First off, our thanks to everyone who participated in/commented on our Burger Wars story with Five Guys vs. Smashburger vs. Red Robin. You helped make that story a lot of fun - so much so that we’d like to start another burger war.
One thing that I hoped would happen was that someone would say “I don’t like any of these. What about (that local place)?” And indeed it did. In fact, the very first comment we got was someone saying “None of those are any good. Go to Quatmann’s Cafe for a Real Burger.”
Oh, is that so? Well, we might just do that. We would like to highlight local burger places in Butler and Warren counties - ones that you can’t find anywhere else. We’d especially like to find out about any unique burgers these folks cook. Something like, say, an Elvis burger with peanut butter and banana on it. (Hey, don’t laugh, I think that one actually exists!)
So tell us what places have the best and/or most unique burgers in Butler or Warren? These have to be places you can’t find anywhere else.
First off, our thanks to everyone who participated in/commented on our Burger Wars story with Five Guys vs. Smashburger vs. Red Robin. You helped make that story a lot of fun - so much so that we’d like to start another burger war.
One thing that I hoped would happen was that someone would say “I don’t like any of these. What about (that local place)?” And indeed it did. In fact, the very first comment we got was someone saying “None of those are any good. Go to Quatmann’s Cafe for a Real Burger.”
Oh, is that so? Well, we might just do that. We would like to highlight local burger places in Butler and Warren counties - ones that you can’t find anywhere else. We’d especially like to find out about any unique burgers these folks cook. Something like, say, an Elvis burger with peanut butter and banana on it. (Hey, don’t laugh, I think that one actually exists!)
So tell us what places have the best and/or most unique burgers in Butler or Warren? These have to be places you can’t find anywhere else.
One of my food writers, Teri Horsley and I had a lot of fun comparing and contrasting the three gourmet burger chains that are concentrated in the West Chester area: Five Guys, Smashburger and Red Robin. Check out the article here.
Teri and I found things to love about all three places, but she and I agreed Smashburger had the best burger, with Five Guys a very close second - although Red Robin is to be applauded for its great variety. And I have to say, I haven’t had that much fun eating since I wolfed down a bunch of food at the Broad Street Bash last year.
La Comedia’s Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was quite the engaging show, even if it wasn’t quite the diamond I hoped it would be.
The fact that I’m a fiend for MGM musicals worked both for and against this show. The 1954 film directed by Stanley Donen is one of the great movie musicals, with the highlight being the social scene with the seven brides, seven brothers and their nemeses dancing all around the CinemaScope frame. I was very curious to see how La Comedia’s version would capture that legendary Michael Kidd choreography.
Very, very well, as it turns out. La Comedia may not have as big a stage as MGM had a soundstage, but the theater’s choreography is phenomenal. The dancing is absolutely dizzying. I can’t imagine having the blood rush to my head so many times in one night, let alone doing it for several shows a week.
The show and the film center around Adam (Christopher Lukos), a woodsman with a lusty voice who goes looking for a wife. He finds one in the spunky Milly (Caroline Kobylarz), who is swept off her feet — literally. What Adam doesn’t tell Milly is that he also lives with six siblings who are even less refined than he is.
As long as the stage show sticks to what was in the MGM musical, it works well. The two leads are great fun to watch. Lukos makes a very good approximation of Howard Keel, and I actually preferred Kobylarz to Jane Powell, who was always a little too frilly for my taste. The various shenanigans with the socially inadequate brothers are good for many laughs.
It’s when the stage show departs from the film that the former falters a bit. As often happens when adapting film musicals to the stage, new songs were added. The additions by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn are completely forgettable, paling in comparison to the Johnny Mercer/Gene de Paul songs from the film.
The climactic scenes of the film featured an avalanche, something that’s not easy to duplicate on stage, and the ending feels a bit underwhelming when most of what came before it was so spritely. I had a better time at La Comedia’s previous show, Nana’s Naughty Knickers, perhaps because I expected less of it.
