Over the weekend, the Exchange Club of Lockport held its 56th annual circus that has more than just a little bit of local flavor to it. Sometimes we get so caught up in chain restaurants and international department stores around here that we forget what it means to enjoy something that was born and bred in Lockport.

When I was growing up, almost everything I watched on television or did in the city was homegrown. I am one of those weird people who used to look forward to the real telethons we used to have in the 70s and 80s, and I would actually watch big chunks of those telethons until the wee hours of the morning. I was a big fan of Commander Tom, and I also loved listening to John Otto on the radio. When we had a huge blizzard, I would turn on WLVL and listen for hours. If it had any kind of local flair to it, then I would much prefer it to any nationally produced program.

Everything you could ever want in a small town circus you will find at the Exchange Club Circus each year. The best part is that the Kenan Arena was packed for the 4pm Saturday show. To me, that means that I get to take my grandkids to next year’s performance as well.

There is something special about taking little ones to something as accessible as a small town circus. My three-year-old grandson was clapping and laughing through the whole thing. He loved watching the aerial gymnast as she put on a show that made my neck hurt just watching it. He even loved the clowns, even though he could not hear what they were saying at all. With the energy that every performer put into their performance, it was impossible for a child not to enjoy what was going on.

My one-year-old grandson was a bit overwhelmed at first. The live band was a little loud, there were a ton of people in the arena, and he had never been around that much commotion in his life. After a while, he started to get the hang of it and there was a smile here and there whenever something funny happened.

There is nothing that beats the look of a child at his first circus. My three-year-old grandson is at an impressionable age where he wants to do everything he sees. After I finally got him to go to a hockey game at the Cornerstone Arena, he announced that he wanted to learn how to skate and play hockey. On Sunday, I was watching golf on television and my grandson was sitting in the chair next to me playing on his grandmother’s Kindle. I looked over at him a few minutes later and he was watching the television intently, and announced that he wanted to “learn how to do that.” So now I get to teach my grandson golf. The kid is turning more and more into me every day. Now I am afraid he will want to be a circus clown. I guess there are worse things.

The point is that if you want to share some family moments in Lockport, there are plenty of homegrown ways to go about it. Cornerstone Arena is creating more and more events every month, and activities like the Exchange Club Circus happen all year round in Lockport.

I’m not saying that you cannot go someplace else for those treasured family memories. I mean, everyone needs a vacation. But I think that people sometimes take for granted just how much there is to do around here and how available family memories are within the city of Lockport.

In the summer there is the Niagara County Fair and Lockport’s Little League baseball games, and in the winter there is whatever is going on at the Cornerstone Arena. Anyone who lives here and wants to pass on what it means to be from Lockport to their kids should consider taking advantage of what this city has to offer. When you take the time to investigate all of your Lockport-based entertainment options, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what you find.

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident passing on what it means to be from Lockport to the next two generations. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or email him at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

Just a few more classic reviews left before the drive-in opens, so I wanted to take some time to introduce you guys to movies you may have never heard of, but should take the time to see. John Ford was a four-time Academy Award Winner in the Best Director category, so it was always assumed that everything he did was high quality. I don’t know about everything Ford did, but I do know that the guy knew how to turn real history into a fascinating story.

Prisoner of Shark Island is the dramatic telling of the story of Dr. Samuel Mudd. For a quick history lesson, Dr. Mudd is the physician who set John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in (oddly enough) Ford’s Theater (as far as I know – no relation). Dr. Mudd seemed like an innocent man doing his sworn duty to treat all patients when he was put on trial for conspiracy to murder President Lincoln. Dr. Mudd is also the reason that people who have their name tarnished say that their name is mud.

There are a variety of conflicting stories about Dr. Mudd, and it is obvious that John Ford sits firmly in the “the doctor was innocent” camp. Ford decides to follow the storyline that saw Mudd treat Booth while not knowing who Booth was, and did not report Booth to the army authorities until he was told about the assassination the day after it happened and put two and two together. Once he realized he had treated the assassin, he told the army. Many witnesses to the events dispute the good doctor’s version of the story and claim that the doctor not only knew Booth, but had conspired with Booth against Lincoln in the past.

What I liked about this classic flick is that Ford is not shy about his stance on the subject. He commits to Dr. Mudd being innocent and turns the doctor into a hero for saving a fort full of prisoners and soldiers. The truthful part of the story is that Mudd did indeed save an entire fort filled with soldiers and prisoners from yellow fever. The disputable part is how innocent Dr. Mudd really was in the whole conspiracy to kill the president.

The movie does raise an interesting question: The only reason Mudd gets dragged into the story is because he treated Booth’s leg, so did Booth know he was going to break his leg and planned his treatment in advance with the doctor? It seems silly, but it is just one of the interesting points the movie covers.

John Ford took historical events and turned them into fascinating stories. It helps that, with this story, a lot of the drama really took place. So there was no need for Ford to add a whole lot. The characters are well developed, and the movie moves along at a pace that keeps it exciting. This movie was made during an era when Hollywood studios would put out dozens of new movies a month, so finding a classic is not as easy as it sounds. The fact that Ford created a classic during an era when movies were a dime a dozen remains a testament to his ability to tell stories.

The Prisoner of Shark Island is a movie you can actually learn from. It takes real events, and presents them in a dramatic format. It is a movie that is well-written, well-directed, and contains a lot of great acting performances. This movie also benefits from Ford’s insistence that his movies avoid the cliché dialogue and sets that other movies of his era were famous for.

If you want to see a great movie made by a great director based on a subject you are familiar with, then see John Ford’s The Prisoner of Shark Island. Not only will you enjoy it, you may even learn something.

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5

+George N Root III is a drive-in fanatic who starts to tremble as drive-in season gets closer. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs
Blocking out the scenery, breaking my mind
Do this, don’t do that
Can’t you read the sign?”
-- Les Emmerson

I used to think that this song was an anti-establishment song. It may have even been intended to be a bit of an anarchy anthem as we have to pay attention to some signs, but maybe not all. But I am slowly realizing that some of the most important signs in a person’s life are not posted on a wall or a light post. They come from us, and they are often ignored.

