FoodnFlix May 2020

Spudguns!, it's been a few months...I've had nothing to say the last two months. But, I joined in for the May Foodn'Flix...literally just crawling in under the finish line with my offerings. The May selection was hosted by Debra over at Eliot's Eats and she picked the 2011 Midnight in Paris.  Now, I've mentioned this on the blog way way way back in the first year of the blog, Day 75.  But, here's a brief recap.

plot:  When a writer suffering from writer's block goes on vacation with his girlfriend and her parents, he finds himself in awe of the city around him. As he ends up spending his nights alone wandering the streets dreaming about his heroes, he mysteriously travels back in time to the 1920's. Inspiration begins to strike as the midnight hour engulfs him, leaving him wondering if it's just a dream.

Okay, so as I mentioned, I've talked briefly about this movie before when it first came out, and I didn't care for it. I should have loved it. All the markings of my kind of movie was there. It's a Woody Allen movie, it's about a writer, it's about time travel, it's about art and magick.  Only, for me it missed the mark. Sitting through it a second time for group, I was halfway hoping I had missed something the first time around, that maybe since it's been almost a decade I'd discover something in it I liked. Nope. Still not doing much for me.

Notes: beer, baguette (mentioned) wine, bread, sauerkraut and frankfurters (mentioned) whiskey sour (mentioned) petit fours (mentioned) grapes, sweets, candied ginger, nuts, cheese, coffee, cake, Indian food (mentioned) pita bread (mentioned) jam, juice, melon, croissants, strawberries, blueberries, fruit plate, tea, cookies, chocolate, beef bourguignon (mentioned) pineapple, whipped cream, dates, steak, absinthe, honey, meat pie, pears, peaches, butter, lemon, pop.

Okay, so the food in this movie is sort of there but it's not a main concern, so it's pretty much in the far background most of the time.

There is a scene near the beginning of the film, where one of the characters mentioned the sauerkraut and frankfurters, and my mind right away went to that. So I went right out to the store and picked up a package of veggie dogs and ...could not for the life of me find any sauerkraut. It ended up being one of the crazy items that the stores in my city have not received since the whole isolation situation has been going on in the world.  Then I thought I would just go with it anyway.  I "assembled" my loaded veggie dog with cole slaw, mustard, mayo, cheese, onions and peppers.

But I wasn't happy with how it looked on camera. So, I started thinking about a second dish and my mind kept returning to the end of the film, where we see a very minor character who literally has two scenes near the end of the film, a detective who himself travels back into time to the Court of Louis XIV.  This seemingly unimportant character actually ends up being a key player. Through the whole movie till this point, you never know if the lead is daydreaming, or drunk or in a coma from a scene where he trips and hits his head or if he's actually traveling back and forth in time? That is until the detective finds himself trapped back in time.  The table of Louis XIV has a breakfast which consists of the pears, peaches and meat pie. So I decided to make a "mock steak and kidney pie".

Ingredients

1 can of kidney beans drained
two mushrooms chopped
half a carrot chopped
half a stalk of celery chopped
half a small onion chopped
ground black pepper
garlic salt
cornstarch
jackfruit
pastry
water

Drain the kidney beans, boiling them till soft.   Add mushroom, celery and carrots. Let simmer for about 15minutes.
Add onion, ground pepper and garlic salt. Stir and let simmer for another 10 minutes.

Add jackfruit, stirring in more water if needed.  Simmer for another 15minutes.

Prepare pastry.   I used a store bought ready made tart shell.
Fill pastry and cook at 350degrees for 35 minutes depending on your oven.

I've never used jackfruit before this. In fact, never even tasted it. I wasn't sure if the bitterness would work with the rest of the savoury ingredients so I only used three medium sized pieces. Thankfully it did.

There you go, two dishes inspired by very different characters. Don't forget to check out June's Foodn'Flix selection, being hosted by Culinary Adventures with Camilla. She's allowing the theme of Any Movie that is  Set or Made in Hawaii.

Till next time.

year 5 day 123

movie: Albert Nobbs
starring: Glenn Close, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
genre: Drama
year: 2011
format; Netflix Canada

plot: A woman living as a man in the early 1900's, tries to juggle a normal life.

Based on the novel.

