Swank

Regarding the letter from A. Venkatesh about "Napa Nest" (Feb. 16): I think Chef Thomas Keller would be insulted to have anyone describe his Yountville restaurant, the French Laundry, as "swank." The dictionary uses these words to describe "swank": ostentatious, swaggering, showy, pretentious and expensive. None of these words apply to the French Laundry. How about superb, elegant, understated, wonderful and fantastic? MYRON D. OAKES San Marino

More than 50 years ago, riders in California first put wheels on a plank, called it a skateboard and brought the sport of ocean surfing onto dry land. Then cheap foreign labor drove many builders overseas or out of business, leaving entrepreneurs such as Tod Swank wondering whether "made in California" would become a thing of the past. In 2005, Swank got a chance to slow the exodus. The former pro skater was selling his own brands of boards manufactured by San Diego-based Watson Laminates, one of the first of the "old school" manufacturers to move into laminated products from boards carved out of solid pieces of wood.

The deal Alcon Entertainment, on behalf of Hilary Swank and her producing partner, Molly Smith, options Michelle Wildgen's "You're Not You," a highly praised novel about a woman dying from Lou Gehrig's disease and a younger woman who takes care of her. The players Swank ("Boys Don't Cry" and "Million Dollar Baby") and Smith ("P.S. I Love You") producing, along with Denise DiNovi and Alison Greenspan from DiNovi Pictures ("The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"). Wildgen represented on film rights by Creative Artists Agency, on literary rights by Emilie Stewart and the Anne Edelstein Literary Agency.

Betty Anne Waters spent almost two decades trying to free her brother Kenny from prison, where he was serving a life sentence for a crime she was sure he didn't commit. On the surface, "Conviction" is the true story about the lengths a sister will go to save her brother. But the film delves far below that surface. As acted by Hilary Swank, the loyalty Betty Anne has for Kenny is almost superhuman. Her journey is complicated because Kenny is as engaging as he is volatile, and as embodied by Sam Rockwell, that combination could very well be lethal.

Suffering from UFS, Unsightly Fan Syndrome? You can beat the heat in style with the Otto by Swiss designer Carlo Borer. The fan has a swank ring frame made from sapele, a mahogany-like wood from Africa, and the cool, contemporary styling smartly conceals the piece's inner-workings. Price: $199.99, shipping included, from www.swizz-style.com. -- David A. Keeps

Thieves took nearly $1,000 from Jennifer Beals' hotel room while the actress was on location in the Philippines shooting the movie "Madonna and the Dragon," police said today. Beals, 25, best known for starring in the 1983 hit "Flashdance," discovered the theft when she returned to her room at the swank Manila Pavillion hotel, Sgt. Potenciano Gregorio said. Gregorio said police were questioning employees because the room did not appear to be broken into.

History can weigh heavily on a filmmaker, and that is what happens with "Amelia," a disappointing rendering of the remarkable life of Amelia Earhart. The pioneering aviatrix lost in flight is a figure so iconic, and director Mira Nair so tentative with her legend, that all the reverence and tiptoeing around grounds a film that should have soared. The life of Earhart, who burst on the scene in 1928 flying airplanes when they were still the province of men, is exactly the sort of saga Nair loves to tell.

Ostensibly a sharp-edged satiric portrait of a marriage ripped apart by infidelity, Theresa Rebeck's savvy if sometimes formulaic comedy, "The Scene," cuts a broader swath through layers of betrayal in contemporary show business. Art Manke's smart, sexy staging for Santa Barbara's Ensemble Theatre Company pulls no punches with Rebeck's four-character immorality tale. Its focal point is Charlie (David Nevell), a bright, arrogant and, naturally, unemployed New York actor whose disdain for artistic compromise comes cheap -- he's been living off the income of his wife, Stella (Colette Kilroy)

With news of drug-related violence and H1N1 flu in the headlines, tourism to Mexico has plummeted. But the truth is the violence is largely regional and the swine flu is no longer confined to here. Many places in Mexico are inexpensive, kid-friendly and sunny. Here are some of my family's recent favorites. Sayulita, Nayarit Once a fishing village, Sayulita has become a haunt for surfers, bohemians and vacationers who want to avoid the crowds. It's just an hour's drive from Puerto Vallarta on Mexico's west coast.

I came to Barbados for the flying fish sandwiches. Not that this small island at the easternmost edge of the Caribbean doesn't offer other attractions. Like perfect weather. And beaches that come in two flavors -- Caribbean, which has a sea that is turquoise and tranquil, and into which the sun sets spectacularly every evening, and Atlantic, where the coastline is rocky and the sand is the color and consistency of cake flour. Then there are the Barbadians themselves, people who are the very definition of friendly locals.

