All that glitters is good.....

All that glitters is good.....

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A week's worth of movie reviews

With Thanksgiving last week, I didn't have a ton of time to blog but saw quite a few movies worth mentioning. Here is goes:

In theaters, I went to see Megamind. Yes, it's a family movie but it was hilarious and had some adult jokes snuck in. I thought it was weird that it was released so quickly after Despicable Me. Both are great movies, but have similar plots following lovable villains.


We rented the older classic, Oscar winning Deer Hunter. It was interesting and I loved seeing DeNiro and Wakken as younger men. However, the movie was a little over 3 hours long. There were definitely some parts that dragged on, but overall I can see why it won an Oscar. Oh, and the always lovely Meryl Streep was in it!


Another rental was Splice. This is one of the most weird, fucked up movies I've seen in a long time. Adrien Brody and Sarah Pollock star as two scientists who are splicing different species of animals to discover a specific protein. The genre is "sci-fi horror," which I didn't understand until the last 20 minutes of the movie, which left me very, very disturbed....


Last but not least, I watched New York, I Love You with my parents on Thanksgiving. It's based off Paris, J'aime, which is a must-see. Both of these movies feature a series of vignettes of people who end up being linked together. The New York version was not as interesting as its Persian counterpart but featured a ton of stars such as Andy Garcia, Rachel Bilson, Hayden Christenson, Shia LeBouf, Natalie Portman, and Bradley Cooper.




Monday, November 29, 2010

A satisfying steak

Last weekend I went to Murray's in downtown Minneapolis with great anticipation and it lived up to the expectations. It may be expensive, but it earns its prestige. We got on the the "silver butterknife" steaks, cooked a perfect medium rare, that was well-seasoned and melted in your mouth. The calamari we had beforehand was well-seasoned, the creme brulee after was creamy perfection. If only I could afford to eat like a queen every week.....


Atmosphere come home

I went to the Atmosphere show last night at First Ave. It was a little rough, being as how it was a Sunday, but as always Slug brought it and made it totally worth it. The place was packed and the energy was electric. I've seen Atmosphere in several different states and it's never the same as seeing him at First Ave in Minneapolis. Every person in the audience knows every word to every song and he feels the love and returns it. Great show!


Monday, November 22, 2010

Loring Pasta Bar Review

Saturday I traveled to Dinkytown to dine at the Loring Pasta Bar. The ambiance of the place is always wonderful and I love the tie-in with the Varisty Theater and Kitty Kat Klub. I remembered it being super good food from college, but now that I've been expanding my palate, I have to say I wasn't that impressed. The food was not as flavorful as I remembered and it was extremely overpriced. We started with the calamari, which was subpar but came with a spicy dipping aioli. We split a chicken oscar, which has too much bland cream sauce on it and was in no way worth $23, and the cheese tortellini nuovi, which was flavored nicely with proscuitto, garlic, nutmeg, and pine nuts. I am a definitely sucker for pine nuts. Overall, I think there are much better places to dine for this amount of money. I would however go back with my a student ID card, which gets you 30% off your whole meal Sunday through Thursday!


Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1

I saw it on Friday. It was epic. I cried twice. It's the characters we've grown up with and they're almost all grown up. This is by far the darkest movie and definitely not meant for children. There are some super creepy parts and Voldemort is just pure evil. I won't go into anymore details but I don't think it's possible to spoil this movie! It opened to $61.2MM on Friday, making it the 5th biggest single day debut of a movie. Weekend estimates are coming in around $130-140MM. And it deserves it! I can't wait for the second part next July!!


Friday, November 19, 2010

O hai, it's almost Caturday.




The Social Network

I went to see The Social Network in theaters for the second time yesterday. This movie definitely exceeded my expectations. Director David Fincher (Fight Club) and writer Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men) are a masterful duo. Jesse Eisenberg is already getting Oscar buzz for his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg, a socially inept future billionaire. Even Justin Timberlake does a wonderful job, as Napster's Sean Parker. If you haven't seen it yet, it will only be in theaters a little bit longer, so go see it!!!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Happy Beaujolais Nouveau Day!

A holiday I can get behind is upon us! Every year at midnight on the third Thursday in November, the new batch of that year's Beaujolais Nouveau is uncorked. Beaujolais Nouveau is a light red, slightly sweeter wine. Many wine snobs look down upon it because the grapes aren't aged, but I think it is delish! It's also a cheaper wine, averaging $10-$15 per bottle. One of my favorites is the Trader Joe's Charles Shaw Beaujolais for $3. But make it there quick because they usually sell out there stock of it within a couple weeks!

Cheers!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

An evening of tunes

Tonight I'm headed to local band, Cloud Cult's, "Light Chasers" CD Release Party at First Avenue. "Light Chasers" leaves the sorrowful melodies of past and forges ahead into a more optimistic time and tempo. And any time someone can bang out this kind of melodic rock on a piano and bass-drum, I'm a fan.

