WINDOW ROCK—President Russell Begaye and Vice President Jonathan Nez offered their condolences to the family of Navajo Code Talker Roy Hawthorne, who passed away April 21.

“Code Talker Hawthorne is highly respected,” Begaye said. “He was not only a hero and a warrior, but also as a true spokesman who worked on behalf of the welfare of the Navajo Code Talkers consistently. It is a privilege to have known him and I extend my condolences to his family, his fellow Navajo Code Talkers and his comrades.”

Hawthorne was the vice president of the Navajo Code Talkers Association. During World War II, he served with the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific Theatre. He later served in the Korean War and was promoted to corporal.

“We acknowledge Navajo Code Talker Hawthorne’s service to our nation and to the United States of America, as well as the sacrifices of his family,” Nez said. “One of the projects he worked hard for was to create a museum for the Navajo Code Talkers—we will continue working on this in his honor and in honor of all Navajo Code Talkers.”

Hawthorne was 17 when he enlisted in the Marine Corps. After attending Camp Pendleton for several months for training, he was first shipped to Guadalcanal, which was then secured by the Americans. Later, he fought in the Battle of Okinawa.

“When I was inducted into the Marine Corps and I raised my hand and swore allegiance to the United States of America, and I became a Marine, that’s when I became somebody. That’s when the whole world realized it wasn’t true that the Native Americans were non-achievers. That they were achievers,” Hawthorne said in a videotaped interview. “That’s what makes me very proud of the fact that we were chosen to do this specific task. And so we did.”

Funeral services for Hawthorne will be held on April 27 at 10 am at Tsé Si aní Baptist Church in Lupton.

Rating: «« out of ««««

Running Time: 125 minutes

Yep, this week I’m going to be Mr. Grumpy about the latest chapter in the Marvel Universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp. The movie certainly provides all the comic book movie story beats and action you’d expect, but the material isn’t nearly as sharp this time out. Thankfully, the talented cast of this superhero feature manage to eke out a few laughs almost purely on charm. However, there isn’t a whole lot else to recommend about this clumsy and haphazard sequel.

Set before the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) is about to finish a house arrest sentence after causing a big ruckus in the last Captain America movie. Estranged from scientists-turned-fugitives Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and daughter Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), the trio are forced back together when Lang begins having visions of Pym’s wife, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer). Pym and Hope believe that she may be trying to communicate from the Quantum Realm, an alternate dimension in time and space where she was lost years earlier. The team decide to find her, but their valuable technology is stolen by Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), a dangerous figure who can phase through matter.

There’s an awful lot to juggle here and my synopsis doesn’t even come close to covering the incidental characters. They include a sinister black market dealer (Walter Goggins), Pym’s adversarial ex-friend/professor (Lawrence Fishburne), Lang’s familial relationships and an FBI agent (Randall Park) determined to catch the lead breaking his parole, not to mention the protagonist’s ex-criminal buddies like Luis (Michael Pena). All of this extraneous material bogs things down a bit. No wonder five different writers are credited with the screenplay. It’s a bit of a dog’s breakfast.

Another factor that stood out was the broad approach to humor. There isn’t as much wit or zip to the interplay. Early on, it is funny to watch a bored Lang try to pass time while under house arrest. Later in the film, a truth serum (of sorts) is introduced, leading to argument about what exactly it is; this also results in an amusing flashback narrated by Luis. So, the charismatic cast do earn a few laughs. Still, much of a film deals in bad puns, awkward one-liners and less-than-hilarious gags, like an ant grown to the size of a human being and eventually cleaning and playing video games.

As expected, the digital effects work is impressive and the concept itself should allow plenty of opportunity to experience familiar things from a completely different perspective. Yet these opportunities are also wasted. The camera simply follows the characters as they shrink and then expand to avoid capture. Little toy cars (carried around in a Hot Wheels case) are used in the streets and even Pym’s lab building is shrunk, carried around and then expanded back to regular size in empty lots in downtown San Francisco.

I’m not sure how someone wouldn’t notice a brand new building next to them or pay no mind to gunfights and car chases occurring through the downtown area, but logic isn’t this film’s strong suit. This may sound harsh, but when you can’t help but think about these things as events unfold, it isn’t a great sign.