"Conviction" ? "Conviction," starring Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell, is an exceedingly earnest ripped-from-the-headlines story of a sister's saving grace and the salvation possible with DNA typing. It follows the prison saga of Kenny Waters (Rockwell), a good ole rural Massachusetts boy serving a life sentence for a murder he contends he didn't commit, and the extraordinary measures his sister Betty Anne (Swank) takes to fight that conviction. Yet the film falls short of delivering the outrage and uplift that should have come easy for this true-life fight against justice denied.

Growing up in a mobile home in the Pacific Northwest, Hilary Swank unwittingly found herself placed in her first role: trailer trash. "My friends' parents didn't want me playing with their kids, and I didn't understand it, because I didn't think of where I lived as being that big of a deal. I had a roof over my head," Swank said last week as she bit into a cucumber finger sandwich at Santa Monica's Tudor House tea room, a world away from her modest childhood home. "But their parents would say, 'You need to go home now.' At 7 years old, I learned what classism was, growing up poor.

Poppi Monroe has an enthusiastic prediction for Swill Automatic, the wine bar she plans to open this month on warehouse-chic Industrial Street in downtown L.A.: "People will want to come from all over the city," says the buoyant actress-cum-bar-manager. It could be an anthem for a slew of entrepreneurs who are opening new bars in downtown's core or along its still-underserved edges. They are all banking on the same thing - that Angelenos in search of the latest drinks trend - whether it's pre-Prohibition or Tiki cocktails or wines by the ounce - are increasingly willing to venture into neighborhoods that were last popular in the 1930s (or never even drew crowds at all)

History can weigh heavily on a filmmaker, and that is what happens with "Amelia," a disappointing rendering of the remarkable life of Amelia Earhart. The pioneering aviatrix lost in flight is a figure so iconic, and director Mira Nair so tentative with her legend, that all the reverence and tiptoeing around grounds a film that should have soared. The life of Earhart, who burst on the scene in 1928 flying airplanes when they were still the province of men, is exactly the sort of saga Nair loves to tell.

Suffering from UFS, Unsightly Fan Syndrome? You can beat the heat in style with the Otto by Swiss designer Carlo Borer. The fan has a swank ring frame made from sapele, a mahogany-like wood from Africa, and the cool, contemporary styling smartly conceals the piece's inner-workings. Price: $199.99, shipping included, from www.swizz-style.com. -- David A. Keeps

The most astonishing thing about my time in the 2009 Audi Q5 was that I actually took it off road, with dirt and everything. Granted, I was in the Brentwood neighborhood of West Los Angeles, where the creeks burble with Bollinger and raccoons wear rhinestone collars. Nonetheless, for most buyers in the compact luxury sport-utility segment, my little excursion on a home construction site might as well have been crossing the Gobi. You know these vehicles.

Waiting to board, I saw passengers wearing socks with flip-flops. Someone asked, poker-faced, whether Mexico was a state in the U.S. When applause broke out upon landing, it was all I could do to disembark. These are my fellow countrymen? I cringed, skulking to my (clearly marked) cab. Ignoring the yardlong-drink contingent poses a challenge, but I had reasons to head south of the border, the primary one being to taste and smell foods that captivate me. My launching pad for the next four days was the all-villa Banyan Tree Residences Mayakoba, which opened in March on the Yucatán Peninsula's Riviera Maya coastline.

You've just won an Academy Award as best actress. What's your next big project? If you're Hilary Swank, it's helping to produce and star in ... a game show for cable TV. AMC announced this week that Swank, husband Chad Lowe and actor-director Bob Balaban will be executive producers of six installments of "Celebrity Charades," featuring them and other performers playing movie-related charades to raise money for charity. It debuts June 20. From a Times staff writer

Ostensibly a sharp-edged satiric portrait of a marriage ripped apart by infidelity, Theresa Rebeck's savvy if sometimes formulaic comedy, "The Scene," cuts a broader swath through layers of betrayal in contemporary show business. Art Manke's smart, sexy staging for Santa Barbara's Ensemble Theatre Company pulls no punches with Rebeck's four-character immorality tale. Its focal point is Charlie (David Nevell), a bright, arrogant and, naturally, unemployed New York actor whose disdain for artistic compromise comes cheap -- he's been living off the income of his wife, Stella (Colette Kilroy)

How can you not like a hotel that has as its symbolic hospitality ambassador the stubby, stalwart and sweet English bulldog? Even if you're not a fan of compact canines with underbites, there's much more to like at the new London West Hollywood -- spacious rooms, attentive (if sometimes lurching) service, innovative dining by star chef Gordon Ramsay and good looks that might make James Bond do a double take.