Being a devoted Tina Fey fan, I went to see her new movie "Admission" last weekend. It was OK. Fey is funny and her acting as Portia, a Princeton admissions officer, is worthy.
Portia is blown away when recently told that a baby she put up for adoption 17 years ago wants to get admitted to prestigious Princeton. She goes to extremes to get Jeremiah, played by Nat Wolff, into the exclusive university that many others are fanatical about entering. Fey is surrounded by a solid cast, including Paul Rudd, Michael Sheen, Wallace Shawn and Lily Tomlin, who is a kick as her feminist mom. The interplay with Fey, her live-in cheating significant other, played by Sheen, and the pregnant "other woman," portrayed by former "Lost" star Sonya Walger, is quite laughable. The acting is solid throughout, but Tina deserves better than this goofy, outlandish story …
THE WORD "dentist" brings to mind thoughts of drilling, pain and suffering, so it’s hard to have genuine warmth for a dentist, but that’s the way I feel about Robert "Bob" Cushnie, 80. I’m sure most of his patients feel the same way. He has kept my choppers in excellent shape for decades.
Bob, a four-sport athlete at Punahou (class of 1950), and I were close friends at University of Hawaii in the ’50s. He opened his dental practice in Kaneohe in 1958. In 1996 he turned over the practice to Dr. Steven Kumasaka but continued to work part time. Bob wears and works in a Reyn’s aloha shirt every day. In a recent letter to patients, Bob said he will be retiring "around the end of March" and recommends Kumasaka highly. He praises his past and present staff, particularly Karen Ishimaru and Julie Koay, saying, "What could I have done without Karen and Julie and others before them. Karen and Julie are exceptional." Enjoy retirement, Bob, you’ve earned it …
THE COURAGE of blind musical prodigy Kuha‘o Case, 16, of Hawaii island, was evident in his speech at TEDxTeen 2013, hosted by Chelsea Clinton, March 16 in New York. The pianist said, "No matter how difficult our circumstances, and no matter how hard things might be, we are all capable of greatness. In my own life, I see no limits."
Another speaker, Scottish R&B/soul singer Tallia Storm, 13, described how she got her big break in January 2012 during a family vacation on Oahu. Elton John and partner David Furnish were in their hotel. Tallia spotted Furnish, handed him her demo with a note and asked him to give it to John. The family was about to depart when she got a call from John. He asked her to open his show in Scotland, which she did in June …
BASKETBALL fans will be pleased that "Linsanity," the story of Jeremy Lin, who went on a scoring rampage for the New York Knicks last year, will be shown at 6:30 p.m. April 11 at Dole Cannery as part of the Hawai‘i International Film Festival’s Spring Showcase. Lin is a graduate of Harvard, not exactly a basketball factory. Daniel Dae Kim is the film’s narrator and Brian Yang is a producer. Both are "Hawaii Five-0" actors. Spring Showcase opens April 5. For more info, go to www.hiff.org …
Ben Wood, who sold newspapers on Honolulu streets in World War II, writes of people, places and things. Email him at bwood@staradvertiser.com.
