It's over

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

Contracts end. Pets die. Bands split up. And blogs -- yes, even our very own SLO Goings -- evaporate into the ether of cyberspace.

After 250 blog entries (including this one), we're calling it quits.

Don't worry, faithful readers. In the place of SLO Goings, we're creating two brand new Tribune blogs.

My blog, “She Likes to Watch,” covers all things related to the silver screen – movies, television shows, viral videos, etc. – as well as a smattering of pop culture and local events.

Pat Pemberton’s blog, “Sidetracked,” focuses mainly on music and surfing. However, as the title implies, he’ll also discuss topics as diverse as dentists, facial hair and professional boxers.

Check out our new adventures at:

http://sloblogs.thetribunenews.com/shelikestowatch/

and

http://sloblogs.thetribunenews.com/sidetracked/

We'll catch you on the flipside.

-- Sarah L.

"Island" adventure

Features writing is a funny business.

In the course of writing one article, we often stumble upon another. We find ourselves zooming off on tangents, wildly and without warning.

That’s why, in the midst of a story about movie theaters, I found myself at Arroyo Grande’s Fair Oaks Theatre — watching a screening of “Nim’s Island.”*

Based on the children’s book by Wendy Orr and Kerry Millard, “Nim’s Island” takes its title from the tropical paradise inhabited by a scientist and his spunky, self-reliant daughter named, improbably, Nim.**

For Nim and her father (Gerard Butler), the island is a lush safe haven. They live off the land, stay in touch via Internet and radio, and once a month, motor out to a waiting ship for supplies.

It’s an isolated life, but Nim (Abigail Breslin) doesn’t seem to mind. She’s too busy playing with her best friends — a lizard, a pelican and a sea lion, natch — and reading about world-famous adventurer Alex Rover (Butler again, letting his true Scottish brogue roar).

The little girl longs to be fearless like her hero. “The thing about courage is that it’s not something we’re born with,” her dad tells her. in a heavy moment of foreshadowing. “It’s in each and every choice we make, each and every day.”

Naturally, Nim’s chance to prove her mettle isn’t far off.

Dad fails to return from an ocean research trip, leaving Nim facing a fierce storm and an invading army of Australian tourists. Frightened and injured, she calls on her favorite hero — Alex Rover — for help.

There’s only one problem: Alex Rover is imaginary, the invention of a germ-phobic, anxiety-prone author (Jodie Foster) who hasn’t left her San Francisco apartment in months.

At its best, “Nim’s Island” is sweet and sparkly, a cute re-telling of “Swiss Family Robinson” with one girl instead four rowdy boys.

The title island looks impossibly lovely, thanks to the work of Santa Maria special effects firm CafeFX and others. And there’s no shortage of computer-animated wonders: anthropomorphic critters, smoking volcanoes and a charming, storybook introduction.

Unfortunately, “Nim’s Island” starts faltering once the outside world starts creeping into paradise.

As Nim sets traps to ward off Australian tourists led by an evil cruise ship crew, the movie comes across as a cheesy blend of”Robinson Crusoe” and “Home Alone.”

Other plot twists seem improbable even for a fanciful children’s movie.

The movie is saved, ultimately, by the wholesome appeal of its stars — especially Breslin, who’s come a long way since “Little Miss Sunshine.”

Gerard Butler is also charming here, both as a caring dad and a dashing adventurer. And Foster, when she’s not kvetching to the heavens, could be channeling a ’90s Meg Ryan — all nervous giggles and sideways grins.

Most of the time, like this movie, it works.

-- Sarah L.

* Photo courtesy of MovieWeb.com.

** Mom’s out of the picture, although the fairytale narration makes it difficult to tell whether she’s dead, missing or literally swallowed by a whale.

Movie drips and drabs for April

Ah, spring. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and spring cleaning is upon us.

While emptying the recycling bins here at Movies HQ, I found a few movie-related tidbits.

HopeDance magazine offers two more movies this month in its HopeDance FiLMs series.

First up is “Everything’s Cool”, a look at the history of global warming.
Filmmakers Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand examine the movement from the viewpoints of scientists, activists and politicians. Hear interviews with Bill McKibben, Ross Gelbspan and others.

“Everything’s Cool” will be screened at 7 p.m. Monday at the San Luis Obispo library, in San Luis Obispo. A $5 donation is encouraged.

On Wednesday, the film series takes a look at health care with “Cuba: An Accidental Revolution.”

The documentary, narrated by scientist/environmentalist David Suzuki, looks at the island nation’s surprisingly strong health care system.

It’s paired with the PBS documentary “Critical Care,” about U.S. health care.

Moviegoers are encouraged to donate $5 to $10.

“Cuba: An Accidental Revolution” and “Critical Care” play at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the San Luis Obispo library.

More information about both films is available at www.hopedance.org/.


***

The Palm Theatre in San Luis Obispo kicks off its new movie series on Wednesday with “Trainspotting.”

Palm Wednesdays will offer a different flick each Wednesday. The emphasis here is on cult classics: quirky comedies, action flicks and thrillers with a strong following among Generations X and Y.

Few movies fall into that category better than “Trainspotting,” Danny Boyles’ darkly comic look at the Edinburgh drug scene. It’s smart, slick and frequently pretty damn unsavory.

“Trainspotting” will screen at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo.

Tickets are $7.50. You can also snag a six-movie pass for $35 — provided you buy it before Wednesday.

The series continues May 7 with the big-wave surfing documentary “Billabong Odyssey.” Check out the full list at www.thepalmtheatre.com/.

***

The San Luis Obispo International Film Festival drew more than 7,500 moviegoers, organizers said this week, the “best ever” in the festival’s 14-year history.

About 12 percent came from outside the county, said Wendy Eidson, the film festival’s executive director.

