05/19/05

LC050519

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

It's a dream ranch, perfect to the last detail, so why did the owner walk away?

Idoya Bonilla>> There was like so much more he wants to do with it, but time and money and permits, everything is so hard.

Val>> And then, it's not all about "Star Wars". Our FilmWeek critics tell us what else is new and worth seeing.

It's all straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Val>> You wouldn't believe what lies in the middle of nowhere north of Santa Barbara. It's a hidden gem, an entire Mexican village, including a bullfighting arena. This creation was the dream of a wealthy Mexican who wanted to create an authentic Mexican village to raise his children. So why is this stunning place now vacant and virtually abandoned? Stephanie O'Neill Noe heads north to find out.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> Between the bustling central coast city of Santa Maria and Bakersfield in the central valley lies a one hundred twenty mile stretch of California Highway 166. It's a lightly traveled, picturesque two-lane road in east Santa Barbara County. It takes you first through the rolling hills of the Sierra Madre Mountains, then into the expansive farmlands of the Cuyama River Valley and it's here on off-the-beaten-track farmland behind rows of seemingly misplaced Italian poplar trees that one man's dream lies abandoned, at least for now.

Jose Luis Bonilla is a Mexican entrepreneur who came to this little-known valley in 1979. With profits from several Mexican markets, he began work not on a dream home, but a dream village. That's right. An actual Mexican village complete with this full-size Mexican rodeo arena and seating for three thousand spectators, horse stables large enough for seventy Andalusian horses, many of which he would fly in from Spain, a reservoir with a giant fountain, a bandstand topped with ornate handcrafted metal work, street lights also made on-site, park benches and exotic landscaping, all of it in what many would call the middle of nowhere. Idoya Bonilla is Jose Luis's youngest child who helps oversee the Rancho.

Idoya Bonilla>> Little by little, he started investing here in this ranch that they told him about. He liked it because it was far away from the city. He didn't want us to grow up in -- he lived in Riverside and he really didn't like it for us because it was growing and the schools were too big. He said, oh, I want my kids to live like I lived in Mexico where you have to go work and take care of the horses and stuff.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> Your whole life essentially you've spent living here and watching your dad build this place.

Idoya Bonilla>> Yeah. Ever since we got here and I was like nine months. Little by little, he started building things and he started out with the arena for my older brother. He likes the Mexican rodeo. With that is where he started and said I want to make something really nice. Since we lived here, he started collecting rocks. He'd buy big old dump trucks and start filling them up with rocks and sending them out there all day, just collect rocks and collect rocks until he had enough and he started building and go collect more.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> Only one problem. In twenty years of building, Bonilla never bothered with getting permits for all the construction and, without knowledge of county officials, Bonilla had dozens of men working morning to night fulfilling his dream. The permit problem didn't surface until the year 2000. That's when Bonilla began filling these stadium seats with several thousand rodeo and concert spectators.

Harrell Fletcher>> His vision was that this would be a Mexican Solvang, that he would have restaurants and shops, a church, and just make this a piece of Mexico that people could come and visit.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> Harrell Fletcher is a land agent who is helping Luis Bonilla get permits for the village. No small task, but Fletcher says the extensive photo-documentation of the building process coupled with the quality engineering and construction has so far impressed inspectors. John Karamitsos is a supervisor with the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department. He says, while it is alarming to him that his office was unaware of the two-decade long project, he nevertheless believes that Rancho Bonilla will qualify for the necessary permits.

John Karamitsos>> What we have here is out in probably the most rural part of Santa Barbara County, something that really is spectacular and rivals some of the most impressive structural development within the county.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> For years, Bonilla directed workers to collect building materials from his five hundred acres of ranchland surrounding the village. Abandoned oil pipe was transformed into fencing and corrals and he used river rock to create an authentic Mexican field.

Harrell Fletcher>> All the rock is from the area. This area used to be a river bed, so all these were round tumbled rocks, and he has taken and matched all these rocks and chipped them so that they would be smooth-faced for the front.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> River rock entirely blankets Bonilla's rodeo arena which is considered one of the world's best such examples.

Harrell Fletcher>> This is the entrance to the arena. They have the pits where the animals could come out from there on the left side and then bulls could come and they would have bloodless bullfights here also. It's an exact replica of a bull arena.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> A Mexican bull arena?

Harrell Fletcher>> Right. They come out of those pens and down and open that door right there and let them in.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> Sam Quinones is an author and Los Angeles Times reporter who lived in and wrote about Mexico for ten years.

