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In his final letter to his wife before he vanished on Mount Everest a century ago, George Mallory tried to ease her worries even as he said his chances of reaching the world's highest peak were 鈥�50 to 1 against us."

The Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell romantic comedy 鈥淎nyone But You鈥� hitting Netflix and an album by Brazil superstar Anitta are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.

NEW YORK 鈥� Mary J. Blige,Cher, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & The Gang and Ozzy Osbourne have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a class that also includes folk-rockers Dave Matthews Band and singer-guitarist Peter Frampton.

NEW YORK 鈥� One of the country's leading artist residency programs, MacDowell, has awarded a lifetime achievement prize to Yoko Ono. The groundbreaking artist, filmmaker and musician is this year's recipient of the Edward MacDowell Medal, an honor previously given to Stephen Sondheim and Toni…

NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The ambiguity of Imagine Dragons' next album starts from the cover.

PHOENIX (AP) 鈥� A small blue dog with an Australian accent has captured the hearts of people across the world.

By Eric Beltmann

Special to Conley Media T r芒n Anh H霉ng鈥檚 "The Taste of Things" is no popcorn movie.

Concession stands are downright vulgar compared to the farmhouse kitchen at the center of H霉ng鈥檚 tranquil story about food, art and passion. Set in fin-de-si猫cle rural France, the movie opens with a nearly wordless sequence in which the camera spends half an hour delicately dancing around Dodin, a prominent gourmet chef, and Eug茅nie, his celebrated cook, as they prepare an exquisite meal that will be received by an appreciative company of epicureans.

"The Taste of Things," which screens Friday for a third and final time at the Milwaukee Film Festival (4:30 p.m., Downer Theatre), spurns the whip pans of, say, Hulu鈥檚 "The Bear," choosing to instead extract its ingredients from slow, enchanting gastroclassics like "Babette鈥檚 Feast" and "Big Night." Marked by sensuous colors, natural lighting and rigorous period costumes, the movie鈥檚 autumnal production design reflects the way Dodin and Eug茅nie are meticulous about their process of making elaborate dishes; for them, cooking is an art form, but it鈥檚 also their main language.

When words fail, they speak through food.

There鈥檚 something deeply endearing about the way Dodin and Eug茅nie simultaneously treat recipes, and each other, with reverence. In one vulnerable scene, Dodin scrupulously tailors a table to Eug茅nie鈥檚 palette. The meal is his love letter, of course, which is why he nervously waits for her response. But "The Taste of Things" is more about the constitutional connection 鈥� the mind meld 鈥� between people than simple romance. It knows that relationships can be an art form, too.

Eventually the movie transforms its menu, throwing salt at the viewer in ways that ought not be spoiled. That these turns feel entirely earned owes a great deal to the leads, Beno卯t Magimel and Juliette Binoche. Formerly a real-life power couple, the middle-aged French legends deliver mature, sophisticated performances that seem at ease with the complicated contours of life.

The final passage of "The Taste of Things" presents not one but two perfect closing shots, including a doubled 360degree pan that breathtakingly coalesces H霉ng鈥檚 ideas about what it means to be in harmony, to give and grieve, and to find renewal. Like the gorgeous Vietnamese summer opening to H霉ng鈥檚 "The Vertical Ray of the Sun" 鈥� one of my favorite moments in all of cinema 鈥� it achieves a rare ambrosial effect.

Baked into the Milwaukee Film Festival is FOMO 鈥� for example, foodies who missed the sole screening of "Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros," Frederick Wiseman鈥檚 four-hour documentary about a lauded French restaurant, will have to settle for streaming it via PBS 鈥� but fortunately the fest鈥檚 final week offers extra helpings of many key attractions.

(Eric Beltmann teaches film and literature in West Bend. He has written about cinema for print and web outlets since 1991.)

Juliette Binoche and Beno卯t Magimel star as food connoisseurs in Tr芒n Anh H霉ng鈥檚 "The Taste of Things." H霉ng won best director at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Film

Beltmann

The Milwaukee Film Festival started April 11 and runs through April 25. The following are suggestions for each remaining day of the festival.

"We鈥檙e famous!," crow two senior citizens after learning they are the subject of a Silver Alert.

Geezer jokes are pumped intravenously into "Thelma" (7 p.m., Oriental Theatre), an agreeable comedy starring June Squibb as a grandma determined to recover $10,000 from a phone scammer.

While bluntly making its point about retaining agency in late life, "Thelma" cleverly spoofs action spy capers 鈥� one priceless gag involves closing a pop-up ad as if defusing a bomb 鈥� and warmly embraces its characters, including those played by Richard Roundtree, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg and Fred Hechinger, one of our most exciting young actors.

