The North Shore Weekend, December 17th, 2022

PHOTO COURTESY OF PAUL ELLEDGE PHOTOGRAPHY

“When all else fails, there's always delusion.”

-Conan O'Brien

BY MITCH HURST THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

It’s something of a coincidence that both Rebecca Halpern and Charlie Trotter grew up on the North Shore—Halpern in Winnetka, and Trotter in Wilmette.

While decades apart in age (Halpern is younger), both attended New Trier High School and excelled in sports. The late Trotter was a gymnast, and Halpern a golfer who went on to play at Northwestern University.

television world directing true crime series such as Helter Skelter: American Myth, about Charles Manson, which aired on Amazon Prime. She jumped at the opportunity to capture the fascinating life of Charlie Trotter on film.

“When I went in for my meeting on the project, I just walked in feeling like I was born to tell Charlie’s story,” she says. “It was a true gift doing this film and there are few characters in the world who provide as rich a tapestry and narrative as Charlie Trotter did. It's a high bar to meet, finding real life characters like Charlie Trotter who have such complexity and such depth.”

The film tells the story of Trotter’s early days, how he became interested in cooking and food,

When she came on board for the project Trotter’s family wasn’t yet 100 percent committed, but after a few conversations about the kind of story she wanted to tell they agreed to participate because she was determined to present as much of a 360-degree view of Trotter as possible. One of the anchors of the film is postcards Trotter sent to Lisa Ehrlich, his first wife, that show a softer side.

“I would say the film wouldn't be what it is but for Lisa, who was Charlie's first wife. Those postcards gave us a glimpse into who he was before he opened the restaurant, which we argue in the film is his authentic self but became corrupted over the 25 years that he ran the restaurant,” Halpern says. “You play the same

Many Chicagoans remember the end of Charlie Trotter’s restaurant rather than the beginning, mostly through the newspapers. The film captures the rise of new, younger chefs like Achatz as they surpassed Trotter’s notoriety and put their own stamp on Chicago’s culinary scene. While Halpern includes some of the painful details, she didn’t feel the need to dwell on the tail end of Trotter’s career in the film.

“If all you do is show someone at their worst moments in their life and that's all people have to remember someone by is that really a full picture?” she asks. “I don't think so, and that's part of the reason why I didn't feel like I needed to dig into those moments. Those were sort of emblematic of a bigger issue at the time, and all

Their paths would merge somewhat serendipitously, and posthumously for Trotter, when Halpern was asked to write and direct the recently released documentary, Love, Charlie, by producer Renée Frigo of Oak Street Productions. Frigo founded an olive oil company Lucini Italia, which Trotter discovered and later came to champion on programs like the Oprah Winfrey Show.

“Charlie broke her business wide open and helped her realize her success, and when he passed away, she felt compelled to make the film as an homage to him,” Halpern says. “She did a short film first that premiered in 2017 and then Ray Harris, who was Charlie Trotter's best customer, decided to back her in doing the feature.”

Halpern cut her teeth in the movie and

and his launch, with the help of his father, of his eponymous restaurant in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. It was the restaurant that placed Chicago on the world’s culinary map. The documentary also shows in vivid footage Trotter’s attention to detail and the immense pressure he put on those who worked in his kitchen. Halpern had to assemble the right voices to tell Trotter’s story.

“It’s about who you can get to participate and there are different kinds of participation in the documentary,” Halpern says. “There's behind the scenes support of the film, where somebody might give you archival materials, which we had a lot of. Then there is getting people to actually go on camera and share their reminiscences and feelings and true stories about a person.”

role for that long and the stage goes away. When the restaurant closed, like Grant said, Charlie closed.”

Halpern refers to Grant Achatz, who worked in Trotter’s kitchen for a time and is now chef and owner of the much-lauded Chicago restaurant Alinea. Halpern says having Achatz’s perspective on camera was critical to the story.

“Grant was a huge get for us. He was extremely collaborative and cooperative, and very open,” Halpern says. “I was surprised at how unedited his story was about his journey with Charlie. No one has ever really explored the full timeline of their relationship, and I really think to hear Grant say he finds himself acting like Charlie all the time was probably the most powerful button in the film that we could have.”

you needed to do was look at his face to see that he was struggling with demons.”

