Film

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Kaijus & Udo

Udo Kier sings his “Swan Song” and the low-brow “Suicide Squad” is high art

By Bryan VanCampen

Ithink the first time I saw Udo Kier was in the Wesley Snipes Marvel vampire picture “Blade” (1998), but to be honest, I’d seen pictures of him in “Sex in the Cinema” articles in my dad’s Playboy magazines. Kier made his film debut in 1965, and now he’s got over 200 film credits on his resume.

In Todd Stephens’ “Swan Song” (Magnolia Pictures-Luna Pictures-House of Gemini”, 2021, 105 min.), opening at Cinemapolis on Aug. 13, Kier gives a spiky and funny performance as Pat Pitsenbarger, a retired hairdresser living in an old-age home in Sandusky, Ohio. He doesn’t speak for the first 10 minutes of the movie. He talks when a visiting lawyer tells him that a deceased former client wanted Pat to style her final hairdo. The death-bed request awakens something in Pat, and so he escapes his care-facility to wander around Sandusky, looking for the right supplies for the job.

This is one of those twilight, elegiac performances; Kier is clearly nearer to the end than the beginning, and there’s so much emotional subtext that Kier brings simply by who he is and his theatrical persona. Todd Stephens shoots everything in flat verité, like a straightforward documentary: “Udo Visits Sandusky.” To see him go from illicitly smoking and reclining like a living corpse at home to receiving the gift of a jaunty, pink woman’s hat from the hair stylists working at his former beauty supply place and playing jump rope with a bunch of kids in a vacant lot, is one of those small but human victories.

“Swan Song” would make a nice double-bill with Paul Masurzky’s 1974 “Harry and Tonto,” starring Art Carney as an old man embarking on his last road trip, or “Bubba Ho-Tep” (2003), a redemptive mummy picture starring Bruce Campbell as Elvis Presley and Ossie Davis as JFK (Yes, JFK).

James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” (Warner Brothers Pictures-DC Films-Atlas Entertainment-The Safran Company, 2021, 132 min.) has the same premise as David Ayers’ 2016 film: shady fed Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) rounds up expendable, low-life comic book baddies on a likely futile mission. But oh what a difference the journey makes depending on your guide.

Gunn, the man who made you believe that a racoon could cry in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (2017), drops all sweetness and sentimentality to concoct a riotous grindhouse mash-up of “The Dirty Dozen” (1967), “Alien” (1979), “Escape From New York” (1981) and Japanese monster movies. “The Suicide Squad” is the best American Godzilla picture ever made. It’s the kaiju movie that Paul Verhoeven never made.

The flick kicks off with Johnny Cash’s live version of “Folsom Prison Blues,” which reminded me of that famous 1969 photo of Cash at a San Quentin gig, giving the finger to the camera. That sets the movie’s outlaw tone right from the get-go. I won’t spoil the central bonkers action concept. I’ll just say that we get Margot Robbie back for the third time as the incorrigible Harley Quinn. We also get Gunn stock players Michael Rooker and Nathan Fillion, a much better performance from John Cena than he gave in “F9” and various other oddball DC characters played by Flula Borg, SNL’s Pete Davidson and David Dastmalchian, a real scene stealer as the Polka Dot Man.

Be warned: just because your favorite actor is here, they might not be around long.

Recommended: “American Masters: Inventing David Geffen” on Netflix.

Not Recommended: “Snake Eyes” at Regal Stadium 14.

ADK BOOK

Continued From Page 15

Museum on Blue Mountain Lake and asked if he could submit his transcripts into the archives there to keep them safe. The director of the museum said he could and added that they had been looking for a way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the APA. The director told Edmondson they wanted to fundraise to make a movie using the footage from the interviews, as well as organize a conference and put together an exhibit.

“I said, ‘wow you’re gonna do all that? I better write a book,’” he laughed.

