUITAR AND FLUTE: The opening performance in the 2018 Salish Sea Early Music Festival will be held at 7 p.m. today, Jan. 25, at Fir-Conway Lutheran Church, 18101 Fir Island Road, Conway. The concert will feature Annalisa Pappano of Cincinnati, one of the world’s foremost players of treble viol; Michael Freimuth of Kiel, Germany, one of Europe’s most active performers on baroque guitar and theorbo; and renaissance/ baroque flutist and artistic director Jeffrey Cohan.

Admission by suggested donation: $15, $20 or $25; ages 18 and under are free. salishseafestival.org/ conway or 360-455-5396.

SYMPHONY FAMILY CONCERT: The Skagit Symphony 2018 Family Concert will take place on Sunday, Jan. 28, at McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. The event will start at 1:30 p.m. with “Meet the Musicians,” an opportunity to talk with symphony members and see their instruments up close. $10 adults, $1

children/students. 360416-7727.

THE NEXT SHOW: Tune in to the neXt Show the first Thursday of each month at anacortesmusicchannel.com to hear about music from around the region. The next show will feature the Hoe and the Harrow at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1.

“THE ARTISTRY OF INGRID MATTHEWS”: The Anacortes Arts Foundation will present “The Artistry of Ingrid Matthews” at 7 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 9, at the Croatian Cultural Center, 801 Fifth St., Anacortes.

Matthews, a violinist who is recognized as one of the country’s leading period instrument performers, will be featured with John Lenti, a lute, theorbo and guitar performer. $25 at the door, students and children free. anacortesartsfoundation.org

PLAYS

”THE PRODUCERS”: Whidbey Playhouse, 730 S.E. Midway Blvd, Oak Harbor, will present the Mel Brooks comedy-musical from Feb. 9 to March 4. Tickets: $20, whidbeyplayhouse.com or 360-679-2237. ”BEAUTY AND THE BEAST”: Presented by Theater Arts Guild and Skagit Valley College from Feb. 23 to March 4 at McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $20-$40. 360416-7727.

MORE FUN

BALD EAGLE INTERPRETIVE CENTER: The Skagit River Bald

Eagle Interpretive Center, 52809 Rockport Park Road, Rockport, is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturdays and Sundays in January. Guided hikes along the Skagit River occur at 11 a.m. and speaker presentations are held at 1 p.m. The annual photo contest runs through Jan. 22.

Visit skagiteagle.org for information and a complete calendar of events.

Free. Next up: n Jan. 27: “Native Plants of the Upper Skagit” presented by Terri Wild (11 a.m. presentation, noon nature walk). n Jan 28: “ Winter Birds of Skagit County” presented by Chris Brewer and Ken Salzman.

MLK WEEK: Skagit Valley College Multicultural Student Services and Student Life are offering activities for Martin Luther King, Jr. week during January at the college, 2405 E. College Way, Mount Vernon: n Jan. 31: “The Movement,” 3 to 5 p.m., Phillip Tarro Theater. Theatrical production followed by an open discussion with the audience.

ILLUMINIGHT WINTER WALK: 5:30 p.m. today, Jan. 25, along the Skagit Riverwalk in downtown Mount Vernon. Stop by Tri-Dee Arts, 215 S. First St., from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and learn to create a paper lantern, then take a 15- to 30-minute wellness walk along the Riverwalk.

Free. 360-336-3801 or mountvernondowntown. org.

WILD AND SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL: Viva Farms will host the Long Live Farms Wild &

Scenic Film Festival from 5 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, at 18495 Dike Road, Mount Vernon. The event will feature eight films, food by Pizza’zza, Farmstrong Brewing, Barefoot Wine, Bluewater Distilling and raffle prizes. Tickets are $25 and include dinner. vivafarms.org/longlivefarms.

OUTREACH PROGRAM: Erin von Fempe, who has been a social worker for 24 years, will talk about the Mount Vernon Police Department’s Outreach Coordination program, which focuses on homeless people in the community, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the Mount Vernon Police Department resource room, 1805 Continental Place, Mount Vernon.

SKAGIT WEDDING SHOW: The Skagit Wedding Show will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 27, at Skagit Center, 1000 Fountain Street, Burlington. Tickets: skagitweddingshow. com for $8 before Jan. 20, $10 at the door. 360-4285972 or info@cceventplanning.com.

“BIRDS OF A FEATHER”: La Conner will host its first birding event, “Birds of a Feather — Flock to La Conner,” from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 28, at Maple Hall, 103 Commercial, La Conner. Keynote speaker Paul Bannick, an award-winning author and photographer, will offer a program based on his book, “Owl: A Year In The Lives Of North American Animals,” at 3 p.m. Saturday. $5 (ages 10 and younger free).

Tickets via PayPal (love-

laconner.com/la-connerbirding-showcase-birdswinter) or at the door.

LIBRARY FRIENDS GROUP: The newly organized Friends of Central Skagit Library will conduct its first quarterly meeting of 2018 at 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 30, at the library, 725 Metcalf St., Sedro-Woolley. For more information, contact Jed Holmes at 360-421-8423 or jed.ed.holmes@gmail. com. Membership forms and information are available at the library.

YOUTH OF THE YEAR DINNER: The Boys & Girls Clubs of Skagit County’s Youth of the Year Dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31, at Eaglemont, 4800 Eaglemont Drive, Mount Vernon. The program recognizes and seeks to “celebrate those club members who embrace and embody the characteristics of leadership and service, academic success, and healthy lifestyles.” Free, but an RSVP is required.

Visit skagitclubs.org or contact Heather Short at heather.short@skagitclubs.org or 360-4193723, ext. 8, to be put on a guest list. Seating is limited.

BIRDING FOR KIDS — A BIRD BINGO ADVENTURE IN SKAGIT VALLEY: Skagit Guided Adventures offers a fun way to introduce kids to identifying and learning about winter birds in farm fields and bays from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. weekends through mid-March. Weekday arrangements can be made for home schoolers. For details and reservations, call 360-474-7479.

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GET INVOLVED ART

POSTER CONTEST: Sedro-Woolley Farmers Market is holding a contest for the market’s 2018 poster. All submissions must be 11 inches by 17 inches and in full color. Send submissions by Feb. 28 to Sedro-Woolley Farmers Market, P.O. Box 20, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284, or email sedrowoolleyfarmersmarket@gmail. com. Open to all ages and abilities. Winner receives $250.

BOOKMARK DESIGN: Upper Skagit Library is calling artists of all ages to share what the library and reading means to them by designing a bookmark.

Entries will be accepted through Jan. 31. Staff

will select 10 finalists, then the public will vote for their favorites from Feb. 1-16. Winners will be announced Feb. 17.

Three winning designs will be featured on new bookmarks. upperskagit.lib.wa.us.

CALL FOR ARTIST: The Anacortes Arts Commission is calling for entries to its second annual outdoor sculpture exhibition to be held in the madrona grove and surrounding area of the Depot Arts & Community Center, 611 R. Ave. in Anacortes. Sculptures must be durable enough to withstand outdoor conditions and should have means of being secured to a concrete platform.

All sculptures should be for sale. Artists need to live in Washington.

Entries are due Feb. 13.

Information: anacortesartscommission.com CALL FOR ARTISTS: The Mount Vernon Downtown Association is looking for artists to participate in a Birds of Winter Art Walk on Saturday, Feb. 10.

Contact dep.mvda@ gmail.com for more information.

FAMILY CONCERT

SKAGIT SYMPHONY PRESENTS SUNDAY, JANUARY 28

CORKY SIEGEL’S CHAMBER BLUES

MCINTYRE HALL PRESENTS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2

360.416.7727

mcintyrehall.org

ARTS COMMISSION: The Mount Vernon Arts Commission meets at 4:30 p.m the third Tuesday of each month at Hillcrest Park Administration Office, 1717 S. 13th St., Mount Vernon. The commission needs two additional members.