Still, when the performers come out for their curtain calls, I couldn’t help but smile. Too bad the brides didn’t throw out seven bouquets, I wouldn’t have minded catching one.
The other day our Life section ran this New York Times story about the DVD eventually going the way of the 8-track tape. Brick and mortar video stores have shut down everywhere as video-on-demand services like Netflix, Amazon and Time Warner become increasingly dominant.
That brings to mind some questions:
Are you ready to give up physical media yet? Will you miss DVD?
Personally, I will, largely because I’m into special features on disc, and those seem to be disappearing unless you have Blu-Ray. I do have that high-def format, but I don’t think it’s at all fair that movie studios hold special features hostage on Blu-Ray - especially if those features can very easily fit on DVD.
How do you rent your movies these days?
I’m mostly a Netflix guy, though I’ve taken the odd trip to Redbox or streamed something from Time Warner.
Finally, are there ANY good indie rental stores in Butler or Warren Counties? Which ones do you miss?
And now we come down to the final entry in our Oscar Contest, with two of the biggest categories: Picture and Director.
All you have to do is correctly predict the winner in each category we present. And to do so, you comment on these blog posts. Whoever gets the most categories right will win a DVD of the Best Picture Oscar nominee of their choice.
Remember, this is not who you want to win, but who you think WILL win.
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan: The auteur has built a strong following over the years, and people who love Black Swan really love it. But too many people find his in-your-face approach off-putting.
Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit: The Coens are among the most well respected auteurs out there, and True Grit is their biggest hit to date. But they won very recently, for .No Country for Old Men.
David Fincher, The Social Network: Yet another well-regarded auteur, Fincher is long overdue for a win, and his film earned the best reviews of his career.
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech : He won the Director’s Guild award, which makes him a favorite, and people love his film. But the winners usually exhibit strong visual personalities, and one could argue Hooper doesn’t have that. And this time, Hooper won’t have the support of guild TV directors, who I believe tipped the scales in his favor at DGA.
David O. Russell, The Fighter : Like Fincher, he’s a respected auteur and is hitting a career peak. However, he has a penchant for alienating some of his actors (George Clooney refused to work for him ever again after Three Kings.)
Sir Critic’s prediction: Conventional wisdom dictates that Hooper will take it, but I think we’ll see a repeat of Chicago’s year, when the relative neophyte (Rob Marhshall) won DGA, but the autuer (Roman Polanski) won the Oscar. I predict Fincher.
Sir Critic’s prediction: I have to go for Fincher, who took a dialogue-driven film and still made it distinctly his.
BEST PICTURE
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Sir Critic’s prediction: Rather than going over each film, I’ll break this down very simply. Only three movies have a shot at winning. True Grit is the long shot, leaving The Social Network and The King’s Speech as the main contenders. It’s an old Oscar story: The warm and fuzzy traditional film vs. the edgy, rule-breaking movie that Says Something Important. Whenever that battle happens (e.g. Forrest Gump vs. Pulp Fiction, heartwarming almost always wins. The King’s Speech is the film to beat.
If it were up to me: Inception topped my list last year. I just wish it had a chance of topping Oscar’s list. Oh well. I can dream, can’t I?
Since that brings us up to six categories, we’ll need a seventh for a tie-breaker. Here’s one of the tougher tech categories.
BEST EDITING
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
I predict The Social Network, for the way it bounces back and forth in time. But I remained stunned Inception didn’t make the cut.
Entries will be accepted through showtime at 8 p.m. Sunday. Good luck!
Here’s the next to last category in our Oscar contest before we wrap it up.
All you have to do is correctly predict the winner in each category we present. And to do so, you comment on these blog posts we’ll do all week. Whoever gets the most categories right will win a DVD of the Best Picture Oscar nominee of their choice.
Remember, this is not who you want to win, but who you think WILL win.
Today we cover the toughest call: Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter: Adams blew her goody-goody image out of the water with her tough-talking performance as Mark Wahlberg’s squeeze. This is her third nomination, so some may say she’s due. But costar Melissa Leo will cut into her vote.