Now that I think of it, there were signs a while ago that something was wrong with me. I started to lose energy easily, and I was constantly battling fevers. I did take them as signs, but I took them as signs that I was getting old. It took my wife forever to convince me to go to the doctor to talk about these signs, and by then it was too late. By the time I got signs I actually paid attention to, I was already in a fight for my life. I won’t ignore those types of signs ever again. You shouldn’t ignore them either.

I think the biggest cop-out when it comes to ignoring signs is the idea that you will take care of that sign later. You feel pain in your joints, but you can just ignore that sign and say that you will call the doctor about it eventually. The underlying notion is that you have plenty of time to take care of whatever it could be, so you will get to it later. Trust me, that could be a near fatal mistake.

Am I saying that you should jump at everything that seems out of place? Yes, I am. Let’s be honest; nothing ever sneaks up on you. Financial problems that seem to come out of nowhere always have their genesis in something that you did or did not do at some point in the past. If you think hard, you will figure out what you did that caused the problem. If you had taken note of that sign earlier, you could have prevented the problem. But you ignored it because you would have time later to deal with it. But what do you do when later arrives?

That same logic can be applied to our bodies. It is almost impossible for a medical condition to occur without some kind of sign. I had signs, but I ignored them or put them off. I had no idea they were signs of cancer, but that is the risk you take when you ignore the signs. In my defense, my signs were subtle and fluctuated. But none of that really makes a difference now, does it? I ignored the signs, and now I am paying the price.

“Thank you Lord for thinking about me. I’m alive and doing fine.”

You have two choices when you ignore signs. You can hope that you never have to deal with the consequences, or you can prepare for the consequences as best you can. I chose the former for a long time, and now I am dealing with those consequences. I would have much preferred the latter, because I can tell you that having your kidney removed sucks. It hurts, your entire life changes, and you have discomfort for years and years. But I ignored the signs, so here I am.

Still, I’m alive and I have been given a better than average chance at seeing my grandchildren graduate from high school. For a guy who ignored signs for so long, I would say I am pretty lucky. Many people who ignore signs do not get the kinds of chances I got. Those are the folks who I hope read this and understand my message.

The signs are all around you, and they are trying to block out the scenery so that you pay attention to them. Take it from someone who knows; don’t ignore your signs. If something feels just a little off, get to the doctor. If you know that you are heading towards a financial meltdown, then take steps now to try and head off as much of it as you can.

Remember that your signs have an effect on everyone around you, not just you. The first people I thought of when I finally saw the writing on my signs were my wife, my son, and my grandchildren. I still break down every once in a while at the thought of how stupid I was to ignore my signs and what my ignorance could cost me, and them.

It is easy to think that things are going well when you choose to ignore your signs. But when it comes time to face up to the consequences, the pain can be incredible. Do yourself a favor and don’t ignore your signs. They are there for a reason, and they can save your life if you just read them and do what they say.

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident who used to be terrible at reading signs. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

To be honest, we did not see Deadpool at the drive-in, but not for any fault of ours. Since the movie was released in mid-February, we had to go see it at a hard top theater. So, we decided that we would go all out and see it on the IMAX screen, which was the right choice. But to be honest, this movie would be good on any size screen.

After many years of rumors and innuendo back and forth, the Deadpool movie was finally released. Before anyone asks, no Ryan Reynolds did not reprise his Wade Wilson role from the X-Men series for this Deadpool movie. This Wade Wilson is nothing like the mindless killing machine we saw in the X-Men (Wolverine) movie. This was the real Deadpool, and it is a movie that was done to perfection.

Is this a family movie? Well, if your family enjoys decapitating bad guys and throwing around F-bombs like they are part of mama’s home cooking, then yes it is. But if you are like most families, then this is not for kids.  This is a movie for adults only, which is just how Deadpool is supposed to be.

There are a lot of things left out of this movie that were a little disappointing. My hope is that they bring Deadpool’s two inner voices into the second movie because, in my opinion, those voices offer half the comedy in his comic books and in his video game. This is the Deadpool origin movie, and it was loosely based on the origin story that was already out there. When I say loosely, I really mean loosely.

The core of this movie is a love story, which is something no Deadpool story I have ever read has ever been. I found the love story angle to be something that Reynolds and the others who made this movie had to put in there to make Fox Studios happy. After all, Fox is the studio that continues to mutilate the Fantastic Four series and put out lousy superhero movie after lousy superhero movie. When I first saw that Fox was involved in this film, I was disappointed. Luckily, Marvel was also involved, and I am convinced that it was Marvel that saved this movie.

Reynolds is Deadpool, almost. To me, Deadpool is a huge, muscle bound smart ass who is not interested in doing anything but causing chaos. Reynolds has it all except the muscle bound part. Yes, Reynolds got really ripped for this movie. But Deadpool is built more like Bautista, which I felt was an important part of the story. But, we do not get Bautista as Deadpool, we instead get lean Ryan Reynolds. The good news is that Reynolds makes it work, and it is easy to get lost in the movie.

The movie takes a lot of liberties with the Deadpool that comic fans are familiar with. Reynolds’ Deadpool is not nearly as deformed as the one I remember reading, and Deadpool’s humor tends to be a little more bathroom-based. But, I am going to admit that I like the fact that Reynolds avoided the potty humor and went to comedy that was more entertaining. Reynolds’ performance as Deadpool was convincing and extremely entertaining. The supporting cast was also fun to watch, and I would suspect that many of them will be back in the sequel.

Right from the clever opening credits which are a satire of the opening credits we see in every single superhero movie, we know we are watching a movie that was meant for the audience. Deadpool breaks the fourth wall on a regular basis, but he only does it as Deadpool. As Wade Wilson, Reynolds never addresses the audience directly. But when he is Deadpool, it is like he is sitting next to you watching his own movie.

There are some minor flaws with Deadpool, but there are also plenty of reasons why it was the first R-rated movie to open with more than $100 million at the box office. There are plenty of really good reasons why this movie will pull in close to $1 billion in worldwide box office before it is done. It is a funny movie, and it is the kind of movie that you have to buy when it comes out on Blu-Ray because you will want to watch it over and over again. Trust me… it is that good.

Rating: 4 out of 5

+George N Root III is a drive-in maniac who hopes that Deadpool makes it as a second feature when the drive-in opens. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

Lately, I have been wrestling with the idea of living life to its fullest, and I find it confusing. I am almost to the point where my time will be my own as the bills that have been strangling my wife and I for so long, and became more powerful in January, will soon be tamed to the point where we will have things under control. Instead of frantically working 10 hours a day, sometimes six days a week, I can enjoy regular work days. That means I have time to live life to its fullest. But I still don’t know what that means.

