Dinner and a Movie
Seeking Haven from the Storm
Seeking Haven from the Storm
By
Steve Herte
What
a stay-cation! My hotel, the "Night Hotel," was the weakest
link by far. The only thing "sexy" about it was the lobby
with its two columnar fish tanks and writhing chandeliers. My room
was small – they had to put the mini-bar under the desk – which
left me no place for my legs. But the bed was comfy and there was
plenty of hot water. After all, it's just a base of operations. Sorry
Ed, they didn't even have pay-per-view, and I couldn't catch up on
movies. But the week went well. On Saturday, the street fair on 45th
Street changed my restaurant plans to Bobby Van's Grill, which was
surprisingly good for a steakhouse chain. My visit to the 911 Museum
on Sunday was cavernous and vaguely creepy, but fascinating at the
same time. But a visit to my all-time favorite restaurant, Henry's
End, that evening made all that go away.
Monday,
I took a day trip to Yonkers and played at Empire City casino - fun
and not too much money lost. Tuesday was perhaps the highlight of the
week with the Turner Classic Movies Tour – a three-hour bus ride (A
three-hour tour. That sounds familiar.) around Manhattan – stopping
at various place where famous movies were shot. I now know the exact
subway grating where Marilyn Monroe's skirt went up. My Karaoke
choices that night reflected movie themes.
Wednesday,
it rained, and after a breakfast at Ellen's Stardust Diner (singing
wait staff), I headed to a packed Museum of Natural History. They
couldn't let anyone else in through the main entrance, so I entered
through the Planetarium doors. There I saw a great 3D documentary on
the Great White Shark and the new Planetarium show, “Dark
Universe,” an intergalactic voyage.
Thursday
and Friday were two of the most beautiful days I can recall: I spent
one at the Botanical Gardens and the other at the Bronx Zoo. From
there it was my movie night and dinner which, as you now see follow.
Enjoy!
Into
the Storm (WB, 2014) –
Director: Steven Quale. Writer: John Swetnam. Cast: Richard Armitage,
Sarah Wayne Callies, Matt Walsh, Max Deacon, Nathan Kress, Alycia
Debnam Carey, Arlen Escarpeta, Jeremy Sumpter, Lee Whittaker, Kyle
Davis, Jon Reep, Scott Lawrence, David Drumm, Brandon Ruiter, &
Jimmy Groce. Color, 89 minutes.
If
there’s anything this movie states quite graphically, it’s that
the weather has gotten more violent and unpredictable. So can acting
ability. Into the Storm depends heavily for its
credibility on its spectacular special effects and intense musical
soundtrack to keep the audience gripping their seats in terror. If
there hadn’t been such an abundance of reported tornadoes this year
forming in all sorts of strange places (like Boston), the comic
relief provided by two “Twista Chasers” would have lightened the
mood considerably.
In
yet another “hand-held-camera” filming event we meet the Fuller
family, Gary (Armitage), Donnie (Deacon) and Trey (Kress), who are
going about their usual day preparing for the Silverton High School
graduation. The boys are in charge of filming the exercises for a
“time capsule” to be opened in 25 years. There is obvious
non-communication between the boys and their dad, and Donnie voices
his concern several times. But dad is in the world of being the
Assistant Principal of Silverton High School and making sure
everything goes without a hitch. Little do they know the form and
size the “hitch” will take.
The
main plot revolves around Pete (Walsh) and his crew of storm chasers,
who are depending on a grant to film tornadoes, and who are currently
batting zero. Pete blames the newest member of his team, Allison
(Callies), a young beautiful woman with a master’s degree in
meteorology, for leading them in the wrong directions. The friction
between the two is palpable and the rest of the team often tries to
intervene. When other storm-chasing group and media representatives
are heading to another town in Oklahoma, Allison insists that
Silverton is the one that’s going to be hit. At first, it looks
like she’s wrong again and Pete is fuming, until golf-ball sized
hail starts falling outside their motel and they race to their
vehicles.
Pete
has designed an armored “tank” he calls “Titan” that can
drill into the surrounding pavement and withstand the highest wind
speeds of any known tornado. His goal is to position Titan directly
into the path of one and discover what the “eye” is like, and
record this for posterity (and his individual fame). Be careful what
you wish for, Pete!
Donnie
talks his brother into an encounter with the girl of his dreams,
Kaitlyn (Carey), but doesn’t expect Donnie to volunteer to assist
her on re-recording her term assignment, thus leaving him alone to
film the graduation. Trey and Kaitlyn go off to an abandoned lumber
mill to complete her statement about the environmental hazard of such
a building still existing.
Cue
the wacky weather. The supercell expands to ridiculous size and
starts breeding tornadoes everywhere. Pete is excited and positions
his Titan in the path of one that dissipates just before it hits him.
Donk and Reevis (Davis and Reep), the redneck “Twista Chasers,, are
ecstatic and get drunk to celebrate. A downpour interrupts the high
school ceremonies, and everyone heads inside. Whoops! A tornado hits
the building and tears off half the roof, raining debris down on the
frightened students. The Principal (Lawrence) eventually gets
everyone into the storm cellar of the high school. Meanwhile, Trey
and Kaitlyn are trapped in the wreckage of the lumber mill.