For those without tickets tonight, I recommend another great up and coming local band, The Steamboat Kings. This awesome band is preforming at the equally awesome venue, the Kitty Kat Klub in Dinkytown tonight.

And don't forget what midnight means.... sneak preview of Harry Potter 7: Part1!!!!!!!!!!!


Tons of F$%king Sequins....

I have to do my weekly shout out to fellow sparkle lovers. I think this man would appreciate Green Eggs & Glam.


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Free mp3 Dowload- The Decemberists

The Decemberists, one of my favorite bands, has a new CD The King Is Dead, coming out in early 2011. The song "Down In the Water" feat. Gillian Welch is available as a free download on their website, as well as here: http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/free_mp3/2010/11/download-a-new-decemberists-mp3-down-in-the-water.html

Sanctuary Review

Last night we went to Sanctuary on Washington Ave in Downtown Minneapolis for dinner. The first thing I learned from this experience was to never go anywhere the night a Living Social coupon expires. We got there at 7:30p and had an hour and a half wait.... on a Monday! Luckily Sanctuary is located right below Wasabi, so we were able to pop up and grab some fun drinks and sushi while we waited. In terms of restaurant ambiance, I like the wall art in Sanctuary, but it was a gargoyle heavy otherwise. One important thing to note is that Thrifty Hipster lies when thy say entrees are $15-$25. It's definitely $20-$35. 

Now, onto the food! For a starter, we had jumbo shrimp with pineapple sour cream and chutney. It was perfectly seasoned and juicy. For the main dish, we split an angus filet on lobster, with garlic mashed potatoes and parsley chips. The beef was cooked a perfect medium rare. For dessert, we split chocolate cake with caramelized bananas. I'm not a huge of chocolate, but the bananas has this layer of crystalized sugar on them, like a creme brulee, that was so good! Overall, the food was definitely worth the wait!

http://www.sanctuaryminneapolis.com/

Monday, November 15, 2010

Weekend Food Review

Sadly, it wasn't a very exciting weekend for food. Friday night we were in the mood for some good ol' pub food, so we went to the Village Pub in St. Anthony (since we had a Groupon for it). I was excited to see poutine on the menu. Unfortunately it was the most Americanized version of this dish I've ever had. It was so bland. The cuban pork sandwich was also a bland wanna-be version of a Cubano. To conclude, I will not be back to the Village Pub.
http://www.stanthonyvillagepub.com/

Now, anyone who knows me knows I can't cook. But being a foodie who can't cook gets expensive, so I've been giving it a try. A girl at work recommended a recipe to me for a dinner party I attended Saturday. It's butternut squash ravioli with a walnut butter and bacon sauce. The ravioli is made using wonton wrappers and ended up tasting delish! It took me all day to make but I think people who know how to cook would have an easier time. You can find the recipe here:




Sunday night we went to dinner at Aura, the hidden gem of Calhoun Square in my opinion. For some reason, it is always happy hour there, which means a huge variety of dishes are $4-$6 and drinks are $3-$9.  The panceasar calzone was probably the highlight for me, with the exception of the the chocolate silk empanadas, which are my favorite dessert ever!! Deep fried empanadas filled with nutella, cream cheese, and peanut butter, topped with powdered sugar... YUM!
http://restaurantaura.com/



Friday, November 12, 2010

It's almost Caturday, time for some lolz.

Farewell Disco Dust

Last night I watched this Wednesday's Top Chef: Just Desserts only to find out that my favorite sparkly pastry chef (one third of team diva), Zac, had been let go. He let the sparkle get the best of him and used a little too much disco dust on his last creation. We'll miss you Zac!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dear Man U fans....

Stop taking it lying down!! :)


Chelsea FC forever.

Upcoming Dance Party!!

Girl Talk has scheduled another tour for this spring!! Tickets for the MPLS show go on sale this Friday at 11a. It's a must if you want the ultimate dance party or are heavy into hipster watching. Too funny. Last time I went to a show of his, I was soaking wet by the time I go out of there. Water, my sweat, other peoples' sweat.... good times had by all!

http://www.songkick.com/artists/414005-girl-talk

Insomniac Movie Review

Last night I watched two movies. The first was a throwback to the 80s, Wall Street. Martin Sheen and Michael Douglas were brilliant as always. The computers and cellphones were big, with the shoulder pads even bigger. Also, I pretty sure the limo scene is the moment Charlie Sheen became addicted to coke and hookers...


The second movie was the brilliant, witty, indie film City Island. The film follows a kooky family living on  City Island (which is part of the Bronx. I had never heard of this part of the Bronx but it looks like a great place to visit.) I can honestly say this is one of my favorite movies I've seen this year. If you are in the mood for a humous, feel-good, family comedy with a little bit of an edge, see this movie. It will make you feel like your family is totally normal.