Finally made it out to see Watchmen. I'd been eagerly awaiting this one, as a fan of the original graphic novel and of super hero flicks in general. I entered with a little trepidation as I wasn't sure how well the book would translate to the screen. That said, I have a great appreciation for Zack Snyder's visual style (having worked with him on Dawn of the Dead and appreciated the look of 300), and I think his aesthetics apply especially well to this type of material. I went with a bunch of people who had never read the book, so I was also interested to see if they could follow the plot.
In general, I was quite pleased. The movie was a little long, but it had to be to squeeze the whole book in. There weren't really any parts that I would have removed completely- maybe there was some trimming here and there, but despite the length nothing felt overly slow. Another fear I had was that the material would appear dated- its a very Reagan-era-80s themed story, and I wasn't sure how it would translate to a modern audience. I think its a testament to the power of the story that the themes still have some resonance. Even if we're not on the brink of nuclear war (at least not at the same level as during the Cold War), the world is more divided than ever in some ways.
As anticipated, the visual were stunning. Maybe a slight overreliance on overcranked shots and speed ramps, but all in all quite a spectacle. I'd also like to give a shout out to the costumes, which my brother worked on, and which are awesome. I was a little confused/disappointed by the soundtrack. The pop music didn't work for me. I suppose it was intended as a way to place the action historically and link the sci-fi plot to historical reality. But for me, it was jarring and slightly out of place.
Even though I knew the plot, the revelations, twists and turns all worked well. I didn't even mind the change to the ending. In fact, it kind of makes more sense in a lot of ways than the original ending in the book. Most surprisingly, everyone I was with both followed and enjoyed the movie. Even those that might not be comic movie fans normally. That's probably the best indication that the movie is pretty good.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Katia's Russian Tea Room
On Friday, due to a combination of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" and a bit of eastern block family nostalgia, Julia wanted Russian food. Some Yelp searching landed Katia's Russian Tea Room as the most likely spot, and that's how we ended up at the corner table, with no one else in the restaurant, at 7pm on a Friday.
I always have some doubts upon entering a completely empty restaurant (I'd like to point out that it remained completely empty until another couple arrived just as we were leaving). But we were set in our conviction to cabbage, so we sat down and examined the menu.
As it turns out, Russian food is quite similar to most other Eastern/Northern European cuisines. Lots of potatoes, various dumplings, cabbage, pickled stuff...
We started with some Potato Vareniki and a plate of straight up dill pickles as appetizers. The dills were delicious. Some of the best pickles I've had recently and possibly the highlight of the meal. The Vareniki are little potato dumplings, crescent shaped, with sauteed onions and sour cream on top. There were a LOT of them. Probably too many for an appetizer for two of us. But we ate them all anyway, so they must have been pretty good.
For our entrees, Julia ordered the Golubtsi and I had Kotlety Pozharski. The golubtsi is ground beef wrapped in cabbage, and drenched with a Tomato sauce. The Kotlety are ground chicken cutlets, breaded and fried. Sort of like a large chicken nugget, really. Both dishes were good, but not amazing. Not must-go-back-for-those type dishes.
We ordered a Napoleon for dessert, which led to a discussion of whether or not Napoleon attacked Russia (he did) and if so what happened to him there (he did not fare well) and why that might result in the dessert (no relation). Once the dessert came, we pretty much forgot all of that and enjoyed the delicious pastry and custard combo. The fruit compote on the side was a nice addition as it reminded Julia of the compote her mother makes. Happy end to a happy meal.
One other item of note was the beer list. Most of the beers were made by the same Russain brewery, Baltika. The beers don't have names, just numbers. So we were faced with:
Baltika 1
Baltika 2
Baltika 3
Etc.
I believe I went with a Baltika 5, which ended up being a golden lager, while Julia had the 4, which was a dark (although they called it "amber") lager. She chose wisely, in case you're ever faced with the same decision.
