Alice Still Lives on A Spice Lane
By Steve Herte
Last
Monday was Helene’s birthday, and at karaoke I tried to sing songs
strictly from a list I made of songs she liked to sing. This included
doing two songs I’ve never tried in public before: “Your
Kiss Is On My List” by Hall and Oates, and “Invisible Touch”
by Genesis. Thank goodness for YouTube. I got to hear them over an
over and was confident of the two melodies by Tuesday evening. The
week passed quickly and I was glad not to have to shovel snow (at
least for a few days) and I’m still glad I don’t live in Boston,
though I love the town.
Choosing
a movie for Friday was more difficult than I thought. I was hoping
that Grand Budapest Hotel would stick around one
more week, but it didn’t. Having seen the incredibly stupid
first Hot Tub Time Machine, I was not going to put myself
through the second. Though I like Will Smith, I’ve
been “Con-manned” to death. That shot that movie. The
trailers for The Lazarus Effect were too creepy
(there’s a time and a place for horror) and there was very little
else.
Having
seen Birdman (Best Picture) and The Theory
of Everything (Best Actor), I finally decided it was time to
see the movie of the Best Actress, knowing ahead of time that it
would be a sad film. I figured that my 139th Indian restaurant would
dispel the sadness of the movie. Enjoy!
Still
Alice (Sony
Pictures Classics, 2014) –
Directors: Richard Glatzner and Wash Westmoreland. Writers: Richard
Glatzner and Wash Westmoreland (s/p), Lisa Genova (novel): Cast:
Julianne Moore, Kate Bosworth, Shane McRae, Hunter Parrish, Alec
Baldwin, Seth Gilliam, Kristen Stewart, Stephen Kunken, Erin Drake,
Daniel Gerroll, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Maxine Prescott, & Orlagh
Cassidy. Color, 101 minutes.
Alice
Howland (Moore) is an eminent linguistics professor who is used to
being in control and presenting her expertise in lectures and teaches
at Columbia University. Her husband John (Baldwin) is a medical
research doctor who is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime,
to work at the Mayo Clinic. Her children, Anna Howland-Jones
(Bosworth) currently pregnant with twins, Tom (Parrish) and Lydia
(Stewart), an actress who prefers not to go to college, are all
devoted to her and John.
When
things like her forgetting a significant word during a lecture and
student evaluations coming back stating that her classes are a waste
of time, Alice consults a neurologist, Dr. Benjamin (Kunken). After
several cognition and medical tests he diagnoses her with early-onset
Alzheimer’s disease, a rare illness for someone as young as she
and, not only that, this is made rarer still by being genetic.
Alice’s boss, Eric Wellman (Gerroll) is the first to learn of this
when he notices lapses in her performance. But together they agree
that she should keep working until she’s severely hampered by the
disease.
The
degenerative effects increase as Alice suddenly gets totally lost
during a routine daily run and later forgets where the bathroom is in
her own summer home. She tries various memory tests using the
chalkboard in the kitchen and questions on her SmartPhone to keep her
memory sharp but eventually realizes that it will only get worse. She
makes a video of herself on her laptop orchestrating her own suicide
by describing the location in her bedroom of a bottle of potent
sleeping pills. “If you are seeing this, you’ve probably been
unable to answer any of the questions…”
Before
the disease gets too far she accepts one last lecture before the
Alzheimer’s Association. She devises a clever scheme using a yellow
highlighter to underline the words she’s just said to keep her from
repeating them. At one point she drops the pages to the floor and the
audience gasps quietly. “I wish I could forget that just happened,”
she says as she gathers them up and continues. The speech is clearly
the most poignant moment of the movie and she receives a standing
ovation.
But
the disease is relentless. She wakes up in the middle of the night
and goes down to the kitchen frantically searching for her phone and
John lovingly convinces her to come back to bed. In nearly the next
scene, she and John and her daughters are in the kitchen and John
finds the phone. “I was looking for that last night,” she says.
“That was over a month ago,” says John almost in a whisper to her
daughters.
Bring
a box of tissues to this film. Julianne Moore justly deserves her
Oscar for Best Actress. Alec Baldwin is eclipsed by her performance
but plays the part of an anchor very well. He’s what holds the
story together. Kristen Stewart also plays a moving part. The look on
her face after performing beautifully in a Chekov play and her own
mother doesn’t recognize her tells it all. I need not tell parents
that their children will be bored by this movie, but you yourself
cannot help but be moved. Even if Moore wasn’t as brilliant, the
musical soundtrack gives clear indication when the disease is getting
the upper hand. It’s a well-constructed, well-written and
well-acted piece of theater. And how can you fault a movie whose last
word is “Love?”
Rating:
4½ out of 5 Martini glasses.