If you can鈥檛 make it to "The Taste of Things" formal dinner, "Late Night with the Devil" (9 p.m., Avalon Theater) offers a spicy midnight snack. Presented as the long-lost recording of a 鈥�70s TV talk show that was buried after a live Halloween broadcast turned unholy, this twist on the "found footage" genre sends up the late-night format with considerable period accuracy and gleeful practical effects. It鈥檚 flawed, but there鈥檚 dark art in how it equates supernatural evil with the ratings- seeking malevolence behind every TV鈥檚 glow.

After co-directing "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin" and "Moana," John Musker retired from Disney in 2018 and decided to make "I鈥檓 Hip," his own handdrawn cartoon. The four-minute result, which was shortlisted for an Oscar, is included in MFF鈥檚 "Shorts: Let鈥檚 Get Animated" program (9 p.m., Avalon Theater).

Featuring an insufferable cat declaring his "hipness" through song and dance, the movie possesses a jazzy, throwback spirit that, for me, made it the clear standout in a collection with no duds.

Twenty years ago I saw "Dig!," Ondi Timoner鈥檚 revealing music documentary about a seven-year span in the lives of Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor-Taylor, the respective frontmen for the Brian Jamestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols. They were neighbors, friends, admirers and bitter rivals. For "Dig! XX" (7:45 p.m., Downer Theatre), a digitallyenhanced anniversary edition, Timoner has added 35 minutes of previously unseen footage.

With back-to-back screenings at the Oriental Theatre, enterprising filmgoers can fashion a "compatriots" double feature of new works made by contemporary Japanese masters. Come for Hirokazu Kore-eda鈥檚 "Monster" (2 p.m.) and stay for "Evil Does Not Exist" (5 p.m.), Ry没suke Hamaguchi鈥檚 follow-up to his Oscarnominated "Drive My Car."

Set in 1992, Minhal Baig鈥檚 "We Grown Now" (7 p.m., Oriental Theatre) sensitively traces the adventures of Malik and Eric, a pair of young best friends living in Chicago鈥檚 Cabrini-Green public housing complex. Some of the dramatic moments falter, but this family affair, screening ahead of its nationwide release on May 10, finds its rhythm when striving for poetry rather than realism.

"Gasoline Rainbow" (9 p.m., Times Cinema), which opens later in May, follows a group of teenagers who drive off to see the Pacific. By hiring non-actors and encouraging improvised scenes, directors Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV have once again blended fiction and nonfiction. Their impressionistic "Tchoupitoulas" was one of my highlights of the 2012 Milwaukee Film Festival, so I鈥檓 eager to see this new film, especially since it鈥檚 been compared favorably to "Easy Rider" and "On the Road."

More straightforward storytelling propels "Io Capitano" (4:30 p.m., Oriental Theatre), an Oscarnominated Italian film about two na茂ve Senegalese boys making a perilous Mediterranean voyage to Europe. This unsparing migrant saga sometimes treads water 鈥� you鈥檝e seen these horrors before 鈥� but director Matteo Garrone injects surprisingly fantastical touches and wisely lets Seydou and Moussa be fully realized people, dreamers and maybe even heroes, rather than object lessons.

The full lineup plus ticket and venue information are online at mkefilm.org/mff.

鈥� Eric Beltmann

Director John Musker filled the cartoon short "I鈥檓 Hip" with more than 120 caricatures of friends and colleagues from his four decades in animation.

Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Film

Dear Annie: I work in a small office with only four employees and one supervisor. Two of my colleagues and I are coffee drinkers. Instead of starting a coffee fund, we started taking turns bringing in a fresh container when we find the previous one is running low. This system has worked for us and has prevented any issues from arising.

What we do have an issue with is our supervisor helping himself to the coffee without ever offering to chip in for his share. This has been going on for almost a year, and the three of us are really getting fed up. It has gotten to the point where we will purposely get less coffee just so he won鈥檛 have a chance to get any. I realize this might be petty, but I don鈥檛 know how to make him understand that he is taking advantage.

All we want is for him to contribute his fair share.

How can we approach this subject with him? What can we say to make him realize he is in the wrong?

鈥� The Fa"brew"lous Three

Dear Fa"brew"lous Three: The way you signed your letter indicates an exclusive club in which outsiders might not feel welcome. Now, since the troublemaker is your boss, the three of you have to make a decision: Is it worth it to upset your supervisor? If not, then decide in advance that the three of you will pay for him.

But if you really resent that 鈥� because it is unfair 鈥� then I would suggest putting a coffee plan for the office in writing and asking everyone who drinks coffee, including the supervisor, to participate. The plan should be impersonal: If three workers participate, the cost 鈥� or responsibility for bringing a container 鈥� will be so much, and if four people participate, the cost per person will be that much less. If he refuses to participate and continues to drink your coffee, then you can either tell him to cut it out or report his behavior to his boss.

The main thing is to keep it impersonal. Don鈥檛 attack him for being a mooch.

Just lay out the numbers for everyone to see.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.

DEAR ANNIE

Annie Lane