Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Thursday 16 May 2019
Shahidi shines in so-so ‘The Sun Is Also a Star

By LINDSEY BAHR swoony over the fact that inson book on his shelf. He
Associated Press the filmmaker clearly did also, with strained plain-
“The Sun Is Also a Star “ is not phone it in for this ad- tiveness, scribbles “Deus Ex
a beautiful looking film. aptation of a popular Machina” in a notebook.
The TV stars Yara Shahidi young adult book. This is important because
of “grown-ish” and Charles That makes it all the more Natasha, whom he insists
Melton of “Riverdale” are frustrating, then, that the he spotted in the crowd
beautiful. New York City is driving engine behind the not just because she is gor-
beautiful. Even the MTA is film — a whirlwind 24-hour geous but because “no
(kind of) beautiful. romance — is contrived, one ever looks up,” is wear-
Director Ry Russo-Young’s underwhelming and per- ing a jacket with the words
film is shot by cinematog- haps worst of all, uncon- “Deus Ex Machina” on the
rapher Autumn Durald vincing. And both parties back. They must be soul
with such precision it’s im- involved in said romance mates. So, in the grand
possible not to get a little have other things going on movie tradition of “it’s not
In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Charles Melton, stalking if she’s into it,” he
left, and Yara Shahidi appear in a scene from the film “The Sun does what any lovelorn
Is Also a Star.” high school poet who’d
Associated Press rather be doing anything
in their lives that are much miracles. Running around but interviewing for Dart-
more compelling than their the city, she’s also on a re- mouth would do: He fol-
love-at-first-sight. (Shahidi’s luctant farewell tour, tak- lows her.
character most of all.) ing an extra beat here and A fairly dramatic opportu-
Shahidi plays Natasha King- there to really absorb her nity arises for Daniel to in-
sley, a high school student surroundings — like stop- troduce himself and have
whose family is facing immi- ping to gaze up wistfully at an excuse to hang around
nent deportation to Jamai- the ceiling of Grand Cen- her to make sure she’s OK.
ca. Her parents immigrated tral Terminal. He even works up the cour-
to the U.S. when she was It’s there she catches the age to propose that he
young. She considers New eye of one Daniel Bae can make her fall in love
York her home, so much so (Melton), a high school stu- with him in a day. Why she
that she’s decided to fight dent on his way to an alum- goes along with it is a bit of
the system against all odds ni interview for Dartmouth a mystery. Maybe it’s Dan-
and to the last second, that he doesn’t want to go iel’s dreaminess, or a way
even though her parents to. He’s feeling stifled by his of compartmentalizing or
are resigned to leaving. Korean immigrant parents, distracting herself from the
We meet her on the day who decided long ago that reality of deportation (and
before their scheduled de- he’d be a doctor, when he having to pack and help
portation, as she rushes to really just wants to be a her family), but she lets her-
a meeting at the immigra- poet (seriously). You know self be reckless, and the
tion office and then, in des- this because in his room he two set off on an adven-
peration, to another “last has a newspaper clipping ture in their city that she at
shot” plea with a lawyer of an article about Maya least knows has an expira-
who has been known to do Angelou and an Emily Dick- tion date.q

Claude Monet haystack painting

fetches $110.7M at NY auction

Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — One of
Claude Monet’s iconic
paintings of haystacks has
fetched a record $110.7
million at an auction in New
York.
Monet’s “Meules” sold at
Sotheby’s sale of Impres-
sionist & Modern Art Tues-
day night. The auction
house says it’s a world auc-
tion record for the artist This undated photo provided by Sotheby’s shows Claude
and the first work of Impres- Monet’s painting titled “Meules.” The painting, one of Monet’s
sionist art to cross the $100 iconic paintings of haystacks, has fetched a record $110.7
million threshold at auction. million at an auction in New York.
The 1890 painting is one Associated Press
of only four works from remaining in private hands. The previous owners had
Monet’s acclaimed “Hay- The 17 others reside at mu- purchased the painting in
stacks” series to come to seums, including the Metro- 1986 for $2.53 million. So-
auction this century, and politan Museum of Art and theby’s did not provide any
one of only eight examples the Art Institute of Chicago. details on the new buyer.q