The museum offered to pay his expenses to write the book, so beginning in 2018 Edmondson hit the road to go speak to people. By the time the pandemic hit, Edmondson said he had gotten to the point in his research where the law that zoned the Adirondack Park had been signed.

“But I hadn’t gotten past that point and a lot of good stuff happened after that,” he said. “It’s a story about many things, but it’s about the imposition of state power onto a rural area and how the rural people protested. That’s all for the book I’m working on now.”

As for “A Wild Idea,” Edmondson said the story of the creation of the APA proved to be a “really deep pool with a lot of interesting things in it.”

“This is a book about land use planning, and that’s a really boring topic,” he said. “And I guess unconsciously that my career has been spent writing long pieces about topics people think are dull, but they’re extremely important. You keep people interested by focusing on the human relationships and conflicts and breakthroughs and drama of these quests to pass this law.”

So while the story may be about land use planning, at its core it’s a story about people.

“The story is driven by personalities,” he said. “It’s about relationships between people and how those relationships moved this really radical law to passage, kind of against all odds. So it’s a really great story.”

Prior to beginning his research, Edmondson said he knew vaguely of the law that had passed and that it had been a big deal and people had protested vigorously after the fact. But the more he dove in, the more he learned.

“One of the things I was really interested in investigating was the Adirondacks were, because of this law, extremely polarized politically,” he said. “Environmental people were angry because the law wasn’t strict enough […] And the [rural] people there who hadn’t dealt with this before said ‘this is communism.’ And they organized pretty effectively to protest the law.”

Edmondson said as he spoke to people, he saw how people on opposite sides of the fence “hated each others’ guts” in public, but were friends in private.

“They all knew each other,” he said. “These were small towns in a really isolated area. It’s really expensive to hate someone in a small town.”

In addition to the book, Edmondson also wrote the script for the documentary, which is being put together by the public TV station for the North Country. It’s expected to air in mid-October, and Edmondson said he hopes after that it will be offered for syndication.

And in the meantime, he continues to work on his follow-up book, which focuses on the intense resistance to the passage of the law.

“People were shot at, there was arson, buildings were vandalized, there were many death threats,” he said. “Things were bad.”

Edmonson will be at Cornell University Press’ table at Buffalo Street Books on Aug. 14 6-8 p.m. during the store’s upcoming book festival. “A Wild Idea” is available directly through Cornell University Press for 30% off retail price, at Buffalo Street Books, or on Amazon. For more information, visit www.awildidea.com.

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Music

Bars/Bands/Clubs

8/11 Wednesday

Newfield Music Series at Mill Park:

Janet Batch | 6 p.m. | Mill Park, 222 Main St. | Free 8/12 Thursday

2021 CFCU Downtown Ithaca Summer Concert Series Presents

Plastic Nebraska | 6 p.m. | Bernie Milton Pavilion, Center Commons Music in the Park: Iron Horse | 6:30 p.m. | Myers Park, Myers Road 8/13 Friday

Diana Jacobs Duo | 5:30 p.m. | Buttonwood Grove Winery, 5986 State Route 89 | Free

Garden Concert: Cruise Control |

6 p.m. | Treleaven Wines, 658 Lake Rd | $5.00

Friday Night Music - Erin & the

Backwoods Blues Project | 6 p.m. | Hopshire Farms and Brewery, 1771 Dryden Rd

Groton Summer Concerts: Donna

& The Mystics | 6:30 p.m. | Groton American Legion, 307 Main Street | Free

Friday Night Farm Jams: Mother-

wort | 6:30 p.m. | Finger Lakes Cider House, 4017 Hickok Road

Mike Powell with special guest

Raedwald Howland-Bolton | 7 p.m. | Rose Hall, 19 Church Street

WEEK THIS

8/14 Saturday

Spuds N Taggit | 12:30 p.m. | Buttonwood Grove Winery, 5986 State Route 89

8/15 Sunday

PorchFest Cortland | 12 p.m.

