Borat the Subsequent Movie (2020)

Every year there are some films that I watch that are nominated for an Academy Award that I just find to be clunkers. Usually they are in one of the special effects category, although I have to admit, while there are many movies that I would have skipped over but since they are nominated, I watch them, and more often than not I am pleasantly surprised. That is not, however, what happened here. This is the new installment in the misadventures of Sasha Baron Cohen's ignorant yet fearless Kazakhstani journalist Borat Sagdiyev and it is filled with risqué jokes, jokes that don't land, and, as is clearly the point, a terrible reflection on the American people. Tolerance for and occasional outright support for racism, xenophobia, misogyny, law breaking, sex trafficking, and openly talking about killing people who do not agree with you is all alive and well, and people are willing to be filmed doing so. The thing that makes it far less appealing now that it was in the first film is that Trump was elected president and we saw it every single day at the highest levels of government and it just is not at all funny.

Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn

This is a book steeped in Hawaiian mythology and anchored in modern truths. Ordinary laborers cannot afford to live in Hawaii, even if it is their ancestral home. This is on Obama's annual reading list, and I can see why it might speak to him, the little I know of his experience there. His grandparents, not native of course, lived very modestly, and his story is an outsider's story. When I finished this, I felt like there was more to the book than I could understand, my lack of experience hamstringing me. In the beginning Nainoa's family takes a boat tour in their native Hawaii. Noa falls overboard into shark-infested waters. He is only seven years old but instead of mauling him, the sharks carry Noa gently in their mouths, returning him to the boat unharmed. Noa’s rescue is miraculous not only because his life is spared but because it echoes an ancient Hawaiian legend that his mother Malia remembers from her childhood — one that suggests that Noa, now anointed, will be the savior of his family, perhaps even of his people. Initially that prophecy seems to come true. The burden of it over takes him, and his siblings, talented in their own rights, grow up bitter in it's shadow, and all three of them head to the mainland. When tragedy stikes, though, they find themselves banding together again, drawn to their homeland as if by a magnet. The modern Hawaii is in a sad state, where natives depend on the tourist trade to make a living, relying on the people who took their homeland in order to stay there. This one is an American tale, but there are many similar ones through out the New World.

2021 Oscar Nominated Short Live Action Films

The Live Action short category is a complicated one, with some very impactful stories told, often in a semi-documentary style, and they can be brutal. Also common is that you cannot find them on line, in contrast to the availability of the animated and documentary shorts, and so you have to sit through all five of them in one setting, which can be fairly painful on occasion. This year we lucked out. Three of them were available, and when I got a virtual screening of the group, I watched the other two. My pick in this category is Two Distant Strangers, where an educated and well dressed black man leaves an apartment and is accosted by a white cop and gets shot. But it is Groundhog Day--the same thing happens over and over and over again. It is timely, well done, and so overwhelming traumatic to watch. My second choise is The Present, where a Palestinian man living in the West Bank crosses into Israel to buy a refridgerator for his wife. The dismissive and obnoxious way the young Israeli soldiers treat him is all too beleivable and another one where you think "no wonder they hate us", whomever we are who abuse authority. White Eye is an Israeli movie where a man finds his bike that was stolen outside a butchering operation in a run down part of town. It isn't completely clear it is his, he didn't file a police report, and as things unfold, his insistence on involving the police has a very negative effect he definitely did not want to happen. The Letter Room features Oscar Isaacs as a letter room clerk in a prison who gets overly involved in his work, and Feeling Through is a movie where you feel like something bad is going to happen but it doesn't, revealing a lot more about the viewer than might be supposed.

Found Guilty: My 26 Year Journey to Redemption by Antoinnette Glenn

This is a self published memoir of a woman who pulled herself out of a terrible situation and moved beyond it. She spoke to my book club recently and it is a remarkable story. She came from a home where education was valued and she knew she would go to college, but her father was physically abusive, and she was molested by a cousin. So not as traumatic a childhood as some, but definitely far from perfect, and then there is the added burden that all people of color carry growing up. She became involved with and married a man who was not just abusive and controlling but who also dealt drugs, and did so on occasion from their home. This put she and her young son in danger from the law and when he got arrested, so did she. The dynamics around power and control played out poorly for her, because her husband would not tell the FBI that she had nothing to do with his drug operation, and so she too went on trial. He court appointed attorney urged he to plead guilty and tkae a 10 year sentence rather than the 20 that she was at risk for, but she knew she could not appeal a guilty plea and so she took her chances in court. She emerged with an 8 year sentence, and then worked to get it reduced further. The most illuminating part of her jail story is that every woman there had been molested as a child. It should go without saying, but preventing childhood sexual abuse is crucial to preventing a lot of social as well as personal costs in the future. When she came out of prison she fought to get her life back, to be a contributing member of her community and make a difference in other at risk kids lives. She is telling her story in order to help those who may be in similar situation may feel that prison marks them for life, that they cannot be successful after that, but for her it was really the beginning of living the life she had hoped for hersilf. An inspirational story.

