The Cabin in the Woods [movie review]

Whenever I saw previews for The Cabin in the Woods, I would shudder in a tiny bit of fear AKA I needed to go see this movie ASAP. It looked like a fairly typical horror film (which I love), but boy was I wrong. This movie was far from typical.

Five friends — Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Jules (Anna Hutchison), Marty (Fran Kranz), and Holden (Jesse Williams) — take a trip to a cabin… in the woods (surprised, right?). It doesn’t take too long for the fivesome’s mini vacation to be rudely, and might I add violently, interrupted. By who (and/or what)? Why? You most definitely need to find out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed, I promise.

I loved The Cabin in the Woods. It was so different from anything I’ve ever seen. I thought it was the perfect mix of horror and comedy. Yup, that’s right… it was funny (and not in a this-acting-is-so-bad kind of way). The movie subtly pokes fun at the corniness you find in some most horror films (not to the point of a spoof like Scary Movie though) and I thought it was hilarious. There would be intermittent jabs at the right moments when you’d normally be thinking to yourself: “Oh, how typical…” Nothing normal or typical about this movie though (and I mean that in the best way possible). While I’m emphasizing the movie’s humor, I don’t want to desensitize its horrifying moments (because believe me, there were quite a handful). I was very much on the edge of my seat at times, wanting to watch the movie through my fingers (I didn’t though).

I don’t want to say too much about the storyline, but I was completely thrown for a loop (from the very beginning to the absolute end). The trailers certainly don’t give any hints as to what’s really behind this movie, which I absolutely love. I mean, the movie was directed by Drew Goddard, the writer for Cloverfield (another great movie), so I shouldn’t have expected anything less. Keep ‘em coming, Goddard (apparently I’m a fan).

Acting-wise, I think everyone did great a job. Everyone played their stereotypical  horror film roles to a T, whether it was the jock, the dumb blond, the virgin, the pothead, etc. The actors did well when it came time to fear for their lives, but they also did well when they needed to poke fun at their own characters in funny, not corny way. I think my favorite character was Marty, who played the stoner. He certainly provided plenty (sometimes much-needed) comic relief with his drugged up, philosophical rants.

Overall, I give The Cabin in the Woods… I’m gonna do it… 5/5 stars. This movie kept me engaged the entire time (whether it was through fear and/or laughing) and I couldn’t stop raving about it after I left the theater. This will definitely be a movie I’ll be adding to my DVD collection.

Chronicle [movie review]

Alright, I’m not gonna lie… I was dying to see Chronicle after seeing those nonstop, vague trailers for it. I was intrigued to see what it was all about, so I went to go see it a little after it debuted (sorry for the tardy review).

Chronicle is about three guys –Andrew Detmer (Dan DeHaan), Matt Garetty (Alex Russell), and Steve Montgomery (Michael B. Jordan) — who make a strange, underground discovery, which leads to the possession of superhuman powers. What are these powers, you ask? Oh, y’know, the ability to fly and move things with their minds… stuff like that. These newly acquired “powers” start off as fun and games, but things start to get a little unsafe when Andrew, the outcast of the group, begins to abuse his powers. Let’s just say, I wouldn’t want to rub Andrew the wrong way. Will Andrew take his powers too far before it’s too late?

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to go see this movie because, as I mentioned, the trailers were so vague. Chronicle turned out to be a little darker than I had expected. While Matt and Steve used their new powers for fun, Andrew used his for revenge, whether it involved his abusive father or the bullies at school (and eventually innocent people). But, if all three boys used their powers for fun, then there wouldn’t have been much of a movie (thanks Andrew). There were definitely a few oh-my-God moments, including some unexpected twists. This was kinda one of those movies where you turn to the person next to you as the end credits are rolling and say something like: “what the hell just happened?”

While Chronicle wasn’t as good as I expected it to be, it still kept me entertained and I’m glad I saw it (although I probably could’ve waited until it came out on DVD). Overall, I think I’d give it 3/5 stars.

