‘Shrek’ spinoffvisually stunningorigin tale

Puss in Boots,” anorigin tale for thepopular “Shrek”character, is a mod-

el for howto build onwhatworks. Youwon’t findanythingnew inPuss’ story,which is asurprising-lyentertain-ing jumble

of fairy tales and nurseryrhyme characters trans-posed in aSpain-meets-Wild West sto-rybook. What you will find,though, is a fun if sporadicadventure in a visuallystunning landscape farmore effervescent than anyof the “Shrek” films.

The tale fleshes out thebackstory of the titularcharacter, an egotisticalswashbuckler (voiced byAntonio Banderas) withdelusions of grandeur andan eclectic group of ac-

quaintances, includingHumpty Dumpty, theGoose That Laid the Gold-en Eggs, Jack and Jill andMother Goose herself.We’re also introduced to alove interest, the seduc-tive Kitty Softpaws (SalmaHayek), who transitionsfrom Puss’ competition tohis partner in crime. Thepair possesses seriousskill on the dance floor,often breaking in flamen-co-style numbers, buttheir teamwork alwaysseems a tad forced (lestone loses the edge overthe other).

The other characters,however, are more centralto the story, if only visual-ly. The covetous Jack andJill, voiced by Billy Bob

Thornton and AmySedaris, are devious vil-lains terrorizing thecountryside. MotherGoose, similar in size tothe giant Gingerbread

Man, is a sinister-seemingthreat descending from onhigh to protect her goldenchick, whom the outlawpartners have stolen fromabove.

Puss is as quick-wittedand criminally capable asever, but he doesn’t holdthe same weight he had in

At The Movies

DOMINICBAEZ

LIFESTYLESSUNDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2011 1C

Staff photo by E.J. HarrisRetired teacher and local historian Keith May looks at his notes while visiting theMyrick Cemetery.

Staff photo by E.J. HarrisThe Finland/Greasewood Cemetery is a Lutheran cemetery and it is divided downthe middle between Apostolic and Evangelical Lutherans.

Cemetery tour

Staff photo by E.J. HarrisA headstone for the grave of a 4-month-old named Dolly sticks up between the tumble weeds and cheatgrass at theReeder/Gallaher Cemetery near Helix.

By KATE WHITTLEEast Oregonian

In an overgrown, untended field some 20miles northwest of Pendleton as the crowflies, Millie Craft lies where her parentsburied her in 1886 when she died at 14months old.

Her tiny bones rest under the scragglybrown bushes and cheatgrass.

“We loved her,” stretches the etchedwords on the small white tombstone that ris-es out of the soft, dry earth.

Millie eternally sleeps alongside at least18 more coffins in the abandoned Irishcemetery, scarcely noticeable from Reed-er Road unless a knowledgeable historiancan point out the scattered chunks of gran-ite peeking through.

“This is just sad,” Keith May said. The retired teacher visited some of his fa-

vorite Umatilla County cemeteries in late

Take a spooky visit toisolated historic graves

DRIVING DIRECTIONS TO DRIVING DIRECTIONS TO HISTORIC CEMETERIESHISTORIC CEMETERIESGallaher/Reeder From Pendleton,

north seven miles on Highway 11, turnleft on Helix Highway, after about onemile turn right on Reeder Road. Ceme-tery has no sign or fence, but can bedistinguished from surrounding farmedfields.

Finland/Greesewood Departing fromGallaher/Reeder, turn left onto HelixHighway, right on Midway Road, andright on Enbysk Road at the ApostolicLutheran Church. Cemetery is 1/2 mileat end of Enbysk road.

Myrick Cemetery Return to Helix High-way and continue north, turning left tothe Holdman Junction. After about threemiles, turn left on Myrick Road. Driveone mile south to Hudeman Road. Thepath to the cemetery is steep, so becautious when driving in bad weather.

‘Puss’ hits near-purrfect pitch

See TOUR/3C

MOVIE REVIEW

AP photo by Paramount PicturesHumpty Dumpty, voiced by Zach Galifianakis; Kitty Softpaws, voiced by SalmaHayek; and Puss in Boots, voiced by Antonio Banderas, are shown in a scene from“Puss in Boots.”

