Motor City

 

In 1977 Detroit, blue-collar ex-con John Miller (Alan Ritchson) looks forward to starting a new life with Sophia (Shailene Woodley), but her jealous gangster ex-boyfriend Reynolds (Ben Foster) has other ideas. To get Sophia back, he frames Miller for a crime, sending him to prison and on a quest for revenge.

Director Potsy Ponciroli’s stylish action film weds a standard revenge plot to an approach that is anything but. Motor City’s dialogue is minimal to the point of near-nonexistence while its soundtrack – mostly 70s rock – is omnipresent. This calls to mind Walter Hill’s “rock opera” Streets of Fire, but it’s a grittier, bloodier affair. To be certain, it’s gimmicky, and some of the pantomiming does get to be a bit much. However, for two thirds of the movie, it works surprisingly well.

A lot of that success comes down to some smart choices. The music aids the visual storytelling as do the period details (retro clothes, retro cars, everybody smokes). It also helps that the cast’s prior work helps to shade their characters in the absence of dialogue. Foster has played plenty of twitchy, vicious lowlifes while Ben McKenzie, notable as James Gordon in Gotham, again takes up the mantle of an honest cop on a corrupt force. For his part, Ritchson sells both anguish and cold fury. There's also the added amusement of Detroit native Jack White playing Christmas music on a piano. 

Unfortunately, Motor City’s magic does not last forever. The final third devolves into excess and cliché. As the stakes escalate, so too does the mayhem, albeit in a cartoonish, pull out all the stops way that undermines the more grounded drama that preceded it. A time-skip ending featuring dubious old-age makeup doesn’t help matters.

While Motor City’s premise and unevenness limit its appeal, when it works, it’s pulpy, propulsive fun.

Rustic Barn Restaurant

Located at 10372 Martinsville Highway in Danville, Rustic Barn Restaurant serves Asian fusion cuisine. It is open from 12-9 on weekends, 3-9 Tuesday-Friday, and closed Mondays. Online ordering is available.

Housed at the end of a highway strip mall outside of Danville, Rustic Barn is neither rustic nor a barn. It is, improbably, a fantastic Asian fusion restaurant. Yes, you read that right.

The idiosyncrasies do not stop with the name. Inside, The Rustic Barn offers an intimate space with low lighting and some interesting décor: random photos of locomotives adorn the wall. The menu skews Thai albeit with some Japanese dishes (gyoza, teriyaki, yaki udon) and a few (a burger, a steak and potatoes) that fit the establishment’s rurally suggestive name.

The proprietor, Jeb, is gracious and accommodating as well as a showman who likes to joke with his guests. His promise of “everything fresh, everything homemade” is a lot to live up to, but the kitchen here has the chops to deliver on that promise.

Our group went with a pair of starters (crab rangoons and gyoza), a pair of curries (roadhouse and green), and a pair of noodle dishes (yaki udon and pad Thai). Everything was attractively plated and delicious. The rangoons were hand-formed into delicate shapes and contained plenty of filling while the gyoza were nice and crisp. My entrée was the roadhouse curry: the house version of Massaman. A hearty dish, it boasted thick-cut vegetables and a rich sauce done to the desired (a little bit spicy) level of heat. Prices are moderate (entrees start in the upper teens), but portions are plenty filling.

 

Given how many Danville restaurants were closed on a Sunday evening, I count myself lucky that The Rustic Barn was not among them. If you come here seeking country cooking, you’ll be confused and perhaps disappointed. But if you know what you’re getting yourself into, the combination of personable service and tasty food in an offbeat location makes this the epitome of a hidden gem.

The Odyssey

 

Odysseus (Matt Damon), King of Ithaca, reluctantly leaves home to support the war efforts of Agamemnon (Benny Safdie) and his brother Menelaus (Jon Bernthal) against Troy to force the return of the latter’s wife, Helen (Lupita Nyongo). After Odysseus engineers a plan that leads to the sacking of Troy, he and his men take a slower route home. Along the way, they encounter monsters that threaten their survival and tempt the wrath of the gods. Meanwhile, Odysseus’s wife, Penelope (Ann Hathaway) fends off many suitors in his absence, hoping for his return while their son Telemachus (Tom Holland) seeks news of his fate

Given the scope and scale of his last movie (2023’s Oppenheimer), it seemed fitting that Christopher Nolan would turn his attention toward a mythological epic. He delivers adroit, suspenseful visual storytelling and gets a lot out of his talented cast, but some of his creative choices leave the film feeling a bit hollow.

