Dinner and a Movie
Transcending the River
Transcending the River
By Steve Herte
In
my younger years I traveled much to Europe and Mexico and many cities
in the U.S. (mostly thanks to the Barbershop Harmony Society). Yes,
for 30-some-odd years I sang with barbershop choruses and in 15
different barbershop quartets. I continued that until rehearsals
became more work than fun. I guess age does that. Also, my fear of
flying grew rather than abated and now you couldn’t get me on a
plane unless you drugged me. Thank goodness someone invented the
word “stay-cation.” I’ve had a few in my later years.
Allow me to explain. I live in Queens, a borough of the “City
that Never Sleeps.” For one week a year I check into a hotel in
Manhattan (Midtown preferably) and I make it my base of operations
for sightseeing for the whole week. A “stay-cation” is a
vacation in which you never really “leave town.” Granted,
my “town” is a large one. But I have not run out of sights
to see or things to discover.
In
my travels I have developed my own opinions and standards, like my
movie ratings. People have questioned why I rate a film higher than
my reviews appear to sound. They’re really not. I’ll try to
make this clear. My symbol is the martini glass, my favorite
cocktail, and I rate films from one to five. They stand for these
qualities: 1. The title and the trailers make me want to see the
movie. 2. The visual photography, soundtrack and special effects
are attractive. 3. The storyline and writing is clever and with
minimum vulgarity (unless needed for the plot). 4. The acting and
cast is so good as to make the characters believable. 5. I am so
drawn into the film that I identify with a character. Of course there
are half gradations when necessary. Can any film receive less than
one martini glass? That will only be possible when I am not the one
choosing what film I see (and paying for it).
I
hope this helps. Friday I was drawn by an actor I fondly call “The
Modern Man of a Thousand Faces” and a restaurant whose location
holds memories. Enjoy!
Transcendence (WB,
2014) – Director: Wally Pfister. Writer: Jack Paglen. Cast: Johnny
Depp, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Freeman, Paul Bettany, Gillian Murphy,
Kate Mara, & Cole Hauser. Color, 119 minutes.
“The
Internet was created to make the world smaller. Now it seems the
world is smaller without it.” Thus ruminates Max Waters (Bettany)
as he stares at a sunflower in a garden created by his friends Will
and Evelyn. Then the film whisks us five years into the past.
Dr.
Will Caster (Depp) is a genius who wants to create an Artificial
Intelligence with full emotional feelings and a comprehensive
knowledge of literally everything and he has had some success
uploading the consciousness of a monkey. Evelyn, (Hall) his wife and
biggest supporter, has her own dream of saving the world, eliminating
hunger and disease and protecting the environment. Unfortunately
there is an organization called RIFT (Revolutionary Independence From
Technology) dead set against any computer becoming sentient (and
especially all-powerful) and, led by Bree (Mara) performs terrorist
attacks on Caster and his organization, including shooting him with a
bullet laced with radioactive elements which are killing him from
inside. Evelyn realizes that RIFT is going to attack their main
laboratory and swipes a few of the “cores” from the prototype
computer PINN (Physically Integrated Neural Network) and with Max,
sets up a safe, secret laboratory to continue Will’s work. When she
realizes he’s beyond saving and his knowledge will be lost, she
convinces Max to help her upload Will’s consciousness into the
computer. Secretly hoping they will fail, Max is astonished and
horrified when they succeed.
Max’s
premonitions about absolute power corrupting absolutely are realized
when Will uses the capability of PINN and the Internet to go global
and extend his reach, money-making capacity, and technological
evolution to a point where he becomes God-like. Evelyn stays with him
until he starts curing poor people of any and all illnesses and
infirmities only to incorporate them into his mind and have them
become subservient to him. His nano-technology becomes a kind of
instantaneous creation power, rebuilding anything that is destroyed
and repairing any injury suffered by his people.
Freeman
plays FBI Agent Joseph Tagger who recognizes both the good that Will
is doing and the potential evil that such power can generate. With
Max (who has now turned against his friends and joined RIFT) they
calculate that only a virus uploaded into Will’s system will stop
him. Not only that, Evelyn is the only way to transmit the virus and
she won’t survive the process. But wait, there’s more. When the
virus is successfully uploaded it will cause a global blackout and
totally destroy the Internet.
Transcendence
had possibilities of being a great movie but unfortunately it will
join the ranks of other potentially global computer disaster movies
like Colossus (1970), War Games (1983),
and the slightly less global Demon Seed (1977). The
film takes 50 minutes of its hour-and-59-minute length before it
takes off into fantasy depending heavily on the excellent musical
soundtrack. Depp is almost as moody broody and mirthless as Edward
Scissorhands, which he does well and it prefaces his incorporation
into a computer nicely, but it detracts from the believability of his
character. Freeman is stock Morgan Freeman, a great actor but been
there, done that.