Roasted Cauliflower with Paprika Aioli

We are vooking from Bestia this month, and this was both gorgeous and delicious. I jsut roasted the cauliflowere in the over, and while I over did it, I think it is an easier method than described in the recipe, especially if you have the oven on anyway. Cauliflower: 2 to 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil 2 cloves garlic, smashed 1 head cauliflower, cut into 2-inch florets 1/4 cup dry white wine Sea salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest Leaves from 1 sprig flat-leaf parsley Leaves from 1 sprig dill 10 fresh mint leaves Paprika Aioli (recipe follows) for serving Preheat the broiler and position the rack on the top shelf. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Preheat a large cast-iron frying pan over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the grapeseed oil and the garlic cloves, letting the garlic infuse the oil for about 1 minute. Add the cauliflower florets, toss to coat, and sear for 2 minutes. Toss again, then transfer the pan to the broiler until the cauliflower is a nice golden brown with some charred edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, add the wine, and return to the stovetop over medium heat until the wine has evaporated, about 1 minute. Paprika Aioli Makes about two cups. 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon paprika 1 tablespoon fish sauce 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 teaspoons rinsed and finely chopped Preserved Lemon 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar 1 small clove garlic, grated on a Microplane or very finely minced 1 teaspoon chile powder, preferably Fresno 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper flakes 1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar 2 cups homemade or store bought mayo In a bowl, combine the paprika, fish sauce, lemon juice, preserved lemon, vinegar, garlic, chile powder, salt, red pepper flakes, and sugar and stir to combine. Fold in the aioli until well blended and smooth.

2021 Oscar Nominated Short Animation Films

The misture of noimees this year is really all over the board and only one of them is really 100% suitable for children. My choice for the winner is If Anything Happens I Love You. It is a pictoral representation on the grief that runs through a house when there is a school shooting and a child dies. The parents are separated by their grief and it is hard for them to be a team, to refind their relationship once something so senseless and completely American tears them apart. In this they have no other children, but imagine trying to parent the surviving siblings. It is just unbearable. My second choice in this category is Erich Oh's pachinko machine like representation of how the rich get richer and the poor do all the work. It is breathlessly beautiful and grim at the same time. Burrows is the only kid friendly where a rabbit burrows through the earth in search of a home of her own, only to find that neighbors are where it is at. Yes People is an Icelandic film featuring an eclectic collection of inhabitants in an apartment buildings and the events they are intertwined with throughout the day. Sounds benigh enough, but warning, not for kids. The category is rounded out by Genius Loci, a brightly colored panopy of an LSD inspired dream, with a woman floating through secen after scene.

The Father (2020)

This movie is hard to watch but brilliantly done. There is nothing about getting old that goes smoothly. All the senses decline and the mind goes too. What Sound of Metal does to put the viewer in the shoes of a person losing their hearing this movie does for depicting the experience of dementia. We enter the world of Anthony and we are as disoriented as he is. We experience his confusion as if it were our own. The film also offers the perspective of the caretakers and loved ones who try to settle his volatile temper and organize his jumbled memories. We never know what’s true—or who, for that matter, as characters come and go and take on various names and identities, depending on his recognition of them. Which person is the daughter? The carer? His apartment? It takes a while to figure that out, all the while experiencing the sense of loss and confusion Anthony feels. Everything is fleeting and yet each specific moment feels urgent and real. Very well done.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

The author has taken some scant historical facts known about Shakespeare and his life, from his origin story to his marriage, and then his children, and written a richly textured story about 16th century English countryside life. The great man himself barely makes an appearance, he is a side show to his wife, Agnes (apparently that while she is remembered as Anne Hathaway, even that is not exactly clear and she may have been Agnes). She is illiterate to his knowledge of Greek and Latin, and yet she is beguiling in her love of nature and her knowledge of curing plants. The have three children together, first a daughter who was conceived before their marriage and then twins, a boy and a girl. The girl is the weak one, smaller at birth and more fragile, but it is the boy, Hamnet, who dies at age eleven. The rest of the novel is on the nature of grief, how it invades your life, takes it over, and how it can wedge people apart. It is fierce and tenatious, like a weed. This it simply gorgeous, and a must read.

