By
Steve Herte
First
Man (Universal, 2018) – Director: Damien
Chazelle. Writers: Josh Singer (s/p), Jamres R. Hansen (book). Stars:
Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke. Color, Rated PG-13, 141
minutes.
It’s a rare thing
indeed when I view a biopic. This one interested me, even though I
knew the story, having lived through the 1961-1969 period and
followed the Gemini and Apollo missions avidly. My teen years were at
times terrifying – the Cuban Missile Crisis – and extremely
hopeful – the Space Race. This movie brought back that hope and, at
the same time made me glad I didn’t decide to become an astronaut.
The movie follows
the lives of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) and his wife Janet (Claire
Foy) as they experience the successes and the failures of America’s
competition with the Soviet Union in the dangerous fledgling manned
space program. At the same time they have to deal with the death of
their youngest child Karen (Lucy Stafford) and explain to their two
sons Mark (Connor Blodgett) and Rick (Luke Winters) that Dad is going
to the moon and he might not come back. That possibility became
scarily clear after Gus Grissom (Shea Whigham), Roger Chaffee (Cory
Michael Smith) and Edward Higgins White (Jason Clarke) are killed in
a command module fire on a test of Apollo 1.
Janet probably would
not let Neil go to the moon if she saw what the audience witnessed on
a docking mission with an orbiting Aegina rocket and the spacecraft
started spinning out of control. I for one would not enter a cramped
space that rattled and shook as if it were made out of tin atop
hundreds of pounds of rocket fuel. The effects were that good. Many
times the photography was hand-held as if the audience was a press
employee following the actors. Normally, this would leave me a bit
nauseous but it worked in this film. The acting was superb and the
characters convincing. The two hours and twenty-one minutes could
have been shortened to under two hours by reducing the few scenes
where nothing is going on, no one is talking and it seems like an
endless staring contest. Otherwise, it’s an excellent movie.
I enjoyed seeing all
the familiar astronauts in NASA history; Jim Lovell (Pablo
Schreiber), Elliot See (Patrick Fugit), Pete Conrad (Ethan Embry),
Dave Scott (Christopher Abbott), John Glenn (John David Whalen),
Wally Schirra (Shawn Eric Jones), as well as the two other members of
the Apollo 11 crew, Buzz Aldrin (Corey Stoll) and Mike Collins (Lukas
Haas). My favorite line was from Janet Armstrong when her radio
monitor was shut off at a crucial moment. “You’re a bunch of boys
making models out of balsa wood! You don’t have anything under
control!”
First Man is
a film worth seeing.
Rating: 4 out of
5 martini glasses.
Boucherie
225 Park Avenue
South (18th Street), New York City
I love French food
and I also love steakhouses. Boucherie has the best of both worlds,
with The traditional French menu on a placemat-sized card and the
steakhouse menu on a separate leather-bound card.
I was seated near
the front window, a great location great. My server, Boban, was eager
to please. When it was discovered there was no Beefeaters gin, he
quickly got the idea of Botany gin and I was able to enjoy my
favorite martini.
My drink set off the
intense, garlicky flavor of the Escargots de Bourgogne,
made traditionally and served in the familiar six-cupped crock with
parsley, butter, lemon, garlic and shallots. The sliced French bread
helped get every drop of the intoxicating butter sauce. The surprise
for me was that there were twelve snails in the serving instead of
the usual six. They were savory and a little chewy but great.
Despite having dined
at over two thousand restaurants, I’ve never had a Salade
Niçoise. I had my own ideas about the recipe and just recently
heard what would make it interesting yet I was still surprised at the
pan-seared Ahi tuna, baby arugula, Haricots verts, tomato, Niçoise
olives, organic hard-boiled egg, fingerling potatoes and balsamic
vinaigrette dressing. The size of the dish alone was a show-stopper
and I took my time enjoying all the ingredients. Everything was
fresh, the Haricots were crisp, the potatoes were tender and the tuna
beautifully prepared and delicately flavored.
As my entrée was
seafood, I chose the 2017 Alain Geoffroy Petit Chablis, from
Burgundy, France – a crisp, fresh white that had a little
sweet flavor mixed with the iodine-like tang. It accented the spicy
flavor of the Lotte Rôtie aux Coques – roasted
monkfish, cockles, chorizo, white wine, piquillo peppers and spring
peas. The spice from the peppers and the chorizo made the meaty
monkfish taste like a new breed of fish. I loved the excitement of it
and the crunchy peas cut the spice nicely.
It’s been a long
time since I last had Crêpes Suzette, when the waitress spilled the
Grand Marnier onto the table and blue flames danced everywhere. She
tried to put them out with a napkin and set that on fire too. Such a
memory. But I ordered them anyway. What arrived was not flambé, just
wet, thin orange pancakes with a globe of vanilla ice cream perched
on a peach half. It tasted as boring as it looked. Boban noticed
right away and suggested replacing the dish with Profiteroles. I
agreed, even though I consider them boring too. I was wrong. This
fluffy pastry was not what I expected. It was a fresh-made sphere of
sweet puffy dough that Boban covered in dark chocolate sauce.
The double espresso
was very good but the Chateau Laubade Extra Armagnac was excellent!
Again, a long time since I even saw Armagnac on a menu. It was
delightful. I think I might return to Boucherie to try their
steakhouse menu.
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