Sam Quinones>> It's this beautiful monument to kind of a fevered mind. You know, the guy let nothing stand in his way. He just went out there and built and built more and, as he built more, that allowed him to think of even grander designs and grander schemes and that allowed him to even build more and on it went for twenty or twenty-five years or so. To me, it's a reminder of why people came to California in part. It's the ability to -- the state was kind of once this blank slate in which kind of anybody's imagination could take flight.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> But frustration about permits and regulations of today's California prompted Bonilla three years ago to return to his home in Zacatecas, Mexico.

Idoya Bonilla>> There was like so much more he wants to do with it, but just time and money and permits, sometimes he gets really frustrated. He's like I'm building all this and it's not giving me anything. It's like a big white elephant.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> Bonilla has even gone so far as to put the ranch up for sale, but only to the right buyer.

Idoya Bonilla>> Not really about money, but about appreciation, about the horses, about the taking care of it, keeping the trees, keeping everything the way it is or better, someone who loves it as much as he does.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> How would you feel if he sold it?

Idoya Bonilla>> Oh, no, no. I don't want him to.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> This is your home.

Idoya Bonilla>> Yeah.

Stephanie O'Neill Noe>> As Idoya Bonilla and her family await final word from county building inspectors, they continue to invest their time schooling local youngsters in the art of Mexican rodeo, their hope being that Rancho Bonilla will again become a showcase of authentic Mexican culture. For Life and Times, I'm Stephanie O'Neill Noe in the Cuyama River Valley.

Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org and click on "Life and Times".

Val>> Last fall, the Los Angeles County Supervisors hired a private firm to fix the deeply troubled King Drew Medical Center. Since then, the firm has discovered it will take millions more and as many as two years to reform the hospital. Hena Cuevas gets an update on the situation from Kae Robertson, the administrator in charge of overseeing the overhaul of King Drew Medical Center.

Kae Robertson>> We need to, on a daily basis, run the hospital and fix it. I kind of liken it to flying a 747 and repairing it in flight.

Hena Cuevas>> So your group isn't really focused on the reasons as to why the hospital got to where it go. You're just looking for solutions?

Kae Robertson>> We're looking for solutions and we're looking for fast solutions when it relates to patients' safety or any quality of care issues. One of the things that was very important to improve was the response of the team for cardiac arrest. We've just completed some audits and, ninety-seven percent of the time, the team arrived on time. Every member was there. They were there within five minutes. So it's a big improvement from where we were.

Hena Cuevas>> What was the percentage before?

Kae Robertson>> Well, before, the numbers weren't tracked, so we don't have actual data. But what we had was observation on our part where we would go to a cardiac arrest and realize that key members of the team were not there. Now whether they didn't have the right beeper, they weren't being called, they didn't know they were part of the team, we don't know. But that's a big difference now from what we saw before.

Hena Cuevas>> How receptive has the staff been to having you and your group at the hospital taking a look at the work that they've been doing?

Kae Robertson>> I think that we've gone through them being receptive. It's sort of a normal phase that you'll see. Everybody was receptive and excited because we were identifying the problems that they saw here in terms of how things worked. The next phase is now we start putting accountability on everybody to receive new training and to change the way they're doing things. You start to see a little tension between the group including, you know, why are you making us do this? Then you get to the point where people say, oh, now I see the results are better. I understand why I need to do this.

Hena Cuevas>> What has surprised you the most?

Kae Robertson>> I think the most surprising is the number of areas that need remediation, whether you find housekeeping or nursing or, you know, even areas of being able to get basic data. It's not as if there's just one area that was a hundred percent perfect.

Hena Cuevas>> Because you're talking about a process that deals not only with trying to fix, let's say, the nursing department, but you're also talking about housekeeping.

Kae Robertson>> Right, and Human Resources and, you know, physical therapy, pharmacy, social work. It's every department. So there will be a very comprehensive plan and it will take over two years to get it all completed probably.

Hena Cuevas>> So you're doing the research and you're also presenting your report. So how is this entire process going to work?

Kae Robertson>> We've been implementing our recommendations as we go. Since we are the management of the hospital, it is incumbent upon us to get all the changes implemented and work with the staff to make that happen as we go along. So we're actually doing research, making recommendations and implementing those right along.

Hena Cuevas>> What about the financial impact of the recommendations? Who's going to pay for all of it?