360-336-6215.

CALL FOR SCULPTURES: San Juan Islands Sculpture Park invites sculptors to submit entries for its on-

going juried sculpture review. All sculptures must be deemed safe and should be suitable for exhibition in an outdoor setting and capable of withstanding occasional high winds, rain and possible snow.

Accepted sculptures will be installed for a twoyear period (if not sold sooner) in the 20-acre park located near Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. For complete submission guidelines, visit sjisculpturepark. com.

CALL FOR INSTRUCTORS: Burlington Parks and Recreation is looking for qualified instructors to expand its enrichment classes for youths and adults. To download an instructor’s packet, visit the Parks and Recreation Department webpage at burlingtonwa.gov and click on the “Instructors Needed” tab.

For information, call 360-755-9649 or email recreation@burlingtonwa.gov.

CALL FOR ART TEACHERS: The Good Stuff Arts, 604 Commercial Ave., Anacortes, is looking for qualified, experienced beginning art teachers in watercolor, drawing, sketching and mixed media art forms. Call to schedule a meeting to show your work and discuss your experience. Kat Peterson, 360-755-3152.

ART CLASSES

BEGINNING BRONZE METAL CLAY: 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, Museum of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St., La Conner.

monamuseum.org or 360-466-4446.

LOW TECH SCREEN PRINTING: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, Museum of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St, La Conner. $75. monamuseum.org or 360-4664446.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST QUILT AND FIBER ARTS MUSEUM: Varied exhibits and classes are available to the public at 703 S. Second St., La Conner. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tuesday through Sunday. Admission: $7, $5 students and military, free for members and children ages 11 and under. 360-466-4288 or laconnerquilts.org.

— Fiber Fridays: bring any type of fiber art project, quilting, knitting, embellishing, etc., to work on while visiting with other fiber artists from 9 a.m. to noon every Friday. Free and open to all.

ART CLASSES: Gail Harker Center for Creative Arts offers a variety of art classes and workshops for artists of every level at 12636 Chilberg Road, Mount Vernon. Online courses are also available. For information and a complete schedule call 360-466-0110 or visit gailcreativestudies.com.

ART CLASSES: Choose from painting, photography, fiber and 3D art workshops taught by professional artists at the Pacific NorthWest Art School, 15 N.W. Birch St., Coupeville. 360-6783396 or pacificnorthwestartschool.com.

ART CLASSES: Dakota Art Center offers a variety of art classes and workshops at 17873 Highway 536, Mount Vernon. 360-416-6556, ext. 5, or dakotaartcenter.com.

AUDITIONS

CANTABILE CHAMBER CHOIR: Choral singers of all parts are wanted. The Cantabile Chamber Choir performs throughout Skagit Valley and beyond. Rehearsals are 6:30 to 9 p.m. Mondays at Bethany Covenant Church, 1318 S. 18th St., Mount Vernon.

Dues are $150 per year and the cost of music. Auditions are by appointment. Information: Jennie Bouma at 425-312-4565 or cantabilechamberchoir@ gmail.com. ”THE HOLLOW”: Whidbey Playhouse, 730 SE Midway Blvd., Oak Harbor, will host auditions from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, and Sunday, Feb. 4.

Character descriptions can be found at whidbeyplayhouse.com. 360679-2237 or office@ whidbeyplayhouse.com.

BOOKS

GREAT BOOKS READING GROUP MEETING: The Great Books Reading Group examines passages from important writings in history. The group meets at the Burlington Public Library, 820 E. Washington Ave., from 6 to 8 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month.

New members welcome.

360-941-1437 or shunji. asari@gmail.com.

DANCE

BEGINNING SQUARE DANCING: 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1401 Cleveland St., Mount Vernon.

Couples and singles welcome. First two evenings are free, $4 thereafter. 360-4244608 (leave a message) or rosie@valleyint.com.

BEGINNING LINE DANCING: 7 to 8 p.m.

Tuesdays, through Feb. 27, Burlington Community Center, 1011 Greenleaf Ave. $6 drop-ins, $20 per monthly session. For adults and teens 13 and older. recreation@ burlingtonwa.gov and 360-755-9649.

FOLK DANCING: Skagit-Anacortes Folk Dancers meet Tuesdays at Bay View Civic Hall, 12615 C St., Mount Vernon. Learn to folk dance to a variety of international music.

Instruction begins at 7 p.m. followed by review and request dances until 9:30 p.m. The first session is free, $5 thereafter. All welcome. No partners needed. For information, contact Gary or Ginny at 360766-6866.

SCOTTISH DANCING: Bellingham Scottish Country Dancers meet from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays at the Fairhaven Library auditorium (upstairs), 1117 12th St., Bellingham. Wear comfortable clothes and soft-soled shoes without heels. $8 per class. For information, call Mary Anderson at 360-933-1779 or visit bellinghamscd.org.

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GET INVOLVED JOLLY TIME CLUB: Dance to live music from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

Thursdays at Hillcrest Lodge, 1717 S. 13th St., Mount Vernon. For information, contact Gisela at 360-424-5696.

Covenant Church, 1318 18th St., Mount Vernon. No experience necessary, no auditions required. Learn by rote, you don’t have to read music. All ages welcome. anochords.org.

360-466-0109.

MUSIC

TIME FOR FIDDLERS: The Washington Old Time Fiddlers play at 6:30 p.m. the second and fourth Fridays of each month at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1401 Cleveland.

St. Free; donations accepted. 360-630-1156.

UKULELE FUN & SONG CIRCLE: 1 to 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1401 Cleveland St. Free. Beginners welcome and loaner ukuleles available. Song sheets provided. 206-790-4862 or yogaheartspace0@ gmail.com.

BARBERSHOP HARMONY: Join the An-OChords, a four-part barbershop harmony group that meets at 7 p.m.

Thursdays at Bethany

a Shelter Bay resident.

360-223-3230.

LOVE TO SING?: Join the women of Harmony Northwest Chorus from 6:30 to 9 p.m. every Monday at the Mount Vernon Senior Center, 1401 Cleveland Ave. Seeking women who like to sing a cappella music. All skill levels welcome. 360-201-5861 or harmonynorthwest. org.

Open house guest nights will be held Mondays, Feb. 5 and 12.

ANACORTES OPEN MIC: 9:30 p.m. Thursdays, Brown Lantern Ale House, 412 Commercial Ave., Anacortes.

360-293-2544.

SHELTER BAY CHORUS: Practices are held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Thursdays at the Shelter Bay Clubhouse, 1000 Shoshone Drive, La Conner. New members welcome. No need to be

OPEN MIC: Jam Night, 9 p.m. to

12:30 a.m. Thursdays, Conway Pub & Eatery, 18611 Main St., Conway. 360-445-4733.

PRESENTATIONS, LECTURES, TALKS HEALTHY SHORELINES: Learn what makes the Salish Sea shoreline healthy for orcas, salmon and humans at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, at the Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St., Anacortes.

The presenter, Lisa Kaufman, manages shoreline restoration projects for the Northwest Straits Foundation.

HEART HEALTH: Jeff Rhodes, coordinator of cardiac rehab at Skagit Regional Hospital, will

talk about heart health at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, at Mount Vernon City Library, 315 Snoqualmie St., Mount Vernon. The informal discussion will cover the basics of how the heart works, as well as the most common kinds of heart disease and the treatment options available.

PECHAKUCHA NIGHT: Join Maggie Wilder, Francie Allen, Anne Frocke and others as they share their stories using the PechaKucha format (20 slides, 20 seconds per slide) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Museum of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St., La Conner.

