Beautiful Sen
By Steve Herte
Beautiful Creatures (WB, 2013) Director: Richard LaGravenese. Cast: Alice Englert,
Viola Davis, Jeremy Irons, Emma Thompson, Alden Ehrenreich, Eileen Atkins,
Margo Martindale, Kyle Gallner, Emmy Rossum, Rachel Brosnahan, and Thomas Mann.
With
the recent Oscars ceremony and the amazing amount of examples of film artistry
and superb acting jobs up nominated and honored, we need a movie like Beautiful
Creatures to put it all in the proper perspective. This is not to say
the acting was bad. It just wasn’t good. The film itself was not bad; it just
wasn’t art. In fact it was akin to watching an amalgam of Bewitched and The
Young and the Restless with a lot of familiar special effects and some
great costumes forced into an all-too-familiar storyline.
Romeo and Juliet have seen many reincarnations over the decades and this is
just the latest one. The sleepy southern town of Gatling, South Carolina, is
the charming setting for the Duchannes family, who own most of the properties
and are a family of “Casters” (not witches!) who obviously moved to this town
from New Orleans. They are despised by the locals as satanic worshippers, even
though nobody in the town knows them or will even associate with them to find
out the truth. The daughter, Lena (Englert) endures constant taunting by her
schoolmates (often to bouts of terrific over-acting) until she meets Ethan Wate
(Ehrenreich) and they both fall head-over-heels in love. No matter what he sees
or experiences and despite several warnings, Ethan is steadfast in defending
and caring for Lena, even to the point of defying her spell-casting,
lightning-wielding relatives, who are gathering for Lena’s 16th birthday
ceremony when she will have to choose the darkness or the light (bad witch, or
good witch). Lena lives with her father Macon Ravenwood (Irons), grandmother
(Atkins) and Aunt Del (Martindale), all who have chosen the light. Her mother,
Serafine (Thompson) and her two cousins Larkin Ravenwood (Gallner) and Ridley Duchannes
(Rossum) have chosen the dark and are warily anticipated at the gathering.
We
learn that there is a curse on the family (there always has to
be a curse) which started when Lena’s grandmother Genevieve Duchannes
(Brosnahan) fell in love with a mortal during the Civil War and used a
forbidden spell to bring him back to life after he was shot dead on the
battlefield. She then automatically became a part of the dark and killed him
all over again. (Kind of pointless, no?) Anyhow, in order to break this curse,
Lena learns from Amma the Seer (Davis) – who is also subbing for Ethan’s dead
mother – that someone she loves must die. At long last she tries a spell on
Ethan that makes him forget he ever knew (or loved) her thinking that it would
count as his death without killing him. It doesn’t.
It’s
not until the climax of the film when the “mortals” are reenacting the “Battle
of Honey Hill” and the casters are gathering for the 16th birthday
ceremony that Ethan and his best friend Link (Mann) wind up at the exact place
where the curse was incurred. One is dressed as a Union soldier and one as
Confederate. Deciding to just shoot each other because the reenactment is
boring and meaningless for them they get a surprise. Having had a tryst with
one of the caster cousins previously, Link is tricked into materializing and
loading a live round into his rifle and Ethan (we think) is mortally wounded.
Lena feels the pain of the shooting and comes running to his side weeping, when
he transforms into her father. The person she thought was her father at the
ceremony was actually her cousin in disguise. The curse is broken but she still
must choose light or dark. After causing a tornado and multiple lightning
strikes that severely disrupt the Honey Hill reenactment, Lena dismisses Ridley
and has it out with her mother, finally turning her into what looks like a dead
grapevine.
Lena
goes back to school, meets Ethan (who still doesn’t remember her) who wishes he
got to know her better but is on his way to New York City and a better life,
and all seems lost. Link drives Ethan almost to Interstate 95, the car stops,
Ethan gets out and cries, “Lena!” Lena hears him all the back at the library
and the movie ends.
Except
for Viola Davis, forgive me, but I did not believe a single Southern drawl. And
other than a few bright moments from her, Jeremy Irons and Emma Thompson, the
acting was nil to overdone. As I said, the costumes were interesting. Was there
music in this film? I didn’t notice. Just one special effect stood out. Ethan
is trying to get back to Lena at her plantation-style mansion. He parks at the
gate, walks a few yards and comes right back to the gate and his car. He turns
around and walks back and sees himself coming the other way. I liked that.
Otherwise, Beautiful Creatures is
forgettable.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Martini glasses.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Martini glasses.
