A Quickie, or Two

Two recent Netflix viewings:

First was Cassandra's Dream, a newer Woody Allen movie. Interesting movie, but it seemed like a mix between Match Point and Before the Devil Knows You're Dead -- both of which are far superior movies. Watch one of those two instead. 4/7

Margot at the Wedding, the latest movie by Noah Baumbach, was delightful. Naturally there was a lot of similarity to The Squid and the Whale, but I found Margot to be a more mature movie. The relation of immediate family (sisters) seemed to work better than of a husband and wife of Squid. I would highly recommend this movie. 7/7

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'Choke' Trailer

So a day or so ago the trailer for the film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's Choke went online. You can view it here.

This is a prime example of how an adaptation can ruin a great book. Well, maybe not a 'great' book, but a good book. From the looks of it, the comedy fails miserably at transferring to the big screen and just comes off as tasteless. Is it Sam Rockwell's delivery? A big part of me thinks so.

It's for reasons like this I don't want to watch the movie Lolita. Loved the book. Love Kubrick. But from what I've read, Kubrick destroyed the script he asked Nabokov to write for him, and I think the movie will ruin my love for the book. Not that Choke is in the same ballpark, but it's the same sport.

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Top Chef -- High Steaks

A little pre-episode commentary (this is kind of a live blog): I hope either Lisa or Antonia goes home this episode. If not and one of the other three don't make it to the finale I'll be pretty annoyed. With that said....

What an epic Quickfire Challenge. Butchering chops into singles, how fun. The only thing that would make this more fun is if Rocky Balboa was punching a slab of cow in the background. But the cutting of the chop isn't the whole challenge. They have to cook a perfect medium-rare steak for the guest judge. Hmm...

I'm not a big fan of Padma sporting the Kate Hepburn look. Or her bad puns. But hey, you can't win them all.

Go Spike with his amazing butcher skills. Too bad Stephanie is just awful at all the Quickfire Challenges. The cutting part, at least. But Stephanie's looks delicious. Odd that the judges aren't trying the steaks... something must be up.

As expected, Stephanie's butcher skills fail. Richard... I'm so over this guy.

Go Spike, winning the challenge! My boy is tearing it up. Now he gets to pick first what protein he wants for his appetizer and entree in the Elimination Challenge. But as we know, from before, he screwed it up. We'll see.

Yay for Chef Tom being back. Also, we get some Gail and no Ted. Why do I bother pointing that out every time? It is pretty cool they brought the former winners to eat, but they do that in every reality show, so whatever.

Damnit, they didn't like Spikes appetizer. But they also didn't like Antonia's, so there's still hope.

Richard's entree looks delicious. And with his appetizer, it seems like he's going to win again. Sweet....

Man, and Spike bombed on the entree, too. Okay, so all season I've accepted he's not the best chef, but I play favorites, so he should get to the finale based on that.

I'm glad they liked Stephanie's dishes, though. She's my real favorite. I would kill to have either Antonia or Lisa go home.

Oh man, the chefs are drinking wine out of plastic Solo cups. I'm glad people on television roll the same way I do.

As dumb as it was for Spike to call the guest judge out for having frozen scallops in his cooler, he was right. And him immediately regretting his decision was pretty funny. But looking at the way the judges were talking, it seems like Spike is going to go home. I've never been more hopeful for tricky reality TV editing. But that's more of a VH1/MTV trick.

Awesome that Stephanie won. I like her a lot. Two wins in a row, holler.

Not surprised Richard is going, and kind of annoyed Antonia is going. But, she did cook well. Meh.

And of course Spike goes home. I hate reality TV. Oh well Padma, I'll still marry you even though you sent my boy home.

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Death Proof: Less Fun More Film

Tonight I watched the Death Proof segment of Grindhouse for the first time since theaters. While I think it's stupid that the two Grindhouse movies are marketed separately, I think Death Proof benefits from being singled out.

But what I realized tonight was that I like Death Proof: It is a good movie. But what keeps it from being great is Tarantino forcing himself into this box of botched film and campy scenes, when the movie would benefit from just being a slight homage -- and more importantly, not just a homage to himself.

I'll admit I like Tarantino's stuff. Reservoir Dogs, while not the greatest movie, is good. Pulp Fiction is a great movie. I didn't care much for Jackie Brown, and the Kill Bill movies were good-to-great.

Needless to say I noticed all the references to his previous work in this film before I saw it in the IMDb trivia. The fact that a character has a ringtone of the whistling theme from Kill Bill, or Big Kahuna Burger is tossed into casual conversation don't really harm the movie from a writing standpoint, but it does do two things. First, it pulls Tarantino's fans out of the scene, and second, it seems self-indulgent. And it is. One or two allusions I can deal with. But they just keep coming and coming and coming. It grows tiresome.

In my opinion what Tarantino should have done is made Death Proof as his own project -- still with all the love for old car movies and whatnot -- but taken it more seriously. No scratched film reels, or missing scenes, or endless self-indulgence. No using the same cops from Kill Bill, no abrupt ending (though honestly I could live with it as-is, but what happens to Lee should be addressed).

If Death Proof was treated more like Kill Bill, it would've been a great movie. Instead of just good.

