The Brutalist

 

Laszlo Toth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian-Jewish architect and Holocaust survivor, immigrates to the United States, hoping to one day reunite with his wife Erzsebet (Felicity Jones). Laszlo is taken in by his cousin Attila (Alessandro Nivola), a Philadelphia furniture store owner who has assimilated and married a Catholic woman, Audrey (Emily Laird). Through Attila, Laszlo meets the wealthy industrialist Harrison Van Buren (Guy Pearce), who becomes his patron and helps Erzsebet and their niece Zsofia (Raffey Cassidy) emigrate. Despite this turn in fortune, Laszlo’s uncompromising nature, the toll of the Holocaust’s suffering, and the jealousy of Van Buren’s son Harry (Joe Alwyn) threaten to be his undoing.

It would seem ironic that a movie about an architectural movement that values minimalism clocks in at three and a half hours, but The Brutalist is every bit as thoughtfully crafted – and divisive – as its inspiration. Directed by Brady Corbett (who co-wrote the script alongside his partner Mona Fastvold), The Brutalist avoids being dragged down by its length and the familiarity of its premise thanks to strong performances and impeccable design.

Taking a sledgehammer to the American Dream wouldn’t have been a fresh take thirty years ago, and it certainly isn’t one now, but the way that Corbett does so here is still resonant (as is the film’s exploration of anti-Semitism). Through Toth and Van Buren’s relationship, he casts a withering eye on America’s treatment of immigrants: happy to accept them as long as they can claim credit for supporting their successes and obsessed with the idea that they don’t forget their place in the pecking order. And while Toth has shades of The Fountainhead's Howard Roark, Corbett does not idealize him, showing him as prone to angry outbursts and self-abuse.

Brody once again scored an Oscar for portraying a tormented Holocaust survivor, and it isn’t hard to see why. He conveys not only pain but outrage and devotion, all with conviction. Jones’s role is no less challenging: an Oxford-educated journalist working below her talents as her body fails her and her husband becomes a stranger before her eyes. She’s quite good in it, and it’s a shame that she isn’t on screen longer. While high-handed antagonists are definitely in Pearce’s wheelhouse, he gives the elder Van Buren enough complexities and contradictions to make him interesting despite his veiled monstrousness. The same cannot be said for Alwyn as his son, a one-note entitled creep. And while Nivola isn’t really bad as Attila, his inconsistent accent is distracting. We’re supposed to imagine a Philadelphian who’s trying too hard to cover up his Ashkenazi roots, but instead we get what amounts to a Boston guy who occasionally remembers he’s an immigrant.

The film’s look and sound at least do no wrong. The Brutalist is filmed in old-school VistaVision (think mid-1950s Paramount films) for a retro look. It oozes style thanks to cinematographer Lol Crawley (sharp-angled shots that allow the architecture to loom godlike over the cast) and production designer Judy Becker. Daniel Blumberg’s score mixes classical with industrial to mimic construction sounds and add tension.

Given how measured much of The Brutalist is, it isn’t surprising that some critics have taken its precision for hollowness, an impression amplified by the runtime. But this is not a case of aesthetics papering over emptiness. Just like the architecture it depicts, there is meaning in the seemingly cold and impersonal for those willing to see it.

Cocoa Cinnamon

 

Located at 2013 Chapel Hill Road (with other locations on Hillsborough Road and Geer Street), Cocoa Cinnamon serves coffee drinks, teas, baked goods, and desserts. Online ordering and outdoor seating are available.

Cocoa Cinnamon is the storefront for Little Waves Coffee Roasters, and if it were just a coffee shop, it would be worth visiting on that basis alone. The roastery received international recognition, and having previously picked up a bag of their beans from a Greensboro shop, I can say that it’s well-deserved. Cocoa Cinnamon gives you a chance to experience Little Waves in everything from a cup of joe to an espresso drink to a “wonder drink” with house made syrups and infusions.

Unfortunately, I had already reached my coffee limit for the day at the time of my visit (which didn’t stop me from snagging a bag of Royal 7 to take home). Fortunately, there is another very good reason to check out Coca Cinnamon: homemade churros. You can get them by themselves, in a pack, ala mode, or dipped in chocolate. Or, you can do what my wife and I did and split a Morros de Torros. 

This insane concoction features a churro dusted with your choice of sugars topped with vanilla ice cream and a chocolate and condensed milk drizzle. Made fresh to order, it was worth every cent of its $8 price tag. Seriously, it’s hard to overstate how good this dessert was. The churro was hot, the chocolate sauce had real chocolate flavor, and the sugar blend imparted a bit of spice as well as sweet. As if you don’t already have enough reasons to visit yet, Cocoa Cinnamon also offers fast service and an interesting ambiance that reflects the owner’s Mexican roots.  