I always have some doubts upon entering a completely empty restaurant (I'd like to point out that it remained completely empty until another couple arrived just as we were leaving). But we were set in our conviction to cabbage, so we sat down and examined the menu.
As it turns out, Russian food is quite similar to most other Eastern/Northern European cuisines. Lots of potatoes, various dumplings, cabbage, pickled stuff...
We started with some Potato Vareniki and a plate of straight up dill pickles as appetizers. The dills were delicious. Some of the best pickles I've had recently and possibly the highlight of the meal. The Vareniki are little potato dumplings, crescent shaped, with sauteed onions and sour cream on top. There were a LOT of them. Probably too many for an appetizer for two of us. But we ate them all anyway, so they must have been pretty good.
For our entrees, Julia ordered the Golubtsi and I had Kotlety Pozharski. The golubtsi is ground beef wrapped in cabbage, and drenched with a Tomato sauce. The Kotlety are ground chicken cutlets, breaded and fried. Sort of like a large chicken nugget, really. Both dishes were good, but not amazing. Not must-go-back-for-those type dishes.
We ordered a Napoleon for dessert, which led to a discussion of whether or not Napoleon attacked Russia (he did) and if so what happened to him there (he did not fare well) and why that might result in the dessert (no relation). Once the dessert came, we pretty much forgot all of that and enjoyed the delicious pastry and custard combo. The fruit compote on the side was a nice addition as it reminded Julia of the compote her mother makes. Happy end to a happy meal.
One other item of note was the beer list. Most of the beers were made by the same Russain brewery, Baltika. The beers don't have names, just numbers. So we were faced with:
Baltika 1
Baltika 2
Baltika 3
Etc.
I believe I went with a Baltika 5, which ended up being a golden lager, while Julia had the 4, which was a dark (although they called it "amber") lager. She chose wisely, in case you're ever faced with the same decision.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Alembic
Had dinner Wednesday night at Alembic, the semi-new cocktail and small plates spot on Haight street. Its right near our place, and we've been wanting to go for awhile, but it wasn't until we found ourselves hungry on Haight on a random Wednesday that we made it.
The place is famous for their cocktails. Their bartenders - err mixologists - are touted as some of the best in the city. Their cocktail menu is impressive, with a number of new twists on old drinks and a number of original creations. They also have the "Take Your Chances" option where you specify a type of alcohol and the bartender does the rest. Intriguing.
I started with a Southern Exposure (a spin on the Southside). Gin based, which I'm usually not a fan of, but I ordered mainly because it had a shot of celery juice in it. I really enjoyed the savory twist that the celery added to the sweetness of the gin, sugar, and mint. Yum. Julia ordered a "Still Life With Apples After Cezanne" and a "Vice Grip" (separately). The Apple drink had a distinctly smoky flavor due to the bourbon, maple syrup, and and smoked apple foam. Ok, but I wouldn't order it again. The Vice Grip was interesting in that it combined beer (porter), wine, and coffee liquer. Flavors worked surprisingly well together for a satisfying sweet drink. For my second drink, I decided to throw caution to the wind and Took My Chances. The bartender provided me with a gin based drink, combined with some vermouth, orange bitters, and an orange rind. Very nice, easy to drink, with just enough citrus flavor shining through over the gin.
Alembic also offers small plates and bar bites, but they seem to revel in using off-the-beaten-path ingredients. I was a bit skeptical looking at the menu, but we decided to go all in and try some of the "weird" stuff. We orderd four plates to share:
1) Kobe Beef Tongue Sliders
Delicious, not overly chewy as I feared. Perfect size sliders, well seasoned, served with delicious homemade potato chips.
2) Dungeness Crab Salad
Probably the tamest of the dishes we tried, both in concept and flavor. That said, the flavors came out best when you got a mouthful of the crab, some fennel, and a piece of the citrus that was included on the plate. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough citrus to have some with every bite.