Kae Robertson>> Well, for one thing, we are not actually looking at the financial side of the hospital to look at whether or not they have the right mix and number of staff from a productivity perspective. But there are many recommendations we've made that relate to capital expenditure to fix the facility and I think, with the looming economic crisis that the county has and the Department of Health Services, they're certainly trying to prioritize those against many competing demands.

Hena Cuevas>> How unusual is it for a hospital to have a group like yours come in and do an assessment?

Kae Robertson>> Probably at any time in our company a dozen assessments. What's unusual in this organization, though, is that they had more problems and more things broken that needed fixing than virtually any hospital in the United States. I think the joint commission says that this is similar to only one or two other hospitals in the whole country, so their situation is very unusual.

Hena Cuevas>> But a year doesn't seem to be enough time. Will a year be enough to fix everything that's wrong?

Kae Robertson>> No. In fact, our work plan calls for fixes that are going to take probably somewhere around the two-year point before everything is corrected. We've prioritized those things that need to be fixed based on patient safety and then re-accreditation with the joint commission, so our intent is to get that set of recommendations completed within a year.

Hena Cuevas>> How optimistic are you that the hospital will be fixed?

Kae Robertson>> Well, we're optimistic because there are, first of all, a number of very dedicated staff and a number of very dedicated physicians and there are a number of very competent staff and competent physicians. We also have the support from DHS and the Board of Supervisors even though they are frustrated with the fact that this will be a long-term fix. I think they're very supportive of being able to meet the medical needs of this community and recognize that the best way to do that is to continue to have this facility available.

It's difficult, though, because there are so many things that need to be fixed. I'm not optimistic that it will happen in a short time frame that everyone wants it to happen. This is thirty years of problems that need to be fixed. It won't happen in six months, it won't happen in a year. It will take time.

Hena Cuevas>> Well, thank you very much, Kae Robertson.

Kae Robertson>> Thank you.

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Larry Mantle>> Welcome to FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC. Our first film this week is the long-awaited "Star Wars: Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith".

[Film Clip]

Larry Mantle>> I'm joined this week by film critics Peter Rainer, past president of the National Society of Film Critics, and Henry Sheehan of henrysheehan.com. We start with Henry Sheehan on "Star Wars: Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith".

Henry Sheehan>> Well, you know, the first two "Star Wars" movies, that is to say, the last two, Parts One and Parts Two of the sage, you had the feeling that Lucas was trying to nail down every loose end from the original "Star Wars" saga which, in chronological time of the saga, comes after these films, and that he was going back and trying to say this is what caused that later on. You got the feeling that the nails were going into a coffin because the series was just getting so dull and so scattered.

This one, "The Revenge of the Sith", is a huge improvement. I would say this is easily the best "Star Wars" movie since the first series and maybe even since the first one. It's the story of Anakin who becomes Darth Vader and exactly what the steps are that led him to become Darth Vader. Now there's a huge amount of fighting in this movie. I think too much. Big battles, huge scenes, a lot of androids and stuff like that.

But the core story is the moral narcissism of this adolescent and how he becomes furious at the way he's treated on a bunch of levels and while he's sure that he has the moral upper hand, that this makes it okay for him to go over to the dark side, as we all know it's called, and to serve the emperor. That, as a kind of contrast to the first "Star Wars" movie which is about Luke Skywalker who is on that road to becoming morally narcissistic and doesn't, these two make great bookends for the whole series.

Larry Mantle>> Peter?

Peter Rainer>> I think the film is successful primarily as a kind of whiz-bang adventure movie. The effects are very good. The action scenes are pretty terrific. It is, I think, certainly the best of the prequels to the original three. I think the first film is still the most fun. The original "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back", I think, is the most amazing by far.

But this film is certainly a vast improvement, but it still has a lot of the dragginess that you get whenever there isn't any action on the screen with these films that Lucas seems to take a little bit too seriously, the notion that, you know, these are based on the old-time serials, so you have to have kind of low-grade acting and dull dialogue to go with the zippy special effects. I was going to ask Henry here, how much did this mean to you?

Henry Sheehan>> Not too much, actually. Most of my emotional investment is still in the first series and particularly in the first film. You know, you can only be in the crowd that heard Beethoven's Ninth for the first time once, you know, these experiences really don't have much of a lifespan. They're ephemeral. And I don't think it's possible to get a charge from this one.

Peter Rainer>> I know that there was one moment in the screening that I saw that got a big rumble from the audience which I guess means it still works when Darth Vader becomes Darth Vader and the helmet. Anakin, you know, you see him become the fiercesome character of the films. That's kind of the primal moment, I think, in the film for a lot of people.