Justice for George Floyd

I am going to let others speak for me. This week was one tiny dtep in the right direction. "The jury's verdict delivers accountability for Derek Chauvin, but not justice for George Floyd. Real justice for him and too many others can only happen when we build a nation that fundamentally respects the human dignity of every person. The trauma and tragedy of George Floyd's murder must never leave us. It was a manifestation of a system that callously devalues the lives of Black people. Our struggle now is about justice—not justice on paper, but real justice in which all Americans live their lives free of oppression. We must boldly root out the cancer of systemic racism and police violence against people of color." --Bernie Sanders "True justice requires that we come to terms with the fact that Black Americans are treated differently, every day. It requires us to recognize that millions of our friends, family, and fellow citizens live in fear that their next encounter with law enforcement could be their last. And it requires us to do the sometimes thankless, often difficult, but always necessary work of making the America we know more like the America we believe in. While today’s verdict may have been a necessary step on the road to progress, it was far from a sufficient one. We cannot rest. We will need to follow through with the concrete reforms that will reduce and ultimately eliminate racial bias in our criminal justice system. We will need to redouble efforts to expand economic opportunity for those communities that have been too long marginalized." --Barack Obama

Quo Vadis, Aida? (2020)

This is one of five finalist for Best International Film at this year's Academy Awards. As is typical of this category, it shines a light on events that there would be little disagreement about what should have happened, but the right thing did not happen. In this story, they did not happen even once. It is an incrimination of failed foreign policies from around the world embedded in a deeply humanist and moving character study of the kind of person that these policies leave behind. The story is about Aida (Jasna Djuricic), who was a translator for the UN in the town of Srebenica in Bosnia in 1995 in this true story. At that time, a war between the Serbians and Bosnians had led to incredible bloodshed but the Serbians were at a point wherein they overtook Srebenica. She is translating for the UN team, but she is also deeply worried about the fate of her husband and her two sons. The movie is chaotic and slow at the same time, rolling slowly toward a trajedy we already know happened, with the UN emmascualted and flat footed. This is a very specific story of war crimes in 1995, but it feels also like a modern commentary on how often foreign policy and U.N. intervention fails to see the human lives caught up in their decision making, and so often in their inability to make those tough decisions quickly and empathetically. Taut and intense, this is the kind of film that you think about for days and hopefully starts conversations about what should have happened.

2021 Oscar Nominated Short Documentary Films

I love the short films each and every year, and I try to watch as many of them as I can when the shortlist comes out. This year 9 of the 10 shortlisted short documentaries were available on various streaming platforms before the list was narrowed to the final five. I have no quibble with the choices here. My pick to win is The Hunger Ward, which is made by an Iowan filmmaker and shines a light on the human side of the tragedy of the war in Yemen. The viewer sees little beyond the clinics and hospitals set up to care for starving children, but there are glimpses of both the war itself and the effects of it all on every living generation in Yemen right now. My second choice in this category, which is really neck and neck with my first is A Love Song For Latasha, a really beautiful bittersweet tale of who Latasha was before a woman in a Korean grocery gunned her down, one of a seires of things that led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Do not miss this one. Do Not Split is an up close look at the street demonstrations in Hong Kong before COVID shut the whole thing down. You can just see that there is a lot more to be lost, that China is on a collision course to break one of the treasures's in its crown because it can, regardless of the consequences. Colette is a sad look at WWII, as those who lived through it are dead and dying. A young graduate student studying the French Resistance goes to a camp with the sister of a man who died there. Once again, I am struck by the institutionalized cruelty of the Nazis. A Concerto is a Conversation is a tribute of a young black musician and composer to his grandfather, who escaped the Jim Crow south and made a living as a dry cleaner, starting in the laundry and rising up to own the whole thing, a man bursting with pride at his grandson's accomplishments. It is a well rounded group, and try to see them all.