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RIP Sydney Pollack

Cancer claims another victim. Sydney Pollack died Monday, which is pretty unfortunate. Though he hasn't directed a movie in a while, he was still giving memorable performances as an actor. Like in that 'Please silence your cell phones' commercial before movies (sponsored by AT&T), and as Patrick Dempsey's dad in Made of Honor.

No, but seriously. This is sad. What's with all these celebrities dying this year? Heath Ledger, Charlton Heston, Sydney Pollack... if Woody Allen dies I'm just going to flip out. Knock on freaking wood.

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Top Chef -- Restaurant Wars

So David Cook won American Idol. Who cares? Not me. It was an easy prediction.

The Quickfire this week was to do eggs for breakfast in a short-order diner. Seems like a pretty crazy task. I mean, not the cooking, but the fact you have to do so much crap so fast.

And of course Antonia won again, so I'm annoyed. I'm becoming less of a fan of the Quickfire challenges.

Restaurant Ward is the Elimination Challenge. Antonia picks Stephanie and Richard for her team. Smart choice, since they're probably the two best. So that means the other team is Spike, Dale, and Lisa. God, Lisa needs to go.

And of course Dale wants to do Asian food. Again.

I think I'll like this challenge, though. None of that bullshit where you have restrictions on your menu or budget (well, ridiculous budget restrictions). This time, it's just do something you want, and do it well. Sure, it's still in teams, but hey, what can ya do?

I think it would be more fun spending $5,000 at Pier 1 than both the cooking and shopping. Maybe I'm watching the wrong reality show?

Chef Tom taking leave sucks. I wish I knew more about Anthony Bourdain.

So the last four eliminated contestants are back, and each team gets to pick one to bring aboard. And, of course, the two people I don't like get picked to come back for the episode: Jen and Nikki. No Mark or Andrew? Weak.

Lisa keeps having problems with rice and burners. Jesus, girl. Maybe you should not make rice for one fucking episode. Oh, but wait. When you try a soup, you completely fuck it up. Good job.

Again -- no Gail. Sweet. But at least Padma looks gorgeous. I'm going to marry her.

Watching the actual food come out, it looks like another clear-cut victory for Stephanie/Richard/Antonia. Not only did their dishes straight up look better, but the judges liked them all better. I think some of the problem was genuinely the bowls and dishes Spike's team used. They should have gone with clean-looking plates like the other team.

And I really don't like Anthony Bourdain now. Or the other guy who is a guest judge. Seriously, give me Tom, Padma, Gail, and Ted. Every episode.

Thank God someone other than Richard won the challenge. Go Stephanie! What a sweet prize, too. A trip to Spain to taste wine and stay in luxury hotels? Amazing.

The other team was just a train wreck from the beginning. And I'm glad Spike stayed out of most of it by taking the front of the house. Smart move, as the guest judge noted. And I don't know whether I like it or dislike it when at judging the contestants hate each other and point fingers. I think it makes it more interesting. Maybe...

So Dale got sent home. Good, I guess, but I'd rather see Lisa go. Shit. Why is she still on this show? She's awful.

Stephanie and Spike, my two favorites, are in the final five! Holler!

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Netflix is Heartless

Okay, not necessarily 'heartless,' but here is their description for the movie Waitress:

Written by director and co-star Adrienne Shelly (who was murdered shortly before the film's selection for the Sundance Film Festival), Waitress is a frank and funny examination of the fears brought on by impending motherhood. Keri Russell plays Jenna, a waitress whose fabulous pies are about the only sweet ingredient in an otherwise dreary existence. An unwanted pregnancy, however, brings unexpected romance in this film co-starring Cheryl Hines.

Am I the only one who finds the mention of Adrienne Shelly in the first sentence a bit unnerving? Why is that even relevant? It seems like they're almost using that as a reason to have people choose this movie as their rental.

But in related news, the movie itself was very good. I was surprised, and Keri Russell is great when she's not playing Felicity. I'll give it a 5.5/7.

For further information on Adrienne Shelly's death (unfortunate, indeed), go here.

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Two Quick Reviews

Two movies I saw recently:

Made of Honor was pretty bad. Charming main characters, but I couldn't help wondering why I had to watch them go through everything in the movie when they could have, and should have, been together three minutes after the opening credits. Some decent moments, but overall nothing special. Rating: 3/7

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, on the other hand, was very enjoyable. A great sequel to the original film, Prince Caspian brings the series toward some darker themes. But there are still the standard deus ex machinas and characters that exist simply to help further plot and nothing else, so the movie is not flawless. But for what it is and how it brings the source material to the screen, I give it a rating of: 6/7

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In Theaters May 16

A quick week here, yet again. It seems we're down to only a single wide release in theaters May 16th.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian || IMDb

It seems the general consensus here is either love or hatred. Same as with the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But I enjoy movies in all genres, and the first Narnia movie was a good adaptation of the beloved series. We have the same director and writer as before, so I think this will be another good movie. Who am I kidding, though. You are already set on if you want to see this movie and nothing I say will sway your opinion.

Jon's Pick of the Week: Narnia

DVD Release of the Week: Oh God, do I really have to pick one? The Great Debaters, I guess. But I did buy City Lights on DVD this week. You should, too.

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