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