Dev, Outasight & Wynter Gordon [concert review]

After being featured in “Like A G6” by Far East Movement, I was intrigued by Dev and I needed to see what she was all about. Since then, I’ve become a big fan of hers with songs like “Bass Down Low” and “Booty Bounce,” and more recently, “In The Dark” and “Naked.” When my friend, Justin, told me that Dev was performing at The Gramercy Theatre, I was sold. I looked for tickets online and discovered that Outasight and Wynter Gordon were opening for her… is it possible to be sold twice? Well, I was. For me, it’s rare to find a concert where you know/like each artist who’s performing… I was on this like white on rice. I bought tickets in a heartbeat (literally within minutes after I found out about it).

After waiting a bit, the DJ finally appeared on stage, getting ready to announce the first performer. I was getting ready to see Wynter Gordon or Outasight pop out, but instead… there stood Nina Sky. Whaaat? Remember them? I mean, I wasn’t complaining. Apparently, they’re releasing a new EP, “The Other Side,” and they graced us with a little preview. They were a nice surprise/warmup to the concert. Plus, they played their popular song, “Move Ya Body,” which was a nice blast from the past. They also played a cover of “Say My Name” by Destiny’s Child.

After Nina Sky, there were no more surprises (well, performers wise). Next up was Wynter Gordon. When she came out, not only did she look amazing, but she sounded amazing, too! My friend and I couldn’t get over how excellent she sounded… it was like I was listening to her on my iTunes. She started her set with “Til Death,” which was awesome, and then she went on to perform “Dirty Talk,” which is probably her best-known song. I died a little (in a good way). She sang some covers, too. She started singing an acoustic-like version of Rihanna‘s “We Found Love,” but she quickly kicked it up a notch and things got bumpin’. I loved it… there was great energy (from her and the audience). She also sang a cover of No Doubt‘s “Just A Girl.” She ended with this beautiful song in another language, but I can’t remember the name of it. Overall, Wynter Gordon was simply amazing. She’s beautiful, she has an amazing voice, she had a fun/sweet personality, and she was so grateful. Oh, and her mother was at the show… I wanted to tell her that she has a wonderful daughter.

Next up was Outasight. I’ve been obsessed with one of his (yes, ‘his,’ not ‘their’) songs, “Figure 8,”  for awhile now. He played it and I was lovin’ every second of it. I’m also a huge fan of his song “Tonight Is The Night,” probably his best-known song. It’s on the radio so everyone went wild when this one came on. He played a handful of other songs, too. Man, can this guy spit rhymes. Props.

Now, for the main act… Dev! She came out on stage and she looked great (especially after having a baby somewhat recently). The setlist went as follows (with a few surprises in between): “Getaway,” “Bass Down Low,” “Kiss My Lips,” “Booty Bounce,” “Don’t Hurt It,” “Me,” “Lightspeed,” “Perfect Match,” “Take Her From You,” “Shadows,” “Naked,” “Breathe,” and last, but certainly not least, “In The Dark.” Since her new CD, “The Night The Sun Came Up,” debuted the day before the concert, I only had a chance to preview the songs. From the new CD, I was really feelin’ “Kiss My Lips,” and “Breathe.” “In My Trunk” is another good one, but she didn’t perform that one. Overall, she sounded really great, whether she was singing or rapping… or just standing there. In addition to her songs, she’s featured in many songs, such as “Like A G6″ by Far East Movement and “Backseat” by New Boyz, which were two more songs she performed. As you might know, “Like A G6″ is my JAM. I went a bit crazy when she started singing this. I thought she was just gonna preview it a little since it’s Far East Movement’s song, but she definitely did it justice and I love her even more for that. She also did a fun, little cameo performance of “Dance (A$$)” by Big Sean featuring Nicki Minaj. Finally, she wrapped up with “In The Dark” and it was amazing. Dev’s on-stage presecene was perfect and it just added to her overall pleasurable performance. When she was doing her thing on stage, she really looked like she was enjoying herself, which in turn, makes the audience enjoy themselves. Dev makes me smile.