Saffron Corn

This is such a delicious and delicate way to have corn. I used frozen corn that I had blanched and taken off the cob last summer, so skipped the grilled part and it was still delicious. 3 large ears sweet corn, husks and silk removed 1/4 cup buttermilk 1/4 teaspoon packed saffron threads 1/2 clove garlic, grated on a Microplane or very finely minced 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/4 teaspoon shallot powder or onion powder 1/8 teaspoon Maldon or other flaky sea salt 2 tablespoons chopped dried shrimp (see Note) 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives Build a hot fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill to high. Place the corn on the grill grate directly over the heat and let sear until nicely grill-marked, about 30 seconds, before turning. Repeat until there are even grill marks on all sides. Transfer to a cutting board and let sit until cool enough to handle, then cut off the kernels with a knife. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the buttermilk and saffron and cook gently just until the buttermilk is warm. Remove from the heat and let the saffron infuse, 5 to 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the garlic and lemon juice and let sit for 3 minutes. In a food processor, combine the butter, saffron-infused buttermilk, garlic-lemon juice, and shallot powder and process until smooth. Set the saffron butter aside. Preheat a large saucepan over high heat until smoking. Add 2 tablespoons of the saffron butter, followed by the grilled corn. Sauté for about 30 seconds, tossing once. Add another 2 to 3 tablespoons saffron butter and cook for 1 minute more, tossing once or twice. (Reserve any leftover butter for another use.) Add the salt and toss again, then remove the pan from the heat. Transfer the corn to a serving bowl, top with the dried shrimp and chives, and serve.

Tenet (2020)

It is possible that I was not paying enough attention to this film to fully comprehend what exactly the story line entailed in order to comprehend the intricacies of the free flowing narrative. My son kept saying 'like Inception' and I kept looking back blankly. I had trouble following that movie as well, and the shifting time lines did seem to be parallel. The underlying connection seems to be Christopher Nolan, who is the innovator behind both films, and apparently if you pay ver close attention, you can follow this movie. I warn you, the pace is bracing. The movie opens with an attack on a symphony performance in Kiev and barely allows anyone to get oriented. One of the agents sent in to retrieve a high-profile asset during the assault is a man known only as The Protagonist, and he is captured by the enemy, tortured, and takes a cyanide capsule, as he was ordered to do in training. He survives, and his allegiance to the system and his orders leads to a promotion of sorts, a top-secret assignment that involves a new technology that has the potential to literally rewrite human history. It is high energy, fast action, and suffice it to say that Kenneth Brunagh is as capable of being a loathsome bad guy as John David Washington is of playing the hero. When the movie closes, you can almost feel like you get it.

The Collective (2019)

This film is nominated for an Academy award in the documentary and the international film categories. It will outrage you and leave you feeling helpless. It is a look at the way a corrupt government functions without consequences or regret. It all began on October 30, 2015 at the popular Bucharest nightclub Colective. Goodbye to Gravity, a metalcore band, ended their set with a small pyrotechnics show, which very quickly leapt to the backstage walls, before igniting the ceiling. The entire club was engulfed within seconds. Twenty-seven people were killed that night, and 180 injured. Thirty-seven burn victims died in the hospital over the following months, not from their burns, but from infections acquired while in the hospital. The reporters who looked into the rates of hospital acquired infections and deaths found that they were not just astronimically high compared to other EU countries, but that they were caused by graft. Not because Romania doesn't pay for an adequate health care system but because many many people are skimming money out of it with no regard for who dies as a result. It is a scathing indictment without a happy ending.

Szechuan Celery with Beef

This recipe is so good and so easy! It also fulfills two goals--one is use try to learn more stir fry dishes so that I might be able to invite people over (when that is a thing again) and vook for them a meal you might get in a half way decent Chinese American restaurant and the other is to find more and different wasy to use ground beef because, well, you know, we bought a half a cow in the pandemic and that brings with it a fair amount of ground beef! This comes from Fuchoa Dunlop's Every Grain of Rice, which if you only have one Chinese cookbook, this should probably be it. 300 grams (11 ounces) celery 3 tablespoons cooking oil 100 grams (4 ounces) ground beef 1 1/2 tablespoons Sichuan chili bean paste 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger Light soy sauce to taste (optional) 1 teaspoon Chinkiang vinegar 1. Destring the celery, if necessary, and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch strips. Finely dice the strips. Bring some water to the boil and blanch the celery for 30 seconds. Drain well. 2. Heat the oil in a seasoned wok or pan over high heat. Add the ground beef and stir-fry until it is cooked and fragrant, stirring and pressing it to separate the strands. Add the chili bean paste and continue to stir until the oil has reddened. Add the ginger and stir-fry for a few seconds to release its fragrance, then add all the celery. 3. Continue to stir-fry until the celery is piping hot and well-combined. Season with a little soy sauce, if desired. Finally, stir in the vinegar and serve immediately.