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech: Carter isn’t just due, she’s overdue, and she’s very touching as the suffering but steadfast Queen. However, her performance is a bit light compared to others in this category.
Melissa Leo, The Fighter: She completely disappeared into her role as Mark Wahlberg’s oppressive mother, and she’s won most of the precursor awards. However, she put off some voters with her misguided Oscar campaign glamor shot ads. She and Adams may cancel each other out.
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit: The 14-year-old may be small in stature, but she loomed large in True Grit, where she was really the lead. She more than held her own with the likes of Matt Damon and Jeff Bridges and did it with supreme confidence. However, the category fraud may put off voters, as will her young age.
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom: Many people say once you see her film, you have a hard time not voting for her. But can enough people say that?
Sir Critic’s prediction: This is the toughest call in the major races. You could cook up any scenario for any of the nominees winning. However, I lean toward the Hailee Steinfeld scenario most strongly.
Our Oscar contest continues, with today’s category being Best Supporting Actor.
All you have to do is correctly predict the winner in each category we present. And to do so, you comment on these blog posts we’ll do all week. Whoever gets the most categories right will win a DVD of the Best Picture Oscar nominee of their choice.
Remember, this is not who you want to win, but who you think WILL win.
We have already covered Best Actor and Best Actress - votes in all categories will be taken until the start of the show at 8 p.m. Sunday.
Christian Bale, The Fighter: Bale once again amazed with his chameleon-like abilities. He was utterly convincing as a gaunt crackhead, making it easy to forget he was Batman. The question is, are people ready to forgive his sometimes boorish behavior? I think so.
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone: Hawkes impressed many with his haunting turn as Jennifer Lawrence’s Uncle. But the film is remembered primarily as Lawrence’s vehicle.
Jeremy Renner, The Town: Renner is on a roll, having been nominated last year for his similar live-wire performance in The Hurt Locker. However, The Town did not fare that well in the nominations.
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids are All Right: He’s immensely winning as a man who tries to connect with the biological children he’s never known. He’s been doing good work for years, so he’s due — but this role may not be hefty enough.
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech: Riotously funny but still maintaining gravitas when needed. Rush shares the success of his movie with Colin Firth. I think he’s the person most likely to upset Bale, but one must remember he’s already a winner, for the film “Shine.”
We continue with our Oscar contest and another relatively sewn-up race. Again, here are the rules:
All you have to do is correctly predict the winner in each category we present. And to do so, you comment on these blog posts we’ll do all week. Whoever gets the most categories right will win a DVD of the Best Picture Oscar nominee of their choice.
Remember, this is not who you want to win, but who you think WILL win.
Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right: Let’s face it, Bening is greatly overdue. If anyone can beat front-runner Natalie Portman, it’s her. Bening will win someday. Just not this year.
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole: Kidman turned in her best work in years for this very affecting film, but Rabbit Hole never gained much traction, and Kidman won fairly recently for The Hours.
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone: Her film has a fervent following, and it’s largely because of her. She was very natural and powerful in a difficult part, and she’s only 20. But all that being the case, she’ll be back. Maybe not as Mystique in X-Men: First Class, but she’ll be back. This isn’t her time.
Natalie Portman, Black Swan: She’s won every precursor award under the sun, and even people who didn’t like Black Swan tip their hats to Portman. The one thing that might trip her up is overexposure; she has two movies in theaters now, with at least two more on the way.
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine: Much as she did in Brokeback Mountain she took the part of a tragic figure and made her mutli-dimensional. But like Kidman, she’s the lone nominee from her film, which hurts her chances. Some other year.
Eric Robinette keeps you updated on things to do throughout Butler and Warren counties, offers his perspective on the local entertainment scene and welcomes yours. Eric writes about arts entertainment for the the Middletown Journal, the Hamilton JournalNews and The Pulse-Journal newspapers in West Chester and Mason.
WSU vs. Milwaukee
Badin Spirit Olympics
Adventure Summit