Overall, Dev is a great performer and I’d highly recommend going to see her on tour if she’s visiting a city near you (check out her new CD, too)! Same goes for Wynter Gordon and Outasight… great show all around! 5/5 stars for this concert. It’s one of those shows that you enter liking the performers, but you leave liking them 10 times more. I’m definitely a bigger fan of these three amazing artists.

The River [TV review]

I had to watch The River because one of the creators is Oren Peli, the director and writer for Paranormal Activity. If it had any chance of having Paranormal Activity elements to it, I knew I’d enjoy it. And I did.

ABC’s The River is about the disappearance of Dr. Emmet Cole (Bruce Greenwood), the host of a show called The Undiscovered Country, and members of his crew, in the Amazon. Dr. Cole’s wife, Tess (Leslie Hope), is determined to find her husband even though many believe he’s dead. She garners the help of her son, Lincoln (Joe Anderson), and some of the remaining crew members of The Undiscovered Country to assist on this hunt for Emmett. A number of the crew members are documenting this Amazonian adventure and let me tell you, the footage they capture is jaw-dropping. Will Emmett be found? If so, will he be alive? Will everyone survive? Will the footage find its way outside of the Amazon? These are all questions you’ll want to find answers to. If you didn’t get the hint, this is me telling you to watch the show.

The series premiere of The River was two hours long and rightfully so… I couldn’t get enough of it. The show got real spooky real quick, which I love. If you ask me, why wait, right? Might as well get right into the action. The show definitely has a paranormal element to it (i.e. blood-craving spirits, Exorcist-like scenes, creepy dolls hanging in the jungle, etc.), which you can’t seem to get away from these days, but trust me, there are no vampires or werewolves (although, I must say, there were zombie-like creatures in one of the later episodes). Dark magic might be a better phrase than paranormal. Since the first episode, the ah-factor has definitely kept up and, having watched the whole season, I’m still a fan. Each episode felt like a mini horror film. The season was only eight episodes long and I’m really interested to see how the next (hopefully longer) season will play out. After watching the season finale, I’ve decided that I’ve never seen a show like this on TV, which is part of the reason why I like it so much.

Overall, I’m definitely a fan of The River and I’ll definitely be tuning in to future seasons. If you’re a fan of suspense films, I think you’ll like this show. Check it out.

The Hunger Games [movie review]

As some of you may know, I’ve been waiting for The Hunger Games to come to the big screen for quite some time. I was a huge fan of the books by Suzanne Collins and I couldn’t wait to see the story come to life and be something I could watch. I haven’t experienced a ton of book to film adaptations (where I’ve both read the book and watched the movie), but I assure you, you won’t be disappointed with this one. Now, get ready for a longwinded post because there’s a lot to talk about.

For those of you who haven’t read the books (which I suggest you do), The Hunger Games is a post-apocalyptic story that takes place in Panem — a land split up into 12 Districts. Because of a past uprising started by the citizens of Panem, the Capitol has enacted  a yearly tradition, The Hunger Games, in order to keep everything in control. Every year, two tributes — one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18– are selected from each District to be entered into these said “games.” A total of 24 tributes are chosen, sent to the Capitol, trained, and entered into an arena to fight to the death until only one tribute remains… the victor. This story follows Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) who volunteers as the tribute for District 12 to save her sister, Primrose (Willow Shields), whose name was originally selected on the day of the reaping. Katniss is joined by Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the boy from her District.

Where do I even start? Like I said, as an avid reader of the books, I wasn’t disappointed at all with this movie… I think the adaptation was great! Of course there were a few things that were missing, but you have to expect that… there’s simply not enough time to jam everything into a movie that’s two and a half hours long (I mean, I personally would’ve watched a ten-hour long movie, but that’s just me). The settings were fantastic… you understand the struggle of living in District 12, you get the over-the-top, glamour-filled lifestyle in the Capitol, and I could remember reading the book as I was brought though the different sections of the arena.The costuming in the movie was excellent as well — everything from the rags in District 12 to the riches in the Capitol. It’s one thing to read about the crazy outfits, makeup, and hairdos that the people of the Capitol don, but it’s another thing to actually see it. I also really liked seeing all the tributes in their showcasing outfits, particularly Katniss — you finally see what it’s like to see her as The Girl on Fire.