Love, Charlie has been well received by critics and was acquired back in April by Greenwich Entertainment for North American distribution. A Canadian distributor will launch the film in Canada at the end of January, and it's available now for rent or purchase on Apple and Amazon.

“It's been exciting to see how much meaning the film holds not just for people in the culinary world, but for anyone whose identity is tied up in their work, which is the thesis of the movie,” Halpern says. “We're number two on Apple documentaries behind David Bowie and if there was one person that I think Charlie Trotter wouldn't mind being topped by, it would be David Bowie.”

MOUSE KING MAGIC

Evanston’s Mudlark Theater Company presents “The Nutcracker,” an original adaptation based on the E.T.A. Hoffmann short story that inspired Tchaikovsky’s ballet.

Leave it to Mudlark Theater Company to reinvent a classic.

This weekend, young performers will present an original adaptation of “The Nutcracker,” a play based on an 1816 short story by E.T.A. Hoffmann that inspired Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet.

Christina Lepri, who has worked with Mudlark for more than a decade, wrote the script based on Hoffmann’s “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”

Running now through Sunday, December 18, Mudlark’s “The Nutcracker” tells the story of 12-year-old Marie. Her family thinks she needs to grow up but she doesn’t want to stop living in her imaginary world of toys. Little do they know, that world is real.

Directed by Jamie Macpherson, “The Nutcracker” continues at 7 p.m. Friday, December 16; 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, December 17, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 18. Tickets are $18.

Mudlark Theater Company is located at 1417 Hinman Avenue in Evanston. For more information, visit mudlarktheater.org.

FIELD OF HIGHER EDUCATION DREAMS

A Lake Forest resident’s involvement with the Waukegan to College program is changing the life of one Lake Forest Academy student from Waukegan.

universities across the country.

Waukegan schools have limited resources to assist its students with the challenging and nuanced path to college. Waukegan to College fills that gap, partnering with both local families and schools, while supporting individual student and family needs. The organization depends on a highly skilled professional staff and a cadre of dedicated volunteers.

“I love being able to have a direct impact on someone,” says Boughton. “I love what I have learned from my mentee. I love that her whole family is involved and committed.”

Her current mentee is Lily Botero, a high school sophomore at Lake Forest Academy who is on a full-ride scholarship. With the support of her Boughton and Waukegan to College, Botero hopes to attend college and study engineering.

people to volunteer.”

More than 85 volunteers already work with Waukegan to College as student mentors but many more are needed. Currently, there is a waiting list of 35 high school students in need of an immediate mentor match. More are needed every new school year as the organization launches its 1,000 Dreams initiative—a push to assist 1,000 students advance towards a college education by 2029.

Mentors and mentees are paired based on shared interests and skills.

Joan Boughton, a long-time resident of Lake Forest, has been a volunteer mentor with Waukegan to College for the last couple of years. She began the work after retiring from a 40-year career as an actuary, the last 10 years of which were spent at Aon. Boughton also serves on the board of Waukegan to College, a rapidly growing nonprofit that helps local students prepare for, enroll in and graduate from colleges and

“My time with my mentor Joan has been extremely helpful, knowing I have an amazing support system by my side” says Botero. “I didn’t expect the mentor matchup to go so smoothly, but I am incredibly glad it did! I am having such a great time with her and look forward to many more years of companionship.”

The relationship between mentor and mentee can be very important to a mentee’s success.

“The mentor can advocate for the student while offering a mature, adult perspective that doesn’t carry the emotional load that might come from even the most well-meaning family member,” explains Boughton. “I would like to encourage more

“A mentor is a loyal advisor, a teacher or coach, guide, confidante, and role model. They are a concerned individual who is an advocate for the needs of the mentee and who helps bring out their best qualities. Mentors make an impact on a young person’s life and develop a lifelong friendship,” says Laura Rios, Program Director. “Mentors should be familiar with the college readiness and access process. We work with first-generation students and they don’t usually have anyone in their family to guide them. A mentor who has gone to college or helped their children go to college will be able to help our students through the process.”

Waukegan to College provides training and ongoing support for its team of volunteer mentors. If you would like to volunteer or find out more information, visit waukegantocollege/joinus.org, email pricilla.uriostegui@waukegantocollege.org, or call 224-628-3067.

