Ann Lemons Pollack
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The 39 Steps
Paul DeBoy may be the hero of "The 39 Steps," which opened last night on the Rep Main Stage, and his performance is deft, properly nuanced and excellent, but it's the other three cast members — Tyrone Mitchell Henderson, Michael Keyloun and Marina Squerciati — that collaborate to make the splendid Hitchcock spoof into
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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
There's more than one way to make a movie, especially if you have the imagination and talent of Terry Gilliam. During the production of his "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," his star, Heath Ledger, died. Many directors would have abandoned the project. Gilliam found a way to complete it, convincing three of Ledger's friends
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Embraces
Pedro Almodovar is one of the great movie directors, Penelope Cruz holds equal status as an actress. Put them together, as in "Broken Embraces," which opens here today, and an above-average movie, with a strong story and superior production and entertainment values, is assured. This is the fifth time Almodovar and Cruz have worked
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Mango
Mango is not what we think of when someone says Peru. Mountains, llamas, Machu Pichu, even interesting textiles come to mind. Nevertheless, in St. Louis, Mango has come to stand for (among other things) Peruvian food. After their Shrewsbury location was firmly grounded, Jorge Calvo and his family have added a second, showier location downtown
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This Week’s Wine, January 2, 2010
The light grey (maybe silver) bottle with the black capsule and screw-cap stands out on a shelf. The big surprise arrives when it is lifted. It weighs so little that it's difficult to realize that it is filled with wine. It weighs more than a 10-dollar bill, which will buy it on line, but a
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Up In The Air
Apologies are in order: This review was written for posting on Dec. 11, the day the movie opened. Somewhere along the way, a glitch appeared in cyberspace and the review remained in the files. It's three weeks since the opening, but opinions remain intact. Despite all the hoop-la and hi-de-ho that have surrounded it,
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New York, 2009
There’s nothing quite like New York during the holidays–especially if a visitor avoids a blizzard, as we did. And even in a blizzard, Joe is quick to point out, Manhattan building superintendents shovel sidewalks faster than you’d think. Still, there’s serious slush; if you go during the winter, plan on waterproof boots. We like to
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This Week’s Wine, December 28, 2009
End of another year? Break out the bubbly to celebrate survival! And how about something new and slightly different. . . . and inexpensive, too. Our latest discovery is a sparkling wine whose French producers claim it precedes Champagne by more than a century. As we all know, in France the only wine that can
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Nine
Movies are made to be a lot of things. They can be quiet, introspective, thoughtful stories that deal in relationships and philosophy, tense tales of murder and mystery, struggles over life and property on a wild frontier. One of the things they do best is to serve as a setting for a spectacle, big and
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The Young Victoria
Victoria, Princess of Kent, was born in 1819. She became Queen Victoria in 1837, married Albert three years later and gave her name not only to a roster of English royalty but also to a half-century, a style of living and many other things, "The Young Victoria," a modest entertainment, stars Emily Blunt and Rupert