Some Really Weird Movies Involving James Franco

I feel like all the movies I've seen lately are just weird. Like they're made for people on drugs weird. And coincidentally or not, James Franco played a major role in each.

The first movie I saw fitting this trend was "Oz the Great and Powerful," the prequel to the "Wizard of Oz." This movie focuses on a carnival magician who ultimately ends up becoming the Wizard of Oz. Conveniently enough, his name is Oz. Oz is played by James Franco, who embodied the conceit and swarminess of the character. He was pretty unlikable in the role, which his character was supposed to be. However, at some point the audience is supposed to connect with him and for me that never happened. We meet Glinda, the Good Witch, played by Michelle Williams. Her innocence, optimism and naiveness works in this film. Mila Kunis plays Thoedora who (spoiler alert) tuns into the Wicked Witch from the West. When her character gets green skin and warts, they don't change her voice for some reason so the Witch almost has a sing-songy quality to it. Rachel Weisz plays Evanora, Theodora's evil sister. Her character is actually quite intriguing but they don't finish the story on her, so we have no idea why she's not in the "Wizard of Oz." On this note, there a quite a few things that don't really tie back to the originally movie so fans of the oldie may be disappointed. The only thing is really explains is why the wizard stays behind a curtain and uses a projector. However, the CGI effects for Oz are out of control, so it might be interesting to see in 3D. Or on drugs*. On a tangent, has anyone seen the sequel "Return to Oz"? I remember watching it when I was little and being totally freaked out by the wheelers and hallway of heads. It was recently brought to my attention that the girl playing Dorothy in this version grows up to be the creepy head witch in "The Craft." Anyway, this 1985 sequel is worth checking out, as it brings up valid follow up (i.e. of course they're going to put Dorothy in a mental institute once she starts telling everyone about Oz).

The other movie I saw was "Spring Breakers." When I first saw the preview for this movie my initial reaction was yuck, that looks like a tacky movie meant for teenage boys that's all about boobs and getting hammered. Then I read an article in Rolling Stone (which I was hoping to link to but isn't available online unless you subscribe), along with some review highlights, that made it seems like it was one of those hilarious, voice-of-a-generation type films that shouldn't be missed. They made it sound like director Harmony Korine was making "Trainspotting" for the new generation. It's not. It's not even close. My original assumption was right. There's nothing deeper to this movie that getting wasted and naked girls. And oh, by the way, these slutty college students are also complete psychopaths. Because why just have girls in bikinis when you could have girls in bikinis wielding KA-47s. The only good part of this movie, and only things that elicited laughs from the audience, is James Franco's role, a drug dealer named Alien. With corn rows and a grill, Franco has been completely transformed. There's a scene where he plays a haunting rendition of a Britney Spears song on a white grand piano while his harem of deranged spring break girls dance around him in pink ski masks waving guns. There's also nothing more haunting than his sing-songy chat, Spring break, spring break forever. The females leads are ex-ABC Family/Mickey Mouse Club/Disney stars Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez and Ashley Benson, looking to break out of their PG mold. The 4th girl in the movie is Korine's wife and is also one of the most scandalous in the movie. But apparently he's proud of her for it, so to each their own. It's kind of hilarious that Selena Gomez gets second highest billing when she's barely in the movie. She plays the more conservative, religious girl in the group who bails back to college as soon as things start getting dicey. The only good thing about this movie outside of James Franco is the soundtrack. Dubstep DJ Skrillex teamed up with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Clliff Martinex for 5 quite epic tracks. Other artists on the soundtrack include Ellie Goulding, Meek Mill and Gucci Mane.

*This blog does not advocate the use of drugs. It advocates suggestions on how to enjoy an otherwise awful movie.

Grumpy Cat Is Not Excited for Caturday

In honor of  the biggest celebrity at SXSW I dedicate this post to Grumpy Cat (aka Tardar Sauce). He is not looking forward to Caturday.

And my new favorite Grumpy Cat meme, sharing the same opinion I share here and here of Kristen Stewart's acting "ability."

