Shariq’s Département

Marc Forster, that German auteur of indie flicks like “Finding Neverland” and “Monster’s Ball”, takes on the James Bond franchise to create a wonderful new experience.

The action is visceral, violent and frenzied.  I’ve seen a lot of action movies in my time, and I was absolutely riveted by the opening chase sequence through the catacombs of Siena, Italy.  The motion and action is realistic and hard-edged; you can almost hear the bones cracking, the blood flowing.  Bond, as played by the sexy, brooding Daniel Craig is a ruthless, efficient machine, tracking down the enemy with panache, focus and relentless execution.  You feel the body blows.  You feel his desire to capture and bring harmony and justice to the world. 

This movie is a far cry from the pedestrian Bond movies of old.  While Sean Connery was sexy, he was Welsh.  And Pierce Brosnan was Irish.  So, having a blue-eyed Bond who actually speaks in a true British accent is refreshing.

The movie focuses on an international cartel of financiers, politicians and men of power who try to control the world for power, domination and money.  Mathieu Amalric, of “Kings and Queen” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” fame is absolutely convicing as the unpredictable, frenzied frontman for this cartel.  The movie is also spot-on with its plot theme that the rush to oil will become a relic of the past and will be superceded by a rush for increasingly scarce sources of clean, drinkable water.

Tough guy Craig has his tender moments as well, when a close colleague is killed.  And the script cleverly cuts away for the minutes when Bond interrogates and presumably tortures a couple of his targets to extract information.  We don’t want our vision of this hero sullied by such details.

The movie is compact, tightly-paced, visually stunning, filled with exotic locales and peppered with amazing acting with spot-on casting across the Board. 

Enthusiastically recommended!

The eagerly anticipated revival of Peter Shaffer’s 1970s play on Broadway, “Equus”, about a boy who is erotically triggered by horses and ends up blinding six of them, will perhaps best be remembered for the 10 minute naked sequence in the end of the play where Daniel Radcliffe, the star of the Harry Potter movies, romps around completely nude, exposing himself in every way.

I wish this production was better, so that it might vindicate his valiant embracing of this role as a troubled, anguished adolescent.

There are two main problems.  First, the play seems a bit dated.  When the play and subsequent movie came out in the 1970s, sexual peversion and dysfunction were only beginning to be openly discussed and so this play seemed to be shocking, when the extent of the boy’s activity really was only to ride the horses naked (as opposed to the recent documentary “Zoo” which was much more explicit!).  So the sense of scandal is missing, and the psychological methods employed seem distinctly dated.  Second, Richard Griffiths, of “The History Boys” fame, taking on the role of the psychiatrist is oddly flat and asexual for what is obviously a sexually charged play.  Where Richard Burton in the 1977 movie was charismatic and fevered and intense in his interrogations with the boy, creating his own sexual tension, Griffiths is clinical, detached and almost sleepwalking through this role.  And Radcliffe, although trying hard, seems too one-note in his obstinate insouciance to let us truly into the emotional mood of this troubled youngster.

Positive aspects of the production include: the homoeroticism implicit in the use of men wearing masks and sporting translucently covered torsos as the horses, whom Radcliffe rubs sexually throughout the play, to make explicit the nascent homoerotic longings in the Radcliffe character.  Kate Mulgrew (of Star Trek: Nemesis fame) brings true timbre and energy to the play in her brief scenes as the friend Griffith consults with.  Also, Anna Camp turns in a very promising performance as the young girl at the stables.  I’d very much like to see her on Broadway again (she was recently in “The Country Girl”).

See the 1977 Richard Burton movie instead.  It is much better than this revival.

On a recent trip to Atlanta, P. and I found a fantastic French restaurant, Trois, in midtown, which combined French classics such as P.’s appetizer, French Onion Soup (picture 1) with outrageous dishes that worked, such as my main of oxtail with scallops -yummy! (picture 2).

We were first offered a refreshing amouse-bouche of trout mousse over a slice of granny apple - the flavours really worked together (picture 3).  I started with a delicious tuna tartare with piquillo pepper, olives and warm mayonnaise (picture 4) to accompany P.’s soup.  P.’s main was a yellowfin tuna dish with salsify gratin, braised endive and a caper-raisin vinaigrette that he said was very good (picture 5).  We washed all this down with a very nice Pinot noir.

For dessert, P. had a trio (no pun intended) of ice creams (picture 6), while I had a soul-satifying warm chocolate clafoutis with vanilla ice cream, chocolate streusel and English cream! (pictue 7).

The ambience was breezy and romantic.  I definitely recommend this restaurant if you ever find yourself in Atlanta.

Cafe Ponty, which just opened last week, in the former Sri Lankan restaurant space on 3rd and 19th, offers quite delectable French bistro flair with a spicy twist in a cosy, spot.  I think it’s a great addition to the Gramercy neighborhood

For starters, we had the buttnernut squash soup (picture 1), which was earty and delicious, and calamari (picture 2), which was crispy and was served with an unusual spicy sauce.  As the restaurant is just starting out, they also gave us a free appetizer of chicken spring rolls (picture 3), which, I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed.

For mains, P. had the sea bass (picture 4) and I had the lamb with couscous (picture 5), which is definitely one of the better lamb dishes I have eaten anywhere, even in Michelin-starred restaurants.

The service is still a litte unsteady, but I am sure it will improve.  Stay away from the chocolate cake dessert - very doughy and dense.

We’ll be going back soon!