Brentwood News October 30, 2020

October 30 – November 27, 2020

Suspect Arrested in Connection to Brentwood Date Rape Man arrested after raping woman from out of town

By Sam Catanzaro Los Angeles police have arrested a man accused of date raping a woman in Brentwood.

According to the Brentwood Community Council, citing a Los Angeles Police Department crime report, the victim is a woman who was visiting LA from out of state staying at a hotel near LAX. She met the suspect on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills on October 14 around 5 p.m. and exchanged numbers with him. The suspect invited to take the victim to a party where there would be celebrities and, according to the police report, the two agreed to meet.

The victim took an Uber from her hotel and

met the suspect around the 76 Gas station on Sepulveda Boulevard near the Getty.

“The suspect picked up the victim and told her that they were going to a party were celebrities will be and that she could not have her phone out during the party,” reads the police report.

The suspect drove southbound on Sepulveda, west on Montana Avenue and then north on Church Lane, where the suspect parked the vehicle and raped the victim around midnight.

After the crime occurred the victim exited the vehicle and called her sister to pick her up, according to the report.

“West Bureau detectives advise the Suspect was arrested on 10-19-20 and is still in custody,” the BCC wrote.

The LAPD, when reached for information on the suspect, told Brentwood News, “due to sexual assault confidentiality we are unable to provide further information.”

The area of Church and Montana near where a date rape occurred recently.

Brentwood News has filed a CPRA request

Photo: Courtesy

with the LAPD for information on the suspect.

Wildfire Safety System Expanded to Brentwood-Area Crews begin installing ALERTWildfire cameras at San Vicente Peak, Canyonback Trail

By Sam Catanzaro Crews begin installing ALERTWildfire cameras at San Vicente Peak, Canyonback Trail Infrared cameras are being installed in the mountains above Bentwood to help firefighters and first responders locate fire ignition and help evacuations, among other uses.

On Monday, crews began installing ALERTWildfire cameras at San Vicente Peak, and will be adding cameras at the Westridge Trail and the Canyonback Trail as well, according to Councilmember Mike Bonin.

The cameras will provide high definition, near-infrared views to firefighters, first responders and the general public.

ALERTWildfire a consortium of three universities — University of California San Diego, The University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Oregon — has installed over 100 cameras in the Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange County. The state-of-the-art cameras help firefighters and first responders locate fire ignition, quickly scale fire resources,

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monitor fire behavior, help evacuations through enhanced situational awareness, and ensure contained fires are monitored appropriately through their demise.

The new cameras add to an expanding network that includes locations in the Topanga and a recently added site at Green Peak above the Palisades Highlands.

The ALERTWildfire team plans on installing dozens more cameras in the Santa Monica Mountains in the coming year.

“Special thanks to community leaders Wendy-Sue Rosen and John Binder for spearheading this important public safety effort. Wendy-Sue was especially crucial in helping secure agreements from agencies and property owners to get the work done,” Bonin said.

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Photo: Councilmember Mike Bonin

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Armed Robber Targeting Joggers in Palms, Mid-Wilshire, Faircrest Heights and Other Areas LAPD issue alert regarding series of Westside robberies

By Chad Winthrop Los Angeles Police Department detectives have recognized a pattern of robberies on the Westside involving a suspect firing handgun shots at solo victims walking or jogging at night.

According to the LAPD, the same suspect– described as a Black male in his 20s driving

a gray truck–has robbed or attempted to rob several men and women over the past month.

Most of the men and women that have been robbed were walking or jogging alone at night between 8:00 p.m. and midnight.

“He has been armed with a handgun during the robberies and fired gunshots in at least two of the incidents. Property taken during the robberies has mostly been limited to cell phones,” the LAPD says.

The affected neighborhoods accordin to police include: Mar Vista, West Adams, Picfair Village, Westchester, Mid-Wilshire, Carthay Circle, Beverly Grove, Fairfax, Crestview, Faircrest Heights and Palms.