Earlier this week, my son and I went to see a movie with my closest friends. I am not normally the kind of person who leaves the wife at home for a guy’s night out, but I have to admit that it was fun. I would not mind doing that more often and for different types of events. Of course, that would mean stepping up how much I take my wife out as well, because I like balance. That is just the way I am. But is that living life to its fullest?

When people talk about getting the most out of life, there are instant images of scuba diving in a Caribbean ocean, or climbing a towering mountain peak and thrusting triumphant arms in the air with the sun as an appropriate background. But I have no desire to do any of that. Hell, I hate leaving the house. Even after everything I have been through, I still hate leaving the house. Does that mean I am not qualified to live life to the fullest?

As with anything else in this world, how you view your own life is subjective. If my version of living life to the fullest is to catch up on my bills and build up a bank account so I can spend my evenings and weekends doing nothing, then who can argue with me? Of course, with two very young grandsons, the weekends are booked for the foreseeable future, and that is fine with us. I guess spending time with my friends, my wife, my son, and my grandsons is what I would consider living life to the fullest. I mean, what else is there, really?

It seems to me that the common notion of getting the most out of life is kind of selfish. If you commit your heart to someone and that someone is not interested in climbing mountains, then why go? Maybe you should, instead, find common interests that the two of you can enjoy. Because, it would seem to me that getting the most out of life means enjoying the bonds you have with the people around you.

Would I be getting the most out of life if I suddenly decided to move to Manhattan and try my hand at being a Broadway playwright? You would think that someone who loves to write would certainly consider the pursuit of a career on Broadway as a worthwhile obsession, but not me. I like writing up here in my little office in Lockport and putting what I do out for the world to see. I like it even more when I collaborate with friends and we come together to create something people really enjoy. Maybe getting the most out of life means sharing your accomplishments with the people who matter most. At least, that is what it would seem to me.

I am in a position now where I should make each day count and I should get the most out of life. By the end of this week, my finances will be under control. I can cast aside the yoke of financial oppression and get on with getting the most out of life. What will be the first thing I do? Probably give my grandson a hug and sit with him to watch his favorite episode of Paw Patrol for the 10th or 11th time. Did I make my grand entrance onto the Manhattan social stage? No. Did I conquer the highest peak in the world and put my name with those chosen few who have made that perilous journey? No. Did I make my way to the Caribbean and experience the world beneath the sea in an up close and personal way? No.

Did I get the most out of life? You bet your ass.

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident who feels that being with family and friends is getting the most out of life. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

Kevin McCarthy is one of those actors who made a ton of classic movies that most people don’t even talk about anymore. His list of starring credits includes Death of a Salesman, Stranger on Horseback, and Nightmare. I think the reason he does not get the credit he deserves is because he did so much television early in his career, and the movies he did later in his career (such as Looney Tunes: Back in Action and UHF) were dismissed as awful. We all know that UHF is a cult classic, but that did not seem to help McCarthy’s reputation any.

The one movie Kevin McCarthy did make that people generally accept as a classic is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. One of the most difficult things for a lead actor to do in any movie is show the transition of their character from one mindset to another. Alistair Sim did it masterfully in Scrooge when he turned the character of Ebenezer Scrooge from a miserable skinflint, into a loveable old man. McCarthy does the same thing in Invasion of the Body Snatchers when he transitions Dr. Mile J. Bennell from the calm and cool skeptic, into the raving lunatic who needs to warn the world about alien invaders.

The thing I really liked about Invasion of the Body Snatchers is that it is based solely on the horror involved in not knowing who is who. Are you talking to your wife, or are you talking to an alien carbon copy that is designed to kill you and take over the world? After a while, the movie gets very creepy about its whole premise, and it is impossible for the viewer to look away.

This movie benefits from the generally demure approach that most 1950s movies had. This movie was made in an era where people went to the theater two and three times a week for entertainment because not everyone had a television, so movies tended to settle people in before blowing their minds. This movie is so filled with Americana when it opens that it might as well come with an apple pie with each showing. The entire transition from a calm and collected (and honestly boring for the first 20 minutes or so) movie into a horror-filled nightmare is done at an expert level.

This movie stood out when it was first released because of its high quality compared to the other 10 or so movies that were released the same week this one was. The funny thing is that the production budget for this movie, as with most movies churned out in Hollywood in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, was low. But director Don Siegel made great use of what he had and, just as what director Byron Haskin had done three years earlier with the War of the Worlds on a limited budget, turned out movie magic that completely works on the screen.

The only real star of the movie is McCarthy, because the movie focuses much more on telling the story than it does on giving anyone else any screen time. The only complaint I have about Invasion of the Body Snatchers is that it jumps from scene to scene a little too quickly in spots. But there is enough substance there to make sure that the pace of the movie does not ruin anything.

The end of the movie is filled with frantic action that ends with Dr. Bennell convincing the military that something has to be done to stop the alien invaders. I kind of wish that Siegel had not taken the movie that far because it would have been more effective, especially to a 1956 audience, to leave the end of the movie open for interpretation. But Siegel decides to give us closure, and we are forced to send our imaginations off into another direction to try and determine the “what if” question surrounding this movie.

If you love old horror movies, then Invasion of the Body Snatchers is one that you have to see. It starts off as a subtle story about any town in 1950s America, and erupts into a terrifying tale about an alien invasion that seems impossible to stop. All in all, this one is worth checking out when you have an hour and a half to kill.

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident who may or may not be his real self at this time. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

Each time a racial situation reaches a boiling point, a city somewhere in the United States suffers. When innocent children are shot in their own school, the state and federal governments act swiftly to enact new laws that are supposed to help prevent further acts, even though they never do. When a politician says something offensive, people take to the streets in outrage to protest. Some even take the protest to the politician by crashing their speeches and shouting out the politician’s shame.

But when our own people are poisoned and forced to drink dirty water, crickets. Not a damn one of us has done anything to help those people in Flint. I have been railing on the mayor and governor of Flint since this started. Both of those people need to be in jail for what they have done and what they allowed to happen. Big shot politicians seem to agree when they are in front of the cameras, but those investigations they have been promising never seem to happen.

