This cat's got an opinion about everything...
I’ve decided to do some restructuring here and create separate blogs for my food and movie reviews.
All food-related posts have been migrated to Catty Critic in the Kitchen. Still need to create a decent banner for the blog.
Movie related blog still under migration.
I’ve been busy trying to get geared up for an event I help out with: http://www.labyrinthmasquerade.com so I haven’t had much time to catch up on this blog.
I have seen “UP” which was fantastic and made me cry and laugh. We’re seeing “The Hangover” on Sunday.
I’ve got the last of the Memorial Day Weekend food reviews as well.
In the meantime, check out these two trailers!
2012
Zombieland
I’m a sucker for apocalypse/natural disaster movies. This looks like eye candy. And as for Zombieland, Woody as a zombie hunter? Looks pretty hilarious.
The husband and I decided to take a mini-trip up to the Solvang area for a relaxing getaway before he jumped into his new job. We really enjoyed our last Bed & Breakfast experience (in Julian) and decided to try it again. I did some searching online and came across the The Victorian Mansion at Los Alamos. I love Victorian homes and the themed rooms looked to be fun. Plus, private tub for two? Yes, please!
When we arrived, most of the guests for the night had not shown up so we got a tour of the rooms except for the Roman one which was already occupied.
On the first floor is the 50’s and Gypsy rooms. The 50’s room has a real Cadillac that was turned into a bed. There was a projector and screen set up to simulate the feeling of being at a drive-in. It was really cool except for the fact that the steering wheel was still attached so whoever gets that side of the bed should be really short or like to sleep in a fetal position. This room felt the smallest and the bathroom was tiny. The Gypsy room was really cool; the bed was in a covered wagon (don’t worry, the wheels were placed in grooves in the floor). The walls were painted with a forest mural and the tub was sunk into the floor and surrounded with stones.
The 2nd floor was the Roman and Egyptian room. The 3rd floor had the Pirate and Paris rooms. The Pirate room had lights that were rigged to sway and the walls were covered with wood paneling to simulate a cabin room on a ship. The Paris room was water-damaged during renovations so was unavailable.
We booked the Egyptian room. This room ended up being the largest in the house and the only one with a balcony. They really went all out with the theme. The canopied bed was on a raised dais in the center of the room.
The walls and ceiling were covered with material and murals to simulate a tent out in the desert. There was an LCD TV, DVD & CD players and a fridge hidden in the walls as well as a closet with robes. Each room had movies that were related to the theme as well as a copy of Sideways since that was filmed in the area.
They supplied bubble bath for the tub and there was a bottle of wine from a local winery as well as chocolate-covered strawberries waiting for us.
The King Tut statue was actually a pull-out door to get to the bathroom. The shower stall was tiled and had hieroglyphics painted on them.
The door to the balcony was also in the bathroom. There were two benches and you could look out onto the main street of town. The manager noted that our room was the only one where you could open a window/door to the outside so if you tend to get claustrophobic or like lots of fresh air, you should book this room.
Los Alamos ended up being a lot smaller than I thought. Almost everything closes at 5pm so we only had about an hour to wander around. Actually, it takes only about 5 minutes to walk across town. Heh. We spent the hour wandering thru an antique shop and stopping in at a wine-tasting room. With nothing else to do after that, we decided to have dinner. Based on recommendations by the B&B manager and a store owner, we went to Full of Life Flatbread. More on that later…
The wine that came with our room was a Syrah from Andrew Murray. Neither the husband nor I are wine experts so I can’t really comment on the quality. He enjoyed it more than I did and so drank most of the bottle. The chocolate-strawberries were excellent. I had stuck them in the fridge to enjoy as a dessert later in the night and they were nice and cold. The strawberries were ripe and sweet and had just the right amout of chocolate coating to compliment but not overpower the fruit.
The tub was awesome. You forget how nice it is to have a deep tub to soak in for relaxation. The water runs hot here so keep an eye on the temperature, otherwise you’ll end up waiting for the water to cool down. It takes about 10-15 mins to fill it up.
At night, it can get very quiet in the room. If you are like me and the husband and need ambient noise (like a fan), I suggest bringing something to assist with that. The bed was comfy…not overly soft or firm and the pillows cushy. Just be careful when getting out of bed as it’s really dark in the room and you have steps to contend with.
