Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises is a 2007 gangster film directed by David Cronenberg and starring Viggo Mortensen (one of our favorites) and Naomi Watts. It's critically acclaimed and well worth watching -which isn't always the same thing

You might not think of this movie as a Christmas movie, but it does take place during the holiday season. So we're counting it.

trailer:

The Guardian says, "Eastern Promises is an exciting story about hypocrisy, decency and different kinds of honour, and about the dark underside of globalisation and multiculturalism." Slate praises it and closes with this: "If you saw A History of Violence, you know Mortensen can fuck up a guy something fierce, but till you've seen him do it buck naked and covered in mob tattoos, you haven't lived."

Roger Ebert gives it 4 out of 4 stars, and -calling the casting "pitch-perfect"- says, "The actors and the characters merge and form a reality above and apart from the story, and the result is a film that takes us beyond crime and London and the Russian mafia and into the mystifying realms of human nature." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 89%.

The Steamroller and the Violin

The Steamroller and the Violin is a 1961 short film (c. 45 minutes) directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. A 7 year old violin student develops a special friendship with the steamroller driver who protects him from the bullies. This is a sweet film.

short excerpt:

You can watch the complete film online here.

Senses of Cinema closes its article with this:

Tarkovsky’s film, in which an adult male can ask an unrelated young boy to the cinema with him in all innocence, is clearly a testament to a time of more innocent public discourse. That said, it is tinged with the pervasive sadness and rare moments of joy that make the best of Tarkovsky’s work so powerful.

DVD Talk says,

Whether you are a fan of Andrei Tarkovsky or not The Steamroller and the Violin is worth a look. It is set up as a simple children's tale but has a lot more complexity and subtly than a good number of 'grown-up' films that deal with the subject of atypical friendships.

Slant Magazine says, "The film's strikingly sweet though certainly unsentimental lyricism feels as if it exists in the imagination of a child." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 89%.

Cabaret

The Younger Son hadn't seen this, so we took some time to rectify that. Cabaret is a 1972 musical directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Grey. My favorite part of this is actually the sub-plot with Fritz and Natalia, which doesn't even get mentioned in most of the plot summaries.

trailer:

Here's If You Could See Her From My Eyes:

FilmReference.com closes with this:

Cabaret is an incredibly innovative film. Now regarded as a classic, the film's use of colour, the garishness of the costumes, the smokiness of the club, the brightness and exaggeration of the makeup emphasize the decadence of the time. The musical score and choreography are well crafted and performed, and are deliberately kept to the stage of the Kit Kat Klub ("Tomorrow Belongs to Me" is the only exception to this). Minnelli performs her songs emotively and convincingly, if anything she is too good for the small, decadent atmosphere of the Klub.

Slant Magazine gives it 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. The BBC opens by saying "The first musical ever to be given an X certificate, Bob Fosse's "Cabaret" launched Liza Minnelli into Hollywood superstardom and reinvented the musical for the Age of Aquarius." FilmSite has some background and a detailed plot summary.

Empire Online concludes: "Winner of eight Academy Awards, this holds up as a great musical of style and sleaze. Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey are electrifying; director Bob Fosse's choreography and the camera work are scintillating." NPR has an interview with Joel Grey in which he talks about the effect the movie had on the entertainment industry.

It's listed in the book 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. Roger Ebert gives it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and focuses on Liza Minnelli's stellar performance. Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 97%.

Interstellar

Interstellar is a 2014 science fiction film directed by Christopher Nolan. Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Ellen Burstyn, and Michael Caine star. This is a great science fiction film. I found it predictable because of how familiar I am with science fiction tropes, but that's a good thing. I'd have been disappointed if I'd been wrong, like I'd be disappointed if a romantic comedy ended in tragic horror. I knew what to expect and was very pleased with how well they did it.

trailer:

Moria gives it 5 out of 5 stars and says

In an era where box-office science-fiction is represented almost exclusively by superheroes and mass destruction spectacle, it is a genuine pleasure seeing a film that is rooted in solid science and high-concept science-fiction. We have a film that features such challenging concepts from physics as relativity, gravity and spacetime, time dilation effects, black holes and wormholes, which are a little more than the usual stuff that get served up to the popcorn bucket multiplex crowd.