Adventures in Eating

Earlier this week the foodie in me had a giant nerd out moment. Monday night I had the opportunity to dine at Incanto, Chris Cosentino's San Francisco restaurant. Cosentino has competed on Iron Chef and was the winner of last season's Top Chef Masters on Bravo. And just announced, he's a 2013 James Beard nominee. The restaurant on Church St in the Noe Valley neighborhood. Once you walk in, the decor let's you know you're in the right place for a "nose to tail" eating experience. Cosentino is famous for his whole animal approach to cooking, which is reflected in the animal decor and the dishes on the menu. Sadly I didn't get to see him in the kitchen when I was there.

After the red wine was poured, we began our dining adventure. First up were the beginners dishes. You can't have a meal of all meat (which I actually think can be debated), so we ordered the petit radishes, which were served with a smoked butter for the radish root and green pesto-like sauce for the leaves. I'm going to be honest, I wasn't a fan and was wondering what I had gotten myself into. I'm not a rabbit and even if you smother radish in butter, it still tastes like root. The table had mixed opinions on this, so to each their own on this issue. Luckily I adored everything else that hit my taste buds that night, proving that one should not get easily scared away. Next up we had black bread, which achieves its color by being soaked in squid ink. On top was sea urchin, radish (again! but this time masked by bolder flavors), and Ilberico di bellota lardo (which I thought was Spanish cheese but after research is in fact acorn-fed pig backfat- also from Spain). The bite I had was rich but balanced, tasting like sea urchin with a smoky bacon-esque undertone. Third was the spicy pork belly, with shaved asparagus, scallions, pistachio and mint. This was my favorite dish of the night. First off, you can't go wrong with pork belly. Usually the pork belly I've had is served as thickly diced cubes. This pork belly was thinly shaved to complement the rest of the dish. It was a little bit lighter and seemed to soak up the rest of the dish's flavors a bit more. 

Next up came the pastas. While we didn't order it, I love that he has a dandelions pasta dish named "bitter hipster." Perfect for a restaurant abutting the Mission District. My favorite pasta dish we ordered was the spaghettini with cured tuna heat, egg yolk and parsley. Spaghettini is basically thicker spaghetti-like noodles. This dish displayed what Cosentino calls his culinary secret weapon, single varietal extra-virgin olive oil. We also tried the pasta special of the day, which was pig skin turned into pasta after being put through a spaghetti press. Had I not heard the server's description, I would have never know. The dish just seemed to have an air of bacon essence to it. 

For supper we ordered the lamb neck off the menu, which was server atop polenta, stridoli (greens) and horseradish (much better than regular radish) gremolata. I'm not sure on the cooking method but the lamb neck almost seemed to be slow cooked. It was so tender it easily fell off the bone. We also has another special of the evening, which was a strew with tripe (stomach lining) and vegetables. It was one of those theatrical experiences where the waitress brings over the bowl of meat and vegetables, with a Campbell's looking soup can that's custom labeled inCANto, which she actually has to use a can opener on. There is something about the smell wafting toward you after the broth is poured though. Overall, this probably ranked right above the radishes for me but not because it was ill-prepared, I just don't like tripe. It's too chewy for my taste. For dessert, we ordered cream puffs, the amuse bouche of dessert. These bite-sized puff pastries were filled with either chocolate ice cream or orange creme.

For all adventurous eaters out there, Incanto is the best experience I could recommend. They also host annual head-to-tail dinners, which I would imagine is quite the feast. And $85 for a 5 course dinner is a great deal for this caliber of cooking!

Music In March Part I

When I was living in Minneapolis I always hated the fact that there were no good shows November through March. I just assumed that no music, sane or coke-addled, wanted to be in Minnesota in the winter. Which is a pretty sensible theory. But now after living in California for two "winters," it seems like bands just don't want to tour at all in those months. I only went to ONE show last month, which is just sad for me. It was local-grown band Two Gallants playing at the Fillmore, so at least it was good enough to tide things over for a while.

Come 3/1 I was ready to rock and luckily Starfucker was in town. For those of you who've never heard of Starfucker, you may have seen the acronym STRFKR around (not to be confused with SBTRKT the London born DJ). STRFKR is an electronica band from Portland. The song they are most for is Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second. And no, I have no idea why it's called that. They were playing at The Regency Ballroom, which is one of the best larger venues in SF. I went in expecting a good show but nothing mind blowing and it by far exceeded my expectations. It's probably one of the best shows I've been to in a long time. They were really able to get the crowd energy up and get people dancing. They were dropping brightly covered balloons and confetti from the ceiling. In a very Girl Talk move, they pulled a bunch of dressed up, crazy hipsters on stage to do have a dance party/rave behind the band. In the encore they included the best cover ever of Girl Just Wanna Have Fun. If you're looking for a carefree dance party, definitely check them out.

