New Job, Slower on the Updates

Haven't updated in a while. That's primarily because I haven't been seeing as many films. Over the weekend, I did get to enjoy (500) Days of Summer and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Both were very mature for their perspective genres, romance and fantasy (no offense meant to those genres, as they are two of my favorites).

In High School, I obsessed over Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but I have to admit that I was less than consumed by his performance in (500) Days. I'd like to see him make some more bizarre choices in projects, like G.I. Joe (I haven't seen it, but InContention.com claims that he's not so good in it). I just want to see some more of his range. I find that with both he and Zooey Deschanel, I favor them because I like the persona that they use for their characters despite striking differences from character to character. Like Julia Roberts, they're so charming, I usually wouldn't ask for more from them, but with this film (maybe it was the hype), I did want more. Don't get me wrong, I loved the film and I appreciated the risks the writer took with the addition of post modern elements, like the dance number and the sort of mix-tape effective of hopping around the days within the 500 day time span that these characters knew each other, BUT, like always, there was room for improvement.

Harry Potter was everything you've heard about it, both good and bad. The film really just sets up the next chapter, the final chapter, but with bravado. It effectively ages the characters for the showdown with Voldemort.

I started a new job this week with the Orchestra Box Office. Now I'm home earlier than Tom, so I've been making dinner. In the last three nights, I've made Roasted Red Pepper Pasta, Bay Scallops, and (last night, I got a little experimental) an Asian inspired Turkey Burger and fries combo (Tom eyed the stir fry topped fries with curiosity and trepidation).

For my buddy, Lauren, I made a dessert for our last night together before she leaves for the west coast. It was... dun dun dun... a Brownie Bottom New York Style Cheesecake (A.k.a. an orgasm on a plate-Eat your heart out, Meg Ryan). You should make it if you own a springform pan.

Sparkling Tequila Cocoons

Martin Diego Morales came over for Tequila Sunrises last night. We had burgers (what else) with onions and garlic in them, topped with honey mustard. We also tried Sparkling Tequila Slammers, which is where you take sparkling wine and add it to tequila and lime juice before you pound the whole drink in one gulp. At first we thought, No, that can't be so bad. We thought wrong; it was kind of difficult to drink it but we understand now why you're supposed to chug the entire drink. THE GOOD NEWS: we have left over Prosecco.

Earlier yesterday, Ron Howard's Cocoon was on the menu (and Rashomon days earlier. Sorry. I haven't been keeping up). It was cute. Overly sentimental, but cute. It's nice to see a film with actors over the age of fifty.

Snap Out Of It! No More goodies!

What did I watch the last couple of nights? Moonstruck, Delicatessen, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and The Blob. A strange mix, for sure. Basically, all of them were brilliant in their own right, but Moonstruck and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? stick out in my mind as the better half, but I very much appreciated the cinematography of the other projects. In particular, I liked the hues in Delicatessen (from the set design, cinematography, lighting) and I love the way that technicolor looks, so that's why I liked The Blob, basically.


As far as my tummy, the last few days haven't been particularly healthy, but tasty galore. I went to the North End last night and ate pastries at Bova's and had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast this morning. Mmm Mmm good!

A Gay Old Time!

For dinner, Tom made me shrimp bisque. It was delicious. The recipe called for paprika, like the dish I made last night with scallops. So… if you’re making seafood and you need a spice, reach for the paprika, apparently.


While he cooked, I listened to The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Funny Girl and The Motion Picture Soundtrack of Cabaret, both on vinyl records (purchased at Cambridge Antiques for a buck).

Bruno Made Me Sad

I saw Bruno on Wednesday, but I’ve waited to comment on the movie because I wanted to make sure I knew where I stood. After much debate, I’m disappointed that it doesn’t really push anyone to feel one way or another about gay marriage. When Bruno and his assistant go to the courthouse to be wed, I expected there to be some sort of underlying message about the struggle for gay rights, but ultimately felt that the scene merely existed to appease the GLAAD committee who was also dissatisfied with the depiction.

Otherwise, Bruno made me laugh harder than I have in a while. In particular, the scenes where he unveils his talk show to a test audience and the interviews with the Christians he’s chosen to save him from his sins were some of my favorites.


I realize that Cohen’s work is meant to show how ridiculous stereotypes can seem when taken literally, but there were some awkward moments where the ridiculousness seemed to outweigh the suggestion (like the pictures of him and O.J. in the hot tub – yes, I understand that they’re photoshopped).

My contemplation of the material probably speaks to the work of Cohen more than anything else. Though I don’t think I like the way that Cohen went about creating Bruno, it’s his devotion to the project that keeps me thinking about it (I also very much enjoyed the marketing scheme for the movie).

Move Over Ben & Jerry’s

Tom made the best ice cream this week. It was Strawberry Cheesecake flavored. I don’t really know how he did it, but homemade ice cream’s significantly tastier than store bought. I know that’s a duh statement, but I say that because Ben & Jerry’s has a Strawberry Cheesecake flavor (which I love). One thing I prefer about their version is that it has graham cracker crust in it, but otherwise Tom’s was better. We polished it off this afternoon while watching the original adaptation of Jack Finney’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Funny Scallops and Earth Vs. The Flying Lemon Pops

Dinner tonight was amazing. I'm house sitting with muh man and his parents left us so much food in their refrigerator. Tonight, we chose to cook the scallops. I cooked them in 3 tablespoons of chardonnay and garlic. Then I added grape tomatoes and mushrooms, followed by paprika and parsley. We ate it on spaghetti. Scrumptious!


For desert we had lemon pops with the original Funny Games and Earth Vs. Flying Saucers. Funny Games disturbed me as expected and Flying Saucers, which we're still watching, bored me. Hence the update mid movie.

Funny Games really played with the viewers expectations which was interesting, but I was hard pressed to find any substance in the material, despite the artistry of the videography. Tom kept asking, "Why watch this movie if there's no hope?" I kind of wonder if the point was to see how far one would make it without turning it off. If so, we finished. Bravo?