3) Sweetbreads
Both Julia and I felt that this was the best dish of the night. Its only the second time I'd ever had sweetbreads (Thymus gland or Pancreas), but I've actually enjoyed them both times. These were large and VERY flavorful- they had an apple glaze and were served with tiny onions. Delicious.
4) One of the specials of the evening: Jerk Spiced Duck Hearts
They came on a skewer. About six of them. Definitely had a bit of organ texture, but the spice combination was quite nice and the overall flavor was good.
Definitely would like to go back to try some of the other cocktail options as well as the Pork Belly, although probably not for a while as its not super cheap. Surprised myself with how much I liked some of the strange meats we ate. Turns out if you prepare something correctly and season it well, it can taste good no matter what part of the body its from.
The place is famous for their cocktails. Their bartenders - err mixologists - are touted as some of the best in the city. Their cocktail menu is impressive, with a number of new twists on old drinks and a number of original creations. They also have the "Take Your Chances" option where you specify a type of alcohol and the bartender does the rest. Intriguing.
I started with a Southern Exposure (a spin on the Southside). Gin based, which I'm usually not a fan of, but I ordered mainly because it had a shot of celery juice in it. I really enjoyed the savory twist that the celery added to the sweetness of the gin, sugar, and mint. Yum. Julia ordered a "Still Life With Apples After Cezanne" and a "Vice Grip" (separately). The Apple drink had a distinctly smoky flavor due to the bourbon, maple syrup, and and smoked apple foam. Ok, but I wouldn't order it again. The Vice Grip was interesting in that it combined beer (porter), wine, and coffee liquer. Flavors worked surprisingly well together for a satisfying sweet drink. For my second drink, I decided to throw caution to the wind and Took My Chances. The bartender provided me with a gin based drink, combined with some vermouth, orange bitters, and an orange rind. Very nice, easy to drink, with just enough citrus flavor shining through over the gin.
Alembic also offers small plates and bar bites, but they seem to revel in using off-the-beaten-path ingredients. I was a bit skeptical looking at the menu, but we decided to go all in and try some of the "weird" stuff. We orderd four plates to share:
1) Kobe Beef Tongue Sliders
Delicious, not overly chewy as I feared. Perfect size sliders, well seasoned, served with delicious homemade potato chips.
2) Dungeness Crab Salad
Probably the tamest of the dishes we tried, both in concept and flavor. That said, the flavors came out best when you got a mouthful of the crab, some fennel, and a piece of the citrus that was included on the plate. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough citrus to have some with every bite.
3) Sweetbreads
Both Julia and I felt that this was the best dish of the night. Its only the second time I'd ever had sweetbreads (Thymus gland or Pancreas), but I've actually enjoyed them both times. These were large and VERY flavorful- they had an apple glaze and were served with tiny onions. Delicious.
4) One of the specials of the evening: Jerk Spiced Duck Hearts
They came on a skewer. About six of them. Definitely had a bit of organ texture, but the spice combination was quite nice and the overall flavor was good.
Definitely would like to go back to try some of the other cocktail options as well as the Pork Belly, although probably not for a while as its not super cheap. Surprised myself with how much I liked some of the strange meats we ate. Turns out if you prepare something correctly and season it well, it can taste good no matter what part of the body its from.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Is Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist a romantic comedy? Maybe. And maybe that's the problem. I'll tell you what it's not: particularly funny. I went in not expecting much- a) some laughs, b) some classic Michael Cera awkwardness, c) some appearances by other stars of the Judd Apatow comedy universe... I got very little of A, a spattering of B, and not enough C to salvage the thing. Of course, Judd Apatow has nothing to do (at least nothing credited) with the making of this movie, so perhaps it was unfair of me to hold it up to modern comedy classics such as Superbad or Knocked up.
So without the funny, what are you left with? A dude, who starts out liking one girl but over the course of the movie decides she's lame and the girl of his dreams is right under his nose. Hmm. Seems remarkably rom-com-ish.
