Rating: ««« out of 4

Running Time: 94 min.

After watching dozens of found footage films, I’ve developed something of a pet peeve with the format. So many entries in this horror subgenre feature characters so deeply flawed (or simply obnoxious) that they come across as grating and annoying. And when you don’t like the protagonists, it quickly kills the suspense. Frankly, in these types of flicks most of the inevitable demises can’t come soon enough. So it’s with some relief that The Visit bucks the trend. And a large part of it has to do with the young leads. Here’s a real shocker for you - they’re actually likable.

The crux of the story involves aspiring filmmaker Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and her freestyle-rapping brother Tyler (Ed Oxenbould). Due to a mysterious, long-standing dispute, the pair have never met their grandparents. This all changes when the two are invited on a trip to finally meet up. Becca brings along her camera with the intention of creating a documentary that may improve relations between family members. But not long after their arrival, the pair are taken aback by the increasingly bizarre behavior of their Nana (Deanna Dunagan) and Pop Pop (Peter McRobbie).

This movie is a slow burn with a dark streak of humor running throughout. The polite guests initially chalk everything up to the eccentricity of old people and the movie garners laughs from the kids double takes of what they’re seeing. Yet the grandparents become more imposing and threatening and the tone slowly changes.

The young cast effectively straddles the line between comedy and fear, which is no easy task. The amusingly written dialogue helps. This includes a running gag that features Tyler using the names of female singers in place of expletives (so as not to offend his grandparents). Over the course of the film, he runs through a sizable list.

Still, there are plenty of hair-raising turns. There’s a great scene involving a game of hide and seek that takes an unexpectedly weird turn. Director M. Night Shyamalan creates some memorable images of the elder characters, sometimes standing still and at other moments clawing and moving rapidly throughout the house. Another notable sequence includes the most uncomfortable game of Yahtzee ever captured on camera.

As mentioned, many of the odd and eccentric interactions end with a gag to alleviate tension. These moments work surprisingly well and even help build a creeping sense of unease. It all builds nicely as events spiral out of control and leads to the film’s surreal highlight - a gross-out sequence during the climax of the film (you’ll know it when you see it) that isn’t particularly graphic, but is difficult to forget.

The cast really goes to town selling this material, and it appears as though Shyamalan has taken great care to develop the characters. Each individual has a personal issue, and all are dealt with over the course of the movie. As far as the found footage format goes, all of the questions viewers might have about what they’re seeing and why they’re seeing it are resolved.

Of course, the trope of having persons continue to film while being chased isn’t avoided, but everything else is accounted for. It’s a nicely contained story (with a red herring or two) that wraps itself up in a clear and concise way.

The Visit is not a horror masterpiece, but it is a fun and effective take on the subgenre that slowly builds an eerie vibe before delivering plenty of spine-tingling chills and gallows humor. It may be the most disturbing family reunion ever captured on tape, but this viewer still found himself leaving the home of Nana and Pop Pop with a grin on his face.

Those colorful light pole banners that make downtown bright and cheerful and remind people about special events have a downside: they’re a huge time suck for city employees. So how many banners are enough, and how many are too many?

Constantly installing and removing event marketing banners is causing wear and tear on banners and city parks workers, and gobbles up a large chunk of the parks department staff hours, according to Parks and Recreation Director Vincent Alonzo.

While they plan for upcoming events, the city council will have to decide now how many banners is worthwhile, without overtaxing staff and resources.

Alonzo is recommending that from now on, city banners get permanent placement on every fourth light pole along Highway 66. With 380 poles on Highway 66 running the width of the city, that means 95 banners at any given time. But is that enough to be worthwhile?

“If you want to have an impact with banners, you have to do every pole. Every fourth pole is not going to be much to see,” Mayor Louie Bonaguidi said during the Aug. 9 city council meeting. “If we’re going to do it we should do it right. I can’t see doing every fourth pole at all.”

Alonzo said the idea first came up when the city ordered “Most Patriotic Small Town in America” banners, but added, “You’re right, that’s few and far between.”

“We’re going to go all the way east to west, but if we did 300 [banners] that would be a humongous job,” City Manager Maryann Ustick said. “If we put up 380 banners, every time there is a special event they will have to take them down, put up the new ones and take those down and put ‘em back up.”

Under Alonzo’s plan, staff would no longer remove city banners to swap in banners for other organizations, which typically include, for example, about 40 Lions Club banners and about 100 for the Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial. Instead, those banners would be installed and removed in between city banners, based on staff time and availability.

It takes a crew of three city workers, who have been certified to operate a bucket truck, to do banner installation or removal. That’s one to drive the truck, one in the bucket and one on the street to manage traffic.

Other banners, for organizations like the American Legion, aren’t placed on Highway 66 but hang at Courthouse Plaza and along Maloney Avenue, Metro Avenue ( Highway 491) and South Second Street.

