St. Louis Eats and Drinks With Joe and Ann Pollack

A Coming Attraction

Meeting up with an old pal at the Missouri Botanical Garden, this is what I was greeted with. He's not quite finished yet, and there are a couple of his siblings not quite so far along, but it's clear that the Lantern Festival is going to be something very exciting.

 

Farther along inside the Garden, we saw this pagoda, which is seemingly finished, and you can also watch from a distance as the Chinese artists do their thing in the west parking lot.

 

 

Read more about the festival here.

The Big Meal

William Grimes, who was for several years the restaurant critic for the New York Times, has left that beat. But not, to a certain degree, very far; in today's Times he has a story about "The Big Meal", a play that's set in a restaurant about three generations of a family's life. The foodish among us revel in such comparisons like restaurants and theater, which Grimes does,and you can read about it here.

And for a review, rather than Grimes' feature piece, here's Charles Isherwood's from March 22.

 

Changes to Facebook

 

In response to some people who were uncomfortable seeing Joe's face appearing on Fb with a blog post, I'm getting ready to switch things to my newly-created Facebook account. All postings will appear there as well as on St. Louis Eats and Drinks. I acknowledge that I haven't taken his name off the blog. In time, I imagine I will, but I'm sure readers will understand that it's difficult for me to do all this official obliterating.

So you can find me as Ann Lemons Pollack on Facebook, and we'll continue to meet there as well as on the blog.

Joe Pollack

By now many of you gentle readers will have heard our sad news. My dear Joe has left us, far more quietly than was his usual style.

I am stunned by the sheer volume of condolence messages, kind words and compliments this has caused in the community of people interested in food, wine, theater, film, journalism and the occasional wisecrack. When he retired from the Post-Dispatch, there were many good wishes and a fabulous multi-chef dinner. (Thanks, guys. He still talked about that.) But the fellow with the big ego turned to me one day in the car and said, rather quietly but with a clear note of astonishment, "They really do like me." What our family is seeing now is far larger than that, geometrically larger.

When I married Joe, I sometimes said I felt like I won the lottery. I continued to feel that way, except for the occasional 20 minutes or so, right up to the wee hours of Friday morning, and indeed I still do. Joe had a swell time in life, and I was lucky to be invited along for the last part of the ride. In all honesty, I cannot say exactly what I will do with St. Louis Eats, but I do intend to continue once we get past the immediate situation. Almost certainly things will return more closely to our original focus that's reflected in the name.

We are having a memorial service on the Mainstage of the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis this Saturday, March 17, at 11 a.m. That being St. Patrick's Day, no saloon, which an old friend pointed out would be Joe's venue of choice, is available, unfortunately. ("Amateur drinkers," Joe would have muttered.) But we will try to explain to ourselves and to our beloved younger generation just who this guy was.

-Ann

An Unfortunate Episode

Watch those credit cards. While most errors are innocent, they can still lead you into a trail of confusion and irritation. This is from the St. Louis Magazine blog Relish.

The Best and Worst of 2100

 

Well, here we are again -- the final week of another year. No movies opening to provide fodder for this space. What to do? Sigh!

I know. I'll write about the movies I saw during 2011. I'll make a list of the best -- no, even my ego won't allow "best." Besides, what is best? What criteria do use? How about a list of movies that I saw, enjoyed and would happily see again? And that, of course, creates other problems in terms of movies that have not opened in St. Louis yet, and some movies that I did not see, for one reason or another.

All right. Herewith, an arbitrary decision. My favorites, and least-favorites, that opened and were discussed in this space during 2011. The list includes 12 that I liked a lot and 10 that I cordially despised. Standards? I see a lot of movies and have throughout my life, especially in the 40 years I've been writing about them professionally. Regular readers will understand that my tastes are quirky. I have a peculiar sense of humor. I like some movies that other critics, and movie-goers despise, and vice versa. I was one of the rare critics to dislike "The Way We Were," way back when. I'll probably offend some people, though I'd rather pique their curiosity and, perhaps, engage in a discussion.

Well, enough about you. Here's my list, and it's in chronological order so that you can more easily find the original article from this very blog file.

