ENTERTAINMENT
Saturday, December 5, 2015
BRIEFLY
Fishtrap offers
PRQWKO\¿UHVLGH
ENTERPRISE — A
trio of Wallowa County
writers are featured in
the upcoming Fishtrap
Fireside.
They are: Lynne
Curry, a professional
cook and writer who
moved to Joseph
from Seattle, has been
published as a food
journalist; James Nash,
a 2004 Enterprise High
School graduate, who
received a bachelor’s
degree in literature and
writing before serving
in the Marine Corps.
He now helps manage 6
Ranch in Wallow County;
and =anni SchaufÀer,
who is the recipient of
an Oregon Literary Arts
fellowship. Her poems
have been featured in
several publications and
she is sending her ¿rst
book to publishers while
working on a second
manuscript.
The event also
includes an open mic
time for audience
members to share their
stories. The Fishtrap
Fireside is a monthly
event.
For more information,
contact Mike Midlo
at mike#¿shtrap.org,
541-426-3623 or visit
www.¿shtrap.org.
Balch Bounty
features feast
DUFUR — A farm
to table feast is planned
during the Balch Bounty:
Super Saturday Supper
Series for December.
Chef Jason
Barwikowski (formerly
of Vintage Grill at Hood
River Hotel and The
Woodsman in Portland) is
serving bitter greens with
roasted wild mushrooms
and winter vegetables and
pancetta-sherry dressing,
whole roasted loins of
Oregon albacore and
Corona beans with spicy
tomato broth, and grilled
bread. Be sure to save
room for the apple panna
cotta dessert.
The event is Saturday,
Dec. 12 at 6 p.m. at the
Historic Balch Hotel, 40
S. Heimrich St., Dufur.
The cost is $45 per
person, plus gratuity.
People are encouraged
to come early and hear
the Dufur Boys play
bluegrass music at
3:30 p.m. in the lobby,
followed by the Lighted
Tractor Parade at 4:30
p.m. and the Innkeeper’s
Reception at 5:15 p.m.,
featuring complimentary
hor d’oeuvres. Local
wine, beer and specialty
drinks are available for
purchase.
To make a dinner
reservation (rooms are
also available), call
541-467-2277. For more
information, visit www.
balchhotel.com.
Movie highlights
the Great War
MISSION — What’s
been called one of
the most accurate
interpretations of World
War I, “WW I: America
and the Great War” will
be shown during Pepsi
Primetime@the Museum.
Produced by PBS, the
¿lm describes the events,
causes, trench warfare
and the ¿nal drive by
the American and allied
forces that ended it all on
the 11th hour of the 11th
day of the 11th month of
1918.
The free event is
Saturday, Dec. 12 at
1 p.m. at Tamástslikt
Cultural Institute, located
near Wildhorse Resort &
Casino, off Highway 331,
Mission.
This collection of
archival footage from
sources around the
world highlights the
battles, the American
military leaders, and the
remarkable story of the
“Red Baron,” the most
feared German pilot who
is credited with 80 Allied
kills.
Complimentary
refreshments will
be served. For more
information, call
541-429-7700 or visit
www.tamastslikt.org.
East Oregonian
Page 3C
Now that’s what I call ‘Entertainment’
T
he public loves an uplifting
showbiz success movie:
Kid with talent from a small
town has a dream of making it
big. Kid moves to the city to ¿nd
his way. After overcoming a few
roadblocks through sheer tenacity,
Kid ¿nally catches that big break.
Occasionally introducing conÀict is
totally eschewed in
simply presenting
a meteoric rise to
stardom a la Mariah
Carey’s “Glitter.” It’s
an American myth
that Horatio Alger
would give two
thumbs up.
J.D.
In reality those
Kindle
success stories only
Comment
make up a small
portion of those
attempting to “make
it.” In order for there to be a few
winners there must be a lot of losers.
