Ann Lemons Pollack
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The Messenger
Woody Harrelson is an actor of amazing versatility — for example, even as he is a typical radio talk-show host trying to engage in conversation while doing play-by-play on the end of the world in "2012," he's a demon-driven Army captain with the horrible assignment of knocking on doors in rural New Jersey, then telling
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The Damned United
Hooray! A movie about sports that doesn't end with a triumphant game! "The Damned United," a superior film about a haunted, fatally flawed man, is an exciting story about English soccer, specifically about Brian Clough, a genius while he was coaching and winning at little Derby County but when he moved up in class to
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Mosaic
Did Mosaic start out to be a restaurant and end up being part of the bar scene? Or did it start out hoping for a good bar crowd and offering some fashionable food alongside? We suspect it’s more the former than the latter, but the point is moot because Mosaic has turned into a reliable
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Fantastic Mr. Fox
Pairing a couple of quirky geniuses, like Roald Dahl and Wes Anderson, is bound to create something special, regardless of which end of the spectrum is reached. We're well on the high side with "Fantastic Mr. Fox," from a 1970 Dahl story, refigured by Anderson for the 21st century to provide complete delight. Whether or
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Little House on the Prairie
Sunbonnets were all the rage in the Fox Theatre lobby last night as "Little House on the Prairie" arrived for a five-day run. Fans of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books will be satisfied in the portrayals of the Ingalls family, theater buffs will be a little less satisfied with the transition to live theater.
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This Week’s Wine: November 25, 2009
Well, here we are again –Thanksgiving is upon us and we haven't bought wine yet. The good thing is that all wine stores are open and bulging at the seams with good values at good prices. Another good thing is that the Beaujolais Nouveau hype seems to be mostly behind us. All the stories
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The Horse Boy
Rowan Isaacson is five years old. He has temper tantrums that last for hours, he is not toilet-trained, he will not communicate, he cannot be reasoned with. He is autistic. But he loves his toy animals and plays constantly with them, especially the horses. And one day his parents, Rupert Isaacson and Kristin Neff,
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The Road
Cormac McCarthy long has been one of my favorite authors. A dark background was one of the attributes that held my interest, and his Tennessee-set stories like "Suttree" were just as powerful as the Western yarns like "Blood Meridian" and the three books that made up the so-called "Border Trilogy." "No Country for Old
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Veritas
We finally succumbed to a temptation that's been coming to our in-box every week. Very early on Sunday mornings, Veritas in Chesterfield sends out an e-mail list of food available for carryout. Easily reheatable two-portion amounts are sold for about half of what they would cost to eat in the shop's restaurant area. First come,
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Black Cake
Several years ago, re-reading Laurie Colwin's "Home Cooking," I was taken with her description of black cake. It's a Caribbean dessert, traditionally used at times of festivities, a higher form of fruitcake steeped in rum and other ethanol-type liquids. So I tried it. The idea was good, but her relatively vague recipe, which she