Casino Jack (Jan. 7): St. Louisan George Hickenlooper saved his best work for last. His direction of a bitter tale based on the life and works of Jack Abramoff, con man and lobbyist and friend to our senators and representatives was brilliant, and Kevin Spacey delivered a matchless performance in the title role. Hickenlooper died in October, 2010, at the age of 47.

Rabbit Hole (Jan. 14): Nicole Kidman never has been more powerful, or given herself up to a role more completely, than in a movie that explores the after-effects of the death of a child. It's based on David Lindsay-Abaire's play that ran in the Rep's studio a few years ago, and he also wrote the screenplay. John Cameron Mitchell, also a playwright, directed with style. Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are the parents of a boy who ran out of his yard and was hit by a car driven by a high school student, Dianne Wiest portrays Kidman's mother.

Cedar Rapids (Feb. 18): I described this movie as being rude, crude, tasteless and vulgar. Also very funny. Phil Johnston's story of a weekend convention of Midwestern insurance salesmen is hilarious, more so if you like rude, crude, tasteless and vulgar, and funny performances by John C. Reilly, Ed Helms, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche and Alia Shawkat. There are times when gross is good, and this is a giant sale from the gross-ery store.

Of Gods and Men (March 25): A strange juxtaposition of films, but coincidence is stranger than fiction, and this story, based on fact, took place in 1996, when a group of Algerian rebels threatened a monastery. A group of French Cistercian Trappist monks faced almost certain death but would not leave their home, where they produced honey and did good to the poor people of the village. Michel Lonsdale and Lambert Wilson lead a wonderful cast in a heart-rending tale directed by Xavier Beauvois. Lonsdale quotes Blaise Pascal, "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction."

Winter in Wartime (April 29): A Dutch film, set during World War II, that is a coming-of-age tale and one about fathers and sons. A teen-aged Dutch boy, son of the mayor of his village, helps an English pilot evade capture and eventually escape. At the same time, the rigors of war in winter are shown in a perfect representation of an event only 66 years ago, but largely forgotten.

Midnight in Paris (June 10): The longest St. Louis run of a film in many years (more than six months), and a return to joyous form by Woody Allen. A fantasy of Paris in its glory years of the 1920s and its even more plush times as the 19th century turned into the 20th. Owen Wilson delights as an American honeymooner who meets a list of classic characters from Ernest Hemingway to F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, including Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Cole Porter, Paul Gaugin and Salvador Dali. A wonderful fantasy.

Sarah's Key (July 29): A multi-generational tale of a little Jewish girl and her brother, set among the Nazi occupation of France, with Melusine Mayance showing much skill as the title character. Many years later, Kristen Scott Thomas as an American writer with a French architect husband, moves into the apartment. Gilles Paquet-Brenner directs intelligently from the novel by Tatiana de Rosney.

The Descendants (Nov. 23): The ubiquitous George Clooney, perhaps the most relaxed and understated movie actor since Cary Grant, looks as good in Hawaii as he does everywhere else, as he deals with becoming a widower and the single father to two daughters while mysteries and real-estate deals keep him occupied. Alexander Payne's direction is relaxed and on target, and young Shailene Woodley is remarkable as Cooney's teen-aged daughter. So is Nick Krause as Sid, her boy friend.

Into the Abyss (Nov. 23): German director Werner Herzog is a genius, and shows his skill in a documentary about a man just eight days before his execution for murder. Michael Perry and Jason Burkett killed three people just to steal a car, and Perry is about to die. Herzog is a low-key interviewer, talking to Perry, his father(also in prison) and others who were involved. The aura of "In Cold Blood" hangs in the air and Herzog's movie stays in one's mind for a long, long time.

