Movie Reviews: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Oz the Great and Powerful and More

Find movie reviews and movie times for theaters in West County and across the St. Louis area.

Are you a movie buff or fanatic? Or maybe you just enjoy the occasional dinner and a movie date? Either way, Patch would be thrilled to have you on board as a movie blogger! It's free, quick and easy to do so! All you have to do is shoot a quick email to Brian Feldt at brianf@patch.com. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone Mark Glass, Patch blogger: Steve Carell stars in this almost-funny-enough comedy as a headlining Las Vegas magician who has lost his way. We see how he and his partner (Steve Buscemi) bonded as nerdy children in 1982, glomming onto magic tricks as their own Zenlike path to enlightenment... or at least to the end of being ostracized and bullied by the other kids. Fast-forward to the present. They’ve been doing the same glitzy…

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Movie Reviews: Oz the Great and Powerful, Emperor, Jack the Giant Slayer and More

Find movie reviews and movie times for theaters in and around St. Louis County.

Are you a movie buff or fanatic? Or maybe you just enjoy the occasional dinner and a movie date? Either way, Patch would be thrilled to have you on board as a movie blogger! It's free, quick and easy to do so! All you have to do is shoot a quick email to Brian Feldt at brianf@patch.com. Oz the Great and Powerful Mark Glass, Patch blogger: **½ This overlong prequel to the classic Wizard of Oz offers much to admire, but more to regret. Its new screenplay gives us the backstory on how the Wizard wound up there before Dorothy blew into town for her famous adventure. With the resources of the Disney empire and Sam Raimi at the helm, one might expect another fantasy for the ages. One would be severely disappointed. James Franco stars as Oz, a …

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The Pepper Mill

Balaban's Offers An Award-Winning Wine Cellar and Tempting Tapas

A recent wine dinner featured five fine wines with five perfectly matched small plates of supreme cuisine.

The original Balaban's opened in the Central West End in 1972, and for the next 35 years offered fine bistro food and one of the best wine cellars in town, winning the prestigious Wine Spectator Award for 15 consecutive years. Now, it's in Chesterfield. And the new Balaban's has kept up the award tradition, having just received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence for 2011. The chef statue, which stood out front in the Central West End, welcomed visitors from near and far until a fateful day in late 2008 when Cafe Balaban shuttered its doors. Co-owner Steve McIntyre kept the Balaban's name and the award winning wine cellar, which formed the nucleus of Balaban's rebirth in Chesterfield as a wine cellar and tapas bar. There are some …

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Thai Sawadee Adds Spice And Flavor To Chesterfield

Under new ownership, Thai Sawadee keeps up the tradition of serving delicious Thai cuisine.

When I first met Susan and Chinnapong (Chin) Saicholpitak, they had just taken ownership of Thai Sawadee in Hilltown Village Center. The owner wanted to sell, and as longtime employees of the restaurant, they saw it as an opportunity for themselves and their young family. The Saicholpitak's intended to serve the same great Thai cuisine that had already made it popular among local Thai food enthusiasts, with a few new additions of their own. Having tasted the Lemon Grass soup—with its fresh basil, mushrooms and tender bits of chicken—I vowed to return to see if their other offerings featured the same brightness and rich, exotic flavors.  I went in for lunch and as before, the atmosphere of the restaurant had a calming effect. I sat at the …

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The Pepper Mill

Ay, Carumba! Lunch At Salina's Mexican At 100°F

Spicy food and hot weather go together like sipping margaritas on an exotic beach.

Only a crazy chili-head would think of eating Mexican food when the thermometer is topping 100°F, as it was early this week. Guilty as charged, but in my defense, I was hotter than a Mexican jumping bean and spicy Mexican cuisine sounded just right. Besides, my brain was addled by the unrelenting heat. Salina's Mexican Restaurant—located at 20 Clarkson Wilson Center, off Clarkson Road—looked inviting. The welcoming entrance is flanked by a wraparound porch with hanging plants and flowers, and I imagine it would be very pleasant if the weather were kinder. The interior—with its gray chairs and red tabletops—was less gaudy than some Mexican joints but had enough of the typical flair to let you know the kind of food you'll be eating. A …

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The Pepper Mill

Travel The World With Happy Hour At International Tap House

Nothing makes a beer lover happier than a choice of 500 beers from 25 countries.

The problem with happy hours is that they start and end too early. Four to six in the afternoon isn't convenient for most people, and if you have to work late, you'll miss it. Or worse, there will be just enough time for one discount beer, and latecomers get stuck paying full price for the rest of the evening. Fortunately, International Tap House (iTap) has confronted this dilemma with a happy hour that starts at 8pm and goes to close on Monday through Wednesday, and Thursday too if you have an iTap passport, part of a club membership that offers incentives for tasting different beers. The Chesterfield location is the original iTap, with the iTap in Soulard added later. The first thing that catches the eye upon entering is the massive …

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Theater Review: Marquette's 'Hairspray' a Toe-Tapping, Uplifting Time

Notre Dame High School journalist reviews Marquette High School's production of "Hairspray."

by Carolina deLegarreta of Notre Dame High School In the midst of troubling times, it’s a wonderful reminder that people of any shape and size can shine. Marquette High School’s production of Hairspray highlighted this belief with golden voices that made the '60s feel very welcoming indeed. The beloved story of Hairspray debuted as a film in 1988, directed by John Waters. The film was received positively and later adapted as a Tony Award winning Broadway musical in 2002, with songs by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Perhaps the most well-known version is the 2007 film, with a star-studded cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, and John Travolta. The plot follows Tracy Turnblad, a …

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