Movie Review

Gold has plenty of shiny stars but doesn't quite glitter

One would imagine that one of the greatest pleasures for any actor is the ability to inhabit the world of somebody completely different from him or her. And when doing that role requires a physical transformation, the job becomes that much easier, as the person staring back at you in the mirror looks nothing like you.

Judged just on that, Matthew McConaughey must have had a ball making Gold, in which he plays Kenny Wells, a real-life gold prospector in the 1980s on the hunt for his next big score. As played by McConaughey, Wells is balding, overweight, and has a snaggle-tooth — conditions that combine to make the notoriously handsome actor about as ugly as he’ll ever be.

His look is indicative of the type of person Wells is, namely one desperate to restore his family’s once-good name in the mining industry. A fever dream inspires Wells to go to Indonesia to meet with Michael Acosta (Edgar Ramirez), a fellow prospector who had previous luck in the region. Their search turns up a strike, but the subsequent series of events brings both monumental highs and lows.

The film, directed by Stephen Gaghan (Syriana), plays out like a lower rent version of The Wolf of Wall Street. Wells and his team hustle for every dollar they can get, at one point working out of a bar to save money. Cigarettes and booze are so omnipresent that you may get a contact high just by watching.

The ever-changing prospects of Wells are relatively fun and interesting, but the story could have used a bit more speed. Gaghan and the two screenwriters spend a lot of time on minutiae that doesn’t enhance the film. Wells’ exploits are entertaining enough that a deep dive into the details of mining is unnecessary.

Also somewhat pointless is Wells’ relationship with his girlfriend, Kay (Bryce Dallas Howard). The film is male-heavy, so she was likely included to add a bit of variety to the proceedings, but the character is so inconsequential that it’s sometimes a surprise when she pops up again. Wells’ friendship with Acosta winds up being much more memorable.

McConaughey leaves no scene unchewed in the film, utilizing his character’s appearance for all its worth. As pure entertainment, it’s very effective, but in an acting sense, McConaughey has been much better in recent years.

Gold works in fits and starts, but the end product is one that blares mediocrity. You could do worse, but you could also do much better.

Edgar Ramirez, Matthew McConaughey, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Corey Stoll in Gold.

Edgar Ramirez, Matthew McConaughey, and Bryce Dallas Howard in Gold

Photo by Lewis Jacobs

Edgar Ramirez, Matthew McConaughey, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Corey Stoll in Gold.

News You Can Eat

This Dallas restaurant news has tons of tempting dishes to check out

basque cheesecake bulla gastrobar

Bulla Gastrobar

Basque-style cheesecake at Bulla Gastrobar.

January can be a sleepy time in the Dallas restaurant scene but 2023 has been an exception, and this roundup of restaurant news is proof. Most of what's here is about new dishes and new seasonal menus, but there's also news about chef appointments and celebrity chefs on TV.

Here's what's happening in Dallas dining news, collated from press releases, emails, and online sites:

Loro Asian Smokehouse & Bar has launched two ramen specials for February, served Tuesdays-Wednesdays after 4 pm: Smoked Brisket Ramen or Grilled Prawn Ramen, both featuring Balinese curry, sun noodles, ajitama egg, green onion, and sesame, both $18.

Bulla Gastrobar, the Spanish-style restaurant located in Legacy West, has launched a new Winter menu featuring clams with pork belly, Galician soup, braised short ribs with house-made potato chips, braised lamb with patatas panaderas, pear fiocchi pear-filled pasta, with honey blue cheese sauce, cauliflower with bechamel sauce, and Basque-style creamy cheesecake with blueberry compote.

Ford’s Garage, the restaurant inspired by the heritage of the Ford Motor Company, has a new limited-edition comfort-food menu featuring seasonal dishes with a twist including Philly Cheeseburger, a half-pound black Angus patty with caramelized onions, red bell pepper, Pepperjack cheese, beer cheese, and apple-bacon jam; 10-oz bone-in pork chop with apple slices, bacon jam, and rum glaze, with two sides; and Belgian waffle bites with caramel sauce.

Mendocino Farms has rolled out a new limited-time menu featuring a Countryside Cobb with Romaine, spinach, red onion, bacon, asparagus,, green onion, pickled peppadew peppers, Gruyere cheese, and boiled egg ($8 through February 10 if ordered online or via the Mendocino Farms App); Chicken Parm Dip sandwich with chicken, Mendo’s krispies, mozzarella, Grana Padano cheese, pomodoro sauce, basil, and Calabrian chili aioli on a sesame roll; plus new sides including Beets & Farro, Spicy Dijon Potato Salad, Creamy Potato Leek Soup, and Vegan Chili. At all five area locations: Preston Hollow, Addison, Plano, West Village, and Downtown Dallas.