Now, to talk about some particular scenes. If you haven’t read the book, I don’t suggest you read this paragraph… consider this a spoiler alert. First, when Katniss volunteered as tribute, I got chills (even though I saw it 98643 times in the movie trailers on TV/online). You could just feel the tension as you’re waiting for tributes’ names to be pulled (again, even though I knew exactly what was going to happen). Second, I can’t not talk about the scene at the Cornucopia… it was nuts. The announcer was counting down the seconds to the start of The Hunger Games and I actually had anxiety for the tributes. I was on the edge of my seat and I had knots in my stomach. I don’t think I took a full breath until Katniss was safe in the woods. It was so intense — seeing these children fight to the death in order to save their own lives. Third, Rue’s death scene (insert sad face). If you thought this was sad in the book, get ready. The theater fell silent during this scene and you could hear sniffles from all the crying. This sounds lame, but it was a really powerful scene… you could really feel Katniss’ pain and sadness. Katniss and Rue had a very short-lived relationship, but it was still a strong one. There were plenty of other memorable scenes, but I think these were my top three.

Some things in the movie weren’t as I pictured them from the books — not that it matters, it was just interesting to see something differently from what I imagined it to be. The Cornucopia, for example. I was picturing this giant structure of some sort, but it looked like a tiny, steel playground. Second, I pictured the tracker jackers to be these huge, flying insects, but they looked like regular wasps. Lastly, I imagined the mutants to be a bit more grotesque… they were still scary though. There was one scene when a mutant jumps out at Peeta and Katniss and I definitely jumped. There were things that were spot on for me, too, though. For example, The Careers were just as obnoxious as I pictured them to be. They were the stereotypical “cool kids” in high school who took bullying to a whole new level. Cato (Andrew Ludwig) and Glimmer (Levin Rambin) were pretty much your typical jock-cheerleader couple with their henchmen sidekicks, Clove (Isabelle Fuhrman) and Marvel (Jack Quaid).

Time to talk about some of the characters and the actors/actresses that played them…

Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job as Katniss. I honestly can’t imagine anyone else playing this role. She was just as strong/loving/stern/awkward as I imagined her to be in the book. It might sound weird to list all those characteristics, but Katniss emitted different emotions for different people and Jennifer did a great job with all of them. Overall, Jennifer Lawrence is badass.

I really liked Josh Hutcherson as Peeta. I don’t have much to say, other than he stood true to the character in the book, I think. No complaints.

Although Liam Helmsworth (who played Gale) didn’t have a ton of screen time, I still think he did well in the scenes he was in. While Katniss and Gale are only friends, Liam did a good job at hinting toward those extra feelings that might be there. I think Liam’s time to shine will be in the next movies.

Stanley Tucci was an excellent Caesar Flickerman (host of The Hunger Games) — everything from his blue hair to his jolly facial expressions to his interviews with the tributes. It’s really hard to like anyone from the Capitol, but Stanley Tucci made it pretty easy to like Caesar… I actually think he’s one of my favorite characters now.

Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket… hilarious. Effie always looks her best… in a Capitol kinda way. She also always says the wrong things at the wrong times, but it’s always really funny… comedic relief much? Elizabeth was spot on with Effie’s clueless yet proper personality.

Woody Harrelson played a great drunkard AKA Haymitch Abernathy. I had a love-hate relationship with Haymitch in the books (more hate, I would say), but I actually liked him more in the movie, thanks to Woody. There were times when he had to be drunk, times when he had to be serious, and times when he had to be funny… he played all three well.

I have to be honest, I wasn’t too thrilled when I heard that Lenny Kravitz was playing Cinna (Katniss’ stylist), but I wasn’t bothered by this after seeing the movie. There’s much more to Katniss and Cinna’s relationship in the book, but Jennifer and Lenny had a great on-screen relationship and you could sense the immediate bond that they formed. I also learned from GMA that Jennifer is actually best friend’s with Lenny’s daughter, Zoe, after being in X-Men: First Class together. Maybe their off-screen relationship helped them on-screen.