Normally, I like anything set in this time period, but I found this to drag on a bit too long. I think ten or even fifteen minutes could have been chopped from it, and it still wouldn't have lost any of it's plot.
I really wanted to like the characters, but I found them less and less interesting as the film progressed. The character of the love interest played by Mia Wasikowska, was just too whinny.  And all the male characters seemed to be treated in one dimensional views. (abusive drunks, careless playboys with a different woman each night, cowardly)

The themes lean heavily on identity, freedom, independence, and feminism. You're under the impression for the first half of the movie, that the lead character is living as a man just for the chance to earn a job in a time when women couldn't hold certain positions in society, but midway through, the direction changes and we learn she's a lesbian. Only, she comes across as not completely seeming to understand it herself, when she talks about her life as a man. I'm not completely sure if that was the way the character was written or just the delivery of the lines?

what did I learn? I'm not sure I learned much on this one.

year 5 day 121

movie: This Must Be The Place
starring: Sean Penn, Frances McDormand
genre; Drama,
year: 2011
format; Netflix Canada

plot: A former rockstar finds himself on a road trip of revenge after the death of his father.

This is sort of a go nowhere inner journey film. The lead character spends the first half of the film just trying to get through day to day stuff, before learning his father has died. This causes him to travel half way across the world from Ireland to the U.S. after the funeral, he learns that his father was once tortured in WWII, and decides for some reason to hunt down the last known nazi war criminal for revenge. From that point on, he sort of floats around from place to place "following the clues" meeting people related to his intended victim.

I'm not sure what the point of having Penn's character speaking really slowly in hushed strain your ears tones was, but it made the film feel about a year longer than it really was. The only thing I can think of is that they were trying to make it seem like he'd really gotten messed up from all the years of drugs. The end has him show up at a friend's place having finally removed his goth look. The message I'm supposing to that, is just because something tragic happens, it doesn't mean you have to be stuck in that moment for the rest of your life. There is a scene where he breaks into the guy's house, drinks all his alcohol and then sees a large Buffalo which made no sense to me. I don't know if the Buffalo was a metaphor or a dream or really suppose to be there?

what did I learn? If you see a Buffalo standing outside your window be the tree.

year 5 day 87

movie: Cedar Rapids
starring: Ed Helms, John C Reilly
genre: Comedy, Drama
year:2011
format: TV Edit

plot: An insurance salesman is selected by his boss to represent them at the annual convention, and finds himself in over his head.

You've got a guy who is having an sexual relationship with his former high school teacher, who believes pretty much everything everyone tells him and takes almost everything at face value. He's thrown into a situation that is not what it seems, when the party people he's been told to avoid end up becoming his best friends, and the people he's been told to cling to are the ones scamming everyone.

The first half seemed to be very religious with it's slant, which quickly got dropped. I don't know if that was the point or just the way it was edited for tv?
This felt like a grown up version of some teen movie. Not really a revenge of the nerds style, but one of those generic teen movies where everyone becomes friends and live happily ever after.

I kinda get the idea that the main theme was suppose to be about not listening to rumours, and being able to look beyond the surface noise, but with it being edited for television, I can't say if that's the point of the film or just the version the editing gave it?

what did I learn? I think I missed the whole point of it

year 5 day 69

movie: One Day
starring: Jim Sturgess, Anne Hathaway
genre: Drama
year: 2011
format: TV Edit

plot:A couple's life is explored in one day segments for the course of 15 years

Based on the book

Between being a tv edit and being a movie that does jump around in the story telling, it was a difficult one to sit through. It got confusing midway as the story seemed to race against itself. You're watching this doomed love relationship that is expressed half heartedly through "maybe laters" that play more like teenaged crushes than the big epic love story it's suppose to be.

The story has the typical opposites attract theme going on, with the wild bad boy vs the quiet shy girl. Which is not so subtly symbolized by a ying-yang tattoo the Sturgess character has on his leg in one scene. At which point, the Hathaway character scolds him for. In fact, there seems to be a lot of playground teasing between the two in many of the scenes, which looses it's cuteness after the first half hour.

I've never been much of a fan of When Harry Met Sally, and all this is, is trying to be that.

what did I learn? love sucks dog balls

Year 5 Day 58

movie: Paul
starring; Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
genre: Sci-fi
year: 2011
format: Netflix Canada

plot: Two British sci-fi geeks find themselves in the company of a real alien, and have to run from the government

I pretty much love anything that has Simon Pegg in it.  I think that even though this film has moments of crude/raunchiness, it doesn't always feel that way given most of it is from an animated alien. A pot smoking alien with necromantic powers. That in itself was worth a few laughs.
And in typical sci-fi geek fashion, there's a lot of references to Star Wars, Star Trek (the biggest being Pegg himself as he plays Scotty in the New Era ST films) the MIB series, etc.  But my favourite little geeky in joke is the reference to Blade.  The Frost character -no pun intended- spends time debating on if he should buy a "black vampire " sword, which looks just like the one Wesley Snipes uses in the vampire trilogy.