The Greyhound (2020)

Yet another movie where Tom Hanks plays a decent guy caught in a bad situation--and usually one that actually happened. If you get onto a ship or a plane and find out that he is piloting it, take a pass and get on the next one, because pretty reliably it will encounter a near disaster, but most if not exactly all people will make it out alive, but not before a lot of harrowing events take place. Here he plays Ernest Krause, who was given command of a destroyer, the USS Keeling (its call sign was Greyhound), which led a convoy of 37 Allied ships across the Atlantic in early 1942. WWII historians know this section of history as the Battle of the Atlantic, a non-stop cat-and-mouse game between Allied ships and German U-boats that spanned the entirety of the war and cost thousands of lives. There is not a lot else happening in this, Krause's first crossing. The vast majority of “Greyhound” consists of Krause shouting orders about degrees and rudders and other things that will play to Naval historians way more than the average film watcher. The detail is clearly what drives the movie, and almost every order is repeated from Krause down through the chain of command. The special effects of storms and the captain's eye views along with his changing strategy to address it is all we get, and it is captivating in that simplicity.

Another Round (2020)

This is a Danish film, so before you even start, you know that there is very likely a dark underlying theme, and this film does not break that mold. There is an additional level of mounting tension that cannot be escaped from, and not a whiff of comedy. Four friends, who are all teachers) are in various ruts in the middle of their lives. We know the most about Martin (played by Mads Mikkelson), a man who is so bored and disengaged that he is floating without pleasure from day to say, distant with his family and so disengaged from his students that they and their parents stage an intervention. At a birthday celebration they all latch on to an unschientific but appealing idea that on a belief that the human body is born with too low an alcohol level, so if you strive to maintain a 0.05% BAC at all times—buzzed but far from drunk you will be the better for it. They set rules. They can only drink during work hours. The idea is that a low-level buzz releases stress and tension in ways that nothing else can. Why it occurs to not one of them that they should seek treatment for their varying levels of depression is beyond me, but they turn to the oldest anxiolytic known to man and while it starts off on the right foot for them, they all lurch to more would be better, which it rarely is, and they are old enough to know better, with varying degrees of consequences. The Danes know how to tell a story, especially one with a tragic underbelly.

Luster by Raven Leilani

I read a review of this book that described it as brutal and beautiful, a millenial novel. I read it because it was on Obama's 2020 reading list, and I have to say I was a little surprised. It is just a bit sassy and more casual than is his usual fiction fare, but maybe he is breaking out of that mold. The thing that fits is that there is a black woman navigating a white world. Edie is at the center of the novel. She has a job that seems temporary that she eventually losesm and by the time that happens, she has had some sort of relationship with many around her. Her latest relationship is with a married man who is embarking on an open marriage with his spouse. There is no romance and the tension, which you could see that coming, but it turns out to be different from what you would expect. Edie is the sort of flawed female character I rarely see. There’s familiarity in her messiness: her attempts to fill the void with sexual attention, her devaluing and debasing herself and her body. She is honest and unsparing in her assessment of herself and others. It is well worth checking out--even though I did not love it, I liked it and I was surprised by it.

Minari (2020)

Minari is a Korean vegetable that grows in the wild, is very hardy, and easily spreads, feeding all who pass by it. It has two growing seasons, and is the perfect title for this quietly beautiful film. There are lots of themes of birth and renewal. Jacob and Monica Yi, an immigrant Korean couple who relocate from California to a large plot in the Ozarks in Arkansas int eh 1980's. For Jacob, it’s his dream – the chance to escape the monotony of sexing chickens for a living and to make something of himself. He is not all about shared decision making, and Monica is far less sold on the idea (not even consulted, really), and appalled by the leaky mobile home into which this reckless venture has placed them. A farming novice, her husband must learn the ropes from scratch, aided only by their eccentric neighbour Paul, a Korean-war veteran and religious fanatic who speaks in tongues, performs makeshift exorcisms and spends his Sundays dragging a cross up the local highway. Monica's mother comes to live with them, to help with the kids and as a compromise for Monica. She is the real highlight of the movie, not the kind of grandmother who coos, but one who has the key to success for the family. One aspect of this film is that there is not a hint of racism in it, something that surely could have been a factor at the time and in the present day.