Last Thursday I went to Passion Pit at the Bill Graham Civic Center Auditorium. I hate the Bill Graham. It's giant, in the ghetto, lacks so much personality it feels like you're in an airport hanger and for some reason attracts the kind of show that 14 year old girls show up to in furry boots, fishnets, and underwear. Yeah, nothing makes you feel older than being in that type of the situation.The first opener was Icona Pop, who just hit it big with I Love It. In preparation for the show, I checked out their whole EP and it's filled with awesome electro-pop songs.And I found out their first big thing was being sampled on Chiddy Bang's Mind Your Manners and I've been obsessed with Chiddy Bang for a couple years. Sadly, we did not make it early enough to catch them. However, I'm sure they'll be touring on their own soon enough and I will definitely catch that. The second opener was Matt + Kim, who I've seen several times and I'm kind of over them. I'm actually surprised they're still playing to such big venues since I haven't liked a song of theirs since 2008. Finally it was time for Passion Pit and they were well worth the wait. I found out yesterday that Passion Pit got discovered when lead singer Michael Angelakos produced "Chunk of Change" for his girlfriend on Valentine's Day. Talk about the best gift ever! For those of you unfamiliar, "Chuck of Change" has one of their big hits, Sleepyhead. The show was very energetic, although I prefer them at a smaller venue. All and all, a good evening of music. 

Thankfully "winter" is almost over and it's almost time for Fauxchella in San Francisco!

Netflix Finally Does Something Right

Don't get me wrong, I've had a Netflix account for years. Back when I had actually free time I organized my queue on an almost daily basis. The hardest step in my last serious relationship was giving the boyfriend at the time access to my queue. I finally had to create a separate queue for him because I just couldn't take all the rearranging. That being said, whoever is in charge of business over there should be fired if they haven't been already. Netflix in 2011 will forever be a case study for poor business making decisions, just like what New Coke will forever been seen as in the marketing world. In 2011, Netflix raised prices and had a very blase reaction to the backlash, then split the streaming and mail offerings into two separate things to pay for. The last straw was that they then invented Qwikster, everyone is like WTF is Qwikster, then in the blink of an eye Qwikster was gone and consumers were confused. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Well, Netflix has just done something to keep them in the game in terms of streaming video sites. I just got some watching their original series "House of Cards," which was released as a full 13-episode season on February 1st. The buzz and press they've gotten for this is all rave reviews but their reaction is hilarious. Basically they're like yeah, it's great but don't think of us as a producer of original content, we're still focused on showing licensed content. Reading between the lines, this is basically Netflix not wanting to be seen as a content producing competitor in case that messes up their licensing deals.

Enough about Netflix, let's talk about "House of Cards." This show is a brilliant remake of a UK government drama, moved to take place on Capital Hill. A lot of the show's success can be attributed to the amazing acting of Kevin Spacey. Spacey hasn't been in anything notable since 2011's "Casino Jack" (except for a great supporting roll in "Horrible Bosses"). This is just another reminder of his acting chops and the fact that he will always be a force to be reckoned with. In the series he plays Senator Francis Underwood, the majority whip and a formidable character not to be reckoned with. His public asides with the viewing audience give us insights into his plotting. Francis has a power marriage (and open marriage) with Claire, played by the beautiful Robin Wright. While she'll always be Princess Buttercup to me, the lady has aged well and is perfectly cast as Claire, the seemingly cold and manipulative congressman's wife and CEO of a clean water NPO. Kate Mara (real-life sister to Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Rooney Mara), plays inquisitive journalist Zoe Barnes. Since this is a Netflix production, they probably used up their money getting these 3, but the remaining B-list actors are all pretty good too. Corey Stoll plays Senator Peter Russo, a congressman with a propensity for cocaine and hookers. Michael Kelly plays Doug Stamper, Underwood's right hand man. Beau Williamson, who did Ides of March, is the co-creator and executive producer. The series gets a variety of different but well-know directors including the genius David Fincher of "Fight Club" and  "The Social Network." People doubted Netflix for releasing all the episodes at once, saying it wouldn't have the chance to become addictive for views. Untrue. I, like many others I know, became instantly obsessed and watched the whole season in one week. Now I'm scouring the news wondering when Season 2 will come out (filming is expected to start this spring).