This is basically a buddy road trip film dressed up as a large escape from the cops style film. There is the obvious E.T. and Starman references, with them running from the government, and a huge nod to Escape to Witch Mountain 

what did I learn? Even in an alien movie I still focused on the vampires

Year 5 Day 53

movie: We Bought a Zoo
starring: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson
genre: Drama
year: 2011
format: TV Edit

plot: After his wife dies, a grieving single dad relocates his family only to end up being the new caretakers of a zoo

Based on the book

I know this was suppose to be a big feel good happy family film, but for me it got weighed down with the idea of the dad just trying to escape. I don't know if it was because it was a tv edit, but it just seemed to focus too much on that. There were a few oddly placed commercials that caused a few gaps in the storyline. Such as one second the dad was complaining about having to buy butter and the next second (after commercial break) they were cleaning up snakes. How did the snakes get there during the commercial break?  This is the downfall of watching stuff on tv sometimes, edited for time.

The fact they had the dad deal with his grief by not dealing with the impending death of one of the tigers, was an interesting circle. It was almost as if the dad was allowing himself to feel the pain as long as there was someone who he could reflect it back to.
 
what did I learn? Animal in movies and cartoons will always make me cry.

year 5 day 39

movie: Thor
starring:Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins
genre: Fantasy, Sci-fi
year: 2011
format: TV Edit

plot: After starting a war with the frost giants, Thor is banished from Asgard and it's revealed that Loki set him up in order to take the king's place.

I'm going to say something I never say; for once I was expecting more science. I was slightly disappointed that there didn't seem to be more of a balance between the Earth scenes and the Asgard scenes. It seemed a bit on the Asgard heavy side. But, this was a tv edit, so I can't say for sure if that was the intent.(humour not lost on fact part two was aired before part one)

The big theme seemed to be pride. Thor was tossed out banished because he was too sure of himself, and stripped of his powers until he learned some humility. So the hero had a quest without even realizing he had a quest. Which, always makes for an interesting story plot. 
I've never connected the hammer to Excalibur before, but then again, I've never been a big fan of Camelot or of the Thor legend either. But the scenes where the hammer is stuck in the lab, all I could think was Excalibur and how much each legend fits together.

what did I learn? Being too eager is as bad as being too cocky.

Year 5 Day 36

movie: Magic Beyond Words the JK Rowling Story
starring: Poppy Montgomery, Emily Holmes
genre:Biography, Drama
year: 2011
format: TV Edit

plot: Following the years leading up to the publication of the Harry Potter books, we see how the author survived massive loss and abuse.

This was another of those movies I didn't hate and I didn't love, it was just sort of there. The first half hour spans from Rowling at about age 8 to 18 in jump cuts, basically to set up her fascination with witchcraft and stories in that vein; as well as her creativity.
We're taken through the death of her mother, which leads her to more then one career change and the resulting disastrous marriage. The Harry Potter books becoming her island in the storm.

I have to say, although completely different genre of books, I couldn't stop thinking of the movie Julie/Julia, and Julia Child's struggle in writing and publishing her cookbook, while watching this.

what did I learn? Never give up on your dreams. The muse is out there, you just have to unlock it.

Theme Week p4-Sandler's Drac Pack

Just Go With It

plot:After having his heartbroken, a plastic surgeon uses a fake wedding ring to have a string of one night stands for years. Until he gets caught and his latest fling wants to meet his wife. He then manages to talk his co-worker into pretending to be his wife, and drags her kids into the mix.

This is the 2011 comedy starring Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston  and is a remake of the 1969 film Cactus Flower

I had no idea this was a remake when I sat down to watch it.  This was one of the better Sandler films I've seen.  The chemistry between Aniston and Sandler could be stretched into other films.
I think I was more surprised to see Nichol Kidman in this playing the snobby semi-friend of Aniston, who keeps trying to one up her, then of much else.

This is another one of those "I was so busy chasing that other person that I missed the fact my best friend was in love with me"  movies.