“Puss in Boots”

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See PUSS IN BOOTS/3C

October. In silent wheatfields, the homesteads of19th-century Finnish, Ger-man and Irish settlers arelong since dismantled andplowed over.

But their graves remain.Anyone looking for a

spooky Halloween, Mayrecommends taking a tourof lesser-known cemeteriesaround Helix and Hold-man. His first stop is theGallaher/Reeder Irishcemetery, decayed becauseno one is sure who owns it.It’s sometimes called Gal-laher, because one gravemarker bears that name,and sometimes called theReeder cemetery for theroad that leads to it.

A few miles away are theFinnish and German ceme-teries -- small, fenced-offpatches of bare earth andgranite markers in the mid-dle of sprawlingwheatland. In fall, leavesand twigs crackle under-foot and dust devils whipup on the country roads.Homesteaders once dottedthe area, back in the trac-tor-less days when farmingrequired more human la-bor.

In times when life wasbrutal and short, the after-life meant everything. Inthe Finnish cemetery, apath divides the Evangeli-cal Lutheran section from

the Apostolics. They eter-nally wait, separately, forJesus Christ to return.

“They’re buried east-west, so if they sit up, they’llsee the sun,” May said.

The Lutherans wouldhave learned in life that inthe end of days, Jesus willarrive from the east.

The rule is sometimesbroken so families will gazetoward each other, like En-busks and Enbysks, thedescendants of two broth-ers who spelled their

names differently after im-migrating.

A mile southeast of theFinnish cemetery, theMyrick Cemetery holds theregion’s Germans. “HierRuhet” the Lembckes, Eg-gers and Timmermanns.The oldest markers datefrom the 1890s, but thecemetery is still active, Maysaid, since a man wasburied there in 1970.

Nearer to Pendleton andless haunting is the well-tended Olney Cemetery,

where several of Pendle-ton’s notables rest beneaththe shaded green lawn. Fa-mous outlaws, respectedjudges and Chinese immi-grant laborers all make noobjection to residing neareach other.

May is sad to see thecrumbling cemeteries andforgotten ancestors, but thedeceased probably don’tmind. No matter how loudin life, or big the tombstone,everyone ends up in thesame place.

“Shrek,” and the story-line, a chaotic mix ofmagic beans and goldeneggs, suffers because of it.By contrast, Puss’ bestfriend-turned-enemy,Humpty Dumpty (voicedby Zach Galifianakis), is afar more complex and in-teresting character. Ahuman-like scramble ofemotions and motives(had to get the egg joke inthere somewhere; there’sonly a million in themovie), Humpty is aRorschach test whose ex-pressive mannerisms anddeceiving appearancecombine to make an ani-mated character ofunrivaled relatability. It’sa good thing.

As to the connection be-tween Puss and Humpty,they first meet in an or-phanage, where theyaspire of acquiring magicbeans to grow a beanstalkthey intend to climb intothe clouds to steal theGoose That Laid the Gold-en Eggs. But before theirdream can hatch intofruition, the two are sepa-rated and Puss becomesan outlaw. When they re-unite, Humpty is furiousover Puss’ perceived be-trayal (“You left mecracked in pieces on abridge, surrounded by sol-

diers — they wrote a songabout it!”), but they cometogether to partake intheir biggest adventureyet.

Directed by Chris Millerfrom a screenplay by TomWheeler, who wrote thestory with Brian Lynchand Will Davies, “Puss” isa bit hit-and-miss when itcomes to storytelling de-tails. Too many changes ofmind and heart leave youdisoriented. On the flipside, Puss isn’t the clear-cut personality he was in“Shrek.” The story’s moral— vengeance and redemp-tion — really doesn’t

connect. And for a kids’movie, the humor at timesstrays a bit too far intoadult territory.