What have we done to help the people of Flint? Have we sent angry letters to our congressmen? Have we gone online to show our support and do our best to shine a spotlight on this situation? I bet if someone at the Super Bowl had offended us, that we would be all over social media causing a ruckus. But our own people are dying and being poisoned and we remain silent.

When a rogue police officer makes a terrible decision, cities burn and the anger simmers. But when an entire city of Americans is forced to drink poisoned water, nothing. Where are the protests demanding that something be done? Where is the inspired looting that is some twisted people’s attempt at getting justice? Where are the memes that demand the arrest of the governor of Michigan and the mayor of Flint? Where? I have seen exactly zero memes on Facebook about this and the hashtag on Twitter died away after only a day or two.

Shame on us, America. Complete and unfiltered shame.

You will burn your own cities and harm innocent people when you are angry about someone’s civil rights being violated, but you will do absolutely nothing when an entire city is being poisoned. The politicians have given this situation plenty of lip service, but they have also done nothing.

Kudos to anyone who has sent bottled water to Flint. Whether people are drinking the water or selling it for money to buy food or whatever, it doesn’t matter. Contrary to what Michael Moore may say; those water donations can help. They can get clean water to people who need it; adults and children.

SHAME on the media and politicians (ESPECIALLY Hillary Clinton) for exploiting the children of Flint for their own needs. Everyone in Flint, from children to adults, has been drinking poisoned water. Yes, the children are our future and they are defenseless in the wake of injustice, but the adults are suffering just like the children. But exploiting the suffering of children gets web hits and brings in votes, right? I literally threw up after the Democratic debate when Hillary Clinton repeatedly mentioned the poisoning of children and said nothing about the rest of the people of Flint. If she had not lost my vote before, she lost it then.

The situation in Flint is not a convenient tool for the media and politicians to gain exposure. It is a national tragedy that, for some reason, is going unnoticed. This is my first column about this situation, but it is not the first time I have raised my voice in trying to get people to pay attention to this situation. As a writer, my voice is all I have when it comes to helping large masses of people. If you have a voice, then use it to shine a spotlight on this situation and get it fixed.

America should be ashamed of itself. Every single one of us. We are spending billions to bring fresh water to people around the world, but we will turn our backs on our own people when they are forced to drink poison. Shame on every single one of us. This sort of thing is just another reason why the rest of the world simply cannot figure the United States out. When we let our own people suffer with no consequence to the people who created that suffering and offer no action to relieve that suffering, then it just shows exactly what kind of country we are. And the image is sad indeed.

How would you like it Lockport if we were being poisoned and no one cared? Think about how your suffering would mean nothing to the rest of the country. It could happen here if this situation is not taken care of. We should all be ashamed at turning our backs on Flint, and we should all be terrified if these politicians are allowed to get away with this gross act of injustice.

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident who knows that the Flint situation could easily happen here. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

ENP STAFF REPORTS
news@eastniagarapost.com

---

Donations are still being sought for a fundraiser for East Niagara Post and East Niagara Radio contributor George Root.

The columnist and radio personality is undergoing treatment for kidney cancer. A benefit is being held for him from 1-6 p.m. Sunday at Cornerstone Arena beginning with a Lockport Express hockey game against the Wilkes-Barre Miners and concluding with a Lockport Hockey Alumni game to start at 4 p.m.

In between the two, there will be a worn-jersey auction, a 50/50 split and basket raffles. Basket donations have come in from a wide variety of local businesses and individuals, but more are being accepted until Friday.

Tickets to the pair of games is $20 per person or $40 per family of four. They are available in advance at ART247, Howell Motors Ford, and Sub Delicious.

There is also a GoFundMe campaign underway to raise cash for Root. The address is GoFundMe.com/LoveGeorge.

To make a basket donation, contact ENP News Editor Scott Leffler at scott.leffler@eastniagarapost.com or 795-2727.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

It was inevitable that if Will Ferrell made enough movies that he would eventually stumble into a classic. While his body of work includes some of the worst comedies ever made, he does get credit for the laugh classic that is Anchorman . This is a movie that points a camera at everyone who lived during the 70s and shows us just how ridiculous we were. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, Anchorman is as accurate as it is funny. In that way, it is also pretty disturbing.

The comedy in Anchorman is pretty low-brow, but some of it is extremely funny. There is nothing subtle about Ferrell’s humor, which is probably why he fails at so many of his attempts to be funny. He only knows how to go for the jokes that fall into the potty humor category, but Anchorman manages to take that potty humor and elevate it to a new level.

In Anchorman, Ferrell plays the clueless news anchor Ron Burgundy who only says what is on the teleprompter, and has absolutely no idea how to function outside of his news studio. The cast of characters that surround Burgundy are more clueless than he is, which is evident because they follow the guy anywhere. Despite the many layers of stupidity in this movie, it all works and comes together to create something that is hilarious from start to finish. Even the Smokey and the Bandit end credit bloopers seem to fit the whole aura of Anchorman perfectly.

I think the other thing that makes Anchorman work is the supporting cast surrounding Ferrell. Let’s face it, Will Ferrell cannot carry a movie by himself. He proved that in Kicking and Screaming. He has movies with extremely funny moments, but those movies never hold together from beginning to end. When he is given a strong ensemble of funny people, like he had at Saturday Night Live, then he becomes the focal point of a strong group.

Paul Rudd and David Koechner play their roles perfectly and both come off as the creepy guys that seemed to permeate the 70s. But the guy who steals the movie is Steve Carell with his performance as the completely brainless Brick Tamland. The guy loves lamp, and we love Brick for it.

Without Carell, Rudd, and Koechner this movie would never work. Fred Willard is perfect as the station manager with several dark secrets, and Christina Applegate gives a performance that does not damage the movie at all. Ferrell is playing the main character in Anchorman, but he cannot be funny without the cast. To me, this just proves that Ferrell should have stayed at Saturday Night Live, or put together a comedy team that would make movies and put him at the forefront. I understand the lure of big movie money and the impossible-to-resist temptation to be a movie star, but Ferrell was simply funnier as part of an ensemble and Anchorman is proof of that.

Ferrell and the entire group that put together Anchorman tried to recreate that magic with Anchorman 2, but the jokes had already been told and the shtick was simply not funny anymore. Anchorman is lightning in a bottle, and it required the entire cast for that lightning to work. I am pretty sure they are using Anchorman 2 as a torture device in Gitmo on those enemies of humanity, because I can see no other use for it.

