Winter Chillin': Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn

I have been on vacation (i.e., out of the office) this week along with my family. Besides the Herculean task of cleaning out my 3rd floor closet in preparation for the final steps of the construction of a new, improved Bathroom Under the Eaves, we have seen a few movies and rambled around Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens.

We all love Johnny Depp and Tim Burton and Alan Rickman but the jury is out on Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Even my non-vegan kids (well, except for my son) are still not ready to get cozy with a slice of roast beef just yet.

My son and I had a Guys Outing to Manhattan (the gals had gone shopping) to see "There Will Be Blood" with Daniel Day Lewis which is everything the reviewers have been saying about Day-Lewis's performance and then some. This weeping saga of the oil business by Director Paul thomas Anderson is staggering in its depth and restraint for much of its three hours , finally unleashing all of the pent up rage and energy in an unexpected and powerful denouement. The clash of civilizations even in America , that continues today, also is here, with the ongoing conflicts between the progressive and secular oilman and the young minister (Paul Dano). Daniel Day Lewis is in top form here. Up til now I was convinced that Frank Langella in " Starting out at Evening," another stunning performance as an aging author and the young scholar (Lauren Ambrose) who reinvigorates his life, was my Numero Uno for Best Actor Oscar this year, and if they could give two, definitely Danny Boy and Cheech (aka Frank) deserve to walk away with this one.. "There Will Be Blood" is powerful, suspenseful and the chance to watch one of our great actors at work (although my son, who is into film inside and out, thinks that Day Lewis's Method Acting Approach may be off=putting to some in the Oscar establishment)..Strongly recommended.

Another goodie was "Charlie Wilson's War" which was smart, funny, moving and great performances all around by Tom (the New Jimmy Stewart) Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julia Roberts, helmed by Mike Nichols. Another must see if you are interested in Grown Up and Thoughtful Entertainment.

I also DVR'd on cable the other night "Kike Like Me" a documentary by Jamie Kastner, a Canadian TV producer and writer/dramatist, about Jewish identity and how he is responded to in Brooklyn (at 770 Eastern Parkway, the Lubavitch HQ), London, France, Poland and Germany..,It is a disturbing, fascinating and occasionally amusing film (in a painful, probing way) that suggests that conditions are not only dicey for Jews in the middle east, but continue to be so throughout the diaspora. The interviews with American author Carole Gould in London and the Arab youths in France were particularly interesting and troubling.

Well, we here at Waldorf Court are all enjoying this winter break, as the sands of the hour glass fall for 2007, and 2008 beckons right around the corner, and we hope that you are enjoying it too, whether traveling or staying local, Deep in the Heart of Brooklyn.