Residents in the area should consider the

following: • Always be alert to your surroundings and the people around you.

• Try to stay in well-lit areas.

• Don’t walk alone at night and always avoid areas where there are few people.

• Be careful when people stop you for directions. Always reply from a distance, and never get too close to the car.

• If you feel you’re being followed, walk to a well-populated area.

• Don’t resist. Give up your property, don’t give up your life.

• Report the crime to the police. Try to describe the attacker accurately.

• Your actions can help prevent others from

becoming victims.

Anyone

with

information

regarding

this incident is urged to contact Robbery-

Homicide Division, Robbery Special Section, Detective Marsden or Detective Matsuda at

213-486-6840.

LA County to Purchase 8 Motels to Help With Homeless Crisis LA County Board of Supervisors approves $75M to fund acquisition

By Toi Creel To help fight the housing crisis and a large population of homeless individuals, Los Angeles County has voted to acquire eight

motels.

On Tuesday September 29 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the $75.5 million to fund the project.

The funding would be split up two ways: $60.7 million would come from a grant in the State’s Project Homekey program and roughly $14.7 million would come from federal CARES Act money.

The housing will serve as interim and permanent supportive housing, helping to target the thousands of homeless individuals

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that reside in LA County.

The eight properties that span from San Gabriel Valley to the South Bay will have to be renovated, according to the Count.

Under the rules of the $600 million Project Homekey program individual jurisdictions are obligated to provide matching funds for all acquisition costs over $100,000 per unit.

The following are the hotels LA is looking to acquire: Motel 6 Baldwin Park, Motel 6 Hacienda Heights, Motel 6 Harbor City, Motel 6 Long Beach, Motel 6 Norwalk, Motel 6 Whittier Travel Plaza Inn Long Beach

Photo: Google

The Willow Tree Inn in Compton, one of eight motels LA County is looking to house homeless individuals in.

Motels, See page 5

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October 30 – November 27, 2020 | 3

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Attempt to Foster Orphaned Local Mountain Lion Kittens

Santa Monica Mountain biologists unsuccessful in fostering attempt Specializing in:

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By Chad Winthrop This summer, biologists with the National Park Service (NPS) at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) attempted to foster two orphaned mountain lion kittens and keep them in the wild. Fostering involves getting a wild mountain lion mother to “adopt” the orphaned animals and care for them as her own.

They believe this marks the first time such an experiment has been tried with this species. While the foster attempt was not successful, scientists say it was a worthwhile undertaking to try and keep two wild animals in their natural habitat and to learn more about mountain lion behavior. Today, the kittens are thriving in their forever home – a wildlife sanctuary in Arizona.

“The story of this fostering attempt is remarkable,” said NPS Superintendent David Szymanski. “Biologists and managers from four organizations – a federal agency, a state agency, a city zoo and a private sanctuary – came together to try something

new. With this effort, we tried to help two orphaned wild animals and further our understanding of this important species.”

“Our shared goal for this project all along was to keep the kittens in the wild and, although the new mother did not accept them, we gained considerable knowledge from this experience,” said Christine Thompson, a regional biologist with the CDFW. “We were also able to successfully place the healthy kittens in a new home.

Many thanks go to NPS, Los Angeles Zoo, and the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center for their dedicated efforts.”

The kittens, female P-91 and male P-92 were discovered on July 7 in the Simi Hills, south of Simi Valley, while their mother, P-67, was away from the den.

Biologists performed a general health check, determined the sex of each kitten, took various body measurements, obtained biological samples and placed uniquely numbered and colored ear tags in each of the kittens.

However, just after the den visit, the mother’s GPS radio collar sent a “mortality” signal. The team located P-67, a two-anda-half-year-old female mountain lion and found her deceased. Without a mother, the 3-week-old kittens could not survive, according to Jeff Sikich, a wildlife biologist with the park who leads the fieldwork on the

Mountain Lion, See page 5

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Mountain Lion, from page 4

mountain lion project.

