MOVIE TIP

Spencer

This drama starts out in such a heavy-handed way that I actually rolled my eyes. It shows a heedless convoy of British royal vehicles nearly running over a dead but still gorgeous pheasant. Then we see Princess Diana (in the convincing form of Kristen Stewart) driving a convertible along deserted country roads and saying she is lost. OK, OK, we get it. The movie from director Pablo Larrain is very self-conscious and mannered, but it does cast a spell. In this surreal world, Diana sees images of Anne Boleyn, as a warning of what can happen to women in royalty. Diana also imagines ripping off the necklace — and even eating the pearls of that necklace — that her husband not only bought her but also Camilla. Stewart, aside from having a too-clipped and rapid line delivery, sinks into Diana’s skin. She conveys her anxiety and pain, and, most of all, her feeling trapped.

— Kristina Dorsey 

BOOK TIP

Isle of Joy

Don Winslow

I like to think that, if any fine college or university wants to exalt their curriculum with a class on the works of author Don Winslow, I'm certainly qualified to teach it. And yet, until browsing in a used book store the other day, I'd never run into a copy of Winslow's first stand-alone novel, 1996's "Isle of Joy." It's the Cold War, and ex-CIA agent Walt Withers returns from a long assignment in Scandinavia to take a low-stress gig at a Manhattan detective agency. He's in an intellectually and sexually pyrotechnic relationship with a famous jazz singer, and all's idyllic until he takes a job providing security for a JFK-like presidential hopeful. When the politician's lover is murdered, Withers is suddenly a suspect. To save himself, he calls on old agency contacts and his slumbering spycraft skills and finds too many possible killers — some dismayingly close — and too little time. Full of fine characters, wit like graffiti on an Algonquin rountable and a bubbling plot, "Isle of Joy" is an affectionate New York City crime story that comes off as though John LeCarre had written "A Fan's Notes." Class dismissed to go buy the book.

— Rick Koster

FOOD TIP 

Stuffed French Toast

La Belle Aurore

75 Pennsylvania Ave., Niantic

I don’t usually go for the sweet dishes when ordering breakfast, but I couldn’t resist on a recent Sunday brunch stop at La Belle Aurore. The stuffed French toast ($11) was scrumptious: challah French toast filled with cream cheese and sliced apples. Everything was in perfect proportion, and it all was fresh and flavorful. Dusted with powdered sugar, it was served with a side dollop of whipped cream and a small silver container filled with maple syrup.

 — Kristina Dorsey