Sandler does the voice of Dracula in both the Hotel Transylvania movies

Theme Week p3-Sandler's Drac Pack

Zookeeper

plot: After asking his girlfriend to marry him and being turned down, a zookeeper discovers that he can communicate with the animals, and ends up getting relationship advice from them.

This is a 2011 comedy staring Kevin James and Adam Sandler

I actually found this to be a fairly decent, if not predictable, movie. It was charming enough to be something you might want to watch on a Sunday afternoon.  There is a lot of computer graphics as all the animals talk at some point in the film.
You have your typical boy meets girl, boy gets dumped, boy fails to see his best friend who is in love with him plot happening, but otherwise it makes for a good romantic comedy.

It's also a buddy movie given the fact he becomes best friends with a large talking gorilla that he takes to a bar. Yeah, it sounds twisted but proves to be right on the money.

Kevin James does the voice of Frankenstein and Sandler of Dracula in both Hotel Transylvania films.

June Food n Flix

This month's Food n Flix  selection is being hosted by Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and they picked Butter.

plot: A young girl decides to enter the yearly butter sculpting challenge after seeing it done at her state fair. The other competitors are the wife of the former champion who'd won it for fifteen years straight, and the stripper he'd had an affair with; who happens to be blackmailing his family.  

This is a 2011 comedy-drama starring Alicia Silverstone and Jennifer Garner.

I saw this back at the new year, and was going to do a write up about it then, but held off when I learned it was on the list for the group. I get that's a political satire, but I wasn't feeling it. Maybe because it was a political film?

And again, I watched this online, so you will notice a lack of dvd cover in the photos.

All I could think was butter-cream and chicken while re-watching this. but none the less, here are my notes... Butter, "pickles"(their last name is Pickler) meat on a stick, popcorn, iced coffee, hot dogs, soup, pie, "white bread" (just so conservative), vegan pop, olives, yogurt, vegan mayo, salad, kale, root vegetables, pretzels, beer, "shake and bake" (cause of the sex in car scene) frozen peas, mini chocolate, "ginger bread" (her hair colour) apples, "butter cream", crackers, potato salad, "cheating chicken"(they are about to have chicken when wife finds out about affair), dinner rolls, "pudding and brown butter sauce", donut holes, pork-rinds, birthday cake, pasta, "butternut squash noodles with cauliflower puree" (cause of his broken penis when he's holding the frozen vegetables)

I've been vegetarian for over a decade so this should have been a snap, given all the vegan related items seen in the fridge of the foster mom played by Alicia Silverstone.(yeah she did this film about the same time her vegan cookbook came out) Side note, I've had vegan pop and you can't tell it's vegan at all. I have no idea how pop can be vegan given it's still processed but... 
So obviously, I had planned on going with the butternut squash noodles with cauliflower puree, cause when have any of you dear Spudguns! known me to pass up a penis related situation.  But...the movie gods or culinary gods, or St. Lorenzo(yeah cooks really do have a patron saint) didn't feel I prayed to him enough or something; cause the grocery here was out of butternut squash for the last few weeks.
So my next thought was....butter pecan tarts.

A Canadian classic in a not so classic way.  I decided to make it a tart...not little single tarts. And I went with a shortbread crust. 

 Crust

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
1/2 cup sugar
teaspoon salt
2 cup flour

Combine till dough is ready to form in pie pan.

I used an ungreased glass pie dish. 

Filling

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecan pieces
(optional raisins)

Melt butter and brown sugar over medium heat, stirring till it bubbles, then remove from heat.  Set aside for a few minutes.
Whisk in the eggs, syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt.
Stir for about five minutes and then add pecans.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Press dough into the pie pan, and pour the filling over, baking for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven.

Lower heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake for another 15 minutes depending on your oven.

This surprisingly, is not as sweet as traditional butter tarts are.  I say surprisingly, given the amount of maple syrup and brown sugar are in it.

This one came out a little on the "short" side; as my pie pan was just a bit large for the amount of crust I made.  I know, bad me for not considering that factor, but it's a new pie dish and...yeah. Just wanted to use it damn it!

I also did not add any raisins, as most butter tarts have raisins which add to the sweetness.

I was afraid I was going to have to change the plan yet again, as we suddenly had a massive turn in weather.  This little apartment became such an oven all on it's own, the butter I had out to soften, melting from the muggy-humidity here.
Kinda wish I'd been quick enough to snap a photo of the butter as it melted in the mixing bowl, but at that point I just wanted to get the recipe done.


