Writer/director Adam McKay’s Vice, an all-star biographical movie about Dick Cheney is among Hollywood’s top 2018 political pictures. It’s utterly uncanny how Christian Bale completely disappears into his role as the former vice president, just as John C. Reilly does as Oliver Hardy in another biopic being released in America during the holiday season, Stan & Ollie. With his bravura performance Bale has Cheney’s look, mannerisms and sound down to perfection and at times, when Bale is onscreen one feels as if he/she is almost watching a documentary or the TV news and not an actor in a feature. How Bale transmogrified himself from playing Batman to fat man Cheney is truly a feat of astounding acting for the ages, reminiscent of Robert De Niro’s star turn in Martin Scorsese’s 1980 Raging Bull.

Best Restaurant Comeback

One of the best Chinese restaurants in Columbus is back. Helen Asian Kitchen, which owner Helen Jiao sold in 2017 to take care of her husband while he struggled with cancer, reopened in 2018 with Helen Jiao returning to the helm. Her awesome hot stir-fried cauliflower is back, as well as her assortment of handmade dumplings (yes, even soup dumplings). Here’s a great tip for vegans – order the stir-fried cauliflower with added raw tofu. The tofu cooks in the hot oil heated by the sterno that comes lit under the serving dish and adds an extra punch of creamy protein to the dish. It’s amazing.

– Susan Halpern

Best Art and Well-Being Event

“They must kill and continue to kill, strange as it may seem, in order not to know that they are killing.” — Rene Girard, Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World

Socially sanctioned killing is called war. The word “war” may be the most powerful word in human history, because it creates a mask of respectability for — that is, it conceals — the dehumanization and mass slaughter of a designated enemy, along with limitless environmental contamination. When we’re “waging war,” we have given ourselves permission not to know what we are doing, even if what we’re doing is putting life on Planet Earth in danger of extinction.

Say hello to Yemen, the possible future of all of us!

Inspired by a true story, director/co-writer Robert Zemeckis’ Welcome to Marwen is about how a hate crime perpetrated against real life Mark Hoagancamp (Steve Carell) affects the illustrator. Suffering partial amnesia and no longer able to draw, Hoagancamp creates a miniature World War II Belgian village he names “Marwen” peopled by dolls, which he proceeds to photograph. The film has LGBTQ, PTSD, anti-Nazi and art therapy themes.

In 2010 Jeff Malmberg directed the documentary Marwencol (see: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1391092/videoplayer/vi3220441369?ref_=tt_pv_vi_aiv_1) about Hoagancamp’s saga which was very well-received and motivated Zemeckis to shoot a feature about this subject matter which is, at times, rather grim and gripping. How was Zemeckis going to give Malmberg’s 83 minute nonfiction film and Hoagancamp’s traumatic tale the Hollywood treatment?

Attending the plucky Avi Avital’s rapturous rendition of Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi’s 1725 “The Four Seasons” was my first time hearing Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and being inside of Zipper Concert Hall at 200 S. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. The 406 seat, wood- lined sonic sanctuary features large, disc-like lights floating over the stage, resembling flying saucers. This was apropos for at times the music emanating from LACO and its guest soloist had an ethereal, unearthly character.

But before Avital took the stage, lengthy announcements were made lauding the late patron of the arts Hanna M. Kennedy, then two Vivaldi Concertos for Two Violins - one in G minor, the other in A minor - were played. The former featured violinists Josefina Vergara and Sarah Thornblade, while in the latter Margaret Batjer and Tereza Stanislav engaged in spirited string slinging, dueling with one another. Both Vivaldi concertos, which took about nine minutes and then thirteen minutes to complete, were expertly executed. Actually eyeballing the bow slingers Batjer and Stanislav face off against one another was fun and interesting to observe.