Jackson Stroth as Fritz, Amariah Bull as Marie, and Ally Price as Ilsa in Mudlark Theater's original production of "The Nutcracker." Photo courtesy of Andrew Johnston

With the new year comes fresh beginnings. It is the time to reevaluate and decide if you are satisfied with your life and the path it is taking. It is when we make resolutions to change the things we are dissatisfied with and try to improve our lifestyles.

One key area of your life is your home. Are you satisfied with your home? Does it meet the needs of your lifestyle? Do you have enough space for everyone in your household? If you have considered making a move, but have not been able to take that first step, give me a call. I can talk you through the process and together we can decide if making a move is right for you in 2023. Make 2023 the year that you find your next dream home.

SEASON OF GIVING

The holiday season can be anything but bright for individuals and families who are struggling. Food pantries across the North Shore are ready to help.

Here are just a few of the organizations in our communities that provide help for those in need.

EVANSTON

A number of organizations in Evanston provide food accessibility and support to needy families and seniors, including Connections for the Homeless, Evanston Vineyard Food Pantry, and Hillside Food Pantry. A full list can be accessed at cityofevanston.org.

HIGHLAND PARK

The City of Highland Park partners with the

Moraine Township Food Pantry. Donations of unopened, unexpired food can be brought to the Township’s office at 800 Central Avenue. For more information about Highland Park’s efforts to alleviate hunger, visit morainetownship. org or call Linda Contreras at 847-432-3240.

LAKE FOREST

The Community Food Pantry at the Church of the Holy Spirit at 400 East Westminster Avenue in Lake Forest serves needy individuals and families from surrounding communities, including Waukegan, North Chicago, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, and Zion. The pantry is 100 percent reliant on designated food pantry donations and offers tours to the community so residents can learn more about its work. For more information, call the pantry’s director, John Harper, at 847-345-3938 or visit chlsf.org.

NEW TRIER TOWNSHIP

The New Trier Township Food Pantry— serving Wilmette, Winnetka, Kenilworth, and Glencoe—helps neighbors and workers of the Township meet basic food and hygiene needs, especially for those who have been presented with unexpected life challenges. Residents in need are urged to contact the Township’s social worker, Jeanne Winsted-Rosser, for an interview. She can be reached at 847-446-8201. For more information visit newtriertownship. com/156/food-pantry.

NORTHFIELD

The Northfield Township Food Pantry accepts donations of food items, which can be dropped off in donation bins outside the Township’s offices at 2550 Waukegan Road in Glenview. It also offers for volunteer opportunities on its website at northfield.il.us/pantry, along with assistance for residents of Northfield Township who may need food insecurity assistance. For more information about the pantry, contact Kevin Berry, Pantry Coordinator, at 847-724-8300.

Food pantries across the North Shore are lending a helping hand to needy families this time of year.

41 South Deere Park Drive • Highland Park 951 Mount Vernon Avenue • Lake Forest 231 Dempster Street • Evanston 1345 Mansion Road • Vernon Hills 1630 Ravine Terrace • Highland Park 14 Briarwood Lane • Lincolnshire 1865 Dale Avenue • Highland Park 23066 N. Apple Hill Lane • Lincolnshire* 805 Highview Terrace • Lake Forest 743 Prestbury Court • Northbrook * 1500 Sheridan Road TF • Wilmette 657 Chestnut Street • Deerfield 124 Green Bay Road • Highland Park* 735 Stonegate Road • Libertyville 105 Ronan Road • Highwood* 3826 Brittany • Northbrook 560 Sedgwick Drive • Libertyville* 218 Fourth Street • Libertyville* 931 Westerfield Drive • Wilmette* 339 Green Bay Road • Highland Park 1500 Hinman Avenue #203 • Evanston* 1220 Rudolph Road 3P • Northbrook 1464 Lincoln Place • Highland Park 5722 N. Winthrop Avenue 2S • Chicago ** 6114 Hilly Way • Cary**

SCENT-SATIONAL

BY MONICA KASS ROGERS THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Scent can be a powerfully evocative thing, conjuring and connecting us to meaningful memories of people, places, and events. For young entrepreneur Paris Mendes, this is especially true.

Adenah, the warmly aromatic perfume Mendes started

marketing earlier this year, is named after her mother, Dena Mendes, who ended her heroic 20-year fight with cancer six years ago. It’s also the name of the nonprofit foundation Mendes has launched as part of the brand to help families of those battling cancer with a wide range of resources.

