Beantown

Another great trip to Boston. I took the megabus from New York to Boston, which seems like the best deal ever, it was only $13 and only took about four hours. I'm not sure whether or not the best part of my time there was the Dead Weather concert we went to, or the pizza I ate at Figs (this was some serious pizza, possibly the best I've ever had).

Figs was opened by famed chef Todd English, after eating at this restaurant I can see why he is such a recognized chef, this guy knows his way around a pizza, that's for sure. I know I said last time I was in Boston that I wouldn't go back again without eating at The Chart House, but when I say that I couldn't go back to Boston without eating at Figs, I mean it, this pizza was ridiculously good, if there is one thing that you could eat in Boston this should be it. We ordered two pizzas, one of them we got half bianco (mozzarella, sweet onions, vine ripe tomatoes, arugula, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar; good but a little hard to eat with the arugula on top) and half crispy eggplant (tomato sauce, sliced eggplant, mozzarella, whipped ricotta and torn basil; unbelievable, a must get if your eating at Figs). The second pizza we got was half portobello (portobello mushrooms, wild mushroom puree, roasted red onions, fontina cheese and truffle oil; one of the best food items I've ever eaten, just ridiculously good) and half spicy shrimp (spicy gulf shrimp with caramelized leeks and tomato sauce; really good just not spicy, I even put some red pepper seeds on it and still didn't think there was a spiciness to it, my sister and I both thought there was almost a sweetness to it).

Other food highlights on this Boston excursion were Indian food at Punjab Palace, I'm not that familiar with Indian cuisine, but my sister's boyfriend is and this is one of his favorite Indian places to eat. I thought my meal was great, I had the lamb masala and enjoyed it thoroughly.

One of the nights we decided to stay in for dinner, my sister made portobello mushroom burgers with roasted red peppers and bread from Clear Flour Bakery, and I made some roasted vegetables (an eggplant, squash, zucchini, sweet onion and red potatoes) that we picked up at a farmers market. The meal turned out really well, my sisters sandwiches were great, and we all thought my vegetables were really good as well.

Of course we had our share of desserts as well, even with all the great bakeries and pastry shops they have in that city, my favorite dessert may just be the oreo ice cream at J.P. Licks. I don't know how they do it, but it tastes like your eating a cone full of oreos, its kind of ridiculous. It is brown in color like it would be a chocolate ice cream base, with flecks of oreo and cream throughout it, but there really isn't a chocolateness to it, it is just a pure oreo flavor. I've had my fair share of cookies and cream ice creams, and other oreo based ice creams, but this oreo ice cream from J.P Licks is so far above anything I've ever had, I love it. We also stopped at Flour Bakery, for lunch one of the days. I had a slice of Boston cream pie which was really good, apparently this bakery is know for their sticky buns, and even won a Throwdown against Bobby Flay, but I guess they sell out of them really fast, and we didn't make it in time to get to try one. Another dessert we had that was a really good concept, but not executed as well as I thought it could have been, was a cake panini we had at Finale, in Brookline. It was two pieces of cake with your choice of fillings in the middle. I had nutella, bananas and grilled pineapple. It was good but could have been a lot better, the pieces of cake we thought we grilled a little to much, so that they were kind of crunchy and not really cake like anymore. We thought the slices of cake should have been thicker and not grilled so much, so that they would have a crispiness on the outside, but still be cake like in the middle. Overall, I had five days in Boston, and ate some of the best food I've ever had, I definitely had a great time there, this time around.

As for the non-food related things I did, it was so hard, it was kind of hard to be out and walking around all day. I would take two steps and instantly be a sweaty mess (I know, I'm gross), so there wasn't much exploring, but I did have a great time hanging out with my sister's boyfriend and some of his friends, while my sister was working, and of course I had fun with my sis when she was off. The best part of this trip was definitely the Dead Weather concert we went to. They played at the House of Blues, and completely rocked. I knew Jack White was going to be awesome (which he was), but their lead singer Alison Mosshart, was what surprised me. She had such a stage presence and energy, that if you weren't in to this band you would have still enjoyed the concert, she was all over the stage, dancing and just absolutely bringing it. While I do think this is the worst of Jack White's three bands, after this concert it certainly isn't by much. I've already scene the Raconteurs, so now hopefully Jack and Meg can reunite for at least one more album, so I get the chance to see the White Stripes live (definitely the best of Jack White's bands).

