My Movie Season Begins

Now that the the 2011-12 TV season is over, I've finally have enough time to start making a dent on my Netflix queue (although I give credit to the USA/TNT-esque cable networks for trying to create better original content for their summer seasons).

The first film I viewed was "The Iron Lady," which is the Margaret Thatcher biopic. Margaret Thatcher is one of those historic figures that I have hugely conflicting views on. The feminist in me cheers for the fact that Britain's longest-running Prime Minister is a woman. The political side of me strongly disagrees with her conservative views on privatization, taxes and industrialization (although she did vote for legalizing homosexuality and abortion). At the end of the day, the movie lover needed to see what the buzz was all about. Meryl Streep won the "Best Actress" Oscar (along with countless others) for her portrayal of Thatcher. So it should be of no surprise when I say her performance is amazing. She encompasses both the younger, ambitious Thatcher, as well as the senile elderly ex-Prime Minister. As for the actual film, I wasn't a giant fan. The primary focus seemed to be on her old age and dementia. The film just skims her background growing up and the reason she became so interested in politics. From there, it was a series of brief flashbacks of her rise to power and battle to find her place in a man's world. The Falklands War, one of the key moments of her career, was covered in only a few minutes. Overall, I felt it was a movie of missed opportunities but Streep is perfection as always.

The next movie up was "J. Edgar," the biopic of J. Edgar Hoover, who started and ran the F.B.I. for almost 50 years until his death in 1972. This movie paralleled with many elements of "The Iron Lady." We meet Hoover as an old man, dictating to a series of younger agents. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Hoover, which seems to be him simply reprising his Howard Hughes role from "The Aviator." Naomi Watts, Judi Dench and Armie Hammer make up the other leads and pretty much only parts of Hoover's personal life. I feel like this movie ran into issues because there's so many interesting conspiracies about Hoover and the FBI that they didn't know what to focus on. They ended up focusing on the the debate if Hoover was gay or not, which has never been proven either way. The movie doesn't leave any room for guessing by clearly drawing the line between Hoover and his close friend, heir and associate director of the FBI, Clyde Tolson. I wasn't particularly impressed with this movie as well.

Lastly was a movie I knew was going to be bad going into it. It was"W.E." and it was written, directed and produced by Madonna. Need I say more? Shockingly, it didn't star Madonna though. However, she did decide to take one of the most beautiful, real life romances and massacre it. The movie centers around the historic, romantic scandal of Prince Edward VIII, who gave up his crown to be with American twice-divorcee Wallis Simpson. Madonna paralleled this story with the modern tale of a woman obsessed with that story of romance, who's trapped in a cold and abusive marriage. The movie tries to force similarities in story lines, which makes the moves from one decade to another very forced. This film won a Golden Globe for "Best Original Song," by who else, Madonna. I would avoid watching this movie and read one of the many novels about the iconic couple.

Movie Confession

I want to get it all out in the open at the beginning of this post. I cried at the end of "The Help." I didn't see it coming, it just snuck up on me. I read "The Help" a couple months ago and didn't cry at the end of the book. And I knew what I was in store for plot-wise. I can't remember the last time I cried at the end of a movie. That probably ended when all rom-coms started rolling out the exact same plot lines. Or when I realized that I am not a cute crier. Some people look like sad, big eyed little puppy dogs. I look like a wet mess. Like the fat kid who dropped her ice cream in the sand on beach day (and started using mascara at an early age).

Anyway, I digress. Let's start with the book by Kathryn Stockett. I thought it was good. Not great, but not "Twilight." The book spent over 100 weeks on the New York Times Best-Sellers list. It won a bunch of literary awards. I'm told it's part of Oprah's Book Club, but what isn't these days. The plot itself is interesting and had the potential to be hugely impactful. Unfortunately I just didn't think it was that well written. This was her first novel and apparently it was rejected by over 50 literary agents. Stockett jumped abruptly from one character's view to another. There didn't seem to be any additional insights by adding various viewpoints. And I agree with the reviews that called this book racist. Why did the maid parts have to be in poor, broken dialect while the white women didn't have any Southern inflections? I just kept reading because it was an easy read and I just wanted to be done with it. 