Empire Online gives it 5 out of 5 stars. Slash Film says, "As Interstellar ends, there’s no doubt you’ve been on a ride. A thoroughly enjoyable and memorable cinematic experience that’s well-made and acted." Rolling Stone gives it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and praises "how enthralling it is, how gracefully it blends the cosmic and the intimate, how deftly it explores the infinite in the smallest human details."

Roger Ebert's site gives it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars and says the film is "an impressive, at times astonishing movie that overwhelmed me to the point where my usual objections to Nolan's work melted away." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics rating of 71% and an audience rating of 85%.

Say When

Say When is a 2003 novel by Elizabeth Berg. I read and enjoyed Open House (2000) and picked this one up on the strength of my experience with that other book. This, like the other one, is a sad book but one that ends on a note of hope -hope for the future, hope for committed relationships, hope for what family can be in our lives. It's sentimental, but that's not always a bad thing.

from the back of the book:

When is a marriage worth saving and when is it best to let go? When do half-truths turn into full-blown lies? When does betrayal end and passion begin?

Say When is a compelling, complex novel that takes readers into the heart of a modern marriage where companionship and intimacy, and denial and pain, so often collide. "Of course he knew she was seeing someone," begins the story of Frank Griffin, a man who's willing to overlook his wife's infidelity -he would let her have this, this thrilling little romance- for the sake of keeping his family intact. But when the forty-year-old Ellen requests a divorce on the basis that she has finally found true, romantic love, Griffin must decide whether to fight or flee ... or search elsewhere for the kind of life he always dreamed of.

With Elizabeth Berg's trademark blend of rare insight, raw emotion, and hard-won wisdom, Say When is a work of startling revelation that no reader will soon forget.

beginning of Chapter 1:

Of course he knew she was seeing someone. He knew who it was, too. Six months ago, saying she needed a new direction in her life, saying she was tired of feeling helpless around anything mechanical, that she had no idea how to even change a tire, Ellen had taken a course in basic auto mechanics -"Know Your Car," it was called. She'd come back the first night saying it was amazing, she'd had the admittedly elitist idea that mechanics were illiterate, but this one was so well-spoken, and he'd walked into the classroom carrying a pile of books he'd just bought -hardback! Mostly new fiction, she'd said. But also Balzac, because he'd never read him.

favorite quote:

After a while, pain simply stopped. It was as though your mind was able to create a firewall beyond which it would not let you venture. You had to have a break from your anguish, or you'd go crazy. It was the psychological equivalent to fainting when physical pain became overbearing.

Publishers Weekly concludes, "These days, separation and divorce are commonplace, but a book that treats those subjects with Berg's tenderness and understanding is not." Kirkus Reviews calls it "Contrived and sentimental".

Devil in a Blue Dress

Devil in a Blue Dress is a 1990 award-winning detective novel -1st in a series- by Walter Mosley. It was adapted for film in 1995. I thoroughly enjoyed this page-turner and will keep my copy. I'll add the others in the series to my shelf as time goes by and look forward to reading them.

from the back of the book:

Named "one of the 100 Favorite mysteries of the century"

by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

Los Angeles, 1948: Easy Rawlins is a black war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant. Easy is drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Mont, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs....

Chapter 3 begins:

I drove back to my house thinking of money and how much I needed to have some.

I loved going home. Maybe it was because I was raised on a sharecropper's farm or that I never owned anything until I bought that house, but I loved my little home. There was an apple tree and an avocado in the front yard, surrounded by thick Saint Augustine grass. At the side of the house I had a pomegranate tree that bore more that thirty fruit every season and a banana tree that never produced a thing.There were dahlias and wild roses in beds around the fence and African violets that I kept in a big jar on the front porch.

The New York Times says, "'Devil in a Blue Dress' marks the debut of a talented author with something vital to say about the distance between the black and white worlds, and with a dramatic way to say it." The LA Times also has a positive review and says, "re-creates the era convincingly, with all of its racial tensions, evoking the uneasy combination of freedom and disillusion in the post-war black community and revealing a tough, fresh perspective on Los Angeles history."

Coffee in a Cardboard Cup

Coffee in a Cardboard Cup:

sung by Mandy Patinkin, who celebrated his 63rd birthday yesterday. He's a favorite around our house.