The fragrance and foundation, along with art curated by Ari Goldwasser, will be unveiled at a pop-up from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 17, at Laughlin Gallery in Highland Park.

“When my mom passed, I was 20, and had to figure out so much on my own,” says Mendes, now 26. “Having experienced this, I know that there are a lot of families who need support for everything from finding estate lawyers and naturopathic care, to paying for lymphatic drainage or even groceries. The hope is that Adenah Foundation will help them with all of that.”

Once incorporation of the nonprofit is complete, 15 percent of all proceeds will go to the foundation. In the

Check out the Adenah Fragrance and Foundation on December 17 at Laughlin Gallery in Highland Park.

interim, those percentages will go to the Cancer Research Institute to fund immunotherapy research.

The Adenah scent, a perfume oil free of sulphates, silicones, and phthalates, is also vegan—a combination of Egyptian amber and wood-derived musk in jojoba oil. It was developed by Dena in the midst of many surgeries and chemotherapy treatments.

“Going through all of that, your skin becomes very sensitive and fragile,” explains Mendes. “My mother developed this scent to help her feel beautiful and powerful, even on her worst days. Eventually she started selling the fragrance to others who were going through treatment and even hospital staff, then expanding to wholesale accounts.”

Thankfully, Dena taught Paris how to make the perfume, enabling her to keep bottling it for clients, friends, and family who wanted to keep their connection with Dena alive.

“Then a year ago I decided to rebrand and change the name from ‘Love and Light’ to ‘Adenah’, which is my mom’s Hebrew name,” say Mendes. “It means luxurious, elegant, and delicate, which is the perfect description of the fragrance.”

Mendes, who became her mother’s primary caregiver when she was only 16, is already known for her creative reworking of vintage fabrics, jeans, and decorative acces-

sories in Los Angeles.

Now back on the North Shore, she is thrilled to be teaming with art curator Goldwasser of Arielle Vintage for the pair’s first pop-up. The two knew each other from Highland Park High School and had admired each other’s Instagram-based businesses for years.

“As young female entrepreneurs, we see the strength in collaborating,” says Gold-

wasser. “Our hope is to do more pop-ups, ideally once a month, all over Chicago.”

Looking ahead, Mendes hopes to add two more fragrances under the Adenah Foundation banner—each imbued with memories of her grandmothers, with whom she was very close, plus candles and body oil.

809 Pinto Northbrook

Welcome to an outstanding brick custom residence with an open floor plan and custom finishes. The first level includes a living/family room with soaring ceilings, a formal open dining room and an outstanding kitchen with large island and breakfast room. The dramatic primary bedroom suite is also on the main level with a large walk-in closet and spa bath. The 2nd level includes 2 bedrooms plus a loft and full bath. A tremendous full basement, great for storage, can easily be finished for additional space. The lush professionally landscaped yard is fenced and has 2 private patios. There is also a 3 car attached garage, underground sprinklers and a security system - perfect place to call home! Please reach out to Glo or Zack for more information.

Laughlin Gallery is located at 1900 Sheridan Road in Highland Park.

Ari Goldwasser and Paris Mendes. Photography by Monica Kass Rogers

Eventually she started selling the fragrance to others who were going through treatment and even hospital staff, then expanding to wholesale accounts.

CLASSIC BRAISED BRISKET FOR HANUKKAH FEASTING

INGREDIENTS

• 1 very-well-marbled 5 lb. beef brisket with fat cap OR 2, very well-marbled 2 ½ lb. beef briskets with fat caps

• 2 Tbsp kosher salt

• 1 Tbsp fresh-cracked black pepper

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided

• 8 yellow onions, peeled, halved, and cut into 1/8inch slices

• 1 cup dry red wine

• 1 cup good-quality beef stock (or as needed to reach half the way up the sides of the brisket in the pot)

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 1-2 to 2 lb. carrots

• 1 lb. parsnips

• ½ cup dried apricots (optional)

• ½ cup pitted prunes (optional)

• 5 to 6 fresh parsley sprigs as garnish

METHOD

BY MONICA KASS ROGERS THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Evanston-based poet and accomplished home cook Ori Fienberg (orifienberg.com) likes Hanukkah latkes just fine, but his feast food favorite is most definitely a beautiful beef brisket.