It is not legal to raise or rehabilitate and release mountain lions in California, so in general the only option would be captivity.

However, Justin Dellinger, the statewide mountain lion researcher for CDFW, suggested the possibility of fostering the kittens with another mountain lion, P-65, who had recently given birth herself. Her den of three kittens (P-88, P-89 and P-90) had been discovered the day before in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Fostering has been regularly successful in other large mammals such as black bears and wolves, as well as in zoo animals.

“These five kittens were all approximately the same age, which meant we had this unique opportunity to attempt fostering and give these kittens a chance to live in the wild,” Sikich said. “I had tried this with black bears on a previous research project and it had worked, but situations can vary for different species and individuals. I wasn’t sure if it would prove successful with these mountain lions.”

In collaboration with CDFW, the biologists hatched a plan to rescue them. They enlisted the Los Angeles Zoo for help, and biologists there agreed to house the kittens until the fostering attempt could be initiated.

“We were careful not to interact with the kittens any more than necessary,” said Beth Schaefer, director of animal programs for the zoo. “These are not animals that we want to become acclimated to human interaction like zoo animals. At the time, we thought they were going back to the wild, so we didn’t want them to think that humans were a source of comfort.”

On July 16 while P-65 was away from the den, Schaefer brought the orphaned kittens from the Los Angeles Zoo where they had spent the last eight days and met the other biologists in the field. Biologists were able to find two of P-65’s kittens and rubbed urine from one of them onto the orphaned kittens, P-91 and P-92, so that they would smell more like P-65’s own offspring.

Over the next few days, biologists tracked P-65’s movements and noticed that she had moved her den, a normal event for mother lions. On July 20, Sikich and CDFW biologist Dustin Pearce visited P-65’s former den to determine if the new kittens had been left behind. As Sikich got closer, P-91 and P-92 came out and ran directly to him. P-65’s biological kittens were nowhere to be found.

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Brentwood News

The fostering attempt had proved unsuccessful. The kittens temporarily went back to the Los Angeles Zoo, and then they were moved to the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale, Arizona where they will spend the rest of their lives.

The results from the necropsy for P-67, the kitten’s deceased mother, shows that she was found with no food in her stomach, she was relatively thin, and she also had evidence of intestinal disease, known as necrotizing enteritis. She was also exposed to five different anticoagulant rodenticide compounds and to bromethalin, not an anticoagulant but a highly potent rodenticide that provides a lethal dose to rodents in a single feeding. The presumptive cause of death was septicemia, possibly secondary to enteritis, according to the report.

“A contributing factor may have been that she was young and stressed by having kittens,” Sikich said. “She was a good mother and she didn’t abandon them. She kept on coming back to the den and nursing them even in her likely poor state of health.”

P-67 was originally tagged as a kitten herself in 2018, also in the Simi Hills, in a den belonging to adult female P-62. The father of P-91 and P-92 is suspected to be P-78. Biologists tracked the two of them traveling together over a period of multiple days earlier this year. P-78 is currently living in the Santa Susana Mountains, although he has also spent a considerable amount of time east of Highway 5 in the San Gabriel Mountains, the first collared animal in the study to do so.

The kittens are now about three months old and they are showing typical wild cat behaviors – stalking, wrestling, and climbing. Officials at the wildlife sanctuary report that the two cats have developed unique personalities. P-91, the female, is bolder, while P-92, the male, is laid-back.

“They are inseparable and a great comfort to each other,” says Linda Searles, the sanctuary director.

The kittens’ new “next-door neighbor” will be 15-year-old ‘Tocho’, SWCC’s most prominent mountain lion – and the last mountain lion raised from a kitten at the sanctuary. She said that if they all get along, they will eventually share his large enclosure.