Lyrics excerpt:

The trouble with the world today is plain to see
Is everything is hurry up
It's "rush it through"
"Don't be slow"
"BLT on rye to go"
And coffee
I think she said 'coffee'
I know she said 'coffee
In a cardboard cup'

Ain't it the truth! But maybe during this season we can slow down a bit, take our time, and relish what is now.

Join the weekly gathering over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog the Altered Book Lover. Elizabeth has eggnog. Friendly folks are sharing. You'd be welcome to participate.

Memphis Botanic Garden in the Fall

A week ago I went to the Memphis Botanic Garden, one of my favorite local parks.

What lovely Autumn color! Now to be honest, there've been better years for good fall color, and we never get the kind of glorious color here in Memphis that people in some other parts of the country are blessed with. Nevertheless....

We had had our first frost on our patio the night before, though some areas had frost earlier. The high temperature on the day I was here was 58F.

There were people in every area of the park, but not so many that it was hard to get photos.

It's such a peaceful setting. Take a seat, and enjoy the late afternoon.

The Bay of Angels

The Bay of Angels is a 2001 novel -her 22nd- by Anita Brookner. This author always appeals to me, and I am reading her novels as I come across them.

from the fly leaf:

Zoe Cunningham is delighted when her widowed mother remarries, particularly as her new step-father is amiable, generous, and the owner of a villa in Nice. Enchanted visits come to an abrupt end when an entirely unexpected development leads to a bewildering decline in which both Zoe and Anne, her mother, are trapped.

Surrounded by strangers, no matter how well-meaning, Zoe and Anne yearn for home, although in different ways, even as that home appears ever more remote, and even as Zoe begins to follow the movements of a reclusive and alluring man. Forced to learn how and how not to trust appearances, Zoe hopes for a benign outcome, as she'd so often read about in the fairy tales of her childhood. It may in fact be possible, but only if she is willing to shed the illusions that those stories did so much to encourage.

The book begins:

I read the Blue Fairy Book, the Yellow Fairy Book, and the stories of Hans Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and Charles Perrault. None of this was groundwork for success in worldly terms, for I was led to think, indeed I was minded to think, of the redeeming situation or presence which would put to rights the hardships and dilemmas under which the characters, and I myself, had been laboring. More dangerously, it seemed I need make no decisions on my own behalf, for destiny or fate would always have the matter in hand. Although I was too sensible, even as a child, to believe in a fairy godmother I accepted as part of nature's plan that after a lifetime of sweeping the floor I would go to the ball, that the slipper would fit, and that I would marry the prince. Even the cruel ordeals undergone by the little match girl, or by Hansel and Gretel, would be reversed by that same principle of inevitable justice which oversaw all activities, which guided some even if it defeated others. I knew that some humans were favoured -by whom? by the gods? (this evidence was undeniable)- but I was willing to believe in the redeeming feature, the redeeming presence that would justify all of one's vain striving, would dispel one's disappointments, would in some mysterious way present one with a solution in which one would have no part, so that all one had to do was to wait, in a condition of sinless passivity, for the transformation that would surely take place.

random quotes:

Even a happy ending cannot always banish a sense of longing.

*******

That is why stories are so important: they reveal one to oneself, bringing into the forefront of one's consciousness realizations which so far have been dormant, unexamined.

*******

What courage it must take to grow old!

*******

The Guardian says, "If you had never read Anita Brookner before, you would be unreservedly delighted by this book. Its workmanship is such a treat." The New York Times has a positive review and says, "Freedom from attachment, the novel suggests, is no freedom at all."

other Brookner books I've read:

A Start in Life (1981, US title The Debut)
Hotel du Lac (1984)
A Misalliance (1986)
A Friend from England (1987)
Brief Lives (1990)
Fraud (1992)
A Family Romance (1993, US title Dolly)
Altered States (1996)
Visitors (1997)

Hunted

Hunted is a touching 1952 drama starring Dirk Bogarde. Bogarde is a man who has just killed his wife's boss for a suspected affair with his wife. A 6 year old orphan runaway comes across him right afterwards. The boy has run away from his abusive adoptive parents because he's in trouble -and not for the first time. This time he set the kitchen on fire. The rest of the film shows the changing relationship of the murderer and the runaway as they work to evade capture.

via Youtube:

The NYT has a mixed review. TCM has an overview.