Fienberg, who calls cold weather “the braise days,” says his two best tips for making a perfect holiday brisket are, “One: Don’t fear the fond. (The brown bits that form on the bottom of the pot when you sear the meat and cook the onions.) And two:

Make a lot of caramelized onions.”

Though it takes time, the rest is easy. Look for a very-well-marbled beef brisket with a nice fat cap. (One, 5-pound roast, or two, 2 ½ pound roasts will serve 6 to 8 people.) To get a really good sear on the roast, Fienberg first dry brines the beef for 1 to 2 days in the refrigerator, rubbing the meat with kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, and setting it on a rack to allow air to circulate around it.

Seven hours before your dinner is to start, you’ll sear the brisket in vegetable oil in an enameled, cast-iron a Dutch oven, cook the onions until

soft and caramelized, and deglaze the pot with red wine. Topped off with good beef stock you’ll then braise the meat in a 250-degree oven for 3 hours, adding chunks of carrot and parsnip for 2 to 2 ½ more hours of cooking time. (For a little festive sweetness, throw in a handful of apricot and pitted prunes when you add the veg.)

During the long, slow braise, the onions will melt into the pot juices making a delicious gravy for the tender meat and vegetables. The result is a fragrant platterful of goodness. Happy Hanukkah!

• Rub brisket(s) on all sides with kosher salt and freshcracked black pepper. Place on a rack in refrigerator allowing air to circulate around the meat for at least 24 hours and up to 2 days. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp of the vegetable oil. Once oil is hot, sear the beef, fat-cap down first, turning meat until seared and well-browned on all sides. Remove beef to a platter and set aside. Turn heat to low; add sliced onions and remaining Tbsp of oil. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions are very soft, deeply golden, and caramelized (about 20 minutes.) Deglaze the pot with 1 cup of red wine, scraping any browned bits (the fond) from the bottom of the pot to incorporate. Push onions to the sides of the pot; place the seared brisket (or nestle both briskets if preparing two 2 ½ pound cuts) in the center. Mound caramelized onions over the beef. Add enough beef stock to the wine in the pot to reach halfway up the sides of the meat. Cover Dutch oven and place in preheated 250-degree oven for 3 hours. While the beef braises, peel carrots and parsnips.

• After the meat has braised for 3 hours, stir vegetables (and dried fruit if including) into the pot liquid. Cover and continue cooking for 2 to 2 ½ hours until beef is very tender. Remove pot from oven.

• Transfer brisket(s) to a cutting board. Remove any excess fat. Slice brisket. Transfer all to a serving platter. Surround with cooked vegetables (and cooked fruit, if using.) Pour some of the pot juices over. Place remaining juices in a gravy boat. Garnish platter with parsley sprigs. Serve immediately.

EMPIRE OF LIGHT

A maudlin film set in 1980s England offers very little payoff, despite an award-winning cast.

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 59 minutes

RATING: 2 stars

BY REX REED THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

The trend this holiday season (great actors in mediocre, maudlin movies) continues apace with phenomenal awardwinning Olivia Colman in Empire of Light, working hard to prove she can play downtrodden social rejects with the same dignity as the upper-class heroines and British royalty at which she usually excels (winning the 2018 Best Actress Oscar as Queen Anne in The Favourite).

Under the often-reliable guidance of writer-director Sam Mendes, she now tackles the difficult and only intermittently worthy role of a paranoid schizophrenic named Hilary. Her character suffers bouts of mental collapse while dragging herself through the snow each day to sell licorice and cigarettes at the concession stand of a dying Art Deco movie house called the Empire in a once-popular seaside town on the south coast of England. Now a fading relic of bygone days, the Empire still attracts old standby customers who come in to get out of the cold and pass the time watching junk films like The Blues Brothers and Smokey and the Bandit Hilary leads an empty, desolate life, staring at the snow, popping tranquilizers, and succumbing from time to time to the sexual assignations of her handsome, white-haired, abusive, unhappily married boss (a wasted, ill-advised Colin Firth, of all people).

Other members of the meager, slowly decreasing staff include Stephen (Micheal Wright), a young black newcomer

who acts as a handyman, and Norman, the proud projectionist (strongly played by the great British character actor Toby Jones, who many believe should have won an Oscar for his sensational screen portrayal of Truman Capote instead of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman). His duty in the film is to offer occasional pep talks about the continual power about the magic of movies and their ability to uplift the senses in times of despair. His optimism is the film's badly needed undercurrent, but it falls on deaf ears.