For breakfast, The Victorian Mansion operates a little differently. Instead of having all the guests meet in the dining room at a specified time, the Vick delivers breakfast to each room at an arranged time. There’s a little compartment in the wall that’s accessible from both outside and inside the room. They place the tray of food in it and knock on your door to signal that breakfast has arrived.
Breakfast for the first day consisted of individual quiches and muffins. The 2nd day was also quiche but with croissants. Orange juice and coffee (or hot chocolate) are served as beverages. Neither of us are coffee drinkers so we went with the hot chocolate. YUM! It was not overly sweet and had a hint of a coffee flavor to it. Dan really enjoyed it and ended up drinking most of it both days. We inquired as to the brand and turns out it’s Ghiradelli’s. I know what I’ll be looking for at the stores.
The quiches were a little bland but not bad. I sprinkled some salt n’ pepper and that helped. The egg filling was fluffy and not over done and the cheese had browned nicely. The first day quiches had vegetables mixed in – peppers, onions, olives. For the 2nd day, we had one quiche that was the same and a broccoli quiche. I didn’t like the broccoli one as it was too…broccoli-y. The husband didn’t touch them at all because they were “tainted by those evil green things that come from the ground”.
I didn’t get a chance to really enjoy the muffins as I was stuffed from eating the two quiches. Dan nibbled at the coffee-cake looking one till he discovered there were blueberries in it. I tried a little bit of both and they were tasty. Buttery and sweet, they had a “home-made” quality to them. The croissants were served warm and were good but I swear they were the same as the ones you get from Costco (which are good!) but there was nothing outstanding about them.
Since Los Alamos doesn’t have much in the way of tourist attractions, we went to Solvang and Los Olivos (wine-tasting rooms galore!!!) which are no more than a 15-minute drive away for something to do during the day.
Overall, this was a great place to stay. Diane, the manager was really friendly and helpful. The themed rooms were a lot of fun. Because it is an old house (built in 1864), you can hear people in the room above you walking around if it’s occupied. The tub is a really nice perk and the local bottle of wine a nice touch. We found the price ($250-275/night) reasonable considering all that you got. It’s the perfect place for an intimate, relaxing getaway for couples.
The Victorian Mansion at Los Alamos
326 Bell Street
Los Alamos, California 93440
(805) 344-1300
www.thevick.com
Angels & Demons (2009)
Directed by: Ron Howard
Starring: Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor, Ayelet Zurer, Stellan Skarsgård
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 138 mins
It’s not common that a sequel ends up being better but thankfully, Angels & Demons is an exception. Ron Howard & team fixed the problems that made The Da Vinci Code a flop – namely the pacing and Tom Hank’s hair. Apparently, Robert Langdon found time to get a haircut in between solving all those pesky clues left behind by famous artists. Much better, thank you. I didn’t have to sit thru 2 hrs wishing I could jump in the movie with some hair product, a comb and scissors and do something with that mess on Tom Hanks’ head.
There’s not much to say about this movie, especially if you’re familiar with The Da Vinci Code. Basically, you’ve got a similar plot only this time, there’s more action and better pacing so you don’t end up bored or losing interest as Robert Langdon goes off on some historic whatchamacallits. It’s pretty cookie-cutter and the supposed twist is predictable. Tom Hanks is a great actor but the character of Robert Langdon really isn’t all that complex. This role is something Hanks could execute in his sleep and it sort of feels like that’s what he did. Actually, it felt like most of the acting by the cast was done lacklusterly. I think it had to do more with the fact that the characters in this movie are fairly flat so there’s not much to convey in terms of development. In all honesty, it’s not like Dan Brown is a brilliant writer… However, I do have to say, at least this movie paid attention to continuity and plot unlike Terminator Salvation (yes, I’m a bit bitter about that).
I did like the sets. They filmed in Rome so the outdoor shots are all real but a lot of the internal settings had to be replicated, especially anything inside the Vatican. From what I can see, they did a phenomenal job with accuracy. This movie was a great tourism ad for Rome.
This movie is more enjoyable than its predecessor and I would say it’s not a bad one to see if you’ve already seen Star Trek and Terminator Salvation or are up for matinee. However, it is not material worthy of a summer blockbuster and I don’t expect to be in theaters long or for people to remember it.