The film is genial enough popcorn entertainment, but doesn’t tell a story that takes advantage of the unique scenarios that could occur to a person with such unusual abilities. It’s too busy trying to deliver big action and thrills than do something unique, like turn small, familiar environments into massive and dangerous arenas.

And for those wondering, there are two post-credits scenes, one of which depicts what happened to Lang after the arrival of Thanos. However, there isn’t much sting to the proceedings in general. I’m sure I’ll be in the minority on this one, but there is little going on in Ant-Man and the Wasp that will stick in the mind after the credits start rolling.

Visit: CinemaStance.com

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun

Rating: «« out of ««««

Running Time: 128 minutes

The latest film in this hugely popular franchise is said to be part of a trilogy. After viewing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, it certainly seems that way. While the movie probably still cost a pretty penny, this feels like a much smaller, darker follow-up. It deserves some credit for trying to deal with a few moral and ethical questions about the creation of dinosaurs and provides some popcorn thrills along the way, but doesn’t quite match its predecessor and often feels more like a set-up for the next chapter in the series than its own stand-alone entry.

Four years after the events of the previous film, the island theme park has been abandoned and is overrun with dinos. However, a volcanic eruption on Isla Nubar soon threatens “extinction” for all dinosaurs (it’s best not to think about Isla Sorna from The Lost World and Jurassic Park III, or try to understand why the Jurassic World owners decided to build their massive attraction next to an active peak).

While Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) does her best to campaign for the rescue of these lab created lifeforms, others wonder if it’s simply best to let nature take its course. When a wealthy benefactor (James Cromwell) offers to pay for a rescue mission, Dearing joins immediately. However, her ex, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) needs more coaxing. They explain his expertise will be needed to extract Blue, one of the raptors he trained.

The excursion does not go as intended, with the leads and their pals being set up by a nefarious villain with other plans for the creatures. There are some fun scenes on the island as the characters must not only deal with carnivorous dinosaurs hunting them down, but also the massive eruption occurring around them. It results in some impressive visuals and one of the funniest moments in the film, as a heavily tranquilized Owen slowly regains motor function and attempts to roll his way out of the path of oncoming danger.

While these early scenes are large in scope, the story leaves this locale and spends the second hour at a single location, the benefactor’s mansion on the mainland. Here, the evil plot and motivations for obtaining the dinosaurs is revealed... and to be honest, it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense or seem worth the time and resources for the bad guys, if you think about it. Let’s just say that they’re very interested in Blue, specifically her affection for and tendency to follow the directions of her trainer. They’re also interested in showing off an all-new dangerous hybrid created in the lab called the Indoraptor. Thankfully for the heroes, the villains not all that bright, at times succumbing to monster movie clichés and doing that absolute worst thing in a life-threatening scenario.

Essentially, the second half of the film becomes a simple monster-in-the-house movie. At least it’s a well-made one, featuring a few exciting scenes along the way. One bit involving the Indoraptor tricking a victim is quite funny. Despite the dark, enclosed environments, there’s a nifty shot or two, including one impressive camera move that follows the nasty creature as it climbs over the roof of the estate and flips upside down as it peeks into a window. And as in the previous film, Blue is an entertaining and likable dino character to root for amid the carnage.

While some of it comes across awkwardly, at least the movie tries to add some food for thought about the basic rights of all living creatures, between scenes of characters being torn to pieces. At the end of the day, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is flawed and doesn’t possess the grandeur or thrills of the previous installment. However, it does promise something more exciting for the next sequel (should there be one) and provides a few moments of amusing dinosaur carnage for fans of the series.

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun

Literary fans gathered at the Second Street Events Center April 14 to hear featured poet Roanna Shebala perform her work at the Gallup ArtsCrawl Poetry Slam.

Shebala, 35, has competed at national slams, women’s poetry slams, and the annual Individual World Poetry Slam. She recently returned from the “Women of the World Poetry Slam,” which was hosted by Poetry Slam Inc, a non-profit focused on organizing and promoting slams. Shebala was the only Native American poet to compete.

“It was cool, but it was kind of overwhelming, disappointing. The poems I performed, nobody could understand them,” Shebala said of the audience’s lack of exposure to natives.