Even so, you won’t finda more visually spectacu-lar movie out right now. Abrilliant use of 3-D drawsyou in, creating a multidi-mensional landscapethat’s at its best duringthe action sequences. Noobjects flying at you here.

Building off the successof the “Shrek” franchise,“Puss in Boots” plays toits strengths, showcasing alighter fare meant for ayounger audience. Itwouldn’t be surprising to

soon hear about a sequelin which we further re-gale in Puss’ adventures.And though this story canonly last so long (“Youcannot run forever, Pu-ussss eeen Boooots!” anangry cat owner screams),you’ll leave the theaterwishing he can.

Four feline stars out offive.

�Dominic Baez is the copy

editor/paginator for the EastOregonian. Follow hismovie blog, Silver Screen-ing, for the latest trailers,clips and extras at silver-screening.wordpress.com.

“The Story Never Ends:A Memoir of a NewspaperReporter,” by Joe Bianco.© 2011 Avellino Press.Softcover, 187 pages. Re-tail $19.95.

If you’ve ever won-dered what it’s like tobe a newspaper re-porter, Joe Bianco’s

autobio-graphicalaccountof hisyears inthe newsbusinesstakes youinside theworld ofbeat re-porting,chasingstories,interview-ing celebrities anddealing with the politicsof the newsroom.

Bianco started as acopy boy for the Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J.,in 1948 while a junior atSeton Hall. He moved tocrime reporter on thenight shift in Harrisburg,Penn., and from therehopped west to Oregon,taking a job at The Ore-gonian in 1955. Startingout on the night crimebeat, Bianco would even-tually become the editorof the popular NorthwestMagazine, Sunday editorand Special Projects Di-rector, and finally anauthor and book publish-er. Over the course of hiscareer he was nominatedfor a Pulitzer Prize, won

two awards for nationalinvestigative journalismand a Peabody Award,and earned national andinternational acclaim.

Reading this book is alittle like sitting downwith Joe and shootingthe breeze might be —friendly, engaging andfun. He’s obviously ahigh-energy man with aninsatiable curiosity anddrive to know the detailsof everything that piqueshis interest. He’s a mav-erick who’s not afraid totake chances, a tacticthat served him well(and also caused him alot of trouble with con-servative editors)throughout his career inthe newspaper business.He also reserves hishighest praise for themany writers and editorswho helped him everystep of the way.

This book is a collec-tion of the highlights(and lowlights) of Bian-co’s life as a newsman.At times self-congratula-tory, refreshingly honest,but always genuine —Joe Bianco tells it like itwas.

�Renee Struthers-Hogge

is the editorial assistant forthe East Oregonian. Whileshe prefers to focus on au-thors, publishers andsubject matter relevant tothe Pacific Northwest, sheenjoys a wide variety ofgenres and welcomes sug-gestions for new reviewmaterial.

Sunday, October 30, 2011 East Oregonian Page 3CLIFESTYLES

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Staff photo by E.J. HarrisMany of the old cemeteries served specific ethnic groups like the Myrick Cemeterythat served a German population.

Continued From 1C

Continued From 1C

MOVIE REVIEW

A reporter’s storyPhoto courtesy of Avellino Press

Books

RENEESTRUTHERS-HOGGE

Box Office Top 5

Rotten Tomatoes is a registered trademarks of Flixster, Inc.

No. 1ParanormalActivity 3

RottenTomatoes EO score:

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67%

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No. 2 Real Steel 59%

No. 3 Footloose 71%

No. 4The ThreeMusketeers

25%

No. 5The Ides ofMarch

85%

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PUSS IN BOOTS: Movie doesn’t break new ground, plays to its strengths

TOUR: Lesser-known cemeteries could provide for a spooky Halloween

By DERRIK J. LANG The Associated Press

It was somewhere aroundthe sixth rooftop that I leaptfrom during a rollicking footchase above the streets ofYemen that I realized “Un-charted 3: Drake’sDeception” is one of thebest games I’ve played thisyear — and maybe ever.