Top events at the film festival, which ran March 7 to 16, included a train-themed opening night, an awards ceremony honoring “Easy Rider” star Peter Fonda and Surf Night, featuring a tribute to pioneer surf filmmaker Bud Browne.

This year, festival organizers introduced Western Night and the Hollywood and Vines series, which pairs movies with local wineries. They also added venues in Santa Margarita, Paso Robles and Shell Beach.

For more information, visit www.slofilmfest.org.

-- Sarah L.

John Cleese and the Knights Who Say "NI"

Among the advantages of being a stone’s throw away from Santa Barbara has to be the celebrity sightings.

Although San Luis Obispo County has had its share of famous residents — director King Vidor, game show guru Alex Trebek, president’s son Steve Ford — Santa Barbara is a haven for Hollywood types.

Oprah Winfrey, Steve Martin, Kenny Loggins and Jeff Bridges all call the Gold Coast home. Comedian extraordinaire John Cleese owns a ranch there.

Luckily for us, Cleese seems perfectly happy to show his famous face in public.

He appears May 15 at UC Santa Barbara’s Campbell Hall for “An Evening with John Cleese.”

The event, a benefit for the university’s Arts and Lectures movie series, will feature a screening of that 1975 comedy classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

Cleese will introduce the movie and, afterward, answer questions about “Holy Grail” and his enormous body of work (”Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” “Fawlty Towers,” “A Fish Called Wanda,” etc., etc.).

Tickets are $20, or $10 for UCSB students.

For more information, call (805) 805 893- 3535 or visit https://artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu/index.aspx.

"Maggie May" and You

If I were to write a list of the top ten rock songs of all time, Rod Stewart’s Maggie May would have to be on it.

Co-written with classical guitarist Martin Quittenton, its lyrics convey humility, regret and the pain of love turned sour. Musically, the single was driven by a clanging high-hat and a cranked-up bass. And above all, Stewart’s raw vocals make this a song for the ages.

Of course, like all great singles, the record label didn’t think it was all that. (It was released as a B-side to “Reason to Believe.”) But among Stewart’s lofty catalogue, it remains his anthem.

I can’t guarantee he’ll perform "Maggie May" at the Mid-State Fair this summer, but I can say this: He’s great live.

And, yeah – he’ll probably sing “Maggie May.”

Tickets for Stewart’s show go on sale this Friday.

With opening act Bryan Adams, it’s the concert I most look forward to at this year’s fair. But the rest of the lineup looks pretty good, too.

Country stars Alan Jackson and Toby Keith are returning. Nineties rockers the Stone Temple Pilots, freshly reunited, will be here for the first time, as will John Mayer.

You can get tickets for those acts Friday as well.

For a full list of acts and prices, see the state fair’s web site.


-- Pat P.

Equality of the sexy

I'm a big proponent of gender equality on film.

Yet, while most cinematic chicks drop top and trou at the slightest suggestion, male stars take a lot longer to get out of their skivvies. (The exception being shirtless wonder Matthew McConaughey.)

That's why I was gratified to see two sterling examples of male nudity on the silver screen recently -- with nary a female nipple or derriere in sight.

In "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," mock rocker Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly) holds an entire phone conversation with an extra's ... ahem ... member in plain sight.

Wide-angle shots of star Jason Segel's nude torso -- both front and back -- bookend "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

It's done for comic effect, obviously, but the result is two-fold.

At first, we get a guilty, gross-out pleasure from the sight of Segel in his birthday suit. By the end of the movie, when Segal is embracing his fully clothed co-star (Mila Kunis), his nudity seems downright blasé.

Both of these examples come to us from producer Judd Apatow and pals. That's right -- the same guys that brought you a pale, slightly bloated Will Ferrell in his tighty-whities.

Apatow's message is clear: For men, nudity means vulnerability. It means comedy.

Amd while we might giggle at Kathy Bates in a hot tub ("About Schmidt") or Eddie Murphy in a female fat suit ("Norbit"), few women on film get laughs when they slip off their sundresses.

It sounds more like a wistful sigh.

-- Sarah L.

Record Store Day

By now you’ve heard that famous Mark Twain quote: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

One could argue, of course, that reports of his death have not been exaggerated since 1910. But you get the idea – his demise was falsely reported while he was still kicking.

Likewise, record store owners think reports that their industry is dead are grossly exaggerated. Sure, record sales are down. And, yeah, downloads are doing quite well. (iTunes is now the biggest music retailer in the country.)

But people still love record stores and CDs, right?

Okay, yeah, it’s annoying when you buy a CD that has one good song and 12 crappy ones. And, sure, CD prices have shot up almost as insanely as gas prices.

Still.

In honor of their continued existence, independent retailers have created their own little holiday, called We’re Not Dead Yet Day. Except they’re actually calling it Record Store Day. (Frankly, I like my name better.)

The “holiday,” celebrated Saturday, was concocted last fall to help struggling record store sales. Lending a hand, groups like Metallica (whom downloaders love, by the way!), Billy Bragg and Panic at the Disco will perform at record stores across the country.

Not to be left out, San Luis Obispo’s Cheap Thrills and Boo Boo Records will be taking part. Both will be offering discounts. And Boo Boo will be offering live music throughout the day.

The Boo Boo lineup includes:

11:00AM The Green Apples
12:00 PM Guy Budd
1:00 PM Inga Swearingen
2:00 PM Fighting Chance
3:00 PM Sparrow’s Gate
4:00 PM Black Shirts
5:00 PM Hot & Cool Orchestra
6:00 PM the Threes & Nines
7:00 PM Port O’Brien

While you’re listening to those local acts, consider buying a CD at these places. Because while reports of the industry’s death may be exaggerated, it ain’t exactly looking healthy these days.

--Pat P.