The White Tiger (2021)

The back story to this movie, which is nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Adapted Screenplay, is off the beaten path. The film is a very dark comedy that could be Scandanavian but isn't. Ramin Bahrani, the Iranian American filmmaker—who both directed and wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of Indian author Aravind Adiga’s 2008 Booker Prize-winning novel—turns his analytical eye upon the global underclass. It is his first cinematic excursion set outside of what is the reality of filmmaking in the United States and set in what is the gorgeous, colorful, and impoverished setting of India. The film is primarily concerned with the divide between the haves and have-nots, the injustice weathered by the latter from the former, and the inciting incident that could finally spark an uprising. Bahrani sticks close to the source material, trusting his lead actor to take us through the lifetime of poverty that could inspire a moment of radicalization, and that fear is warranted. He hardens before our eyes in a performance that moves back and forth between immature recklessness, fury, and swaggering braggadocio. It is this multifaceted quality is key to the intentionally uncomfortable rags-to-riches tension that runs through this, tense to watch, but leaving you with a lot to think about.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

This is a variation on the recipe for this from Nik Sharma's The Flavor Equation, substitutin yogurt for creme fraiche. A great option for a holiday dinner table. 4 sweet potatoes (each 7 ounces [200 grams]), preferably a yellow-fleshed variety such as Garnet or Jewel 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature Fine sea salt For the dressing & garnish: 1/2 cup (120 grams) yogurt or sour cream 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice 2 teaspoons fish sauce (optional, see Author Notes) 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Fine sea salt 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions, both green and white parts 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts 1 teaspoon red chile flakes, such as Aleppo, Maras, or Urfa 1/2 teaspoon lime zest To prepare the sweet potatoes, heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Rinse and scrub the sweet potatoes under running tap water. Slice them lengthwise and place them in a roasting pan, cut side facing up. Brush or smear with the butter and season with salt. Cover the pan with a sheet of aluminum foil and press around the edges to seal snugly. Bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the foil, flip the sweet potatoes, and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes more, until the sweet potatoes are cooked thoroughly and are tender; a knife inserted into the center of the sweet potato should slide through easily. Remove from the heat and let rest for 5 minutes. To prepare the dressing, in a small bowl, combine the yogurt, maple syrup, lime juice, fish sauce, if using, and pepper. Taste and season with salt. To serve, top the warm roasted potatoes with a few tablespoons of the maple crème fraîche dressing. Sprinkle with the scallions, peanuts, chile flakes, and lime zest. Serve with the extra dressing on the side.

Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi

The first paragraph of this book is both beautifully written and sets the reader up for what is to follow--a book about the all time problematic mother-daughter relationship. This one has plenty of twists, it is not like anything that you have read before. In fact it is a grandmother-mother-daughter-granddaughter tale, and the daughter is struggling with both her off spring and her mother. Her father isn't what you would call problem free either. The narrator is an Indian artist named Antara, whose mother is presenting symptoms of Alzheimer’s. The doctors offer only a dose of vague hope; there is no concrete diagnosis and certainly no cure. Hovering in the dusk of competency, Antara’s mother still manages to live alone, but increasingly she wanders, forgets where she is and what she’s doing. As her only child, Antara embraces the responsibility of caring for her with a determination threaded with resentment and even bouts of suspicion. There is a lot of graphic descriptions not of sex but other bodily functions. Well written.

One Night In Miami (2020)

This movie is directed by the talented Regina King, who I last saw in If Beale Street Could Talk. She deftly weaves a story about a range of what talented and succeddful black Americans were thinking and doing in the mid-1960's, and the very sad thing about the whole thing is that it doesn't seem dated at all. There has been very little real progress over the past 50 years in the dangers that black men face. One has only to watch the trial of Devon Chauvin, the police office who killed George Floyd with no greater weapon than his body and his authority. The event the movie is built around took place on February 25, 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida, heavyweight boxing champion Sonny Liston met Cassius Clay in the ring for the first of their two famous bouts. Clay emerged victorious, earning the championship and skyrocketing the career of the man who would later be known as Muhammad Ali. This is a fictionalized account of what happened before and after that fight that day, when Clay (Eli Goree) and his friends Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) got together to chill, debate, argue and celebrate. These men are all celebrities in their own right, but to each other, they’re simply friends and acquaintances unafraid to challenge each other’s views on the present and future of Black America. Malcom X is the most vocal on taking things into their own hands (he was assasinated within a year of this) and most critical of Sam Cooke, who was a financial success rather than a stright up crusader. There is a lot to unpack here, and it is well worth watching.