Enter director Rick Alverson’s
latest ¿lm, “Entertainment,” a
road movie that follows comedian
Neil Hamburger, played by Gregg
Turkington. Hamburger performs
one dead-end gig after another for
unappreciative crowds on a tour
across the Mojave Desert. In between
shows he meets random denizens of
southeastern California, ranging from
his successful but painfully mediocre
rancher cousin to dope ¿ends loitering
around truck stops. When he ¿nally is
offered the solitude of a hotel room,
Hamburger is seen leaving phone
messages for an estranged daughter
who never returns his calls. Both on
stage and off, Hamburger is a failure
and nothing he does, no matter how
well intentioned, goes right.
Neil Hamburger is a real-life,
decades old alter ego created
by Turkington, much like Andy
Kaufman’s turn as Tony Clifton, but
Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
Gregg Turkington in “Entertainment,” a Magnolia Pictures release.
Hamburger’s stand-up performances
are a more foul-mouthed, alcoholic
and acerbic version than what
Kaufman ever dared to present. (A
sample joke: “What is the difference
between Courtney Love and the
American Àag" It would be wrong
to urinate on the American Àag.”)
Hamburger borders on performance
art, a parody of the hackneyed
Vegas comic in a tuxedo, and has
found a regular place opening up for
rock bands rather than touring the
traditional comedy circuit. Perhaps
that is why he is a more natural ¿t for
an art ¿lm like “Entertainment” than,
say, someone like Dane Cook.
However, the presentation of
Neil Hamburger in “Entertainment”
is an interpretation of that character
where his abrasive performances are
balanced with moments of breaking
his stage persona to reveal a broken
man.
Like his previous ¿lm, “The
Comedy,” a drama revolving around
deplorable behavior of self-absorbed
New York City hipsters that turns
out to be anything but a comedy,
“Entertainment’s” title is just as
ironic. Work within the entertainment
industry is what drives the plot, but
“Entertainment” isn’t concerned with
the end product of that labor that the
audience sees.
The chief drawback of
“Entertainment” is its pacing. In
a previous life, Alverson fronted
the slow-core band Spokane who,
as their genre descriptor would
imply, explored the possibilities
performing songs with glacial tempos.
That same sensibility is present in
“Entertainment” and although he
composes images that turns even the
most desolate of settings in places
of serene beauty, it’s hard not to turn
your attention elsewhere, especially
if you are watching “Entertainment”
on VOD in the comfort of your own
home.
As much as we love success
stories, the failure stories deserve just
as much attention, if only to provide
a cautionary tale. “Entertainment,” as
discomforting as it can be to watch,
delivers on that front and provides
visceral images that will linger on for
days after viewing. The most affecting
scene in the ¿lm, and perhaps the
most emblematic of Hamburger’s
failures, is when he attempts to be
heroic by assisting a woman going
into labor in rest stop bathroom.
Tragically, this episode doesn’t serve
as his redemption.
Mariah Carey’s “Glitter” this ain’t.
“Entertainment” is currently in
limited theatrical release and available
on video-on-demand.
Ŷ
James Dean Kindle is the executive
director of the Oregon East Symphony
and a Pendleton musician. Contact
him at jamesdeankindle@gmail.com.
WHAT TO DO
Festivals
Journey to Bethlehem
Dec. 4-6; 5-8:30 p.m.
Seventh-day
Adventist
Church
855 W. Highland Ave., Herm-
iston
Free. Guided tours through
an outdoor village, which fea-
tures what it may have been like
in Biblical times during the birth
of Jesus. Refreshments served
afterwards.
Holiday Festival
Thursday-Saturday nights
Every 30 minutes from 5-9
p.m.
Second & East Main streets,
Hermiston
Free. Also, live entertainment
each Thursday at 6 p.m.
Art & Museums
Fishtrap Fireside
Friday, Dec. 11; 7 p.m.
400 E. Grant St., Enterprise
ZZZ¿VKWUDSRUJ
Free. Lynne Curry, James
1ash and =anni SchaufÀer are
featured writers. An open mic fol-
lows for audience to share their
stories.
Art of the Gift
Tuesday-Fridays, 10 a.m.-4
p.m.,
Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Pendleton Center for the
Arts, 214 N. Main St.
