Ann Lemons Pollack
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The Illusionist
Jacques Tati (1907-1982), was born Jacques Tatischeff. He directed only six films. Four of them featured the writer-director as Mr. Hulot, a gawky, shambling man who smoked a pipe, wore a raincoat and carried an umbrella. The films were scant on dialogue, long on sight gags and sound effects, and genially lampooned the vagaries of
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White Material
Isabelle Huppert brings a fierce performance to "White Material," as she desperately hangs on to the shreds of the past. She owns a coffee plantation somewhere in Africa, but the men and women who have worked there for generations are aflame with the fires of change and they seem to care little whether the change
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Hamburger Havens
We're part of the search for the best hamburgers in town that St. Louis Magazine's current issue has. You can read part of it (which is only referred to in the print edition) here.
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Prime 1000
Prime 1000 has taken on the question of whether St. Louis needs yet another steakhouse. The market, of course, will ultimately decide, but in the meanwhile, things are roaring along at 10th and Washington. Located in a marvelous space that feels like it could be lower Manhattan with its high ceilings and huge windows, Prime
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The Company Men
If schadenfreude, or taking pleasure from someone else’s misfortune, is your thing, run, do not walk, to “The Company Men,” and get a fix watching the rich and powerful take a financial and psychological beating by being fired. It’s fitting emotional revenge for so many of us who have seen employees sacrificed on the altar
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Summer Wars
Japanese animation, or anime, has been a stylistic gem in the movie industry about 30 years, and it's done so well it's staggering. "Summer Wars" is a charming tale, successful as a contemporary film and in its artistic creativity. Mamoru Hosada is the drector, Satoko Okudera the writer. Our hero is a pre-teen boy named
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Ichigo Modern Japanese
Ichigo Modern offers several things usually not found in Clayton restaurants, but the first to meet the eye is the huge amount of free parking to the east side of the building. Located in the postwar- modern Washington University building erected to house Famous-Barr as the first department store branch to leave downtown, its main
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The Year of Magical Thinking
There's a considerable amount of magic in the Rep's Studio Theatre these days, led by Fontaine Syer. The co-founder and long-time artistic director of the Theatre Project Company returned to a St. Louis stage and offers a brilliant re-creation of Joan Didion in "The Year of Magical Thinking," which will run through Jan. 30. Didion's
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Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric World
Pascal Vuong has spent five years on "SeaRex: Journey to a Prehistoric World," and believe me, it was worth the time. It's one of the best films to have spread around the huge screen of the Omnimax theater at the St. Louis Science Center, where it opened on Friday. It's a tale of undersea creatures,
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Blue Valentine
We're big into relationship movies these days, but love stories of one type or another, always have been popular fare from Hollywood. Of course, changing times bring new styles, with much increase in visible sex and tedious discussion. "Blue Valentine," which opens this weekend, joins "Somewhere" and "Rabbit Hole," also new in town, "I Love