Going along for The Hero’s last ride
LONDON — British actress Jodie Whittaker is the next star of the long-running science fiction series Doctor Who — the first woman to take a role that has been played by a dozen men over six decades.
Whittaker, best known for playing the mother of a murdered He’s certainly a character. Seasoned character actor Sam Elliot stars as Lee Hayden – an actor with a great voice and well known for Westerns of a bygone era. The Hero reflects a lot of Elliot who has played a cowboy more than a time or two. You may also know Elliot as the stranger from the Coen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski (1998).
If you do not recognize the name, you’ll know the voice. The Hero opens with Lee reading slogans for barbeque sauce — Elliot himself does voice-overs for commercials. You’ll also recognize the story. Lee is an older white male with some health issues. He was once a successful entertainer, but he didn’t pay enough attention to family. Now he wants to pull himself up by the bootstraps, while trying to make up for too many wrongs.
We have seen this type of narrative before – Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler (2008) and Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart (2009) are two recent films that explore this story. However, The Hero is more of an experience than another tale.
Less concerned with showing us some sentimental journey to redemption, director Brett Haley explores the nuances of Lee’s life. Moreover, The Hero demonstrates that there are alternatives to heroism for old white men.
The exploration begins with Lee, after smoking a little marijuana and what have you, he learns from his doctor that he has cancer. Despite boy in detective drama Broadchurch, will replace Scottish actor Peter Capaldi at the end of the year, the BBC said.
Whittaker is the 13th official incarnation of the Doctor, a galaxy-hopping Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels in the Tardis, a time machine shaped like an old-fashioned British police telephone booth.
In a testament to the place Doctor Who holds in Britain’s cultural life, the revelation was made on live television after the Wimbledon men’s tennis final on July 16. A film clip showed a mysterious hooded figure — revealed his initial sadness, meeting much younger Charlotte (Laura Prepon) reminds him that sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you.
His agent has no scripts or film auditions for him, but Lee is receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Western Appreciation and Preservation Guild. When his daughter Lucy (Krysten Ritter) is unable to attend, he and Charlotte go on a substancefilled adventure that turns a dusty reception into a smashing good time.
While we see glimpses of Lee’s cinematic dreams, his life becomes more vibrant when he awakes to find he is a viral sensation. His antics with Charlotte turn out to be more than fun. The offers start pouring in. Things with Charlotte get more serious. An opportunity to be Whittaker — walking through the woods.
Doctor Who ran from 1963 to 1989, and was revived to acclaim in 2005. Its longevity is partly due to its flexible premise. The central character, known only as the Doctor, can travel across space and time and can regenerate into new bodies — allowing for endless recasting of the role.
Speculation had been mounting a woman would get the role, generating excitement from some fans and opposition from others who feel the character has been established as male. arises for Lee to spend time with Lucy again.
Despite all of these positives, Lee struggles to come to terms with his cancer diagnosis and puts off his important doctor’s appointment as well as telling his family the news. Does this old cowboy have what it takes? Can he play a role outside the Western genre? Will he start a new relationship with his daughter?
Burning the candle at both ends and reading the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay are strange approaches to these questions. Nevertheless, Lee does just that, but he doesn’t do it alone. Under the guidance of Charlotte and his friend Jeremy (Nick Offerman) he prepares to change the reel. We come along for the ride. There are lows and bottles of whiskey. Then there are highs and even more
Whittaker, 35, has worked extensively in British television and film. On the big screen, she played Anne Hathaway’s best friend in the romantic drama One Day and battled aliens in Attack the Block.
She said that becoming the first female Doctor “feels completely overwhelming, as a feminist, as a woman, as an actor, as a human.”
“I want to tell the fans not to be scared by my gender,” she said. “Because this is a really exciting time, and Doctor Who represents everything that’s exciting about change.”
substances. But, we do not know if he will become a hero one more time. Then again, maybe Lee Hayden is not a hero because what’s a hero?
Maybe Lee is just a person. Sometimes there is a man who is the man for his time and place. Perhaps we all need to worry less about being a hero and take more time to walk along the beach.
Find moments to enjoy the things we like. Forget our troubles, embrace who we are, oh, and possibly use a little more barbeque sauce.
Enter Laurel Minnes of local band Majora, who joins Guirguis as co-organizer of the July 22 show in addition to performing in it.
“Part of the stipulation for getting more grants or more funding is to make sure the festival grows, make sure it has more components,” says Guirguis, a Niagara Falls event planner and promoter. “The only way to take that on was to alleviate a good chunk of the responsibility to somebody that I trust.”
The festival received $5,000 through the city’s Cultural Development Fund last year, and received double that this year — a sign its impact hasn’t gone unnoticed, says Guirguis.
The majority of the budget will once again go to the 40 performers, which this year includes James Blonde, Theatre Crisp, Stereo Sunrise and returning favorites Road Waves.
Additions this year include eight hours of jazz at The Moose & Pepper (sponsored by the TD Niagara Jazz Festival), a health and wellness program hosted by Christa Barrette, an expanded Artisan Village, and a craft beer market.
Also, for the first time, a section of Queen Street from Victoria Avenue will be closed to traffic.
Patience has been key for the festival. Instead of instantly trying to fill the void left by SCENE two years ago, Livestock is playing the long game.
“The fact it hasn’t exploded beyond our capabilities in the first two years is really helpful,” says Minnes. “It has grown at a healthy rate and a manageable rate, to where we can make decisions properly and not impulsively.”
Tempting as it is to spend much of the budget on a big headliner, Guirguis prefers doling it out to Niagara bands. The result is now the region’s biggest one-day celebration of Niagara music.
“We have to be true to ourselves,” says Guirguis. “There is an overflow of festivals happening right now — it’s very saturated — and if you’re going to step into the water with the big boys, you’ve got to play hard.
“It takes a lot of resources, a lot of staffing. The only way to do that is build a solid foundation through natural growth.”