“It’s too bad they couldn’t live in the wild, but we’re happy that they can give our old guy companionship,” Searles said. She said that the lions will serve as ambassadors for the Santa Monica Mountains mountain lion population and their species. a similar idea with a similar name— Project Roomkey, which aimed to use empty hotel rooms as temporary housing for homeless persons more at risk for the novel coronavirus (the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions). The program was able to house more than 5,000 homeless individuals but did not meet its original goal to shelter 15,000 people.

October 30 – November 27, 2020 | 5

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A Mill Valley Idea That Might Work in Brentwood

San Vicente Italian restaurant Pizzicotto closes for good Founding Publisher

Before moving to Brentwood, my wife lived in Mill Valley. We still go up there now and then. Mill Valley is a lot like Brentwood, really – a very nice suburb, with lots of privacy, not too far from the big city (San Francisco).

I sometimes call Mill Valley “Brentwood North” – and Brentwood, “Mill Valley South.”

We were in Mill Valley last weekend and we were pleasantly surprised to see that an entire block of a major street in downtown Mill Valley had been completely closed down in order to make room for lots of socially distanced tables, arranged for outdoor dining.

There were plenty of space heaters up and down the rows of tables; there was a “beer garden” feel to this. There are several restaurants in the immediate vicinity, so I’m guessing one can order from any of their menus (I’m not 100 percent sure about that; maybe it was just one restaurant).

There was quite a crowd – maybe 100 people – and everyone seemed to be having a great time. It almost looked weird; I hadn’t seen so many people gathered in one outdoor place like this in a very long time.

As we have all seen, several restaurants in Brentwood are setting up tables and chairs on sidewalks. It’s a nice development and I hope this trend persists long after COVID is gone.

But there still isn’t the “crowd” dynamic I witnessed in Mill Valley, because there is no one big central place where everyone can gather in Brentwood. It’s a few tables here and a few tables there.

Partial view of the early evening street scene in Mill Valley, CA.

We do have the farmers market, which causes Gretna Green between Montana and San Vicente to close down on Sundays. And look at what a big success that has been. But that’s daytime, not nighttime. It’s too early for drinks (for most of us, anyway).

Inspired by what I saw in Mill Valley, I took a long walk around Brentwood and scouted out places where lots and lots of outdoor tables could be placed. Maybe could try this on a Saturday night one time and see what happens. Maybe 5% of the proceeds go toward our firefighters, police, or the Brentwood Community Council, or some other good cause.

The sidewalk in front of Toscana, on San Vicente and Darlington.

Here is what I found.

Gretna Green, where the farmers market takes place, could work. There is plenty of room Nobody drives that little stretch at night. But it’s not close to restaurants. Quite a delivery system would need to be set up.

The parking lot where Chin Chin’s is located is pretty big, but eliminating that outdoor parking might create a problem.

There is parking down below this structure, but not that much. The same issue would exist at the Town & Country shopping area.

The parking lot behind the old Duttons Bookstore – the Charlie Munger property – is currently completely locked up. But it’s a

The parking lot behind Duttons is sitting empty.

Photos: Jeff Hall

very big parking lot with plenty of room for food delivery vehicles to make drop-offs and turn around.

Hell, we could set up a drive-in movie theater there if we erected a big white board on the back of the Duttons building. We could use that as a movie screen.

The parking lot at Flair Cleaners at Barrington and San Vicente is kind of small, but centrally located.

Darlington Ave., just south of San Vicente – where The Tavern and Palmeri face each other – could easily be closed down. There is plenty of room there.

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Brentwood Among Zip Codes Donating Most to Joe Biden

Survey breaks down donations to Biden campaign by zip code

By Sam Catanzaro

Residents of Brentwood have donated to Joe Biden’s campaign more than most zip codes in the country and more than any zip code on the West Coast.

A recent survey ranks Brentwood’s 90049 zip code 10th among all zip codes in the nation for total donations to Biden’s campaign and 1st among all West Coast zip codes.

The survey, which analyzed Federal Election

Commission records from Jan. 1, 2019-July 31, 2020, found that in total $633,707 has been donated to Biden’s campaign via 2,110 individual donations from 90049 residents.