Chickpea Salad with Date and Tamarind Dressing

Nik Sharma's new cookbook The Flavor Equation has a lot going for it. Bold flavors and many of the dishes are easy to put together if you have most if not all the ingredients on hand. THis salad is no exception. I served it on Easter with ham and cabbage. For the dressing ¼ cup date syrup 1 tbsp tamarind paste 1 tbsp fresh lime juice 1 tsp ground ginger sea salt, to taste For the chickpea salad 1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 cucumber, diced 1 shallot, minced 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 2 tbsp fresh dill leaves, minced 2 tbsp fresh mint leaves, thinly sliced 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp Aleppo pepper flakes ½ tsp amchur powder ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper sea salt, to taste In a medium bowl, whisk together the date syrup, tamarind paste, lime juice, and ginger. Season to taste with salt. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. For the chickpea salad In a large bowl, toss together the chickpeas, cucumber, shallot, cherry tomatoes, dill, mint, olive oil, pepper flakes, amchur, and black pepper. Toss with 2 tbsp of the dressing, then season to taste with salt. Add more dressing as desired.

The Midnight Sky (2020)

This movie has been nominated for an Oscar in the category of visual effects, and as is almost always the case, is competing against other moives that are nominated in only one or two categories. This year none of the visual effects nominees is nominated in sound, which is reflective of just how deep the field is in sound this year and in no way implies that the sound here is to be found lacking. George Clooney portrays a nearly dead man (I imagine that his now three year old children will be surprised by just how ancient dad looked in this film), Augustine Lofthouse. He is a scientist on an Arctic station at the end of the world. The Extinction Level Event is not clearly described, but when we get a look at the planet from outer space, it is entirely brown with so much dust swirling up that visibility is quite impaired. Climate change comes to mind, along with a possible nuclear mishap. Either way, a man made event. Augustine stays behind while others evacuate to be with their families at then end in order to reach a space ship and warn them against coming back. The space scenes are beautiful and dangerous to behold, and the back story about why Augustine is so intent on saving this particular crew makes for a moody film indeed. It is not m y choice in this category, but worth watching.

Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar

This is a memoir labeled as fiction possibly to protect from a law suit, because the guilty who are also famous are named and there is a lot of finger pointing here. Akhtar speaks with wit and anger about being not just the son of immigrants and not just a brown skinned man in a racist country but also of being a Muslim with a name as well as a skin color that mark him as an enemy to white supremacists in a post 9/11 environment that went on to elect a xenophobic president who thinks like them, and acts as they wish to act, all while he is looking down on them and making fun of them. The book is bitingly clear on the things that he loves and things that he hates about his country. It clearly holds up a mirror to the hypocrisy that surrounds him. There is good and there is bad, and he sees and feels both of them equally, and what comes out has made him a marked man. He cannot go to Pakistan because he is not Muslim enough, not a supplicant, and yet he is treated unequally in the home of the free, and he speaks out about it in the land of the brave. This is a good and also a hard read.

Mexican Picadillo

This recipe comes via Nopalito, a coobook for a restaurant of the same name, and it is really delicious. They serve with refried beans on a tostada shell, then topped with fresh salsa, shredded cabbage and crema. I made it to make nachos with, and it is good just all by itself. Ingredients 500 g minced meat 2 tbsp oil salt 1 tbs. chile powder--a homemade one is the best 1/2 tsp. cumin 1/2 tsp. oregano 1 large white onion diced 2 jalapeños seeded and diced 2 tbsp tomato puré 4 carrots minced small 1 small potato, diced small 1 1/3 cup diced tomatoes 2 tbsp water INSTRUCTIONS Over medium high heat in a dutch oven or large skillet add oil and the ground beef and onion and salt. Cook and stir until beef is well fried. Stir in jalapeños, spices, and tomato paste. Cook for several minutes. Add the tomatoes, carrot, and potato. Reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. Add some water if it dries out.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