PRINTS WITH SAM DAVIDSON: Sam

Davidson of Davidson Galleries will discuss print techniques and how people acquire prints for their personal art collections at 2 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 18, at the Museum of Northwest Art, 121 S. First St., La Conner. Davidson Galleries maintains the largest inventory of original prints in the Northwest and has both prints and works on paper from the 15th to 21st centuries.

WINTER BIRDS OF THE SALISH SEA: The presentation

by Skagit Audubon Society members will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at the Mount Vernon City Library, 315 Snoqualmie St., Mount Vernon.

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E8 - Thursday, January 25, 2018

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

ON STAGE in the Skagit Valley and surrounding area January 25-February 1 Thursday.25

MUSIC Annalisa Pappano, Michael Freimuth, Jeffrey Cohan: Salish Sea Early Music Festival, 7 p.m., Fir-Conway Lutheran Church, 18101 Fir Island Road, Conway. Suggested donation $15, $20 or $25 (freewill offering); 18 and under free.

THEATER ”Enchanted April”: 7:30 p.m., ACT Theatre, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. Dress rehearsal, free, first-come, first-served.

360-293-6829 or acttheatre.com. ”Newsies”: 2 and 7:30 p.m., Village Theatre, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett.

425-257-8600 or villagetheatre.org. ”Shakespeare’s Other Women: A New Anthology of Monologues”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Island Center for the Arts’ Zech Hall, 565 Camano Ave., Langley. Pay what you will. islandshakespearefest.org.

Friday.26

Roseanne Cash with John Leventhal: 7:30 p.m., Mount Baker Theatre, 104 N. Commercial St., Bellingham. $21.50-$49.50. 360-734-6080 or mountbakertheatre.com.

Sunday.28 SUNDAY.28

JOHN YAEGER PHOTOS

SKAGIT SYMPHONY FAMILY CONCERT 1:30 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $1-$10. 360-416-7727 or mcintyrehall.org.

THEATER ”Enchanted April”: 7:30 p.m., ACT Theatre, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. $20.

360-293-6829 or acttheatre.com.

MUSIC Skagit Symphony Family Concert: 1:30 p.m., McIntyre Hall, 2501 E. College Way, Mount Vernon. $1-$10.

360-416-7727 or mcintyrehall.org.

”Newsies”: 8 p.m., Village Theatre, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett. 425-2578600 or villagetheatre.org.

Tuesday.30

MUSIC Scot Ranney: 7 to 9 p.m., Pegasus Art Gallery, 301 W. Holly, Bellingham. gallerypegasus.com, 360-599-7731 or 360-671-1709.

Saturday.27

”Newsies”: 2 and 8 p.m., Village Theatre, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett. 425-257-8600 or villagetheatre. org.

”Newsies”: 2 and 7 p.m., Village Theatre, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett.

425-257-8600 or villagetheatre.org. ”Shakespeare’s Other Women: A New Anthology of Monologues”: 2 p.m., Whidbey Island Center for the Arts’ Zech Hall, 565 Camano Ave., Langley. $15. islandshakespearefest. org.

”Shakespeare’s Other Women: A New Anthology of Monologues”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Island Center for the Arts’ Zech Hall, 565 Camano Ave., Langley. $15. islandshakespearefest. org.

THEATER ”Enchanted April”: 7:30 p.m., ACT Theatre, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. $20.

360-293-6829 or acttheatre.com.

THEATER ”Enchanted April”: 2 p.m., ACT Theatre, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. $20.

360-293-6829 or acttheatre.com.

”Shakespeare’s Other Women: A New Anthology of Monologues”: 7:30 p.m., Whidbey Island Center for the Arts’ Zech Hall, 565 Camano Ave., Langley. $15. islandshakespearefest.org.

MUSIC Shantikar: 7:30 p.m., Unity Skagit Valley, 704 West Division St., Mount Vernon. $15. 360-899-9830 or www. unitysv.org.

Thursday.1

THEATER ”Enchanted April”: 7:30 p.m., ACT Theatre, 918 M Ave., Anacortes. $20.

360-293-6829 or acttheatre.com.

Thursday, January 25, 2018 - E9

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

TUNING UP Playing at area venues January 25-February 1 Thursday.25 Cascadia Groove: 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/ Main, Conway. 360445-3000 or conwaymuse.com.

Annalisa Pappano, Michael Freimuth, Jeffrey Cohan: Salish Sea Early Music Festival, 7 p.m., Fir-Conway Lutheran Church, 18101 Fir Island Road, Conway. Suggested donation $15, $20 or $25 (freewill offering); 18 and under free.

Friday.26 Chris Spillman: 8 p.m., Rockfish Grill & Anacortes Brewery, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. Free. 360588-1720 or anacortesrockfish.com.

Rumor 6: 9 p.m., Skagit Casino and Resort, 5984 Darrk Lane, Bow. 877-275-2448 or theskagit.com.

Country Jim: 6:30 p.m., Mount Vernon Elks Lodge, 2120 Market St., Mount Vernon. Members and signed-in guests only.

360-848-8882.

Tonic Press: 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., Anelia’s Kitchen & Stage, 513 First St., La Conner.

360-399-1805 or aneliaskitchenandstage. com.

Jimmy Wright Band: 8:30 p.m., Big Lake Bar & Grill, 18247 Highway 9, Mount Vernon. 360-422-6411.

TBASA: 8 p.m., Cassera Gallery, 106 First St., La Conner. $10.

310-691-9391 or casseranyc@gmail.com.

Adrian Xavier Trio: 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/ Main, Conway. 360445-3000 or conwaymuse.com.

Saturday.27 Michele D’Amour and the Love Dealers: 7:30 p.m., H2O, 314 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. anacortesh2o.com or 360-755-3956.

Rumor 6: 9 p.m., Skagit Casino and Resort, 5984 Darrk Lane, Bow. 877-275-2448 or theskagit.com.

Annie Piper Band: 8:30 p.m., The Old Edison, 5829 Cains Court, Bow. 360-766-6266 or theoldedison.com.

Forest Beutel: 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., Anelia’s Kitchen & Stage, 513 First St., La Conner.

360-399-1805 or aneliaskitchenandstage. com.

Jimmy Wright Band: 8:30 p.m., Big Lake Bar & Grill, 18247 Highway 9, Mount Vernon. 360-422-6411.

Tighty Whities: 8 p.m., Eaglemont Golf Course/Fireweed Terrace, 4800 Eaglemont Drive, Mount Vernon.

360-428-1954 or fireweedterrace.com.

Joe T. Cook Blues Band: 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway.

360-445-3000 or conwaymuse.com.

FRIDAY.26

ADRIAN XAVIER TRIO 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/Main, Conway. 360-445-3000 or conwaymuse.com.

Sunday.28

Alicia Dauber Quintet: 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., Hotel Bellwether, 1 Bellwether Way, Bellingham. 360-392-3100 or hotelbellwether.com.

Jenny & The Tomcats: 5:30 p.m., The Old Edison, 5829 Cains Court, Bow. 360-7666266 or theoldedison. com.

Tuesday.30 Chad Peterson and Friends: 5 to 8 p.m., Hotel Bellwether, 1 Bellwether Way, Bellingham. 360-392-3100 or hotelbellwether.com.

Scot Ranney: 7 to 9 p.m., Pegasus Art

Gallery, 301 W. Holly, Bellingham. gallerypegasus.com, 360-5997731 or 360-671-1709.

Wednesday.31 Swingnuts: 6 p.m., Rockfish Grill & Anacortes Brewery, 320 Commercial Ave., Anacortes. Free. 360588-1720 or anacortesrockfish.com.