Only FEC-processed records from unique individuals–as opposed to outside groups or committees–were includes in the survey.

Other Westside zip codes to make the top50 are Pacific Palisades’ 90272 (No. 25 at $457,347), Beverly Hills’ 90210 (No. 30 at $422,084) Santa Monica’s 90402 (No. 33 at $406,924) Westwood’s 90024 (No 39. at $395,114) The zip code with the most donations to Biden in the nation is Chevy Chase, Maryland with $1,031,110 donated to the campaign among 3,121 donations.

October 30 – November 27, 2020 | 7

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BCC Community WiFi Cameras for Property Crime Surveillance

BCC determining best places for security cameras

By Staff Writer

Focusing on areas of Brentwood where there are persistent property crime issues, the BCC Safety Team is working with property owners, the LAPD and LASO Deputies to determine which locations are best suited for privately placed surveillance cameras based on crime mapping data and “get away car” exit routes.

We also have sites suggested by the South Brentwood Residents Association and property owners who have been subject to repeated thefts and damage.

If your property has been subject to more than 1 crime over the past year, please reach out to Info@brentwoodCommunityCouncil.

org – it’s likely we already have locations selected that are relevant to your location but we’re happy to check.

The location of the cameras are on private property and will not be released to the public.

Participating private property owners may choose to grant law enforcement “view only” access to any video feed.

Brentwood Community Council

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Hyperthermia Cancer Institute: The Best Cancer Treatment You’ve Never Heard Of Santa Monica-based cancer institute uses FDA-approved treatment to help patients

By Sam Catanzaro “THE BEST CANCER TREATMENT YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF” is right here in Santa Monica at Hyperthermia Cancer Institute (HCI). Hyperthermia is an FDA-approved treatment designed to improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Hyperthermia is a gentle therapy with little to no side effects, and no known adverse effects on normal tissue. HCI attracts patients from across the country for this treatment, and the treatment is covered partially or completely by most forms of insurance.

Hyperthermia is a non-invasive procedure, it uses ultrasound delivered from the outside of the body. Hyperthermia can deliver heat as deep as 10 centimeters in addition to the thickness of fat. So the heat can reach tumors that are at the surface, as well as those that are quite deep in the body.

Tumors are heated to up to 109o F for 45 minutes. The heat increases blood flow to the tumor which does three things. It brings more chemotherapy inside the tumor, it brings oxygen that helps radiation therapy work better, and it induces your own body’s immune system to attack the cancer.

The Medical Director at HCI is Dr. Joseph J. Pinzone, an internist and endocrinologist by training, who has been involved in NIHfunded molecular cancer research as well as clinical cancer research for many years.

While Dr. Pinzone learned about this form of heat therapy when in residency in the early 1990s, it was not until more recently that he understood how powerful the practice could be, particularly when added to other therapies.

“As I understood that, I realized this is something that we have to get out there. It hadn’t really caught on previously in this country, but because I have the ability to both understand cancer at a molecular level and to communicate the potential benefits of cancer therapy, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity for me to use my skills to establish this as a cancer therapy that everyone could take advantage of,” Dr. Pinzone said.

HCI uses the Sonotherm 1000, a device that is FDA-approved to treat all solid tumors in combination with chemotherapy or radiation therapy. According to Dr. Pinzone, any place you can have an ultrasound done in your body, the

Sonotherm 1000 can be used to treat cancer.

“The particular device that we use, and the particular technology that we use here at HCI, has been validated by studies that have been presented to the FDA and the FDA has found them to be effective and safe. And so specifically, we have the backing of the FDA in terms of our ability to represent that we have effectiveness and we have a good safety profile,” Dr. Pinzone said.

“Somewhere between 106o-109o seems to be a magic window where a variety of changes take place in that tumor,” Dr. Pinzone said. “It is a little higher than a fever and a little cooler than the hottest California day. We heat the tumor for approximately 45 minutes at that temperature. What that does is increase the blood flow to the tumor.”

