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Page 6 January 25, 2018 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Entertainment
Check It Out Film Review
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Reviewed by Kristina Kora-Beckman,
Librarian I, El Segundo Public Library
Nicola Yoon’s books have been on my “to-read”
list for a while and finally I’ve gotten to enjoy
her latest The Sun is Also a Star -- a fantastically
witty, smart, quirky and inventive book that I’m
not surprised was a National Book Award Finalist.
The story takes place mostly in a day and is
told in alternating chapters, primarily between
Natasha, an undocumented Jamaican teen with
a passion for science; and Daniel, a Korean-
American poetry lover who struggles with the
high expectations of his immigrant parents.
Interspersed are glimpses into the lives of
surrounding characters such as the security
guard who checks Natasha’s belongings as she
enters a government building, or the waitress
who serves the couple for lunch. Also included
are entries from concepts like “Love” and the
“Universe.” All of these varying perspectives
contribute to a feeling of interconnectedness
and understanding that while we may not agree
with a character’s choices, we can understand
why they might have made them. Similarly,
Yoon doesn’t shy away from thorny issues
such as race, immigration and even depression
and suicide, but deftly explores how characters
grapple with these issues and find a way to
move forward.
To check out The Sun is Also a Star, available
in hardback and eBook format from our
Shared eBook Collection (Overdrive), please
visit the library to apply for your free library
card. For further eBook assistance including
setting up your device or troubleshooting,
please stop by the Reference Desk or call us
at (310) 524-2728. •
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Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot at
Sundance: A Cartoonist Finds Second Life
By Ryan Rojas for www.cinemacy.com
I was lucky enough to attend the world
premiere of American indie icon and film
director Gus Van Sant’s newest film, Don’t
Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, at this
year’s Sundance Film Festival. Based on the
memoir of the same name, Van Sant brings
the real-life story of John Callahan (Joaquin
Phoenix) to the big screen. Callahan, the late
cartoonist whose early battle with alcohol
addiction eventually led to a drunk driving
incident that would leave him in near fullbody
paralysis and confined to a wheelchair
for the rest of his life, would use the limited
mobility of his arms to go on to find catharsis
in drawing cartoons – single-panel comics
whose humor would come from illustrating
the often wincingly dark absurdities of life.
Van Sant mixes Callahan’s humor with a
painfully honest journey to make a beautiful
portrait of how one finds solace in the face
of tragedy, giving credence to the old saying
that tragedy is just comedy plus time.
Van Sant, who wrote the screenplay of
the film as well, gives Callahan’s story
an impressionistic wash, intercutting
wheelchair Callahan’s present-day wheelchair
confinement with the earlier chapters of
his life through flashback form. We see a
younger Callahan guzzling booze straight
Joaquin Phoenix and Jonah Hill share a laugh during support group. Photo credit: Scott Patrick Green.
from the bottle, moments of the drunk driving
incident with friend and enabler Dexter (Jack
Black), and his physical therapy exercises
with would-be lover Annu (Rooney Mara),
as well as the story of Callahan entering a
support group for his alcohol addiction. The
recurring support group scenes prove to be
the emotional core of the movie and lift the
story from a standard biopic to a character
study in therapeutic discovery and healing.
Bringing Callahan to the big screen in
fearless form is Phoenix, who once again
proves a master in being able to shape-shift
into and humanize the oddball characters
that he inhibits. Phoenix as the irreverent
Callahan plays both sides of the aisle in
a character whose devil-may-care benders
evoke those of Hunter S. Thompson’s. He’s
silly and funny, evoking his hippie stoner
of Inherent Vice, but he also drifts into
the emotionally conflicted soldier returned
from war as seen in The Master. Phoenix in
full-body paralysis is forced to confront his
demons while attending addiction groups led
by group sponsor Donnie (Jonah Hill), and it’s
here that the film finds its counterbalance to
Callahan’s reckless, untamed nature. Donnie,
with long, flowing, spiritually enlightened
blonde locks, is both sagely and sympathetic
to the group -- and especially Callahan,
whose scenes together prove master classes
in performance. It’s exciting to see Hill
continue to surprise audiences with his film
choices, as this performance is as equally
fearless and honest as Phoenix’s.
It should be pointed out that Don’t Worry,
He Won’t Get Far on Foot is somewhat of a
difficult watch -- not in a disturbing way, which
some thematic elements are, but more that the
film feels very much like a labor of love and
is intentionally laborious. The emotional heft
and weight that the movie brings can only
be assumed to honor both Callahan as well
as the person who first brought the project to
Van Sant to star in back in the nineties. The
late Robin Williams, who previously starred
in Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting, was also a
comedian battling his own demons, and the
film would remain in development for 20
years until Williams’ untimely passing. Van
Sant honors the artist’s emotional journeys
of the struggle to find meaning in the wake
of tragedy (the film is dedicated to Williams)
and shows that through self-forgiveness and
circumstances acceptance, life is best lived
not with grief, but with a grin.
113 minutes. Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far
on Foot is rated R for language throughout,
sexual content, some nudity and alcohol
abuse. In select theaters May 11. •
Ryan Rojas.
Kristina Kora-Beckman.
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon.
goals in each half and the defense continued
to be limiting.
El Segundo returns home next Wednesday
to host Beverly Hills at 3 p.m. and Lawndale
next Friday to wrap up the team’s final regular
season game against Lawndale. If the Eagles
continue their success, they’ll most likely
advance to the CIF playoffs after missing
out last season.
Meanwhile, the Lady Eagles are on track
to return to the CIF playoffs after missing
out last season. The team is on a three-game
win streak and has won four of the last five
games with a tie. El Segundo is 3-0-1 in the
Ocean League and has outscored opponents
15-4 in that five-game stretch.
The team’s future playoff hopes depend on
how it did yesterday against Santa Monica
and how it will do against Culver City on
Friday at home at 3 p.m. Samo is 3-1, while
Culver City is tied with El Segundo at 3-0-1.
Girls Water Polo
Chasing League Title
The Lady Eagles kept their Ocean League
record perfect with a 15-3 win over Torrance.
Senior Chloe Rubincam had a career-high
three goals scoring from the outside. Christina
Mullane had four goals and Jenna Olson and
Claire Lindsey each scored two goals, while
Maya Weiss and Natalie Cloutier-Chaine
chipped in one goal apiece.
The Lady Eagles faced Santa Monica
this past Monday with the winner having
the inside track on an Ocean League title.
El Segundo will wrap up its home schedule
next Thursday at 3 p.m. against Torrance. •
“A good film is when the price of
the dinner, the theatre admission
and the babysitter were worth it.”
– Alfred Hitchcock