My Week With Marilyn (Nov. 25): Michelle Williams doesn't look like Marilyn Monroe but she has the moves, the moods, the aura, in a lovely homage based on an absolutely other-worldly experience by Colin Clark. Kenneth Branagh sparkles as Laurence Olivier, who cannot cope with Monroe's antics; she cannot cope with being an actor. Delightful comedy, perfect date movie.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Dec. 20): Rooney Mara is only an eyelash behind Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander, the toughest cookie in Stockholm, in a fine adaptation of Stieg Larsson's novel by Steven Zaillian. David Fincher directs the long, tense, powerful tale, and Daniel Craig is a slightly different, but equally strong, Mikael Blomkvist. Long, but exciting and tension without pause.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Dec. 23): With Gary Oldman in a marvelous portrayal of George Smiley, the great spy novel by John Le Carre comes to the big screen. Tomas Afredson directs a long but fast-moving story of English spies and those who spy on them. A large, impressive cast that includes Colin Firth, John Hurt and a who's who of English actors and a taut, plot line. Mystery fans will be very happy; so will movie buffs

And toting the push brooms behind the circus parade: These films have one common thread. They're dumb, and the filmmakers treat the audience as being dumb, too, No imagination, no spark, neither grace, nor charm, nor humor. And the losers are: Somewhere (Jan. 14), The Eagle (Feb.11), The Battle of Los Angeles (March 11), Ka-Boom (March 25), Heartbeats (April 29), White Irish Drinkers (May 6), Hesher (May 13), Meek's Cutoff (May 13), The Future (Aug. 19), Machine Gun Preacher (Oct. 7).

 And a Happy, movie-filled 2012. . . .

-- Joe

Restaurant Art

Marilynne Bradley, a local artist is having a showing of her paintings of St. Louis restaurants, both past and present. She's even included the Del Taco flying saucer building. Joe wrote about them for Relish, St. Louis Magazine's food blog, and you can read that, including the location and dates here.

Another Piece of St. Louis History Gone

This summer, we were in London and attended the funeral for Fran Landesman, one of the proprietors of Gaslight Square's legendary Crystal Palace, poet and songwriter. (Barbra Streisand, for one, gives her big props.)

She was quite a woman, and the funeral was...quite an experience. You can read the whole tale here in St. Louis Magazine's blog.

The Death of Klinghoffer

Trying to discuss politics in the midst of an opera is an interesting idea, but it's well-nigh impossible to make it work. Opera Theatre of St. Louis takes its best shot with "The Death of Klinghoffer," which opened the other night at the Loretto-Hilton Center. John Adams' music and Alice Goodman's libretto, however, offered a mixed bag.

The music was impressive. Adams built tension through the first act, found more passion for the second and produced a terrific sound, performed brilliantly by half the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under the right-on baton of Michael Christie. The vocalists were splendid, as all their peers have been throughout the 2011 season.

I had trouble with Goodman's libretto, which I found too kind toward the Palestinian thugs who hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean Sea in 1985. Before they were captured, they had bullied and killed Leon Klinghoffer, a Jewish American passenger who was in a wheelchair. Their triumphant, insulting attitude bothered me. That said, I would not censor Goodman's dialogue, nor would I not produce the opera now, or in the future. But I reserve the right to dislike dialogue that made the killers look like heroes.

I know that one person's terrorist is another person's patriot, but I still reserve the right.

Once again, the set, by Allen Moyer, was stark and dark, like most of OTSL's repertory. Maybe OTSL has decided it's the best place to trim the budget, and in truth, the darkness of the hold for much of the show and the deck, symbolized by brighter lights and a lounge chair or two, worked satisfactorily.

Vocally, it was another superb production, led by Christopher Magiera, whose rich bass-baritone filled the theater, and Aubrey Allicock, powerful and extremely dramatic as one of the assassins. Brian Mulligan and Nancy Maultsby made elegant OTSL debuts as Leon and Marilyn Klinghoffer; her eulogy for her husband was a highlight. Speaking of debuts, Lucy Schaufer was a delight in three small roles, especially one as a British dancer.

James Robinson, the OTSL artistic director, completing a successful season at the helm, was a winner as the stage director.

The Death of Klinghoffer, by John Adams, will be performed tomorrow (Sunday), Tuesday, Thursday and next Saturday.

--Joe

With The Holidays Upon Us...

With the holidays upon us, so are the movies. Six openings today. The reviews, in order, are:

The Fighter

I Love You, Phillip Morris

Tamara Drewe

Leaving

Marwencol

Tron: Legacy