Nick Anthony: 6 to 8 p.m., Evelyn’s Tavern, 12667 Highway 9, Clear Lake. 360-399-1321.

Thursday.1

The Daves: 7:30 p.m., Conway Muse, 18444 Spruce/ Main, Conway. 360445-3000 or conwaymuse.com.

SUNDAY.28

JENNY & THE TOMCATS 5:30 p.m., The Old Edison, 5829 Cains Court, Bow. 360-7666266 or theoldedison.com.

E10 - Thursday, January 25, 2018

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

TRAVEL

Deep dive into the Grand Canyon yields amazing scenery, if not solitude

By DAVID ROKNIC Chicago Tribune

Roughly 6 million people visit Grand Canyon National Park in a year, but fewer than 100,000 of them spend a night in the park’s backcountry.

My wife and adventuring buddy of more than 30 years had never seen the Grand Canyon, so we figured, why not really visit the place. The only person willing or crazy enough to come along on our wilderness jaunts is my wife’s brother, a physician from Iowa.

To venture below the canyon’s rim, visitors must walk, raft or ride a mule. We chose the first.

Starting at the South Kaibab Trailhead, a few miles east of the touristy Grand Canyon Village via shuttle bus, the trail drops close to 5,000 feet during almost seven miles of descent into panoramic vistas. The deeper you hike, the greater the visual rewards. But even a casual walker can scamper down just short of a mile to Ooh Aah Point for a stunning view.

Within the national park’s massive, silent beauty, humanity seems insignificant compared with time and nature. On the other hand, every step you take is a testament to human drive, innovation and hard work. The trail was literally cut into the cliffs nearly 100 years ago, largely with manual tools. The heavy cables holding up bridges far below were once carried down on the shoulders of Native Americans.

“It’s a spiritual place,” said Bruce Rawlings, a veteran Grand Canyon hiker. The adjunct finance professor at Illinois Institute of Technology has been coming here — often with rookie friends in tow — for nearly two decades. We bumped into him while waiting for the free Hiker’s Express shuttle bus to the trailhead.

Despite the canyon’s visual and spiritual wonders, hikers will find plenty of time to curse the trail, the sun, their legs, feet,

DAVID ROKNIC / CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Dot Kane and Dr. Francis “Rocky” Kane make their way up Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon.

boots and the person who convinced them this was a good idea.

Young and healthy backpackers with no fear of knee damage might be able to crank down to the Colorado River in four to five hours — faster yet if a mule carries their gear. But even in late October, the trek to the bottom was hot and dry, taking our party seven hours. When you finally catch a glimpse of the river, it’s still many steps away.

At the canyon floor, most first-time hikers’ goal is to get to the confluence of the Colorado River and rumbling Bright Angel Creek. There lies an oasis that includes the bustling Bright Angel Campground and the rustic-but-comfortable Phantom Ranch, with its small cabins, communal bunkhouses and a common dining room. The remote, natural setting turns this otherwise simple lodge into an indulgent luxury. (Reservations are available via an online lottery system up to 13 months in advance; grandcanyonlodges. com or 888-297-2757.)

Phantom offers meals, prepaid, by reservation, but it’s also a popular spot for people to drop by to buy lemonade, beer, snacks and souvenirs. River rafters on weeks-long float trips often stop at Boat Beach and hike the quarter-mile to the ranch for cold beer and mule-delivered mail before tackling more rapids.

To get a backcountry camping permit, apply through the park’s backcountry office four months in advance. We snail-mailed our fees ($82 for three people, three nights) and a few preferred dates at the end of May for an October trip. We received confirmation — for our third choice of dates — in mid-June.

A few essentials I’d recommend that backpackers bring with them: freeze-dried food, bug spray, sleeping bag and pad, flashlight and first-aid kit. In spring and fall, some seasoned canyon hikers count on the temperate weather and skip the tent. We weren’t that brave. The most vital thing you’ll need to carry with you is water.

On a hot day, you might guzzle a gallon.

HIKING DOWN THE GRAND CANYON Because the area is so scenic, it’s also in high demand. Campsites are stacked like spawning salmon.

Be prepared for an experience more like car camping with chatty predawn neighbors and plenty of light pollution from today’s high-lumen headlamps. Despite such drawbacks, the once-in-alifetime trip to the depths of the canyon is well worth it. Eventually, though, you have to head back up.

We chose the 9.5-mile Bright Angel Trail for our ascent. One of the nation’s most heavily

traveled backcountry trails, it’s better maintained and generally gentler than its neighboring South Kaibab Trail.

After crossing the Silver Bridge over the Colorado, we followed the river to Pipe Creek Beach before turning south (and up) toward Indian Garden Campground, our home for the night.

Just as on the South Kaibab, the trail has composting toilets along the way — an almost unheard of backcountry luxury.

Hardy hikers can climb back to the rim in one day, but bucolic Indian Garden is a welcome way station and a bit less hectic than the canyon bottom. It’s worth dropping by the ranger station to enjoy the view from an easy chair on the front porch.

If you’re lucky, Ranger Betsy may have some snacks or fresh fruit to share.

The gradual ascent out of Indian Garden eased us into the next day, but steep climbs loomed ahead on the way to the rim 3,040 feet above. By the time we reached Three-Mile Resthouse, we’d started to share the trail with day hikers who’d hit the trail early with lofty goals.

Farther up, the trail got distinctly steeper. Even so, we started to pass hordes of casual hikers in less-than-sensible shoes carrying coffee cups and smelling of exotic soaps and shampoos. We were a bit of an anomaly, attracting wide-eyed questions about our hike, unsolicited congratulations and even a sense of awe of the “you must be crazy” variety.

At the top, we were belched into the throng of everyday visitors. We’d returned to the land of souvenir shops, ice cream stands, traffic, tour buses and trains.

If you’ve ever done true wilderness camping, you may miss that solitude on a trip to the canyon. But you’ll have seen one of the world’s most stunning natural features — right down to its guts.

Local travel briefs EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO TRAIL: Former Anacortes Police Chief Bonnie Bowers will talk about walking the El Camino de Santiago Trail at 7 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 8, at the Anacortes Public Library, 1220 10th St, Anacortes.

Bowers’ 550-mile walk began in southern France and ended 33 days later in Santiago, Spain. b.smart@ juno.com.

SHORT TRIPS: Mount Vernon Parks and Recreation offers travel opportunities for ages 8 and older (adult supervision required for ages 17 and younger).

Trips depart from and return to Hillcrest Park, 1717 S. 13th St., Mount Vernon.

For information or to register, call 360-336-6215.

WHATCOM SENIOR TOURS: Whatcom Senior Tours hosts a series of trips for seniors. Sign up by calling 360-733-4030, ext.

1015 or visiting the tour office at 315 Halleck St., Bellingham.

RECREATION WITHOUT BORDERS: The organization offers recreational trips, tours and adventures throughout the Northwest and British Columbia. 360766-7109 or recreationwithoutborders.com.

OAK HARBOR DAY TRIPS: The Oak Harbor Senior Center, 51 SE Jerome St., offers fun day trips for members. For details, call the travel desk at 360-2794587.

STATE VISITOR CALL CENTER: The Washington Tourism Alliance’s ExperienceWA Call Center is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. 1-800544-1800 or tourisminfo@ watourismalliance.com.

Thursday, January 25, 2018 - E11

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

HOT TICKETS QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE: Jan. 25, KeyArena, Seattle. 360745-3000 or ticketmaster. com.

NAJEE: Jan. 25-28, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle. 206-441-9729 or jazzalley.com.