There were some fun elements- I liked how they treated New York as a sort of playground for these kids (although you can toss realism out the door- it's never been so easy to park directly in front of every club you go to in NYC, and how do these high school kids get into EVERY bar, and what New Jersey parent lets their kids stay out in NYC until after dawn), and I liked the idea of the mysterious Where's Fluffy band, although the utter lack of any payoff was unfortunate. I was expecting/hoping that when they finally saw the band someone they had met earlier or been hanging out with all night was part of it or something... But no. Just as the band is about to make a grand entrance... the protagonists leave (despite spending the whole night searching for this band) to give us the ultimate romantic comedy cop-out: "My newfound love with someone I didn't even know before tonight is way more important than seeing the band we both love most of all and spent all night searching for."
So without the funny, what are you left with? A dude, who starts out liking one girl but over the course of the movie decides she's lame and the girl of his dreams is right under his nose. Hmm. Seems remarkably rom-com-ish.
There were some fun elements- I liked how they treated New York as a sort of playground for these kids (although you can toss realism out the door- it's never been so easy to park directly in front of every club you go to in NYC, and how do these high school kids get into EVERY bar, and what New Jersey parent lets their kids stay out in NYC until after dawn), and I liked the idea of the mysterious Where's Fluffy band, although the utter lack of any payoff was unfortunate. I was expecting/hoping that when they finally saw the band someone they had met earlier or been hanging out with all night was part of it or something... But no. Just as the band is about to make a grand entrance... the protagonists leave (despite spending the whole night searching for this band) to give us the ultimate romantic comedy cop-out: "My newfound love with someone I didn't even know before tonight is way more important than seeing the band we both love most of all and spent all night searching for."
Monday, March 2, 2009
Frost/Nixon
While firmly 2nd best on the list of "Historical Dramas with a focus on important events in US History that Noah saw this year," Frost/Nixon had a number of good things going for it. Most of those good things had to do with the performances. Frank Langella did a great job in humanizing the character of Nixon, who for most Americans (at least those as generally unfamiliar with the details of US History as myself) has been dehumanized every which way.
That relates to another reason I liked the movie- I found it educational. That's a bit of an embarrassing admission, but I'm going to claim ignorance due to poor US History education in my scholastic career. Yes, I'm aware that Frost/Nixon is fictionalized. However, I didn't even realize that the interview ever happened, much less the details therein, so at the very least I learned something.
But back to Langella, because he was really the bright point in this film. Langella presented a complex Nixon- a Nixon that was arrogant, defensive, and unapolagetic but ultimately haunted by the mistakes that he made in office despite trying to do his best for the country.
The film could have done a better job of contextualizing the interviews by giving a better sense of the public's reaction. Milk (my favorite Historical Political blah blah movie of the year) did a better job of this, although it had some advantages since many of the important scenes took place in public instead of in a small house and some very intense one on one conversations. That said, Frost/Nixon did have the option to explore the interviews through the lens of the television (in the format that most of the contemporary public would have followed them). That might have been a different movie, but it would have been an interesting approach.
That relates to another reason I liked the movie- I found it educational. That's a bit of an embarrassing admission, but I'm going to claim ignorance due to poor US History education in my scholastic career. Yes, I'm aware that Frost/Nixon is fictionalized. However, I didn't even realize that the interview ever happened, much less the details therein, so at the very least I learned something.
But back to Langella, because he was really the bright point in this film. Langella presented a complex Nixon- a Nixon that was arrogant, defensive, and unapolagetic but ultimately haunted by the mistakes that he made in office despite trying to do his best for the country.
The film could have done a better job of contextualizing the interviews by giving a better sense of the public's reaction. Milk (my favorite Historical Political blah blah movie of the year) did a better job of this, although it had some advantages since many of the important scenes took place in public instead of in a small house and some very intense one on one conversations. That said, Frost/Nixon did have the option to explore the interviews through the lens of the television (in the format that most of the contemporary public would have followed them). That might have been a different movie, but it would have been an interesting approach.
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