THE GAZETTE
Page A-14
Wednesday, November 27, 2013 d
Fillmore gives thanks: Venue opens doors for less fortunate for Thanksgiving n
Seasonal treats, music and more in store
BY
WILL C. FRANKLIN STAFF WRITER
It’s that time of year again. It’s getting a little colder outside and the holiday season is upon us. Many will be spending time with their families around a table filled with turkey and stuffing this Thanksgiving. Others, who are less fortunate, will be looking to stay warm and for a warm meal. In Silver Spring, the Fillmore looks to do its part to help those in need. The venue will open its
doors at 11 a.m. on Thanksgiving to provide seasonal treats, music and care packages for those in the community in need. General manager Stephanie Steele said this is the second year the venue has hosted this event. “This year, we’ve changed up the format of the event based on feedback we received from our guests last year,” Steele said. “This year, we’re going to be featuring a live jazz band, we’re going to be having a dessert service and warm, seasonal drinks like apple cider and hot cocoa. We’re going to have several care package stations set up around the venue.”
The stations, according to Steele, allow people to assemble their own care packages by choosing what products they need. “That’s really the ‘giving’ part of giving thanks,” Steele said. “We’re very thankful to be a part of the Silver Spring community and we’re excited to be able to open our doors and invite in an audience that doesn’t always have access to a place like ours and to send them away with things that will keep them warm and will satisfy some of their needs for the days following.” The Fillmore has enough volunteers to help during the day, and while the venue has received a lot of support in the
way of food and clothing donations from the community, Steele said they will continue to accept all donations. What isn’t used or given away will be donated to Shepherd’s Table in Silver Spring. “The community response has been overwhelming both years,” Steele said. “… We’ve been receiving tons of donations from local businesses and residents over the last few weeks. Now that we’re getting closer and closer to the Thanksgiving holiday, we’re just receiving a wonderful response in donations every day leading up to it.” The Fillmore will accept donations from noon until 6 p.m.
AT THE MOVIES
GIVING THANKS n When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday n Where: Fillmore Silver Spring, 8565 Colesville Road, Silver Spring n Admission: Free n For information: 301-960-9999; fillmoresilverspring.com
Monday through Friday leading up to Thanksgiving. Donations can also be dropped off while the venue is open for a show. Cash donations are also ac-
GRAPELINES BY LOUIS MARMON
JESSICA MIGLIO/DREAMWORKS
Affable underachiever David Wozniak (Vince Vaughn, right) seeks advice from his friend and attorney, Brett (Chris Pratt), when he discovers that his anonymous donations to a fertility clinic twenty years earlier resulted in 533 children in DreamWorks Pictures’ “Delivery Man.”
Vaughn’s lovability pushed to the limit in ‘Delivery Man’ MICHAEL PHILLIPS CHICAGO TRIBUNE
It’s too much to call the misty-eyed sentimental comedy “Delivery Man” Vince Vaughn’s very own “Patch Adams,” but the film does require Vaughn’s character to smile through tears, over and over, in an attempt to yank your own heartstrings straight out of your heart. The movie’s goal is a simple one: to leave moviegoers all over the world without functioning hearts, just like that poor schnook in “Indiana Jones and
132819G
DELIVERY MAN n 2 stars n PG-13; 103 minutes n Cast: Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, Cobie Smulders n Directed by Ken Scott
the Temple of Doom.” This is a doggedly faithful English-language remake of the 2011 French-Canadian picture “Starbuck.” In many cases the comic beats and gags, such as the protagonist ineffectively
pretending not to understand English at a key juncture in the story, are repeated millisecond for millisecond. The original’s co-writer-director, Ken Scott, has reworked the story just enough to accommodate Vaughn and a Brooklyn, N.Y., setting. Premise: Meat truck delivery driver David Wozniak is a congenital meathead and screw-up, going nowhere in his life, lovably. Complication: He learns that as a young man, his rampant sperm donations (all for a noble cause, revealed late in the picture) led to 500plus women being impregnated. More than a hundred of David’s offspring are suing the errant sperm bank to learn David’s identity. “Delivery Man” follows David in his path from man-child immaturity to bona fide dad material, as he anonymously gets to know one of his adult offspring, then another and another. Each episode in the picture is designed to make us see the saint in this salt-of-the-earth guy’s
132722G
wfranklin@gazette.net
Books among seasonal gift ideas for wine-lovers Did you know that 90 percent of the wine sold annually in the U.S. retails for less than $12? Jeff Siegel certainly does. He has been a tireless proponent of well-made, valuepriced wines for many years and his most recent book, “The Wine Curmudgeon’s Guide to Cheap Wine,” provides a road map to finding and appreciating wine’s inexpensive gems.