ZZZSHQGOHWRQDUWVRUJ
Free. Unique items created by
the best craftspeople form the re-
gion and beyond. Includes func-
tional and wearable items, just
in time for Christmas shopping.
Runs through Dec. 31.
Drawn Together
Monday-Fridays;
noon-4
p.m.
Nightingale Gallery, Loso Hall
Eastern Oregon University,
La Grande
ZZZHRXHGXDUWQLJKWLQ-
JDOHJDOOHU\
Free. Drawn Together: Con-
temporary Drawing in the Paci¿c
Northwest features 13 Paci¿c
Northwest artists. Runs through
Dec. 9.
Betty Feves 25th Anniver-
sary Exhibit
Monday through Thursdays;
11 a.m.-2 p.m.
By appointment, 541-278-
5952
Betty Feves Memorial Gal-
lery, BMCC, 2411 N.W. Carden
Ave., Pendleton.
Free. Exhibit honors Betty
Feves and her continuing legacy
with pieces by artists who appren-
ticed with her. Runs through Dec.
17.
Friday, Dec. 11; Saturday,
Dec. 12, 9 p.m. No cover
Wildhorse Sports Bar at Wild-
horse Resort & Casino, off High-
way 331, Mission.
World War I Posters
Holiday Music Festival
Monday - Saturdays, 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m.
Tamástslikt Cultural Institute,
near Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
ZZZWDPDVWVOLNWRUJ
$10/adults, $9/senior citizens,
$6/youths, free/5 and under or
$25/family of four. Features 65
original posters from the World
War I era and other artifacts from
the time period. Runs through
Jan. 2.
Sunday, Dec. 13 ; 3:15 p.m.
Vert Auditorium, 480 S.W.
Dorion Ave., Pendleton
ZZZRUHJRQHDVWV\PSKRQ\
RUJ
$20/adults,
$15/students,
seniors, $45/family. The Oregon
East Symphony’s holiday pro-
gram includes an performances
by community vocal groups, in-
cluding the Pendleton Men’s Cho-
rus and the Sherwood-McKay
Children’s Chorus. The sympho-
ny’s chorale will perform Ralph
Vaughn Williams’ “Fantasia On A
Christmas Carol.”
Heritage Station Museum
Tuesday-Saturdays
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
108 S.W. Frazer Ave., Pend-
leton
ZZZKHULWDJHVWDWLRQPXVHXP
RUJ
$5/adults, $2/student, $4/se-
niors, $10/family.
SAGE Center
Monday-Saturdays
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
101 Olson Road, Boardman
ZZZYLVLWVDJHFRP
$5/adults, $3/students, se-
niors, free/under 5. An interactive
visitor center highlighting sustain-
able agriculture and energy. On-
site store features local art, jewel-
ry, food, wine and gifts.
Music
Oldies Night in Milton-Free-
water
Saturday, Dec. 5; 7 p.m.
Wesley Methodist Church,
816 S. Main St., Milton-Freewa-
ter.
Free. BJ the DJ spins tunes of
the 1985..
Phamous Phaces
Saturday, Dec. 5, 9 p.m. No
cover
Wildhorse Sports Bar at Wild-
horse Resort & Casino, off High-
way 331, Mission.
Christmas concerts
Friday, Dec. 11; 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 12; 4 p.m.
Echo Community Center, 20
Bonanza St.
www.LQODQGQRUWKZHVWPXVL-
FLDQVFRP
Free, donations accepted.
Holiday cheer with the Inland
Northwest Chorale. Reservations
suggested; for more information,
contact 541-289-4696 or inwm@
machmedia.net.
Groove Thang
Israel Nash w/Anthony
D’Amato
Monday, Dec. 14; 7 p.m. All
ages. No cover.
Great Paci¿c Wine & Coffee
Co., 403 S. Main St., Pendleton
Dallin Puzey & Tucker Tovey
Wednesday, Dec. 16; 6-9
p.m.
Nookies/Hermiston Brewing
Co., 125 N. First St., Hermiston
No cover.