Whether you just want a cup of coffee or want to send your tastebuds on a strange and delightful trip, Cocoa Cinnamon has you covered.

Angelina Cafe

 

Located at 220 Huffman Mill Road in Burlington, Angelina Café offers European-influenced diner food for lunch and dinner. It is open from 8-9 Monday-Saturday and 9-2 on Sunday. Specials change daily, and online ordering is available.

At first glance, Angelina Café does not seem all that different from the multitude of Greek-owned Southern diners in the area. It’s situated in a large building that has seen better days, and its menu is huge. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll find a few things that set this Burlington spot apart. There’s a selection of sweet and savory crepes, they do cocktails and coffee drinks, and there are a bunch of tasty-looking cakes on display up front.

The café was bustling when our group of three arrived, but neither the ten-minute wait for our table nor the kitchen’s turnaround time was unreasonable in light of how busy the establishment was. That our server was courteous and attentive throughout the meal added to the sense that Angelina can handle the volume it likely receives on a daily basis.

A nightmare for the indecisive, the menu offers lots and lots of choices. Breakfast is served until 2, and options include benedicts, sandwiches, waffles, pancakes, omelets, skillets, combos, and more. The lunch/dinner selections add salads, burgers, Italian dishes, house specialties, a few steaks, and the aforementioned crepes. Everything from a fried tenderloin biscuit to lobster ravioli is for the taking here.

Our group opted to do breakfast for lunch, and I went with a smoked sausage breakfast sandwich, eggs scrambled, with potatoes on the side. It made for a very satisfying bite. Avocado and tomato balanced the saltiness of the meat nicely, and the brioche bun held everything together. The potatoes didn’t lack flavor, but they were crisp to the point of nearly burned. Even in that state, they may have been a safer bet than the grits (yellow, gloppy, and decidedly unappealing) that one of our group ordered. At least the pricing ($10 for a sandwich and a side, $9 apiece for breakfast specials with eggs/meat/side/bread) left no room for complaint.

The sign out front proclaims “Scratch Kitchen & Bar,” and between that and the menu’s Euro touches, you can be forgiven for thinking Angelina is striving to be something more than a diner. By that metric, the execution lags behind the ambition. But come here with more modest expectations, and you can appreciate the variety, value (and food, when they get it right) on their own terms.

The Sub Spot

Located at 3709 Battleground Avenue in Greensboro, The Sub Spot serves sandwiches and Mediterranean fare. It is open from 10-7 Monday-Friday, 10-5 Saturday, and closed Sunday. Specials change regularly, and online ordering is available.

 

Getting a sandwich here when Giacomo’s is a few hundred feet away seems blasphemous, but hey, at least they have indoor seating. All jokes aside, Sub Spot is a good representation of a neighborhood sandwich shop, replete with a no-frills (though clean) interior and Boar’s Head meats. They may not be fancy, but they are good at what they do.

 

I walked in craving a cheesesteak but was nearly swayed by the brisket sandwich listed as a special. Had I not known what I wanted, I would have had plenty to choose from: hot and cold sandwiches, salads, wings, kebabs, and more. They will let you customize toppings a la Subway (I added peppers, onions, and chipotle sauce), and they completed my order for takeout very quickly.

 

Much like Jersey Mike’s, Sub Spot serves up a far better cheesesteak than you’d expect at first glance. The bread was soft, the cheese melty, the meat and veggies savory and satisfying (and none too greasy). If you’re accustomed to a sandwich stuffed to the gills with meat, you might be disappointed, but I didn’t find the quantity to be too paltry.

 

Given what’s nearby, Sub Spot probably wouldn’t be my first choice for lunch in the area, but it is convenient, reasonably priced, and tasty, a solid option all around.

 

Thunderbolts*

As CIA director Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) faces Congressional scrutiny for sanctioning black ops and illegal research, she contrives to pit her operatives against one another in hopes that they will wipe each other out. The motley group includes Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), a depressed former Black Widow; John Walker (Wyatt Russell), a disgraced former Captain America; Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), a thief who can briefly become intangible; Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko), the mercenary known as Taskmaster; and Bob (Lewis Pullman), a seemingly normal man suffering from amnesia. Instead of slaughtering each other, the group, dubbed the Thunderbolts after Yelena’s childhood soccer team, works together to escape Valentina’s clutches. In doing so, they attract the attention of Yelena’s adoptive father Alexei (David Harbour), the erstwhile Soviet hero Red Guardian; as well as that of Buck Barnes (Sebastian Stan), a former super soldier-turned-congressman hoping to use the Thunderbolts’ testimony to bring Valentina down.