Sunday Brunch: Tribal Revival Duo

| 1 p.m. | Treleaven Wines, 658 Lake Rd | Free Eric with an H | 1 p.m. | RedNewt Cellars, 3675 Tichenor Road Purple Valley | 2 p.m. | Americana Vineyards, 4367 East Covert Rd

8/18 Wednesday

Open Music Ithaca with SOLID | 4 p.m. | Bernie Milton Pavilion, Center Commons | Free

Concerts/Recitals

8/11 Wednesday

Little Gather | Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes | 10 a.m. | Corning Museum of Glass, 1 Museum Way

8/13 Friday

The Wood Brothers | 7 p.m. | Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, 2708 Lords Hill Road | $20.00 - $40.00 8/14 Saturday

How Sweet It Is! - Steve Leslie

Sings James Taylor | 2 p.m. | Little York Lake Pavilion & Theater, 6799 Little York Lake Road | $25.00 - $36.00

Saturday, August 14 at 2:00pm

and 7:30pm | 2 p.m. | Little York Lake Pavilion & Theater, 6799 Little York Lake Road

FILLMORE DAYS

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, AUGUST 13 & 14; ALL DAY

Fillmore Glen State Park, 1668 State Route 38, Moravia | The Friends of Fillmore Glen State host the popular pastime event of Fillmore Days. Featuring bathtub races, live music, local artisan vendors, craftsmen, food trucks, breweries, local distillery, and wineries. (photo: provided)

Concerts in Eldridge Park: Stage

Fright: A Tribute to The Band | 5 p.m. | Eldridge Park, Eldridge Park Road

8/19 Thursday

2021 CFCU Downtown Ithaca Summer Concert Series Presents

Noon Fifteen | 6 p.m. | Bernie Milton Pavilion, Center Commons

Music in the Park: Smoking Loons

| 6:30 p.m. | Myers Park, Myers Road 8/21 Saturday

SCT Jubilee fundraiser for Second

Chance Thoroughbreds, Inc. | 3 p.m. | Fools Hill, 657 Dawson Hill Road | $40.00 - $1,500.00

Eldridge Park Presents: Twin Tiers

Community Orchestra | 5 p.m. | Eldridge Park, Eldridge Park Road

8/25 Wednesday

Newfield Music Series at Mill Park: Erin and the Backwoods Blues

Project | 6 p.m. | Mill Park, 222 Main St. | Free

Old Crow Medicine Show at Beak

& Skiff | 7 p.m. | Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards, 2708 Lords Hill Road | $45.00 - $50.00

Stage

Queens Girl In The World | 7:30 p.m., 8/12 Thursday | Hangar Theatre, 801 Taughannock Blvd. | 8/12-8/21. The Motown-infused story of Jacqueline Marie Butler, a Black teenager coming of age in the 1960s.

Damn! That Apple! and other

Treats | 7:30 p.m., 8/14 Saturday | Center for the Arts of Homer, 72 S Main St | An operetta based on the Creation and Fall of Man by Brother Sebastian Sailer (1714-77). Translated from the Swabian by Richard Ives

The Merry Wives of Windsor

(Shakespeare in Suggett Park) | 6 p.m., 8/20 Friday | Suggett Park, 108 Homer Avenue | Double-meanings, disguises and dirty laundry abound as Sir John Falstaff sets about improving his financial situation by wooing Mistress Page and Mistress Ford.

FCU SUMMER CONCERT SERIES: PLASTIC NEBRASKA

THURSDAY, AUGUST 5 AT 6:00PM

Ithaca Commons| What a blast from the past and the heyday of the mid 90’s Ithaca music scene. Ahhh, sweet youth. Enjoy New Trouble Thrillbilly Swampacana. (photo: Facebook)

Art

Sketching in the Park - Virtual

This Week | 6 p.m., 8/11 Wednesday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street |

James Potorti Interpretive Gorge

Walks | 10 a.m., 8/13 Friday | Watkins Glen State Park | Join us for our annual James Potorti Museum of the Earth/ State Parks Gorge Walks on Fridays in August. Journey Through Time Tour | 11 a.m., 8/13 Friday | Museum of the Earth, 1259 Trumansburg Road | Journey Through Time Tours are occurring every Friday thru August 27th!