All of the talk of a spin-off movie for Brick and another Anchorman movie (despite the massive failure of Anchorman 2) only shows that Hollywood still does not understand its own product. Movies like Anchorman only come along once in a very long while, and their parts cannot be removed to create more equally funny movies. Nor can you do a sequel to something like Anchorman and expect success. It simply does not happen. Anchorman was a one-shot deal, and it was Ferrell’s one chance to show that he really can be funny in the right situation. Unfortunately for Ferrell, the right situation involves working with people who are better actors and funnier than he is.

Rating: 3 out of 5

+George N Root III is a drive-in movie fan who is done giving Will Ferrell a chance to impress him. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

Howie surprises the boys with an unexpected visit. And George is upset that the definition of the word "literally" has changed.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

My life has suddenly turned into a sequel to It’s A Wonderful Life. I was informed some time ago that Craig (Bacon), Heather (Grimmer), and Scott (Leffler) were going to do something to help offset the huge financial pit that my battle with cancer has already created. I was touched, and I was also kind of surprised. My low self-esteem has caused me to ignore anything positive and focus only on the negative. I didn’t think anyone cared that much about me beyond my family. Apparently, I was wrong.

You want to know how I found out that there was a day at Cornerstone Arena dedicated to helping me get up and out of this pit? I read it on ENP, and that seemed appropriate to me. The thing is that I am still floored by everything that is planned. I had no idea that many people cared, and I had no idea that I was regarded at all by anyone beyond my little circle of close friends. Once again, apparently, I was wrong.

As a writer, it is my job to find the right words to express any type of emotion. Whether it is the infectious energy of happiness that can spread in a room full of people like the ripples created by dropping a stone in a pool of water, or the burning anger that singes at the very soul of people who see only the bad parts of life – my job is to use words good. In this instance, I have none.

I have spent my whole life doing things my way and freely expressing my opinions. Over the last few years, I have learned to think before I speak and edit before I publish, mostly because I have to consider the feelings of others. I honestly thought I had spent my entire career alienating people and pushing people away. Once again, apparently, I was wrong.

I love my city. I make no bones about that. I have tried and tried to do the very best I could for Lockport, and I have butted heads with plenty of people who disagreed with me. I will continue to do that. I will defend Lockport until the last breath in my body. Hopefully, that last breath won’t be for a long time.

I love my city, and I had no idea my city loved me back. I have always had Lockport’s back. I never knew Lockport had mine. This whole thing is pretty overwhelming, and it is probably only going to increase in intensity over the next couple of weeks.

I have to stop at this point and just point out that Craig and Scott are two of the best friends I could ask for. I am very grateful for everyone who is involved in all of this, I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am. But my suspicion is that this all started with those two, and I don’t even know what to say. We have been friends for years, and I want that to continue for some more years to come. We create together, we argue with each other, and we do what we can to help each other. I had someone outside of the three of us tell me that it sounds like the three of us have been friends all of our lives. It feels that way to me. That is kind of how you know when you have found people you share a strong bond with.

I have made a lot of friends thanks to ENP and my own big mouth. I love to write. I will be picking that back up again. I will probably have plenty of time to write while on chemo. I don’t know though, I’ve never done this before.

So, once again, I said I would not write any more cancer articles and here is another one. I honestly just want to get this over, beat this thing, and put it in my rearview so I can get on with all of my other plans. When I was first diagnosed, I remember being a little pessimistic about it. Actually, I was a lot pessimistic. That has changed. The notion I used to have that this would get the best of me is gone, completely. Once again, apparently, I was wrong.

This won’t get the best of me. No matter what happens, this will never get the best of me. I leave my best for my friends and family members. I am overwhelmed. I don’t know how to say thank you enough to everyone. But when I am given the chance at Cornerstone Arena, I am definitely going to try.

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident and damn proud of it. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com. No, cancer is not winning this time.

RELATED LINK: 

• Fundraiser planned for ENP's George Root

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

ENP STAFF REPORTS
news@eastniagarapost.com

---

George Root interviews Lockport Express Coach Frank Vecchio following an Express home game in 2015. Vecchio and several others are putting together a fundraiser for Root, who found out in late December that he has kidney cancer. (ENP FILE PHOTO)

In late December, ENP's own George N. Root III was diagnosed with kidney cancer. The 48-year-old writer and radio personality decided immediately that if it was between the cancer and him, he'd win -- even if the doctors told him that the odds were not in his favor.

Jan. 11, Root had his kidney removed -- and most of the cancer with it. His prognosis improved significantly. But some cancer remains. And George will soon begin chemotherapy in hopes of beating it down.

The doctors' visits, recovery time and time spent worrying has kept him from being able to work as much as he usually would. Mounting medical bills added to that, creating a financial burden that he simply cannot handle without help.

As such, a team of his friends, including those close to the Lockport Express, have planned a Valentine's Day fundraiser for the Class of 1985 LHS graduate at Cornerstone Community Federal Credit Union Arena. The fundraiser includes a pair of hockey games, basket raffles, 50/50 and more.

The Feb. 14 Lockport Express' 1 p.m. home game against the Wilkes Barre Miners will be played in Root's honor, as will a 4 p.m. Lockport Hockey Alumni game. Tickets to the pair of games are $20 per person or $40 for a family of four. All proceeds will be donated to Root to help pay some of his medical costs.

Howie Balaban, left, and George Root call a home  Lockport Express game.

The Lockport Express will auction off player-worn jerseys during the event, and baskets are being sought for the basket raffle. Fundraiser team members, including Lockport Express Owner Steve Bueme, Lockport Express Coach Frank Vecchio, Howell Motors Ford Owner Mike Landers, Lockport City Court Judge Bill Watson, Kim Milani of Sub Delicious, Cornerstone Arena Board Member Tate Pitrello, ENP/ENR Contributor Craig Bacon, and ENP Co-Publishers Heather Grimmer and Scott Leffler will be seeking donations from area businesses.

Businesses and individuals that have signed on for donations include ART247, Capelli Salon, Confer Plastics, DeFlippo's Restaurant, East Niagara Post, Family Video, Howell Motors and the Landers family, Adam Hudson, Mills Jewelers, the Penalty Box, Janet Pitrello, Pulp 716, Riviera Theatre, Schoolhouse Wellness Center, Sub Delicious, Transit Drive-In Theatre, Tom's Diner, and Windsor Village.