A
Spice Lane
216
3rd Avenue
(18th Street), New
York
The
garish, oversize bright blue sign over the front window virtually
screams the name of this little Indian restaurant. There are two
doors to keep out the cold adjacent to each other but they’re a
little difficult maneuver past because of the angle and then you’re
inside. It’s a cozy, sparsely decorated space with nine bare-topped
tables and a liquor-less bar at the back (all the permissions are not
in yet). The ceiling is painted like a blue sky with clouds and
sports two small, unlit crystal chandeliers. The lighting is mainly
from ceiling spots. The walls are a matte gold hung with tasteful,
colorful Indian art.
The
overall appearance is similar to a take-out place, and indeed, all
traffic while I was there was take-out. I asked my server (one of
two) if the dining crowd comes later. “9:00 usually.” This was at
7:00 pm. I could not help but think that curtains might make the
place feel more comfortable and more like a restaurant.
My
server presented me with the neat, folded and laminated menu along
with a glass of water. Constantly aware that the two were waiting
solely on me, I tried to absorb everything on the menu without taking
an inordinate amount of time. The menu didn’t make it easy. I love
Indian food and there were many dishes available that I have not
tried. There were Vegetable Appetizers, Meat Appetizers, Soups, Salad
and Kathi Roll (like an Indian burrito – very interesting), South
India Specialties, Tandoori Specialties, Rice/Biryani, Seafood, Pure
Vegetarian Curries, Meat Curries, Daily Specials, Tandoori Breads,
Beverages and Homemade Desserts. The selection of vegetable
appetizers alone was daunting. The other server brought the basket
with crisp pappadum (a cracker-like bread) and three
condiments: Tamarind chutney, mint chutney and onion chutney.
With
the gracious help of my first server, I was able to order a
three-course meal. My appetizer was one I’ve never ordered, aloo
chat – broiled diced (actually quartered red-skin)
potatoes and chickpeas seasoned with tangy masala (spice),
fresh lime juice, mint, tamarind and fresh coriander chutney. It is a
cold appetizer but with wonderful flavor and only mildly spicy. The
only drawback was the difficulty spooning it from the serving platter
onto the square plate in front of me. The potatoes were cooked
thoroughly and the chickpeas were just right, on the crunchy side.
My
first server asked if I wanted a drink besides water and I chose
something else I’ve never tried before, salted lassi.
It’s a yoghurt drink served in a tall glass ice-cold and it serves
the purpose of putting out the fire caused by the spicier dishes.
It’s also an acquired taste, first timers. It doesn’t taste a bit
like salt as we know it.
My
green soup arrived while I was still working through the appetizer,
but it didn’t matter as the former was steaming-hot and the latter
was cold. Since it was not described on the menu I was intrigued by
the title. It was indeed a beautiful shade of asparagus green but the
first taste was of broccoli. It was spicier than the appetizer but
still, not too much and the lassi moderated the two
effectively.
Still
trying to take my time and enjoy the meal, I found that I was eating
faster than normal under the watchful eyes of two men who had no one
else to attend. Meanwhile, the bicycler take-out employees came back
and forth, adding a chill from the front doors when they didn’t
both close. I kept hoping for other patrons, but none showed. I
didn’t even see people passing on the street.
I
finished both the soup and the appetizer and it was time for the main
course, Tamil fish curry – fish filets lightly fry-cooked in a
medium-spicy, rich brown sauce with green chilies, lemon grass, curry
leaf, coconut, coriander, fenugreek, cumin, and tamarind. Just the
aroma of the dish was wonderful. The first bite was heavenly. I
spooned it over the perfectly cooked Basmati rice and took a slice of
the onion kulcha, a flat bread stuffed with onions, and
enjoyed it. A small bowl of raita (a cucumber
yoghurt sauce) came with the meal.
The
quiet in the restaurant was only broken by the little, radio-like
music coming from the non-bar and a strange, intermittent female
voice repeating something incomprehensible. I felt a little awkward
wearing a tie and dining like a Moghul in a place so small, Spartan
and unpopulated; a very new experience for me.
I
found out that A Spice Lane has been around for eight months now and
has developed a regular clientele, as I was getting very sated. I
finished the fish curry and had them pack up the remainder of the
rice, bread and raita and ordered my favorite Indian
dessert, gulab jamun – golden fried cheese balls
(malted milk) in honey syrup. They were hot, sweet and tender, a
perfect ending to one of the fastest meals ever. (I was out the door
by just after 8:00 pm.)
“Write
us a nice review,” said my first server as he proffered the
business card and take-out menu, and I promised I would. When the
building department gives the green light on the construction of a
bar – they assured me the liquor license was already approved –
and when the weather warms up a little more, I may return for some of
their more exotic dishes. I’ll have to bring friends for most
tastings. Their prices are excellent; it won’t cost that much. But
they really still need curtains.
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