Soda Pictures

Like this, but without clothes.

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The Dinner: Tempura at Kiku Tempura House (5018 University Way NE)

The Movie: Norwegian Wood (Noruwei no mori) at SIFF Uptown (511 Queen Anne Avenue North)

The Screenplate: Tumultuous, passionate, fragile--all three describe Tokyo's youth culture circa 1969, the backdrop of director Anh Hung Tran's Norwegian Wood, based on Haruki Murakami's international best seller of the same name. Making its U.S. debut earlier this year at the Seattle International Film Festival, Norwegian Wood's return to SIFF Uptown revisits the delicate sexual confusion of young adulthood, set to a soundtrack of the band Can and original work by Radiohead's Jonny Geenwood. It thus seemed fitting to seek a second dose of Japanese culture and college lifestyle, so I ended up at Kiku Tempura House for dinner.

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Fellow Oscar nominees Close (left) and McTeer.

Patrick Redmond/Roadside Attractions

​The Dinner: Split-pea soup, at the Owl & Thistle (808 Post Alley).

The Movie: Albert Nobbs, at the Harvard Exit (807 E. Roy St.)

The Screenplate: 1890s Dublin is the setting for Glenn Close's Oscar-bait drama of cross-dressing and repressed emotion; and her character, the prim and proper Albert, even happens to be a waiter in a residential hotel. The movie therefore demands Irish food before or after the show, meaning an Irish eatery that you might somehow uncover in Dublin. That, of course, diminishes one's dining options in Seattle, where there are plenty of Irish bars but few restaurants that actually serve Celtic cuisine. But the life choices for poor, meek Albert are even fewer, so let's consider Seattle's Irish food possibilities first...

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Lisbeth Salander's metabolism is such that she could dine at The Viking regularly and still not gain weight

​The Dinner: Brisket sandwich, smoked potato, and a pint of Old Seattle Lager at The Viking in Ballard.

The Movie: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo at the Cinerama.

The Screenplate:The latest screen adaptation of Stieg Larsson's wildly popular Millennium series sets an English-speaking cast of actors in Sweden, sort of like an old World War II movie where all the Nazis speak English. There are a few other tweaks and twists that differentiate the new one from the stellar Swedish version, but mostly the novelty is that you speak the language. Such as it with The Viking, a restaurant that is a quintessentially Ballard blend of America and Scandanavia.

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The Weinstein Company (2011)

This should've been a picture of Uggie the Dog.

​The Dinner: Columbia City bread and marinated Picholine olives, apple and Manchego salad, canelones a la Catalana, and chocolate mousse at Olivar (806 E. Roy).

The Movie: The Artist at the Harvard Exit (807 E. Roy).

The Screenplate: The first line of dialogue in The Artist is, "I won't talk! I won't say a word!" and if you have heard any of the hype about director Michel Hazanavicius' newest film, this should come as absolutely no surprise. I'm here to confirm that the rumors are true: Yes, The Artist is a silent movie with "some talking parts," yes, it is also about the Silent Era of film, and yes, it is lighter and fluffier than chocolate mousse (foodies hang on, I'm getting there).

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Somehow Theron's metabolism processes junk food at the speed of Usain Bolt.

​The Dinner: Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, fried fish, French fries, and Pepsi at the KFC/Long John Silver's hybrid in downtown Everett.

The Movie: Young Adult at Alderwood 16 in Lynnwood.

The Screenplate: As a 37-year-old functional alcoholic, I can state with supreme authority that at no time in cinematic history has 37-year-old functional alcoholism been portrayed more accurately than in Young Adult, the sophomore collaboration of screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman, who improve upon Juno by leaps and bounds, mainly due to a remarkable performance by Charlize Theron, who must make fellow ex-model Cameron Diaz feel really small.

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Ian Muttoo, 2009.

"You've led us astray again, you spit-headed fool!"

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The Dinner: Hanger steak, medium rare, with red wine sauce and pureed potatoes at 611 Supreme (611 E Pine St.).

