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.
Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.
With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.
The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.
Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.
Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.
Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.
There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.
A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.
With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.
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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.