That's the "short" of it for this month, till next time...

Random movie Feb 21st 2015

The Big Year

plot: Three birdwatchers, spend a year competing to be listed that year's best. Dropping everything at a moments notice to travel across the United States and Canada, they find themselves making choices about their personal and professional lives that they didn't think they'd be forced to make.

This is the 2011 movie starring Steve Martin and Jack Black.
It's based on the non-fiction book.

This was listed as a comedy, and there were moments that were funny, but this was a drama in every real regard.
The characters each had their own personal journeys they had to dive into, each at different stages in their lives. One character starts off with nothing to loose and looks at it as a once in a lifetime adventure, while another character sees it as a missed opportunity. And the third main character is afraid of live beyond what he's created, afraid to let go of his record.

I like that it managed to mix the buddy road trip film seamlessly with the dramatic point of having to find your own balance. All three of the main characters have to learn what they are comfortable with loosing in order to gain their real prize. So many of us now a days find it hard to balance our real passions with our responsibilities.

Theme Week part 2- Love

Love Wedding Marriage

plot: When a relationship therapist finds out her own parents want a divorce, she moves heaven and earth to get them back together, and damaging her own marriage in the meantime.

This is a 2011 comedy starring Mandy Moore and Kellan Lutz.

Okay...Lutz still reminds me of wrestler Brad Maddox and pretty much the only reason I bothered to watch it.
Otherwise...it had a very made for tv sensibility to it, even though it wasn't a made for tv movie. This is one of those cute films you would expect to see on a Sunday afternoon during Valentine's movie marathons. The idea was there in spades, but the film itself just felt more like it was an introduction to something bigger.
For me, and I find myself saying this a lot lately, it was too happy, too wrapped up with a nice big frilly lace bow. I would have liked more depth with the young newly weds and less with the two sisters.   James Brolin's character came across as too silly and not desperate enough for a man trying to win his wife back.

year 3 day 137

movie: What's your number?
starring: Anna Faris, Chris Evans
genre:Comedy, Romance
year: 2011
format: Netflix Canada

plot; After yet another break up, a thirty something woman panics when she hears a theory that any woman who has more then 20 lovers will never marry. She then starts tracking down old boyfriends trying to make it work.

Based on the book

This sounds like it would be a great romantic comedy, all the elements are there. The only problem is it really doesn't work.  The first ten minutes hits strong, but then it starts to fall in on itself. It takes too long to really get going, and doesn't hit it's steam quick enough.
There just didn't seem to be any chemistry between the two leads, leaving it feeling forced.

For a romantic comedy, the comedy just wasn't there. The elegance that chick flicks have been known to bring, just wasn't there. There was nothing in this movie that made me want to read the book, a movie based on a book should always leave you wanting to read the original book.

year 3 day 114

movie: 30 Minutes or Less
starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride
genre: Comedy, Action
year: 2011
format: Netflix Canada

plot: A man who wants to hire a hitman to kill his father in order to inherit millions, kidnaps a delivery guy and forces him to rob a bank for him in under 8 hours.

I want to say I hated it, but I actually liked most of this movie. I shuffled past it more then once thinking it wouldn't be any good at all because I'm not a fan of Danny McBride; but this was surprisingly interesting. I wouldn`t say it was funny, but it had a few moments of well written dialog.

I have to admit, I pretty much watched this for the sole reason of it being a Jesse Eisenberg movie. When I spotted the Insane Clown Pose t-shirt on one of the bad guys, I was thinking it was going to be a hint at something, but sadly it wasn`t.

What I never understood was, if the McBride character had enough balls to hire a hitman and kidnap someone, why didn`t he have enough guts to just do the hit himself?

year 3 Day 103

movie: The Love Guide (aka  Sunny Side Up)
starring: Parker Posey, Christy Scott Cashman
genre: Drama, Comedy
year: 2011
format: Netflix Canada

plot: A farming couple are selected to be part of a reality tv show called "Cut the Crap", with a spiritual guru. At first, they don't think it is right for them, but along the way they not only learn to connect with each other again, but the tv crew find something they were missing.

This was a sweet cute movie that was more drama then comedy. You have two camps happening here, the serious farmers who don't realize they are missing something in their lives and go on their personal journey, and the goofy over the edge tv crew who don't realize they are missing some stability. 
It's a little slow going, but I think that was intentional. The whole idea is that this force of chaos lands in a town that is almost at a stand still. The whole point seems to be about finding balance and self worth.