But
that’s not all. Two major tornadoes touch down and merge into a
category 5 miles-wide tornado, with wind speeds of up to 300 miles
per hour, and heading straight for the school. This breaks a water
pipe that starts filling up the well in the lumber mill’s floor
where Trey and Kaitlyn thought they would be relatively safe until
being rescued. Gary and Allison convince the Principal that they have
to get all the students out before this monster hits. A line of
school buses filled with terrified kids starts down the road just
ahead of the huge tornado as it destroys the school and, in an
impressive special effect, the airport.
Gary
still wants to find Trey and Allison, and he risks life and limb
(quite a few trees are tossed around) to do so. The heroes of our
story find themselves in a storm drain as the mega-tornado hits, and
Pete blocks the grating with Titan. This works until the eye of the
tornado crosses and the back winds (much, much worse) hit. The
grappling cable from Titan breaks and Pete is airborne. He travels up
and up the funnel until he reaches the top (and this is where fantasy
meets fact) and views glorious sunset-hued clouds and bright sunlight
(but no land of Oz and no soft wicked witch to land on as he heads
back down).
Into
the Storm seems to make too
light of a serious force of nature. It both scares you and makes you
laugh. The storm scenes are very intense and violent, which is
something I expected. But when Donk and Reevis are still alive and
joking (and hanging from a tree) at the end, I had to say to myself,
“Really?” It’s a graphic movie about the havoc tornadoes can
cause. Heavy vehicles are dropped randomly and at one point a child’s
pink tricycle is shown protruding from the door of a van. Think about
how your children will react to this before taking them. I was
entertained for the full hour and 29 minutes, but it may not have
been what the director intended.
Rating:
3 out of 5 Martini glasses.
Haven
on Rooftop
Sanctuary
Hotel, 132
West 47th Street, New
York
Climb
the red-carpeted stairway to the entrance of the ornate façade of
the Sanctuary Hotel and a doorman will open the heavy wooden door for
you. “Dining on Roof-top?” “Yes.” “Follow this gentleman to
the end of the corridor.” “Thank you.”
The elevator takes you
to the ninth floor where you exit left and see a blue door and hear
laughter and conversation over the contemporary music above. You
climb a short staircase and are now in Haven, an airy open space
wrapped around the roof of the hotel. There are plexiglass panels to
protect the diners from the wind, and colorful triangles of canvas
hung overhead interspersed with plastic sheets to protect from rain.
Beautiful people are all around dining at shiny polymer-treated wood
tables enjoying cocktails and each other. In a corner of the roof is
the bar with a flat screen television above it.
The
young lady at the Captain’s Station greeted me and led me to a
taller table toward the back flanked by three high stools. She asked
me if this was OK or if I would prefer to wait for a conventional
table. I saw that there was a wall for me to lean on should I need it
and accepted the table.
Soon,
Tara, my lovely waitress, arrived with a narrow, single-sided menu
card and an accompanying two-sided drink menu. I chose the “Safe
Haven” – Absolute mango vodka, passion fruit and ginger beer –
and took my order to the bartender. The food menu is divided into
Appetizers, Salads, Entrees, Pastas, Sides, “To Share” and
Pizzas. Judging that the “To Shares” would be large and seeing
for myself as some were served at the next table, I ignored that part
of the menu. The cocktail was delightful and refreshing, reminding me
of a night in Bermuda. I didn’t know Absolute made a mango-flavored
vodka. I’ll have to look for it.
Eventually,
I decided on a two-course meal as three would be too much food. I
chose the Crab and Avocado Palette as my appetizer. The presentation
of certain dishes always amazes me. Here, in the center of an
immaculate white dish was a cylinder consisting of jumbo lump
crabmeat on the bottom and coarsely chopped avocado on top, crowned
with a slice of lemon and with a drizzle of avocado puree on either
side. Delicately maneuvering my fork I was able to get portions of
both avocado and crab and enjoy them together. It was light and rich
at the same time.
At
this point I asked Tara why there existed a side of “truffled
fries” when two of the four main courses already came with fries.
“Oh, those are just regular fries. But some people just like fries
and they order both.” I did. The Steak au Poivre made
to my order with a Mesclun Salad and “regular” fries was nicely
spicy and the vinaigrette dressing on the salad was tantalizing.
The
paper cone of truffled fries was suspended in a steel wire-serving
device that also had arms to hold catsup and mayonnaise dipping
sauces. As I watched the truffle oil drip slowly onto the table from
the paper cone I wondered how I could stop such a waste. But,
remembering that I’m on vacation I put that thought out of my head.
I just enjoyed my steak and fries, fries, fries and another “Safe
Haven.” The day had been beautiful and the evening breeze made a
rare al fresco dining experience very special for me.
When
I finished my main course there was still quite a bit of the truffled
fries left. I ordered a glass of chardonnay to accompany them. But
then, Tara brought the dessert menu. “Pack up the fries! I’m
having dessert.” The Chocolate Mousse sounded so heavenly I had to
order it and the Rice Pudding Martini was inevitable. Both arrived in
stemmed martini glasses. I remarked to the server, “Is this
decadence, or what?” The chocolate mousse was denser than my
brother’s recipe but it was still sinfully delicious. The martini’s
main flavor was coconut with a dash of clove. I suggested adding
cardamom and bits of cooked rice to add to the mystique. “You
should work here.” Tara said.
The
limited menu of Haven on Rooftop makes me feel that each dish gets
the proper care in preparation and from what I had, that must be the
case. I’ll have to find a reason to return. This time with friends
I can laugh and talk with.
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