Additionally, a GoFundMe page has been created for those who wish to donate but cannot attend the fundraiser. The page, GoFundMe.com/LoveGeorge, had a $50 donation from Milani before having even been made public. The listed goal is $5,000.

"To say that George is a friend to Lockport would be a massive understatement of the word 'friend,' " according to the GoFundMe page. "He pushed for the betterment of the city and region through a weekly column in the Union-Sun & Journal for years before joining East Niagara Post as a contributor. He adds his wisdom and sense of humor to East Niagara Radio hockey broadcasts as well as the weekly radio show, 'Shenanigans,' which exists primarily due to George's insistence that the world needs more of him."

Outside of Lockport, Root is well-known to the NA3EHL hockey community as a broadcaster of Lockport Express games and the director/editor of the weekly "Catching Up with the Lockport Express" YouTube series done for East Niagara Post.

All funds raised will help to defray Root's hospital and doctors' bills. On the off chance that more money is raised than is needed, they will be used at George's discretion. The guy could probably use a vacation.

RELATED LINKS: 

• ROOT: Sometimes an apple a day is just not enough
• ROOT: Starting at the beginning
• ROOT: So how're you feeling?
• GoFundMe.com/LoveGeorge

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

Movies like Clerks used to always bother me because people who knew the movie always looked down at people who had never seen it.

“You’ve never seen Clerks? Pfft. What are you, a loser?”

But as I got older, I realized that insecure people use movies as some sort of measurement for social acceptance and I have better things to do with my time. Once I got past the cult of personality Clerks created, I started to appreciate the movie for the brilliant work of art that it really is. But I also started to realize that Clerks could have been just as successful as a comedy album as it was a movie. It is what you hear that makes Clerks so popular, and not what you see.

There are plenty of crude sexual jokes in Clerks, but they are all funny. The humor comes from putting the main character Dante into as many awkward situations as possible. Instead of rolling with the day he was handed, Dante fights with it and the results are amazingly funny.

The stoner humor in Clerks works on a limited basis, which is why I never understood why Jay and Silent Bob became a thing. There are also plenty of Kevin Smith inside jokes in this movie that the audience is supposed to laugh at, but not really understand. But the core of this movie is the constant barrage of impossible situations that Dante has to deal with, and the way that he deals with them. In most cases (as with any good comedy), he fails miserably.

The other core of this movie is Dante’s best friend Randal, and the way in which Randal has absolutely no regard for anyone or anything. Randal works at the video rental store across the street from the convenience store where Dante works, and Randal absolutely hates customers. He also hates working, but he loves delivering obscenely funny porn movie titles in such a deadpan way that it is impossible not to laugh.

The visual aspect of Clerks, to me, was never very entertaining. This hockey game that Dante complains about almost missing throughout the entire movie looks like it was played by a bunch of guys who had never played hockey before. The grainy black and white overall production of the movie can sometimes make it difficult to watch. But none of that matters because the script is so unbelievably funny.

Fans had waited for years for a Clerks sequel and the sequel failed to live up to the legacy that the original Clerks had created. But it should be noted that the sequel barely failed to live up to that legacy. When writing within the Clerks universe, Kevin Smith could be considered one of the best comedy writers in Hollywood. The problem is that when Smith gets outside of the Clerks universe, the quality of his work falls way off.

Clerks added plenty of little sayings to pop culture and gave guys movie lines to quote for years to come. No matter how many times I watch the movie, I laugh at it. It is basically an amateur film that winds up being one of the funniest movies you will see. But I will admit that Clerks is not for everyone. The humor is not necessarily refined, and it is targeted at a very specific type of audience.

If you like crude sexual jokes and well-timed stoner humor, then you will like Clerks. If you like the worst actors you will ever see put in situations where they are actually very funny, then you will like Clerks. The best part about Clerks is that at its lowest point, it is still not as pointless as anything done by Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow, or Adam Sandler. That alone is enough reason for everyone to see Clerks at least once in their lives.

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5

+George N Root III is a drive-in enthusiast who is not even supposed to be here today. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

I wasn’t going to write any more columns about my cancer fight, but I felt like I had to write just one more. I am overwhelmed at the number of people who have wished me well, and I honestly did not realize that my friends cared that much. But that is just me. Low self-esteem can be a barrier that is almost impossible to get through.

I am also really pleased that some people have decided to email me about their own fights with cancer. Please keep doing that and I will offer all of the encouragement I can. Remember, being able to confront cancer one-on-one with the will to not let it define your life is what I consider to be an important part of winning your battle.

When people talk to me now, and they know about my stage IV kidney cancer, they always ask how I feel. Before I got cancer, I would do the same thing to the few people I knew who had some form of cancer. I would ask them how they felt, and then they would get this exasperated look on their faces and say they felt fine. I didn’t understand their frustration, but I do now.

Every day, one of my relatives calls and asks me how I feel. I have people who will, on occasion, ask me through Facebook or some other Internet communication vehicle how I feel. It happens every single day, and I always appreciate the concern. But the frustrating part is, at this early phase of my battle, nothing changes from day to day. I have this wicked cold I am trying to get rid of, and with that I feel pretty terrible. But whenever I tell people that I feel fine when it comes to cancer, some seem almost disappointed.

I don’t think they are disappointed that I feel fine; I think they just expected something different. It is the stigma that cancer carries with it that causes people to associate cancer with sick people. While cancer does claim lives and does create very sick people, there are also a lot of people who manage cancer and even beat it. But the media loves death and destruction, which is why the idea that all cancer patients are sickly people dominates the collective psyche. I was part of that, so I understand where everyone is coming from.

In my experience, you either feel fine, you feel a little tired, or you are on a downward spiral. If you ask someone with cancer how they feel and they are on their downward spiral, they will probably not want to answer you. I know I wouldn’t. If someone is fatigued or sick from chemo, then that is also something that the person concerned will be happy to explain, just so that you know that the fatigue comes from the chemo and nothing else. I apparently have a lot of people who care about what happens to me, and I want them all to have accurate information. So clarifying the effects of chemo is important to me and them. I understand that.