RICKY GERVAIS: Jan. 27, Moore Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

BRUCE COCKBURN: Jan. 28, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

FIRST AID KIT: Jan. 28, Moore Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

DAVINA & THE VAGABONDS: Jan. 30-31, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle. 206-441-9729 or jazzalley.com.

MIRANDA LAMBERT: Feb. 1, Tacoma Dome, Tacoma. 800-745-3000 or livenation.com.

CHICK COREA TRIO: Feb. 1-4, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle. 206-4419729 or jazzalley.com.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS: Feb. 3, Moore Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

KATY PERRY: Feb. 3, Tacoma Dome, Tacoma.

800-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

ROBERT GATES: Feb. 5, McCaw Hall, Seattle. 844827-8118 or uniquelives. com.

BETH HART: Feb. 7, Neptune Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

DESTROYER, MEGA BOG: Feb. 8, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

JUDY COLLINS: Feb. 8-11, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle. 206-441-9729 or jazzalley.com.

MIKE GORDON: Feb. 9, Neptune Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

CURTIS SALGADO:

Feb. 10, Lincoln Theatre, Mount Vernon. 360-3368955 or lincolntheatre. org.

JESSE COOK: Feb. 10-11, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

MINDI ABAIR BAND: Feb. 13-14, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle. 206441-9729 or jazzalley. com.

MUMLY TROLL: Feb. 15, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN: Feb. 15, Mount Baker Theatre, Bellingham. 360-734-6080 or mountbakertheatre.com.

MAVIS STAPLES: Feb. 16-17, Skagit Casino and Resort, Bow. 877-2752448 or theskagit.com.

TOBYMAC, DANNY GOKEY, MANDISA: Feb. 16, Key Arena, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

WALK THE MOON: Feb. 16-17, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

ABDULLAH IBRAHIM, EKAYA, HUGH MASEKELA: Feb. 16-17, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle.

206-441-9729 or jazzalley. com.

JACOB SARTORIUS, ZACH CLAYTON, HAYDEN SUMMERALL: Feb. 18, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

GOGOL BORDELLO: Feb. 20, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

MAT KEARNY: Feb. 20, Moore Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

THE DOLLOP: Feb. 22, Neptune Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

MILES ELECTRIC BAND: Feb. 23, Moore Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

MARGO PRICE: Feb. 25, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

K.D. LANG: Feb. 26, Moore Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

BAHAMAS: Feb. 27, Neptune Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

HERBIE HANCOCK: March 1, McCaw Hall, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

WOOD BROTHERS: March 2, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

G-EAZY: March 3, Accesso Showare Center, Kent. 866-973-9613 or livenation.com.

RYAN MCKASSON AND ERIC MCDONALD: March 3, Phinney Center, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

NEW POLITICS: March 4, The Showbox, Seattle.

888-929-7849 or livenation.com.

ANDERSON COOPER: March 4, McCaw Hall, Seattle. 844-827-8118 or uniquelives.com.

STEEP CANYON RANGERS: March 4, Neptune Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

WALK OFF THE EARTH: March 5, Moore Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS: March 7, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

THE LONE BELLOW: March 9, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

SURVIVOR: March 9-10, Pacific Showroom, Skagit Casino and Resort, Bow. 877-275-2448 or theskagit.com.

LORDE, RUN THE JEWELS, YOVE STYRKE: March 9, KeyArena, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or

ticketmaster.com.

PHILLIP PHILLIPS: March 16, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

JOHN HIATT & THE GONERS: March 17, Moore Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

THE OH HELLOS: March 23, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

LEFTOVER SALMSON, KELLER WILLIAMS: March 24, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

AIR: March 26, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-7453000 or ticketmaster.com.

JOHN CLEESE: March 26, McCaw Hall, Seattle.

844-827-8118 or uniquelives.com.

BRANDI CARLILE, MARLON WILLIAMS: March 30-31, Moore Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-

CHRIS STRONG PHOTOGRAPHY

MAVIS STAPLES Feb. 16-17, Skagit Casino and Resort, Bow. 877-275-2448 or theskagit.com.

3000 or ticketmaster.com.

WHISKEY MYERS: April 12, Neptune Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

KENNY G: April 12-15, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle. 206-441-9729 or jazzalley.com.

— For complete listings, visist goskagit.com and click on “Entertainment”

3000 or ticketmaster.com.

TODRICK HALL: April 4, Moore Theatre, Seattle.

360-745-3000 or ticketmaster.com.

TOWER OF POWER: April 5-8, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle. 206-4419729 or jazzalley.com.

THE TRAILER PARK BOYS: April 5, Paramount Theatre, Seattle. 360-745-

McIntyre Hall Presents

CORKY SIEGEL’S CHAMBER BLUES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2 7:30PM

“Corky Siegel is a phenomenon.” ~ Washington Post

HIGH SCHOOL & SKAGIT VALLEY COLLEGE STUDENTS FREE

Corky Siegel’s Chamber Blues includes virtuosos of Americana roots with Blues harmonica, a traditional classical string quartet Chinese erhu, Indian tabla and world percussion. Experience the seamless melding of cultures and styles without losing the marked distinctive identity of each.

MCINTYREHALL.ORG 360.416.7727 2 5 0 1

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E12 - Thursday, January 25, 2018

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

Now the status quo: Hip-hop’s takeover of television

By LORRAINE ALI Los Angeles Times

The ceremony for the 60th Grammy Awards is three days away, but already music’s biggest TV night has made history.

For the first time, hiphop artists dominate in the academy’s top categories, including record, album and song of the year.

But that sound you’re hearing isn’t champagne corks popping in celebration. It’s exasperated sighs that the Recording Academy only just discovered what the rest of the entertainment industry noticed back in the flip-phone era: Hip-hop, once an outlier, is now the status quo.

From Broadway’s “Hamilton” to Hollywood’s “Straight Outta Compton” to television’s “Atlanta,” hip-hop’s broad influence of American pop culture has defied countless predictions that a nervous white mainstream would never fully embrace a trend born out of the urban, black experience.

Consider hip-hop’s television takeover. Today, rappers are not only backing films about the black experience, but they are creating, producing and starring in top-rated cable and network series and breaking out of music categories at film and television award shows.

“Atlanta” creator and star Donald Glover — who under his stage name, Childish Gambino, is up for five Grammys — made history when he won a directing Emmy in September for his breakthrough FX comedy, a cable ratings success, about the everyday trials and tribulations of an aspiring hip-hop entrepreneur. No other black director had ever won an Emmy in the comedy category, and

Glover was the first director since Alan Alda in 1977 to win for a comedy in which he also starred.

“I wanted to show white people you don’t know everything about black culture,” he told the awards ceremony audience, some of whom had already watched him win two top Golden Globes for the show earlier in 2017.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who shattered records and expectations when his hiphop musical “Hamilton” swept the 2016 Tonys, is now executive producing a forthcoming Showtime series, “The Kingkiller Chronicle,” based on characters from the fantasy books by Patrick Rothfuss.

And hitting Showtime this month was the already critically acclaimed “The Chi” from “Master of None’s” Lena Waithe, the first black woman to win an Emmy for comedy writing, and hip-hop star Common, the first rapper to win an Emmy, Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe. (Before Oprah and Meryl Streep, he gave what had been the Golden Globes’ most inspirational speech — “I am” — delivered with the poetic rhythm of a rap when he and John Legend accepted the 2015 original song award for “Glory” in Ava DuVernay’s civil rights drama “Selma.”)

It was one of many in a string of “crossover surprises”: Fox’s hip-hop themed drama “Empire” became a surprise success with white audiences; soccer moms across America were surprised they couldn’t stop humming Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” in favor of something — anything — else; and a biopic about once-feared gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A, “Straight Outta Compton,” became a surprise hit at the box

office.

The surprise, however, is that anyone was surprised.

