More Short Cuts...

The Hurt Locker (B) Kathyrn Bigelow, to her credit, has stopped trying to be the tough girl on the playground. That is, while she understands all the tropes and idioms of action and violence, she's developed a sense of proportion in their use. In this case, the story of a bomb disposal tech in Iraq, her skills let her give the feeling of randomness that a job in that field has over one's destiny. (The opening scene gives us a careful, by-the-book disposal expert who dies in spite of his caution, and the rest of the movie's about another disposal expert whose recklessness seems to work in his favor.)

World's Greatest Dad (C+) A 'Heathers' like satire where Robin Williams plays a failing teacher saddled with a hateful little homunculus of a son. The son's death, (from accidental auto-erotic asphyxiation-ew.) leads to a chain of events where the boy gets credited with a depth of spirit he never really had. It loses it's nerve near the end, but if Robin Williams' character had played his cards through, the movie would've been veering into even darker waters than it was already.

Big Fan (B-) It's a throwback to movies of the 70's, where the lead didn't have a character arc. What I mean is, in the process of the story unfolding, the lead actor doesn't grow from his experiences. So the story is about why the character is what he is instead of taking him from point a to point b. I refer, of course, to Bob Rafelson's excellent 'Five Easy Pieces', where Jack Nicholson plays the estranged son of a family of wealthy over-achievers.

In the case of 'Big Fan', Patton Oswalt (yep, him again.) plays a lumpen sad-sack who's only joy in life is following the fortunes of his favorite football team, and specifically, its star quarterback. Because his life is so narrow in it's focus, a chance meeting with his beloved player leads to a tragic outcome. Oswalt's character takes a course of action that leads him into serious legal trouble at the movie's end.

The whole tone of the movie is more than a little sad, and I suspect anyone who's a big sports fan (or, um, comic book fan, or tabletop RPG fan...) will feel a painful twinge of recognition of Oswalt's progress.

Moon (B+) Speaking of 70's movies, David Bowie's son Duncan Jones makes a bang-up debut in this feature. I'm reminded of 'Silent Running', special-effects whiz Douglas Trumbull's directorial debut. The art direction makes more than a nod to Kubrick's '2001', and covers up the low budget. Sam Rockwell is turning out to be one of my favorite actors these days, and extra bonus: Kevin Spacey's nod to 'HAL' turns out to be a good guy after all. I wonder how Jones' next film will turn out, assuming that he's getting a bigger budget...

Weekend Recap

So here was my weekend in a nutshell.

My niece dropped by for a visit, and she brought her dinosaur house. It started out as a shoebox, but after some arts and crafts time (and a few pieces of cereal, which she calls the dinosaur's eggs), she came up with this:

Please check out his nametag.

And then I made pizza with chicken, marinara, mozzarella, and some herbs and spices. Oh, and some Italian Herb Flat Out bread. It was something new, and I am digging it.


I also made brownies but did not take any pictures of them. My pal Holly gave me her top-secret recipe a while back, and I finally got around to trying it. Whew. I'm glad I did. What did you get into?

Nouveau Prep

Has anyone else noticed the prep infusion of late? Now, now. Don't get me wrong. Prep has been around since way before now (and even before Zack Morris). And I've always been on the fringes of prep. I don't think that anyone who knows me would call me super preppy. But, as Ann Marie might say, I have tendencies. You won't catch me wearing boat shoes, though, unless I actually make it to Nantucket one day.

This is not a hate post. Let me clear that up right away. But I think that sometimes the tragically hip take things way too far. That said, I'd much rather see copious amounts of plaid and denim to anything Ed Hardy. And I like that brands like LL Bean and Lands' End, which have been around forever, are doing new lines.

Let's all take a moment and thank J.Crew for making this moment possible. Other brands are hitching their wagons to the prep-star, and so far I like what I'm seeing. First up is LL Bean's new Signature line. It's more tailored and targeted at the 20-35 demographic. To wit:

Ciabatta? Don't Mind If I Do

Recently I whipped up a ravioli lasagna and served it with a side of ciabatta bread. But there was a lot. Of both.

So the next day I turned about a third of the bread into a stuffed sandwich by scooping out (and eating) the delish bread flesh and jamming in some chicken and mozzarella. Then I baked it at 350-ish for about 10 minutes. A side of Newman's Own honey mustard completed the nosh. I recommend it.

I'm Not Gonna Be Ignored, Dan!

Have you seen this movie? If not, then you should.

I was only 4 when it premiered, but I've always heard so much about it. Then, just a few weeks ago, Michael Douglas and Glenn Close were on a pre-Oscar special. Curiosity? Piqued.

A quick search through the channel guide turned up a listing on Encore or some free movie channel, and I recorded it. Whoa. It's definitely rated R. But it's also a stellar performance by Glenn Close. She plays this lonely lady who becomes obsessed after a one-night stand.

I had already seen the famous clips and heard about the ending (which I won't spoil, in case you haven't), but it didn't matter. I was glued to the TV. It took none other than Cher in Moonstruck to beat Ms. Close to the Oscar that year. Hmm...maybe I should search that one, too.

Do you ever run across movies you heard about as a child and later watched as an adult? I recently watch Norma Rae, as well, and it was excellent.

You Stole My Heart...

Confession: I don't have an Amazon Kindle, but my pal Dawn does. And she loves it. Like seriously swoons over it. (Ok. Maybe I'm overdoing it a bit.)

What I can say is that their new commercials (also linked from the picture) are right up my alley. They're very Mac-ish, but that's definitely ok. It's this 30-second stop-motion journey of adventure. This second one is the best. It has tons of simple clothes and colors and lots of stripes. Plus, that song is catchy as all get-out. Enjoy!

A Little Sunday Sweet Tooth

As you probably figured out by now, I love to bake, and there's no better time than the weekend. This time I tried a new recipe--Grammy's Chocolate Cookies, which is a Martha Stewart original.

I mixed up the dough and then had to let it chill in the fridge for about an hour. Then I rolled it into balls and covered those in sugar. They baked up rather nicely, and I quite appreciate the taste. Have a great week, loyal readers!

Lust List: Week Six 1/2

I'm a bit behind with my Lust List. A thousand apologies. This week is Crate & Barrel. I have to admit to not always being over the moon for their major furniture items, but they have great smaller stuff.

My favorite section is always the kitchen. Here are just a couple of my picks, but really most everything is good and reasonably priced.

I Smell Specs and Candy...Heah...

This is crazy. Warby Parker is a new line of eyeglasses that I really can't say enough about. I read about them in GQ and on Daily Candy a day or so later and had to check it out. I'm glad I did. Here's why:

They have a nicely edited selection of frame styles. They're VERY reasonable ($95 per pair, including prescription lenses). They will send you up to 5 pairs to try on for free (with free return), as GQ refers to them as "the Netflix of glasses." If you have a fancy webcam or want to upload a digital image of yourself, you can play dress-up right on your screen. AND they donate a pair of glasses to people in need for every pair that is bought.

I'm hooked, and I can't stop starin'. Ooo, baby, I wanna get witcha...and get refracted...

These Nutty Days...

Over the weekend I made some chocolate chip-pecan cookies for a couple of friends at work. They turned out a bit differently than my usual ones, but they were still not too bad. I just thought I'd share a quick pic.