The Movie: The Adventures of Tintin at Pacific Place (600 Pine St.).

The Screenplate: As the Francophiles amongst you probably already know, Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin is based on the classic comic book series by Belgian comic artist Hergé, following an ageless boy reporter and his resourceful dog Snowy as they hunt for hot leads and buried treasure around the globe. Frequently joining Tintin and Snowy is Captain Haddock, a grizzled seafarer with a love of strong drink and adventure that consistently takes the already intrepid duo deeper into perilous environments and the webs of intrigue that lie at their core.

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Warner Bros.

Downey Jr. with original Dragon Tattoo girl Noomi Rapace.

​The Dinner: Fish & Chips, at Red Robin (Pier 55).

The Movie: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, at Pacific Place (600 Pine St.).

The Screenplate: The Sherlock Holmes detective stories are an entirely English confection, and Robert Downey Jr. is an entirely American movie star. Why, with a serviceable English accent, he was cast to play Holmes in the 2009 hit movie is a question best left to studio marketing executives. Perhaps no English actor, no matter how talented, could open the movie as wide from Dubai to Dubuque. Jude Law, cast as Dr. Watson, probably would've given us a deeper, more tormented detective, but authenticity was not what Hollywood wanted. The first Holmes movie, and now this sequel (also directed by Guy Ritche), are export products. A Game of Shadows is a denatured entertainment that bears few traces of Arthur Conan Doyle or his late Victorian culture. The energetic pacing, all stops and starts, with Holmes dashing from one brawl to the next shootout, is entirely American. It's a hybrid--not terribly good, not entirely bad, and rather more filling than a moviegoer might hope. (You want 90 minutes but get 121.) So for dinner, I stuffed myself on another English export that's been excessively battered to suit American tastes...

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​The Dinner: a hearty turkey sandwich from The Ugly Mug (1309 NE 43rd St).

The Movie: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, shown at the Metro Cinema.

The Screenplate: Raise your hand if you saw The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1! No? Nobody else was dragged to one of the showings by their overzealous "I act like I'm not into the series but I actually am" friends? Oh. Well, it's a good thing that I'm here to tell you what you missed: a gratuitous amount of blood, shots of good looking people standing around being good looking and only that, and uh, teenager-baby romance. Yeah, you read that last one right.

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​The Dinner: Pretzels, mustard and a pint of Weihenstephan at Bernard's on Seneca.

The Movie: Tower Heist at Regal Meridian 16 in Downtown Seattle.

The Screenplate: In Tower Heist, Eddie Murphy, acting somewhat like his old SNL character in Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood, coins the term "niglet" when referring to a diminutive African-American. This marks the funniest quip in a tepidly enjoyable caper comedy that would have benefited from a lot more quips--and Murphy.

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Merie Wallace/Fox Searchlight

Clooney leads the kids (from left, Krause, Miller, and Woodley) on a mission to find his rival.

​The Dinner: Mahi Mahi, at Hawaiian Breeze (1719 N. 45th St.).

The Movie: The Descendants, at Guild 45th (2115 N. 45th St.)

The Screenplate: The holy grail of this Dinner & a Movie column is to perfectly match film and meal in the same neighborhood, preferably within walking distance. An even higher and more difficult objective is to see both a good picture and enjoy a good restaurant; and it is rare to accomplish both challenges in an evening. So in perhaps my most successful D&M excursion in the past two-odd years, I managed to pair the Hawaii-set The Descendants with a Hawaiian eatery only two blocks west in Wallingford. The movie, directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways, Election, etc.) and starring George Clooney, I expected to like, since most of the early reviews from New York were raves. But located in a modest storefront, Hawaiian Breeze was a total unknown to me. I've probably walked past 100 times and never once ventured in. Yet when I first opened the door, unlike the full movie theaters that will be playing The Descendants right through Christmas and likely to the Oscars, Hawaiian Breeze was totally empty. An hour before closing on a rainy weeknight, I was the only customer, which is usually an ominous sign...

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