“Hip-hop is the soundtrack of at least one, probably two generations now,” says Common (aka Lonny Rashid Lynn Jr.), who is an executive producer on the Waitherun series about everyday life on the South Side of Chicago. “People used to be afraid of it or consider it the music of gangsters or thugs, or whatever. But now, it’s part of everything … and everyone under the age of 40.”

From the jaunty 1980s McDonald’s jingles that still haunt Gen Xers today to raunchy rapper Method Man’s current role as a congenial TV game show host for the millennial-skewing “Drop the Mic,” hip-hop is now part of our cultural DNA. Tupac Shakur, Lauryn Hill and Eminem are to a generation what the Beatles and Stones were to boomers — the artists of their youth.

And in some cases, the actors of today were the rappers of their parents’ generation.

Ice-T, the once-controversial “Cop Killer” rapper whose breakthrough film role was in 1991’s “New Jack City,” has played a sex crimes detective on NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” since 2000.

“If you’re 17 now, that means I started when you were two,” he said in the past. “So you don’t have a reference point for me as a rapper. Your mother does, your father does … .”

Rap, after all, was the genre that gave us TV and film personalities like Queen Latifah, Will Smith, LL Cool J, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Redman, Method Man and Tupac — and we’re not even into the 2000s yet. Their popularity

KENNETH K. LAM / BALTIMORE SUN, 2015

“Atlanta” star Donald Glover — who under his stage name, Childish Gambino, is up for five Grammys — made history when he won a directing Emmy in September for his breakthrough FX comedy about the everyday trials and tribulations of an aspiring hip-hop entrepreneur.

would eventually give rise to more and more shows about or starring hip-hop figures. When ABC recently canceled “The Mayor,” about an aspiring rapper who becomes mayor of his hometown, there were no outcries over the dearth of black leads on TV — people were too busy looking forward to “The Chi” and the upcoming March premiere of “Atlanta’s” second season.

“When I used to get my Entertainment Weekly and I’d look at the fall TV previews,” said Method Man (aka Clifford Smith), “there was so many years when there weren’t any black shows premiered. I remember one year, there was only like one new fall show premiering that fea-

tured people of color: ‘The Cleveland Show’ — and that was animated, and the lead voice was done by a white guy!”

Lee Daniels’ “Empire” was the clearest example of hip-hop as a crossover bridge to break color barriers when it premiered on Fox in 2015 and obliterated conventional wisdom that a “black” drama was for black audiences. After all, why would an entire generation raised on Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” consider a show about a hip-hop family dynasty as anything but meant for them?

Instead of waiting for Hollywood and television studios to let them in, many hip-hop artists formed their own multimedia production companies or

began crowdsourcing funds to create their own content.

Ice Cube (aka O’Shea Jackson) alone launched an entire genre of black comedies for the post-Run DMC generation in the “Friday” and “Barbershop” series.

The stone-cold gangsta who had referred to himself as the “[N-word] you love to hate” reinvented himself as everyone’s dad in the “Are We There Yet?” films.

Taking cues from pioneers like Ice Cube, Pharrell co-executive produced a love letter to 1990s hip-hop, the comingof-age film “Dope.” Beyond his work with Common, crooner John Legend, who came up in the hip-hop world, co-produced a WGN America series about slavery, “Underground.”

Rapper 50 Cent was behind the Starz series “Power.”

Ice Cube and Dr. Dre avoided the curse of the corny rap biopic (e.g., “Notorious”) by co-producing their own story in “Straight Outta Compton.” “NCIS: Los Angeles” star and fivetime Grammy host LL Cool J now co-produces his own game show, “Lip Sync Battle.” Clearly his 1990s self was onto something when he rapped about “Rockin’ [his] peers.”

Queen Latifah (aka Dana Owens) and Will Smith also created their own production companies after experiencing success on their respective hit series, “Living Single” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Netflix recently teamed up with Smith for its biggest gamble to date, “Bright,” a streaming version of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Though critically panned, the production was streamed an astonishing 11 million times over three days when it was released last month and has been greenlit for a sequel.

Thursday, January 25, 2018 - E13

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

AT THE LINCOLN

DINING GUIDE A mix of hearty polish family recipes and lighter fare menu items made in-house from FRESH, LOCAL ingredients.

Craft beer • PNW wines House infused vodkas

Build Your Own Bloody Mary!

• Sat. & Sun.Bar! 11am-2pm Weekend Brunch & Bloody Mary Now TakingSat. Valentine’s Day Reservations & Sun. 11am-2pm LivE MUSiC EvERY FRiDAY AND SATURDAY LIVE MUSIC THURSDAYS-SATURDAYS CHECKLISTINGS LiSTiNGSaneliaskitchenandstage.com aneliaskitchenandstage.com CHECK Kitchenopen open until last Kitchen lastcall call

MERRICK MORTON PHOTO

Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson in the film ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.’

9:55 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27

La Conner Whitney Rd. & Hwy. 20

FRI. 1/26 10PM ZJ STRONGARM SAT. 1/27 7:30PM MICHELLE D’AMOUR and the LOVE DEALERS SUN. 1/28 7PM KARAOKE SAT. 2/3 8:30PM THE NAUGHTY BLOKES

Family Friendly

anacortesrockfish.com / anacortesH2O.com

1585064 1474688

A menu of Polish family recipes and Northwest fare made in-house from fresh, local ingredients Craft Beer • PNW Wines House-Infused Vodkas Sunday Brunch & Bloody Mary Bar 11am to 2pm

LOCAL LIVE MUSIC CHECK LISTINGS

aneliaskitchenandstage.com OPEN 11AM WED-MON Kitchen open until last call 513 1st Street, La Conner 360-399-1805

1705097

The MET Live in HD: ‘Tosca’

meet in the middLe!!

‘Nifty Fifties’

6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 31 Skagit Family Learning Center students perform in a musical-comedy tribute to the music of the 1950’s.

Gracie Stanley has gotten herself in hot water by promising rock star Ziggy Springer will perform for the high school Hippity Hop at Louise’s Luncheonette. Ziggy’s manager doesn’t want his client performing anywhere without pay, so Gracie and her friends have to produce a double — and fast.

It won’t be easy for Gracie to get away with this one with her rival, snooty Muffin Mansfield, waiting for her to flop.

Meanwhile, Louise has her own problems. The building’s owner forbids the dance and plans to turn the eatery into a dry cleaner.

Free admission.

— The Lincoln Theatre is located at 712 S. First St., downtown Mount Vernon. lincolntheatre.org or 360-336-8955.

FRI. 1/26 8PM CHRIS SPILLMAN WEDS. 1/31 6PM SWINGNUTS FRI. 2/23 8PM RONNIE NIX

Come in & try our rueben or Cuban SandwiCheS

1704356

7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 25-27 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1 “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is a darkly comic drama and Oscar best-picture contender from Academy Award winner Martin McDonagh (“In Bruges”).

After months have passed without a culprit in her daughter’s murder case, Mildred Hayes (Academy Award winner Frances McDormand) makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at William Willoughby (Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson), the town’s revered chief of police.

When his second-in-command Officer Dixon (Sam Rockwell), an immature mother’s boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing’s law enforcement is only exacerbated.

Rated R. $10.50 general; $9.50 seniors, students and active military; $8 ages 12 and under. Lincoln members get a $2 discount. Sunday bargain prices: $9 general; $7.50 children 12 and under.

Coming up at The Rockfish Grill and H2O:

1705111 1561518

‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’

Sonya Yoncheva will make her role debut as the title prima donna alongside Vittorio Grigolo and Željko Lučić.

Emmanuel Villaume conducts; music by Puccini; in Italian, with English subtitles.