Galilee

Galilee, by Clive Barker, is a 1998 fantasy novel. I enjoyed this one, a sweeping narrative covering a broad scope of time and place.

from the back of the book:

Rich and powerful, the Geary dynasty has reigned over American society for decades. But it is a family with dark, terrible secrets. For the Gearys are a family at war. Their adversaries are the Barbarossas, a family whose timeless origins lie in myth,whose mystical influence is felt in intense, sensual exchanges of flesh and soul. Now their battle is about to escalate.

When Galilee, prodigal prince of the Barbarossa clan, meets Rachel, the young bride of the Geary's own scion Mitchell, they fall in love, consumed by a passion that unleashes long-simmering hatred. Old insanities arise, old adulteries are uncovered, and a seemingly invincible family will begin to wither, exposing its unholy roots...

favorite quotes:

How did we all end up bemoaning the fact of living, instead of finding purpose in the fact?

.......

Unpretentious would be a kind description of the town; banal perhaps truer. If it once had some particular kind of charm, that charm's gone, demolished to make room for the great American ubiquities: cheap hamburgers, cheap liquor places, a market for soda that impersonates more expensive soda and cheese that impersonates milk product. By night the gas station's the brightest spot in town.

Kirkus Reviews calls it "entertaining".

SF Site calls it "engrossing" and says,

The truth of Galilee has less to do with its characters or their adventures than with its recognition of the importance of the storyteller—his voice and his conscience—in the telling of tales. In this truth is a redemption both personal to Barker and paramount to readers of dark and fantastic fiction, who work their way, again and again, through stories without point or purpose until coming upon the likes of Galilee.

The Blue Flower

The Blue Flower is a 1995 novel by Penelope Fitzgerald. It was her last novel, published the year before her death at the age of 83. I think I must've just expected too much. I loved The Bookshop and Offshore, and critics heap copious praise on this one and say it is her masterpiece. Maybe. I guess I need to read more about her writing. To me, it was a collection of people I didn't care about doing things I wasn't particularly interested in. Sad. One out of 3 ain't bad odds, though, so I will still pick up her novels whenever I come across them. There's something about the way she writes that attracts me.

from the back of the book:

The Blue Flower is set in the age of Goethe, in the small towns and great universities of late-eighteenth-century Germany. It tells the true story of Friedrich von Hardenberg, a passionate, impetuous student of philosophy who will later gain fame as the Romantic poet Novalis. Fritz seeks his father’s permission to wed his “heart's heart,” his “spirit's guide” —a plain, simple child named Sophie von Kühn. It is an attachment that shocks his family and friends. Their brilliant young Fritz, betrothed to a twelve-year-old dullard? How can this be?

The irrationality of love, the transfiguration of the commonplace, the clarity of purpose that comes with knowing one’s own fate —these are the themes of this beguiling novel, themes treated with a mix of wit, grace, and mischievous humor unique to the art of Penelope Fitzgerald.

The NYT says, "Good as the other books are, "The Blue Flower" is better. It is a quite astonishing book, a masterpiece, as a number of British critics have already said...". The New York Review of Books calls it "her finest". The Independent calls it "her beautiful masterpiece". Publishers Weekly closes with this: "Fitzgerald has created an alternately biting and touching exploration of the nature of Romanticism -capital "R"". Kirkus Reviews concludes, "A historical novel that's touching, funny, unflinchingly tragic, and at the same time uncompromising in its accuracy, learning and detail: a book that brings its subject entirely alive, almost nothing seeming beyond its grasp."

Gravity

Gravity is an award-winning 2013 film directed by Alfonso Cuarón and starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.

I meant to see this in the theater but never got around to it. We picked it up at the DVD store, and were very impressed by this film. Sandra Bullock pretty much carries the entire movie and proves herself well up to the task. Even if you don't like movies that take place in space (or orbit) the drama here is the thing. Watch it!

trailer:

Moria gives it 5 out of 5 stars and names it one of the top 10 films from that year. Empire Online says, "Let’s cut to the chase. The simple truth of the matter is you’re going to love this movie. Love it..." Space.com gives the movie high praise and says, "Bullock's performance in "Gravity" is the kind of actor's tour de force that comes along maybe once in a quarter century. Yes, Sandra Bullock is that good."