Decade X
Friday, Dec. 18; Saturday,
Dec. 19, 9 p.m. No cover
Wildhorse Sports Bar at Wild-
horse Resort & Casino, off High-
way 331, Mission.
Sunny Ledford
Saturday, Dec. 19, 10 p.m.
The Pheasant, 149 E. Main
St., Hermiston
ZZZIDFHERRNFRP7KH3-
KHDVDQW&DIH/RXQJH
$25. Call 541-567-3022 for
reservations.
Night life
Ugly Sweater Christmas
Party
Wednesday, Dec. 16; 11
a.m.- 9 p.m.
Nookies/Hermiston Brewing
Co., 125 N. First St., Hermiston
No cover. Wear an ugly
sweater and get 10 percent off.
There will be a drawing for gift
baskets.
White Elephant Party
Friday, Dec. 18; 7-10 p.m.
40 Taps, 337 S.W. Emigrant
Ave., Pendleton
Z Z Z I D F H E R R N F R P
HYHQWV
No cover. Bring a wrapped gift
valued at up to $20 for Dirty Santa
gift exchange.
DJ and dancing
Bad Santa Costume Party
Fridays, 8 p.m.
The Pheasant, 149 E. Main
St., Hermiston
Saturday, Dec. 26; 9 p.m.
The Pheasant, 149 E. Main
St., Hermiston
No cover. Prizes for best cos-
tume, DJ music, beer pong and
other games.
DJ music
Saturdays, 8 p.m.
The Pheasant, 149 E. Main
St., Hermiston
Sunday Fundays
Sundays; 4 p.m.
Riverside Sports Bar, 1501
Sixth St., Umatilla
No cover. Food/drink specials
Whiskey Wednesday Game
Night
Wednesdays; 3-7 p.m.
The Pheasant, 149 E. Main
St., Hermiston
No cover. Drink specials and
games, including Xbox 360, Nin-
tendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and Nin-
tendo 64.
RocKaraoke
Third Wednesdays, 8 p.m.
Wildhorse Sports Bar, Wild-
horse Resort & Casino, off High-
way 331, Mission.
No cover. Live band karaoke
the third Wednesday of each
month through December.
Thursday Night Comedy
Thursdays, 8 p.m.
Wildhorse Sports Bar, Wild-
horse Resort & Casino, off High-
way 331, Mission.
Digital Karaoke
Thursdays and Fridays, 8
p.m.
The Pheasant, 149 E. Main
St., Hermiston
Mac’s Trivia Night
Thursdays; 8 p.m.
Mac’s Bar & Grill, 1400 S.W.
Dorion Ave., Pendleton
No cover. 21 and older. Trivial
Beersuit is weekly through Dec.
17. Teams of 2-8 compete in trivia
contest. Live host and prizes.
Wine tasting
Fridays, 4-8 p.m.
Sno Road Winery, 111 W.
Main St., Echo.
Open Mic
First/third Friday each month,
8 p.m.-midnight
The Packard Tavern, 118
S.E. Court Ave., Pendleton
ZZZIDFHERRNFRPJURXSV
SHQGOHWRQRSHQPLF
Karaoke
Fridays 8 p.m. (9 p.m. if
game on)
Riverside Sports Bar, 1501
Sixth St., Umatilla
Stage & film
“How the Grinch Stole
Christmas”
Saturday, Dec. 5; 2:15 p.m.
SAGE Center, 101 Olson
Road, Boardman
ZZZYLVLWVDJHFRP
$5/adults, $3/seniors, stu-
dents. Free popcorn with admis-
sion.
“Christmas in the Land of
Oz”
Friday, Dec. 11; 7 p.m.
Dec. 5-6, 12-13; 2 p.m.
Masquers Theater, Soap
Lake, Wash.
ZZZPDVTXHUVFRP
$7. The Wicked Witch of the
West becomes the Grinch of this
delightful holiday play when she
steals Christmas from Munchkin-
land. It takes all your Oz favor-
ites to bring the yuletide holiday
back.
