1917

Following a German retreat from the front lines in France, British Gen. Erinmore (Colin Firth) receives aerial intelligence that indicates that the Germans are laying in wait to ambush the pursuing British forces. He dispatches two lance corporals, Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Will Schofield (George MacKay) to send word to the pursuers to call off their attack lest they lose more than 1,000 men, Blake’s brother among them. Though Blake is eager to help, Schofield is hesitant. As they get closer to their objective, however, the way forward becomes more and more perilous.

Basing the film on his grandfather’s war stories, writer/director Sam Mendes has crafted an ostensibly personal film that still manages to feel overly familiar. During the past few decades, The Great War has not received nearly as much cinematic attention as World War II, so this lack of novelty can, to an extent, be forgiven. Even so, missions to relay news (Saving Private Ryan) and following a few select soldiers as they hop from dangerous situation to dangerous situation (Dunkirk) have been shown before, and what 1917 offers thematically (war is hell, you fight for the person beside you, etc.) is hardly revelatory.

Aesthetically, however, 1917 is masterful. With very few cuts, Roger Deakins’ cinematography is meant to evoke one long take, and while that lends the film a distinctive fluidity, it is hardly the only noteworthy aspect of the film’s style. Wreckage and carnage under blank grey-white skies evoke sorrow while dark, claustrophobic entries into former German-occupied buildings and trenches are shot like a horror movie. Add to this the sinister awe of a city aflame at night, the pristine beauty of cherry trees amid green hills, Thomas Newman’s foreboding score and sharp editing, and 1917 is powerful and immersive in a way that belies its narrative simplicity.

The acting isn’t quite as jaw-dropping, but it is far from a letdown. While Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Mark Strong have small roles as officers, Chapman and especially MacKay carry this movie. The former’s affability contrasts with the latter’s initial sourness though Schofield undergoes quite a turn as his mettle is tested time and time again.

1917 might not have anything new to say about war, but the technically dazzling way in which it says it rightly commands an audience’s attention the whole way through.

Tipsy'z Tavern & Grill

Located at 805 Westchester Drive in High Point, Tipsy’z Tavern is a bar specializing in burgers. Homemade soups, sides, and sauces are available in bulk, and there is a patio for outdoor seating.

Tipsy’z is small and well-worn, but don’t let the aesthetics fool you. Herein are arguably the best burgers that High Point has to offer. Add to that efficient service, and it’s easy to leave here impressed.

First, a caveat: both inside and out, space is at a premium. Though there are lots on either side of the building, parking is limited. If it isn’t patio weather, you’ll find only a few tables (some regular and some long/group-sized) indoors. There is adequate seating around the bar, but you may have to squeeze by to get to some of it.

That said, the menu is surprisingly deep (even if the establishment isn’t). The expected nachos and wings are joined by gumbo, crispy Brussel sprouts, mahi tacos, and a very commendable selection of burgers. You can build your own or go with one of about a dozen pre-fab options, which include featured specials and cheese-stuffed offerings. For our first time in, my wife and I went with the Stuffed Gouda Burger (topped with bacon, lettuce, tomato, garlic aoli, and even more gouda) and the How About Dem Apples (gouda, bacon spinach, apple chutney, and BBQ sauce on top) prefaced by a cup of gumbo.

The food came to us quickly and was good-to-great across the board. While the gumbo (chicken, smoked sausage, shrimp, crab, tomato, and okra) may cause purists to arch an eyebrow, it was nevertheless smoky and quite satisfying on a cold night. The burgers were as tasty as advertised. They were not overcooked, and sauces and toppings paired well and delivered on flavor. The stuffed burgers are probably best reserved for hardcore cheesophiles, but that’s not a knock on the execution. Sides (tots and chips, respectively) were crisp, and everything had a homemade touch.

While Tipsy’z isn’t cheap (most burgers run north of $10), it is one of the few burger places that doesn’t make me want to play the “I can get better at Hops for less” card. The food here is worth it, and the staff (shout-out to Thomas at the bar) are fleet-footed, hard-working, and amicable.

