Miniseries Madness!

I have kind of a love-hate relationship with miniseries. Most of the time, I hate them. They're stories that are completely dragged out and should have instead been consolidated into a 2 hour movie. But, there is one media company that does miniseries well, and that's the BBC. I am sucker for any BBC miniseries (Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, the 80s versions of the C.S.Lewis books). Outside of the BBC, I have not seen a good miniseries in quite awhile. Then along came two I had high hopes for...

The first is "Mildred Pierce" on HBO. It was a five part series that wrapped up two weeks ago. The casting was spot on for the roles. Kate Winslet starred as Mildred Pierce, a woman left by her husband during the Great Depression who uses her cooking skills to make a living. Guy Pierce stars as her romantic interest and her spoiled daughter is played by Evan Rachel Wood. I think a five-part miniseries was the perfect length and it wasn't drawn-out or boring ever. The only issue I had with it was that I wish it had been even more about the wonderfully resilient Mildred Pierce and less about her bratty, spoiled, snobby daughter. The daughter was so horrible to her mother that it was almost hard to watch at points. Definitely rent this when it comes to DVD.

The second miniseries that just wrapped up was the scandalous portrait of America's royal family, "The Kennedys."  This has been getting a lot of press because it was suppose to air on the History Channel but then the Kennedys made it clear they were not pleased and all the sudden it looked like it may not air at all. The Reelz channel ended up getting it, and in turn getting the best ratings they have ever had. Greg Kinnear plays JFK and misses a lot of the charisma the real JFK had. Katie Holms plays Jackie O. and imparts the weirdest accent on her I have every heard. It is almost unbearable to watch her, she's that bad. Barry Pepper plays Bobby and does a decent job. The only standout actor was Tom Wilkinson, who plays the the matriarch of the family and steal the show. Overall, it was interested to learn all the sordid details of the Kennedy's, but not worth eight hours of watching Katie Holms try to be Jackie O. I would imagine there's a written biography that covers all the juicy details that's much better.

They DO have Caturdays in San Fran!

The brunch place a block away....

So of course our first weekend at the new apartment in San Francisco, we had to hit up the brunch restaurant a block away! It's called Sweet Maple and it's on Sutter in the Lower Pac Heights neighborhood. The restaurant is super warm and inviting. I don't drink coffee, but somehow the smell of it wakes me right up! Sweet Maple is only a breakfast and lunch joint but their menu is extensive. There were so many different options for brunch food. There were over five kinds of different eggs benedict. I got the Hass option, which had thick slices of avocado and turkey on it. The egg was a little to hard boiled (there was no runniness), but that was my only complaint. There were multiple options for breakfast pizza, so of course Chris got the bacon pizza, which had a runny egg in the center, with cheese and arugula topping the crispy crust. They have this thing called millionaire bacon, which I have to try next time I go back. It's a little pricey ($6 for a side, $2 to upgrade your meal), but sounds amazing. Basically it's thick-cut bacon with sprinkled brown sugar, red and black pepper. And usually a meal of french toast is too sweet for me, but it's their specialty and it sounds amazing on the menu, so I'll probably have to try it. I didn't even have time to look at the lunch menu, but the people at the table next to us got some sandwiches that looked pretty good. Being as how this place is only a block away, the food is delicious, and the price is reasonable, we will definitely be back. A lot.

Movies of the weekend

I recently read "Water for Elephants," so I knew I had to see it opening weekend. The book was a great read but I never expect movie adaptations to be as good as the book they are based on. I was pleasantly surprised that while the movie of course was not as good as the book, it was still very good and didn't change too much of the storyline. There were a couple small changes and one major character disappeared (for the sake of shortening and simplifying the movie). I was worried about Reese Witherspoon being cast as the lead female, because I imagine the character in the book to be younger, but she did a good job. She looked a lot younger that she actually is (thanks movie magic-ness!). Outside of "Walk the Line," this is the best job I've seen Reese do since "Cruel Intentions." Robert Pattinson was fine but did a lot of his standard brooding look. I think they should have got someone more dynamic to play the lead. The real star, beside the elephant, was Christoph Waltz. That man plays the deranged bad guy (see him in "Inglorious Bastards" for a perfect example) so well. Such a scene-stealer! If you liked the book, go see the movie. You won't be disappointed as long as you don't go in expecting it to be as good as the book.