I’m not sure what kind of answer people expect from me when they ask how I feel, but it almost seems like they don’t believe me when I say I feel fine. Just for the record, I feel fine. Cancer is a deadly disease, but it takes time for it to take over. With the right medication, I should be feeling fine for years. But cancer does not automatically make you feel a certain way. And if it did make you feel a certain way, that feeling probably would not change much from day to day.

Like I have said in the past, I have been on the other side of this equation asking questions and offering encouragement. I know the helpless feeling that comes with watching someone suffer with this disease. But after a few weeks on the business side of cancer, I can tell you that the feeling from the patient is just as helpless. When people constantly ask how I feel or say that they are praying for me, it makes things worse. Positive vibes sent my way are always appreciated, but prayers make me feel like people are already holding a vigil. It is a bit unnerving, to be honest.

Right now I am fighting cancer, not dying from it. How do I feel? I feel the same today as I felt last week. If I take a turn for the worse, I am probably not going to want to talk about it. If I take a turn for the worse that is suddenly delayed by medication, THEN I can tell you that I feel better.

All of the positive thoughts and words of encouragement are appreciated very much, and I am always in the mood to hear those. But when people ask how I feel, it makes me pause. How do you think I am supposed to feel? Because that is probably not how I am feeling. I feel great. I have felt great since the day after my surgery (minus the screaming pain from the incision and my bad back which seems to have gotten exponentially worse).

So when we talk to each other, I am always ready to accept words of encouragement and positive thoughts. If prayer is your thing, then I understand where your intentions are at and I appreciate that as well. But if you ask how I am feeling, then all you will get for an answer is “Great!”. The day I can no longer give that answer, is the day that I won’t answer that question anymore. But that day is many, many years away.

For now, I feel great, and I do appreciate you asking. I’m just not sure what type of answer you expect. The thing is that you probably don’t know what type of answer you expect either, and I completely understand that. So let’s just leave it at the fact that I feel fine, and move on to something else.

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident who feels just fine. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com. Don’t forget to listen to Shenanigans every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on www.EastNiagaraRadio.com for your weekly dose of – something.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

Clint Eastwood was in a lot of movies, and many of them can be considered classics. But the most common formula for a Clint Eastwood classic includes Clint directing the movie as well as starring in it. By the time he got to The Outlaw Josey Wales , Eastwood already had a few directing hits to his credit such as Play Misty For Me and High Plains Drifter. Eastwood’s unique and deliberate method for telling stories is what makes his movies stand out, and it is also what makes The Outlaw Josey Wales a classic.

The Outlaw Josey Wales checks in at two hours and 15 minutes and has one Oscar nomination to its credit. Eastwood has this way of making every second of a two hour and 15 minute movie count, but he rarely gets involved in complex plotlines. The basic premise of The Outlaw Josey Wales is revenge, plain and simple. But the movie does such a great job at pumping up the anticipation of seeing that revenge that you can feel the exhale when the movie finally ends.

One of the things I love about Clint Eastwood directed movies is how unpredictable they can be, but how nonchalant he is about their unpredictability. We actually care when two ranch hands are kidnapped by a Native American tribe, and Eastwood ratchets up the emotion for these two ranchers at a couple of points in the movie. But when the rescue of these two ranchers turns out to be anti-climatic, we feel almost let down.

Clint Eastwood has this way of making us feel bad for expecting the unexpected in his movies. We probably should not have expected those ranchers to be killed, but we did. When it turns out that the ranchers are fine, Eastwood slaps us in the face for expecting the worst. He does that over and over again in this movie, which is one of the things that makes this movie emotionally exhausting.

As a movie fan, I always appreciate the performance of Clint Eastwood in a western. Eastwood created the cool and calm Wild West character, and he could make that character a bad guy or good guy, depending on the needs of the movie. Eastwood can also have his main characters walk that line between bad and good, and force us to make the decision for ourselves. That is exactly what he does in The Outlaw Josey Wales, and I always fancied Josey Wales as a good guy, but I can understand the argument that paints Wales as a horrible and conceited person.

Each character in The Outlaw Josey Wales has a purpose in telling the story, and I always liked the idea that Clint Eastwood does not bring in characters for one-liners or shallow plot devices. If a character has a line in a Clint Eastwood movie, then that line means something. Everyone from the granny who runs the ferry service to the carpetbagging salesman matter in this movie, and that helps to give the movie a ton of substance.

The script for The Outlaw Josey Wales is well done and moves along at an excellent pace. Each scene builds on the previous scene so well that the only comparison I can really make is to a Quentin Tarantino movie. Despite The Outlaw Josey Wales being two hours and 15 minutes, it needs every second to tell the story right. Everything we see we need to see in order to understand the ending. But, as with every Clint Eastwood movie, the end focuses only on the main character, and several minor plotlines are left unfinished. But we really don’t care because we get what we need from those plotlines in terms of finding out what happens to Josey Wales.

Clint Eastwood is an iconic actor, but he is also one of the finest directors Hollywood has ever seen. The Outlaw Josey Wales may not get mentioned with some of his great films like The Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, but it deserves to be recognized for the work of art that it really is.

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5

+George N Root III is a drive-in movie fanatic who loves watching Clint Eastwood westerns. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him an email at georgenroot3@gmail.com.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

OK, Lockport. If you want something that could very well become a national sensation in the next couple of years, then I urge you to tune in to our new show "Shenanigans" on East Niagara Radio tonight at 8:00 p.m. Of course, becoming a national sensation starts with becoming a local hit, which is where you come in.

The process for finding East Niagara Radio is so easy, a caveman could do it. All you do is go to www.EastNiagaraRadio.com and then click on the “Listen Now” link in the middle of the page. Once you click that link, do not freak out. That popup is the actual program you will need to listen to us. Just click on the play button, and we will be there.

What is Shenanigans? Basically, me, Howie Balaban, Scott Leffler, and Craig Bacon are letting you guys in on the verbal versions of the chat conversations we have all day long, every day of the week. We discuss literally everything, and we are not really known for our train of thought staying on track. The best part is that we will never have a script, ever. We may get an idea to do a skit on the air, but it would be completely improvised.

Why are we doing this? We are doing this because we have a radio station we want to use, and all four of us believe in local programming. I have not listened to local radio in a while, so when I tuned in to see what other stations were doing last week, I was pretty shocked at how little local programming actually exists. I grew up on local radio and television programming, so this type of thing is very important to me.