Rue. Don’t even get me started. Amandla Stenberg did perfect. What more can I say? Amandla made me love Rue’s character even more than I already did. I hope to see more of her in the future.

Last, but certainly not least… President Snow being played by Donald Sutherland. You just get the sense of evil when you see President Snow and Donald did a great job of that. The Hunger Games was just the start to Snow’s evil ways and I’m excited to see Donald really channel his inner villain for the next movies.

There were plenty of characters that we saw — like Flavius (Nelson Ascencio) and Claudia (Brooke Bundy) — but didn’t really see them, if you know what I mean. I’m excited to go more in depth with these characters in the next movies. What I’d also love to see more of in Catching Fire and Mockingjay is more visuals of the other Districts. The only other District we got a glimpse of was District 11.

Hands down, I give The Hunger Games 5/5 stars. Go see it. You have to. I really suggest reading the books first though… they’re just so good. I just think it’s amazing that I still felt such strong emotions throughout the movie even though I knew exactly what was going to happen. The fact that the movie stayed so true to the book, too, is just so great I really look forward to Catching Fire, the next movie in this series. Writing this review makes me wanna go see the movie again and re-read the trilogy.

  Be sure to check out my book reviews for The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay,

May the odds be ever in your favor.

iPod Update

Get out your bread and peanut butter because it’s been awhile since my last iPod Update and I’ve got some JAMs for you. See what I did there? Here we go…

“Sunrise” – Dev featuring The Cataracs
“Wild Boy” – MGK featuring Wacka Flocka
“Naked” – Dev featuring Enrique Iglesias
“The Motto” – Drake featuring Lil Wayne
“Levels” – Avicii
“Blackout” – Breathe Carolina
“Bang Bang” – 3OH!3
“Heartbeat” – The Fray
“Party On Fifth Ave” – Mac Miller
“Fade Into Darkness” – Avicii
“Rock n Roll (Will Take You To The Mountain) – SKRILLEX
“Star” – Christopher S featuring Max Urban
“Freak” – Klaas featuring Bobybangers
“Tonight Is The Night” – Outasight
“Rolling In The Deep (Remix)” – Lil Wayne
“Wild Ones” – Flo Rida featuring Sia
“Don’t Stop (TheFatRat Remix)” – Foster The People
“Not Over” – Bag Raiders
“Bring Night” – Sia
“Still Getting Younger” – Wynter Gordon
“Given Up” – Linkin Park
“Watching Him Watch You” – Eric Hutchinson
“Latinos In Paris” – Pitbull & Sensato featuring Jay-Z & Kanye West
“Ass Back Home” – Gym Class Heroes featuring Neon Hitch
“La Boquilla (Remix)” – Bomba Estereo
“Howlin’ For You” – The Black Keys
“Want U Back” – Cher Lloyd featuring Astro
“I’m On You” – Timati featuring P. Diddy, DJ Antoine & Dirty Money
“Prutataaa” – Afrojack & R3hab
“Synthesizer” – The Cataracs
“So Much Love” – Fedde Le Grande
“Antidote” – Swedish House Mafia vs. Knife Party
“Stupid Hoe” – Nicki Minaj
“Rock The Boat” – Bob Sinclair featuring Pitbull, Dragonfly & Fatman Scoop
“Earthquakey People” – Steve Aoki featuring Rivers Cuomo
“Troublemaker” – Taio Cruz
“Rack City” – Tyga
“Bad Girls” – M.I.A.
“I Am Not Drunk” – Benny Benassi
“Show Me Your Rage” – Afrojack
“Colors” – April Smith & The Great Picture Show
“Booty Swing” – Parov Stelar
“In My Trunk” – Dev
“Starships” – Nicki Minaj
“OOOYEA” – The Cataracs
“We Run The Night” – Havana Brown featuring Pitbull
“Mr. Mister” – Sato Goldschlag featuring Wynter Gordon
“Live My Life” – Far East Movement featuring Justin Bieber
“Ladi Dadi” – Steve Aoki featuring Wynter Gordon
“Feel So Close” – Calvin Harris
“Set It Off” – Timomatic
“Respect” – Melanie Amaro

Told you it’s been awhile, hence the long list.