Tipsy’z is the kind of place that will leave you pondering what to try next time before your first visit is over. A second, taco-centric branch is set to open on North Main Street later this year, and if it’s anything like the original, it should garner some well-deserved plaudits.

The Prescott

Located at 126 South Main Street in Kernersville, The Prescott offers locally sourced fine dining for dinner Tuesday through Saturday and for brunch on Sunday. There is a full bar with signature cocktails, reservations can be made online, and catering is available.

We were in need of a meal to mark an occasion, and The Prescott’s strong reviews lead us to Kernersville. Housed in a cluster of shops, The Prescott is small and easy to miss. Try the food, however, and you’ll be glad that you didn’t.

Though not spacious, The Prescott does not feel cramped. It offers a comfortable atmosphere with appealing art. We showed up around noon for a Sunday brunch sans reservation and were seated immediately without difficulty.

As befitting a farm-to-table eatery, what’s on the menu may vary depending on what’s in season. No matter what time of year, however, expect a compact but tantalizing selection. The brunch offerings during our visit included an upscaled French toast, a full English breakfast, a lobster Benedict, steak and eggs, and more. We ultimately settled on the French toast with a side of potatoes and the lobster Benedict.

Good food takes time, but even with that maxim in mind, the kitchen was somewhat slow. To The Prescott’s credit, an amuse-bouche (fresh berries and Greek yogurt) was offered to tide diners over, a classy touch that was refreshingly tart and crisp. Service was otherwise sharp: prompt, courteous, and welcoming.

The thoughtfully plated food proved well worth the wait. The Benedict had no shortage of lobster, the eggs were poached perfectly, and the few accompanying blistered tomatoes helped offset the other components’ saltiness. The crisp, herby potatoes were addictively good. The French toast used pumpkin bread, an odd choice given how sweet and dense it is already. While that’s probably not the best fit for this dish, it proved tasty nevertheless.

While the dinner experience here may differ from brunch, a refined and competently executed menu and on-point service make The Prescott an appealing “occasion” meal spot.

Magnolia Blue

Located at 1807 North Main Street in High Point, Magnolia Blue offers upscale Southern fare for dinner seven days a week and a brunch on Sundays. There is a full drinks menu with original cocktails, and meat and potato and soup offerings rotate daily. Magnolia Blue Upstairs offers lighter fare, a patio, and a bookable private room.

In search of a good New Years Eve meal and no longer in close proximity to Undercurrent or the Quaintance-Weaver trifecta, I booked a reservation for Magnolia Blue. This last meal of the year ended up being one of the best meals of the year as food, service, and ambiance were all very good.

Housed in a former newspaper building, Magnolia Blue is sleek and cozy. There is a lot of gray, but it doesn’t feel drab. The music playing alternated between Christmas tunes and EDM, an oddity that no one could explain, but not enough of a distraction to detract from the meal.

Magnolia Blue’s menu suggests creative takes on familiar dishes. Fried green tomatoes, shrimp and grits, gumbo, chicken and waffles, and chicken and dumplings are among the offerings, but these are not the versions you’ve had before. For example, the dumplings in chicken and dumplings are toasted gnocchi, and the dish comes with andouille and kale. Though practically the entire menu held appeal, my wife and I settled on a fried green tomato starter (our litmus test dish for Southern fare), a zydeco salad (andouille, potatoes, roasted tomatoes, asparagus, arugula, and a fried egg), a cream of crab soup, and a bayou shrimp and crab pasta.

By and large, the food delivered on its potential. The fried green tomatoes well-breaded and nicely plated albeit a rather small portion. The pasta, on the other hand, did not skimp. The shrimp were flavorful and cooked just right, and trottole is an underrated pasta shape. The real star, however, was the sauce, which was brothier and more complex than the typical alfredo. Some bread to mop it up would have been a welcome addition. While the zydeco salad’s components were tasty, the red wine mustard vinaigrette was overpowering. Though requested on the side, it was served atop the salad. Fortunately, our server, Phil (who did a great job overall), was apologetic and brought a second bowl of greens to make things right. We saved enough room to split a dessert, and the chocolate cherry bread pudding won out. It paired well with ice cream and closed out a satisfying meal.