This heating process, Dr. Pinzone says, helps fight tumors in three ways.

First, if you are on chemotherapy or any systemic therapy, hyperthermia increases the blood flow to the tumor which allows better access of that therapy to the tumor, particularly to the central portion of the tumor where the blood vessels are often poorly formed. The increased blood flow delivers oxygen to the tumor, and if you are receiving radiation, the radiation works much better in a well-oxygenated environment, Dr. Pinzone says.

Second, many traditional cytotoxic chemotherapy agents and radiation therapy damage the DNA of the tumor. This targets that tumor cell for destruction.

Hyperthermia has the effect of slowing the enzymes that repair the DNA that is damaged by the chemotherapy or radiation therapy. “This is really critical. We don’t want that DNA repaired, we want it to stay damaged because that targets the cells that have the damaged DNA for destruction and removal. So that is actually how many types of chemotherapy and radiation therapy work,” Dr. Pinzone said.

Third, according to Dr. Pinzone, hyperthermia stimulates an immune response. “The great thing about our technology is there are no known adverse effects on normal tissue. When we heat to 109o F, we stimulate the release of what are called heat shock proteins. The same proteins that get released when you have a fever and their job is to alert the immune system to get rid of anything that is foreign,” Dr. Pinzone said. In addition to releasing the heat shock proteins that stimulate the cells of the immune system, the therapy also directly disrupts the cells of the tumor.

“We release all the mutated proteins that are inside of that tumor, and those to our body look like foreign invaders. So when you combine the stimulated immune cells with the specific parts of the tumor that look foreign, you get an immune reaction

According to Dr. Joseph J. Pinzone, hyperthermia improves the effectiveness of chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

to that tumor,” Dr. Pinzone said.

“There are many studies that have demonstrated a substantial increase in the response rate to chemotherapy when you heart a tumor compared to just giving chemotherapy alone. Some studies even demonstrate and increase in overall survival when you treat with hyperthermia plus chemotherapy compared to chemotherapy alone,” Dr. Pinzone said.

Dr. Pinzone added that there are similar improved results with heat added radiation therapy. Studies demonstrate that in various tumor types that when hyperthermia is provided along with radiation therapy, there is a better response rate of the radiation. “The tumor shrinks more than if you provide radiation alone, and in some cases, you can actually improve survival in patients who receive hyperthermia plus radiation, compared to radiation alone,” Dr. Pinzone said.

A session at HCI takes either one or two hours, depending on how many sites are treated, often six days a week. Dr. Pinzone notes that this takes a commitment from patients, but the frequency of sessions contains invaluable benefits. However, as stated previously, hyperthermia is extremely gentle and non-invasive. “In fact,” says Dr. Pinzone, “our patients often mediate or sleep during therapy.”

“Our patients become like family to us,” Dr. Pinzone said. “We have an environment that is extremely welcoming. There is zero pressure to do anything in particular and we provide as much support as we can. We have many patients from out of town. We often help them with travel and with housing to both coordinate it and, in

Photos: Courtesy Hyperthermia Cancer Institute

Medical Director at HCI is Dr. Joseph J. Pinzone.

some cases, to help offset the cost through various foundations. The bottom line is that we go the extra mile for our patients. We get to know them better than almost any other provider has an opportunity to get to know them, and we advocate for them in ways that I have never seen in any other environment I have ever worked in.”

To find out more about whether hyperthermia can help you, call HCI at 888-580-5900 or visit their website at hcioncology.com.

“Patients with cancer today are more educated and advocate more for themselves and their family members than ever. That is one of the reasons we have been so successful at helping people, because they are able to find us either through their healthcare provider or on their own. We offer a unique environment and treatment option that they can’t find anywhere else and that gives people hope,” Dr. Pinzone said.