As per usual, I’m loving new songs by Dev and The Cataracs (I always feel the need to mention them together). “Sunrise” is a good one by Dev and The Cataracs, but I assure you they’re just as good by themselves. Dev’s “In My Trunk” is a recent jam of mine and so is The Cataracs’ “Synthesizer.” On the topic of Dev, I’m going to see her live later this month with Wynter Gordon and Outasight!  These three are some of my favorite musical artists, actually, and I’m so pumped to see them all together. With that said, I found two new songs by Wynter that I really liked: “Mr. Mister” with Sato Goldschlag and “Ladi Dadi” with Steve Aoki. As for Outasight, “Tonight Is The Night” is a really great song.

What’s one of these posts without mentioning Far East Movement?  They just released a new song, “Live My Life,” featuring The Biebs. I’m super excited for FEM’s new CD, Dirty Bass, which should be coming out soon. I foresee a bunch of fun collaborations. In addition to Dev, Wynter Gordon, and Outasight, I’m also seeing Far East Movement in concert with LMFAO in June! I’ve seen LMFAO in concert before (with Ke$ha) and they were awesome. I can only imagine how amazing this concert’s gonna be since these two groups are definitely in my Top 5 list.

I also have to give a shot out to Nicki Minaj for her new single, “Starships.” This’ll definitely be a good springtime jam. I’m also really diggin’ her controversial song, “Stupid Hoe.” I mean, it’s repetitive, so I like it. She never ceases to amaze me everyone. You can hate, but I still love her.

Apparently, I really enjoy songs from commercials. Examples include “Set If Off” by Timomatic from an Express commercial, “Respect” by Melanie Amaro from a Pepsi commercial, “Booty Swing” by Parov Stelar from Las Vegas’ The Cosmopolitan commercial, and “Colors” by April Smith & The Great Picture Show (I can’t which brand the commercial’s for).

Other shot outs go to: “Levels,” “The Motto,” “Don’t Stop,” “Latinos In Paris,” “Antidote,” Earthquakey People,” “Rack City, and “Feel So Close.”

The Boondock Saints [movie review]

The Boondock Saints is another one of those movies I’ve heard about for years and I just got around to watching it the other day. I’ve also been on a little crime movie kick, so it was appropriate.

The MacManus brothers, Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus), escape a near-death experience with some thugs and, from this experience, they’re suddenly inspired to rid Boston of its evil doers (without consulting the proper authorities). Although the McManus brothers think they’re committing these murders for the greater good, some people have a problem with this… Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) being one of them. Will Smecker put the MacManus brothers behind bars or will these self-proclaimed “heroes” continue to kill people who they think are criminals take the law into their own hands? Definitely watch and find out for yourself because this movie was awesome.

Like I said, I really enjoyed The Boondock Saints. I liked the style of the movie — there were a number of instances where you see the end result of an event, like a murder, but you’re unsure as to why or how it happened. A scene or two later though, you’ll see exactly why/how things went down (usually unveiling the victims’ crime followed by some fight scenes). I also loved the relationship between the MacManus brothers. Although they were partners in crime (literally), it was really nice to see that they would do absolutely anything for each other (i.e. one brother throwing a toilet bowl from a rooftop onto the other brother’s attacker). I think anyone who has a close relationship with a sibling can appreciate that (illegal bonding activities aside). Overall, I’d give The Boondock Saints 5/5 stars. I loved the storyline, the acting was great, and I liked the somewhat unexpected ending. Definitely check it out.

I’m also realizing there’s a sequel (just in 2009, actually) and I’m wondering if it’s any good. I might have to check it out and see for myself.