Finally, Friday night we saw Inception, the new Christopher Nolan movie. I have to say it was a bit underwhelming. With all the hype it's been getting, I don't think there's been one bad review for it, I felt like it wasn't as good as I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, I did think it was good, the acting, special effects and action sequences were all superb, but just not on the same level as Memento or The Prestige. Those two movies were kind of mind-bending, "what just happened", need to watch multiple times kind of movies. Inception just didn't have nearly the depth of either of Nolan's previous movies, I would say it was just a really good summer blockbuster, nothing more nothing less.

Boston was a blast, and it's weird to think that at this time next year, my sister will be graduated and possibly not even living in Boston anymore.

Eat well, Live well

Girls are From Somewhere Farther Away than Venus

I bought this movie with some extra christmas money on the recommendation from my sister. I saw the previews when it was in theatres and thought I would like it but she saw, and said I should get it, her recommendations are usually good so I did. We actually sat down as a family, the five of us in our family room, to watch it. My dad on the ground grumbling because there was sure to not be anything blowing up or gun fights, my brother on the couch just happy that he won't have much interest in it so he could fall asleep easily to wake up at the crack of dawn to study, my mom and sister on the chair together giggling, but always on the verge of tears and a fight, and me in the back on the Lay-Z-Boy almost nervous to watch because I knew this movie would stir up some bad memories.
As most of the reviews I read about the movie state it is a story that has been done over and over, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, but what makes it different from I think all the romantic comedies I've ever seen is the boy loses the girl and gets his heart broken, it does happen and not always because he cheated on her or did something stupid. It was refreshing to see this take because rarely do we ever see this point of view or hear stories where this happens, its always the guys fault. As stupid, idiotic and crazy guys might be girls are at least twice as much, and this movie proved. I was in an eerily similar relationship as Tom, the main character of this movie, and was able to relate to almost everything (especially the expectations, and reality scene) he went through. Even though for me it was like three years ago this movie was still able to stir up those emotions and I really felt for Tom. There might not have been a classic happy ending, but is there ever? Overall I thought this movie was really well written, had great acting and was told in a interesting way. What else can you ask for? It is well deserving of the praise it got and I would say give it a shot if you're in the mood for a quirky, different take on a rom-com.

Oh ya, one more thing, Jenny Beckman, she is a bitch.

Top Movies of the 00's

So I saw this list Richard Roeper made of his top 100 movies of the post decade.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/1967980,roepers-best-films-of-the-year-010110.article

Not a bad overall list but I definitely have some problems with it, especially the top ten. If you know me then you would know I am into the whole kung-fu/martial arts genre of movies. I've seen both Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers more than once, while I do really enjoy them and think they are good movies, putting both in your top ten of the whole decade is kind of crazy.

Slum Dog is also a really good movie but to put it in the top ten of the decade is also quite a stretch. Then to compare it to the Usual Suspects is just strange, where does he even get that comparison from. I haven't seen the Usual Suspects in a while but from what I remember it doesn't really have much in common with this movie.

Definitely the craziest movie in this top ten is his number one choice, The Departed. Yes, it was a good movie, but I'm not so sure I would call it really good, and it certainly is not great. Don't get me wrong it is a very enjoyable movie, when I walked out of the movie theatre after seeing it I thought I just saw a good movie, but certainly not the best of the decade. It was somewhat predictable, it's basically a standard cop movie with a couple twists. Also, to call the cast of this movie, the greatest ensamble cast since the Godfather is maybe one of the most ridiculous claims ever. Leo is a great actor and is always good as well as Matt Damon. It seems all of a sudden people think Alec Baldwin is some kind of great actor, do people remember that he is a Baldwin brother. That is a family of bad actors, except Stephen's performance in Bio-dome. How many of them are there? How do you tell them apart? Why do they all look the same? They're not even twins!...maybe. Just because he is good in 30 Rock does not make him a good actor. I don't like ripping on Jack but he was good but I think he's lost a little bit as of late. And, maybe my view is a bit tainted but if youu've ever seen I <3>

It was nice to see Memento in the top five, I couldn't disagree if it was number one, because that is an amazing movie. He does do well describing this film, because the first time you see it you're just completely blown away and confused all at once. Then you watch it again and you're still just as blown away but not as confused. If you haven't seen this movie drop what you're doing and go buy or rent it and watch it.