Rotten Tomatoes has a 97% critics rating.

Dreams (1955)

screenshot from film watched at Hulu.com

Dreams is a 1955 Ingmar Bergman film about two women who work together in the fashion industry who schedule a 2-day shoot in a near-by town. They are having relationship difficulties with the men in their lives. The older woman is trying to renew her affair with a married man; the younger woman -a model- has been asked by her gentleman friend not to go on the shoot and when she refuses he leaves her. The movie explores the way these women cope with the struggle. The scene at the top of the post occurs when the young model is approached by an elderly man who says he enjoys looking at her and wants to buy her something. He offers her pearls; she asks for hot chocolate and pastries. So sweet!

I watched it via Hulu when it was offered as one of their free films, but it's behind a paywall now. I did find the scene where she tries on the pearls:

The New York Times says:

His current lesson in love is realistic, unadorned and has the polish of the master craftsman. But it is not a major concept he is dramatizing, and it lacks the hallmarks of imagination, expressive symbolism and poetic nuances of some of the truly memorable films that followed "Dreams."

Bright Lights Film has a positive review and says, "Viewers for whom Dreams is an introduction to Bergman’s work are in an enviable position". Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 40% but an audience rating of 77%.

Join the T Tuesday party over at Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog, where we share a beverage of our choosing and links to our blog posts.

The Wedding

I've been asked by a few people to post a photo of the bride in her dress. This one was taken by a member of the wedding party as photographer Bethany Veach readied the bride for more pictures. She did make a lovely bride!

Here are a couple of close-ups of the bodice:

Here's one of the bride and groom after the service:

Shadow of a Broken Man

Shadow of a Broken Man by George C. Chesbro is the first in the long-running Mongo the Magnificent mystery series. The private detective is a former circus performer, a karate expert, a university professor, , and a criminologist. He's also a dwarf. There was a planned film based on one of the books, and there's an HBO series being considered for after Peter Dinklage finishes with Game of Thrones. I enjoyed this and will seek out the rest of the series.

synopsis taken from the author's website:

Shadow of a Broken Man is that rare work of fiction, a first novel that is so unusual, so taut and engrossing and yet so timely that it not only demands to be read in one sitting but will surely haunt the reader for longer afterward. On one level, this is a fast-paced thriller. But on another, far more important level it explores the uncharted powers of the mind -its infinite, perhaps dangerous, capacities and vulnerabilities. Brilliantly delving into that shadowy area of the extraordinary, the author explores how extrasensory perception can be used to ultimately affect the destiny of men and of nations.

Dr. Robert Frederickson, known to his friends as Mongo, is a professor of criminology at a New York City university, a former circus headliner, a black-belt karate adept and a private detective -who just incidentally happens to be a dwarf. His investigation into the tangled history of a renowned architect named Rafferty, who died -or is supposed to have died- in a bizarre accident, brings him up against Lippitt, a strange victim of Communist torture, whose interest in Rafferty goes deeper than patriotism. Mongo's tenacity sets in motion an incredible chain of events that comes to an explosive and terrifying climax on a New York waterfront, in which a deadly secret is revealed.

George Chesbro's gift for authentic detail, characterization and dialogue, his dazzling originality, and, above all, his inimitably cool style have combined to produce a uniquely powerful and entertaining first novel.

---From the dustjacket of the Simon & Schuster edition

Mystery File praises it saying, "The writing here is literate and fast-paced, the plot is intricate, the concept is bizarre yet entirely plausible."

The Reckless Moment

The Reckless Moment is a 1949 film noir directed by Max Ophuls and starring James Mason (you can't go wrong with any of his movies), Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, and an uncreditted William Schallert (who has appearances in Star Trek's The Trouble with Tribbles and Star Trek: DS9's Sanctuary). As much as I like James Mason, though, this film is just a touch frantic for my taste.

No good comes of protecting your children from the consequences of their actions.

This voice-over is heard following the opening credits:

This happened last year, about a week before Christmas. The Harper family lived in a charming community called Balboa, about 50 miles from Los Angeles. Early one morning, Mrs. Harper took her car and drove to Los Angeles and...

