Ann Lemons Pollack

  • Carol Channing: Larger Than Life

    If ever a movie title was totally acccurate, it’s “Carol Channing: Larger Than Life,” which the 90-year-old actress-dancer-singer. Wait a minute. I take back the last part, maybe the last two parts. But she’s irrepressible, a unique talent who has worked constantly throughout her life, scoring on stage, in films, as a cabaret performer and

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  • It’s the Third Thursday in November. Again

    It's November 17. Do you know what it means? A clue: It's the third Thursday in November. What makes it so important? No, it isn't my birthday. Send presents at another time. Give up? It's the day for Beaujolais Nouveau, the third Thursday in November, when the 2011 wine is released to people who have

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  • Smashburger

    Smashburger, a chain spreading out of Denver, opens its first St. Louis location today (Nov. 16). A preview visit revealed quarter-, third- and half-pound burgers with four bun options, The medium-thick burgers are quite juicy and show considerable verve in the spicy options like the BBQ, bacon and Cheddar and the Spicy Baja (shown below).

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  • The Crow’s Nest

    The Crow’s Nest, one of the newest additions to the Maplewood strip, may be a bar, but the imaginative and tasty meals it serves don’t show any relationship with traditional bar food. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised — it’s the Bleeding Deacon’s new sib. the long, narrow room has been several other establishments, and now

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  • The Athlete

    Abebe Bikila, an Ethopian, was a man few could match in terms of achievement, and "The Athlete," playing at the St. Louis International Film Festival Nov. 15 and 20, is a biographical tribute to the first African to win an Olympic gold medal. Written and directed by Davey Frankel and Rasselas Lakew, the film is

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  • Love Stalker

    Billed as a comedy, and about as funny as cancer, "Love Stalker," shot in St. Louis with local actors and technicians, is not very comic. Pete, our protagonist, is occasionally funny, but mostly he brings laughs for his unrealistic stupidity. It's part of the St. Louis International Film Festival, and will screen at 9 p.m.

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  • Granito: How to Nail a Dictator

    “Granito: How to Nail a Dictator,” which plays at the St. Louis International Film Festival tomorrow, is a political diatribe. That said, with its implicit warning, it’s also a gripping, well-made film about the continuing, brutal civil war in Guatemala. Pamela Yates wrote and directed the movie, which includes interviews with activist Rigoberta Manchu and

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  • J. Edgar

    J. Edgar Hoover was a man of many parts, some admirable, some distressing. He was ambitious enough to lie, cheat and steal his way to power, strong enough to hold it for generations, vicious enough to destroy lives without a qualm, egotistical enough to callously seize credit from those who deserved it. And he loved

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  • Like Crazy

    Nobody's dying, but "Like Crazy" seems to be this century's "Love Story," as a pair of innocents fall deeply in love. The loving is more overtly physical today than it was in 1970, when Jennifer (Ali MacGraw) and Oliver (Ryan O'Neal) were the children, but love remains love, even as the calendar advances. Today it's

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  • Radio Free Albemuth

    Reviews of movies that are part of the St. Louis International Film Festival, which have limited, or only single, performances, will appear on St. Louis Eats the day before the movie plays. Some of them may re-appear in the future as commercial releases. There are lots of conspiracy theorists out there — you know, the

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