Councilor Fran Palochak termed banners on every Highway 66 pole “excessive” and suggested doing every other pole. “Let’s face it, we’re having a hard time keeping park staff and replacing them,” she said.

But, she also stuck up for west side businesses.

“Business people call me and ask, ‘how come we’re the stepchildren of Gallup?’ We don’t have any of this out there. We have no brackets on the west side,” she said. “If we’re going to do it, we are going to do it right and we are going to include the west side, because we are part of the city of Gallup. I want them to get banners too.”

In September the City Council is expected to choose new designs for banners to line Highway 66 – the old banners are getting tatty and the city is getting ready for the Highway 66 centennial in four years – so they have to figure out how many banners to buy. They will also review and approve new banner designs.

Banners last about four months, Alonzo said, so the city also needs to order replacements. “If you go down 66 now, you’ll see several that are embarrassing,” he said.

Brackets can be ordered before the banner decisions are made, and the council will probably authorize 400 so replacements are on hand. City tourism funds will pay for the Highway 66 banner brackets.

By Holly J. Wagner
Sun Correspondent

Event still one of NM’s largest

Throughout the 95^th annual Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial’s Preview Night at Red Rock Park, residents and event organizers mixed and mingled at one of New Mexico’s most renown happenings.

Gallup’s Ceremonial is one of the Indian Capital’s top draws for tourism.

“Everything is going very well,” Dudley Byerley, president of the 2016 Ceremonial, said midway through the event. “There are people here from not only Gallup and McKinley County, but people from all over the state and from parts of Arizona and elsewhere.”

Throughout the evening event, Byerley chatted with citizens, business owners, representatives from civic groups, and elected officials from locales as far away as Chinle, Ariz., and Crownpoint.

The Ceremonial exhibit hall, set up with booths that showcased everything from arts and crafts to jewelry and rugs, was a place where dozens of folks dropped by to get a glimpse of Native American-made works and more. One booth showcased gift items earmarked for contestants competing in the Ceremonial Queen contest. The booth was manned by 2015-16 Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial Queen Kahlaya McKinney.

“It’s going pretty well,” McKinney said. “I’ve talked to people from all over.”

Area trader Bill Malone, who oversaw the best-of-show contest, said excitement was definitely in the air. A 14-inch buttery maiden kachina, made by Ronald Honyouti of Hopi, Ariz., took home the prize.

“I think people are enjoying themselves,” Malone said. “I’ve been associated with Ceremonial for almost 35 years.”

Later on, a ladies and juniors bull-riding event drew a few hundred people as spectators. The show was among several rodeo and bull-riding events held throughout the weekend.

“My son is just getting into bull riding, so we came out today,” Wanda Yazzie, 35, of Window Rock, said. “We actually just moved here from Crow Agency, Mont. We have things like this, but nothing that really takes place during an entire week.”

Ben Welch, city community services coordinator, said the evening progressed smoothly, and the wine-tasting went well.

“I saw a lot of people in there,” he said. “I’ve heard nothing but positive things since the evening began.”

Byerley introduced some new features to the 2016 Ceremonial, among them a $10, one-time entry fee, which working families benefit from, he said. The fee allows folks to attend the rodeos or Indian Dances for a single charge.

“I think it’s a positive in that you’ll most likely see a lot more people actually attending the event,” the Ceremonial president said. “That’s what we want.”

Byerley noted that, although it rained lightly, on and off, the weather didn’t dampen the spirit of the event.

“I really like it,” April Villanueva, 16, of Window Rock, said. “I like the rodeos.”

Gloria Underwood, a former Ceremonial board member said the evening went extremely well.

“We got the word out early about schedules and so forth, so people had time to plan,” she said. “I think everyone’s having a wonderful time.”

The weekend continues with Indian National Finals Rodeo, an open rodeo, and a first-time “Old School Days” rodeo, which honors the rodeos of Ceremonial’s past, Byerley has said.

By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent

Around 6:30 pm on Dec. 30, Gallup police officers in the area of the El Rancho Hotel heard the sound of numerous gunshots.

They saw a man reloading a firearm and ordered him onto the ground, where he was handcuffed. They determined that he had been shot in his right torso and they began rendering medical aid.

On further investigation, they determined the man they handcuffed had been firing at two people in the parking lot of the hotel.

Those two people were also armed and returned fire.

Before officers could determine their involvement, the two entered a white newer-model extended cab Toyota Tundra and fled the scene.

The man who was shot in the torso was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. His identity has not been released.

Officers want to speak with the people who left in the Toyota Tundra, and anyone who may have seen what happened.

If you have information, contact the Gallup Police Department at (505) 863-9365. Ask for Det. Andrew Thayer. You may also make an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at (877) 722-6161.