I think what really got me about the movie was the superb acting. It was stacked with amazing actresses, making an uninspired book something worth watching. The casting was incredible. They somehow found the perfect actress to encompass each role and personality like how you imagine them exactly from the book. The movie actually won a SAG for "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture." Viola Davis won a SAG as the main maid in the story, Aibileen Clark. Octavia Spencer won a SAG, Golden Globe and Oscar for playing Minnie Jackson exactly like I pictured her from the book. Poor Jessica Chastain was up for all three as well but didn't win any, even though she was very convincing as the clueless flake Celia Foote. I feel bad that Emma Stone didn't get any recognition as Skeeter. Same with Bryce Dallas Howard, as the hate-able Hilly Holbrooke. Also, Allison Janney and Sissy Spacek are scene-stealers with their smaller roles. It's a pretty sappy movie, so prepare yourself. What I think maybe got me the most was just viewing that struggle and thinking about all the things that haven't changed very much since Jackson, MS in the 1960s. If you liked the book, you should probably rent this if you didn't already run out to theaters. If you didn't like the book, wait for cable. If Oprah's cable network lives on, I'm sure this will be a staple.

Eating Eight Courses

A few Saturday nights ago I went on a date to Sons & Daughters, which I've been wanting to go to forever. It's right around the corner from my apartment and I keep hearing rave reviews about it. The chef/owner team was just named as one of the Californian finalists for Food & Wine's 2012 Best New Chef. The two chef-owners, Matt McNamara and Teague Moriarty, met in culinary school. The restaurant is named for the fact that when they opened in 2010, the entire staff was pretty young. They received a Michelin star just one year after opening. Their cuisine blends Californian style and flavors with the modern flair of gastronomy. The view walking by the restaurant makes it look quite small, however half the restaurant is extended into a back area. It's still pretty cozy, only seating 29 people. The decor feels like simplified elegance with an unexplained rustic feel (no, there are no deer heads or fireplaces so I'm not quite sure where this vibe comes from).

When we went two weekends ago, they were offering a Spring or vegetable tasting menu. Each menu is eight small courses and with the option to get wine parings with each. We went for the Spring menu, because as wonderful as veggies are, who wants a meal with no meat? How anyone could come from the Midwest and be a vegetarian is beyond comprehension (but if you are, read Christine's blog Ruminations on Food!). The first amuse-bouche was trout roe on top of a buttermilk crisp with green onions. I wasn't afraid at first because I associated roe with the miniscule balls that give sushi a crunch and have relatively no flavor. Unfortunately, I was then warned that trout roe is actually nothing like that. I went with the no fear technique and just shoved the whole bite into my mouth. It was disgusting! They're these big eggs the size of tapioca pearls you would get in bubble tea. And they were intensely fishy tasting. Popping those in your mouth is one foodie craze I am not a fan of. At least it was paired with a crisp Cuvee Brut Champagne, which was less dry than expected for a Brut. Luckily, they redeemed themselves with the remaining seven courses. Next was the Kampachi, with crispy fish skin on top. I realize this sounds weird, but the flaky skin was not strongly flavored and added the needed crunch to the soft fish. The dish was topped off with lime kosho, adding that citrus and soy flare that compliments fish so well. Riesling was the wine for this course, which seemed a little sweet for the dish. However, I get the progression of wine in a meal and that this had to be served earlier on. For course three, we had green garlic soup, with garden radishes and a fried mussel from Marin. This was possible my favorite course. The soup was unbelievably flavorful and I love garlic. I'd never had a fried mussel and it was just a juicy as eating them steamed. The pairing was a Savignon Blanc, which was my favorite white wine of the evening.

Onto course four (in case you're already getting full from reading this, there are still 4 more courses to go after this). This is where the mini-sized entrees started. First we had quail egg, with asparagus and spring onion. The broth it was served in has some flavor bur there just wasn't any remarkable flavors or techniques that stood out as memorable (which you would expect from them). I will say though that their food presentation skills are top notch. Next was the pork belly, served atop an English pea puree with cat mint (not catnip). The puree was really tasty but with the pork belly on top, the skin of the pork needed to be more crisp. Lastly we had the squab, with pistachio and fennel. Delicious, well cooked, beautiful presentation but no amazing quality to bring the dish to the next level or make it that memorable. At least it was finally time for red wine by this point! The dish came with a smooth Grenache. If this wasn't enough food, they also bring you three homemade breads dispersed amongst these main courses (homemade, sourdough and pretzel).

