Arts
"Gravity Bar cf, Grill
restaurant: imagincrtive,
grounded new America
food that eschews all
false steps; a serene
Night at the Museum is a perfect
holiday film for the whole family.
cherry, apricot and
Gerri Miller
Special to the Jewish News
robin's egg dining room
that fosters conversation
T
but has just enough buzz
to feel lively."
—Susan Isaacs Nisbe :
Ann Arbor News
Special Writer
bar & grill
unch: 11:30 am-3:00 pm, Mon-Fri
Dinner: 4:00 pm, Mon-Sat
340 N, Main Street • Downtown Milford
248.684.4223 + www.gravityrestaurant.com
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Early Bird Dinner!
$11
NOW SERVING
BEER & WINE
Per Person
Available 7 Days a Week • 3-7 pm
Dine In or Carry-Out
(in the Sunset Strip),
248-208-1680
to'
•
1197450
•
If the occafion if credal._
tite place fkotild be too!!
rbinner for Two
31.00
26.00
offer expires December 30, 2006 - with
iSU
$
$
coupon
545 West 9 Mile • Ferndale • 248-547-6699
221 E. Washington Rd. • Ann Arbor • 734-998-4746
Open for Dinner Only • Hours -Sun 3-9, Mon-Thurs 5-9, Fri-Sat 4-11
}0111EXS
1197460
Ei4:11.1a1NI.%
Voted
'Best Coney Dog"
by Style Magazine
2004 & 2005
SO December 21 2006
Chinese And A Movie
Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News
Thr %Lur Mk ,
ETHIOPIAN FEAST
VEGETARIAN FEAST
the long-in-development adaptation of
Milan Trenc's 1993 children's storybook.
"Ben is one of the great comedic
actors working, and part of what is so
great about his work is that he's always
honest on screen. As such, he's always
relatable for us as viewers. For Ben
to keep it real in the midst of surreal
events, that's where a lot of the comedy
comes from': observes Levy, who'd make
monkey sounds and stand in for CGI
creatures-to-be to give Stiller something
to react to.
"It made a huge difference to have
that',' says Stiller, a history buff who
grew up near New York's Museum of
Natural History. He loved the film's
premise and the opportunity it provided
to act in a scene with his mother, Anne
Meara."It's interesting to go back and
forth with someone you're related to
when you're not playing mother and
son," he notes.
Stiller also got to act with Robin
Williams (as Theodore Roosevelt),
Ricky Gervais (as the museum man-
ager), Steve Coogan and Owen Wilson
(as a miniaturized Roman soldier and
cowboy, respectively), Dick Van Dyke
and Mickey Rooney as night watchmen,
Southfield
Serviti tke rest taste • Etitio is
•
he premise of Director Shawn
Levy's Night at the Museum,
a family film opening Friday,
Dec 22, is simple:
A new security guard at a natural
history museum encounters displays
that come to life and wreak havoc every
night.
The execution was much more com-
plicated, involving massive amounts of
computer effects and a coterie of star
comedians who love to go off script. No
wonder Levy refused the job on three
separate occasions.
Levy had the comedy experience,
having directed Steve Martin in The
Pink Panther and Cheaper by the
Dozen, but CGI (computer generated
imagery) was uncharted territory, "a
language I didn't speak"
Then, encouraged by a colleague to
see through the complexity to the beat-
ing heart inside [the film], a father-son
redemption story about a guy finding
the extraordinary within himself and a
son discovering the heroic in his father,"
Levy signed on to direct Ben Stiller in
"
Your choice of:
Down Home Fried Chicken ■ Farm-Raised Catfish
■ Rib Tips ■ Potato Encrusted Whitefish
■ Old Fashioned Meatloaf
veryone's Favorite Southern includes 2 Sides 8- Dessert
Cookin • Restaurant!
29508 Northwestern Hwy.
,
I Cid
Scary, Scary Night
At the end of the day
it's nice to feel grounded
by the finer things in life.
is a perfect 10 of a
a I
A
s most Jews know, most
Chinese restaurants stay
open on Christmas Day.
Many a Hebrew, with nowhere else
to go on Christmas, has found solace
and tasty sustenance in the cuisine of
another ancient people.
With the cuisine of choice identi-
fied, you now need to know what films
to see over the holiday period. Here
are some suggestions with a Jewish
connection:
Among movies that have recently
come to theaters, a good choice is
Blood Diamond, an action-adven-
ture-with-a-message. Jewish direc-
tor Ed Zwick says his Jewish social
conscience played a part in making
this movie about the African diamond
trade that fuels war zones. The good
thing is that the film works as a
movie as well as a message.
Still playing is The Holiday, a
romantic comedy written and
directed by Nancy Meyers, starring
Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude
Law and landsman Jack Black. The
Jewish Meyers finds a way - with
supporting actor Eli Wallach - to
include a Chanukah party in this
Christmas movie.
Also in theaters is Will
Smith's movie The Pursuit of
Happyness. Closely tracking a
true story, Smith plays an African-
American single father who over-
comes incredible odds - including
homelessness - to become a wildly
successful stockbroker. On the sur-
face, this flick has few Jewish con-
nections, but working very hard on
behalf of your kids and becoming a
success isn't exactly a story that is
alien to Jews.
In real life, Will Smith's father
became a small business suc-
cess with the help of friends in the
Philadelphia Jewish community - a
"debt" the black actor has frequently
noted. Interestingly, his production
company (co-owned by his wife, Jada
Pinkett Smith) is now making a TV
pilot about a Jewish woman married
to a black man.
Opening Friday, Dec. 22, is The
History Boys, the filmed version of a
British play that was a hit in London