Middle-aged, white, bipolar Hilary spends long absences from work in mental institutions, zoned out on lithium, and black, college-age Stephen, whose skin color places him in harm's way, is violently beaten on his way home from the Empire by the skinhead punks in a motorcycle gang. The muddled romance born of their mutual loneliness and desperation for companionship comes to nothing, and we're left with a film that swerves between a dull psychological study of mental illness, an implausible love story with no payoff, and a social observation of England's changing sociopolitical scene in the 1980s.

Watching the misguided artistry at work in Empire of Light, it's hard to fathom just what attracted so many top-tier talents to a project of such torpor.

A wasted talent is as sad as an empty mind, and we're getting a lot of it this holiday season.

Illustration by Tom Bachtell

Famed film critic Rex Reed weighs in on Empire of Light and The Whale.

RUNNING TIME: 1 hour, 57 minutes

RATING: 2 stars

THE WHALE

BY REX REED THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND

Some things cannot be denied, even at gunpoint. One of them is the power, awe, and surprise inherent in Brendan Fraser's genuine, realistic and heartbreaking performance in The Whale

The film isn't equal to the standards he sets for himself in either Samuel D. Hunter's phony, long-indeed screenplay or Darren Aronofsky's overwrought direction. That's a shame because they both detract from the impact of the star's center-ring passion and rob him of the applause he so richly deserves.

I rarely care much for Aronofsky's films because he doesn't know the meaning of the word subtlety and his actors, who seem to adore him, suffer the consequences, and get unfairly blamed for his excesses in harmful ways. It happened to Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler, Hugh Jackman in The Fountain, Jennifer Lawrence in the abominable Mom!, and everyone in Requiem for a Dream

With luck and a considerable surfeit of skill, the same dismal fate might elude Brendan Fraser, but so many critics hate The Whale that the star has so far won zero accolades in the year-end awards shows. I guess it's all up to the Oscars, but when viewers see for themselves how much weight this once svelte and sculpted actor has gained, they'll discover at last that the camera does not lie and the role of a 600-pound victim of obesity was not a gimmick.

Meanwhile, despite its many imperfections, I urge you to see the transformation of Brendan Fraser. In The Whale, he bravely plays Charlie, a gay professor who teaches creative writing online—weak, reclusive, manic-depressive, humongous, and ashamed of what he's done to his body after the death of his lover cost him his will to survive.

After a heart attack incurred while masturbating and a

diagnosis of congestive heart failure with a blood pressure of 238 over 134, he suddenly sees the writing on the wall and, fearing how it all will end, makes one last concerted effort to reunite with his resentful but caring ex-wife (Samantha Morton) and his long-estranged adolescent daughter (Sadie Sink), who only pretends to be interested in her father's health after he promises to ghostwrite her school essays.

This dubious pair, along with a long-suffering nurse (Hong Chao, also currently appearing onscreen as Ralph Fiennes' homicidal maitre'd in The Nurse) who wants Charlie hospitalized, and a young door-to-door evangelist (Ty Simpkins) are his only allies in this survival scenario, and the time they spend trying to cure him seems interminable.

The Whale has moments that touch the heart and passages that engage the mind, but the insufferable parallels it constantly draws between Charlie's obesity and Moby Dick, Charlie's favorite book, may have worked better in the stage play by Samuel D. Hunter than they do in his screen adaptation, where they merely ring false and drag the pace to a crawl.

The rhythm (or lack of it) in Darren Aronofsky's direction keeps slowing the movie down to a series of stops and starts. That pretty much leaves Brendan Fraser to make his own lemonade with more lemons than he can safely handle.

Scenes abound with him wobbling around naked to the toilet and unable to get up from the seat, wolfing down candy bars and choking on buckets of fried chicken, followed by projectile vomiting that has nothing to do with acting. When I wasn't covering my eyes, I found myself listening to numbing dialogue about redemption that didn't ring true.

So, I admire the effort and the relentless display of craft and courage that score high marks for Brendan Fraser in a film I'm glad I saw, but never want to see again.

Not even Brendan Fraser’s powerful, yet heartbreaking, performance can save this film about obesity and redemption.