As with the director’s prior work, Nolan’s attention to detail and choice of composer make for a spectacle that commands our attention. From the chaotic combat of battle-ravaged Troy to the lonesome beauty of  Ogygia, The Odyssey is visually diverse enough to offset any tedium that might otherwise arise from watching dudes sail aimlessly for three hours. Ludwig Gonarsson’s score is arguably the tensest put to a Nolan film, which, given Dunkirk and Oppenheimer, is saying quite a lot. When paired with the gruesome design of Polyphemus the Cyclops and sickening transformations that the witch Circe (Samantha Morton) brings about, The Odyssey plays like a horror film at times, a counterbalance to its more somber and sentimental moments.

The biggest bone of contention is not Nolan’s craftsmanship but rather the modern sensibility he brings to the source material. This goes beyond casting choices (the subject of inane complaints from Internet trolls), contemporary idiom, and American accents and extends to the film’s themes. Damon’s Odysseus is haunted by the atrocities of war, which will resonate with post-Vietnam, post-Iraq/Afghanistan Americans but also plays as anachronistic given the setting. The gods, central figures in myth, are reduced to peripheral presences, save for Odysseus’s recurring visions of Athena (played by Zendaya). The overt call for human beings to treat one another better, while channeling the classical importance of "guest-friendship," seems more a palliative for our current sociopolitical situation than anything  else. Collectively, these moves are akin to putting on a costume that looks splendid but just doesn’t quite fit right. And yet, if Nolan didn’t bring something novel to the table, this latest version of an oft-told tale might have lost its raison d’etre. To Hades if you do, to Hades if you don’t.

Fortunately, the cast makes for a fairly effective diversion from this bit of disappointment. Hathaway breathes fire into what could have been a one-note “grieving (de facto) widow” role. Robert Pattinson makes for a love-to-hate villain as the slimy, conspiratorial suitor Antinuous. John Leguizamo, handed a rare straight dramatic role as loyal swineherd Ememaus, showcases range that he rarely gets to put to use. Casting the Harvard-educated Damon as the smart guy among the Greek forces makes sense on a meta level, and he certainly brings anguish and conviction (to say nothing of an unintentionally funny Boston accent) to the role, but the absence of Odysseus’s trickster qualities really flattens the character.

All told, The Odyssey is a rousing, eminently watchable film whose pointed stabs at contemporary relevance sometimes remind us of what it could have been.

The Gathering Table

 

Located at 5635 Riverdale Drive in Furnitureland South in Jamestown, The Gathering Table offers sandwiches, salads, and flatbreads. It is open from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except for Sunday. There is an outdoor dining area, and online ordering is available. Specials change weekly.

Despite the strong positive reviews The Gathering Table received, I felt a bit uncertain about stopping here for lunch. Though IKEA’s banging Swedish meatballs are an example to the contrary, one can be forgiven for thinking that dining options at a massive furniture store will get by on proximity and convenience. I was also not looking to shop for any furniture, and while The Gathering Table advertised itself as open to all, would I stick out like a sore thumb amid furniture folks?

Fortunately, these concerns were largely for nought. The Gathering Table is spacious and nicely appointed with lots of light, some foliage, and, fittingly, comfortable seating. Though there were few patrons when I stopped by, it wasn’t dead enough to raise any eyebrows.

The menu here is bistro fare with a good assortment of light and fresh options. I went for an Italian sandwich on focaccia though the steak and bleu salad and the chicken and pesto flatbread were strong contenders as well. At under $15 with chips and a drink, the sandwich represented a decent value these days.

The cashier, likely still in training, was very nervous, but thankfully, he had the support of the rest of the staff. The Gathering Table’s kitchen definitely knows what it’s doing, and it turned around orders quickly.

My Italian sandwich was shockingly good. The bread was warm and soft, and they didn’t skimp on the meats (ham/salami/pepperoni) or cheese (fresh mozzarella). The vegetables (greens and tomato) added a refreshing crispness while the oil and vinegar supplied a bit of tang. This was honestly one of the best non-Giacomo’s Italian sandwiches of recent memory.

Perhaps because of its location, The Gathering Table tends to fly under the radar. However, it’s a more than worthy lunch option for anyone in the Jamestown area, furniture shopper or not.

Supergirl

While celebrating her 23^rd birthday off-planet, Kara “Supergirl” Zor-El (Milly Alcock) encounters young Ruthye Knoll (Eve Ridley), who attempts to enlist her in her quest for revenge against Brigand leader Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts), who murdered her parents. Though disinclined to help at first, Supergirl soon finds herself drawn into the fray, racing against the clock to save one of her closest companions.

For the past fifteen years or so, DC’s cinematic offerings have been uneven (to put it charitably). If Supergirl is anything to go by, that’s a trend that shows no signs of changing under James Gunn’s DC Studios watch.