There was a quick palate cleanser (which counted as a course thankfully because I was stuffed by this point) of citrus, poppy seed and rhubarb. Then it was on to the dessert course, which after the soup, was my favorite course of the evening. It was a slice of fromage blanc, drizzled with local honey and lavender. The cheese was light and fluffy. Basically it's fat-free, drained cow's cheese which retains the good flavors from raw milk. Honey and lavender were the perfect compliment. I'll be honest, it was paired with Late Harvest Furmint dessert wine, which I did not drink. Dessert wine and port are just way to sweet and thick for me (but this is a case of personal preference).

This whole meal was definitely a wonderful dining experience. The meal itself consisted of some amazing dishes and some just good dishes. The only thing that I did not enjoy was the trout roe. So, would I recommend this restaurant to others? No. And this is 98% based on the price. I read an article that said when they opened in 2010, eight course tasting menus were $36. Two years later it is substantially more than that. I'm pretty sure the costs aren't on the menus at all. The only place I could find the prices are in small gray print at the very bottom of their online menu. San Francisco is a city full of amazing food and chefs (and restaurants with Michelin stars). In this city, you can get the same quality of food at a lot less cost. I hope Sons & Daughters comes back down to reality at some point because they have a lot to offer. However, they did just open a more casual and affordable eatery, Sweet Woodruff, so this may be a better option to check out. Their brunch menu looks pretty delicious.

*Thanks to Justin for this amazing meal experience. The company was the best part.

Dark Shadows: It's Actually Dark

Last Friday night I was in need of some relaxation, so I went to movie theater to see "Dark Shadows," the newest collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. The movie is actually based on the "Dark Shadows" TV series, which ran from 1966-1971. I hear you can still see re-runs on Sy-Fy and Chiller. The TV show was "scary." I say this because most of what came out of the horror genre in the 1960s is fairly laughable these days. "The Exorcist" came out in 1973, which I feel helped repair that genre's credibility (which then was later destroyed again with all five "Saw" movies).

Back to the Johnny Depp-Tim Burton connection. This is the right movie that the two men have collaborated on. I think the best quote I found to describe their relationship was when Burton said, "It's very nice to have someone that you can have a completely abstract conversation with and leave the room, feel like everything's fine, and then realize that if you pick it apart, you have absolutely no idea what either of you said." I translate this to basically mean they get stoned together and come up with crazy shit. The movies that they've collaborated on include gems, like "Edward Scissorhands" and "Ed Wood." This list also includes some questionable tastes, including "Sleepy Hallow" and "Corpse Bride." "Dark Shadows" actually ended up reminding me of their movie "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." And this is the perfect segue into my actual review.

The previews of the movies was light and funny, which the strangeness of Burton worked in. It's even classified as a comedy. While there were humorous parts, the majority of them are in the previews. Perhaps they called this a comedy based on the utter absurdness of the plot? Depp plays Baranbas Collins, a man turned vampire by a witch he slighted (there is nothing like a woman scorned) who then imprisons him in a coffin until he escapes and finds himself in 1972. Collins then goes to find his ancestors, which he finds in disarray and on the verge of poverty. He also comes across the witch who has made herself immortal so she can continue to destroy the Collins family (talk about a grudge). The witch is played by the fabulous Eva Green, who's magnetic on screen and dominates her scenes. I think I have a girl crush. Michelle Pfeiffer and Johnny Lee Miller prove they haven't lost their acting chops by playing the remaining Collins family. They each have a kid. The tween girl is played by Chloe Grace Moretz (who is the awesome young girl from "Kick Ass") and is pretty funny. Helen Bonham Carter play the family psychiatrist because she's married to Burton and good at being weird. Depp was underwhelming. It feels like he's started to play the same role in every movie, which may be similar to his real personality. At least there's a quality cameo by Alice Cooper (who is referred to as an ugly woman). And the movie had some super dark parts that were just kind of breezed over. For example, Baranbus does a fair amount of killing people, including innocent construction workers and a nice group of helpless hippies. And there's a very May-December romances that happens, which grosses me out in the same way as when I read "Jane Eyre" at age 13. I say wait for rental on this one. And don't invite small children to watch it with you.

