Weekend Update

On Saturday, J and I had our friends M&N over for dinner and to watch the Grindhouse movies. I love to cook, so I found a couple of new recipes to try in addition to some that I’ve made before. Here’s what was on the menu:

Stir-Fried Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce (sauce consisted of OJ, honey, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and chili paste)

Asian Green Beans (seasoned with ginger, garlic, green onions, and Oyster sauce, mixed with some sliced roasted red peppers)

Herbed Basmati Rice (mixed with some garlic, green onions, fresh basil, thyme, and pine nuts)

and for dessert, I made profiteroles (cream puff pastry stuffed with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with caramel and chocolate sauce)

Everything turned out great. The food was delish (if I do say so myself). The profiteroles were a hit. It is seriously one of the best desserts in the world. After eating it, you don’t feel overly stuffed. Everything that I made is pretty simple. I’d share any of the recipes if anyone is interested.

After dinner, we watched both the Grindhouse movies: Planet Terror and Death Proof. J and I actually saw both movies in the theatre when they featured them together and the only thing that is lacking from the movies is the fake movie trailers in between the films. The producers of the film (those damn Weinstein bros.) decided to sell both films on their own and eliminated the hilarious fake trailers altogether. Oh well, at least J and I know we aren’t missing anything. We all enjoyed the movies and majority of the funny scenes. There were some gruesome and gory parts, but it’s all fun and enjoyable.

If there are Robert Rodriguez (Sin City, Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn) and Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs) fans out there, I’d recommend buying the both Planet Terror and Death Proof and adding it to your DVD collection. These are good, really good.

Who Likes Jane Austen?

It was a rainy day in the valley this past Saturday so I decided to spend my early afternoon taking in a movie. I decided to see The Jane Austen Book Club. The movie is based on the book by Karen Joy Fowler.

The basic premise of the story is that 6 people form together for a book club, thus the Jane Austen book club. Each person will be responsible for holding the book club meeting at their place for each book. The 6 following books by Jane Austen are:

Sense and Sensibility
Northanger Abbey
Emma
Mansfield Park
Pride & Prejudice
Persuasion

Overall, the movie was good. There were some really funny scenes and the cast is full of good actors and actresses: Maria Bello, Amy Brenneman, Maggie Grace, the wonderful Emily Blunt (who doesn’t love her?), Jimmy Smits, and Hugh Dancy (oh my, he’s so cute!)

I’ve been reading the novel and in this case, I think the movie may be actually better than the book. I usually prefer books to the movies…but I enjoyed the movie much much more. The book can have its’ dull moments and go off on different tangents not related to the story at hand. I do agree that if anyone hasn’t ready any Austen, this could be a good introduction her novels.

Either read it or see it.

Surprised It Was Good

Last night J and I watched the film Black Snake Moan, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci, also with Justin Timberlake and S. Epatha Merkerson. We didn’t know what to expect going in. I remember seeing the previews and all I saw was Christina Ricci running out of house and she’s got a chain around her waist. I really did not know anything else about the movie. Samuel L. Jackson plays Lazarus, a man who’s lost faith in people after he learns of his wife’s unfaithfulness with his brother. Ricci plays Rae, a victim of sexual abuse as a child, who now needs to have “it” all the time. If you’re uncomfortable with sexual scenes, this may not be the type of movie for you. Some of the scenes can get graphic. Rae loves her boyfriend Ronnie (played by JT), but he leaves her to join the army. After Ronnie departs, Rae goes out of control — getting high on drugs, sleeping around with various men, until one night she is left unconscious and abandoned by the side of the road. Lazarus stumbles upon Rae and he decides to help her by taking care of her and healing her. When Laz goes into town and learns more about Rae, how she’s promiscuous and out of control, he decides that he will rid her of her “fever.” I don’t want to give out too many details (why is she chained?), but this story is beautiful. We witness a true friendship forming between Rae and Lazarus and how they help each other out and deal with the pain they’ve witnessed in their lives. I’d recommend this film to anyone who goes into it with an open mind. Acting by Ricci and Jackson is wonderful. At the same time you are repulsed by Rae and her actions, you can’t help but also love her and feel sorry for her. Lazarus comes off as a tough mofo…but underneath, he’s so caring and has so much kindness to offer. Rent it or get it on Netflix.

Be My Hero Please!

At the beginning of July, J and I canceled our cable because we wanted to have a more active lifestyle and not be distracted by the television — also, with how crappy of a cable spot we had, we rarely got any of the channels we were paying for. I refused to pay almost $70 a month to a crappy cable company any further. So I canceled the damn thing!

Now because we no longer have cable at all, nor do we get the regular channels (I told you we are not in the best spot), we’ve decided to just watch movies when we can or watch TV shows on DVD. We got through Season 1 & Season 2 of The Closer and Season 1-3, 7 of Seinfeld thus far. We usually watch an episode a night — that way, we figure we’re only watching about an hour of “television” a night, whereas we used to watch at least 3. It’s a good thing.

Our newest TV show that we are currently watching is Heroes. OMG is all I have to say. We are 8 episodes in and we’re hooked! It’s cool to see J all into a show because usually I’m the one who’s always into everything. I’m glad we both like the show so much. We always want more because each episode is “to be continued…” So far, I can’t decide who my favorite hero is…although it’s between Claire Bennett and Peter Petrelli. Claire — because I love her super power, Peter – because he’s played by Milo Ventimiglia (he’s a cutie!)

If you haven’t been a watcher of Heroes, I recommend you become a faithful fan. If you love the X-Men movies…Heroes will be your kind of thing. I guarantee it.