My rental of the weekend was "Fair Game," the movie depiction of the Valerie Plame spy scandal that rocked Washington during Bush's reign and led to the resignation of Scooter Libby. The movie stars Naomi Watts as Valerie Plame. Her husband, the ambassador, is played by Sean Penn. I think they both do a good job. The movie was very interesting to watch, as I knew of the who incident but never really followed the details. One thing for sure is that it makes me so happy Bush is out of office! It's amazing how many shady things can go on in the government. At the end of the movie, it fades from Naomi Watts giving a statement, to the real Valerie Plame. They actually look a lot alike! This movie has a 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's definite worth a rental.

Review: 127 Hours

Last weekend I gave in and watched "127 Hours." I'll be honest, I've been avoiding watching it because I know from the real news story it's based on that he's going to hack off his arm at some point. I just don't want to see that. But it got a ton of buzz and I love James Franco, so I decided to watch it. Franco does an amazing job of embodying a free, adventurous, kooky hiker, who for some reason thinks it's smart to hike in the desert alone. Probably not the best idea. And this story didn't happen too long ago. Why did this guy not have a cell phone with him? The scenery was amazing. I'm not a nature person, but some of those breathtaking shots made me want to go hike around the desert. I was a little concerned because sometimes movies where it's just one character stranded and talking to himself most of the movie (i.e. "Castaway") can get a bit boring and weird. This movie did a good job of avoiding that with a decent amount of flashbacks. And when he was taping a message to his parents on his video camera was a very emotional scene. I'll give the guys props, he was very resourceful and lasted longer in that crevice than I ever would have. And I would have never had the guts to chop off my own arm. That scene was.... what I expected. But apparently the guy who this movie is based on is still hiking and adventuring around with one arm. Very brave (and slightly stupid)! What's with all these people who barely make it out alive of a situation and then go right back to it once they're better?? All in all, an interesting and well-made movie. I'm glad I watched it.

Interesting options out by the SFO Airport

If you're ever stuck living out by the San Francisco Airport (perhaps you just moved to the area, can't find an apartment, and are living in the cheapest hotel you could find), there are several food options to explore. First off, there is an In N' Out Burger, which has been previously discussed on this blog and already certified as awesome. Another option for food is L&L's Hawaiian Barbeque. This is a chain that originated from Hawaii, offering the mainland fast food Hawaiian style. The portions are gigantic, the flavors are original, and the price is cheap. I like the Chicken Katsu, which is their version of breaded, deep-fried chicken. The breading is crispy, it avoids being too greasy, and the sweet dipping sauce it comes with is yummy. And you get a side of rice with it, which is probably way better than french fries. Although the other side every meal comes with is a macaroni salad that's pretty heavy on the mayonnaise. Another place nearby is Tortillas, which my boyfriend has proclaimed as having the best (and largest) burritos he has ever eaten. You can get them normal or "super-sized." They have a lot of great meat options, like carne asada, chorizo, shredded pork, spicy chicken, and barbecola. I had the taco salad, which was a fairly generous portion size as well. The spicy salsa is basically diced up jalapenos with pico de gallo. I've only been living on the West Coast since last Friday and I already love that even the fast food is authentic Mexican and spice level is nothing to laugh about! Both of the restaurants in this post are chains, but in my opinion bring a whole new flavor profile to "fast food."

My last MN Movie Review

The last movie I saw in theaters was two weekends ago, my last night in Minneapolis. We went to see "Hanna," with Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett. The girl who plays Hanna is the relatively unknown, Saoirse Ronan. She best known as the lead in "The Lovely Bones" and "Atonement." I think she's a talented actress and has a broad range for portraying different characters. She was perfectly disturbed and cold-blooded as Hanna, the girl assassin trained in the arctic woods by her father (Bana) to kill the woman responsible for her mother's death (Blanchett). Blanchett is of course amazing in it, cold-blooded with a lovely Southern accent. Bana is still looking very good for his age. My favorite part was the little sassy British friend Hanna meets along her journey. And it had a lot of great scenery, especially the portion shot in Morocco. All in all, it was a fairly good movie. It shouldn't be in theaters too much longer but is definitely worth the rental when it comes out on DVD. It gets a little bloody at times though, so it is not a movie for the squeamish.