Everything you hear will be live, which means that you can join us if you want by sending us a tweet @ShenanigansENR. Of course, we will make time for tweets from people like Michael Moore and Keith Richards, but we are mostly interested in hearing what you guys have to say. This will be a local show for our local audience. The only thing we want to change is that we want to make the local audience bigger as time goes by. Like, nationwide bigger. That kind of bigger.

We really don’t have show themes, so whatever we want to discuss will be what you hear each week. That means that you will never hear a promo for Shenanigans that promises that “the guys will talk about Donald Trump,” or whatever. We probably will talk about Trump, we are just not sure when and how we will do it.

We start off the show without Howie, as he is embroiled in high-level merger negotiations between Chile and Brazil. My understanding is that the two countries want to merge to combat the capitalist threat of Walmart, but Howie is the one with the inside knowledge. He may talk about it when he gets back, he may not.

As the show progresses, we also want to start bringing in guests. It will be interesting to see if anyone can really keep up with us, or if our insanity moves at speeds too fast for normal people. We really don’t know how to tone it down a bit, so this should be interesting.

So join us, won’t you? While I am recovering from my surgery, doing the radio show is the only chance I get to leave the house all week. Since I am not a big fan of leaving the house under normal circumstances, the idea of being shut-in because of surgery is not a big deal. But I am really looking forward to this new show, and I am curious to see how far the four of us can take it. If Jerry Seinfeld can create a career talking about absolutely nothing, then so can we. Check us out tonight!

+George N Root III is a Lockport resident and local pain in the ass. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com. Don’t forget to listen to Shenanigans every Wednesday at 8 p.m. on East Niagara Radio.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

I try to be very careful when it comes to allowing cult movies to cross over into classic status because, in my opinion, not many cult movies are classics. Cult movies are fun, but they usually lack some of the basics that make up a classic. For example, the Rocky Horror Picture Show is a fun cult movie, but it lacks a point for it to be a classic.

The Big Lebowski is one of those cult movies that crosses over into the realm of classic because everything about the movie is handled perfectly. The bowling aspect of The Big Lebowski is actually used as an anchor for the plot, instead of some bizarre distraction that gives the movie flavor. Then there are elements formed around the bowling aspect (“Nobody [bleeps] with the Jesus.”) that are extremely funny, but bowling actually serves a purpose in this movie, which is nice.

Another aspect of The Big Lebowski that allows it to be a classic and a cult movie is the fact that the bizarre elements of the movie do not take on cartoonish characteristics that make them silly. In Dude, Where’s My Car?, the bizarre elements escalate until we get a pair of panties from a 50-foot girl. In The Big Lebowski, the weirdness seems somehow under control, and it never gets to the point where we lose interest.

What helps this movie to keep it together is that the truly bizarre scenes are presented as dreams, and any good movie can have the strangest dream sequences it wants because that is what dreams are supposed to be. Yeah, people make some really weird decisions in The Big Lebowski, but people make really weird decisions in real life too. The dreams presented in the movie never cross over into the reality, which helps this movie to stay on target.

The Big Lebowski also presents us with characters that are quotable and fun to watch. The Dude, Walter, and Donny (“Shut up, Donny!”) move the story along and represent everything that is good about this movie. When tragedy strikes the three friends, their responses are emotional and realistic. Once again, the cartoon aspect is left out of the movie and we are given something we can actually enjoy.

While all of these things are important to a classic movie, to me nothing is more important than the comedy. In The Big Lebowski, the comedy is spot-on and the movie makes me laugh uncontrollably to this day. I have seen this movie dozens of times, and it still makes me laugh. To me, that is the sign of a classic comedy and an indication that this movie will keep being a feature presentation at theaters around the country for a long, long time.

The Big Lebowski creates its own inside jokes that its uses over and over again to perfection, but never so much that it wears them out. It is a well-written movie that is perfectly cast. It is hard to say that this movie made any of the actors’ careers, but it certainly did not hurt them. This is a fun movie that does not require any thinking, but it is also movie with perfect timing and iconic elements that seem to fit together perfectly. And then the rug just ties it all together. What more could you want from a classic film?

Rating: 3 ½ out of 5

+George N Root III is a drive-in movie fanatic who cannot wait to throw on his bathrobe each night and enjoy a White Russian. Follow him on Twitter @georgenroot3 or send him a message at georgenroot3@gmail.com. Be sure to listen to the debut broadcast of the new radio show Shenanigans on East Niagara Radio Wednesday night at 8 p.m.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.

ENP STAFF REPORTS
news@eastniagarapost.com

---

East Niagara Radio will debut a pair of shows this week, airing live on EastNiagaraRadio.com.

The talk shows offer stark contrast from one another -- one being a four-person free-for-all discussing pop culture, current events and whatever the rotating hosts deem worthy at the time -- and the other focusing more on news and politics.

"With our new editorial and radio office located in ART247, we now have more space and resources -- and can offer more radio programming," said East Niagara Radio co-owner Heather Grimmer.

Airing Wednesday at 8 p.m. will be the inaugural episode of "Shenanigans," It will feature ENR contributors George Root, Craig Bacon, Howie Balaban and Scott Leffler. All four won't always appear, and in fact it may often only be two of the four with the topics du jour dependent on whoever happens to be in the studio at the time.

The foursome, who are the same team that hosts live Lockport Express broadcasts, expect the interactive show to draw a following, using an unusual style of banter that they employ on a daily basis in communicating with one another.

"We are a ship with four captains," Bacon said, describing the show. "... each with our own direction. Who wins? I guess the guy with the biggest mouth."

Root explained it as "those four guys sitting next to you in the movie theater who won't shut up, but are almost as entertaining as the movie."

"This is something we had envisioned when we first began East Niagara Radio," Grimmer said. "It's the next logical step. And we think this will help turn our regular readers into regular listeners."

Live listener participation to both shows is welcome via Twitter. Shenanigans can be found @ShenanigansENR, while Leffler will use his personal Twitter account, @scottleffler.

East Niagara Radio will continue to air live broadcasts of Lockport Express games and other live events. And "On the Record," an interview-style show with Leffler and a local newsmaker, will return to the internet-waves in the very near future.

---

Check out East Niagara Post videos on YouTube, Vine and Periscope.