Shebala has built her career around traveling and introducing her work to people unfamiliar with her voice, and others like it. Originally from Fort Defiance, Ariz., Shebala has performed her poetry across the country, places such as Oakland to Phoenix, Denver, Albuquerque, Boston, and more.

“I get to travel, meet different people and speak my truth,” Shebala said.

Her slam poetry piece “Love You Some Indians,” garnered national acclaim. Shebala’s performance of the piece at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland, Calif., in 2014 was recorded and is available for viewing on her website: rowieshebala.com.

The poem addresses Indian mascots, kitschy native roadside crafts, social stereotypes, and the cultural misappropriation of American Indians today.

The piece opened doors, Shebala said, and her performance at La Casita for Lincoln Center Out of Doors, a summer poetry and music festival, served as an indication that she was on track with her writing.

“That poem got me to New York City,” she said of “Love You Some Indians.”

Shebala’s slam poet lifestyle involves copious amounts of writing, reading and performing. She said she is constantly training.

During slams, the verbal pugilism lasts three minutes, just like a boxing match, as the competitor lets loose with a barrage of words, gesticulations, and emotions.

Shebala described her writing process as straightforward.

“I pick a subject that I want to write about and I just rant about it as long as I can,” she said. “I rant and write and write. I go back, re-read it and I take out lines that I like and lines that I don’t like. It starts to organize from there.”

Shebala researches the topics of her poems and proudly affirms her work’s accuracy. For ArtsCrawl, she performed “Love You Some Indians,” “Indian Phoenix,” and a new poem about Pocahontas.

“People think of her as the Disney princess, with her hair in the wind,” Shebala said of Pocahontas. “With this epidemic of murdered and missing Indigenous women, nobody ever puts the two together. How (Pocahontas) is the most famous murdered and missing Indigenous woman. How she was taken and she was only 10.”

ArtsCrawl Slam Dunks

During the April 14 ArtsCrawl Poetry Slam, it was a local Gallup man who took home the prize.

Brian Donnelly, originally from New York, performed a personal piece that he wrote more than 13 years ago while serving in the military. It was his first time performing the poem in public.

A U.S. Army veteran, Donnelly served as a combat medic with the 47th Combat Support Hospital in Mosul in 2003 and later in Baghdad in 2005.

“I was a heroin addict as a teenager before joining the Army, Without the Army, I would probably still be an addict or dead or in jail like a lot of my friends,” Donnelly said. “That poem was probably from them.”

When he wrote the poem, Donnelly said was up for three days straight dealing with mass casualties. He was tired but could not sleep until he wrote that poem down about his friends back in New York.

Today, disabled from his time in combat, Donnelly describes writing as therapeutic.

“Write as much as you can,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how silly it is, just write because in that is going to be some gems. Find yourself in writing.”

The organizer of the poetry slam, Mariya Deykute, is also an accomplished poet, writer, and teacher. She also hosts the First Friday poetry series and open mic at ART123 Gallery.

“April is National Poetry Month, so we wanted to do a poetry slam for the Gallup Community,” she said.

An English teacher at Tohatchi High School, Deykute has been living in the area for around four years. She has been published in over 20 journals and a few anthologies, including “The Southwestern Poetry Anthology.”

“I would love to have an anthology or even an annual or biannual journal, even if it’s partially print and partially online,” Deykute said. “I’ve been working with UNM-Gallup and ArtsCrawl to see if we could get it funded and off the ground for next year.”

For Deykute, poetry is important because it challenges beliefs.

“It asks the hard questions and it gives us comfort of not always knowing those answers to those questions,” she said. “It lets us slow down and appreciate the world for what it is as opposed to what we want it to be.”

Her love for the craft has brought her in contact with many local poets, to whom she offers guidance and advice.

“There is a market out right now for any kind of poetry, so I would say do your best and don’t be afraid to get yourself out there,” Deykute said, as advice to those following in her path. “Essentially submit as much as possible, read as much as possible and really try to be a part of the poetry community.”

Deykute added that poetry is a valuable resource in many lives spiritually, if not financially, and encouraged those interested in the art to look inwards.

“Poetry doesn’t make the big bucks, but it can really enrich your life and give your life meaning,” she said.

By Rick Abasta

For the Sun