MATERIAL PURSUITS

This weekend’s curated luxury trends.

Nestled in the cerulean waters of the Côte de Granite Rose, Britanny’s Pink Granite Coast, this circular island-cum-boat will afford you an escapade to remember. French designed and manufactured, ANTHENEA, offers an exceptionally immer-

sive experience for an unforgettable 24-hours. In harmony with its setting, this getaway will charm you with water lapping against its stable hull, birdsong in the morn ing, and the breeze-tinged silence of the spectacular surrounding nature. The 360° observatory allows unprecedented views of the sea around you, including views of schools of fish moving gracefully beneath your eyes through the glass paneled bot tom. Anthenea’s 360° solarium is ideal for sun-bathing, al fres co dinners or brunches, and seats twelve comfortably. Certified as sea-worthy, you can sail along the seascape in slow discovery mode and drop anchor where your heart desires—no particular navigational skills or licenses are required. And should you fall in love with the experience, you can also design a personalized island-pod of your own. For more information, visit anthenea. fr/en/anthenea/.

THE WELL-LOVED HOUSE

Elle Décor A-List designer Ashley Whittaker released her first book this year, sharing the secrets of her colorful, pattern-filled, classic rooms. In A Well-Loved House, she shares a selection of dwellings, from gracious Connecticut estates to chic Manhattan pieds-a-terre to waterfront beach houses on the Florida coast and a never-before seen look at the designer’s own home in the country. Across the pages Whittaker offers guidance on furniture plans, complementing the architecture of a space, playing with color, and mixing patterns—explaining why it’s important to have consistent threads throughout a home, but also contrast and juxtaposition.

Whittaker’s homes welcome you at the end of a long day, are homes for living, and homes to love. For more information, visit rizzoli.com.

JONES ROAD was founded by makeup artist Bobbi Brown on the philosophy that the world doesn’t need more beauty products. It needs better beauty products. Clean, strategic, high-grade formulations that work on every skin type and tone—and that are as simple to use as they are to master. Jones Road is a lifetime of beauty knowledge, distilled.

“All of my endeavors start from my attempt to bridge the gap between what Is and what could be,” says Brown. “I’m a person who is constantly taking mental notes, following the threads of my curiosity, asking questions. Four years ago, after I left Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, one of those questions was: Why can’t I find makeup products that are both clean and high-performance—that don’t sacrifice one for the other?” Jones Road was born from a search for something that didn’t yet exist. “Because it didn’t exist, I had to create it,” says Brown. “What I wanted was the makeup equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife: easy, cool, multi-purpose products that could be used to nail any look, whether it be no-makeup makeup or something with more drama.” For more information, visit jonesroadbeauty.com.

GORTON REELS IN A WOLFF

BY BILL MCLEAN ILLUSTRATION BY BARRY BLITT

Josh Wolff and his big brother, Ben, found themselves transfixed by Saturday Night Live sketches as youngsters growing up in the Washington, D.C. area.

Especially any that starred either Dana Carvey or the late Phil Hartman.

Ben even dressed up as Carvey’s “Church Lady” character one Halloween, pursing his lips and scrunching his face after shrieking “Trick or Treat!” at dozens of homeowners.

“My brother inspired me and supported me,” says the 41-year-old Josh Wolff, named director of film programs at Lake Forest-based Gorton Center in early August. “I’d tried the theatre scene for a couple of years in D.C. but couldn’t find traction. I moved to Chicago and got accepted as an artistic apprentice (on his second try) at Steppenwolf. Acting at storefront theaters followed.”

Yet stability on stages remained elusive.

“I loved acting, but I was horrible at the business side of it,” says Wolff, an Evanston resident since 2018.

Enter big bro Ben.

“Ben and I,” Josh says, “were having a conversation years ago when he planted the seed that led me to a career shift.”

Ben was PBS-serious, not SNL-funny. Ben did not utter, “Well, isn’t that special?” at any point in the exchange.

Ben simply asked Josh, “Have you ever thought about filmmaking?”

The little brother—having earned a hybrid degree in theatre/English at Bowdoin College in Maine, after performing in such plays as All My Sons and Henry V at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland—later got his hands on a sizzling product in 2008, a digital camera, and couldn’t let go of it.

