MONEYBALL - OSCAR HOMEWORK CONT'D

So continuing my Oscar homework, I finally got to see “Moneyball”.  The Oscar nominated Best Picture starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill as General Manager(s) of the Oakland A’s.  A story of a General Manager and a Yale Economics Major who take a decidedly different tact at how a winning baseball team is selected and structured.

It was weird seeing Brad Pitt looking more like a middle-aged Robert Redford in this picture.  I gave it 3 stars and I do NOT watch baseball (at all) and if it hadn’t been for the self-designated “assignment” I’ve given myself I probably would have missed this little gem of a film.

Forgive my horrific run-on sentence. 

So last night which was Valentine’s Day my man took me to Jimmy Hayes in Island Park, NY. http://jimmyhayssteakhouse.com/home.htm

Now I went with high expectations of this restaurant.  I had been told it was high end good food and of course primo steak. 

The atmosphere was like a dark bar, heavy wood paneling with soft lighting.  Not bad.  It seemed a good way to blind you from the poor eating experience you were about to have.

The service was outstanding I must say.  It being a “holiday” and all I didn’t expect too much although THE WAIT to get the food was considerable.

The food was awful except the soup.  I’d ordered lobster bisque with shrimp.  It was thick and flavorful and had small bites of shrimp.  The porterhouse for two was ordered cooked MEDIUM.  It wasn’t.  It was practically raw.  Now I do enjoy my meat medium rare, but err on the side of caution by asking for it medium. It was even ridiculous that when the waitress brought the she was already APOLOGIZING as she was giving us the meat.  You don’t DO THAT with a piece of meat at that price!  (see website for menu).  I wasn’t especially wowed by the texture or the flavor of the meat.  I found myself reaching for salt. Also the creamed spinach was a disaster.  It didn’t taste like spinach at all, it was flavored with something that tasted like potpourri.

The table seating was practically on top of one another. (I guess they thought WE were cattle and hemmed us in as such.)  Unless you managed to get a booth.  We were people watching and both noticed the same thing.  Apparently any ol’ thing was appropriate for dining out.  One couple next to us the guy was wearing a button down shirt and was untucked wrinkled, and his wife was no better looking as if she had just rolled out of bed.

The verdict: I DO NOT recommend this restaurant.  It was a severe disappointment.  Thankfully my dining partner was a pleasure who was the saving grace of this experience.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - a movie review

So doing my “Oscar homework” I went yesterday to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.   Another one of the Oscar nominationed selections for Best Picture.

I was reluctant to go because although it’s headed by two big stars: Hanks & Bullock.  I KNEW in my gut that the meat and potatoes of this film, included neither performer.  My gut was right. 

This is the story of an Extremely Loud and Incredibly Annoying boy, who loses his quasi-genius father and then tries to make sense of it all by uncovering clues surrounding a mysteriously discovered key.

I reluctantly enjoyed this film.  Why?  Because it had heart.  Because for every person who has ever suffered a tragedy that changed their lives forever, we want to believe we suffered through it for some purpose.

Midnight in Paris - a DVD review

So last night I watched one of this year's academy nominated films: Midnight in Paris.  A Woody Allen written and directed film.  While not the biggest of Woody Allen movie goers, I do enjoy majority of his films.  Hell, I even saw “Match Point” IN the theatre.  As anyone knows he made that while in England trying to recuperate his reputation after his scandalous actions tarnished his good standing.

Anyhew, starring Owen Wilson, who was obviously played the part Woody would have had he made this film 30 years ago.  I always look for that in his films.  It’s always interesting to see his choice of actor that he chooses, I feel, to act in his stead.

Owen Wilson plays, Gil, a man on vacation in Paris with his fiancée and her parents.  A screenwriter by trade, Gil is now working on writing a novel during the trip.

After Gil and his fiancée run into another couple, they begin spending all their time together.  Gil becomes aggravated and makes excuse at night to go walking the streets of Paris by himself.

After getting lost he takes a seat and at the stroke of midnight climbs into a cab that takes him into his ideal of The Golden Age: Paris in the 20s.