 

The Thunderbolts can best be read as Marvel’s answer to DC’s Suicide Squad (particularly James Gunn’s take): a crew of government-approved (until they become a liability), morally ambiguous, empowered losers. As with the latter, the Thunderbolts’ status as lesser-known characters frees them from the burden of audience expectations and allows the film to simply be fun, which it is when it isn’t also serving as an allegory for mental illness.

 

Just as the Thunderbolts are unlikely heroes, Jake Schreier is a head-scratching choice for the director’s chair. His previous work includes a John Green adaptation and the quirky (but decidedly not action-heavy) Robot & Frank. Joanna Calo (Bojack Horseman and The Bear), who provided script rewrites during production, likewise brings an unexpected pedigree. Original screenwriter Eric Pearson, on the other hand, is a seasoned Marvel vet, and perhaps for that reason, Thunderbolts* never feels too far afield from other MCU offerings.

 

The old adage about not watching action movies for the plot applies here as the story is a threadbare excuse to throw these characters together. And yet it wouldn’t be accurate or fair to say that the movie lacks depth. While trauma often informs superhero backstories, it’s often given no more than a passing allusion between fisticuffs and wisecracks. Here, however, it is front and center. This actually puts Thunderbolts* in an unwinnable situation. The movie gives its characters enough dimensionality to make us want to know them better without giving enough time to develop them further. At just over two hours, Thunderbolts* is well-paced. Add another half-hour though, and it might feel like a slog.

 

Despite these limitations, the cast does admirable work. Plaudits especially go to Pugh, whose previously dismissive attitude is tinged with heavy doses of purposelessness and grief, and to Pullman. SPOILERS AHEAD. The latter plays what are effectively three different characters sharing one body: Bob, who suffers from mental instability and addiction, the Sentry, a godlike hero who resists being trotted out as a public relations win, and the Void, a malevolent shadow who can make people relive the worst moment of their lives again and again. That Pullman nails all three aspects is a testament to his range. The supporting cast is equally game. As Valentina, Dreyfus embodies power-hungry realpolitik, but unlike her DC equivalent Amanda Waller (all icy intimidation), she’s almost chipper in her disregard of others. Imagine Elaine Benes abusing her authority in J. Peterman’s absence, only with much higher stakes. Stan plays Bucky as perhaps the most level-headed member of the Thunderbolts, which, given his past (artificially enhanced, formerly brainwashed assassin with a bionic arm), says a lot about the team’s dysfunction.

 

Thunderbolts* is unlikely to win back anyone who has sworn off Marvel movies for good. Inasmuch as it ends in a way that sets the stage for the next MCU entry, it can feel like a link in a chain. But the movie’s themes, performances, and finely calibrated mixture of humor, excitement, and pathos all still make Thunderbolts* worth your time.

 

Santorini

 

Located at 2107 Kirkwood Street in High Point, Santorini offers Greek cuisine for lunch and dinner. It is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day except Sunday. Lunch specials are available. 

I was not pleased to see High Point Korean BBQ close its doors, and a Greek restaurant stepping into the space didn't inspire much enthusiasm. But as the signage and menu for Santorini came together, that changed. Mythos Grill was my favorite Greek restaurant when I lived in Greensboro, and Santorini is, for all intents and purposes, Mythos of High Point (they aren't affiliated, but Santorini's owner was involved with Mythos at one point).

The menu here offers everything you'd expect: gyros, souvlaki, spanakopita, dolmades, moussaka, and more. You can go light with an app, sandwich, or salad, or you can pile on the carbs with a pasta dish. Vegetarians and meat-eaters alike will find plenty here.

My wife swears by Mythos's avgolemono (lemon chicken soup), and so that was a no-brainer. I added a combination platter (gyro/chicken souvlaki/spanakopita) and fried zucchini to round out the take-out order. It was ready in under fifteen minutes, and the price was fairly reasonable.

The food was good across the board though it leaned more toward "reliably comforting" than outstanding. The soup was on-par with Mythos's version, the zucchini was fresh and generously portioned, and everything in the combination platter was nicely seasoned. That said, the gyro came in a slab that some might find off-putting, and the spanakopita could have been flakier.

There are plenty of places in High Point where you can get a decent-or-better gyro, falafel, or pita wrap, but if a Greek-specific craving hits, keep Santorini in mind.