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weekend round-up

A no-fail cherry pie almost guarantees a happy holidayDanielle Matar/The Globe and Mail

Movie to watch: Weiner

It's a long weekend! You've got time for Weiner, "a riveting chronicle of the bulldog Brooklyn politician's attempted comeback from a 2011 sexting scandal." It's a case study in blunt force media trauma, The Globe and Media's senior media writer Simon Houpt says, and the real star isn't the unfortunately-named politician: it's his wife, Huma Abedin. Read the review.

It's 2016: there seems little reason to watch "turn-of-the-century American schlockmeister" Edgar Rice Burroughs's story about an English lord whose nobility shines even in a loincloth. The work, and its creator, is "racist and sexist by any contemporary standard," The Globe's film critic Kate Taylor says. Species-ist, too, when you consider the apes. This 21st-century reboot featuring a flat Margot Robbie as Jane and True Blood actor Alexander Skarsgard who's at the mercy of the movie's screenwriters. As Taylor says, though, it's a visually fun movie and it's modern in that "it does at least feature equal-opportunity ogling." Read the review.

Food for thought: There's no room in Hollywood for the mid-budget drama anymore.

No more $30-million to $50-million productions that hand trusted directors the reins. There's a creative sweet spot being lost, and movies are suffering because of it.

"Either you offer audiences an unmissable blockbuster derived from well-known intellectual property, or you invest in meek, sub-$10-million indies and pray for a return on investment on the art-house and VOD [video-on-demand] circuits," The Globe's deputy arts and film critic Barry Hertz says. Read the column.

Book to read: Closer: Notes from the Orgasmic Frontier of Female Sexuality

This isn't one to look away from: Closer is "an engrossing look at the state of female desire in 2016," Globe feature writer Zosia Bielski says. "We want women to be sexual," she writes, "but in stupidly limiting ways." Simultaneously funny, informative, self-aware and scathing, it's "a provocation for men and women alike." Read the review.

Drink to try: Caorunn Gin

Looking for something different? How about Caorunn Gin? More suited to a dry martini than a gin and tonic, this Scottish gin is made using the small-batch approach and differs markedly from its competitor Hendrick's in flavour. Read the review.

Meal to cook: Grilled beef short ribs served with salsa verde

They have a juicy, beefy taste and slightly chewy texture that's sure to play great on the Canada Day long weekend, and the anchovy flavour of the salsa verde only makes things better. Don't forget the free-form cherry pie with cream-cheese crust for dessert. Make the recipe.

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