Pepsi Primetime@the
Museum
Saturday, Dec. 12; 1 p.m.
Tamástslikt Cultural Institute,
near Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
ZZZWDPDVWVOLNWRUJ
Free. Produced by PBS,
“WWI: America and the Great
War” describes the events, caus-
es, trench warfare and the ¿nal
drive by the American and allied
forces that ended it all on the 11th
hour of the 11th day of the 11th
month of 1918. James Givan’s
war posters exhibit is currently
on display at the museum. Com-
plimentary refreshments served.
Hot tickets
Flashdance the Musical.
Jan. 22, Windermere Theatre,
Kennewick. Tickets ($42-$67)
available via ZZZWLFNHWPDVWHU
FRP
Black Sabbath: The End.
Feb. 6, Tacoma Dome. Tickets
($35-$150) available via www.
WLFNHWPDVWHUFRP
Harlem Globetrotters. Feb.
21, Toyota Center, Kennewick.
Tickets ($80.50-102.50) avail-
able via ZZZWLFNHWPDVWHUFRP
———
:DQWWRJHW\RXUHYHQWOLVWHG
LQ RXU FDOHQGDU" 6HQG LQIRUPD-
WLRQ WR WPDOJHVLQL#HDVWRUHJR-
QLDQFRPRUFR7DPP\0DOJHVL-
QL(0DLQ6WUHHW+HUPLVWRQ
25
MOVIE REVIEW
3L[DU¶VWULSS\µ7KH*RRG'LQRVDXU¶VWXPEOHV
By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer
“The Good Dinosaur”
is Pixar’s most trippy and
tripped-up ¿lm: a wayward
tale, uncertain of its steps,
about a Gumby-green young
dinosaur lost in prehistoric
forests that are rendered in
lushly sensory detail and
populated by bug-eyed
animations.
Any animated movie
worth its salt usually has
something hallucinogenic
about it. More often than
not, Pixar has honored
that tradition, whether in
the day-glow head trips of
“Inside Out” or the ooo-ing
aliens of “Toy Story 2” who,
trapped all their lives in a
vending machine, worship
“The Claw.”
Pixar-Disney via AP
Spot, voiced by Jack Bright, left, and Arlo, voiced by
Raymond Ochoa, appear in a scene from “The Good
Dinosaur.”
But in “The Good
Dinosaur,” director Peter
Sohn and Pixar have, for
the ¿rst time, wandered
out into the wilderness. As
if exhilarated by the open
air, Sohn and his animators
create such dazzling
imagery of Àowing water
and mountainous landscapes
that “The Good Dinosaur”
might be most attractive to
mushroom-eating hikers.
The screenplay, by
Meg LeFauve from a story
conceived by Bob Peterson,
is actually set in a parallel
time. In the movie’s opening
moments, the asteroid
meant to spell doom for the
dinosaurs whizzes past the
Earth.
It’s a concept that could
have meant all kinds of
interesting possibilities,
but “The Good Dinosaur”
makes surprisingly little use
of most of them. Here, the
dinosaurs have developed
into a partly agrarian society
(Arlo’s family harvests corn)
and the ¿rst homo sapiens
are pesky critters. As his
name suggests, Spot is more
like a dog than a human; he
resembles a two-foot tall,
tongue-wagging Zac Efron.
But he is also more
adept in the woods than the
fearful Arlo, and the ¿lm’s
most tender moments are
in the wordless bonding
between the pair of orphans
as they navigate their way
through terrain that appears
modeled on the Rockies,
somewhere near the geysers
“The Good Dinosaur”
ۻۻۻۼ
PG, 92 minutes
of Yellowstone.
But the best part of “The
Good Dinosaur” may well
be the short that precedes it:
“Sanjay’s Super Team,” by
Sanjay Patel. In it, a boy and
father sit on opposite sides
of a room, each crouched in
solemn devotion to boxes
before them: a TV blaring
a superhero cartoon for the
boy, a cabinet for Hindu
meditation for the father. In
a few tender minutes, the
short bridges two worlds
more sweetly than the
dinosaur-human pairing to
follow.