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October 30 – November 27, 2020 | 9

Former Brentwood-Adjacent French Restaurant Reopens in Santa Monica

Le Petit Chez Mimi now open on Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica

By Kerry Slater

A restaurant that was located on 26th Street across from the Brentwood Country

Mart before closing close to a decade ago has reopened in a different part of Santa Monica.

Food blogger Toddrickallen.com recently reported that Le Petit Chez Mimi has opened at 2842 Colorado Avenue at the former Le Petit Café location.

The proprietor, Micheline Hébert, operated Chez Mimi at 26th and San Vicente before the restaurant closed almost a decade ago.

Le Petit Chez Mimi on Colorado opened on October 7 with an outdoor patio.

Commercial and Residential Servicing Southern California since 1996

Le Petit Chez Mimi.

Photo: Sam Catanzaro

Longtime Brentwood Italian Restaurant Closes Permanently

San Vicente Italian restaurant Pizzicotto closes for good

Over 20 years of Experience!

Factory Certified Installers All work is done safely and under state COVID 19 Regulations

By Kerry Slater A beloved Brentwood Italian restaurant has closed permanently after decades of service.

“Pizzicoto has closed down its business due to the COVID-19,” the voicemail recording for Pizzicoto says. “We would like to thank you all, our beloved customers, for your loyal support over the years. You will be greatly missed.”

In addition, the restaurant’s Yelp status has been changed to “permanently closed” Pizzicoto, located at 11758 San Vicente Boulevard, was a fixture for many loved for their old-school Italian fare in an environment that looked like a small European restaurant.

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“So sad to learn just now that this Brentwood staple of deliciousness has closed permanently,” reads a Yelp review from user Mark S. “Over my 20+ years living in Brentwood I have been to Pizzicotto many [times] for business lunches the most memorable was [probably] when Dustin Hoffman and Tea Leon were sitting next to my table. We picked up pizza and a lobster ravioli a few weeks ago – it was by far the BEST carry out meal ever.”

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10 | October 30 – November 27, 2020

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Rated R 95 Minutes Released October 23rd on Amazon Prime

FILM REVIEW: “BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM”

BEHIND THE SCREEN

By Kathryn Whitney Boole Sacha Baron Cohen’s goal is to shock his carefully chosen “victims” or subjects, into unwittingly dropping their guard to display their basest behaviors. He convincingly adopts the guise of the “innocent,” one who ostensibly has no clue about what is going on, with an unbiased open mind ready to soak up every piece of news that’s imparted to him. His alter ego in this movie is “Borat,” a hapless peasant from Kazakhstan, whose 2006 film was so popular that he now has the means to revive the fortunes of his nation by offering a gift to the all-powerful Trump administration. After a sudden change of plan, it is decided that the gift will be his teenage daughter “Tutar” (which means “daughter” in Estonian) and she will be gifted to Vice President Michael Pence. Thus begins a hilarious and disturbing journey.

The Borat films are both funny and frightening. Cohen’s MO is to mirror outrageously evil human behavior as if it is mundane and trick those around him into accepting it, on film. This current iteration of Borat’s escapades does not carry the shock value of the first movie, if you’ve seen it, simply because you’ve witnessed his tactics before. Some of the scenes carry on a bit long. However there is nothing else in cinema like a Borat movie, and this one is graced with the hilarious, exuberant antics of young Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova.

Bakalova won the role of “Tutar” out of 600 actresses who auditioned, by pulling a “Borat.” For her audition, she posed as a journalist and persuaded unsuspecting subjects to open up to her. She’s proud of her background and concerned with world social issues – protests in her own country and Black Lives Matter. Cohen calls her “one of the most courageous actors in history.”

Cohen grew up in a London suburb and studied History at Cambridge. He formed a breakdancing group as a teen and worked as a model and TV host before he discovered

his true talent as chameleonic master of disguise as hip presenter “Ali G” for British TV. Da Ali G Show (2000-2004) became a hit in the US. His first Borat movie won a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination in 2007.

Language has a role in the irony of this movie as well. Borat speaks Hebrew throughout the film. Tutar speaks Bulgarian.