“The digital revolution was going on at the time,” Wolff says. “Anyone with a decent camera could make films; new filmmakers were emerging everywhere. It gave me opportunities to do what I couldn’t do as an actor.

“It allowed me to tell stories.”

Wolff enrolled at DePaul University’s nascent School of Cinematic Arts in 2010 and made a film, a short piece titled Guidance, as part of the Masters of Fine Arts program. He shot the film—about a Catholic high school guidance psychologist who struggles to keep his personal and professional lives separate and intact—along the North Shore and in Chicago.

The 18-minute movie won awards in 2016 at the Midwest Independent Film Festival and at the Rome (Georgia) International Film Festival.

“DePaul was forward-thinking when it

started one of the first, if not the first, alldigital film programs in the country,” says Wolff, who, since 2015, has served DePaul as an adjunct professor, teaching mostly screenwriting courses. “It’s fun for me to be a part of DePaul’s film community; it’s the highest ranked film school in the Midwest, and I love teaching and engaging with students.

“I plan to continue filmmaking, with my big goal to make a full-length, independent feature film.”

But he’s also just as enthusiastic to embrace and tackle the Gorton gig. Some things won’t change, like the showing of Home Alone at

Gorton’s cozy, state-of-the-art John & Nancy Hughes Theater—the Cinematic Wonder of Lake County—on the day after Thanksgiving. The bulk of the patrons in the filled venue attended the Lake Forest Tree Lighting Ceremony at Market Square after the screening on November 25.

Many scenes in Home Alone, written and produced by John Hughes, were filmed in Winnetka, where Wolff’s parents—Glencoe native Richard Wolff and Chicagoan Joan— plan to move.

January will be packed with enticing Gorton offerings for film buffs. The center’s first

“First Thursday Series” in 2023, on January 5, features the powerful documentary Bad Axe, produced by Academy Award-nominated and Lake Forest resident Diane Moy Quon. It’s a real-time portrait of an Asian-American family fighting to keep its restaurant and American Dream alive in the face of the pandemic.

Blood Simple, the first feature film by the Coen brothers (Joel and Ethan), is a stylish crime thriller from 1984 starring Frances McDormand, M. Emmet Walsh, and Dan Hedaya. Its Gorton Center showing is set for January 13.

Exactly two weeks later, another Quon-produced work, Surf Nation, kicks off Winterfest Weekend at Gorton. The feature-length, observational documentary tells the story of hundreds of athletes—some as young as 9— training as Olympic hopefuls in surfing in the Chinese province Hainan. Co-directors Jeremiah M. Bogart Jr. and Jessica Q. Chen will field questions from the attendees afterward.

A day later, on January 28, something new: the presence of food trucks and fire pits (for s’mores, more or less) to augment the highly anticipated Mountainfilm on Tour. Mountainfilm travels worldwide year-round with a selection of current and best-loved films from the annual festival in Telluride, Colorado. This year’s program includes a series of All Ages Best of Fest short films at 2 p.m.; the ecologically focused and exhilarating Adventure Shorts at 4 p.m.; and the eclectic Mountainfilm Medley at 7 p.m.

Mountainfilm on Tour: Lake Forest is co-presented with Lake Forest Open Lands Association and sponsored by the Butler Family Foundation and The Community Church of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff.

Wolff estimates Gorton will screen between 30-35 films from January 5 to April 30.

“I hope to serve the community as a good steward in my role as Gorton’s director of film programs,” says Wolff, who ranks Forest Gump and Moonlight among his list of favorite movies. “I want the movies we show to entertain, engage, enlighten, and spark debate. Storytelling through film is a serious matter, and it’s a fundamental part of the human experience. I consider it a huge responsibility, selecting the movies we plan to spotlight at Gorton.

“I love what (the late film critic) Roger Ebert said about the influence of movies. He said they’re powerful vehicles that generate empathy.

“That gets me jazzed up.”

Call 847-234-6060 or visit gortoncenter.org for more information about upcoming events at the Gorton Center, located at 400 East Illinois Road in Lake Forest. Visit josh-wolff.com to view Wolff’s short films.

New Gorton Center Director of Film Programs Josh Wolff—an award-winning filmmaker and DePaul University adjunct film professor—is eager to spotlight entertaining, challenging, and uplifting films at the center’s John & Nancy Hughes Theater.

Josh Wolff