This
movie is all about Evelyn and Rebecca Hall and does a superb job of
displaying the love and devotion for Will, and later the shock and
horror in what “they” created. Evelyn is the only character with
a hint of reality. The storyline is good but the conflict is lame.
The only reason RIFT has for their existence is that A.I. is an
abomination. Seriously? The special effects are wonderful and used
judiciously throughout the movie, especially the last scene where we
rejoin Max and the sunflower in the garden. There are scenes of gun
violence and bloodshed so parents, be aware. This is not a kiddie
film. I for one have enjoyed Depp much more in his previous films and
hope has better scripts coming.
Rating:
3 out of 5 Martini glasses.
Merchants
River House
375
South End Avenue – Hudson River Esplanade (between Liberty and
Albany Streets) Battery Park City, N.Y.
Four
years ago, Steamers Landing occupied the prime real estate now
occupied by Merchants River House. The elongated space starts with an
informal covered porch dining area leading to the bar in the middle,
the dining area attached to the bar and last, the outdoor café
section in the garden. It is almost impossible not to get a window
view of the majestic Hudson River as it empties into New York Harbor
and the impressive skyline of Jersey City as the sun sets behind it.
I
entered through the door to the bar and met the girls at the first of
two (yes, two) Captains Stations. They directed me to the second just
past the bar. I was seated at the last table in the rear facing the
window with my back to the restrooms – and the rear door from the
garden. It was comfortable until the Battery Park City resident
diners arrived and I had cold and hot flashes as the door
periodically opened and closed. The blue and white checked
tablecloths gave the place a homey look under the small shaded
sconces and faux tin ceiling. Real candles would have been a nice
touch but someone must have a monopoly on selling battery operated
electric candles.
My
server Skip and his attendant trainee Katie took my water preference
and brought me a bottle and the menu. The menu is organized in three
columns – Soups and Salads, Burgers and Sandwiches on the left,
Entrées, Sides and Desserts on the right, and Starters in the center
under the title. The reverse side shows the beverages, cocktails,
beer and wine lists. I had my eye on the Blue River Martini – made
with Zyr vodka and bleu cheese stuffed olives – but Skip told me
they didn’t have the olives and couldn’t make that drink. Strike
one. My back-up choice was the Mystic Malbec Martini – Primo Malbec
wine floating on a blend of key lime juice and Malbec – and at
first Skip told me that drink could not be made either because of
lack of Key limes. But when he checked with the bartender he found
that it was untrue and I ordered the drink. It was an amazing drink
with the burgundy-colored wine capping the cloudy white tart lime
mixture.
Katie
arrived halfway through the cocktail to take my dinner order. I asked
her how large the salads were and she gave me an indeterminate answer
so I decided against them. Then I asked about soups. “Buffalo
Chicken and Beef Barley;” Neither of which I could have on Good
Friday. Strike two.
I returned to the menu and chose a starter, the
Pan Steamed Prince Edward Island Mussels – made with shaved garlic,
flat-leafed parsley, thyme and red pepper flakes in a creamery butter
and chardonnay sauce. It was served in a heaping bowl steamy hot and
fragrant. When I removed the tender mussels from their shells it made
a pleasing soup that I finished to the last drop with the crusty
baguette slices that came with it.
Prior
experiences with striped bass had me eager to try the dish from the
time I first saw it on the website. I ordered the Pan Seared Striped
Bass – over a bed of Ratatouille, potato cubes and spinach in a
horseradish/mustard sauce.
Unfortunately, my prior experiences did
not prepare me for the lackluster flavor of this dish. Was there
horseradish or mustard? My tongue didn’t tingle the slightest bit.
The fish was well cooked and flaky but the bread coating was
flavorless. The spinach was the best part of the dish. Even the
ratatouille was uninspiring. Strike three. It was a good thing the
2011 Ergo Tempranillo from Rioja, Spain, was excellent and kept the
meal exciting.
At
dessert time, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was hoping
I didn’t have to tell Skip to skip it or not. When Katie floated by
I ordered the Chocolate Mousse Pie. “Do you want ice cream with
that?” “Yes please.” And so it was: A smooth chocolate-y slice
of pie accompanied by a ball of gooey homemade vanilla ice cream
(later I learned it was a $2.50 ball of ice cream). But it was
delicious. Skip arrived soon after asking if there was anything else
I wanted. I suggested an after-dinner drink but he said they only
have a “house brandy.” That was fine with me and I told him. A
few minutes later, Katie came to my table with the check. Hmm. I
waited an appropriate amount of time until Skip came back. I handed
him my payment with the question, “Out of the ‘house brandy?'”
He looked taken aback and offered to bring it but I demurred. Is
there such a thing as “strike four?”
Being
an impulsive eavesdropper I had heard over the course of my dinner
several other people at other tables ordering the same martini that
they were out of when I came and getting the same answer. It made me
wonder why if the drink was so popular. Did not four years of
experience teach them? When Helene and I sat at nearly the same table
years ago we had a wonderful time at Steamers Landing. I will
remember that.
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