Amy Schumer, the baby-faced comedian with the potty mouth, wrote and stars in “Trainwreck,” directed by Judd Apatow. It’s a film packed with fun, sex and sprinkled with a list of celebrities led by none other than basketball great LeBron James, who does a fine job. James portrays the best friend of co-star Bill Hader, who plays Dr. Aaron Conners, a celebrated sports doctor. Schumer plays Amy Townsend, a writer for a more-than-risque men’s magazine. She is assigned to write a feature on the doc, which leads to an affair that throws her life in turmoil. Amy is a “one-night-stand” girl but never lets the guy stay overnight. She can thank or condemn her dad, for insisting early on that she and her sister follow that lifestyle.
The dad, Colin Quinn, and sister, Brie Larson, both stand out. Amy gets close to breaking out of that lifestyle with John Cena, who is built like a statue of a Greek god, but really doesn’t until she meets the doctor. Their relationship, which includes burning love, booze, a bit of getting high on drugs, heartbreak and makeup sex, is hilarious. Tilda Swinton is a laugh riot as Amy’s “Dragon Lady” boss at the magazine. James stages an intervention with TV sports broadcasters Marv Albert and Chris Evert and bespectacled Matthew Broderick, to aid the doctor mentally after he and Amy break up. And Amy even “performs” with the dancers for the New York Knicks to try to win back her man. The dancers may never recover …
STOMPING ON: A little of “Jurassic World” was filmed at Honolulu Zoo, and the makers of the hit picture paid $45,000 to shoot there. About $35,000 of that will be used to help pay for elephant shade canopies. Construction will start next week on two umbrella-style shade structures, 32 feet in diameter and more than 20 feet tall, according to zoo director Baird Fleming. “The shade structures will help us by allowing the elephants to keep cool and stay out on public display during the day,” Fleming said. As it is now, the elephants go in the back section of the exhibit, away from public viewing, for shade. Earlier donations for the project include $70,000 from the Yoshimoto Foundation and $35,000 from Jennie Phillips …
Entertainer Kimo Kahoano’s son, Dr. Haku Kahoano, is home for the Kahanamoku Scholars’ dinner Friday at the Elks Club and will join his dad as co-emcee for the event. Haku is a Kahanamoku Scholar who graduated from the John A. Burns School of Medicine in 2009 and recently retired from the Army as a major …
The memorial service for distinguished architect Spencer Leineweber, who died June 20 at age 68, was held on Hawaiian Mission Houses grounds Saturday. Family and friends gathered with ti leaves, lei and flowers in the morning to decorate the tables and grounds and to assist the Mission Houses staff. Mihana Souza sang leading up to the service that started after the 5 p.m. toll of the Kawaiahao Church bells. Leineweber was chair of the graduate program at the University of Hawaii School of Architecture and director of the school’s Heritage Center. She was involved in numerous restoration and preservation projects, receiving awards for some of them. Among projects she worked on were the Kalaupapa Hansen’s Disease Settlement, Plantation Village in Waipahu and renovation of Iolani Palace. Spencer’s late husband, architect Michael Leineweber, who she met when they were studying architecture at Cornell, died Jan. 8, 2014, also at age 68 …
ALOHA JUNE: June Watanabe, who has written her popular Star-Advertiser Kokua Line column for more than 19 years, has retired. Opinion writer Christine Donnelly replaces her. Enjoy retirement, June …
Ben Wood, who sold newspapers on Honolulu streets in World War II, writes of people, places and things. Email him at bwood@staradvertiser.com.
