Aussie Designer Channels Our Easter Spirit

On the hunt for pastel-hued, whimsical looks for Easter, we came across the work of Aussie designer Karla Špetić who created a series of charming pieces using Caitlin Shearer's soft watercolor paintings as the main print in her A/W 2010 collection (after all, seasons are the reverse in Oz). So gorgeous!

In Theaters Now: Highly Rated

1. A PROPHET (Rating 96)

French director Jacques Audiard's grim, disturbing prison picture slices through gangster clichés to hit raw nerve. -Colin Covert, Star Tribune

2. AN EDUCATION (Rating 94)

Despite the lingering aroma of Victorian rot shrouding 1961, An Education is excitingly young. -Kyle Smith, New York Post

3. THE WHITE RIBBON (Rating 83)

This great film is set in rural Germany in the years before World War I. All has been stable in this village for generations. Haneke's films are like parables, teaching that bad things sometimes happen simply because they . . . happen. The universe laughs at man's laws and does what it will. -Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Tribune

Ratings from our favorite movie site: Rotten Tomatoes

Three Great Wines Under $20

Vinofina, where these wines are stocked, also gives to a non-profit of your choice with every purchase of wine.

1. Pellegrini Family Blend $12 Spicy blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Carignan. Yummy berry-cherry flavor is perfect for outdoor grilling.

2. Rutherford Ranch Chardonnay $16 Apricot and honey aroma with peach, pear, vanilla and lemon flavors. SF Chronicle winner.

3. Hunterdon Pinot Noir $16 Micro-oxidation could be the secret to this perfect pinot. Balanced flavor of earthiness and cherry.

Good Fiction 2010: 3 Great Books

THE MUSUEM OF INNOCENCE
Already one of the most anticipated releases of the year, Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk's The Museum of Innocence (Faber), is an epic tale of an obsessive love set amidst the dizzyingmelting pot of Istanbul. The story spans three decades and the book is due to be feted with a real museum: Pamuk is said to be planning a house of ephemera that will be stocked with his protagonist's keepsakes. 

HOMER AND LANGLEY
Minimalists beware: EL Doctorow's new book Homer and Langley (Little, Brown) could be your equivalent of The Shining. Based on the lives of the Collyer brothers (notorious hoarders and recluses who seldom ventured from their New York townhouse and eventually met their deaths as a result of the toxic environs they created) the story functions as a narrative prism through which Doctorow refracts a century of American life.