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Director: McG
Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard, Moon Bloodgood, Helen Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Jadagrace, Common, Michael Ironside
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 130mins
Is it worth seeing? Well, it depends. McG and crew deliver great action so if all you want to see is some Resistance kicking Skynet’s ass, then go. However, if you are more interested in the story, in seeing John Connor make his way to becoming a leader n’ all that other story development stuff, you will be disappointed. It seems that somewhere along the line, someone decided that continuity and plot development was unnecessary. Whether it was McG’s directing, the multiple rewrites, too many writers, production, whatever…someone FAILED.
Let’s talk about the good stuff first, shall we?
This movie was extremely action-intensive which was fantastic. There were times where I was on the edge of my seat and actually pumped my fist in the air when Skynet’s robots would go down. I loved seeing the multitude of different types of robots, some familiar, some new, all awesome. The special effects were spot-on clean n’ sharp…none of that crappy compositing we saw in Wolverine. They did a really outstanding job in terms of delivering great action sequences that could give Michael Bay some competition.
The acting on Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin’s part was fantastic. Seeing Yelchin in two very different roles in such a small time frame really helps show off his ability and I fully expect to see him appear in more features. Worthington stole the show as Marcus Wright who was easily the most interesting character in the movie, mainly because he was the most developed and least flat. Despite the bad dialogue and some cheesy “human element” scenes, he managed to do a decent job in showing the conflict and confusion in his human-turned-machine character. Jadagrace, who makes her debut in this film as Star, Kyle Reese’s child sidekick, had no speaking lines and had to convey everything thru facial expressions and body language. She did an impressive job given her young age. Christian Bale and the rest of the cast, unfortunately, didn’t have much to work with and this resulted in mediocre performances at best. Most of the characters only had a short amount of screen time, too, which really didn’t do much for allowing the audience to connect with them let alone care for them.
The “human element” scenes failed miserably. A lot of it seemed out of place and didn’t make sense while other aspects that you were wondering about were never addressed or even acknowledged. As for showing a developing relationship or even an established one, nada. The chemistry between people was pretty much nil. It almost felt like the production’s priority was the action and the character and story development was a last minute afterthought. Sad as a lot could be done with this story to comment on humanity, on the instinct to survive, etc. Ah well…
The big issue in this movie was the lack of continuity and development. A lot of things happened that served only to get the movie from point A to point B without any concern as to whether it even made sense. When you’re sitting there throwing your hands up in the air because you just saw something that made you think “Wait…WHAT???”, you have to wonder what the hell the writers were smoking. I won’t delve into details due to spoilers but just be prepared shut your brain off here and there.
Overall, I was entertained. This movie was better than expected in terms of the action and visuals but a sore disappointment in the plot arena. I had my doubts on McG’s directing ability and apparently, I should have really worried since I just found out that the writers were also responsible for some cinematic atrocities like Catwoman. I would have to say that, so far, Star Trek >>>> Terminator Salvation > Wolverine.
I’m a little behind on reviews.
- 94th Aero Squadron’s Sunday Champagne Brunch
- Crab Hut
- Angels & Demons
The husband dragged me (okay, I went willingly and gladly) to two NIN|JA (Nine Inch Nails w/ Jane’s Addiction) concerts and we’re off this weekend to central California for a mini-vacation.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to post the above reviews along with my Terminator: Salvation (seeing it tonight) review before I leave on Saturday.
WTF? At first I thought this was a spoof but turns out no…this is REAL. I don’t really remember the Transformers movie (1986) cuz I was a little young but apparently, Stan Bush was the guy who came up with “The Touch” song for that movie. Well, Michael Bay brought him back to revamp it for Revenge of the Fallen. Basically, Stan Bush decided that since Linkin Park’s song did so well as trailer music for the first movie, he should just redo the song Linkin’ Park style. /sigh Okay, I can live with that. But WTF is this crap music video? Art Douglas, I banish you back to music video hell! At around 3:03, I died. Really? Let’s do melodramatic slo-mo “I’m so weary” poses? And what’s with creepy-smiley old guitarist dude? Die in a fire, Art Douglas. I think that’s merciful considering this crap you unleashed on us.
Going to see Star Trek again tonight though this time, it’s on a regular screen. IMAX tixs were all grabbed up.
