Rating: « out of 4

Running Time: 118 min.

I’m not very familiar with the TV series upon which the new Baywatch feature is based, but one imagines that it provided viewers with a bit of tongue-in-cheek camp and escapism over the course of an hour. The sad thing is that during a screening of the new and updated version of this property, I actually spent much of the time feeling I might have been better served watching the original show. The new Baywatch mixes blunt, ill-timed gags with straight-forward action and does neither of the two particularly well. This effort sinks early on and completely drowns before anyone or anything can rescue it.

The plot revolves around heroic Mitch Buchannon (Dwayne Johnson) and his team of lifeguards (Ilfenesh Hadera and Kelly Rohrbach) taking on three new recruits. They include obnoxious, disgraced, ex-Olympian Matt Brody (Zac Efron), Summer (Alexandra Daddario) and an enthusiastic but less-than-statuesque Ronnie (Jon Bass). Together, they team up to rid the beaches of a new designer drug being distributed by resort owner, Victoria Leeds (Priyanka Chopra). As the lifeguards investigate, they discover a deeper (but not particularly interesting) conspiracy.

The problem with this movie isn’t the cast or the concept itself. It’s the script, which never finds the right tone or approach to the material and leaves the performers next to nothing to work with. The opening, in which Mitch saves a life and the title credit rises from the sea is an amusingly over-the-top moment, and there are perhaps two or three half-chuckles (one involving two men fighting in a child’s room), but the writing never allows its characters to truly have fun with or satirize traditional hero roles.

Instead, the plot focuses on the bickering between Mitch and unwanted newcomer Matt. One gets the impression through early news clips that Matt is supposed to be dim. Unfortunately, as written he comes across as arrogant and obnoxious, but not always lunk-headed. It’s only here and there where his lack of brains are displayed, too late for us to identify with him. And with the two irritated leads having to insult each other, even Mitch comes off as a bit haughty and self-important. Strangely enough, with an action star in the cast, the chases and fights play out in a straightforward manner that don’t come across as exciting.

And as for the humor, it all falls flat. Many of the male characters lust after their female co-workers, which isn’t exactly a hysterical jumping off point. Ronnie is so enamored with one of the ladies that at one point he can’t stop, well, showing his excitement at being around the girl of his dreams. After falling on a deck chair, he finds his male parts wedged. Another sequence involves the characters breaking into a morgue to check a body. Upon learning that he has to look underneath the corpse’s testicles, Matt displays disgust and contempt, almost getting the characters caught and harmed in the process. These are intended to be the movie’s big comic moments and they’re horrifically unfunny.

And of course, the female leads aren’t given nearly enough to do. Even they look surprised at one point in the film when they are forced into taking physical action against a villain. These characters should have been far more integrated into the battles, but perhaps they didn’t want to be saddled with some of the clunky one-liners Mitch has to deliver when taking out the bad guys, like, “Bath time, shithead.”

There is some comic potential in a group of lifeguards taking it upon themselves to do their own criminal investigation, but it only results in a passing comment. So much entertainment could have resulted from the idea of a chiseled hero attempting his own police investigation and struggling with his lack of intelligence. Heck, even flipping stereotypes and making the characters extraordinarily verbose and witty and annoyed at not being respected for their smarts would have been something to build on.

Instead, everything about this bloated enterprise feels forgettable, forced and difficult to endure. The screenplay is terrible and no amount of charismatic personalities or characters onscreen can save it. Baywatch completely misses the mark and stands as one of the summer’s lesser efforts.

Visit: cinemastance.com

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun

Sunday afternoon event resonates with community

Classic cars, classic roast coffee, and a classically good time – all were on hand Sunday at Camille’s Sidewalk Café’s “Cars and Coffee.”

In its third year, the event is already becoming a Gallup institution. Each Sunday from roughly April to November, car enthusiasts gather at Camille’s to show off their latest project, to trade stories, and of course to sip on some world class coffee. The cars, and motorcycles too, are as varied as their owners.

You have newer cars like Daniel González’s 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. Stock, Gonzalez’s Hellcat is pushing 707 horsepower and can go 0-60 in 3.6 seconds. But this was a car show, these cars are pet toys, and his car was far from stock.

González was at the show to meet up with friends and was so interested in participating that he pulled his car out of the shop before his most recent modifications were finished. In the veteran-heavy crowd, González was emphatic that he only buys American cars, and said he does it “to help support the troops, because if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to do what I do.”

There were classic trucks as well, like Jody Sanchez’s flat black ’53 Chevy truck. Jody is owner of Jody Sanchez Academy of Karate in downtown Gallup, and is also the proud owner of a ’64 Impala, a ’66 Cobra, and a ’23 T-Bucket Roadster. Sanchez got his love of karate from his father who also ran a dojo as Sanchez was growing up. And these days Sanchez shares his love of both karate and his classic car collection

George and Terry Athens were there as well, with George Athens’ black ’63 Corvette. While George Athens owns a used car lot, his wife Terry Athens said that “rebuilding cars is his true passion,” and that rebuilding the Corvette had been “a two-and-a-half-year project.” When teased that George Athens had more cars than he did, Sanchez laughingly said “his garage is much bigger than mine, and he has a car lot. That kind of helps.”

Not to be left out, there was also a collection of Harley Davidson’s at Camille’s, led by the Navajo Hopi Honor Riders and the Eastern Agency Honor Riders. That morning, the riders had done a benefit ride for a 10-month-old little girl who was born blind and required surgery out of state.

In addition to the benefit ride, Merle Dixon of the Navajo/Hopi riders said they “also support our brothers and sisters by doing veteran home escorts and funeral escorts.”