You can watch it via Youtube in parts. Here's part 1:

Time Out says, "A marvellous, tantalising thriller, it also features never-better performances from Mason and Bennett." TCM has information. Rotten Tomatoes doesn't have a critics score, but the audience score is 86%.

Rock'n Dough Pizza and Brew Co.

As I understand it, Rock'n Dough Pizza and Brew Co. started out as a food truck and expanded into a storefront restaurant. We went there last week -for our weekly Saturday pizza- to check them out. You can see the menu here. There's nothing much to look at on the outside, just a storefront location in a strip mall. Inside you order at the counter, where you can get your own drink refills:

I had a spinach calzone and coke:

It was big, and I never thought I could finish it, but I ate every bite. It'll be hard not to order a calzone every time we come here, it was so good!

The Husband and The Younger Son ordered a large Animal Lovers pizza:

They should've split a medium or gotten pizza by the slice; the 20" large was huge. They brought part of it home, and The Younger Son ate it later. In fact he liked it better later, as he said the pizza crust was a little softer than he preferred and warming it up at home gave it a firmer crust.

We'll definitely go back. I want to try the pizza, their Grinders (I didn't know what a grinder was, so I googled it), and the desserts.

OnlyInYourState.com names it one of the top 10 pizza places in the state. Yelp gives it 4 out of 5 stars. Trip Advisor gives it 4.5 out of 5 stars. The Dining with Monkeys blog likes it.

Probability Sun

Probability Sun is the 2001 science fiction novel -2nd in a trilogy- by Nancy Kress. I thoroughly enjoyed the first one and liked this even better. A fun read, if a bit heavy on physics I can't begin to understand. I had trouble putting it down. You can read the prologue here.

The dedication:

For Charles Sheffield, founder, The Charitable Foundation for the Promotion of Scientific Literacy Among People Purporting to Be Science Fiction Writers

from the back of the book:

Salvation or Annihilation?

A strange artifact has been discovered on a distant planet, an artifact that may be the key to humanity's salvation. For we at war with the Fallers, an alien race bent on nothing short of genocide, and this is a war we are losing. The artifact is not only a powerful weapon, but possibly the rosetta stone to a lost superscience ... a superscience that the Fallers may have already decoded. Or it may be a doomsday machine that could destroy the very fabric of space.

Kirkus Reviews concludes, "Kress’s always-excellent characters wrestle with a splendid array of puzzles and problems, human, alien, and scientific: another resounding success for this talented, sure-footed writer." Publishers Weekly closes with this: "Readers will start this novel because of Kress's reputation, will read it for the adventure and will like it for the characters and the science."

Mac's Burgers

Mac's Burgers moved into the old Dan McGuinness Irish Pub space. I still miss Dan McGuinness. Their fish and chips weekly special was a treat. Dan McGuinness has moved into a tiny space next door and turned itself into a hole-in-the-wall bar without food.

So... I go to Mac's Burgers reluctantly, needing to be convinced that this place is a comfortable substitute for the old one. The menu is focused on mac-and-cheese and burgers. Mac-and-cheese is ok but hardly my favorite dish, and it's not a draw for me as a restaurant offering. The burgers are cheesey. The Husband and The Younger Son ordered cheeseburgers, just regular cheeseburgers, which is an item not even on the menu. I got the "Old School" burger without mustard. This struck me as an excellent imitation of the burgers we used to get at the Mid-South Fair, but those were singles and cost 2 bucks. This was a double and was $9.

I didn't get photos of the inside, but the cozy warm pub atmosphere is gone, and the space is hard and spare. I don't think I'm their target audience.

What can I say? I miss Dan McGuinness, but that's not the only thing. I'm not getting the macaroni and cheese emphasis, and I can get a better, cheaper burger elsewhere. Them that likes it speaks well of it, as the saying goes, but I'll leave them to eat here in peace, while I get burgers elsewhere.

Yelp gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars and had this diner-submitted photo of the interior:

Trip Advisor also gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars. The Memphis Flyer has a mixed review and photos of their food. Dining With Monkeys blog has a positive review and photos. History and Pearls blog has a positive review.