Mod Pizza has added oven-baked wings, available in six- or 12-piece portions in five recipes: Original, BBQ Hot Honey, Buffalo, Sri-Rancha, and Parmesan Garlic Rosemary. The wings join other recent menu innovations that include a plant-based Italian Sausage, a new salad menu, and a series of seasonal, limited-edition No Name Cakes. A spokesperson says that wings have been in their culinary pipeline for a while, and they'll have more new items throughout 2023.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has a spicy new limited-edition Atomic Barbecue Chicken Sandwich, a collaboration with its virtual Wing Boss concept, featuring smoked chicken breast, pickles, onions, and a fusion of Wing Boss’ Atomic sauce and Dickey’s Sweet Barbecue sauce. It'll be available February 6-April 30.

Fuzzy's Taco Shop has brought back two favorite tacos: The Spicy Chimi Fajita Taco features a flour tortilla with garlic sauce, cheese, fajita beef or chicken, pico de gallo, and spicy chimichurri sauce made with parsley, cilantro, jalapeños, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, and salt. The Saucy Brisket Poblano Taco has shredded brisket, Butt Burnin’ sauce blended with Dr. Pepper and topped with poblano peppers, red onion, avocado, garlic sauce, feta, and cilantro on a warm flour tortilla.

Dunkin' has a new winter lineup featuring the Brownie Batter Dougnut, Brown Butter Toffee Latte, Stuffed Biscuit Bites, and Bacon Avocado Tomato Sandwich.

DQ restaurants in Texas are offering a deal on their Texas T-Brand Tacos, consisting of crunchy corn shells filled with beef, shredded cheese, lettuce, tomato, and taco sauce, three for $5 through the end of February.

Grimaldi's, the pizza chain, has launched a new Garden Ranch Salad with Romaine lettuce topped with red pepper, red onion, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, croutons, and ranch dressing.

Razzoo's Cajun Cafe has added new $9.99 lunch entrees all day Monday–Friday. featuring Cajun Fried Steak and Cajun Fried Chicken, both served with mashed potatoes and andouille cream gravy, and Andouille Sausage with Red Beans & Rice.

Freebirds World Burrito has added Hero tortillas, which contain 2g of carbs, designed for people who like burritos but are trying to lower their calories and carbs. It'll be a third tortilla option at Freebirds, the other two being flour and cayenne tortillas.

The State Fair of Texas is seeking applicants who'd like to become one of the nearly 90 concessionaires at the 2023 event. There's an application online or go to BigTex.com.

Hawthorn, the restaurant in the lobby floor of the AT&T building in downtown Dallas, now has executive chef Eric Spigner in the kitchen. Spigner has worked at Greenbrier Country Club, Pizzaiolo, and Nova in Dallas. Spigner was nominated for Rising Star Chef in CultureMap's 2019 Tastemaker Awards and also won on the Food Network Show Chopped.

Dallas celebrity chef Tiffany Derry will be a contestant in the fourth season of Guy Fieri's iconic culinary competition, Tournament of Champions, which returns on Sunday, February 19 at 7 pm on Food Network, where chefs from the East and West coast will face off in a bracket-style culinary competition.

Greenville Avenue Pizza Company owner Sammy Mandell helped set a Guinness Book of World Record. Mandell traveled to Tulsa to join World Pizza Champions in partnership with The University of Tulsa and set a new world record for World’s Largest Pizza Party to benefit Make-A-Wish Oklahoma at an event on January 21 that had a total of 3357 participants. The attempt is a charitable initiative of World Pizza Champions, as many members from around the country and world were in Tulsa to together author a cookbook.

Genghis Grill has a new restaurant prototype set to debut in spring 2023 that will be half the size of today's locations, with a goal to get customers in and out in under 15 minutes of placing an order, as well as a separate pick-up area for to-go and curbside parking spots.

Dallas-based Avocados From Mexico is making its "AvocadoGlow" brand color official through a partnership with PANTONE. The new color emulates the tones you see when you cut into a ripe avocado. They've launched a limited-edition Avocado Glow Collection that includes throw pillow, wallpaper, apron, oven mitts, coasters, a serving tray and a guacamole bowl.

Texas Food & Wine Alliance revealed its 2022 grant winners, giving away more than $107K in grants to 19 winners and one honorable mention statewide. Dallas-Fort Worth recipients included Cafe Momentum, Wicked Bold Chocolate, and Funkytown Food Project.

The FDA Modernization Act 2.0 was signed into law. This ends an 80-year-old requirement for animal testing in the development of new drugs and allows manufacturers and sponsors of a drug to use alternative testing methods to animal testing. Huge!

lists news-you-can-eat

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