MAGAZINE TIP

Anthony Hopkins Remembers It All

The New Yorker, Feb. 27, 2021 issue

In this magnificent interview conducted by staffer Michael Schulman, the 83-year-old actor/painter/musician answers thoughtful questions about Life and Art with humble wisdom and excellent anecdotes. A comparison to King Lear is obvious and beautifully explored — not just in terms of Hopkins's stage time in playing the role as a young man and also in age-appropriate fashion, but also in the context of lessons learned over decades of joy and sorrow. There is also a gentleness in Hopkins's responses that conveys a calm acceptance of mortality as well as satisfaction and appreciation of his experiences.

— Rick Koster

MOVIE TIP

I Care a Lot

Netflix

This flick can’t seem to decide if it’s a dark comedy or a straight-up thriller — and it isn’t satisfying as either. Rosamund Pike reverts to “Gone Girl” mode as icy sociopath Marla Grayson, whose grift is to become the guardian to wealthy elderly folks, confine them to senior living facilities and take all their money. The old woman played by Dianne Wiest seems just another victim, until her offspring turns up. Played by Peter Dinklage, the coolly dangerous son gives as good as he gets from Marla, and Dinklage impresses with a deliciously understated performance. (I want to see a whole separate movie starring Dinklage and Wiest, who hints at cagey, cunning reserves in her character.) “I Care a Lot” gets ridiculous, even within the confines of its own skewed logic, and all that strident amorality becomes tiresome.

— Kristina Dorsey 

FOOD TIP

Beano's Balsamic Submarine Dressing

Over the course of the plague, my wife Eileen and I learned to dart and pirouette into a variety of grocery stores, markets and shops in random fashion — typically based on spotting an empty parking lot. "Look! There's no one there! Let's shop NOW!" So it was in either a Shaw's or a WalMart that I found a bottle of grinder dressing and snatched it up in finest impulse-buy fashion. Think about it: Grinders almost always come dressed in similar fashion, and yet there are infinite small differences from sandwich to sandwich. I thought Beano — admittedly not a name I'd like to be called — might offer some consistency on my homemade sandwiches or as a splashed addition to grinders I bring home from elsewhere. It's damned good stuff, with the titular balsamic flavor augmented by a variety of secret herbs you can see in the bottle when you shake it up prior to application. I use it a lot, and at about $4 a bottle, it's been a bargain.

— Rick Koster