Larry Mantle>> Our second film this week is the horror movie, "Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist". You may recall there was an "Exorcist" film that came out a few months ago. Well, this one was designed to be that film, if you get my drift. Henry Sheehan will tell us more.

[Film Clip]

Larry Mantle>> Henry Sheehan, what did you think of "Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist"?

Henry Sheehan>> Well, I think it has more interesting production history than it has an actual film as it's produced. There was only supposed to be one prequel to "The Exorcist", this one, the Paul Schrader version. But when Schrader finished filming it and made his initial assembly, the production company, Morgan Creek, decided it wasn't what they were expecting. They wanted, you know, more shaking beds, more projectile vomit and all that stuff. So they put this movie on a shelf somewhere and hired Renny Harlin, the action director, the sequel director, to film a version. That was actually released a few months ago and is now available on DVD.

This movie, Paul Schrader is trying to get into a psychological investigation of Father Lankaster Merrin's initial encounters with evil in Nazi Holland and Africa in 1949. It just doesn't work because Schrader is working with types and very broad types and you really can't investigate a type psychologically.

Larry Mantle>> Peter, what did you think?

Peter Rainer>> Well, I'm glad there wasn't any projectile vomiting (laughter). You know, we've got enough of that in the movies and I say draw the line here. It's not a terribly exciting movie, but I sort of liked parts of it anyway because there's a certain elegance to the horror imagery. The acting is pretty dead and the photographic effects by Vittorio Storaro are very uneven as a kind of bleached-out look that I'm not quite sure he what he was getting at. But it's odd to see a film that is connected to such a huge machine as "The Exorcist" having so much to do with religious issues. I think that that's something in this movie that, if not good, it's at least odd.

Larry Mantle>> And finally this week, a documentary about New York City school kids who have ballroom dancing as a part of their public school curriculum. The film that results is "Mad Hot Ballroom".

[Film Clip]

Larry Mantle>> Peter Rainer, what did the sight of these little kids doing ballroom dancing do for you?

Peter Rainer>> Well, that's a very loaded question (laughter). The movie itself is one thing. The kids are another. The film, I think, is a very engaging documentary about mostly fourth and fifth graders in neighborhoods like Washington Heights who compete for this ballroom competition. The best part of the movie is seeing the interaction between the teachers and their kids. On the one hand, a lot of these teachers are sort of frustrated stars and divas themselves, but they give over a lot of love and attention to the kids and a few of them -- there's one kid in particular named Wilson who seems to be sort of a junior Ricardo Montalban.

They really are so self-possessed and enjoy so much what they're doing that it makes the film very pleasurable. I take exceptions to the way the film is made. Marilyn Agrelo is the director. So much of it seemed to be manipulative towards the point where who's going to win the final competition? I'm getting a little tired of documentaries now that are all about competitions and who wins in the end. It's becoming kind of routine.

Larry Mantle>> The "Spellbound" phenomenon.

Peter Rainer>> Yeah, exactly.

Larry Mantle>> Henry Sheehan?

Henry Sheehan>> Well, yes, I think manipulation is a slight problem because obviously she filmed a whole bunch of schools to begin with, waited to see who would win and who would go so far in the competition, and then I think assembled the film so it would follow a certain path. I do kind of object to that, but on the other hand, the movie is so much fun. Not just Wilson, yes, the Ricardo Montalban, Cesar Romero and a dozen other guys you could mention. I mean, this kid really has it. And there are other kids too that are nearly as arresting. I think it's great that the New York public school system mandates ballroom dancing classes for kids in their last year of elementary school. We should have that here.

Larry Mantle>> Well, thanks for joining us for another edition of FilmWeek on Life and Times. I'm Larry Mantle of 89.3 KPCC joined by critics Henry Sheehan of henrysheehan.com and Peter Rainer, past president of the National Society of Film Critics. We look forward to your joining us next week at this same time for another FilmWeek on Life and Times.

Val>> And remember you can hear a full hour of FilmWeek every Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. on KPCC public radio. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education.

And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg.

Vicki Curry>> Next time on Life and Times --

It's a win-win-win situation, a landlord-tenant relationship that benefits landlords, tenants and society.

>> This is a team effort. It's not just us owning the building and you're living here and we're taking money from you. This is a team effort where we want to build something.

>> Miracles come to life here.

>> Really? Why?

>> Because of the children we help.

Vicki Curry>> That's next time on Life and Times.