First, the good: for all of the baseless carping over her casting, Alcock does quite well in the title role. She’s positioned as a cynical counterpoint to her nerdy cousin Superman (David Corensweat), and her sloppy, drunken antics bear that out. However, the film’s exploration of her backstory lets Alcock show her range and give Kara depth in the process. The other standout performance arguably belongs to Jason Momoa as the fearsome bounty hunter Lobo (who seems to be having a blast), but his screentime and impact on the story are both negligible. Though the visual darkness sometimes makes the action difficult to follow, Craig Gillespie’s direction is at least energetic, and there are a few eye-popping moments.

That said, Supergirl is narratively weak. Though based on Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s well-regarded Woman of Tomorrow comic book series, Ana Noguiera’s writing is a thinly-plotted hash of cinematic cliches that can’t help but evoke better-made films. You’ll find traces of everything from Mad Max: Fury Road to True Grit and more here. Schoenaerts as Krem is contemptible but forgettable, and the hamminess of the performance works against the character’s menace.  

Warner Brothers has been responsible for so many lackluster-to-dreadful DC adaptations that it’s hard to come down too hard on Supergirl, which at least manages to be sometimes fun. However, it’s both a step down from its immediate predecessor (2025’s Superman) and a plea to get Alcock some better material to work with.

Shukkranaa Indian Cuisine

Located at 500 Americhase Drive in Greensboro, Shukkraana Indian Cuisine offers North Indian fare for lunch and dinner every day except for Monday. Catering and online ordering are available.

My last time rolling the dice on a new (for me) Indian eatery ended in disappointment, but I am not one to be so easily deterred. After looking at the menus for a few places, Shukkranaa seemed worth a gamble. The menu boasts everything you’d expect (curries, biryanis, breads, plenty of vegetarian dishes), and under other circumstances, I’d be all over the chicken 65. However, I wanted to give one of their quick lunch specials a try. Available in vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions, the offerings change daily, but they include an appetizer, two curries, salad, rice, bread, and a dessert. At $13 veg/$15 non-veg, that seemed like a good deal for the money.

I placed an online order for that day’s vegetarian special (paneer kadhai and daal makhani), and it was ready when I arrived. Though Shukkranaa’s location (a strip mall near a motel up 68) screams “nondescript,” the interior seemed more inviting, and the gentleman at the register was polite.

 

After a short drive home, I was able to enjoy a better-than-expected lunch. It came largely as advertised with a pakora as the appetizer, naan as the bread, and a piece of galub jamun as the dessert (though the “salad” was just a few assorted vegetables). The rice was fragrant, the sauces creamy, the portion size more than respectable, and to my relief, Shukkranaa does NOT hold back on flavor.

I don’t know if the dine-in experience would be as impressive, and there are certainly other Indian eateries to choose from in the immediate area, but for tasty, convenient takeout, count Shuukranaa as a name to remember.

The Death of Robin Hood

 

In 1247, an aged Robin Hood (Hugh Jackman) is still an outlaw on the run from both the authorities and revenge-minded family members of the many he has killed in the course of his banditry. He disdains the tales that have turned him into a folk hero and welcomes his demise. When tragedy befalls his friend Little John (Bill Skarsgard), he nearly gets his wish. The kindness of a prioress (Jodie Comer) and the appearance of an orphaned girl give him an unexpected new purpose.

Give writer-director Michael Sarnoski credit: amid the countless adaptations and retellings of Robin Hood, his manages to stand out. The Death of Robin Hood is dark and brooding and works to actively deconstruct the mythologizing of its protagonist, an ambitious move that could have worked in a film less leaden and inconsistent.

Jackman’s casting in the title role is equal parts blessing and curse. He’s done the “aging antihero with a violent past” thing before, and he’s well-suited to the task, but his turn as Robin Hood lacks the emotional heft of his work in Logan. The supporting roles aren’t terribly demanding either, but they are at least well cast. Skarsgard makes for an imposing Little John, and while Comer seems at first a vision of benevolence, her character proves to have more layers.

Add to these performances some striking scenery, and The Death of Robin Hood might have been a well-crafted if not terribly enjoyable film were it not for the uneven pacing. The first half hour or so is packed with brutal violence, which would shock the psyche if much of it didn’t play out in the dark and the mud. The rest of the film is far more pensive – and far slower. Given the implications of the title, it feels less like a gradual march toward redemption and more like a ponderous delaying of the inevitable.

The Death of Robin Hood is worth checking out for its premise alone, but it probably isn’t a movie you’ll want to go back to again.