Ann Lemons Pollack
-
San Francisco 2009
Re-visiting San Francisco always fills us with a mixture of delight and anxiety. We love the city and its environs, filled with interesting things to delight the eyes, the nose, the mouth, even the ears. But the serious business of deciding where to eat is an early and then constant focus. How many of our
-
Adoration
Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan is a man with considerable talent and the desire to be in complete control. His new film, "Adoration," opening today, reflects that passion. He serves as writer, director and producer, and his characters often show the same need. This works much of the time, but in the end, Egoyan drives this
-
The Merry Gentleman
Once a stagehand for Mr. Rogers, Michael Keaton has grown into one of the most versatile of movie actors. Now, he makes his full-length directorial debut in "The Merry Gentleman," a seamless step from in front of the camera to behind it. Actually, Keaton is in both places, and he’s equally terrific as actor and
-
Rudo y Cursi
Tato and Beto are Mexican half-brothers, Tato a high-scoring forward nicknamed Cursi and Beto a formidable goalkeeper nicknamed Rudo. The nicknames roughly translate as Corny and Tough, respectively, and they are, very obviously, soccer stars in a movie named after both of them, "Rudo y Cursi." Carlos Cuaron wrote and directed this bright, high-spirited film,
-
The Ghosts of Versailles
When it comes to chronological age, "The Ghosts of Versailles" is just a punk kid, an opera that has not yet reached its 20th birthday. When it comes to historical and theatrical lineage, it goes back throughout recorded time, paying tribute to practically everything that came before. And when it comes to entertainment, it has
-
Eclipse
The new kid in town is located at the St. Louis end of the Delmar Loop, east of Skinker and giving off feelings of its deeply urban setting. It could be in Chicago or New York—ah, but wait, what’s that in the glass-fronted cabinets near the hostess station and throughout the dining rooms? It’s toys
-
Chocolate Embarrassing Cake
At this time of the year, it always seems like parties come up, and the search begins for something to bring. Sometimes you want to show off, and other times, it’s too much trouble or takes too much time. Yes, there certainly are nice things you can buy locally, but when you really want to
-
The Lady From Dubuque
And just who is the lady from Dubuque? Unknown and unexpected at her arrival, she gradually reveals more and more of herself as the second act of Edward Albee’s "The Lady From Dubuque" rolls across the stage at the Kranzberg Center, where the Muddy Waters Theatre production opened over the weekend, to run through June
-
A Rose By Any Other Blend (Would Not Be A Rose)
Every now and then, bureaucrats wise up and realize they’ve made a mistake. On rare occasions, like now, they retract what they’ve done and allow things to proceed as they always have, properly and in an orderly manner. The European Agriculture Commission did that the other day, stepping back from a proposal that would have
-
Away We Go
I really envy Burt and Verona. They are so smart, so self-righteous, so superior to the rest of us. It’s enough to make one ill, and their sanctimonious attitudes come close to succeeding in "Away We Go," opening here today. John Krakowaki (Burt) and Maya Rudolph (Verona) are a young couple, thinking about getting married