Sen NYC
12 West 21st Street (5th Avenue), New York City
When
I arrived at the juncture of 5th Avenue and 21st Street
I was slightly tired because I had a miscalculation of time. The movie let out
at 7:07 PM and my dinner reservation was for 7:15. With a little bit of hustle
in my step I made the jaunt from 2nd Avenue and 31st Street
in 20 minutes, amazing the young gentleman at the captain’s station. From
outside, the only indication that the restaurant is there is a maroon banner
with the word Sen in white stylized lettering. Inside, the décor is simple;
charcoal ceilings, white brick walls paneled table-height in rough outer-bark
wood, black wood pedestal tables with matching chairs and swag lighting that
looks like sleek flying saucers. The bar dominates the center space with its
multi-tiered shelving displaying colorful bottles of sake and other spirits.
My
waiter, Daniel apologized for being so busy (the place was well filled with
customers) and brought a glass or water and took my drink order, a Sake Martini
– sake, vodka, and cucumber juice with a thin slice of cucumber folded neatly –
delightful. I even ate the garnish (twice).
The
menu took a lot of consideration because of its many divisions and styles of
Japanese preparations. Not wanting to stuff myself, I consulted Daniel on the
Rice Pots – all of which looked tempting. He explained that they were not big
enough to be main courses, but were too big to be considered side dishes. I had
ruled out all the meat dishes (Lent, you know) and asked about the sushi rolls.
Daniel pointed out that some were larger than others and had more pieces -
another factor which I added to my overall hunger and appetite.
I
settled on the Kinchaku from the Small Bites section of the
menu – little flaky dough purses with edible drawstrings filled with cream
cheese and sweet crabmeat – absolutely erotic! There were only three, so I savored
every bite trying to avoid the impulse to order more.
The
wine list is divided up according to price (what a great idea!) $30, $45, $60,
$75. I chose a 2009 Chenin Blanc from Chidaine vineyards. Its smooth
semi-sweetness went beautifully with every course.
For
the next course I chose a sushi roll called Golden Pacific Roll – a black
seaweed wrapped roll of rice surrounding a heart of Uni (sea urchin) and Salmon
Roe – and once again I was transported! I told Daniel that this dish tasted so
good, it should be illegal. Even the soy sauce was homemade by Chef Emperor
(yes, his real name is Emperor) and was not as salty as I expect soy sauce to
be. It was perfect.
I
wanted the Meru (Sea Bass) main course but Daniel informed me
that they were all out of it. I asked if they had a back-up seafood main course
(it was the only one on the menu) and was told no. How about a seafood-oriented
dish that could serve as a main course? With that, Daniel suggested the Chirashi
Meshi, one of the Rice Pots with seafood flavors seaweed, vegetables and a
scallop topper. By now I trusted any dish this restaurant had to be excellent
and I agreed. When the Rice Pot arrived I was charmed as much by the
presentation as the enticing aroma of the dish. It was served in a gleaming
steel pot set into a blonde wood tray (to keep people from burning their
fingers on the extremely hot pot – I did touch it and can vouch for its
temperature). Something told me that this was not the dish I ordered but I dove
into it in a kind of feeding frenzy. The woodsy, earthy smell of truffles and
the sweet buttery flavor in the short-grained rice mixed with slender brown
woodland mushrooms told me this was the Truffle-Butter Rice Pot, but I didn’t
care. I was reveling in gourmet land. Daniel asked how it was and I assured him
the pot would be emptied.
I
did indeed finish it when another server brought the correct dish to my table.
He explained the accident and said the other dish was on the house. No
complaints from me. I still had wine left and appetite. I was a quarter-way
finished when Daniel presented me with a Uni sushi, saying he knows
it’s my favorite (yes, I told him earlier) and he apologized for the wrong dish
arriving first. I was in Heaven! It was not easy to slowly savor the sushi
before I finished half of the Rice Pot and requested it be packed up to leave
room for dessert.
Dessert
was simple. Either it would be an apple tart or a cherry tart. I chose cherry.
It was a lovely four-inch diameter disk of flaky pastry with cherry filling and
crosshatched crust on top dusted with confectioner’s sugar. To accompany it
there was a nice cup of green tea. Lastly, after noticing (and not being able
to take my eyes of it) a tall, pyramid-like ruby red glass decanter on one of
the shelves behind the bar, I asked what it was. Thus, Starr: an African rum
distilled and bottled on the island of Mauritius, became my after-dinner drink
– a nice mellow flavor with only a little kick. Thanks to Chef Emperor and
Daniel I now have a Japanese restaurant on my list to rival Chef Morimoto’s.
Let the competition be fierce!
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