Magnolia Blue is not a cheap meal, but as an “occasion” restaurant, it is fairly priced. Entrees run from the teens to the upper twenties, and the quality justifies the price. Neither drinks ($10 for craft cocktails) nor desserts (under $10) were exorbitant, either.

Just a few hiccups shy of a five-star experience, Magnolia Blue is one of the best restaurants that High Point has to offer. Polished yet innovative, it merits many returns.

Knives Out

The day after his 85^th birthday party, highly successful mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead. While the police are convinced that it was a suicide, an unknown client has hired famed private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who thinks otherwise. After interviewing Harlan’s family, Blanc finds no shortage of potential suspects as the Thrombeys, financially dependent on the old man, were cut off shortly before his death. The lone exception seems to be Harlan’s nurse and confidant, Marta Cabrera (Ana de Armas), who uncontrollably vomits after lying. Enlisting a reluctant Marta as his Watson, Blanc digs for the truth while Marta maneuvers to protect her own family.

Writer/director Rian Johnson took a lot of flack (some deserved, some not) for his narrative choices in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but his next film finds him on much surer footing. Funny, tense, and stylish, Knives Out is his strongest effort since his debut film Brick, and just as that provided a refreshing take on hardboiled noir, so too does Knives Out revitalize the murder-in-a-mansion mystery.

Though there are shades of Sleuth and Gosford Park, Knives Out owes its biggest debt to Agatha Christie as Blanc, like Poirot, is a bigshot detective with a funny accent (a Foghorn Leghorn drawl in this case) who methodically works his way toward a solution. However, this is as much Marta’s film as it is Blanc’s, and the Thrombeys’ treatment of her (welcoming until the chips are down, dependent yet patronizing, etc.) parallels well-off white America’s relationship with immigrants. Subtle it is not, but at least Johnson’s heavy-handedness doesn’t play favorites: the progressive snowflake college student (Katherine Langford) and her lefty lifestyle guru mom (an overly tanned Toni Collette) are skewered just as much as the alt-right troll teen (Jaeden Martell) and his un-PC parents (Rikki Lindholme and, in a reprisal of their relationship from Midnight Special, Michael Shannon), aunt (a fierce, power suit-clad Jamie Lee Curtis) and uncle (a sleazy, bearded Don Johnson).

Admittedly, Craig’s accent takes some getting used to, but the cast is otherwise game. As Blanc, Craig seems to vacillate between puffed-up baffoon and quirky but brilliant sleuth. De Armas plays Marta with a blend of guile and anxiety that keep her believable and sympathetic (despite the script’s attempts to sanctify her). In flashback scenes, Plummer seems to be having fun as a vivacious, kindly patriarch who is done suffering fools even if they be blood. One of the more amusing performances is an against-type turn from Chris Evans (best known these days as Captain America), who plays the sneering, loutish wastrel of an eldest grandson. Add an exasperated Lakeith Stanfield as a by-the-book cop, Noah Segan (Johnson’s most frequently cast actor) as his starstruck partner, and Frank Oz as an unflappable will-reading attorney, and there are no weak links here.

Johnson has always been a bold stylist, and while the confines of a mansion don’t allow for the spectacle of The Last Jedi or even Looper, Knives Out is still a good-looking film, replete with his signature quick cuts/odd angle shots and abetted by a score from Nathan Johnson (the director’s cousin). Because of this aesthetic and technical prowess and his love of a twist ending, Johnson is sometimes labeled a style-over-substance guy. It’s an unfair label though a few narrative contrivances (Marta’s vomiting, the way that medication and narcotics are presented, etc.) do position Knives Out as not quite as clever as it presents itself to be.

Fresh, fun, and endearing despite (or perhaps because of) a cast of loathsomely selfish individuals, Knives Out is a sharp commentary-as-mystery that more than cuts the mustard.

