Lasse Hallstrom is one of our very best directors, and a great guy. His credits include early hits What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and My Life as a Dog. Then he had  back to back Oscar nominations for The Cider House Rules and Chocolat. He has such lovely gems as Hoax with Richard Gere; Casanova with Heath Ledger and Sienna Miller; and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

Last night, no less than Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg helped Lasse (and his gorgeous actress wife Lena Olin) launch the latest Hallstrom classic, called The One Hundred Foot Journey starring the remarkable Helen Mirren and Indian star Om Puri at the Ziegfeld. A swanky dinner followed at Graydon Carter’s Monkey Bar where Mirren — who came with her famed director husband Taylor Hackford– held court. Disney-Dreamworks outdid itself.

Both Winfrey and Spielberg are executive producers on this much needed confection of a film that traces an Indian family’s move to a French village, where they open a unique restaurant 100 feet from a 1 star Michelin French legend. The latter is owned by Oscar winner Mirren, who captivates even when she’s playing haughty and a little mean.

There is also a central romance between two very talented young (and attractive) people– played by Manish Dayal and Charlotte Le Bon. Keep your eye on these two– they’re each stars in the making.

And Om Puri, who is a superstar in India– rent his 1999 film East is East and see what all the fuss is about.

I did get a chance to talk to Oprah, who was with Stedman Graham, her long time beau. We talked about her Oscar nomination for The Butler. I still think she should have won. But the category was incredibly tight. “Who did win?” Oprah said out loud, and then we both chimed in: “Lupita.” Winfrey said: “Look at her, she’s a phenomenon.” Oprah is not at all upset about losing. By the way, she looks great.

But no one looks better than Lasse and Lena. He’s 68, she’s 59. They’re Swedish, tall, gorgeous, and look a decade younger than their ages. (Helen Mirren, who’s not Swedish, is no slouch.) The One Hundred Foot Journey is clever funny, and smart. As with Hallstrom movies, it’s deceptively sweet. But it’s actually a very deft balancing act between light and dark.

As he did with the marvelous Chocolat, Hallstrom quickly involves us in  families living in a village apart from the rest of the world. All of his people are incredibly endearing. Not only that, but foodies, fans of shows like Top Chef, will be falling over themselves to see Journey a couple of times. Caution: you will leave the theater very hungry and ready for a big, sexy meal.

The One Hundred Foot  Journey is a total enjoyment. It’s also Disney’s second hit in a row after the quite different Guardians of the Galaxy.

A little update, addendum: I do think “Black and White” is one of the best written movies I’ve seen in a long time. It’s sure to raise a ruckus, though. Costner’s Elliot inadvertently blurts out the “N” word and it comes back to haunt him in this very level look at race, language and what constitutes family in 2014. There’s an explanation offered later, which covers Elliot. But there will be a lot of discussion about this when “Black and White” hits theaters.  The debate should be thoughtful, and hopefully, not incendiary.

Earlier: I don’t think anyone quite understands how Mike Binder’s very effective drama, “Black and White,” screened in East Hampton last night. It wasn’t until after the screening was announced that “Black and White” was named by the Toronto Film Festival as a gala premiere film. But the Lions Gate release was shown last night, and it’s very, very good, especially for stars Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer, two past Oscar winners, and our pal Anthony Mackie.

I’ve known Mike since he was a stand up comic in L.A. in the 80s. But he rapidly turned into an excellent filmmaker with a sharp eye. His well wrought original movies include “Reign Over Me” with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle,  “Man About Town” with Ben Affleck, and “The Upside of Anger” with Costner. He also helmed a terrific but short lived HBO series called “The Mind of the Married Man.”

Now Binder has taken a chapter from his own life and reworked it into a story of a young grandfather (Costner) whose wife dies suddenly. The man then must defend custody of the couple’s 7 year old granddaughter, who is black, and precocious, and who they’ve been taking care of since their daughter died in childbirth. The little girl’s biological father’s family (the grandmother on that side is Octavia Spencer, who’s a knock out in this movie) wants custody. In addition to Spencer, Anthony Mackie is solid as usual as Spencer’s attorney brother.

Costner’s Elliot, who’s well to do, a lawyer himself with means, is hampered by the fact that he’s a functioning alcoholic. He hires a brilliant college kid (“Falling Skies” star Mpho Koahoto is a scene stealer) to be his driver and the girl’s tutor.

Costner is always great when he’s playing a flawed lovable loser who must get his act together. Elliot is sort of a perfect grown up adult version of guys he’s played before. It’s a nice turn on Binder’s part that Elliot isn’t suddenly saddled with the kid–he’s been raising her with his wife, only now the wife is suddenly gone. He dreams about her (Jennifer Ehle, a little young for grandma status I think) as he drinks his way through the custody mess.

What’s so special about “Black and White”? Coincidentally, I wrote about this the other day– this is a movie about race, that confronts the subject realistically but even-handedly. There are no villains. And the movie is a triumph of integrating black and white actors in a very grounded story. Mackie and Spencer are already stars. The film introduces young Jillian Estell as Eloise, the 7 year old, and Andre Holland, who’s terrific as Reggie, her father. Check out a musical cameo by Costner’s 28 year old singer songwriter daughter Lily.

So “Black and White” heads to Toronto under the aegis of LionsGate, which will hopefully get behind it. (Right now, the film is technically with the useless Roadside Attractions.) Binder has produced a very nice piece of work here.

Before this weekend, the biggest opening weekend in the month of August ever was for “The Bourne Ultimatum” in 2007. That number was $69,283,690.

But now “Galaxy of the Guardians” has shattered that record with a $94 million opening from Friday through today. Marvel-ous!!! “Guardians” even has a nice $66 mil internationally, with lots more to come. The future is limitless. And something tells me the Marvel insta-classic will hold right through Labor Day and the return to school. Disney’s Alan Horn should be very very happy.

Plus, the soundtrack, as I told you, is a big big hit.

Keep refreshing for more box office updates this morning…

No, Howard the Duck is not back. Not really. Marvel’s answer to Disney’s Donald Duck makes a cameo appearance in the end credits sequence of “Guardians of the Galaxy.” The press was not shown this cut, but word seeped out quickly. New York Magazine’s Vulture put up a clip, and was quickly admonished to take it down. Marvel fans went into a frenzy. What could this mean?

It means…nothing. It’s just a clever riposte at the end of a very clever movie. There will be no Howard the Duck movie in the future. The only existing Howard the Duck movie was one of the great — colossal– failures of the 1980s. At the time, it cost an enormous $37 million (really probably $50 million). In the US it took in only $16 million.

And the whole thing was a George Lucas production, the only real complete failure on Lucas’s intra-stellar resume. “Howard” was directed by Lucas’s protege Willard Huyck. The screenplay was by Huyck and Gloria Katz, who’d worked on almost everything in the Lucas-Spielberg pantheon. But this was not meant to be. At the time, “Howard” was a very sore joke in Hollywood.

But bravo to the “Guardians” team. Howard sipping Champagne is a snappy end note. “Guardians” is going to go through the roof this weekend. Howard’s appearance is a reminder of what Marvel was, long ago, in another universe.