There is a character in this, the show's director who keeps trying to "ground" everyone, by forcing them to play by the rules of modern television, and keeps telling everyone to give up the new age stuff and be more Springer. His character though minor, stands out to me as a voice everybody hears whenever they are about to do something fun, eventful, adventurous or life changing. He keeps asking for drama, but keeps failing to see that there is more there then meets the eye.

This could have easily been one of those stories with the crazy sister/aunt who comes to visit and teaches everyone life lessons and to loosen up, but by making Posey's character a reality tv star, I think it added an element and layer to it. And ironically made it a very modern film given how formularic the plot really was.

year 3 day 97

movie: Twixt
starring; Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern
genre: Film Noir, Thriller,
year: 2011/2012
format: DVD

plot: While doing autograph signings in a small town, author Hall Baltimore finds himself suddenly wrapped up in the sheriff's latest unsolved murder. The sheriff has the idea that it's a serial killer/vampire hunter who's doing it, and convinces Hall to co-author a detective novel with him. After agreeing, Hall finds himself with writer's block, and starts to dream about the main plot of the novel. His personal spirit guide being Edgar Allan Poe.

Okay, first off, this is a Francis Ford Coppola movie, but this is a far cry from Bram Stoker's Dracula. Half the movie is done in black and white, to represent the dream sequences, while the "real life" is done in colour. Not that you can really tell them apart given the story just seems to be one continuous roll.

You have to give him credit for trying to reinvent the vampire film. With such a nod to gothic literature, the surrealism works for some scenes, but not for others. It at times, edges on the ridiculous.  But with that said, this plays beautifully.  It's almost like all the major classic vampire stories are here, from Carmilla, to Polidori's The Vamypre, to the movie version of Nosferatu.  It takes heavily the ideas of outsiders being able to corrupt and steal innocence and plays on the fears of sexuality. (Much in the same way Dracula does.)

The story does get a bit confusing given Poe is telling his version of the story to Hall, claiming he knew the girl in question in the 1800's, the girl's death is suppose to have happened in 1955, and Hall is experiencing this in 2011.  The fact that time seems to run amuck and none of the clocks in the town are ever right, just adds to the disjointedness of the story.  Which is a great tool for expressing vampirism in itself. Time is a vampire- A vampire is timeless.

There is just so many layers to this particular movie, that at first glance it seems like cotton-fluff, sticky sweet like it would have been better suited for a three minute rock video (think Marylin Manson here) but as the movie progresses, you start to see the elements that it really pulls from.

What I liked is that it is different, but with such familiar moments to it that clearly identifies it as a vampire story. You're left wondering if everything about the vampires were real or imagined, left wondering how much of the characters' personal guilt is driving them, left wondering what it was that really drove the first round of killings to happen?

Year 3 Day 95

movie: Bridesmaids
starring: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig
genre: Comedy
year: 2011
format: Netflix Canada

plot: After being life long best friends, a woman is asked to be the maid of honor at her friend's wedding, but finds it ruins her life.

I didn't like it.
Everyone and their dog's grandmother was telling me how funny this movie was, and how I just had to see it. I found it difficult to sit through, and actually turned it off at one point, but turned it back on because I hate not finishing a movie.
It just seemed the gags were stuff we've seen before, the whole sub-plot of the loosing the best friend to someone new has been done a million times over, usually with teenagers, and seriously how many more wedding themed movies can there really be?

It just felt like high school with better clothes.

I fully expected the end to have the two competing bridesmaids to open a party planning bakery together or something; actually surprised they ended the film without an element like that.

What can I say, just didn't care for it.

Year 3 Day 70

movie: Rio
starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway
genre: Cartoon
year: 2011
format: TV edit

plot: A tropical bird gets kidnapped as a chick and ends up in a pet store. After 15 years of being a house pet, the owner is told it's the last male of it's species, and is shipped off to Rio where it is suppose to be mated to the last female of it's species. The two birds end up being stolen and the owners try to track then down. Along the way, they have to dodge a group of criminals that include pick-pocketing monkeys, a bird who is a psychopathic bully, and the humans who want to sell them.

Well, babysitting, so this was my cousin's pick. It was a lot funnier then I thought it would be, yes, I actually laughed out loud more then once.
It's a comedy/musical/romance all rolled into a cartoon.

The main theme is having the courage to believe in yourself, while battling your fears.