Looking for Prospective Places to Dine?

Last night I went into the depths of SOMA, which I do not do often enough, and had dinner at Prospect. Prospect serves new American cuisine with a modern twist. They have a large bar area, make amazing cocktails and feature an extensive wine list if you are looking to imbibe in a liquid meal (although they'll also serve you smaller dishes). Or if you're a bit more peckish, you can sit at the communal table, which still has the more lively bar atmosphere. I really liked the interior of Prospect. It achieved being contemporary without being too formal or stiff, with harsh whites, angular lines and uncomfortable seating. The interior was more of a creamy white, which complimented the different wood tones features. There were a lot of unique lighting fixtures and the place have an overall sense of warmth.

Since I work in Sausalito, I'm never able to make it to city happy hours. If you do work in the area, check out their happy hour from 4-6p. Their specialty cocktail list boasted an array of eccentric concoctions. I had the Pompelmo Frizzante, which consisted of vodka, sparkling wine, lemon, grapefruit and vanilla. This "summer in a glass" as I call it would be so refreshing on a hot day. They have a few more upscale beers and a fairly lengthy wine by the glass list. If you're planning to get a bottle, be warned that the decent ones tend to be fairly pricey. However, they are one of those establishments that allow to bring in your own wine and just pay a corkage fee. 

For the food, we started off with a couple small plates. We tried the asparagus, which had a little too much butter/oil/sauce on it for my taste (why distract away from this beautiful vegetable), but featured an amazing crispy squash blossom stuffed with ricotta and summer truffle. Sadly, there's only one on each plate. We had the shrimp with calamari atop black quinoa, which was decent but not a staple on their menu. The last thing we tried was the ravioli, which was amazing, so I wish that was a menu staple. For my entree, I was torn. People had great things to say about the seared sea scallops, with fingerlings, broccoli rabe and charred onion potato puree. When the dishes came, the scallops did look tasty, but I'm glad I went with my gut feeling when it came to ordering (and later caused a food gut from eating too much). I ordered the New York steak, which sat on a bed of sauteed spinach with baby artichokes and sunchokes. There were also tiny sunchoke chips sprinkled on top to get that needed crispy element on the plate.There was also horseradish aioli and a beef jus that soaked into everything (which is a good thing). It was so delicious. My only complaint is that one of my sliced steak pieces was entirely a piece of fat. Otherwise, one of the better steak dishes I've had in this city. The dessert list looked too good to pass up so I ordered the banana parfait. I mean, how often do you see that on a menu instead of something like bananas foster? The creamy vanilla pudding was topped with caramel, roasted bananas (which tasted like they were caramelized) and nib crumbs. It was so good that even though I was already stuffed my this point, I cleaned my bowl (although I did have some help). 

All in all, a good place to eat and drink. I like the ambiance and the specialty cocktails a lot. The starters left a little to be desired but the entrees were superb. And the desserts were delightful. Just be prepared to spend a fair chunk of change there.

Delta Spirit Lights Up the Fillmore

The very best outcome of a show is when you see a band, either someone you somewhat like or don't really know much about, and they end up blowing your mind. This was my experience when seeing Delta Spirit at the Fillmore last Thursday night.

I've already raved about how much I adore The Fillmore. So far, my favorite venues in the Bay Area are the Fox Theater in Oakland, the Greek Theater in Berkeley and the Fillmore in SF. It's probably pretty awesome to be a smaller band that gets to play there, considering some of the legends that have been up on that stage over the years. We showed up to this show just in time to catch the second opener, Waters. Waters is a local Bay Area band, lead by ex-frontman from the popular Bay Area band Port O'Brien. The music was decent and they tried to keep the audience engaged, which can't be the easiest thing to do. I just wasn't drawn in by this local indie band. I almost felt that it was indie rock verging on 90s rock and the band's look didn't help that perception. The lead guy, Van Pierszalowski, worn a jean jacket with duct tape and looked like a cleaner, more showered version of Kurt Cobain. They almost reminded me of Dinosaur Jr in a way. Maybe they'd be better at a more intimate venue, but they just didn't resonate at the Fillmore.