Cars and Coffee starts at noon and goes until roughly 2 pm, however the start time is a bit soft. James Rich, the owner of Camille’s, said that they “used to have a shotgun start right at noon, but now everyone shows when they show,” and as the afternoon got a bit later, more and more people started to arrive, with the variety of cars continuing to expand.

This wasn’t just a “car show,” however, it was also a family friendly event with several families stopping by for breakfast and staying to check out the cars and talk with the drivers.

It was a stark contrast to most of the restaurants downtown, which were either not very busy or for the most part, closed.

Rich said that traffic on Sundays “used to be slow enough that they had considered closing on Sundays,” but with the success of Coffee and Cars “it gave us a reason to stay open on Sundays.”  As the show continues to grow Rich would like to see it expand, potentially with music, entertainment, and fun things to do for the kids.

While the show is each Sunday, the first Sunday of each month is a special one for the drivers. During that day the drivers, and a guest if they choose, get free food and drinks. In addition, there are prizes, games, and a variety of contests.  The drivers themselves view the event as a great chance to socialize, with one remarking to Rich “thanks for having this and giving us a chance to hang out”

Rich is also looking at introducing what he calls a “Café Racer” to add some additional interest. As much as that sounds like people running around a track with hot coffee trying not to spill it on themselves, that’s not exactly what it is.  The Café Racer would be an event where the drivers follow a prescribed course while being timed. However, the objective is not to come in the fastest, but rather come in closest to the prescribed time. So, for instance, the drivers might follow a prescribed four-mile route, and whoever came in closest to the target time would win.

All in all, Cars and Coffee is a great event with good times, cool cars, great food and coffee.

By Jonathan Gregg
Sun Correspondent

Gallup Police have located the man they were seeking for questioning

Staff Reports

The weekend turned violent at Red Hills Mobile Home Park in Gallup when shots were fired and one man was killed. Gallup Police responded around 7:50 pm Oct. 24 and discovered another male injured.

Detectives and officers were searching for a heavy-set bald man for questioning. He is identified as Melford John, 38, and described as about 5 ' 9" tall, weighing 212 pounds, with tattoos on his face, head, and chest.

On October 28, 2021, Navajo Nation Police Department along with McKinley County Sheriff Department and New Mexico State Police received information of a possible carjacking. Officers contacted the victim and victim’s vehicle in the area of Manuelito Canyon on the Navajo Reservation. The victim identified Melford John as the suspect in this case.

Officers later contacted John in that same location and he was taken into custody.

The Gallup Police Department was contact by the Navajo Nation Police Department that John died while in custody.

The Gallup Police Detective Division considers this a closed case with no other suspects at large.

This picture of the police processing unit was taken from a distance by a reader who lives in the Red Hills area.

Rating: ««« out of 4

Running Time: 123 min.

This is an odd way to start a review, but your enjoyment of this creature feature will likely have a lot to do with your feelings about Prometheus. Since it’s release, I’ve heard all sorts of reactions from viewers both positive and negative. Alien: Covenant is the latest in the series and fits somewhere between the last film and a proper Alien movie. It continues with the themes set up previously, adding a dash or two here and there of face-hugging monster mayhem. The end result isn’t perfect but is ambitious, with enough new and compelling material to earn it a pass.

The story follows a spaceship carrying humans set to colonize a new planet. A strange event awakens the crew and brings attention to a distress signal from a remote but habitable world. Leader Oram (Billy Crudup) suggests visiting and potentially setting up roots there, much to the displeasure of terraforming authority Daniels (Kathleen Waterston). Oram overrules objections and orders pilot Tennessee (Danny McBride) to land the ship. Assisting is android Walter (Michael Fassbender), an updated, more obedient version of the David automaton (also played by Fassbender) introduced in the previous film.

As you might imagine, things go south quickly and the group come under assault before meeting the unexpected origin of the transmission. Yet, the aliens are still more of a sideline to what I imagine the last pair of films are really about. There appears to be a theme repeated, mixed with elements of the Greek legend the previous film was titled after. These characters want answers to eternal questions of life and how they came to be. However, they’re ultimately disappointed in their creator, be it an alien or their own human parent. Invention isn’t pretty; in fact, it is messy and ugly, resulting in enraged children and parents of various species lashing out and attempting to punish one another.

This is a much darker and more unpleasant journey than the last film, but that doesn’t mean that it looks anything less than spectacular. The cinematography from Dariusz Wolski is phenomenal, from the neon-tinged spacecraft to the earthy but darkly foreboding planet terrain. There are some absolutely gorgeous shots in this feature. And the chills and thrills come in good measure, with shocks expertly timed and crafted. The two climactic battle sequences involving an alien are spectacular and thrilling, adding a real adrenaline rush to the finale.

Still, like its predecessor this follow-up isn’t without a few minor missteps. Some of the supporting characters are thinly drawn, not all of the motivations are clear (although this may be intentional and setting up further sequels) and some of the behavior on display at times appears illogical; in particular, a shower sex-scene arrives at a very strange and inappropriate moment in the story. Moments like this also seem to be a bit of a contrast with all the philosophizing going on. And although it’s amusing, most will see the movie’s coda coming well in advance.

If you hated Prometheus, Alien: Covenant isn’t likely to win you back over. Still, I’d much rather see the filmmakers aim high, take a few risks and attempt to address deeper concepts and ideas (even if they’re occasionally muddled) than completely fall back on the familiar. This one does try to mix, match and have it both ways, but there’s more here that works than in a great many genre follow-ups. And frankly, I’d be up for another chapter in this series, which is much more than I can say for most sequels.

By Glenn Kay
For the Sun