This is a difficult movie to watch, but what makes it difficult is also why it is important to watch. It celebrates one of the great American playright August Wilson's work. The play is his 1920's installment in the Century Cycle, which reflects on the experiences of blacks in America over the entire 20th century, decade by decade. The other two in this ten play collection that I have seen are equally powerful. I hope that there will be more interest in bringing the plays to a broader audience. There are three approaches to the realities of being a blues musician in the Roaring 20's. Ma Rainey understands that she is being taken advantage of but also that she is an essential piece of the equation, so she participates (she is one of the few musicians from that time period that recordings of her work survives) and yet she is not easy to work with. She understands both her power and her limitations. Then there are the members of her band, who walk on egg shells with her, being both appreciative of the work but aware of how fragile the situation is. They want it badly, they love what they are doing, it is a great living, but one that depends on so many others that it is also fragile. Then there is Levee Green, as portrayed by the late great Chadwick Baldwin. Levee is a fast-talking, ambitious charmer, as quick with his horn as he is with a pick up line. He’s old enough to know better, but young enough to think he can outrun the consequences of his actions. The later is his downfall, that and thinking that he can escape the racism that surrounds him, that he will be treated fairly. He is the tragic figure, surrounded by the choir and comes to the inevitable end that all tragic figures succumb to.

Wolfwalkers (2020)

This movie is quite a treat. Cartoon Saloon, as tudio with a solid portfolio of animated films, is responsible for this rousing, lyrical, gorgeous adventure. It is a beautiful piece of work has echoes of other art from classic fairy tales, but also develops its own robust, powerful voice. The movie takes place in 1650 against the backdrop of the English colonization of Ireland. Oliver Cromwell, not sympathetically portrayed here, sends a hunter, an outsider named Bill Goodfellowe to a remote outpost that has seen wolf attacks as the city grows into the woods around it. Bill’s duty is to hunt and kill the wolves, but his daughter Robyn aches to join him in the woods, frustrated by being left behind in a city that doesn’t really want her father or her there. There is magic in the woods, and Robyn ends up playing an integral role in saving the woods, the wolves, and ultimately the town people. The animation and the story is textured in ways that family entertainment is rarely allowed to be and even more visually ambitious, so do not miss it.

Hillbilly Ellegy (2020)

There is a lot negative to be said about the book, no question. The movie takes a step away from that, in that it lacks a lot of the author's subtext and just tells the story in a more visual way. JD Vance is almost certainly using his personal story, with he as the hero, for his personal gain. The story itself, which is a story steeped in poverty, domestic violence, and addiction, is something a lot of people can relate to, even if the story isn't particularly sympathetically told. A girl from rural Kentucky grows up dirt poor with a father who drinks when there isn't money for food, and beats his wife when he is drunk. She lacks the resources to get away, maybe even beleiving what she says long down the road, that family is everything. Her daughter gets pregnant in high school and for whatever reason has the baby. Her family does not help her--this seems to be soemthing that they agree happened--and her resentment at her circumstances leaves her bitter and vulnerable. She seeks love in all the wrong places, and she doesn't place her children above all else. That is the part of family is everything that both she and her mother never learned. Glen Close and Amy Adams are spectacularly convincing as mother and daughter, and the influence that drugs in general and opiates specifically can hold over a person is very realistically depicted. There are no ideas here on how to reverse the winds of fortune in either the blue collar towns who have lost manufacturing or the rural towns that lack running water and cell phone reception. Really the only solution that is hinted at is birth control for teenagers to at least give them a fighting chance.

Emma (2020)

This lush and cinematically beautiful take on Hane Austen's classic novel is well worth your time, no matter how many versions of the story you have watched beofre. Charm abounds in this version--there is no Academy Award for that, and in fact this one is nominated in the arenas of costume and make up, but you will not find it wanting here. Emma Woodhouse is played by Anya Taylor-Joy (of The Queen's Gambit fame) and Bill Nye is her father, and they are pitch perfect for their roles. She is aptly portrayed as little more than a child herself, and she gets in way over her head. Truly, match-making is tricky. It requires subtlety and finesse. It probably, also, requires a professional. Left in the hands of enthusiastic amateurs, match-making often leads to heartbreak, and that is famously what happens here. The uniqueness of the story is that the man who loves Emma, Knightly (Johnny Flynn, a singer-songwriter-actor, is just superb here), tells her exactly what he thinks about what she has done, but not in a weird controlling way, but because he sees her as being better than that. She is not seeing the facts of the matter clearly and he is surprised and disappointed, but does not love her less for it. There is a valuing of women that pervades Austen's novels that is so satisfying and makes the stories enduring. This is a very solid telling of a tale that many know very well, but will not be sorry you gave it your cinematic attention.