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Weekend Butler: An important GoFundMe. An actress in a movie that grossed $27,00 could win the Oscar (stream it!) The #1 bestselling novel (Don’t tell: I’m reading it). When The Rolling Stones had nothing. A bracing soup recipe.

By Jesse Kornbluth
Published: Feb 02, 2023
Category: Weekend

IMAGE: from Facebook: Chinese restaurant condiments. Caption: “Rothko… The Takeout Years.”

GOFUNDME FOR TYRE NICHOLS

You don’t need a single word from me about the tragedy in Memphis. But if you haven’t seen it, the GoFundMe launched by RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols, you might click here. Her appeal is eloquent and focused, and the money will do good things for the city and the healing of his family. $1.3 million has been raised. The goal is $1.5 million.

THE WEEKEND MOVIE

“To Leslie” opened in October. A third-string NY Times critic called Andrea Riseborough’s performance “deft” and praised “this deceptively simple yet heart-wrenching character study.”

The film grossed just $27,000.

Andrea Riseborough, an actress better known in England than here, has friends. Famous friends. And in the weeks before Oscar nominating season, those friends got loud. Cate Blanchett, a certain Best Actress nominee for “Tar,” included praise for Riseborough when she accepted a Critics Choice award. Kate Winslet said Riseborough gave “the greatest female performance onscreen I have ever seen in my life.” Gwyneth Paltrow posted on Instagram. Howard Stern, who acted with Riseborough in his long ago film “Private Parts,” praised the film on his satellite radio show.

When the nominations for Best Actress were announced last week, there was Andrea Riseborough.

Studios spend millions promoting stars in awards season. This campaign didn’t cost a dollar. Did Hollywood cry foul? Of course, and the stunned members had a point: if anyone directly called Academy voters to lobby for Riseborough or organized informal screenings, that would be a violation of Oscar rules.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences launched an investigation. Breath was held in two countries. Earlier this week, the Academy announced the nomination was legit… but maybe just this once.

My take: “To Leslie” is brilliantly scripted and directed, and that intensifies Riseborough’s performance, which is so gritty and searing I wanted to turn away. I was so thrilled to be watching a real movie that I couldn’t. Simply, “To Leslie” was worth the discomfort, and I was so relieved for her revival I didn’t even bitch about the improbably happy ending.

The trailer will give you some idea what awaits you. Watch here.

To stream the movie on Amazon Prime, click here.

THE WEEKEND BOOK

Friends keep telling me about “Lessons in Chemistry,” a novel by Bonnie Garmus about a scientist in 1960s California who becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show. It’s been on the Times bestseller list for 36 weeks and is currently #1. It’s 400 pages, way longer than I like. And yet — shhh! don’t tell! — I just bought it. To buy it from Amazon, click here.

THE ROLLING STONES BEFORE THEY WERE THE ROLLING STONES

Ronnie Spector had the misfortune to be married to Phil Spector, genius producer, madman, killer. It’s better to remember her as the founder of the Ronettes, whose hits included “Be My Baby” and “Baby, I Love you.”  Her memory of the Stones:

Ronnie Spector: “The first time Keith and Mick came to America, they weren’t successful, they slept on my mother’s living room floor up in Spanish Harlem. They had no money, and my mom would get up in the morning and make them bacon and eggs, and Keith would always say, ‘Thank you, Mrs. Bennett.’ And then I took them to see James Brown at the Apollo, and that’s what made them so determined. Those guys went home and came back superstars. Because I showed them what I did, how I grew up, and how I went to the Apollo Theater when I was eleven years old. I took them backstage, and they met all these rhythm and blues stars. I remember Mick standing there shaking when we passed James Brown’s room.

Keith Richards recalls a bit more: “The first time I went to heaven was when I awoke with Ronnie asleep with a smile on her face. We were kids. It doesn’t get any better than that. Just more refined. What can I say? She took me to her parents’ house, took me to her bedroom. Several times, but that was the first time. And I’m just a guitar player. You know what I mean?”

THE WEEKEND POEM

from Citizen: An American Lyric, by Claudine Rankin

I included this soup in a Weekend Butler last year. This winter, I make the zucchini soup every few days. On cold days, when others drink tea, I microwave a cup of soup. It  never fails to raise my spirits.

YELLOW OR GREEN SQUASH SOUP

Serves 8

1 1/2 pounds yellow summer squash or zucchini
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, sliced
6 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3 to 4 grinds of fresh nutmeg or dash of ground nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream

Wash, trim, and sliced squash.
In a large saucepan, melt butter; gently saute onion.
Add chicken broth gradually, then sliced squash, salt and pepper.
Simmer for 45 minutes.
Puree soup in blender or food processor. Add nutmeg.
To heat, stir in cream with a wire whisk and cook over low heat. Do not allow to boil.
In summer: serve it cold.