Delta Spirit on the other hand blew me away. This band originates from San Diego and now resides in Long Beach. Their sound is a mix of indie rock, soul, street and just a twinge of alt country/folk. This tour was supporting their newest album release, "Rounder," which has the song "California" on it, which is one of my favorites of theirs. Delta Spirit dropped their first EP in 2006 and became an instant small band success, opening on tour for bands like Cold War Kids and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. I found a hilarious fun fact on their Wikipedia page, which says they store all their equipment in green plastic totes when they travel for shows. Fans of the movie Delta Force (starring Chuck Norris) have been known to follow the group from show to show. I'll admit, I've always liked them but used them more as background music. They grew on me more with this last album and now after seeing them live, I am officially a fan. They had great stage presence and an almost psychedelic light show.

On an another note, while I'm thinking about SoCal indie bands, I've been hearing a lot of buzz about The White Buffalo. If you're into a blend of indie rock and country, you should check him out!

Avenging an Often Misfilmed Genre

This past Friday night I went to the movie theater to see "The Avengers." No, I'm not a tween boy, I'm a 28-year-old woman and I am not ashamed to admit that I was psyched.  I made sure to see all of the superhero movies with characters that would be pulled in as Avengers. This entailed sitting through numerous end credits with horrible soundtrack music blaring, waiting for that one "secret" clip of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, collecting heroes for S.H.E.I.L.D. Before you see this movie, make sure to see "Thor," "Iron Man" (the sequel unfortunately, which is not nearly as good as the first), "Captain America," and "The Hulk" (the newer one with Mark Ruffalo, not the weird one with Edward Norton).

The main plot of this movie is that Loki (angry from feeling less feared, beloved and blonde than his brother Thor), comes through this gateway/portal to rob humanity of its freedom of choice. The gateway thing is made from this glowing cube and is a little weird. At this point in the movie, I was really hoping the whole two hours was going to be this farfetched. Upon arrival, Loki steals the cube and brainwashes people into helping him. One of the people he stripped of will was "Hawkeye," played by Jeremy Renner. I haven't read an actual comic book in probably 15-20 years, so I had no idea who Hawkeye was and they didn't expand much on his background. This seemed like a missed opportunity to add another layer of depth to the characters, especially with the underlying tension with the Black Widow. Fury (Jackson) then assembles the rest of the Avengers, which consists of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson) and Captain America (Chris Evans). Thor ends up coming back to Earth about halfway through once he learns about his brother's plight. Unfortunately, this does not mean a cameo by Natalie Portman, who was actually pretty good in "Thor." Gwyneth Paltrow does make a cameo as Pepper, Paul Bettany comes back as the voice of Jarvis and Stellan Skarsgard from "Thor" continues to be the main scientist in this field. And of course keep an eye out for the usual Stan Lee cameo. Also, it drove me nuts almost the whole movie, so to save others from this, Fury's assistant is played by Cobie Smulders, who's Robin from "How I Met Your Mother."

Downey as Iron Man was by far my favorite part of this movie. The brilliantly written character, mixed with Downey's natural quirky personality, infused humor into the movie without being cheesy. While I really liked this movie, I will admit there were quite a few cheesy one-liners that did miss the mark, although not enough to achieve the awesomely bad status. There is a secret clip at the end of the credits in this one as well. It didn't make any sense to me and apparently it signifies something that will be tied in to upcoming Marvel Comic films.  I saw this in 3D, and yes, I know a lot of people are not enthused with the 3D movie movement but this one was pretty awesome. It's not a movie that was made only for 3D and I think it will translate fine to 2D. There's just enough action in this one to make it worth the couple extra bucks to spring for the 3D tickets and wear uncomfortable plastic glasses for two hours. I say, go see it in theaters if you ever liked one comic books or superheros at one point in your life.