North Star Art Exhibition “Air

Bathing” | 12 p.m., 8/13 Friday | North Star Art Gallery, 743 Snyder Hill Road | Air bathing and forest bathing have been recognized as a health practice, and their depiction has become a form of expression of the human form. | Free

The Gallery at South Hill exhibit of Michael Sampson paintings

| 5 p.m., 8/13 Friday | The Gallery at South Hill, 950 Danby Road | Michael Sampson paintings abstracted from the figure. | Free

Architectural Drawing on The

Commons | 1 p.m., 8/14 Saturday | Tompkins County Public Library, 101 East Green Street | Junior Illustration Club | 10:30 a.m., 8/16 Monday | Museum of the Earth, 1259 Trumansburg Road | Join us for Junior Illustration Club, for ages 11 and under, on Mondays this summer! Illustration Club | 1:30 p.m., 8/16 Monday | Museum of the Earth, 1259 Trumansburg Road | Join us for Illustration Club on Mondays this summer!

Film

2021 Movies in The Park Presented by Chemung Canal Trust

Company: Dumbo | 7 p.m., 8/13 Friday | Stewart Park, 1 James L Gibbs Dr, Ithaca, NY 14850 | Join us as we continue the 2021 Movies in the Park Series on Friday August 13th! Movies in the Park is our annual summer movie series, hosted in Stewart Park on Friday nights in July and August. | Free Swan Song | 8/13 Friday | Cinemapolis, 120 E. Green Street. | Retired hairdresser Pat Pitsenbarger escapes the confines of his small-town nursing home after learning of his former client’s dying wish for him to style her final hairdo. Soon, Pat embarks on an odyssey to confront the ghosts of his past – and collect the beauty supplies necessary for the job. Searching for Mr. Rugoff | 8/13 Friday | Cinemapolis, 120 E. Green Street. | The story of Donald Rugoff, who was the enigmatic genius behind Cinema 5, the mid-century theater chain and film distribution company. Art House Re-Opening Benefit! 100% of Your Ticket Supports Cinemapolis! Ailey | 8/13 Friday | Cinemapolis, 120 E. Green Street. | Biographical documentary about Alvin Ailey, a trailblazing pioneer who found salvation through dance. Nine Days | 8/14 Saturday | Cinemapolis, 120 E. Green Street. | Making his feature-film debut, Japanese Brazilian director Edson Oda delivers a heartfelt and meditative vision of human souls in limbo, aching to be born against unimaginable odds, yet hindered by forces beyond their will. Annette | 8/14 Saturday | Cinemapolis, 120 E. Green Street. | A years-spanning musical melodrama drenched in greens and yellows, scored by oddball art-pop duo Sparks and based on their original story, Annette marks the French director’s first English-language film, which revolves around a celebrity couple in present-day Los Angeles.

Special Events

Fillmore Days | 6 p.m., 8/12 Thursday | Fillmore Glen State Park, 1686 St. Rte. 38 | Fillmore Days, parade of tubs, pedal car and bathtub races. Food, legal beverages and music. | Free

20th Annual National Brockway

Truck Show Weekend | 8/12 Thursday | CNY Living History Center, 4386 Route 11 | Cortland will celebrate

FOOTLOOSE THE MUSICAL

RUNNING THRU SEPTEMBER 1ST; SHOWS MON-SAT. CONTACT THEATER FOR SHOWTIMES.

Merry Go Round Playhouse Theater, 6877 E. Lake

Rd, Auburn | With its Oscar-nominated score, Footloose celebrates the exhilaration of youth, the strength of community and the power of forgiveness. Kick off your Sunday shoes and get ready to dance in the aisles! A family feel good show for everyone! (photo: Facebook)