Ruud’s Rankings: The Top Ten Films of 2017 The Oscars, Hollywood’s annual self-congratulatory wing-ding, is ready to air this coming Sunday evening, so it’s time once again for the obligatory “top ten” list. Let me first issue a disclaimer: I did not see all of the movies that came out this year. First, I skipped… Continue reading The Top 10 Films of 2017
Author: Jay Ruud
Red Robin
Review No. 96: Red Robin 1025 South Amity Road 48.9 percent finished reviewing Conway restaurants (501) 585-6600 The Situation He Said: The Red, Red Robin came bob-bob-bobbin’ into Conway a couple of weeks ago. Its arrival was much anticipated by folks who have eaten at this chain restaurant before in other cities, and naturally… Continue reading Red Robin
John Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”
Black Panther
Black Panther Ryan Coogler (2018) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Shakespeare-180×180.jpg’ attachment=’76’ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Ruud Rating 4 Shakespeares [/av_image] Chadwick Boseman has so convincingly made a career out of playing iconic African American figures—Jackie Robinson, James Brown, Thurgood Marshall—that it should come as no surprise that in Black Panther he transcends the… Continue reading Black Panther
Oriental Kitchen
Review No. 95: Oriental Kitchen 1000 Morningside Drive 48.1 percent finished reviewing Conway restaurants (501) 328-3255 The Situation She Said: I found myself with cancelled dinner plans, so He Said suggested we try Oriental Kitchen, which is a Chinese restaurant we’d heard about but had never been to. Since I work at home, I… Continue reading Oriental Kitchen
Langston Hughes’ “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”
Phantom Thread
Phantom Thread Paul Thomas Anderson (2017) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/SusannTennyson.jpg’ attachment=313′ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest offering, Phantom Thread, seems at first to be a strange choice for a Best Picture nominee. Though critics have been effusive about the film, actual audiences have been less… Continue reading Phantom Thread
Pizza Hut
Review No. 94: Pizza Hut 705 Club Lane 47.6 percent finished reviewing Conway restaurants (501) 327-4449 The Situation He Said: She Said was hankering for a pizza, and there’s certainly no lack of pizza places we have not yet reviewed in Conway, so we checked our short list of Restaurants To Review, and out… Continue reading Pizza Hut
Bonny Barbara Allan
I, Tonya
I, Tonya Craig Gillespie (2017) [av_image src=’http://jayruud.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/3-12.jpg’ attachment=313′ attachment_size=’square’ align=’left’ animation=’left-to-right’ link=” target=” styling=” caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’] Three Tennysons/Half Shakespeare[/av_image] [av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”] Just in time for the winter Olympics, Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) revisits the big story of the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer: the worldwide scandal featuring American figure skaters… Continue reading I, Tonya