Netflix is premiering an original horror series, Hemlock Grove, in April. They're releasing the resurrected Arrested Development in May, which should be a big success.

Can I Be Couture?

My favorite clothing site, Spool No 72, just came out with a new couture dress line. Not sure if I would classify these as true couture (unless couture means overpriced) but they are damn pretty. Now I just have to figure out where I would where any of these and why I don't have more occasions to dress like this.

My favorite:

Other highlights from the collection:

Shop here: Spool No 72 Couture

Eats Near Union Square

I’m always impressed when I find hole-in-the-wall restaurants with quality food, tucked away in the Union Square area. I live in Nob Hill, right above Union Square and am constantly navigating my way through hordes of tourists. I don’t understand, when one goes on vacation do you automatically forget how to walk normally and extend common decency to other pedestrians and drivers? When tourists come to Union Square they either flock to the familiar chain they love so dearly, like the Cheesecake Factory, CPK or Burger Bar, or they head to the over-hyped, San Francisco branded restaurant where you have to wait in line (which must mean the food is good) like Sears Fine Food or Cable Car City Pub. I've lived in this neighborhood for over a year now so when a friend suggested dinner at Ryokos Japanese Restaurant & Bar I was like isn't that the sketchy looking sushi place I head by when going to Owl Bar (a good place for drinks)?

Ryokos is on Taylor St, near Post. The restaurant front is small. You basically duck under some low-hanging Japanese banners and walk down a staircase. Once you’re at the bottom things come alive. We went there on a Monday night and the place was hopping. We had to wait 15 minutes for a table. Once seated you’re bombarded  by different sake handouts and menus. After deciding that reading all of these descriptions was just too much after a long day at work, I opted for the plain hot sake. Nothing special about it but a large bottle is $7, which is a pretty good price.  The food menu is pretty extensive with a lot of Japanese cuisine options, even for those crazy people who don’t like sushi. The sushi selection is pretty good, with one full page for nigiri/sashimi selections, one for standard maki rolls and one for specialty maki rolls. They automatically give you an order of edamame on the house when you sit down. We ordered the miso soup, which was nothing out of the ordinary. We also ordered a house salad to split. Usually house salads are served in the same small bowl size as miso soup but this one was gigantic, a great deal for $5. The table next two us had the gyoza, which smelled delicious so we got an order of that. It comes with this spicy dipping sauce instead of the standard soy, which was a nice change. For sushi, we for the spice scallop which was listed as a standard roll when a lot of places charge premium prices. And it wasn't a weak spice, it was actually so spicy that the friend I was with couldn't eat it (which means more for me!). We also ordered the rainbow roll, which is a choice you can’t really go wrong with as long as the fish quality is up to snuff. I would definitely recommend checking out Ryokos if you want good sushi near Union Square (although my favorite will always be Sushi Toni).

On another note, I went to dinner with a couple girlfriends on Valentine’s Day. We went to Jasper’s Corner Tap on Taylor, also in the Union Square area. It’s a pretty sizable place, nothing too special about the ambiance. Surprisingly they have a pretty extensive cocktail list, although they were supposed to have special anti-Valentine’s cocktails, which they ended up not having. Don’t plan on being healthy here. When you sit down there’s a French fry menu on the table, where you can pick the type of fries, seasoning sprinkles and if you’d like to make it poutine. If you don’t know what poutine is, you need to make friends with a Canadian ASAP. Poutine is one of their national dishes where they take a plate of French fries, douse it in gravy and melt cheese curds on top of that. A complete heart attack but worth it! Anyway, nothing too special to report about the food. It was your average, run of the mill appetizers that you’d find at any American bar. I didn't order it, but Yelp overwhelmingly recommends the grilled cheese with pork belly sandwich. The prices do reflect the proximity to Union Square and I most likely will not be back again.