The Kazakhstani peasants speak Romanian.

However all seem to communicate with one another just fine. Since a good part of the American population has not traveled outside of our country, the filmmakers decided that they probably would not recognize that different languages were being spoken.

Another observation that I often make is that we assign too much weight to the actual words of a conversation, since a great percentage of communication is in body language and the inflections of the voice.

In our complicated world, chaos follows Borat’s footsteps wherever he goes. He is so good at believing his own pure character that

others buy into it. He tricks the unsuspecting into showing their true colors. He lets them expose their own hypocrisy, ignorance and prejudice. On the higher end, you will find some of the characters try to adapt to the situation and make the best of it, sometimes offering assistance. At the lower level you will witness very disturbing behavior. It is eye opening and horrifying to watch as people misguided by propaganda and conspiracy hype interact with someone they believe is of their own mindset.

One of the players was let in on the joke, after her scene was shot. ]Cohen informed Holocaust survivor Judith Dim Evans that he is the polar opposite of the character he played in her scene, being Jewish himself.

She passed away at age 88 after the shoot, and the film is dedicated to her.

Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com.

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Getty Museum Acquires 39 Dutch Drawings Including a Rembrandt Acquisition will transform the Museum’s Dutch drawings collection

By Staff Writer While museums may be currently closed, Brentwood art fans have something to look forward once the Getty reopens: 39 new dutch drawings from key masters of the period including Rembrandt van Rijn and Jacob Ruisdael.

The J. Paul Getty Museum announced recently the acquisition of 39 Dutch drawings, providing a survey of the outstanding artists, styles, genres, and subjects in seventeenthcentury art from the Netherlands. The group includes drawings by Rembrandt van Rijn, Jacob Ruisdael, Gerrit van Honthorst, and many other artists of the “Golden Age” of Dutch art. In addition, the acquisition includes a monumental early watercolor by Piet Mondrian, a panoramic landscape view made in 1901.

“Set in motion nearly two years ago and finalized in January 2020, this major

acquisition dramatically enhances our Dutch drawings collection, increasing it by a third, and placing it among the most important museum holdings in the United States,” says Timothy Potts, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum. “Several drawings represent artists who are almost never available on the market, including Cornelis Vroom, Hendrick Dubbels, Jacob Pynas, and Gerrit Pietersz, adding rarity and depth to the group, and enabling the Getty to showcase a more complete history of Dutch art.”

A selection of 18 drawn landscapes and seascapes illustrate how Dutch artists celebrated their natural environment, burgeoning economy, and national identity.

Adriaen van de Velde’s The House with a Little Tower Seen from the Northeast (about 1660), for example, offers a quintessential evocation of the flat Dutch countryside framed by stretches of sky and water. Adriaen is mostly known for landscape drawings, and drawings of a single figure that he made in preparation of his paintings. He excelled in all media, including chalk and ink, pen and brush, watercolor and oil on paper.

A Cottage among Trees (about 1652 –1653), boldly rendered in grey wash over black chalk, is a prime example of a motif made famous

by Jacob van Ruisdael: the half-timbered

Image: The J. Paul Getty Museum

Landscape near Arnhem, 1900-01, Piet Mondrian. Translucent and opaque watercolor over graphite on wove paper. 20 ½ x 29 7/16 in. (52 x 71.5 cm).

house. From 1650 throughout his long and prolific career, his landscapes are populated by countless variations of the rustic cottages he encountered on a trip to Bentheim, Germany.

Underscoring the central role played by the human figure in Dutch Art, the acquisition includes nine figure studies, genre scenes, and portraits. Young Man Leaning on a Stick

(about 1629) by Rembrandt van Rijn is a moving depiction of a young beggar. With just a few deft pen lines, Rembrandt captured the humanity and humility of his subject and powerfully conveyed the bend of the beggar’s back, the turn of his foot, the messy curls of hair and ragged clothes, the fixated gaze, and laughing expression.

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