BY
cepted, according to Steele. Steele said more than a 100 people came by the venue last year and more are expected this year. “It would be great if we could double that number … this year,” Steele said. “… We’re going to have a big screen and our projector running and showing the holiday parade and any other good thing that’ll be on for folks to watch. It’s truly an opportunity for these guests to come in and sit down and relax in a really welcoming atmosphere and make it something special for them.”
guy. He saves one daughter from drug addiction. He helps a son realize his dream of an acting career. Another son works as a historical re-enactor. David’s single-father friend, a lawyer played by the endearing Chris Pratt, strives to keep David’s identity a secret, but something in the big lug’s heart tells him otherwise. Otherwise there’d be no massive group hug at the climax. The film isn’t terrible; Vaughn, Pratt and, as David’s frustrated girlfriend, Cobie Smulders know what they’re doing in terms of finessing the material for laughs as well as the h-word. But it’s all sort of unseemly. Vaughn’s character has no defining traits other than a mysterious, heal-all lovability (plus heart). You never hear anything about the mothers who gave birth to these hundreds of kids; it’s all about David. The rhythm of the picture feels predetermined by the original, and you can tell, even if you haven’t seen “Starbuck.”
Jeff eschews the use of scores and other techniques utilized by the “Winestream Media” that he believes confuses and intimidates wine consumers. He makes it clear that “cheap” does not necessarily mean “bad” and that the most important aspect of a wine is whether it is enjoyable. The book explores why all wines have gotten better (including the less expensive ones), how a wine is priced, what a wine label reveals, the questions to ask in a wine store, where in the world the best values are currently being produced and how to find good, low-cost wines. Just because he has focused on “cheap wine” (he says it’s what he can afford) doesn’t mean that Jeff doesn’t “get” wine. On the contrary, I have been with Jeff in a cellar filled with wine industry folks and he was the only one in the room that was able to correctly identify and reproduce a difficult varietal blending. His knowledge and experience is exceptional and his writing style is clear and unpretentious. Jeff’s blog (winecurmudgeon. com) has long been a popular source of wit and wisdom for those who would prefer not to spend a lot to enjoy a good glass or two of wine. As a result many of us were happy to contribute to the Kickstarter campaign to get this book published (even though I do quibble with his critique of the use of various flavor descriptions — full
1906284
disclosure — Jeff has been a friend for years and he is really not that cranky). “The Wine Curmudgeon’s Guide to Cheap Wine” is as much an important resource about the wine industry as it is a valuable companion to those looking for excellent wine values. Eric Asimov has been justifiably described as perhaps “the best wine writer in the world” and his musings in the New York Times are a must read for anyone who enjoys the fruit of the vine. His autobiographical “How to Love Wine: A Manifesto and Memoir” is another example of his delightful prose and insightful understanding of the nature of wine. How can you argue with his premise that wine “is for drinking, not for tasting”? And yet consumers seem both enthralled and addicted to reviews, which he points out may be contradictory. He encourages us to explore wine without preconceptions, to make it an important component of our meals and to essentially become our own experts by figuring out what about a particular wine give us pleasure. Asimov’s adventures along the way from blind tasting beers to wine writing stardom are a fascinating illustration of how an interest can become a passion and eventually one’s life work. Few subjects are more fraught with dread than pairing food and wine. Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page’s award winning “What to Drink with What You Eat” is a comprehensive guide to matching nearly every type of meal with an appropriate beverage. While much of this information can be found online, this is a wonderfully illustrated volume, impeccably organized and filled with astute and entertaining vignettes from numerous food and wine authorities including Daniel Boulud, Joseph Bastianich, Traci Des Jardins, and Frontera Grill’s Jill Gubesch, and Alinea’s Joe Catterson.