Adults $23, seniors $21, students (with ID) and $19, child (12 and under) $17.

Lincoln members receive $2 off all price levels.

513 S 1st Street, 513 Street,La LaConner Conner 360.399.1805 360.399.1805

1705098

OPEN 11AM-11PM TUES Open Daily at 11aM••CLOSED CLOSED TUES.

E14 - Thursday, January 25, 2018

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

MOVIES

NEW THIS WEEK

Chris Hemsworth leads story of task force under fire

By MICHAEL PHILLIPS Chicago Tribune

Proudly and narrowly, “12 Strong” is a good-news war story, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by first-time feature director Nicolai Fuglsig of Denmark.

He trained as a photojournalist and covered the war in Kosovo; in the last decade Fuglsig’s commercial resume includes sleek, digitally savvy and action-oriented spots for Corvette and Xbox Halo 4, among other clients.

“12 Strong” is a goodnews story, in that the facts and personnel constitute an early victory over the Taliban — not a comprehensive or lasting one, but a victory nonetheless. In the weeks following the destruction of the World Trade Center, as part of the Bush administration’s Operation Enduring Freedom, a 12-man U.S. Army Special Forces task force, code-named Task Force Dagger, was flown and then dropped into northern Afghanistan.

The mission was simple, the process complicated.

The Green Berets were charged with joining and advising Northern Alliance tribal warlords and their troops, fighting the Taliban and al-Qaida. The strategic early battle involved control of the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

With U.S. Air Force bombing support and American soldiers traversing some extremely treacherous mountain terrain on horseback en route, the results were decisive. Also, the optics were terrific. The movie

includes the moment when then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld held up the picture of the “horse soldiers” (this was in late 2001) and found them very useful in selling the early stages of the war in Afghanistan.

In 2009, producer Bruckheimer got ahold of the galleys of Doug Stanton’s nonfiction account “Horse Soldiers.” It took a while, but “12 Strong” has come to fruition, with New Mexico locales doubling for Afghan and Uzbek locations. “12 Strong” follows the production blueprint established by the gripping 2013 film “Lone Survivor,” which depicted a no-win 2005 Navy SEAL operation against the Taliban.

The stalwart cast is led by Chris Hemsworth. He plays the group’s captain, here named Mitch Nelson (based loosely on the real-life Mark Nutsch). Michael Shannon, in a shrewdly modulated turn, plays Chief Warrant Officer Hal Spencer, based on Bob Pennington. Trevante Rhodes, Michael Pena, William Fichtner and Rob Riggle work their scenes to advantage, though screenwriters Ted Tally and Peter Craig often seem stranded in a no-man’s land between quasi-documentary reality and reassuring Hollywood cliche.

The key relationship here is between Nelson and Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum of the Northern Alliance, played by Navid Negahban of “Homeland.”

The former’s characterization is familiar, stripped of detail and, as written and depicted here, Our Ameri-

WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT VIA AP

Chris Hemsworth (center) stars in “12 Strong.”

can Hero, period. Dostum, by contrast, is the most interesting element of “12 Strong.” Scenes that seem far-fetched, such as Dostum goading the Taliban forces by telephone moments before an air strike, actually happened. For the script’s purposes, however, Dostum is there to remind Nelson that he can be more than a soldier; if he fights from the heart, he will become the warrior this war needs to vanquish their common foe.

Much of the action favors clear, adrenaline-pumping action beats and rousing, against-all-odds triumphs.

Throughout the film, we’re reminded of the peculiarity of fighting men on horseback going up against all manner of military hardware. It’s not a bad movie, as far as it goes. In terms of context, though, it goes virtually nowhere. “12 Strong” is a straight-up, unalloyed shot of movie patriotism for the Make America Great Again sector of the American movie audience.

As proven by, among others, “American Sniper,” that sector is huge. “12 Strong”

producer Bruckheimer also financed “Black Hawk Down,” a film that made war feel and look viscerally exciting, even at its bloodiest, but never lost sight of the larger picture and the ultimate cost of armed conflict. While director Fuglsig trained as a photojournalist, his movie’s action style owes as much to gaming aesthetics as it does to the real world. That cheapens the real-life heroism. And the disinterest in what came afterward feels suspicious.

No war movie can tell more than one primary story and a few underneath that one. “12 Strong” sticks to the basics, without much interest in the differentiating specifics of the men involved, or anything on a geopolitical scale beyond the impulse these Special Forces veterans shared in the wake of 9/11. It seems to me a qualified, limited success.

— 2:09. Rating: R (for war violence and language throughout). HH½

MINI-REVIEWS “Mom and Dad” — More than a few viewers won’t find any humor in a worldwide epidemic that causes parents to suddenly turn on their children and stop at nothing to take them out. But the filmmakers are going for deep, blood-red satire, highlighted by a performance of operatic madness by the one and only Nicolas Cage.

Horror, R, 83 minutes. HHH “Den of Thieves” — For the first hour or so, it appeared as if this Los Angeles-based heist thriller pitting badass sheriff’s lieutenant Gerard Butler against badass gang leader Pablo Schreiber would catch us off-guard in the best way. But just when things should have been heating up, the route grows bumpy and meandering and in some scenes drip-drip-drip SLOW. Crime action, R, 140 minutes. HH “12 Strong” — Chris Hemsworth plays the leader of the real-life U.S. Special Forces team that helped take out key Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds in Afghanistan after 9/11. But with a running time of two hours and 10 minutes, the action-packed but cliche-riddled adventure has at least 20 minutes of scenes that are either unnecessary or repetitive. War action, R, 130 minutes.

“The Commuter” — On his daily train ride home, an insurance salesman (Liam Neeson) agrees to an offer that sets off a chain reaction resulting in bloodshed and conspiracy theories and madness. Many ridiculous things happen on the train, and virtually every big twist and every major reveal is telegraphed well in advance. Action thriller, PG-13, 104 minutes. H½ “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” — Annette Bening is magnificent as Oscar-winning actress Gloria Grahame, who was beyond her glory days and living a quiet life when she struck up a friendship, then a passionate romance, with a much younger neighbor (Jamie Bell). The work grows more layered and more empathetic as we get deeper into the story. Biographic romance, R, 106 minutes. HHH½ “Phantom Thread” — Reteaming with his “There Will Be Blood” director Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Day-Lewis delivers another Oscar-worthy performance as a fashion designer in mid-20th-century London who has a very specific (and more than a little eccentric) way of doing things. The attention to detail, the use of certain colors, the lush and vibrant photography of the dresses made — they’re honestly breathtaking. Drama, R, 130 minutes. HHHH “Insidious: The Last Key” — The production elements and special effects are pretty cool in this installment of the horror franchise, a chapter about demons in the creepy childhood home of parapsychologist Elise Rainier (the wonderful Lin Shaye). The main problem— too many ghosts. Good ghosts, bad ghosts, and ghosts that might not really be ghosts at all. Horror, PG-13, 103 minutes. HH “Hostiles” — Christian Bale is at the laser-focused top of his game (and perfectly cast) as an Old West soldier escorting a freed Cheyenne chief (Wes Studi) and his family to their ancestral land. The brutal violence is not for the faint of heart, but “Hostiles” winds up being about having a heart in a world that seems almost without hope. Western, R, 133 minutes. HHH½

Thursday, January 25, 2018 - E15

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

MOVIES

REVIEW

‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ has sharp bite, exhausting pace Of all the dystopian young-adult franchises that “The Hunger Games” hath wrought, “The Maze Runner” series has always been the one of the most forthrightly entertaining — and the sweatiest. But that sweat is evidence of what makes the trilogy work.