Side notes:

1.. Murphy (Norman Reedus) is Daryl from The Walking Dead! As an avid fan of The Walking Dead, I’m surprised I didn’t notice sooner when I watching The Boondock Saints. I only just figured it out while I was writing this blog post.

2.. Willem Dafoe dressed as a woman is hysterical.

3. Apparently, irons can be used to “heal” bullet hole wounds, in addition to getting the wrinkles out of your clothing.

Battle Los Angeles [movie review]

I read some less-than-good reviews of Battle: Los Angeles, but I was still determined to watch it for some reason. I think it was the cool sound effects in the movie trailers that drew me in. Well, I should’ve listened to the reviews.

Battle: Los Angeles is about robotic, alien-like creatures that, you guessed it, invade Los Angeles. People fight back against the aliens and there are a lot of explosions. Not much more to say.

There was nothing unique about this movie. To be honest, I was barely paying attention throughout the film because it didn’t keep my interest (actually, it never had my interest). I thought the acting was bad and downright corny at times. There were plenty of explosions, yet I didn’t feel any real action. This movie reminded me of Cloverfield, but Cloverfield was actually good. Lastly, the aliens weren’t even cool. All in all, this movie was a D-U-D… dud.

Roger Ebert says it best in his put-down review of the movie.

P.S. Why does Michelle Rodriquez have a gun in almost every movie she’s in?

Tofu alla Vodka

So, I don’t normally blog about cooking, but hey, why not? This blog’s for anything that interests me and I’ve been getting down in the kitchen lately… or at least trying to.

Recently, I’ve become a fan of tofu and I like to pick up a block at the grocery store every now and then. It’s nice to switch it up a bit and channel my inner vegetarian every once in awhile. Last night, I was trying to think of a new way to cook my tofu and that’s when I remembered the leftover vodka sauce in my fridge. Ding ding… tofu alla vodka was born. End result can be seen below.

First, I cut up a block of tofu into small-ish pieces, then placed half of it into a pan and cooked it up with some cooking spray. In another pan, I heated up some chopped spinach. After about 4-5 minutes of cooking each, I mixed the spinach in with the tofu and poured some vodka sauce over it. Then, I stirred it all together for a few minutes and bam, you have yourself tofu alla vodka. It’s really, really simple, but it was so good.  If you wanna get cray and one-up me, you can make your own vodka sauce.

After I was done with my meal, I decided to Google “tofu alla vodka” and I was surprised to see that there was only one other recipe out there. It was on Barefoot and in the Kitchen, but it was a little different than mine (it included spaghetti). I felt kinda cool for thinking up a recipe that hadn’t appeared anywhere else on the Internet.

Limitless [movie review]

My friend was raving about Limitless, telling me how good it was, so I obviously had to watch it and find out for myself.

Limitless is about a struggling writer, Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper), who is introduced to a mysterious drug called NZT. Before NZT, Eddie could barely write a page of his book and his life was pretty close to rockbottom. After NZT, however, he was able to write his entire book in less than a week and everything else in his life seemed to take a few steps in the right direction. Basically, NZT turns you into the most perfect version of yourself. Eddie’s newfound, extreme powers abilities catch the attention of many people, including Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro), who hires teams up with uses Eddie for his artificially enhanced brain power. Eddie becomes addicted to the drug (go figure) and he begins to experience side effects. Will Eddie be able to keep up the act, or will NZT be his absolute rockbottom? Definitely watch and find out.

Limitless was definitely an interesting concept for a movie. It was very thought-provoking and it kept me on the edge of my seat at times. There were some pretty sick action scenes, too, especially when NZT was involved. I thought Bradley Cooper did a great job in his role, playing polar opposites at times. One second you see him as the hot shot, well-dressed, professional mastermind, but then there’s also the struggling drug addict side when he’s unable to get his fix of NZT. I’ve only really seen Cooper in The Hangover, where he obviously played a very different role, so it was cool to see a different side to the actor. Overall, I give Limitless 4/5 stars. Definitely check it out, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.