At this point my son turns to me and says “is this a movie about time-traveling?”  I had to consider that for a second.  I couldn’t imagine Woody going down that road, I mean what’s next, aliens?

Anyhew originally I saw this movie with not a clue of the storyline and while it isn’t his best film, I found it entertaining and provocative.  It’s a good rental.  My favorite parts were his conversations with Hemingway.

Oh Oscar

http://oscar.go.com/

So the Oscars a few weeks away I would be remiss not to mention it at all.  I’ve been a slacker to say the least moviewise.  I blame poor time management and oh yeah cash flow.  Plus there’s not many films that bake my bread anymore.  I’m jaded moviewise (hence the self-given title).  Nonetheless in no particular order are this year’s academy nominated picks for Best Picture:

The Artist

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Hugo

Moneyball

Tree of Life

War Horse

*The Descendants

*The Help

*Midnight in Paris

The asterisks are the films I’ve currently seen so far.  Yeah like I said slacker.  Anyhew I’m not totally without time to see a few more on this list.  Remember the days when a best picture category had only 5 pictures and inevitably one movie was something no one even bothered to see?  Until it wins of course. 

Or that little indie film that no one ever sees until it gets some buzz (but no nominations) and then everyone bum rushes the theatre.  Take Calendar Girls, or Waking Ned Devine or The Full Monty, or Slum Dog Millionaire (ok so that one not only was a nominated film but also a winner).  Yeah the little film that could.  I think the film industry is still trying to concoct that same recipe.  Part indie film, part blockbuster magic in hopes of not only attracting an audience but making a film with a soul and a shelf life that last more than a year or two.

It’s getting better.  The Descendants I think is a pretty timely example.  So is last year’s Black Swan. 

My personal criteria for a good film are this:  Strong compelling storyline………..biting dialogue, and courageous (yet not too over the top) performances.  Get me that movie and I’ll watch it over and over again.

*A few favs off the top of my head: *As Good as it Gets, Dolores Claiborne, Terms of Endearment. 

Let the countdown to Oscar begin…….. 

One For The Money - a movie review

One for the Money a movie based on the Janet Evanovich novel of the same name.  Now if you’re reading Evanovich you’re not exactly a literary scholar (guilty as charged I've read almost all 18 books in the series).  You’re probably someone in the mood for something light, abit of mental floss as books go.

This is the story of a Jersey girl Stephanie Plum, played by Katherine Heigel, who falls ass backwards into a bounty hunter job and her first skipcase puts her chasing after an ex bad boy lover who she would gladly like to see behind bars not to mention the cash prize of $50,000 for returning him.  Not soon after she’s finds herself trying to solve the mystery of why he was arrested in the first place.

IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOKS DON’T BOTHER SEEING THE MOVIE.  It’s a cute movie but holds nothing really for someone who isn’t already a fan.  2 stars.

Cafe Guy & Gallard - a cafe review

So what can I say about Cafe Guy & Gallard?  Me and my sister Janice went there a while back and I found it to be a FIND.  But sometime later I'd forgotten the frikin name of the joint.  Recently I was looking through some papers and found their card.


So planning a day in the city with my sister once more made me say: "Lets go back to Cafe Guy & Gallard".  As you can see from the menu its very reasonably priced for NYC. http://www.guyngallard.com/


It also has locations all over Manhattan, BUT if you're going on a Sunday be sure to call that particular location to verify they are open on Sunday, as not all of the franchise stores keep the same hours.


The menu is varified  serving Brunch, Pastas, Fish all as I said before very reasonably priced.  There is a  limited seating, (almost shoulder to shoulder) but still a definite oasis amidst the ridiculously priced restaurants serving just about nearly the same food.


And our cute waiter Jhad went above and beyond to give spectacular service and I tipped him well.  We ate brunch.  I ordered Eggs Florentine, and my sister had sunnyside eggs, bacon, home fries and we split a small stack of pancakes served with raisins and toasted bananas.  YUM!