Whatever Happened to Phoebe Cates?

Thirty years after Fast Times at Ridgemont High her presence is still felt

Phoebe Cates

     A couple of weeks ago, Noah Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale played on the Sundance Channel.  It’s a wickedly funny examination of a divorce splitting up a family in 1980s Brooklyn.  Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney are the parents, both writers, though his career has stalled and his pretentiousness

And the Oscar Went To…

Argo and Life of Pi  the Big Winners!

Adele with "Puppet" Kristin Chenoweth

I was watching Kristin Chenoweth interview Adele on the red carpet and I can't figure out if Kristin is that small, or Adele is that big!  Neil and Eric thought that Seth MacFarlane started off a little shaky, only to find that it was all planned—setting the

Amour

Imagine a really dour On Golden Pond in French

     Michael Haneke’s Amour has been a major deal with critics and awards’ associations and will win the Best Foreign Film Oscar.  About thirty years ago, Rainer Werner Fassbinder made a number of movies that were compared to glossy Douglas Sirk/Ross Hunter productions from the 1950s because they were soap operas.  However, Fassbinder’s take on the steamy Hollywood extravaganzas resulted in Teutonic, depressive, overtly sexualized and politicized films.  The reason behind this obscure reference is because I

Seasons 52

Eat healthy and well 

at the Norwood branch of an upscale chain

Dexter Checks Out the Seasons 52 Exterior

     Seasons 52 opened a few weeks ago in the historically disputed area from which the Norwood city council hoped to gain greater revenue as a supplement to the commercial bonanza known as Rockwood than as a middle-class neighborhood.  It is now dubbed Rookwood Exchange.  When Neil and I drove by last week a couple of times, the parking lot

Our Votes for the 2013 Academy Awards

DEXTER'S PREDICTIONS

As you can see from my list, I'm really partial to Lincoln.  That's probably because he loved cats.  Did you know he was the first president to bring his son's cat, Tabby, to the White House?  My other favorite was Argo because it was so

Anita’s Mexican Bar & Grill

Authentic Mexican that deserves to succeed in Ft. Thomas

Looks Like I Need to Put on My Hat Again!

     I hope that Anita’s Mexican Bar & Grill in Fort Thomas survives and thrives since it’s authentic. It occupies the old Frisch’s building, which moved down to Highland Heights to take over the old Perkins space.  It’s been a real domino

Megan Abbott, Heir to James Ellroy

The Song Is You and Bury Me Deep deserve a look

Ahhh...the Serie Noir

Megan Abbott

     Megan Abbott has written a number of novels, but The Song Is You and Bury Me Deep, based on actual cases, are significant examples of the neo-noir subgenre, i.e. works from the 1980s and after that refer to the noir literature and films from the 1930 – 1955 era.  Dashiell Hammett invented the hard-boiled private eye thriller, as an American counterpart to the British cozy amateur/private detective puzzle mystery that Agatha Christie had perfected.  Raymond Chandler took the genre to the West Coast, where he refined it into something lyrical with an outwardly tough, but idealistically motivated, hero searching through the demi-monde before understanding the depth of corruption the rich

Moerlein Lager House at The Banks

Cincinnati through and through and already an established position along The Banks

Dexter Guards the Entrance to Moerlein Lager House

      Many have anticipated The Banks development for almost a decade.  Has the wait been worth it?  After visiting the area

Cats Rule

The latest Monopoly token backs me up

The Cat Monopoly Token

     I’ve known for a long time that cats rule.  There are more of us than dogs and we can run faster and jump higher if we have to (and we usually have to).  We eat less and we can clean up after ourselves.  What we have left over helps things I like eating in the garden grow.  So the latest is that Hasbro, which makes Monopoly, asked people to vote for the newest game token.  There were five choices.  One was a helicopter, though it was hard to tell that was what it was.  It looked more like a saltcellar the guys might have. The diamond ring was nice, but if everyone can’t wear a diamond ring, then I don’t think it’s fair.  There was a robot, though it looked like something that was broken in a kid’s closet and a guitar.  The cat won!!!!!!  It has a bell around its neck.  I had a bell around my neck, but not for long. 

That's Me...When I Wore a Collar

TCM – Turner Classic Movies

31 Days of Oscar promises treats

     TCM (Turner Classic Movies) has remained true to its mission of showing a variety of movies (primarily pre-1980) and is a must for anyone who loves the history of cinema.  During February, TCM only shows movies that were Oscar winners or nominees and that list goes deep beyond film or

Metropole at the 21c

Exceptional food is downplayed 
by impaired service and overlooked detail

The 21c Penguin Mascot Awaits Patrons

     Do you ever have that awful feeling where you really liked something and then a lot of people liked it after you did, but you no longer liked it quite so much?  It’s the downside of elitism and we’re guilty of it.  We stayed at the 21c last year in Louisville and were entranced by the concept:  cutting edge

XLVII Super Bowl Halftime Show

Did she? Didn't she? Would she? Wouldn't she? 
Do we care? No, we don't!

GREAT JOB...WE LOVE YOU BEYONCE!

Abigail/1702 at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

A tight, strong sequel to 
The Crucible with supernatural elements

     Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa jumps off from the end of Arthur Miller’s best play The Crucible to imagine what happened to the sexy villainess Abigail Williams ten years later.  I know that Death of a Salesman gets the accolades, but it’s a kvetch fest and while Willy Loman is self-deluded, John Procter never is.  Instead, he sees exactly what’s going on in Salem, but is powerless to

Nicola’s Ristorante

Top Italian fine dining with arguably 
the best service in the region

Dexter at the Entrance to Nicola's Ristorante

     Nicola’s Ristorante in Over-the-Rhine has been a Cincinnati mainstay since it opened over fifteen years ago.  We went a couple of times and really enjoyed it, but we thought it was a little pricey the last time we were there, about eight years ago.  I’d heard the same thing from a friend of ours.  However, we’ve really enjoyed Via Vite, which is the