Should a restaurant indulge a diner's request for utensils so he can eat dessert he brought with him? Movie blogger Jeffrey Wells thinks so, and he's unleashed one of his signature, off-topic rants on Hollywood Elsewhere to slam West Village restaurant Sant Ambreous. Wells says he sensed something off about the place immediately, in part because "the waiters wore pink shirts with black ties. Village restaurants should always use waitresses who look like Sylvia Plath and who wear black leotard tops or somewhat tight sweaters." And after dropping $62 on dinner for two, the manager refused to let him eat a piece of Dean & Deluca cake he'd brought. Wells says, "I saw red. I told him I would never return to his place, and that I would do what I can to dissuade others from visiting." His diatribe's sparking a heated debate, dividing those who think "it is the absolute height of low-thread count when you try to eat your own food in a fucking restaurant," and others who think it's outrageous for a restaurant to impose a fee on outside desserts—such as a "cake cutting" fee during birthday parties. Who's right? more ›

On Wednesday night Tim Burton gave the Film Society of Lincoln Center a 17-minute taste of Sweeney Todd, his film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s macabre musical. The 1979 Broadway hit was inspired by Victorian folklore about a crazed London barber who slits his customers’ throats and, in some versions of the story, colludes with his lover to bake the corpses into meat pies – which become wildly successful! (Ah, the culinary possibilities before rogue... more ›

Movie blogger Jeffrey Wells counts 12 films about America’s entanglements in the Middle East coming down the pipe this year. It’ll be some feat if even one of them matches the urgency, power and electricity of Iphigenia 2.0, Charle’s Mee’s self-described “sampling” of Euripides’s Iphigenia at Aulis. You may know the essential storyline: Agamemnon’s army is left stranded en route to the Trojan War when the goddess Artemis stifles the wind to punish him for hunting a sacred deer. Before Artemis will let the army sail on, Agamemnon must make it up to Her by personally slitting his daughter Iphigenia’s throat. It’s an unthinkable act that Agamemnon struggles to avoid, but his soldiers ain't having it. Death is certain for some of them; if the man who sends them to it can’t stomach that sacrifice himself, how dare he demand it of others? more ›

It's unfortunate that we have to read all these wonderful stories about Jerry Orbach in the many obituaries today, but Gothamist is heartened by the fact that many people, from fans to critics, as well as his peers, found him to be a great actor and a wonderful person. Gothamist thinks that was part of why we love Jerry so much, whether he was Detective Lennie Briscoe or Lumiere or Harry McGraw: He was wise and approachable. A few of the quotes we like: more ›

The hilarious thing is that on the Sci-Fi website for the documentary, there are links to other papers noting how M. Night suddenly took away access, but no links (natch) to anything to reveals the true story. Wells ends his thoughts on The Village wanna-be buzz with:

I would be lying if I didn't admit that this episode has totally pissed me off, and that I would love to repay the favor by trashing THE VILLAGE any which way I can. I'm not going to say it's not a good film if I think otherwise after seeing it. But I think this episode should be read as a big green light by all entertainment journalists to dump on THE VILLAGE in any way possible. You know....because it'll feel good.

One variation on the self-centered-person-with-child film that actually works is About a Boy, based on the Nick Hornby novel. And there are tons of TV shows about this, like My Two Dads and A Family Affair.
more ›

When [Cold Mountain producer Albert] Berger referred to Paramount's distribution of ELECTION, which Berger and six others produced (or exec produced), Bart said ELECTION was one of the worst marketed films ever. "But Paramount did produce it," Berger said, to which Bart replied, "Accidents happen."
more ›

- From Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter's review of The Last Samurai. [Via Jeffrey Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere] more ›

With the release of Matrix Revolutions this week, Gothamist spied this photograph of Larry Wachowski taken by movie columnist Jeffrey Wells at the premiere the other week. Now, after we looked at his rumored interest in getting a sex change, we can't help but think Wachowski does seem like that matronly Algebra II teacher we had in high school (Alan Horn, Warner Bros. CEO, is on the right). more ›

The upcoming release of Better Luck Tomorrow has critics and cultural scholars buzzing. A drama wealthy, Ivy League-poised Asian American teenagers who descend into crime, the film is sparking debate about how Asian Americans are supposed to be perceived. Some feel it's great, finally a way to get people seeing Asians as something else besides the model minority, while others are offended that Asians are being shown in an unflattering matter. At 2002's Sundance Film Festival, there was a heated argument about the film. Roger Ebert wrote about it and his participation: more ›

As a hopeless cinephile, I feel that the year I spend watching movies is like having a crush on some unattainable person. It makes me feel alive, with all the planning and dreaming and effort I put into it, and somehow, even when I see a bad movie, it�s okay, because it�s one of the knocks I take in wishing that maybe this in time, after paying $10+ for a movie, it might reward my desperate passion with an enlightening moment that can transcend time and place. (For the record, that includes Owen Wilson�s goofiness, Katharine Hepburn trying to hit Cary Grant, and the way Christopher Doyle moves a camera.)
more ›