I'm baaaaack!

Hello Green Eggs & Glam readers, have you missed me while I was gone? I'm officially in San Francisco now! It feels sooooo good to be back online. For my first post back, I'm going to give a run-down of our food on the road while summarizing our roadtrip out here. We left Minneapolis last Sunday and spent our first night in Kearney, Nebraska. Not an exciting drive or exciting place. The drive through Southern Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska is pretty boring. All the scenery is flat farmlands. And before everything blooms in the spring, its quite brown and depressing. Our dinner in Kearney was Culver's, my boyfriend's favorite fast food restaurant that isn't on the West Coast. This looked like the last stop for Culvers!

Stop two was in Denver, Colorado to visit my best friend. The drive from Nebraska to Denver is still pretty flat and boring. The mountains aren't until after Denver. The road highlight from this day was all the signs warning, "Correctional facility ahead. Do not pick up hitchhikers." We had a hotel in Aurora, a suburb right next to Denver. That night we went for amazing sushi at a place downtown by Invesco Field, Sushi Sasa. I love the sushi places where you order off a check-list that you can just give to the server. The sake and wine was pretty good too.... 

After leaving Denver, we started our drive through the mountains, which was slightly trecherous, but gorgeous! The mountains continued into Utah. It's amazing how many colors mountains can be. Utah is a spectacular drive, with the mountains and the canyons. But most of the freeway is through national parks, so make sure you know how far it is to the next town. Sometimes there won't be a gas/food/hotel stop for 120 miles! We stayed in Salina, Utah. Small, boring. We ate at some Mexican restaurant, which wasn't very Mexican at all.

Day four we dipped down to Las Vegas, Nevada to visit one of my old college roommates. She took us out on the strip. There's nothing more amusing than being able to wander around the streets with a drink in hand. We went to a Mexican restaurant, Dos Caminos in the Palazzo, for dinner. The margaritas, guacamole, and pulled pork were delicious! Her house is in Henderson, so for brunch the next morning went to M casino and spa and ate at Hash House A Go Go. My boyfriend loved it because their portions are gigantic.

Day five we arrived in California. We spent the night in some small orange growing town I don't even know the name of. And of course now that we were on the West Coast, dinner had to be at In N' Out Burger! I love their burgers, although honestly, the fries are not so spectacular. 

We left early the next morning and arrived in San Francisco! 2,200 miles of road in 6 days with two crazy cats in a 1998 Mazda Milenia. A trip to always remember....

Super sparkly sequined shirt (now say that 5 times fast)!

I saw this shirt a blog, Incandescent Matter, and had to re-post. It's a super sparkly number by Cynthia Rowley, aptly named "Shattered Front Sequin T-Shirt." Waaaay out of my price range, but a girl can dream...

Add some dark blue jeans and these cute Cynthia Rowley accessories to go with it:

But as much as I love sparkles, I can't just get behind C.R.'s sequined shorts....

 

Only two MN Caturdays left!

Inception: I think I get it

Last night I watched the movie "Inception" for the second time around. I saw it when it came out in theaters, but we went to have drinks beforehand and this is not the movie to watch when you're tipsy. First off, whoever did the casting for this movie is brilliant. Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, and Marion Cotillard in one movie? That sells me right there! Christopher Nolan did a good job directing and deserved to be nominated for an Oscar (although I also agree with him not winning it). The special effects are super cool and the scenery is amazing. Here's the thing. I hear about people have to watch the movie five or ten times to "get it." Is the plot really that complicated? I think movies like "Momento" were way more confusing. I know there's a lot of symbolism in it. And that people get confused with the dream within a dream and the whole limbo concept. But overall, I think people are reading too much into it. I think Nolan left the ending ambiguous and it's meant for the viewer to decide. So there's really no right answer. Leo spins the top, his totem of reality at the end, and it keeps spinning. If it never falls, that means he's still in a dream. But right before Nolan cuts away, the top starts to wobble, which insinuates that it's going to fall. So basically, there's no final answer to the movie. It's whether you believe the top ended up falling or not. Am I wrong about this??