Mi Pueblo Mexican Grill

Located at 3911 Tinsley Drive in High Point, Mi Pueblo Mexican Grill offers Mexican fare for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Food and drink specials change regularly, and catering and delivery (through Door Dash) are available. Other locations can be found on Northpoint Avenue and in Winston-Salem.

High Point has no shortage of mid-tier Mexican eateries (another, La Fiesta, is a short walk away), and at first blush, Mi Pueblo doesn’t appear to do much to distinguish itself. The music, the brick-and-Southwestern décor, and even the name all create the vague sense that you’ve been there, seen that. However, there were enough surprises to help Mi Pueblo stand out from the pack.

For starters, the menu is appreciably huge. In addition to the base menu, there are supplements for street tacos, make-your-own rice bowls, and tortas. While you certainly can go the familiar route here, Mi Pueblo offers plenty of room to branch out. Want a baked potato stuffed with meat, cheese, and avocado? They have that. Want a bit-of-everything combo platter that serves four? They have that too. The same spirit of abundance extends to the drinks menu, which features quite a few margarita offerings (and sangria).

My wife and I went with chiles poblanos (fried cheese-stuffed peppers) and a sopes trio (open-faced sandwiches featuring different toppings on thick corn discs). While our server was generally on top of things, the kitchen proved rather slow. Though far from empty, the restaurant was hardly slammed at the time of our visit.

Fortunately, when the food did arrive, it proved worth the wait. The sopes included a tinga (slow roasted chicken), a potato, and a chorizo offering, all of which were tasty. The poblano was something akin to a luxury XL version of a jalapeno popper and became an instant favorite. A $6.95 “medium” flavored margarita will leave you scratching your head as you ponder how big of a glass a large would require.

This, plus fairly affordable pricing, suggests that Mi Pueblo is more than merely the solid three-star experience it first appears to be. Repeat visits will tell if that holds true over time.

Bonchon

Located at 607 South Elm Street in Downtown Greensboro, Bonchon specializes in Korean fried chicken and also offers other Korean eats. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner daily. Drinks (including sake specials), lunch specials, online ordering, and delivery are available.

As a chain in close proximity to a plethora of eateries on Elm, Bonchon needed to be something special to have a chance at survival. Fortunately, it is. Delicious food, friendly service, and a surprising number of options make Bonchon a must for downtown dining.

Ironically housed in a former antique shop, Bonchon is bright, clean, modern, and inviting. There is plenty of seating around the bar and no shortage of conventional tables as well. One caveat: the latter come with low chairs that are not particularly comfortable.

While Korean fried chicken is the marquee attraction here, Bonchon offers quite a bit more. Rice bowls, tacos, sliders, salads, and more can be found here too. While Korean cuisine is well-represented (bulgogi and bimimbap are just the start), the fusion/pan-Asian offerings bring a strong dumpling game including takoyaki (Japanese breaded fried octopus poppers).

For our first visit, my wife and I split an order of strips (half soy garlic, half sweet crunch) with radish and an order of pork buns (pork belly, cucumber, slaw, spicy mayo, and sauce). Given that the chicken is made to order, the food didn’t take terribly long to arrive.

Both dishes were hits. While the chicken was perhaps dryer than it would have been were it in wing form, it was nicely breaded and crunchy without any greasiness. The pork buns were tender and practically inhalable. All of the sauces delivered big flavors, but none were overpowering, and the radish provided a cool, fresh counterpoint.

Everything proved to be surprisingly affordable. Ten-piece strips ran $12, three pork buns were $10, and the quantities were filling.

Some restaurants can leave you wondering if you’ll be back. With Bonchon, the only things left to wonder are when and what to try next.

The Mandalorian

After the fall of the Galactic Empire, a Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal)– a member of a perpetually-armored warrior tribe – is contracted by bounty hunting guild member Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) to retrieve a valuable asset for a mysterious Empire-affiliated client (Werner Herzog). The Mandalorian locates the asset, which proves to be a child from the same race as Yoda, but upon witnessing its Force powers, refuses to turn it over thereby becoming a wanted man.

