Ladies, if it is your intent to hit the town this Valentine’s Day with a gaggle of girlfriends, then you might consider making a stop at Sfuzzi Uptown — say, around 10 pm.
Hunky Sean Lowe, star of this season’s The Bachelor on ABC, will be at Sfuzzi on the Day of Love for a meet and greet. What does that mean, exactly? Depending on the crowd, says manager Jeff Lavrenchik, either Lowe will be free to move about the restaurant, shaking hands and kissing cheeks, or he will be set up with a receiving line.
If you are curious, yes, Sfuzzi is serving a set Valentine’s Day menu — a three-courser with roasted pear salad or tomato soup, herb-citrus steamed halibut or spaghetti with pork meatballs, and panna cotta — but come 10 pm, the vibe is certain to shift to something a little less, shall we say, romantic.
Lavrenchik says only 6 pm reservations remain — and diners with earlier reservations will have to get up to make way for those with later seating times — but walk-ins are welcome to try their luck. Bar seating is available all night on a first-come, first-served basis.
No word yet on whether Lowe will be wearing a shirt.
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Tonight at 7, Lowe and his ladies head to St. Croix, where he narrows down the pool to four. To catch up on what’s happening so far this season, read the recaps.
Bachelor Sean Lowe is hosting Valentine's Day at Sfuzzi Uptown. Presumably he will wear a shirt for the Uptown event.
Photo courtesy of ABC
Bachelor Sean Lowe is hosting Valentine's Day at Sfuzzi Uptown. Presumably he will wear a shirt for the Uptown event.
Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.
Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.
Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).
After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.
Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.
The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.
Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.
Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.
The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.