It’s not because the game-play is notably innovative orthe story is particularlycompelling. They’re not.“Uncharted 3” is just un-apologetically fun. Thedevelopers at Naughty Doghave stuck closely to the for-mula that garnered themawards, critical praise andgame sales for “Uncharted2: Among Thieves” by cre-ating another interactiveaction experience that ri-vals anything Hollywoodhas churned out in the pastfour years.

“Uncharted 3” findstreasure hunter NathanDrake, who claims to be adescendent of Sir FrancisDrake, on a quest to uncov-er a mythical city known asthe “Atlantis of the Sands”that’s apparently buriedsomewhere in the MiddleEast. His journey is morepersonal this time, provid-ing some much neededcharacter development forDrake and his cohorts.

Nolan North again gives apitch-perfect performanceas Drake, and so do side-kicks Richard McGonagle ascon man Victor “Sully” Sul-livan, Emily Rose asjournalist Elena Fisher,Claudia Black as grifterChloe Frazer and Graham

McTavish as henchmanCharlie Cutter. RosalindAyres does a noble HelenMirren impersonation asvillainess Katherine Mar-lowe.

The game’s exotic envi-ronments serve as the other,more gorgeous, stars of “Un-charted 3.” A burningchateau in France, a pirat-ed cruise ship in theArabian Sea and thebustling streets in Yemenare a few of the exhilaratingplaygrounds where Drakecan seamlessly switchamong climbing, shooting,brawling and puzzle solvingduring his whirlwind ad-venture.

Yes, the plot is too similarto the previous “Unchart-ed” titles — how manysecret cities can one manuncover? But the pace is sorapid, and the action is pep-pered with so much humor

and heart, that it hardlymatters, especially in thegame’s more exciting laterstages, some of which aresurprisingly mind-bendingand gut-wrenching for sucha mainstream game.

“Uncharted 3” doesn’t of-fer players any morefreedom than its predeces-sor did two years ago, whichis just fine by me becausethat’s what the developersintended. I found the strictlinear nature of “Uncharted3” comforting after toyingwith such seemingly open-ended new releases as“Rage,” ‘’Dark Souls” and“Batman: Arkham City.”

The only major gripe thatI have with “Uncharted 3” isthat it’s no longer in un-charted territory. Thedifferences from the secondto the third installment aremerely tweaks. The hand-to-hand combat system issharper, and the multiplay-er and cooperative modesare fuller, but they still lackthe addictiveness of gameslike “Call of Duty” or“World of Warcraft.”

The bar was set so highthat “Uncharted 3” isn’tquite able to surpass “Un-charted 2,” despite amasterful blend of thrillinggameplay, cinematic story-telling and lusciousgraphics. I wonder if it’s pos-sible for Naughty Dog toever top “Uncharted 2.” I’mnot sure. I just know I can-not wait to play “Uncharted4” to find out. Four out offour stars.

‘Uncharted 3’ another interactive treasure,even if it isn’t uncharted territory anymore

AP photo by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.Journalist Elena Fisher, voiced by Emily Rose, left, and treasure hunter NathanDrake, voiced by Nolan North, are shown in a scene from “Uncharted 3: Drake’sDeception.”

“Uncharted 3”video game

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BRIEFLYYouTube launches

entertainment

venture

NEW YORK (AP) —YouTube is making abold step into originalprogramming in an en-tertainment venturewith some 100 contentcreators, from Madonnato The Wall Street Journal.

The Google Inc.-ownedvideo site said Fridaythat it’s launching morethan 100 new video chan-nels. The partnersinclude an array of Hol-lywood productioncompanies, celebritiesand new media groupsthat will produce mainlyniche-oriented videos.

YouTube is shellingout $100 million to pro-ducers, according to

people familiar with thematter, who spoke oncondition of anonymity.The money is an ad-vance on advertisingmoney the videos willbring in, and Google willrecoup its portion firstbefore splitting the pro-ceeds. Advances are ashigh as $5 million perchannel, said anotherperson familiar with thearrangement, also speak-ing on condition ofanonymity.

Google declined to of-fer financial details ofthe deals, but said themajority of revenue willgo to partners.