As for the rest of the list, I don't see how a Wes Anderson film didn't make it into the top 100. The Royal Tennembaum's and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou are definitely two of my favorite movies of this decade and of all time. Also if he's going to include comedies in this list how did Anchorman or Old School not make it, definitely two of the best comedies of the decade. Probably the biggest omition of the entire list is not even including The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert (Brad Pitt had in his contract he would not do this movie if they shortened or changed the title, I know you were wondering why it was so long). When I'm asked my favorite movie of all time that is my answer. I can't describe exactly what it is about it that I like so much, there is just a feeling to the movie that I relate to. I mean the story is great, the acting is spot on and it is the most satisfying ending to a movie I've ever seen, but the feeling of it is what I really like. After you're done with Memento, watch this movie you will not be disapointed.

So I'm certainly not making a whole list of 100 but if I was going to make a quick top eleven in no particular order it would be:

1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

2. Gangs of New York

3. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (in my book they should be considered as one movie)

4. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

5. Lost in Translation

6. Vicky, Christina Barcelona

7. Memento

8. Signs

9. Blow

10. V for Vendetta

11. Catch Me if you Can

Guido Guido Guido

I've been excited to see Nine since my sister showed me the trailer over our thanksgiving break. I like musicals and Chicago was one of my favorites, so with Rob Marshall directing this and the cast that he got to play in it I couldn't imagine this movie was going to disappoint. It seemed that leading up to the release of this movie at least one cast member was on some tv show promoting the film, each day. I watched as much of them as I could, especially whatever Penelope Cruz was on, continuing to increase my expectations. By the way, is it possible to make an argument against Penelope Cruz being the hottest woman in Hollywood, without a doubt top three, I mean with that accent alone... Alright back to the review, so my sister and I made plans to see the move together over the Christmas holidays and took in a matinee at 11:40 AM, I didn't even know the theatre opened that early, and surprisingly we weren't the only ones under 65 years old in the theatre.

The movie is about Guido Contini, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, a great Italian director set to direct another highly anticipated movie, but cannot figure out what it should be about. He is troubled by his relationships he has with the ladies in his life, both in the past through flashbacks of him as a child and in the present. The paparazzi are also causing him great stress by trying to get answers from him about the new film. Daniel Day-Lewis couldn't have done a better job and is very believable as the troubled Italian director, but who would expect anything else from one of the best actors of this generation. From the opening shot and song I knew this movie was not going to disappoint. All the songs were great, my feet were tapping to each one. Each of the women in the movie were also as impressive as Day-Lewis, the singing, dancing and acting all great. I was nervous about Dame Judi Dench having a song, but to my surprise her number was actually really good and one of the better ones in the movie. I could go on and on about each song and actress' performances, but they were all so good, I don't think my descriptive skills would do them justice. We actually sat through the entire credits just to hear some the songs again that were being played as the credits rolled.

The film was shot beautifully and choreographed just as well. Each song had it's own style which helped to make them all very different and each one great. The movie takes place in various cities in Italy, and definitely made me wish me and my brother spent more time traveling through Italy while we were in Europe. Another, kind of small thing, that I really liked about the movie was the amount of smoking some of the characters did, especially Daniel Day-Lewis'. It seemed he constantly had a cigarette in his mouth and often as he was smoking he was asking another character for another. It seems you really don't see smoking much in movies anymore, but I think it helps to make it seem more real. It's weird the last two movies I saw both had main characters that smoked, this and Avatar.

I had very high expectations for this movie going in to it and I would say it exceeded them all. I will definitely be hoping this movie gets recognized during this upcoming awards season, and it was probably the best movie I've seen this year. I would certainly recommend this to anyone who likes musicals, if you don't enjoy the genre but just like good music and movie I would still give it a try, and if you never got in to musicals this is definitely a good place to start. Hopefully you see it and enjoy it as much as I did.