As directed by Wes Ball, it takes off at a full sprint and never slows down. It can be a pleasantly pummeling experience, an adrenaline-drenched ride delivered by the capable hands of Ball, with the appealingly energetic star

Dylan O’Brien. In the third and ostensibly final film, “The Death Cure,” pushes the action so far it hits the edge of unpleasant.

The franchise brings a boyish, impish energy to the teen apocalypse genre.

“The Hunger Games” was nakedly emotional, each tragedy channeled through the primal scream of Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss.

“Divergent” was always too fastidious, cold and remote to connect. “Maze Runner” brings the grime and grit to the race for survival in a dystopian postcivilization that’s eating its own young.

And as we discovered in the second film, “The Scorch Trials,” this apocalyptic tale

“The Post” — Meryl Streep has often played the most confident of characters, but as 1970s Washington Post publisher Kay Graham, she does an astonishing job of showing us someone unsure of herself as she debates publishing the Pentagon Papers and risking jail. This is a love letter to journalistic bravery and to the First Amendment, and it is the best movie about newspapers since “All the President’s Men.” Historical drama, PG-13, 115 minutes. HHHH “Bright” — In what’s basically a tired buddy-cop movie dressed up in bizarre trappings, Will Smith and Joel Edgerton battle to prevent the evil Dark Lord from destroying the world. A truly terrible, mountainous pile of genre-blending garbage filled with transparent parallels to real-world racism and class differences. Fantasy action, not rated, 117 minutes. H½ “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” — The story of a grieving mother (Frances

McDormand) trying to shame the police chief (Woody Harrelson) into solving her daughter’s murder provides some of the strongest laughs and most poignant moments of heartbreak of any movie in recent memory.

Somehow writer-director Martin McDonagh has taken the bleakest of subject matters and treated it seriously while also serving up one of the best dark comedies I’ve ever seen. Dark comedy, R, 115 minutes. HHHH “Molly’s Game” — Jessica Chastain gives a nomination-worthy performance as the organizer of high-stakes, A-list poker games that aren’t exactly legal. With his feature directing debut, Aaron Sorkin hits a home run — a glimpse of life in the fast lane, a sobering cautionary tale and a brilliant character study. Biographical drama, R, 140 minutes. HHHH “All the Money in the World” — Ridley Scott’s well-paced, great-looking and nimble take on one of the most famous kidnapping cases of the 20th century leaves us

By KATIE WALSH Tribune News Service

is actually a zombie movie, which gives the whole enterprise that much more bite.

“The Maze Runner” was plainly task-oriented — a bunch of teens dropped into a mysterious glade have to try and escape through a maze every day — and the series never loses sight of the ethos. The maze is metaphorical rather than physical now, as Thomas (O’Brien) tries to escape the maze of a crumbling civilization and the evil corporation WICKED. Thomas and his young cohort have found themselves WICKED’s test subjects, as they’re immune to the Flare disease that’s turning humans into

bloodthirsty “cranks.”

All Thomas can do is run, and run he does, often without thinking the whole thing through. His goal to simply get out with all his friends alive proves to be difficult when he and his team of rebels hijack the wrong train car, leaving his friend Minho (Ki Hong Lee) to withstand torturous trials at WICKED headquarters while scientists try to develop a virus-fighting serum. When Thomas sets off on a rescue mission to grab Minho from the last standing city, things are complicated when he discovers his former flame Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) is one of the scientists

working on the serum (the “death cure” if you will).

The overall plot itself isn’t all that complex, though the path is riddled with obstacles, including a leprous Walton Goggins, leading an uprising at the walls of the city, old friends from the Glade popping up left and right and an army of cranks and super-soldiers bearing down in all directions. Ball and screenwriter T.S. Nowlin keep a tight grip on the tone and the relentless pace, but they often back the story and characters into corners that only a deus ex machina can fix. By the time the third or fourth savior swoops out of the sky, it gets to be a bit contrived.

Ball embraces the maximalist approach, and as the film pushes the two-hour, 20-minute mark, it devolves into a seizure-inducing mass of strobe lighting and noise, all gunshots, crunching bone, explosions and crumbling buildings.

It’s overwhelming, numbing and exhausting. In “The Death Cure,” the “Maze Runner” pushes it to the limit and ultimately ends up spent.

— 2:20 minutes. Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, language and some thematic elements. HH½

At area theaters ANACORTES CINEMAS Jan. 26-Feb. 1 The Metropolitan Opera: Tosca (NR): Saturday: 9:50 a.m.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 1:00, 3:35, 6:30, 9:05; Sunday-Thursday: 1:00, 3:35, 6:30 Paddington 2 (PG): Friday: 1:10, 6:40; Saturday: 1:25, 6:40; Sunday-Thursday: 1:10, 6:40 The Post (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 1:20, 3:55, 6:50, 9:25; Sunday-Thursday: 1:20, 3:55, 6:50 Lady Bird (R): Friday-Saturday: 4:10, 9:35; Sunday-Thursday: 4:10 360-293-7000 CONCRETE THEATRE Jan. 26-28 Past Flag Flying (PG-13): Friday: 7:30 p.m.; Saturday: 5 and 7:30 p.m.; Sunday: 5 p.m.

360-941-0403 * Times are subject to change

marveling at the enormous footprint J. Paul Getty left on the world. Playing the oil tycoon as a last-minute substitute for Kevin Spacey, Christopher Plummer delivers a powerful,

OAK HARBOR CINEMAS Jan. 26-Feb. 1 The Metropolitan Opera: Tosca (NR): Saturday: 9:50 a.m.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 1:00, 3:35, 6:40, 9:25; Sunday-Thursday: 1:00, 3:35, 6:40 Paddington 2 (PG): Friday: 1:10, 7:00; Saturday: 1:25, 7:00; Sunday-Thursday: 1:10, 7:00 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (PG13): Friday-Saturday: 1:20, 4:00, 6:50, 9:35; Sunday-Thursday: 1:20, 4:00, 6:50 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (R): Friday-Saturday: 4:15, 9:45; Sunday-Thursday: 4:15 360-279-2226 BLUE FOX DRIVE-IN Oak Harbor Jan. 26-28 Maze Runner: The Death Cure (PG-13) and The Greatest Showman (PG): First movie starts at approximately 6 p.m.

360-941-0403

magnetic, scene-stealing performance. Historical drama, R, 132 minutes. HHH½ “Downsizing” — Matt Damon is in prime everyman mode as a good guy with a

STANWOOD CINEMAS Jan. 26-Feb. 1 Maze Runner: The Death Cure (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 12:30, 3:35, 6:40, 8:55; Sunday-Thursday: 12:30, 3:35, 6:40 Paddington 2 (PG): 1:20, 6:30 The Post (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 1:00, 4:15, 7:10, 9:45; Sunday-Thursday: 1:00, 4:15, 7:10 Hostiles (R): Friday-Saturday: 12:45, 3:45, 6:50, 9:50; Sunday-Thursday: 12:45, 3:45, 6:50 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (PG-13): Friday-Saturday: 1:10, 4:05, 7:00, 9:40; Sunday-Thursday: 1:10, 4:05, 7:00 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (R): Friday-Saturday: 3:55, 10:00; Sunday-Thursday: 3:55 360-629-0514 CASCADE MALL THEATERS Burlington For showings: amctheatres.com/showtimes/all/2017-06-23/amc-loews-cascademall-14/all

good heart who agrees to be shrunk to 5 inches tall as a way to reduce his environmental footprint — and enjoy a more luxurious life. At first a raucous comedy with some social com-

mentary, director Alexander Payne’s film loses its way for a while, and it feels as if we’re being lectured a bit too much in the home stretch. Comedy satire, R, 135 minutes. HHH

E16 - Thursday, January 25, 2018

Skagit Valley Herald / goskagit.com

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