Set in the Star Wars universe, The Mandalorian is less a Star Wars TV series and more of a Star Wars-adjacent tale, and for that we should be thankful. Writer/director Jon Favreau previously struck gold with another lesser-known (at the time) armored antihero with 2008’s Iron Man, and The Mandalorian’s first season offers similarly well-crafted action.

By sidestepping established characters, Favreau frees himself from burdensome expectations while still providing enough recognizable elements – the Force, stormtroopers, and, tangentially, The Mandalorian himself (the films’ revered bounty hunter Boba Fett, though a different character, was implied to be part of the tribe) to appeal to Star Wars fans. Similarly, because the title character is anonymous for most of the first season, Pascal is free to leave his own mark. That mark ends up being a fairly convincing Clint Eastwood Man With No Name homage as Mando (which, coincidentally, sounds a lot like Manco) is a supremely capable gunfighter with a dubious moral compass, a checkered past, and an unexpected conscience. This parallel helps cement The Mandalorian as, portions of Westworld aside, televisions best space western since Firefly.

It helps that nothing about the show feels cheap or half-hearted. The settings look universe-appropriate, Ludwig Gornasson’s score (including a killer opening theme) fits the show’s mood, and the action sequences are exhilarating and competently choreographed. There is also a considerable amount of talent both behind (Rick Famuyima, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Taika Waititi have all directed episodes) and in front of (Ming-Na Wen as an infamous assassin, Nick Nolte as a helpful moisture farmer, Giancarlo Esposito as a menacing villain, Favreau as a fellow Mandalorian, and, memorably Waititi voicing a Terminator-like droid) the camera. However, the puppeteers responsible for the asset and lesser-known Emily Swallow as the Mandalorian’s Armorer/keeper of tribal lore nearly upstage them all.

If there is one grievance to be found here, it is that the pacing and stakes are inconsistent. The beginning and end of the season are brimming with urgency as The Mandalorian first locates the asset and later attempts to confront his pursuers. In between, however, the show takes on a more self-contained, episodic quality. Even still, these outings are not filler as they allow for character development and hints of backstory to emerge.

In light of the divisiveness of Disney-era Star Wars films, it is easy to become cynical about any attempt to further milk the franchise, but The Mandalorian is polished and compelling enough to stand on its own two armored feet.

Tasty 100

Located at 3793 Samet Drive in High Point, Tasty 100 offers Chinese cuisine for lunch (Monday through Saturday) and dinner (seven days a week). Online ordering, a wine list, and a Chinese-language menu are available.

I tried Tasty 100 years ago when it was Full Kee (the original owners changed the name when they reacquired the establishment this year) and was none too impressed. However, in need of a Christmas Day Chinese option, I decided to give it another try. Overall, it was a better experience albeit not an entirely satisfying one.

Tasty 100 remains clean, classy, and spacious, and the menu is still deep and varied. Though takeout staples such as egg rolls, fried rice, and lo mein are accounted for, Tasty 100 also offers higher-end delicacies such as Peking duck and steamed sea bass.

The restaurant was nearly empty when my wife and I stopped in for lunch, but owner George Yu said he was expecting a dinner rush. We opted for a steamed dumpling starter, eggplant beef, and Singapore noodles. I had tried two of the three dishes here previously and was curious to see if the execution had improved.

While still uneven, the food was better than I remembered. The dumplings were still thick and doughy and should go on my “avoid” list if I come back here. However, the enticingly fragrant Singapore noodles tasted as good as they looked this time thanks to better seasoning. The eggplant was a bit chewier than it should have been though its accompanying sauce was flavorful, and the meal as a whole showed enough promise to encourage a return.

One factor working against that is the price. Tasty 100 remains a poor value. Though portion sizes are respectable, the $13 and $16 respectively paid for our entrees seemed like a reach.

Sticker shock aside, Tasty 100 is still one of the better Chinese dining options that High Point has to offer, but that says more about High Point than anything else. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for something more than Americanized takeout fare and don't want to drive to Greensboro, it’s worth a visit.